The iPhone Blog


GeekBrief.tv Roundup: Control iPhone with WiiMote, Record and Upload Video to Ustream, Tom Tom Car Kit Priced in UK

Posted: 08 Aug 2009 06:00 AM PDT

Cali Lewis of Geekbrief.tv rounds up some of the news from last week that TiPb somehow didn’t get to, including the iPhone mirroring a WiiMote, the new UStream 3GS Recorder app [Free - iTunes link] that lets you record and upload video to Ustream (no live streaming though…), and the first signs of life for the TomTom car kit for the iPhone… along with a big UK price tag that makes us think it may land at US$200.

While Cali recently broke her iPhone, and Apple’s App Store shenanigans have encouraged her to look at alternate handsets to replace it with, here’s hoping she stays iCali for a while still and helps all of us help Apple evolve their thinking…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

GeekBrief.tv Roundup: Control iPhone with WiiMote, Record and Upload Video to Ustream, Tom Tom Car Kit Priced in UK


UPDATED: Quick App: GPush iPhone Push Notifications for Gmail

Posted: 08 Aug 2009 05:42 AM PDT

gpush_0557

UPDATE 2: GPush’s developers posted in the comments with the following info:

On Saturday August 8, 2009 GPush made it into the App store. We are currently experiencing a server issue and have temporarily pulled the app from the store while we work on the problem. This is an issue with our servers not the application and we will not need to go through the approval process again. If you have already downloaded the application, please know we are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

UPDATE: According to the developers on Twitter:

GPush made it to the App Store, we are aware of a server issue & we temporarily pulled the App off the store while we work on the servers

ORIGINAL: GPush [$0.99 - iTunes link] provides a work-around for Gmail push notifications for iPhone 3.0 users. GPush is not an email client in its own right; it serves only to notify a user via sound/vibrate, text alert pop-up, and/or numerical badge, but the user still has to manually launch the iPhone’s built-in Mail app to actually download and interact with the email.

We’ve only had a chance to try it very briefly, but it worked well, notifying us incoming GMail messages very quickly. Job. Done.

Unlike Boxcar, for example, which provides similar intermediary push notification for Twitter clients, GPush doesn’t have the option to automatically launch Mail when you get an alert (only an “okay” button, not a “view” button). We also couldn’t get it to work with Google Accounts, the paid version of Gmail that uses custom domain names. (GPush makes no mention of Google Accounts support, but if it occurred to us to try it, we figured it would occur to readers as well).

Lastly, GPush keeps asking to know our location. Why does it need that information? (Update: per the developers comments below, location is used to determine the closest and hence fastest push server for the service).

All in all, GPush does exactly what it claims to — it provides near instant notification for Gmail for iPhone users. Until Google adds Gmail to Google Sync, or Apple and Google get off their duffs and build IMAP IDLE into the Mail App proper, if you want “push” Gmail on your iPhone, check out GPush and let us know what you think.

More pics after the break!

[Thanks John-Fox for the tip!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

UPDATED: Quick App: GPush iPhone Push Notifications for Gmail


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