News Archive for 08/12/03

Choose an article from the archive listing on this page or refine your selection using the controls in the gray box below.

iTouch becomes a phone

12/03, 9:50pm

Truphone launches VoIP app for iPod touch, iPhone

Truphone has launched a new VoIP application that enables an iPod touch to be used as a phone. If equipped with a microphone and headphones, the device can make phone calls to Google Talk or Skype users, another Truphone-enabled iPod touch, or certain Nokia handsets, from anywhere in the world where a Wi-Fi connection is available. Other features include instant messaging to Skype and MSN, along with the ability to check and set facilities for both Twitter and Facebook.

Stanza adds 40,000 titles

12/03, 5:00pm

iPhone bookreader app Stanza adds 40,000 titles

Stanza, a free book-reading app at the App Store, has added access to over 40,000 titles from Fictionwise. An agreement between Stanza creator Lexcycle and the eReader format backer was announced today, and will provide a Fictionwise Store within Stanza's Online Catalog. Purchases can be made within the app, and support resumed downloads. Past purchases are available on a bookshelf.

Promotional iPhone apps

12/03, 3:45pm

Apple enables promotional iPhone/iPod apps

Developers should now more easily be able to offer promotional copies of apps for the iPhone and iPod touch, reports say. Apple has enabled a system which, after an app has been approved for sale, allows developers to send free download codes to as many as 50 individuals. The codes can be redeemed within any current version of iTunes, though at present, downloaders must reside within the US.

Monster Dr. Dre headphones

12/03, 1:45pm

Monster intros Dr. Dre in-ear headphones

While Monster Cable hasn't yet officially announced the in-ear version of its Beats by Dr. Dre, the rapper-influenced headphones have appeared at the Apple Store. The design makes use of a unique, nearly 4-foot long flat cable that features a Duraflex jacket claimed to be tangle- and knot-free. The headphones deliver sound with a low-mass, wide bandwidth driver and also include three pairs of eartips as well as two pairs of triple-layer flanged tips, dubbed Airlocks, for more customizable sound insulation.

QuickerTek to ship charger

12/03, 12:55pm

Battery-based charger powers iPod, iPhone, iPod touch

QuickerTek has announced a new External Battery Charger for Apple products with 30-pin connectors. The charger works with iPods using the aforementioned connector, the iPhone 3G and iPod touch. It expands the iPod's runtimes with up to 30 additional hours of music, six hours of video or three hours of talk time on the iPhone. The battery gets a charge through a retractable USB cable and it can charge an iPod as it is charged.

2008 App Store downloads

12/03, 11:05am

Apple lists top 2008 App Store downloads

Using iTunes as the vehicle, Apple has posted a ranking of the most popular App Store downloads of 2008. The leading paid app was The Blimp Pilots' Koi Pond, which attempts to calm users with a small pool of virtual fish. Behind this was Sega's more elaborate Super Monkey Ball, which has players race across increasingly treacherous terrain. The remaining apps in the paid top 10 are Pocket Guitar, allRadio, iChalky, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D, Moto Chaser, Texas Hold'em, Cro-Mag Rally and Air Hockey.