Push notifications are used by applications to alert you of new information, even when the application isn’t running. Notifications differ depending upon the application, but may include text or sound alerts, and a numbered badge on the application’s icon on the Home screen.

You can turn notifications off if you don’t want to be notified or want to conserve battery life.

Push notification has been long awaited by iPhone and iPod touch users. Until the release of OS 3.0, Apple was unwilling to enable users to run applications in the background (or conversely, when the app has not been launched) because it said PNS would drain the devices’ batteries prematurely.

Now, apps can be always connected to an Apple server, enabling, for example, users to receive IMs without having the app opened on their iPhone or iPod touches..

Here’s a quick roundup of some of the new or updated apps capable of alerting you when you’ve received a text, IM, update or other message from developers.

BeejiveIM, from Beejive, is among the first of these apps to be available. BeejiveIM supports AIM/iChat/MobileMe, MSN/Windows Live, Yahoo!, MySpace, GoogleTalk, ICQ and Jabber, allowing users to access all of their IM clients from one user-friendly interface.

Pinger has released Textfree, which enables you to send an unlimited number of text messages to any U.S. mobile phone instead of via Simple Message Service, or SMS, for short. Sending texts over cellular networks is free, unlike sending texts via SMS, which typically run $0.05 apiece.

ngmoco updated its new Star Defense to enable players to expand their campaigns and compete with friends via Direct Challenges. In addition to Twitter, Facebook and email, players can send Direct Challenges via PNS to their friends over the Plus+ network, a free service for the iPhone gaming community.

Fans of Tapulous’s Tap Tap Revenge can now send challenges to friends via PNS.

NotifyMe (with Push) from PoweryBase has been getting good reviews since it debuted less than a month ago. It’s a to-do app capable of push reminders to pick up the milk, take care of business or anything else you might need to do by deadline.

You get PNS, but only if you want it. To turn all notifications on or off, go to Settings and tap Notifications. To turn notifications on or off for an app, tap Notifications and then select an app from the list and choose the types of notification you want to turn on or off.

© AppCraver, 2009. | Developers Rush to Update their Apps with Push Notification Services | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Need a fast way to find a new name for the big-money site you want to launch? Suppose a great name came to you while you were running errands and you couldn’t wait to check on its availability? There are several apps for that. Here’s a quick roundup of some domain-hunter/gatherer apps in the App Store. They all do at least one thing: Enable you to find hat names have been registered, or to put it another way, what names are available, by searching WHOIS, an official database of registered names.

WHOIS provides information such as the registrar company, date created, name and address of the registrant and more.

DomainTool, from Wei Tan, is as basic and spare-looking as one of these apps can be. It queries WHOIS servers to find out if a domain name is taken and delivers a raw  (basic) WHOIS record. You can to bookmark those that have been registered and email your list of bookmarks. $0.99.

Domain Scout, from SeeThoughtDone, scours WHOIS for available names and lets you know whether it’s available. You can read results in raw or in a nicely organized format. You can also bookmark your favorites and review a history of searches. Free.

DomainApp, from iWantMyName,  is search and registration tool for domain names, giving you access to more than 80 domain extensions directly from your iPhone or iPod touch. You can create custom search groups, multiple accounts (personal and business) and search international domain extensions. Set up an account and you’ll be able to start registering names. Free.

Instant Domain Check, from TAF Technology, checks for names with .com, .net and .org extensions. If the name is available, the app will take you to GoDaddy of NetworkSolutions, where you can buy and register it. You can also check instantly, meaning the app starts checking for available names as you type into the search bar. Free.

© AppCraver, 2009. | Domain Name Hunters and Gatherers | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Voice Memos — Apple’s iPhone development people probably figured adding voice memo recording in a native app in OS 3.0 would make the iPhone seem more corporate. That’s only a guess, but if I’m right, I suspect Voice Memos won’t be a big hit around the water cooler. I would take Griffin’s iTalk, QuickVoice PRO Recorder, Voxie Recorder or JMDictate-Professional Dictation ahead of Voice Memos.

