Shazam

You may have already seen the recently debuted iPhone 3G ads, one of them featuring a little app Shazam.

There’s a reason Shazam has 4.5 stars after 1,880 reviews… it kicks ass! We’ve all been in the situation that Shazam is designed to remedy: you’re in a bar or a store or maybe you’re just driving along in your car and you hear a song. You love this song but you have no idea what it’s called or who sings it, and neither do any of the knuckleheads you’re with.

Back in the Stone Age (a couple months ago) you would have spent the next few days humming the song for your friends while they look at you like you’re an idiot, but now all you have to do is whip out your iPhone in mid-song, launch Shazam, tap on “Tag Now”, and wait for it to tell you the artist, song title, album, genre, and it also displays the album cover. It might even find you the music video on YouTube! And of course you can buy the song from iTunes.

Shazam is one of the few apps that belongs on every single iPhone on the planet. It may not recognize 100% of the music you throw at it, but my unscientific estimate is that it’ll tell you what you want to know about 80-90% of the time if what you’re listening to has ever been released on a semi-major record label. It’s even pretty good at sniffing out more obscure titles, but the more obscure the more hit-or-miss your experience will be.

If you listen to music and don’t have this app yet, go get it right now. Seriously, go. Now!

P.S. A little tip: There’s no way to mass-delete tags, so if you want to delete them quickly without opening every single one, just swipe your thumb left-to-right under the time in My Tags. This will bring up a red delete button, but be careful because it doesn’t ask you “are you sure” before deleting.

(via iPhoneAppReviews.net)

iPhone 2.2 Firmware on November 21st?

iPhoneHellas has been told that the iPhone 2.2 Firmware will be released on November 21st. “The iPhone OS v2.2 will be given in circulation on 21 November’08.”

They also list some of the new features expected in 2.2…

New Features:
- New look for the Safari with the Google search bar now occupying its own space on the title bar (iPhone v2.2 beta1)
- Add toggle On / Off to disable the auto-correction (iPhone v2.2 beta1).
- 461 Japanese emoji icons (iPhone v2.2 beta1).
- Support for new languages.
- The Line-in audio is activated and can be used through the headphone jack.
- New features of Maps.app:
o Google Street View (iPhone v2.2 beta1).
o Google Transit information - Routes public transport (iPhone v2.2 beta2).
o Walking directions (iPhone v2.2 beta2).
o Location sharing.
- New features of the App Store:
o Ο The sector ‘Categories’ now shows the icons of the applications instead of the list.
o In each page of the application has been added by a button ‘Tell A Friend’ & ‘Report A Problem’.
o Added the possibility of scoring the application when the user chooses to delete from the device (iPhone v2.2 beta2).
- Added the possibility for direct downloading of podcasts from the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store (iPhone v2.2 beta2).

(via iClarified.com)

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Easy Email is Now Free from the AppStore - Landscape Email for your iPhone/Touch

Want to make email writing on iPhone much easier? Want to get it for FREE? Better get it now. Easy Email is what you’re looking for! Easy Email uses the wider landscape mode keyboard which is much easier for typing. To compose your email, you can:

• pick your default drafts or your customized drafts from Draft Library
• choose the font style, size and color
• add some special symbols which are not available on default keyboard.
• Then simply tap send button to active Mobile Mail to dispatch.

Now on promotion, for FREE!

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Snatch for your iPhone - Get your mind out the gutter - It’s a Trackpad for your Mac

There were rumors going around and a couple well crafted photoshops of Apple’s new Notebooks using iPhone/Touch like glass multi touch trackpads that double as displays. Well everything was right about those rumors except for the display part. The new Apple Trackpads used in their new unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pro’s are glass, multi touch, but they aint got any display.. That’s where a new App called Snatch and your iPhone come into play. Snatch transforms your iPhone into a wireless trackpad for your Mac.

Features:

• Using your iPhone as a wireless trackpad — tracking, clicking,
  two-finger scrolling, two-finger tap, window dragging and screen zoom.
• Separate scrolling mode for easy one-finger scrolling in either
  linear (iPhone style) or iPod clickwheel-type circular scrolling.
• Separate keyboard mode for entering text.
• Automatic configuration — just install each piece of software and,
  so long as both devices are on the same network, it just works
• Can also be used in an environment without WiFi by creating an ad hoc network on your Mac.

Currently there are two versions available from the AppStore. There is the full featured version for about $8, and Snatch Test, with limited functionality (just single click and tracking). There is some software that you have to install on your Mac called Snatch Server which allows you to use to your iPhone and Snatch via a password protected wireless netwrok connection.

Limitations:

• No support for three finger or four finger scrolling as offered in
  the new MacBooks — I’m not sure if this is a limitation of iPhone
  hardware though
• Tapping with two fingers, if set to perform right click, doesn’t work
• When scrolling, the action is inverted. It would be good to have an option to change this, as it seems a little unnatural.

This is a really cool app that’s worth playing around with. I dont know if I would buy the full version, but the Free version is nice to toy with. Enjoy

[via TheAppleBlog]

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Quake Submitted to the AppStore - Will be Free and Awesome

ZodTTD recently submitted a free port of Quake to Apple’s AppStore. It is compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch of all versions/firmwares 2.0+. Above is a video of it in action!

At first accelerometer support was included, but it is very hard to play the game while maintaining the positions needed for Quake. So it has been disabled in this revision. It usually takes between 2 to 5 days to get an app approved (or rejected) for AppStore. Once/if approved for AppStore, it will be updated to include network play, mods / download content, and more!

As you can see and hear, this version has sound support and uses a landscape orientation. Please support ZodTTD efforts on bringing this awesome title to AppStore, Coming soon to an AppStore near you!

Thanks to ZodTTD

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Apple Blocks Opera Browser from iPhone AppStore

Image via CrunchBase

Opera Mini Browser has taken a back seat due to Apples tight grip on apps that are approved for  download/purchase from the AppStore. Read below for more

Opera chief Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner recently told the New York Times (by way of MacNN) that Opera Mini, one of the company’s mobile web browsers for smartphones, has already been ported to the iPhone but can’t be released as Apple’s rules for the App Store preclude software that replicate the core functionality of the iPhone or iPod touch.

The revelation is an unusual one given Apple’s official stance on third-party apps as early as March, when the iPhone Software Developer Kit was first released. The Cupertino, Calif.-based cellphone maker specifically bars third-party interpreters that call on non-Apple frameworks and languages, which by definition would include Opera’s web rendering engine. This would have left Opera Software converting software unlikely to be released in the near term.

[via AppleInsider]

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