Applications

Five apps that solve common iPhone problems

The iPhone famously solves many of life's little problems--you can't decide where to eat, you've got nothing to read, you need to update your Facebook status right now--but who's going to solve the iPhone's problems?

For instance, maybe it's low on storage. Or it's having trouble connecting to a Starbucks hot spot. Here's a list of five common iPhone ailments and the apps that aim to cure them.

You're running out of storage. Apple may have a 32GB iPhone waiting in the wings, but how does that help you and your … Read more

New Yelp for iPhone lets you (sort of) write reviews

I was lukewarm about Yelp's initial iPhone application, but some new features stitched into Yelp for iPhone 2.0 (and iPod Touch) this week are beginning to stoke my affections.

High on the list of Yelpers' demands was being able to write a review from the iPhone. In addition to any technical impediment Yelp may have experienced here is the fact that typing long missives, praises, and rants on the iPhone's virtual keyboard just plain stinks. To work around this, Yelp now gives you two ways to review a business. The first is through a Quick Tip, where … Read more

Cell Minute Tracker for iPhone fills AT&T's void

On Thursday, Pageonce released a native application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that AT&T might have considered when it won the iPhone's exclusive carrier rights in the U.S. Cell Minute Tracker (99 cents) keeps tabs on your cell phone usage, data plan, rollover minutes, SMS costs, and payments on a relatively compact page that has additional features AT&T doesn't provide you on the phone.

You'll need to register for a MyAccount login from AT&T.com for Cell Minute Tracker to work. The app speaks directly to AT&T'… Read more

Play trombone on the iPhone

Smule, the makers of popular musical iPhone application, Ocarina, has just released a new music application today that pushes its social music experiment even further. Leaf Trombone (99 cents) lets you "play" your iPhone like a trombone by sliding your finger on the touch screen to create different notes and you can even play with a musicbox-like accompaniment.

After you launch Leaf Trombone, you can practice on your own to the tune of several user-uploaded old standbys like Auld Lang Syne, Yesterday, and even Happy Birthday. To help you follow the notes, leaves gently blow across the screen … Read more

Sonos updates iPhone controller app, launches limited-time bundle deals

A bit of news from the Sonos camp: the company has delivered a minor update to its iPhone controller app, and offered a short-term bundling deal for new customers.

The company launched its iPhone controller app--which lets any iPhone or iPod Touch control the company's multiroom digital music system--in October of 2008. Many Sonos owners liked the app more than the system's own CR100 remote (which is included in the two-room, $1,000 system, or available separately for $400). Today's minor upgrade adds multilingual support (Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish, in addition to English), alarm and sleep functions, and PC-free setup (instruct your Sonos to access network music folders without the need to install software on a computer).

The upgrade also enables the playback of DRM-encoded WMA files from the likes of the Zune Marketplace. Sonos is also trumpeting the fact that Apple's decision to drop DRM from its iTunes Store means that newly purchased iTunes music will stream perfectly on the Sonos system (though DRM iTunes music you've purchased in the past will need a de-DRM'd version--which requires an upgrade fee through Apple.)

Separately, Sonos is also running a short-term bundling deal for its hardware. Those who don't want to go for the $1,000 two-room bundle (one ZP90 base station, one ZP120 amplified base station, and one CR100 controller) can instead get $150 to $200 off when purchasing either the ZP90 or the ZP120 plus the CR100. The deal runs through May 31, 2009.

We've long prodded Sonos to lower its prices, but $600 to $700 for a one-room system is still too rich for our blood. If you've already got an iPhone or iPod Touch, a better choice would be to pick up a single ZP90 for $350, and just grab the free Sonos controller app--you'll just need a stereo or a pair of powered speakers to hear your music. (That's assuming you don't already have an Apple TV or an AirPort Express--in which case you can cobble together your own Apple-ized multiroom audio system as well, albeit without access to the wider range of non-iTunes music services available on the Sonos.)

Check out Sonos' demo video of the iPhone controller app below (we've tested it, and can vouch that the video is a good representation of the software and hardware.)… Read more

PhotoList for iPhone lets you rate, label pictures

Touting itself as a media management app for iPhone and iPod Touch, PhotoList ($1.99) lets you create photo albums on the iPhone and then fill them with images you can label and rate. You'll be able to further sort images by their name or their star rating, which can be a convenient way to quickly find images in a large collection.

As with any application that requires you to build a media library from scratch, setup takes time, enough of it, in fact, that those with large collections in their iPhone camera roll might want to only use … Read more

NBA playoffs info and an excellent golf game: iPhone apps of the week

To go along with my obsession with software, games, and all things iPhone-related, I also have a healthy(?) obsession for basketball. March Madness is over, but there's still the NBA playoffs coming up on April 19. A few teams are still in the playoff race, even with only a few games to go in the regular season. While my team didn't even come close to making the playoffs (Hint: We Believed), I will still be watching a few of the playoff matchups and can't wait to see who makes the NBA Finals.

This week's apps include … Read more

Teach your iPhone five cool TiVo tricks

TiVo and iPhone, the gadget superpowers of home and pocket. Don't you think it's time they joined forces?

As it happens, your iPhone can perform all kinds of nifty TiVo tricks. Here are my five favorites:

i.TV Forgot to set your TiVo to record the big game/new show/classic "Simpsons" episode? No problem. Just find the listing in i.TV's guide and tap the TiVo icon. You can even choose which TiVo to use (if you have more than one) and tweak the recording settings. Hard to believe this handy app is a … Read more

Control Windows Media Center with Mediamote (review)

Mediamote is a free app that turns your iPhone or iPod Touch into a remote control for Windows Media Center.

That's awesome news for anyone who runs WMC on, say, a laptop or den PC, and wants a way to control it from the couch. Mediamote sets up a simple ad-hoc Wi-Fi network between Windows and the iPhone.

I'm not sure I've ever seen an App Store listing with less information than the one for Mediamote, which is something of a problem: there's no indication that you need to visit the developer's Web site and … Read more