Voice Memos is like a boring novel with a fancy cover (it’s good looking). You can record, playback, trim clips and share by email your voice recording. Oh yeah, you can also give it a label by picking one from a list.

“It does the job and besides, I didn’t pay extra for it,” I can hear you reply. You don’t have to pay for at least one of other apps I just mentioned either… and the rest, well they’re worth the extra coin.

Griffin’s  iTalk, at least the ad-supported version, is free. Don’t worry, the ads aren’t in your face.You can record your audio at normal (8kHz), medium (11kHz), high (22kHz) and CD quality (44kHz). Then, you can use iTalk Sync, a free download, to drag and drop your recordings to your desktop over a Wi-Fi connection. It’s available for the Mac OS and Windows PCs. If you can’t abide ads, then you’ll have to spring for $4.99 for the premium version.

There’s also QuickVoice PRO Recorder, which is only $0.99. Add here the ability to transfer files via iTunes, Wi-Fi or email. QuickVoice PRO Recorder works best in conjunction with its free desktop app. Importing a voice recording from QuickVoice for iPhone to the desktop app is easy: Launch QuickVoice, select “Import” under the “File” menu and the rest is taken care of.

Voxie Pro Recorder,  ($1.99) is a voice recorder and dictation app for the iPhone and iPod touch with features such as Wi-Fi syncing with your desktop, audio file emailing and texting, audio-quality settings, customizable categories and audio file sizes limited only by the amount of available storage space.Other features include an express mode that is activated by shaking the iPhone, wallpapers, icons to flag recordings, the ability to send quick notes to a list of friends and family and to your contacts in the Contacts native app.

With JMDictate-Professional Dictation you have a good variety of options if you would like to transfer your recordings to your desktop and manage them. JMDictate handles email, iDisk MobileMe, WebDAV and FTP. You’ll also find on the Settings screen a switch to automatically activate voice recording and a field where you can enter your initials. JMDictate-Professional Dictation is $7.99;  which is pricey compared to most audio recording apps in the App Store but if you often record audio, you shouldn’t find the price too hard to swallow.

© AppCraver, 2009. | Four Voice Recording Apps that Fill In for Apple’s Voice Memos | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

JumiCam

Home-oriented Web cam apps like JumiCam require your installing a video server (invariably free) on your PC. I haven’t reviewed a version with a video server that runs on Mac or Linux, but I’d be surprised if none existed but you need to check that out for yourself.

JumiCam is no different than any other Webcam app that I’ve seen intended to stream video from a Web cam attached to a home PC. Dare I mention you almost always need a Web cam plugged into one of your your PC’s USB ports?

Once the server software is installed and the Web cam jacked in,  you can view live video and take single-image snapshots using JumiCam.

If you would like to be able to remotely stop and start your Web cam and record video, then you’ll need to step up to an app such as Sunray Networks’ AtHome Camera, which I liked quite a bit when I reviewed it in February. You’ll pay for the added features (no surprise, I guess) but the complementary (and free) server is more capable. AtHome Camera is $5.99.

There’s a free Lite version of AtHome Camera (no remote start/stop recording) that makes for a balanced comparison to JumiCam’s free Lite version (Wi-Fi only), so you might want to give those a try too.

If you want to look through at IP-based network cameras—typically in public locations—which you can also pan, zoom and tilt, that’s a separate category of app. In that instance, give Live Cams (Spy Camera—Pan Tilt Zoom) a try for $0.99. If you want to take in the view from a few IP cameras at the same time, check out IP Vision for $7.99.

The typical Web cam apps won’t work with IP-based network cameras but a couple of apps serve double duty with Web cam and IP-network cams. Mobile Cam View Standard is one option if you have $99.99 to drop.

