Find your car with myPark for iPhone

mPark is an iPhone app that not only saves the location at which you parked your car and warns you when your meter is running out of time, but it keeps track of how long it will take you to walk back to your car and takes that into consideration when sending you alerts.

Simply start myPark, tap the car icon and start walking. The app will track your movements from your car to work, you next appointment or in an unfamiliar suburb AND tell you how long it will take you to walk back to you car. All this for the price of a cup of coffee

Not only will the app track your movements and walking time, you can also add any of the following reminders to help you find your car again and avoid those expensive parking tickets:

myPark is available on the iPhone for $0.99.

[App Store link]

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.

TiPb TV 21: The 2011 Comicon mobile survey

TiPb Nation, Comicon finally hit Montreal so Rene and I hit Comicon to find out just which mobile device — iPhone, BlackBerry or Android reigns supreme with geeks and nerds, cosplayers and booth babes alike! From Batman to Electra, Greedo to Garfield, I asked them all which cell phone they used, and the answers may surprise you! (Especially how many didn’t use one at all — what’s up with that, data rates on Krypton just to high?)

So sit back, grab your popcorn, hit play, and see if the iPhone is strong at Comicon!

Samsung waiting on iPhone 5, has finger on lawsuit launch button

According the Korea Times, rival smartphone maker Samsung is eagerly anticipating the Korean launch of Apple’s next generation iPhone 5 handset — so Samsung can try and sue it off the shelves.

`Just after the arrival of the iPhone 5 here, Samsung plans to take Apple to court here for its violation of Samsung’s wireless technology related patents,’’ said a senior executive from Samsung Electronics, asking not to be identified.

“For as long as Apple does not drop mobile telecommunications functions, it would be impossible for it to sell its i-branded products without using our patents. We will stick to a strong stance against Apple during the lingering legal fights.’’

While almost two dozen lawsuits are already pending between Apple and Samsung, Samsung remains a major manufacturing partner of Apple, though there are signs Apple is moving to diversify and diminish that dependence as well.

“Apple is Samsung’s biggest customer. Hewlett-Packard (HP), Nokia and Sony were Samsung’s previous big clients, however, Apple is now a primary one. From our perspective, we are not entirely happy (about the litigations),’’ Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung said.

Apple originally took issue with Samsung, whom they dubbed a “copyist”, over perceived similarities between Samsung Android phones and tablets and the iPhone and iPad. Unlike other Android manufacturers who established their own looks, Apple contends Samsung deliberately copies Apple to confuse customers and unfairly benefit from Apple’s brand and marketing. Apple has already succeeded, at least temporarily, to get Galaxy Tabs banned from sale in German and parts of the EU.

While Microsoft, who is also going after Samsung, seems content on getting licensing fees to make Android more expensive to manufacture, Apple’s appears to want to make Android less friendly to use, demanding removal of features, not licensing deals.

Patent portfolios are often compared to nuclear arsenals, held as deterrents. Of course, if everyone ever lets them all fly, everyone loses.

[Korea Times]

Logitech announce the Harmony Link universal remote for iPhone and iPad [video]

Logitech is well known for its range of Harmony universal remote controls and now it has announced one which will give you all the control you need; using your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. Instead of using an ugly dongle or case, this uses a WiFi enabled receiver which converts the input received from your iOS device into an infrared output to you home theater kit. The companion iPhone and iPad apps will be available as free downloads from the App Store.

The Logitech Harmony Link connects to your existing home wireless network to receive Wi-Fi signals from the Harmony Link App and turns them into IR commands that home-entertainment devices can understand. Harmony Link can control up to eight devices, is compact (about the size of a hockey puck) and was designed to integrate neatly and discreetly with your home entertainment system. Harmony Link can even connect with more than one iPad at a time, letting multiple family members use their own iPad – with their own set of favorite channels – rather than fighting over a single remote.

Logitech has also teamed up with Rovi Corporation to provide detailed program information within its app. This will deliver show synopses, movie information and images as you navigate available TV channels.

The Harmony Link should be available in October for around $99.99. The price does seem reasonable when compared to stand alone universal remote controllers. The apps will be available as a free download from the App Store when the Harmony Link is launched.

[Logitech via Engadget]

It’s Playing 2.0 looks to fill the gap left by VLC

It’s Playing is an app that looks to fill the “I will play any video file type” space left when VLC was pulled from the App Store. It’s Playing uses its own soon to be patented engine which it claims will play back most 720p content.

What differentiates It’s playing, apart from pricing and the quality of the user interface, is the engine that takes advantage of the outstanding hardware and operating system it runs on.
AdditionFlow© is our optimized process for making sure that you get more video frames more synchronized with the audio, ensuring the best viewing experience.

• Play all video and audio formats commonly available on the web — including AVI, RMVB, MKV and FLV (Flash Video)


• AdditionFlow© presentation engine: it plays most 720p hi-res video superbly — it’s so great we’re going to patent it.


• Image and sound precision controls


• File and folder management


• Improved privacy management


• Dynamic video quality monitoring and diagnostic

It’s Playing is available as a universal binary for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch for $1.99.

[App Store link]

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.

 

 

Google Music app for iOS

Cloud computing seems to dominate the focus of major firms like Google and Apple. Intense competition is not usually based on the product itself (if space is the issue, then it is not much of a problem) but methods of delivering cloud based services to a variety of different users. However, until recently most of the cloud based services have been targeted at traditional PC users. Now, the focus is shifting more towards mobile users because mobile devices like smartphones have less space and depend more on the internet. This is where there is tremendous potential for cloud-based services and tech firms are already paying attention.

 
Google, which was the first to challenge traditional firms like Microsoft with cloud-based services has now launched yet another cloud-based service called Google Music. The service is supposed to allow users to store up to 20,000 songs on Google’s cloud database and then stream the music to a variety of devices. Right now, the service is free while in Beta but it does require an invitation to join (remember Google+). This altogether marks yet another milestone in Google’s aggressive expansion. Earlier this year it made a number of acquisitions to bolster its already impressive portfolio and it launched entire new product lines like Google Plus.
 
Now that Google has launched an iOS app, Google Music is no longer exclusive to Android alone. The music can easily be accessed on Safari. Moreover, the app allows users to easily stream their music and navigate through the app with a variety of swiping motions. Amongst the interesting features in the app is a universal search option that is specifically designed to help users find their music amongst thousands of tracks. However, keep in mind that Apple also has plans to launch its version of an online cloud-based music service.

ZENandTECH 16: Negative Thinking

iPhones and iPads are great for journaling and one of the best ways to take advantage of journalling is to learn to deal with negative thinking. We can be our own worst bully. If our inner voice pushes us down the path to worry, criticism, victim-hood, perfectionism, and avoidance, our thinking has turned negative and we need to do something about it. This is ZENandTECH!