Like the traditional Rock Band experience, you’ll get to select between four instruments — vocals, guitar, bass and drums. Each will feature it’s own authentic experience for every song in the game, and when played with friends should sync up flawlessly.  Note our use of the word “should.”  This game has been in development for more than a year now, so we’d like to think that they’ve worked all the kinks out.  But until we get a room full of band geeks jamming out on their portables, we’ll never really know how well the game will sync via Bluetooth.  At the end of the day, this will likely make or break the experience.  Knowing the top notch quality of previous Rock Band efforts, we’re inclined to believe that Rock Band iPhone should pull this off without a hitch.

Touch Arcade were given a hands-on preview of the game, and are reporting that the following 20 songs will make up the initial set list;

30 Seconds To Mars – “Attack”
AFI – “Girls Not Grey”
All American Rejects – “Move Along”
Beastie Boys – “Sabotage”
Blink-182 – “All The Small Things”
Blondie – “Hanging on the Telephone”
Foo Fighters – “Learn To Fly”
Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
George Thorogood & the Destroyers – “Bad to The Bone”
Jethro Tull – “Hymn 43″
Joan Jett – “Hymn 43″
Lynard Skynard – “Simple Man”
Motorhead – “Ace of Spades ‘08″
Pixies – “Debaser”
Presidents of The United States of America – “Ladybug”
Rise Against – “Give It All”
Silversun Pickups – “Lazy Eye”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Cherub Rock”
Steve Miller Band – “Take The Money and Run”
The Go Go’s – “We Got The Beat”

The one disappointing thing we gleamed from the Touch Arcade preview was that “every instrument has its own track that you tap along with.”  If true, that means that vocals have replaced actual singing with yet another instrument track.  It’s understandable (not all App Store shoppers have access to a mic), but still disappointing.  We would have loved to learn that iPhone rockers could belt out the hits into their microphones.  Doesn’t look like that’s going to be the case.

We’re also very glad to see that this release have gone in a very different direction than Rock Band’s other recent portable incarnation, Rock Band Unplugged for the PSP.  The PSP version had players attempting to keep all four instruments in play at the same time in a frantic, mad balancing act.  It was not unlike Harmonix’s breakthrough PS2 game Frequency, but it just didn’t seem to be a great fit for the portable player in our opinion.  Keeping things streamlined and as close the original experience as possible, much as EA Mobile seems to have done here, is really the best way to bring this to the portable market.

No word on price yet, but a number of sources are reporting that this has already been submitted to Apple for approval.  Hopefully this means we’ll be seeing it in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, enjoy every second of Tap Tap Revenge you can.  Once Rock Band hits, something tells me Tap Tap won’t carry the weight it once did in the court of public opinion.

Jim Whitelaw is a man with a problem.  Jim bought his 10 year old daughter an iPod Touch so that she could play some games without having to break the bank on her allowance.  He set her up with an iTunes account, gave her an iTunes gift card, and told her to go at it.  Only, she couldn’t.  Apple Canada doesn’t allow iTunes gift cards to be used for App Store purchases.

Whitelaw contacted Apple customer support via email and was given the following reason;

“…you will not be able to purchase software, games, or applications with store credit or an iTunes Gift Card in Canada. Customers residing in Canada may only purchase software, games and applications using a credit card. This is due to Canadian Commerce Laws that the iTunes Store must strictly enforce.”

This story seemed all too familiar to me — not because I’d heard it before but because I’d lived it myself.  Earlier this year I had gone through the exact same situation.  What’s worse, the gift cards in Canada give no such warning.  At the time this occurred I attempted to look up the law in question, and failing to do so assumed the fault lie with my research abilities and not with Apple’s argument.  Jim Whitelaw, however, wasn’t content to walk away without a better answer.

When Apple customer care was unable to cite the law in question or put him in touch with someone that could, Whitelaw contacted his MPP (think Congress representative, but Canadian) for answers.  His MPP, too, could find no such law on the books, and like Whitelaw, refused to leave well enough alone.  The matter was escalated to the highest authority on the issue in Canada, the Hon. Tony Clement, Minister of Industry.  Here is the minister’s official response;

“(I) am unaware of which Canadian laws the company representatives are said to be enforcing.  I am not aware of any laws that prevent a company from accepting its own gift cards when it sells certain products.  That said, merchants are generally free to set their own policies respecting the payment methods they accept.”

So there you have it.  If the Canadian Minister of Industry can’t name the law that prevents Apple from accepting their own gift cards for certain purchases in Canada, my money says that no such law exists.  Furthermore, with no such warning printed on iTunes gift cards in Canada one could argue that this is nothing more than a dubious business practice intended to force people to spend additional funds in the iTunes Store than originally intended by referencing an imaginary law.

Mr. Whitelaw has sent an email to Steve Jobs, and is awaiting a response.  To follow his story as it develops, visit jimwhitelaw.com.

