“Is there any iPhone app that me record phone calls?”

It’s a question I recently received from a reader. Probably you have the same question in your mind or the same need and in search of this kind of applications.

With over 100,000 apps in iPhone App Store, there is an iPhone app called “Recorder 10″ for that!

Developed by Retronyms, similar to Voice Memo app from iPhone OS 3.0, Recorder turns your iPhone as an recorder and lets you record everything from memo, discussions, interviews, and ideas on your iPhone. The interface is intuitive. To start your recording, simple click the big single “Record” button. A normal recording takes up around 940 KB per minute. With a 16GB iPhone, you will be able to hold a little more than 290 hours of recordings.

The app allows you to trim your recording and email it to your friends right away. It also comes with a Wifi sync feature to let you transfer the recording back to your computer wirelessly.

Best of all, the latest version of Recorder app (i.e. Recorder 10) adds the recording feature for outgoing phone call, which is the most requested feature as mentioned by the co-founder of Retronyms. To bring this feature to iPhone, Retronyms works with a phone company to provide the recording service and that limits the call recording service available in U.S. only and requires per-minute charges. Despite that, the call recording feature is still a great feature for iPhone users.

The Recorder 10 app is now available at App Store for US$0.99. You can click this direct iTunes link to purchase it.

To learn more about the call recording feature of Recorder 10, check out the video and see it in action:

Note: For most countries, it’s illegal to record the phone calls without informing the other party. So, make sure you let the other party know that the call is being recorded.

Okay, you’ve bought a new computer. The next thing you need is to migrate the existing data from the old computer to the new one. As a regular user of iTunes, you may have a question: How can you backup all your songs, applications, movies in your iTunes library and move to the new computer?

Since iTunes v7.0, Apple has added a “Back up to Disc” feature to let you backup the iTunes library to CD/DVD. The backup feature will backup the following files in your iTunes library:

• Applications
• Audiobooks
• Games
• Movies
• Music
• Music Videos
• Podcasts
• Ringtones
• TV Shows

How to Use iTunes’ Backup Feature

To use the backup feature,

1. First, simply click File -> Library -> Back up to Disc.

2. Select the first option “Back up entire iTunes library and playlists” and click “Back Up”

3. Insert a blank disc (CD or DVD) into your optical drive and the backup process will start automatically.

Don’t eject the disc during the process and just wait until the backup completes. If the disc cannot hold all contents of your iTunes library, iTunes will ask you to backup the file to multiple discs. Just follow the instruction to continue.

Restore the iTunes Backup to Your New Computer

After the backup process completes, eject the disc. Go to your new computer and use the disc to restore your iTunes library.

1. First, launch iTunes on your new computer

Note: I assume you have installed iTunes. If not, download it from Apple.

2. Insert the backup disc into the optical drive

3. iTunes will prompt whether you want to restore from this disc. Click Restore to restore your iTunes library.

That’s it. Enjoy iTunes on your new computer!

NumPad, an iPhone app from Edovia Inc, targets to turn your iPhone into wireless numeric pad. For most laptop keyboards, they do not come with a numeric keypad. Or you have purchased Apple’s wireless keyboard, which does not include the numeric keypad. Then this iPhone app will be a great companion for you.

NumPad connects your iPhone with laptop or computer via WiFi and instantly transforms your iPhone into a wireless numeric pad. The application supports both Windows XP (or up) and Mac OS X (10.4 or up). For Mac user, NumPad does not require any additional software on your computer. However, for Windows user, you’ll need to install a VNC server software (e.g. RealVNC) to pair with NumPad.

The wireless numpad comes with three different themes: Silver, White and Black. You can easily switch between the themes via the Settings screen.

Personally, I think this is a great app for laptop user. Sometimes, when you need to key in lots of numeric data in Excel, you can simply launch NumPad and you get a wireless numpad to speed up your typing.

Numpad is now available on App Store and you can purchase it at US$2.99. Simply click this direct iTunes link to get it. Enjoy!

