Google Buzz’s official demo video

Google has just unveiled its latest attempt to become more relevant in the social media space—Google Buzz. The product is integrated within Gmail and will be rolled out gradually to all of the webmail service’s users over the next few days.

While this development is still unfolding, you can check out Google Buzz’s two-minute demo of Buzz in action both online and via mobile.

What are your initial reactions? Another soon-to-be-forgotten Google product like Wave, or a Facebook/Twitter killer?

Full story at Mashable.

Google’s Super Bowl commercial

Google aired a Super Bowl commercial during today’s Saints-Colts contest, breaking the company’s longstanding opposition to TV and brand advertising. Google CEO Eric Schmidt tweeted yesterday that “someone said ‘Hell has indeed frozen over’” after urging his followers to “be sure to watch the ads in the 3rd quarter.”

In 2006, Schmidt said that brand advertising is “the last bastion of unaccountable spending in corporate America.” The CEO explained the company’s decision to air the ad in a blog post tonight:

If you watched the Super Bowl this evening you’ll have seen a video from Google called “Parisian Love”. In fact you might have watched it before, because it’s been on YouTube for over three months. We didn’t set out to do a Super Bowl ad, or even a TV ad for search. Our goal was simply to create a series of short online videos about our products and our users, and how they interact. But we liked this video so much, and it’s had such a positive reaction on YouTube, that we decided to share it with a wider audience.

If you like it too, we hope you’ll watch the others. Enjoy.

@Source

Everything You Need To Know About The Apple iPad

The suspense is over! Today, Apple unveiled its new tablet computer, aptly called the iPad, here in San Francisco. Steve Jobs positions the tablet as a third computing device between a laptop and a smartphone geared towards the “key tasks” of Web browsing, email, sharing photos, watching videos, playing games, and reading digital books. All current iPhone apps will run on the device, as well as new games and digital books designed specifically for it. Here’s a list of all our recent coverage from before, during and after the event.

Release Date: 27th Jan 2010

• Video: The iPad In Action (link)
• The iPad: our take (link)
• Apple has a solution for the iPad’s missing SD card slot and USB port: adapters(link)
• Investors Didn’t Like The iPad Until They Heard Its $499 Price (link)
• Apple Teams With AT&T For The iPad’s 3G Connection. Ugh. (link)
• The iPad Comes With iBooks And Will Cost $500 To $830 (link)
• New iPhone SDK with iPad support coming today, 100% compatibility with iPhone apps (link)
• Looks Like The Apple iPad Doesn’t Have Flash, After All (link)
• Apple unveils the iPad – at last – and it’s $499 (link)
• Our Live Notes Of The Event (link)
• The Tablet Could Spur A Media Revolution, But It Will Be Out Of Apple’s Hands (link)
• Who Gets The First Hands On With The Apple Tablet? Maybe Jack Bauer. (link)
• McGraw-Hill CEO Confirms Apple Tablet Is Coming Tomorrow (link)
• The First Apple Tablet Commercial? No Way (link)
• Apple Execs Downright Giddy About The Tablet (For Them Anyway) (link)
• The Apple Tablet May Come With A Barnes & Noble Bookstore (link)
• Breaking: Flurry Notices Cupertino-based Users Testing Apps on Apple Tablet (link)
• Overheard: Steve Jobs Says Apple Tablet “Will Be The Most Important Thing I’ve Ever Done.” (link)

via TechCrunch

Burj Khalifa Inside Pics – World’s tallest tower

Burj Khalifa, formerly known as Burj Dubai, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 828 m.

The design incorporates ideas from traditional Islamic architecture, while the open petals of a desert flower were the inspiration for the tower’s base.

Burj Khalifa will be home to 1,044 luxury apartments, 49 floors of offices and eventually a 160-room Armani-branded hotel. Around 12,000 people are expected to live and work in the tower, which is part of a 500-acre development.

Here are some of the Inside Views of this great architecture.

