Web Sites Sell Phone Apps Online

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Kindle 2 vs. Kindle for iPhone Application

I bought a Kindle 2 last week, after a year of waiting for the second iteration of Amazon's e-book reader. I was hesitant at first, as I still love reading hardcover and paperback books, but the free cellular Web access and the addition of magazine subscriptions from publications like the New Yorker had me convinced. I've had it for a week now, and I love it. It feels great in my hands, and the e-ink screen creates the illusion of a reading a real book. I can hold it in my hand and read from it for hours.

So when I first heard that Amazon released the Kindle application for the iPhone, I immediately second-guessed my purchase of the Kindle 2. Did I make a foolish purchase? Why wasn't I patient enough to wait for the iPhone application? A free iPhone app is definitely a lot cheaper than the $359 for the Kindle 2. So I downloaded the Kindle for iPhone application to find out if I should send my Kindle 2 packing with a return slip.

Also, the Kindle iPhone application does not resolve my earlier complaint about reading ebooks on the iPhone. Reading on the iPhone's screen for a long duration is just not very enjoyable. This is especially apparent if you encounter long paragraphs with no breaks in the text -- the entire screen of the iPhone becomes just one block of words and can be difficult to read. If you want it for reading in short bursts however, this is acceptable. But for longer reading while relaxing on the couch, the Kindle wins.

I downloaded those same comic samples to the Kindle application on the iPhone. I still couldn't zoom in, and it's still hard to read the word balloons. But I was awed and amazed that they arrived in full-blown color. Yes, I couldn't read any of them, but it gave me a small glimmer of hope that maybe some day there'll be a way. Until then, I guess I'll have to live with the individually-sold iVerse comic applications.

Apple's iPhone Controls Most of Mobile Web Use

In its first detailed look at web market share for cellphones, a research firm has found that Apple's iPhone represents a staggering 66.61 percent of mobile traffic while its competitors have only just gained a foothold.

Other smartphone platforms haven't fared any better, according to the metrics. Google's Android and Symbian were both locked in a tie for 6.15 percent. Research in Motion's email-centric BlackBerry OS was used less often at just 2.24 percent and was even outmatched by PalmOS devices, which represented 2.37 percent of cellular web use last month.

The news may have to placate Apple fans given a fairly stale month in desktop-class operating systems. Windows has reclaimed a small portion of its steadily declining share and climbed a fifth of a point to 88.42 percent, while Mac OS X share has backed down from its all-time high in January to 9.61 percent.

iPhone Fart App 'Pull My Finger' Still In Dispute

The producer of a farting iPhone app is making a legal stink over another flatulence app in a looming trademark battle over the phrase, "pull my finger."

The brouhaha concerns Air-O-Matic of Florida, the maker of the popular "Pull My Finger" app, which claims the maker of rival "iFart Mobile" is misappropriating the phrase "pull my finger" in its advertisements. Such an assertion, according to iFart Mobile maker InfoMedia of Colorado, reeks of an misunderstanding of American fart culture.

Kevin Houchin, InfoMedia's lawyer, explains:

The phrase "pull my finger," and derivations thereof, are generally known and widely understood in American society to be a joke or prank regarding flatulence. The prank begins when the prankster senses the deep stirrings of flatulence. The prankster then requests that an unsuspecting person pull [his or her] finger. The prankster extends his index finger to the victim. As the victim pulls the prankster's finger, his flatulence erupts so as to suggest a causal relationship between the pulling of the finger and the subsequent expulsion of gas. In other words, the phrase "pull my finger" is understood to be a description of the act of passing gas.

"InfoMedia's efforts have been directed at merging 'Pull My Finger' and 'iFart' in the consumers' minds, so that searches for 'Pull My Finger' pull up the iFart application," AOM attorney Karen Koster Burr wrote (.pdf) InfoMedia in a letter demanding $50,000 payment.

Adult Industry Has SomeTech Ideas

If the desperation at the XBIZ Conference this week is any indication, the adult industry is now in a frantic struggle to adapt to the digital era and find a profitable business model that will work on the web.

