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Robot Unicorn Attack

Price: S$2.99 (US$2.20)
What is it that makes Robot Unicorn Attack so compelling? Is it the flamboyantly rainbow palette? The maddening soundtrack consisting of “Always” by Erasure in infinite loop? The tears of the robot unicorn when you fall to your inevitable fiery demise? We may never know!

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Plants vs. Zombies

Price: S$2.99 (US$2.20)
The zombies are invading and it’s up to you to repel their attack using nothing but green power. This strategy game is cute, inventive and contains hours of play figuring out how to best use the plants in your arsenal against the shambling hordes.

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Doodle Jump

Price: S$0.99 (US$0.73)
Doodle Jump warns you that it is “INSANELY ADDICTIVE”, and it’s not exaggerating. For such a simple concept–a bouncing doodle bug that you have to navigate from platform to platform by moving your iPhone–it seems to provide a crazy amount of fun.

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Angry Birds

Price: S$0.99 (US$0.73)
The birds are angry at the pigs. Why? The pigs nicked their eggs! Clearly, revenge is needed! Using basic physics, you’ll need to catapult your stock of feathered missiles at the pigs’ houses to topple them and destroy the inhabitants, but it’s not as easy as it looks.

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Bejeweled 2

Price: S$2.99 (US$2.20)
PopCap’s classic and ubiquitous gem-matching game comes with four modes for the iPhone, for a leisurely puzzle experience, frantic timed matches or going head-to-head against other players. It’s the perfect way to pass the time in waiting rooms, on the bus, in the grocery store line.

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Rock Band International

Price: A$8.99 (US$7.89)
The port of Rock Band to iPhone is, for the most part, quite smooth. There are four different ways you can play (drums, bass, guitar or vocals), with three difficulty levels, so while the track listing is small (with only a limited number of new tracks to buy), there’s plenty of play there–especially with the Bluetooth multiplayer mode.

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N.O.V.A

Price: S$4.99 (US$3.67)
First-person shooters, regarded as the genre for hardcore gamers, would not, one would suppose, be particularly good on an iPhone.N.O.V.A blows that supposition right out of the water, with a cool single-player campaign, fun sci-fi story and frantic 1-4 player deathmatch mode, all using onscreen touch controls.

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Doodle God

Price: S$0.99 (US$0.73)
Doodle God takes the idea that the creator of the universe is a mad scientist cackling away while randomly combining elements to see what he comes up with and puts you square in the driver’s seat. Combine the wrong ingredients and it could all go belly-up; get it right and watch your world flourish.

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Pac-Man

Price: S$4.99 (US$3.67)
If you don’t know what Pac-Man is, then this game is fun, but it probably won’t mean a lot to you. If, however, you remember standing waiting your turn at the arcade with a coin clutched in your grubby paw, Pac-Man for the iPhone dishes up a serving of sweet, sweet nostalgia with its ghost-dodgin’ and fruit-munchin’.

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Space Ace

Price: S$4.99 (US$3.67)
Anyone familiar with the history of gaming will appreciate Space Ace, a near-perfect port of the 1984 arcade game. It’s notable more for the high quality of the visuals, animated by the renowned Don Bluth Studios, than its gameplay, but it’s worth it on the strength of the storytelling alone.

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Rolando 2

Price: S$4.99 (US$3.67)
Rolandos are round little guys that you roll around the screen as you explore environments and solve puzzles using the touch and motion controls of the iPhone in inventive ways. Some of the round little guys also have moustaches, and it’s hard to argue against a good moustache.

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Zen Bound

Price: S$2.99 (US$2.20)
This isn’t, it claims, so much a game as it is a meditation exercise: Using the touchscreen, you manipulate wooden objects to wrap them entirely in string. There are no scores or timers; when you complete one object, you simply move onto the next. It’s quite strangely mesmerising.

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Unblock Me

Price: S$0.99 (US$0.73)
Unblock Me is based on an old Polish puzzle game called Klotski, in which the player slides wooden blocks around a frame in order to clear a path to the exit for one particular block. There are numerous versions available, but we like this one: The color scheme is quite calming.

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Myst

Price: S$4.99 (US$3.67)
Quite a number of the best games for the iPhone, we’re discovering, are ports of older games taking advantage of better technology than was available at the time of its release. One such is the widely acclaimed point-and-click fantasy adventure Myst, in which the player explores beautiful environments to unravel a mystery.

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Tetris

Price: S$2.99 (US$2.20)
Tetris is possibly the most well-known and -loved electronic puzzle game since the dawn of videogaming, and it has been ported to many devices the world over. The iPhone version takes a little getting used to, but after that, it will feel like you’ve never been lining up those tetrominoes any other way.

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Flight Control

Price: S$0.99 (US$0.73)
As an air traffic controller, your job is to land planes, jets and helicopters safely, getting more complicated the further the game progresses, taking into account the direction of the runway, wind speed and direction, and other aircraft in the sky. Easy-to-see graphics make this a pleasure to play.

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Solitaire City

Price: S$5.99 (US$4.41)
Solitaire City may seem pricey for a card game, but the graphics are slick, the controls responsive, and included in the pack are a number of different card games and the ability to play your own music from iTunes as you play.

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Real Racing

Price: S$4.99 (US$3.67)
From the same dev team behindFlight Control comes Real Racing, a crisp championship car racer that will see you tilting your iPhone to steer your vehicle while touching the screen with your thumbs to control the car’s speed. It’s slick, intuitive, fast-paced fun.

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Robert Rodriguez presents Predators

Price: S$2.99 (US$2.20)
Some sweet graphics and a meteoric rise to become the ultimate Predator make this game endlessly thrilling. Using the Predator’s abilities and crazy technologies, you will stalk and hunt your foes. We particularly like the HUD, which uses interface graphics from the classic film.

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Words With Friends

Price: S$2.99 (US$2.20)
Who doesn’t like Scrabble? That’s what Words With Friends is, a portable Scrabble that you can keep in your pocket and play online wherever and whenever you might be. You can have up to 20 games on the go at once, but unless you’re some sort of Scrabble machine, we probably wouldn’t recommend it.

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This story was originally published at CNET Australia. Image credits are to the individual games. Links are to the games on the Apple App Store in Singapore where available.

Earlier on Friday, Apple issued a statement blaming iPhone reception issues on a software miscalculation rather than on hardware design. Since the iPhone 4 launched last week, thousands of consumers have complained that when gripping the phone around the lower left-hand corner of the device, the signal degrades or calls are dropped.

Apple acknowledged the problem, and explained that customers were simply covering up the antenna with their hand. Now the company says its engineers have made a “stunning” discovery.

