pic2shop barcode scanner

pic2shop is a free barcode scanner that lets you scan products and comparison shop by looking up prices from various sources on the Internet.

It makes so much sense to have a multi-functional portable computer rather than many special purpose devices. This is another example of how Apple adds value to their iPhone platform by facilitating easy download of free and for pay applications through iTunes.

(Via iTunes.)

Discovering Great iPhone Apps: 5 Recommendation Services Compared

Discovering Great iPhone Apps: 5 Recommendation Services Compared:

There are so many Apps now that we need to compare the recommendation services.

(Via ReadWriteWeb.)

Summary

• Best mobile interface: App Genius, Apple’s own service inside the app store.

• Best web interface: Appolicious is awesome.

• Best sharing: Appsfire.

Launch the app, click some of your apps you want to share with someone, then the share button opens an email with Appsfire links to all the selected apps.

There is no clear winner when it comes to recommendation quality.

Note that not all Apps recommended by these services are necessarily available in Canada since they are based on the US store. Some might be delayed and some are not available at all.

Macworld App Guides

Macworld has introduced both a web site and a new app to help get information on the best iPhone apps and breaking news.

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

Status of iPhone apps for ebooks is that new readers are being introduced every week. Will be interesting what happens if rumoured Apple tablet is introduced and Apple offers ebooks from iTunes store.

Stanza, which was purchased by Amazon, is my current favourite especially because of the flexibility of having an associated Mac application that can convert documents for reading on the iPhone.

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

(Via TUAW.)

MobileMe iDisk App

Apple has released a free MobileMe iDisk app to use from your iPhone to view and share files. This is really handy to have key files readily available for viewing away from the office. I was keen to find out how well Keynote presentations can be shown on the iPhone screen and I was pleasantly surprised how clear they are for properly designed slides. In fact this is a good test whether your slides are designed well for the big projection screen. They should be usable on your iPhone too if you don’t put too much information and too small text.

Check out the iDisk MobilemMe iPhone app video for its file sharing capabilities. These new features like the also almost free ($0.99) Keynote Remote presentation controller app and iTunes remote app add a lot of value to an existing investment in Apple products. The performance of MobileMe service itself has been uneven with frequent outages and a sync capability that often doesn’t work in my experience. There has also been a lot of controversy regarding often arbitrary iPhone App store app approval policies. Here is hoping that Apple applies some of its product quality control to its services before they spoil what could be valuable assets.

The next Generation of iPhone Apps

O’Reilly Radar has a summary of iPhone enhancements and the start of a list of new apps that take advantage of the new OS3 features. With the additional APIs documented for developers there will also be new hardware that will interface with the iPhone and iPod Touch. Why develop a small display, keyboard and computer when you can leverage one many people are already carrying.

iPhone App reviews – Ars Technica

IPhone Apps reviews

: “Infinite Loop: Ars covers the world of Apple”

Ars does a good job of identifying the iPhone apps that are worth checking out.

(Via Ars Technica.)

Skype for iPhone: Awesome and Getting Better

Om Malik has a lot of praise for the new Skype client for iPhone which was released today in the US (and not yet in Canada) iTunes store.

Review: Skype for iPhone. Verdict: Awesome.

Apparently Skype for iPhone works on WiFi only and has almost complete desktop functionality except that multi-chat requires some window switching and video is not supported. These limitations are determined by the iPhone’s screen size and lack of video support from its camera not the Skype software.

(Via GigaOm.)

iPhone for Skype Call		iPhone for Skype Contacts

Lifehacker also has news, Skype for iPhone brings reliable VoIP to your pocket, and has even started a rumour that the next Skype for iPhone version will be able to work over the 3G network once iPhone OS3 is available sometime in June.

Tidbits is also enthusiastic about Skype VoIP for iPhone.

Top 100 iPhone Apps

Who has time to search through all 10,000 Apps in the iTunes store?
Check out this list of one man’s picks of 100 worth investigating.

http://weblogs.redeyechicago.com/iphoneblog/2008/11/100-apps-youve.html

Mobile Contexts

Fraser Spiers is an accomplished Mac developer who is also developing for iPhone.

On his blog explaining his approach for developing Exposure, his iPhone application for managing photos with Flickr, he describes three mobile contexts for using an iPhone. The following is my summary and labels for these contexts.

1. Distracted Mobile

On the move and not really able to focus so the iPhone application needs to be really simple with large buttons.

2. Waiting

Waiting in line or otherwise delayed, with some time to focus but often standing up with only one hand available. The iPhone application can have more functionality but must have an easy interface.

3. Away

The person is away from their desk and is using the iPhone because it is inconvenient to bring a laptop but they have more time and are sitting so they can focus on more complex tasks. Ease of use is still important but the user wants more functionality so they don’t have to wait until they get back to the computer at their desk.

Fraser makes a compelling case that iPhone application developers need to be aware of these different use cases and decide which of these they are trying to support. It is also a means of categorizing iPhone applications by which use case they are most appropriate for. This is something that will be used in future application reviews.