Instant message aficionados have been eagerly waiting on Cerulean Studios to bring their profile-synchronizing Trillian client to the iPhone. It’s been years, in fact, since we first heard of the Trillian iPhone app. Today, that wait ends. Trillian for iPhone has officially hit the AppStore with a $4.99 price tag!
The thing about instant messaging apps is that there are a veritable truckload of options available on the AppStore. Some really good apps are offered for free. If you’re not a hardcore IM user, you’re probably going to be just fine sticking with one of those apps. But, if you use instant messaging services like your life depends on them, Trillian for iPhone will probably be a worthy investment.
Trillian supports multiple IM services and allows you to switch between conversations with a tabbed interface. But, it doesn’t stop there. Trillian for iPhone synchronizes your IM accounts with their the Trillian Astra servers, so when you change your status or update your buddy list on the iPhone app, those changes will automatically be pushed to your Windows Trillian client and the web-based Trillian client. There’s also an option to have any instant messages pushed to your iPhone. And, since all chats are stored on Cerulean Studios’ servers, you’ll never have to worry about losing a chat transcript again.
Trillian for iPhone isn’t going to be for everyone, especially with its premium price-point. But, for power-users, Trillian is going to be hard to beat.
Those with an iPhone, Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre, or any Android device will be happy to hear about some new changes to the mobile Google (NSDQ: GOOG) News. The new version allows you to add custom keyword, local, and recommended sections, as well as shuffle and move the sections as you like. That’s the main thing, but it looks like there are a lot of optimizations in terms of layout and navigation that make Google News on mobile all the better. Personally, I’m still waiting for an official Google Reader application, which would make News pretty much a moot point, but you might as well go ahead and check out news.google.com in your mobile browser in the meantime.
Today Virgin Mobile Canada released an official statement regarding iPhone availability:
Virgin Mobile Canada will launch iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in Virgin Mobile Retail Stores and online in Canada in the coming months.
I’m not sure if they could have been any more vague… But at least this is an official ‘it’s coming’ statement. My buds over at MobileSyrup believe ‘coming soon’ means February 2010. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, but would be pleased if it does arrive sooner… I mean, the holidays are fast approaching, you think they’d want to cash in on that?
Pricing on the 3G is expected to come in around $100 for the 8GB and $150 for the 16GB. The 3GS should run you $200 for the 16GB and $300 for the 32GB model. Of course, you’ll need to sign the standard Canadian 3-year agreement too. Ugh.
OK Virgin Mobile Canada… Sounds great. But I’ll believe it when I see it. Bring the iPhone… Bring it!
Received an email this morning from the good folks at Dropbox. The news? They’ve released a Dropbox iPhone app… Cool! The app is of course free, and offers access to your Dropbox while you’re on-the-go. Access, view and download your files right from your iPhone for offline viewing. Take new photos or videos and sync them to your Dropbox… Or even share links to files in your Dropbox, all from the convenience of your iPhone.
In case you’ve never heard of Dropbox before, here’s the official skinny:
Dropbox is software that syncs your files online and across your computers.
Put your files into your Dropbox on one computer, and they’ll be instantly available on any of your other computers that you’ve installed Dropbox on (Windows, Mac, and Linux too!) Because a copy of your files are stored on Dropbox’s secure servers, you can also access them from any computer or mobile device using the Dropbox website.
For my own personal use I’ve used Dropbox to share files, pictures, movies and more. On the business side I’ve used it while collaborating on projects… uploading new documents, design files and more to a central location, ensuring the latest versions were always up and ready to go. Dropbox is truly a handy tool.
For more information on the new Dropbox app, hit up the App Store (iTunes link). For more information on the service in general (and to setup a free 2GB account) hit up Dropbox.com.
Warner Bros has launched its first Harry Potter app in the AppStore – Harry Potter Spells, which lets players cast spells at their opponents using hand gestures. There is a total of 14 different spells available, and you can either play for yourself, or against a friend — all from a single device.
Right from the start, you’re invited to join the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and visit Ollivanders’ shop to pick up your wand. Afterwards, you attend the classes to learn how to cast spells, end eventually you’re ready for duels.
