Pocket Heat app uses iPhone CPU to warm hands

If there were a “What the heck!” category in the iTunes App Store, Pocket Heat (available for $1.99) would live there.

Pocket Heat turns your iPhone or iPod Touch into a portable heater by maxing out your iPhone CPU’s processing power. You can adjust the heat level by using an onscreen slider, which claims to alter the temperature and illuminates graphical “heating elements” on your display.

We would test this app, but frankly, we’re afraid to. While the iPhone includes safeguards to prevent serious overheating, Apple has previously issued a heat advisory for the iPhone 3GS. Apple’s own Knowledge Base states that the iPhone should be operated in a place where the temperature is between 32 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit–prolonged exposure to extreme heat will produce a temperature warning screen.

Given speculation that overheating may also be the cause of previously reported problems with the Wi-Fi on the iPhone and mixed App Store reviews (comments range from IceCold’s, “What joke, doesn’t get warm!!!!!!” to Adam_13’s statement “Decent but kills battery.”), we say thanks, but no thanks. We’ll just stick to gloves, jackets, and fuzzy hats.

Topple 2 for iPhone

Topple 2, the $3 sequel to Ngmoco’s hugely popular iPhone game, creatively builds on the breakneck-paced cartoony fun of the original.

Can You Top That: Among the new options introduced in Topple 2 is a multiplayer mode where you try to out-stack your opponent’s tallest tower.

As our review of the original Topple () noted, the game plays like a goofy combination of Tetris and Jenga. As colorful pieces in occasionally bizarre shapes appear, you’re tasked with building a tower. Balance is important; if your tower is too wobbly, pieces start falling. You can tilt the iPhone gently from side to side to try to keep things somewhat stable. If four pieces fall from your tower, you lose. But if you can stack your tower high enough in the (short) time allotted, you progress to the next level. (Oddly, the game has no help or tutorial available, though there are some in-game hints. Just start playing; you’ll figure it out.)….more.

Facebook Launches Facebook Connect for iPhone

Facebook’s new Facebook Connect for iPhone lets users connect their iPhone apps with their Facebook friends, profiles, and feeds.

AUSTIN, TX — Facebook on Saturday announced the new Facebook Connect for iPhone service at the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, TX. Dave Morin, senior platform manager at Facebook, took the stage to explain the new iPhone integration, the recently released Facebook features for brands and celebrities, and the new homepage design that began rolling out last week.

Facebook Connect for iPhone is available now with several participating apps, and does for iPhone apps what Facebook Connect does for Web sites: users can link their apps with their Facebook profile to share their data with friends>>>>more.

Late rumor has iPhone 3.0 getting copy-and-paste, multitasking

Apple may be adding some of the iPhone’s most heavily requested software features — including multitasking the ability to copy and paste text — with the unveiling of the 3.0 update this week.

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In a live episode of Diggnation recorded at Austin’s South by Southwest festival, Digg founder and show co-host Kevin Rose claimed to have “confirmation” that the feature would be a centerpiece of the new iPhone OS to be unveiled on Tuesday.

To select text, he said, users would double-tap on a word to bring up the iPhone’s magnifying glass and then extend the “quotes” to cover the necessary text and perform the relevant action, though it’s not known whether this would be limited to copying and pasting or would include cutting text outright>>>more.

Photogene for iPhone

Basic photo editor lets you crop, adjust, and add effects to photos

Posted on timestamp(1237191540000,’longDateTime’)Mar 16, 2009 3:19 am by Megan Morris

There’s much to love about the iPhone, but the built-in camera isn’t on that list. Even if you can get past the low resolution and lack of flash, you still have to resign yourself to the fact that you can’t edit any photos you take with the camera—at least, not without the help of some third-party apps.

Special Effects: In addition to cropping and other adjustments, Photogene includes the ability to add other effects such as frames, though bubbles, and background options.

Add Photogene to the list of helpful image editors from the App Store. Developed by Omer Shoor, this user-friendly app makes cropping, adjusting, and adding fun effects to your photos a breeze. Photogene can edit images in your library as well as ones taken with the built-in camera, so the app works with both the iPhone and the camera-less iPod touch>>>>>more.

What We Expect from Apple iPhone 3.0

Apple will be showing off the new Apple iPhone 3.0 software later this month. Here’s what we would like to see

Today, Apple issued a shot across Palm’s bow. While the latter smartphone maker was planning a Web cast to tout the features of their upcoming Palm Pre, Apple announced an event later this month where iPhone OS 3.0 will be unveiled. It was an obvious way to draw attention away from Palm, so clearly the iPhone maker has Palm in its sights with the new OS upgrade>>>more.

Apple May Use Touch Screens For Netbook Mac

Apple is reportedly working on a 10-inch touch-screen PC, but, despite speculation that the company is getting ready to enter the netbook market, it’s more likely Apple is planning a unique device that will command a much higher price.The latest report on Apple’s moves came Wednesday from the Reuters news agency, which quoted an anonymous source saying Apple would take third-quarter delivery of a 10-inch touch screen from display specialist Wintek of Taiwan. Similar media reports in that country this week also said Taiwan-based Quanta Computer would make the actual PCs for Apple>>>more.

SAP, Sybase plan iPhone, Windows Mobile software

By Jim Finkle

BOSTON (Reuters) – Software makers SAP AG and Sybase Inc have teamed up to make it easier for businesses to run SAP’s business management software on mobile devices including Apple Inc’s iPhone.

SAP, the world’s biggest maker of business management software, is already working with Research in Motion Ltd to develop programs for its BlackBerry devices. This is the first time the German software company has announced plans to customize its software for other devices>>>>more.

Why Kindle for iPhone Won’t Hurt Kindle Sales

Some tech analysts are wondering if the free Kindle for iPhone application will cannibalize sales of Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader. A BusinessWeek article suggests that Amazon’s no-cost app for the iPhone and iPod Touch may give consumers one less reason to buy the pricey Kindle 2:

“‘In an economy like we have today, I don’t see people shelling out hundreds of dollars for a device which replicates something they already have,’ says Bill Mirabito, head of e-commerce researcher B2C Partners.”  More.

Variety for iPhone

The Variety app for the iPhone and iPod touch puts Hollywood’s daily news Bible in the palm of your hand. Part RSS feed browser, part photo browser, part video player, the app is somewhat less the sum of its parts.

Viva Variety?: The iPhone app for the Hollywood trade paper delivers headlines, photos, and videos—though not very many each day.

As entertainment news sources go, the Variety app serves up remarkably thin gruel—no more than half a dozen news stories and reviews a day. When I last checked, the video section contained just four movie trailers. It’s really just a taste of what’s on Variety.com.

The photo galleries are small and particularly difficult to view. The app will take you to Variety’s Web site, but the browser is framed with top and bottom nav bars, as well as an ever-present ad at the bottom of the screen. As a result, it’s tough to see much of anything in landscape view>>>more.