Myst is now available for the iPhone. Click here to grab it from the App Store. It’s a faithful port of the classic 
adventure game although we’re hearing that it’s a collosal 700MB download.
The original developer Cyan, states that “original Myst sights and sounds have been meticulously re-assembled for a remarkable experience on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Everything that you remember from the original Myst in a format where a simple touch or swipe moves you through the world.”
Link - Myst
Credit - Tom Weeks
Fizz Traveller is now available direct from the App Store. It’s a fantastic travel companion which shows local and international time and weather information, daylight data, conversion information, airport delays, currency and more. The software features over 58000 global locations and has three analogue and three digital Clocks plus a 3D world globe, meeting and itinerary planner.
Check out the video to see what to expect!
Link - FizzSoftware.com
Ok, somethings need to be shared and this is super cool. The guys over at myauntishot (seriously, that’s the real URL) created a program that allows them to fly a remote controlled helicopter by utilising the iPhone’s accelerometers. Credit where’s it due, this looks like a lot of fun! I wonder if the forthcoming 3.0 software release will see more manufactures producing wild new uses for the iPhone OS!
Link: www.myauntishot.com
Yahoo Messenger is one of the more popular chat clients, boasting millions upon millions of users. Connecting and communicating with those multitudes gets a wee bit easier with the freeYahoo Messenger mobile app for the iPhone and iPod touch. A pleasant interface and the promise of future enhancements by Yahoo makes this an ideal mobile app for Yahoo Messenger users.
My only real complaint about Yahoo Messenger is that it feels feature-deprived when compared to the desktop client. You can’t chat over video or audio, there’s no support for any other instant messaging clients, and histories in the desktop version aren’t reflected in the mobile app. There’s support for emoticons, but not the animated ones desktop users are used to. I’d also like to see more social-networking integration—my Messenger status update feeding my FaceBook status, for example. (Yahoo tells users to “stay tuned” for more features in this mobile app.)
That said, Yahoo Messenger for iPhone works reliably. Over a three-day period, I never had any trouble holding quick conversations and lengthy chat session with several parties. Little perks help make chatting easier. When you add a URL, Messenger automatically makes it Web-enabled so you or your chat participant can click on it and go to Safari on the iPhone. Chats are always available until you remove them. The client is slick and useful.
Is there anything that will encourage an AOL IM, Live Messenger, Google Talk or iChat user to switch over to Yahoo Messenger? Not really. It seems intended for those who already use the desktop client. It’s definitely worth downloading if you already use the Mac client. And the likelihood of future updates make this an app worth keeping an eye on.
Link: www.macworld.com
The iPhone and iPod touch version of Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles has gone on sale for GBP 5.99 / USD 9.99 and is available now in the App Store.
The 140MB download is, according to Eurogamer, a spruced up version of the Nintendo DS game of the same name. This game joins an ever increasing list of major titles that are being ported to the iPhone, and we’re of the opinion that the next iPhone hardware will see the handset seriously challenging the current range of handheld gaming systems.
Link: www.eurogamer.net
According to www.macworld.com, Konami Digital Entertainment have now released ‘Silent Scope’ for the iPhone and iPod touch. The new game costs $6 or £3.49 and is available from the App store now!
Silent Scope is an updated version of the classic “rail shooter” that first appeared in arcades in 1999, in which you play the world’s top sniper, tasked with saving the President and first family from terrorists. You use a high-powered sniper rifle to take out your foes.
Silent Scope uses the iPhone and iPod touch’s multi-touch user interface, and sports two different gameplay modes — Arcade Mode and Training Mode. Training Mode helps you hone your precision shoot skills, while the Arcade Mode features a story, shooting range and time attack. You can also change difficulty, modify the number of lives you get, and even change “Branch Attack” settings.
Silent Scope requires an iPhone or iPod touch with iPhone 2.0 software.
