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Filed under: iPhone

Filed under: Found Footage, iPhone, First Look, App Review

Sneak Peek: Stair Dismount offers... broken bones, mostly

by Erica Sadun (RSS feed) on Nov 23rd, 2009



Remember Zen Bound? It's a gorgeous and fun-to-play little puzzle game. So when I heard that SecretExit, the makers of Zen Bound, were about to release a new app, I was excited to get a sneak preview.

Stair Dismount is a very different game to Zen Bound. Although, as you can see in the above video, the audio and graphics quality are consistently high, it's not really fair to compare the two. According to SecretExit, Stair Dismount is more focused on "humor and social elements" rather than problem solving.

The game basically involves pushing someone down the stairs and seeing how many bones they break. Playing this made me feel like the world's worst sadist. Hard to get game playing satisfaction other than tormenting the poor dude.

With Stair Dismount, you can add the face of a Facebook friend and send screen shots of their broken body lying at the bottom of the staircase. Secret Exit dev Jani Kahrama notes, "It feels better with a friendly Facebook face on the guy :)."

Your enjoyment of this will vary by your personal take but for me, I don't think Stair Dismount will be staying on my iPod or be exposed to my kids. Stair Dismount is due to hit the App Store within the week.

About the video: At this time, TUAW can only create preview videos for applications compiled for 3.1 or earlier using a development (not distribution or ad hoc) build and review videos for distribution-compiled apps that are 3.1 or earlier.

Tags: http:stairdismount.com, iphone, secret exit, SecretExit, stair dismount, StairDismount, violence, zen bound, ZenBound

Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

eBay Deals iPhone app pushes bargains in your face

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on Nov 23rd, 2009

Do you use eBay regularly for shopping for goodies? If you do, and if you're an iPhone or iPod touch owner, you probably ought to turn on your device right now and download the new eBay Deals app [Free, iTunes Link].

In eBay parlance, a deal can be one of two things:
  1. An eBay Daily Deal, which is a limited quantity item from a trusted seller, provided with free shipping
  2. An item that is in big demand (an iPhone, for example) with zero bids and with less than four hours to go in the auction
But wait, there's more! The app also uses push notifications to give you the bad news that you're being outbid on an item or to tell you that an auction is just about over. There's a "Shake for Deals" option that provides random deals when you shake your phone.

The app has a nice little tutorial that shows how the features work and what various icons mean. That's a nice touch for getting users up and running quickly. If you're looking for that perfect gift at a bargain price, you may need to look no further than the screen of your iPhone.

Tags: bargains, deals, ebay, iphone, ipod touch, IpodTouch

Filed under: Security, iPhone, Jailbreak/pwnage

Protect yourself from SSH-based iPhone worms

by Aron Trimble (RSS feed) on Nov 23rd, 2009

The internet has been ablaze with reports of jailbroken iPhones being infested with worms. The exploit takes advantage of unwitting jailbreakers who install OpenSSH on their iPhones via Cydia without taking into account all of the impacts on security. The most notable, and now famous, hole in this theory is that every iPhone ships with the same default password for both the all-powerful "root" user as well as the more-restricted "mobile" user.

Not surprisingly, Apple has officially commented on the situation noting that "the worm affects only a very specific set of iPhone users who have jail broken[sic] their iPhones and hacked it with unauthorized software." It is pretty clear from Apple's statement their feelings on the jailbreak community and its effects on the iPhone and iPod touch.

Luckily, if you need to have OpenSSH installed on your iPhone (who doesn't want a remotely-accessible, full UNIX terminal in their pocket?), there is a pretty simple solution to this problem that will prevent this breed of infestation from ever reaching your iPhone.
  1. Remember, this only affects jailbroken iPhone owners who have installed OpenSSH...
  2. Begin by installing MobileTerminal via Cydia (alternately, you can login via SSH from Terminal.app or a Cygwin-equipped Windows PC).
  3. Type "login", you will be asked for a login name which should be "root" then a password which should be "alpine".
  4. Type "passwd" then tap return, you will be asked to type the new password. Tap return and type the new password again.
Repeat this same process for the "mobile" user by replacing "root" with "mobile" in step 3. Also, when using passwd to change the password for "mobile" you may be asked the old password which would be "alpine". It is not necessary to use a different password for "root" and "mobile" but if you're highly security conscious, it wouldn't hurt. The second half of this post includes a screen image of my exact process working successfully on OS 3.1.2 with an iPhone 3GS.

