Vonage, the VoIP telephone company, released their iPhone and Blackberry applications today. You might wanna reserve your excitement,though, since this application does not work with preexisting Vonage accounts that cost $25 a month and provide unlimited calls in the US and up to 60 countries.
Nope, the Vonage app will make calls over your cellular (and/or WiFi if on the iPhone) connection to international numbers at a significant discount (up to 50%) when compared to what AT&T or other carriers offer.
In an ideal world you’d be able to use the Vonage Mobile app for the above as well as have the ability to connect to the Vonage home phone service that allows you to make unlimited calls around the world using your home’s Internet connection. And at this point it seems unlikely that Vonage will ever provide this option since it will cannibalize the sales of their Vonage equipment. Booooo!
September 27th, 2009 2:08 PM | by Christen da Costa
Approved augmented reality apps for the iPhone are gonna start sprouting up like weeds any day now, and the first of many is the Bionic Eye.
Using the iPhone’s camera, compass and GPS the app is able to display POIs, otherwise known as Points of Interest, on the device’s screen relevant to where the camera is pointing. Point the device down at the ground and it will show a list of close by restaurants, coffee shops and other relevant information. Select a POI and the app will superimpose directional arrows to guide you to the location.
Currently the Bionic Eye app has 100,000 POIs and requires no 3G or WiFi connection to work – the info is contained within the 2.9mb application. Currently it costs $0.99, and in order to use the subway feature, which is only available in NY, Chicago and Washington, you’ll have to purchase that information separately from within the app.
A short product video from the maker shows off the app’s features. From what little I can see it still needs some work as the ‘augmented reality’ portion of the app seems a bit forced and heavy handed. For instance, the screen just seems to be stuffed with POIs and only shows their general direction and lacks a significant ‘call out’ for the selected POI.
Wow, talk about gimmick. The iSnort app isn’t really an app at all. First off it would, and will never get approved by Apple, which means your iPhone has to be Jailbroken for it to work. Second, we all know that the iPhone’s screen is capacitive, which requires an electrical reaction, something a dollar bill or plastic credit card can’t accomplish. So what is it for £5? A video, but a convincing one at that. Check it below.
January 15th, 2009 11:11 PM | by Christen da Costa
According to a Denver Post article, Skype is close to releasing an official iPhone application that will enable VoIP calls. A few months ago Fring was released, but after some testing I found the app’s VoIP capabilities to be laggy, to say the least. Unfortunately, Skype hasn’t indicated when the app will be released, but noted that they’re working ‘on cutting the amount of power the application consumes’.
Looks like there’s a music synth app for the iPhone just around the corner. Apparently, you can manipulate tones or music just by changing the orientation of the iPhone (i.e. accelerometer). I’m sure DJ’s and music weirdos (think Radio Head wanna bes) will be the first to download it.
Expect the unnamed app to hit Apple’s iTunes Store August 25th and cost $7.
