There have been a lot of talks about how Android is going to be a big challenger to iPhone for the years to come. But there are other companies that are taking advantage of both platforms and are expected to have more audience than either Android or iPhone OS users. Twitter is one of those companies. Most people seem to have finally realized that there is some value in tweeting. It’s true that some are still talking about their lunch and other useless topics, but Twitter has grown leaps and bounds from last year, and it is taking steps to grow even further by acquiring Tweetie for iPhone.

Tweetie was arguably the best Twitter client around, and Twitter has hit the jackpot by picking it up. Considering that Twitter is expected to offer the app for free, one can expect Tweetie’s market-share to grow even faster. But the move has some serious ramifications for third party developers. There is no way to sugarcoat this for them. They all competed and Twitter chose a winner. If Tweetie for iPhone becomes available for free, will people spend $3 or more on third party Twitter apps?

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Google Voice may have failed to make it to the iTunes but Vonage has finally done it, and it’s happened all too quickly. Vonage has released two apps, one for iPhone and iPod Touch each, to help Apple customers make low cost calls. We knew a while back that Vonage intended to bring new customers by making its app very easy to work with for users. So we get what we expected with this app. All you have to do is set up an account, enter your payment information, and you are all set. You can make fairly low cost International calls right away.

As you can tell, the app comes with a very straight forward interface and can be a hit with people who make a lot of international calls. Given the state of economy and Vonage and with the iPhone market exploding, no wonder the company had to pull the trigger. Read the rest of this entry »

Either Apple is getting soft or a lot of us have overreacted to the recent app rejection by the company. Facebook 3.0 and Spotify have been both approved by Apple and added to the iTunes. Technically, Apple could have found an excuse to reject both apps, but since it’s not in business to reject apps, we get to see these two powerful apps on our iPhones today. I have covered Facebook 3.0 in the past few weeks, and it’s certainly an app that will dominate the most-used apps chart for weeks to come. Spotify is an interesting app that has been waiting to be approved for a while now. It’s a surprise that Apple allowed it since it will be competing with Apple iTunes, but the last thing Apple needs these days is yet another controversy.

Facebook 3.0:

Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites around, and many people use their iPhone to update their status and share information with their friends on Facebook. Facebook 3.0 for iPhone has been improved to allow Facebookers to easily share videos and handle events on their smart-phones. Facebook is gearing itself up for more community content, and Facebook 3.0 is a good move in that direction. The downside? The app is currently not too stable and has crashed on me a few times.

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Over the past few months, there have been many discussions about the control that Apple exerts over the apps developed for iPhone. The review process is not perfect, and Apple has gotten a lot of flak for allowing and suspending various apps. Steve Jobs and co. have left the door open for shutting down any app that does not fit in with Apple’s overall vision for its app marketplace. The latest application to get shut down is Hottest Girls. Hottest Girls is essentially a soft porn application for iPhone. It contains pictures that some may deem inappropriate. To my and many other folks’ surprise, the app got through and got approved at first. That could’ve signaled a shift in Apple’s policy towards soft porn apps. But the app was removed later, and we started hearing conflicting stories. Here is what the developer had to say:

The Hottest Girls app is temporarily sold out. The server usage is extremely high because of the popularity of this app. Thus, by not distributing the app, we can prevent our servers from crashing.

But Apple was not going to have any of it:

The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store

So who’s right here? In one hand, we have an app that may not be appropriate for a lot of folks. It’s also going to be a headache for corporations that are using iPhone for business. On the other hand, we were supposed to be done with these back and forth action with the release of iPhone 3.0 OS. I tend to side with Apple at this point. The iPhone platform is too valuable to allow inappropriate applications to sneak their way in. We all want freedom to use any app we want (be it porn or any other app). At the same time, I am not sure allowing such apps is helpful towards solidifying Apple’s image. The company has been specific about the types of apps that it does not allow on iPhone, and Hottest Girls comes very close. I just wish Apple nixed this app before it made it through. Aren’t you tired of these flip-flops?

Your take: should Apple allow porn or other controversial apps on iPhone? How would you go about handling this situation?

Hulu aliens seem to be taking their world domination plans to the next level by targeting the iPhone community. If you haven’t noticed, video streaming services are on the rise for the iPhone platform. And Hulu plans to take iPhone video streaming to a whole new level. I am not usually that intrigured with an app until I try it for myself, but people are already calling it “badass.” How does Hulu stack up against Joost and YouTube apps on iPhone? It’s hard to tell at this point. But Hulu is a very popular service, and there is no reason the app won’t be successful.

Will Hulu app get approved by iPhone? Technically, Apple could just reject this app due to the bandwidth that it will be consuming. But Apple and AT&T are better off if they allow more video streaming apps to come to iPhone. The reality is video is the present and future in the mobile industry. And something tells me that if Hulu for iPhone is as “badass” as people claim it to be, it is going to take the iPhone platform to the next level. Mobile video revolution is just starting, but it’s not hard to see where we are headed.

Your take: what features would you like to see on Hulu’s iPhone application?