The Best Place to Get Apps…

Jobs mentioned in yesterday’s announcement that the Mac App Store won’t be the only place to buy apps but that he “hopes it will be the best.” I’m sure it will be the best. Apple is providing a gorgeous storefront from which to browse and purchase apps, and it’ll ship with every new Mac once OS X Lion is introduced.

The whole process, from searching, to purchasing and downloading, to launching and later updating, will just work, like it does with Steam. Apps won’t merely be enhanced dashboard widgets, they’ll be full-blown desktop programs. The entire iLife and iWork suite were already up there during the demo.

The store will be an immense success, and Jobs will certainly be showing off the stats at one of next year’s Apple events. With that success will also come a shift in the app distribution landscape and a shift in the mindset of users. The Mac App Store — while it won’t be the only source to downloads apps — will most likely eclipse all others.

… Becomes the Only Place

Here’s my worry: Two or three years down the line, Jobs will say, “The Mac App Store has been a massive success. It has revolutionized app distribution for developers and app purchasing for users. The best thing though is that we’ve seen the quality of apps for the Mac go through the roof. Apps for the Mac App Store look better, work better and feel better. And it’s good business for the developers too.”

Jobs would then go on to explain that on the new range of Macs and MacBooks, the App Store will be the location from which to download apps. The only location. The only escape will be upgrading to Apple’s Pro computers, which won’t require apps to be installed through the App Store.

From Apple’s point of view, this wouldn’t stifle development, as the Mac App Store would be a proven success (so why distribute on your own?) and, if you’re developing something for that niche Pro audience, you can still reach them with or without the Mac App Store.

Earlier this year, Cory Doctorow wrote an article over at Boing Boing titled,”Why I won’t buy an iPad (and think you shouldn’t either).” I bought an iPad, and I dig my iPad. However, Cory’s article came to mind during yesterday’s announcement.

Software Upgrades Only

Cory talks about “infantalizing hardware.” With the iPad, you can’t physically open it. The idea is that you don’t improve your device by hacking or tweaking, but rather by purchasing. Purchase an app, and you improve your device.

Think about the new Macbook Air: a sealed box. Purchase apps from the Mac App Store and improve it. It’s not that great a leap to imagine the Mac App Store being the only channel through which you can purchase apps for all future Apple notebooks, too, which will likely be similarly closed.

The Gatekeeper Dilemma

Then there’s the “Wal-Martization of the software channel” as Cory puts it. I’ll skip over the whole DRM issue, and I’ll quote Cory on the thing that concerns me most, “… as a copyright holder and creator, I don’t want a single, Wal-Mart-like channel that controls access to my audience and dictates what is and is not acceptable for me to create.”

I am a creator. I am a copyright holder. And I don’t want to see a future where I only have one option for distribution on a platform that was previously open. A future where I would have to seek approval from a central authority before my creations can be released.

For the record, I’ve released apps on iOS. I’ve been through Apple’s approval process before. That’s the nature of iOS though. It’s always been like that, and I’ve never known any different for that platform. OS X is different though, I can create anything I like and release through whatever channels I like. I don’t want to see that change.

If that does change, would we see amazing creative tools like Pure Data or Ableton Live anymore? I think we still would, but there’s a caveat. These apps would have to compromise on their features or functionality in order to gain Apple approval. It’s easy to see how this could stifle innovation.

But then, none of this has happened yet, and indeed it may never happen. Especially if developers make sure that Apple knows this isn’t what we want.

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Just like Apple with its iBookstore, Zinio has established relationships with an impressive array of publications. As such, you can expect to find enhanced editions of magazines Cosmopolitan, T3, Rolling Stone and Hello among many others. However, unlike Apple’s iBookstore or iBooks app, Zinio certainly doesn’t live up to the hype.

For starters, each page takes around a second to load. Take a moment and imagine that…imagine reading a magazine and waiting an entire second every time you decide to turn a page. Need to quickly flick back and take a glance at that article from a few pages ago? Prepare to wait.

Plus, there’s no in-app purchasing, meaning that you have to leave the app, load Safari, sign in to Zinio’s website and then make a purchase using your credit card. You can’t even use PayPal. In fact, because Zinio’s iPad site login wasn’t working for me, I ended up opening my MacBook Pro and handling the entire purchase on there.

There’s no option, that I could find, for deleting a magazine. I checked the app, the Settings app and even my account settings on Zinio’s site. This means I’m stuck with a couple of freebies: Car & Driver and a rapidly aging edition of Macworld magazine. (There’s also a free copy of National Geographic but I don’t mind keeping that as it fools me into thinking I’m cultured.)

The magazines themselves are just that, magazines. This isn’t Captain Picard’s enhanced edition of Cosmopolitan, just a run of the mill scanned magazine. And while pinch-to-zoom works, zooming in close reveals the low quality of these fuzzy digital magazines.

Any websites that are mentioned will typically have an ugly blue outline to indicate that you can open the site by tapping the text. Aside from that, you’ll be lucky to find the occasional clunky video embedded in an otherwise static page. Welcome to the future, those are your ‘enhancements’.

What worries me here is that Zinio has all the big names wrapped up, as such it might take a while for things to change. In the meantime, I feel embarrassed to use Zinio’s app, to think that this is the future of magazines on my $499 iPad — shoddy ‘enhanced’ PDFs.

Related GigaOM Pro Research: Evolution of the e-Book Market

In this iWeb video tutorial you’ll learn how to import content, create links, embed a video and publish your website.

If you’re planning to build your own site, Apple’s iWeb is an easy way for you to get into web-design and launch your first online project. With a little practice, you can be the webmaster of your own domain in no time.

This tutorial is all about getting you comfortable with iWeb. To show you how easy it is to create professional looking sites, I created the site for my new iPhone game using iWeb: www.thecosmokid.com

Rather than use a pre-set template, we’re going to dive right in and recreate the Cosmo Kid website. Before you start the tutorial, make sure to download the Cosmo Kid Content Pack (ZIP, 274 KB), it’s got all the parts you’ll need to build the site.

