Carnival of the Mobilists #148
Just a quick one to mention that the latest Carnival of the Mobilists is up over at MOpocket. Some very interesting posts as usual, including an entry from All About iPhone.
Check out the Carnival at http://www.mopocket.com/2008/11/148th-carnival-of-the-mobilists.php
Halo (sort of) & Quake (maybe) come to the iPhone
With that hugely qualified headline, how can you not be excited?!
I have two gaming tidbits for you this morning:
(1) I mentioned a little while ago that Bungie had given their staff iPhones, and that there was an outside chance that a Halo port could be in the offing. Well, there is no news from Bungie, but Halo is coming to the iPhone (in a way) for jailbroken users.
How many applications does the average iPhone owner install?
Apple’s 2008 Q4 financial details were released last week, and were all over the web of course. So I won’t go into it myself, apart from highlighting that in just 15 months, the iPhone has grown to provide 39% of Apple’s income, and that – by revenue – Apple is now the the number three phone manufacturer, globally. Wow.
I just have a simpler equation to consider:
iPhones (original and 3G) sold: 13 million
Applications sold through the App Store: 200 million
200/13 = On average, each user has downloaded and installed 15 apps 7 apps.
(Edit: see my comment for an explanation of the revised figure)
I’m well aware that such a simplistic figure ignores an awful lot of factors (it would be more interesting to know the mode), and includes certain people who download a lot of apps. But, it’s a starting point. And from this point, one things springs to mind:
For a per-user metric, I think this average number of installed apps is quite high, and probably higher than any other mobile platform.
(more…)
Add voice recording to the iPhone for free
Just a quick one: Griffin – makers of the the iTrip FM transmitter amongst other things – have released their iTalk application for the iPhone. And for a limited time it’s free 
There are a few free options available for recording iPhone voice notes, such as EccoNote and QuickVoiceRecorder.
I’ve just downloaded it and tried out some recording. The interface is simple, and it does exactly what it says on the tin. iTalk also comes with sync software (Windows and Mac) which works over Wifi.
All the download details are available at Griffin’s website.
(via Daring Fireball)
On gadget reviews and gadget love
This is a post that takes a slight time out.
It’s also a post that confirms why Boing Boing is a daily read for me, as something interesting always turns up. Such is the case with Joel Johnson’s review of the Android-powered G1.
Gadget reviews – especially of the iPhone – of are easy to come by (incidentally, there are a ton over at Test Freaks). But, what could have been just an ordinary hardware and feature run-through, is instead a meditation on the relationship we have with our personal technology. Here comes a quote:
When it comes to owning, using, or reviewing a gadget, there are really only two states: love increasing or love receding.
Please fix the iPhone!
When I’m preparing articles for this site, I’m wary about the level of griping that I do – by which I mean talking about all the things that are missing from the iPhone. However you feel about the success of the device, it’s clear that there is a lot of functionality not present compared to even many low-end phones.
So there are valid concerns that users would like to be addressed. In this vein, Steve has just asked Who cares about Copy/Paste? Well it turns out that – as of the writing of this article – exactly 1389 people care about copy and paste.
That’s according to Please Fix the iPhone. It’s a website from Fullsix that:
…gives a collective voice to those that want to smash their iPhone into a wall when it is impossible to do simple and intuitive tasks that we have all been doing for years on other phones.
Carnival of the Mobilists #146
A quick heads up: the latest Carnival has been published at London Calling. Some excellent posts as ever, especially some technical notes on mobile video call quality. And the Post of the Week? Look no further than All About iPhone’s thoughts on the Nokia 5800 Many thanks Andrew.
Why the Nokia 5800 is good news for the iPhone
Nokia recently announced their first S60 5th edition touchscreen phone – the 5800 XpressMusic, Frankly, it looks superb. I’m not going to do a blow-by-blow comparison – ShinyShiny already has that covered – but the entrance of the world’s dominant phone manufacturer into the space carved out by Apple demands a closer look. What will be the knock on effect for the iPhone?
(more…)
For whom the App Store bell tolls
Thanks to Daring Fireball for the heads up on the iPhone Application Graveyard, which lists all the apps that Apple has removed or not approved. It’s not quite comprehensive – there are a few more mentioned over at iPhonefootprint.
Looking through the apps that didn’t make it, I saw one I hadn’t heard of before – Freedom Time by Juggleware. This app counted down the last days of George W. Bush in the Oval Office. But it never made it to the store.
TV on the iPhone – two different approaches
Two interesting announcements have come my way today – one concerning BBC iPlayer, and the other concerning Youtube. What’s interesting about them is the way in which they treat the video that they offer, and what that means for watching TV on your iPhone.