iambic

The native calendar app on the iOS is one of its weakest features but one that seems common among mobile devices. All of my past phones had poor native calendars that needed replacing with better third party options and the iPhone is no exception. I’ve previously looked at Pocket Informant and was very impressed. The regular updates since my review have meant it continues to be an excellent replacement. After all this time though, I was curious to see if PI now had serious competition with the appearance of Agendus from iambic inc. Agendus is a name I’ve been aware of for many years. It’s calendaring software available on every major mobile platform but, for some reason, one I’ve yet to try. It’s been going since the digital stone age (or about 1999 if you prefer) – not quite as old as the fondly remembered Psion Agenda but certainly one of the elders. With all that time to develop and mature, I was expecting a smooth and pleasant experience. Starting off When you run Agendus, the title screen proclaims it to be an ‘All in one personal information manager’. While I was impressed with the ambition of the developers, I did wonder if it could live up to that aim and my initial impression didn’t turn out to be good. One thing becomes very obvious straight from the off. Agendus is designed on the assumption it would be running on a device that’s always connected and for an app that supports the iPod Touch (such as my 1st gen model), that clearly won’t be the case. You may find, as I did, you’ll encounter a few quirks when it’s run with your Wi-Fi connection off. After confirming I wanted to sync with my Google account and inputting my user information, I was greeted with an obscure error message rather than the more useful suggestion that I turn on my Wi-Fi connection and try again. Ok, so after backing out of the app, turning Wi-Fi on and trying again, it connected to Google calendar and synced my data with no further problems – that’s more like it. At this point you’re greeted with one of five screens Agendus uses, the Today view. Today This unsurprisingly lists any events and tasks due today but also has slots for ‘quote of the day’, ‘this day in history’ and weather. I’ve never been a ‘quote Read More

By Allyson Kazmucha, Thursday, Jul 29, 2010 | As you all know by now, we’re still watching for iOS4 updates that crop up in the app store, and as always, if you guys see interesting ones, feel free to let us know.  Here’s the ones we found in the last week or so, and if you haven’t checked for updates, go check that update tab and let us know if you caught something we didn’t! Osfoora has taken the place as my favorite Twitter client (for now anyways). They received an iOS4 update we covered a few weeks back, but this one is even better. It adds full retina display support for the iPhone 4 and boy is it pretty. The whole app got somewhat of a facelift as well. The text really pops and the main menus have been revamped. So if you haven’t updated, go for it, or if you are looking for a Twitter client, Osfoora is definitely one of the best around. Agendus is basically an all-in-one app for all the important information on your phone. It basically intertwines your contacts, calendars, and apps into one native app. If you’ve always wanted something that would do this, Agendus is more than decent. The new version adds iOS4 support as well as a new high res icon. Reeder is one of my favorite RSS clients. If you don’t have one and want a full featured one with Google Reader integration, there’s a good chance Reeder will do what you need it to, and then some. This update adds support for the iPhone 4 retina display. The icon just looks so fancy on my homescreen now, as well as all my articles being incredibly sharp. Good job on this one guys, it’s an awesome update. [iTunes Link] AT&T just pushed through an update to their MyWireless app that adds retina support for the iPhone 4. This app basically allows you to view usage, manage features, and even pay your bill via the app. I’ve been using it to pay my bill for quite a while now. Pretty convenient. If you’re an AT&T customer, go ahead and pick it up, it’s free. Pano is an awesome app to stitch together pics on the go. It’ll save them directly in your camera roll. The interface is dead easy to use and once you snap a pic it’ll give you guides to Read More