People may be finding that their reception is poor and that calls are being dropped not only because they’re holding the phone wrong, but also because they think they have a better signal than they actually do. In the statement, Apple says that it had made a mistake in the formula that calculates the number of bars that display the signal strength on all of its iPhones.

But experts say that the bars that one sees displayed on any cell phone can be misleading. CNET talked to Ron Dicklin, co-founder of Root Wireless, a company that tests and provides accurate data on wireless network and consumer phone performance, to get some answers. Based on that conversation and some additional research, CNET put together this FAQ.

What do the wireless signal bars that appear on the upper left corner of my phone mean?

They are supposed to represent the handset’s ability to connect to the cellular network based on how powerful the carrier’s radio signal is being received. The five bars measure the decibels of power that is being received from the cell phone tower.

What does it mean if I have fewer bars versus if I have more bars?

The closer you are to a cell tower and the more powerful signal you receive from the cell tower, the more bars you’re likely have. If the signal strength is too low, you may have trouble completing a call or receiving data. And if you can make a call, the likelihood that a call may drop or a data connection is interrupted is higher.

Is it different if I have fewer bars on a GSM phone versus using a CDMA phone?

Yes. With GSM, the technology that AT&T and T-Mobile USA use, the probability of having an issue with the cellular network at the lower bar range is going to be higher than with CDMA. CDMA, which is the technology used by Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, is more efficient in how it manages its connection with the network. So even at the lower signal range with CDMA, as long as there’s not a high level of noise due to network congestion, you can maintain a connection just fine.

In raw numbers, what is the range in decibels of what’s considered a good strong signal and one that is weak?

As a rule of thumb around -113 decibels is on the low end of the signal bar range, and around -50 decibels is on the high end (more signal bars). The closer the decibel measurement is to zero, the stronger the signal.

Apple said it was “stunned” to discover the formula it used to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. What does this mean?

While one might assume that each bar represented on the iPhone signal strength icon represents the same number of decibels, apparently that’s not the case. According to testing by the Web site AnandTech, the fifth bar on the iPhone represents about 40dB, but the fourth bar only represents about 10dB. The third bar represents a change of only about 2dB. The second bar represents 4dB, and the first bar represents a difference of 6dB.

Why doesn’t Apple just measure the bars in a linear fashion so that each bar represents an equal share of decibels?

Because the range is so big, it’s harder to diagnose problems at lower signal strengths. Signal strength measurement doesn’t need to be very granular at the top end of the scale because performance is only affected when it drops off considerably. But more granularity is needed in the lower part of the scale.

Is there a standard way that cell phone manufacturers use to measure the signal strength?

Unfortunately, there is no standard way to measure signal strength. One of the steps Root Wireless performs to properly validate that its on-device metering software is working correctly, is to put each of the supported handsets in a lab which measures a known decibel rating against what the handset reads and displays in signal bars. Through its tests, Dicklin said, the company has seen rather large differences in how handset manufactures relate decibels to bars.

Is there a more precise way of measuring signal strength other than the five-bar graphic?

Smartphones, such as those using the Android software and RIM’s BlackBerry, can also display reception in terms of numeric decibels instead of just as a five-bar graphic. But AnandTech points out that Apple has removed the tool.

Should I even care about these wireless bar signals?

Yes. If the phone is working correctly you probably wouldn’t reference it much, but if you are having an issue it’s a good tool to help isolate what the problem may be. It’s like a gas gauge on a car. If you were driving down the road and your car suddenly stopped and the gas gauge reads empty, you’d conclude that the reason your car stopped is because you ran out of gas. If you are having problems with a call and the signal bars are low, you’re probably not able to make the call due to poor signal strength.

So if I have all five bars of service my phone should work perfectly?

Not necessarily. You can have full signal bars and if the network is heavily congested you will still have problems maintaining a good connection. This condition happens more in heavily populated areas where many people are using the network at the same time, like in big cities and at sporting events for example.

By Marguerite Reardon

Apple just issued their official statement on the non-existent iPhone 4 reception issues. What iPhone 4 users are experiencing when they grip the lower left corner is just their real signal, poor as it seems. Their poor signal has so far been obscured by the deceptive signal bars, which obviously tend to exaggerate the signal levels due to some erroneous formula in the iPhone software.

Apple’s statement on the iPhone 4 reception issues (which they previously dismissed as nonexistent), says that all phones have issues in areas of poor signal and it’s just that the iPhones show the available signal in a wrong way. Apple plans to fix that with a software release that should make graphical representation of available signal more real. End of problem.

We’ve seen examples of Apple’s hypocrisy many times but this is just too much. To treat millions of customers who paid big money to have your latest product as a flock of sheep is just outrageous.

How on Earth could an erroneous signal indicator be the reason for dropped calls/reduced data rates? And what is that magical firmware that will bend the laws of physics and improve the iPhone 4 reception when you are holding it… you know… the way you’ve been holding every other phone you’ve owned so far?

Apple also dares take a hit at other phones (Motorola, Nokia and RIM) for losing some signal strength when held in a specific way. This is true, of course, but much like Apple’s statement that “iPhone 4 makes video calls a reality”, the implied by this one is ridiculous in much the same way. No other handset loses as much signal when held in a natural way, let alone drop calls because of this.

So yeah, thanks for the effort Apple, but no thanks.

For a good laugh you can follow the source link and read Apple’s full statement.

Source

What’s new:

• Homescreen wallpapers
• Folder organization of the homescreen icons
• Multitasking and fast app switching
• Google/Wikipedia search in Spotlight
• Bluetooth keyboard pairing support
• SMS character counter
• SMS search
• Email threading
• Unified Email inbox
• Email archiving is now available when you setup Gmail
• Spell checker
• iPod music player can now create, edit and delete playlists
• 5x digital zoom in still camera
• Touch-focus in video capture (for video enabled iPhones)
• Keyboard layouts span over QWERTY, QWERTZ, and AZERTY
• Minor icon design facelifts
• Video call support (only in iPhone 4 and only over Wi-Fi)
• iBooks e-book and PDF reader

What’s still missing:

• No Flash support in the web browser
• No true multitasking for all applications
• iOS4 for iPhone 3G has limited new feature set
• Poor performance on iPhone 3G
• No quick toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or 3G
• No social networking integration
• No info widgets on lockscreen or homescreen
• SMS tones are still not customizable
• No mass mark emails as read
• No proper file browser or access to the file system
• No USB mass storage mode
• No vibration feedback when touching the screen
• No Bluetooth file transfers to other mobile phones
• Contacts lack a swipe-to-delete or mass delete feature
• No SMS/MMS delivery notifications
• No smart dialing (but Spotlight is a somewhat of a substitute)
• No DivX or XviD video support and no official third-party application to play that
• The whole iPhone is too dependent on iTunes – you cannot add the same type of content (video, photos, apps) to the phone from two computers, a regular file management interface would have been much better

Multitasking
Though you’ve always been able to multitask with native iPhone features like the music player, the option is now available for third-party apps. Your primary access point is a multitasking menu that’s accessible by double tapping the Home button. Once there, you’ll see a list of currently running applications along the bottom of the display that you can scroll through using a sideways finger swipe. The pop-up menu shows only four apps at a time, and we’re still investigating whether you’re limited as to how many apps you can open at once.

Managing the multitasking menu couldn’t be easier. To open a running app, scroll though the menu and tap its icon once. When you’re ready to end an app, first use a long press on the related icon and then click the tiny delete icon in the top left corner. Switching among apps is a simple process as well: As you move back and forth, you’ll return to the exact point you left.

But is it real multitasking?
As you’d expect, Apple’s multitasking works a little differently than on other smartphones. Instead of having all device resources available to every running app, iOS 4 lets only seven app services run in the background. These include audio (you’ll be able to play Pandora radio, for example), VoIP services like Skype, GPS/location for apps like TomTom, push notifications, local notifications (those that don’t to have to go through a server), task completion (users get an alert when a process is finished), and fast app switching (apps essentially hibernate to not use the CPU).

According to Apple, this arrangement will have less of a drain on resources like battery life and memory than if it gave developers free reign. Also, pausing most background apps will free the system from having to juggle resources and kill stalled applications.

Though some have complained that the built-in limitations mean that iOS 4 doesn’t have “real” multitasking, we think “incomplete” is a better description. Granted, you can’t run everything in the background, but iOS 4 does allow you to run certain features from multiple apps simultaneously. If that isn’t multitasking, then we don’t know what is. What’s more, it wouldn’t be the first time Apple limited features or took longer with development in order to produce a desired customer experience. You may not agree with such a philosophy, but Apple has always been honest about pursuing it. Like with so many other things in technology, it comes down to what works best for you.

Nice, but not miles ahead
On the whole, we were quite pleased with the multitasking experience. As it has a talent for doing, Apple has presented the feature in a slick, easy-to-use manner. It performed beautifully without ever crashing or freezing the phone; it didn’t appear to negatively affect our iPhone 3G’s battery (we’ll follow up with more-thorough testing in that regard once we get an iPhone 4); and it accomplishes what it sets out do. But even with strong points, we wouldn’t agree that it’s the “the best” way to multitask (a common Apple claim). It may save you a few clicks, but other approaches–such as the “deck of cards” interface on webOS–continue to impress. Similarly, though limited multitasking may result in more-efficient power management, we’ll have to run comparison testing with other smartphones before we can agree.

We also don’t share CEO Steve Jobs’ view that Apple’s solution isn’t a task manager. When he unveiled iOS 4 in April, Jobs took a dig at Android and other operating systems that require you to close background applications that might be slowing down the phone. “In multitasking, if you see a task manager… they blew it,” he said. “Users shouldn’t ever have to think about it.” Fair enough, but we think it’s a matter of semantics. As with most task managers, the iOS 4 multitasking menu allows you to scan through running applications and close any that you’re no longer using. Granted, you may not have to kill frozen applications as often as you would on, say, a Windows Mobile phone, but you still have that option. We also found usability quirks that are common with task manager apps. Pressing the Home button once, for example, simply sends an app to the background; it does not end it completely. To do so, you’ll need to open the multitasking menu, find the related icon, and end it there.

Home screen folders
Though we love apps as much as the next person, we’ve become tired of scrolling through several pages of iPhone home screens. Thankfully, that has changed with the addition of home screen folders. This is another common feature that competing devices have long offered, so it’s nice to see Apple stepping up.

To get started, use a long press on the home screen so the icons “jiggle.” When your icons are dancing (they’ll also have a tiny delete icon in the corner) you can take an app and drop it on top of another to create a folder. The folder will then appear as a square with tiny icons of the included app inside. Tap the folder to access the included apps and get an expanded view of the folder’s contents. Alternatively, if you want to remove an app, just drag it back to the home screen.

Thankfully, you’re awarded a fair amount of flexibility for folder organization. You can add as many folders as you like, change the default folder name, and add both related and unrelated apps. Surprisingly, we could even group legacy features like the Weather and Stock applications into a single folder. The process is easy, though we wouldn’t say it offers a huge change from the equivalent experience on Android. And really, Apple, we’re limited to just 12 apps in one folder?

Email changes
Though the iPhone always has been a functional email machine, we never enjoyed switching back and forth among multiple accounts to read new messages. Fortunately, iOS 4 has a new unified inbox that is accessible under the “Mail” option on your home screen. Listed above your individual inboxes is a new option for “All inboxes,” which contains messages from multiple accounts. You can’t access individual folders from the universal inbox, but you can delete and move messages. Here again, it works well, but it’s not vastly superior to how competing OSes handle the same process.

Other email changes include the capability to add multiple Exchange accounts, organize emails by thread, jump directly to individual inboxes, and open attachments with a preferred app. All are nice, but we’ll delve into a couple of our favorites for more detail. Emails in a thread will now be designated by a small number on the left side of the message header. Clicking the number will take you to a separate screen that lists all relevant messages. It’s a nice touch, and we like that you can move or delete messages in the thread. We also like the new option to delete emails directly from search results.

Home screen customization
Unlike the previous three features, this change was low on our wish list, but Apple’s done a decent job rolling it out. Sure, you always could change the standard black background using a third-party app, but iOS 4 adds the native capability to the iPhone and iPod touch. First, find the “wallpaper” option in the Settings menu and choose either a provided wallpaper or a photo in your camera roll. After making your selection, you’ll have the option to set it as the wallpaper for your home screen, the lock screen, or both.

It’s all straightforward, but there are a few troublesome tradeoffs. First off, we can’t fathom why the iPhone 3G didn’t get this option. Also, keep in mind that once you ditch the standard black background, there’s no way to get it back. You can take a photo of a black wall, the night sky, or a dark room, but that’s hardly the same thing. And don’t be surprised to find that some of your native wallpapers have been replaced by new options. Apple giveth, and Apple hath taken away.

Camera zoom
You’ll have to wait for the iPhone 4 to get a 5-megapixel shooter, but iOS 4 adds a 5x zoom for the still camera. When taking a photo, just tap the screen to see the zoom bar. Use your finger to pan in and out, but remember that since this is digital zoom, picture quality will degrade as you zoom in.