It’s not a major update by any stretch of the imagination, but there’s definitely some unexpected additions in there.  Shopping for ringtones, App Store Genius, and more.  Here’s the complete breakdown;

Shopping

• Select from over 30,000 ringtones in the new Ringtones section of the iTunes app
• See available iTunes Store credit in both the iTunes and App Store apps
• Use redemption codes like iTunes gift cards and promo codes in the App Store app
• App Store Genius introduced, recommends new apps based on previous purchases

Video

• Trimmed videos can now be saved as new clips
• Save video received via email or MMS into Camera Roll

Phone

• Voice Control via Bluetooth on 3GS introduced
• Phone numbers can now be pasted into keypad

Performance

• Improved wi-fi performance when Bluetooth is active
• Improved syncing for audio, video, and photos
• Improved calendar syncing with Microsoft Exchange
• Corrects issue that displayed incorrect app icons for some

Other

• Use MobileMe to remotely lock iPhone
• Content organization for iTunes U
• Adds options to turn on 3GS accessibility features via Home button
• Safari will now warn you of dangerous/fradulent websites
• Other fixes to support changes in the upcoming release of iTunes 9

As someone who prefers shopping for apps on their iPhone, the addition of App Genius and code redemption are a welcome change.  Beyond that though, I’m not seeing a lot offered here.  Mind you, we shouldn’t really be expecting a major update so soon after the release of 3.0.  If anything, I think Apple’s spoiling us.

iPhone OS 3.0 and iPod Touch OS 3.1.1 are available as a free update on iTunes now.

For many years now, the Get A Mac ad campaign, other campaigns, and general experience have led the typical Mac consumer to think that their computer is unreachable by anything bad, and that, especially compared to Windows, there are no real threats and using a Mac is safe and secure as ever. By including a program that appears—at least from the screen shot above—to scan downloads for potential security risks, Apple is admitting that there are in fact viruses that can infect Macs, and that its users are not as safe as they might think, at least not currently.

However, by creating this app, they are also, of course, making their computers safer. The theory is, many Mac enthusiasts think, that this is less to address a current, ongoing problem of Mac malware, and rather to keep people’s systems safe for the future. It is still certainly true that there are many fewer viruses and so on made for Macs than there are for PCs, most likely because the market share remains small and it’s just not worth it for the hackers. So, the inclusion of this feature should still be a selling point for the Snow Leopard upgrade which comes out this Friday.

Apple has yet to respond to comments on this feature, which seems to be working against the company. If they discussed the utility, its limitations and features, they might well get people more excited about Snow Leopard, happy to be safe, and so on. If not, as they are doing, it seems as if they are trying to pretend that viruses just don’t exist, which in the end will hurt the company.

Apple also wrote that no discussion with AT&T about the application had taken place, and that all the concerns that had been raised were from Apple’s side and not from the phone company. As had been suspected before, the application was not immediately approved because it was seen to duplicate features already on the iPhone. However, these were described more specifically: the Google Voice application would replace the phone button on the iPhone, and voicemails would no longer be stored on the iPhone itself but on Google’s servers. The same concerns were raised about the SMS section of the application. Apple was also concerned about the safety of the contacts imported from the iPhone to Google, and the company’s subsequent use of those contacts.

AT&T and Google also wrote letters to the FCC as part of the investigation. AT&T confirmed that Apple had not consulted them about the application, and defended its position on internet calling programs by stating that they needed to be sure that enabling VoIP on iPhones would not reduce revenues for the company. Google, always trying to gain the upper hand, stated in its letter that it did not, unlike Apple, screen any applications for its phone operating system (Android), with the exception of pornographic and potentially offensive material. These letters are part of a larger investigation by the FCC into internet calling on smart phones initiated by complaints from Skype. The investigation is expected to continue to discern the rights of wireless networks to screen applications, and whether or not it would make the system more amenable to a monopoly.

Given PopCap’s track record it only stood to reason that PvZ would be ported to every console known to man.  That’s why it comes as no surprise when PopCap Games announced this morning that, in addition to an upcoming port to Xbox Live Arcade and a recent retail box release, Plants vs Zombies will be arriving in the AppStore for iPhone users in late 2009.

PopCap has had a tremendously good track record with iPhone Games.  Peggle, Bookworm, and Bejeweled 2 have all been ported to the popular portable with great success.  Few of these games, however, required the visual real estate that Plants vs. Zombies will.  It’s a question that’s begging to be asked — how are you going to manage to fit the fast paced, screen-filling action of Plants vs Zombies on a 3.5″ widescreen?

That’s not to say that PopCap won’t be able to do it.  I have no doubt in my mind that they’ll execute a perfect port — it’s what they’re known for.  But how?  Will they retool the game to create a smaller playfield?  Will they offer a “scan-and-pan” camera that lets you move around the board?  It’s a befuddling conundrum to be sure, but one I’m looking forward to seeing solved.

No price or solid release date has been announced, but PopCap assures us you can expect to see this one in the AppStore by the end of the year.  In the meantime, why not check out our review of the original Mac version?

