GarageBand music app adds iPod Touch support

Apple has released an update to its highly popular GarageBand music creation app with support for iPod touch and iPhone. For starters GarageBand turns your iPod touch, iPad or iPhone into a collection of Touch Instruments and a full-featured recording studio - so you can make music anywhere you go. You can use Multi-Touch gestures to play pianos, guitars, drums, and basses.

With the latest GarageBand version 1.1 a number of new features and enhancements have been added which include:

• The ability to create custom chords for Smart Instruments
• Support for additional time signatures: 3/4 and 6/8
• The ability to transpose songs in semitones or full octaves and additional quantization options for recordings.
• Users can now also take advantage of additional export quality settings for AAC and uncompressed AIFF output and adjust velocity settings for Touch Instruments.
• Arpeggiator available in Smart Keyboard
• Adjustable velocity settings for Touch Instruments
• Numerous enhancements, including automatic fade out and improved audio import options

GarageBand 1.1 music app for iPod Touch requires iOS 4.3 or later and is available from the App Store for $4.99.

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Netflix App now supports iPod Touch & iPhone

Netflix has announced that it has updated the iPad version of the Netflix App to now support both iPod Touch and iPhone. This free Netflix App allows you to stream movies and manage their Instant Watch queue. Read more...

You can pick up watching a movie or TV show where you previously left off on another device, such as your iPad, TV, or computer. The application also allows users to manage their Netflix queue, but only for Instant Watch.

As with iPad, the streaming service even works over 3G on the iPhone. The software uses adaptive technology that allows instant switching between Wi-Fi and 3G connections. This latest version 1.1 of the Netflix app requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

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Goal.com App for Football World Cup 2010

With just a few days for the start of the Football World Cup 2010, Goal.com has released Version 3.0 of its popular Goal.com Mobile News app that is available for free. With this app all the soccer fans can keep track of all the scores and latest developments in the Soccer World Cup to be held in South Africa. Read more...

The Goal.com mobile app brings its content to life with photo-rich articles and constant updates, even when it's not in use. The app is simple and easy to navigate, supporting an optimized reading experience from your mobile device. With Version 3.0 the Goal.com will provide full coverage of Soccer World Cup 2010 including news, photos, live scores, match details, schedules and team standings. [iTunes link]

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Gift Apps in the iTunes Store

Apple has announced that users can now Gift Apps to others from the iTunes store. This can be done by using the down triangle next to an app's Buy button. You can also send the gift by email by just entering one or more recipient email addresses separated by commas. Read more...

You can also choose to print out a gift certificate to mail or give in person. You can also just spread the word instead by using the Tell a Friend option also available via the down triangle, and it lets you send an email from within iTunes by entering text and your friends' email addresses. Or you can use Copy Link and then paste it into a mail message.

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iRig: Guitar Amp & Effects System for iPod Touch

IK Multimedia has unveiled its new AmpliTube iRig hardware and software solution for iPod touch, iPhone and iPad. The first part of iRig is a small hardware adapter that lets you plug your electric guitars, bass guitars, or other instruments using a 1/4-inch output into your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. It also has a one-eight-inch jack for plugging in headphones or running out to an amp or powered speakers.

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This hardware combines with a AmpliTube App installed on the device offering software-based amps, stompbox effects, cabinets, and microphones.  This application comes in 3 offerings. The free version will include 2 stompboxes, 1 amp+cabinet, 2 microphones. The LE version will include 4 stompboxes, 1 amp+cabinet, 2 microphones for $2.99

More gear can be added to FREE and LE through an in-app purchase of a-la-carte models with stompboxes costing $2.99 / �2.39 each and amplifiers+cabinets for $4.99 each. AmpliTube FULL will include the entire collection of available gear with 10 stompboxes, 5 amps+cabinets and 2 microphones for $19.99.

IK Multimedia�s AmpliTube iRig for the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad will sell for $40 and can be pre-ordered now. The Apps will also be available soon on the App store.

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Rhapsody makes offline iPod Touch music listening possible

Rhapsody the digital music service provider has announced that users can now download their favorite Rhapsody playlists to their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad so they can listen any time - even when they're not connected to the Internet.

