Blacksmithgames.com is in good mood this year and offers free applications every day from december 1th until december 22nd. But wait, if it’s an advent calendar, why doesn’t it count to 24?
There is of course a reason, and it is that they will announce “other great surprises” these two days. What they are, can we just wait and see, since this is one of those advent calendars where you cannot just open all flaps at once, like those with chocolate.
iPhone developer Pandav have been in the media’s spotlight for some time lately, because they claim to have spotted usage records for an unreleased iPhone in their app’s analytics.
The analytic tool used to spot the new iPhone is PinchMedia and it allows you to break down customers usage and it also allows you to see what specific device that is being used to run your applications and every devices have their own identification number assigned by Apple, and in this case the device identification number spotted was “iPhone3,1” and it doesn’t match up with any shipping iPhones.
The newest iPhone, the iPhone 3GS, has the identification number “iPhone2,1” and was also spotted in statistics and logs more than half a year before its announcement. The application that disclosed the existence of the next coming iPhone was iBart, a public transportation guide for the San Francisco train system.
Will iPhone pass the test against LG and Samsung?
Today, iPhone was released in South Korea which is one of the toughest countries to make a breakthrough in, and only the fewest of cell phones manufacturers can make money in South Korea. Despite that, Apple has received many pre-orders on the iPhone.
53,000 iPhone pre-orders has been reported according to AP Business, and that makes the iPhone release in South Korea much more popular than the Chinese iPhone launch, but the iPhone lacks on some areas. The South Koreans are very sophisticated mobile phone users, and with the local manufacturers Samsung and LG it will be hard to work its way through for the iPhone. Samsung and LG offer features that allow users to watch local TV on their iPhones, and yet there is no such feature on the iPhone and that will make it difficult, since it is a very popular service among South Koreans.
Only the future can tell if iPhone will be a success in South Korea, and the launch in South Korea can easily be seen iPhone’s ‘exam’ on the consumer market.
Two weeks ago, the first iPhone worm was discovered in Australia, but it was harmless and did nothing except changing the background picture on the iPhone. Then came a new malware attack just a few days later, and today the third iPhone worm is discovered and it can steal your information.
The new worm only affects jailbroken iPhones which the SSH password hasn’t been changed and this worm appears to be isolated in the Netherlands. This worm appears to be far more serious than the first iPhone worm, since it can access and control the iPhone remotely without the permission of its owner. More specifically are those who uses the iPhone for internet banking with Dutch online bank ING at risk, since the worm redirects the bank’s customers to a site that looks like the original log-in screen, but it is fake and the information you give will be stored in a server in Lithuania.
According to The Loop, Apple has issued a brief statement regarding the latest malware attack:
“The worm affects only a very specific set of iPhone users who have jail broken their iPhones and hacked it with unauthorized software,” Apple spokesperson, Natalie Harrison, told The Loop. “As we’ve said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones, and for good reason. These hacks not only violate the warranty, they will also cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.”
We at AppleLunch recommends that you stay away from jailbreaks, since it can do more harm than good. The latest worm attacks proves our allegation right.
When the App Store was announced back in July 2008, one of the main titles of applications to the iPhone and iPod Touch was Super Monkey Ball, a game developed by SEGA and it became an enormous commercial success. The game was priced $9.99 and it sat the standard of pricing, when it comes to games for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Now, SEGA announces Super Monkey Ball 2 for iPhone!
Super Monkey Ball uses the accelerometer to control a monkey in a ball, and the objective is to control the monkey in the ball to collect as many bananas as you can, and make it’s way to a magic port before the time runs out. This concept is continued in the upcoming Super Monkey Ball 2 that has 115 new challenging levels, and now you can also play multiplayer via WiFi. SEGA notes that they have received criticism on the sensitivity of the control system in Super Monkey Ball, so that is also improved in the new version and should be more precise than its relief.
Super Monkey Ball 2 is expected to be released in time for the holidays, and no price has been announced yet.
Watch the video below to see a preview of Super Monkey Ball 2
Few weeks ago, Finish phone company Nokia sued Apple over patent infringement and now another sue against Apple has been issued. This time, a group of consumers are unsatisfied with the iPhone 3G S, claiming the commercials are misleading and therefore suing both Apple and AT&T.
In the commercials, Apple promises full MMS compatibility and with that possibility to send and receive videos, photos and sounds. That is, according to the sue, not true to what the iPhone 3G S can, although AT&T and Apple have promised to recondition the lack of MMS.
Late September, AT&T activated the MMS function for their iPhone customers, but apparently it didn’t succeed without failures.
Today it’s Thursday and it’s time for our weekly free app reviews. Each Thursday, AppleLunch will provide you with reviews of free apps from the App Store to separate the wheat from the chaff. Today, we will test if we’re sober enough to drive, and afterwards some magic.
The free application “Fit to Drive” is developed by Designit A/S in cooperation with Healthmate.
Fit to Drive is an application that maybe will prevent car accidents caused by drunk driving and save lives, and we salutes the initiative! Let’s start the review. When you enter the application, you will start in the main menu. Here you can see six different options: a per mille calculator, a pupil polygraph, a “are you fit to drive?” test, a highscore list of the before mentioned test, an information button and a disclaimer. Let’s just say that all the fun is in the three topmost options.
