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Who wants to be a millionaire? Write one of these iPhone apps
It feels like the world just changed. Apple opened up its iPhone and iPod Touch platforms to developers, and putting muscle behind them is $100 million from Silicon Valley moneybags Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Beyers. With that kind of cash at stake, how can you snap up some of it? Well, you’ll have to be a software coder for one thing, and then you’ll have to figure out which applications are most desirable for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
We saw a parade of lovely apps in the demo today from Apple HQ, including a couple of appealing games using the iPhone’s multi-touch and motion detection, an AIM client (finally), and some useful and powerful biz apps. But what’s really going to take home the proverbial pot of gold? We have our own wish list, and we invite you to add to it:
Picture messaging: Attaching a pic to an instant message is a basic function, one that the iPhone has never had. This can’t be that hard to implement, definitely qualifying as low-hanging fruit.
Mobile Blogging: We’re getting weary of lugging that laptop all over creation just to do some relaxing park bench blogging. Set it up for us, Mr. Developer.
Copy/Cut/Paste: C’mon everybody! We’re not believing this most powerful and rudimentary capability of even the lowliest computer didn’t find its way into the iPhone from the start.
Flash: Whether it’s Apple’s, Adobe’s, the hardware’s or whomever’s fault, Flash is not on the iPhone yet but it seems to be everywhere else. Just take whatever Apple's using for those limited YouTube videos and spread it all around. There’s millions of dollars at stake!
Voice recognition/Voice dial: Even that lame LG phone we had four years ago did decent voice dialing, so this one can’t be that tough. If you want to do NaturallySpeaking voice rec, now that might be a challenge, but enormously useful, too.
Pidgin: Yeah, we saw the AIM demo that took five days to build, but that app is such a pig on the PC, we’ve abandoned it for the polyglot Pidgin, the best chat client in the world that’s able to handle almost any method of instant typing.
Real GPS with Bluetooth: We hear some of these apps are already on the way, so if you want to do GPS apps, better hurry. Make it with Google Streetview, and you’ll probably have a hit on your hands.
Skype: Steve says you won’t be able to use this outside of the Wi-Fi realm, but it would still be useful at home, saving you precious minutes while you ring up your sweetie in Hong Kong.
Tetris: Some of us old-skool gamers can’t seem to kick the Tetris habit, so somebody put together the pieces of this classic game. We have time to kill! If you don’t like Tetris, insert your fave game here.
Pedometer: Can’t the iPhone’s built-in motion sensors and accelerometers do this? We’d like to know if we really did walk ten miles on that Las Vegas show floor last month. For extra hit value, team it up with GPS for walkers/runners. They’ll love that.
Built-in Nike+iPod: While we're talking athletics, how about an exercise package that works not only for runners but walkers, too? And finally, we'll get to jettison that annoying dongle. Even if it's not genuine Nike, somebody Just Do It.
Quicken: Bring the best personal finance app to the iPhone, and we can take it with us when we’re blowing wads of cash on who-knows-what. Pocket Quicken's already around for other mobile platforms, so bring it home to the iPhone.
Ubuntu: Hey, let’s ditch the OS X platform altogether for the finest OS the world has ever known. We know, this is fantasy territory, but it’s our wish list. So there.
Slingplayer: What if we could watch our TiVo from anywhere? We could do that with the Motorola Q — make it so for the iPhone.
By garoo at 5:45 PM ON 03/06/08
Wow, if I could attach images to emails, I could send my photos straight to my iPhone to Flickr, that would be so cool! Oh, wait, I already do that. By attaching images to emails on my iPhone.
As for mobile blogging, well, what would be really cool is if I could access the web on my iPhone so that I could type a post straight into the blog's administration page. Man, that would be so awesome and revolutionary.
By Michael at 7:53 PM ON 03/06/08
I really could do without the camera. I am sure I am one of a few people that don't need or care for a camera on their cellphone.
Also as Charlie has pointed out if the iPhone had the ability to watch my slingbox on it I would buy it. I have a Blackberry for the ability to watch my Sling Box.
By garoo at 9:56 PM ON 03/06/08
It's rather poor form for a blogger to fix a mistake in their post without acknowledging it so that the commenter who pointed it out sarcasticall looks stupid to anyone who comes in after the fact :) Strike-through is your friend.
Besides, saying that "the iPhone has never been able to attach a picture to an instant message" doesn't work either, since it's never been able to send an instant message at all.
By Charlie White at 11:06 AM ON 03/07/08
Garoo: In the article, I originally also wished for the iPhone to attach pics to email in addition to instant messages, but after you mentioned it already does that, I removed that word "email." Sorry, I should have noted the change at the time.
What I meant in the original text was that the iPhone can't attach a picture to an email (nor can you attach any other files, for that matter) -- it technically requires you to attach an email to a pic in the Photos application.
