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Posts Tagged ‘iPhone’

FarmVille vs. Real Farms [INFOGRAPHIC]

10 Sep

With all those millions of Facebook and iPhone users tending to virtual crops and sharing them with friends, have you ever wondered how their toils stack up against actual real-life farmers?

How does our output of digital (and decidedly less tasty) tomatoes compare with our worldwide production of real tomatoes? And perhaps most importantly, who are these casual croppers, and are they anything like their plow-toting counterparts?

We broke it down by the numbers and put some of these FarmVille trends in perspective for you.

Go on. Harvest it.

FarmVille Infographic

What do you think? Does FarmVille ignite our romance with all things pastoral? Are digital crops poised to overtake real ones in terms of GDP? What does all this mean for the fate of humanity?

Share your wisdom in the comments.

More Gaming Resources from Mashable:

- 5 Fun FarmVille Accessories
- 10 Classic PC Games That Found New Life on the iPhone
- Why the Social Gaming Biz is Just Heating Up
- Why Games Are the Killer App for Social Networks
- 10 Cool Konami Code Easter Eggs [PICS]

Reviews: Harvest

More About: facebook, farmville, games, gaming, infographic, infographics, iphone, social games, social media, stats, trending, Zynga

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Nike Unveils New iPhone App Just for Runners

06 Sep


Nike has just rolled out a new iPhone app for runners, available for download now [iTunes link].

The Nike+ GPS App for iPhone will pull in data from the device’s accelerometer and GPS to give runners an effective, accurate and useful tool for getting in shape and staying motivated. So far, it’s available in English only and sells for $1.99.

Although fitness apps abound in the App Store, few carry the street cred or instant name recognition of Nike.

The app will allow runners to visually map and track every run, indoor and outdoor, “free range” or treadmill. Nike says the app even works when a GPS signal is unavailable. Mapped routes show a breakdown of the runner’s pace at various points during the run, as well. You can track your distance, time and number of calories burned.

One interesting aspect of the app is the “Challenge Me” feature. It helps runners challenge themselves to run greater distances, longer times or quicker paces than their previous runs. Aside from giving challenges, the app also provides in-run, on-demand motivational messages from pro athletes and celebrities.

And of course the app carries the now-obligatory social sharing features. Through integration with NikePlus.com, runners can save each run to their online profiles and share the run through the site, Twitter and Facebook.

We have no word so far on when to expect Android, BlackBerry or other apps, but Nike says the app will work for iPod touch (second, third and fourth generations), iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. The company makes no promises about how the app will function on an iPad; then again, if you’re running with your iPad, you might need less motivation to run faster and more motivation to give the tech gadgets a rest.

Here’s a video sent to us by Nike showing some of the ins and outs of the app:

What do you think of Nike’s app so far? Is this something you’d use for your running routine, or will you stick to the free apps already available?

Reviews: Android, App Store, Facebook, Twitter

More About: App, fitness, iphone app, Nike, Nike+GPS, runner, runners, running, sport

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Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can’t recommend the iPhone 4

12 Jul
Lab test: Apple iPhone 4 design defect confirmed

[UPDATE July 14, 2010: We've also tested another remedy to the iPhone's antenna issue. See: Apple's Bumper case alleviates the iPhone 4 signal-loss problem. —Ed.]

[UPDATE JULY 13, 2010: We’ve received many comments and questions regarding this blog post. See our latest post: Why Apple—and not its customers—should fix the iPhone 4. —Ed.]

It's official. Consumer Reports' engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4, and have confirmed that there is a problem with its reception. When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower left side—an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal. Due to this problem, we can't recommend the iPhone 4.

We reached this conclusion after testing all three of our iPhone 4s (purchased at three separate retailers in the New York area) in the controlled environment of CU's radio frequency (RF) isolation chamber. In this room, which is impervious to outside radio signals, our test engineers connected the phones to our base-station emulator, a device that simulates carrier cell towers (see video: IPhone 4 Design Defect Confirmed). We also tested several other AT&T phones the same way, including the iPhone 3G S and the Palm Pre. None of those phones had the signal-loss problems of the iPhone 4.

Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4's signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that "mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength."