Check out the video after the jump, or view the full-size, full-resolution video here (MOV, 135MB).

Alongside the army of consumers and tech pundits waiting for a peek of the aptly named iPad, the over 25,000 strong development community have been patiently standing on the sidelines too.

Taking several leaps forward in terms of its processing power and onboard hardware, the device includes Apple’s own chip, said Jobs, “It’s called the A4, and it screams.” Most exciting for developers with iPhone apps already on sale is that Apple has made the transition up to iPad as smooth as possible.

Since the device’s Home Screen is essentially a facsimile of the iPhone Home Screen, developers won’t have to worry about creating new icons or other assets in order to port the app across. In fact, as stated by Apple themselves, the iPad can run all iPhone apps unmodified out of the box.

The big announcement for the dev community is that Apple are releasing the new SDK today. Just like the user experience is somewhat like a big iPhone, development will take place within the iPhone SDK and — thanks to the device’s app scaling feature — developers won’t even have to worry about creating content in the larger device’s resolution.

It’s unclear whether Apple will also take steps to update its Developer Connection site, that unusually clunky web-based tool-set and administration area for App Store developers.

Most interesting though will be seeing how developers leverage the additional processing power that the iPad includes. Developers can grab the new SDK from Apple.com today.

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Although the picture below is from CERN, it’s much more akin to a boring office space than a scientific laboratory. However, look a little closer and you might notice something out of the ordinary. It seems that some of the research at CERN may be powered by Apple.

The scientists over at CERN are doing some serious research, using data from the Large Hadron Collider for something called the Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment. While it’s not clear if this is an officially sanctioned MacBook, using Apple gear for scientific research is nothing new.

Drew McCormack is Chief Developer over at The Mental Faculty. Alongside creating apps for Mac and iPhone to aid learning, he’s also a board member of MacResearch.org, an independent community of scientists using Apple software and hardware for their research.

Drew took a moment to explain why Apple is on the rise in the scientific community, “There has been a trend over the last few years in US Universities for students to buy a MacBook or MacBook Pro. This has given Apple a leg up in higher education.”

Mac’s aren’t just for science students though, as Drew explains, “The rise in student uptake of Macs is gradually leading to more and more interest in Macs as scientific workstations. A Mac can be used to answer email, surf the web, and write scientific articles, but it can equally run high-performance calculations. This is due to the UNIX underpinnings of Mac OS X, and more recently to Apple’s emphasis on performance in Snow Leopard. Technologies like OpenCL and Grand Central are very attractive to scientists who need to crunch numbers.”

Over the coming years, perhaps we’ll see a few scientific breakthroughs made possible by Apple devices, that is if the LHC doesn’t trigger the end of the universe and ultimate destruction of humankind first.

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This is the ultimate roundup of essential apps for your iPhone from 2009.

Best Game: Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid

The sequel to 2008′s Rolando expands on the tilt ‘n’ swipe platforming action of the original. This time round, we’re brought an entire troupe of colorful Rolando characters to protect, alongside a tropical island inhabited by new baddies and a lost Rolando tribe. The artwork is gorgeous, the gameplay is excellent and, thanks to NGMoco’s Plus+ awards system, it’s got bags of replay value too.

Runners-Up Best Game: Gangstar: West Coast Hustle, Doodle Jump

Best Social & Communications App: Tweetie 2

Having formed his own development studio after working at the Cupertino campus, Loren Brichter has established himself as one of the premier App Store developers. Brichter’s skill is feeding his experience at Apple into his apps, Twitter client Tweetie 2 is an impressive showcase of his ability to distill a feature-rich experience into an app with a clear user interface. The app also rolls in a few unexpected new features including video tweeting, profile management and improved location-based searches.

Runners-Up Best Social Communications App: Skype, foursquare

Best Use of Push Notifications: Boxcar

Despite the arrival of push notifications on iPhone earlier this year, it’s still taking many developers time to implement these handy pop-up notifiers in their apps. There’s no push for most Twitter clients, no Facebook push and not even native email push from Apple. Boxcar is the missing push notifier for your favorite apps. The app includes push for Twitter, email, Facebook, RSS and even Growl.

Runners-Up Best Use of Push Notifications: NotifyMe, Ping!

Best News App: Byline

Under the hood, the app updates with the latest news in seconds, syncing happily with Google Reader. Unlike other news readers, while Byline is updating with the latest news, you’re able to keep browsing articles without suffering from any lag. It’s certainly not the most feature-rich news reader, but Byline brings together a clean interface with a robust RSS reader.

Runners-Up Best News App: The Guardian, Newstand

Best Use of Content: NFB Films

The National Film Board of Canada have brought a vast quantity of their video content to the iPhone, all of it wrapped in an easy-to-use free app. There are over a thousand videos available to browse, soak up and send to friends: from documentaries and animations to shorts and trailers for forthcoming releases.

Runners-Up Best Use of Content: McSweeney’s, Panelfly

Best Video App: ReelDirector

Apple may be stalling on bringing iMovie to the iPhone, but that’s nothing to worry about thanks to ReelDirector. With it’s powerful features, the app enables you to edit video footage into your own shorts before sending your latest amateur epic to your friends. In particular, the selection of high quality video transitions really add to the wow effect.

Runners-Up Best Video App: UStream Live Broadcaster, iTimeLapse

Best Photography App: Photoforge

Just like ReelDirector brings video editing to the iPhone, PhotoForge does the same for your photography. First-time users will be drawn to the impressive array of filters on offer, including Blur, Tilt Shift, Simulated HDR and Lomo. Once you’ve got to grips with the filters, there’s also a selection of Photoshop-style tools, including smudge, clone and brushes in a variety of shapes.

