Category: News

Early iPad Testers Must Black Out Their Windows, Tie Device Down

According to BusinessWeek, a select few developers have received iPads early for testing, but they must follow strict rules from Apple and send pictures proving they’re complying:

Would-be testers of the tablet-style computer, due to be released Apr. 3, must promise to keep it isolated in a room with blacked-out windows, according to four people familiar with the more than 10-page pact that bars partners from disclosing information about the iPad.

To ensure that it can’t be removed, the iPad must also remain tethered to a fixed object, said the people, who asked not to be named because their plans for the iPad have not been made public. Apple (AAPL) won’t send out an iPad until potential partners send photographic evidence that they’ve complied.

Almost sounds like they require a torture chamber. Anyone seen a dungeon at the New York Times?

iPhone App Review Sites Demand Cash for Reviews

Need some good PR for your fresh iPhone app? If you’re willing to open your wallet and cross the line of good ethics, some iPhone app review sites will let you pay up for a review. Wired.com takes a look at the seedy underground of iPhone app reviews:

AppCraver.com also seeks payment for expedited reviews. Lore Sjöberg, Wired.com’s Alt Text columnist, said he submitted his iPhone app The Cyborg Name Decoder to AppCraver.com for review, and in response the site offered to expedite a review of his app for $150. The letter included a promise to contact Sjöberg “prior to publishing a review that scores lower than 5/10.”

Just for the record, Art of the iPhone doesn’t accept more than promo codes for app reviews, although we’ve had substantial cash offers from developers. Just a tip: make an awesome app and it will be reviewed by someone.

Link: Wired.com “Pay to Play: Some iPhone App Sites Demand Money for Reviews:

How To Dry Out a Wet iPhone Quickly With Rice

Via Seattle Weekly:

Guys, last night I did that thing where I dropped my phone in the toilet, and it wouldn’t even turn on afterwards. I was at Video Isle whining about how I was going to have to buy a completely new iPhone, and there was a man there who just happened to work for AT&T. I asked him if I should try to blow-dry my phone, and he said:

SAVIOR FROM AT&T: Turn it off completely, put it in a bag of rice, and leave it there for a couple hours. The rice will absorb the moisture.

ME: *Blank stare*

S.F.A.T.&T.: Just do it.

So, I went home, got out a bag of rice, and stuck my phone in there. I took it out about an hour later, tried to turn it on, and the screen kind of lamely flickered at me. But at least it was turning on, so I stuck it back in there. A couple hours later, before I was about to go to sleep, I took it out and turned it on…AND IT TOTALLY WORKED.

Good tip, as water damage voids the iPhone’s warranty.

Steve Jobs’ Animosity Toward Google Is Real and Personal (NYTimes)

An article today by the New York Times delves deeper into the recent fallout between Apple and Google, with the article painting most of the dispute’s animosity as coming from Steve Jobs.

At the heart of their dispute is a sense of betrayal: Mr. Jobs believes that Google violated the alliance between the companies by producing cellphones that physically, technologically and spiritually resembled the iPhone. In short, he feels that his former friends at Google picked his pocket.”

Early versions of Google’s Android operating system had more in common with Windows Mobile and RIM phones than the iPhone, as seen in the photo of an early prototype from December 2007, shown below:

But as Google slowly morphed the Android platform to more closely resemble the iPhone, Steve Jobs began to openly confront Google’s executives over the matter.

Many of those meetings turned confrontational, according to people familiar with the discussions, with Mr. Jobs often accusing Google of stealing iPhone features. Google executives said that Android’s features were based on longstanding ideas already circulating in the industry and that some Android prototypes predated the iPhone.

At one particularly heated meeting in 2008 on Google’s campus, Mr. Jobs angrily told Google executives that if they deployed a version of multitouch — the popular iPhone feature that allows users to control their devices with flicks of their fingers — he would sue. Two people briefed on the meeting described it as “fierce” and “heated.”

