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Filed under: Multimedia , Software , Misc , Apple , OS X Talk about being on a hot streak. Netflix has been the talk of the town here lately, hiring a new guy to concentrate on digital distribution, nixing HD DVD rentals for good and showing up on your iPod touch / iPhone. You heard right -- thanks to a new third-party application from i.TV, users can now manage their Netflix queue right from their handheld. In the app, users can see detailed content information, ratings, cast credits and recommendations, and you can even sign up for access or link to an existing account. Oh, and did we mention it's free to download? Because it is. i.TV app brings Netflix queue management to iPhone / iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Games , Peripherals , Apple , OS X For better or worse, it looks like the so-called iControlPad is edging closer to reality -- or at least something really similar. According to a new image (and our limited Spanish translation skills), Belkin is actually looking to produce an App Store gaming controller, though we're still not entirely convinced that what we're seeing is legitimate. Whatever the case, the JoyPod would somehow, someway provide users who purchased Super Monkey Ball to play it using a bona fide game pad, though we can't figure out if the iPod touch / iPhone slips in behind the controller or if it just morphs to fit the JoyPod's space constraints. Guess we'll see (or not) soon enough. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Handsets , Software , Apple , OS X According to iPhone Atlas and iPhone hacker-extraordinaire Jonathan Zdziarski, Apple has readied a blacklisting system which allows the company to remotely disable applications on your device . Apparently, the new 2.x firmware contains a URL which points to a page containing a list of "unauthorized" apps -- a move which suggests that the device makes occasional contact with Apple's servers to see if anything is amiss on your phone. In Jonathan's words: "This suggests that the iPhone calls home once in a while to find out what applications it should turn off. At the moment, no apps have been blacklisted, but by all appearances, this has been added to disable applications that the user has already downloaded and paid for, if Apple so chooses to shut them down. I discovered this doing a forensic examination of an iPhone 3G. It appears to be tucked away in a configuration file deep inside CoreLocation." Now honestly, we don't expect the folks in Cupertino to suddenly start turning off apps that you've paid for and downloaded, but if Apple is indeed monitoring iPhones or touches (even passively) for applications it doesn't want or like, it signals a problem deeper than a company simply wanting to sign-off on software for the device. Even on platforms like Symbian -- which calls for apps to be signed and traceable -- the suggestion that a process of the OS would actively monitor, report on, and possibly deactivate your device's software is unreasonable, and clearly presents an issue that the company will have to deal with sooner or later. Oh, and Apple -- we're not going to buy the "for your security" angle, so don't even bother. [Via Mac Rumors ] Read - iPhone can phone home and kill apps? Read - Apple's URL with "unathorized applications" string Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Software , Apple , OS X What's the sound of a tree falling when no one's around to hear it? What's the sound of one hand clapping? And perhaps most importantly, what's the purpose of a clipboard when only one app can use it? Development shop Proximi is making a pretty big stink about its MagicPad app for the iPhone, touting its homegrown copy / paste functionality as part of a rich text-editing package to help shore up the handset's weak sauce (read: non-existent) office app suite. That's all well and good -- the app looks well-executed and provides a core function that should've been present across the entire iPhone to start -- but without buy-in from Apple , the clipboard's stuck in the MagicPad sandbox. Cool? Yes. Should Apple be paying attention? Yes. Useful? At this point, barely. [Via MacRumors ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Handsets , Software , ATT , Apple , OS X Handhelds (and handsets, in particular ) have long since been used as tools for home automation , but the forthcoming App Store is likely to bring a niche concept to the masses... or some of them, at least. Beginning on July 11th (that's the iPhone 3G launch day, you know), a Crestron interface titled iLoveControl will be available for download; during the first 30 days of launch, said app will "offer a one-room Crestron solution free of charge, configured for the control of lights, drapes, HVAC, audio and video." If you're looking to control more than that, it'll cost you $250 per configuration. This is just one example of what's likely to fill the App Store, and quite frankly, we're pretty excited about the possibilities. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Software , Apple , OS X We were really counting on heading straight to the bank with our $1,500, 3-gigabyte... uh, "application" on the App Store next month, but Apple just went and threw a wet blanket on those meticulously thought-out plans of ours. Current intel suggests that Apple intends to allow developers to charge between 99 cents and $999.99 for programs sold through its portal -- those that aren't offered for free, anyway -- in tiered increments depending on the price range. No single app will be allowed to exceed 2GB in size, though it's not clear whether that's for technical or business reasons; at any rate, the sheer torture of attempting to download and install anything close to that size over WiFi will be giving us nightmares for weeks to come. AppleInsider points out that the limitation could put the kibosh on business apps that rely on large integrated data sets to function, so we guess that means you'll just have to play more Super Monkey Ball in their stead. Shucks! [Via iLounge ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments