Software company Wyse is releasing a new app that allows users of both the iPhone and iPod Touch to be able to access their virtual or physical desktop environments so that they can perform tasks they would normally need to their computer for on the go. The software is intended to enable business people to do work while away from their home or office and also to allow IT administrators to access end-user devices through their mobile Apple devices.
The PocketCloud software will be shown during San Francisco’s VMworld 2009 show.
While users will need to be running iPhone OS 3.0, PocketCloud will be compatible with iPod Touch and iPhone 2G, 3G and 3GS. The software supports VMware’s View 3.1 connection broker and uses SSL (Secure Socket Layers) for security. It will be able to connect with machines running Windows 2000, Windows XP Pro, Windows Vista Business and Windows 7. Along with the standard software, Wyse will also include a client-side application called PocketCloud Windows to allow for more advanced processes. The Windows agent is available for free download.
Through Apple’s App Store, PocketCloud can be purchased and downloaded for $29.99 but companies can buy an enterprise license for PocketCloud if they run their own Enterprise iPhone App store.

It appears that Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader now has serious competition. Barnes & Noble is going a different way from Amazon, releasing a software solution that will work on portable digital devices that customers already own, such as the iPhone. Readers will be able to choose from a wide variety of book titles offered by the brick and mortar bookseller, over 700,000 titles in all. That is more than twice the available offerings of Amazon which claims over 300,000 titles available for its Kindle.

Not only will readers be able to get bestseller titles for $9.99, but through Google over half a million public domain books will also be available. All of this comes thanks to a buy of Fictionwise by Barnes & Noble in March 2009. Consumers will need a Barnes & Noble online account to be able to use the software and will use web browsers to select and purchase their titles rather than doing so from within the app itself.

When browsing, readers are allowed to sample books by reading the first few chapters free of charge. The app itself allows for a wide range of style choices to allow users to customize the look and feel of their e-books and page turning is as simple as a finger swipe across the screen.

Ford motor company has released a new app for the iPhone called Flex Photo Lab. It is a photo manipulation tool for the iPhone, which can be used to add effects to photographs or be used to improve their quality through alteration of brightness/contrast or hue/saturation. Users can also darken or brighten select areas of a photograph with the included spot burner and spot lighter tools. Flex Photo Lab also showcases Ford’s new car “Flex” with information and photographs. The app is free and currently available at the app store.

According to a growing number of iPhone 3G users, small cracks are appearing on the plastic case of their iPhone 3G’s. Most of these reported cracks have been found around the edges of the iPhone 3G case and near the headphone jack. These cracks are more common on white iPhone 3G’s and are rare on black iPhone 3G’s. The cracks take anywhere from a day to a week or two from purchase to appear. Apple’s retail stores are replacing these defective units on the spot, free of any charge. Seemingly Apple has identified the problem and is taking the necessary steps to rectify the issue and satisfy affected customers.

New reports have surfaced about the capabilities of the much awaited 3G iPhone. This latest information says that the iPhone will have the ability to geo-tag photographs, which means that it will include a GPS capability. Reports have also stated that users will have the ability to toggle the 3G radio on and off. According to Engadget, screen shots of the new 3G iPhone beta software shows that a location services feature is also available. Many reports has stated that the iPhone 3G version will be introduced today and will be available immediately, which could mean up to a week after the announcement.

In recent reports it was stated that Australia will have the fastest 3G iPhone in the world. This report was from a senior executive of Telstra. He stated that “By Xmas this phone will be capable of 42MBS, which will make it faster than a lot of broadband offerings and the fastest iPhone on any network in the world”. The new 3G version of the iPhone is expected to be available very soon after a possible unveiling on June 9th. Other reports have stated that Telstra has already been given 3G iPhones for testing.

Although it has been long in development, the iPhone file sharing application is now a reality. The Celestial Jukebox is now available via P2P. ISlsk developer Eric Castro stated “Stay tuned…This is just the beginning”. With the new application, a full length movie download takes approximately 40 minutes and song downloads take just 3 minutes via WiFi. There is no account required for downloading, simply enter a user name and password and an account is created automatically. Download speeds via WiFi average approximately 20 Kbps and AT&T’s Edge allows song downloads from Soulseek at approximately 10 Kbps.

Noel Rappin from Pathfinder Development has recently developed an open source plug-in that focuses on automating common tasks and streamlining developments. The plug-in is a Rails wrapper that works with the iUI toolkit for building iPhone enabled web applications. Because the iPhone is so highly popular, Mobile Safari has become the most commonly used mobile web browser in the United States. The plug-in works with the browser and allows users new styles of interactions such as tap and zoom which allows the content to be brought into better focus. Because of the popularity of Mobile Safari, many developers are redesigning sites to implement the unique features provided by the iPhone touch ability.