Skip to Content

Summer Budget Travel Tips from Gadling
AOL Tech

firstlook posts

Filed under: Freeware, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review

First Look: TweetDeck for iPhone

There's been no shortage of Twitter app reviews on TUAW. We've even covered TweetDeck once or twice. But now, another Mac app and iPhone app have intersected in the Twitter world and I, for one, am ecstatic about it.

Until now, Tweetie had been my Twitter client of choice on both my Mac and my iPhone. I was pretty content with the set up, but had one issue: If I were out and about all day and checking Tweetie on my iPhone, I'd have to re-read all those tweets when I got home because the two programs had no way of communicating what had been read and what hadn't. TweetDeck has finally found a way around this issue, offering syncing between your iPhone client and your Mac client.

Continue readingFirst Look: TweetDeck for iPhone

Filed under: iPhone, First Look, App Review

First Look: Documents to Go for iPhone

Documents to Go from DataViz has been known for years to the Palm and Blackberry community, and it finally comes to the iPhone -- filling in the need for a built-in Word (and soon Excel) editor that truly turns the iPhone into a mini computer.

There are currently two versions of Document To Go. The $4.99USD version [App Store link] features Microsoft Word editing alone and the $9.99 version adds Microsoft Exchange support. You can also view and synchronize Excel and PowerPoint documents, PDFs, HTML pages and iWork '08 documents ('05, '06 and '09 are not supported at this time, though I do imagine that iWork '09 support will be added later). A free upgrade is part of the deai; when purchasing Documents to Go now, you net the ability to create and edit Excel documents when that feature becomes available.

For an in-depth look of the app itself, click through. Please note that this review covers the $4.99US version of the app sans Microsoft Exchange.

Continue readingFirst Look: Documents to Go for iPhone

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look

First Look: Bento for iPhone and iPod touch

iPhone owners who are searching for an easy-to-use database management app for their iPhones can stop looking. Today, FileMaker Inc. announced the immediate availability of Bento for iPhone and iPod touch (click opens iTunes), a US$4.99 portable edition of Bento for Mac.

The app comes with 25 built-in templates for business or personal use, plus a blank template that can be used to create your own customized templates. Some of the included business templates can be used for issue tracking, time billing, and expenses, while personal templates include a diet log, recipes, vehicle maintenance, and home inventory.

Like the Mac app, Bento for iPhone and iPod touch is integrated with Contacts, Safari, Mail, and Google Maps. Additionally, Bento can be used to dial an iPhone. Databases can be synchronized wirelessly (via WiFi) with Bento 2.0v4 for Mac. This new version of Bento 2.0 for Mac is a free update that is available for download to all existing users today.

The video below features Ryan Rosenberg, VP of Marketing and Services for FileMaker, describing and demonstrating many of the features of Bento for iPhone and iPod touch. TUAW will have a full review of Bento for iPhone and iPod touch in the near future.


Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, First Look, App Review

First Look: Airfoil Speakers Touch

I'd never gotten the opportunity to use Rogue Amoeba's Airfoil prior to today, and then I found out about Airfoil Speakers Touch (link opens iTunes). Airfoil allows you to stream audio from your Mac to other devices including Apple TV, Airport Express, other Macs on your network and now the iPhone and iPod touch. We looked at a similar application not too long ago, but the definite upside to Airfoil Speakers Touch is that you don't have to go through the mess of installing a separate server application -- especially if you already own Airfoil.

Using Airfoil Speakers Touch is extremely simple. I opened Airfoil on my Mac for the first time and it showed my laptop and Apple TV on my network. I then launched Airfoil Speakers Touch on my iPhone and it added the iPhone as an available streaming device. I selected iTunes as the source of my audio and clicked on the icon next to the iPhone on the Airfoil application. A quick restart of Airfoil (its Instant Hijack plug-in will bypass that) and I could stream music from iTunes through the iPhone. On the iPhone, a small image of my MacBook (complete with an image of my current desktop) appeared.

The application works beautifully. I left the laptop in my bedroom and carried my iPhone around both inside and outside of the apartment until I left the range of my wireless router. The sound is crystal clear and it turns the iPhone (and 2nd-gen iPod touch) into a great portable speaker.

However, there are a couple of drawbacks. If you exit the application on your iPhone, it will cut off the streaming. Because of this, there's no way to jump over to the Remote application and remotely control iTunes. So if you want to utilize your device as an Airfoil speaker, you need to have a playlist set up in advance since you can't change tracks from within the application itself. I'm hoping remote features will be added some time in the future. It would really make this a killer app.

Airfoil for the Mac is $25, and a free demo is available. It requires OS X 10.4 or above. Airfoil Speakers Touch is a free download through the iTunes App Store.