Rhapsody which boasts of a catalog of over 9 million songs has released this offline music access feature via an update to its popular Rhapsody App for iPod Touch/iPhone [free with subscription - Rhapsody App Tunes link].

Rhapsody App for iPod Touch and iPhone is available for free for a week, and then if you want to continue listening to the songs you will need to subscribe for $9.99 a month. As of now this new feature is US only.

As a subscriber you can use the Rhapsody App for streaming and now downloading music from Rhapsody's catalog, listen to Internet radio stations, create new playlists on the go, or access the playlists they have already created through Rhapsody.

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Opera Mini App downloaded 1 million times

Within a day of its availability, the Opera Mini App for iPhone and the iPod Touch [AppStore Link] has been downloaded 1 million times. Opera Mini was the number one iPhone app in the 22 featured Apple App Stores on their site, as of 8 a.m CET today.

Apple approved the browser app just a day ago after Opera submitted its browser to Apple on March 23 following the unveiling of Opera on iPhone during the Mobile World Congress, CTIA and SXSW. Initial previews of the browser garnered rave reviews, indicating that Opera Mini delivers up to six times the speed, especially on congested networks, and significant Web-page compression to keep roaming and pay-per-MB costs at a minimum.

"Today iPhone users have a choice, and, as the numbers show, they are eager to explore new and faster ways to surf the Web on the iPhone - especially during heavy Web traffic," said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. "With any widely available and frequently downloaded Opera product, we are appreciative of all the feedback we are getting, as it helps us to continually improve our product and better meet the needs of our users."

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Kindle iPhone and iPod Touch app now available Internationally

The Kindle iPhone and iPod Touch App is now available internationally in over 60 countries. This is following the release of the Kindle hardware device internationally in October.

The Kindle App for iPhone and iPod Touch is a application that allows you to download and read Amazon�s Kindle products ebooks. This with added features like WhisperNet synchronization of read status and bookmarks across multiple devices running Kindle software. Nothing else has changed as per the release notes except for the worldwide support. Note that this version is still available in U.S English only.

Here is the iTunes AppStore link: Kindle iPhone and iPod Touch App

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Zipcar car-sharing service App for the iPhone & iPod Touch

Zipcar the world's leading car-sharing service has released Zipcar, the App for iPhone and iPod touch. Zipcar has 325,000 members and 6,500 vehicles in urban areas and college campuses throughout 28 North American states and provinces as well as in London, England.

Zipcar chairman and CEO says,

"Like so many urban dwellers today, more than 25 percent of Zipcar members live their life from their iPhones. The new Zipcar App is a simple, fun and self-service technology that now allows millions of iPhone and iPod touch users to have on-the-go access to Zipcars around the globe."

The Zipcar application for the iPod touch and iPhone is available on the App Store for free and it enables users to find and reserve Zipcars around the corner or across the globe in just a few taps.  Read more...

With the Zipcar app:

1. Find available Zipcars on a map using your current location, a favorite location, or any location
2. Reserve a Zipcar anytime, anywhere
3. Sort cars by time available, car type and model
4. View upcoming reservations
5. Get directions to your Zipcar
6. Easily locate your reserved Zipcar by telling it to honk its horn
7. Unlock and lock your Zipcar after scanning your Zipcard at the start of each reservation
8. Tap to contact Zipcar if help is needed during a reservation
9. Extend or cancel reservations on the go
10. Play around with the virtual key fob and make sounds even when you're not in a reservation

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Google adds push Gmail support for Google Sync

Google has added a new feature called as the Push Gmail Support to its Google Sync service. This new features will now allow iPhone and iPod touch users, along with users of other mobile devices, to receive emails from their Gmail accounts almost instantly. Show me more...

Using Google Sync, you can now get your Gmail messages pushed directly to your phone. Having an over-the-air, always-on connection means that your inbox is up to date, no matter where you are or what you're doing. Sync works with your phone's native email application so there's no additional software needed.

If you are only interested in syncing your Gmail, but not your Calendar then Google Sync allows you to sync just your Contacts, Calendar, or Gmail, or any combination of the three. For more information on Google Sync or to set up the service on a device, visit m.google.com/sync.