A recent study by the market research group NPD showed that digital music purchases continued their steady rise to market dominance during the first half of 2009.  While that fact in and of itself isn’t all that surprising, what share of the overall music market iTunes now makes up is enough to knock the socks off even the most passionate Apple devotee: 25%.

That’s not 25% of the digital market — that’s 25% of the total market.  This makes them the largest music seller in the US, beating out their closest competitor Wal-Mart, currently sitting at 14% of total music sales, by a whopping 11 points.

Other figures are just as impressive.  In the digital arena iTunes isn’t only #1 — it’s blasted away the competition.  In terms of digital music sales iTunes now represents 69% of the market.  It’s closest competitor AmazonMP3 comes in at only 8%.  This runaway lead in the digital music market is in stark contrast with the relatively balanced sales in physical music.  The four leaders of CD sales — Wal-mart, Best Buy, Target and Amazon are all within a few points of each other, covering 20%, 16%, 10% and 10% of the CD market respectively.

How could one market showcase such a distinct leader while another seems to offer up a balanced competition?  Brand recognition?  Strong hardware support?

AmazonMP3 has attempted to buck the trend, offering up DRM-free music and better prices and a host of other options.  When Apple saw that the service was gaining traction it went ahead and changed its feature set to offer up the things that were making AmazonMP3 so popular.   What can a company like Amazon do to climb past 8% of the market, or more accurately, bring iTunes down from 69%?

What is iTunes doing right that everyone else is doing wrong?  What, if anything, could competitors do to level the playing field?

The current thinking is that Apple will begin shipping Snow Leopard as early as August 28th, a week or so before the launch window would supposedly open—mid-September was the previous estimate. In addition to the revelation that they are indeed ready to ship and sell the operating system (shown by the mistaken appearance of the Mac Box Set), supposed photos of the packaging emerged over the weekend. Also, the most recent version of the OS appearing on the web was most likely the “Golden Master” version, the one that becomes the commercial product.

The error on the Apple Store was discovered when a potential customer called Apple Customer Service to ask if the typical 24-hour shipping also applied to the new operating system packaged with the Box Set. Unfortunately for all of us, the answer was—of course—no. It’s unknown what caused the product to appear as being immediately available, but the operating system is still available for pre-order at Amazon.com, with a single-user license starting at $29.99.

USAA, a company whose largest customer base is the armed forces, is no stranger to new and inventive ways to bank. Because their customers are scattered all around the world, not just around their one branch in San Antonio, Texas, they have previously released a service where a scanned check can be deposited, so the iPhone application is not a far leap. However, compared to many other online banking services offered by other banks, it is a huge step forward. While many banks, such as Bank of America, have dedicated iPhone applications, they are used primarily for checking balances, making transfers, and all in all dealing with the money already in an account. To be able to deposit money without having to visit a brick-and-mortar bank is a fascinating innovation. The customers using this application don’t need to mail in the check later, they can void the check as soon as they “deposit” it and forget about it.

iPhones are being used increasingly to deal with financial transactions, say the most popular banks in America. A cell phone is almost always on one’s person, and so is the most convenient way to bank. Perhaps other banks will soon pick up on the trend started by USAA, and we will be able to deposit and handle our money without ever setting foot in a real bank.

Facebook and Instapaper Integration: One of the biggest problems Shovel faces with the current lack of a fully-featured Digg API (coming soon!) is how difficult it is to bookmark stories for reading later and how tough it can be to share a good story with friends.

With the current version of Shovel you can email a story to yourself or a others, but that’s hardly a convenient solution.  Shovel 3.0 will introduce Facebook integration thereby allowing you to post stories to your wall for all of your friends to enjoy.  And if you want to simply bookmark something for future reading and not share it with the rest of the world?  Shovel 3.0 will also integrate with Instapaper, a fantastic web-based app that allows you to quickly shove web pages into a “I’ll read it later” file.  Instapaper also offers a free iPhone app (as well as a paid Pro version) that will let you access your temporary bookmark list on the go.

Built-in Email: Prior to the release of iPhone OS 3.0 it was incredibly difficult to compose an email in an app without simply triggering the Mail app, which in turn would close the program you were using.  Now that 3.0 is here, Shovel is more than happy to adapt with the times.  This means no more exiting and re-opening every time you choose to use the e-mail option.

Improved web browser: Again, Shovel 3.0 is all about keeping up with the Joneses.  New features introduced in OS 3.0 didn’t just automatically appear in third-party applications, which means that the current version of the Shovel browser (Shovel doesn’t simply open Safari for a host of navigation-friendly reasons) is lacking new features like cut and paste.  Except Shovel 3.0 to rectify that.

Story Search: A feature suspiciously missing from previous versions, story search will take Shovel from an app that acts as a browsable diggtionary to a full fledged search for stories of interest.

The One Way Mirror: You still can’t digg stories.  You can’t comment.  You can’t submit.  All of these things are coming just as soon as Digg releases their new API.  But what about what what other Diggers are doing?  All of the data on users in available in the current API, and Scott saw this as an opportunity to bring a touch of the social experience to the current platform;

“It’s always interesting to see where a person is coming from, and Digg comments are no exception.  By clicking on a person’s username you are taken to a profile view where you can browse their previous comments and get a feel for how they feel about various other topics.”

