Crackulous: Bust the iPhone app Protection!
Crackulous — available now in beta form through Cydia — claims to be able to strip the protection off most apps downloaded from the App Store, meaning that just a single user needs to take the plunge and buy a target app once to get it busted and into free circulation. You need a jailbroken iPhone to get Crackulous loaded, naturally — you’ll see Apple make a Windows Mobile-powered device before you’ll see Crackulous in the App Store — but seeing how PwnageTool is dead simple to use, this puts most users just a couple graphical tools away from foolproof piracy and the golden opportunity to take a few hard-earned bucks out of a programmer’s pocket.
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$999.99 MyCentrl App: "I Am Rich" Copy?
Remember that $999.99 “I Am Rich” app. which did nothing but show a glowing jewel? Well at least this LOOKS like if it does something.. with allows you to connect and chat to other Rich people who brought the app? There’s no other application description. which clearly shows that the developer, “Unype Inc.“, wants your curiosity to get the better of you and download it.
Josh’s Verdict: DON’T enable One Click Checkout, like that guy who brought “I Am Rich” by accident. By all means, I included the iTunes link below in case you have a real urge to download it. Have fun 
App Shopper iTunes App Store Link
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How to: Enable Emoji on your iPhone!
1. Enter the App Store, purchase and install application 老地方冰果室 ($0.99). Search for FrostyPlace to find this application in the App Store.
Note: This application is a Trad. Chinese language RSS reader for Taiwanese Macintosh news website www.frostyplace.com.
2. Once installed, launch FrostyPlace, tap the speech bubble icon, and then tap a random post.
3. Return to the Home Screen by pressing the Home Button, then tap Settings > General > Keyboard > Japanese
4. You’ll notice the Emoji keyboard is now available, switch this On.
Note: If the Emoji keyboard is still not available, return to the FrostyPlace application and tap on another post.
5. Compose a new SMS or email. Tap the globe symbol on the keyboard to access the Emoji keyboard.
Enjoy Emoji.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How do I access Emoji?
Emoji is implemented as an additional keyboard the same way as international keyboards. Tab the globe icon on your iPhone keyboard to switch between your regular keyboard and Emoji keyboard. The Emoji keyboard is divided into categories, swipe left or right to view the additional icons. Tap on an icon to insert it into your message.
Does the recipient of my messages containing Emoji need to do anything in order to see them?
No, the recipient of your message will be able to view your Emoji without performing these steps, provided they have an iPhone with software 2.1 or later.
How does this work?
There appears to be a bug (?) in iPhone OS 2.2 triggered by the application mentioned in this article that allows the Emoji keyboard to be switched on without being on a supported Japanese carrier. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Will other mobile phones be able to see the Emoji characters?
No. They will see squares or other character in place of the Emoji.
Can I use Emoji in email?
Yes. The recipient must view the email on an iPhone to see the Emoji.
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Rejected "Podcaster" App allowed in the App Store under a different name
Podcaster, now “RSSPlayer” has finally made in into the App Store after a string of rejections from Apple for violating its “duplication of functionality” policy.
Apple’s suddenly cool with the revised app, giving it two thumbs-up on the way to the App Store, but it’s not clear if the directory functionality was the problem, there’s a policy change in play here, or the name change simply fooled the App Store admins into giving the green light. At any rate, in case you’re wondering why you’d shell out $1.99 for the pleasure of this “duplication of functionality,” RSS Player will let you blow by iTunes’ 10MB limit — and, of course, you can download any feed you like. iTunes Link
Josh’s Verdict: Podcaster, opps, I meant RSSPlayer is here to stay. Remember the web browsers allowed ?
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App Store Hits 15,000 Apps, 500 Million Downloads
\Apple last reported on December 5th, 2008 that they had surpassed 10,000 available applications and 300 million downloads, and the latest numbers demonstrate a significant acceleration in downloads when compared to previous milestone announcements.
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Apple allowing Web Browsers into App Store!
Over the past 24 hours, Apple has begun to approve 3rd party web browsing applications for the iPhone. A number of new web browsing apps have suddenly appeared with original submission dates ranging as far back as October.
While Apple has made no official acknowledgements, it appears these applications were likely in a special queue awaiting for approval. We had seen a similar “group” delays with other categories of apps. The most notable example involved flatulence applications such as Pull My Finger and iFart Mobile. Once Apple decided to allow the category within the App Store, a backlog of apps quickly appeared.
Web browsing applications were previously charged with “duplicating functionality” of other iPhone apps and was felt to be the reason why Opera would never be approved by Apple.
A partial list of these new applications include:
- Edge Browser (Free) – No loss of screen real estate to the address or navigation bars.
- Incognito ($1.99) – Now you can browse without leaving a history of any kind.
- WebMate:Tabbed Browser ($0.99) – Web Mate simplifies browsing by queuing up all the links you click on, then allowing you to view them one by one when you’re ready.
- Shaking Web ($1.99) – adds a sophisticated algorithm to compensate for small hand shaking to allow for easier reading.
This could open the door for mobile versions of prominent web browsers such as Opera and Firefox, though there remain other SDK restrictions that could prevent full-featured versions of those browsers from appearing. Still, Apple appears to be loosening some early restrictions they had applied to the App Store approval process.
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Tag: Microsoft’s SECOND iPhone app
At CES, Microsoft has introduced its second iPhone app after dipping its toe with the release of Seadragon Mobile last month. The name of the application is Microsoft Tag, and it enables users to instantly access mobile content, videos, music, contact information, maps, social networks, promotions, etc. simply by pointing the device’s camera to a custom tag.
If this makes you think about the principle behind QR codes, you’re not the only one. Like QR codes, Microsoft Tags are unique two-dimensial codes that can be used to open URLs or multimedia files. The big difference is the tech behind it: Microsoft Tag is based on a whole new technology developed in-house by Microsoft Research called High Capacity Color Barcodes (HCCBs), and offers a significant twist.
Microsoft Tags are smaller than QR codes and uses triangle shapes and colors to store data instead of square pixels. Actually, Microsoft Tags doesn’t actually store any information, except for a unique ID which can fetch more data stored on Microsoft servers. This allows way more information to be attached to tags than with QR codes.
Microsoft Tags are available for the iPhone as well as Windows Mobile, J2ME, Blackberry, and Symbian S60 phones. The application can be accessed by visiting Gettag.mobi using your mobile phone browser.
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Google Easter Egg: Google Chrome on iPhone?
Uh, oh. You remember that Google Easter Egg we mentioned earlier? The one that allows you to browse within the app. Well, we got to, you know – thinking (for once) about this little browsing within the Google Mobile App thing. Guess what. You aren’t using Mobile Safari – as far as we (an broswer detection pages we checked) can tell. Does Google have their own WebKit based browser built into the Google Mobile App?
Or might Google be using Safari’s Webkit engine and throwing off the browser detection scripts. We’re sure someone out there is smart enough to help out.
Mobile Safari on the left vs. Google‘s iPhone browser on the right. The browser detection plugin sees different versions of Safari for each browser. Theoretically, they should be giving the same browser versions if Google‘s Mobile App is using Mobile Safari to render pages.
Google‘s Browser also has navigation buttons and the ability to open in new windows (see bottom). So what does this mean? It kinda breaks the ol’ rules of the App store as far as we can tell.
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