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Google demos HTML5-based Maps on the Palm Pre
Looks like offline Gmail on the iPhone wasn't the only trick Google's Vic Gondotra has up his sleeve during his talk at MWC -- he also gave a quick demo of Google Maps running as a web app on the Palm Pre. Of course, what's interesting there is that the Pre's HTML-based SDK means that web apps can act like first class citizens on the device -- which is probably why Vic called the Pre "arguably one of my favorite devices." Hopefully that means we're going to see a lot more Pre devs really blur the line between local and cloud-based applications, but for now we'll just settle for the short demo video after the break.
Google releases Books browser for iPhone
Despite the fact that the App Store is capturing everybody's attention, old-school (as in, about 8 months ago) mobile web apps are still worth checking out, too -- Andy Ihnatko reports that Google has put their Google Book Search web app in iPhone form, and the result is awesome: 1.5 million public-domain texts in a well-coded and clean reader all for completely free. Classics, you may be a video star, but you can't touch this.Ok, so no it doesn't have Classics' fun little page-turning or bookshelf-browsing graphics, nor Stanza's bookstore and eReader support, nor Bookshelf's linkup to Webscription.net -- but it is awesome, and completely free. To check it out, you just need to visit http://books.google.com/m on your iPhone or iPod touch (and you might as well bookmark it, because you never know when you'll want to read a little Shakespeare or Dickens).Update: Commenters note that you can add Google books to Stanza by entering the URL of the book. Not too shabby. Stanza is free [App Store link].
Firefox 3 and MobileMe not working? It might be Ubiquity plugin
While this might not be news for everyone, reader Brad and I seemed to be having the same problem: Using Firefox 3, we would see the "unsupported browser" message pictured while trying to use me.com. Obviously, Firefox 3 is a supported browser for MobileMe. A TUAW colleague gave it a try and found everything to work fine. Brad and I compared notes about what plugins we have in common, and found that Ubiquity was causing the problem. It turned out to be related to the user-agent string: MobileMe uses the user-agent string to determine what browser you're using, and Ubiquity tacks on an extra bit at the end. For example, without Ubiquity installed, it shows Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; en-US; rv:1.9.0.5) Gecko/2008120121 Firefox/3.0.5. With Ubiquity installed, it said Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; en-US; rv:1.9.0.5) Gecko/2008120121 Firefox/3.0.5 Ubiquity/0.1.5. (Emphasis mine.) Since MobileMe doesn't know what to do with the extra Ubiquity text at the end, it thinks you have an unsupported browser, and shows you that error. The good news is that you can fix this, thanks to a simple technique from Tim Jarrett, and still use both Ubiquity and MobileMe. Read on to find out how. Thanks, Brad!
Apple Xserve Field Guide
Attention Xserve administrators: Apple has created an Xserve Field Guide web app that can you can use to jog your memory when you're standing in front of a server and can't remember how to perform some manual task.The web app is designed to be viewed on a Mac, iPhone, or iPod touch, and requires Safari as the browser. If you need to identify what model of XServe you're working on, want to know how to install spare parts, would like to decode what blinking lights on the Xserve mean, or even determine how to choose a startup drive using the system identifier button, it's all in this web app.You can visit the web app from your favorite browser here:http://help.apple.com/server/guide/desktop.htmlor from your iPhone at this URL:http://help.apple.com/server/guide/main.htmlThanks to TwitterMail tipster mvcoile!
iPhone in the Enterprise: Lotus iNotes Ultralite
Back in January, we reported that IBM had plans to bring the Lotus Notes groupware application to the iPhone platform. Well, it's happened! Big Blue is announcing the availability of iNotes Ultralite, an iPhone portal to Lotus Notes that is available for free for anyone with a Lotus Notes license. In case you're wondering, there are currently about 140 million people worldwide who use Notes for their email, calendaring, and contacts.IBM is always concerned about data security for its customers, and as such they decided to make iNotes Ultralite a web app rather than a native iPhone application. IBM felt it was important to customers to insure that all communications between the iPhone and Lotus Domino server be encrypted, and that no data remain on the device in case it was lost or stolen.iNotes Ulitralite provides yet another foothold in the enterprise market for Apple. [Via New York Times Technology blog]
Yet another way to Wikipedia on your iPhone
iPhone web application developer, Comoki, has unveiled a new, iPhone-compatible Wikipedia interface. It's not alone, of course, but joins the ranks of web applications like iPodia with some nice interface improvements. It has a more reliable "Save" feature and makes some nice formatting decisions on the page, including making bulleted lists collapsible. It also makes use of a little Ajax for zooming images without reloading the page, which you may or may not prefer to the more traditional approach. I did like the search-as-you-type feature on iPodia, which is currently lacking in Comoki's version. Of course, you may prefer to go offline with something like wikipedia-iphone (Google Code). Or perhaps make use of an older iPod for such pursuits. Welcome to a wondrous era of unlimited access to questionable information of possibly-dubious origin. Good stuff.