Here’s a demo of Jumicam from the Jumi website:

• rating: 8/10
• app_name: JumiCam

© AppCraver, 2009. | JumiCam Adds to the Line-up of Apps for At-Home Streaming Video | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

1 Adam 12 see the woman at 1242 Hauser St. prowler complaint. Handle this call code 2; and so began my fascination with police shows and police radio jargon. Shortly thereafter I was listening intently to my father’s police scanner of the happenings all over southern California. So imagine my excitement and anticipation as I added the Emergency Radio iPhone app by EdgeRift, Inc and the Police Scanner iPhone app by Juicy Development LLC to my rapidly growing applications library.

Both Emergency Radio and Police Scanner pretty much accomplish the basics of what they set out to do, stream live radio conversations broadcast over police, fire and EMS frequencies.

Let’s take a look at each individually, starting with Emergency Radio. When selected Emergency Radio opens to an All Channels page from which you can scroll through more than a thousand agencies and select one to listen to. You can select the Nearby option and assign a mile radius to search for agencies from. As I sit here in the fifth largest city in California, the 36th largest in the U.S. I find that apparently my local agencies aren’t on the feed, neither are any of the neighboring agencies. The closest agency I can listen to is 22.80 miles away. That hurts but I’ll move on.

The stream on Emergency Radio is fairly clear and easy to listen to. For those not familiar with police and fire codes there is a glossary of terms for various codes listed below the name of the channel that is streaming. You’re able to scroll down and view the list to keep up with what’s going on. There is also an option to favorite a channel.

Still feeling the sting of not being able to listen to what’s happening within my city or nearby I decided to see what I could find interesting by scrolling down the All Channels list. Bingo, the LAPD channel, the motherload of police activity. Shortly after selecting LAPD I realize that I’m not listening to the LAPD broadcast but to a completely different agency within Los Angeles County. Recently I went back to the LAPD frequency and received a message stating that it’s momentarily offline. The developers have since posted a note on iTunes stating that a 24/7 LAPD channel will be included in a update currently awaiting Apple’s approval.

Onto the Police Scanner iPhone app, when selected it also opens to a page from which you can select a location by state, city, zip code or nearest your current location.  Again, the list of choices is almost endless with more than a thousand agencies to choose from. Chose the Browse tab and you can select such regions as Australia, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, as well as the United States. Again my big cities agencies are not available.

Police Scanner has the edge on clarity and seamless streaming. What police scanner doesn’t have that Emergency Radio does, is a glossary to reference while listening to the broadcasts. Both Police Scanner and Emergency Radio can have long periods of silence. Activity and need for transmissions is based on the call load of the agency you’re listening to. Some areas naturally have more activity than others. Sheriff Taylor and Barney Fife simply had less to do in Mayberry than McGarrett and Dano had on the Big Island.  If the action is too slow you can always find another channel.

Both Police Scanner and Emergency Radio lose out in the search category. There is no way to jump ahead while navigating. You have to scroll continually and work your way through the alphabetical order. But again Police Scanner gets the favorable nod because you can at least search by state which cuts down on the number of choices available at a given time.

If you’re really into Police, Fire or EMS broadcasts you might want to spend the bucks on a programmable scanner from your nearest electronics store. But for those that want to hear that occasional police chatter, or quickly tune in and find out why all the police cars are parked up the block. (Assuming your city is available) Police Scanner and Emergency Radio iPhone apps may both be worthwhile apps.

The pros and cons of Police Scanner and Emergency Radio are similar but I’d have to give the edge to Police Scanner. The search ability is superior, the graphics are far superior, I found the broadcast from the same Canadian agency to be clearer and I liked the broader selection of locations more suited to my needs.

© AppCraver, 2009. | Emergency Radio Vs. Police Scanner: Cops Unedited | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

This year will mark the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, released in December 1979. Hard to believe it’s been a generation that’s so long ago and far away.

A bunch of devs got behind (more like rode the coattails of) the impending release of the fantastically famous franchise’s eleventh feature film with a slew of ST-related apps.

