Last month we launched Apps of the Month: a series dedicated to profiling iPhone apps that you should actually buy, instead of the ones that simply got the most hype. This is a tough task, given the 100,000+ apps on the store and the fact that discovery is an absurdly difficult task, even for those who spend as much time as we do playing with iPhone apps. Of course, we scoured our inboxes and the App Store in search of fun, interesting and useful applications. Some will tickle your fancy and others won’t be your cup of tea, but regardless, it’s better to have some recommendations than none. Enjoy.

Best Apps of November is our second edition of this series. Admittedly, we still don’t have as many indie apps as we would like, so we’re going to provide every developer with a way to get on the list. To submit an app for our “Apps of the Month” list, send details of your app (and, preferably, a review code) to gaganATcrunchgearDOTcom, and I’ll check them out. To be fair to you, I promise to download and test every app I get. In the meantime, hit the jump to check out this month’s list:
Read More

If you’re one of the 600,000 people who bought a Samsung Intensity (SCH U-490) or Samsung Trance (SCH U-450): good news! You’ve got an over-the-air update coming your way. One of our sources just came through with the patch notes for both handset’s respective updates, which are scheduled to begin as early as tomorrow.

There’s nothing too major on the update list here, so don’t expect to wake up to find your phone magically jam-packed with new features. With that said, a few of the soon-to-be-fixed bugs sound pretty annoying – so at worst, consider it a bit of polish.

Find the change lists after the jump:
Read More

We get a lot of e-mail at the MobileCrunch tips line. Really, a whole friggin’ lot. About 2% of them are worthwhile tips. The remaining 98% is made up of other bloggers highlighting their stories for linkage (which we don’t mind a bit), Nigerian princes asking for our bank account details (which we do mind), and a surprising number of emails that say nothing but “Sent from my iPhone.”

Every once in a while, a real gem comes along. It’s not a gem in the “Oh wow, this is going to be great for traffic!” sense — no, no, nothing like that. It’s a gem in the “Why the hell did they send us this?” sense. It’s not spam, and it’s not gibberish. In fact, it makes perfect sense – just not in the context.

Read More

Short Version

$219.94. The price says it all. The TomTom Car Kit is great; it works perfectly, and I loved using it. In fact, I wish I could keep the review unit that TomTom sent me. That said, would I ever spend 2 bills and change on it? Mayyyybe, but it’s unlikely. A standalone TomTom GPS unit can be as cheap as $100, which is half the price of the TomTom Car Kit ($119.95) + TomTom GPS App ($99.99) for the iPhone. Furthermore, it’s hard to justify buying both the hardware and the software when there are cheaper options for both (more on that later).

Of course, the product does serve multiple purposes as an in-car iPhone charger, Bluetooth speakerphone and GPS unit. All in all, I was fairly impressed with the device and think those that aren’t turned off by the price might consider its purchase. The convenience of an all-in-one device is compelling.

Hit the jump to read on…

Read More

Damn it, Canada.

As an inhabitant of another country on the same continent, it is my duty to highlight all of the things we have that you don’t. I mean, who needs universal health care when you’ve got truck nuts? Every time someone would bring up the US’ lack of Poutine, I’d counter with the fact that Canada still didn’t have the MiFi hotspot. Alas, I can no longer do so. I’m running out of stuff.
Read More

It may not have seen as much hype as it’s big brother, the Moto Droid, but the Verizon Droid Eris is still one helluva handset. Generally coming in at around $99 bucks, it’s one of the cheapest ways to get in on all this Android-hullabaloo – and for one day, it’s even cheaper. And by “cheaper”, we mean free.

Read More

LG has announced a new Windows Mobile 6.5-based smartphone, the eXpo. But unlike other 6.5 smarties on the market, the newest member of the LG family is packing just about everything but the kitchen sink including a 1GHz processor, a built-in fingerprint sensor, and an optional Pico Projector. Maybe they should have named it the LG SwissArmy Knife Phone.

Read More

HTC Hero owners, we feel your pain. Just months ago, you had the hottest Android device in existence. While it’s still one damned-slick piece of mobile on the hardware front, the software — now two builds behind — is beginning to show its age. You wouldn’t believe how many requests I get in the tips line asking if we’ve got any details on when the Hero’s getting the update treatment.

We still don’t know when, but it looks like we’ve now got a good idea of what the next Hero update will be: Android 2.1.

Read More

You might find this suprising, but the top social gaming companies on the iPhone are not the same ones you know of from Facebook and MySpace. Zynga, despite $54.2M in funding, has hardly made a dent on the iPhone. Neither has Playfish, which was recently bought for $300M. Playdom hasn’t done squat, either. Although “the big three” of social gaming are great at online games, they aren’t doing too well on the iPhone. For example, Zynga’s Mafia Wars game hardly hit the top 25 throughout its time on the App Store.