Again, until the new API is released this is entirely a way one street.  It’s not unlike engaging in a conversation as a mute.  You can hear what everyone else is saying, but you can’t make a peep of your own.

The Sticking Point: All of these improvements will come at a cost – literally.  Shovel has been available as a free app since it’s original release, but as it rolls into 3.0 users will have to choose between a free version and a new paid version.  While the free version will feature a number of basic enhancements over it’s 2.0 predecessor (e-mail, browser, and story search improvements) the two biggest additions, Facebook and Instapaper integration, will be exclusive to the paid app.  A newly introduced landscape mode will also be exclusive to the Pro version.

While no price has been announced, we should find out soon enough as the Pro version is expected to hit the App Store in the next few weeks.  The free version of 3.0 will be following at a slightly later date.  User’s of the current version should experience a seamless transition from one free version to the other once the update is released.

How will it all pan out?  Make sure to check back here for our review once it becomes available.  In the mean time, be sure to check out the current free version of Shovel.

Apple isn’t the first company to get involved in live streaming of musical performances, but they are the first to try and put it in your pocket. This past Saturday the UK electronic group Underworld performed a concert live from Oakland, California, and for the first time ever you were able to watch this streamed live to your iPhone.

Live concert streaming seems to be gaining a lot of traction in 2009, and this is just the latest attempt to incorporate that into an already successful platform.  Back in June, for example, Hulu brought its users a live performance by the Dave Matthews Band.

While nothing has been confirmed regarding future concerts on either the iPhone or Hulu, I find it hard to believe this is the last stop.  There’s a lot of potential for both platforms to shape an experience that’s unique to what they’re offering.  It’s not inconcievable to think that we might see a “Concert Series” subscription come to iTunes, or some brilliant behind-the-scenes NBC performances live on Hulu.  Who wouldn’t want to live stream the rehearsal’s of Saturday Night Live musical guests?

The idea of streaming a concert over the internet is far from new.  A number of performers have attempted to stream concert footage dating all the way back to 1998, when John Tesh performed an intimate concert online by opening up whopping 100 phone line connections.  When you realize how many millions upon millions of people will tune in tonight, it’s kind of quaint and awe-inspiring when you think about the lengths Tesh had to go to perform to 60 people in the dial-up era.

It seems kind of strange that this Underworld streaming was announced so last minute (the news broke Saturday morning), yet there seems to be a general consensus amongst a number of blogs on why this information was held back.  The folks at NewTeeVee are suggesting that AT&T held onto the announcement for fear of their network being overloaded, which certainly doesn’t seem too far fetched a possibility.  Despite the delay in announcement, I’m sure the AT&T network went through a real stress-test Saturday night.

And yet things weren’t necesarily as “live” as advertised.  TechRadar is reporting that the concert itself actually took place the night before.  While the event was likely recorded in its entirety, and the broadcast still went out live, there’s definitely a difference between live and live-to-tape.  Regardless, multiple sites are reporting the event was executed flawlessly, with high quality video and audio broadcast to the masses with nary a stumbling block in sight.

To our readers who were lucky enough to hear about the event on Saturday, did you check it out?  How did you find the quality?  Was the stream as flawless as everyone is saying?

LucasArts and Aspyr Media have just announced The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition for for both Mac and PC.  So what makes this release so “ultimate”?  Journey with us to the dark side and find out.

In addition to offering the God of War style Star Wars experience that gamers were given last fall, expect to find new costumes, new characters to play as, and three new levels.  And while the prospect of playing as Luke, Obi-Wan or C3PO sounds pretty cool (if not downright confusing — what kind of powers could 3P0 use?) the real draw of this title for repeat players would have to be the three additional levels.

Contributing to the Infinities universe which takes a “what if?” approach to existing Star Wars mythos, the new levels break from the existing Star Wars universe (which Force Unleashed is considered a canon part of) and show how things would have unfolded in a world where the Apprentice defeated Darth Vader to become the Emperor’s right hand.  Expect to visit the Jedi Temple on Coruscant in an effort to discover the truth about your father, be sent to Tatooine to assassinate Ben Kenobi (and make a stop at Jabba’s Palace), and crush the Rebellion once and for all on Hoth.

Screenshots made available alongside the announcement showcase some of the new costumes, which appear to be less bonus content and more an integral part of the story presented in these three new levels.  Starkiller appears to be disguised as a sand person when on Tatooine, and is donning his new “king of the universe” threads when on Hoth.  Gamers who’ve gone through this adventure once before will be happy to hear that these three new levels will be available from the main menu rather than tacked on at the end of the single player campaign.