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Nike+ site updated for iPhone/iPod touch access

iPhone/iPod Touch users can now rejoice because you can now access the Nike+ site via both devices.

The Nike+ fitness site has been updated with a number of new features and also with iPod Touch access. The site has been redesigned for the better with larger size icons with reduced screen clutter and with greatly improved navigability.

In the redesign, "Goals" gains increased prominence, and is featured alongside Runs, Challenges, and Coach as the site's main points of navigation.

Also new is the Levels feature, which awards users a color-coded level based on the number of miles they�ve run, the ability to rate individual runs, and the ability to integrate Nike+ data with a Twitter or Facebook account.

While the site redesign is still firmly rooted in flash, a non-flash version is now presented to those who visit the site on the iPod touch and iPhone. However, functionality is limited to viewing only your recent runs.

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Sirius XM radio app released for iPod Touch minus Howard Stern

A new Sirius XM Premium Online application for the iPhone and iPod touch has been released by Sirius XM. The internet radio application is available for free from the App Store but you will need to subscribe to access the content. As a subscriber you will able to enjoy access to 120 online channels of programming, including music, sports, talk, news, entertainment, and comedy.

The app offers the ability to immediately purchase songs heard within the app from the iTunes Store, or tag them for later purchasing, the ability to save favorite channels, and the ability to see what others around you are listening to with a feature called LookAround.

Notably, the app lacks Sirius XM’s immensely popular Howard Stern channels, which has angered early reviewers.

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Amazon Kindle Application for iPod Touch and iPhone

Amazon recently released an eBook application for the iPod Touch and the iPhone similar to its proprietary digital reader Kindle.This eBook application gives users access to Amazon's library of more than 280,000 Kindle formatted books. These books can be wirelessly transferred to your iPhone or iPod touch.
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Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch allows the device owners to read Kindle books using a simple, easy-to-use interface. Released on March 4th, this application has quickly become the most popular books application on Apple's App Store.

With Kindle for iPhone & iPod Touch which is available for free on the App Store, you can:
-Buy a Kindle book from your Mac, PC, or iPhone using a Web browser and wirelessly transfer the books to your iPhone
-Read first chapters of any book for free before you buy
-Download the Kindle books you already own for free they are automatically backed up on Amazon.com
-Adjust the text size, add bookmarks, and view the annotations you created on your Kindle device

Whether you have used other ebook reader or ereader applications or tried ebooks on other devices, Kindle for iPhone offered by Amazon is a great solution that fits in your pocket.This application also includes Whispersync, which allows you to seamlessly switch back and forth between your Kindle device and Kindle for iPhone while keeping your bookmarks and reading location synchronized between devices. Now you can easily pick up reading right where you left off on your Kindle or iPhone.

Responding to popular request, Amazon today announced a version of its Kindle electronic book store formatted specifically for Apple's multi-touch devices and designed to supplement the recently released Kindle for iPhone application. You can get to the new iPhone optimized site from the "Get Books" button within the Kindle application.

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Gmail and Calendar App updated for iPod Touch and iPhone

Google today released upgraded versions of the Gmail and Calendar web applications for the iPhone, iPod touch, and Android-powered devices. There has been significant improvements including faster response times when performing actions like opening an email, navigating, or searching.
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According to the company’s Mobile blog, the team behind the apps has completely re-architected the code to offer more consistent performance, and refreshed the user interface to make it easier to perform batch actions, along with laying the groundwork for future improvements.

If the network connection dies down, you will still be able to open recently read messages and compose new emails over a “flaky, or non-existent, network connection.” Other improvements include easier to read labels that are more in-line with their desktop counterparts and a relocated search menu.

This new Gmail for mobile requires iPhone/iPod Touch OS 2.2.1 or above and can be accessed now by visiting gmail.com from an iPhone or iPod touch. It is currently only available in English only. If you have an older firmware version, you'll be directed to the previous Gmail for mobile. All Android-powered phones are supported.

