after-the-break « iphone blog

March 18, 2010

TiPb Give-Away: Gracie Gear workout clothes for women with iPhone holder built in!

Filed under: tipb — Tags: after-the-break, giveaway, gracie-gear, handsfree, ibm, insight-on-our, iphone, one-compartment, shirts-choice, tipb, wonderful-three — @ 4:43 pm

Here we have the Gracie Gear sports tops with handy PowerPouch for your iPhones or iPods for about $25.00 to $50.00. Gracie calls it the handsfree experience and yes, it is liberating. These tops are great for anyone who enjoys getting fit and for those who simply want to look like they are getting fit (I’m eating chocolate as I write this!).

Stay with us till after the break to find out more about Gracie Gear and how to enter the giveaway !

Design

The tops are made of a very strong and comfortable polyester spandex blend. They give your body lots of mobility without sacrificing support where you need it. The Racer back allows you to move around with ease and comfort. The high necked front on the tops also give you much more coverage.

iPhone PowerPouch

The PowerPouch is a wonderful three pocket design with a zipper enclosure so that everything stays in place. It has a small hole in the top side for your headphone wire, which allows the zipper to stay securely closed as you listen to the latest TiPB Live podcast. You can carry your keys and money in one compartment and not worry that your iPhone will be damaged or — gasp! — fall out. The loop on your shoulder strap keeps your earphone wire neatly in place as you train.

The Giveaway

This one is for the ladies only. (Sorry guys, you’ve had plenty of turns!) Gracie Gear [Gracie Gear Shop Link] has graciously offered to give away five (5) shirts to our TiPB readers. Just choose one of the three shirts displayed in the gallery (Black bra top, Yellow bra top, or Blue halter top) and leave a reply on our TiPb Forums thread telling us which you want, and telling Gracie what you think of their gear (don’t be shy to make suggestions!)

TiPb Give-Away: Gracie Gear workout clothes for women with iPhone holder built in! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Comments (0)

March 15, 2010

Monday Fun Video: Typing 83 Words a Minute on an iPhone

Filed under: tipb — Tags: after-the, after-the-break, again-proving, dieter-bohn, feed, feel-free, iphone, looks-stellar, phone, revealed-at-mix, typing-skills, video, words, words-correct, words-per — @ 11:19 am

Once again proving that iPhone users don’t need no stinkin’ hardware keyboards, this YouTube’r claims 83 words a minute on iTextSpeed [$0.99 - iTunes link] which would be impressive on a full-sized desktop, never mind an iPhone.

And if you’ve got mad iPhone typing skills, feel free to drop your numbers in the comments as well! (I got 22 words correct, 0 incorrect, 43 words per minute).

Video after the break!

[148apps via Gizmodo]

YouTube link

Monday Fun Video: Typing 83 Words a Minute on an iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Comments (0)

Facebook and MySpace Social Gaming Scams Moving to iPhone?

Filed under: tipb — Tags: a-game-offers, a-mobile-screen, after-the-break, again-proving, dieter-bohn, make-the-terms, mobile, revealed-at-mix, sms, social, typing-skills, words, words-correct, words-per — @ 11:19 am

According to TechCrunch, some of the worst scams in social gaming are moving from Facebook and MySpace to the iPhone:

Users are offered virtual currency in exchange for answering a quiz or some other seemingly harmless offer. But once they click through and awswer the quiz questions they’re told they need to enter their mobile phone number to get quiz results. Often there is fine print outlining the charges. But the already tiny print is completely unreadable on a mobile screen, making that disclosure meaningless even when it appears.

SMS subscription scams are among the most lucrative offers to game publishers because users get a recurring fee of $10 – $25 per month until they are able to terminate the subscription. Many users never notice them, and those that do usually have a lot of trouble getting them shut off.

TechCrunch has reached out to the companies they claim are powering the scams, including “OfferPal Media and SuperRewards and now Google” and has received reassurances from some of them that they are working towards guidelines and policies — not to get rid of the practice but to make the terms clearer for end users. Apparently, there’s so much money involved in this type of “advertising” that it’s not going anywhere soon, it just might get less “scammy”.

Read the articles linked above for more information on how it works and who the players are, but bottom line remember — if something sounds too good to be true, it is. If a game offers you”free” in-game currency (or whatever they use to incentive play) there’s always a cost. Don’t give out your mobile number, and don’t download apps unless you trust them completely.