By Jam at 3:39 AM ON 03/08/08
Who wrote the BS "Ubuntu..the finest whatever ....?" Please put some merit behind this ! I havent seen anything remotely close to spaces, time machine, expose, spotlight ... (chee fingers getting tired of long list..) in OS's for yrs before OSX launched it .. and Ubuntu...well I guess you do like your fish n chips!
By Melsa at 4:01 AM ON 03/08/08
Yeah. im with Jam. Ubuntu over OSX?.. who just walked out of a cave?
By kaz at 9:54 AM ON 03/08/08
With the Shiznip.com web app I can send photos and blogs(ie text messages) to all my friends and family. I have no need to have an actual application on my phone to do this. Plus I dont have to worry about updating the app all the time. However I do see a large need for actual apps like I would love to be able to record video and voice dial would be a huge plus.
By shutterbug at 1:18 PM ON 03/08/08
yes! everybody needs to check out this app for the iPhone. And the regular website is awesome also! Does lots of the things that the wish list above states is wanted by people. Genius!
By shutterbug at 1:20 PM ON 03/08/08
Shiznip.com and its related iPhone app, that is - oops, sorry! Forgot to say that in my previous post
By Tedwardius at 5:25 AM ON 03/10/08
Okay, so, let's see.
Picture Messaging - you can already mail pictures, but you can't IM.
Mobile Blogging - can't use the website interface?
CCP - true these are handy things, but it would require a complete re-write of all applications, not just a new plug.
Flash - As Steve said in a recent interview, mobile flash is underpowered, OSX flash is a CPU hog, there needs to be something in between. Adobe needs to write it, and they've always had the ability to drop it in, no need to wait for the SDK.
Voice Recog- Though voice dial is a cute feature, it's a very rarely used one. I can see it getting passed over. As for voice recognition, I think we should concentrate on getting VR software working well on the Mac first.
Pidgin - How about we start by having ANY instant message client (that works on Wi Fi)? Jabber, AIM, and yahoo have all be slathering over this niche, I'm sure someone will deliver. Remember, these apps are for the iPod Touch, too, which doesn't have some of the iPhone's features.
Bluetooth????- bite your tongue. Yeah, right, let's throw the worlds least protected wireless on the worlds most informationally flexible device. Smooth.
Skype - Like Flash, this will depend on Skype, rather than just any old person to get to it. It will also probably fail to work on the phone network, forcing a wifi connection.
Tetris - Okay, ya got me there. Heck, let's adopt a bunch of Wii games too.
Pedometer - Not sure how you can possibly be a Tech Blogger with this little knowledge. But okay, dream a little dream....
Build in Nike+ - Isn't this basically just the pedometer? Look, the Nike+ depends upon the shoes to provide accurate distance tracking. If it were as simple as using an accelerometer, it would just plug into the Pod. Besides, after the first couple of steps, you're not accelerating anymore, are you?
Quicken? - Ewww, is that still around? Yeah, I suppose if it is, there's a market for it and they'd love to have it on their phone. Me, I discovered the debit card a few years back and only have to dig up a check once a year or so.
Ubuntu - Hmmm, okay, so, lets get rid of the working OS, the one with a massive paid team of intimately knowledgeable writers, and pick up an open platform with a volunteer staff, and exactly Zero apps designed to work with the iPhone's Touch/twist input modes. No keyboard, no phone use, no camera, no voice capability, etc. *sigh*
Slingplayer - Hmm, sounds like a hack waiting to happen to me, but, sure. And based on their heavy mobile support, it will probably happen. It may even nudge out iTunes. MAY. But I think that podcasting is more than just a fad, it may be the course of the future, which will make Slingplayer the fad...
By bfr at 8:27 AM ON 07/24/08
My N95 8GB has almost all of your requests already(games, pedometer with gps that draws your route, copy/paste, skype, flash, blogging etc.) and hell of a lot more so the real question would be why would i want iphone in the first place?
ps. It also had the 3g right from the beginning.
By Thick McRunFast at 3:09 PM ON 09/23/08
Pedometer - Not sure how you can possibly be a Tech Blogger with this little knowledge. But okay, dream a little dream....
Build in Nike+ - Isn't this basically just the pedometer? Look, the Nike+ depends upon the shoes to provide accurate distance tracking. If it were as simple as using an accelerometer, it would just plug into the Pod. Besides, after the first couple of steps, you're not accelerating anymore, are you?
Perhaps you don't understand how the accelerometer works? It doesn't just measure your forward movement. Everytime you take a step you are accelerating up, and then accelerating down again. How do you think a simple mechanical pedometer works?
By susan at 9:02 AM ON 10/02/09
well one for Picture messaging is now a REALITY :) I l am loving it
http://appstore.iphonedownloadblog.com/app/itim-text-sendreceive-free-sms-or-mms/
on your cellphone!
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susan:
well one for Picture messaging is now a REALITY :) I l am loving it ...More »