The dispute has recently culminated in an Apple lawsuit against HTC, maker of many Android phones including Google’s Nexus One, for infringing on 20 patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture, and hardware. In a press release accompanying the lawsuit, Steve Jobs drew a proverbial line in the sand:

We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it.”

Apparently, Jobs’ vitriol has recently extended into Apple’s corporate culture, with current employees noting a rise in anti-Google sentiment.

I’ve never seen anything quite like it in my life,” one Apple employee says. “I’m in so many meetings where so many potshots are taken. It feels weird.”

Link: New York Times “A Battle for the Future Is Getting Personal”

Review: Kensington Car Dash Mount for iPhone

One obstacle after purchasing an iPhone car mount is finding the right location to place it. Some drivers like to mount their iPhones high next to the rear view mirror, others like them to sit low on the dash for less visual obstruction. Wherever you choose, the Kensington Dash Mount ($25) conveniently includes two methods of attaching itself to your car: a suction cup for windshields and a sticky tape holder for the dashboard.

The Kensington Dash Mount can hold just about any rectangle-shaped device less than four inches wide. A blue button on the back releases two padded clamps that grip your device. You place the iPhone in between, then squeeze the clamps together until the iPhone is held snug. The foam padding protects your iPhone from scratches and squeezes around the iPhone so that it’s held securely. There are also two pivotable padded feet that the iPhone sits on. To release the iPhone from the mount, simply press the blue button again.

The long curved arm of the mount can be adjusted to move up or down, then tightened with a knob so that it no longer moves. Near the head is a ball joint that allows you to tilt the face of the iPhone in a free-swinging manner. A knob near the ball joint can be tightened so that the head of the mount won’t move while the car is in motion. The ball joint also allows for the iPhone to be viewed on its side (in landscape).

For windshield mounting, the Kensington has a suction cup attached to the base of the arm. The suction cup comes with a special lever that you pull once the cup is stuck to the window that increases the suction and tightly holds it in place. In my testing, I was able to achieve a tight hold that supported the weight of the iPhone for the entirety of a 5-hour vacation drive. It even held when condensation built up on the foggy window.

Comes with a sticky pad mount too.

For mounting to a dashboard, the Kensington comes with what looks like a shallow cupholder, the base of which is covered with sticky tape. To mount, you simply stick it to your dashboard, then use the suction cup to attach the rest of the mount to the slick plastic “cupholder.” In my tests, the suction cup held securely in the holder, as did the sticky tape. WIth a little elbow grease, the sticky tap can be removed from the dashboard. I found no damage or reside after removing the holder.

(Does not come with car adapter cord)

The mount leaves both the top and bottom of the iPhone open, so there’s plenty of space to attach a car power adapter and an audio cord to plug into your stereo.

Most impressive about the Kensington’s performance was that it remained remarkably stable during my drives. I experienced no wobbling or shaking. With the adjusting knobs turned tight, the movable parts also stayed likewise stable.

Conclusion

The flexibility of the Kensington Dash Mount is what makes it one of the best choices for an iPhone car mount. Its dual mounting methods, a cradle capable of holding a myriad of devices, and its movable arm and ball-joint cradle means anyone can adjust and tweak until the iPhone sits just right in the car. We rate it a 9.5 out of 10, highly recommended.

Review: Top 5 Financial & Investing iPhone Apps

1. CNBC Real-Time

CNBC Real Time (free) is our favorite financial app. Its two most powerful features are its useful push notifications and real-time stock quotes (no delay). The app also features full CNBC video segments, the ability follow your stock portfolio, and just about every other feature you’d want from a financial news app.

While apps like Bloomberg and MarketWatch offer more text content, Real-Time is all about video, and they do it very well, offering long clips from various CNBC shows. The videos feature important or interesting moments from the CNBC broadcast day, but again, the clips are usually long, usually 8-10 minutes and are almost always worth watching. Real Time does offer text articles too, but they’re somewhat sparse when compared with the other apps.

