The iPhone is more than just a gadget.
I’m just curious to see if any of you actually preordered an iPad. I didn’t for the simple reason that I’m currently out of the country. I think I will buy my iPad in France when going there in a couple of months.
"Poll: Did You Preorder Your iPad?" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
I’m just curious to see if any of you actually preordered an iPad. I didn’t for the simple reason that I’m currently out of the country. I think I will buy my iPad in France when going there in a couple of months.
"Poll: Did You Preorder Your iPad?" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
Great minds often ‘think different’, they see the world as it could be and ask ‘why not?’. The iPad is one of those – a gentle notion from the fertile mind of Steve Jobs, Futurist – not Steve Jobs, Apple CEO.
The path to the iPad that will launch in a few weeks is strewn with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of failed designs, prototypes, and ideas. Undoubtedly there are also design team members and engineers now MIA because they didn’t share the vision and the dream of a revolutionary new platform.
When Jobs remarked that Apple was poised to take ‘big, bold risks…’ at a recent shareholder meeting – few eyebrows raised. They’d heard talk like that before, and blew it off as more brag from inside the ‘reality distortion field’. What few saw was that the astounding financial results Apple has been posting [for years], is the result of just that type of vision and risk-taking.
Corporate America is hurting these days not because of risks taken – but rewards taken – often, without the risk.
Sleazey accounting, stock manipulation, greed, and downright theft have replaced vision and innovation in American business. Few other companies can rival Apple as an economic powerhouse that got there the ‘old fashioned way’ – they earned it.
We all remember the ‘beleaguered’ Apple days. Even Dellionaire Michael Dell mockingly read the last rights and proscribed the Will – sell the company and distribute the assets. Well, today the same might be said of Dell. Only this time – no one is joking.
Yesterday marked, quietly, a bold new milestone in American business.
Apple began accepting orders for their revolutionary new iPad – and by midday Apple (AAPL) had surpassed Wal-Mart (WMT) to take third place in market capitalization in the entire US. Only Exxon-Mobile and Microsoft are larger.
Whether those bold, new risks that Jobs spoke of will pay off long-term is for now, unknown. What is known is that today, Apple seems to be one of the few companies daring to live the Capitalist dream, ‘the old fashioned way’.
We should pray that others will follow.
ScreenRecorder is a new application by Elton Bolzanac that allows you to record a video of your iPhone screen. Per the description of the app:
This application let’s you take video captures of your screen. This is extremely useful for quick tutorials or demonstrations, or when you want to show proof of a new hack you have accomplished. There are obviously many other uses for this. For example, you could use this like a “Notes” application, but with video instead of words!
Keep in mind that video recording is a very intense process, so crashing is very frequent on videos that have a capture time of more than 45 seconds.
I haven’t tried this app myself but from what I understand it is pretty unstable. While it sounds like a very promising app, I think it’s a little pricey at $1.99. Maybe a few updates to make it more stable will make this app very useful.
Have you tried ScreenRecorder yet? If so, please share your thought by leaving a comment.
"ScreenRecorder Records Everything You Do On Your iPhone" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
ScreenRecorder is a new application by Elton Bolzanac that allows you to record a video of your iPhone screen. Per the description of the app:
This application let’s you take video captures of your screen. This is extremely useful for quick tutorials or demonstrations, or when you want to show proof of a new hack you have accomplished. There are obviously many other uses for this. For example, you could use this like a “Notes” application, but with video instead of words!
Keep in mind that video recording is a very intense process, so crashing is very frequent on videos that have a capture time of more than 45 seconds.
I haven’t tried this app myself but from what I understand it is pretty unstable. While it sounds like a very promising app, I think it’s a little pricey at $1.99. Maybe a few updates to make it more stable will make this app very useful.
Have you tried ScreenRecorder yet? If so, please share your thought by leaving a comment.
"ScreenRecorder Records Everything You Do On Your iPhone" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
With anticipation and buzz rampant – Apple is now taking pre-orders for the Apple iPad, in advance of the April 3rd US launch.
iPad orders can be placed at the Apple online store. Customers may choose to have their tablet delivered, or reserved for pickup at their local Apple Retail Store.
