Applications

Skype for iPhone: An iTunes App Store hit

If Skype for iPhone seems like a big deal to you, you're right. It's topping iPhone App Store charts in nine countries, Skype says.

The Skype for iPhone VoIP application, which became available Tuesday after an announcement at CTIA, is now the top free app in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, Russia, and Spain.

"I'm delighted that consumers have voted with their fingertips and chosen to download Skype in such phenomenal numbers," said Skype Chief Operations Office Scott Durchslag.

You can read more about Skype for iPhone in our hands-on review … Read more

Conquer the world or conquer the universe: iPhone apps of the week

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) was in San Francisco's Moscone Center this week, and I got a chance to walk the show floor in search of new iPhone games and sample gaming technologies on the horizon for other platforms. As I walked the floor, I was lucky enough to be able to talk to a couple of iPhone game developers, including the guys from Subatomic Studios, developers of Field Runners ($2.99), as well as Phil Hassey who created Galcon, one of the games I mention below.

It's exciting to see the iPhone and iPod Touch on display … Read more

Star Guitar iPhone app helps you learn guitar, write songs

Updated on March 28 at 12 p.m. PDT: The developers of Star Guitar explained to me that the latency between chord changes is intentional--it's meant to change on the first beat of the next measure. If you want to change it immediately, you can simply double-tap. Also, Star Guitar also records .WAV files--they're hidden at the bottom of the library list, below all the .pattern files that represent the built-in rhythms (you can edit them or create new ones on your computer). Finally, they asked me to link to the demo video on YouTube, so here it is.

I've been playing around with a new iPhone app, Star Guitar, for the last day or so, and it's a sophisticated piece of work that could help beginning guitar players learn how chords fit together into songs, as well as give more experienced songwriters a quick way to record their ideas when they don't have a guitar handy.

Released last week by Amidio, the creators of the Noise.io Pro synthesizer application for the iPhone, Star Guitar is based around a calculator-like interface that lets you choose from 144 chords.

The designers had to be very clever to fit that many chords on a single screen--essentially, you start by picking one of the seven natural-tone letters (A through G), then adding various modifications (flat or sharp, seventh, major, and suspended fourth). You might have to consult the help screen to figure out exactly which combination of buttons will create a particular chord--for example, a G6 is created by hitting "G" and "major"--but for the most part, if you know your chords, it's fairly intuitive.

If you don't know your chords, it's a fantastic way to learn what all these cryptically named chords sound like. I've played for years, but still have to think for a few seconds before I could hum you the notes in a suspended fourth. With Star Guitar, I can just play it. … Read more

App Store refunds: Much ado about nothing

Updated at 4:00 p.m. with comment from Apple.

While Apple's App Store policies have indeed been the source of frustration for many an iPhone developer, the overblown concerns over refund charges on Thursday do not rise to that level.

Contrary to earlier reports at TechCrunch and other outlets, Apple's policies regarding iPhone application refunds, and the portion of the refund that developers are expected to cover, are not new. (CNET took note of the issue as well.) They also do not faze most developers accustomed to the reality of operating an online retail business.

The hubbub arose after TechCrunch noticed a section of the iPhone 3.0 SDK agreement that contains this clause, thought to be a new development:

In the event that Apple receives any notice or claim from any end-user that: (i) the end-user wishes to cancel its license to any of the Licensed Applications within ninety (90) days of the date of download of that Licensed Application by that end-user; or (ii) a Licensed Application fails to conform to Your specifications or Your product warranty or the requirements of any applicable law, Apple may refund to the end-user the full amount of the price paid by the end-user for that Licensed Application.

In the event that Apple refunds any such price to an end-user, You shall reimburse, or grant Apple a credit for, an amount equal to the price for that Licensed Application. Apple will have the right to retain its commission on the sale of that Licensed Application, notwithstanding the refund of the price to the end.

But upon further examination, several developers confirmed that this clause has been in the iPhone developer agreement since Day 1, and they seemed bemused at the lack of understanding regarding the world of online commerce and the iTunes Store.