Runners-Up Best Photography App: Flickr, QuadCamera

Best Sound App: I Am T-Pain

The year’s most over-used and perhaps abused audio-effect, the auto-tune, has landed on iPhone as Smule’s I Am T-Pain. The app essentially makes even the most cat-screechingly awful singer sound as perfectly tuned as Kanye West. Most importantly, you’ll need absolutely no musical ability to have fun with this brilliant sound toy.

Runners-Up Best Sound App: Mujik, Touch DJ

Best Productivity Tool: NotifyMe

If you’re all about organization and productivity, NotifyMe will keep up-to-date with your task list. Thanks to a sleek user interface and ultra-fast startup time, there’s very little friction between you and the app, meaning you can be entering tasks and then getting back to work in moments. When it’s time to get a task done, the app will send you a push notification, plus there’s even a snooze option (perfect for habitual procrastinators).

Runners-Up Best Productivity Tool: Quickoffice, Pastebot

Best Lifestyle App: Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals

Jamie Oliver brings cooking to the iPhone and true to his style, the entire app is friendly, fun and approachable. There are currently 55 delicious recipes in the app, each one can be whipped up in 20 minutes. To help you along the way, in addition to a range of quick kitchen tutorials recorded by Jamie himself, there’s an interactive shopping list tool and portion calculator.

Runners-Up Best Lifestyle App: Couch to 5K, I Am Safe

Best Utility: Dropbox

The Dropbox service brought off-site backup to the masses. On the desktop, it runs in the background, securing your files and even letting you share them with friends, colleagues and clients with a couple of quick clicks. Although long-awaited, the iPhone app didn’t disappoint. You can browse your Dropbox using the app, plus share files and even save specific content to your iPhone for quick access.

Runners-Up Best Utility: OpenMaps, TimeTuner

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Browsing through this gift guide you’ll find a handpicked selection of some of the most luxurious Apple-related items from across the globe. There’s something for everyone, from a handmade iPod case and chic designer MacBook sleeve for her, to a solar powered iPod dock and OS X-themed photo frame for him.

So it’s time to forget that last minute flurry of festive purchases and set aside your gift hunting woes as you browse the alternative Apple gift guide.

Hard Graft’s 2UNFOLD Laptop Bag ($564)

One of the most luxurious items in the gift guide, each limited edition 2UNFOLD is assembled in Italy, individually handmade and numbered. The bag is immaculately constructed but also fervently utilitarian: with a few simple folds it can be re-configured from backpack to shoulderbag, briefcase to clutch. There’s room for a couple of Monocle back issues alongside, of course, ample space for your 13″, 15″ or even 17″ MacBook.

ReNu’s Solar Powered iPod Dock (from $199)

Unlike other iPod docks, this one makes use of ReNu’s solar module, charging your iPhone or iPod by harnessing the power of the sun. After charging up using this elegant device, you’re also left with that warm smugness that can only come from being environmentally friendly. If you’ve got this item in mind for the Christmas season, potential purchasers should note that the docks are set to ship in February 2010. However, order now and you can take advantage of ReNu’s early supporter price.

Byrd & Belle’s Felt and Leather iPhone Case ($19)

Handmade from soft wool felt, these cases are a classic look ideal for both guys and girls. The soft felt outer and cotton fabric inner will protect your precious iPhone from dust and scratches while the hand-dyed leather strap will make sure it’s always secure inside the case. Byrd & Belle’s iPhone cases are produced in limited runs. If there’s none left in stock it’s worth checking out the other beautiful items available in their store too, all worthy additions to any Apple connoisseur’s collection.

ThinkGeek’s Image.jpg Photo Frame ($24.99)

This clever photo frame mixes digital with analog. Styled after OS X’s Aqua aesthetic, the Image.jpg photo frame is a quirky item that’s sure to draw attention to whatever photo it happens to be housing. As ThinkGeek point out, it’s totally analog, which means no registering and no software updates — just slide a photo in to the wooden frame and you’re good to go.

Mulberry for Apple (from $180)

If there’s a lady in your life who’s looking for a true taste of British style then Mulberry’s new range of Apple bags, cases and clutches may be the perfect gift. Established in 1971, Mulberry has moved with the times ensuring that its items always stay fashion-forward while capturing the original essence of the brand. Highlights of the Mulberry for Apple range include the chic Drew sleeve for the 15″ MacBook and the Bayswater Mini Messenger clutch for iPhone.

iamhuman’s MacBook Covers (from $30)

With MacBook’s becoming a mainstream notebook, it’s becoming increasingly important that we’re able to give our digital companions a twist of individuality. This brand new range from iamhuman offsets the generic stylings of your MacBook with a natural finish. Alongside a range of textile covers, made from materials such as denim, there’s also a premium range created from the finest rosewood, ebony and cork.

Twelve South’s Bookarc ($49.99)

The BookArc is a neat solution for keeping your MacBook in pride of place on your desktop while giving you the clarity of thought that a clutter-free workspace brings. Your MacBook can be placed comfortably and securely in the BookArc. All the ports and plugs are still accessible too. For those looking to spread a little clarity throughout their workspace, the BookArc is available at a discounted rate as a 6-pack.

The Griffin + Threadless Collection ($34.99)

Threadless, purveyor of fine t-shirts, has collaborated with Griffin to create a pair of iPhone cases which simultaneously protect and ooze cool. The first design, entitled Birds of a Feather, comes in white while the second, Clouds within Thunder, is a dazzling hipster yellow. Both designs are available as t-shirts too, presenting the possibility of an excellent combination gift. The cases themselves are snap-on shells, protecting from scratches, dust and, according to Threadless, boringness too.

