Category Archive 'Downloads'
09.01.08

iPhone: Name that tune

- Audio, Downloads, Apps, Free Stuff, iPhone -

We all know the feeling. Hearing that great song on the radio that you’d give up your Mac to remember the artist and title. Or come across this great new song playing in someone’s car or in the mall that you’d give up your iPod to know the name of. Well, these days all you’d really need is your iPhone, a wifi connection and Listen.

TUAW’s Erica Sadun, lead purveyor of free crazysexycool apps and utilities for the iPhone has come up with with another winner.

Imagine you hear that mysterious song somewhere with wifi, and you happen to have your iPhone. Fire up Erica’s Listen, put your iPhone near the audio, wait a few seconds, and you get the artist, title and album the song came from, right on the multi-touch screen. Sounds too good to be true.

Listen samples five seconds of audio, then goes online to consult a database, matches the sample to the music and spits back the song info. Is that crazysexycool or what?

I used it in the office today, and people went oooh and ahhh. Granted, it doesn’t catch everything. It caught maybe three out of every five (it’s still a beta, after all), but sample a reasonably popular song and it’d get it every time. And it’s not really a new idea - there are cellphones with this sort of feature out already for a while now. But hey, who cares? This one’s sure to make it into the Doodler’s Top 10 Favorites for 2008.

The Listen beta is available for your iPhone via Installer beginning today.

24.12.07

Security Update 2007-009 - once more, with feeling

- Downloads, Operating System, Apple Inc., Updates & Patches -

I did a double take yesterday when Software Update pulled up Security Update 2007-009 for me to install on my desktop Mac in the house.

Huh? Didn’t I do this already last week? But I figured, doodling around regularly with different Macs at home and in the office, I must’ve forgotten to update this particular one. Not likely, but possible given the current state of my memory. So ran it, and it installed.

But still, it bugged me so I checked around.

Apparently, I wasn’t paying attention again. It was Security Update 2007-009, but to be more precise, it was Security Update 2007-009 Version 1.1. Huh?

It looks like the first one, but Apple still hasn’t said why it was compelled to release this second version one week after it released the first.

V1.1 has new versions of Core Foundation, CUPS, Flash Player Plug-in, Launch Services, perl, python, Quick Look, ruby, Safari, Samba, Shockwave Plug-in and Spin Tracer. But if it was significantly different, why not just call it Security Update 2007-010? What was wrong with 009?

I started looking around for entries in the Support pages of Apple for info on the first release of the update, and all I got was a slew of Page Not Founds. Seems they took everything about V1.0 down. Hmm. My spidey-sense is tingling vaguely.

Could be nothing of course, but let’s wait for more news to surface.

23.12.07

Playstation emulator for iPhone released

- Games, Downloads, Apps, Free Stuff, iPhone -

The Playstation emulator circulating in beta has officially been released at Version 0.1.0.

The emulator, psx4iPhone, of course needs PSX ROM files, like the other emulators out for Apple’s phone, and you’re on your own trying to find some. It looks a lot like the GameBoy Advanced emulator, and has roughly the same features, like game saves, etc. And like the others, it’s still a bit clunky, with poor audio and herky-jerky video, but it’s a great start.

You can download it from the Home of Homebrew ZodTTD and manually install it, but as of today, it’s been available via Installer. Load your ROMs in Media/ROMs/PSX.

16.11.07

Freebies for iChat and PhotoBooth

- Downloads, Apps, Free Stuff, Diversions -

Get a batch of two dozen new effects for iChat4 and Photobooth for free by going to the Apple Download page.

More iChat Effects 1.0.1 includes the hologram effect and the ability to turn yourself into all sorts of flora and fauna, and more. It’s a 10.6MB download and requires Leopard and an Intel Mac.

Just head on to this page for the freebie.

14.11.07

GBA Emulator for the iPhone and iPod Touch!

- Games, Downloads, Apps, Free Stuff, iPods, iPhone, Diversions -

If you’re anything like me, you’d likely have a number of old portable/handheld game consoles molding in some drawer somewhere, along with stacks of game cartridges and cards. I have several Game&Watch antiques somewhere, along with a couple of Gameboys and a Nintendo DS and more.

Third-party app developers have been steadily churning out webapps and little emulators for all modern consoles and platforms so we can go back in time and play the stuff that used to get us in trouble with the folks because we’d spend hours playing and not doing the school/housework we were supposed to. The iPhone is no exception.

You jailbreakers have probably been playing the emulated NES games on your iPhones. I got a bunch of ROMs in mine: Contra, Galaga, Arkanoid, DigDug, Karateka, Lode Runner and more. They’re kinda herky-jerky and the controls are a bit erratic, but they still are as fun to play as they day they first came out.

Well, it’s time to rejoice - some folk have released a GBA emulator called gpSPhone for the iPhone/iPod Touch!

It used to be a pain to install, but as of yesterday it’s been included in Installer, which automates and simplifies the process. It’s just a matter of locating the ROMs and you’re good to go. Granted, it’s wonky and erratic too, and a lot of ROMs don’t work with it yet. I tried installing Tekken, GT Racing and Mortal Kombat and they all don’t work yet, but there are regular updates, and eventually they’ll get it up and humming soon.

The sound doesn’t work too well as of the moment, and it doesn’t go into landscape mode when you turn the iPhone on its side like the NES emulator does, but at least the control buttons are big and easy to hit, which is a failing of the NES emulator. Additionally, the GBA ROMs are big suckers; be prepared to be selective.

It’s a nice diversion when you’ve listened to everything in your limited music and video library, and a great conversation piece.

Find out more about the GBA Emulator gpSPhone here.

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Mac-A-Doodle, Hinge Inquirer Publications group editor in chief Adel Gabot's Mac blog for INQUIRER.net. Manila-based INQUIRER.net is the online home of the Philippine Daily Inquirer Group of Publications.
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