Felt Tip Inc.

By Rob LeFebvre on August 11th, 2010 Most folks get in shape before the summer and bathing suit weather hits. Why not get a head start on next year's perfect body with four great apps to help you start, maintain and track your healthy new habit? Couch to 5K – The popular Couch To 5 K (C25K) Program was originally designed at CoolRunning.com to help new runners ease into the sport, allowing thousands of runners to participate and enjoy one of the most basic human activities without injury or pain. This is one of the more well designed C25K apps in the App Store, having been designed by Felt Tip, Inc. (experienced Mac and iPhone developers). Use this app to train yourself across 9 weeks, starting with very short activities and getting to 5K. You can use it with your own music playlists and it even integrates with Nike+. Voice prompts for starting and stopping can be made with a male or female voice, and includes a built-in music control tab for controlling your iPod functions while on the go. Share your runs with Facebook and Twitter friends, as well. It’s like having a trainer run along with you. $9.99 iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Released: 2009-05-26 :: Category: Healthcare & Fitness Running Log – Some of us just want to track our data and don’t really want fancy GPS mapping or a trainer to tell us what to do. For those folks, Running Log may be the ticket, an app that simply lets you record your runs and make notes about them as to effort, duration, intensity, etc. See your stats in a handy report screen, or flip your iPhone sideways to landscape mode and see a visualisation graph of your entered data. Simple and effective for runners who already have their plans and runs in place. $0.99 iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Released: 2009-09-09 :: Category: Healthcare & Fitness RunKeeper Pro – The granddaddy of running apps, this one tracks how far you went, how long it took, what your pace/speed was, how many calories you burned, and the path you traveled on a map. You can then upload each event to the runkeeper website, for archiving, sharing, and comparing your runs with yourself and others. Runkeeper Pro also includes interval training systems with voice prompts, iPod Read More

Posted 07/09/2010 at 1:13pm | by Florence Ion Summertime means longer days, temperate nights, and plenty of outside time. If you're not currently suffering from blazing hot temperatures or suffocating humidity, then you might be outside enjoying a ride on your bike or a leisurely stroll through the park. And chances are, you probably brought your iPhone along for the ride, too. Well, read ahead to grab hold of four free applications that can make your outside travels more pleasurable and productive. Honestly, we didn't think we'd be able to find a program that promoted physical fitness AND synced with our iPhones at the same time. The TrailRunner application is purely genius because it's a free app that helps you import statistics from various GPS devices and iPhone apps (including Nikeplus), prepare an exercise plan, keep a physical fitness diary, and look over the route from the day's trail blazing. This program is also designed to work with the free application called RaceBunny. The GPS sport companion will map the trails you've blazed, whether it's around the city for a quick jog to the nearest market, or over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house. Tip: If you're a serious trainer looking for something that can do a bit more than track your trails, then your best bet would be to spend a couple of bucks and invest in an app with a bit more functionality. Otherwise, if you're just an occasional hiker, than this free app will suite your lifestyle just fine. Pro tip: Remember to stay hydrated! The biggest that urban dwellers face is that they're not always aware of the bus lines that run near them. This Transit Maps app will ensure that you'll always have a map on hand to figure out how to get to where you need to go, whether you're in New York, San Francisco or any other major metropolitan location. All you have to do for each map is search for the city you're in and download any of the available PDFs.  You can also access the maps if you're in an out of service area, provided you've already downloaded the map to your device. So, leave the car at home and take the bus for a change. It's cheaper, you can listen to music and read a book on your ride out and you'll be doing your part to spare Read More

Bolstered by arrival of the 3GS, launch of in-app purchasing and push notifications, the iPhone apps of 2009 have become richer and more robust experiences. Across 11 categories, we’ve selected the best apps of the year. In every category, each winner is an essential addition to your iPhone. This is the ultimate roundup of essential apps for your iPhone from 2009. The sequel to 2008′s Rolando expands on the tilt ‘n’ swipe platforming action of the original. This time round, we’re brought an entire troupe of colorful Rolando characters to protect, alongside a tropical island inhabited by new baddies and a lost Rolando tribe. The artwork is gorgeous, the gameplay is excellent and, thanks to NGMoco’s Plus+ awards system, it’s got bags of replay value too. Having formed his own development studio after working at the Cupertino campus, Loren Brichter has established himself as one of the premier App Store developers. Brichter’s skill is feeding his experience at Apple into his apps, Twitter client Tweetie 2 is an impressive showcase of his ability to distill a feature-rich experience into an app with a clear user interface. The app also rolls in a few unexpected new features including video tweeting, profile management and improved location-based searches. Runners-Up Best Social Communications App: Skype, foursquare Despite the arrival of push notifications on iPhone earlier this year, it’s still taking many developers time to implement these handy pop-up notifiers in their apps. There’s no push for most Twitter clients, no Facebook push and not even native email push from Apple. Boxcar is the missing push notifier for your favorite apps. The app includes push for Twitter, email, Facebook, RSS and even Growl. Runners-Up Best Use of Push Notifications: NotifyMe, Ping! Under the hood, the app updates with the latest news in seconds, syncing happily with Google Reader. Unlike other news readers, while Byline is updating with the latest news, you’re able to keep browsing articles without suffering from any lag. It’s certainly not the most feature-rich news reader, but Byline brings together a clean interface with a robust RSS reader. The National Film Board of Canada have brought a vast quantity of their video content to the iPhone, all of it wrapped in an easy-to-use free app. There are over a thousand videos available to browse, soak up and send to friends: from documentaries and animations to shorts and trailers for forthcoming releases. Apple may Read More