Even with the release of iPhone 3.1.2 OS, Apple does not add any new features or customization for iPhone’s lock screen. What you get for the lock screen are a digital clock, a customizable wallpaper and an “Unlock” slider. That’s it. However, we think we can make a better use of the lock screen.

Jay Freeman, the creator of cydia, recently announced the release of Cydget for jailbroken iPhone. Cydget provides a comprehensive replacement for Winterboard lock widget, allowing developers and web designer to take control of the lock screen. Developers can make use of Cydget and creates interesting widgets by using either native code or HTML with javascript.

How to Install and Use Cydget

As an iPhone user, you do not need to understand all those technical terms. What you need to know is how to install Cydget and other interesting Cydget-enabled widgets on your jailbroken. To install Cydget, simply fire up the Cydia app and search for “Cydget”. Then tap the “Install” button to install it.

After installation, reboot your iPhone and you’ll then find your lock screen is changed with a welcome message shown, which means Cydget is installed and activated properly.

Cydget does not appear as a normal application on iPhone. So, you’ll not find the application icon on the home screen. Instead, to configure Cydget, go to “Settings” -> “Cydget” -> “Lock Cydget Order”. You’ll find three cydgets (PhotoExample, Welcome, AwayView) available, which are come with the Cydget installation. By default, the Welcome and AwayView are selected.

To deactivate Cydget completely, simply deselect (i.e. untick) all the lock cydgets and go back to home screen. Your original lock should be restored.

Installing Lock Cydgets

Other than the default lock cydgets, you can find several cydgets available on cydia. Just search “cydget”, Cydia will show you the available cydgets for download. You can then enable the cydgets in “Settings” as mentioned above.

Sample Lock Cydgets

HTC Hero Cydget
This cydget displays clock and weather information on lock screen in HTC Hero style.

Weather Cydget
This cydget shows the current weather on lock screen.

Cydget is a great add-on for jailbroken iPhone. However, there are only a limited number of cydgets available. As more developers create widgets for lock screen, Cydget will definitely become a must-have applications for jailbroken iPhone, just like Winterboard.

Tip: To revamp your lock screen, you can also check out Twidget, Lock Calendar and IntelliScreen.

Apple has just rolled out two new TV commercials for iPhone: Song and Gift. Continued with the same theme “There is an app for that”, Apple highlights six applications in each commercial:

Song

• Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals [iTunes link] – Priced at US$7.99, Jamie Oliver demonstrates 50 brand new recipes in the app. With more than 75 minutes of exclusive video and over 1,000 high-resolution step-by-step photos, you can learn to cook great meal on the go.
• Credit Card Terminal [iTunes link] – The app turns your iPhone into a mobile credit card terminal and lets you accept customer payments while you’re on the go. It’s sold at US$0.99.
• Facebook [iTunes link] – It’s a must-have iPhone application for Facebook user. To learn about the app, you can further check out this post. I forget to mention – the app is free for download.
• The Sims 3 [iTunes link] – A great game from Electronic Arts that lets you create your virtual character and explore the virtual world. I have written up a review for this game in Jun. Check out the review and learn more about the game.
• Redfin Real Estate [iTunes link] – Looking for a new house in U.S.? This free real estate app shows all the details and photos on every home for sale.
• Shazam [iTunes link] – When you want to know the song that is playing, Shazam is the app for that. Simply launch Shazam and point your iPhone towards the music source. Shazam will show you the details of artist for that song. The app is free and it’s really cool.

Gift

• Target [iTunes link] – Created by Target Inc, this free app lets you search for products at your favorite Target store and see if the products are available before you shop. Also, you can find store locations, as well as, browse products on Target.com.
• ColorChange [iTunes link] – The app lets you take any image and manipulate the colors within the image to allow you to visualize what a room, landscape, person, or object would look like as a different color. It’s not a free app but sold at US$2.99.
• The Snow Report [iTunes link] – Developed by The North Face, the snow report provides everything you need for your next trip to the mountain including 5-day forecasts, trail maps, details snow condition for your favorite resorts, etc. Best of all, the app is completely free.
• Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition [iTunes link] – Use iPhone to play Monopoly with your friends. Priced at US$4.99, it is a great game developed by Electronic Arts.
• HotelPal [iTunes link] – Planning for your next trip, you may need HotelPal. The free app lets you browse and book over 100,000 hotels worldwide with live rate availability, full-screen photos and in-app booking to make reservation.
• Zipcar [iTunes link] – Developed by Zipcar Inc., the app is available for free download. Zipcar app lets its members to use your iPhone to quickly reserve a Zipcar across the globe. Through the app, you can even honk the horn, lock and unlock the doors.