Retail stores are expected to open early for the special event, although there has been no official announcement.
“Our CapMac Users Group and the iPhone SIG will be on hand at Apple Barton Creek and Apple Domain on launch day [April 3rd] – to drive excitement for this amazing new platform”, noted Nancy Gravley, CapMac President.
The iPad runs runs a version of the iPhone operating system and includes a 9.7-inch multitouch display, supporting movie and music playback, ebooks, and most iPhone-compatible applications. It will available with Wi-Fi, or Wi-Fi and 3G wireless data support.
Wi-Fi versions of the iPad will be available on Saturday, April 3, in the United States, and the Wi-Fi plus 3G version will be available in late April.
[UPDATE] – Early press reports indicate that iPad pre-orders in the first two hours may exceed 51,000 units. At that rate, the new iPad’s launch may be epic in proportion. Reports are that due to supply constraints – at least for now – orders are limited to two units per customer.
A few months ago I wrote an article showing how AT&T was going to move to a pay-per-byte model on its 3G plans. Recently, AT&T CEO Randall L. Stephenson confirmed this move in an interview for the WSJ.
He said that AT&T is carrying half of the nation’s wireless data traffic. He said that carriers will eventually move to a “variable pricing model,” and that it was inevitable that heavy users should pay more than low users.
I think it’s a big move that makes sense for both AT&T and its users. Of course, these new “variable pricing models” will start with the iPad which offers 250MB plan at $15/month and an unlimited plan at $30. It’s just a way to get us used to it.
What do you think? Do you welcome this move to introduce various plans depending on your data consumption?
"AT&T Confirms Move to A “Variable Pricing Model”" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
MuscleNerd recently tweeted about a new device to boot tethered jailboken 3.1.2 iDevices without pluging it to a computer. This standalone piece of hardware is called an iDongle.
Now why would you need an iDongle? You might want to get one of those babies if your jailbroken iPhone or iTouch gets stuck at the “Connect-to-iTunes” logo everytime you reboot. The iDongle will save you a trip to the computer and can be very handy if you accidentally reboot your tethered device on-the-go.
According to the creator of the iDongle, this little piece of hardware is able to tether boot your jailbroken device, and optionnally jailbreak and hacktivate it if not already done. Looks like a savior for many of you who don’t want to be able to reboot your jailbroken iPhone anywhere/anytime.
What the catch? well the catch is that the iDongle is pretty much a prototype so far. It works but the creator needs your help to start manufacturing them in large quantities. You can help by buying a prototype at a good price, or simply by donating for a pre-order. I suggest you check out the iDongle website for more information.
In the meantime, watch this video to see see the iDongle in action. It’s a bit boring but it works!
What do you think about the iDongle?
"iDongle Boots Your Tethered 3.1.2 Jailbroken iPhone" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
If you have recently “hacktivated” your iPhone, which means activating it to work with carriers other than the official ones, you may have encountered push notification issues. In most cases, push notifications don’t work properly or even don’t work at all.
There is a simple fix for this and it’s called Push Doctor. Simply add the following source to Cydia then look for Push Doctor: http://www.cmdshft.ipwn.me/apt/
After installing Push Doctor, reboot your iPhone.
Push Doctor works very well with 3.1.3 and 3.1.2. It is free and has the support of the Dev Team, so you can go with it safely.
"How to Fix Push Notifications On Hacktivated iPhone" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
Google’s new Android has some explaining to do. Reports are surfacing that many of the new Droid phones are arriving preloaded with key-logging software, trojans, and other malware.
According to reports, an employee at Spanish antivirus firm Panda Security received a new Android-based Vodafone HTC Magic with malware on it – as soon as it was attached to the host computer for syncing, anti-virus software indicated that the phone was loaded with malicious malware, according to a Panda Security researcher.