I reviewed the other day, EA’s STAR TREK, “official” iPhone and iPod touch app, which in the case, “official” means it was developed to promote the movie, something an increasing number of Hollywood studios are doing. I gave it high marks for pushing the bounds of a space shooter genre that has been all but exhausted.

I decided go where no man has gone before and do a round up of Star Trek -themed apps and a series of graphic novels.

iVerse has four titles in each of its Star Trek graphic novel series. Star Trek Countdown is prequel to the film. Beautiful illustrations. Finger swipe to flip pages. Tap the options icon for page fades, slides or curls. Four titles in each series will give you the whole story at $0.99 per title.

Hardcore Trekkers will go for Star Trek Phaser, from Paramount Digital Entertainment. Set it to stun or kill and blast strangerson the subway when you’re not working on your costume for the next round of ST conventions. Free.

If the conventional blaster isn’t getting the job done, go for iPhaser Pocket-Laser Gun Weapons — Defend yourself while you trek the stars with your Tricorder. The longer app title means that it’s a more powerful version.

The next time you decide to have jolly good fun with your mates, bring along Apptia’s Star Trek Quiz. I didn’t actually look at this one. There haven’t been any reviews, yet either. There’s no point to my looking at the app: I don’t know Star Trek well enough to see the value in the trivia.

Kirk’s Communicator from iMakeApps, is based on the ever-at-hand voice Communicator on the famous show. Notice I said, “based on” and didn’t mention’s the show by name? That’s because Kirk’s Communicator is not really like that other one or so-and-son’s attorney’s would sue him. $0.99.

If you want an alternative to that thing we already said we couldn’t talk about, there’s Talkndog Mobile’s Star Radio Communicator. It’s got a trillium mesh front that flips open and all kinds of buttons and blinking lights. $0.99.

© AppCraver, 2009. | Star Trek, the film, leads Developers Looking for New Apps | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

I’m too paranoid to store anything vaguely sensitive on my iPhone. Where I draw the line is, “If I can’t afford to lose it, it does not live on my device.” It’s a bit irrational I know, when you consider that I could just as easily lose my wallet. Let’s just say, I have my quirks and you have yours.

One thing we’ll agree on, however, is that it sucks to lose your iPhone or iPod touch. I was all set to stick a gold star to my forehead for being such a deep thinker but then I found out that a bunch of developers had the idea before me.

A number of companies market apps that are designed to keep a bad guy’s hands off your data, either by protecting, destroying or by retrieving it.

The one thing all these app have in common is that someone — whether a thief or a good Samaritan — has to launch the app on your missing iPhone or iPod. These apps don’t work automatically (yet).

There are dozens of apps that will passcode protect your data and some are even capable of doing remote wipes for particularly sensitive financial data.

I’ve been a long time security nut and I’ve tried out several security apps for the iPhone. Recently, I’ve been looking at apps that use your iPhone’s GPS and/or Wi-Fi features to determine its location.

I’ll have to investigate further before I can post reviews but in the meantime, I’ve rounded up a list of security-related apps that look interesting and a few that might even help you get your iPhone back.

Lost Phone Recovery, RewardingReturn —Use the app to create a custom (onscreen) background with a personal ID number and a reward return label. RewardingReturn will let you know for up to 2 years if your iPhone is turned in. $6.99

GetItBack Corporate, Convenience Software – Enter contact info, including email address into the app, which displays a tantalizing Corporate Data icon on your Home Screen. When the app is launched, it will email you with the iPhone’s GPS coordinates. See also: GetItBack BankData and GetItBack Password. $0.99.

iHound: Locates Your Lost or Stolen iPhone, Davesworld — Install and sign up for a free iHound Software account. iHound uses GPS and Wi-Fi to determine the device’s location and plots it on a map for you. $2.99 (currently on sale).

