Quick Tips

A single point of success for new iPhone users, and for veterans who know new users and need a quick and helpful place to point them. This time Tekzilla Daily went and did the heavy lifting for iPhone beginners, with a quick how-to video showing Apple’s multi-touch gesture for “swipe to delete”.

In any app that supports it, such as email, SMS, or iPod, you can simply touch the item you want to delete, briskly swipe your finger horizontally across the item, and a red “delete” button will appear allowing you to banish the item from your iPhone forever.

It can be a little tricky at first. Too slow and you might open or launch the item instead. Too quick and it may ignore you. But after a few tries, you should be happily ditching anything you no longer feel the need to keep with you.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog.

TV.com (app) - CBS and Showtime Streaming on your iPhone

How bout CSI Miami full episodes streamed to your iPhone, legally... for free? CBS Interactive's TV.com give you just that. There aren't a ton of shows up yet (at least not full episodes), but CSI, Star Trek (the original!), and Gossip Girl (you know you've seen it) are all there.

TV.com (its an app, AND a website!) allows you to create "feeds" of shows you'd like based on keywords. You put in a few shows you like or terms, and the app creates a specialized feed of content you'd enjoy.

I'm sure more full shows will be coming quickly.

The app works over WiFi or 3G, and is available now for the low low price of free in the AppStore.

AppStore via Gizmodo

Apple Cracking Down on Emoji Icon

The iPhone (2.2 +) comes pre-loaded with Emoji icons but the menus to turn them on aren't enabled. If you aren't familiar with Emoji icons they are popular pictures/emotions used in Japanese wireless messages. The iPhone comes pre-loaded with these little icons but the menus are disabled.

Aside from the Cydia download to enable them there are many applications on the AppStore like Typing Genius ($0.99) and Spell Number (free) that enable these Emojiicons. Apple doesn't seem to like developers on the AppStore enabling this Easter egg on its devices. Apple removed the application Miscalculator from the store with no warning to the developer because it was enabling the Emoji easter egg. Since then the developers of the other Emoji-enabling applications have received notices that their applications need to become Emoji-free or risk being removed from the AppStore.

If you want to get Emoji icons enabled via the AppStore rather than Cydia this is your last chance to grab one of the many applications that enable it. I recommend Spell Number (because it is free).

Instructions

1. Have firmware 2.2 or above
2. Download Spell Number
3. Launch it
4. Type in 9876543.21
5. Exit Spell number
6. Go to General->Keyboard->International Keyboards->Japanese and enable Emjoi

via modmyi.com

Is This a Sneak Peek at Google Latitude for the iPhone?

Google recently announced their Latitude service, which lets you and your friends share your location, and while they’ve made it available to some platforms, the iPhone version hasn’t surfaced yet… Or has it?

A tipster has sent us a photo of what looks to be Latitude integrated into the iPhone Map App. Now, we know that Apple, not Google created the Map app. Based on Google’s back-end data, to be sure, but Apple made the interface. So, if Latitude is coming by way of Maps, Apple is going to have to be the one who releases it — and that means it won’t be until another firmware update (2.3 at the earliest, 3.0 at the outside).

However, last we heard Google was going to release it themselves, as part of their awesome (yet controversial) Google Mobile App. If that’s the case, unless they’re planning a massive redesign that happens to look just like the Maps app, then we’re not sure what we’re really looking at up there.

What do you think? Real? Real fake?

And either way, would Latitude be better combined with Maps than with Google Mobile?

via The iPhone Blog

Google and iPhone go Offline

Google demos offline Gmail for iPhone, Android at MWC

by Jacob Schulman, posted Feb 18th 2009 at 6:47PM

If you were thinking offline Gmail on your desktop was the greatest thing since sliced bread, prepare yourselves people. If an MWC keynote from Google's VP of engineering, Vic Gundotra, is any indication, the same functionality might be coming soon to an iPhone / Android phone near you. Amongst other things, the souped up web app boasts an overhauled interface, supports labels, and of course, offline access. Despite our own hunch that Google's just using black magic and voodoo to make this happen, Gundotra claims that it's all made possible through HTML5 standards -- AppCache being the biggie. This development certainly opens the doors to more offline-enabled web apps in the future -- Docs, anyone?. Of course, we know Apple has a thing about people messing with its own apps, so it's probably going to take some time / knee-breaking to get them to come around, but for some reason, we don't think it'll take as long with Android. There's a demo video available after the break, and please, try to contain yourselves.

The Truth????