Spell check
The iPhone has long had an autocorrect feature that changes words as you type, but we’ve never considered it to be completely useful. That’s why we’re bigger fans of the new spell check feature that notifies you of unrecognized or misspelled words with a red underline. It works when you’re composing both e-mails and text messages, and you get a list of suggested corrections. We’d like more suggestions, but that’s a small point.

Tap-to-focus video
On the iPhone 3GS you can use the tap-to-focus feature in the still and video cameras. We’ve never found that this feature makes that much of a difference, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have it.

Search text messages
You’ll now find a search bar for your text messages. It works just like the search option for emails.

Photo gallery
You can organize all images from an event or those that feature a specific friend. For both, however, you’ll need to have already used the face recognition options in iPhoto or Aperture and sync with iTunes. One expected change appears to have vanished, however: When we played with the initial beta version of iOS 4 we saw an option in the gallery for rotating photos, but we can’t find it again in the final version.

Geolocation
The addition of Geolocations lets you view where you took your latest shots on a map and sort your images by location. This is quite a cool feature, particularly for frequent travelers who like to mark their journeys around the world. But if this isn’t your thing, you can turn off location services in the Settings menu.

Safari search
When typing a URL in the Safari browser, you’ll see not only the URL title of sites you’ve visited recently, but also the full Web address. That’s a nice touch.

Universal search Web and Wikipedia results will now show up in the Universal Search. It takes a couple of clicks to get them going, but it’s convenient.

Playlist
In the iPod player, Apple added an option for creating playlists on the go. We created one in a few steps and added a selection of tunes. What’s more, we’re always happy when we can do something without going through iTunes.

Bluetooth keyboards
We haven’t tested this option yet, but it should be useful for messaging addicts or aspiring novelists.

Birthday calendar
You can keep track of upcoming birthdays with a designated calendar. It’s accessible directly from the main calendar option.

Other minor changes
You’ll also see a host of other usability and interface tweaks. We haven’t located them all yet, but here’s what we’ve found so far.

• Now that a double tap of the Home button opens the multitasking menu, you can no longer use the control as a shortcut for a designated feature. As such, the option is gone from the Setting menu. A small price to pay for a new feature, we suppose.
• The calculator icon has been resigned. The feature is the same, however.
• You can send apps as gifts.
• Swiping to the far left of the multitasking menu will reveal music player controls and a shortcut for locking the display rotation.
• The location icon in the Google Maps application has changed from a bull’s eye to an arrow.

What remains
We have not tested the remaining major iOS 4 features. Once we get an iPhone 4 later in the week, we will use the new applications and expand this section.

Enterprise
Worker bees will get options like enhanced data protection, mobile device management, wireless app distribution, support for Exchange 2010, and SSL VPN from Juniper and Cisco.

iBooks
Apple’s ebook reader joins Amazon’s Kindle app as an option for bookworms. You will be able to access Apple’s iBookstore to purchase new content, and if you have an iPhone and an iPad, you can read your book on both devices (with just one purchase) and sync your current page. It looked nifty when Jobs offered a demo of iBooks during his WWDC keynote, but we’ll be sure to test it ourselves.

Game Center
Coming “later this year,” Game Center will include features like a social gaming network, the ability to invite friends to games, leaderboards and achievements, and the opportunity for “matchmaking” (setting up two people to play).

Kent German

Though the iPhone 3G and the 3GS models simply tweaked the original handset’s design, iPhone 4 marks a sharp departure from those previous models. Admittedly, we never had a problem with the look of the previous handsets, but we approve of the iPhone 4′s changes. The front and back sides are glass, both surfaces are flat, and a stainless steel border circles the entire phone. Though it’s a tad boxy, it also has a clean, svelte, and unmistakably Apple look. What’s more, we love that the flat back means that the phone no longer wobbles when resting on a table. You can get the iPhone 4 in both black and white, but here again we prefer the former.

So much glass is shiny and beautiful, but we have a couple of concerns. Despite the oleophobic coating on both the front and back sides, the glass attracts smudges by the ton. Also, even though Apple CEO Steve Jobs promises that glass better resists scratches and cracks than plastic, we’ll be watching long-term durability. In initial testing, the iPhone 4 did have a solid, sturdy feel in the hand and it survived a few drops to a carpeted floor. Time will tell, however, how it holds up to heavy use.

At 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3mm, the iPhone 4 is as tall as the iPhone 3GS, but slightly thinner–25 percent, to be exact–and narrow when measured across its front face. It does feel smaller when compared with its predecessors, but we don’t think that’s a bad thing. Jobs called it the thinnest smartphone around, but since that race changes daily, it may not hold the title for long. When put on the scales it comes in at 137g, which is back to what we had with the first iPhone (both the 3G and 3GS models were slightly lighter). We attribute the extra girth to the bigger battery, so we’re not going to complain. And more to the point, the difference is barely noticeable.

User controls
Other new design elements include a new front-facing VGA camera, a new LED flash with the main camera lens, and a new noise-cancellation microphone on the phone’s top side. Needless to say, we welcome the additions since they represent new functionality (See the Features section for more details). We also don’t mind the new split volume buttons, since they’re a bit easier to grasp than the previous volume rocker.

Above the volume controls is the usual mute switch, which Apple also gave a small makeover. In bigger changes, Apple moved the SIM card slot to the right spine and switched to a Micro-SIM format, just like the iPad. According to Jobs, the Micro-SIM format allows more space for the larger battery. Just keep in mind that you won’t be able to use a standard SIM in the phone.

The remaining exterior elements are largely unchanged. The Home button is in its normal place below the display; the 3.5mm headset jack and power key sit up top next to the aforementioned noise-cancellation microphone; and the 30-pin connector, microphone, and speaker are where they belong on the iPhone 4′s bottom end. Unfortunately, and to no one’s surprise, you still can’t remove the battery.

In the box come the usual accessories like the small wall plug, a USB/30-pin connector cable, and the standard Apple earbuds.

Antenna
The stainless steel border is more than just decorative; it doubles as a new antenna that circles the entire phone, minus three small notches. Seriously, leave it to Apple’s industrial design team to make an antenna pretty. Though Apple has not specifically promised that the new antenna would improve call quality or Wi-Fi reception, its very existence is an indirect admission (and the first that we’ve seen by the company) that data and voice reception have been troublesome and need to be addressed. Though current iPhone users largely blame AT&T for connectivity problems, remember that both a carrier’s network and a phone’s antenna play a part in reception.

