August 13th, 2010 by admin

iPhonegizmo gets a constant stream of emails from App developers and App publishers. Most of them get ignored as they are of no particular interest.  But the latest one proved too weird to ignore. So the iPhonegizmo team checked it out!

The hook: This was not an App - it is a webcam site that can be accessed from the iPhone. As they so politely informed us in their email

It only requires you point your phone’s browser at …. site, to get started. (registration required and adult content)

Thus, it side-steps the issue Playboy has with regard to their application and Apple’s no-nudity policy

So cleverly playing on the current news flap around the latest Playboy App released for iPad - which has some punters agitated because of Apple’s no-nudity in Apps rule.

OK - so we saw it as our duty to our readers to check the site out  - clicked the link and got:

OK, we thought, that’s a bit weird! Or maybe these are porn providers with a conscience? Or perhaps they are trying to get to the adult market that have kids and want to reassure them that the content they watch cannot be accessed by their children?

So we clicked on the first link for the “child protection” sites and got:

Are they referring to their own sites, we wondered?

But wait, there’s more! Because not all the links provided there were valid. The surfwatch site is no longer available from Google via IE, and - according to domaintools - the site was a malicious site! Here is a screen shot of the site just before it got dropped:

One of the team members here at iPhonegizmo used to work for Google and had the dubious pleasure of having to check adult sites for black hat and malicious tricks. Which they all too often use.

The moral of the story (HAD to say it)  is this: beware of porn sites bearing gifts! One great thing about iTunes is that it is safe to use - for you and your kids!

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July 30th, 2010 by admin

According to GeeksAreSexy.com, the latest decision handed down from the Copy Right Office, means that:

Jailbreaking your phone to use lawfully obtained software (i.e., you can put Google voice on your iPhone if you want to):

is now legal!

Does that mean you should go out and jailbreak your iPhone? Well, according to Google, 4 million people a month are thinking about it!. But there are disadvantages as well as advantages in jailbreaking your iPhone.

One of the main advantage of jailbreaking our iPhone is that we can use a different network provider (eg T-Mobile, etc). Another is that we can use non-Apple/iTunes  software.

The main disadvantage remains that Apple will disown us - our warranty may be void if we jailbreak our iPhone.

Still, its worth knowing that we can legally make the choice to jailbreak our iPhone if we want to!

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July 3rd, 2010 by admin

After laughing ourselves silly, we decided we had to share this already famous YouTube video with our readers (over 2.3 million people have watched it since it was released just 10 days ago) . Now, be warned, there is language in it - so if you don’t like bad language then please don’t watch it.

OK - the benefits of the tens of thousands of free iPhone Apps is somewhat understated (or not understood?) by the hero of our story, as well as totally missing the massive benefits that the Apple platform has provided for the development of hitherto undreamed of advances in the mobile platform for gaming, education, entertainment, medicine, etc etc —-> and the saving of the planet! - But, we can still enjoy the point.

We admit to an adoring (even irrational?) love of Apple technology! So what?

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June 7th, 2010 by admin

Most people in the baby boomer era grew up with all the super stars that now draw huge crowds at the movies: Super Man, Iron Man, Batman, etc…  But one super hero we don’t hear about is Dick Tracey. OK - he was not a super hero -  but he was a super cool catcher of bad-guys all the same. And as BB-geners will tell you, nothing was more desirable than the wrist-video-phone that he touted.

And they tell me that, back in those days ( the 60’s Beatles era, hippies, flower power etc - and the 70’s ) there was just no concept that they would be seeing that happen “in their lifetime”.  I’m guessing that Steve Job remembers that time as well. Because he makes the point in his latest tweet that:

No one used computers until Macintosh. No one listened to MP3 players until iPod. No one made video calls until iPhone4

Now, we guess he means that no one made video calls on a mobile phone till now (after all we have been making video skype calls for years) and - he also seems to have forgotten that Dick Tracey has been doing this for decades!!.

So this is a truly momentous occasion. Dick Tracey, we have finally caught up with your tech prowess - thanks Apple. (And btw, the other features are great as well).

Now we just have to wait for all the “win a free iPhone4″ contests to start!

Oh - that’s right THEY ALREADY HAVE! here, and here and… well you get the picture so go look for yourselves!

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April 21st, 2010 by admin

Just released today - the latest decision from the Federal Communications Commission means that iPhone users will be able to roam between carriers! In brief, what the FCC have said is:

The Commission’s Order on Reconsideration enhances mobile voice service through roaming agreements that provide consumers with access to other carriers’ networks.