Finally, it’s worth adding there’s the Facebook integration, allowing you to post your scores on Facebook. The price is $4.99 and the AppStore link is here…
The iPhone just recently made its debut in China. Thanks to a three-year deal with China Unicom, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has finally managed to bring the iPhone to the world’s largest pool of mobile phone users. With hundreds of millions of wireless subscribers in China, Apple’s got to be raking in iPhone sales, right? Well, yes and no. Yes, the introduction of the iPhone is bringing in some serious revenue, but that money isn’t necessarily coming from iPhone sales. Turns out, the iPhone AppStore is a huge hit in China.
China Unicom reportedly sold just 5,000 iPhones during its first week of sales. China Unicom Chairman Chang Xiobing says he’s satisfied with that number, but in a country that boasts more wireless users than there are people in the US, 5,000 units is a really small number. The silver lining, though, is that the introduction of the Chinese iPhone opened the doors to the AppStore. iPhone users in China have so far generated $1 million in legit iPhone app revenue from the AppStore.
It all makes sense. China Unicom’s iPhone is currently crippled. Apple disabled the WiFi radio on Chinese iPhones to comply with China’s Golden Shield Project. Considering that gray-market iPhones with fully functional WiFi radios are readily available in China, it’s not surprising to hear that China Unicom’s iPhones aren’t blockbuster hits. The flip-side is that there are an estimated 2 million iPhones roaming across China, most of them coming through unofficial channels. All those iPhones are likely driving users to embrace the AppStore. China Unicom also hopes to have a WiFi-capable iPhone available by the end of the year, which could boost AppStore revenue even further.
Still, things may not be all rainbows and happy faces for Apple’s Chinese AppStore revenue. iPhone app piracy is a significant threat to Apple’s bottom line, and could come back to bite Apple. It’s unclear just how much of the $1 million in iPhone app sales came from users looking to download an app with the intention of pirating the software, but it would be interesting to see how China’s pirated app ecosystem compares to the legit AppStore market.
Konami has currently marked down the prices of all of their titles on the App Store until November, 30th 2009. ALL Konami titles are listed at $.99, and if you’ve been curious about any of their titles, now is the time to open up your virtual wallets and get to downloading. The titles that Konami currently have up on the App Store are:
It should be noted that all of these prices are only effective for only the US App Store, so for those of you not able to access the US App Store, I submit this commercial of Crazy Eddie to hopefully cheer you up on not being able to take advantage of this current price drop.
Just a quick follow-up here from something that broke in late September. The last we heard, South Korea’s telecommunications regulator gave the thumbs up to Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and the iPhone… clearing the way for the iPhone 3GS to make its way to South Korean shores by the end of November. According to the Korea Communications Commission, the iPhone ‘can be launched at any time’.
Interestingly enough, both carriers have been surprisingly quiet on the issue. No confirmation that either carrier will or will not carry the device has come down the tube yet, so we’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled to KT Corp and SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) to see what kind of move they end up making.
If memory serves me right, we could end up seeing the iPhone in South Korea as early as November 28th (on KT). That’s the expected launch date I’ve heard before… But, we’ll see.
‘We will try to release the iPhone as soon as possible’ noted Yeom Woo-jong, spokesman for KT.
Here’s an interesting little concept charger/stand for the iPhone. Designer Mac Funamizu has put together what he calls the ‘iPetals’ iPhone charger. As you can clearly see, the charger unit connects directly to your iPhone, and fans out to expose multiple solar panels, used to charge up your device. But the kinda cool thing I like about this one is its double purpose. Note in the shot below, it doubles as a stand. Smart thinking. Of course, I can’t tell you if this product will ever make its way to the shelves, but I give a solid *tip of the cap* to Mac for his creativity and ingenuity.
Instant message aficionados have been eagerly waiting on Cerulean Studios to bring their profile-synchronizing Trillian client to the iPhone. It’s been years, in fact, since we first heard of the Trillian iPhone app. Today, that wait ends. Trillian for iPhone has officially hit the AppStore with a $4.99 price tag!
The iPhone 
Just a quick follow-up here from something that broke in late September. The 