Check out the videos of the new iPhone commercials:

Gift

Song

Which app do you like most? As always, leave us comment and share your thought.

The application is simple but it’s cool and fun!

The idea behind the Balloons app for iPhone is simple: Lets you launch virtual helium balloons from your iPhone to the world. You can write a message and attach a photo to a tag dangled below the balloon. Anyone using the Balloons app may catch your balloon and view your message. You can also catch the balloons of others and read the tags attached to the balloon. If you have something to say, add your tag to the balloon and release it back to the sky.

Probably you have done a similar thing when you’re a kid. Release the balloon and see who will catch it somewhere in the world. This app lets you release your balloon virtually.

It’s so easy to launch a balloon. Simply select a colorful balloon, add your message/photo to the tag and tap the “Launch” button to let it fly. If you have a Twitter account, you can also put your account name in the tag. So, people can tweet you directly when they catch your balloon.

The Balloons app is available on App Store with both paid and free version. Balloon Lite is the free version of Balloons and you can download it via this direct iTunes link. The paid version [iTunes link], sold at US$2.99, offers an extra feature that lets you track the progress of your balloon around the world.

I also launch a balloon and now it should be somewhere in the world. If you catch it, do add a tag and reply me back.

To further see the Balloons app in action, check out the video:

Some time ago, I’ve covered a new feature in MobileMe called “Find my iPhone” that helps you to locate your iPhone if it’s lost or picked up by someone else. Now, Orbicule, a Belgium company which develops theft-recovery app for the Mac, also brings an iPhone app named “Undercover” to help you recover your lost or stolen iPhone.

If you do not want to subscribe to MobileMe and want to have this recovery feature, you can purchase the Undercover app from App Store for US$4.99. Every time when the Undercover application is launched, the phone’s location (via the built-in GPS) and IP information are stored in your account. You can then access www.undercovercenter.com and login to your account to track the device.

But, you may probably wonder: what if Undercover app is not launched when the iPhone is stolen or lost? The latest version of Undercover app utilizes Push Notification and allows you to remotely launch Undercover on the stolen iPhone in order to track the location. When your iPhone is lost, you can send a notification to the iPhone. The phone will ring and Undercover will display the notification on top of any running application. When the person, who pickup your iPhone, views the message, Undercover will automatically transmit the iPhone’s location back to the Undercover Centre.

To learn more about how it works, check out the video:

Undercover is a good alternative to MobileMe’s Find My iPhone feature. You can download the app via this direct iTunes link.

In normal case, your iPhone should work properly after jailbreak. However, in some rare cases, you may encounter some unexpected problems. Other than the YouTube issue after blackra1n jailbreak, here is another problem reported by one of the readers:

“I get to fix the youTube problem. but the Notes app is not working. Everytime I write a new note and click done, the app closes without saving my note. Is there a patch to fix this?”

Yes, there is a fix for that.

If you experience this problem after jailbreak, the database of the Notes application is probably crashed or corrupted. To repair the Notes database, follow the below procedures to fix it:

1. Go to Cydia and install “MobileTerminal”

2. After installation, go back to iPhone home screen and launch “Terminal” app.

3. In the Terminal, key in “cd /private/var/mobile/Library/Notes” and hit “Return”. Then type in “rm notes.db” and hit “Return” to delete the corrupted database.

4. Click Home button to go back to home screen and restart your iPhone (i.e. Power it off and Turn it on again)

After reboot, iPhone will automatically generate a new database file (i.e. notes.db) for the Notes app. Now, launch the Notes app again and write a new note. This time, you should be able to save your note.

