Posts tagged Web Apps
Google updates Finance web app, adds Google Voice calls to Gmail
Aug 25th
Google has a nifty update ready for users of their Finance web app, and while it won’t work on iOS (of course), we’re sure many in the US will appreciate the new Google Voice integration with Gmail as well. Here’s the low down on Google Finance Mobile:
We heard your feedback and are please to announce we’ve launched the new Android/iPhone edition of Google Finance for mobile! The markets don’t stop when you leave your desk, so we’re bringing the markets to you. Our new design gives you a unified experience across desktop and Android or iPhone phones, offering nearly all the same features and functionality on both. You can easily access the new site when you do a Google search for stock tickers or company names on your mobile device, or when you tap the “Finance” tab on the Google mobile homepage.
For more on the new Google Voice in Gmail, we refer you to the video… after the break.
[Google Finance, Gmail, via Android Central]
Google updates Finance web app, adds Google Voice calls to Gmail is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Google stacks Gmail for iPad
Aug 19th
Google continues to rapidly reincarnate their iPad Gmail web app, this time introducing Apple Mail-style stacks into the mix. Back when the iPad optimized version of Gmail was launched, Google emphasized their new code base would allow for just this kind of fast feature development, and now hot on the heels of the new compose screen, stacks will allow for easier grouping and organizing of mail. They also gave Google’s team a chance to play with CSS transitions to try and get closer in look and feel to native apps.
Our question is — how many of you are using Gmail via the web browser on iPad rather than via GoogleSync or IMAP in the native mail app? Are the extra features like labels and star worth the lack of notification and native performance?
[Google, Mobile Blog thanks trevor!]
Google stacks Gmail for iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
OpenAppMkt provides “App Store” for HTML5 apps
Jul 31st
OpenAppMkt aims to be an App Store for HTML5 web apps. Apple considers HTML5 web apps to be the second major iOS platform, and the unregulated one where you can find everything from Google Voice to porn. OpenAppMkt lists them, features them, and includes ratings. Well, except for porn; they don’t include that. Google’s Voice web app currently has 4 stars though.
HTML5 apps can apps initially open in Safari but with a tap of the + button and a Add to Home Screen, they can cache locally and work, more or less, like native apps. They don’t perform quite as well and can’t do quite as much — yet — but they work surprisingly well for an ever increasing ranges of things.
Unlike Apple’s web app gallery, there’s even an iPhone version of OpenAppMkt you can add to your home screen. If you give it a try, let us know what you think.
[OpenAppMkt via Daring Fireball]
OpenAppMkt provides “App Store” for HTML5 apps is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
MobileMe Calendar Beta upgrades being offered via iCal
Jul 21st
I just launched iCal (by accident!) and was greeted with the dialog box above, asking if I’d like to upgrade to the new MobileMe Calendar beta. Um. Okay. I went through the upgrade, which launched Safari and had me log into my MobileMe account, only to get a server error and a request to try again. Second time was the charm, though, and all my events were updated and I now have the shiny new — clearly iPad-inspired — MobileMe Calendar Beta at my beck and call.
For the MobileMe Mail Beta, I requested an invitation and received an email confirmation, so this was different. Anyone else getting “invited” into the MobileMe calendar beta this way?
Update: I received an email notification for the beta a few minutes later with instructions to log into MobileMe on the web to begin the upgrade procedure. I guess iCal was just a second upgrade vector. Still, a nice surprise.
More screenshots after the break.
MobileMe Calendar Beta upgrades being offered via iCal is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Gmail web app goes iPad optimized!
Apr 2nd
Google continues to lead the pack when it comes to web apps, so we’re not surprised to see them announce an experimental Gmail site up and optimized in time for the iPad release.
We’re releasing an experimental user interface for the iPad built on the Gmail for mobile HTML5 web app that we launched last year for the iPhone and Android devices. Those devices have large screens compared to other phones, and tablets like the iPad give us even more room to innovate. To take advantage of the iPad’s large display, we’ve created a two-pane view with your list of conversations on the left and messages to the right.