In addition to changing the user passwords for your iPhone, another good security measure is to use one of the jailbreak apps like BossPrefs or SBSettings to have a toggle that will disable SSH when not in use. Obviously, having SSH disabled (or not installed) is the best defense against worms of this sort. Got any other iPhone security tips? Let us know in the comments!

Continue reading “Protect yourself from SSH-based iPhone worms”

Tags: bossprefs, jailbreak, openssh, security, ssh

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, iPhone

Two new iPhone ads: Apple defends AT&T?

by Chris Rawson (RSS feed) on Nov 23rd, 2009

Apple's jumped into the Verizon versus AT&T fray, according to BusinessWeek, with a couple of new ads -- and, somewhat surprisingly, they come out in full defense of AT&T. Both ads show an iPhone user in the middle of a phone call who multitasks by looking up movie information, restaurant ratings, and many other things over AT&T's 3G network. The ads end with the question, "Can your phone and your network do that?" with a very prominent AT&T logo in the final seconds of the ads.

As I'm personally somewhat on the outside looking in at the U.S. telecom spats, I don't know how much US smartphone users really miss the ability to do simultaneous data browsing and phone calls while on Verizon's network. Based on what I've heard about AT&T's network reliability, however, there are some areas of the U.S. where you'll be lucky to be able to make and receive calls at all, or hold on to a call in progress, much less multitask in the manner depicted in these ads.

What's most interesting about these ads is how favorable they are to AT&T. It's no secret that Apple's been less than thrilled with AT&T over the course of their relationship, and it's even less of a secret how dissatisfied U.S. customers have been with the telco giant. It's understandable that Apple wants to paint the iPhone in a favorable light, but I'm admittedly surprised that they seem to be going to bat for AT&T at the same time. Sure AT&T is their business partner, but from my point of view this smells a lot like telling your family that your less-than-presentable date for Thanksgiving has 'a really great personality.'

Read on to see the ads in action.

Continue reading “Two new iPhone ads: Apple defends AT&T?”

Tags: Ads, ATT, iphone, Verizon

Filed under: Odds and ends, Surveys and Polls, iPhone

iPhone and Android now total 75% of U.S. smartphone web traffic

by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on Nov 23rd, 2009

It's a rather stunning number from AdMob in an October report. The firm reports on web requests from thousands of sites world wide. In the latest report, Apple has 55% of the domestic Smartphone traffic share, and Android has 20%. Interestingly, the Blackberry share dropped 2% to a 12 percent share, and Palm's webOS dropped from a 10% share to 5%.

Windows Mobile OS has 4% of the U.S. Smartphone web traffic.

The AdMob statistics do not show handset sales, but rather are calculated by measuring traffic on more than 15,000 web sites and applications.

The Motorola Droid, running only on Verizon, has captured 24% of all Android traffic, even though it has been out only a few weeks.

The iPhone has been on the market for 28 months. That 55% share of traffic is a pretty robust number for such a relatively new product. The Android numbers, especially those of the Droid are also good news for Google, Motorola and Verizon.

The balance of Smartphone data may change dramatically as the holiday season unwinds, and it will be interesting to watch the ebb and flow of the competing brands.

AdMob was recently purchased by Google. Apple also had reportedly had some interest in the company.

Tags: Android, iPhone, smartphones, traffic rankings, TrafficRankings, Windows Mobile

Filed under: Hardware, Security, iPhone, Jailbreak/pwnage

New jailbroken iPhone worm is malicious

by Dave Caolo (RSS feed) on Nov 23rd, 2009

Last month a Dutch iPhone user demonstrated how careless jailbreaking can cause trouble. Namely, after finding users who enabled SSH with the phone's default password intact, he sent those phones a message that read, "Your iPhone's been hacked because it's really insecure! Please visit doiop.com/iHacked and secure your iPhone right now! Right now, I can access all your files." A similar worm caused phones to rickroll their owners.

They could have done worse. This week, someone has. Again from the Netherlands and again finding jailbroken iPhones with SSH enabled, F-secure reports that this infraction puts up an ING Direct login page that lets the hacker gather login credentials and, we assume, move funds to wherever they please. This version also changes the 'alpine' password to block users from getting to the phone via SSH.

We'll have more on this as the story develops, but the moral is this: If you jailbreak your iPhone, you should know what you're doing -- and you should change your SSH password.

[via Engadget & ZDnet Asia]

Tags: iphone, jailbreak, virus, worm

Filed under: iPhone, App Review

The Barcodescan Pro app helps you find the best price

by David Winograd (RSS feed) on Nov 23rd, 2009

Barcodescan Pro [iTunes Link] is an app that uses the autofocus camera of an iPhone running OS 3.1 or better to scan a bar code and provide a variety of information on the product including pictures, high and low prices and more depending upon how much information is in the Barcodescan database.

To scan a barcode, you just hold the iPhone so that the barcode appears in a highlighted window and as soon as the image is steady enough, the app automatically takes a picture, compares it to its database, and renders your results. Another way of getting information into the app is typing in the numbers of the barcode into an oversized numeric keyboard.

I had it scan the CD of Tommy and it came back with a picture of the album cover, a prices line showing the lowest to highest found price which when tapped upon, showed the underlying five vendors, another tap gets you to the selected vendor's site to buy it. You can also choose a tab to get to Google for a standard search and another for Amazon where you can log-in and put it on your wish list or purchase the item. The vendors in the low to high price list never included Amazon, which I thought odd since Amazon was a persistent button on each search.

You can check If the item is found on iTunes. If so, you are presented with a contextual service option which brings in iTunes information. Instead of giving me one entry for the album of Tommy, it gave me many instances that contained the word Tommy.

Results are saved to lists. The Recent list shows the last thing you searched for, the History list shows everything you've searched for. You can create custom lists and easily move any searches between lists. Results can also be shared allowing you to email the search.

So, is it any good? Read on...

Continue reading “The Barcodescan Pro app helps you find the best price”

Tags: app review, AppReview, barcode, barcode scanner, barcodes, BarcodeScanner, iphone

Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, Freeware, Deals, iPhone, App Store

Mobile shopping's first Christmas

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Nov 23rd, 2009

I don't know that I completely agree with this article over at Business Week (technically, last year was our first Christmas with the App Store), but I think the concept is fascinating. Lauren Sherman and her interviewee Retails Systems Research managing partner Paula Rosenblum reason that this coming Christmas season -- surprise, we're only five days away from Black Friday 2009 -- will be the first where mobile shopping apps (and the smartphones that can run them) will be generally ubiquitous.

Not only will people have access to apps on their iPhone that help them find deals, stores, and prices, but they'll all have 'net-connected phones as well, which many of them actually got last Christmas. You'll see people sending texts to each other, playing games while in line, and even scanning coupons in at the register -- all with their phones.

As I said, this was all possible last Christmas, but since then, we've seen non-iPhones like the Pre and the Droid drop, and the iPhone itself has claimed a lot more customers than Black Friday 2008. These people won't be out buying smartphones, obviously, but they will be using them, and it'll be interesting to see how much this changes the experience. When I was a kid, you planned out your route ahead of time and hit what few stores you could, but between Twitter, apps, and all the other information available on a phone, shopping during the holiday season might be very different this year.

Although you can be sure there will still be lines, parking frustrations, and lots and lots of people buying junk just because it's cheap. Then again, maybe it's better to use that slightly older piece of technology, the desktop browser, and just do the shopping from home.

[via MacBytes]

Tags: ads, app, black-friday, changes, iphone, mobile

Filed under: iPhone

Gameloft backs iPhone and backs away from Android

by Ken Ray (RSS feed) on Nov 23rd, 2009

To iPhone or not to iPhone? That is the question on which a number of high-profile app developers are weighing-in. A couple of weeks ago it was Facebook app developer Joe Hewitt and software maker Rogue Amoeba saying they'd had enough of jumping through hoops to be on the iPhone and that they'd be working on other things.

Last week, Instapaper web-service and iPhone app [iTunes link] developer Marco Arment said, "Go if you want to, but there are more than enough people in the App Store to keep me fat and happy and not nearly enough in any other mobile app ecosystem to draw me away." I'm paraphrasing of course.

Now, French mobile phone game developer Gameloft has given its two cents. According to a company exec, Gameloft and other software developers are drawing down the resources spent on developing applications for Google's Android platform. Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort said at an investor conference late last week, "We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like ... many others."