“iShoot’s developer admits that he made about US$600,000 in a single month for his iPhone game iShoot. This allows him to quit the day job and focus on iPhone development full-time.” (Source: Wired)

“Block, the developer of the crossword puzzle application – 2 Cross, has been earning almost $2,000 per day on the application” (Source: Ars Technica)

You may read about these “iPhone developer goes rich” stories before. It’s pretty interesting, right? Probably you also thought of creating your own app and make a fortune. So, how do you get start and kick off your iPhone programming journey? Here I sum up the five essential steps you’ll need to go through to put up your app in App Store.

Step 1 - Get a Mac

Yes, you need a Mac. It’s the very basic requirement for iPhone development. To develop an iPhone app, you need to first get a Mac with Intel-based processor running on Mac OS X Leopard version (i.e. 10.5) or up. You probably grow up with MS Windows PC. If you do not have a Mac, the cheapest way is to purchase the Mac Mini, which costs US$599, and pair with the monitor of your PC. The basic model of Mac mini comes with Intel Core2 Duo 2.26GHz CPU and 2GB memory should be well enough to run the iPhone development tool smoothly. Of course, if you have more budget, go and get the new iMac with faster processing power.

Step 2 – Download the iPhone SDK

Apple has developed a suite of iPhone development tools (i.e. SDK) and released it to iPhone application developers with no cost. The SDK includes everything you need to build your iPhone app including the integrated development environment known as Xcode, interface builder, iPhone simulator, performance analyzer, code library/sample and useful documentation.

You can download the free iPhone SDK at Apple’s developer website. Before the download, you need to register an Apple account (if you don’t have one).

Step 3 – Learn Objective C and iPhone Development Environment

The first two steps are pretty straightforward. This step may take you huge amount of time to succeed especially you do not have any programming background. But if you really have passion about creating your own app, there is nothing can stop you.

Objective C is the primary programming language of iPhone app development. So, the first thing you’ll need is to grasp the language. If you do not know about Objective C or come from other programming backgrounds (e.g. C/C++ or Java), go and grab a beginner book to start studying. Here are a few books or resources you can further look into:

- Learning Objective-C on the Mac
- Programming in Objective C 2.0
- Learning Objective-C: A Primer

Other than learning the programming language, you also need to familiarize with the development environment. Beginning iPhone Development is a great book that you can begin with. You can also check out the official iPhone SDK documentation which bundles a wealth of information and samples to walk you through the development environment, as well as, how you can design & test your app with interface builder and iPhone simulator.

Tip: Stanford University also offers free lecture videos and course material for the public to study iPhone programming. To learn more about the course, check out this post.

Step 4 – Get Your Hand Dirty! Develop an iPhone app!

Like studying any kind of language, the best way to learn is to get your hand dirty. Don’t just read the programming book. Simply think of a very simple project to start with and begin to develop the iPhone app. Your first app does have to be fun or useful. Just code it, make it work and run it through the iPhone simulator. Remember that’s just the beginning, you can then further tweak your app and make it even better. Most importantly, that’s a great learning process. You can gradually pickup the language and the development environment.

Even you can’t think of any project, you can just follow the sample project in the development kit or the iPhone book you’re reading. With reference to the sample projects, make some modifications. Just remember to get your hand dirty! That’s the best way to learn programming.

And, hopefully, you’ll come up with your own iPhone app in this step.

Step 5 – Join the iPhone Developer Program and Submit your App

Up to this point, you can only test your iPhone app on the Mac with the iPhone simulator, bundled in SDK. You do not have the right to load the app onto your iPhone and run it. If you plan to put your app up to the App Store, you’ll need to join the iPhone developer program.

The annual basic fee of the program is US$99. For corporate developer who works for a large organization with 500 or more employees and plan for developing in-house app, you can also select the iPhone develop program for enterprise, which costs US$299 annually. The signup process includes agreeing to the Apple terms and condition and signing the contract.