Springlets for iPhone
While we wait for the iPhone SDK, web developers are busily creating iPhone-compatible web apps and pages. There are a few cool ones out there, like Leaflets and PocketTweets. Even FedEx has created an iPhone-friendly page.Recently we came across Springlets. Unlike Leaflets, which is a single site, Spinglets is a collection of sites with customized web clip icons that look right at home on your iPhone or iPod touch. My favorite is WikiSearch. To use it, just tap the WikiSearch icon on your hompage, enter your search text and that's it! You're taken to the resulting page on Wikipedia. It eliminates several steps.Other treats include Speed Dial (dial any contact number with a touch from the home page) and Text Sites, which strips all of the photos from a given web page (useful when you're on Edge).[Via Steve Rubel]
Video: FlyTunes brings internet radio to iPhone
Interested in hitting up internet radio on your iPhone with a sleek interface? For those with unmodified iPhones that are already turning away sheepishly, come on back. FlyTunes is simply a web application accessible via Safari, which allows users to customize stations on their PC / Mac and then login and listen from the phone. Also of note, it can queue up to a half hour of music should you want to listen for awhile after leaving an EDGE / WiFi-covered area, and if you're wondering how much coinage you'll have to lay down to get in on this, you'll be stoked to hear it's free. Onward, to the video!
3 ways to get things done with your iPhone
Getting Things Done is David Allen's system of personal productivity; a deceptively simple process of collecting information, deciding what it is, identifying what needs to be done and then doing it (we've written about GTD quite a bit).Geeks like me love it because the hardware and/or software used to achieve these goals can be whatever we like. The most important thing is what David calls the "ubiquitous capture tool," or "a way to write things down." You've got your iPhone with you where ever you go, so why not use it?This post explores 3 ways to get things done with your iPhone, namely, iNozbe, iDo and Backpack.
Scrapblog your virtual adventures
I'm a big fan of all things Web 2.0, so when I read about Scrapblog on Mashable, I decided to give it a try. Scrapblog capitalizes on the real life hobby of scrapbooking, something I've always been fascinated by, but too lazy to do. This fits perfectly with the gamer lifestyle, as I often want to show off my screenshots and videos from Second Life.Setup is very easy, allowing you to play with the tools without signing up, which is free anyway, unless you want to publish your Scrapblog. Within the web-based application, you can add pictures from a variety of sites, as well as upload them from your hard drive, choose backgrounds, apply stickers, add music, and even use transitions between slides. Once you've completed all the slides, you can publish your book, allowing you to share your creation, embed it on blogs, and even add it to Facebook![Via Mashable]
iPhone WebApps directory is live
Today, Apple has launched its WebApps directory after much anticipation. The new site highlights many of the best pages and web applications that have been built specifically for the iPod touch and iPhone. Categories span games, news, productivity and more. In addition, Apple has provided links for Web developers that show how to best develop for Apple mobile platforms and how to submit your WebApp for inclusion in the Apple directory. Read the complete Apple Press Release here. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Rumor: Apple to launch WebApp consolidation portal
Today the UK Register reports that Apple is preparing a WebApp catalog. WebApps are apparently already showing up in the recent downloads feed although the page they supposedly link to has not yet gone live. I downloaded the latest feeds page and did not personally find any reference to http://www.apple.com/webapps but maybe I just checked at the wrong time. If you find otherwise, let us know in the comments. An official Web 2.0 apps feed would be very nice indeed. Thanks to Erwin Harte.
Facebook launches iPhone portal
Tossing their hat into a quickly expanding ring, Facebook has launched a powerful portal designed specifically for the iPhone (http://iphone.facebook.com). Offering quick access to key Facebook areas and tools, the entire UI is built to mimic the increasingly popular iPod/iPhone 'slide right' approach whenever you drill down into portions of the site. While it seems very usable, even over EDGE, I am still a bit disappointed about some missing features. The ability to join a group, for example, is restricted to desktop computers; you can't join a group you saw some friends join on your iPhone.Aside from those minor complaints though, this is a very impressive web app that I'm sure will have iPhone-toting Facebook junkies wasting spending even more time at the site.[via Mashable]Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
PackRat 1.3 supports new Backpack, adds more exclusive features
Backpack, the fantastic online PIM from 37signals, was recently updated with some solid new features like drag-and-dropping items from one page to another and the ability to reorder items any way you chose on a page (i.e. - lists and notes no longer have to be lumped together in their own sections). As with any web app update, desktop apps that integrate must often release an update of their own to stay on top of the changes. Fortunately, Rod Schmidt has done exactly that with his excellent offline synching PackRat app that brings Backpack to your desktop. With v1.3, Rod has updated PackRat so it can work with the new Backpack, but he has also introduced yet more exclusive features that keep making PackRat even more useful than its web-based symbiote, such as: The reminder sheet now has a calendar on it to make entering dates easier. A New Reminder toolbar button An 'In minutes from now' option for reminders. Shared pages now have a shared icon in the pages list so you can easily see what pages are shared. An Upload Changes command and toolbar button to quick upload your changes to Backpack without waiting for auto upload to kick in. Unfortunately, a few of the Backpack updates - such as reordering items anywhere on the page - haven't made it into PackRat simply because 37signals doesn't allow external applications to do this through their API. Rod urges users to contact 37signals and request this ability, and hopefully in time the company will listen and open up this functionality. Other new Backpack features like search are probably coming with a future PackRat update. As with the the recent change to PackRat's trial period, a 30-day demo is available, while a license costs a mere $24.95.
