The iPhone 3GS Blog

Navigon was out showing off its upcoming 1.5 update to its MobileNavigatorturn-by-turn guidance software. The update is due in March and brings several new features:
- Panorama View 3D: NASA sourced elevation data to provide 3D views of the landscape
- MyRoutes: Gives you up to 3 alternative routes with different route recommendations based on current traffic conditions as well as your personal driving profile.
- Facebook and Twitter Integration: broadcast where you are and where you’re going.
Also announced was a new OpenAPI "Appinteract" for Navigon’s software that will allow other App Store developers to pass destinations directly to MobileNavigator. For example, if a restaurant is found within iPhone AppWhere To?, a single tap can launch and initiate routing within MobileNavigator. The actual data is simply passed as a specialized URL, so the implementation should be simple for developers, but is much more convenient to the end user. The 1.5 update to MobileNavigator should arrive in March.

FastMac showed of their latest creation at Macworld. The iV Plus is a combination case, IR Remote, Flash LED, and Battery Pack. The enclosure wraps around the iPhone like a case much like the other battery solutions available, but the inclusion of the IR port and Flash LED add a significant amount of functionality.
FastMac has partnered with a company called Umee to provide free Universal Remote software to work in conjunction with the case. The software allows you to customize your remote settings and a more advanced paid version will include live TV guide with show searching support. Meanwhile, support for the Flash LED is also coming in the form of a free camera app that will snap a picture and also trigger the flash.

Square UP was showing their new credit card processing solution for the iPhone. They are planning on offering a no-hassle way for individuals to start accepting credit card payments. Simply buy their $1 app from the App Store, sign up for service, and they will send you a small hardware dongle that will swipe credit cards (shown right). No individual merchant account is required as Square UP handles all the processing and payments and takes a 2.9% cut of all sales.

The most romantic day of the year is just a week away. If you want to express your love in the digital style, these applications will help you to be the romantic that you should be. Let’s walk you through your enhanced romance.

Valentines Countdown

Seller: Energize
Compatibility: iPhone or iPod Touch
Requirements: OS 1.3 or Later
File Size: 9.8 MB
Price: Free
Age Rating: 4+

Holidays can be easy to forget, but if you forget this one, you may be up the creek. If you are not good with dates, this application will help you to stay on track. Just be aware that it comes with all of the cutesy bells and whistles you would expect from a Valentines day application. Expect to see cute teddy bears and deep red backgrounds, and hear sappy music. On the bright side, you can turn a lot of that off in the options menu.

Be warned, though, that this app will not be able to do anything for you if you leave the shopping to the last second.

Buy Valentines Countdown

For those of you holding your breath for Skype to work over AT&T’s 3G network, you will soon be able to relax as Skype has told TiPb it’s only a matter of time. From their blog:

You may have seen other apps offering calls over 3G, but we’re holding ours back for a little bit longer. Why? So that we can give you the very best audio quality we can. When our 3G-capable Skype for iPhone app is released, it’ll let you make calls in wideband audio, giving you greater clarity and fidelity – because that’s what you expect from Skype.

We’ve been waiting since way back in November, when AT&T decided to allow VoIP over their 3G network, and Apple’s iPhone 3.2 SDK for iPad has now removed the last hurdle.

It’s no surprise we heard earlier that AT&T has been working with Apple to improve their network before the release of the highly anticipated Apple iPad. Perfect timing don’t you think?

      Visit www.oneclickmobile.co.uk

We can always count on Apple CEO Steve Jobs for the odd controversial quote or too, but if reports on Wired are to be believed he’s on fire at the moment! They say that according to a well-placed insider, during an All-Hands Town Hall at Apple last week, Jobs said of Google: “We did not enter the search business, they entered the phone business. Make no mistake, they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them”. The nameless insider who spilled the beans, and who, according to Wired, insists on anonymity because they are not authorised by Apple to talk to the press, also said that Jobs called Adobe “lazy”, adding that whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. “Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy,” he’s alleged to have said, although another anonymous source who attended the meeting told the Daring Fireball blog that Jobs also expressed nostalgia for the Adobe of yore.

Assassin’s Creed fans have been frothing at the mouth waiting for this companion game to Assassin’s Creed II on the PS3 and Xbox 360. They were already clamouring for it way back in November of last year, when the NintendoDS version was released. I recall a particularly fiery exchange on the official Ubisoft forum that had to be closed down due to all the swearing because the fans on there were getting so impatient waiting for the iPhone game! Well now everyone can sit back and relax ‘cause it’s finally here. And it does sound like it might have been worth the wait. The Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery app lets iPhone and iPod touch users discover an exciting chapter of the Assassin’s Creed II storyline, where Ezio travels to 15^th century Spain to rescue fellow assassins being held under the guise of the Inquisition, only to uncover a Templar plot to sail west and discover the New World. Aside from placating all the ardent Assassin’s Creed fans out there who want a chance to explore the themes of the series further, the game is also notable for being the first in a series of gaming franchises, from hardcore to casual games, that Ubisoft plans to develop and publish for the App Store, which can only mean more quality games for us, maybe even a Splinter Cell iPhone game?

You can download Assassin’s Creed II from the iTunes App Store