The GigaOM Network: Cleantech | Tech Insider | Gadget Gurus | Online Video | Open Source | Web Life | Research | Live Events | About | Contact

Review Update: AT&T 3G MicroCell

Written on November 02, 2009 by Charles Jade and 12 people have commented

As an iPhone user held hostage in AT&T’s network by the exclusivity agreement with Apple, the arrival of the AT&T 3G MicroCell felt like being rescued. Four weeks later, I now realize only Verizon can do that, but my updated assessment of the 3G MicroCell is still positive, mostly.

During the first three weeks of operation, [...]

Slay Sync Services Dragons with Spanning Tools

Written on August 26, 2009 by Matthew Bookspan and 2 people have commented

Who doesn’t battle the Apple Sync Services dragon on a semi-regular basis? Here are a couple of examples from Apple Support about how to resolve problems with this very useful yet unfortunately flawed feature:

Mac OS X 10.5: Resetting the SyncServices folder
Sync Services: Advanced troubleshooting for contact and calendar syncing

There are even more support articles around [...]

App Review: iBank Mobile

Written on July 22, 2009 by Charles Jade and 3 people have commented

The developers of iBank, the robust alternative to moribund Quicken for the Mac, have gone mobile with their latest product. With iBank Mobile for the iPhone and iPod touch you can bank on the go, but probably not go it alone.
To be fair, there is no perfect personal finance manager (PFM) in the App Store. [...]

Rise of Lost Empires: Like Warcraft for iPhone, but Not Nearly as Good

Written on July 03, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 6 people have commented

I think I may have achieved a grasp of Gameloft’s concept design strategy for their iPhone catalog. It seems to have something to do with being “inspired” by titles and franchises that are already wildly successful. You can’t help but see the similarity between Hero of Sparta and God of War (even syntactically). Likewise, with [...]

Game On: The Sims 3 for Mac

Written on June 04, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 120 people have commented

I was not terribly impressed with The Sims 3 for iPhone, but as I said in my review, it did whet my appetite for the Mac desktop version of the game. So much so that I went out yesterday afternoon to pick it up. Best Buy was all out of the collector’s edition, but I [...]

The Sims 3 for iPhone: Bring the Franchise to Your Pocket

Written on June 02, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 73 people have commented

It arrived shortly after midnight on Tuesday, the same day as the release of the desktop version, and I was all over it. “Pumped” would probably be the best way to describe me at 12:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning as my iPhone was syncing with my Mac mini and the Sims 3 ($9.99, iTunes link) [...]

Need for Speed Undercover Infiltrates the iPhone

Written on May 12, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 3 people have commented

As a general rule, racing games tend to leave me cold. My brother is the car buff and racing fan. I’ve enjoyed a few, like Gran Turismo, but I tend to give them a pass. Need for Speed Underground for the PS2 was another exception to the rule, mostly because of the RPG-type elements of [...]

Twitterific 2.0 For iPhone Released

Written on May 08, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 14 people have commented

There was a time in distant memory when Twitterific was my iPhone Twitter client of choice. I loved it, too. The look, the function, the icon, everything was great.
Over time, my Twitter usage changed, and Twitterific was no longer meeting my needs. So, when Tweetie came on the scene and provided a lot of the [...]

Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles Stealthily Invades the iPhone

Written on April 28, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 19 people have commented

Gameloft continues to release big titles for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and their most recent release is no exception. The title in question is Ubisoft’s runaway success, Assassin’s Creed, which was wildly successful when released for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms in 2007. Prequel Altair’s Chronicles came out for the Nintendo DS [...]

Apple: You Can’t Use Images of the iPhone on the iPhone

Written on April 22, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 10 people have commented

In a move that at this point honestly shouldn’t come as unexpected, Apple recently rejected an update to the popular app Instapaper that allows storage of web content for offline viewing at a later date. The reason for the rejection? The icon in the middle of the bottom menu bar in the screenshot posted below. [...]

Yahoo for iPhone Released: Worthwhile Alternative to Google?

Written on April 02, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 7 people have commented

With all the attention in the arena of iPhone applications being fixed squarely on Skype for the past few days, it almost escaped my view that Yahoo has finally released their free Yahoo Mobile app, which we reported on in February. The app’s release coincides with a revamp of their entire Yahoo Mobile web portal, [...]

Mega Man II for iPhone Lacks Polish, But Entertains

Written on March 30, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 3 people have commented

It’s still the only Mega Man game I’ve ever actually played through to completion, and it’s still a cult favorite among fans, and now it’s available for the iPhone and iPod touch. I’m talking about Mega Man II (iTunes Link), Blue Boy’s second adventure, originally released for the NES in 1989. Obviously, I had to [...]

Weekly App Store Picks: March 21, 2009

Written on March 21, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 23 people have commented

It’s the weekend, traditionally a time for quiet contemplation of the freshest iPhone releases, welcome to the App Store Pick.
Hang on there one moment though because before we run headlong in to a stack of apps, we’ve got but a few moments to look at the latest happenings on TheAppleBlog this week.
First up, Neil Gaiman’s [...]

At Home With the New Mac Mini: My Setup and Impressions

Written on March 13, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 16 people have commented

I recently received my brand new Mac mini in the mail, and, as it always is when I get a package from Apple, it was a joyous occasion. For once, I didn’t have to find someplace to cram a huge box, since the packaging is size-appropriate for such a small desktop.
My afternoon the day it [...]

iPod Shuffle Unboxing and Hands On

Written on March 13, 2009 by David Appleyard and 13 people have commented

Much has been said about the new iPod shuffle. Its size has been praised, lack of buttons grumbled about, and — as with most new Apple products — has caused a little controversy. I wanted to try the product out for myself as I’ve been needing a small MP3 player for exercise. My iPhone is [...]

App Review: Convert — Apparently Form Does Not Equal Function

Written on March 12, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 8 people have commented

Convert, an app for converting an array of different units, looks great and, in theory, should be quite useful. Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good on this one.
The iPhone isn’t just about gaming and entertainment. Admittedly, I’ve got two screens worth of music and gaming apps, another screen for news, books and recipes, and then [...]

Follow The Oregon Trail on Your iPhone

Written on March 12, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 6 people have commented

Well, it came to pass. Beloved childhood memory The Oregon Trail ($5.99, iTunes link) got updated and graphically reinvigorated for its arrival on the iPhone and iPod touch platform. The question is, is it still just as fun and educational as it was when you used to play it on your Apple II? Well, you [...]

Taking Control of AppStore Reporting With AppViz

Written on February 20, 2009 by Andrew Bednarz and No one has commented

Like the majority of Apple products and solutions, Apple’s App Store is sleek in its presentation to the consumer. However, one of the less polished aspects is the developer back end, iTunes Connect. Don’t get me wrong, this is functional, but it’s not targeted at the consumer market and as such it just does the [...]

AirPhones: The True Potential of AirTunes on Your iPhone

Written on February 19, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 19 people have commented

I like my Airport Express with AirTunes. I use it to connect my home theater set-up to my iTunes library, and more frequently, for listening to Internet radio via iTunes. But it’s always bothered me that I couldn’t use it to listen to audio from any other source beyond iTunes. I don’t know about you, [...]

Time Crisis Strike Brings Arbitrary, Time-Based Shooting to iPhone

Written on February 10, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 2 people have commented

As a proud owner of every version of Time Crisis ever released for home consoles, there was no way I was going to take a pass on Time Crisis Strike ($5.99, App Store) for the iPhone and iPod touch. Not to mention the fact that I Love Katamari, one of Namco’s previous releases for Apple’s [...]