Leaflets: Another well done iPhone portal app
iPhone apps and portals are cropping up faster than you can say 'made exclusively for Safari,' and Leaflets has just leapt to the front of the line. Offering a streamlined, zippy UI for your iPhone apps, it features some impressive new portals for sites like Newsvine, New York Times and even the new iPhoneiGTD.com portal that allows .Mac users to view their iGTD contexts, projects and tasks right on their iPhone (of course, this requires you to be synching iGTD over .Mac). This is one of the most impressive portals I've seen to date, as it ranks right up at the top of my list alongside Mojits.Of course, the Leaflets site and virtually all the web apps it aggregates are free to use, evoking the perpetual question of "and your business model is... what again?" Nevertheless, Leaflets features great design with some of the best big and small iPhone apps available. Great work.[via Daring Fireball]
iPhone web apps aren't that bad
I have a Treo 650 on AT&Tingular. I use the web lots. (So much, actually, that my phone bill came out to $175 last month because I downloaded so much data. Damn you, Google Maps!) The included browser isn't all that bad: especially when I can tap to mobile versions of my most-frequented sites (m.facebook, or m.twitter, for example).Even with mobile sites, though, and particularly when browsing any-ol' page...well, it's slow.Crowd: How slow is it?So slow, OS X's spinning beach ball of death would tire out half way through loading NYT.com!(Ba dum kish!...?)Sure, there's a lot of disappointment surrounding Jobs' non-announcement announcement that developers can produce Web 2.0 apps for the iPhone, in place of actual, honest-to-goodness integrated apps a la Apple's own offerings. But Apple's emphasis on the optimization of the web for the iPhone is exactly what the forthcoming iPhone World needs: on AT&Ts paltry EDGE network, how could Apple expect us to fully make use of the full-blown internet via Safari if pages take ages to load?
Infospace Find It! Location Based Search Coming to an iPhone Near You
Previously, Infospace's Find It!, the handy location-based application for finding things, people, phone numbers and directions to your favorite restaurant, was available exclusively for users of devices like RIM's ubiquitous Blackberry. I've even got it on mine. But soon, according to an exclusive post over at The Boy Genius Report, you'll be able to enjoy the fun of finding things using the software on your new iPhone as well -- assuming, that is, you're actually successful at finding one come launch day.According to the site, the iPhone version of the app will function pretty much the same as the Blackberry one does, except for one big caveat -- there won't be any GPS support due to the fact that, unlike several models of the Blackberry, the iPhone has no built-in support for GPS. Yet. Another difference between the versions are the obvious changes to the apps interface to mimic the look and feel of the iPhone. If you're curious about this new version of the app for iPhone, head on over to Infospace's site to check out how its going to look. Even if this particular app isn't for you and won't find a place on your new iPhone, just keep in mind that the more people developing ways to enhance the iPhone and its "user experience" the better. The currently announced apps from Apple and Google are a great start but real success for this device, I feel, will come from developers deciding they want to get involved and make apps for it -- especially if Apple decides to open it to outside applications and not just stick to the whole Web 2.0 is the new SDK thing. That said, what kinds of apps would you like to see developed for the iPhone to expand its capabilities?
It's official: No Flash support on the iPhone (yet)
Our sources at WWDC are reporting that, for now, there is officially no Flash support on the iPhone. Apparently, in the State of the Media address yesterday, the announcement was made that: "There will be no Flash support at the moment on the iPhone." Developers are being told not to serve video via Flash, as there simply isn't a player built for the phone yet.On the upside, the word 'yet' is apparently being used liberally, so things might look better for Flash on the iPhone sometime down the road.
The line between web and "real" apps on the iPhone
Rogue Amoeba apparently wanted to jump in today and be the first devs to thank His Steveness for presenting developers with a complete and terrific iPhone SDK this afternoon. Or-- in their sarcastic case-- the lack thereof.Yes, as you can see in the resulting comments, Mac developers aren't real thrilled that so far, the only way to develop for the iPhone will be to brush up on their AJAX, Javascript, and Ruby on Rails. By saying at the keynote that developers would be able to run web-based applications on the iPhone, Jobs opened a rift that's been widening: OS X developers say that they don't want to create web apps-- they'd rather work on "real apps."Later on in the RA thread, a commenter named Joe gets to the point: web apps are quickly becoming real apps. Even Apple's release of Safari for Windows points to the idea that the ultimate way to be compatible across all systems is to put programs (Gmail, Google Reader, even Twitter) in the browser. Web developers must be thrilled-- they all just became official iPhone programmers today.There's a big drawback, however, and it's not just that Mac devs who want to write for iPhone will have to blow the dust off of their old Javascript books. It's that the trade-off for compatibility is usually quality. If Apple had released an SDK for iPhone today (or when they do-- just because we didn't see it today doesn't mean it won't come next year), Mac devs say they'd be able to make even better applications-- because that's what they do for "real" hardware.