Apple and Adobe Not Working Together for Flash

---

AS expected and falling right in line with the Adobe and iPhone flash over-hype schedule we have more news concerning iPhone flash from Adobe! On Tuesday an Adobe spokeswomen first refused to comment when asked for confirmation whether or not Apple and Adobe are really working together to bring flash to the iPhone. The question was prompted by Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen saying that "It’s a hard technical challenge, and that’s part of the reason Apple and Adobe are collaborating," a couple weeks ago which implied that Apple and Adobe were working together to make the flash happen. The Adobe spokeswoman did give out a few statements that imply the exact opposite of Adobe CEO Narayen's statements. She said "We think Flash availability on the iPhone benefits the millions of joint Apple and Adobe customers, and we want to work with Apple to bring these capabilities to the device," which of course basically says Apple is not working with Adobe. We want = we would like to = we are hoping sometime in the future we will be. If they were working together wouldn't the Adobe representative said something more along the lines of "we are working with apple?" Result: Adobe an Apple are not working together to bring flash to the iPhone. We already assumed as much. This should be no surprise. [cnn via appleinsider]

Adobe Announces “Full” Flash Player for Mobile: iPhone ETA TBA

At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, Adobe took the wrapper off a real for-real version of their desktop Flash player designed (and hopefully optimized) for mobile devices like the iPhone. Well, technically they took the wrappers off the wrappers, since Flash Mobile won’t ship until the end of 2009 on its current schedule, and it won’t support the iPhone even then, only Windows Phone 6.5 (are we allowed to call it WinPho now?), Google Android, Palm Pre, and Nokia. Even these implementations are likely to only ship in 2010.

And the iPhone version? According to Anup Murarka, director of partner development and technology (via Macworld):

“We’ve made a lot of progress, but there is still a lot of engineering work to be done. [...] We’re working with Apple on what we have. We’re committed to make the Flash plug-in work on the iPhone.”

Analysts aren’t so sure, citing lack of low-level system access on the iPhone (and BlackBerry) as limitations, as well as Apple’s preference for their own QuickTime technology.

So, if no news is good news, not much news must be… what exactly then?

New Google Docs Mobile Update...

Add, edit, sort, and filter: Improved mobile access to spreadsheets

Friday, February 13, 2009 6:30 AM

Over a year ago, we enabled view-only access to docs from mobile devices. This has come in handy for me because I use Google Docs spreadsheets to keep track of a lot of nerdy and not-so-nerdy things in my life. I've often found myself wanting to access my spreadsheet data on the go, when I'm not near a computer.

Today, I'm happy to announce that we've made mobile access even better by adding new capabilities with List View for spreadsheets. You can quickly view, edit, sort, and filter your spreadsheets on a variety of mobile devices including Android-powered devices like the T-Mobile G1, the iPhone and iPod touch, and the Nokia S60.

With Valentine's Day coming soon, I'd like to share two ways that List View is helping me to play cupid.

Last week I was trying to find some Broadway tickets to surprise my boyfriend for Valentine's Day. A friend of mine at a ticket agency publishes an online spreadsheet with a list of last-minute available tickets. From my iPhone, I was able to quickly access his spreadsheet to see upcoming shows:

 

Mobile List View showing all shows (sorted by "Show" column).  Shown in portrait mode on the iPhone.

From here, in just a few taps, I was able to filter down to tickets available on Valentine's Day:

Choosing a filter for the "Date" column.

I could see only the rows that matched my filter, and I eventually found a show that I knew that my boyfriend would like: "Billy Elliot The Musical" at 7pm with orchestra seats.

All rows matching the "2/14/2009" filter.

With tickets purchased, and a restaurant booked, I'm nearly set. Here's another example of how this enhanced mobile access will come in handy tomorrow night. A few of my friends and I like to think of ourselves as wine aficionados. We rate wines that we like (and don't like) in a wine diary and it's kept in a shared spreadsheet. On the T-Mobile G1 or the iPhone home screens, we all have shortcuts which link directly to the spreadsheet.

Mobile List View showing all wines. Landscape mode on the G1.   

While at a restaurant or wine bar, we can see each others' recommendations and note our likes and dislikes.  Here I can view and add a new entry:  

Mobile List View "Add row" widget on the G1.

Tomorrow night, mobile access to this spreadsheet will come in handy when presented with a big wine list, with my significant other looking at me across the table waiting for me to pick a wine (already).

Try this out by pointing your mobile device's browser to m.google.com/docs. And if you use Google Apps, go to docs.google.com/a/your-domain. This feature is available in all 38 languages that are supported in Google Docs spreadsheets

New iPhone Case???

Still months away from June when the next generation of iPhone is expected to be announced/released possible leaked pics of casing design are already popping up on the web. 