The writing’s on the wall – the tourist entrance to the Burj Khalifa

The shop in the viewing deck on the 124th floor.

A bird’s eye view of Dubai from the world’s tallest observatory, the Burj Dubai. (A view from the top)

Sources: maktoob.com

New Apple Tablet Details Leaked

Yukari Iwatani and Ethan Smith of the WSJ shovel out a boatload of new details about the Apple tablet.

Highlights:

• Apple wants to “reshape businesses like textbooks, newspapers and television much the way his iPod revamped the music industry—and expand Apple’s influence and revenue as a content middleman.”

• Apple has had talks with NYT, WSJ, Conde Nast, Harper Collins, et al

• Tablet designed to be used by multiple family members to read news and check email

• Tablet will have a virtual keyboard

• Apple is working with Electronic Arts to show off the tablet’s game capabilities

• Apple has apparently discussed how people might pay for the NYT through iTunes.

• Tablet is designed to be shared.  May come with facial recognition camera.  Users may be able to leave virtual sticky notes for other users.

• Apple sent reps to the Frankfurt Book Fair

• Apple pitched a “Best Of TV” service to networks, in which consumers would buy a bundle of programming across multiple networks.  One exec says the company was looking to bundle 4-5 shows per channel

• Apple wants to launch a web-based version of iTunes by June.  This would allow people to use the store without special iTunes software.  The service would also have distributed “Buy” buttons all over the web.

• In November, Apple hired a former textbook publishing executive who is responsible for “driving global strategy and revenue for the education online store for students.”

Exciting stuff. View full article here

Perfekshun

Lonely and in silence, originally uploaded by [ *Noretta ].

this picture gets to me on so many levels

Whoever sees this, it was captured from Flickr, you can start custom blog posting directly, or send me your favorite pics n if you post enough, we’ll create a category where we can stack up some amazing pictures

“Some pictures will say more than a 1000 words” ~uknown

Samsung W9600 with Pico projector

Samsung are another company with a thin presence at CES 2010, but they are at least there and have been showing off the Samsung W9600. This little beauty isn’t a smarpthone and certainly isn’t a superphone, but it does have one neat trick up it’s sleeve – a built-in projector.

Now projector phones aren’t new, but the technology is clearly getting smaller and better. The W9600 no longer looks an unholy fusion of phone and pico projector (as they’re called) it just looks like a phone.

You can beam anything from the phone onto a suitable surface (i.e. a wall). Not just pics, but even the phone’s user interface.

More pics of the Samsung W9600 after the jump.

The phone itself is pretty ordinary otherwise, with a 5 megapixel camera and AMOLED display, and is destined only for South Korea. The technology clearly works, but it’s not exactly proved itself, which is a shame as it has a lot of potential. With the latest trend being smartphones with 4″ screens and super-slick touch control, though, projector phones might not be the solution to the phone’s tiny screen that everyone thought it would be just two short years ago.

The History of the Internet

Here’s a brief history of the Internet, including important dates, people, projects, sites, and other information that should give you at least a partial picture of what this thing we call the Internet really is, and where it came from.

While the complete history of the Internet could easily fill a few books, this article should familiarize you with key milestones and events related to the growth and evolution of the Internet between 1969 to 2009.

1969: Arpanet

Arpanet was the first real network to run on packet switching technology (new at the time). On the October 29, 1969, computers at Stanford and UCLA connected for the first time. In effect, they were the first hosts on what would one day become the Internet.

The first message sent across the network was supposed to be “Login”, but reportedly, the link between the two colleges crashed on the letter “g”.

1969: Unix

Another major milestone during the 60’s was the inception of Unix: the operating system whose design heavily influenced that of Linux and FreeBSD (the operating systems most popular in today’s web servers/web hosting services).

1970: Arpanet network

An Arpanet network was established between Harvard, MIT, and BBN (the company that created the “interface message processor” computers used to connect to the network) in 1970.