Day traders should love the app’s real-time stock quotes. Other apps, and most websites for that matter, delay quotes by 15-20 minutes—a disadvantage for traders. The Real-Time app also automatically refreshes the stock prices for you, which means if you turn off the iPhone’s auto-sleep function, the iPhone could become a terminal for traders to watch the second-by-second rise and fall of their investments.

Creating a portfolio of stocks in the app is quick and easy. Simply tap the My Stocks tab, then tap the Edit button. You can also add new portfolios by tapping the New button, in case you wanted to keep a separate retirement or other account.

The app has a neat 3D, carousel-like menu system at the top of each section. Simply swipe your finger to rotate through the various topics for that section. It makes for an efficient use of space on the iPhone’s screen and a surprisingly clever interface design. Very slick.

The app also comes with free push notifications that alert you breaking business-related news stories. The alerts are handled well—there aren’t too many, and the news is usually important enough to warrant a “breaking news” alert.

Conclusion

Its combination of slick graphics, real-time quotes, easy-to-manage portfolio, video content, and push notifications make CNBC Real-Time one of our favorite financial apps. Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

2. Bloomberg

Bloomberg (free) has been on our Best of iPhone Apps list for a year now, and everything we pointed out in our previous review is still relevant. We love how economical the app is in presenting important financial information, and it’s content is all original and second-to-none in quality.

Bloomberg has four tabs along the bottom: News, Markets, My Stocks, and Stock Finder.

News is a easy-to-scan list of the day’s financial headlines—tap any one to read the article. What we love about the list style is how quick it makes getting an overview of the financial world. There’s no need to navigate through subtopics and news genres—it’s all just there in one spot. You can customize topics in the list by tapping the Edit button. Drag and drop the topics to rearrange their order. For example, I subscribed to the top “Most Read” and then slid my finger so that its stories will appear first in the list.

Markets offers a quick look at the various indices and global markets, not only for the US but also global.

The My Stocks tab lets you track individual stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, etc. To add a stock, simply tap the Edit button in the top right. You can also add information like shares owned and price paid per share so you can track your daily worth. It’s important to note that there are a lot of “hidden” features within that app that you can discover by using a careful eye and/or by tapping around the screen. For example, tapping the center column in My Stocks will cycle through stock price, shares owned, current value, day’s change in value, and the price you bought in at. The other columns feature have similar switchable features.

Bloomberg was, I think, the first app to offer full-screen stock charts that are activated by turning the iPhone on its side. Now, every major financial app offers the same feature. With Bloomberg, you can pinch or spread your fingers to expand or shrink the chart. Holding your finger on the chart will bring up a crosshairs that will pinpoint the stock’s historical price for that day.

The Stock Finder tab is simply a quick way to search for and pull up information on individual stocks, mutual funds, etc. To find a stock, simply type the company’s name or stock symbol into the search bar. Tapping on the company’s name among the results will bring up a page filled with various types of info, like current price, a chart, related news headlines, and a brief summary of the company. You can also navigate to the related news stories or turn the iPhone on its side to read the full-screen chart.

The app only has a few small downsides. First, the quotes don’t appear to be in real-time like with the CNBC Real-Time app. Usually financial websites and apps tell you if the prices are delayed or real time, but the app doesn’t say. However, I tested the prices against those on Google Finance’s website (which offers real-time too) and the prices seemed to be lagging by about 15 minutes. The other downside is that the app offers audio news, but it’s way too sparse and the content too questionable to be of much use.

Conclusion:

The Bloomberg app is all about quick and easy access to financial news and information. Its strength is in its minimalistic design that allows you to take in a lot of information in an efficient way. Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

3. Yahoo! Finance

The Yahoo! Finance app (free) has a slick look and full feature set, but it’s not quite as user friendly as it should be and requires a learning curve—it really should come with a user guide.

Yahoo’s iPhone apps have been of dubious quality so far, but one thing they get right is making their apps look good with the right amount of white space and readable fonts. The Yahoo! Finance app is a pleasure to look at and read.

The app offers 4 tabs to navigate through the app: Summary, Quotes, Research, and Tech Ticker.