Link: www.macworld.com
I’ll give you a brief history about this site. It all started back in 2002 and we’ve been covering Windows Mobile faithfully even since. However, a few years back a phone was launched that literally sent shockwaves across the mobile phone landscape. Handset manufacturers are all trying to immitate the interface, the experience and the easy of use. The phone in question is Apples’ iPhone.
It arrives in quite a small, unassuming box. Inside the contents are neatly designed to fit and everything is easy to find and setup. The iPhone itself was larger than I assumed, but there’s rumours of a smaller version already on the horizon.
We took an “unboxing” look at the iPhone in our introductory video and, as a Windows Mobile user, I was all ready to leap on it and scoff at the various problems with it. Y’know - no cut and paste, no MMS etc etc. However, mid-way through looking at the iPhone, the guys at Apple announced version 3.0 of the iPhone OS. It’ll be upgradeable by all iPhone users, even early adopters, and it’ll bring copy and paste, API’s, voice memos, MMS and landcape mode. Damn.. Perhaps I should look into my iPhone criticisms box and find out what’s left. Hmm.. 2 megapixel camera. Yeah, that’s rubbish isn’t it. The pictures are blurry and… wait.. hold on a minute, most of the HTC kit we’ve looked at in the last 6 years has had pretty blurry camera quality. Sure, the Touch HD we’re comparing has got a 5 megapixel shooter, but you’ve gotta hold the device pretty still for inside shots. Let me have a look in that box again. AHA! I know.. You can’t forward texts. Got a funny text from your mate? Want to forward it? You can’t. Hahahaaaaa!!!
….ah.. No, wait.. wait a minute. That’s fixed in iPhone OS 3.0 too.
The only criticisms I can dig out of my box are the lack of Bluetooth file-transfer (which isn’t fixed in 3.0), lack of FM radio, multi-tasking and battery power. To be honest I’m scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel here.
In this review we’re looking at the iPhone 3G 8GB and comparing it with the nearest comparable Windows Mobile device - the HTC Touch HD. The iPhone has a 480×320 screen and, to be honest, the HTC Touch HD easily beats it with a WVGA 800×480 screen. The front of the iPhone has just one button and, at the top, a grill for the earpiece. On the left side there’s the volume up / down and a cool volume kill switch which, when flicked, sets the phone into silent mode.
There’s a rounded feel to the phone due to the curvature of the back, although the rear of the device is obviously a fingerprint magnet. Up on the top strip of the iPhone there’s the power button and a very nice 3.5mm audio jack. Now, I know it’s a bit geeky to call a 3.5mm hole “nice” but this is cut into the handset itself and is tiny but excellent attention to detail.
Down at the base of the handset, which is split from the screen by a silver band, is the iPhone dock connector and two speakers.
The back of the handset has a big Apple logo and the camera itself is tucked up in the top left corner. I’m guessing they’ve done this to keep it out of the way of possible scratches and hands. Our review unit had already been through the wars somewhat and had a lot of scratches on the back which did show the durability of thie thing if nothing else. Inside we’ve got version 2 of the iPhone OS and there’s the App Store, Microsoft Exchange push-email capability and all the iPod functionality you come to expect. The 3G functionality is something that we, as Windows Mobile fans, kinda expect in a phone anyway and, along with the on-board WiFi, it showed Google Maps, TV, audio and other data quickly and without hassle. Provided you’re near a WiFi hotspot or an o2 3G mast you’re pretty much sorted. Strangely we found that the o2 coverage was a whole lot better than it used to be when we tested the XDA Exec some years back. As with all handsets though it does tend to suck the battery dry fairly quickly when you’re downloading, so you’ll find a lot of reviews mention battery life and the iPhone in one sentance purely because they’re reviewing the thing and stressing it out. I personally found that it did rather well, especially after a few weeks when you’re using it “normally”. There’s accessories out there to prolongue battery life should you need it.