“The malware began ‘phoning home’ for instructions, Bustamante wrote. It’s likely the user’s credentials would have been stolen, he speculated. The malware turned out to be related to the Mariposa botnet, but there was other malware on the device too–Conficker and a Lineage password-stealing Trojan, he said.
It’s worth noting that Apple has been widely criticized for iPhone’s allegedly ‘closed’ system with tight controls on multi-tasking, app development, deployment, and the failure to support Flash – all common vectors for malware.
Consider that despite the tens of millions of iPhones in heavy use in scores of countries – the first reports of security breaches on a smartphone come from what Google has maintained was one of the most secure – Android.
Obviously, the ‘Don’t be Evil’ mantra of Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt needs a disclaimer.
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about why Cydia sucks and how it could be improved. Maybe Saurik heard me because he decided to give Cydia a small update that aims at making it faster.
This update supposedly speeds up the loading time and improves the error checking when refreshing the sources.
I installed the update but unfortunately, I didn’t see much improvement in speed. Hopefully, you’ll get better luck than I did…
Have you installed the update yet? Does it feel like Cydia is faster?
"Cydia Update Makes It A Little Less Slow" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
When the iPhone initially launched in 2007, the much anticipated iPhone OS required an arsenal of jailbroken apps to perform even the mildest tasks such as MMS and video recording. But through product refreshes and several software updates, that list of apps is shrinking and the iPhone OS is now considered among the industries top mobile platforms.
Now that functions such as copy/paste and video recording are available in the stock OS, jailbroken applications like Clippy and Cycorder are no longer necessities. Now I know your thinking, “So what are you saying Cody, I no longer ‘need’ to jailbreak my iPhone?” Not even close.
As long as Apple continues to disable users from customizing their springboard backgrounds and their icons, and of course forcing them to remain with AT&T even though other carriers get far better coverage in their home area, and continue to ignore several other missing features, iPhone users will have a reason to jailbreak. One app I continue to jailbreak for, because you can only get it from Cydia, is SBSettings.
Now let me explain. The feature I think Apple continues to miss the boat on is shortcuts. If I want to turn my bluetooth on, it is a 4 step process, 5 if you count the unlock screen. Same with changing the brightness, it’s a 4 or 5 step process. Other mobile platform developers have addressed the need for shortcuts to commonly used functions in the form of widgets or shortcuts in an always on screen task bar, but for some reason Apple resists.
Enter SBSettings By Big Boss. A simple, skinnable device manager that’s actually been around for quite a while. The application and themes for it can be searched for and downloaded from the Cydia App Store, so of course it’s available to jailbreakers only.
The first thing you’ll notice about SBSettings is how easily and quickly it launches once installed. Requiring nothing more than a finger slide across the top banner, the application drops down in the form of a window with several icons. Now the default theme is gaudy but I found it was easy to install downloaded themes by clicking the ‘more’ icon you see in the image below.
The theme I use is ‘iPhone Congruency’ and I love it because it looks stock, like it is supposed to be there. Once you got it looking good, again from the ‘more’ icon, you need to decide which ‘toggle’ icons are showing. If you don’t see a toggle you want, more can be downloaded through Cydia, and can be added in this same ‘toggle’ screen once downloaded.
I personally like the ‘processes’ toggle. Although the iPhone isn’t known for having great multitasking capabilities, the phone can still get bogged down with Mail, SMS, iPod, and Safari apps all open at once. The ‘processes’ toggle lets you shut these apps down and give your iPhone a quick boost in recovered RAM.
With toggles to turn bluetooth and wifi off and on with one touch, this app is definitely a time saver. It also gives you other great features like a quick launch App dock to launch apps from instead of scrolling through all of your icon-loaded spring boards, and the ability to re spring (or restart your iPhone, once again with one or 2 touches instead of 5 and 6 touches.
Between the time saving shortcuts, ease of use, and the fact that I can make it blend in with the rest of the phone’s GUI with a quick skin download, this free app from BIG BOSS available from Cydia is a must have in my opinion.
