Apparently though there is hope for this. According to some new rumors iLife and iWork may be going partly to “The Cloud” as many like to call it. The Cloud simply refers to the internet as a whole since if you use a web app nothing is really stored on your computer. In my humble opinion I don’t think Apple can go completely to “The Cloud” with it’s software suits. I still love having access to these programs when I don’t have internet access. It presents many problems but many benefits as well. If iLife and iWork became web apps, users of either operating system could access them since they only rely on the web browser. At the same time like I said requiring internet access to use the apps. Then would Apple charge a monthly fee or yearly fee to use them? I prefer to pay once for the apps and get unlimited use from them. 

The biggest advantage people see coming from the apps being web apps could be the inclusion of the iPhone in the scheme. Right now I can’t see how Apple might work the iPhone into the iLife/iWork mix completely, but there are some aspects where access to these apps from the iPhone would be awesome. Let’s talk about two of the big ones I see benefiting from an update.

#1 Access Keynotes/Pages documents from your iPhone.

Imagine being able to plugin your iPhone into a projector and grabbing your Keynote presentation from Keynote, or even just creating a Keynote on your iPhone. I don’t know how it would exactly work out, I’m not a visionary like that, but I’d like to be able to use this! As for Pages what if you forgot to email a paper to the teacher/boss, but luckily you have access to your Pages documents and can export it to Word and send it to your teacher/boss. Just in time so you don’t bomb the paper!  Same thing goes for Numbers documents. The only thing I see being a problem is the pain of the smaller screen and text input.

#2 Watch Your iMovies From Your iPhone

This is where most of the speculation resides in iLife. iPhoto already works pretty well with your iPhone. You can view your galleries, with a MobileMe account of course, from your iPhone. This would be something new though with iMovie. iMovie ‘08 already allows you to easily publish to YouTube which then works on the iPhone. With an update iMovie could offer a more direct route to your movies. I don’t see it allowing you to edit a movie through your iPhone. What a pain that would be, haha, especially when trying to edit HD movies. That wouldn’t go over well in ”The Cloud.” I imagine something similar to iPhoto’s special iPhone gallery. This would of course be included in your MobileMe fees, Apple is always looking for someway to add value to it’s $99 MobileMe package.

Overall, as you can tell, I’m a little lost with what Apple is going to do with it’s software suits iLife and iWork. Especially if they are moving them to “The Cloud.” Tomorrow will bring us answers though. Maybe it’s just that I can’t see any good reason to do it. Perhaps besides giving access to Windows users. I always have friends asking me if there are programs similar to iMovie or Garageband for Windows, I just tell them to get a Mac. I’m having an even harder time imagining any big benefit or relevance of this move to the iPhone. The iPhone makes for one great viewing device, it isnt so much a good editing device. I can’t see myself using my iPhone for editing photos, movies, or keynotes. The screen and input gestures make it a little too slow for my liking, but this is where I turn the conversation to you. If iLife and iWork do have elements go to “The Cloud” what do you see it being?

Apple iPhone News, Reviews, Hacks, and More Copyright 2008 iPhone Nuts. All Rights Reserved.

iLife & iWork ‘09 Made Just For The iPhone

• Share Documents Wirelessly With Your iPhone, It’s Real!
• SugarSync - Killer iPhone Productivity App
• Sync Notes, Photos With Evernote For iPhone
• Best iPhone Business Apps
• Is There A Gigantic Software Update In September?

As I thought to myself today, what would be great to make a video about, it dawned on me that I’ve never reviewed an app called Shazam! Man, if you are an iPhone/iPod Touch owner and you don’t have this app then you are REALLY missing out. So before I even talk about head to the App Store with this LINK, and download it before you read any further. Shazam is a very simple app but such a great one at the same time. Shazam, like it’s name suggests, magically will identify any music that you hear but don’t recognize. Just for instance imagine this situation with me… Your in a coffee shop just hanging out with some friends, and since coffee shops are soo hip they put on some CD you’ve never heard before but immediately dig the sound of it. We all know you are too shy to ask the barista who this artist is. Or perhaps you are trying to play it cool and act like you know who it is. You pull out your iPhone and open up Shazam, hit Tag Now and Shazam will record a clip of sound from the iPhone. It then, with some kind of voodoo, recognizes the song and sends you the song name, artist, album, and some links to listen to the song on YouTube, iTunes Store, Email the link, etc…

It’s seriously one of my favorite ones to play with, and I use it all the time. I’ll be in Old Navy and amidst all of the noise it can hear the music and identify it for me. Which is one of the surprising things about the app. It can hear through the background noise surprisingly well. It doesn’t get it in every situation, but it has a very high success rate. I wish this app or something like it could have been available when I still listened to the radio. I’d always hear a song and wonder who in the heck was singing this song. The DJ’s hardly ever said what they were playing so it was hard to discover music.