While action heavy third-person games don’t always pan out with a mouse and keyboard as well as one might hope, the addition of this new content should persuade even the most embittered of console veterans to check this out.  No specific release date or price have been given, but the powers that be have assured us that we should see a Fall 2009 release.  They’ve also assured us of something even more exciting; while no specific price has been set, The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition will not be shipping at the $59.99 MSRP that the console versions debuted at last year.  Fingers crossed that we get a real bargain.

The official reason for the rejection was that the application would duplicate features that were already available on the iPhone. This is, to a certain extent, true. Google Voice is a service that routes all calls to any number of phones, and has cheap or free international calls. In addition, you can text message and call using your computer, very similar to what Skype offers. In effect, it is a phone completely on a computer, which of course is effectively what the iPhone is as well. However, general speculation is that the pressure for the rejection came less from Apple and potential conflicts with the iPhone software and more from AT&T and conflicts with their cell phone service.

Because Google Voice uses the phone line rather than the data connection, it can, in theory, replace AT&T’s actual plan. This is perhaps the main difference between the proposed application and others that came before. Whereas applications that use the Skype protocol are numerous in the App Store, they are programmed only to be used at Wifi hotspots, and not over the actual data line. Since Google Voice does not present this option, it is more difficult to regulate, from the perspective of Apple and AT&T. In addition to rejecting the official Google application, Apple also pulled some programs previously available that used aspects of the Google Voice service.

In the end, this rejection could hurt Apple. A possible effect of this decision—besides many disappointed iPhone users—is an increase in other smartphone sales. If, for example, the Palm Pre, which already has a rivalry with the iPhone, allows users access to Google Voice through its much more limited application pool, then potential buyers might prefer that option. Whatever the result, which remains to be seen, Google and Apple join Yahoo and Microsoft as two tech companies making big news this week, with a more belligerent connection.

VLC can play almost any type of media file you can throw at it—video, audio, streaming, even recording. It is a cross-platform application, and even proprietary filetypes such as Real, Quicktime, or Windows Media pose no problem at all. It can play DVDs from any region of the world, without having to use up one of the five times you are allowed to switch the region of the DVD Player application.

The newly official release of VLC 1.0 brings with it many new and updated features from the program’s past. There is increased support for skins. The display can be made to look like pretty much anything you can dream of, and there are many skins already uploaded at the VLC site to peruse and download. If you want it to look like Quicktime, or Winamp, or even the computer screens from Star Trek, you can. This allows the program to suitably fit with whatever your desktop background or system set-up happens to be at the time.

The new version also allows you to customize the interface on a more basic level. If there is a button you need, you can add it. If you never use rewind, you can take it out of the controller. The goal of the application is to be a perfect tool for you, the viewer, and it does everything it can to be one.

VLC 1.0 also has sophisticated recording technology, both from internal sources as well as the external microphone and camera built in to most Macs. It also improves upon playback, with better control of fast-forward and rewind, instant pausing, and new compatibility with HD formats, other applications’ playlists, streaming audio, and so on.

VLC can be downloaded for free from its website. Try it out. You may never go back to Quicktime.

There was something magical about it.  The small of the vinyl and cardboard.  Grabbing a record by the edges so as not to scratch it.  Dropping the needle.  And of course, picking up a 45 in anticipation of an albums release.  Now Apple wants to recreate this experience with Digital 45’s, virtual reproductions of classic singles on the iTunes Store.

At a glance, this whole thing might sound like a marketing ploy to simply bundle songs together at a discounted price, and should they begin to clutter the Digital 45 Store with new albums together it would be an easy argument to make.  As it stands now though, the Digital 45 Store is offering up reproductions of actual 45’s, complete with the original sleeve art and matching B-side.

In the cases where sleeve art isn’t available, they’ve opted to show the label art from the center of the disc on a vinyl background.  It’s a great look, one that some will actually prefer to the sleeve art.  For those who missed the heydey of 45’s and later, CD singles, the real highlight to these releases always lay in the B-side, which usually featured a song not available on the album.  Adding B-sides to the iTunes catalogue should seriously satisfy the needs of music fans who think they’ve heard everything from their favorite artists.

Click here to check out everything that is currently offered on the Digital 45 Store.

Earlier this morning at the Developer Conference in Brighton, Chillingo (one of the iPhone’s leading game publishers) announced their plans to create a social gaming network that would become “the de-facto social gaming standard for iPhone and iPod touch” according to Chillingo director Chris Byatte.

PocketGamer.biz reports that the network will be released under the moniker Crystal and is set to feature friends lists, achievements, and the ability to issue direct challenges to other gamers on the network. Equal parts Facebook and Xbox Live, Crystal is intended to offer up a way for iPhone gamers to stay in touch while deepening the gaming experience by offering new goals and challenges that place you in direct competition with your friends.

Like many product announcements, this morning’s unveiling raised more questions than answers.  Will the network only be available for titles published by Chillingo, or will the social platform be available as a sort of middleware that any publisher can license?  Can games that predate Crystal be patched to include it, or would they need to be rebuilt from the ground up?  Will Apple adopt this as “the de facto social gaming standard,” or will this launch a dozen imitators all fighting for the crown?

