KidCalc - an excellent math review tool for young children

KidCalc is an effective math-teaching and review tool for young children. Version 1.8 has five playing activities: Counting Puzzle, Flash Cards, Calculator, Math Puzzle, and Count Snowflakes.

The Calculator is just what it says – a calculator for kids.

In the Counting Puzzle, your child counts by 1s, 2s up to hundreds; also prime and binary numbers. After choosing the numbers in the correct sequence, the child is rewarded with a secret picture.

In Math Puzzle, your child can review addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. After completing the problems, it reveals a photo and sound effect reward. In the Beginner Level, the animations available are very helpful in teaching your child basic math, rather than simply reviewing.

The Counting Snowflakes activity has changeable background themes (holidays, space) and music that plays in the background as your child taps the snowflakes and counts them one by one. A child’s voice counts along to help your child learn to count.

In all the activities, you can change the background and set the highest number used anywhere from 2 up to 1,000. You can have the sound on or off and set the problems to be sequential or random. The random seems more effective as the child has to actually recognize the number to play.

The only problem I see with this program is in the Math Puzzle. Instead of the student typing an answer in, he or she selects one of four answers. This makes it too easy to estimate rather than do the actual problem. I hope they fix this in future versions.

The program is colorful and has fun sound effects that will interest young children . This is highly recommended for PreK-3rd grade. If a more “hip” voice and sound effect is added as an option, it would also appeal to older students who need review.

http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/2884/kidcalc-excellent-math-review-tool-young-children

iSpy, With My Little Eye, A Children’s Game Re-Imagined For The iPhone

Two features make the iPhone great for social games: its GPS chip and its camera. An app called iSpy which was released on the iPhone last week (iTunes link) uses both geolocation and mobile snapshots to re-imagine the children’s game of the same name.

Players create iSpy games by taking pictures of objects in public view, which get geo-tagged and placed within a radius of their actual location on a map in the game. Other players can see which objects are nearby and try to find them. When do find an object, they snap their own picture, which is then verified by the community as either matching the original picture or not. You can also play along on the Web. The more objects you find, the more points you get. The person with the most points becomes the top spy in their city.

What I like about iSpy is that the iPhone game expands the playing area of the original game beyond your line of sight. You can play anywhere within a few blocks, with people you don’t know, and you don’t even have to be playing at the same time. It is an asynchronous game. It does require a certain critical mass of players creating games in your vicinity for it to be interesting. But iSpy an app that could build a loyal following.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/22/ispy-iphone/

iPhone Now The Most Popular Phone In The US

Ranking cell phone companies is a tough thing to do. Some of these companies have a bunch of popular handsets, whilst others have just one or two yet manage to sell as many or more. Rank the companies by cumulative sales across all of their lines and the results will swing one way; rank them model-by-model, and they might look completely different.

Such is the case with the iPhone, according to the latest numbers from The Nielsen Company. While RIM’s marketshare with their BlackBerry line is still nearly double that of Apple’s, the iPhone has now surpassed everything else to become the most popular phone in the US.

The iPhone’s lead is fairly tight, coming in at 4.0% of all mobile phone owners while the BlackBerry 8300 series follows closely behind at 3.7%. The rest of the list is made up primarily of feature phones, outside of appearances by the BlackBerry Storm and the BlackBerry 8100 series in 7th and 10th respectively. As the iPhone 3GS doesn’t make an individual appearance on the list, we’re assuming that they’ve combined the 3G and 3GS into one product line.

A few more interesting tidbits gleaned from the Nielsen report:

• The most popular reason people pick pre-paid phones isn’t because the lack of contract — that’s actually #4 — but because the plans are more straightforward. It’s followed by “No monthly bills” and “Emergency use only”.
• 21% of households now use mobile phones only, with no land line to call their own. This is up from 15% in 2006
• 15% of households now own at least one smartphone
• http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/12/22/iphone-3g-now-the-most-popular-phone-in-the-us/

Google Voice Competitor Ribbit Mobile Launches iPhone App (500 Invites)

Ribbit Mobile, which offers a set of VoIP services that is very similar to Google Voice, just launched its first iPhone app (iTunes link). The app allows users to check their voicemail, read voicemail transcriptions, forward voicemails by email and create a to-call list based on these messages. It uses the iPhone's native phone app to make calls and the default SMS app to send text messages.

Ribbit also gave us 500 invites to hand out to our readers. If you would like to get one, just read on to find out how to claim it.

In terms of features, Ribbit Mobile, which launched in November, compares very well to Google Voice. While the interface takes some getting used to, the ability to make and receive calls from Ribbit's website through the Flash-based interface is extremely useful while traveling, for example. For a more detailed look at Ribbit Mobile, have a look at our in-depth review from November.

