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680 News now availabe on the iPhone: Does it get any better?

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Just last week one of Toronto’s top News Radio station, 680 News, became available for the iPhone. Although it was already available for the Blackberry, iPhone users like myself were wondering when the iPhone version would be release and how it would meet our expectations. I will review the application below and hopefully if you are a fan you will give it try.

News:
Obviously being a news application, there is a section that has the latest news. The great thing about it is that the news is local. If you are like me and you like to know what is happening in your city in short burst, 680 News articles are just right for you. They are short articles that seam quite relevant to people living in Toronto. The section in the application is done quite well, with an indicator that shows whether you have read the article or not. There is an ad at the bottom of the articles that is not overly obtrusive and seems to work. There is a feature in the app preference that allows you to select the age of your news. So if you don’t ever want to see news older than one day you can have that setting programmed. All in all, it is pretty easy to navigate and get your news.

Weather:
The weather section is quite simple. It is just one screen with a five date forecast. It shows the high and the low. Only problem is that you can only get weather for Toronto. If you live a bit outside, you do not have the option to get your weather.

Traffic:
The traffic section is fun to use. It has the MTO camera shots throughout the city and you can bookmark your favourite cameras that fall within your route. It is nice to use before you leave for your drive to work or home.

Live Audio Stream:
Although the rest of the application is quite good, the live stream is really the best part. You can listen to 680 live anytime on your iPhone. I always have the problem where I only listen to news or traffic when I get in the car. This application lets me listen from anywhere and get a quick update when and where I need. Truly a useful feature

Availability:
The biggest downfall about the application is its availability. It is only available to Rogers and Fido users so if you want to listen to 680 on your Bell or Telus iPhone you wont be able to do that. Hopefully there will be plans to open this up to everyone all 680 News listeners.

Posted on January 31st 2010 in Mobile Apps, iPhone | No Comments »

iPhone App helped save a life in Haiti Earthquake disaster

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An iPhone application helped save the life of an America filmmaker who was trapped after the earthquake that devastated Haiti about two weeks ago.  Dan Wooley was trapped beneath rubble for 3 days and his iPhone may have had a hand in his survival.   When the earthquake hit, Mr. Wooley was in his hotel and the earthquake left his leg fractured and his head profusely bleeding.

Having installed a medical application on this iPhone prior to the earthquake, Mr. Wooley was able to search for treatments for “compound fracture” and “profuse bleeding”.  He found recommendations on how to treat his injuries.

” So I used my shirt to tie my leg and a sock on the back of my head. And later used it for other things, like to diagnose shock,” Woolley told MSNBC in Miami after being pulled out alive by French rescuers.

The developers that created the application should give themselves a pat in the back.  After all, how often can we say that our application saved a lifer today.  Bravo developers, bravo iPhone and I guess Apple can now claim that there REALLY is an app out there for just about anything….even SURVIVAL.

Posted on January 25th 2010 in Apple, Mobile Apps, iPhone | No Comments »

There’s an app for that everywhere!

With the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) now passed, we saw yet another wave of new app store announcements.  Following in the footsteps of Apple, these app stores provide developers relatively easily to build and distribute apps while also giving them an opportunity to monetize on them.  To the end-user they are giving them an endless list of of applications and things to do on their devices.

It ’s great to see that with this wave of app-stores the focus was not just smartphones but much wider.  One which caught our attention was an announcement from Samsung:

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Samsung introduced Samsung Apps as the platform to download and use apps across all Samsung devices such as HDTVs, phones, blu-ray devices, cameras, printers etc.   So imagine using some of the apps that you’ve come to love on your iPhone directly on your HDTV while watching TV!

Although the concept of an internet-connected TV (or any of the above devices) is not new at all, empowering developers to build and distribute to these broad range of devices is truly innovative and I am sure we will see many interesting applications that will captivate end-users.

This is particularly interesting to us at Plastic as we will be able to help our clients expand their applications beyond mobile devices and truly everywhere the consumer is!

Check out the presentation at CES by Samsung:

Want to read more on Samsung Apps? Check these out:
Gizmodo Coverage
Engadget Coverage

Posted on January 11th 2010 in Announcement, Mobile Apps | No Comments »