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Justin.TV Finally Arrives on the iPhone

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For Justin.TV’s take on the iPhone market, it’s better late than never. While others have already made some applications that allowed online video streaming a long time ago, Justin.TV is banking on its million of users to make their iPhone venture a successful one.

Unfortunately though, Justin.TV’s iPhone doesn’t allow you to record your own video and stream it live yet. Although this feature is set for a future release. Still, the application is worth taking a look at as it brings some pretty good features.

The app lets you connect to your existing Justiv.TV account or create an account if you’re new to Justin.TV within the application.  The moment you logged in to Justin.TV via the app, you will be presented with a list of featured videos and screen caps.  You can tap on any of these videos and watch it stream on your iPhone. If you want to watch more videos other than the ones suggested by the app, you can always use the app’s search function. The app will also let you delete video channels from the menu initially given to you.

Another major feature of the Justin.TV iPhone app is the chat facility that you can find at the bottom right-hand corner of the video screen. It allows you to chat from within the app. You can also share channels with friends via the iPhone’s email facility. Future plans include sharing on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.

The Justin.TV app is available now for free download from the iTunes Apps Store.

Via NewTeeVee

Originally posted on March 23, 2010 @ 5:34 am

Palm’s Dynamic Duo, Pre Plus and Pixi Plus Go to AT&T

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Knowing the lackluster performance of Palm’s dynamic duo, the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus did not discourage AT&T from getting the two smartphones. AT&T just announced that it will be releasing the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus with all the goodness of WebOS under its various data plans.

And are these data plans enticing enough to convince you in getting one if not both of these phones? Let’s see.  AT&T is offering the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus for just $149.99 with $49.99 discount and a $100 mail-in rebate if you opted for a two-year contract.  You will also get AT&T Wi-Fi access at U.S. hotspots as part of their unlimited data plan.

Both Pre Plus and Pixi Plus will support AT&T services such as AT&T Navigator, AT&T Address Book, YPMobile for finding local businesses. And of course, you’d also get to enjoy the specs and features of both Pre Plus and Pixi Plus smartphones running on Palm webOS.  Among these features as multitasking on apps, Palm Synergy, unobtrusive notifications, and universal search.

In addition, Palm webOS apps can be integrated into core webOS functionalities includng contacts, layered calendars, notifications and GPS. You might as well add the rich catalog of apps available at the Palm webOS applications store.

So, what will it be? Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus on AT&T or Google Nexus One?

Originally posted on March 22, 2010 @ 6:03 pm

Avoid the Mad Rush! Submit your iPad Apps Now

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Come April 3, there will definitely be an influx of iPad applications trying to gain exposure on the iPad App Store.  So, if you are a developer and you want your apps to be among the iPad launch apps, you better start finalizing these apps now and submit it to Apple for approval. You only have until March 27 to ensure that your apps will be featured during the iPad launch on April 3, say Apple.

Apple has issued the following guidelines to help you with your plans of submitting your iPad applications:

  • Build and test your iPad application using iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 available on the iPhone Dev Center. Only iPad apps built with SDK 3.2 beta 5 will be accepted for this initial review.
  • Upload your distribution signed app through iTunes Connect by Saturday March 27, 5pm PDT.
  • The App Review Team will review your app on iPad and email you details about the readiness of your app.
  • You wil also receive additional information about submitting your app for final review before iPad ships.
  • Only apps submitted for the initial  review will be considered for the grand opening of the iPad App Store.

So there. You’ve got a whole week to prepare your applications and submit them to Apple for review. Since the it will only be a fews before the iPad App launch there’s a pretty big chance that your application will make it on time. I mean common, can Apple really review all the apps that will be submitted on March 27 thoroughly?

Originally posted on March 19, 2010 @ 6:02 pm

iPad e-Books Pricing to Compete Competitively Against Kindle

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When the issue on the e-books pricing of those who will be in the iPad’s iBookstore started spreading, many are saying that it will be to Amazon’s advantage.  The Kindle Store’s average price for an e-book is pegged at $9.99 and Amazon is even sacrificing some sales just to maintain this pricing even at a loss for them.

Analysts are saying that the iBookstore will not be able to compete against this pricing and that e-books to be sold will be priced higher than the e-books sold in the Kindle Store.

That may not be necessarily true at all.  The blog AppAdvice got hold of a preview that shows otherwise. It seems that most e-books that will be sold in the iBookstore  are also priced at $9.99. In fact, out of the 32 e-books that were on the New York Time’s Bestsellers, 27 titles have $9.99 price tag.

In fact 4 of  the top 5 bestsellers will be sold in the iBookstore for $9.99.

If the iBookstore will be able maintain this price ceilings for most of the books that will be made available once the iPad is launched, Amazon is definitely facing a stiff challenge to their well established and widely accepted e-book business.  Indeed Amazon has all the reason to be worried and should start working on various enhancements to the Kindle store as well possibly on the Kindle device as well.  But except for the lack of color display and other computing functionalities, I think Amazon may have already exhausted all possible features that it could probably include in the Kindle.

So, will you be buying the iPad and use it as an e-book reader and purchase your e-books from the iBookstore? Or will you use the Kindle App for Tablets which will also run in the iPad and purchase your e-books from the Amazon Kindle Store still?

Originally posted on March 24, 2010 @ 8:22 pm

Yahoo Releases Sketch-A-Search and Yahoo Search App for iPhone

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At the ongoing International CTIA Wireless 2010 gig, Yahoo has just launched two new mobile search related feature for the iPhone and iPod touch owners – Sketch-A-Search and the new Yahoo Search Mobile. According to Yahoo both these iPhone apps promise to change the way you use mobile search through fun, entertaining and easy to use interface with location aware feature.

While touch-enabled search feature is nothing new in the iPhone, Yahoo extends this further by making Sketch-a-Search a little unique.  What the app lets you do is to find information about a particular business establishment in a particular area by simply drawing a circle around a general area on the Yahoo map. The app will then display placemarkers representing the different establishments on that area. You can then tap on each of the placemaker to find out what these establishments are and get  reviews, browse photos, check prices and other information related to that business establishment. Yahoo Sketch-a-Search is currently available only for the U.S. audiences but Yahoo promises to include international markets in the future as well.

Meanwhile, the new Yahoo Search Mobile is now better and more efficient with integration of voice search, embedded maps and information from various Yahoo Verticals – Finance, Movies, News and other sources. Location-based search results are also enabled to make it easier for you to find local establishments in specific areas.

Honestly, these two new mobile search features are pretty impressive.

Yahoo Search Mobile and Sketch-a-Search iPhone apps are available for free download from the iTunes Apps Store.

Originally posted on March 23, 2010 @ 5:28 pm