That is leading to all kinds of innovation. A device called RealTouch relies on ‘haptic’ technology to allow viewers to literally ‘feel’ what is going on on-screen. Here’s how it works: the user plugs an egg-shaped device into a computer, inserts his penis, and then can simulates the sex acts occurring in a porno film, aided by heat or lubricants.

At the end of the conference on Wednesday evening, one new idea was attracting notice: a gyrating, woman on an iPhone who stripped progressively.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Casinos FREAK over iPhone Card Counting App

An iPhonecard-counting system recently turned up in a California Indian casino. This new application is causing a lot of fuss, and Nevada gaming regulators have issued a general alert about it, warning Las Vegas casinos about its potential use in gameplay.

That's not the case across the country. In New Jersey, the case of Uston v. Resorts Internation Hotel Inc was decided in the gambler's favor, as the state Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Atlantic City casinos could not bar skilled players. It's different in Las Vegas—they can bully, harass, and back off customers so long as they stay within certain legal boundaries.

So when it comes to Las Vegas, while thinking isn't technically illegal, casinos can and will choose to kick you out when you think too much or too well. But using assistive devices? That is definitely illegal pretty much everywhere, whether you're gaming in NJ, Nevada, or California. In Nevada, you can count in your head all you want, but the second you start using technological assistance, you've crossed a line and are committing a felony.

In Nevada, each casino makes its own rules regarding the policing of electronic devices at gaming tables. Obviously not all devices are used to give players advantages. I'm sure it's nice when you can call the wife on your cell phone and say you'll be a little late returning to the hotel room, for example.

Casinos are well aware of the hazards though. Harrah's Entertainment banned the iPhone at the World Series of Poker shortly after the iPhone debuted. With this latest system exposed and the flexibility and programability of smart-phones on the rise, you can expect more crackdowns on electronic device use near the gaming tables.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Games for Jailbroken iPhones

Steve Jobs’ worst-case scenario is about to come true.

Comes now Variah, with a brand new mobile “gaming” app exclusively for jailbroken iPhones and iPod Touch that lets users interactively touch, strip and stroke beautiful models to climax.

Apple’s mobile devices are soon enough going to be definitely NSFW, and we’re not talking anything near as tame as iBoobs, either, let me tell ya.

A brave new world is coming for iPhone and iPod Touch users and some of it will be clothing optional.

iPhone Porn - #1 searched for iPhone search term

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Jesse Jane talks Porn and iPhone

There’s always new stuff going on. Just in toys, they’re always coming up with these inventions like Sybians and crazy machines to have sex with or get tied up with.

Now we’re shooting on the Red [digital HD] cameras — I think Digital Playground is the only one — and we have all the Blu-ray coming out. I’m learning with my little camera and my website, where I’m able to upload daily diary videos, which is fun. Technology is getting a lot easier to make things more personal with your fans. They like the daily clips.

Now we can watch porn with our iPhones, and in the next month or two, with Digital Playground we’re going to be able to stream, Twitter and live iChat on our website from our iPhones.”

Jane also hearted her iPhone, which she calls a lifesaver during downtime.

“I love my iPhone because I can sit there and check my e-mail and update my website from my phone while I’m sitting there waiting at the airport.”

Touchgrind - iPhone Skateboard Game

In a world first, Illusion Labs has created a multitouch skate game for the iPhone: Touchgrind. The game is unique in that finger gestures are used for control, similar to the motion of the legs and feet on a real skateboard.

TouchGrind is a skateboarding game for the iPhone, and it's probably the most addictive game I have played since Desktop Tower Defense. Don't expect some crazy, Tony Hawk style jump-fest -- Touchgrind has a physics engine so real it can be just as frustrating as riding a real board. It's also controlled in much the same way as a real skateboard, with two fingers replacing the usual two feet.

In fact, anyone used to fingerboards -- those miniature finger controlled skateboards -- will feel immediately at home. I used to have one years ago and the learned muscle memory works great with the iPhone version.