Instructables’ Sewable iPod Remote (DIY)

Getting your hands dirty with a DIY gift might not immediately sound like the most luxurious prospect but there’s nothing quite as classy as creating your own handmade item. This ten-minute tutorial, available from Instructables, walks you through creating a delightful Hello Kitty iPod remote. You’ll need a basic grasp of electronics and a dash of confidence too but making this yourself means that you can give someone special a genuine one-off piece with a personal twist.

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It’s a cute 8-bit-era game with deliciously retro graphics that clones Pacman with a pie-themed twist. Eat the pies, don’t get caught by the cooks, and try to beat your high-score. The game can be installed for free simply by visiting http://mrgan.com/pieguy/ on your iPhone’s browser.

The surprising thing is that all of this was achieved without the App Store. I’ve never come across an iPhone web app that feels so much like a native app. From the install process, to the icon and graphics, the attention to detail is impressive.

Admittedly, Pie Guy is no Rolando, but nevertheless it’s just the sort of 99 cent app I’d expect to find riding high in the App Store charts. Except it’s not in the App Store — Pie Guy is free from the constraints and anguish of Apple approvals and it’s just as polished and professional as we’d expect, but perhaps rarely find, from a native premium app.

What’s amazing is seeing what has been achieved without the App Store. A great user experience and a great product, all without running natively. Plus, it even works offline, despite being a web app. It’s worth noting though Pie Guy is iPhone 3GS only, the app apparently takes advantage of the significant improvements Apple made to WebKit performance on the device.

Of course, iPhone web apps are nothing new. Way back when, before the glorious mess that is the App Store, Jobs announced that developing on iPhone was effectively as simple as creating a web site.

After a rather disgruntled reaction from the dev community, and much purported rushing on Apple’s part, we ended up with the App Store. The very notion of web apps, on the other hand, seemed to get tossed aside in the free-for-all gold-rush that ensued.

Many months later, attention is beginning to swing back around to the untapped potential of web apps. It may be that developers are looking for a route to take their concepts to users without running the rejection gauntlet that is Apple’s app approval process. However, it’s also likely that developers want to take advantage of those handy WebKit performance improvements on the 3GS.

Earlier this week on Twitter, David Kaneda, a WebKit developer, claimed, “I could write a pretty competitive Tweetie clone, pretty quickly.” Loren Brichter, developer of iPhone Twitter-client Tweetie, promptly responded by saying, “I dare you.” What resulted from the ensuing exchange was a coder battle that may go some way in illustrating the real potential of WebKit, with Kaneda already producing promising results.

In the meantime though, users are caught between a somewhat chaotic App Store and a predominantly lackluster selection of web apps. There’s clearly room for improvement in both arenas and it’ll be interesting to see what developers manage to squeeze out of WebKit in the coming months.

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Another week passing means another batch of fresh apps pop out of the Apple approval oven and land in the App Store. As ever, I’ve selected four of the best from this week’s releases for you to check out.

My top pick for this week is TimeTuner, an absolutely essential clock radio app for just about anyone who uses an alarm clock. Plus, I’ve also been looking at WorkSnug, Harbor 3D and AutoStitch.

TimeTuner ($1.99)

The iPhone Clock app does a valiant job of waking me up, but sometimes even Apple’s own apps need a bit of jazzing up. Enter TimeTuner, a gorgeous alarm clock app with a chic, ever-so-slightly ’80′s style. The app includes a glowing green LED clock, alongside a customizable radio tuner.

Even without the alarm clock functionality, the radio tuner alone is a powerful app, certainly worth more than a couple of bucks. Powered by Radio Time, the tuner portion of the app is much more than regular Internet radio. TimeTuner started by recommending a selection of local Helsinki-based stations, minutes later I’d even tracked down my favorite London station, Resonance FM, and even assigned Dublab FM as one of my presets.

The app is also more than a nice clock radio. It’s location aware, which means it adjusts the time and stations depending on which city you just arrived in. There’s a swish sleep timer that’s only a scroll away. It’s got a fail-safe back-up alarm, plus you can even use your own music library as wake up tunes too.

The app has already found a new home on my iPhone’s main page, it really is that good. If you wake up with an alarm every morning, TimeTuner is an essential app. It’ll temporarily transform your iPhone in to a stylish alarm clock that sounds gorgeous too.

WorkSnug (Free)

I’ve now got two augmented reality apps. One for finding restaurants, movies and other points of interest. The other for looking for local Wikipedia and Wikitude results. WorkSnug does away with hunting for yummy food and engaging film, instead it’s a tool that helps you track down a space to work in the city.

The folks behind the app have apparently visited, rated and reviewed every place that’s listed. You can find out about free Wi-Fi, coffee quality, power outlets and noise levels, among other things. Note that the app is 3GS only and that it only just launched in London. WorkSnug will be coming to San Francisco soon, so in the meantime, nomadic freelancers should grab it anyway, before the app costs a few bucks.

AutoStitch (Free $1.99)

After going all out with a vast selection of iPhone camera apps, I’ve now cut down to the bare essentials: QuadCamera, Flickr and PhotoForge. As great as these apps are though, they can’t make panoramas. AutoStitch, on the other hand, effortlessly jigsaws your snaps together to create excellent panoramic imagery.

The clue is in the name with AutoStitch. With this app, there’s no marking images, laying photos out, or manual labor of any kind. Simply take your photos using your favorite camera app, open Autostitch, choose the photos to be stuck together and the app does the rest.

AutoStitch does some very clever stuff in the background, unsurprising given that is was originally developed at the University of British Columbia, Setting aside the complicated stuff though, the app is essentially an intelligent panorama maker. It takes what is usually a laborious process and, in the spirit of Apple, it just works.

Harbor Havoc 3D ($1.99)

It wouldn’t be right to discuss line drawing games on the iPhone, without first mentioning Flight Control. Spawning an array of wannabe’ clones, Flight Control is a simple and oh-so-satisfying game that finds you guiding a variety of planes to their designated runways.

Harbor Havoc 3D takes the Flight Control concept a step further, cloning and then improving upon the gameplay. It’s your job to guide a variety of different boats to the correct port by drawing a line from the boat to the color-coded port. So far, so familiar.

After level one though, Harbor Havoc 3D mixes things up by throwing in helicopters and helipads. This means that you’ve got to calculate speed and distance on two different plains. It’s a devious yet compelling twist. While the game certainly isn’t 3D, it’s jolly good sea-faring and airborne fun. Much like Flight Control, it takes moments to learn and is just as moreish.

That’s all the picks for this week. What apps have you been using?

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This week I’ve gathered a random assortment of app goodness for you to look at. There’s a great new sound toy, a tool for transforming your tweets into haikus, an app for Apple completists and a bombastic little tanks game.

My top pick for this week is Into Infinity, a new sound toy from the folks at dublab. Plus, I’ve also been looking at Twiku, iCombat Lite and Mactracker.

INTO INFINITY (Free)

The iPhone seems to be just the right platform for interacting with sound, so whenever a new sound toy hits the App Store I’ve just got to take a look. INTO INFINITY, an art and music exhibition presented by dublab and Creative Commons, lets you create your own swirling sound mixes and then tweet them out.

Once you’ve opened the app, orbs will start downloading to your mix space. Each orb is an audio-visual bubble, containing an image and a looped sample. Setting a variety of orbs in orbit immediately creates a musical milieu of sounds and melodies. Once you’ve created your perfect mix, hit the share button and you can send your creation to Twitter in a couple of taps.

The folks behind the app are pretty special too. On one side we have dublab, the label behind the most frequently listened to ‘net radio station (and a sterling podcast too). And then there’s the Japanese contingent of Creative Commons, providing forward-thinking licenses that, in this instance, allow us to legally share all the mixes made within the app.

Apart from being a fresh approach to creating mixes, INTO INFINITY is also worth supporting because of the app’s use of Creative Commons. I’m all for supporting sharing music — I’ve even made use of a stack of Creative Commons-licensed samples for my forthcoming album — so, for me, it’s doubly important to support these kind of initiatives. Grab the app, make some mixes and start sharing now.

Twiku ($1.99)

Right now it seems like there’s not much room left for another Twitter client on iPhone. Recently released Tweetie 2 sits at the top of the stack for me, closely followed by Birdfeed and Echofon. Frankly, at present, it’s seems as if all bases are covered by these three able and aesthetically scrummy apps.

As a new Twitter client though, Twiku presents a genuinely unique and certainly novel feature. As the blurb for Twiku points out, “There are many Twitter clients, but only Twiku can make your tweets; poetry.” And that’s exactly what it does, enabling you to transform your insightful and frequently witty observations — such as that rousing description of your lunch — into a delicate Haiku.

As you tap the tweet out, Twiku reads through your message and helps with the haiku composition process. The app includes an impressive 120 thousand word syllable-counting dictionary, allows saving of drafts and can even bypass Twitter, allowing you to mail your creations to your friends.

Mactracker (Free)

Mactracker provides detailed information on every Apple Macintosh ever manufactured. There’s the standard info, such as the device’s initial price and launch date, but there’s also slightly more obscure data too. For instance, did you know that the Macintosh Performa 400′s maximum RAM speed was 100 ns? Or that the Macintosh Portable featured a Sealed lead-acid battery.

Even if these interesting factoids don’t float your Apple-related boat, the app is worth downloading simply because it includes the Startup Chimes for every Macintosh ever released. That’s a whole lot of Startup Chime. And if your abode is overflowing with vintage Apple goods, this app will prove to be a incredibly valuable source of information.

iCombat Lite (Free)

Without a TV in my dainty little Helsinki apartment, I decided that it was time to give my Nintendo Wii away. It’s now installed underneath a large flat-panel TV at a friend’s home, allowing him access to the joys of golf, bowling and boxing from the comfort of his living room.

It’s not the lounge-based sports activities that I’m missing though, instead I’ve had a hankering for the excellent Wii Play tanks mini-game. Despite the slightly clumsy controls, iCombat Lite recreates the joys of the tanks mini-game. Across 10 levels, you’ll drive a toy tank around various arenas, attempting to explode your enemies using rockets, grenades and mines.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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Of course there are scores of games out for the iPhone, but we’ve been lucky enough to have a few really excellent titles released in the past week or so.

My top pick for this week is 8-bit rhythm-action game Ninja Honda Karate. Plus, I’ve also been looking at Eliminate Pro, Horror Racing and Minima.

Ninja Honda Karate ($2.99)

Amongst the endless generic game clones constantly arriving at the App Store, Ninja Honda Karate is a true breath of fresh air. It takes 8-bit video-games, Japanese culture, chip music and rhythm action gameplay, mashing it all together into a multicolor milieu of awesome.

The game premise just barely makes sense. You play as Karate Alberto Honda, a very Mario-esque but nonetheless cute hero. The aim is to karate chop coins in time to the blippy bloppy beat. Occasionally you’ll tap a mushroom, triggering a psychedelic rocket launch across the screen. At the end of each level, before the scores are tallied, you’ll also deliver a giant mushroom to the princess.

While the premise is gloriously nonsensical and convoluted, the gameplay is plain simple. Coins come out of various tubes on the screen, as they emerge, you simply tap the coin in time with the music. In effect, you end up performing the soundtrack as you play the game. The game certainly isn’t innovative, but that’s the point: it’s a beatific mashup of everything else.

Eliminate Pro (Free)

Developed under the apt codename FPS, this might not be the first first-person shooter to hit the iPhone, but it’s certainly the most polished. Eschewing a proper plot, or even single player mode, Eliminate is all about big guns, futuristic robotic suites and online multiplayer death matches.

The game certainly looks the part. Inside the immaculately designed arenas — all shiny metal-plating and steel walkways — you’ll face competitors in customised power-suits, armed to the teeth with explosive weaponry. Eliminate is, in essence, the pocket-sized lovechild of Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament.

However, a word of warning about the game’s price. It’s free to download and free to play, however your character is given a limited amount of energy per day. When your energy runs out, you’re no longer allowed to compete. You can either wait 24 hours for your energy to re-charge, play a few practice rounds or buy more.

And that’s where some of the more frequent players may take issue. Purchasing energy cells, starting at a dollar a pack, just isn’t good value. It’s a great quality game, certainly worth downloading, but don’t expect to play for free more than a couple of times per day.

Horror Racing ($2.99)

Halloween is over and Horror Racing was released around three weeks ago, so this almost didn’t make the cut. Horror Racing’s saving grace though is that it’s actually a really fun little game. The game brings to mind old-school arcade racers, viewed from above the track you have the perfect vantage point to observe the havoc and wreak devastation.

The game has very little to do with horror, though. The characters are more cute than scary. The circuits are awash with browns and greens, making it look like a muddy mess. The sound helps remedy the situation. The constant RC car buzz as you speed your way around the circuits is perfect.

And then there’s the gameplay itself. The races, a mix of explosions and skill, are downright fun. There are several gameplay modes, including an excellent on-going Championship Mode. As you play through the game, you’ll earn money which can then be spent upgrading your car’s engine, armour or weaponry. All that’s really missing with Horror Racing is a multiplayer online mode.

Minima (99 cents)

Clearly I’ve got a bit of a think for anything wrapped in retro visuals. I suppose I miss the glory days of my old BBC Micro and Commodore Amiga. My final pick for this week takes the retro aesthetic a step further, reducing the graphics to a grid of giant glowing pixels.

Minima takes after its name and keeps the gameplay incredibly minimal. You control a color-changing pixel. The objective is to avoid other pixels by changing color and blending in with them. Further enhancing the game’s retro-vibe, each of the nine levels is styled after a particular classic video-game.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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It’s Halloween and so my top pick for this week is Alive 4-ever, a top-down zombie shooter with plenty of guts and gore to go around. I’ve also been checking out TowerMadness Zero, NASA and WordPress 2.

Alive 4-ever ($1.79)

As it’s Halloween, I thought that at least one of my top picks this week should be themed for the occasion. Despite the clumsy sounding name, Alive 4-Ever is a surprisingly polished top-down shooter. The plot is simple and disgustingly cliché: for whatever reason, a zombie apocalypse happens, you take to the streets to rescue other survivors.

The game takes its inspiration from some of the best zombie titles out there, including Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead. There’s a battalion’s worth of weaponry on offer, including zombie-slaying classics like the AK-47. Plus, if you’re after more firepower you’re able to purchase bigger, stronger, faster guns in the shop after each level.

There’s also a Bluetooth multiplayer mode, allowing you to jump into the action with three other friends. Alongside guns, zombies and survivors, the game throws in experience points too. Completing a stage earns experience points, these precious points go towards upgrading your character. In effect, you’re able to become the ultimate undead-destroying warrior.

TowerMadness Zero (Free)

Earlier this month, our own Alfredo Padilla took a look at 49 different tower defense games for the iPhone. Owing to the epic nature of his list, days later Alfredo distilled the document down into five tower defense games worth owning. All of Alfredo’s picks costs a few bucks though and, in this cash-strapped climate, some of us don’t have much money to burn on iPhone games.

That’s where TowerMadness steps in. The game is available in two monetary flavors. You can purchase it for a couple of bucks, or you can download the Zero edition: a totally unrestricted ad-supported version of the game for free. The ads are unintrusive and targeted in such a way that, for the most part, they feel relevant.

Of course the iPhone doesn’t need another tower defense game. Aside from being free, TowerMadness is a pretty good representation of the best qualities of the genre. All the usual TD staples are there — waves of enemies, upgradable towers, strategic play — but it’s all wrapped up in excellent graphics too.

NASA (Free)

National organizations seem to be slowly switching on to the iPhone. Last year, the BBC decided to create an iPhone-specific version of its excellent iPlayer site. Canada’s National Film Board just released a wonderful app for viewing its content on the go. And now NASA has released its very own app, allowing us earthlings to keep up-to-date with space mission news.

The app is essentially like having a tiny mission-control in the palm of your hand. There’s a listing of all NASA Missions, all of which have awesome names like Mars Express and Mars Odyssey. Tapping through to a mission section provides a mission briefing, photos, videos and an ever-so-slightly ominous countdown timer.

For me, the best part of the app is the video section. Rather than attempt to visualize the various space happenings described in the app, the videos bring these extraordinary happens closer to home. You can observe spacecraft launches, see astronauts float around in zero gravity, listen to people in space describe their experiences, and watch history in the making.

WordPress 2 (Free)

The original WordPress app just wasn’t so hot. With a clunky and convoluted interface that was all function and no form, it immediately felt dated. And, for writers and bloggers alike, it certainly wasn’t the most inspiring environment in which to attempt to pen a post.

The user interface has been updated but still, on first look, the app looks worryingly basic. In fact, it’s disconcertingly similar to its clunky counterpart, WordPress 1. I appreciate that the WordPress app is here to serve a function, but, discounting features, surely it could have been executed with a little more pizazz?

Anyway, looks are not the most important thing with WordPress 2. This version introduces several new features to the mix. There’s automatic saving and restoring of posts. A new comments interface which includes author URL and Gravatars. The app even stores password in the keychain. If you’ve got your own WordPress blog, this is certainly an app worth checking out.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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This week’s picks are all about distractions, I’ve selected four apps to take your mind off everything else. My top pick is NFB Films, the National Film Board of Canada’s official iPhone app. Plus I’ve also been looking at Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals, Rebtel and Mr. Bounce.