Chillingo isn’t the first company to attempt to craft a social gaming experience on the iPhone.  Competitor ngmoco launched their Plus+ network last month as a means for gamers to issue challenges, track friends and earn awards — exactly like Chillingo is planning to do.  It’s hard to gauge how well Plus+ will perform as it’s barely out of the gate, however early reviews from Star Defense players (the only game supported by the service so far) have been mostly positive.

Competition isn’t the only issue Crystal faces.  In its currently announced form, the networking platform does nothing to overcome social gaming’s greatest obstacle on the iPhone: a lack of online multiplayer.  Until Apple somehow makes it easier for online-enabled games to be developed with multiplayer in mind, social gaming on the iPhone is never going to attain the level of success that it has the potential to achieve.

There’s no word on a release date as of yet, but Chillingo has committed to keeping the service free for gamers and intends to integrate other major social networks like Twitter and Facebook.  There’s a lot of potential here.  We’ll just have to wait and see what, if anything, Crystal can offer that Plus+ can’t.

Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography. The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store.

But while Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr may have taken this stance in a comment made to CNN.com’s Wes Finley-Price, there are still questions that remain unanswered.  Why does the iPhone Developer Program allow developers to make changes directly from the server in the first place?  Shouldn’t there be a system in place that restricts any changes to an app without a formal Apple approved update?  And if Apple “will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography,” then why do they issue a rating that includes the warning “Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity”?  What are they expecting?  Tasteful, non-pornagraphic frequent and intense nudity?  Outside of a breast-cancer self-exam or a medical app, I can’t imagine  an app with frequent nudity.  And I certainly wouldn’t expect an app like that to have a 17+ rating, would you?

Apple doesn’t want to be seen as condoning pornography, and that’s understandable.  But pornography is about intent.  Covered breasts or not, Hottest Girls was approved by Apple.  If that’s the sort of content that does get approved, I can’t see why they’d have an issue with a parental-controlled version of the exact same software showing off a little bit of the boob.

Columns Deluxe, normally $1.99, offers up a tremendous value even at its regular price.  Not only does it include the classic jewel-dropping puzzle game that SEGA dreamed up to compete with Tetris back in the Genesis days, but it also includes a version of Puyo Pop built right into the same app!  While the name Puyo Pop might not be too familiar in the ears of western gamers, they’ll likely be very familiar with the formula.  Back in the day it was brought home on 16-bit machines as Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine and Kirby’s Avalanche.  Matching like-colored blobs is simple, but incredibly addicting.  And like any good puzzle game, it never really gets old.

Some might find it strange to receive a gift on such a patriotic holiday from a company few would think of as domestic, but in all actuality SEGA has some very American roots.  Originally launched in 1940, Service Games (later shortened to SEGA) was an entrepreneurial venture by three Americans looking to provide coin-op amusements to US military personnel fighting the war in the Pacific.  So when you think about it, SEGA is a company with roots as red, white and blue as they come!

Click here to grab SEGA Columns Deluxe from the iTunes AppStore. Hurry though!  Sale ends Monday!

Toki Tori is the game that just won’t die. Surprisingly, we mean this is in a good way. If you haven’t played Toki Tori yet you should absolutely stop reading this and grab it for less than a buck right now. But if you already love Toki Tori? Read on!

Originally released for the GameBoy Color back in 2001, Toki Tori was a critical success but a commercial failure. Most developers would have taken their lumps and moved on to their next projects, but Two Tribes knew that they had a true gem on their hands and weren’t ready to let go.

After allowing for a 2003 port to Windows Mobile, the team at Two Tribes took a break from Toki Tori only to re-emerge last year with a gorgeous remake on Nintendo’s WiiWare service. But with the service itself not gaining any real traction, Two Tribes still hadn’t see the commercial success that their title deserved.

Then came Chillingo. The iPhone publisher has become one of the premiere names in iPhone gaming, and they saw the potential Toki Tori had to offer. Porting the WiiWare remake to the iPhone, Chillingo has released the penultimate version of the puzzle platformer. Now that version is on sale for 99 cents. That’s 80% off the regular $4.99.

Toki Tori is the tale of a lonely bird trying to rescue all of his friends without being killed in the process. Lead Toki Tori safely past obstacles and solve environment-based puzzles to help him reach his objectives! Fans of games like Professor Fizzwizzle or Eets will find a lot to love here.  Having played both the GBC and WiiWare versions, I can easily say that the iPhone edition of Toki Tori is second to none.  Controls-wise the game has never felt more comfortable, and it looks downright mindblowing for a portable game.

No word on how long the sale is on for, but at this price picking it up is a no-brainer.  Click here to visit Toki Tori on the App Store.

Released this past December, Rolando’s iPhone tilting action and adorable personality quickly made it one of the platform’s must-own games.  Consistent critical acclaim and sales success had cemented it as one of the true cornerstones of the iTunes AppStore.  Taking that into consideration, it’s an absolute mystery why developer ngmoco has announced that Rolando is being removed from the AppStore this Wednesday, July 1st.

