A good personal assistant should be able to get your the information you need, make reservations and generally learn who you are and what you like.  Siri is the first voice powered mobile app that I have seen that promises this in spades.   Using conduits to various open data bases and online applications, Siri allows you to free up time you would normally spend searching 3-4 websites and cobbling together a nights plans into one fast interface.  Its ability to process data in a conversational model will let you change and adapt plans as needed without re-requesting information you have already entered.

Check out their video after the break…

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This is the moment that iPhone owning GPS aficionados have been waiting for. TomTom for iPhone is finally available in all it’s glory on the App Store. Since being unveiled at WWDC, anticipation for the app has been high. Other GPS based apps have of course been released in the meantime with the notable Navigon and of course the carrier linked subscription services. Having tried various GPS navigation apps on the iPhone 3G, I have yet been convinced that the experience and operation is as good as or close to a dedicated PND. Hopefully TomTom can prove that the iPhone can be just as good a driving aid as a dedicated device.

TomTom has released four variants of the App with prices ranging from $79.99 (£44.99) for Australia to $139.99 (£79.99) for Western Europe. TomTom US & Canada comes in just under $100 which is currently undercut until the end of August by Navigon North America which is currently $70. Those in the UK also get a special edition TomTom UK & Ireland which is available for £59.99, which is again undercut by Navigon British Isles at £52.99, if you don’t need the rest of Europe. Whether TomTom will corner the iPhone GPS market is anyone’s guess and whether the iPhone will become a real competitor to a dedicated PND is also unknown. Check back soon and we’ll have a review up of TomTom to hopefully answer some of those questions.

So as well all know, Apple squashed the official Google voice app for the iPhone and removed GV Mobile, a 3rd party GV app from the App Store, probably due to pressure from the networks (here’s looking at you AT&T). Google said that they’ll look into creating a web app similar to the also blocked Google Latitude, Sean Kovacs however, the developer of GV Mobile, decided to jump ship and go around Apple to release GV Mobile for free on Cydia. Now available to all with a jailbroken iPhone, the app behaves identically to the App Store app and Sean has indicated that he’s going to continue to develop the app for Cydia.

So people who are sitting on the fence, another reason to jailbreak and pretty much due to the networks and not Apple. Thanks AT&T, you let us have it if you’re on a blackberry, Android handset or pretty much any other smartphone but you just hate your iPhone users enough to stop them.

 

Today we’ll be looking at one of the commercial multiplatform IM apps for the iPhone to embrace push notification, IM+. As soon as I heard about the push notification solution that Apple was ‘pushing’ at WWDC last year, all I wanted from it was a good IM app. It was one of the only things, apart from impressive battery life, that I was jealous of Blackberry users for. Their background apps allowed an always online connection to IM saving the need for text or email conversations when you could quickly fire off a bout of IMs.

Now that the whole push thing is in full swing I’m pleased to say that IM apps on the iPhone are actually useful. IM+ to be fair, allowed you to stay connected at their end and be notified of incoming IM via email. This worked ok, not an ideal solution but the best of a bad lot. Push notification has replaced the need for email notification and is significantly better, but importantly not perfect.

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Since Apple integrated age ratings for apps the door has been flung open to adult content on the iPhone. Whether Apple would actually allow an iPorn app is not known but Hottest Girls makes it’s shot at the FHM/Loaded/Maxim pin ups.

Bringing new meaning to the iTouch

Hottest Girls comes armed with some 2200 odd pics of ‘topless, sexy babes and nude models’ (the first app to include nudity according to the developer). The app includes a rating system to let the developers know what kind of female flesh takes you fancy for refreshing the library of pics and lets you save the pics to your camera roll to do what you will with them. So for less than a cup of coffee you can get what you really buy FHM for, not the cars, gadgets or the interviews, the women of course, in the palm of your hand.

The 17+ rated Hottest Girls is available in the App Store for $1.99 (£1.19).

