iPhone Cruncher

NEW YORK (AFP) – Apple has extended its lead as the world’s most valuable corporate name with a strong 19 percent increase in its so-called brand value, a survey showed Tuesday.

The research firm Millward Brown Optimor, a unit of advertising and communications giant WPP, found that Apple’s brand value increased 19 percent to $182.9 billion, holding the top spot for the second straight year.
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If you thought the Amazon barcode scanning apps were cool, you’ll be blown away by the Flow iPhone app, as this provides a visual search engine for your holiday shopping. Read More

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SUNNYVALE, California (AP) — Yahoo has begun to distribute an iPad magazine that illuminates the Internet company‘s ambitions and the chronic troubles that have thrown its fate into doubt. Read More

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Tokyo, Japan (PRWEB) – Putter King, Japan’s first indoor miniature golf franchise, has announced it has released the Putter King Adventure Golf app on the Apple App Store. Putter King Adventure Golf is a 3D mini golf game for iOS devices.

The game follows Putty in his quest to become the Putter King. Players can test their putting skills on visually stunning holes from all over the world, everywhere from the Great Wall of China to the Pyramids of Egypt to Mt. Fuji in Japan.  Read More

Find a new way to snap some snazzy photos with VivaFoto, a new app that lets you see the filters you’ll apply to your snapshots in real time before you shoot them. Follow that up with WordWit, an app that helps you expand your command of the English language. In games, have fun with dentistry (no, really!) in Monster Mouth DDS, and shoot waves of bad guys in twin-stick shooter Infinity Field. Read More

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SAN DIEGO – August 1, 2011 – LifeProof, the provider of elegant and all-protective cases for smartphones and tablet PCs, today announced the launch of its waterproof, dustproof, snowproof and shockproof case on its new online store offering a variety of weatherproof accessories and color options for LifeProof for the iPhone 4.

The LifeProof case provides the only truly protective iPhone case that is waterproof to a depth of 6.6 ft. and tested to military specifications (MIL-STD-810F-516.5) for its drop protection up to a height of 6.6 ft. onto concrete.

LifeProof cases are available in black, pink and white and can be purchased exclusively on the company’s online store at www.lifeproof.com at the retail price of $69.95 each.

In addition to selling LifeProof products, the new online store will feature videos with LifeProof on the beach, underwater and in the snow, demonstrating that people can use the device anytime and anywhere. Texting in the shower, videos in the pool, talking on the jet ski; LifeProof makes it all possible.

The ‘LifeSupport’ web-link (www.lifeproof.com/support) has a unique and convenient video-manual that covers installation, care, and water testing for the LifeProof case. Step-by-step videos can also be viewed directly from the iPhone.

Since winning the ‘Best Presentation’ at the LAUNCH Conference in February 2011, LifeProof has garnered worldwide attention. The company has shipped thousands of units to pre-order customers internationally, and customer comments on LifeProof’s Facebook page demonstrate that iPhone users yearn for a solution that gives them complete freedom to use their iPhone anywhere – even in wet, dirty, freezing or rough conditions. Now the LifeProof case for the iPhone is available to everyone through its online store.

“LifeProof is more than a product, it’s a movement.” says Gary Rayner, LifeProof founder and CEO. “It gives freedom to be connected anywhere with your mobile device; freedom to build relationships, gain knowledge, exercise, and juggle work; freedom for all people anywhere to go everywhere.”

New LifeProof Accessories

LifeProof has created an entire ecosystem for its iPhone cases, including:

LifeProof 1.5″ and 2.0″ Belt Clips: Made for quick access to your mobile device, the LifeProof belt clip makes your LifeProof ‘at the ready’. Conveniently click-in or pull out your device with the ease of one hand. The LifeProof belt clips come in the regular 1.5″ or the ‘Duty’ 2.0″ belt clip for military or law enforcement applications.

LifeProof Bike Mount: Designed for both pedal bikes and motorbikes, the LifeProof Bike Mount allows you to place your device on your handlebars in landscape or portrait orientation. Map out your routes on GPS, measure the distances you have traveled, and even listen to your favorite tunes on speaker. The LifeProof Bike Mount allows you to conveniently place and remove your device with one hand through a quick release locking mechanism, freeing you to enjoy the ride.

General Use Headphone Adapter: Plug in Apple or third-party headphones while keeping your device completely protected from splashes, rain, mud, dirt, and sweat. The General Use Headphone Adapter is an ideal companion for adventurers.

LifeProof Armband/Swimband: The LifeProof Armband allows you to make your mobile device your workout companion. Use fitness apps and listen to tunes on the run or while you are swimming laps in the pool with the LifeProof Armband.

Swimming Headphone Adaptor: Listen to tunes while submerged completely under water. Plug in Apple or third-party headphones while keeping your device safe from water damage.

Apple iPhone is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc.

About LifeProof
The company mantra is Freedom; LifeProof designs, manufactures and markets an entirely new category of products designed to give people more freedom from environmental constraints. Based in San Diego, LifeProof offers elegant and protective cases for Smartphones and Tablet PCs that enable full functionality and interactivity under harsh conditions. The registered brand name ‘LifeProof’ is inspired by the protection and fully functional convenient operation of the device in water, mud, sand, dust, snow or ice. For more information, visit www.lifeproof.com.

You know, there might be something to this Google+ social networking thing. About a day after the Google+ iPhone app landed, the program has sky-rocketed to the top of the free list in the App Store.

With at least 10 million early tech adopters on it, it’s no surprise that the Google+ iPhone app has been such a rapid success. Unfortunately, I think that the search giant could have done a much better job with the iOS app because I’ve found it to be quite buggy. The company updated it on the first day to address these issues but I’ve found that it still crashes quite often when I’m trying to look at my streams.

If you’ve yet to try it, you should know that it’s very much like Facebook but with some unique twists. First of all, the company forces you to divide your friends into “Circles” from the beginning so that you can share with the exact people you want to. The mobile version and apps also include a few features which should make it quite useful on the go.

If you’ve watched our video of the Google+ app, you’d know that the mobile version lets you include your location with your update. Another very useful feature is called Huddle and this is a group-messaging program that will let you communicate with your friends in circles, even if they don’t have a smartphone.

I’m still not in love with Google+ and think the iPhone app has a long way to go to be a prime-time app. What do you think of Google+ and the apps?

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Ever since the original iPad came out people have loved it. There is online web browsing on a big screen, applications of all different categories, music, movies, games and much more. And after the new iPad 2, more and more people think that the iPad is the best tablet on the market.

That is, for adults.

But what about kids like me? After all, the iPad is not the only tablet out there. The Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy 10.1 and Asus Eee Pad are all new tablets on the market. HP is also out now with a new TouchPad, which uses the WebOS operating system. But which device would kids like?

The Options

The iPad 2, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy 10.1, and HP Touchpad are all great tablets. To be honest I’d be really happy if my parents got me any of these tablets. Any of these tablets will be good for most of the things kids would use a laptop for, except for typing and homework.

Most people use the iPad for browsing the web, doing e-mail, using Facebook and watching movies. Some adults love to play games on the iPad, as well. My mom likes her iPad for web browsing, reading e-mail, and using Facebook because she finds it easy to use, and light.

I currently use an Android phone right now, as well as an Android tablet. Android has more customization features such as home screen widgets and moving backgrounds, and there are a lot of free Android apps, which is great for kids who have limited allowances. Even though the iPad has more apps than Android tablets, it doesn’t make much difference because most good apps such as Angry Birds or Homerun 3D are available on both platforms. Android apps get updated faster than iPad apps, due to Apple’s harder update process. Android devices offer a lot of

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The Google+ for iPhone app was released yesterday and it’s already hit the top of list for the most popular free apps in the iTunes App Store. This is fascinating since Google+ is limited to the invite-only beta users currently on the network. That number was announced as 10 million last week during Google’s earnings call, but is now estimated to be at 18 million.

Facebook still holds the title for number one free iOS app downloaded of all time, but it does have a more established network with a staggering 750 million users. Google+, on the other hand, is just three weeks old and has yet to open its doors to the general public. Oddly, the Google+ Android app that’s estimated to have been downloaded as much as 5 million times was not chart topping in the Android Market.

Despite its popularity, the app still needs a lot of work. Some of the key features that puts Google+ ahead of its competitor are missing from the app. This includes the interface for organizing Circles, which ends up being a large list, and perhaps more notably missing is the Hangouts group video chat feature.

[via PC World]

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Google Plus, or Google+, is now available for iOS in the iTunes App Store. The social networking service, in which you divide up your friends, family and acquaintances into “Circles,” has taken off in the past few weeks and has even seen defectors from Facebook. When the service launched, we said that mobile users might make or break it, and that most early adopters probably use mobile devices for social networking. Google+ has been available for Android since it launched, and now iPhone and iPad users can finally enjoy a mobile version of it, too.

Here is the iTunes description of the app:

Google+ for mobile makes sharing the right things with the right people a lot simpler. Huddle lets you send super-fast messages to the people you care about most. And no matter where you are, the stream lets you stay in the loop about what your friends are sharing and where they’re checking in.

Features:
* Circles let you share the right things with just the right people.
* Stream is where you can get updates from your circles or see what people are saying about things nearby.
* Huddle is super-fast group messaging for everyone in your circles.

Google+ is only available for users 13 and older.

It sounds like most of the features you’d want from the app are available now, but it’s worth noting that this is a version 1.0 product, so we can expect other perks and features to be added later. And sorry, kids! You have to be 13 and older to use the social networking service: you can try to sign up anyway, but you wouldn’t want Google deleting all your precious memories, would you?

If you’re an iOS user with an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, you can download Google+ from the iTunes App Store now for free.

[iTunes link]

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