Thanks to Shazam though it’s no longer a problem. I’m sure many other people can agree with me on this. Shazam is one of the most popular apps in the app store, and it’s completely free too. This app is so good I’ve even made another video for you all to watch today. Just check it out below, and again click through to watch it in HD!

Thanks for reading, and leave a comment for the new year. Enjoy the video…

Apple iPhone News, Reviews, Hacks, and More Copyright 2008 iPhone Nuts. All Rights Reserved.

Shazam For Your iPhone

• Ambiance: Using Your iPhone to Escape from it All
• iPhone 3G GPS Better Than TomTom?
• Let Your iPhone Put You To Sleep
• Spread The Cheer With Your iPhone
• What The iPhone Needs; iPod Library Ringtones

You may be wondering right now, “Why is it named TouchGrind?” Well it could be a rollerblading game, or it could be a biking game, what about even a power tool game? Those are all close but no cigar. Do you remember perhaps about 8 or more years ago these things called “Tech Decks?”  They were these miniature skateboards that you could pretend to skate on by using your fingers. I know I was probably in 6th or 7th grade when these became very popular, and I had a good collection of probably 8 of these Tech Decks hiding in my desk. At the time we didn’t have the accessories that came out later for Tech Decks, like the parks and stuff. We just used our books or chairs for our skateparks, hah. 

Needless to say, when I first saw this game that was the first thing that came to mind was Tech Decks. I’m a skateboarder myself and love it when I’m able to get out and skate on a beautiful day. I used to get out every single day and skate, but once again responsibility strikes. I get cooped up inside doing work or trying to get good grades in school. Thankfully though TouchGrind let’s me pretend im outside skateboarding, and honestly I’m better in TouchGrind than I am in real life haha.

TouchGrind is very addicting to play. As soon as I went through the tutorials and learned the controls, which is very important, I couldn’t put it down. Funny thing is, even in the middle of typing this up I stopped and played a little bit. Just goes to show, it really is addicting. The graphics in the game are very good and look incredibly real. One of the things they boast about the game is it’s physics engine and I must say it has a good one. The board reacts to your flicks and gravity as if it were a real board. This is definitely what makes the game fun and challenging.

The game’s main menu is reminiscence of any good video game. The choices are similar to any game of this nature, mainly Tony Hawks series of video games. You have a wheel that has options on it as you can see in the picture below. You must rotate the wheel with your finger to choose other options. To the right of it is a description of the current option which helps explain what you are doing the first few times you are in the game. As a beginner I would choose the warm up option first until you get the hang of the game. Then after that move to the jam session. Once you are ready to unlock boards try your luck in a competition and see how high a score you can get. My skill has peaked so far at about 160,000. I’m getting better though because I want to unlock the boards that are at 1,000,000 points. How people get these scores, I have NO IDEA!

Like I said the gameplay is VERY fun, and there isn’t any justice I can do to it unless you get the game yourself and play it. I did try to capture it in a video so do check it out below. If you’ve played this game let me know what your opinion is on it. Now watch the video. Click through to watch it in HD on YouTube.

Apple iPhone News, Reviews, Hacks, and More Copyright 2008 iPhone Nuts. All Rights Reserved.

How To Skateboard On Your iPhone

• Have You Played Cannon Challenge?
• Drive A Jelly Car With The iPhone
• Just For Designers, Color Expert
• What’s Really In Your iPhone?
• How To Use The iPhone As a Flashlight

Apple seemed to be the only reason to have a Macworld in the first place. They used to have two Macworlds a year up until 2004, then IDG decided to do the show once a year. Worse thing is, is that people used to look forward to the keynotes, or Stevenotes, as they were called. Steve Jobs isn’t even going to be there this year to give the last Keynote presentation either. It’s a rough blow to an old tradition, but Apple makes bold moves like this when it needs to. There will be plenty more “Stevenotes” for a few more years to come.

