Google’s mobile operating system is spreading like wildfire. HTC has just announced that they have sold over one million units of the HTC Magic. Not bad considering that the HTC Magic mobile phone was introduced this month in the U.S.
In the U.S., the HTC Magic is known as the myTouch 3G. The HTC myTouch 3G / Magic mobile phone is a touch-screen handset that is similar to the G1. The phone comes with a QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth, GPS, and an HTML browser.
Developer: Voon
Price: $3.99
Version Reviewed: 1.00
iPhone Integration Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 2.67 out of 5 stars
myDesktop is a multi-window web browser that claims to “turn your iPhone into a laptop.” Truth be told, I often use my iPod in place of my laptop, but there is one significant drawback when it comes to web browsing: the single-window system used by Mobile Safari. (Yes, there are “tabs,” but they act nothing like real tabs.) In myDesktop, on the other hand, you can use multiple windows, and each window is resizable, allowing you to see them all at once. While this functionality is fantastic, it’s easy to see why Apple chose not to include it in Mobile Safari: it’s too slow, there are bugs, and the overall implementation feels clunky. Sure, the concept’s great, but myDesktop is impractical for everyday use.
When you first open the app, you’re greeted with an instructional page explaining the basics of myDesktop, but it gets a bit confusing. Here’s a quick rundown of the layout:
The main screen features a colorful, polished background, a la a real computer desktop. At the bottom is the translucent bar. This bar is present at all times; tapping it darkens the screen and brings up options to resize the window, view the help screen, go fullscreen, or open a new window. Naturally, you have to open a new window before you can start browsing the web!
Once you have your window open, you again are presented with options. Each window has a small blue button in the top-right and a red “x” in the top-left. The “x” is self-explanatory, but the blue button is less obvious. When tapped, it again darkens the screen and allows you to navigate to a page, search through Google, go back or forward, manage your bookmarks…all the usual stuff.
Windows can be resized by dragging the bottom-right corner, and can be moved by dragging the top bar. However, resizing the windows often yields frustrating results. Websites don’t automatically snap to the new size; instead, you get a partially-cut-off portion of the site.
There are other problems, too, most notably the ever-present lag. Web pages load a bit slowly, windows lag slightly behind your finger when dragged, bookmarks take some time to open…and so on. There’s just enough lag that it’s incredibly frustrating.
The entire multi-window setup feels like it was handled strangely. Resizing windows is difficult due to the tiny selection area (I have FINGERS, not a stylus!), the system lags more with each new window, and the user interface gets in your way more often than not. Because the menu that lets you go to a new website is hidden in fullscreen mode, fullscreen is nearly useless. Oh, and when you close the app, all of the pages you were viewing disappear, leaving you with a blank “desktop.” Why isn’t there even a blank window when you start the app?
Furthermore, there are bug a-plenty, especially with regards to bookmarks. Sometimes, selecting a bookmark dumps you onto the “desktop,” and you have to restart the app. Other users have reported that the pre-set bookmarks reappear despite deletion. Three times now, I’ve opened the app only to discover that none of my bookmarks will show, and I’m unable to close out of the bookmarks menu; again, a restart is required. Stuff like this is simply unforgivable. myDesktop simply doesn’t feel like a complete app.
Don’t get me wrong; myDesktop is a great idea, and it has potential. The idea of having multiple windows displayed at once feels like something that should exist in mobile browsing. And, who knows? Maybe iPhone 3GS users will have better luck with the lag. (I’m on a 2nd-gen iPod Touch, for the record.) But as it stands, I can’t imagine that myDesktop would really be useful to anyone. It’s just an unfinished product, and the idea of paying for what could at best be called an alpha release is just irritating.
While Apple and AT&T’s lawyers are busy dealing with multiple lawsuits for failing to deliver MMS, we’ve been rounding up the latest App Store news.
Man, that’s a lot of beer money. Ever wonder how much you’ve spent on apps? There’s some new software for Mac that reads all of your downloaded apps and ads up how much they would cost. To be truly accurate you need to edit the prices of some apps, but it’s pretty close. I hate to tell you how much I’ve spent so far. Here’s a hint — I could easily feed an NFL team for a week.
