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App Review: ReaddleDocs for iPhone

ReaddleDocs Forum Review by msbaylor. (Visit the thread for video and more pics. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum!)

ReaddleDocs is a document viewer that basically covers all the ways of getting the document onto you iPhone – so there is no way that you cannot have your documents on hand.

When you purchase ReaddleDocs, you also receive 512MB of storage space on their server. This allows you to upload any documents to the server via any browser and then sync them with you iPhone via any data connection (EDGE/3G/WIFI).

When you tap on the “Online” tab, you select the server you want to connect to and then you have the ability to sync with the server so that any new documents that you have retrieved via the iPhone will backup to your server and vice versa.

Besides using your Readdle Storage space, you can also connect to your MobileMe iDisk or connect to a WebDAV enabled server.

A second way of getting documents onto your iPhone is by forwarding your attached document in an e-mail to you ReaddleDocs e-mail address (given to you when you create your online account). Then, again, you sync you iPhone with your account.

A third way, is to use the built-in browser and navigate to a document then tap on a button to download the document to your iPhone.

A fourth and final way is to transfer the documents from your computer to your iPhone via WiFi.

When viewing your documents, you can edit them – delete, move, create folders, rename folders, rename documents, mail documents, and add a document to a zip achieve.

All documents that can normally be viewed on the iPhone can be viewed via this application as well.

I really like the icons that it uses to represent the type of file
(red icon for pdf files, blue icon to doc files, etc.)

Interface

Within the app you can view all your documents, view your online documents (through whichever server,) use the browser, view recently opened files and adjust settings for the app.

I think for the most part those screen are self-explanatory.

I also like the document “reader” interface. When viewing files such as *.doc, *.rtf, the viewer is simple – you can scroll through your document like you would in the iPhone document viewer, however, you have and “add” button at the top, which allows you to insert bookmarks for that document. I find this incredibly convenient when reading a large document or e-book. The toolbar at the bottom of the screen allows you to view and edit bookmarks, e-mail the document, scroll through a document quickly using the slider and a full screen button.

If you turn the iPhone to the landscape position, it automatically goes to full-screen and rotates the document accordingly.

When viewing an *.xls document, you have all the same features as above. At the top of the document, you can change between the sheets. You might also notice that when switching between sheets, arrows will appear at the bottom of the screen. These arrows are much like the arrows you would use in the browser.

When viewing images, you can view them much like you would in your photo reel, just tap the arrows to move through the pictures within that folder. You can also mail the documents via this image viewer.

Besides viewing and retrieving documents, you can also view the device photos (which might prove a faster way of delete picture on your iPhone if you have to do it that way.)

Settings

In the setting screen, you have the ability to view or hide the “device photos” folder, setup mail settings – mail from and mail signature; allow WiFi network drive and apply username and password; several different viewing options including “view HTML as book”; you can also enable a passcode lock; and setup the document encoding.

Issues Encountered

There is no way to move the images to your iPhone photo reel or set as wallpaper functions, while the picture is on my iPhone in a sense, I cannot actually do anything with it unless I email it to myself and do it that way. I don’t always have a data connection when I am traveling so it would be nice to move the images over to do what I wish with them.
When viewing the a PowerPoint document, the slides seems to form one large “page” (see screen shot).

Conclusion

In my opinion the Pros out weigh the Cons and the price tag of $9.99 is completely worth it. To have the ability of getting my document on my hand held and having them at my finger tips is worth it. I was on a film set when I was asked to operate a Sony F900 camera. Luckily, I was able to go to a website using the browser interface and download the manual on my iPhone and had the ability to quickly skim through it and figure out how to use the camera.

Pros

  • Multiple ways of retrieving documents onto your iPhone
  • 512MB of server storage
  • nice document viewer
  • document logos make finding documents easier
  • Ability to sync iPhone with server & vice versa
  • Book marking in documents

Cons

  • In doc viewer, tapping bottom of screen makes doc auto scroll, can be annoying at times
  • Can’t handle large documents (over about 8MB)
  • Viewing *.xls (or of the like) documents doesn’t always format correctly
  • Viewing *.ppt (or of the like) format into one long page

TiPb Review Rating

TiPb Forums Review: 4.0 Star App

[ReaddleDocs is available for $9.99 from the iTunes App Store.]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

App Review: ReaddleDocs for iPhone

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Sunday, April 12th, 2009 iPhone Hacks, Tips and Tricks Comments Off

TiPb Answers: Why Does My iPhone Think it’s in a Different State?

TiPb loves answering your questions, but we also love sharing our answers with the community in hopes that more people will benefit, and even better answers will present themselves (hey, that’s why we have them forums!). Today’s question comes from Stupendoussteve on Twitter:

ever heard of iPhone finding you at a previous address, states away, where you’ve never even taken the phone (post restore)?

We have! And TiPb answers after the break!

The iPhone uses Location Services to determine where it is. Location Services uses three (3) distinct technologies, from the more gross to the more granular, and different iPhones (and iPod touches) support different levels.