Rumored this year though is something that I personally am not excited for. That’s right, it’s the iPhone Nano rumor and it’s back again. It’s raging across the internet and for some reason it won’t die! I first talked about the iPhone Nano HERE in this article. As you can tell I’m not in favor of an iPhone Nano. For one I just don’t understand the need for an iPhone Nano, and secondly I have a hard time finding where Apple would justify creating an iPhone Nano. Apple is pretty picky about it’s product lines and adding a product like an iPhone Nano would further confuse users and complicate their product line. But you never know with Apple. I don’t see the iPhone Nano being popular, but Apple has released dud products before. Anyone remember the cube, or what about the Newton? 

So what is it that people are saying about the iPhone Nano? Apparently there are already case makers that have the dimensions of the phone and are producing cases for the iPhone Nano. It’s obviously very important to be one of the first, if not the first, to market with a new case for a product like this. Apple never releases these kind if specs ahead of time, but if the product is real Apple contracts out to factories to make the iPhone Nano parts. Therefore they have the specs and that must be how a case maker gets ahold of the dimensions of the iPhone Nano. Still to me it’s up in the air. In my opinion, Apple has other tricks up their sleeve for Macworld and Apple themselves has fabricated the iPhone Nano rumor as a decoy. Hah, or maybe that’s just me wanting other products at Macworld besides an iPhone Nano. Only time will tell…

Thanks gadgetzone.nl for the picture

Now it’s your turn to let me know if you agree with me, or think I am completely wrong. Is the iPhone Nano a good idea, or is it DOA?! Like I said we’ll see when Macworld comes and Phil Schiller starts the keynote. Until then weigh in with your opinion.

Apple iPhone News, Reviews, Hacks, and More Copyright 2008 iPhone Nuts. All Rights Reserved.

Macworld ‘09, Time For The iPhone Nano?

• Who Wants An iPhone Nano?
• iLife & iWork ‘09 Made Just For The iPhone
• Best Buy Set to Become the USA’s First Independent iPhone Retailer
• Walmart Selling Cheapest iPhone Ever for $99!!??
• Apple Puts The iPhone Head to Head With Nintendo DS

One thing I like about the app store is that it’s always evolving. Apple knew it couldn’t possibly foresee all the issues that would arise, and does it’s best at addressing the issues brought to it’s attention. Mainly we’ve all seen the issues us consumers brought fixed very promptly. For that Apple get’s a big high five from me. The first issue with the app store came from certain developers naming their apps in such ways that they would be listed first. Such as adding an underscore _, or number 1, to the beginning of your app. This would automatically list you high up in the store. Apple quickly took care of that.

Soon after there were complaints coming from developers about the policy, and how random it seemed that Apple would deny certain apps, but allow others that had the same functionality. Such was the case with a certain podcasting app. It would let you download the popular podcast Diggnation over the air and onto your phone. But when one app was denied existence the developer spoke out on this injustice. His app was denied because it provided functionality that the iPhone already had. That was the ability to download podcasts straight to your iPhone. I believe shortly after this was all fixed and everyone went home happy.

Secondly there was the issue of developers wanting to send promo versions of apps to people. The only way that existed at that time was for the developer to pony up the money and send a iTunes credit for the price of the app. He’d have to send this to bloggers and to the press if he wanted his app reviewed. Just imagine if your app was priced at 9.99 and you had to send it to atleast 200 bloggers and 300 journalist. Pretty costly just after one version of the app, beware of publishing new version. Again Apple took care of this and now allows developers to send promo codes to bloggers and the such. Something I’m still waiting on you developers to do! Haha, wink wink say no more.

Finally we arrive at today’s biggest issue developers were having with the app store. It’s quite the ironic story as well, it goes like this. Apple was starting more and more to deny apps that provided little or no functionality in ways that Apple deemed fit. The poster child of this case is an app called iFart. Apparently at first Apple was not allowing any app like this in their pretentious app store. Nobody would want to buy an app that turns your iPhone into a fart machine. Apparently though, Apple was WRONG! iFart has been, and currently is, the top paid app in the app store. 

