When it comes to the different genres of apps available on the App Store, the Project Management area is one of the least populated. A quick search of the store reveals only a handful of likely candidates and it’s clear it won’t be rivalling fart apps for sheer quantity anytime soon.

Far from the exclusive domain of accredited Project Managers, PM software can be used for anything from planning the Olympics to remodelling your kitchen or sorting out the family holiday. Good PM software can help organise the tasks, assign appropriate resources, identify bottlenecks and (in theory) predict when various milestones will be completed.

Defining exactly what qualifies as a Project Management tool is quite tricky. My broad, crude definition is software that includes Gantt charts. Try searching for ‘Gantt’ in the app store and you’ll not need to trouble your shoes and socks in order to count them all. Actually, at the time of writing, on the UK app store there’s a grand total of two apps that include a Gantt chart. The latest of these is ‘Projects’ from developer Thomas Blackburn.
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Don’t want to pay for MobileMe and have to use a me.com email address? I’ve been using the latest apps that bring push email (sort of) to your iPhone.

GPush and Pushmail are currently racing up the App Store, so which would I recommend?

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I’m sure you’ve heard that T-Mobile are giving iPhones to some customers in the UK. As with the unlocked iPhones available on Play.com, these are grey market imports that are not locked to any network. T-Mobile customers will apparently be offered an iPhone 3G if they spend £75+ per month and threaten to leave.

Initially, this will only affect a small number of high spending customers. And, it has to be seen in context of T-Mobile trying to maintain subscriber numbers – in order to make themselves more attractive if the network is sold.

But for the first time, you can now get an officially-supported iPhone in the UK on a network other than O2. Are we about to see iPhones available on other networks as well?

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You know that warm, cosy feeling you have on a Sunday night when you’ve had your dinner, the kids are in bed, and you’ve just sat down to watch some TV? And then you realise you’ve forgotten this week’s Carnival of the Mobilists?

So, like the plot of the bad Steven Seagal movie I’m watching, this has been hastily-written. But don’t let my rush to write this article stop you from reading this week’s excellent submissions at leisure.

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I’ve been sitting on this article for quite a while, but the recent iTablet rumours and then the announcement of Sony’s new low-cost digital e-book readers moved me to finished it off and get it posted quickly!

The print and graphic design industries were the first that Apple really cornered. The killer combination of the Macintosh’s user interface, powerful QuickDraw API and Apple’s one-of-a-kind LaserWriter printer which included a built-in PostScript interpreter positioned Apple dead centre of the burgeoning DTP revolution. Though Apple made many mistakes throughout the early 90s, those critical components gave Apple a foundation that proved to be unmatchable.
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The App Store: An incredibly successful market for developers to sell their wares, undermined by the shop owner’s inconsistent and unpredictable rules about what can be sold.

Once again, Apple has done the customer a dis-service. You may have heard about the removal of GV Mobile and VoiceCentral apps from the App Store, and the blocking of the official Google Voice application. These are apps that allow you to interact with a Google Voice account (currently US-only), which gives you one number for multiple phones, and is really providing new innovations in voice telephony. The reasons Apple gave (duplication of features, user confusion) are not credible, especially as the apps have been selling for months. It seems that AT&T have exerted some presuure to have these apps removed, fearing that their cash cows of long-distance calling and SMS would be hit.
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I have a particular interest in painting apps and, as I mentioned in a previous review, I think the iPhone is a great platform for this type of application. Portable and lacking the mess of real media, a good painting app offers Artists of all levels the chance to create wherever they find themselves without the need to carry around all the equipment and materials they’d normally use.

Discounting the dozens of simplistic finger painting applications out there, you’re left with three main contenders for the title of the best painting app: Brushes, PhotoForge and now Layers. I’ve not tried Brushes as yet but have already reviewed and been impressed by PhotoForge. New kid on the block, ‘Layers’ really needs to add something different and impressive to the mix in order to have a chance of standing out.
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You may have seen my previous Proporta charger reviews over on AAS, of the Micro and the original Travel Charger. Both solid products, and both of which were replaced by a slightly tacky alternative last year because of supply problems with the original devices. Thankfully, as I write this mid-2009, things seem to have reverted to the original supplier and there are two new models available. Featured here is the diminutive USB TurboCharger 1200 and there’s also a big brother, the TurboCharger 3400, which we’ll review in due course.

The general idea’s still the same though. You charge the USB TurboCharger 1200 up from any convenient USB source – either a computer’s USB port or one of Proporta’s own 12V or mains-to-USB adapters (incidentally these latter two come with the recommended ‘World Pack’ version of the product, along with a range of international mains pin converters), and then you can dispense this to just about any portable device, be it a Nokia, Sony Ericsson or Apple phone, be it a Nintendo DS Lite or even just something that charges over microUSB or miniUSB. Continue Reading

It’s a dream of many of us to be able to play a musical instrument. Unfortunately, most lack the level of commitment needed to actually get beyond the basics. In the past, the best we could hope for is to pick out a hesitant ‘chopsticks’ on the piano or strum a few ropey chords with a guitar.

Now, though, technology has transformed the music business turning some unlikely individuals into top selling recording artists. But what can it do for the likes of you and me who fancy ourselves the writers of smash hits? If only we could lose the pesky need for musical ability. Might SoundGrid be the answer?
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Back in June just prior to the 3GS announcement I wrote,

“But what if Phil Schiller and company take to the stage tonight and announce the much rumoured iPhone Video? What if it has autofocus? What if it has VGA resolution? What if it has a rock solid 30 frames per second frame rate? What if it has an effective video editing solution? What if it captures stereo sound? What if it has digital zoom that actually works? What if…”

As we now know the iPhone 3GS brought many of these features to the table. Autofocus, VGA, rock solid 30 frames per second and even a basic but powerful editing and distribution solution.

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