Time Magazine has named Fieldrunners one of the top ten games of the year -- and the only game on the list for the iPhone. Very impressive. The App Store has only officially been out for half a year, and games have been in development for only a little longer than that, but already, we're getting some great games on the iPhone's touchscreen.

And speaking of great games, I've only recently come across Warfare Incorporated, but I know some of our commenters have been waiting for it. I'm no good at RTS games, but the game was award-winning on other handtop platforms, and is apparently doing very well on the iPhone also. If you're looking for real-time strategy on the small screen, there you go.

And finally, Tatomic, which is a game I've really enjoyed (kind of a cross between Lumines and Dr. Mario), sent us a note to say that their full version is on sale for the holidays, for only $2.99. There is still a free version, but even at the normal price of $4.99 Tatomic is a bargain if you at all like falling block games. At just three bucks, it's a steal. Terrific to see the iPhone holding its own with quality games this holiday.

Making the leap from online-only to print format, MacTribe has announced that it will begin publishing a magazine version. The site, and now the dead-tree edition, will continue to feature a mix of reviews and news along with "cultural and aesthetic" items sure to appeal to the sophisticated taste of Apple fans everywhere.

We wish the MacTribe team the best of luck with their launch and look forward to seeing the results of their efforts on newsstands this month.

[via MacTech]

In a rather surprising move, the publishers of the top Windows Mobile monthly magazine, Smartphone & Pocket PC, have announced that they're suspending publication. What's even more interesting is that they will be publishing a quarterly iPhone-oriented magazine titled Smartphone magazine's iPhone Life.

Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine publisher Hal Goldstein noted in a blog entry that the reason isn't that sales of Windows Mobile devices are plummeting -- on the contrary, almost 20 million Windows Mobile devices were sold during the last Microsoft fiscal year. It's just that advertising support from Windows Mobile manufacturers, cellular carriers, and developers has dropped significantly.

It appears that they are expecting big things from the iPhone market and advertisers, as they will be publishing the quarterly iPhone mag in paper and online versions. My personal speculation is that they realize that with all the venture capital going into iPhone development, there will be a lot of developers who will want to buy ad space to flaunt their products.

Do you think this move is indicative of a larger trend that may spell doom for Windows Mobile? Voice your opinion in the comments!

The land of Hello Kitty is also the land of the iPhone.

Here in the US, we only have 2 or 3 magazines that cover the Mac, and they usually throw in coverage about the iPhone. Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine is coming out with a special iPhone magazine called iPhone Life. But for our Japanese friends, many iPhone-specific magazines have been available for over a year.

In the photo at right, you can see 4 of the mags that were found recently in a Tokyo camera shop. One commenter to a Macenstein post reported seeing 6 different iPhone magazines in a small "Kwik-E-Mart" on one of the tinier Japanese islands.

Apparently the content of the magazines is quite similar, with articles about jailbreaking the 3G being popular. Would you buy an iPhone-specific magazine? Take our poll!

[via Amarinalameda and Macenstein]

For quite a few years, I've enjoyed getting Windows Mobile news from a traditional print magazine called Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine that does a great job of covering the use of mobile tech in the enterprise. The magazine was called Pen Computing back in the old Newton MessagePad / Palm days, but Executive Editor and Publisher Hal Goldstein moved with the market and changed the title and focus of the mag.

They're following another industry trend, as recent issues have had a number of iPhone articles. Many compare one Windows Mobile phone or another to the iPhone, wondering if a Sony Ericsson EXPERIA X1 or HTC Touch Diamond is going to be the "iPhone Killer".

I was glad to see that the magazine is looking beyond the comparisons to a special iPhone edition ($14.95) to be published in August (cover mockup at right). A quick glance at their Web site showed that TUAW is one of the "Best Web Sites" for iPhone, so they're obviously doing their homework. ;-)

The publication date in August ensures that many of the App Store products and iPhone 3G accessories to be announced will end up in the special edition. It should be a fun collectible to look at 10 years from now!

In the interest of full disclosure, I've been on the Smartphone & Pocket PC Board of Experts for several years, evaluating software for the annual Best Software Awards issue.

Zinio, if you aren't familiar, offers magazines in digital format (yes, with DRM), many of them with rich media like embedded movies right in the pages, for Mac and PC. They have quite a selection and they've been around for a few years now, but apparently their latest version (released around the dawn of time) is suffering a quirk due to Apple changing the way QuickTime renders Flash with the latest QuickTime 7.1.3 update, causing embedded rich media to misbehave.

Fortunately, they've issued a fix via email, and it goes a little something like this:

1. Close the Zinio Reader, if open
2. Go to the QuickTime pane in System Preferences
3. In the Advanced tab, check 'Enable Flash'

After that simple process you should be able to return to your regularly scheduled, though in my opinion ridiculously overpriced, reading.

This fix, by the way, is also how you enable iTunes 7 to play interactive booklets from the iTunes Store according to this Apple KB article.

These days you can't turn on a TV, open a magazine or walk down the street without spotting an Apple product or at least an ad for one, and now it seems Apple's expanding popularity has even landed the company on the cover of October's Playboy (Zinio link, semi-safe for work). In the quest to leave their photoshopped mark on everything that adorns the magazine, Playboy (or Apple?) felt the need (or jumped at the chance) to add a personalized touch to what looks like a 12-inch PowerBook, and swapped out the Apple logo for Playboy's (let's see PowerBook laser etching pull this off).

TUAW reader Travis Smith tipped us off to the appearance, and from the cover (no, we don't have a subscription) it doesn't look like this is some 'Bunnies love Macs' special issue or anything. Still, it's nice to see Apple getting some love from the Hugh and crew.

Who says the iTMS is just for music and videos? The Fader is a magazine that is "the definitive voice of emerging music and the lifestyle that surrounds it," and embodying that lifestyle they are: available now, for free, from the iTMS is their July/August 39 page summer spectacular in PDF format covering emerging music and artists. They even provide a non-iTunes RSS feed as well as a direct link to the PDF itself for all y'all who haven't hopped on the iTunes/RSS train yet.

How cool is it to see traditional media diving head-first into new distribution outlets like this? I know it isn't quite the first magazine to ever get PDF'd, but it's certainly the first to make it onto the iTMS shelves - and a fitting first, if we may say so.

[via MacMinute]

Steve Jobs has graced the covers of more magazines than some super models. Don't believe me? Well, check out this site that has a number of magazine covers featuring His Steveness.

Now, I like magazines and Steve Jobs as much as the next guy, but this website is a little creepy, even to me!

[via Kottke's Remaindered Links.]

A new podcasting magazine made its debut last week. The inaugural issue of Podcast User contains reviews of the Roland Edirol R1 and several podcasts, as well as number of informative articles and tutorials on subscribing to podcasts and understanding podcast jargon.

There's more, of course, and you can grab the PDF of the magazine here or via their FSS feed [link].

Issue #2 is scheduled for release on March 1st. Podcast User is free.