Summary offers a quick overview of the financial world. It shows a small list of major indices (S&P 500, NASDAQ, etc) at the top followed by a list of the top news articles, and the day’s most active stocks and stocks whose prices went up or down the most in the day. You can tweak the info shown by tapping the lowercase “i” in the bottom right corner. We would love this screen except for one thing: it inexplicably leaves out the ability to add and track individual stocks.

For tracking individual stocks, there are two methods. The first is the Quotes tab, which features little graphical boxes stuffed with financial information. The widgets are configurable, so you can expand or shrink them to show more information. In their largest size, they show stock price, the current day’s chart, and 3 news stories. You can get rid of the widgets style and replace it with a basic list view by tapping the lowercase “i” in the bottom right corner. You can also add and remove stocks in these settings.

If you track your portfolio using the Yahoo! Finance website, you can import the portfolio into the app by tapping My Portfolio in the Research tab. You’ll have to log in to your Yahoo account in order to import. But you can’t edit the portfolio, which is very disappointing.

The app features full screen charts, which are accessed by turning the iPhone on its side. You can pinch and zoom and also hold your finger on the screen for a few seconds to pinpoint a stock’s price on a specific day.

The Research tab is where you’ll find financials news. The headlines (and a small blurb) are presented in an easily scannable list, but tapping them causes them to open in a browser within the app. The news is mostly from the Associated Press, but there is some aggregation of other business news sources as well.

The final tab, Tech Ticker, feature’s Yahoo’s financial video content. The videos stream to your iPhone over WiFi and 3G. The topics covered are usually interesting but filled with opinion, and we find the various hosts to be somewhat dubious in quality.

Conclusion

Overall, the Yahoo Finance app is slick and feature-packed, but it requires a bit too much from the user. Only after some tweaking does the app’s true usefulness come to the surface. We can recommend the app for its features, but we put it in third place because it’s not user friendly and much of its news is subpar. Rating: 8.2 out of 10.

4. MarketWatch

MarketWatch (free), like its website, focuses on financial news coverage and original content. The app also comes with an interesting voice-to-text feature that reads articles to you using a pleasant computerized voice.

The app’s most interesting feature is text-to-speech. Every news article comes with a “Listen Now” button that, when pressed, will launch the iPhone’s media player and read the article to you. There is even a “Cruise Control” option that will read all articles to you back to back, crating a sort of financial news podcast.

The app offers full-screen stock charts when turn on its side, like all the other apps. But it lacks any interactive features such as pinpointing dates for specific stock prices.

The navigation bar at the bottom can be configured to your tastes. You can add, remove, or rearrange the tabs at the bottom with various topics like Top Stories, Investing, Interational, etc.

In terms of appearance, MarketWatch cripples itself by placing a large ad at the bottom of the screen. Other apps have ads too, but most do not place it on the main screen, and if the do, the ad disappears after a few seconds. Marketwatch‘s annoying placement of their ad limits the amount of information you can take in at a glance, and when the iPhone is turned on its side, it makes the app useless.

With the Watchlist tab, MarketWatch makes it easy to create a portfolio to track you favorite stocks and funds. Just use the search bar to look up a stock and tap the “Add to Watchlist” button. But once again, the annoying ad interfers and only allows 4 stocks to be visible on the screen at a time.

Conclusion:

MarketWatch’s strength is in its content. We can recommend the app mainly as a secondary source to read about recent financial news. Rating: 7.7 out of 10.

5. DailyFinance

DailyFinance (free) has all the features you’d want in a finance app, but unfortunately the content is too buried and spread out amongst a cumbersome menu system. The app also requires that you sign up for an AOL Instant Messenger account in order to track a stock portfolio. Why? I don’t know, but the process does a nice job of wasting your time.

DailyFinance has five tabs along the bottom to help you navigate. They are Markets, News, Movers, my Stocks, and Get Quotes.

Markets is the default screen when the app is opened; it shows the performance of the important indices (Dow Jones Industrial, S&P 500, NASDAQ, etc), both for the US and global. It also shows a single “top market news” story above the indices. It’s a good design choice for the default screen, but why not add stocks I want to watch as well as more news stories below with this tab?

