Mobile Software

Free games to play on your iPhone

Not all games have been optimized for the iPhone equally. In fact, I found quite a few clunkers that seemed to exist only to take your cash, advertise dubious services, or bombard you with cut-rate graphics. Shudder. These five games, added just this month, test your strategy and timing while offering above-average graphics.

Don't forget to review the games on CNET Download.com, or serve up your own favorites in the comments below.

501 Darts is a two-player strategy game that pits you against your cutthroat iPhone. The goal is to roll down your points from 400 to zero by lobbing darts where it counts--in the highest point zones possible. Tap the red button once to set your horizon and once again to choose the vertical axis. Then watch the arrows fly. The game is fun, but lacks settings to change the game style, pause or save a game, or even reduce the points if you want a shorter game.

501 Darts is free, supported by a banner ad that doesn't obstruct the graphics, though it certainly won't beautify them either.… Read more

Test Firefox 3 risk-free

Mozilla has released a version of the Firefox 3 beta 1 for PortableApps. For those hardcore Firefox 3 fans, this means that you never have to leave home without it. If you're curious about the beta, though, and you don't want to risk your Firefox 2 settings, the Firefox 3 beta 1 portable gives us all an easy and safe way to play around with the browser as it's in development.

As with the other programs in the PortableApps suite, this FF3 beta contains most if not all the features of the full version of the program. Most noticeable to those who haven't played around with FF3 yet will be the page rendering time. Web sites load much faster than they do in FF2, and it's hard not to appreciate that.

YouMail manages mobile voice mail like e-mail

Note: This product was updated on December 7, 2007 to include descriptions of the full software feature set.

I'll come right out and say it. The biggest problem with my first experience with YouMail may have been my own human error, or bad timing. The biggest problem with my second experience is a controversial capability I tackle later on in the review--so keep reading!

In my original review of the voice mail system that lets you manage voice messages online, I said YouMail had a lot of potential, but wasn't delivering on its promise of catching my voice mail messages. It could be that I skipped a beat, and missed punching the crucial star (*) key when entering YouMail's phone number into the Motorola Razr V3 handset I tested with. Or, offers YouMail's PR representative Derek Brookmeyer, I may have actually done this as the signal cut out, in which case YouMail would not have completed my voice mail forwarding, and Verizon would not have warned me the action was unsuccessful.

So now, the complete review:

YouMail's concept fits snugly into the intersection of two meta trends--personalized greetings (such as Vringo) and online mobile management (such as Dashwire). However, since you program YouMail to take over native voice mail duties, it involves a lengthier time investment up front.… Read more

Opera Mini browser getting ready for Verizon--sort of

Verizon users with high-end phones may soon have another choice for surfing the Web--Opera Mini 4 (on CNET Download.com). Opera Software announced on Thursday compatibility with Qualcomm's BREW platform, on which Verizon and many other carriers worldwide run.

Although Opera Software has ported code for its mobile browser to the BREW platform, you won't be downloading the app tomorrow. It will remain unavailable until BREW carriers certify or license the browser, and decide if it will be made available through the Opera Mini Web site or through the carrier's interface. The only exception? Verizon BlackBerrys, … Read more

First Look: Google Maps for Mobile with My Location

Typing your starting point on a typical cell phone search tool can get tedious, even if you've got a high-end device with a QWERTY keyboard. A GPS-enabled cell phone can wipe those tears away, but since about 85 percent of handsets do not have GPS, most users are out of luck.

Google Maps for Mobile with My Location draws enough information from local cell phone towers to figure out where you are and then uses that information to launch a search. The idea is it saves you search time and manual effort. How well does it work? Get a … Read more

Google apps get faster on iPhone

Google has optimized its applications for the iPhone so they are integrated into a single interface and operate faster.

Now, if you go to Google's home page on your iPhone you'll see the Web search box and links to Gmail, Calendar and Reader up at the top of the screen for quick access.

Google also offers word suggestions as you type to make the query entry faster.

And once you click on links, the pages download faster than before. "When you click it's instantaneous," says Gummi Hafsteinsson, a senior product manager at Google. "Just … Read more

What you want on your mobile phone

Fierce Wireless recently reported that music downloads to cell phones will make up 30 percent of the industry's revenue by 2011, more than doubling today's estimated 13 percent till. That suggests mobile music downloads will grow far more popular than they already are.

This begs the question: Just how important is mobile music to cell phone users? Important enough if iPods, iPhones, and phones are sold primarily for their players. More pointedly, how important are cell phone music downloads to you? Are they more wanted than videos or games, or just as popular? What's your preferred technique … Read more

Simplify Media: Listen to your entire music collection on your iPhone

Simplify Media--a free desktop application for Windows or Mac OS X that lets you stream your digital music or your friends' from iTunes or Winamp (Simplify Media covered previously)--today released a new version of its software that is developed to run on the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch.

Rather than function as a conventional iPhone app, (i.e. a Web app built for Safari), the new program is standalone software that requires a "jailbroken" iPhone to work.

The ability to listen to your entire music collection or your friends' anywhere your iPhone or iPod Touch has … Read more

Video: First Look at 'Guitar Hero Mobile'

Note: Article updated on 4/17/08 with new carrier information.

Guitar Hero Mobile (review) is now widely available on many U.S. carriers and cell phone platforms, though at the time of this taping, it was only offered on Verizon. Cozy up with the cell phone interface and keypad frets in the First Look video below, and don't miss experiencing the thrill of star power and the burning shame of getting booed off the stage.

'Guitar Hero Mobile' rocks your cell phone hard

UPDATED! See below for additional comments after hours and hours of more playing time.

Addicts of Activision's Guitar Hero console game will no longer be confined to fretting their faux guitar in the living room, game room, or basement. Soon they'll be able to play from their mobile phone.

Thanks to Hands-On Mobile, a mobile games company from San Diego, I got to test my rhythm-matching mettle with Guitar Hero Mobile on a slick LG VX9400.

The first thing you'll notice about Guitar Hero Mobile is how familiar it feels; just like the console game's little cousin ought. Being able to seamlessly hop into the popular rock-star universe is no coincidence. Hands-On Mobile worked closely with Activision to import songs, graphics, characters, and gameplay from Guitar Hero editions II and III. Players of the mobile version choose from two characters, Axel Steel or Judy Nails, and at first have a nonchoice of a Les Paul guitar. Stellar guitar skills unlock three Gibsons, vetted by Gibson itself.… Read more