By joining as an official iPhone developer, Apple will send you a digital certificate that allows you to test your iPhone app on a real iPhone instead of the simulator. Okay, even you’ve tried it out on the simulator, remember to test your app thoroughly on a real iPhone. Never put up a buggy app to your user!

Tip: For student, you can join the iPhone Developer University Program for free.

When you think the app is ready for prime time, the final step is to submit it to Apple. The process involves zip your app files and uploading the files together with screenshots to Apple for approval. Usually, the approval process takes two weeks to complete and you’ll see your app appeared on App Store for download.

Share your Development Experience & Tell Us Your App

Lastly, don’t forget tell us if you have developed your own app. We’re very glad to cover your iPhone app and your development experience. Good luck and enjoy the iPhone programming journey. It should be fun and rewarding. Probably, you’re the next iPhone developer who can quit the day job and make a fortune using the iPhone.

Do you have children? You may like this great product for your children. Mobile Art Lab from Japan has come up with an innovated way to use iPhone by combining it with a traditional picture book called PhoneBook.

As mentioned by the company, the goal of the product is to create a new parent-child communication through the iPhone. The PhoneBook tries to promote reading by combing still-picture, video and interaction together. So, how do they combine? Actually, the iPhone is slotted inside the book. As you turn the page, the content shown on the iPhone touchscreen changes and child can interact with the scene directly or tilt the book for different interactions. You can check out the video (see below) to see how it works. It looks fun!

The PhoneBook is not available yet. But I’m quite sure kids will love it. The multi-touch interface and the visual interaction will make reading fun. The company does not announce the release date of the PhoneBook, but if it can be released before Christmas, I’m sure I’ll buy one for my naphew.

[via Mobile Art Lab]

I love YouTube but I also love the high quality videos on vimeo.com. Same as other video sites, due to the lack of Flash support, you originally can’t view the vimeo videos on iPhone.

But today, Vimeo announces a great news to iPhone and Andriod users on Twitter that the site now supports both iPhone and Android devices.

All of the site’s content from the staff picks and HD video showcase have now been converted to formats optimized for these two mobile handsets. For the initial launch, video conversion will be limited to videos picked by the company. But as Vimeo’s director of community told CNET News, they will soon let the premium member (i.e. Plus user) to transcode their videos to an iPhone version. Hopefully, it’ll be available in the next few weeks.

The mobile site of Vimeo is now up and running. Simply point your mobile Safari browser to http://vimeo.com/m to enjoy the high quality video on iPhone.

For those who do not heard of Vimeo, it’s a video sharing site, created by filmmakers and video creators who wanted to share their creative work. Unlike YouTube, however, Vimeo does not allow commercial videos, gaming videos, or any videos that are not created by yourself. Despite of these, you can still find lots of interesting videos and they are all in high quality with better resolution than YouTube.

So, what do you think about Vimeo on iPhone? Personally, the interface of the app is pretty good. I enjoy it but I think the best is for vimeo to bring us a native iPhone app. Tell us your experience or share your thought about the application by leaving comment below.

Sparkz Products introduces the world’s first iPhone & iPod dock projector. Featuring up to 1024×768 resolution, 15 lumens brightness and a 3M LCoS lens, the projector allows you to slot your iPhone into the dock and play video directly projecting a 60″ viewing area in a dark room.

The sparkz supports all models of iPhone including 2G, 3G and 3GS, as well as, video equipped iPods. It can also play a range of multi-media devices such as camcorders, laptops and game consoles via AV and VGA inputs. Here is the feature list as described by Sparkz Products:

• handheld pico projector – only 4.5” x 3” x 2.5”
• watch media directly from your iPhone/iPod
• charge your iPhone/iPod while you watch
• built-in external stereo speakers with audio out
• high capacity battery – 2.5 hour run time per charge

The dock projector is quite handy and comes with an tripod. It lets you easily to show your iPhone video to an entire room of people. But it’s quite pricey and costs you US$495 to take it home.

To see how the projector works, check out the demo video:

If you’re interested to buy one, check out Sparkz’s official website. Also, don’t forget to share your experience with us by leaving comment below.