1971: Email

Email was first developed in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson, who also made the decision to use the “@” symbol to separate the user name from the computer name (which later on became the domain name).

1971: Project Gutenberg and eBooks

One of the most impressive developments of 1971 was the start of Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg, for those unfamiliar with the site, is a global effort to make books and documents in the public domain available electronically–for free–in a variety of eBook and electronic formats.

It began when Michael Hart gained access to a large block of computing time and came to the realization that the future of computers wasn’t in computing itself, but in the storage, retrieval and searching of information that, at the time, was only contained in libraries. He manually typed (no OCR at the time) the “Declaration of Independence” and launched Project Gutenberg to make information contained in books widely available in electronic form. In effect, this was the birth of the eBook.

1972: CYCLADES

France began its own Arpanet-like project in 1972, called CYCLADES. While Cyclades was eventually shut down, it did pioneer a key idea: the host computer should be responsible for data transmission rather than the network itself.

1973: The first trans-Atlantic connection and the popularity of emailing

Arpanet made its first trans-Atlantic connection in 1973, with the University College of London. During the same year, email accounted for 75% of all Arpanet network activity.

1974: The beginning of TCP/IP

1974 was a breakthrough year. A proposal was published to link Arpa-like networks together into a so-called “inter-network”, which would have no central control and would work around a transmission control protocol (which eventually became TCP/IP).

1975: The email client

With the popularity of emailing, the first modern email program was developed by John Vittal, a programmer at the University of Southern California in 1975. The biggest technological advance this program (called MSG) made was the addition of “Reply” and “Forward” functionality.

1977: The PC modem

1977 was a big year for the development of the Internet as we know it today. It’s the year the first PC modem, developed by Dennis Hayes and Dale Heatherington, was introduced and initially sold to computer hobbyists.

1978: The Bulletin Board System (BBS)

The first bulletin board system (BBS) was developed during a blizzard in Chicago in 1978.

1978: Spam is born

1978 is also the year that brought the first unsolicited commercial email message (later known as spam), sent out to 600 California Arpanet users by Gary Thuerk.

1979: MUD – The earliest form of multiplayer games

The precursor to World of Warcraft and Second Life was developed in 1979, and was called MUD (short for MultiUser Dungeon). MUDs were entirely text-based virtual worlds, combining elements of role-playing games, interactive, fiction, and online chat.

1979: Usenet

1979 also ushered into the scene: Usenet, created by two graduate students. Usenet was an internet-based discussion system, allowing people from around the globe to converse about the same topics by posting public messages categorized by newsgroups.

1980: ENQUIRE software

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (better known as CERN) launched ENQUIRE (written by Tim Berners-Lee), a hypertext program that allowed scientists at the particle physics lab to keep track of people, software, and projects using hypertext (hyperlinks).

1982: The first emoticon

While many people credit Kevin MacKenzie with the invention of the emoticon in 1979, it was Scott Fahlman in 1982 who proposed using after a joke, rather than the original -) proposed by MacKenzie. The modern emoticon was born.

1983: Arpanet computers switch over to TCP/IP

January 1, 1983 was the deadline for Arpanet computers to switch over to the TCP/IP protocols developed by Vinton Cerf. A few hundred computers were affected by the switch. The name server was also developed in ‘83.

1984: Domain Name System (DNS)

The domain name system was created in 1984 along with the first Domain Name Servers (DNS). The domain name system was important in that it made addresses on the Internet more human-friendly compared to its numerical IP address counterparts. DNS servers allowed Internet users to type in an easy-to-remember domain name and then converted it to the IP address automatically.

1985: Virtual communities

1985 brought the development of The WELL (short for Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link), one of the oldest virtual communities still in operation. It was developed by Stewart Brand and Larry Brilliant in February of ‘85. It started out as a community of the readers and writers of the Whole Earth Review and was an open but “remarkably literate and uninhibited intellectual gathering”. Wired Magazine once called The Well “The most influential online community in the world.“

1986: Protocol wars

The so-called Protocol wars began in 1986. European countries at that time were pursuing the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI), while the United States was using the Internet/Arpanet protocol, which eventually won out.