The most precise, supported only by the iPhone 3G, is aGPS. aGPS uses cell tower-based GPS crunching to give you a fairly tight indication of your current position. In the middle, supported by iPhone 3G and the original iPhone 2G, is cell tower positioning. Google mapped all cell towers in the US (and other countries), recorded their GPS locations, and then tries to triangulate where you are if it doesn’t have — or can’t get to — an aGPS signal proper. The last — and the one causing your problem — is WiFi router mapping.

What happened was a company called Skyhook got into a bunch of vans, drove around the US (and other countries), detected WiFi routers in homes and businesses, and recorded their unique IDs along with their GPS locations.

For iPod touches, and for iPhones that aren’t getting good, this is the final and least accurate method Location Services uses to find out where you are. The problem you’re encountering is likely that Skyhook recorded the location of your WiFi router when you lived in another state, and now when your iPhone is finding it, it still thinks you’re at that old address, across town, or across the country.

Skyhook may eventually drive around and re-map your WiFi router, or you can go to SkyhookWireless.com and manually re-locate your WiFi in their system — though in our experience it can take a long time for them to update either way.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Answers: Why Does My iPhone Think it’s in a Different State?

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Sunday, April 12th, 2009 iPhone Hacks, Tips and Tricks Comments Off

Apple seen readying huge Wi-Fi boost for iPod touch, iPhone [del.icio.us]

Image representing Apple as depicted in CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase

Apple seems to be laying the groundwork to introduce high-capacity, low-power 802.11n Wi-Fi to the iPod touch, and presumably to its 3G-enabled companion, the iPhone. The change would be a huge jump in performance for users of both devices, which now use a Wi-Fi chip that supports 802.11b/g, with a throughput of less than 25Mbps on the 2.4GHz band. But the change would almost certainly mean having to buy a new touch or iPhone with the 11n chip, and some observers say Apple also needs to upgrade the CPU to enable both handhelds to fully exploit 11n performance. The 3.0 firmware is due to be released this summer, and speculation is circulating that it may coincide with new models of the iPhone 3G and iPod touch.

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Friday, April 10th, 2009 iPhone Hacks, Tips and Tricks Comments Off

Spinapse releases Smackarooni 1.0 – Virtual Snowball Fight for iPhone

Image representing iPhone App Store as depicte...
Image via CrunchBase


Moraga, California – Spinapse has just released a new iPhone game called “Smackarooni”. The game is full of in-your-face action for players to load, throw and dodge their way through a virtual snowball fight. Smackarooni can be played alone in single-player mode or against a friend in Wi-Fi mode.

Start by choosing a nickname and a character. The object of the game is to hit your opponent with a snowball, without getting hit yourself. Players score a point for each hit. But they have to be careful – the first player to go ahead by two points wins.

Smackarooni is one of the few iPhone games that can be played across a network. If players are near a Wi-Fi network, they can compete against other players on the same network. Both single-player mode and multiplayer mode offer a smashing good time.

Key Features
* Play against Smacky in single-player mode
* Play against your friends in multiplayer mode
* Works over Wi-Fi with no additional setup
* Single-player mode includes varying difficulty levels
* Choose your character
* High replayability
* Almost as fun as a real snowball fight

System Requirements:
* Compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch

Pricing and Availability:
Smackarooni 1.0 for iPhone is only $1.99 (USD) and available exclusively through Apple’s App Store. Evaluation copy available on request.

Spinapse
Smackarooni 1.0
Video of Smackarooni in Action
Download and Purchase
Screenshots
Smackarooni Icon

Spinapse makes games for your brain. The company was founded in 2004 by Bill Purdy and John Taylor, two veterans of the software industry. Both are alumni of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and have created award-winning products for organizations such as Lucas Learning, the Library of Congress, shockwave, and Apple Computer. Copyright 2004-2009 Spinapse. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.


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Friday, April 10th, 2009 iPhone Hacks, Tips and Tricks Comments Off

LightBike | LightBike Application Review

LightBike | LightBike Application Review – LightBike is a gaming application for the iPhone. This gaming application has been developed by Pankaku Inc. this game is a very simple and exciting one. In this game, the player has to drive the LightBike, which creates a wall of light, while going through the road. The wall of light prevents the criminals of the cyberspace from performing any crime. The game has a 2 player mode and a Wi-Fi mode too. In the 2 player mode, the screen of the iPhone is split into two and two players can play the game with the same iPhone. In the Wi-Fi mode, two iPhones are connected through the Wi-fi and can play the game.

Light Bike

Light Bike

The game has three levels of difficulty, with each level becoming more difficult from the previous one. The game is partly customizable, as the player can change the colors and also change the field size. The camera work is very impressive and the back ground music is not bad either. The game requires the iPhone 2.2 Software update. The game is priced at $2.99 and uses 7.8 MB of space. This game is a must have for your iPhones and so, just get your iPhone and download this game today.

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Thursday, April 9th, 2009 iPhone Hacks, Tips and Tricks Comments Off
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