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Backup your iPod and Transfer to Computer using CopyTrans

Wind Solutions developers of the iPod to PC transfer tool called CopyTrans have updated the tool to version 3. CopyTrans™ (formerly CopyPod) is the ultimate backup & recovery tool for your iPod & iPhone songs and videos. CopyTrans allows users to transfer media from their iPod or iPhone to their Windows PC, and can also create backups of iPods and iPhones for archival storage.
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Imagine that your computer suffered a serious crash and you completely reinstalled its system. Your iTunes library is now empty and if you connect your iPod to your computer, you might lose its entire contents.

Or you just bought a new computer or iPod and need to migrate your library to your new purchase. How can you do so if you cannot move your songs, videos and other data from your old device to the new one?

CopyTrans is your best bet to fully rebuild your iTunes library based on your iPod, iPod Touch or iPhone. It will not only import your songs, but also the precious "metadata" you built along the years, such as your playlists, ratings, artworks, podcasts and so on!

Moreover, you might even want to be prepared against the loss of both your iPod and your computer and keep backups of your iPod, iPod Touch or iPhone in a safe place. CopyTrans will create a backup of your iPod, iPod Touch or iPhone on an external hard drive, that will allow you to repopulate your iTunes library later on, here again, with all your playlists and other personal settings!

New in version 3 is the ability to transfer ratings, play counts, skip counts, date last played, album artwork, and all other iTunes fields, and a fully-customizable list view that enables users to choose the columns they wish and place them where they want. CopyTrans 3 offers support for the iPhone and iPhone 3G, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, fifth-generation iPod, fourth-generation iPod, iPod mini, and iPod shuffle, and is available now for $20.

Features:

• Transfer iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch to PC
• Copy ratings, play counts, date last played
• Import videos, movies, TV shows, audiobooks
• Back up artworks & podcasts (incl. subscriptions)
• Synchronize iTunes with iPod, import iPod playlists
• Repopulate iTunes library with all personal settings
• Songs order in playlists preserved
• Download iPod data to the right iTunes categories
• Compatible with all iPod models, iTouch & iPhone

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Create Wishlists on iTunes store with BookmarkiTunes App

An independent developer has released BookmarkiTunes, a new utility that lets users create and organize a wishlist of items they want in the iTunes Store. This includes links to albums, iPhone apps, songs, TV series, artists, TV episodes, movies, and more!
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Users can drag-and-drop any link, including text and images, into the application to add that item to the list, or can also copy and paste in iTunes links.

BookmarkiTunes will do its best to give every item a name, but you are free to change any name. BookmarkiTunes will also save the category of each item you add (e.g., album or TV series). Plus, you can enter a description for each item! Many people use the description field to remember the artist of a given album or song, for example. (If you directly add an artist from iTunes, BookmarkiTunes will detect the artist’s name for you.)

Users can visit any item’s page at the iTunes store by clicking the iTunes link in that item’s row. Or by right-clicking the item and choosing the menu item for seeing it at iTunes.

By double-clicking or by right-clicking and choosing the menu item for edit you can edit any item. Users can also delete any item by right-clicking it and choosing the delete menu item. BookmarkiTunes is available now as a free download for Mac and Windows.

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Slacker Radio App for iPod Touch and iPhone

Last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the U.S.-based interactive Internet radio service company Slacker Radio released Slacker Radio for BlackBerry, and announced that an iPhone cousin was coming out as soon as Apple approved it. You don't have to wait any longer. Slacker today has released its new Slacker Radio application for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Similar to services provided by Pandora Radio and Last.fm, Slacker gives users access to over 100 stations pre-programmed by radio professionals, along with the ability to pick stations based on genre, artist, or to create new stations based on a specific band or artist, which also contain music from similar artists as recommendations.
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The app makes the most of Slacker Internet Radio's customary dark, good looks on the iPhone's tall display. The album art is much more prominently displayed here than on the BlackBerry, and the controls take center stage. Slacker for iPod touch allows the user to be able to fine-tune a station while it plays, and pick a new station without terminating the current song.

Choosing the next station is incredibly easy--your favorite and custom stations are at the top of a vertically scrolling list, with a search option, top stations, and the Slacker spotlight just below. You can keep scrolling down to flick through the genres. Slacker Radio for iPod Touch 2G and iPhone is available as a free download from the App Store.