1987: The Internet grows

By 1987, there were nearly 30,000 hosts on the Internet. The original Arpanet protocol had been limited to 1,000 hosts, but the adoption of the TCP/IP standard made larger numbers of hosts possible.

1988: IRC – Internet Relay Chat

Also in 1988, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was first deployed, paving the way for real-time chat and the instant messaging programs we use today.

1988: First major malicious internet-based attack

One of the first major Internet worms was released in 1988. Referred to as “The Morris Worm”, it was written by Robert Tappan Morris and caused major interruptions across large parts of the Internet.

1989: AOL is launched

When Apple pulled out of the AppleLink program in 1989, the project was renamed and America Online was born. AOL, still in existence today, later on made the Internet popular amongst the average internet users.

1989: The proposal for the World Wide Web

1989 also brought about the proposal for the World Wide Web, written by Tim Berners-Lee. It was originally published in the March issue of MacWorld, and then redistributed in May 1990. It was written to persuade CERN that a global hypertext system was in CERN’s best interest. It was originally called “Mesh”; the term “World Wide Web” was coined while Berners-Lee was writing the code in 1990.

1990: First commercial dial-up ISP

1990 also brought about the first commercial dial-up Internet provider, The World. The same year, Arpanet ceased to exist.

1990: World Wide Web protocols finished

The code for the World Wide Web was written by Tim Berners-Lee, based on his proposal from the year before, along with the standards for HTML, HTTP, and URLs.

1991: First web page created

1991 brought some major innovations to the world of the Internet. The first web page was created and, much like the first email explained what email was, its purpose was to explain what the World Wide Web was.

1991: First content-based search protocol

Also in the same year, the first search protocol that examined file contents instead of just file names was launched, called Gopher.

1991: MP3 becomes a standard

Also, the MP3 file format was accepted as a standard in 1991. MP3 files, being highly compressed, later become a popular file format to share songs and entire albums via the internet.

1991: The first webcam

One of the more interesting developments of this era, though, was the first webcam. It was deployed at a Cambridge University computer lab, and its sole purpose was to monitor a particular coffee maker so that lab users could avoid wasted trips to an empty coffee pot.

1993: Mosaic – first graphical web browser for the general public

The first widely downloaded Internet browser, Mosaic, was released in 1993. While Mosaic wasn’t the first web browser, it is considered the first browser to make the Internet easily accessible to non-techies.

1993: Governments join in on the fun

In 1993, both the White House and the United Nations came online, marking the beginning of the .gov and .org domain names.

1994: Netscape Navigator

Mosaic’s first big competitor, Netscape Navigator, was released the year following (1994).

1995: Commercialization of the internet

1995 is often considered the first year the web became commercialized. While there were commercial enterprises online prior to ‘95, there were a few key developments that happened that year. First, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption was developed by Netscape, making it safer to conduct financial transactions (like credit card payments) online.

In addition, two major online businesses got their start the same year. The first sale on “Echo Bay” was made that year. Echo Bay later became eBay. Amazon.com also started in 1995, though it didn’t turn a profit for six years, until 2001.

1995: Geocities, the Vatican goes online, and JavaScript

Other major developments that year included the launch of Geocities (which officially closed down on October 26, 2009).

The Vatican also went online for the first time.

Java and JavaScript (originally called LiveScript by its creator, Brendan Eich, and deployed as part of the Netscape Navigator browser) was first introduced to the public in 1995. ActiveX was launched by Microsoft the following year.

1996: First web-based (webmail) service

In 1996, HoTMaiL (the capitalized letters are an homage to HTML), the first webmail service, was launched.

1997: The term “weblog” is coined

While the first blogs had been around for a few years in one form or another, 1997 was the first year the term “weblog” was used.