Success in the competition mode, which involves scoring points against the clock, unlocks more courses and better boards, although noobs will be happy (and stuck) on the lower levels for some time. As a quick, pick up and blast game, it can't be beat. I prefer it to Monkeyball, my previous favorite time waster. And best of all, it's only $5.

Product page [Touchgrind]

Crackulous: App Store Piracy

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iPhone apps: Sports Gambling

Several new additions to the App Store promise to see sports fans through this barren stretch with an oasis of information about their favorite sports and teams.

Prolific app maker GP Apps has spent the past few days ramping up its team-specific iFan offerings for folks with a college basketball jones. The iFan app offers the latest news, scores, and schedule information tailored to your favorite team.

Finally, fans of other sports can turn to a pair of programs from iApp Ventures. Horse Racing Live delivers horse-racing headlines directly to any iPhone or second-generation iPod touch while Nascar Live offers to do the same for stock-car racing. Horse Racing Live costs $10 while Nascar Live costs $5.

FULL ARTICLE

Casino Slots doubles traffic thanks to iPhone

It's not just mobile games firms getting hot under the collar about smartphones nowadays. Mobile gambling companies are equally keen on taking their products to new mobile handsets.

"Since Spin3 launched its casino games for the iPhone last year, we have doubled the expected amount of players visiting our mobile casino," says David Brickman, VP of player affairs at All Slots Casino, one of the companies using Spin3's GameWire platform.

It's interesting that Spin3's titles are web apps for iPhone and Android, showing that it's still unclear whether play-for-cash mobile gambling will take off as downloadable applications on either platform.

Gun-Mount and Sniper Software for your iPod

IPod Touch as deadly sniper accessory? Awesome. This is the Knight's Armaments M110 iPod Touch mount, a clip-on case designed to hold your iPod Touch in easy reach while you draw a bead on the enemy.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Slacker Brings Free Music to Your iPhone

The race to make the best mobile internet-radio app is on. Smartphones like the iPhone provide an excellent platform for their services, which let users sculpt their listening experience in ways that are impossible with terrestrial or even satellite radio.

Slacker's iPhone app, announced Wednesday, lets you create radio stations by entering the names of artists you'd like to hear in that station. It's super simple yet surprisingly powerful, with a couple of advanced features not available elsewhere.

This free application (iTunes link) essentially replaces Slacker's own $200 device, giving you access to all of your Slacker channels whenever you have an internet connection, and the iPhone has better controls. I say "essentially" because Slacker's portable is capable of caching interactive channels for playback, while the iPhone version only plays when it has an internet connection (via Edge, 3G or Wi-Fi). This rules out subway use, but as long as you don't enter into areas with poor coverage, the iPhone version does just fine — better than fine, actually.

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iPorn

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Nobody beats the drum - "The Drum"

music video by dutch electronic act nobody beats the drum. Directed by Rogier van der Zwaag. A 100% Halal production.
www.100procenthalal.nl
www.nobodybeatsthedrum.com
www.myspace.com/nobodybeatsthedrum

Robots and explosions for your ass!

iPhone first responder at US Airways crash into Hudson River

VentureBeat posted the story about Janis Krums, one of the first responders at the site of a US Airways plane crash into the Hudson River today. The plane crashed this afternoon shortly after takeoff from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

Krums was arriving in a rescue boat and took the picture at right on his iPhone and uploaded it via TwitPic, presumably from one of the numerous Twitter clients available from the iPhone.

Krums tweeted:

http://twitpic.com/135xa - There’s a plane in the Hudson. I’m on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy.

Less than a month ago (20 Dec 08) that plane crash in Denver was first reported on Twitter. Double Crazy.

YouTube Full Of Creepy, Soundless Music Videos

YouTube has been testing a new way of combating copyright violations on the site - removing the audio, leaving the video. The result is a wasteland of music videos that are creepily silent.

But now YouTube seems to be just stripping out the audio. Examples: here, here, here. This user-created one is just sad now.

Update: YouTube's blog post on the subject.

iPhone Porn Free - Commercial

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