In other news, man seeks attention. Someone trying to make a point decides to try and get publicity for that point. Not a new story, it happens all the time. But this guy decided he was so upset with Apple that he was going to shoot his iPhone with a 9MM and then set it on fire. That should prove a point. Watch the video for a nice case of misguided anger.
Luxor getting the Plus+ treatmentLuxor, one of the best known marble shooter games is getting Plus+ integration and will be released for the iPhone soon. One of the first specific games to be announced with the social gaming platform developed by ngmoco:) integrated.
What will be keeping me busy this weekend.Worms just released an update. I’m going to try that out and hope that it fixes the major problems we had with the game. I’m testing out GPS apps. Gomi still has me hooked. Plus a couple other pre-release games I’m looking into.
What are you playing this weekend? Let us know in the comments. Have a great weekend everyone!
If you’re scanning iPhone App Reviews.net for reviews of “sexy girl” apps, you won’t find many! I’ve tried a couple and they’re all so… BLAH. Don’t get me wrong, I love nearly-naked ladies as much as the next horndog, but seriously… you can stare at all the boobies you want in Safari by searching Google Images or a similar service.
Something that’s a little harder to come by is pics of girls who are scantily clad AND bending their bodies in some very unnatural and scary-looking poses. And thus Eighth Art brings you Flexible Girls! It’s Sexy Girl app meets Freak Show and, even if you’re completely uninterested in looking at ladies, it’s kind of hard to look away from these very fetishy pics.
Functionally, Flexible Girls is nothing special. You can add images to Favorites and you can hit the “play” button to automate the slideshow parade of 100+ girls who look like they’re one vertebrae away from breaking like a twig. If you see something you really like, you can save it directly to your camera roll. That’s about it for features.
There’s no “email this pic” feature, but something tells me it’ll come in a future update.
The content, however, totally delivers on this app’s promise of girls who are “stretching their bodies to impossible limits”. Some of the girls are just doing the standard splits… and let’s face it, that’s what half the guys who buy this app are looking for anyway! …but a lot of them really take flexibility to such an extreme that I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re circus performers.
There are 121 photos in all, and personally I think the girls in this app are only occasionally sexy and sometimes downright funny. I guess whether or not you decide to drop a dollar on Flexible Girls depends on how serious your fetish is for lady contortionists.
The things crazy old men will do for a dollar these days…
If John Tabernik were my best friend and he came to me and said, “hey I’m gonna make an iPhone app that’s like a Magic 8 Ball except instead of the 8 Ball it’s gonna be pics of an old Russian guy spouting nonsense,” I would have slapped him across the face and called him an idiot!
Apparently John doesn’t have friends like me so he went ahead and created Ask Uncle Boris, the 8 Ball that isn’t an 8 Ball but you desperately wish it were.
Ask the poor old man trapped inside this app a question and he’ll reply with one of 30 yes/no/maybe answers, and not only do you get to read his nuggets of wisdom but you have to HEAR them, too!
File Ask Uncle Boris under So Dumb It’s Funny and move on with your iPhone life. Oyyy!
(Sorry guys, no free codes on this one! Try to hide your disappointment )
myDesktop is a multi-window web browser that claims to “turn your iPhone into a laptop.” Truth be told, I often use my iPod in place of my laptop, but there is one significant drawback when it comes to web browsing: the single-window system used by Mobile Safari. (Yes, there are “tabs,” but they act nothing like real tabs.) In myDesktop, on the other hand, you can use multiple windows, and each window is resizable, allowing you to see them all at once. While this functionality is fantastic, it’s easy to see why Apple chose not to include it in Mobile Safari: it’s too slow, there are bugs, and the overall implementation feels clunky. Sure, the concept’s great, but myDesktop is impractical for everyday use.
Windows can be resized by dragging the bottom-right corner, and can be moved by dragging the top bar. However, resizing the windows often yields frustrating results. Websites don’t automatically snap to the new size; instead, you get a partially-cut-off portion of the site. 
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