As you may have heard, the App Store just celebrated its second birthday. That means iPhone and iPod gaming is officially two years old as well. How in the world did I ever occupy my downtime before Flight Control came along?

This got me thinking: what's my all-time favorite iPhone game? More importantly, what's yours?

I'm sure the aforementioned Flight Control ranks near the top of many a list. And I can think of some other obvious choices, like Bejeweled 2, Pocket God, Words with Friends, and The Sims 3.

Those are definitely some of my favorites, though I'm also partial to classic gems like Jet Car Stunts and newer titles like Banzai Rabbit.

Oh, and let's not forget my disturbing fascination with zombie games.

But ultimately, I didn't have to think that hard to choose my all-time favorite iPhone game. Any guesses?

It's Angry Birds, by far the best 99 cents I've ever spent on a game. So help me, I cannot get enough of flinging birds at pigs. Cute, funny, easy to learn, occasionally tough to beat, and always enticing me to play "just one more level."

That's my pick. What's yours? Hit the comments and nominate your top iPhone game. Can't choose just one? OK, hit me with your second favorite, too.

Originally posted at iPad Atlas

Say you're into yoga, but you have neither the time nor the money to make it to actual yoga sessions regularly. Or you're a cyclist who'd like motivation beyond music in your ears. Or you're trying to do weight training without having to glance at the text on your phone every minute to see what's next.

You might consider MynaTime, the personal workout assistant software announced Monday that gives users the ability to type in specific workouts.

The application--now available on Amazon.com for $24.95 for those with Mac OS X versions 10.5 (Leopard) or later--speaks instructions in real time during workouts with Apple's text-to-speech voice Alex.

Creator and engineer Joe Klingler says he came up with the idea because he wanted more flexibility in his own yoga practice, for weight training, and for pre-ski season workouts: "Imagine having a voice pace you through every step of your workout so you can forget about time, counting reps, how many pounds to use--and focus on exercise. You are in complete control of your workout--any workout--not just those prefabricated for you by the sports industry."

This of course comes with inherent risks, such as using workouts that may not actually be good for your body or ensure proper technique. Klingler's company Vaura does encourage consulting with your doctor first.

And there's also the issue of our dear friend Alex, whose voice takes a little getting used to. While it may work fine for such activities as reps, it's an odd juxtaposition during, say, a meditative yoga session with the sound of waves gently kissing some distant shore.

Still, MynaTime has a lot going for it, from integrating the music of your choice on your Mac (including adjusting the volume of iTunes to keep Alex intelligible) and filming yourself working out (if you're into that kind of thing) to easy tracking of your sessions through iCal.

Whether its ease of use will help motivate people to get off the couch remains to be seen, but for those who stay on the couch, they can at least program Alex to continuously update them on how long they've been there.

Originally posted at News - Health Tech

Fring and Skype, sometimes-rivals in the VoIP mobile space, are spitting out harsh words in what's turning into an ugly public relations play.

In a news release sent to CNET on Monday, Fring accuses Skype of being "afraid of open mobile communication" after Skype brought legal action against Fring, which has traditionally included Skype in its IM and VoIP calling app.

In its news release, Fring went on to accuse Skype of "muzzl[ing] competition, even at the expense of its own users," and in a strongly worded blog post, Fring's CEO, Avi Shechter, refers to Skype's legal action as an "ambush."

Skype has fought back on its blog, issuing a statement that called Fring's "mis-use" of its software "increasingly damaging our brand and reputation with our customers."

The fall out came after Fring temporarily withdrew Skype as an add-on in its latest iPhone update, which it specifically optimized to compete against the FaceTime video chat app Apple built into the iPhone 4 (note: the add-on was operational when we conducted our hands-on test.)

Why would Fring pull support for the Skype add-on, its main competitive weapon against Apple? According to an earlier Fring blog post, Fring's inability to handle its amplified load to its network and give preference to Fring-to-Fring calls, the company pulled support for Skype.

However, as Skype wrote in its blog post, Fring's "misuse" of Skype violates Skype's API Terms of Use and license agreements.

