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Podcasts streaming as music samples in iTunes app? [Bugs]

Whatever changes Apple has been making to the iTunes Store back end lately seems to have caused iTunes app on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad to stream some podcasts as music samples, rather than handing them off to the built-in media player like they’re supposed to.

We’ve tested and everything seems fine and working properly for all of our TiPb podcasts like iPhone Live or iPad Live, or ZENandTECH, Superfunctional, or Iterate, or any of the Mobile Nations podcasts for that matter.

However, shows on other networks like 5by5 and TWiT do seem to be experiencing the problem, and it’s annoying to say the least. So what can be done?

First, huge props to Rene — whatever he’s doing to edit and upload our podcasts seems to be immune to this annoying iTunes bug. Second, iTunes on iPhone and iPad is an app wrapper around online content, so Apple can change things any time, without having to give you a new version of iOS to update to, or giving you a choice to update (yeah, pretty much my nightmare scenario). Fortunately, this also means they can fix bugs any time as well. So here’s where we stand:

Seth and Rene have mentioned Instacast App Store link and Pocket Casts App Store link on past shows, but if you have a favorite podcatcher app you could recommend, please do so in the comments. Also, if you’ve found any other workaround, please let us know!

[Thanks Len!]

around with it — like they have been recently for downloads and category pages — y

Samsung Announces ChatOn, Their iMessage Competitor

style="height: 390px; width: 640px;" width="640" height="390" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0">name="allowFullScreen" value="true" />name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" />name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EMPEm147BPo?version=3" />name="allowfullscreen" value="true" />name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" />style="height: 390px; width: 640px;" width="640" height="390" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EMPEm147BPo?version=3" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" />/> The world of free SMS alternatives is rapidly growing, and while we all wait for iOS 5 with href="http://www.everythingicafe.com/?s=imessage">iMessage, Samsung has created their own entry into the world of cross-platform group messaging. ChatOn is an ambitious new platform that aims to be used on BlackBerry, Android, iOS and Bada, and with more features than most of the competition. In addition to free group chats and file sending, the new service will offer features like “trunk” which will show all shared images in one spot, animated messages that remind me of nothing so much as early 90s e-cards, and rankings of who’s your best friend.

What remains to be seen is if it’s robust enough to fight the entrenched BBM or the upcoming iMessage.

[via href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/08/30/samsung-chaton-to-bring-bbm-like-experience-to-android-ios-blackberry-bada-video/">BGR]

New and updated iPhone and iPad apps for Tuesday, August 30 [Giveaway]

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

Poker Tweeter (Giveaway): A Twitter app for poker players. Poker Tweeter lets you quickly and easily send tweets with card suits. For example, “askd” is automatically converted to “A♠K♢”. It also calculates Texas Hold’em win percentages and adds them to your tweets with one tap. [$1.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

IBM Connections: Social software for business. It enables you to build a network of colleagues and subject matter experts, and then leverage that network to further your business goals. [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

iDML: Edit stories from InDesign documents on your iPad. [$19.99 for iPad - App Store link]

iDuhKnow: Just when you think you have it all figured out…you get it WRONG. And back you go. This game is maddening, addictive, irritating, frustrating… And it might make you motion sick if you have been staying up to the wee hours trying to get to the end. [Free for iPhone and iPad - App Store link]

MyStream: Wirelessly share music and audio files via Bluetooth or WiFi. [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

The good folks at FlopTech Engineering gave us 5 promo codes for Poker Tweeter to give away to our awesome readers! For a chance to win, just leave a comment below!

Any other big app or game releases or updates today?

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

EA Releases Madden NFL 12

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Are you a sucker for annual incremental updates in a moribund franchise that has been around since time immemorial? Then you’re going to love Madden NFL 12! href="http://itunes.apple.com/app/madden-nfl-12-by-ea-sports/id456080018?mt=8">For $6.99 for the iPhone version or href="http://appshopper.com/games/madden-nfl-12-by-ea-sports-for-ipad">$9.99 on the iPad you get the most recent update to the long-lived Madden games. So, what’s new this year? This is how EA is describing it:

BOOM! The most authentic NFL game franchise on Earth is back for a new season – and better than ever on iPad! With harder hitting action and beefed up rosters (over 2,500 real NFL players!) get your football fix now!

GET IN THE GAME/> Feel the impact of every game-changing tackle with smoother, harder hitting collision effects. Go deep with sharper gameplay and cleaner graphics – unbelievably enhanced for iPad 2!

AUTHENTIC NFL ACTION/> Choose from the 32 NFL teams and battle it out in their true-to-life stadiums. Make trades, track stats, and launch winning strategies from in-depth playbooks, unique to every team.

GO FOR GRIDIRON GLORY ON ORIGIN!/> Register for Origin and take your favorite NFL team to the top spot of the leaderboards. Savor every victory as you rack up challenging achievements.

MULTIPLE MADDEN NFL MODES/> Jump right in with Exhibition Mode, play through an entire 16-game NFL season in Season Mode, or relive the 2010/2011 playoffs.

Bigger rosters, better animations, and new plays. Anything else? Well, if previous editions have taught me anything, at least one standard mechanic will be replaced with something so buggy as to be non-functional.

What Does Zite Say About Your State?

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If you’re not using href="http://www.everythingicafe.com/?s=zite">Zite on your iPad, you’re missing out on an incredibly cool personalized magazine application. It allows you to enter search terms, and then pulls together articles on that and other topics into a single news feed of everything you want to know. Now Zite has started parsing the information that they’ve gathered, and have put together href="http://blog.zite.com/2011/08/zite-across-america-part-1.html">a very cool interactive map of what each state is looking at.

Rather than just seeing what’s the most popular search terms from each state, they went with what’s the most distinctive, that that state looks at more than others.

Ohio loves comic books, New York loves the Yankees, and Connecticut loves hedge funds. Who knew?

[via href="http://www.tuaw.com/2011/08/26/zite-searches-show-some-fascinating-regional-differences/">TUAW]

iZON Remote Room Monitor lets you stream real-time video to your iOS device [video]

Stem Innovation has announced its latest iOS accessory and this time it comes in the form of a wireless connected, app controlled video camera. What is special about this video camera is its ability to be activated via sound or movement and it can record directly to YouTube.

iZON is incredibly easy to setup and use. iZON can be placed on any horizontal surface or mounted to a ceiling. It tilts and swivels easily on its unique magnetic base. Download the free Stem:Connect App, then simply plug iZON in and set it up on your local wireless network. A few simple steps help you to create a secure user account and begin streaming live audio and video. iZON is peace of mind, connecting you to the most important people, places and things in your life.

The iZon is available today online, from select Best Buy stores and will also soon be available within Apple Stores across the U.S. and Canada. The cost of the iZone will be around $129.95. Looks like a great way to keep an eye on your property, check on your sleeping baby or even that partner you suspect of cheating on you!

[Stem Innovation]