Display and interface
Sometimes the best gift is something that you didn’t know you wanted, and that’s definitely the case with the iPhone 4′s display. It features a 940 x 640-pixel (326 pixels per square inch) “Retina Display,” which is four times the resolution of previous iPhone models. What’s more, it uses the same IPS screen that’s found on the iPad with an 800:1 contrast ratio. Though we’ve always thought highly of the current iPhone displays, the company needs to compete with the gorgeous AMOLED screens and TFT displays we’ve seen on many Android phones like the HTC Evo 4G. And that’s exactly what it’s done.

Though “stunning,” “gorgeous,” and “dazzling” are words we usually use to describe high-quality smartphone displays, we’re not sure if they do the iPhone 4 justice. Believe us that everything about this display is fantastic, from the bold colors and graphics to the vividly clear text. You can see it reasonably well in direct light and the details on Web pages, photos, and applications are as sharp as they come. But the best thing is that you can’t see any pixels on the display. It’s quite remarkable and especially apparent when you hold it up next to the 3GS. No, we’re not inclined to completely believe Apple’s claim that the display exceeds what’s perceivable by the human eye, but there’s no denying that it looks good.

Of course, the iPhone 4 has the same ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, and accelerometer as the previous iPhones. We saw no change in their functionality.

Features

With a heavy load of new goodies, the iPhone 4 runs circles around its 3GS predecessor in bringing new features. Some are unique to the device, and others come with the iOS 4 update. We’ll cover the latter group first.

Multitasking
Though you’ve always been able to multitask with native iPhone features like the music player, the option is now available for third-party apps. Your primary access point is a multitasking menu that’s accessible by double-tapping the Home button. Once there, you’ll see a list of currently running applications along the bottom of the display that you can scroll through using a sideways finger swipe. The pop-up menu shows only four apps at a time, but you can keep many more in the tray.

Managing the multitasking menu couldn’t be easier. To open a running app, scroll though the menu and tap its icon once. When you’re ready to end an app, first use a long press on the related icon and then click the tiny delete icon in the top left corner. Switching among apps is a simple process as well: As you move back and forth, you’ll return to the exact point you left. There’s also a clear sense of organizations with the most recently used app on the left side. All things considered, it’s a very Apple experience.

But is it real? As you’d expect, Apple’s multitasking works a little differently than on other smartphones. Instead of having all device resources available to every running app, iOS 4 lets only seven app services run in the background. According to Apple, this arrangement will have less of a drain on resources like battery life and memory than if it gave developers free rein. Also, since background apps essentially pause, it will free the system from having to juggle resources and kill stalled applications.

So what can you do in the background? Apple’s seven approved processes include audio (you’ll be able to play Pandora radio, for example), VoIP services like Skype, GPS/location for apps like TomTom, push notifications, and local notifications (those that don’t to have to go through a server), task completion, and fast app switching (apps essentially hibernate not to use the CPU). The latter two are most notable. With task completion, an app will finish something it’s already started even if you send it to the background; it will send you an alert when it’s through. Fast app switching, on the other hand, is the app hibernation process that allows you to toggle back and forth quickly and return to the same place you left.

Though some have complained that the built-in limitations mean that iOS 4 doesn’t have “real” multitasking, we think “incomplete” is a better description. Granted, you can’t run everything in the background–your Twitter feed, for example, won’t update while paused–but iOS 4 does allow you to run certain features from multiple apps simultaneously. If that isn’t multitasking, then we don’t know what is. What’s more, it wouldn’t be the first time Apple limited features or took longer with development in order to produce a desired customer experience. You may not agree with such a philosophy, but Apple has always been honest about pursuing it. Like so many things in technology, it just comes down to what works best for you.

Nice, but not miles ahead
Even after the long wait we’re quite pleased with the multitasking experience. As it has a talent for doing, Apple has presented the feature in a slick, easy-to-use manner. It performed beautifully without ever crashing or freezing the phone; it didn’t appear to negatively affect battery life; and it accomplishes what it sets out do. But even with strong points, we wouldn’t agree that it’s the “the best” way to multitask (a common Apple claim). It may be slick and save you a few clicks, but other approaches–such as the “deck of cards” interface on webOS–continue to impress. Similarly, though limited multitasking may result in more-efficient power management, we’ll have to run comparison testing with other smartphones before we can agree.

We also don’t share Jobs’ view that Apple’s solution isn’t a task manager. When he unveiled iOS 4 last April, Jobs took a dig at Android and other operating systems that require you to close background applications that might be slowing down the phone. “In multitasking, if you see a task manager… they blew it,” he said. “Users shouldn’t ever have to think about it.” Fair enough, but we think it’s a matter of semantics. As with most task managers, the iOS 4 multitasking menu allows you to scan through running applications and close any that you’re no longer using.

Granted, you may not have to kill frozen applications as often as you would on, say, a Windows Mobile phone, but you still have that option. We also found usability quirks that are common with task manager apps. Pressing the Home button once, for example, simply sends an app to the background; it does not end it completely. To do so, you’ll need to open the multitasking menu, find the related icon, and end it there. And we couldn’t overlook another point. Now that a double-tap of the Home button opens the multitasking menu, you can no longer use the control as a shortcut for a designated feature. As such, the option is gone from the Setting menu. A small price to pay for a new feature, we suppose.

Apps will come
We know that some users are concerned that many existing apps are not functioning in the background. Keep in mind that it will take time for developers to update their apps for multitasking capability. Apple plays no rule in making those updates, so contact the individual developers for a time frame.

Home screen folders
Though we love apps as much as the next person, we’ve become tired of scrolling through several pages of iPhone home screens. Thankfully, that has changed with the addition of home screen folders. This is another common feature that competing devices have long offered, so it’s nice to see Apple stepping up.

To get started, use a long press on the home screen so the icons “jiggle.” When your icons are dancing (they’ll also have a tiny delete icon in the corner), you can take an app and drop it on top of another to create a folder. The folder will then appear as a square with tiny icons of the included app inside. Tap the folder to access the included apps and get an expanded view of the folder’s contents. Alternatively, if you want to remove an app, just drag it back to the home screen.

Thankfully, you’re awarded a fair amount of flexibility for folder organization. You can add as many folders as you like, change the default folder name, and add both related and unrelated apps. Surprisingly, we could even group legacy features like the Weather and Stock applications into a single folder. The process is easy, but we wouldn’t say it offers a huge change from the equivalent experience on Android. And really, Apple, we’re limited to just 12 apps in one folder?

Email and enterprise
The iPhone always has been a functional email machine, but we’ve never enjoyed switching back and forth among multiple accounts to read new messages. Fortunately, iOS 4 has a new unified inbox that is accessible under the “Mail” option on your home screen. Listed above your individual inboxes is a new option for “All inboxes,” which contains messages from multiple accounts. You can’t access individual folders from the universal inbox, but you can delete and move messages. Here again, it works well, but it’s not vastly superior to how competing OSes handle the same process.

