Yes, it’s a relatively minor update, but after I installed it I realized we hadn’t really mentioned ReelDirector for iPhone [$7.99 - iTunes link] on the front page yet, in its own right, and that’s a shame because any app that can even approach video editing on a mobile device deserves some love.

Now on version 2.4, ReelDirecter adds the ability to important soundtracks, toggle off pan-and-zoom, and increases speed for still photos. But you add to that 2.0’s multitrack, Ken Burns effects, trim and split for imported clips, and videos from synced folders, and you add all that to that its stitching, drag-and-drop reordering, titles and credits, transitions, and more, and this “video toaster” in your pocket deserves some attention. Sure, it won’t replace Final Cut Pro, but it could just be the iPhone’s first pro-sumer level cutter.

If you’ve tried it before, or just try it now, let us know what you think!

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

ReelDirector Updates with Soundtrack Import for iPhone Video Editing

Daring Fireball’s John Gruber often “guesses” what Apple will be releasing, and those guesses are sometimes dead-on-accurate, but when it comes to the iTablet/iSlate, Gruber says Apple’s invoked a full on pre-January 2007-like “cone-of-silence”. Still he’s written up an interesting estimate of what, in his opinion, and iTablet just might be:

I say they're swinging big — redefining the experience of personal computing.

It will not be pitched as such by Apple. It will be defined by three or four of its built-in primary apps. But long-term, big-picture? It will be to the MacBook what the Macintosh was to the Apple II.

I am not predicting that Apple is phasing out the Mac. (On the contrary, I've heard that Mac OS X 10.7 is on pace for a developer release at WWDC in June.) Like all Apple products, The Tablet will do less than we expect but the things it does do, it will do insanely well. It will offer a fraction of the functionality of a MacBook — but that fraction will be way more fun. The same Asperger-y critics who dismissed the iPhone will focus on all that The Tablet doesn't do and declare that this time, Apple really has ****** up but good. The rest of us will get in line to buy one.

Gruber makes the kind of sense that does here. Apple will produce a large-sized, mainstream-targeted device that excels at handling the media iTunes excels at delivering, combined with the same type of (though not the same UI for) the ease of use the iPhone’s multitouch technology and user experience wowed us with in 2007.

If they’re making one. Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge.

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

Daring Fireball Weighs in on Apple Tablet

Did Apple reject Google Latitude from the App Store because they’re getting ready to launch a similar service of their own… that also uses a front-facing camera? Maybe, maybe not, but Patently Apple found this latest application, and 9to5mac seems to think it’s a possibility:

In Apple’s implementation, it looks like the location data can be carried in an SMS or Instant Message (interesting news in its own right), which can then be opened in the Maps application to show the other person’s location relative to the iPhone user’s. Also, note what appears to be another instance of a front-facing camera on the iPhone image below. We’re calling it now: iPhone 4G (and tablet + maybe iPod touch) get front faing cameras. Who is with us?

We are. At least it makes sense in the iTablet/iSlate, and it’s always near the top of new iPhone hardware feature requests (though would it be WiFi only to prevent AT&T towers from melting?)

Of course, our wishing has never, not ever, made Apple make it so…

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

Apple Considering Google Latitude-like Service for iPhone… with Front Facing Camera? — Patent Watch

Minisquadron [$2.99 - itunes link] is a 2D sidescrolling shooter for the iPhone and iPod touch, and my new gaming passion. If you ever enjoyed games like 1942 then you will love this game. Freaking sharks and freaking laser beams! Yes the game has it all. If you have ever wondered what it feels like to be shot down by a giant panda airplane (answer — humiliating), well then this game is a must.

More, and screenshots, after the break!

In minisquadon you fly around and try to shoot down enemy planes to complete a level. The control of the game is smooth and intuitive. One area on the right is for shooting and another area on the left for flying the plane.

As you complete the levels you also unlock enemy planes that then join your squadron and become playable.

If you get shot down, the enemy plane who shot you down gets a “shout out”. You also get shot outs when you have killed a lot of enemies or if you have unlocked a new plane.

The game has over 8 levels that increase in difficulty and tons of replay value due to the new planes you can unlock (some of which are UFOs, pitch forks and a shark!)

If you have not yet tried it, do so and tell me what you think!

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

Minisquadron Side Scrolling Shooter for iPhone

Documents to Go with Exchange Attachments is all grown up, has changed its name to Documents to Go Premium [$14.99 - iTunes link], and now offers support for PowerPoint and Gmail attachments for iPhone and iPod touch:

• Edit and create Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentations
• Edit/add bullets and text in Outline mode (changes reflected immediately in Slide view)
• Edit/add speaker notes
• Sort/add/dupe/delete slides
• Edit/view Gmail attachments

About the only thing missing is a dedicated, multi-app accessible file repository on the iPhone akin to what the photo app does for images. Get working on that, would you Apple?

Meanwhile, it’s a free update for existing users so if you buy it or just upgrade it, and you try out Docs to Go’s new PowerPoint or Gmail features, let us know how they work for you!

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

Documents to Go Goes Premium, Adds PowerPoint, Gmail Support for iPhone

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Join Rene and special guests Phil Nickinson of Android Central and WMExperts and Keith Newman of the PreCentral.net PalmCast Round Robin Android Droid and Hero vs. iPhone and Windows Phone HD2 and Touch Pro2 vs. iPhone, more iTablet, iPhone HD, and iPhone 4.0 rumors, and all the week’s news and opinions. Listen in!

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

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

TiPb Presents: iPhone Live! #82 — Android and Windows and Tablets… Oh, My!

Fox News’ Clayton Morris is upping the ante on the rumored January 26 Apple Media Event, not only saying it’s the real deal, but that it will focus on “mobility”:

I’ve spoken to a source inside Apple who confirmed a “big” event for January. While nothing official has been handed down from the notoriously tight-lipped company, my source took the Financial Times report one step further by saying this event will focus on the mobility space, meaning we’ll see something related to the iPhone/iPod touch product line.

An earlier than usual iPhone 4.0 preview to give developers time to go resolution-independent for an iPhone HD? A camera-toting iPod touch to p!$$ off everyone who got the camera-less version for Xmas? An announcement that Apple is taking itself fully to the cloud? Or just some iTablet/iSlate the entire interwebs have been gossiping about for years?

If you’ve Quantum Leap’ed or flashback’ed from this fictional future, let us know!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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

Fox News “Confirms” Rumored Jan 26 Apple Event, Focusing on “Mobility”