Hopefully Apple will stumble across this little gem at some point and really take the idea of ‘widgets’ and ’shortcuts’ more seriously. It would really be nice to see some sort of implementation of Apple’s popular dashboard widget screen get ported to their mobile devices. But for right now we must use the tools we have in front of us, and with apps floating around like SBSettings, maybe thats not such a bad thing. ;op
"SBSettings Actually Makes Your iPhone Better?" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
When the markets closed last Friday, Apple’s stock price was up over 8 points, finishing the day at $218.95 a share – the highest share price in Apple’s entire history.
For investors, fueled by favorable news from financial analysts, and a quiet, almost serene shareholder’s meeting – Friday became a rallying point for Apple. News that the long-awaited iPad would ship the beginning of April, and soaring iPhone sales also bouyed the uptick.
But deeper analysis shows ‘the rest of the story’ behind Apple’s fortunes.
The meteoric rise of Apple’s share price now puts Apple’s market cap at just under $200 billion, making it the fourth largest publicly traded company in the US behind Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart.
Apple is the only company in the monied elite that actually makes something.
If you drive a car – oil purchases are a necessity. Wal-Mart, America’s ubiquitous and oft-despised retailer resells low-end off-shore goods to folks trying to save a buck. Microsoft trades on legacy code, excuses, and onerous licensing schemes that have [thus far] entrapped most American consumers and enterprise in OS hell, with no hope of escape.
Then there’s Apple – visionary leader in hardware, technology, software, services, and support.
A company rooted not just in capitalist ideals – but the American dream of build a better product, and consumers will beat a path to your sparkling retail stores, or camp out for days awaiting your latest, industry-changing product. Apple’s manta of ‘Think Different’, and ‘it just works…’ resounds with consumers weary of cheap solutions [like Dell] that cause nothing but frustration, waste time, and end up costing more in the long run.
Apple is using its wealth, as Steve Jobs defty noted last week, to take ‘big bold, risks.’
Those risks have largely recast the way we purchase and listen to music. If the promise of the iPad is fulfilled – network television, the film industry, publishing, and newspapers may find a powerful, new force invigorating their now bleak fortunes.
Bold leaps in technology require investments in R&D, and people. They also require visionaries and leaders willing to take ‘big, bold risks’ – people like Steve Jobs – and his dedicated and talented team at Apple.
It’s easy to sit back and count imaginary profits, and second-guess true visionaries. Apple fans have fueled an online community of boosters, blasters, and rumor-mongers. They all miss the point. For those who pay close attention to Apple’s dreams and accomplishments – there are important lessons to be learned.
For the sake of our national economy – and our future – Apple is an important teacher.
For comparison, here are the Market Cap’s for a few other tech giants:
• Google – $179.41B
• IBM – $165.30B
• Hewlett-Packard – $122.69B
• Intel – $114.84B
• Amazon – $57.31B
• Nokia – $52.40
• RIM – $38.72B
• Sony – $36.47B
• Dell – $27.16B
In the interest of full-disclosure, I own as much stock as finances will allow – and have no interest in selling at any price. Like Apple, my eyes are on distant horizons.
When the markets closed last Friday, Apple’s stock price was up over 8 points, finishing the day at $218.95 a share – the highest share price in Apple’s entire history.
For investors, fueled by favorable news from financial analysts, and a quiet, almost serene shareholder’s meeting – Friday became a rallying point for Apple. News that the long-awaited iPad would ship the beginning of April, and soaring iPhone sales also bouyed the uptick.
But deeper analysis shows ‘the rest of the story’ behind Apple’s fortunes.
The meteoric rise of Apple’s share price now puts Apple’s market cap at just under $200 billion, making it the fourth largest publicly traded company in the US behind Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart.
Apple is the only company in the monied elite that actually makes something.
If you drive a car – oil purchases are a necessity. Wal-Mart, America’s ubiquitous and oft-despised retailer resells low-end off-shore goods to folks trying to save a buck. Microsoft trades on legacy code, excuses, and onerous licensing schemes that have [thus far] entrapped most American consumers and enterprise in OS hell, with no hope of escape.