If you’ve had any experiences with social gaming scams, or any type of in-app scams, let us know!

Facebook and MySpace Social Gaming Scams Moving to iPhone? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Comments (0)

March 13, 2010

TomTom updated to 1.3 now with Google Local Search!

Filed under: tipb — Tags: after-the-break, available-today, google-local, img-width, latest, latest-maps, most, music-fading, search, such-as-button — @ 2:29 pm

The AT&T Navigator app and TomTom are my two favorite GPS solutions; TomTom just took the lead with this most recent update.

One of the benefits of the AT&T Navigator app was the ability to search real-time and navigate to a location via the web. Now, TomTom is bringing us that functionality via Google Local Search, and more! Here is a list of changes in the most rescent update, 1.3:

Real-Time traffic- The best traffic information available today (an additional $19.99)
Google Local Search- Access the latest listings from within TomTom
The Latest Maps- The most accurate map
Music Fading- Instead of music pausing, it fades when navigation is spoken
Automatic Day/Night Mode- TomTom now calculates the sunrise and sunset and changes the map accordingly
Add Locations- From other apps and websites

There are some other nuances too such as button placement and how the iPod controls work, but they are definitely for the better. It is disappointing that the traffic component costs an additional $19.99, but to me the Google Search alone is worth this update. Check out some pics after the break!

TomTom updated to 1.3 now with Google Local Search! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Comments (0)

March 11, 2010

iMaxi Maxi Pad iPad Case from Etsy

Filed under: tipb — Tags: after-the-break, iphone, jokes, like-the-ipad, listings, selling-these, shields-it-from, snugly-around, white-or-lived — @ 9:01 pm

You knew with a name like the iPad, the jokes they would follow but Etsy takes it to a new level.

They have developed a real, usable case which is in the form of a feminine napkin — and yes it has wings. Etsy is selling these “cases” for $30.00 US for the month of March as a promotion.

Here is how Etsy describes the case on their website:

>With its durable vinyl outer layer and plush, quilted-cotton sleeve, the iMaxi helps keep your iPad clean and dry. Plus, the iMaxi’s Velcro-latched, advanced wing design wraps snugly around your device, so your iPad always stays where it should. Best of all, it shields it from all those unsightly and embarrassing data leaks that would make any motherboard worry!

>Each handmade iMaxi can be easily customized to fit your active lifestyle. Please view other listings for different color options including our “lived in” red thread interior. If you don’t see a color you like, just ask!

So if I bought one for Rene, which should I get, white or lived in ?

A couple more pics after the break!

iMaxi Maxi Pad iPad Case from Etsy is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Comments (0)

TiPb Apps 4.4 — Business Card Reader for iPhone

Filed under: tipb — Tags: a-talk-with, after-the-break, alexander, break, business, business-card, busy-editing, care-at-shape, customer-care, feed, iphone, other, our-second, reader, shape-services — @ 2:45 pm

While I’m busy editing all the GDC 2010 gaming video we just shot, we’re putting up our second to last look at Macworld 2010. Here Rene and Leanna talk with Alexander Ostroysky, Customer Care at Shape Services about Business Card Reader for iPhone, IM+, and their other apps.

Watch along after the break, and let us know what you think!

YouTube Link

TiPb Apps 4.4 — Business Card Reader for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Comments (0)

March 10, 2010

TiPb Apps 4.3: Street Fighter IV for iPhone (GDC 2010)

Filed under: tipb — Tags: after-the-break, controls, experience, game, ipad, pull-off-what, shot-2010-03-10, street-fighter, tipb — @ 1:23 pm

Live from GDC 2010 Rene talks to Tezuka-san, Street Fighter IV [$9.99 - iTunes link] iPhone producer for Capcom (via translator) about making Street Fighter for the iPhone and iPod touch, getting the controls right, and whether or not we might see Street Fighter for the iPad.

Tezuka-san points out how Capcom decided to make the controls very customizable, allowing users to choose whether they want the button low down, in the middle, or high up, and set the level of transparency. This means you can hold the iPhone or iPod touch anyway you like and set up the controls just the way you like.