If these images are real it appears that the next generation iPhone will do away with the glossy casing and have a matte finish instead. The finish is textured for better gripping. It is also rumored that the rear casing is going to be returning to metal instead of the cheap plastic casing used in the iPhone 3g which has caused many complaints and class action lawsuits due to cracking. Also to note from the pictures it is probable that the next iPhone will have a 16 GB size option -- the question is will that be paired with a 32 GB or a 8 GB. 

Google Announces Push Gmail Contacts, Google Calendar For iPhone

Google has announced that Google Sync, a new service that allows push over-the-air (OTA) syncing of Google Calendar events and Gmail contacts for the Blackberry, will now work with the iPhone. Microsoft says that Google has licensed their Exchange ActiveSync protocol, which Google Sync is based on.

Is Microsoft Office coming for iPhone?

Dataviz, well-known for their Palm OS software, are promising to bring MS Office editing to the iPhone via their new app, DocumentsToGo. The app will be demoed at the Mobile World Congress which runs February 16-19 in Barcelona. The app will also run on Android.

Pricing information has not been released, but the app for Palm OS runs $89.99 in its fullest form, with two lighter version at $49.99 (doesn't support Outlook on that version) and $29.99 (missing a ton of features, like Mac-created doc support). It'd be interesting to see if they stay at that price point or try to go lower - they really have no competition in this arena.

The closest competitor at the moment is MobileFiles Pro by Quickoffice, which only allows for editing of Excel files, and reading of other MS Office documents. That app sells for $9.99.

Looks like we'll know more come MWC - we'll let you know then, too. ;)

Has anybody seen this yet????

Apple today is pushing down a “Carrier Update” via iTunes. As usual, explanations are scant to none. Have you gotten it yet? What carrier are you on, and are you noticing any differences?

(Thanks to Earless Puppy for the head’s up!)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog.

Google Task

[Video note: Interesting to see the Google iPhone in the video above is missing the iTunes and App Store icons... and the YouTube App (YouTube being, you know, owned by Google). Google Mobile App got a prime spot though!]

Still catching up on the Google news, and this one is more confusing to us then most. A while back we mentioned — regretfully — that Google had stopped offering their iPhone optimized version of iGoogle because, to be blunt, they wanted to offer every handset a similar experience and few other handsets could match the quality of the iPhone version.

Now, however, Google has announced that while they aren’t bringing the iGoogle page back, they are adding an iPhone optimized version of their bare-bones Gmail Tasks WebApp:

starting today, you can manage your task list from your iPhone or Android device, and access it from any xhtml enabled phone. (Mine’s always with me, in whichever jeans I’m wearing.) Just go to gmail.com/tasks from your phone’s browser and log in. If you already use the version of Tasks in Gmail Labs, you’ll see the same task list that’s always in sync. We focused on making it super easy and fast to update your Gmail task list — you can add new tasks and check off completed ones, no matter where you are (like in a meeting or at the grocery store) even when you’re in the bathroom.

Inconsistent but potentially appreciated. But will Tasks on the iPhone be the glory of Gmail email, or the fail of Gmail contacts? Anyone tried this out yet? Let us know how it works for you!

Finally Google Syncing App....

Google Reader is unarguably an extremely popular RSS news reader with a very good mobile interface for the iPhone. But as good as the mobile interface is, for me well done native applications will always beat an in-browser experience. A good iPhone app that synchronizes with Google Reader already exists by the name of Byline ($4.99, iTunes link), but a new one has just been released that is worth your attention.

I used Byline for a few months before finally tiring of not having the ability to unsubscribe from feeds that I'd lost interest in. In fact, I switched to NetNewsWire (free, iTunes link) on the Newsgator platform for just that reason. But this new RSS reader has come along with not only the ability to synchronize with Google Reader, but also the ability to manage my Google Reader subscriptions right on my iPhone. This new (to me, anyway) app is called Feeds ($2.99, iTunes link).

Continue reading iPhone app Feeds handily synchronizes with Google Reader

TUAWiPhone app Feeds handily synchronizes with Google Reader originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:00:00 EST.

Podcaster/RssPlayer for free today only!!!!!

Don’t remember the iPhone App Store PodCaster-gate sega? We envy you. Long story short, Apple rejected PodCaster for duplicating iTunes functionality (downloading podcasts), then added that functionality to iTunes with iPhone OS 2.2. A short time back, a newly stripped down (and less user-friendly — thanks Apple!) version of PodCaster finally made it into the App Store as RSS Player.

And for today, it’s FREE [iTunes link]!

(Thanks to forum superstar Jamesus for pointing this out!)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog.