Since I started this new category, namely apps, I came across a cooking app, which I think is grand. Although it will take a whopping 400+ MB of your iPhone’s memory, it doesn’t offer almost unlimited recipes. Instead, Jamie Oliver decided to go a different route, which I think makes this app worth the money: he describes every meal with a summary, offers a shopping list and provides a step-by-step guide that includes pictures. Additionally you will get videos explaining different kitchen skills, such as Cooking the perfect steak or Top fish buying tips.
I’m not a great chef, or even close to that, but I’m looking forward to preparing some meals with the help of this app.
Twitter – next to feeds – is pretty much my source of information. I also use it to keep in touch with friends, sending direct messages, which only the desired recipient can read.
Unfortunately, I would need to check Twitter repeatedly to see whether or not I received a new message or @ reply. For Mac users, push notifications are already possible, using the Growl service, but I neither have a Mac (yet) nor would I like my computer to be running 24/7.
Boxcar is an app that finally solves this issue for me. Available on the iTunes store (for free), it will allow push notifications for the service(s) of your choice. The first service is for free, every other one is available via the in-app-purchase. Services available for push notifications are:
Twitter
Facebook
Email
What makes Boxcar special is the possibility to continue using the Twitter app of your choice. You can also read your news via Boxcar, but I prefer reading my messages with Tweetie. Other Twitter apps supported are:
Twitterrific
Twittelator
Twitterfon Lite
Twitterfon Pro
Twinkle
SimplyTweet
Twitterena+ Lite
Twitterena+ Pro
Birdfeed
Hahlo.com
The notifcations are pretty instant and for an app, that doesn’t cost anything, I would highly recommend trying this, if you would like to have Twitter push notifications or other services mentioned above. I’m using it only for my direct messages and @ replies, without the option to receive information about my timeline and I don’t see much reason to complain.
Since the beginning of mankind, people tried to communicate as efficently as possible and the introduction of the e-mail, which enables us to share information worldwide, sure had a massive impact on how we see and live communication today. Google intends to take it a step further and creates something new: Google Wave.
If you don’t know what Google Wave is, watching the following (unofficial) video may help:
I was happy enough to receive an invitation and currently I’m trying to understand all the features and possibilities that Google Wave offers at the moment. A nice to know information for new ‘Wavers’ is the following search:
search:public
This will enable you to find publicly written waves, as you may not know many people that have an invitation yet. This way you will get to know the features and can help to make this preview a beta soon.
If you still have no idea what Google Wave is, where it fits in between Facebook and Twitter, or if you simply would like to read more about it, you will find a good article here.
At the moment it’s quite slow and I encounter some issues once in a while. Nevertheless, this seems to be the next big thing and I’m looking forward to seeing the impact it will have on the communication over all and for me.
Just one more thing.
The so-called Web-Apps for the iPhone aren’t really newsworthy, but in regards to Google Wave it may be interesting to know that an added Google Wave home screen bookmark will not show the Safari wrapper, but look like an independent app.
Apps are undoubtedly one of the best things about the iPhone and also the iPod touch. They make your life easier with To-Do apps for example, bring your friends closer via Facebook & co. and shorten waiting periods with games.
Because I found so many interesting apps and sure will find many more, I would like to share these findings with others. Hence I created a new ‘Apps’ category in which I will inform you about apps that I find interesting, useful and/or fun. These may not necessarily be the newest or the best apps available, but with the help of your comments I hope to find even better ones that make the day-to-day experience with the iPhone or iPod touch an even more rewarding one.
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