Other email changes include the capability to add multiple Exchange accounts, organize emails by thread, jump directly to individual inboxes, resize photos before you send, and open attachments with a preferred app. All are nice, but we’ll delve into a couple of our favorites for more detail. Emails in a thread will now be designated by a small number on the left side of the message header. Clicking the number will take you to a separate screen that lists all relevant messages. It’s a nice touch, and we like that you can move or delete messages in the thread. We also like the new option to delete emails directly from search results.

Worker bees will get options like enhanced data protection, mobile device management, wireless app distribution, support for Exchange 2010, and SSL VPN from Juniper and Cisco.

Home screen customization
Unlike the previous three features, this addition was low on our wish list, but Apple’s done a decent job rolling it out. Sure, you always could change the standard black background using a third-party app, but iOS 4 adds the native capability to the iPhone and iPod touch. First, find the “wallpaper” option in the Settings menu and choose either a provided wallpaper or a photo in your camera roll. After making your selection, you’ll have the option to set it as the wallpaper for your home screen, the lock screen, or both.

It’s all straightforward, but there are a couple troublesome trade-offs. First off, keep in mind that once you ditch the standard black background, there’s no way to get it back. You can take a photo of a black wall, the night sky, or a dark room, but that’s hardly the same thing. And don’t be surprised to find that some of your native wallpapers have been replaced by new options. Apple giveth, and Apple hath taken away.

Spell check
The iPhone has long had an autocorrect feature that changes words as you type, but we’ve never considered it to be completely useful. That’s why we’re bigger fans of the new spell check feature that notifies you of unrecognized or misspelled words with a red underline. It works when you’re composing both emails and text messages, and you get a list of suggested corrections. We’d like more suggestions, but that’s a small point.

Search
iOS 4 offers a few new searching options across various features. First off, when typing a URL in the Safari browser, you’ll see not only the URL title of sites you’ve visited recently, but also the full Web address. That’s a nice touch since you can find the exact Web page that you want. Over in Universal Search, you’ll see Web and Wikipedia results with the content stored on the phone. It takes a couple of clicks to get them going, but it’s convenient. And finally, you’ll now find a search bar for your text messages. It works just like the search option for emails.

Game Center
Coming “later this year,” Game Center will include features like a social gaming network, the ability to invite friends to games, leaderboards and achievements, and the opportunity for “matchmaking” (setting up two people to play).

Connectivity
iOS 4 adds persistent W-Fi, which means the iPhone 4 will stay connected to a hot spot even when it’s in standby mode. This could have a negative effect on battery life so we’ll be watching. With wake-on wireless, the handset promises to wake from standby when it comes in range of a cellular network. It’s not something we were asking for, but we’ll take it. Lastly, there’s now support for using a Bluetooth keyboard. We haven’t had the opportunity to test this feature yet.

Additional changes
As with previous updates, iOS 4 also brings a selection of smaller features and interface tweaks. Among them are a redesigned calculator icon (the feature is the same), the ability to send apps as gifts, alphanumeric pass codes, bigger font sizes for accessibility, enhanced iPod-out capability, and a redesigned location icon in the Google Maps application (it’s an arrow instead of a bull’s eye). You also get a new Birthday Calendar that’s accessible under the main calendar app. We’re still looking for a specific birthday event filed, however.

iPod player
With the iPhone 4, Apple continues to show that it positively shines with mobile music and video. This is one area where the company beat its competitors hands down. For the most part, the iPhone 4 iPod player is unchanged, but we were glad to see a few new offerings. There’s now a convenient option for creating playlists on the go. We did so in just a couple of steps and added a selection of tunes. What’s more, we’re always happy when we can do something without going through iTunes. Back in the multitasking menu, you’ll find new music player controls and a shortcut for locking the display rotation. To get there, just swipe to the far left.

Camera
The iPhone’s camera has always been decent, but it’s lacked features found on many basic phones. That’s why we applaud the 5-megapixel resolution, the new LED flash, and the 5x digital zoom. The handset also has a new backside illuminated sensor, which requires a more-detailed explanation. The biggest gain, however, is its ability to record 720p high-definition video at a constant 30 frames per second. The iPhone isn’t the first handset to offer this capability, but it delivers on quality. Of course, we’d love more options like a brightness control and color tones, but we doubt that we’ll ever get them.

The primary camera interface is about the same as the 3GS’, with the usual shutter control, camera/camcorder switch, and photo gallery shortcut off to one side. A new flash control activates the LED on the rear face. Thankfully, you can choose form auto or “always-on” modes. Over in the opposite corner is a control for switching between the front and rear cameras. When you’re not making FaceTime calls, you can use the front-facing VGA camera for self-portraits. Image quality won’t amaze, but that’s not surprising considering VGA shooters are hardly the pinnacle of technological development. It is great to be able to take vanity shots, though.

The shooter also includes changes that came from iOS 4. Our favorite is a 5x zoom for the still camera. When taking a photo, just tap the screen to see the zoom bar. Use your finger to pan in and out, but remember that since this is digital zoom, picture quality will degrade as you zoom in. Also, you now can use the tap-to-focus feature in the still and video cameras. We’ve never found that this feature makes that much of a difference, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have it.

In initial testing the camera quality is noticeably improved. We’ll start with still photos first. It’s not an exaggeration to say that iPhone 4 takes beautiful photos. Colors are bright and natural, there was no visible image noise, and our shots were in focus. The bright flash also makes a positive change. As with most LEDs it can make dark images look a tad overblown, but we’re just glad that we now can take images in a dark room. We also love that there’s no shutter lag like there was with previous iPhones. The camera takes the shot the instant you press the shutter.

Video quality also impressed. You’ll need to keep the phone steady, but our clips were smooth and free of any pixels or hiccups. It also handles motion quite well, and audio was in sync with the video. And of course, you can cut your videos using the nifty video-editing feature that originated on the iPhone 3GS. Those are our preliminary impressions, but we’ll add to this section as we spend more time with the camera.

Photo gallery
You can organize all images from an event or those that feature a specific friend. For both, however, you’ll need to have already used the face-recognition options in iPhoto or Aperture and sync with iTunes. One expected change appears to have vanished, however: when we played with the initial beta version of iOS 4, we saw an option in the gallery for rotating photos, but we can’t find it again in the final version.