Tapping the News tab brings up another menu-filled screen. There’s an impressive range of news subtopics, but nothing to read—no headlines or articles, just subtopics. Only when you select one do you get a small selection of articles. There’s little reason to spread out the news like this. Besides offering AOL’s own exclusive content, the app also aggregates news from other sources, which the app opens in a browser inside the app.

The last three tabs, Movers, My Stocks, and Get Quotes, revolve around getting stock prices and info. These three tabs could have easily been combined into one to save you a lot of time—but that’s the theme with this app.

DailyFinance did have one feature that I really liked, its charts. All of the apps offer landscape, full-scren stock charts, but DailyFinance lets you pinpoint specific dates on the chart using your finger and a “crosshairs” feature. Point or drag to a specific date, and you’ll call up that day’s price and volume.

Overall, the information in DailyFinance is impressive in scope but too spread out, and our favorite iPhone finance apps do just about everything a little better.

Conclusion:

Despite being packed with features, DailyFinance suffers from poor design. Cumbersome account requirements and an inefficient menu system slows down the user experience. Rating: 6.0 out of 10.

Review: Kensington Windshield Car Mount for iPhone

kensington1

If you regularly use your iPhone for its GPS or mapping capabilities, a sturdy and reliable car mount is an essential accessory. The Kensington Car Mount ($25) is a tough little mount that delivers where it really counts — it safely and securely holds your iPhone while you drive.

The Kensington Car Mount is compatible with the original iPhone, 3G, and 3GS, in addition to the iPod touch and some generations of the iPod and iPod nano. The mount itself has adjustable side clamps, so it can be sized to fit snugly on all of these devices. Since it is adjustable, you can use the mount without taking off your protective iPhone case.

kensington2

The mount also includes a heavy-duty suction cup attached to a 12-inch flexible arm. The arm adjusts easily but is strong enough to support the iPhone without sagging or bouncing while you drive. In some states, including California and Minnesota, it’s illegal to place anything on the windshield where it may impede the driver’s view. To get around this problem, Kensington includes several pieces of velcro backed with 3M tape so you can mount the device to your dashboard instead of the windshield.

kensington3

During testing, the Kensington mount had no problem keeping our iPhone secure. The suction cup is surprisingly strong, and it even stays in place if you give it a good tug (the suction cup includes a small plastic tab that helps you remove it easily when you need to). Bumpy car rides were no problem, and even on rough roads the iPhone stayed stable without bouncing or vibrating unnecessarily. You can twist the mount to position the iPhone vertically or horizontally, and it’s easy to get the iPhone in and out of the mount.

kensington5

Conclusion

The Kensington Car Mount isn’t the most exciting accessory, but it works well and we recommend it. I have few complaints about the mount, although at times I felt the arm was almost too long. While this may depend on the length of your dash, I would probably prefer an 8- or 10-inch arm instead of the standard 12 inches. Other than that, the Kensington Car Mount is a great choice for taking your iPhone on the road.

Poll: Have You Ever Watched an Entire Movie on Your iPhone?

iPhone Movie Get Smart

The iPhone’s screen can render movies and TV shows beautifully, but the screen’s small size is a barrier for many to enjoying video content. We know director David Lynch’s opinion:

Well, Mr Lynch, I’ve watched entire TV show episodes on plane trips, but never a full movie. So our poll question is:

[poll id=”11″]

Review: Grantwood Technology Tuneband for the iPhone

tuneband2

Although it pains me to say it, I think the iPhone is an imperfect running partner. It’s just too big and bulky to compete with the iPod shuffle or nano when it comes to listening to music on the run. That said, if you need to carry both a cell phone and an iPod while you exercise, the iPhone makes sense. The Grantwood Technology Tuneband (>$15) performs so well that it has made me rethink my aversion to running with my iPhone.

tuneband5

The Tuneband is an iPhone accessory for the 3G and 3GS; a separate — and cheaper — Tuneband is available for the first-gen iPhone. The two-part Tuneband features both a silicone iPhone case and a velcro armband. Unlike some iPhone armbands, the Tuneband doesn’t have an integrated vinyl screen protector. Instead, it ships with a stick-on screen protector, which is fine as long as you don’t get caught out in the rain. I actually prefer this type of protector, as the vinyl protectors can make it hard to navigate the iPhone’s touchscreen.

tuneband1

The case is stretchy and very pliable, and it includes cut-outs for the camera lens, earphone port and bottom speakers. The volume controls are left covered, but the silicone case has raised buttons so you can still get a tactile feel for the buttons.