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SongGenie App fixes missing iTunes track information

SongGenie is the latest app from equinux that aims to make your iTunes library a little more organized and useful. If you are one of those who has a lot iTunes tracks, then you could be having many tracks with partial or no metadata applied to them. Meaning tracks whose track name isn’t filled in, the album information is missing, or the artist is unknown.

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SongGenie is your "genie" that can fix this problem. SongGenie automatically combs your archive for tracks with incomplete or missing descriptions. The first time you launch SongGenie, it starts scanning through your iTunes library, identifying songs that are either missing information or where the information included in the track doesn’t look right (for example, the name starts with a number) and collects all those tracks in a ‘Songs with missing information’ list.

You can then nagivate through this list and either have SongGenie identify each song individually or hav all of them identified together. SongGenie creates an acoustic fingerprint of every track. Using this particular fingerprint, it determines which track to work on and intuitively inserts the correct information in the user interface. But you can still first listen to the songs in iTunes before applying the suggested changes.

Equinux's SongGenie for iTunes costs $29.95 and requires Leopard (OS X 10.5).

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13 Great iTunes Add-ons for Free

iTunes 8 may be great, but it isn't perfect. Here is a list of 13 Free iTunes software add-ons and accessories that will greatly enhance your iTunes experience.

Last.fm (Mac and PC)
Last.fm analyses the music in your iTunes library and finds similar music from other artists that you might like and / or shares your musical tastes with other Last.fm members. Key features include the ability to create custom radio stations and playlists. Different versions of the app are available for iPhone and iPod Touch users too.

The Filter (Mac and PC)
Just like the new Genius feature in iTunes 8 and Last.fm, The Filter serves up music recommendations based on your musical tastes - but can also serve up TV programmes, movies and web video too.
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When The Filter runs for the first time it will scan your music library and send back the data to The Filter servers. This will mean that we don’t recommend you music that you already own and will also result in The Filter giving you more accurate daily recommendations.

The Filter will then sit in your task bar and can display notifications when you start playing a new song. The Filter also has a social networking element - which is great if you're struggling to find fellow enjoyers online.

Magnetosphere (Mac and PC)
The best ever visualiser for iTunes is now included with iTunes 8, but if you don't like the changes Apple has made, we have good news - you can still download the original version from the Barbarian Group's website. Just scroll down the Software page to find some carefully buried links hidden in replies to customer questions.

MetaX (Mac only)
If your iTunes library is stuffed with music videos, TV shows and movies, you'll be familiar with one of the most frustrating aspects of iTunes - its wilful tendency to classify everything as a 'movie', while also leaving out most of the metadata (artist, album, etc). MetaX solves all these problems and more.

AutoRate (Mac only)
This plug-in automates the tedious task of rating iTunes tracks. Getting the most from Smart Playlists in iTunes depends to a certain extent on the star ratings you give to your content. AutoRate analyses your entire library and then rates your songs according to how often you've played or skipped them.

iTunes Library Manager (Mac only)
Although you can create multiple libraries in iTunes, Apple's solution doesn't work particularly well. This app enables you to create separate libraries with accompanying Preferences files for each. The free version enables you to create two different libraries, stumping up the $10 shareware fee enables you to create many more.

Remote (Mac and PC)
If you're lucky enough to own an iPhone or iPod Touch, this little app gives you playback control over your entire iTunes library using both devices' built-in Wi-Fi connection. Artist, album and track info is displayed right on your iPhone or iPod Touch, along with cover art.

Senuti (Mac only)
One of the worst things about iTunes is that you can't easily transfer content from your iPod into it - which you might need to do if your iTunes library goes 'phut' for some reason. Senuti's solution makes iPod to iTunes transfers a breeze, enabling you to synchronise individual tracks, playlists and metadata.

iConcertCal (Mac and PC)
This visualiser plug-in doesn't dazzle you with hyperactive visual effects, but rather serves up a list of upcoming concerts and album releases in your area. Clicking a link kicks you over to Amazon.com (where iConcertCal's creators get a cut if you buy something), or to a suitable concert promo site. UK integration is limited, but it's a great idea that works well.

iGenres (Mac only)
iTunes 8 now lets you view your music and movie library by genre, complete with artwork for each one. The problem is iTunes genres are pretty broad, which can be frustrating if your tastes are more specialised. iGenres gets around that problem by serving up artwork for a wide variety of sub-genres using user-generated content.