And their foresight does not end there because they are now considering:

In a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission seeks input on whether to extend roaming obligations to data services, such as mobile broadband and Internet access services.

What all this means is that the FFC will now require wireless providers to let other carriers have access their networks where the provider owns spectrum but doesn’t offer coverage.

Does this matter? Well, there is a mass of unhappy people being bullied by the likes of AT&T and getting charged for services they don’t understand or want. This is super well illustrated by the story of ntharvey (Response number 7) who takes us through a long and painful series of calls with AT&T that reveals the absurdity and unreasonableness of “off net” usage charges. Didn’t know there were such things? Read it!

How many of you realize any of this?  How many people even know they are getting these charges or risking getting kicked off AT&T as a result?

This latest decision of the FCC will protect us from unfair monopoly control and charges (even if we don’t know it!!)

Next post we will be discussing how iPhone users can use a new method of roaming while overseas that seriously reduces call costs (you might remember a post we did some time back that revealed super high call charges while overseas - eg Mexico - that can be in the $thousands!)

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February 2nd, 2010 by admin

We have so far avoided the hype around the iPad - but the question has to be asked:

“Just where does the iPad sit on our must-haves list?”

After all, most of us have a laptop and/or desk top for use at home and an iPhone/iPod Touch for use on the move. For most of us, the iPad would just an unnecessary extra something to haul around, without really adding any useful functionality for that extra inconvenience.

But it does offer some neat features - and amongst the most exciting, we think, is the gaming fun it will provide:

Neither the laptop nor the iPhone really compete with this. The laptop because it does not have an accelerometer!! and the iPhone because it does not have the size. We think that the gaming feature is its real strength and that it is going to be a significant competitor with the X-box and the PS3. You can be sure Apple is hoping so.

Of course, Apple are saying that the device is an alternative the the Amazon Kindle (which reported massive sales over Christmas). And so it may be. But the vote from the iPhonegizmo team is that its just too big and clunky to really attract book readers to shell out 500 bucks to use it - even with its extra features. The Kindle - at $259 - kinda makes it as a not-too-expensive Christmas gift. BUT, only the most basic iPad will cost the $500.

Well that’s the iPhonegizmo teams take on the iPad. We think it might just be the first Apple clunker - but that the gaming feature might just save it from that fate!

PS: The high quality movie watching feature is a nice extra - but not, we reckon, a deal maker. Especially as sites like Hulu will NOT run on the Ipad (because Apple continues to refuse to allow flash content). The  iPad will go on sale at the end of March. So I guess we will see just how pumped the market is to buy this expensive - but not really necessary - extra device.

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January 20th, 2010 by admin

Nothing succeeds like success - and Artificial life is counting on that to help them with their latest iPhone games releases - Spartacus and Red Bull Racing Challenge. And they have every reason to feel confident, despite the price tags that go with the new games. If you take a look at the effort they have put in over the last 12 months, it is clear that they are serious about getting games out there that we will want to download. According to a press release by Artificial Life this week:

as of December 31st, 2009, it has produced and released 24 games for the iPhone and iPod touch. So far, the top title was downloaded for close to 2.1 million times, the second most for over 1.5 million times and the third, which was launched in early December, 2009, achieved over 1 million downloads in just one month.

Now, obviously, they are out to earn $ along with our appreciation. But consider the recently released Amateur Surgeon Christmas Edition .

The original version of “Amateur Surgeon” is probably their most successful game (the lite (free) version is probably the game that has reached 2.1 million downloads) and given the game has a price tag of $2.99, they have done well with this game - it has a 4-star rating from over 9,000 reviews!!).

And yet, they gave us the Christmas version for free (there has already been 42,935 people rating this game at 3.5 stars)! They were smart and released a lite version first- which has had a massive 135, 080 people giving it a 3.5 star rating!

Their other big successes (big numbers downloading the game and giving it a 3 star or better rating) are: iSoccer Backstreet Lite (over 4500 people give it a 3.star or better rating), and BMW Sauber F1 Team Racing 09 Lite (over 2,600 people giving it a 3-star rating or better)

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Other free iPhone games they have released that have received a 3-star or better rating are:  iDroidsMania Lite; Pandorum Lite; and iSink u lite.

If you  have not tried out any of Artificial Life’s games then we suggest you start with the free games listed here.

The two just-released games have price tags. Sparticus has a split response so far. Those that have given it a rating clearly either love it or hate it (predominance of ‘5′ or ‘1′ star ratings). But its official release is not till Friday 22nd Jan - so its not been widely downloaded as yet. If that gets you interested, then check out the official video demo of the game:

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