Apple don’t allow gambling in the AppStore so Spin3 got around this by creating one of the slickest Web Apps I’ve seen on the iPhone! Promoting their web apps and upcoming iPhone app (see later) at MWC in Barcelona it is clear that they are a gaming force to be reckoned with. Put simply it looks like Flash but we all know Apple don’t ‘do’ Flash – don’t believe me? Then head over to i.spin3.com on your iPhone and take a flutter for yourself.

Having worked with Ladbrokes and 777mobile.com, among others, they know a thing or two about online gambling and it would be safe to say they know what they’re doing.

If you’re not so keen on the ‘play for real’ games then you will be pleased to know that they will soon be releasing a ‘play for fun’ iPhone app of Blackjack and this is currently in the Apple review process.

Up in App World at MWC (Barcelona) were Endomondo who offer a training app for various sports such as running, walking, cycling, golfing, skiing and many more. The app is available for a range of devices running Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android, iPhone and others. Once registered (for free) on their website you can create new logs recording the type of sport and the date etc. Locations are logged every 10 seconds with either instant upload to the server or you can choose to cache it and send it later – for example if you have a limited data plan.

On the website you can view all your previous tracks as well as historical data to see how (if?) you’ve improved and also see your friends logs. The maps can be easily shared via the likes of Twitter and Facebook. Continue reading »

Eco-this, eco-that – the whole world seems to be eco-mad at the moment! Good job the guys at Jivo in Ireland are on the ball. They have a biodegradable iPhone case called ‘Leaf’ which is injected with ‘Eco Pure Resin’. This allows it to degrade in 1  to 5 years once dumped in landfill. The product has an indefinite shelf life though and the packaging is also 100% biodegradable. I now have one on my phone, and it’s quite nice! It has a rubberised feel to it adding some extra grip and a nice big leaf on the back in case you forget what it’s called…

Jivo also have some eco-headphones, ‘Elements’, which are made from renewable cedar-wood. I’ve not seen (or heard) these in use but we will try to get some for review in the near future.

They also have a range of other, non-eco, cases and accessories so head over to their website and see what they have on offer!

PocketGPSWorld.com announced the release of CamerAlert on the Apple AppStore today. Priced at £0.59 it is available now from the Apple AppStore.

CamerAlert is a Speed and Red Light Camera warning system for iPhones based on the popular PocketGPSWorld.com Speed Camera Database. It provides both audible and visual warnings as you approach a camera. When you are in a section of SPECs or Average Speed Cameras CamerAlert keeps track of your average speed to ensure you are aware of your average speed between each camera. To cut down on the number of “False Alerts” you are only warned for cameras that monitor your direction of travel.

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If you haven’t seen these then basically they comprise of a Powermat (charging station) and some kind of adapted device to allow it to get charged by the Powermat. The adaptation, initially, was an external case for the iPhone or a new backing for some of the Blackberry devices. They have since added a huge range of products to their line so you can charge digital cameras, smart phones, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS, iPod etc. Some of these require the Powercube which contains various adapters to plug into your device (so not really wireless anymore but at least it means less chargers to carry with you!). Continue reading »

AA Best of Britain

Mobile Commerce has partnered with the AA, a UK motoring organisation and travel publisher, to deliver the AA ‘Best of Britain’ iPhone application. The application provides all the information the user needs to find and book a weekend, or week, away in Britain and acts as a guide locating local entertainment and points of interest.

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It can be frustrating at the best of times that you cannot simply copy files to and from your iPhone. The closest we have at present is the DCIM folder which computers treat as a digital camera but you still can’t add files to this from a computer. Third party apps can access this data (which is why apps can easily make use of your photos and videos) but that is about it.

The Beta SDK for iPhone OS 3.2 is currently only for the iPad but there’s nothing to suggest that it won’t be made available to the iPhone either in a 3.2 update or a 4.0 update. OS 3.2 provides a shared storage folder for files to be easily shared between apps and synced to a desktop (much like photos are currently handled but hopefully with write permissions from a desktop!).

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My 5th generation iPod and it’s predecessor the Creative Zen Xtra both have/had a great feature that I used practically every day. This feature, Album Shuffle, was ideal for someone like myself who prefers to listen to a whole album as it was released rather than just a random song. I also have a number of live recordings that need to be played in order. Apple, in their infinite wisdom, decided to disable the shuffle by album feature in both the iPhone and iPod Touch. Did you notice how I say ‘disable’ and not ‘remove’? The feature is present in the .plist file for Settings.app but this is only available to jailbroken phones and those with access to Xcode – which dramatically reduces the number of people it is available to. It also requires connecting to a Mac every time you want to change your shuffle mode from ‘by album’ to ‘by track’ so is no good when you’re on the road.

So, what are the other options? Well, as Apple rightly advertise: ‘There’s an App for That’ although in this case there are 3 that do the job and are currently available in the UK AppStore. In alphabetical order we have: ‘Album Mixer – Shuffle by Album‘, ‘iAlbum Player‘ and ‘Quick Music‘.

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From the makers of the awesome iPhone game Edge, Mobigames has released a new hit called Cross Fingers. A highly polished game as you would expect from this design house. http://www.mobigame.net/

I have been playing this game for about two weeks now an I have to admit it is addictive, and like it’s predecessor I can imagine it’ll be some time before I put it down.

The tasks are quite simple move the blocks into the dark area of the board and make them fit. Some of the puzzles are way too easy and some are much harder, but I was a little disappointed not to have any really fiendish puzzles to get my teeth into. This is offset by an immensely difficult and infuriating Arcade mode but lack of variety here makes for a short-lived experience.

This app is a real finger frenzy with some of the puzzles requiring the use of five fingers on the screen at once which for the older iPod touch is a little too much to handle but on the iPhone the issue is just how dextrous your fingers are. I did really like this app as I like puzzle games and the polish of this app is evident however it lacks depth that some might hope for and can be played to completion in only a few days, but for .59p it is still a bargain and one I wish to hope will have some updated levels soon.

I have been trying to unlock my 3GS for some time now. The first attempt failed completely. I had my confirmation email but then after nearly a month nothing had happened. I phoned O2 and after some time I got through to customer services representative who told me that for some reason my original form had not been sent through to the correct dept. He sorted that out and told me it may be up to 14 days before my phone would be unlocked.

I had a text from O2 which I thought was telling me I had been unlocked. Foolishly I upgraded my iPhone from its YellowSn0w jailbreak/unlock to OS 3.1.2. Then I found that my phone had not been unlocked… I checked the text from O2 again and realised it was not the unlock confirmation…
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