FaceTime
Apple is pushing FaceTime as one of the iPhone 4′s most-exciting features. It certainly looked good at the WWDC demo, so we were eager to try it. After even a short test we were pleased with the feature’s quality and we like that it’s an integrated option that doesn’t require an app. The incoming video can be a bit pixelated and jerky, particularly when your friend is using the front camera, but it wasn’t bothersome. And really, that’s to be expected when using a VGA shooter. You’ll see a slightly better feed if your friend uses the rear camera, but not by much. The video from your phone will show in the lop left corner; it looked great from either camera. Also, you can use it in both portrait and landscape modes.

Obviously, FaceTime only works with another iPhone 4. You activate the feature after placing a call on a Wi-Fi network (more on that in a minute). Once the call connects, you’ll see an option for FaceTime instead of the normal “Hold” control (we’ve no clue where that option went). Both you and your friend must press the control to establish a video chat; you then can mute the call or end it directly from the FaceTime screen. And after you placed a FaceTime call for the first time, you’ll see the phone number listed twice in your recent calls list. One entry will activate FaceTime directly, and the other will place a normal cellular call.

That’s not to say FaceTime wasn’t without its problems. On more than one occasion, we couldn’t establish a connection, even though we were using two iPhone 4s on Wi-Fi. We even found on one handset that the FaceTime option wasn’t there when it should have been. The switch between normal and FaceTime calls can take a few seconds, during which reception is faulty. We never dropped a call during the switch, but it was annoying.

For 2010, FaceTime will work only on Wi-Fi. We’ve heard a lot of grumbling about this restriction, but we don’t think that’s a bad thing. Video chat uses a ton of data so we’re sure the experience would be better on Wi-Fi than on AT&T’s strained network, anyway. What’s also great is that because you’re on Wi-Fi, FaceTime calls will not deduct from your cellular minutes. Jobs said Apple is working with iPhone carriers to carry the feature (cue speculation on possible new carriers), but he didn’t offer other details. As long as Apple kills the Wi-Fi limit in the next year, we’ll be happy.

As fun as it is, though, it’s not a feature that we were burning for, and we wonder if it will last past the novelty stage. This is not a reflection on the quality of Apple technology–so back off, fanboys–but rather on if users will really use it over the long term. After all, video chat technology has been around since 2004 when AT&T Wireless (remember that?) first debuted a very limited service on the brick-size Motorola A845. The phone didn’t last long, but video chat is common around the world and in the United States. AT&T runs its Video Share on a limited number of phones, for example, and Sprint’s HTC Evo 4G offers the Qik video chat application. Each has a few drawbacks, but they do exist.

Yet, Apple has a talent for repackaging existing features and attracting wide consumer interest. Outside of other VoIP services like the Skype app, carriers have been unsuccessful at making video-calling services popular and useful. FaceTime will face competition from other devices, but Apple could very well make it work.

Gyroscope
The iPhone 3Gs gave us a compass, but the iPhone 4 raises the bar by offering a three-axis gyroscope. Like on an airplane, you’ll get pitch, roll, and yaw, and it’s tied with the accelerometer to provide six-axis motion sensing. Though by all means it will be useful to app and game developers, it also just looks like a lot of fun. We’ll investigate this more over the next few days.

Tethering
The iPhone has always been capable of tethering, but AT&T has lagged behind other carriers in offering an option for it. In its new pricing plans, however, AT&T now offers the ability to use your iPhone as a modem for your PC. You’ll need to pay an extra US$20 to get it, but at east it’s there. We’ll test this feature and report back.

iMovie and iBooks
iMovie brings movie-editing capabilities to the iPhone. You’ll pay US$4.99 for the app, but it’s a nice touch. We’ll explore its capabilities after we can test it thoroughly. Apple’s e-book reader joins Amazon’s Kindle app as an option for bookworms. You will be able to access Apple’s iBookstore to purchase new content, and if you have an iPhone and an iPad, you can read your book on both devices (with just one purchase) and sync your current page. It looked nifty when Jobs offered a demo of iBooks during his WWDC keynote.

Processor
Under the hood is the same 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 chip that’s found in the iPad. Also, though Apple hasn’t specified the RAM, we know that it’s 512MB. In early tests the phone is quite a bit faster than the 3GS and certainly the iPhone 3G. Menus, applications, and other features opened in a flash. And as we mentioned earlier, the app switching in the multitasking menu and the camera shutter didn’t leave us waiting.

Performance

Call and data quality
Much has been said about problems with AT&T and the iPhone, and even on the iPhone 4 call quality remains the biggest sticking point. Indeed, when we tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1,800/1,900) world phone in San Francisco, we encountered mixed results, with improvements in some areas and no change in others. On the upside, audio clarity was sharper, our friends’ voices sounded natural, and the volume was a tad louder than on previous iPhones. Also, from what we can tell, the noise-cancellation mic does a good job of screening out background audio. Even when in a loud place we could continue with our conversations without any problem. What’s more, we heard no “side noise” (the sound of our own voice coming back through the phone), static, or interference. Perhaps that antenna made a difference.

But then again, perhaps it didn’t. Call quality was improved only when we could get signal, but finding–and keeping–a strong connection continues to be a challenge. In the first few moments of testing the device, we had a dropped call, even though we had full bars. We also had a couple of calls that failed to connect in an area where we knew that AT&T reception is good. And when we were in known AT&T dead zones, we had no luck at all.

There’s even a chance that the antenna could be doing harm. Soon after we posted this review, we heard from many users who complained that when they held the phone in the hand–a common occurrence, no doubt–the signal degraded within a few seconds. The reports came mostly from people who covered the notch on the phone’s right side with their fingers while holding it in their left hand. We had mixed results in replicating this problem, though our experience varied widely by location, the phone we were using, and the person using it. At times we saw no difference, but other times we noticed the signal drop from a full five bars down to two or three. When we moved our hand away, the meter jumped back to normal. We’ve asked Apple about the issue, but the company has not responded. Some have suggested that the rubber and plastic bumper cases that Apple is selling with the iPhone 4 solve the problem because they prevent fingers from touching the antenna. Though we’ll scream highway robbery about the bumper’s US$29 price tag, we’re not prone to conspiracy theories. On the other hand, we did get a selection of bumpers with our review phone. Hmmm.

Though our experience is somewhat worrisome, we’re not ready to demand a recall. As we said, the problem appears to be intermittent. Also, issues with a new device, particularly something as hyped as the iPhone 4, are common after it comes out. We saw similar problems in 2008 when the iPhone 3G first went on sale and complaints about poor reception flooded in. In that instance, though, the problem was fixed after a software update. Honestly, we have a hard time accepting that Apple didn’t catch this in the testing process, but we’ll continue to watch the issue and test the phone in more places.