We did various tests, like Google Maps running on both the iPhone and the Touch HD. They both did well, although we had to ensure that the “QuickGPS” application had downloaded recent data on the Touch HD before we attempted to get a GPS lock. The iPhone initially told us we were in a field somewhere, but it seems to begin by showing your “rough location” in Google Maps using triangulation - not the GPS signal, then it gets a more accurate position with the satellites. The more the merrier too.
During testing we noticed several tiny but substantial bits of coolness in the iPhone. When using the Safari internet browser it lets you zoom in on the URL bar, when finding WiFi networks it’s intelligent and quick, yet quiet and out-of-the-way when one has been located. The lack of multi-tasking is perhaps a let-down for power-users but I found it quite refreshing. How many Windows Mobile users wished that the close-button actually closed stuff on your WinMo phone?
So, we tested the browser. The Safari browser works brilliantly well, as does the Opera browser on the HTC Touch HD, however we found that - whether it be memory management or the OS - the Safari browser was smoother and simply a joy to use. Switching between tabs was like gliding on ice. I’ll say it again and again. Smooth. Remember that word, because I, as the consument, do not want smooth-jutter-smooth-jutter. I just want smooth. No bumps, no “Hey, I know you’re looking at your pictures right now, but I’ve just found a wireless hotspot”. No! I’m looking at my pictures! If I wanted a Wireless hotspot I’d ask you to find one, or I’d sit on the main home screen. I’m busy right now, so go away.
As I went through this comparison I noted the strengths and weaknesses of both handsets. The HTC Touch HD is far ahead when it comes to specs. You can add more memory to it - stick a bigger microSD card in and you’ve got instantly bigger storage. It’ll do video calling too, plus there’s an in-built FM radio with RDS and that innovative TouchFLO 3D control system by HTC. There’s TV-out too, a standard miniUSB port and that 5 megapixel camera which has auto-focus, which the iPhone doesn’t. There’s simply no denying that the Touch HD screen is gorgeous. Colours are rich and the resolution is excellent.
I also have to mount praise onto HTC for the design of the externals and the brilliant TouchFLO 3D interface we just mentioned. I believe it’s done far more for Windows Mobile than Windows Mobile 6.5 will do for the platform. Just look at the facts - HTC have designed a smooth-flowing interface which has drop-kicked the Microsoft “Today” screen back into the 1990’s where it belonged. Windows Mobile 6.5 is introducing an interface which looks like the existing Microsoft Pocket PC programs list, albeit with different scrolling and a funky background. The TouchFLO system is quick, smooth and customizable. It’s also an interface that most of the “ROM Cookers” (those people who re-engineer the official OS for different handsets) will strive to weave into their downloads. For me, if those guys are using it, then it must be good.
So, technically the Touch HD wins and the interface on the HD may also have the edge over the iPhone, however it’s the overall package that matters and this is where Microsoft comes into play. The original idea behind the Pocket PC, we presume, was for Microsoft to make the OS and then everyone else could do anything to it. The logic was the same as the desktop OS - like Windows XP for example. You can install Windows XP but then you can download stuff that’ll give you a new interface (like RocketDock for example), new features, new applications. It was all about customizing your phone to be what you want it to be. That’s why we started this site - you could make your phone into a Cool Smartphone. However, times have changed and the competition has raced ahead. The problems started when things became a little too fragmented. The “look and feel” of the original Windows Mobile OS was sometimes maintained in applications, but sometimes it wasn’t. Then when operators and manufacturers decided to take the OS and bolt a new GUI on top, it made the existing programs, games, apps and Microsoft built-in programs look clunky and disjointed with the main interface. Things got worse for customers switching handsets as different control panels appeared and a new interface had to be learnt, plus customers also found that switching to a brand new handset was perhaps the only way to update their phone.
So, when I wanted to buy an application on the iPhone I just went to the App Store, browsed, bought, installed. On the Touch HD I had the choice of online stores or direct downloads from publishers sites. Once you find the application you want it’s then another battle to install it. There’s CAB files, PC installers, Zip files and a confusing range of payment methods, trials and device types to sift through. Some developers have tried to work around the range of Windows Mobile handsets by asking customers to browse to their site and it’ll auto-detect what device you’re using. This works well if you’re using Internet Explorer on your device, but if you choose another browser, such as Skyfire, Opera or the Iris browser, it may not detect your phone properly. Plus you’ve also got to type in the URL of the developers website to get it in the first place. It’s painful, and Microsoft are aware of this fact. They’re introducing their version of the App Store, called Windows Marketplace, and it’ll arrive in the new Windows Mobile 6.5 OS soon.
Yes, that’s right - in Windows Mobile 6.5. If you’ve got this spanky Touch HD you’ll not be able to use a central shopping system, plus you’ll not be able to upgrade the operating system either. Not unless you want to download an “unofficial” OS anyhow. Seems unfair doesn’t it? Indeed it is, and this is the problem. The Touch HD and other Windows Mobile devices started off by mirroring the PC OS. You had your base Operating System and you could go on the web or to the shop and buy something to put on it. Great. But there’s one major problem. You can upgrade the Operating System in your PC. Generally you can’t do that with Windows Mobile, not unless you want to buy a whole new one. Sure, that’s to be expected right? How do you sell PC’s if you don’t upgrade the hardware and the OS too? That’s right, but when the hardware of the phone is perfectly capable of running the new operating system - as in this case - it seems a crime that you can’t upgrade it.
This is what customers expect now, at least from Microsoft. Whilst low-end phones from Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson are expected to be binned every year or two, the high-end expensive Microsoft handsets aren’t - not in customers eyes. The Touch HD and other Windows Mobile phones can cost over £500 to buy unlocked. That’s a huge investment for people. If they buy it on a contract it reduces the initial outlay but there’s a massive delay before they can go and buy an even better phone due to the contract length. We’ve all seen those 18 and 24 month contracts. We want a high-end phone that can get better during those 2 years of ownership, not just remain static and be eclipsed by the iPhone with it’s continually evolving OS. This time last year I could perhaps even raise a smile at the iPhone and show how much better by Windows Mobile was, but soon that iPhone will be receiving an update.. my phone won’t, not unless I throw it in the trash or wait until my contract expires.
The “package”. Sure, you’re going to think I’m labouring this point now, but the iPhone “package” lets me buy songs and sync them easily. It lets me buy apps, TV shows and movies easily - it lets me transfer them and play them easily. No additional software, no codecs to worry about, no individual credit card payments, no confusion. Open iTunes, search for music, download, sync, play. The package is complete, it’s ready to go.
Put it this way. Let’s say that the iPhone is a DVD player. You take it home, you plug it in, you buy a DVD. It arrives, you play it. It works. The Touch HD, through no fault of it’s own, runs Windows Mobile and has no integrated shop. Imagine this is a DVD player too. You buy it, take it home, plug it in. But when you go to buy a DVD you find several hundred shops, all selling DVD’s, but in different formats. Some will work on your DVD player, some won’t. It can be complicated, but at the end of the day it’s all about how you want to use your phone.
You, as the Windows Mobile customer, may look at the iPhone and scoff at the locked-down, rigid platform which is geared at making money for Apple. iPhone customers will look at WinMo and perhaps mention the fact that it’s a little disjointed between the hardward and the software. If an iPhone user wants a burger, they go to the McDonalds drive-thru and they’ll say, “Give me burger, I want burger”. If a WinMo owner wants a burger then they’ll have the choice of bread, burgers and toppings - they can go to any supermarket and get any burger they want.
Things are changing too. Windows Mobile is turning into “my Windows Phone” and moves are being made to maintain choice but make the selection process easier - make the OS more friendly, make using it easier. Apple are doing the same with iPhone 3.0 and theyr’e also bringing more and more Enterprise options in their attempt at crossing over from “just” a consumer phone. Exchange sync was a major step forward, and during the coming months it appears that both OS’s are trying to do more of what the other one excels in.
