Maelstrom

Posted on Sep 4 by ack.
Categories: apple, fun.

Maelstrom
So I was checking out iToner from Ambrosia Software that lets you drag and drop ringtones without hacking your iPhone, and this looks very interesting. And what else that got my interest was Maelstrom is now open-source and has been ported to pretty much all platforms. This was pretty much the first game I played, and spent many an hour in the computer labs playing this game (while working!). There other game, Apeiron has also been ported to OSX. Pretty much those two and Bolo (since ported to Windows as Winbolo) consumed most of the hours that could of been studying.

gPhone

Posted on Aug 27 by ack.
Categories: google, hardware.

gPhoneAs mentioned on CrunchGear, looks like Google’s gPhone has been “confirmed” for Q1 2008.

With its own Google maps, integration with Gmail and gCal, as well as Google Talk. Should be interesting if its data only and no voice plan.

iPhone Meebo

Posted on Aug 16 by ack.
Categories: apple, web 2.0.

Meebo
I’ll have to agree with TechCrunch when they say the most useful app has just hit the iPhone, Meebo. I have been using Meebo on my PC for ages and love the centralized IMs without client software. On the iPhone it looks fantastic, works in both horizontal and vertical, brings your conversations to the top of your buddy list, and doesn’t require a special URL, just atomically detects and displays.

Well done Meebo!

iPhone TCO

Posted on Jul 18 by ack.
Categories: apple.

I’m sure some will find this surprising, especially the haters out there (you know who I am talking about). I’m not surprised since my AT&T bill actually dropped when I switched plans.

So a long time palm user took offensive at some questionable data quoting by PalmInfoCenter and did his own Total Cost of Ownership of the iPhone versus a free Treo 680.

Phone Model Phone Cost Monthly Cost
450 minutes and unlimited data
SDHC card 24 Month TCO
Treo 680
with 4GB SDHC card
$0 $80 x 24 = $1,920 $60 $1,980
4GB iPhone $500 $60 X 24 = $1,440 $0 $1,940
Treo 680
with 8GB SDHC card
$0 $80 x 24 = $1,920 $80 $2,000
8GB iPhone $600 $60 X 24 = $1,440 $0 $2,040

And the money-shot of the article was:

So the difference between a free Treo 680 and a $500/$600 iPhone over the course of 24 months is a grand total of $40… or $1.67/month or less than $0.40/week.

From CrunchGear.

Hide-a-Pod

Posted on Jul 17 by ack.
Categories: apple, hardware.

Hide-a-PodDo you need to say more than the tagline: “The ultimate iPod Anti-Theft Device . . . Hide it in a Zune*!”

Hide-a-Pod!

But I think I would still feel dirty carrying that around.

Thanks to Engadget for this.

iPhone Leaflets

Posted on Jul 16 by ack.
Categories: apple, web 2.0.

GetLeaftlets.comYou can see how iPhone “applications” can be created by creating a web page. If you point your iPhone to GetLeaflets.com, you will see a page that very much looks like the usual dashboard for the iPhone. But this one allows quick access to Flickr, Del.icio.us, Newsvine, NYT and other content.

You can create an account, and store your Flickr, Del.icio.us and Upcoming account names. No way to pick which content will display yet, but the site did just launch less than a week ago.


Heard about this thru TechCrunch
, proving again its tech exploration worthiness.

iPhone Games

Posted on Jul 9 by ack.
Categories: apple, gaming.

iPhone marioLike GigaOM, I have to wonder Where are the iPhone Games?

I have played the ones I could find, with the only decent ones from MacMost, like a match-three with fruit that didn’t capture my attention too long. Guess when compared to my PC match-three favorite, Cradle of Rome, it didn’t hold up. The iWhack (a Steve Balmer) was good for a chuckle, but only for less than a minute.

iGiki seems to have an interesting model where you pay 99 cents for a 99-day subscription for a game, with most games looking like lots of point and click. Not much info on the site and not many demo’s, so I didn’t check them out too much, but interesting that a developer can upload their own game and get paid for it.

So to answer Om’s question, I do want to some good iPhone games… and I am still waiting. Where is DTD for the iPhone!

Apple Evolution

Posted on Jul 5 by ack.
Categories: apple.

Apple Products
A very nice chart graphic on Apple’s evolution, from the Core77 blog.

The interesting part of me is that I have used at least 25 of theses products, starting with the Apple II in middle school, where I learned Basic!

iDay+5

Posted on Jul 4 by ack.
Categories: apple, nyc.

So I thought I might be able to resist for a few weeks or months, but really just didn’t see the point. So today, the 4th of July became my independence day from WinMo… another step away from an evil empire.

So I took a little trip to the glass box:
CIMG0905

And picked myself up a little iPhone:
iPhone

Didn’t even have to wait. They were actually out of iPhone but one of the staff was holding boxes of returned (and unopened) iPhone which you could buy, so I grabbed the last one. Bring on the Apple goodness.

iReviews

Posted on Jun 27 by ack.
Categories: apple.

Who’s excited?

Hat tip to Fred.