I had a chance to play it just before release and while I got my butt kicked in multiplayer, the game looked gorgeous and handled very well. I could pull off what few moves I remembered from my childhood in the arcade, and I could resort to button (er… screen) mashing when all else failed. (Yes, just like my childhood in the arcade.)

For the iPad, they’re going to sit down and figure out how the controls work and what the experience is like on that screen with that form factor. If it makes sense, they’ll do it. If not, there are other Capcom games that certainly might. It’s all about the quality of the end product for them.

Watch along after the break!

YouTube link

TiPb Apps 4.3: Street Fighter IV for iPhone (GDC 2010) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Comments (0)

March 8, 2010

Zombie Castle Defender ‘ZombieSmash!’ Coming to iPhone and iPod touch

Filed under: tipb — Tags: a-few-new, after-the-break, and-excessive, break, cartoon-gore-, castle-defender, check-out-the, love-the-soon, month, ragdoll-physics, similar-fashion, touch-arcade, zombie, zombie-castle — @ 5:27 pm

zombiesmash!

Whether you are a fan of the Castle Defender genre or Zombies, you are sure to love the soon to be released ZombieSmash! for iPhone and iPod touch.

In similar fashion to the very popular Plants vs Zombies, ZombieSmash! adds a few new tricks to Castle Defender games with the addition of some fancy ragdoll physics and excessive amounts of cartoon gore. Look for ZombieSmash! to drop in the App Store sometime this month for $1.99.

Check out the official trailer after the break!

[Via Touch Arcade]

Zombie Castle Defender ‘ZombieSmash!’ Coming to iPhone and iPod touch is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Comments (0)

March 5, 2010

Zen Bound 2 Coming To ALL The iDevices

Filed under: 148apps — Tags: 148apps, a-sequel-and, after-the-break, around-the-ipad, from-the-first, ghost-monkey, iphone, launches-will, never-expected, original, secret-exit, take-advantage, upcoming — @ 9:19 pm

ZB2_08_Comparison Who would’ve guessed that one of the biggest App Store hits thus far would involve wrapping string around a wooden object? Apparently the success of the original Zen Bound even took developers by surprise. “We never expected the calm gameplay of wrapping wooden statues with rope to find such a great audience on the iPhone, much less win multiple awards over the year.”

Fortunately for us, the team over at Secret Exit announced Zen Bound 2 today, and it is specifically being tweaked to take advantage of the iPad’s graphic and size advantages. On top of that, Secret Exit has said that Zen Bound 2 “is both a sequel and a revision to the original, with more music from Ghost Monkey, new levels and new kinds of gameplay, but Zen Bound 2 also includes the original soundtrack and upgraded versions of all levels from the first game.”

Secret Exit expects Zen Bound 2 to launch right around the iPad launch date… my guess is that the launches will coincide. There’s no video trailer yet, but there are a ton of screenshots after the break. Enjoy!

See more here:
Zen Bound 2 Coming To ALL The iDevices

Comments (0)

March 3, 2010

TiPb Give Away: Slide-a-ma-jig Game for Kids

Filed under: tipb — Tags: a-game-for, after-the-break, apple store, application, effects-as-well, enter-the-give, game, gossip, imdb, iphone, slide-a-ma-jig — @ 2:07 pm

Slide-a-ma-jig [$0.99 - iTunes Link] is a game for the newest of iPhone users — the kids. You can slide your finger on the screen to switch between 30 different creature body parts as well as tap a button for different backgrounds. Give the iPhone a shake and you will see a random creature appear. There are sound effects as well to go with your new creatures.

To find out more about the application and how to enter the give-away, stay with us after the break.

I had my own little ones try out the game and my 4 year old stated, “Oh this guy is really silly, I like this game.” My 1 year old was able to swipe through the various body parts but then started to bite on the iPhone so I had to take it away. So while they both seemed to enjoy the game, if you give your iPhone to your one year old, its at your own risk…

On the Lucky Radish Amusements website website they also have a printable template where you can create your own pen and paper slide-a-ma-jig.

Now for the promo code givea-way — let us know how you use your iPhone to keep your kids occupied and we will chose three (3) of you at random to get the promo codes. (As usual, promo codes can only be redeemed via the US Apple Store, and they expire so if you get one — use it fast!)

TiPb Give Away: Slide-a-ma-jig Game for Kids is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Comments (0)

Older Posts »