The tests also indicate that AT&T's network might not be the primary suspect in the iPhone 4's much-reported signal woes.

Apple iPhone 4 antenna problem solution tape
One solution to the Apple iPhone 4's antenna
problem is to cover the lower left corner with tape.

We did, however, find an affordable solution for suffering iPhone 4 users: Cover the antenna gap with a piece of duct tape or another thick, non-conductive material. It may not be pretty, but it works. We also expect that using a case would remedy the problem. We'll test a few cases this week and report back.

The signal problem is the reason that we did not cite the iPhone 4 as a "recommended" model, even though its score in our other tests placed it atop the latest Ratings of smart phones that were released today.

The iPhone scored high, in part because it sports the sharpest display and best video camera we've seen on any phone, and even outshines its high-scoring predecessors with improved battery life and such new features as a front-facing camera for video chats and a built-in gyroscope that turns the phone into a super-responsive game controller. But Apple needs to come up with a permanent—and free—fix for the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone 4.

[UPDATE: Some commentary suggests we've retracted an earlier recommendation of the iPhone 4. In fact, our first blog on the iPhone 4's performance, and a followup comparing it to the Motorola Droid X, were based on preliminary testing, as we stated. Those earlier tests did not address antenna performance. We recommend products only after all tests are complete, and as part of our full smart phone Ratings. —Paul Reynolds]

If you want an iPhone that works well without a masking-tape fix, we continue to recommend an older model, the 3G S. (The full list of recommended smart phones models appears as part of our latest Ratings, available to subscribers.)

—Mike Gikas

 
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Simultaneously Publish Your Content to the Web, Facebook, iPhone and iPad

07 Jul


Mashable’s Spark of Genius series highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, see details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.

Name: Publisha

Quick Pitch: Publisha is a free browser-based solution that allows integrated publishing across digital platforms with built-in social media, analytics and revenue streams.

Genius Idea: Publisha is a free new platform that enables users to simultaneously format and publish content to the web, Facebook, RSS, iPhone and iPad from a single dashboard.

You can import and host your blog or online publication on publisha.com, or keep it at its current domain and simply take advantage of the service’s Facebook, iPhone and iPad publishing features.

The Facebook app is particularly robust. It creates an articles tab you can add to your Facebook Page, complete with a searchable archive, polls and other interactive content. Readers can like, rate and comment on the articles, and respond to polls.

You can also use the platform to publish your content on Publisha’s iPhone and iPad apps; the company has also offered to help “qualifying early adopters” create their own branded apps and drive traffic to their content. The apps host all participating publications on Publisha’s network. To minimize the size of the app, audio and video content are not supported.

Although Publisha is free to use, the company will take a 20% cut of all ad, affiliate and subscription revenue, and charge $2 per every GB of bandwidth used beyond 10GB if you decide to host your publication on Publisha’s website. It will also use 20% of your ad space if you have a free account. Publisha eventually plans to offer two premium packages — priced at $50 and $250 per month, respectively — that offer more bandwidth and take a smaller share of revenue.

Publisha’s Head of Marketing Anna Sjostrom also told us that an aggregated ad service is in the works, which will help match publishers with advertisers. The company also plans to add support for the Kindle and other e-book readers, as well as Ping FM and podcasts.

While we think the costs of Publisha’s services are pretty steep for users who want to build up a publication on publisha.com, we think many could take advantage of Publisha’s Facebook app and keep their sites on a blogging platform like Wordpress or on their own domains. It also couldn’t hurt to push your content to Publisha’s iPhone and iPad apps in the interest of attracting new readers.

What do you think of Publisha’s offerings? Do you plan to use them for your online publication?

[img credit: smaedli]

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

Reviews: Facebook, WordPress, iPhone

More About: bizspark, Facebook app, ipad, iphone, publisha, spark-of-genius

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How to Build a Quick, Clickable Website or iPhone App Prototype

01 Jul


Mashable’s Spark of Genius series highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, see details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.

Name: Mocksup

Quick Pitch: Make mockups — websites, iPhone apps, logos and more — through simple sharing and feedback, automatic versioning and even prototyping.

Genius Idea: You know how they say necessity is the mother of invention? Well, once upon a time (the time being last summer, specifically), a man was trying to build a website and needed to show his higher-ups a prototype — something clickable, not just a JPEG or Photoshop file. He needed to give them “a feel for the new design and site structure.”

What was last year’s web designer’s nightmare is now a freelancer or small design shop’s dream. Mocksup will let you share your designs, add collaborators to your project, get comments and notes from your bosses or clients, track different versions of your work and yes, create clickable prototypes of your site and app design ideas.

It’s a cool combination of digital wireframing and WYSIWYG website creation. It might also be the only online app that supports clickable iPhone app prototyping.

To get an idea for what these prototypes look and feel like, check out this web design example.

(Interesting side note: Mocksup was created in 2009 for the Rails Rumble, an event we recently named as one of our all-time favorite hackathons.)

Sounds great, but how do these guys — Adam Howell and Jim Van Fleet, the app’s creators — make money?

Mocksup has an affordable subscription fee. You can test the site with one project, ten mockups and three collaborators for free, then they ask you to pay between $9 and $19 each month, depending on how much you use the app. We find these prices extremely reasonable.

What do you think of Mocksup? How does it compare with other prototyping tools you’ve used in the past?

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

More About: Agency, freelance, iphone app, web design, website

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Obama iPhone App Provides Platform for Supporters

02 Oct

I don’t know how accurate it is to say Senator Barack Obama is a Mac to Senator John McCain’s PC, but those convinced of this premise will either delight in or scorn the fact that the Obama for America campaign has presented a free iPhone and iPod touch-compatible application called Obama ’08 [iTunes URL] for supporters to use.

Having browsed the application myself, I can tell you that the experience is commendable. The 1MB download is thoroughly polished, and covers nearly everything its larger relative, BarackObama.com has to offer. Technically speaking, the development is appreciable.

Though it does not harbor a connection to the social network My.BarackObama.com, the application is, design-wise, very much in line with the campaign website. No question about that. But how it functions is far more noteworthy. If you wish to read news highlighted by campaign operatives, you can do so, with the option to specify a national or local view. If you want to browse photos and videos, you may. Events are posted, too, and the campaign’s stated issues and its positions on those issues are noted in full. (Nearly all of these items can be emailed at will.)

You can also sign up to receive email and/or SMS notifications, and call anyone within your phone’s contact list, with each noted as “have not called” until you connect with them. This is obviously meant to increase outreach. (Placing calls is of course not possible with an iPod touch.)

Digging into the menu is easy enough. There’s really no trouble to be had with navigation. You can never go deep enough to get lost, to be honest. Which is just as well, because it’s an application for a political campaign, after all. There’s only so much a user can do given the matter at hand.

Nonetheless, there are some issues to be had. Browsing media isn’t handled the best way possible. For one, it would of course be a great convenience to see video playback within the application itself, but interacting with titles simply brings you out of the Obama ’08 application and over to the device’s YouTube application. This wouldn’t be something to nitpick over, but when you do venture out of the latter piece of software and back to the Obama ’08 application, you’re shown the start page once more, not the menu of videos from where you originally departed.

On the photography side of things, the supply of images is all but useless. Not because the content or presentation of individual photos doesn’t satisfy, but rather because the sheer number that is uploaded on any given day hardly makes it worth your while. The menu only allows for twenty images to be viewed, and my own time spent with the application today has shown nothing but photos titled “YouthVoteSurrogatePic….” This is not something to enjoy with any measure of frequency, that’s for sure.

Be that as it may, visual media is not the main draw here. It’s more about what the campaign is doing now and in the next few weeks leading up to Election Day, not a compendium of the last year and a half of canvassing that’s been done. For that, it will likely suffice for most users. You might not enjoy having a ‘Donate’ button that simply shows a translucent pop-up asking you to connect by phone to a campaign representative. Nor will some users like that you can only call contacts, and not send them email or SMS messages. Still, it is for the most part a solid collection of information pertaining to the Democratic ticket, making it enough of a download for iPhone-wielding Obama supporters to draw interest in.