1998: First new story to be broken online instead of traditional media

In 1998, the first major news story to be broken online was the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal (also referred to as “Monicagate” among other nicknames), which was posted on The Drudge Report after Newsweek killed the story.

1998: Google!

Google went live in 1998, revolutionizing the way in which people find information online.

1998: Internet-based file-sharing gets its roots

In 1998 as well, Napster launched, opening up the gates to mainstream file-sharing of audio files over the internet.

1999: SETI@home project

1999 is the year when one of the more interesting projects ever brought online: the SETI@home project, launched. The project has created the equivalent of a giant supercomputer by harnessing the computing power of more than 3 million computers worldwide, using their processors whenever the screensaver comes on, indicating that the computer is idle. The program analyzes radio telescope data to look for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.

2000: The bubble bursts

2000 was the year of the dotcom collapse, resulting in huge losses for legions of investors. Hundreds of companies closed, some of which had never turned a profit for their investors. The NASDAQ, which listed a large number of tech companies affected by the bubble, peaked at over 5,000, then lost 10% of its value in a single day, and finally hit bottom in October of 2002.

2001: Wikipedia is launched

With the dotcom collapse still going strong, Wikipedia launched in 2001, one of the websites that paved the way for collective web content generation/social media.

2003: VoIP goes mainstream

In 2003: Skype is released to the public, giving a user-friendly interface to Voice over IP calling.

2003: MySpace becomes the most popular social network

Also in 2003, MySpace opens up its doors. It later grew to be the most popular social network at one time (thought it has since been overtaken by Facebook).

2003: CAN-SPAM Act puts a lid on unsolicited emails

Another major advance in 2003 was the signing of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, better known as the CAN-SPAM Act.

2004: Web 2.0

Though coined in 1999 by Darcy DiNucci, the term “Web 2.0″, referring to websites and Rich Internet Applications (RIA) that are highly interactive and user-driven became popular around 2004. During the first Web 2.0 conference, John Batelle and Tim O’Reilly described the concept of “the Web as a Platform“: software applications built to take advantage of internet connectivity, moving away from the desktop (which has downsides such as operating system dependency and lack of interoperability).

2004: Social Media and Digg

The term “social media”, believed to be first used by Chris Sharpley, was coined in the same year that “Web 2.0″ became a mainstream concept. Social media–sites and web applications that allow its users to create and share content and to connect with one another–started around this period.

Digg, a social news site, launched on November of 2004, paving the way for sites such as Reddit, Mixx, and Yahoo! Buzz. Digg revolutionized traditional means of generating and finding web content, democratically promoting news and web links that are reviewed and voted on by a community.

2004: “The” Facebook open to college students

Facebook launched in 2004, though at the time it was only open to college students and was called “The Facebook”; later on, “The” was dropped from the name, though the URL http://www.thefacebook.com still works.

2005: YouTube – streaming video for the masses

YouTube launched in 2005, bringing free online video hosting and sharing to the masses.

2006: Twitter gets twittering

Twitter launched in 2006. It was originally going to be called twittr (inspired by Flickr); the first Twitter message was “just setting up my twttr”.

2007: Major move to place TV shows online

Hulu was first launched in 2007, a joint venture between ABC, NBC, and Fox to make popular TV shows available to watch online.

2007: The iPhone and the Mobile Web

The biggest innovation of 2007 was almost certainly the iPhone, which was almost wholly responsible for renewed interest in mobile web applications and design.

2008: “Internet Election”

The first “Internet election” took place in 2008 with the U.S. Presidential election. It was the first year that national candidates took full advantage of all the Internet had to offer. Hillary Clinton jumped on board early with YouTube campaign videos. Virtually every candidate had a Facebook page or a Twitter feed, or both.

Ron Paul set a new fundraising record by raising $4.3 million in a single day through online donations, and then beat his own record only weeks later by raising $4.4 million in a single day.

The 2008 elections placed the Internet squarely at the forefront of politics and campaigning, a trend that is unlikely to change any time in the near future.

2009: ICANN policy changes

2009 brought about one of the biggest changes to come to the Internet in a long time when the U.S. relaxed its control over ICANN, the official naming body of the Internet (they’re the organization in charge of registering domain names).

The Future?

Where is the future of the Internet headed? Share your opinions in the comments section.

Everything You Need to Know About Jailbreaking And Unlocking Your New iPhone

If you just got a new iPhone for Christmas, then congratulations, you are going to love it. Next step now is to jailbreak your iPhone in order to release the full potential of it. If you’re not sure what jailbreaking is, I suggest you read a bit more about it. As you will see, there are many reasons to jailbreak your iPhone.

Now if someone offered you an iPhone and you don’t want to use it on an official carrier (like AT&T in the US), then you will have to unlock your iPhone. Unlocking is fairly easy, even for non techy people and there are very few risks of doing any damage.

Brand new to this whole jailbreaking and unlocking thing? I understand it might be a little confusing. I wrote an article about the difference between jailbreaking and unlocking that might help you understand both better, so feel free to check it out if want to learn more about it.

Let’s get into it now. This article aims at giving a quick overview of possibilities for jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone. For both jailbreaking and unlocking, the method used depends on what iPhone model you have and what software (firmware) is currently installed on it. At this time, I will assume that your iPhone comes with firmware 3.1.2 preinstalled on it.

First things first. Before unlocking an iPhone, you first have to jailbreak it.

Jailbreak iPhone 3.1.2

Note that I strongly recommend using PwnageTool to jailbreak your iPhone, that is if you have a Mac as it doesn’t work on PCs. PwnageTool is a much “cleaner” and trouble-free jailbreak.

I am not a big fan of BlackRa1n as many have reported issues with it (many have had great success too). Besides, if you have an iPhone 3GS, it’s important to note that BlackRa1n is a tethered jailbreak, which means that everytime you reboot your iPhone, you will have to plug it to your computer and launch BlackRa1n. Not so convenient but it does the job.

Jailbreak iPhone 3GS

• Jailbreak iPhone 3GS 3.1.2 with PwnageTool
• Jailbreak iPhone 3GS 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n
• Jailbreak iPhone 3GS 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n RC2
• Jailbreak iPhone 3GS 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n RC3

Jailbreak iPhone 3G

• Jailbreak iPhone 3G 3.1.2 with PwnageTool
• Jailbreak iPhone 3G 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n
• Jailbreak iPhone 3G 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n RC2
• Jailbreak iPhone 3G 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n RC3

Jailbreak iPhone 2G

• Jailbreak iPhone 2G 3.1.2 with PwnageTool
• Jailbreak iPhone 2G 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n
• Jailbreak iPhone 2G 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n RC2
• Jailbreak iPhone 2G 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n RC3

Unlock iPhone 3.1.2

Unlock iPhone 3GS

• How to unlock iPhone 3GS
• Unlock iPhone 3GS with BlackSn0w tutorial

Unlock iPhone 3G

• How to unlock iPhone 3G
• Unlock iPhone 3G with BlackSn0w tutorial

Unlock iPhone 2G

• Unlock iPhone 2G with PwnageTool

The Best iPhone Apps Of 2009

The iPhone and iPod touch have become immediately recognizable names around the world. Apple recently announced that the iPhone is the most popular mobile phone in the US. In addition, the iPod touch is generally regarded as the media player of choice, offering much more than just music. Perhaps the key to their success is the ever-growing app store which currently boasts over 100,000 apps. For those of you not crazy about math, that’s a huge number—you would have to purchase and download over 11 apps an hour, every single day for a year to test them all. While it is safe to say the majority of apps available are less than appealing, there are a few gems that stand out from the rest. We took a look and compiled a list of the best apps 2009 had to offer.

