October 2009 Archives

Improvements in this software for the Mac include better performance, stability, security, and a better search function, a new user interface, better sync with the iPhone and  iPod Touch , new icons for groups, improved RadioSerial documents, more support for the operating system Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and web browsers and new export formats for text and csv. Improvements for the iPhone and iPod Touch version includes a new user interface, ability to export a database to a Mac, better notes management and improved security.

Best for personal use or managing private information in businesses, SecretBox protects against hackers with 256-bit AES encryption and can store credit card details, software licenses, e-mail account details, product registration codes, serial numbers, customer passwords and more. SecretBox has a flexible system that gives the user the ability to customise with unlimited groups and subgroup categories for a protected and secure database.

Take all the guesswork out of being human with a mood analyser for your phone.

The How am I feeling? - The Mood Analyser phone app uses a mood algorithm which is designed to pinpoint and display the user's current emotion, from more than 400 individual emotions stored on the app's database.

Developer Sinecure Industries says the mood algorithm is based on the war-era Mooreefocical Bafflegab prototype, with analysis displayed within five seconds of the machine being activated. The app works with any iPhone or iPod Touch touch.running v3.0 firmware or higher.

Looking for direction or an answer to one of life's problems?

A Newcastle-based agency has launched an iPhone application that promises to answer all of life's questions - through the wisdom of David Hasselhoff.

The user simply asks a question, shakes their phone and is given one in a number of pre-recorded responses voiced by the former Baywatch star.

"It's a very simple and silly idea, but everyone loves The Hoff and this gives iPhone and iPod Touch owners the chance to receive spiritual guidance from their favourite bouffant haired Trans Am driver / lifeguard," the application's developer said.

The company overcame difficult global economic conditions to record 9.87 billion dollars in revenue during the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, which ended last month. Meanwhile Apple's quarterly profit amounted to 1.82 dollars per share, a jump from 1.25 dollars per share from the same quarter last year.

The result has been attributed to rocketing iPhone sales, which were achieved after Apple unveiled a faster iPhone in June and cut the price of the previous generation of the phone.

The phone's manufacturer Research in Motion is understand to have insisted the device be made available to other phone companies after Vodafone and Orange helped end O2's exclusive with Apple for the iPhone in the UK.

The Storm 2 will be launched by Vodafone in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, France, Italy and South Africa, but it is unclear whether any of the other UK operators will be stocking the device in time for Christmas.

An anonymous source from rumour site 9to5Mac says Apple will probably take cues from the FM tuner interface of the recently introduced fifth-gen iPod nano.

However, Apple is reportedly still working on integrating mobile iTunes Store purchasing into the app.

Never one to be far from the cutting edge of technology, the Naked chef has launched an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that allows aspiring chefs to cook quick and tasty meals in just 20 minutes.

Jamie Oliver's "20 Minute Meals" features 50 recipes with step-by-step photography, commentary, hints, tips and techniques to keep you on the right track. It also includes extras such as an interactive shopping list that sorts the goods you need by supermarket aisle and a random recipe selection you can active by shaking your phone.

Adobe has revealed that a Photoshop iPhone application is winging its way to the App Store, and it's called Photoshop.com Mobile.

The app will let you edit photos right from your iPhone, including filters such as vignette blurring and colourisation that just about every Photoshop newbie delights in messing about with. Unsurprisingly, Photoshop.com Mobile ties in with the Photoshop.com online service, which acts as an online store for your images.

You get 2GB to play with for free as standard, and can up this limit if you're willing to pay a premium.

University of Utah researchers say they have created three iPhone applications that are designed to assist scientists, students, doctors and patients.

The researchers said their programs can display and manipulate 3D images of medical scans and can be used to study the human body, evaluate medical problems and analyze other 3D images.

AnatomyLab allows students to conduct a virtual dissection by providing images of a real human cadaver during 40 separate stages of dissection. The software, which sells for $9.99, was designed by biology Professor Mark Nielsen and two University of Utah students, including his son.

This comes as no surprise: Apple has rejected an iPhone app submitted by SomeEcards, a website that hosts egregiously satiric e-cards.

In its rejection letter, Apple said it could not accept the SomeEcards app because it "contains objectionable content and content that ridicules public figures."

More than two years after the launch of the iPhone, Apple's iconic device finally seems to have a worthy competitor. The Palm Pre is on sale from next week and looks set to escalate the growing battle of the high-end "smartphones"

The new device has been keenly awaited since last summer when it was released in the US to rave reviews. Estimates suggest that about a million Palm Pre handsets have been sold in the US this year.

Smartphones are much more than telephones, allowing users to surf the internet, listen to music and play games. Apple's iPhones and BlackBerry devices are among the most popular but Palm hopes to break into this crowded market.

It has been almost two years since Apple's iPhone first hit the shelves but the euphoric response to news that Orange and Vodafone will soon be stocking the device demonstrates that the handset has lost none of its allure for consumers.

With Orange launching the iPhone before Christmas and Vodafone hot on its heels in 2010, there is no doubt that the device is set to go mainstream. However, those customers that have been holding off buying an iPhone in the hope of a massive price cut look set to be disappointed.

Andrew Harrison, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse's UK operation, said: "I am not convinced there will be a price war. That is a game that only leads in one direction and that is all of them losing. This battle will be fought on other fronts."