Category: Software (Apple)

Steve Jobs dies

We’re waking up this morning to the sad news that former Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs has died. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003 but continued to be a huge driving force in the mobile industry until very recently. His infamous “One more thing…” announcements were …

Track your costs – Contractor Expenses

I used to be a contractor and I remember vividly the mountains of receipts and scribbled notes that used to pile up in the car. Keeping track of journeys and expenses can be a nightmare, and this is where a new iPhone app called Contractor Expenses steps in. …

Apple Event – 4th October

New reports have come to light about the 4th October. Although these are still “maybe” there is some solid information included. The new report from the guys over at AllThingsD is that “October iPhone Event to be held on Apple Campus.” Yes, Apple are to hold the event at …

Come on, you want one of these in your garden

This rather splendid video has been knocking around the t’interwebs for some months, but strangely it’s only appeared in our inbox today. The T-Mobile advert, which was put together by Saatchi & Saatchi, transforms the marvellous Angry Birds game into real-life. Sure, we know that the majority of …

Get social – Blendr available for iOS

If you’re gay you may have used the Grindr app to quickly locate and socialize with local men. Using GPS technology it’ll map out other guys close to you, then you can share pictures and information straight away. Now the makers of that app have created Blendr, a …

PingMe – Instant Messaging across Android, iPhone and BlackBerry

Instant messaging has always been a tricky thing to perfect. The biggest problem usually getting people onto the right IM platform. Are your friends on Google Chat ? Windows Live ? ICQ ? Enter PingMe, another messaging app which offers real-time chat, group chat and geo-location. It’s easy …

App Review – Retro Recall

The idea behind this app, as the name suggests is to provide images of various retro films/toys/songs etc and includes a link to the relevant Wikipedia website for that particular subject. The app has the ability to set favourites and you can also share items by email, Facebook, …

HeyTell – An app that should be in all smartphones

It’s not often that an app causes me to record a video review, let alone two, but I’ve been using my Android phone in totally new ways recently and wanted to share the love. 🙂 I’ve tried “Touch To Talk” apps in the past and I’ve seen, many …

AmpKit 1.2 released

Agile Partners have updated their truly excellent AmpKit guitar amp simulator for iOS. For this release Agile have 4 new partners – Budda®, Rocktron®, Fargen™ and Sonic Edge – with new amps and effects from all of them, as well as some other new additions. Overall sound quality & …

App Review – Lingvo Dictionaries

There’s no doubt that the iPhone has made my life easier when it comes to travelling – from booking accommodation, to finding places to go and viewing a map of how to get there. Aiming to become the latest addition to my arsenal of travel-assisting apps is Lingvo …

App Review – ParcelGenie

OK, this one is for you busy people. The idea behind ParcelGenie is sending a gift to any recipient in your phone via the ParcelGenie app (there are other ways too, including Facebook). You don’t need to know the recipient’s postal address, just their phone number or email …

Review: Amazing Breaker

Well I’m told this is ‘#1 Ice-Smashing Game’.  Apparently.  All those other Ice-Smashing games are nowhere near as good as this one, the Number 1, the daddy of all Ice-Smashing Games.  Righhhhhhhhht… I’ve got to tell you, I wasn’t expecting much.  For every A+ big budget mobile game …

MotorMusic app review

I’m imagining here that most, if not all, folks who own an iPhone 4 use it as a direct replacement for their MP3 player. Convergence is fantastic when it prevents you having to carry additional devices and the single device works as well as your previous music player. …

iOS 5 the new standard? (cont)

So here as promised is the follow up article reviewing iOS 5 beta. In this article I will be focusing on the negative aspects of the new software. Before I get started however I do want to address some of the comments that I received from my last …

ExpenseMagic App

Do you work for a company? Do you work for yourself? Then the one thing you’ll be all to familiar with is the Expenses routine. Claiming for milage, train tickets, meals, etc. is all too painful an experience nowadays! Even worse when you lose one of those tatty old receipts… Well …

iOS 5 the new standard?

So I have decided as my first review as a guest reviewer for Coolsmartphone should be on iOS 5. I have been using the platform now for about a month and it is my day to day OS on my iPad 2. I would like to cover the …

LinkedIn reworks its iPhone app from the ground up

LinkedIn (“Facebook for business” for the uninitiated) has always had a bit of a ‘me-too’ approach to its iPhone app. The interface of the previous incarnations of its application looked and felt like a sort of business-flavoured clone of the Facebook app, complete with a nine-icon grid for …

HTC to sue Apple for Patent Infringement

It’s fair to say that we’re slightly losing track of who is suing who now. Today HTC are to take action against Apple, claiming that the iPhone, iPad and iPod all infringe HTC patents. At first glance the patents seem a little generic and are used in many …

Google+ now available on iPad/iPod Touch

Google have now made their Google+ available for all the iPad and iPod Touch users who were left out  when the app originally launched on iPhone last month. There aren’t any discernible differences between the new version and the previous iPhone only one so it’s unclear why the …

Hungry House for iPhone

Now right away I can see advantages to this app. I travel frequently on business and am often looking through the Hotel’s/B&B’s brochures for local take-outs before making my mind up. In the past I’ve found that some unscrupulous take-outs remove competitors menu’s from the stands.. oh dear. …