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Related Articles at Mashable | All That's New on the Web:

Obama on LinkedIn
Make Your Own Obama Logo, With Your Face
World’s Simplest iPhone App
Obama Does the Twitter
Guiliani’s Own Daughter Shows Support for Obama on Facebook
Obiden?
AirBed & Breakfast: For Obama’s Sake, Skip the Hotels

 
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The Paperclip iPhone/iPod Touch Stand [DIY]

30 Sep

If $100 is just too much for you to pay for a homemade iPhone stand, then this paperclip version might be a better option. And to anyone who has ever paid more than 50 cents to hold any pocket electronic, hopefully this fan-made pwnage will keep your money in your pocketbook/child savings accounts next time. [via Lifehacker]


 
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Facebook 2.0 Now Available on iTunes [Facebook 2.0]

29 Sep

Hey social networking fans, Facebook 2.0 for the iPhone has been released and is now up for download at the iTunes app store. With the newest version, you can get notifications, friend requests full news feeds, news feed comments, your entire inbox, and photo capabilities. Now you can check up on how all your Finance major friends are doing from on the road. Status Update: Not very well. [iPhone Savior]


 
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EA Announces SimCity and The Sims 3 for the iPhone: Spore Coming on September 7th [IPhone]

04 Sep

EA has announced that nine new titles are currently in development for the iPhone: Yahtzee Adventures, EA Mini Golf, Lemonade Tycoon, Mahjong, Monopoly: Here & Now The World Edition, SimCity, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09, Need for Speed Undercover, and The Sims 3. Many of these titles have been mentioned before, but I was pretty pumped to hear about SimCity and the Sims 3 being added to the list. EA has also revealed that they are shooting to release Spore Origins on September 7th—the same day it is released on the Mac and PC. Hit the jump for some new Spore screenshots and the official press release.



LOS ANGELES, Calif., – September 5, 2008 – EA Mobile™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced that Spore™ Origins, an original game for the iPhone™ and iPod® touch, will be available this month. The game takes full advantage of the devices’ built-in accelerometer as players tilt, turn and twist their way through a world made of primordial ooze. In conjunction with the launch of Spore Origins, EA Mobile also announces a list of nine games in development for both the iPhone and iPod Touch platforms.

Eat-or-be-eaten in Spore Origins! Designed specifically for the iPhone and iPod touch, Spore Origins uses the platforms’ motion-sensing technology to let gamers navigate a primordial tidepool on a quest to evolve. Feast on the weak and flee from the strong through two exciting modes and 35 challenging levels. Pinch, pull, and poke your creation in the Creature Editor, customizing the texture, shape and body parts to improve your offense, defense, perception and movement as you evolve over millions of years.

““We’re really excited to bring Spore Origins to the iPhone and iPod touch,” said Travis Boatman, Vice President Worldwide Studios at EA Mobile. “By leveraging the unique capabilities of these devices, players can customize their own creatures and shape their destiny in an exciting evolutionary journey. ”

EA Mobile today also announced nine titles in development for the iPhone and iPod touch, pending regional availability. This list includes YAHTZEE Adventures, EA Mini Golf, Lemonade Tycoonâ„¢, Mahjong, MONOPOLY: Here & Now The World Edition, SimCity, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09, Need for Speedâ„¢ Undercover, and The Simsâ„¢ 3.

Spore Origins will be available globally from the Apple App Store on iPhone and iPod touch, or by simply visiting www.eamobile.com from an iPhone. Additional versions of Spore Origins are also available for the iPod, as well as other mobile devices. All iPod games are available for the third-generation iPod nano, iPod classic and fifth-generation iPod and can be sent as a gift using the iTunes gifting feature (www.itunes.com).


 
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LEAKED: First Shots of iPhone Nike+ Interface [Nike+]

19 Aug

We’ve long known that Nike+ has been in development for the iPhone. Now we’re finally getting a peek at the first shots of the interface. From what we can skim, Nike+ users will get all of the nifty performance graphs right on the phone (before this stuff was available on the web only). But the biggest improvement over the old Nike system may be Google Maps support:

We don’t know just how robust the Nike+ maps support will be, but mapping routes directly on the iPhone could make for more organized training sessions. If only we had the coordination to use the iPhone’s touch interface while running. Hell, if only we had the coordination to run. Hit the link for a lot more shots. [iPhone.fr via Ubergizmo]


 
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