NFB Films (Free)

Knowing little about the National Film Board of Canada, I was admittedly drawn to the app for other reasons. You see, I’m a long-time fan of Boards of Canada, a Scottish duo who make crackling, whistful electronic music. The pair are known for borrowing samples — and even their name — from Canada’s NFB.

The app itself has absolutely nothing to do with the musicians. It’s actually a meticulously archived selection of videos plucked from the National Film Board of Canada’s brimming library. There’s both classic and current content, organized into categories such as Classics, Documentaries, Animated Films and Social Issues. It’s worth noting that these aren’t clips — the videos are feature-length presentations.

For such a vast quantity of content, it’s encouraging that the app is focused on usability. Browsing content feels just like Apple’s own iPod app, you can mark videos to be watched later, or send to a friend too. There’s even a button to find out what other nearby users are watching. And all this for free, too. It’s really quite brilliant. It’s a truly wonderful app and the NFB should be commended for allowing us all access to such a fantastic collection.

Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals ($7.99)

Cooking might not be everyone’s idea of fun but, for the non-believers, I can assure you that once you get started it’s a joy. There’s nothing quite like creating a gorgeous looking plate of food and then, in the process of devouring it, discovering that it’s actually quite tasty too.

The turning point for me came after I attempted Jamie Oliver’s recipe for pan-fried tuna steak with fresh asparagus wrapped in pancetta. Before that, the extent of my cooking ability was scrambled egg. Or omelette if I happened to get distracted and forgot to do the scrambling. For me, Jamie made cooking easy and accessible. A pleasure instead of a complex chore.

The iPhone app is essentially a Jamie Oliver cookbook infused with a dollop of multimedia goodness. There are 50 recipes included, all of which can be thrown together in 20 minutes. Each recipe features mouth-watering step-by-step photos and audio clips from Jamie too. There’s even a range of videos presented by Jamie to help you learn essential kitchen skills. A proper pukka package, as the man himself might say.

Rebtel (Free)

News broke a couple of weeks back that AT&T is finally ready to allow Internet voice calls over its wireless network. What this means for iPhone users in the U.S. is that soon you’ll be able to make calls using the Skype app over 3G.

We’re still waiting for the news to manifest itself in an actual Skype app update, furthermore it’s unclear whether carriers across Europe will follow suit with AT&T. This is where VOIP service Rebtel comes in. The company claim that their new app allows super-cheap VOIP calls on the iPhone today.

Except the app doesn’t quite do that. What it actually does is uses a smart workaround to create a clever compromise. When you call a contact using Rebtel, the app automatically generates a local number which your call is routed through. It’s essentially an automated version of the Skype To Go service.

Mr Bounce (99 cents)

The last of my devastatingly distracting picks this week comes in the form of a game. Mr Bounce gives Atari’s oft-cloned Breakout an intriguing physics-based twist. Rather than just controlling the bat, you also control the ball’s altitude.

Initially it feels complicated. Like a physicists re-imagining of a classic game. Changing the altitude effectively changes the bounciness of the ball. There’s also trajectory projection, so you can see the path that the ball will follow. The game is even rendered with an RGB aesthetic and glowing vector geometry.

Once you’ve traversed the first few levels though, the game clicks and you’ll be guided through 25 excellent levels by the catchy blippy bloppy soundtrack. Great fun and great value too as Mr Bounce is currently only 99 cents.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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This week’s picks are all about getting the most out of your iPhone. My top pick is Boxcar, an excellent push notifications app. Plus I’ve also been looking at Google Wave, Layar and Photoshop.com Mobile.

Boxcar (Free)

Push notifications — those handy messages that alert you to stuff going on inside an app — are curiously absent from my favorite iPhone apps. Facebook’s latest update didn’t integrate push, perhaps because of the cost implication. And Tweetie 2, released just a few weeks back, omitted push notifications too.

Boxcar provides for all your push notification needs. The app can grab the latest @replies, DMs and notifications from Facebook, Twitter and even your e-mail account. Receive a message and you’ll get a push notification on your iPhone. Tap the ‘view’ button and you’ll be taken directly to the message in your app of choice, such as Tweetie 2 or Facebook.

The app is free to download with one service included. You can purchase additional services for a one-time fee. Note that, if you’re intending to use Boxcar for Twitter, there’s a trick to setting up your Twitter notifications: make sure to click Twitter’s ‘sign in’ button rather than the iPhone ‘done’ button. Aside from that, you’ll find it’s perfectly smooth sailing.

Google Wave (Web App)

If you’re lucky enough to have access to Google Wave, this is a recommendation that you check out the iPhone app. Otherwise, if you’ve still not received an invite to Google’s new service, consider this a micro-preview.

Google Wave fever hit Twitter earlier this week and I caught the bug. In a desperate bid to get early access to Wave, I wrote and sent two poems to Google, hoping to coax an invite out of them. Despite penning some poetry, I ended up having to track down an invite via my contacts on Twitter.

To install, simply log-in to Google Wave then, using Mobile Safari, save the following address to your Home screen: http://wave.google.com. The Web app launches in ‘app mode’ which means it looks and acts like a real app — no Safari browser buttons or address bar.

From the main page of the Web app you’re able to browse through current waves, create a new wave and initiate a search. Despite feeling a little clunky (it’d probably run much more smoothly as a native app) it’s clear that Google has put a lot of effort into transferring the service to iPhone. For Wave users, this is one Web app worth bookmarking.

Layar (Free)

If you’re still clinging on to your dowdy old iPhone 3G, you might want to look away for a moment. This recommendation is for 3GS owners only. Layar is another augmented reality app, but with a slight twist — it packs in a ton of features and it’s free.

The app certainly isn’t as pretty as Nearest Places, but Layar really does pack in an overwhelming amount of reality augmenting tools and toys. The app fuses your iPhone camera with a browser, allowing you to initiate a search and then see an overlay of local points of interest relating to your search.