This just goes to show that Apple is listening to developers and to us, it’s loyal fans. When we start to scream and kick about something we want, it seems Apple will revise itself and give it to us. Now, are there any other issues that you see with the app store that Apple hasn’t fixed yet? Voice your opinion here and sooner than you know it Apple will fix the issue.

BONUS: App Graveyard

Apple iPhone News, Reviews, Hacks, and More Copyright 2008 iPhone Nuts. All Rights Reserved.

App Store Bringing Dead Apps Back To Life?

• Attn: Developers Can Now Send Promo Copies Of Apps
• Firmware 2.0.1, Placebo Or Real?
• Apple Launches Beta Testing for App Store Developers
• Apple’s Double Standard App Store?
• iPhone 3G GPS Better Than TomTom?

Now, here is another entry in my “mini-series” that I like to call What The iPhone Needs. It’s just a little post where I can rant about something I think the iPhone should have. They usually come from me using my iPhone and going, “Hey, that would be great if they could add that!” And that’s exactly what I did today. I could almost say my idea today came from a dream I had the night before. I was just waking up this morning, in a sort of conscious but not quite yet state. We’ve all had those right? I often find myself going through a whole day like that. Perhaps even a week, just depends on how busy it is.

None the less, as my alarm was going off on my iPhone, I have figured out you can hit the top button and it is just like hitting the snooze button. That’s a little tip in itself if you didn’t know that yet, but what came to my mind next was what if you could create Apple Scripts, but for the iPhone? I guess they would be called iPhone Scripts then right? The iPhone is powerful but what if it we were able to add even more power with scripts? Just as an example this was the first thing that came to my mind in my weird state between dreaming and reality. I wanted to be able to create a key combination and send a pre made text message to someone to wake them up. Imagine I was able to create a folder in my text messages and assign them to certain people. Once that’s done I could then create a key combo, such as press the sleep/button twice then press the home button to send that text message. That could also apply to sending emails, press and hold the home button while pressing the volume up three times. Even better yet, let’s add custom gestures to this. That could be activated by holding the home button, or any button you’d like… Swipe with three fingers to the left to do this. Tap the rhythm to funky town to dial this person. Craaaazzzy, I know! Sort of like this picture below for Japanese handwriting recognition.

I know at the moment this idea seems nonsensical, and may not even be worth the thought. But can anyone make more sense of this idea for me? Can you imagine anymore ways to use scripts on the iPhone. I know someone out there has the brains for this. I just can’t help but think of all of the Scripts out there for iTunes that add to it’s functionality, and dream that someday that idea could be added to the iPhone. What are your thoughts on that idea?

Apple iPhone News, Reviews, Hacks, and More Copyright 2008 iPhone Nuts. All Rights Reserved.

What The iPhone Needs; iPhone Scripts, Key Combos, & Custom Gestures

• What The iPhone Needs; Mass SMS Deletion
• Attn: Developers Can Now Send Promo Copies Of Apps
• What The iPhone Needs; Voicemail Status
• Push Support Got Lost, But Where?
• The New “Copy & Paste” In iPhone 2.2

iPhone etiquette needs to happen, and we need to set some guidelines NOW! I know we’ve experienced annoyance coming from an iPhone owner. It actually probably was me, sorry about that guys. Thankfully though, I’ve forged out on my own to set three quick and simple guidlines to make sure you and I don’t over use your iPhone and annoy anyone around you. Us iPhone owners can sit smug knowing our phone rules them all, while everyone else grovels with their Blackberries and Windows Mobile phones, YUCK!

Here are my quick three major annoyances with iPhone owners…

App Wars

This one is pretty self explanatory. You with your iPhone and all those mighty apps you emptied your savings account on happen upon another iPhone user and thus starts the app war. “Hey man you have an iPhone? Totally sweet, check out these apps I’ve got for mine. Do you have that one? Oh you don’t, what a loser man. You should definitely get it. Yeah, it cost $999 so what. This iPhone is worth it.” You know one of those guys don’t you? Perhaps you’ve even had a woman start and app war with you, I don’t know. These iPhone users have become rabid with their app collections. Personally, I just collect most of the free, nerdy ones… Like the recipe book, haha. Take that Martha.

