Posts Tagged ‘multimedia’

WunderRadio v1.0 | Published by Weather Underground | Via App Store | $5.99 | Released: 9-25-08

Overview

If Last.fm isn’t doing it for you, and you prefer LIVE radio, then WunderRadio is truly… a wonder! Sort your music by your location and browse music genres, scanners and weather radio. 

Functionality

WunderRadio is pretty straight forward. Don’t turn that dial, and I’ll show you how it works… There’s three buttons at the bottom: Stations, Favorites and Now Playing. 

At the top right there’s even a Help button, which can answer most FAQ, and gives you a submission form to report stations that aren’t working correctly.
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Last.fm v2.0 | Published by Last.fm, Ltd. | Via App Store | Free | Released: 9-29-08

Overview

Last.fm was reviewed positively here at AppleiPhoneApps back in July. It got a whopping 4.5 out of 5 stars. The new 2.0 version released at the end of September simply increases the merit of this music-lover’s app to a must-have. With 2.0, there is a totally new design interface, quicker buffering, tagging and individualized features that will may have you dancing like the original iPod commercials, and maybe possibly putting Pandora aside.

What’s New In This Version

Little has changed as far as the basic functionality of the app. The expression “the devil is in the details” holds true for this new version. The good folks at Last.fm have done a total redesign of the GUI (graphical user interface) which presents even a starting user with a great first experience in a world of music that might be a little overwhelming.
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Well folks, it appears Flash could finally be showing up to the iPhone party, albeit fashionably late (better than never, yea?).

Paul Betlem, Adobe System’s Sr. Director of Engineering, confirmed the rumor, saying that, “Apple calls the shots as to when it’ll be available,” according to an iPhone Atlas article.

Flash Magazine’s Jens Brynildsen broke the news, writing:

Upon a direct question from the audience, Paul Betlem for the first time publicly confirmed that Adobe is actively developing a Flash Player for Apple’s popular phone. He said (not direct quote) “My team is working on Flash on the iPhone, but it’s a closed platform.” He noted that Apple makes all the decisions, so in other words, the ball is in Apple’s yard at this time.

While Adobe had Flash running on an iPhone SDK emulator back in June, porting the plug-in to efficiently run on a mobile device with limited computing power is easier said than done.

It remains to be seen just how well the iPhone’s processor handles the stripped down version of Adobe’s intense media technology, but at least it’s looking like we’ll be able to check it out first-hand.

FlyCast Mobile v1.2 | Published by FlyCast | Via App Store | Free | Released: 9-10-08

Overview

This powerful radio app lets you search for stations with an artist name or keyword, or find podcasts on demand from an extensive list of providers that includes the BBC, CNN, ESPN and PBS. It’s no Pandora, but it does bring you internet radio in a flexible, effective and free package that can even play music in the background while you use other phone functions.

Functionality

While internet radio stations and podcasts can be found using a web search, the free FlyCast Mobile app offers a very user-friendly interface for easily locating good content and then buffering extended amounts of a stream to decrease interruptions and conserve battery life.

Users can search for stations that play specific artists, look up streams by keyword, or by searching Shoutcast stations, so if you want a break from western music and feel like getting your groove on to some Bollywood hits, change is only a search away. Continue Reading

VirtualDeck v1.6 | Published by Quickdecay | Via App Store | $5.99 | Released: 9-2-08

Overview

While VirtualDeck lets you scratch, loop and distort audio samples, it doesn’t offer much more than that and is actually pretty overpriced and unexciting. Unless you’re looking for a virtual turntable for live performances, there is little added value from this app.

Functionality

VirtualDeck functions like a basic turntable, sans mixer. Users can speed up or slow down samples, adjust effects like cut off and resonance and can scratch. That is pretty much it.

The turntable responds well to touch and records can be slowed down, sped up and scratched with the drag of a finger. While the app succeeds in executing these functions well, there is no way to move the pickup arm to another part of the track (probably because it would be near impossible not to move it unintentionally). This means that there is no way for skipping ahead or backtracking in a track or sample, other than by twirling your finger like crazy. Continue Reading

Kineo v1.0.2 | Published by Ollie Wagner and Geoff Pado | Via App Store | $4.99 | Released: 8-21-08

Flipbook v1.0.2 | Published by Josh Anon | Via App Store | $9.99 | Released: 8-11-08

Overview

Flipbook and Kineo (the app formerly known as Flickbook… hmmm… let’s party like it’s 1999…) are two apps that we take head-to-head. Both take the fun of doodling on a pad’s edge and flipping the paper edges for cartoon motion to the digital age.

We’ll look at Kineo first.

Functionality

The first thing you’re presented when Kineo launches is… white. It’s really blank. You’ve got icons at the top left to go to the files view, a play triangle on the top right, and a black square underneath the menu line which is your color palette.

The fun thing about Kineo is that you just start drawing. With your finger. Continue Reading

Cycorder v0.9-2 | Published by Jay Freeman (saurik) | Via Cydia | Free | Released: 8-23-08

Update

9/05/08 - Cycorder v0.9-4 Released.

Overview

Just a day after iPhone Video Recorder was released for jailbroken 2.0 iPhones, Jay Freeman (aka saurik) released his free video recording app called Cycorder through Cydia. Although it does not yet support audio, the app description on Cydia says the feature will be added within a week and may be only available as a paid feature depending “on how well the AdMob ads do as a monetization strategy.”

Functionality

The only real functionality for Cycorder at present is simply this… clear, seamless video. It encodes immediately, so there’s not the significant wait time as compared with iPhone Video Recorder. You point, click on the round record button icon, and when finished, click it again. Your video is there to view in a list, immediately. It is also labeled clearly and without confusion.

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