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look, App Review

TUAW First Look: Gas Cubby 2.0

With more than 25,000 apps in the App Store (as of this writing), it's not easy to find the standouts. One such app is Gas Cubby from App Cubby (we're written about it before), and I'm very happy to have spent a week with version 2.0. It's in my top five iPhone applications (along with its sibling, Trip Cubby. But that's another post entirely).

My day job requires me to keep track of automotive expenses. Before I found Gas Cubby, I was unsuccessfully trying to do so with pen and paper. I'd either take the pen out of the car and forget to return it or do the same with the notebook. I'd end up scribbling on anything I could find and promptly lose whatever it was. My accountant wasn't happy.

Gas Cubby solved the issue and actually made it fun for me to keep track of my expenses. That's right, fun. You can collect data on gas and service. First, I'll look at gas.

Update: Yes, this will be a free upgrade for current owners.

Gallery: Gas Cubby 2.0

Main pageOnline syncFill 'er upTotal service expensesGas prices

Continue readingTUAW First Look: Gas Cubby 2.0

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look

First Look: Convertbot

Last October, we posted about another iPhone app -- Weightbot -- written by Mark Jardine and Paul Haddad at Tapbots. Now the company has shipped their second app, an iPhone conversion calculator called Convertbot (iTunes link).

Like Weightbot, Convertbot is a classy-looking and extremely functional iPhone app. Every detail of the user interface shows obvious thought, resulting in an app that is easy to use and look at. As with Weightbot, Convertbot also features sound effects that provide an extra level of fun.

What can you convert with Convertbot? Temperature, time, volume, work, angles, area, currency, length, mass, power, pressure and speed. How do you do it? There's a rotating selector wheel on the Convertbot screen to choose the type of conversion (temperature, for example), and a button to select the units (degrees Fahrenheit, for instance). To enter the known unit, you tap the converter display to bring up a keypad for tapping in numbers. As you tap in the numbers, Convertbot is busily converting the units.

If you're an aspiring developer and want to see a well-designed app, or if you're an iPhone or iPod touch owner who just likes cool apps, check out this US$0.99 app. There are tons of conversion apps in the App Store, but Convertbot is just too nice to pass up.

See the gallery below for screenshots.

Gallery: Convertbot

I hear you knockin', but you can't come in...Help!Select the categorySelecting a unitEnter a value

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

First Look: Transactions for iPhone


First they wowed us with Handshake for iPhone, now the same developers are back at it again with Transactions [iTunes link] for iPhone. Transactions gives you the ability to charge a credit card from anywhere! This application is excellent for small business owners who need to process credit cards away from an office.

Transactions interfaces with PayPal and Authorize.net and allows you to easily type in a credit card number, expiration date, CCV2 code, amount, and zip code. Once you have that information, you can select a contact to automatically auto-fill the purchaser's address and phone number. You can also enter in the name, email address, and additional notes about the transaction. When all of these fields are completed, return to the main screen and tap "charge" -- the information is whisked away using 128-bit SSL encryption to the appropriate service (either PayPal or Authorize.net). If the information was correctly entered you receive a message telling you the transaction went through.

Transactions gives you the ability to easily import your PayPal and Authorize.net account information using a useful tool on their site. They send an email to your device with a special URL that inputs your account information when opened. The application allows you to view all of the transactions completed, and allows you to export them as a a CSV file that opens in Excel, Numbers, and other applications that can read comma separated files. All of the information stored within Transactions is kept safe inside of Apple's Keychain, and you can password-protect the application to enable even more security.

Transactions is now available on the iTunes App Store, and comes in two flavors: paid and free. The free version is limited to 2 credit card transactions per 12-hours, while the paid version removes this limit. If you use the free version and plan to upgrade to the paid version, you have the ability to transfer all of your settings from the free version to the paid version -- a first on the iPhone. You can visit the Transactions website for more details about this iPhone application. You may also want to note that Authorize.net or PayPal Website Payments Pro account is required, and that some fees may apply.


Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look

First Look: Fliq Docs

In early January, TUAW featured a face-off between Fliq for Mac and Mobile DropCopy. At the time, I noted that Fliq for Mac and Windows was better in terms of moving content created on the iPhone (address cards, notes, photos) to a Mac or Windows PC, while Mobile DropCopy was better for viewing or moving other content such as Microsoft Word documents or PDF files.

About six weeks later, Mark/Space has responded by not only updating Fliq to version 2.0, but also releasing a new free iPhone application called Fliq Docs (click opens iTunes). Fliq Docs requires Fliq 2.0 for Mac or Windows (US$19.95, free upgrade for registered users of Fliq 1.0, or US$9.95 to owners of any Mark/Space Missing Sync application), and is a full-featured document viewing and transfer application for iPhone. Click the Read More link to find out more about Fliq Docs.