Focus on Voicemail

Your voicemail inbox is the central focus of the app, and the way the app handles these is exemplary. Once you click on a message in the inbox, the app switches to a new view that displays details about the call: name of caller, number, date and time. Here you can also listen to the message and read the transcript. (Ribbit offers both automatic and manual transcriptions.) From here, a small bar at the bottom of the app also allows you to respond to the message by phone, SMS or recorded voicemail. In addition, you can add the caller to your to-call list and forward transcripts and audio by email.

Playing it Safe

Given that Apple didn't allow the Google Voice app into the store, Ribbit clearly played it safe with this app. While it provides access to all the service's voicemail features, the app doesn't replicate any of the phone's calling or SMS features. The app also doesn't allow you to access your Ribbit Mobile address book. Sadly, this also means that you can't use your Ribbit phone number to make calls, and that the caller ID will always show your iPhone's number. In the current version it's also not possible to see a list of missed calls that didn't result in a voicemail. You can, however, choose to receive alerts for missed calls and new voicemails by SMS, email and instant message. You can set your alert preferences in the app and through the service's web interface.

We understand that Ribbit probably had to remove quite a few features to stay on Apple's good side, but the result of this is that the app misses quite a few essential features. Hopefully - now that Ribbit managed to get this castrated version of the app approved - the Ribbit team will soon be able add more of the missing features into the app.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ribbit_iphone_app_launches_google_voice_competitor.php

South Korea Daily Unique users

http://metrics.admob.com/

Apple iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS headed to Vodafone UK

Today Vodafone UK announced that it will soon offer the Apple iPhone 3G and 3GS to its customers. The iPhone 3G and 3GS will be available on plans as low as 30 GBP per month. The iPhone 3G is available for free on plans starting at 35 GBP per month, while the iPhone 3Gs requires a minimum 45 GBP per month plan to avoid an up front purchase price.

Both iPhone models will be available starting January 14 at Apple and Vodafone retail outlets. For those that simply cannot wait, pre-order is available online at vodafone.co.uk/iphone.

http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=8442

Twitter Captures A Nexus One Unboxing And Another Video

A number of pictures have hit the web now showing the Nexus One, aka the Google Phone, in the flesh. But there haven’t been too many showing its packaging, and it getting unboxed. Today, some Twitpics shared by one user show those. As a bonus, he also shows off a bit of its HTC-innards, and even shared a nice little video of the device in action.

The Nexus One is expected to be released early next year sold both unlocked from Google and in partnership with at least one major carrier. Plenty of Googlers already have the device and have been going around all over the country showing it off. There was previously a video of it booting up, but apparently Google made the YouTube user take it down.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/21/nexus-one-unboxing-video/

Google Taps StackOverflow as Official Android Dev Support for Noobs, Q&A

Just over a year ago, we were excited to report on a new website for programmers. StackOverflow was the brainchild of coders/rockstars Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood, and it was a social Q&A channel that promised to give programmers solutions for even the most obscure bugs.

Apparently, that approach to developer support was a solid one. These days, the site gets around 1.8 million unique visitors a month and has served as a prototype for white-label Q&A sites for companies, too. The site's latest merit badge is an official nod from the Android team, which has announced StackOverflow as the official home of Android developer Q&A support.

Android rep Roman Nurik wrote in a blog post, "We're working with StackOverflow to improve developer support, especially for developers new to Android. In essence, the Android tag on Stack Overflow will become an official Android app development Q&A medium."

Nurik further noted that StackOverflow's format was particularly helpful for beginners new to the Android platform. However, he did state, "It's also important to point out that we don't plan to change the android-developers group, so intermediate and expert users should still feel free to post there."

The StackOverflow "Digg for developers" model has worked well for all kinds of programmers, clearly. The models has also been successfully applied to such diverse topics as mathematics, parenting and even World of Warcraft - all built on the company's StackExchange white-label platform.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/stackoverflow-android-support.php

YouTube Competitor Dailymotion Comes to the iPhone

Dailymotion, the Paris-based video sharing portal that is extremely popular in Europe, just launched its first set of iPhone applications. Dailymotion launched two apps: a free, ad-supported version (iTunes link), and a paid version for $5.99 (iTunes link) that does not feature any ads. The apps allow iPhone users to play videos from Dailymotion's catalog of roughly 12 million videos. Dailymotion users can also use the apps to upload videos directly to the service.Until now, the only way to access Dailymotion from the iPhone was through a mobile-optimized web interface. Given YouTube's position as a default app on the iPhone, this put Dailymotion at a significant disadvantage.