Apple Release iOS 5 Beta 5

Today, Apple let out it’s latest addition to the iOS 5 Beta’s to developers, Beta 5. Just a minute though, before jumping in and downloading this update or updating via OTA from Beta 4, let me make you all aware of something else. If you have registered your …

Google Maps, now taking you around the Underground too

Google Maps has just been updated and now includes public transport directions. Available for iOS, Blackberry and Anddoid it’ll even get you around the tube with Transit Navigation (Beta). Find your destination, choose “Directions” and you’re off. If you’ve tried it to get around London by bus or …

Apple release iOS Beta 4

Following quickly on the heels of Beta 3, Apple have now released iOS 5 Beta 4 into the wild. For the first time, the beta takes the form of an OTA update, removing the need to faff about with iTunes. It’s not the biggest update but for some …

ITV Player hits the App Store

Following on from its Android release, ITV’s catch up service is now also available on Apple’s wonder phone (and iPod Touchs/Touches). You can use it to catch up on all your favourite shows from ITVs 1-4. Somewhat interestingly, the app forgoes iOS’s usual UI conventions and is pretty much …

Apple app prices increased in the UK

Today Apple raised the prices of apps within the app store. 59p has now become 69p and ÂŁ1.19 apps now appear to cost ÂŁ1.49. This, according to what we’re hearing, is only affecting the UK store. In the US prices have been maintained, and where a previously an …

iOS gets custom notification tones

iOS users rejoice! Along with proper notifications, an improved lock screen and all that iCloud goodness, Apple have also (finally!) introduced another long-standing feature from other mobile OSs. Hidden away in the Settings app in the newly released iOS 5 Beta 3 is a menu allowing customisation of …

CoPilot Live Premium for iOS offer

Further to our story last week, CoPilot Live Premium is now available on the App store for iPhones and 3g iPads on the same 50% discount offer. This makes the UK maps version ÂŁ14.99 and the European maps one ÂŁ29.99. After the 7 day offer these revert to …

Apple fails to secure ‘App store’ branding exclusivity.

A federal judge has kicked out Apple’s attempt to get a preliminary injunction to stop Amazon using the Term ‘App store’. Apple had been trying to force Amazon ( and by default others…) to stop them using the term app store for their newly launched Android Amazon App Store. Us …

The Daily Mash, now available for Android and iPhone

Regular readers of my little my blog may be aware of my love for The Daily Mash. It’s full of smut, inneundo and abuse. It therefore makes me laugh like a loon. It’s the UK’s best satirical website and takes a regular swipe at the press and news …

CoPilot Live Premium offer

CoPilot Live Premium has just been released on Android and it is on offer for the first 7 days. During the first week you can get the SatNav full software for ÂŁ14.99 – afterwards it jumps to its normal price of ÂŁ29.99. Unlike Google Maps, it offers offline …

iOS 5 Beta Hands On

For the last week I’ve had a chance to play with the beta of iOS 5 that Apple released to developers at WWDC. The only official way to currently get your hands on it is through a registered developer with access to the iOS SDK. For everyone else …

Pizza Express and Paypal new iPhone app.

Pizza Express and PayPal today have together released an app for the iPhone. The idea is to go into a Pizza Express restaurant and have some food. When you ask for the bill you pay with your phone. There are five key features on the new PizzaExpress iPhone app …

iMessage Announced At WWDC

iMessage has just been announced at a very busy WWDC conference over in the States and iMessage is set to change how all iOS devices communicate including iPad and iPod Touch. Consider this BBM for your iOS device! This now means anyone you know on an iPad or an iPod …

iOS Updates Now OTA!!

Another new feature announced today is being able to update your iPhone or iPad over the air!.  This is something Android has had and a lot of people are big fans of this, well now your iOS device can do the same once you are running iOS5 The …

iOS 5 Gets New Notifications

Apple have just announced the update to their iOS software, iOS 5 and part of this comes a new way for notifications…. well we say new but it is quite android like but a great addition to Apple products

iOS5 to be unveiled on Monday

In a blurt of uncharacteristic openness, Apple have announced their agenda for WWDC, which as well as more on their next version of OS X for Macs, will also include the new iOS 5 for iPhone and iPads. No news on features yet, but Apple also confirmed they will …

NHS Direct, now for iPhone too

The NHS Direct app we mentioned last week is now available for the iPhone and iPad too. Initially available on Android, this app will help you diagnose and get more information on health issues. The Android app has already has nearly 2,000 downloads in the last five days. …

Dominos release pizza delivery app for Android

Tonight my wife is out, which means I’m cooking, which means we’re ordering in. Luckily Dominos Pizza have come to the rescue of lazy / rubbish cooks everywhere by releasing this free app. You can simply click in, choose a pizza, add you own toppings and even use …

4oD app comes to iPad

Channel 4’s catch up service, 4oD, have launched a free iPad app.  4oD’s website offering is unavailable to iPad users, due to its use of flash, so this is the first time 4oD has been available on an iOS device. Like Channel 4 the app is ad-supported, so …

TweetDeck 2.0 for iOS: First Look

The iOS version of Tweetdeck, the hugely popular social networking desktop app, has been somewhat forgotten recently, and desperately needed an update. Tweetdeck 2.0 for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad was recently released with a complete overhaul. In short, it’s fantastic. Last year, Tweetdeck released their Android app, …