Alarm System, Tommy Kammerer — Install and then “arm” your phone or pod. The device’s built-in accelerometer will alert you if it’s picked up. You can also program it to call another number. $1.99

Stolen Phone Tracker, TechReply.com — The app installs a yummy-looking Passwords icon, and when the app is launched, it will display a scrolling list of contrived passwords. The idea is to keep the thief busy long enough to pinpoint his location via GPS. The app triggers emails to you. $0.99

Look at it this way. If your iPhone or iPod gets out of hand and you manage to get it back, then it’s a great app. If you don’t get it back, it’s a piece of crap. But, you won’t know until the unthinkable becomes reality.

© AppCraver, 2009. | Lose Your Phone, Get it Back, Maybe | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

ChangeWave,

However, in a reversal of only a few months ago, market researchers are coming around to the idea that Apple’s iPhone, and even iPod touch, can succeed in the business world. One reason is that they believe the numbers, varieties and capabilities of apps that support enterprise activities will increase greatly increase following the summertime release of OS 3.0.

Meanwhile, here’s a quick round up of enterprise-level apps that can be found in the App Store:

Oracle has about 4,000 employees using the iPhone globally, according to Oracle’s IT VP Campbell Webb. That’s not a surprise if you consider Oracle has had its own apps in the App Store for several months. Like many tech companies, Oracle is attempting to bridge the gap  between the enterprise and the iPhone, not only for itself but also for its clients.

Oracle Business Indicators, provides real-time access to business intelligence performance information and views of financial, HR, supply chain and other business intelligence. Oracle Enterprise Asset Management (eAM)-Maintenance Workbench integrates Oracle eAM e-Business suite and uses GPS to lists of assets within a specific search radius. Others include Oracle Mobile Sales Assistant, Oracle Mobile Sales Forecast, Oracle Business Approvals for Sales Managers and Oracle Business Approvals for Managers.

Cisco WebEx Meeting Center version 1.2 application on the iPhone got a recent update that permits the host to schedule meetings and invite attendees before and during the meeting.

Also, Cisco introduced yesterday what it has branded, “Collaboration in Motion,” an amalgamation of products and services that includes Cisco WebEx, Cisco Unified Communications, Cisco Unified Wireless Network and Cisco Advanced Services for the mobile workspace, including Apple’s iPhone.

Salesforce’s Salesforce Mobile is a subset of features for salesforce.com users: View edit accounts, access account activity, log sales and access customer Visualforce Mobile pages.

Citrix Systems’ Citrix Receiver is a client that enables IT to deliver desktops and apps as an on-demand service to any device in any location. As long as employees have Citrix Receiver, IT no longer has to worry about whether they are delivering to a PC,  Mac or iPhone. For a few days last week, Citrix Receiver sat fourth in the list of top 10 free business apps (it’s eighth today).

Siemens Enterprise Communications’ OpenScape UC Application for iPhone 3.1 interconnects employee contacts through a corporate network, enables employees to set up conferences, view call reports and set rules to handle calls when they’re unavailable.

Sybase’s iAnywhere Mobile Office supports Lotus Domino and Microsoft Exchange for email, calendaring, tasks and contacts with corporate directory lookup.

© AppCraver, 2009. | iPhone Inches Up the Corporate Ladder | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

If you’re considering getting a mortgage or refinancing application, the App Store has more than a dozen apps from which to choose. Many are free and those that are paid are only a couple of bucks or so.

Mortgage calculators apps are alike in the ways that matter most: You can enter loan amounts, amount of your down payment, interest rate, term of the loan and other essential information and then run calculations against the data.

You can view the results of your calculations per month, year or over the lifetime of the loan and you can save your loans for reference. One other feature you often see is the ability to play “What if?” using a variety of scenarios.

What else do you need? I favor any app that makes it as easy as possible to enter data, that means a good-sized keyboard to enter numbers, and ideally, a set of scroll wheels to enter dates, and a few charts and graphs to display my data. After that, I look for a visually appealing work screen, with a polished, intuitive interface.