What’s more, the iPhone 4 still appears to have a problem with hand-offs between EDGE and the 3G network; the handset still tries to hang on to weak 3G signal when it should switch to EDGE. As we said with the iPhone 3GS, the reception jumped if we switched off the handset’s 3G radio on the Settings menu. Constantly doing that, however, can be a pain.

On their end, callers said we sounded good; a few people didn’t know we were on a cell phone. During active calls, they could hear us without any problems and they mentioned less background noise than when we used the 3GS. The first iPhone had a sensitive sweet spot, but we didn’t notice that here. A few people heard some interference, but they said it was manageable. Automated calling systems could understand us most of the time, even if we were on a busy street.

Speakerphone calls were mostly satisfactory. We could hear our friends clearly, though the volume was a tad distorted at the highest levels. You don’t need to be close to the phone to hear, but we had to be close to the phone for our friends to hear us. That’s not unusual, though. Bluetooth headset performance was mixed. Bluetooth headset calls were fine, but we had mixed issued with stereo Bluetooth headsets.

The quality of the data connection was similar to voice calls. When we had a strong 3G signal, the busiest pages loaded in a few seconds and the connection held strong. EDGE browsing is a bit painful, so we suggest using it rarely. Also, when contrasted with comparable smartphones from Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, we still find that AT&T’s 3G isn’t as reliable.

Battery life
The iPhone 4′s bigger battery should mean more juice to get you through the day. Apple now officially promises 7 hours of talk time, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, and 300 hours of standby. In very early testing, the battery lasted a respectable period. We used it heavily for about 5 hours and we were still going relatively strong after a full charge.

By Kent German

There are numerous iPhone 4 users reports of the phone losing signal when you hold it covering the bottom left corner where the GSM and Wi-Fi antennas meet.

Apple states they know of the issue and their official statement is amazingly instructional:

“Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.”

Reportedly, Steve Jobs was even kind enough to reply to some user emails – briefly, but straight to the point:

“Just avoid holding it that way.”

Ok, we understand how clever it was of Apple to design the iPhone antennas in that way and we can accept new technology comes with its own quirks. But stating a right and wrong way of holding your phone with the latter able to leave you totally signal-less – well that’s plain wrong. Not to mention even THEY hold it the wrong way on their ads.

In this particular case what we don’t like is Apple’s attitude. Pretending such thing is not a big issue, saying it’s a normal thing for a cellphone to lose signal, and not admitting a design flaw – that’s arrogant. Fans will probably be willing to avoid holding the iPhone 4 that way. Being polite and confessing a wrong goes a long way. So does giving a bonus Bumper case to all affected. Just sayin’.

Source

Imagine if you spend US$20 on a pack of cigarettes each week. That’s about US$1,040 spent in a year, which is an awful lot of money that could be put to better use.

The emphasis this year is to bring attention to the need to protect women and girls from the harmful effects of tobacco use and smoke. But, hey, there should be no gender discrimination to saying no to cigarettes. If you have an iPhone (and we know you have one), here are some free applications to get you started toward a healthier lifestyle.

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Since iQuit

If you’re after an uncomplicated interface that lets you know very clearly what you have gained, Since iQuit will serve nicely. You enter the date and time you quit smoking, how many cigarettes you smoked daily and how much it cost you. The front page tells you exactly how long it has been since you kicked the habit, in years, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds. The Money Saved page tells you how many cigarettes you have not smoked and how much money you have saved.

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iQuit

Different quitting methods work for different people; for some, the gradual approach is the best one. iQuit offers you a timer that tells you when you can go have a smoke, gradually increasing the time between cigarettes and a goal. When you load the app up for the first time, you can input your habit stats, how many cigarettes you smoke and how much it costs you. An in-app Facebook connection lets your friends follow your progress and guilt you into staying quit.

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Quitter

Another really simple app. An interface tells you how many days it has been since your last cigarette and how much money you have saved, based on the information you feed the app when you first boot it up. If you fall off the wagon, you can restart by tapping the “information” icon and re-entering your new details. It does, however, assume that there is only one generic 20-cigarette pack size, which can give you wrong information if you buy packs of 25 or 40.

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Stop Smoking Free

This rather morbid little app is also rather featureless: all it does, after you’ve input your quit date and how many cigarettes you smoked, is tell you how much of your lifespan you’ve lost to smoking. It seems to be based on some arbitrary pop figure, so all it’s really good for is reminding you that smoking is probably going to cut your life short. Writing “smoking cuts your life short” on the back of your hand every day would be just as effective, and not include the advertising.

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Coach Quit

We were hoping this would be a video of the “No, Gary, No” dancers, but alas. You also have to worry about something that calls itself “highly ingenious”, but Coach Quit isn’t a bad little app. It allows you a certain number of cigarettes a day, gradually decreasing, and each time you want a smoke, it starts a timer that delays your smoke for five minutes. You can then input how much of the cigarette you smoked and whether you found it satisfying. Again, though, no variable pack size.

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SmokeTrack

This is exactly what it sounds like: it tracks how many cigarettes you have per day, and when. Each time you have a smoke, you hit the button. It will log the time of your smoke. You can also take notes each day, sort of like a quitting diary. Except, well, it doesn’t actually seem to do anything to discourage you from smoking. The only indication that this is a quitting app is the disapproving double question mark on the “Having another smoke??” button.

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NoSmokingLife

There is no timer element to NoSmokingLife, but it does allow you to enter an accurate pack size, how many cigarettes a day you smoke, and how much a pack will cost you. It will then calculate how much money you save and how long you have extended your lifespan. You can also set yourself a target — by quitting smoking, you are allowing yourself to save up for a reward of your choice. It could be anything: a new watch, a gym membership, or even saving for its own sake.

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GottaKickIt Now

This is another timer, like iQuit. It gradually increases the time between cigarettes until eventually you’re smoke-free. Unlike iQuit, though, the timer resets itself automatically; you don’t have to reset it each time you have a smoke. There is also a bell alarm that will let you know, which can be turned off if you find that without a reminder, you clean forget all about smoking.

By Michelle Starr

Twitter for iPhone

Just last month, Twitter acquired one of the most popular iPhone Twitter apps called Tweetie and re-released it for free on the iTunes store. The official app shares many things in common with Tweetie, but has numerous tweaks including a rework of the search function.

Even if you don’t have a Twitter account you can still use the app and search for terms or view trends. Grab the official Twitter app from the iTunes store.

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Twitter for BlackBerry

The official BlackBerry Twitter app has recently been updated and now supports keyboard shortcuts, allows you to edit retweets and shows geotagged tweets in BlackBerry Maps. Grab it from the BlackBerry App World.

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Twitter for Android

By Alexandra Savvides