iPhone Applications

Only one month after the initial release of push notification, Apple has invited iPhone OS 3.0 developers to participate in high-volume tests of the system. If all goes well, push notification is expected to be operative for general users with the release of iPhone 3.0.

Push notification saves the iPhone battery by allowing apps to receive information without actually running in the background. Recent reports have indicated that Apple is considering allowing a limited number of apps to run in the background, however this taxes iPhone resources.

Wouldn't it be great if every time you jumped to the iPhone home screen Pandora kept streaming music? The only application that Apple currently allows to run in the background is the iPod, however if recent reports are correct, this could all change.

Pandora is just one example of how useful allowing apps to run in the background could be. Another likely use would be keeping an instant messaging chat connected. Rumors have been swirling about just how Apple would implement background processing considering the limited resources of iPhone hardware.

The official CBS Sports Mobile NCAA® March Madness On Demand® application is available now from the Apple AppStore. For only $4.99 any college basketball lover with an iPhone or iPod Touch can view scores, news, schedules, brackets, and even live games.

When using a Wi-Fi connection free streaming video of ongoing games is available. The application also delivers live game audio over a 3G or EDGE data connection. All games from the first round until the NCAA® Championship are included, along with video highlights from each game.

Now the entire Kindle library of books, magazines and newspapers is accessible without a Kindle device. All you need is your iPhone or iPod Touch, the free application released by Amazon, and your Amazon account. Just install the Kindle app, then register your iPhone with Amazon by entering your account information.

After you're in, you have access to all titles you've purchased through Amazon's website or with your Kindle. 225,000 titles are available, and $9.99 will deliver you a New York Times bestseller immediately. For $1.25 a month you can get the current issue of the Atlantic (sans pictures) delivered automatically as soon as the new issue hits newsstands.

How long have we been hearing about Flash coming to MobileSafari? Why is Flash installed on 98% of desktops and 800 million mobile devices, yet not one is an iPhone? Apparently it has been in development since June 2008. Apple was unhappy with the limited old Flash Lite, and the full version would suck up too many resources on the already battery-strapped iPhone.

We were expecting a release in September 2008, however somebody must have decided that version of the iPhone Flash wasn't good enough for release. Adobe's CEO, Shantanu Narayen said, "The onus is on us to deliver." What was billed as a collaboration between Apple and Adobe now sounds like an Adobe responsibility. Necessity is the word that comes to mind if you're an iPhone user.

The same streaming Sirius XM radio stations available to subscribers on the web are coming to the iPhone. The application, scheduled for submission to Apple for approval today, is named the uSirius StarPlayr. Streams will be available via Wi-Fi, 3G or EDGE.

Development of the app is part of the StreamSmart project, which plans to release StarPlayr on a variety of mobile and desktop computing platforms by 2010. The iPhone application is expected to price between $12.95 and $19.95. Users must have a current subscription to satellite radio, and can expect to pay an additional $2.99 per month for online stream access starting in March.

Settle the dispute with your golfing buddies on the spot, and learn a thing or two about the ever-complicated Rules of Golf. An iPhone and iPod Touch version of the award winning "Golf Rules Quick Reference" has been submitted to Apple for approval.

The developers are expecting the application to be available on the iTunes App Store in February for $9.99. The author of the booklet, Yves C. Ton-That, has been an international rules official for over 10 years and spent 4 years developing the reference.

There's good news for those of you out there who are fans of Live365 and would like to listen using your iPhone or iPod Touch. An application that will stream audio from Live365 Internet radio stations has officially been submitted to Apple for approval.

The app was planned for release in the third quarter of 2008, however it did not materialize. At the time of this writing, the ball has been in Apple's court for two weeks.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls using applications such as Truphone and Fring are nothing new to the iPhone. VoIP calls using 3G, or EDGE/GPRS for that matter, have been available for three months now, and it's the jailbreak app VoIPover3G that makes them possible.

The app works by using a MobileSubstrate library that tricks applications into behaving as if they are on a Wi-Fi connection when they are actually on a cellular data connection. Fring and Truphone are tricked by default when VoIPover3G is installed using the Cydia package manager.

The crippling of Bluetooth functionality on the iPhone is another one of life's mysteries. As users are painfully aware, the only thing Bluetooth is capable of doing in firmware 2.2 is connecting to a wireless headset. Fortunately for those with jailbroken devices it appears that all of this is about to change.

The iSpazio Repository will soon host software from the iBluetooth project allowing users to unlock Bluetooth on the iPhone and transfer files using a computer or another Bluetooth-enabled phone. This is only the tip of the iceberg. The Bluesn0w project promises to allow developers full access to Bluetooth on the iPhone.