Then there’s Apple – visionary leader in hardware, technology, software, services, and support.
A company rooted not just in capitalist ideals – but the American dream of build a better product, and consumers will beat a path to your sparkling retail stores, or camp out for days awaiting your latest, industry-changing product. Apple’s manta of ‘Think Different’, and ‘it just works…’ resounds with consumers weary of cheap solutions [like Dell] that cause nothing but frustration, waste time, and end up costing more in the long run.
Apple is using its wealth, as Steve Jobs defty noted last week, to take ‘big bold, risks.’
Those risks have largely recast the way we purchase and listen to music. If the promise of the iPad is fulfilled – network television, the film industry, publishing, and newspapers may find a powerful, new force invigorating their now bleak fortunes.
Bold leaps in technology require investments in R&D, and people. They also require visionaries and leaders willing to take ‘big, bold risks’ – people like Steve Jobs – and his dedicated and talented team at Apple.
It’s easy to sit back and count imaginary profits, and second-guess true visionaries. Apple fans have fueled an online community of boosters, blasters, and rumor-mongers. They all miss the point. For those who pay close attention to Apple’s dreams and accomplishments – there are important lessons to be learned.
For the sake of our national economy – and our future – Apple is an important teacher.
For comparison, here are the Market Cap’s for a few other tech giants:
• Google – $179.41B
• IBM – $165.30B
• Hewlett-Packard – $122.69B
• Intel – $114.84B
• Amazon – $57.31B
• Nokia – $52.40
• RIM – $38.72B
• Sony – $36.47B
• Dell – $27.16B
In the interest of full-disclosure, I own as much stock as finances will allow – and have no interest in selling at any price. Like Apple, my eyes are on distant horizons.
For those of you who missed some of this week’s articles, here is a recap:
"iPhone Stuff You Missed This Week" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
Chpwn is one of my favorite jailbreak devs because he creates really useful apps and mods that just make your iPhone experience better. He worked with Ryan Petrich on ProSwitcher, he developed InfiniDock, and today, he just released InfiniBoard.
InfiniBoard is a jailbreak application that simply brings vertical scrolling to your iPhone springboard. It lets you add as many icons as you wish to any page, and access them by flicking up and down.
I’ve played with InfiniBoard for about an hour now and it works as described. The way I went about it is that instead of moving my icons one by one to a page, I used MultiIconMover to move all my icons at once. It saved me lots of time.
On the springboard, I left my first and second page of apps with 12 icons per page. These are the apps I use the most and I wanted to keep part of my springboard “clean”. On the third page, I added every other application so I can just browse through them by scrolling vertically.
I’ll have to test InfiniBoard on a longer period of time to figure out if I like it or not. So far, I think it’s worth the $1.99. What do you think?
"Infiniboard Brings Vertical Scrolling to Your iPhone Springboard" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
Even though Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told Reuters a few months ago that Netflix wasn’t going to work on an iPhone app for a while, it seems that Netflix has been feeling the water about it. A RWW article notes that:
Recently, Netflix sent out a survey to select subscribers in order to determine interest in an iPhone application for streaming movies via mobile phones. According to the survey’s wording, the proposed app would be Wi-Fi only and would offer the same content that the Netflix “Watch Instantly” service provides.
Hacking Netflix has the full text of the survey:
Imagine that Netflix offers its subscribers the ability to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on their iPhone. The selection availability to instantly watch includes some new releases, lots of classics and TV episodes. There are no advertisements or trailers, and movies start in as little as 30 seconds. You can fast-forward, rewind, and pause or watch again. The movies & TV episodes you instantly watch are included in your Netflix membership for no additional fee.
Whenever you want to instantly watch content on your iPhone, your iPhone must be connected to a Wi-Fi network (such as one you might have at home or at work, or in public places like coffee shops, book stores, hotels, airports, etc.)
If this functionality were available, how likely would you or someone in your household be to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on your iPhone via a Wi-Fi network?