Some other Google web apps will present iPad-optimized versions, while a few will retain their desktop look. Google fired up their iPhone 3.2 SDK for iPad simulator, checked things out, and decided what worked best.
When you get your iPad give it a shot and let us know how they did!
Gmail web app goes iPad optimized! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Netflix, ABC, CBS, and maybe even Hulu coming to iPad!
Apr 1st
In that stream of 700 iPad apps revealed last night, Engadget noticed a few gems including Netflix and ABC, and with CBS doing the HTML5-video thing and Hulu once again being rumored, could content consumption nirvana finally be near?
Netflix is said to be a free app that will be ready by the April 3 iPad launch. You’ll be able to browse and manage your queue and stream movies and TV shows right to your iPad. No word on weather its Wi-Fi-only or 3G as well, and no word on whether an iPhone and iPod touch version is coming (ahem!)
ABC’s player is also said to be free but Wi-Fi bound. You’ll still get your Lost and Grey’s Anatomy fix direct from the network, however. Whether it will make into the iPad App Store by launch day is unknown, as is their monetization method (i.e. will there be commercials?)
CBS, according to the Wall Street Journal, is sticking with their web-based strategy of streaming HTML5 video through Mobile Safari and not making a dedicated app. Hey, maybe that at least will give iPhone and iPod touch owners equal access?
Hulu, which carries the last two remaining networks, NBC and FOX is still unclear but the New York Times once again gets our hopes up. It’s not all rosy, however, as the network nuts behind the scenes reportedly aren’t happy with revenue and want something like subscriptions bolted one. They better get their act together and quickly or their old world thinking will condemn the bright boys and girls at Hulu to last place in the brave new mobile media world…
Netflix, ABC, CBS, and maybe even Hulu coming to iPad! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
How Do You Stream Music on Your iPhone?
Mar 22nd
Outside storing music in the iPhone’s built in iPod app, there are a variety of ways to simply stream the audio you want to listen to:
- Streaming internet radio/subscription apps are the obvious place to start. Slacker [iTunes link], Pandora [iTunes link], Pocket Tunes [iTunes link], Spotify [iTunes link]… the list goes on an on. Some are limited to the US (or just slightly beyond the US) or Europe, but those who have them in their area often swear by them. Some of these also provide local storage so you can keep some of the songs on your device for those occasions when a Wi-Fi or 3G isn’t available.
- Musical games, spearheaded by Tap Tap Revenge [iTunes link] and Rock Band [iTunes link] have shown that users are just as willing — sometimes even more willing — to buy songs for sport as they are for simple enjoyment. With in-app purchases, some of these games have even become music stores unto themselves.
- Musical apps, where an artist or group wants to create something more than just a song file or even iTunes LP, have also become fairly common on the App Store. These can range significantly in content and presentation, but they can and do bring the music.
- Storage apps, like MobileMe iDisk, Box.net, DropBox, etc. can give you access to the music you keep on the cloud. Just like they can view your documents and other files, they can typically play any supported audio format you’ve loaded them up with.
- Mobile Safari, the iPhone and iPod touch (and soon, iPad) web browser can play any music format Apple supports. Just tap on a link and the Quicktime player pops up, buffers, and plays your audio. This includes audio you’ve stored on your own web-enabled server setups. And it’s one of the few apps that’s allowed to keep playing in the background — when it doesn’t run out of RAM or lose connection or otherwise glitch-out.
- iTunes app, while it will only give you 30 seconds of music for sampling, will stream full-length podcasts if you tap on the title instead of the download button. If you prefer talking and creative commons to the latest premium hits, it’s a surprisingly useful option. And it will play in the background just like Safari (and potentially fail, just like Safari).
We’re all hoping iPhone 4.0 addresses that pesky “no streaming internet music while using other apps” multitasking miss we’ve suffered through lo these last 3 years, but in the meantime — what are you using to stream your music on your iPhone? Any tips and or tricks you can share?
How Do You Stream Music on Your iPhone? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