Did he say what others? No. Did he say why? Yes.

Rochefort, like Instapaper's Arment, says the people just aren't there for the Android. "It is not as neatly done as on the iPhone," says the exec. "Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue."

Meanwhile on the App Store, money flows like water for Gameloft and the water's fine. Games for Apple's handhelds generated 13% of Gameloft's revenue last quarter. According to Rochefort, Gameloft is selling 400 times as many games for the iPhone and iPod touch as it is for the various Android powered phones.

[via Reuters]

Tags: android, app store, Arment, facebook, gameloft, games, hewitt, instapaper, iphone

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

The cow says mooooo! Zoowawa, an app for toddlers and their parents

by David Winograd (RSS feed) on Nov 22nd, 2009

Zoowawa [US$0.99, iTunes Link] is a cute app targeted for toddlers between the ages of two and three. Your child is presented with a split screen displaying two animals. Tapping on one of the animals plays the sound that the animal makes.

Each half of the screen can be swiped individually to reveal 14 animal pictures per half, or 24 animal pictures in all. The pictures are brightly colored and the app has a very clean look to it. Zoowawa runs on any iPhone or iPod touch using OS 3.1.2 or better.

My daughter is finishing a masters in education and has familiarity with very small children, so I asked her about the appropriateness of this app. My first impression was that along with the sound, the printed name of the animal should be shown. My daughter told me that for most kids in the targeted age range, adding the text would be too complex since reading often doesn't start until a child is three years old or older.

She did have few problems with the size of the pictures, saying that they may not hold a child's interest for very long. Kids like big things and dividing the screen to make each animal half of the screen size was probably not the best idea. Even at full size, a picture may not attract the attention of a toddler for too long.

I also had a bit of a problem with the quality of the animal sounds. Most are not digitized animal sounds, but rather a recording of someone making the sound with his voice. Since for many kids this app might be their first introduction to animals, I think that sound accuracy should be important.

Continue reading “The cow says mooooo! Zoowawa, an app for toddlers and their parents”

Tags: app review, AppReview, children, iphone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, toddlers

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

Original Monopoly now available from EA for the iPhone / iPod touch

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on Nov 22nd, 2009

If an angry, perspiring Steve Ballmer took over control of my iPhone and said I could only have one third-party app on it, I know which app I'd keep. EA's Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition [US$4.99, iTunes Link] has been my favorite game on the iPhone since it first appeared. Just how much am I addicted to this game? I've played 272 games against three other AI players. At about 45 minutes per game, that's almost nine days of my life that I've spent enjoying Monopoly on my iPhone.

There was always one thing that bothered me about The World Edition: that it wasn't the game I remembered as a child. It uses cities from all over the world, from Gdynia to Montreal, transportation modes from rail to space instead of the four classic railroads, and had some other rule changes that were different.

EA just made my day, since they recently released Monopoly [US$4.99, iTunes Link], and this one is the original classic game. It uses all those streets in or around Atlantic City, N.J. like Baltic Avenue and Park Place, has the four original railroads, and seems to follow the original rules more closely.

Like The World Edition, you play against real or computerized opponents. For real opponents, Monopoly now provides Bluetooth play against up to two other players, or Wi-Fi play against up to three other players. My wife and I found the Wi-Fi play of the World Edition to be a huge battery hog; we'll be trying out the Bluetooth option soon.

The original Monopoly board game was a perennial stocking stuffer when I was a kid, and now the classic Monopoly for iPhone and iPod touch is sure to make a great gift for someone you love.

Tags: EA, game, hgg, iphone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, monopoly

Filed under: iPhone

iPhone launching in South Korea this week

by Ken Ray (RSS feed) on Nov 22nd, 2009

Just days after receiving final approval from regulators, the iPhone will go on sale this week in South Korea. KT Corp, the country's second largest mobile carrier, began taking orders for the iPhone today, with plans to launch the phone on Saturday, November 28.

Apple has confirmed the KT announcement, though it's offered no other comment. KT, on the other hand, is playing the announcement up. In a press release, Kim Woo-sik, CEO of KT's personal customer group, said, "We are thrilled to bring iPhone to South Korea. Our customers will enjoy the power and benefits of using the revolutionary iPhone on KT's 3G network."

