iPhone

Cocktails recipes may be the sustaining purpose and anchor for the bartending application Party Pro, but the drinks library isn't the only character in the cast. An international unit converter, basic bartending tips, and a blood alcohol calculator make up the other three-fourths of the application, along with those recipes for the Lady Love Fizz and the Bloody Brain.

While the library is excellent, the application's organization could make the recipes more readily accessible. Instead, it favors a list-like architecture. The search function would be better were it predictive, and the application's bar locator misses an opportunity … Read more

With less than a month to go before Macworld, the rumors have started, and they sound familiar.

The possibility of an iPhone Nano has once again been served up for mass consumption by the Apple rumor mill, this time courtesy of a Web site called iDealsChina. The site claims that Apple accessory maker XSKN has been developing a case for a new version of the iPhone that is shorter and thicker than the iPhone 3G and that will be announced at Macworld in January.

MacRumors.com, which attempts to handicap the Apple rumor industry, notes that iDealsChina "has a … Read more

It's been a while since Palm has caused a stir, but the company certainly has people talking with its planned January 8 CES event. As CNET News reporter Tom Krazit reported last week, it's expected that Palm will preview its new operating system, codenamed Nova, at CES 2009, and the rumors look to be true based on new information from a Business Week article.

According to Peter Burrows at Business Week, Palm will unveil Nova and the first of a family of products in Vegas, but it's not looking to go after the iPhone or BlackBerry. Instead, … Read more

It's very cool that Microsoft recognized the obvious: the iPhone, not Windows Mobile, is the leading mobile platform, and hence is the right place to release its Seadragon Mobile application.

Unfortunately, Microsoft didn't take the time to ensure it released a stable version of the application. As revealed on support forums on Sunday, Seadragon Mobile is broken. As The Register reports, this isn't the first time that the Microsoft Live Labs team has released a broken application.

Even so, I'm encouraged that Microsoft is interacting with competing platforms at all. It's a sign of a … Read more

Kace Networks on Monday unveiled systems management applications for the iPhone, designed to give the popular smartphone a buttoned-down look for corporate clients.

The iPhone Management Module aims to give corporate customers the ability to centrally deploy, manage, and track their iPhones through a single integrated appliance.

The announcement by Kace, a systems management appliance company, comes as Apple is making a greater push to get its iPhone into the hands of Corporate America, with such companies as Genentech and Walt Disney adopting them for official use.

"As the iPhone continues to be the go-to smartphone for businesses, it'… Read more

Zannel, a media-rich microblogging service that launched in late 2007, has a new and free iPhone application that puts many of its features on to the popular portable device.

Called CityWatch, the app takes a similar approach to Loopt and Whrrl in allowing you to see and interact with what's going on in your general proximity. It does this by taking each item that's been posted to Zannel and overlaying it onto a map using its geo tag. This also includes items from other networks, like Twitter, Flickr, and eventually any other service that has an open API.… Read more

Is it possible some at Microsoft find the iPhone a more attractive platform than the software giant's own Windows Mobile?

Engineers in the company's Live Labs have released the company's first application for Apple's popular smartphone--even before making it available on Microsoft's own mobile platform. Seadragon Mobile, which was added to Apple's App Store on Saturday, is a free image-browsing app that allows users to quickly "deep zoom" images while online and is intended to demonstrate what is possible with a mobile platform.

Seadragon is the backbone for Microsoft's Photosynth, which … Read more

What is it about the holiday season that makes retailers emit polls like burps at the company party?

I have just been assaulted by a profoundly scientific effort, stimulated by cashback.co.uk, the "site that pays you to shop." (which seems less of a point of difference now than in other holiday seasons, as every retailer seems only too delighted to pay you to shop this year.)

I have not been able to find out just who the respondents were, but can only assume they were among the folks who earn $10 every time they introduce a … Read more

Apple on Thursday night rolled out a new look to its App Store directory, putting more of an emphasis on both the top paid and free applications within each category's listing pages. These lists now appear on the left and right sides of the results, giving users a chance to see what's currently the cream of the crop.

While this information has been available on the iPhone version of the App Store since the 2.2 firmware update, users searching for new applications in iTunes have had a less exploratory experience.

According to a developer who had contacted AppleInsider … Read more