Continue readingFirst Look: Fliq Docs

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Video, Freeware, Internet, iPhone, iPod touch

Ustream viewer makes it to app store just in time

There has been quite a bit of excitement over the last few weeks with the announcement that Ustream would be offering a live video viewer so people could watch the Obama inauguration on their iPhones and iPod touches. It didn't look like it was going to make it, but the free application [app store link] slipped into iTunes today with just hours to spare. While the Joost app should also allow streaming of the festivities, the Ustream viewer is unique because it allows live TV streams, and registered viewers can join a chat room creating a community around any video stream.

Video can be viewed horizontally or vertically, but many of the sources are not 16 by 9 so it won't make a great deal of difference. The app appears to be WiFi only, which is a bit of a drag. My cell reception here in the wilds of Arizona is not too great, but I got an error message trying to run the video streaming under 3G.

With WiFi most of the channels looked pretty good. I even got a quick look at Chris Pirillo doing his live bit from his desk at home. The real test will be tomorrow with the swearing in ceremonies. It will be a good test of the Ustream distribution system.

Ustream wants lots of players out there, because they are creating a content network and are actively courting people who will create videos on their home computers and laptops. The firm says they will soon have an app that allows live streaming of video and audio from the iPhone, in the same vein as the Qik tool currently running on jailbroken phones. If so, that will be a very big game changer for the iPhone. The big question is, will Apple allow it into the app store?

Looking toward the future, Ustream will need more and better content deals, and streaming via the 3G network. Tonight is a great first step, and I expect by swearing-in time a lot of iPhones will be tuned in, if you'll pardon the archaic term.

Here are some screen shots hot off the presses (thanks AppleUniverse):

Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, First Look

First Look: Witch's Workshop

I'm addicted to Diner Dash, and I greatly enjoy other time management games. The basic gist of a lot of these is that you're given a setting and you must complete a task (usually fulfilling an order for a customer) in a certain amount of time before the customer gets angry and leaves. As time goes by, the tasks either become more complex or your time speeds up.

Witch's Workshop
[link opens iTunes] is a new game for the iPhone from Spark Plug Games that combines the best aspects of Diner Dash with Bejeweled. Your task is to fill potion bottles for your customer by swapping the various potions around on the screen until they form a horizontal or vertical line of three or more potions. The same-colored potions then fill the bottle and you drag the full bottle over to the customer. A small dragon is placed in the bottom right corner and can be charged up and used to help fill orders. As time goes by, the customers become more and more impatient and more potion is needed to fill the bottles, so it becomes quite challenging.

Game play fluctuated between very smooth and some of the potion bottles being hard to drag -- but I'm betting on that being more operator error than a flaw in the game. Graphics are simple, but clear and well-executed for what is needed with the game. Various options include the ability to toggle hints when you get stuck.

There's also some nifty tricks. During the course of the game, I managed to get something called a Cauldron Crash and had to shake the iPhone to unstick it. Then, I happened to turn the phone onto its side. I heard the sound of glasses hitting each other and noticed that the potions themselves had swapped into the horizontal position, but the rest of the game remained vertical. It made for an interesting screenshot, as seen in the gallery.

Witch's Workshop is currently available for $1.99 through the App Store.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Enterprise, Software, Odds and ends, Internet Tools, Leopard, iPhone, iPod touch, First Look

First Look: LogMeIn Ignition

This post is a first for me in that I'm typing (or tapping) it in on an iPhone using our Blogsmith CMS. No, there's not a Blogsmith iPhone app that I'm aware of, and I'm not using Safari on the iPhone to pull up our web portal. Instead, I'm controlling my office iMac from about 16 miles away using my iPhone and LogMeIn Ignition.

LogMeIn is a remote access and control application for Macs and PCs that creates a secure connection between two computers by having each logged into a secure server. LogMeIn Ignition adds the ability to control a Mac or PC from your iPhone. To test Ignition, I set up a LogMeIn Free for Mac account and then loaded the app onto my iPhone 3G. How did it work? Read on for more details.

Continue readingFirst Look: LogMeIn Ignition

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look

A Lethal app for your iPhone

OK, the headline is a bit misleading. This app won't kill you; in fact, it's designed to inform you about dangerous situations in your vicinity.

Lethal (click opens iTunes) from Elany Arts takes a location from either the iPhone's built-in location services or a list of 300 cities or parks throughout the USA, then provides you with a "lethal index" number. This number ranges between 0 and 400, with 400 being an extremely dangerous location.

The ranking comes from a composite of four scores based on lethal wildlife, crime, disease, and disaster probabilities in each area. The About screen for Lethal notes that the app is designed for informational and entertainment purposes only, so you should use common sense to guide your use of Lethal.

