Here’s a very quick run down of TomTom for iPhone to tide you over until the Car Kit arrives and we can do a full review of the system. Having played with other turn-by-turn GPS apps for the iPhone I’ve found some better than others. Most lack features that I’m used to from my dedicated PND and even my old trusty TomTom Navigator for Pocket PC, which lead me to my destination back in the day. First impressions of TomTom for iPhone are excellent, but hit the break for more. (more…)

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.

[View with PicLens]

 

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. (more…)

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.

Ninja me this, is my iPhone more deadly with this update?

I like my tech companies to have a sense of humour. It makes me feel like they might actually be human and if you ever met them they might not be completely up themselves. So it was with suprise but delight that I went to update apps on my iPhone this morning and found that an update to the Google Mobile app included not only British English accent support (wohoo!) but also added Ninja. I have yet to find out what Ninjas are doing in my iPhone but it’s funny none the less. I hope the person who put that in doesn’t get fired cos it made me chuckle and what more can you ask for from an app update than stealthy assassins?

If anyone finds out what the Ninjas are doing let us know in the comments.

Update: Thanks to Cory for pointing out in comments that the Ninja infiltration of the Google Mobile app includes pictures!

Today we’ll be looking at an app that aims to solve the problem of drunken messaging. We’ve all done it, gone out had a few beers and decided it’s a great idea to send that Ex or annoying boss a message to say your piece. This is where NIMBY, No Intoxicated Messaging By You (not Not In My Back Yard), steps in and attempts to filter out your unsound mind messages before they’re unleashed across the network.

Hit the Read link to find out more

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