For iPhone users intent on keeping up with their TV addiction, there is nothing better than i.TV. This popular app, now on version 2.0, is loaded with features. Don’t be misled by the word TV in its title. i.TV also allows you to manage your Netflix queue, and as if this were not enough, it can also be programmed to control your TiVo, comes with iTunes integration, supports push notifications for upcoming shows, and provides access to entertainment news.

Overview of Features

The most recent version has an improved grid interface. Once you set up your cable or satellite provider, it’s easy to scroll through the grid or change the time and date. If you’re looking for a specific show but can’t remember the time nor the channel, you can utilize the search function, which comes via an icon on the bottom. Search results are broken down into “Showing Today”, “Upcoming”, “Netflix” and any other sources found. Selecting a show will give you an overview of it and in some cases a preview, as well as the ability to download from iTunes, add to your Netflix queue, invite someone to watch, record with TiVo, or set-up a push notification alert. It is worth mentioning that push notifications only work for upcoming episodes of TV shows. One of the coolest features is the Streams, which allows you to stream a TV show on your iPhone, if available.

The Movies tab allows the user to read a synopsis, view trailer, and find theaters and show times. This feature makes use of GPS to provide the nearest theater information. One thing we wish it had is the ability to purchase tickets but there are other apps for that.

For those who want to keep up with entertainment news, there is the News section, which pulls entertainment headlines from E!, CNN, MSNBC, and USA

Conclusion

i.TV is loaded with features but there are still some things we’d like to see in upcoming updates. For example, expanding the remote support to other devices, not just TiVo. The good thing is that the developers are always working hard on improving and adding features and we hope they continue to make good on their promises. Given the popularity of this app, there is nowhere for i.TV to go but up. We expect it to continue to mature as time goes on. For the serious or even the not-so-serious TV lovers out there, this is a MUST HAVE app. Oh, and its price is even better, free in the AppStore. So there, no excuse not to get it!

Wordpress, one of the most popular blogging platforms, has release their Wordpress 2.0 iPhone app (free in the AppStore). This new version includes enhancements and new features, including the ability to view, unapprove and delete comments on your blog right from within the app, which is especially important for owners of popular blogs who can now keep up with comments while on-the-go. It is worth mentioning that this new version of the app does not come in the form of an upgrade, instead it is a whole new app that has to be downloaded to your iPhone but since it is free who are we to complain?

Once you’ve installed the app, it is easy to set up your blog. You simply launch the app and enter your blog URL and credentials and you’re good to go. Within seconds, you will see your posts and comments appear.

Writing A New Post

Writing a post is a very straight-forward process. The compose screen is broken down into five parts: Title, Tags, Categories, Status, and the Body of the post.

The Categories field, which is optional, is populated by the categories you may or may not have set up on your Wordpress blog, so you simply pick one or more. The Status is obviously the status of the post. The options available here are: Pending Review, Private, Published, Draft and Local Draft.

Local Draft means the draft exists only in the iPhone app and has not been uploaded to Wordpress, while Draft is the option you want to select if you want your draft to be uploaded to Wordpress. Published, as it clearly implies, publishes your post to your blog for the world to see.

On the bottom of the compose screen you have four icons: Write, Photos, Preview and Settings. You can attach as many photos as you’d like to your posts but one annoying thing to me is the fact that it automatically inserts the photos to the bottom of the posts. I wish there was some sort of way to be able to change the placement of the photos to in between paragraphs, for example. This could be accomplished with the help of a visual editor in the app as opposed to having to log in to the Wordpress site to manually adjust them.

The Preview, at least for my site, does not load my actual blog theme. Not sure if this is happening to other people, or if this is the way the app works. It gives me a message stating “Sorry, the theme for your blog could not be retrieved. A simple preview is shown below.” This is no big deal, really, since the “simple preview” is pretty much the post sans the blog theme.

Settings, on the other hand, allow you to set a publishing date and time for your posts as well as specifying a password if you want to make the post available  only to people to whom you provide the password. I have never tested this option as I haven’t felt the need to write such a private post, but the option is there for those who feel they need and want to use it. Settings also allow you to turn “Resize Photos” ON or OFF.

Pages

If you have different pages set up on your blog, Wordpress 2.0 allows you to edit them and even create new ones. When creating new pages, you can leave them in Draft mode if you’re not finished with them, and then return to finish them either on the app or directly by logging into your Wordpress blog from the web. Definitely a nice feature to have.

Conclusion

This app has been very solid in my use so far, as was the case with version 1.0. You can add and manage multiple blogs and it is simple enough to use. All in all, I really like this app and for the blogging enthusiast or the serious blogger with an iPhone, this app is a must. Add to that the fact it is free and you have no excuse not to have it. My only complaint is that, as I mentioned above, it would be nice to have a way to change the placement of the images in the posts written with the app. That said, I understand the limitations and realize that it would require some sort of visual HTML editor. Maybe Wordpress would bring this to version 3.0?

We’re all fans of Twitter, for the most part, and break into cold sweats when the service goes down (well, some do anyway), so we need our Twitter fix all the time. Regardless of the smartphone OS you choose, you’re bound to find quite a few Twitter applications. For the iPhone, we have Twitterific, TweetDeck, Echofon, and many others. I have tried several and so far my all-time favorite and the one I use daily is Tweetie.

Tweetie 2 has now been out for a few weeks and it improves on the user experience of the original Tweetie app. Atebits, the developer of Tweetie, has implemented quite a few touches to make this app a pretty good and simple Twitter tool.

One of my favorite features is the ability to swipe over a message on the timeline. This gives you several options, such as reply, retweet, mark as favorite, or go directly to the user’s profile. When composing a new tweet, you have the ability to select recent hashtags, use the @people picker, attach a picture or pictures, since Tweetie 2 now has support for multiple attachments, along with geotagging and even the ability to shrink URLs.

Tweetie 2 Compose Screen

You can now edit your Twitter profile right from the app, which was not an option with the original and should you get a phone call in the middle of composing or reading the timeline (because after all it’s a phone!), you’re brought right back to where you were thanks to full persistence. Tweetie 2 also has landscape support all throughout the app and the UI feels very fluid and intuitive. Direct messages are displayed in threaded form, making it easier to read and reply.

Twitter Profile

Tweetie 2 is full of features but perhaps my favorite is the that URLs open right inside the app instead of firing up Safari. Not sure if it was just me but this was aggravating and I found myself forgoing clicking on URLs at times.

For those of you with more than one Twitter account, you’ll be pleased to know that Tweetie 2 support multiple accounts. The app has a price tag of $2.99 in the AppStore but it’s all worth it in my opinion if you want a simple yet elegant and effective Twitter client.