Let’s take a look at the per mille calculator. When you tap the option, you will be asked to select your consumption. There are four different types of drinks with different alcohol percentages, and you are asked to show how many of each type of drinks you have drunken. When it is done, tap next and now you shall enter your gender and weight, and then again tap next. In the next screen that appears, you shall select the starting time, and your location (country) and then tap next, and you will be shown what you are allowed to do, and what you certainly shall not do. As bonus, you can see what time you’re sober at, and if you swipe left, you can see how many calories you have gained, and how far you have to run to burn the amount of calories.
The next option in the main menu gave us a bit of a laugh, because if you’re in a pub and have had a few pints, you rarely brings a mirror with you, and in the second option “Pupil Polygraph”, you are asked to select your pupil size. We agreed that you have to ask a friend to select the pupil size for you, and a sober friend would be the best option to choose. Anyway, by choosing the size of ones pupil size, you can get an indication to if he or she is sober to drive, and if his or her reactions are normal he or she might not be affected by any kinds of drugs.
The third option in the main menu though, is my personal favorite. It’s a small test with a few questions that are easy to answer correct and some assignments that are easy to complete in sober condition. When you have completed the 10 assignments, you’ll get your result if you can drive by yourself or you should let someone else drive for you, and let’s just make clear that THE TEST IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY – DON’T DRIVE UNLESS YOU ARE TOTALLY SURE THAT YOU ARE SOBER and the application can’t tell you if you’re affected by drugs or alcohol.
No comments...
The application is free, and even if you haven’t had a few drinks, it’s still interesting to see if you can pass the “Are You Fit To Drive?” test. I admit that I have failed a couple of times in sober condition, and I think that I’m sober right now, while I’m writing this review (had a few glasses of wine last night). This application is worth a try for everyone and we recommends you to download it at App Store by clicking the link below.
4/5 STARS
Get the app from iTunes App Store
“Guess My Age” is developed by mugamme.com and is of course free.
The app description says: “Amaze yourself. Than amaze your friends.” Well, we admit that we’re not that amazed by this application, but we think that some might find it amazing, until they’ve realized that it’s pure math.
What the application does, is to tell your age, but if you don’t know your own age, it can’t tell you how old you are, so it’s actually quite useless. It’s like “Give me your address, and I will tell you where you live”, but in a more mathematical way.
When you enter the app, 50 numbers are shown, and topmost is a question: “Is there any number that matches your age?”. If there is, tap yes, and if not, tap no. Afterwards the exact same question is asked, but the numbers aren’t the same as before. This happens seven times total, and if you haven’t misread, the application will tell you how old you are.
Amazed? No, not really. Nor were we, but if you show this application to some younger people, they might think it’s pure magic.
2/5 STARS
Get the app from iTunes App Store
Earlier this week, we mentioned that the first known worm attack on iPhones has been released, but it does no harm. Today though, security firm Intego reports that a new iPhone malware has been spotted, and unlike Monday’s worm attack, this can actually access personal information on your iPhone.
The newly spotted malware can, like the worm from Monday, only access jailbroken iPhones and iPod Touches with default SSH passwords, but Intego states that the risk of the malware is “low”, and it doesn’t install anything on the iPhone.
Hackers using this tool will install it on a computer – Mac, PC, Unix or Linux – then let it work. It scans the network accessible to it, and when it finds a jailbroken iPhone, breaks into it, then steals data and records it.
This hacker tool could easily be installed, for example, on a computer on display in a retail store, which could then scan all iPhones that pass within the reach of its network. Or, a hacker could sit in an Internet café and let his computer scan all iPhones that come within the range of the wifi network in search of data. Hackers could even install this tool on their own iPhones, and use it to scan for jailbroken phones as they go about their daily business.
If you haven’t jailbroken your iPhone, you can relax because you’re out of the danger zone.
It couldn’t last any longer: the first known iPhone worm is loose, but fortunately it only attacks jailbroken iPhones.
It’s the antivirus firm Sophos, who details the worm, which surfaced in Australia last week and affects jailbroken iPhones that have SSH installed without and haven’t changed the default password. If you have an iPhone, purchased in a store and haven’t done anything to it but connecting to iTunes, you can stay calm.
Though the worm is harmless and only changes the background image, it is a sign that in the future, more dangerous attacks on jailbroken iPhones could take place, and the worm also indicates so, since Sophos has found multiple variants, as well as numerous comments within the code that tells the worm is an experiment to draw attention to the risk, faced by users that have jailbroken their iPhones.
Our advice to the readers is not to jailbreak your iPhones. The app store offers you nearly everything that you can imagine, including high security.
Finally the first small parts of information about the next generation iPhone has been rumored, this time from several sources which have been pretty reliable in the past.
The new iPhone, which should traditionally arrive around Summer next year (2010), is now rumored to contain a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip, allowing the iPhone to communicate through radio over short distances. Apple has earlier filed several patents for the technology, and activity indicate that the company is indeed investigating it, and maybe even already implementing RFID in the next generation iPhone.
Stay put for more news, and enjoy your lunch!
© 2010 AppleLunch · Proudly powered by WordPress & Green Park 2 by Cordobo.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional | Valid CSS 3
Blog Listings