When I let Lethal determine the index for my home, I was surprised to see that it was 207 out of 400, or "somewhat dangerous". The wildlife index was rather high based on black bears and mountain lions in the area. Yes, we do see them on rare occasions in the area, but I'd be much more concerned about a neighbor taking a potshot at me than getting chewed on by a mountain lion.

Still, Lethal is fun (many comments are obviously tongue-in-cheek) and educational. Whether it's worth the US$1.99 introductory price is up to you. Check out the gallery below for screenshots of Lethal in action.

Gallery: Lethal App

Splash ScreenPick a placeOh, no! I'm gonna die!Lions and Bears, no Tigers, oh my!Lethal Diseases

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look

First Look: Health Cubby for iPhone / iPod touch

App Cubby announced that a new iPhone app, Health Cubby (click opens iTunes) arrived in the App Store today. Health Cubby (US$4.99) is a personal fitness tracking app with a difference -- it adds a social networking element for working with friends and family members to keep motivated to exercise more and eat less.

The social features connect you with up to 7 other people, share your progress in achieving fitness goals, and even send motivational messages. To do that, you set up a private account with App Cubby for data syncing and sending messages.

Health Cubby has a great online user manual complete with screenshots. Instead of tracking meals with points or calories, the app has you enter a 1 to 5 rating. Rating a meal a 1 means you put the all-you-can-eat buffet out of business, while a 5 is a low-calorie, healthy meal. You also set goals for strength, cardio and...vices! While the first two involve exercise, the third item makes you set goals to reduce the number of times you indulge in a vice. My goal is to reduce my beer drinking to one a day (yeah, right...).

I've put Health Cubby on my iPhone right next to Weight Watchers Mobile. It'll be interesting to see which app I use most often. Check the gallery below for screenshots of Health Cubby in action.

Gallery: Health Cubby

Getting StartedUser ManualUser Manual CloseupMain screenCharts

Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, iPod touch, First Look

First Look: Mouse House



Mouse House is a very adorable and surprisingly complicated puzzle game from Plaid World Studios. At first look, it seems like a very simple game with graphics that appear to be on par with Super Nintendo games. But, it's actually surprisingly tough and addictive.

The game's premise is simple -- eat cheese and progress through the unlocked doors once they open. Along the way, you have to dodge bees, evil rats, crumbling floors and try not to get pinned in a corner by pushing balls the wrong way. It looks simple, but isn't. After completing the 8-level tutorial, it took me a few retries to get through the next few levels.

The sound effects are truly what make this game stand out. The little noises from eating cheese and getting through an open door successfully are quite adorable. The controls are easy to use -- tap the screen in a vertical or horizontal line from where the mouse is and he'll move to that spot. There's no game soundtrack other than the sound effects. Instead, you can listen to the music already loaded on your iPhone or iPod Touch and the sound effects will play over the music. However, I enjoy the effects so much I simply play without the music.

Mouse House (link opens iTunes) is currently available for US$.99

Filed under: Software, iPhone, First Look

First Look: Word Flow


I'm always on the lookout for applications to keep me entertained when I have little snatches of time that need filling: Waiting in a long line at the post office or for a movie to start, or being caught out at lunch without a book to read while eating.

Word Flow is an interesting puzzle game that allows you to slide letters around a board to create words. Once your word is ready, tap the beginning and last letter of the word you've created. It's like Boggle with the ability to control where letters go. You have three timed versions you can play: One minute, three minutes and 10 minutes. Three minutes is the sweet spot for me. With the one minute version, you barely have time to string some words together before time is up. With the 10-minute version, I lost interest after about five minutes.

Overall, Word Flow is a fairly decent game, but definitely not my favorite of available word games on the iPhone. The graphic response is not as smooth as other programs, and two versions of the game are either too short or too long.

Word Flow (link opens iTunes) is currently available for $.99USD.

Tip of the Day

Holding the Command key (aka the Apple key) and pressing Tab will cycle through your open applications. It's easier to Cmd-Tab if you are Copy (Cmd-C) and Pasting (Cmd-V) to and from various applications.


Follow us on Twitter!
TUAW [Cafepress]

Sponsored Links

Featured Galleries

DNC Macs
Macworld 2008 Keynote
Macworld 2008 Build-up
Google Earth for iPhone
Podcaster
AT&T Navigator Road Test
Bento for iPhone 1.0
Scrabble for iPhone
Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase
Apple Vanity Plates
Apple booth Macworld 07
WorldVoice Radio
Quickoffice for iPhone 1.1.1
Daylite 3.9 Review
DiscPainter
Mariner Calc for iPhone
2009CupertinoBus
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
MLB.com At Bat 2009
Macworld Expo 2007 show floor
Apple Texas Hold 'Em

 

More Apple Analysis

AOL Radio TUAW on Stitcher