The pulling of this title from the AppStore, as well as it’s Lite counterpart, was a decision made to “make room for Rolando 2″ according to ngmoco representative mjmmoco.  In an announcement made on the TouchArcade forums, mjmmoco announced that both the regular and Lite versions of Rolando would be removed at the time of Rolando 2’s release.  I can’t even begin to understand why a decision like this would be made.

From a marketing standpoint, wouldn’t those checking out the franchise for the first time with Rolando 2 be inclined to go back and revisit the first Rolando, thereby driving ngmoco’s overall sales?  And if this decision wasn’t made by ngmoco but rather Apple, why would Apple want to remove one of the top selling games from their AppStore?  The game has been available for more than 6 months and still charts in the top 100 paid games in the App Store.

This whole situation reeks of confusion and poor decision making.  Regardless, if you were thinking about picking up the original Rolando, you’d better get rolling.  Unless this is all just a big marketing stunt to make a big fuss when they bring it back “due to popular demand.”  Existing Rolando fans can enjoy the new title Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid this Wednesday.

The long awaited update to the iPhone OS is coming tomorrow, June 17th, and it looks as though Apple is very much prepared.

Find My iPhone, a feature allowing you to find your iPhone via MobileMe if you were to lose it, has been available online for developers who are already running OS 3.0 since the announcement, last week.

But just a few moments ago, I noticed something in the App Store which I’m pretty sure wasn’t there before. Apple is now listing “iPhone OS 3.0 Tested” next to the version number of what seems to be all new applications. This message also appears next to all updates as well, further proving that Apple is making sure most of the applications available to consumers will work on the new OS.

Be sure to check back later this week for further coverage on iPhone OS 3.0 and the iPhone 3GS.

The full apps list is as follows (links are to our reviews):

TechTool Pro 5
Parallels Desktop 4
Circus Ponies NoteBook 3
NetBarrier X5
DVDRemaster Pro 5
Multiplex
RipIt
MoneyWell
Paperless
Posterino
BetterZip

If you want to buy the bundle, you have until Midnight EST tonight to buy it!

Disclosure: The links to the bundle are our affiliate links

If you don’t have a remote, Hulu Desktop also allows control via keyboard and mouse. Another great feature is the ability to link it into your Hulu account, allowing you to access your que, subscriptions, and viewing history as well as change settings such as closed captioning and video quality.

Unfortunately the app requires an Intel Core Duo processor (at least 2.0 GHz), at least 2 GB RAM, and at least a 2 Mbps internet connection, so this leaves out some Mac users. During the beta period, Hulu plans to “plan to gather and incorporate user feedback to improve the service.” I think this desktop app is a great step forward for Hulu and with their willingness to incorporate user feedback, this app has a lot of potential. Hulu Desktop can be found on the Hulu Labs website. Look for a review soon!

This brings prices on apps like Transmit from $30 to $15 and Coda down from $100 to $50. Again, this is a fairly big deal. What’s also cool is that by participating in the sale, you also knock down the prices for future major (paid) upgrades to these apps, which is something we haven’t really seen before with these promos. Panic notes that “too busy building new things for later this year to notice how crazy this is.” I think we’re all pretty thankful for that in more ways than one. You can get in on the action by visiting https://www.panic.com/sale/.

Beats includes a BPM (beats per minute) calculator, in which you simply press a big button to the beat of a song and Beats will return the BPM of what you were tapping. Also included is an advanced metronome which acts like some of the more expensive. The last and most innovative feature is a key mixing aid that will help you find keys that harmonically match with the record, this can be real helpful if your into producing “mashups” of various songs.

This app is in no way targeted to the average consumer but a fairly large niche, much like one of their other apps Darkness (which I reviewed late last week). But unlike Darkness, I feel as though Beats features would easily make this application worthy of the download, if you are in the music industry.

Also, if you are into the whole UI design process or just like things that look cool, Bjango mentioned on their twitter account that they, “saved a picture of the Beats UI every 5-10mins while it [Beats] was being designed”. So I would keep my eyes peeled on the Bjango web site and/or twitter account for a nifty time-lapse.

Beats is available now on the iTunes Store for $1.99.

UPDATE: The video is now available.

Toki Tori takes you through a young chick’s adventures in trying to rescue his siblings. It is both a platformer and a puzzler. You are given a limited number of tools to complete each level, and it can take a while to plan out what you should do. There are four words in the whole game, adding up to 80 levels, but there are also hard levels in each world that you can play once you have beaten the level. Having played this for a bit of time, it is pretty challenging, but yet still fun.

The sound effects and music are great. And the graphics and animations are stunning. It is an extremely polished game, of which we don’t see very many of these days in the App Store. Anyone looking for a new puzzler should try out Toki Tori for $4.99.

Feeder 2.0’s new features/improvements include: A new User Interface, easier accessible templates, easier editing with syntax highlighting, new portrait previews, easier posting to Weblogs, automatic announcements on Twitter and Facebook, Amazon S3 uploading (it seems this is a new feature in many 2.0 upgrades these days), a new share panel that explains how to add your feed where you want it, iTunes U support, live validation, and many more new features and improvements all around. The full release notes can be found here.