2009 brought some of the best apps to the iPhone and iPod touch to date. Gaming has now advanced to a point that rivals the Sony PSP or Nintendo DS. As the mobile market grows and hardware continues to improve, we are going to see some amazing things come our way. If 2008 was about experimentation, 2009 was about innovation. In 2010, developers will push this innovation to enhance our mobile experience—whether through augmented reality, cloud-based computing, or something completely new.

Below you will find our top 10 overall apps, our top 15 games, and top 5 innovations. Tell us which apps are on your top 10 list in comments.

TOP 10 APPS

Facebook 3.0
Access your friends, notes, pictures, and events using almost every feature the actual site offers. This app, based on the enormous social networking site, has seen many changes and just keeps getting better with time.
LINK: AppVee’s Facebook 3.0 Review

Fandango
View trailers, see showtimes, purchase tickets and read reviews using this free movie app. This is a must have for any moviegoer, giving you all you need to know about movies in your area at your fingertips.
LINK: AppVee’s Fandango Review

Beejive 3.0
One of the first applications to take advantage of push notifications, this multi-client instant messaging app is in a class of it’s own. Using its push features, iPhone and iPod touch users can easily hold IM conversations with their friends anywhere.
LINK: AppVee’s Beejive 3.0 Review

LogMeIn
Brings your desktop to your iPhone or iPod touch. Link up with your computer and access your computer screen from afar. The interface is easy and feature-filled, delivering the best VNC experience to your device.
LINK: AppVee’s LogMeIn Review

Mobile Navigator
Filling the void left by the default maps application, this app offers turn-by-turn directions from your device just like any dedicated GPS would. It provides a landscape GPS with plenty of features and a user interface that makes sense.
LINK: AppVee’s Mobile Navigator Review

Dropbox
Sync up with your Dropbox account and have access to all of your files right from your device. You can download files, upload photos, and maintain control of your folders.
LINK: AppVee’s Dropbox Review

Textfree Unlimited
No one likes paying to text. This app offers free texting via push notifications. The interface is similar to the default SMS app and is a great alternative to paying your phone company.
LINK: AppVee’s Textfree Unlimited Review

Google Mobile App
This app has revolutionized search on the iPhone with its voice search and in-app browsing. Speak a search query and the app will accurately recognize it and do a Google search. Not a Google fan? Check out the Bing app.
LINK: AppVee’s Google Mobile App Review

TweetDeck
All the wonderful features that can be found in the TweetDeck desktop app are packed into this iPhone version. With a sleek interface and great features, this app is one of the best of the many Twitter apps out there.
LINK: AppVee’s TweetDeck Review

Craigsphone
Offers the entire Craigslist experience in one easy package. Buy, sell, and save more by searching through posts and bookmarking ones for later use.
LINK: AppVee’s Craigsphone Review

Ustream
One of the first apps to bring live television to the iPhone, Ustream gives you the ability to see many live streams of all types of content on your mobile device.
LINK: AppVee’s Ustream Review

TOP 15 GAMES

Flight Control
The line drawing game that started it all, this app is very simple but insanely addicting. Each level gets harder as you play and keeps you coming back for more.
LINK: AppVee’s Flight Control Review

Peggle
Combining awesome graphics, addictive gameplay and a little bit of randomness, Peggle is an exciting mix. This game brings a casual experience to the iPhone that has yet to be rivaled.
LINK: AppVee’s Peggle Review

Rolando 2
The sequel to the hit game, this app takes the Rolando tilt formula and cranks it up. This game is an improvement in almost every way to the original and really shows what iPhone-specific gaming can provide.
LINK: AppVee’s Rolando 2 Review

Pocket God
The king of all time-wasting games, this app puts you in charge of some prehistoric pygmies who are completely at your mercy. Regular updates and features make it a pleasure to continue feeding them to the fishes.
LINK: AppVee’s Pocket God Review

Enigmo 2
Taking the puzzle genre to new heights, this app gives players everything they loved in the first game and puts it all in three dimensions. And you thought the first one was hard…
LINK: AppVee’s Enigmo 2 Review