The iPhone however, still suffers from only being available from one network operator in each country. In the US, only AT&T sell the device. In the UK, it’s o2. There’s some unlocked iPhones appearing but Windows Mobile still has a greater range of networks and a huge variety of form factors. Phones with sliding QWERTY keyboards, numeric keypads, touch screen, non-touch screen, exandable memory and more.
Choice is another keyword. I’ll admit to being quite keen on the iPhone because everything is easy to do, but usually there’s only one channel or one way to do it. I love the fact that I can plug my Windows Mobile into my computer, see a big file system, download some MP3’s off the net and drag them across to my phone. I love the fact that there’s usually eighteen different ways of doing everything. The freedom of choice is there.
Both handsets pack the YouTube application, both have on-screen keyboards. The iPhone perhaps wins the battle of keyboards purely because of the multi-touch aspect, but the Touch HD and it’s huge screen means that typing isn’t a problem in the first place.
Example Photos
This top photo was taken in one of our videos. The left shot was taken with the iPhone whilst the right was taken with the Touch HD. As with all our reviews, just click the image and you can get the original.
The top row of these photos were taken with the iPhone on a trip out one day…
These shots were taken with the Touch HD..
Conclusion
It’s hard to decide a winner. The iPhone will easily kick the Touch HD when it comes to handling and getting music, TV shows and software. It is a phone for people who don’t want to “mess” - it does what it says on the tin and it’ll do it easily. The Touch HD is more capable, with a better camera, potentially bigger storage and greater flexibility. It offers a fantastic interface and HTC have almost single-handedly held the OS together over the last year with the TouchFLO 3D system.
Like I said before, it’s all down to how you want to use a phone. If you want a phone that’ll do everything simply, effectively and with a beautiful interface, get an iPhone. If you want a large range of handsets with physical keyboards, numeric keypads, a range of screen sizes, styles and specification plus a fantastic interface, get a HTC Windows Mobile. In the case of this review though, where we pitched the Touch HD against the iPhone, we’re really struggling. The iPhone is upgradeable to a new OS through official channels. The Touch HD is not, although a quick look at xda-developers.com will sort that (unofficially). The Touch HD has a better camera, better battery life, an FM radio and is more flexible. The iPhone has a collosal backing across the web with companies falling over themselves to make iPhone apps and iPhone formatted websites, plus it’s got an interface I just couldn’t fault.
For me personally, I’m sticking with the HD, but I’ll admit that this has been one of the hardest reviews I’ve ever written and, to be honest, the mainstream user should probably and will definitely go for the iPhone due to it’s integrated app store, music store, upgrade capability and following.
Well, it looks like Gears over at www.coolsmartphone.com has posted his review of the iPhone, however it’s now turned into a full comparison review with the Touch HD flexing its muscles against an 8GB iPhone. Gears will be posting the entire review on this site shortly, so keep an eye out for it.
The result of the battle ? Well, I won’t spoil the surprise. Stay tuned and you can find out for yourself (or have a looksie here) 
That’s right, we didn’t make it up, Apple are reporting that they’re closing in on an almost unbelievable 1 billion application downloads! According to the site:
As of today, nearly one billion apps have been downloaded around the globe. So we just want to say thanks — a billion. Download an app and you’ll automatically get the chance to win a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro. Just go to the iTunes Store, browse the App Store, and download your best app yet.
The chances of winning have got to be fairly insignificant but that’s not going to stop me heading over to download!
Link: www.apple.com
Macrumors (via DigiTimes) has published a story running a list of components for the next iPhone, along with their alleged suppliers.
As MacRumors states, nothing revolutionary in the detail… the only thing curious by omission is I’ve not seen any reference to the 3.2MP camera being an autofocus unit. I very much hope Apple use an AF module, I’m fed up of blurry close up pics on my iPhone!