The interface is somewhat cluttered though and, because of the amount of options available, it does feel overwhelming the first time you open the app up. However, it’s totally free and certainly worth investing a few minutes getting to grips with the app’s nuances.

Photoshop.com Mobile (Free)

Last week I omitted Photoshop from the App Store Pick. I wanted to focus on fun and games, plus Photoshop.com Mobile just didn’t tickle my fancy. Indeed, it’s nice that Adobe finally brought Photoshop to the iPhone, but it’s nothing more — the app isn’t really Photoshop, it’s simply a few presets and a tool for uploading to Photoshop.com.

In fact, the app seems to be an extension of Adobe’s current strategy. Adobe haven’t necessarily dropped the ball, it’s more like they’re letting it slowly slip from their hands, as if that’s a more graceful way to fail. Their iPhone app is another example of that. It feels stifled and primitive when there’s so much potential for shrinking Photoshop down to palm-size proportions.

Nevertheless, if you’re looking to get your photo-editing fix for free, Photoshop.com Mobile is an excellent tool to download. Before you do though, I’d politely request that you take a quick glance at PhotoForge — it’s a few bucks, sure, but it’s just so useful, easy and fun.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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This week I’ve selected a smattering of fun games. My top pick for this week is Canabalt, plus I’ve also been looking at Nota, Tap Tap Revenge 3 and Real Football 2010.

Canabalt ($2.99)

Earlier this week Adobe announced that the latest version of Flash, version CS5, will support iPhone app development. What this means is that an app can be created using Flash and then effectively rendered out as an iPhone-compatible app file.

Ustwo, who I spoke to earlier this week, prototyped its minimalist designer game .™ in 48 hours using Flash. With CS5, developers will be able to handle prototyping and development without leaving Flash. What this means for us folk who download apps is that we’re on the cusp of another exciting period in iPhone development, especially in terms of gaming.

Which brings us to Canabalt, a game which debuted several weeks ago online in Flash form and has since been ported across the the iPhone. It’s a furious filmic rush as you dash across a futuristic rooftop, jumping buildings, dodging debris and trying to survive for as long as possible. This is one button gaming at its very best, a worthwhile download for all iPhone gamers.

Nota ($2.99)

The iPhone has great potential as an e-learning tool, but so far, it feels like an unexplored area. It’s fair enough I suppose…developers need to make a living too and other app genres, such as games, seem like they have more potential for generating profit. It’s a shame though as there’s so much potential to create something wonderful for learning on the iPhone, something just like Nota.

Nota is a music learning tool. It’s got all the beginners stuff, covering notes and crochets and all that jazz, but it dips into the realms of advanced music theory too. There’s a comprehensive reference section containing music terminology, a music quiz with two difficulty levels and even a four octave piano with a real-time musical stave.

As a musician and producer myself I think it’s important to make learning music more accessible to everyone. The app’s rich selection of tools and toys, combined with a quality finish in terms of the visual design, make this a great investment for professional musicians and students alike.

Tap Tap Revenge 3 (99 cents)

The third iteration of Tap Tap Revenge touched down in the App Store earlier this week, but this time it’s going to cost you. The two previous iterations have been free but with the third game Tapulous is charging 99 cents, a paltry sum for such a feature-packed offering.

The game packs in all the usual TTR staples, such as online play, track downloads and competitions. There’s a refreshed track-listing bundled with it too, containing music from Fall Out Boy and Tiesto, alongside premium track downloads supplied by some seriously impressive names, including Smashing Pumpkins, Killers and Foo Fighters.

If you’re unfamiliar with the game, it can be summed up as Dance Dance Revolution for the iPhone. Instead of dancing with your feet, you tap with your fingers, plus there’s some shaking and tilting thrown in for good measure too. Regardless of whether or not you’ve got rhythm, if you love music, this is the game to download.

Real Soccer 2010 ($3.99)

Yet again, Gameloft has launched another game that’s terribly similar to a couple of other big name console franchises. This time the folks at Gameloft have taken their inspiration from the FIFA soccer franchise and the ISS Pro series.

Aside from the omission of real soccer team names — Manchester United becomes Man Red, for example — Real Soccer 2010 delivers everything you’d expect out of a console soccer game. There are real player names, a massive range of teams, a convincing in-game commentary system, single-player leagues as well as online matches and so much more.

Normally I’d condone this type of uninspired game design, but the thing with Gameloft is that the end product of its barefaced borrowing is always executed with such flair, focus and immense polish. For soccer fans especially, this should be a definite download.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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A few months back, I purchased a pair of Skullcandy Full Metal Jacket earphones. Unfortunately, they’ve stopped working and, what’s worse, the folks at Skullcandy still haven’t replied to any of my emails.

Rather than dwell on the disappointment of my bad Skullcandy buds, I decided to dig out the free headphones I received from Apple with my iPhone 3GS.

My bright white 3GS buds work wonderfully, plus they even feature in-line volume controls and a good quality mic. However the cables, being awkwardly spindly, tend to tangle up at any opportunity.

All the usual anti-tangling techniques involve rolling your wire up tightly — less movement means less potential for tangling. A tight roll can also damage the actual wire in your headphones, though.

I’ve happened upon a three-step technique that solves my tangling issues. There’s nothing to learn, there are no special knots, and there’s absolutely no wrapping, rolling or tying of any sort. It’s the perfect technique for lazy listeners.

It’s worth noting that you could probably use this method with any headphones, but I’ve only tried it using Apple’s iPhone 3GS buds. It’s made possible because of the little clip that’s attached to one of the wires on the 3GS headphones.

Note that I’ve found that one of the buds can get a little tangled occasionally, though most of the time, this trick works almost perfectly and I rarely encounter knots or tangles.

After testing this at home, I searched high and low and haven’t managed to find anyone else sharing this tip online. Please let me know in the comments if it works for you, too.

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