Residents of South Korea will have access to the same array of iPhones available in the states. KT is offering the 8GB iPhone 3G as well as the 16GB and 32GB iPhone 3GS.

[via Associated Press, Bloomberg]

Tags: 3g, 3gs, iphone, kt, south korea

Filed under: Security, iPhone, App Review

Cisco adds Security Intelligence Ops to iPhone portfolio

by Michael Rose (RSS feed) on Nov 21st, 2009

Despite some security-conscious enterprise experts pointing accusatory fingers at the rather bleak encryption story and only-recently fixed ActiveSync policy compliance on the iPhone platform, there's no doubt that IT and network professionals are grooving on the iPhone -- there are many apps designed for administrators to take control of their operations with a touch of a finger, and now Cisco has stepped in with an informational and alert resource that fits in your pocket.

The Cisco SIO (Security Intelligence Operations) to Go free app [iTunes link], requiring iPhone OS 3.0 or later, lets the paranoid properly alert and aware security professional keep tabs on the global threat landscape with Cisco's Cyber Risk Reports, Threat Outbreaks and Mitigation Bulletins, along with podcasts, blog posts and a slew of other branded content. There's also an IronPort-driven IP and email domain scanner, which will grab WHOIS data along with a brief reputation score for your hosts.

Having all this Cisco goodness in one place is handy, although the majority of the app's headlines link to pages on the Cisco site that remain largely iPhone-unfriendly -- even the press release announcing the app's launch is hard to zoom properly -- and there's none of the flexibility of a full-featured RSS reader to forward articles, bookmark or set read/unread points.

Still, as a gesture of goodwill towards the intersection of iPhone users and security professionals, it's a reasonable step. Cisco also has the WebEx Meetings app [iTunes link] and the Cisco Mobile telephony tool [iTunes link] in the store, both free.

[via TechCrunch]

Tags: cisco, enterprise, iphone, security, threat, virus

Filed under: iPhone, App Store

Geotagged tweets now alive in Stone Design's Twittelator Pro 3.3.1

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009

Twitter has flipped the switch on some new features, including geotagging of tweets and automatic retweeting. As a happy user of Stone Design's Twittelator Pro 3.3.1 [iTunes link], I was even more giddy when I found out that my favorite Twitter app already supports both of these features.

The geotagging feature lets you optionally attach a latitude and longitude to your tweets. If you receive the tweet in Twittelator, you can tap on the sender's avatar icon to see the geotag and pull up a Google map of the location near where the tweet was sent. The app lets you turn off geotagging when you send a tweet, which is useful if you're trying to shake off a stalker. It's also cool to use "nearby search" to find people who are near you and sending out tweets, and view their location on a map.

The official retweet feature has been going live for the past two weeks or so, although as of yet I haven't seen or been able to send a retweet that appears with the new retweet icon. In the web-based Twitter, I do see the new icons and messages that say "Retweeted by you," but I'm not sure why I'm not seeing this in Twittelator Pro.

Is anyone else using Twittelator Pro 3.3.1 who can vouch that the new retweet capability is working for them? Leave a comment.

Tags: geotagging, retweet, Twittelator, twitter

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone

Navigon briefly cutting price on its popular Nav app

by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009

Gee, we were just saying how competitive it is getting in the iPhone nav department, and Navigon has gone and cut prices for holiday travelers.

For 10 days only, beginning today (November 20-30) Navigon's iPhone app, Mobile Navigator [iTunes link]will be on sale for U.S. $69.99 instead of $89.99 providing a $20.00 savings. In addition, Navigon's Traffic Live feature is also on sale for $14.99 instead of $24.99. Traffic Live is a one time charge, not a continuing cost.

That's a significant saving for this very popular app, and puts it under similar featured apps from TomTom ($99.99) and Magellan ($79.99).

In my tests of the Navigon app I have found it accurate, and it has a superior user interface that is easy to use. Of course you shouldn't be looking at it while you are driving, and the text to speech does an excellent job of helping you keep your eyes on the road.

The Live Traffic feature will route you around major traffic congestion and adjust your ETA times.

It's nice to see prices heading south on some of these GPS packages. Now you'll be able to head south (or north, or any direction really) for less money and with more features. Have a safe trip.

Tags: GPS, hgg, live traffic iphone, LiveTrafficIphone, Mobile Navigator, navigation, Navigon, sale price

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