As a long-time Netflix customer, I have to say that I’ve been waiting for an iPhone app pretty much since the iPhone came out. It does make sense for Netflix to be present on mobile devices, especially the iPhone.
Now there are two problems. First issue is technological. Flash is not going to happen, so what technology could Netflix use to make itself available on the iPhone? Well apparently, Microsoft has been working with Apple on porting Silverlight to the iPhone and it seems to be working well. That would be a solution. I personally think Netflix would develop its own format but it’s just a guess.
The second problem facing Netflix is… Apple itself. Would Apple allow video streaming when it has the same plans in mind for iTunes? While I doubt Apple will be particularly excited about having a Netflix app, I believe it will have to allow it in the App Store to avoid being taught a lesson by the FTC.
At any rates, I’m very excited about having Netflix on my iPhone. You know what? I’m even more excited about having Netflix on my iPad!
What say you?
"Netflix On the iPhone? Yes Please!" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
The other day someone asked me how I got into the iPhone, which took me back to 2007 and the day this little piece of electronics completely changed my life.
I wasn’t in line at the Apple Store when the iPhone came out in 2007. I actually didn’t care much about it. That was until my best friend bought an iPhone.
The first day I actually got to play with my friend’s iPhone, I really fell in love with it. I loved the design and how it fit in my hands. I was so impressed that just about 5 minutes after playing with it, I got up and told my friend “hey, I’m going to the AT&T store, I’ll be right back”.
I came back to my friend’s house an hour later with my brand new iPhone. That was probably the quickest buying decision I ever made, considering the price of this product.
The first day I bought my first iPhone, I literally spent hours just looking at it. I thought it was the most beautiful thing ever designed. To this date, even though the first gen iPhone is completely outdated, I still think it was a radical design that changed the way we’ll look at phones forever.
Mind you, I bought my first iPhone about a month after it first came out. The following year, I was in line at a local AT&T store. Last year, I got smarter and pre-ordered my iPhone 3GS. I didn’t live the “whole experience” of waiting in line for it, but at least… I didn’t have to wait in line for hours…
Do you remember the first day you had your iPhone? Was it a very particular moment or just another day?
Photo Credit: iPhone Savior
"Do You Remember the First Day You Had Your iPhone?" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
Apple today announced that Wi-Fi models of the iPad will go on sale in the United States on Saturday, April 3rd. 3G-capable models in the U.S., as well as both Wi-Fi + 3G models for a number of other countries, will be available in late April.
Steve Jobs added: “iPad is something completely new. We’re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”
Beginning March 12, US customers can pre-order both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models from Apple’s online store [www.apple.com] or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.
All models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.
Join us at Apple Barton Creek and Apple Domain on April 3rd — as CapMac members share the excitement of launch day for this amazing new product!
Back in December I tweeted about a new app called TUN3R, a sort of visual dial for Internet Radio. The app is interesting if you like Internet radio, but doesn’t really go beyond that. The same folks have just released another application called Milk Crater which they claim to be the world’s first real-time audio iPod browser. Okay, but how does it actually work?
Milk Crater generates a large grid created from your iPod collection. It uses cover art to generate the tiles, or if no cover art is available for a song, then it uses the song title.
The first time you run the app, it starts a “Dial Rebuild” process which can take anywhere from 10 seconds to a couple of minutes. It does this in order to generate a giant “dial” (which is more like a grid of cover art and song titles). This is where the fun begins. After generating this “dial”, you can move around it by sliding your fingers.
What really sets Milk Crater apart from other music apps (including the iPod app itself) is the fact that it switches audio in real-time as you slip and slide around the grid with your fingers.
Once you get the hang of it, you can start doing more interesting things like building playlists on-the-fly as you browse. It’s also possible to export these playlists back into your iPod, through an e-mail export (the only way possible).
Another worthwhile feature is its search capability, which begins highlighting results on the “dial” as you type.
At this point, it’s tough to say if it will replace the iPod app itself, but it may give it a run for its $1.99.
"Milk Crater: A Different way to Browse Your iPod Music Collection (sponsored)" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.