First of all, returning a purchased application to the App Store is not a simple thing, and there is no provision for a 90-day refund stated in the terms of service for the App Store. The section in the App Store Terms and Conditions that pertains to refunds states:

On occasion, technical problems may delay or prevent delivery of your Product. Your exclusive and sole remedy with respect to Product that is not delivered within a reasonable period will be either replacement of such Product, or refund of the price paid for such Product, as determined by Apple. Otherwise, no refunds are available (emphasis added).

The section in the SDK agreement that mentions 90-day refunds seem to apply only if a purchaser brings a "notice or claim" against Apple in the process of trying to return the application. That's a legal term, not a request for a refund because you thought the fart application, for example, delivered six sounds when it has only five.… Read more

ColorSplash makes iPhone photos pop

There's undoubtedly something striking about the style of photography that draws attention to a focal object by making the rest of the scene black and white (here's a good example). This kind of selected colorization is within reach on your iPhone if you use ColorSplash for iPhone, a relatively new image-editing app from the developer of Juxtaposer and Juxtaposer Lite, two other image editors for iPhone photos.

After you load an image, ColorSplash will turn it into a black-and-white photo--but not permanently. Your full-color image will remain in your iPhone's camera roll. You use your finger as … Read more

Bandwidth meter and a handheld arcade classic: iPhone apps of the week

The big news in the world of iPhone was Apple's sneak preview for the iPhone 3.0 software on Tuesday. Available this summer, iPhone 3.0 will bring many features people have asked for and some that will make things easier for developers of iPhone apps. The two major ones on my list were finally added: MMS (sending photos and other media) and the ability to cut, copy, and paste text. There are a ton of changes coming, so check out our coverage if you want to know all of the changes in iPhone 3.0.

This week's … Read more

iPhone OS 3.0 hands-on screenshots

We managed to get a sneak peek at the iPhone OS 3.0.

It's a beta version, so things could change between now and the official release this summer, but we captured a few screenshots to give you an idea of its look and feel.

Of course, we checked out the biggest additions, such as cut and paste, multimedia messaging, and the landscape keyboard. Yet we also cruised through the "shake to shuffle" feature, the Spotlight search feature, the voice memo recorder, and a few others. We even found something we that we weren't expecting.

So … Read more

Taxi Magic's new iPhone payment powers

Last week I wrote about Taxi Magic (download), an iPhone app that, along with RideCharge--its cousin for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile phones--lets you order a cab to your present location, and track it as it wends its way toward you. Version 1.1, released on Wednesday, gives Taxi Magic the one main feature missing from its BlackBerry and Windows Mobile counterparts: the ability to pay your cab fare with a tap of the iPhone.

This mobile payment option works by associating one or more credit cards to your RideCharge account (RideCharge's privacy policy). When it's time to pay, … Read more

iPhone 3.0: More hits than misses

A gaggle of tech journalists, analysts, and developers crowded into an auditorium at Apple's headquarters on Tuesday to hear the details of iPhone 3.0. As Scott Forstall, Apple's head of iPhone software development, promised, the update is a major one with a host of sorely needed features for application developers and consumers. Check out our slideshow of the iPhone OS 3.0 screenshots.

In all, Apple promises 100 new features with iPhone 3.0, including multimedia messaging and a landscape keyboard. Although Apple did not reveal all 100 additions on Tuesday--which leads me to wonder just what they'll count as a new feature (perhaps cut, copy, and paste will count as three)--the highlights were worth the trip to Cupertino, Calif.

Yes, a few hoped-for features are still missing, but iPhone 3.0 is more about what we got than what we didn't. Apple will release the update this summer. It will be free for iPhone 3G and iPhone Classic users, but iPod Touch users will pay $9.95.

What we got

Multimedia messaging At long last, we have it. We figured that it was coming so it was at the top of our iPhone 3.0 Wish List. Yet I feel a little weird getting so excited about such a basic feature that almost every other cell phone has.

Also, it's very disappointing that iPhone Classic owners will not get MMS, even if they upgrade. Apparently, the original iPhone lacks the necessary radio to make MMS work. That, of course, leads me to the very pertinent question: why?… Read more