In terms of content, Dailymotion can't really compete with YouTube, where users now upload more than 24 hours of video per minute, but the app can easily compete with those from other streaming video services.

One feature of the app we especially like is how easy it is to browse through different categories. This is also where Dailymotion's international focus shines through, as the app also makes it very straightforward to restrict searches to popular videos in a specific country.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/europes_youtube_competitor_dailymotion_comes_to_th.php

Ultimate mobile deathmatch: iPhone vs. BlackBerry vs. Droid vs. Pre

The latest Android 2.0-based "iPhone killer" won't kill the iPhone or the BlackBerry -- and the cheaper HTC Droid Eris is the new smartphone that I think Apple should be concerned about. But there are now six smartphones on the market that will appeal to business and professional users, each with different strengths and weaknesses. This article gives InfoWorld's ratings for all six -- the Apple iPhone, HTC Droid Eris, Motorola Droid, Palm Pre, Research in Motion BlackBerry Bold, and RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 -- plus an interactive ratings form in which you can enter your own weighting for each category in our exclusive Mobile Deathmatch Calculator and get a customized score for each smartphone.

Our buying advice is simple:

• If you want a mobile device that takes full advantage of Web connectivity, applications, and personal media that you can also use for business connectivity such as e-mail and calendaring, get the iPhone, even with the inferiority of AT&T's 3G network.
• If you're subject to high security requirements, such as for regulatory compliance, need to manage lots of devices, or just can't handle using a touch-based screen keyboard, you want the BlackBerry Bold, which is available from several U.S. carriers.
• If you can't stand the thought of using the AT&T 3G network and don't need to access corporate e-mail (outside of POP and IMAP mail servers), you want the HTC Droid Eris, which, like the Motorola Droid, is available only from Verizon Wireless.

[ Read InfoWorld's in-depth mobile deathmatch series: BlackBerry Bold vs. iPhone | Palm Pre vs. iPhone | Motorola Droid vs. iPhone. And see our deathmatch slideshows' head-to-head comparisons: BlackBerry Bold vs. iPhone | Palm Pre vs. iPhone | Motorola Droid vs. iPhone | Read our review of the HTC Droid Eris. ]

The WebOS-based Palm Pre was innovative last spring but has been bested by the new generation of Android devices. (Its sole U.S. carrier, Sprint, appears to have moved on from the Pre, now focusing on Android devices.) The Motorola Droid's keyboard is unusable, and the lack of multitouch support in its included apps makes its few technical advantages over the HTC Droid Eris -- basically, a few extra security features -- a lousy bargain. The BlackBerry Storm 2 was supposed to fix an unusable clickable touchscreen in the original version, but the solution doesn't address the core issue: Tapping is very slow on the screen, to the point that sustained text entry is out of the question. It's not surprising that within weeks of its release, carriers are selling it as part of two-for-one specials.

Windows Mobile and Nokia Symbian devices are also out of the picture. Microsoft's long-delayed Windows 7 Mobile remains vaporware, and making purchase decisions on Microsoft's promise is foolhardy. Nokia's Symbian OS has evolved slowly in the last decade and simply isn't in the same league as modern mobile OSes; Nokia knows that and has a plan to move -- over several years -- to a new OS called Maemo. Someday we'll see what Maemo has to offer; in the meantime, Nokia has been unable to get U.S. carriers to sell its smartphones.

http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/ultimate-mobile-deathmatch-iphone-vs-blackberry-vs-droid-vs-pre-453

Google Looks to Dominate iPhone and Android Advertising With AdMob Acquisition

Google announced this morning that it has acquired 3-year old mobile display ad serving platform AdMob for $750 million, half the price it paid for YouTube in 2006. Why did Google make this move? Two reasons stand out.

First, AdMob is a very strong company in a sector (mobile advertising) that everyone expects to become much more important in the future. Second, this is a chance to make a big move towards monetizing on Apple's iPhone platform while making sure that no one else does something similar to Android in the future.

AdMob puts display ads on mobile web pages and inside mobile applications. On Google's page detailing the acquisition today the company used imagery to say that mobile search ads had been its primary focus to date, while AdMob's focus was outside search and inside apps and pages. Google has an ad program for mobile apps to, though, called AdSense for Mobile Apps. You've probably seen it if you use the Pandora iPhone app.

AdMob is Strong in an Early Market

Apparently Google's mobile apps ad platform hasn't been doing so well, at least not compared to AdMob. AdMob has been growing fast. VentureBeat's Matt Marshall did some back of the envelope math and estimated that the company was pulling in $40m+ in annual revenue 18 months ago, which was just 18 months after it launched.