Read More

You may have noticed things have been a bit quiet on the MobileCrunch front for the past few days. After a few months of nose-to-the-grindstone, the siren call of over-packed plates and family good times stemming from the Thanksgiving holiday was too much; we locked up shop for a few days, headed home, and had a good ol’ vacation.

And with that out of the way, we’re back with bellies stuffed and typin’-fingers rested. Expect more stories and faster coverage over the next few weeks, now that my writin’ cells are all recharged. Oh, and be on the lookout for contests – we’ve got some awesome stuff lined up for December.

I’m still a big bag of mixed reactions when it comes to Samsung’s new mobile OS, Bada. On one hand, Samsung has always proven themselves to be pretty bad at the software side of things (Need proof? See the hot mess that is the Samsung Behold II). On the other, that’s nothing that a bit of man-power and money can’t fix, both of which Samsung has plenty of.

We’ll just have to wait and see how things look when Bada launches, which according to this invite we just got will be on December 8th at a press conference in London. We’ve confirmed two speakers so far: Dr. HS Lee, Samsung’s EVP and Head of Media Solution Center, and Kevin Thau, Head of Mobile at Twitter. That latter appearance makes us think Bada will have a bit of a social twist to it – but these days, what doesn’t?

If I had $3.2 million dollars to throw away on something like a phone, I’d much rather just build an army of robot carrier pigeons to deliver all my messages by hand. Some, I suppose, prefer a bit more rationale in their complete irrational purchases – thus the existence of this $3.2 million dollar iPhone.

Read More

We like to keep an eye on the adoption of mobile video broadcasting applications around these parts. It’s a mighty competitive space, with Qik, Kyte, Flixwagon, Ustream and a number of others all taking a stab at what is essentially the same idea. While the idea as a whole has yet to really take off as something that everyone does, its one that just about everyone seems to appreciate once it’s explained to them. Therein lies the challenge: how do you tell people that such services exist?

One approach is to get it on the handsets right out of the box. If it’s hard to get them to come to you, why not go to them?

Read More

Remember the iTwinge, that crazy slide-on plastic sheath for the iPhone that would give you a physical keyboard by overlaying real buttons on top of the virtual ones? The 4iThumbs keypad is just like that, except it’s clear, rather than opaque black. Oh, and it requires you to stick a bunch of adhesive crap all over your iPhone.

Good idea? Bad idea? I’ll leave that call up to you – I’m too distracted by their waaaay cheesy commercial (starring not-Justin-Long and not-John-Hodgeman) to think about it. Word? Word. One more video after the jump.

[Via EngadgetMobile]

Read More

This week, people are hungry for three things: turkey, stuffing, and holiday sales. It’s a bit unlikely that EA Mobile can deliver either of the first two, but they’ve come through on that last one. From today through 11/29, EA Mobile is dropping the price on around 15 of the iPhone games, with discounts coming in at around 30-50% off. This’ll probably be the cheapest way to pick up the iPhone version of Rock Band for a few weeks at least – so if there’s interest there, strike while the iron is hot.

Update: We just got word that Gameloft is also doing a T-day sale.

Check out the sales list after the jump.

Read More

If we were to make a “Amazing ideas” list and a “Things that have totally failed to take off” list, there would be at least one item that you’d find on both: mobile video chat. Blame the carriers for not agreeing on a standard, or blame the consumer populace for not pressing hard enough; either way, its an idea that has been sitting on the launch pad for ages.

That might be about to change. The popular P2P VoIP service Fring has just announced that they have begun to add support for Skype video calls to their messaging client. Skype has hundreds of millions of users, and this service allows for mobile-to-desktop calls – in other words, mobile video chat finally has a chance at being useful and — more importantly — used.

For the time being, video chat support has only found its way into a handful of Nokia devices: the X6, N97 Mini, N97, 5800, N82, and N95. If you’re not touting an N-series device, fear not: Fring promises that support is “coming soon on other popular platforms”. Time to start adding front-facing cameras to your hardware again, manufacturers!

It’s not all N900s and lollipops in the Nokia kingdom, folks. Nokia has made a big chunk of their piggy bank with the entry level stuff, and they’ve got two new ones for that market today.

Read More

Attention Android owners nlikely to be 2.0-ed any time soon! You can now stop holding your breath. Google Maps Navigation is coming to 1.6, and you can download it right now. It’s missing a feature or two (voice-activated navigation, for instance), but it’s 95% there. Of course, depending on your handset, network, and so on, your mileage (so to speak) may vary.