Internet Speed Races

This quirk involves more than just iPhone users. Since the iPhone went 3G this summer I’ve always got people either without an iPhone, with an iPhone, or with another “Smart Phone” that want to race our internet speeds. Sometimes I just feel like cheating and leaving my iPhone on Wi-fi because they are so dumb. For example…“Oh, dude let’s see who’s phone downloads faster. My Blackberry curve vs. your iPhone. Ready,set, GO!!” I usually win because I’m cheating on Wi-fi, but that quickly shuts up his/her Blackberry braggin’ mouth. It may even be worth it to just automatically let them win without going through the pain of the Speed drag race. Ugh, it’s to hard to explain how much better my iPhone is than yours…

I Can Find That, Hold On

Last but not least this is the type of iPhone owner that means well, but just overuses the fact that he has an iPhone. I’m very guilty of this and it’s hard not to be caught red handed from this, but the iPhone is really that valuable. For instance say you and your lady want to find movie times. She might actually call the movie theater, but no, that’s not good enough for you. You whip out the iPhone and launch the movie theater finder app. It locates you and finds the closest theater, it even offers to buy your tickets for you. All while your lady is sitting through the automated voice on the other line. Score one for the iPhone! In reality though you might of just scored one for the dog house. There are times when it’s appropriate to use your iPhone for all the good it does. Then there are others when you should just keep that thing tucked in your pocket…Don’t Google everything for everyone when ever they need it.

With all of that off of my chest, what do you think? What are some of your pet peeves of iPhone owners? I know there are tons of other ways to learn the proper etiquette for our iPhones, please let me know so we can all be informed. Thanks!

Apple iPhone News, Reviews, Hacks, and More Copyright 2008 iPhone Nuts. All Rights Reserved.

iPhone Etiquette

• The iPhone In Highschool & College vs. Business
• Apple iPhone Pwning Blackberry
• Have You Seen Speed?! On Your iPhone?
• Off To The Races, EDGE vs. 3G
• iLife & iWork ‘09 Made Just For The iPhone

Google is the most visited webpage in the whole existence of the internet. Mainly because of it’s search engine domination and that it’s everywhere you go. Google this, Google that, it is indeed it’s own verb. Google is even so popular it’s become part of the iPhone. Google has been what they call “in bed” with Apple even before the iPhone was invented. Google is the default search bar in Safari, and you can easily add Gmail accounts in Apple’s mail program. It only made sense that they provide some of their services for the iPhone. When the iPhone debuted it had default Google search in Safari, of course, and it also had Google Maps right on the phone (One of my favorite things about the iPhone, EVER!) And now that the SDK has been out for some time and the new app store is available Google has gone even further and created their own app.

This app at first may seem semi useless as it does Google web searches just as well as Safari, but the difference is that this searches not only the web but can also search your phone. If you want to find a contact you can type their name. If you are in a unfamiliar city and want to eat, you can find directions to a place to eat, etc… But now Google has added a major improvement that we haven’t really heard much about. It’s the voice search capabilities. That’s right, instead of typing into the Google app, now just hold the iPhone up to your ear and say what you want to search for. In my own tests, in this video and others, the app got my guesses right about half of the time. But that is because most of the time I asked for obscure search words, just to mess with the app. If you say things such as, “iPhone,” or  ”Where is the closest diner?” This app works wonders.

Probably my favorite part of the voice search is the ability to search for things like drinks or food close by. Since when you launch the app it does ask to locate you, and you may wonder why would it do that. But it’s for things like searching for nearby food or asking for directions. It’s genius! Of course with all things new it is a little shaky at first. But as their voice search database grows the app will become very precise and have a low error rate. Atleast I’m hoping so, I want to use the voice search features a lot!

Now, what are you waiting for? If you don’t have the newest version of Google’s app with voice search download it HERE! What are you thoughts, first impressions?

Apple iPhone News, Reviews, Hacks, and More Copyright 2008 iPhone Nuts. All Rights Reserved.

Google’s Voice Search App

• Find Your Meal With The iPhone
• The New “Copy & Paste” In iPhone 2.2
• iPhone 3G GPS Better Than TomTom?
• PwnageTool 2.0.2 has been Released - Download it Here
• Improve Battery Life - 3 iPhone Battery Extensions Reviewed

So here is what I brought you this far for. It’s a crazy set of coasters, but get this. They are made to look just like the iPhone icons on the homescreen. Check out the picture below… The original icons are all there, SMS, iCal, Photos & Camera. YouTube, Stocks, Maps, Weather, etc… Sadly the Calculator icon has changed since they made these, but that’s ok. The old calculator icon makes it even more old school. Just imagine now if they could make coasters for all of our favorite apps that have been released. What was that news story that came out not too long ago about Apple having over 100,000 apps available! INSANE

Is that not one of the sweetest things you’ve ever seen? I’d actually be proud to have this coaster set in a room in my (future) house, haha. I guess that doesn’t say much about me since I’m currently using a Geico caveman coaster for my dorm room. These icon coasters were created by a design firm that calls themselves Meninos. Apparently they hail from Brazil, and if you check out their products they make some awesome stuff. Especially those external harddrives, those are pretty sick. Make sure you check those out if you are into this sort of thing. 

Sadly these coasters are a touch expensive, especially for me, the cliche starving college kid. I barely make enough money to survive week to week. Luckily I’m floating by on scholarships and small loans, haha. Needless to say, $60 isn’t terribly bad if you’ve got the money to spend. It seems worth it to me, but I know I shouldn’t spend $60 on coasters… It’s sad being broke…

Anyway, is this cool or not cool? I just wanted to try posting something different. I want to keep it fresh here, and not just have an endless website with app reviews. I’m hoping you all agree too, so just let me know your opinion. Trust me, it always helps if you leave comments and let me know what I could do to make these articles better. Thanks, as always, for coming by.

Apple iPhone News, Reviews, Hacks, and More Copyright 2008 iPhone Nuts. All Rights Reserved.

Coasters That Look Like iPhone Icons

• Apple’s Double Standard App Store?
• Amazon’s App Reviewed
• What is AppShopper.com?
• Need A Free iPhone? Enroll at Abilene
• Let Your iPhone Put You To Sleep

1. The iPhone is Sure Powerful Enough.

The iPhone is definitely a beast compared to the DS, just check out these specs. The processor smokes the DS, and the screen is much higher in resolution. Something that is very important to gamers that want the best experience possible. Let’s not forget about Multi-Touch either. The iPhone’s touch screen runs circles around the DS and it’s “retro” stylus. Pleeeeease Nintendo, get with it… Here are those respective specs

Nintendo DS

Processor: two ARM CPUs (67MHz and 33MHz)

Screen: two 256×192 pixel screens

iPhone

Processor: ARM CPU @ 620MHz

Screen: 480×320 pixels

Credit
http://www.theiphoneblog.com

2. The App Store, DUH

To say it bluntly, the App Store is HUGE. To buy games for the DS you must hop in the car, or take public transit, and head to the nearest Wal-Mart and buy yourself the new version of Monkey Ball. If you had the iPhone you could skip all of that and simply connect to the App Store and get your game for $9.99 0n average. No more waiting in line at midnight for your favorite game, haha. Just use the amazing App Store. This also rings true for game developers, no money wasted on packaging and advertising, etc… With the iPhone’s superior specs, Multi-Touch interface, great storage, accelerometer, always on connection, etc… this is shaping up to be a beast of a gaming device.

So far the developers haven’t completely grasped the concept of creating games specially designed for the interface that the iPhone has. Everyone has been so accustomed to the traditional controllers that it’s a whole new thing to wrap their heads around and create controls. Just for instance in a game like Super Monkey Ball, instead of using a D pad to control the ball you now can tilt the iPhone to move the monkey ball.

The iPhone not only changed the landscape of the phone industry, but now Apple is aiming it towards the gaming industry. The question is though if the iPhone can compete in so many industries. Will the iPhone really be the all in one device we are all looking for? What do you think, can Apple pull this off? Leave me your thoughts! Thanks for reading!

Apple iPhone News, Reviews, Hacks, and More Copyright 2008 iPhone Nuts. All Rights Reserved.

Apple Puts The iPhone Head to Head With Nintendo DS

• Drive A Jelly Car With The iPhone
• iPhone 3G Sucks! - A Nut’s First Impression
• Tris: Addictive iPhone Gaming at its Best… and it’s FREE!
• The New iPhone Killer, Yeah Right!
• Have You Played Cannon Challenge?