WhiteCap iTunes Visualiser (Mac and PC)
Another great alternative to the visualisers found in iTunes. This one uses wire-frame animation to create amazing 3D visuals - and even works well on a flat panel TV. It includes a wide-range of customisation options and a screensaver.

iTuny (PC only)
Launchy is the nearest thing Windows has to QuickSilver - an app that enables you to fire up applications using a few simple keystrokes. iTuny integrates iTunes control into Launchy, letting you play, pause, skip tracks and so on without having to resort to iTunes.

FoxyTunes (Windows only)
If you like to listen to music while you surf, this plug-in for Firefox and Internet Explorer could be just what you need. It offers basic playback controls for iTunes, as well as a wide variety of other media players. It even enables you to get access to related web content simply by using the right-click menu.

Do you know any other cool iTunes addons that are free? Drop a comment and let us all know!

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NetNewsWire for iPod touch and iPhone 3G

NetNewsWire for iPhone 3G and iPod Touch is a free native application based on the award winning RSS feed reader for Mac. NetNewsWire for iPod Touch (iPhone 3G) provides you with a lightweight, easy application for keeping up with feeds on the go and it syncs with NewsGator’s suite of RSS readers, including NetNewsWire for Macintosh, FeedDemon, Inbox, and NewsGator Online. RSS is the fastest and most efficient way to read your favorite news and with NetNewsWire for iPhone you can access feeds wherever you are.

The product features are:
-Access to RSS feeds from your iPhone 3G or iPod Touch.
-iPhone-native user interface.
-Synchronization with NewsGator’s suite of RSS readers, including NetNewsWire for Macintosh, FeedDemon, Inbox, and NewsGator Online.
-Centralized access to your feed list along with an indicator of how many unread news items are associated with each feed.
-Simple view of the titles of each unread news item for faster and easier skimming of content.
-User-friendly news item viewing pane that provides the item’s title, publisher, publish date, author and post.
-One-click access to view news items in Safari.
-"Next Unread" button, which goes from story to story with a quick tap of a single button.
-Clipping capabilities for saving items for later viewing or syncing with the desktop and browser-based RSS readers.

















Once you’ve configured your feeds, launching NetNewsWire on the iPhone 3G displays a list of those feeds, along with the number of unread articles in each feed. (The current version of NetNewsWire for iPhone, 1.0.7, shows only feeds with unread articles; earlier versions showed all feeds. A setting to choose your preferred approach would be a nice addition.)

In the screenshot here, you can see that some feeds are grouped under headings; if you have feeds organized in folders on the Mac version of NetNewsWire, as I do, such groupings are synced to the iPhone version.

If you’re online—via either WiFi or a mobile network—the program will connect to the Internet to check for new articles and to sync the status (read/unread) of articles. You can see the total number of unread articles at the bottom-left of the screen, as well as on the app's icon on your iPhone's Home screen. This check/sync process happens each time you launch NetNewsWire, as long as the previous check/sync occurred more than five minutes before.

Tap on a feed to view a list of articles in that feed, sorted by date with newest articles at the top; unread articles are displayed with blue type, read articles with gray. Tap an article title to view the article summary and any information about the article provided by the feed. (One limitation here: if an article summary includes an image, NetNewsWire doesn't scale the image down to fit the screen; you must manually scroll around to see all of the image.)

You can quickly move to the next unread article summary by tapping the Next Unread button. Alternatively, if you want to view the full article, tap on its title on the summary screen. Unlike many other iPhone apps, NetNewsWire doesn’t use Safari to view a Web page; it provides its own Web-browser screen, so you don’t have to switch back and forth between NetNewsWire and Safari. However, while this screen lets you double-tap or “unpinch” to zoom in on a Web page, it doesn’t support rotation, so you can't view pages in landscape mode.

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