Bolstered by arrival of the 3GS, launch of in-app purchasing and push notifications, the iPhone apps of 2009 have become richer and more robust experiences. Across 11 categories, we’ve selected the best apps of the year. In every category, each winner is an essential addition to your iPhone. This is the ultimate roundup of essential apps for your iPhone from 2009. The sequel to 2008′s Rolando expands on the tilt ‘n’ swipe platforming action of the original. This time round, we’re brought an entire troupe of colorful Rolando characters to protect, alongside a tropical island inhabited by new baddies and a lost Rolando tribe. The artwork is gorgeous, the gameplay is excellent and, thanks to NGMoco’s Plus+ awards system, it’s got bags of replay value too. Having formed his own development studio after working at the Cupertino campus, Loren Brichter has established himself as one of the premier App Store developers. Brichter’s skill is feeding his experience at Apple into his apps, Twitter client Tweetie 2 is an impressive showcase of his ability to distill a feature-rich experience into an app with a clear user interface. The app also rolls in a few unexpected new features including video tweeting, profile management and improved location-based searches. Runners-Up Best Social Communications App: Skype, foursquare Despite the arrival of push notifications on iPhone earlier this year, it’s still taking many developers time to implement these handy pop-up notifiers in their apps. There’s no push for most Twitter clients, no Facebook push and not even native email push from Apple. Boxcar is the missing push notifier for your favorite apps. The app includes push for Twitter, email, Facebook, RSS and even Growl. Runners-Up Best Use of Push Notifications: NotifyMe, Ping! Under the hood, the app updates with the latest news in seconds, syncing happily with Google Reader. Unlike other news readers, while Byline is updating with the latest news, you’re able to keep browsing articles without suffering from any lag. It’s certainly not the most feature-rich news reader, but Byline brings together a clean interface with a robust RSS reader. The National Film Board of Canada have brought a vast quantity of their video content to the iPhone, all of it wrapped in an easy-to-use free app. There are over a thousand videos available to browse, soak up and send to friends: from documentaries and animations to shorts and trailers for forthcoming releases. Apple may Read More

Posted 11/17/2009 at 5:18pm | by Mac|Life Staff Apple gets a major check in the win column with the recent ruling by a California judge. We're not surprised but Ray has an interesting idea concerning EULAs. 4,000 iPhones are stolen in Belgium just in time for the holidays and it's a slow news day as another Apple tablet article gets written. Plus, we answer your hard-hitting Twitter and Facebook questions! Okay, they weren't that hard-hitting. Got a question, but you're afraid to leave a voice message because of Witness Relocation Dept. rules? Drop us a question via Twitter twitter.com/maclife. This week's picks: Don't forget, the Mac|Life staff would love to hear your thoughts, comments and ideas for the new podcast. Just leave a message on the Mac|Live question/comment line: (877) 404-1337, extension 622. Please limit the length of your messages to 1 minute max. We'll review these calls each week and feature our favorites, along with responses, on that week's podcast. To subscribe to the Mac|Live podcast series through an RSS feed, click here; if you want to subscribe through the iTunes Store, click here. The embedded audio player requires a newer version of Flash, please upgrade to the latest Flash Player. Read More

By Chad Garrett, Wednesday, Jul 8, 2009 | The Griffin Streamline is available from The iPhone Blog Store for $19.95. If you are looking for a running/workout case that is lean and comfortable, then look no further than the Griffin Streamline! Let’s see how it measure up after the break! The Griffin Streamline is made of a plastic outer rim, a neoprene “sleeve” that holds the iPhone/iPod Touch and an elastic armband; simple. There is a clear plastic cover in the front of the device to protect the screen. This clear cover still gives you the ability to touch and interact with your Apple device. I have been using the “Couch to 5K” app [iTunes Link] for a while now. for the most part I have been holding my device while I walked/ran. However this case has changed that! Not only is it comfortable and lightweight, but it protects the iPhone (even if you dropped it) and adjusts to just about any arm. I typically walk/run 3-4 days a week in the early morning. I can’t express what a pleasure it is to run with this case. It does not slip on the arm (really it should lie at almost your elbow and the bend in your arm prevents it from falling off, at least that is my experience. if you try to tighten this or any armband higher up on your arm, my arm will go numb:-) and allows access to the screen while running or resting between intervals. if you need to clean the case (if for nothing else, the build-up of sweat over time) simply wash by hand in cold water with some soap. Another feature that this case has is a reflective trim around the inside edge of the case. The trim is very thin and can only be seen from the front of the case, not the sides. I think it is novel that Griffin added this, but in real life, I don’t think a car is going to see me because of it. This is bare-bones case with no extra pouches for keys or cash; it is just a well made case that looks good, fits well and does what it is supposed to do; securely hold your iPhone while you workout while keeping it safe and remaining comfortable. At $19.95, this case is a steal and a practical give-me if you exercise with and iPhone/iPod Read More