N.O.V.A.
One of the best first person shooters that can be found in the app store, N.O.V.A. puts the Halo formula into your pocket with a complete single-player and four-player multiplayer experience.
LINK: AppVee’s N.O.V.A. Review

Labyrinth 2
Building on the app that started it all, this version gives you more than just holes to worry about as you will have to solve puzzles and dodge all sorts of objects. The game also offers the option to create your own boards and share them with the world.
LINK: AppVee’s Labyrinth 2 Review

Skeeball
Everyone loves skeeball. Now it has been brought to the iPhone in a fun way. One of the most recognizable arcade games, this app is simple and addictive.
LINK: AppVee’s Skeeball Review

Zenonia
As a full-fledged action RPG, this app brings the complete role-playing experience to the iPhone. Zenonia features attractive graphics and rewarding gameplay.
LINK: AppVee’s Zenonia Review

Real Racing
Arguably one of the best racing games for the iPhone, this app has great graphics, tight controls and immersive sound, making it one of the coolest racing experiences ever on a handheld.
LINK: AppVee’s Real Racing Review

Sims 3
Start a family and watch them interact in this full-featured Sims experience tailored specifically for the iPhone.
LINK: AppVee’s Sims 3 Review

Rock Band
EA’s answer to the popular Guitar Hero franchise, this app employs some big names in the music industry and lets you tap your way to fame.
LINK: AppVee’s Rock Band Review

Super Monkey Ball 2
This exciting balance game gets a small overhaul and some great new maps making it the king of its kind.
LINK: AppVee’s Super Monkey Ball 2 Review

Doodle Jump
Another highly addictive game that sells for cheap but never grows old. The game is casual and simple, a perfect addition to any iPhone.
LINK: AppVee’s Doodle Jump Review

Words With Friends
A Scrabble clone with a great interface, this app allows you to play multiple games against players all over the world by alerting you via push.
LINK: AppVee’s Words With Friends Review

TOP 5 INNOVATIONS

Red Laser 2.2
A step forward in innovation, this app scans barcodes using the iPhone camera and then returns pricing from various online sites. While still in its infancy, this app could revolutionize the way we shop.
LINK: AppVee’s Red Laser 2.2 Review

Hitchcock
Storyboarding in your pocket. Hitchcock allows aspiring cinematographers to create movie layouts while on the go.
LINK: AppVee’s Hitchcock Review

I Am T-Pain
Impress your friends by altering your voice with autotune. This app was an instant hit and gives you the ability to be a star the next time you are ‘on a boat.’
LINK: AppVee’s I Am T-Pain Review

Mailtones
Ringtones for email. Mailtones allows you to identify who just emailed you by their individual sound tone. Offers a new level of customization for your inbox.
LINK: AppVee’s Mailtones Review

Leaf Trombone
Leaf Trombone is a fun app that lets you play a slide instrument on your iPhone. Create your own songs and share them with the world.
LINK: AppVee’s Leaf Trombone Review

The Year in Review Captured On a Google Wave

From the same folks at Whirled Interactive who brought us the excellently funny “Pulp Wave Fiction” comes another intelligent use of Google Wave as a video production medium — this time it’s used to encapsulate the year in news and social media.

In “Waving Goodbye to 2009,” embedded after the break, we see a Google Wave rendition of the year’s most memorable moments. From the Obama inauguration to the Iran elections, from Susan Boyle to Kanye West, the video highlights the best — and worst — moments of 2009.

Check it out below and let us know what you think. Were any huge stories omitted you would have liked to see included (were we blind or did we miss an appearance from Balloon Boy, e.g.)? You can also check out some other novel use cases for Google Wave, too.

Apple’s “12 Apps Of Christmas” iPhone commercial

Apple just pushed out a new, Holiday-themed commercial. Playing on the classic “12 Days of Christmas” song, they rattle off a different type of application for each of 12 days.