Here’s a quick rundown of the apps that pass the mild-acid test and may interest you:

Mortgage Calculator Pro, from SVT Software, is the best-selling paid app ($0.99) at the moment. It meets most of my criteria, although I think there are better looking apps out there.

CalcsPro – Mortgage Calculators (With Estimated Tax Savings), from Rajesh Jain, is another paid app ($1.99) worth checking out. It’s more comprehensive than most, good looking, and is capable of displaying charts containing information such as post-tax interest, estimated tax savings and principle.

Morgulator+Mortgage Payment Calculator, from David Holzer, is currently on sale for $0.99. It’s streamlined and functional and it’s easy to compare one mortgage to another. One feature Morgulator has that some apps lack is the ability to email mortgage summaries.

RECalc-Real Estate Mortgage Loan Calculator, from Anil Baja, is a button pusher’s delight. In addition to the usual loan calculation functions, this paid app ($1.99) also has a fancy mathematical calculator.

Home Buying Power, from NotTooShabby Software, is visually a bit busy for my tastes, but it gets the job done. It’s a paid app ($1.99) that enables you to save a list and details of the home’s you’ve looked at to buy. None of the other apps I looked at have that feature.

CalcsPro – Mortgage Calculators (With Estimated Tax Savings) and Home Buyer Power would be my top picks. Keep in mind, I haven’t looked at every mortgage app because there are so many. If you know of better ones, throw a tip into comments.

© AppCraver, 2009. | Mortgage Calculators to Help You Buy Low and Sell High | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Not long ago, I downloaded Air Mouse Pro, from R.P.A. Tech. As it name suggests, it’s an air mouse. It’s also a conventional mouse, a trackpad and a remote control for iTunes. Check out my review for more details.

I raved about Air Mouse Pro, but I have since looked at several remote mice and trackpad apps and I would use any of them in a pinch. When I get around to finishing the home theater PC I’m building, I’ll use my iPhone as a remote control from my comfy Barcalounger.

You can use your iPhone or iPod touch just as you would any mouse or trackpad, with  left and right button clicks, scrolling and other functions using the real-world equal of either input device. Some are simple apps that you can use to move the cursor around on screen by tilting your iPhone or iPod touch. Others add features such as the ability to control iTunes and other apps.

You will need to download and install server software on your desktop Mac or PC and in some cases, Linux machine. The server software is invariably free, although the price of the apps range from free to $7.99 or so. Synching the remote and desktop should be automatic.

Mouse Mote, from Himperia IIS, lets you control your cursor by tilting your iPhone or iPod touch. $0.99. The developer says it will work on Macs, PCs and Linux systems, because it’s programmed in Java, but it’s best suited for Macs.

RemotePad, from tenjin.org, is an open-source remote capable of moving your cursor. I like that you can use it in portrait and landscape modes. And, it’s free.

Touchpad Elite, comes from Jugaari, which has a few remote control apps in the AppStore. I was impressed with Jugaari’s Jadu Remote, desktop remote app when I reviewed it with other similar apps.This one is promotionally priced at $0.99 and definitely worth a look.

Snatch Trackpad and Remote, from Hoofien, lets you create and label shortcuts. I also was impressed with this app when I reviewed it. The track pad in Snatch works surprisingly well, with little lag time. You can scroll, mouse click, drag windows — in sum, do all the usual track pad kinds of things. $5.99

ControlPad, from Tienshiao Ma, is a trackpad that can be tweaked for tracking speed and tap movement and with good keyboard features to boot. It uses VNC as a server, which makes it compatible with other VNC apps on your desktop. $2.99

RemoteTap, from Read Pixel, is stuffed with features specifically for Mac users. You can listen to audio, control your keyboard and so on, from a semi-transparent Apple Remote overlay. $6.99

© AppCraver, 2009. | Control Your Computer with Mouse / Trackpad apps for iPhone or iPod touch | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!