That was in a radically different time for the mobile market. As our own Sarah Perez wrote two weeks ago in a post about AdMob's latest mobile metrics report:

Believe it or not, it was only a year ago that the Motorola RAZR scored as the number one phone here in the U.S. while the iPhone was the only touchscreen device to even make the list of top ten handsets. Only a year later, and so much has changed.

That was durring the RAZR era that AdMob was at a pace that Matt Marshall said "looks headed to IPO-type revenues within three years."

Newspaper guy turned real-time, mobile content delivery founder at NozzlMedia Steve Woodward puts it like this:

"Google now has a way to extend its advertising dominance into mobile, which is growing faster than any other medium. Together, they have the delivery system, the analytics and the know-how to capture not only high-end advertising but also the medium and smaller business advertisers that Google caters to. It will be interesting to see how online publishers react, since a Google-AdMob network could sell ads at lower CPMs than its competitors, driving down revenue for publishers."

Planting a Flag on the iPhone, Protecting the Android Inventory

Now the iPhone rules. AdMob's own numbers claimed that mobile traffic from the iPhone and iPod touch grew 19X over the last year. AdMob is making a strong play on the iPhone. TechCrunch reported this Spring that the company claims to be the biggest mobile app ad network on the iPhone and is working on a traffic exchange system for app promotion similar to what's been done on Facebook.

Now move those efforts over into the Google column and Google is making money off of the free apps on Apple's platform. That's probably not something Apple feels great about.

Meanwhile, Google's own Android mobile OS is no slouch, either. Admob reported this Fall that Android now accounts for the 2nd largest share of mobile web traffic (far) behind the iPhone, at 17% in the US, beating RIM and Windows Mobile.

Does Google want to see someone else leading the ad monetization on its own mobile OS just like it is now poised to do to Apple? No way. The answer? Buy AdMob.

It's a very smart move. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Google's share price rose this morning to its highest point in almost 18 month

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_google_bought_admob.php

Apple iPhone & iPod Touch Register Huge Growth in Japan

Apple's iconic smartphone, the iPhone, has registered significant growth in major markets worldwide with the Japanese archipelago posting some impressive figures in 2009.

Daa released by mobile ad firm Admob show that iPhone and iPod Touch users are still predominantly in the US with 50 percent of the global user base - not a surprise considering that Admob caters primarily for the US market.

Japan comes second with 17 percent of the user base; the country had also registered a 350 percent growth in 2009, outrunning second place France where the number of users tripled over the same period.

The Ad Mob research, which covered data from January to November 2009, also points out to the fact that the percentage of iPhone OS users located outside the US rose from 39 percent to 50 percent.

More than 18 million iPhone and 7.3 million iPod Touch devices were counted, which is roughly about a third of the number of iPhones and iPod Touch currently on the market. In addition the number of countries that have at least 100,000 iPhone & iPod touch users has reached 23.

An interesting point to note though is that there Admob's data come from its own advertising network and therefore does not depict a totally accurate picture of the market even though it should, in theory come close.

http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2009/12/20/apple-iphone-ipod-touch-registers-huge-growth-japan/showall/#ixzz0aIZ1NxVS

iPhone and iPod touch User growth

reference : Admob

Another Reason Why I Wish All My Friends Had iPhones: Blipr

I’ll say it right off the bat: there are tons of ways people can communicate from iPhone to iPhone, not in the least by simple SMS or, you know, calling each other.

Then there are iPhone applications like Skype, eBuddy and Nimbuzz that allow you to call and/or IM your friends over the Internet waves, sans extra carrier charges.

Here’s another fun one to add to the mix: Blipr (iTunes link).

When you install the free app, you get a unique BliprID that you can share with your friends. Using that ID, your iPhone-carrying friends can add you to their contact list once they’ve downloaded and installed the software program from the App Store too. Once connected, you can use the tool to send messages to each other, with or without added sound bites.

Since it supports push notifications natively, you’ll soon find that Blipr’s a much more enjoyable – and cheaper – way of communicating with your buddies than sending a text message that cannot include fart, animal, burp sounds or other short audio snippets. The tool also runs in the background, so once turned on you can do anything you want and still receive Blipr messages on your iPhone.

Blipr also supports EMOJI icons if you have them enabled on your device. And finally, you can check the history of your conversations much like you can with text messages, and replay the sounds that came with them.

The small company behind the app, Return7, aims to generate revenue from the app by offering paid sound packs (e.g. Christmas themed audio bites) straight from the app.

Sadly for them, they’ve already jammed so many sounds (over 100) into the free app that there’s little reason for anyone to pay for more.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/20/blipr-iphone/