Feeder costs $39 and you can upgrade from version 1.x for $14.95. You can also (still) get it an a bundle with Übercaster over at the Übercaster Store for only $95. Version 2.0 looks like a great update with many exciting new features – look for a full review of it from us soon.

The biggest and best new feature has to be Amazon S3 support. If you don’t know what that is, it is a service from Amazon that allows you to host files. You can now easily add an S3 account to your accounts list, and connect to it like it is a USB or FireWire drive. But, this means much more than just that. Most people buy hosting for a website or web service. But, one of the points of Amazon S3 is offsite backup. So, when your S3 is treated like a regular hard drive, this makes things so much easier. ExpanDrive even includes a contextual menu in the Finder for changing permissions on files.

The next biggest feature – or upgrade – is the engine itself. It has been completely rewritten for this 2.0 upgrade, and you should notice a nice speed boost. You should also notice faster browsing. Of course, nothing can make up for a bad host, a bad server or a bad Internet connection, but ExpanDrive uses more of what’s there now. ExpanDrive can now detect edits that have been made on the server too, as a part of this new engine. This feature is still experimental though.

There are two other features that are also very notable. The first one is that FTP/FTPS (not to be mistaken with SFTP) has come out of BETA. When version 1.3 came out, they introduced FTP/FTPS as a BETA feature, but it is no longer that. The second one is actually two. First, they’ve updated the GUI to make it more Mac-like. There is now an eject button on each connected server in the list too. The second part is the customization of drive icons. If you drop an image into “~/Library/Application Support/ExpanDrive”, it will appear in a list of icons that you can choose from when creating a new drive. ExpanDrive also has 5 icons built-in.

ExpanDrive retails for $39.95 and you can upgrade from version 1 for $19.95. It is a nice upgrade, but still may seem to expensive to some. There is still one thing I would like to see in it though, AFP support.

The fine folks over at TouchArcade were recently tipped off to the existence of a YouTube video claiming that a very dedicated coder has found a way to get World of Warcraft running on the iPhone.  It may sound like an elaborate hoax (and for all we know, it is) but does that mean it’s impossible?

If you check out the video you’ll see that they’re actually booting the game from Vollee.  VolleeX is an engine designed to allow PC games to be streamed to the iPhone, not unlike how certain PlayStation 3 games can be streamed to a PlayStation Portable.  So it’s entirely feasible that the game could be booted with the aid of the Vollee client.  But even if it was as simple as that, the video shows a layout for World of Warcraft that is uniquely adapted for the iPhone.  That would mean that someone would have had to invest the time and money into getting everything just right.  What kind of hacker would have the resources to tackle that?

Vollee would.

As it turns out Vollee has a partnership with Activision-Blizzard, World of Warcraft’s parent company.  It’s entirely feasible that this could just be an early teaser that’s surfacing in the form of a “leak” from the developer.  Fake leaks are a big part of viral marketing.   They’re a great way to get people talking.  Clearly, it’s working — the Vollee website has been knocked offline (one would assume due to traffic) all afternoon.

And Vollee has never said they weren’t working on a mobile version of World of Warcraft, either.  In an interview with PocketGamer.co.uk back in May 2008, they were asked flat out if they might be able to bring World of Warcraft to the iPhone.  Here’s what they had to say;

We can bring all MMOs and virtual worlds to mobile. We’ve been approaching the major developers and publishers with the idea of enabling all of them to benefit from VolleeX… The possibilities are limitless.

That’s not to say that Vollee is necessarily responsible for the footage online, or to even say that this isn’t just an elaborate hoax.  But when you weigh all the facts, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to find out this was just an early look at what might one day become the official iPhone app for streaming World of Warcraft.  For all we know, they’re just testing the water.

Seeing WoW on the iPhone may seem like a crazy concept at first, but the more I think about it the more it makes sense.  It’s the most popular game on the planet right now.  People have no mobile way to access their characters(save for a wireless laptop).  Vollee is working on technology to do things just like this.  And most of all, rumors of the Premium Games Store haven’t gone away.  If Apple is looking for the perfect app to launch a store with games at a $19.99 price point, i couldn’t think of a better way to guarantee that success than with Warcraft.

The Iconfactory has recently released a teaser at their Twitterrific website showing us a preview of the next version of Twitterific for the iPhone.  Twitterrific was one of the original mac twitter applications out there, but really hasn’t been as full featured as a couple other competitors out there such as Tweetie.

From what we can tell, Tweeting will be completely different with a full pane dedicated towards submitting tweets in normal, @reply, and direct message form, as well as a new profile view displaying more information and quick access to tweet the currently viewed person.  It looks as if Twitterrific for the iPhone is getting a complete interface-lift.

Rumors from various sources have pinpointed the release date to a possible April 30th!  Check out the preview page at http://twitterrific.com/.