[Via Macenstein]

UPDATE:

The app has been pulled from the App Store and according to the developers site it’s because they wholly under estimated the popularity of the app and their servers just can’t take it. Allen The Geek is insisting that the app will be back soon and that the grounds for removal from sale aren’t because of the adult content. Whether the app returns to the App Store with the content intact remains to be seen. Will Apple smite the slightly risqué app from it’s Store blocking it’s return? It will be interesting to find out whether Apple really has let any kind of content lose with the App Store age restrictions.

UPDATE 2:

Looks like Apple did indeed pull the app from the App Store. No porn for you young Timmy!

Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content. The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store.

Looks like it’s back to web apps for the porn industry, sorry you aint getting on Apple’s pride and joy.

AIM seems to the first of the IM push apps to make it through the Apple review process. Available for both the AIM free and paid for app it will give us all a chance to see whether this new fangled push notification is really going to be practical. Hopefully this means we’ll be seeing the multi-protocol clients Beejive and IM+ coming through soon, because I don’t know about you but most people I know don’t use AIM.

One of the most popular iPhone twitter clients, the ad-supported Twitterfon, has recently introduced a Pro and paid version of the app.  Twitterfon Pro has all the features of Twitterfon that made it popular minus the ads and with a few bonus features.

Hit the read link for a thorough review of what could be the best Twitter app for the iPhone.

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Apple has sent out an email informing all enrolled developers that they have begun refusing applications that aren’t compatible with iPhone 3.0. 3.0b5 has recently been pushed out to developers and Apple is now testing ‘all’ submissions on the beta firmware to check for compatibility. Apple also said that it would be redacting any app that’s already in the apps store that isn’t compatible with 3.0 when it launches in June.

As yet I’m unsure of how compatible most apps are on 3.0. All the applications I’ve had the pleasure to play with on 3.o from the 2.0 era run fine without any obvious incompatibilities. Here’s hoping those developers that aren’t engaged in updating their app for 3.0 features don’t have to do much to see their app through. Mind you it might be a good time to cull some of those farting apps.

Digg user, gamebittk, noticed something today that many didn’t.  During one of Apple’s new iPhone commercials, he noticd that there was a digg iPhone app icon.  Could this mean that an official Digg iPhone App is finally coming?

Gamebittk took the liberty of contacting Digg support for this quote.

“We can’t discuss any future plans, but we can confirm that at the moment m.digg.com is the official tool.”

The mobile version of Digg is very watered down with no direct access to your own profile, favorites, shouts and more. Hopefully this little easter egg that Apple put on our TV screens will become reality.

As classic industry defining games go, Wolfenstein 3D was right up there with the best and now thanks to some love for the iPhone by the legendary game guru and co-founder of id John Carmack, its made it’s way to Apple’s portable platform. At first one might think that first person shooters and a touchscreen device don’t mix well. The modern form of FPS requires accurate quick motions across 3-axis which is not easily produced without a keyboard and a mouse or even a dual thumb-stick joypad. Wolfenstein 3D however comes from an era where aiming was just facing in the right direction without the ‘free look’ that most shooters adopt today. This means that the control scheme for Wolf is much simpler and in fact makes the transition to the iPhone well.

The iPhone port is a great example of a classic game, that when given some attention is as addictive to play now on a modern device than it was originally. Complete with an austere soundtrack, laughing Nazis and boss fights that are almost impossible even on the easier settings. For those that are too young to remember and play Wolfenstein 3D originally, it may seem a little backward compared to the Call of Duties and some of IDs newest shooters, but play with it for a bit and I guarantee it’s a keeper. With some 60 original levels to blast your way through, solid controls to suit any kind of player and the pure visceral thrill of blasting Nazis with a chaingun, what more could you ask for? For £2.99 it’s a nostalgia trip that not only brings a smile to your face, keeps you glued to your iPhone or iPod Touch but also stands up to the test of time. Own a true classic in a modern form, you won’t regret it. Check out the gallery of screen shots and the video play through after the break if you need more convincing.

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