I was hoping to keep my existing case on while I used the Tuneband, but when I did, the cut-outs didn’t line up correctly. Not a huge deal, but I hate having to constantly remove my iPhone case. As an alternative, you can always use the Tuneband case as your permanent protector so you don’t have to swap cases each time you go for a run.

tuneband10

I have thin arms, and the Tuneband was almost too big. Luckily, I was able to overlap the velcro a little to get the strap to its maximum tightness setting. My husband, who has significantly thicker arms than I do, also tried on the Tuneband and had no trouble getting a comfortable fit. As long as you tighten the Tuneband appropriately, it stays in place while running. I felt the need to retighten it occasionally, but overall I was pleased with its performance. There’s no denying that the iPhone is a very big gadget to wear on your arm, but the Tuneband does a good job of making it as comfortable as possible. Just keep your expectations in check — the iPhone is never going to feel as lightweight or comfortable as the iPod shuffle.

tuneband6

On a side note, I have to give Grantwood Technology props for its stellar customer service. After I ordered the Tuneband, I received several emails updating me on the status of my order — it’s proactive service like this that makes for happy customers.

tuneband3

Conclusion

I had low expectations for the Tuneband, so I was pleasantly surprised when I grew to really like this armband. I readily admit that I have a bias against running with the iPhone, but this armband has changed my tune a little. I still think the iPhone looks ridiculously huge on my arm, but the Tuneband is comfortable and it doesn’t bounce.

I’m not about to give up my nano for running, but I’ll use the Grantwood Technology Tuneband whenever I need to run with my iPhone. We rate it an 8.0 out of 10, recommended. If your iPhone suffers a lot of abuse while exercising, an armband with a full screen protector may be a better choice.

Review: Buster the Chicago Bus Tracker

Chicago CTA Buster for iPhone

Buster: the Chicago Bus Tracker ($0.99, iTunes link) is an amazing little app that lets you know when a bus is going to arrive at a bus stop. As a Chicagoan, I can tell you this drastically changes the experience of using buses in the city, and could be game changing for all mass transit if they implement similar networked GPS technology.

Buster Nearby Bus Stops Map

Before the city put GPS locators on CTA buses, it was a hassle taking the bus. You’d never know if it was arriving in 5 minutes or 45 minutes. So there you’d stand on the sidewalk, freezing in the Chicago cold or burning in the heat, waiting for a bus as hundreds of cars drive by gawking at you.

Not any more. Simply select the bus stop, and the app will tell you when the next bus is arriving so you can dash and catch it, or do something else while you wait. After using it for the past two months, I can tell you it’s accurate down to a minute or so.

Buster Nearby Bus Stops

If you’re not sure of a stop’s location, the app uses the iPhone’s GPS to list the nearest bus stops, which is extremely useful if you’re in a strange part of town. You can even save a list of your favorites for quick access. The app also distinguishes between north/south and east/west traveling buses.

Buster List of Bus Stops

The app can be a money saver for Chicagoans who, like me, pay a single monthly fee for unlimited rides on the city’s trains and buses. Buses should be a more convenient travel option for city dwellers because their routes blanket most of the city (trains travel to only a portion of the city). But buses could be big time wasters, as often it could take an hour just to go 5 blocks (counting wait time). Most people are forced to take more expensive taxi rides simply for the convenience. Now I feel much more comfortable taking the bus, as my time isn’t wasted and I don’t have to suffer the elements as much.