It seems to us that Skupe has long been Fring's lynchpin in video calls, and enough Skype users complaining that Skype wasn't working on Fring drove the company to act.

Update, 3:15 p.m. PDT:: The article was updated to correct the statement that Fring's withdrawal of Skype support violated Skype's license agreement and API terms of use.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

Microsoft has made a number of improvements to its Worldwide Telescope project, including partnering with NASA to offer much better imagery of the planet Mars.

In some cases, the imagery lets you get close enough to see details such as the tracks left by the Mars rovers.

"You can see the boulders and things like that," Dan Fay, director of Earth, Energy, and Environment for Microsoft Research. Microsoft previously teamed with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on a Mars project that let youngsters and other space enthusiasts help count and label craters on the planet's surface.

With these changes, the telescope will gain several different new views of Mars as well as guided tours from some of NASA's experts on Earth's neighbor.

The addition of Mars imagery is one of several changes to the telescope that Microsoft is showing off Monday at its annual Faculty Summit meeting with outside researchers.

Other improvements to the telescope include an effort to add an improved spherical image of the full sky and make the seams between individual still images much less visible.

In all, the telescope is now based on a terapixel image of the known universe. To put that in relative terms, Fay said it would take 500,000 HDTVs to show the image in its full fidelity.

"We don't think there are any other images that are larger than this," he said.

The enhancements will be available on both the downloadable Windows version of the telescope, the Web-based version and on the telescope imagery used within Bing Maps.

Originally posted at Beyond Binary

If you're salivating for news on the forthcoming BlackBerry OS 6, RIM is throwing out another bone in the form of a video and blog post released Monday.

The video shows the redesigned home screen, universal search, the new media interface, context menus, and a couple of new applications. It also highlights the new BlackBerry browser, which has long been maligned for its sluggishness and light features. RIM's decision to base its new version on the WebKit platform is a move that's sure to go a long way toward easing complaints.

The video also lingers on BlackBerry Messenger, RIM's proprietary BlackBerry-to-BlackBerry instant-messaging service. RIM has also been heavily promoting BlackBerry Messenger (BBM, for short) in San Francisco, which suggests that this is a longtime feature that RIM would like more current users to be aware of, or that it's a feature RIM will be pushing as a greater selling point in stores.

RIM gave us our first glimpse of the OS 6 operating system at the WES conference last April in Orlando, Fla., but so far videos are the closest we've been able to come for a look. So far, so good, but we won't really know until we have the OS at our fingertips.

Originally posted at Crave

There have been a few third-party applications that provide some combination of remotely backing up, restoring, and locating an errant BlackBerry smartphone, but no in-house service crafted by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion itself. Not until now, that is.

On Monday, RIM introduced BlackBerry Protect, a free service that provides tools to remotely locate, back up, restore, and wipe the data from your phone with a system that's extremely similar to Microsoft's freemium My Phone service--introduced for Windows phones back in October 2009.

BlackBerry Protect is based on the BlackBerry ID that RIM revealed in late June (so, we're assuming this means that BlackBerry App World 2.0 should soon show its face). The service consists of a downloadable mobile app, and desktop and Web apps to control and manage the remote commands.

As with Microsoft's My Phone service, BlackBerry Protect includes the following remote commands:

Loud ring: This turns your phone onto the loudest setting, even when you're in silent mode, for those moments you're playing hide 'n' seek with your absent BlackBerry.

Locator: This GPS-assisted feature shows the phone's current location on a map--assuming it's on.

Remote lock: If you hadn't set a password on your device, it's not too late to password-protect it from afar.

Lost and Found: The "Lost and Found" feature appends a message to the start screen, so you can appeal to the Good Samaritan you hope will find and return your phone.

Remote wipe: If all hope is lost, BlackBerry Protect can also wipe data stored on the device and on the microSD card as well.

Back up data: You can configure BlackBerry Protect to routinely sync your contacts, calendar, browser bookmarks, memos, and tasks to BlackBerry's servers. The service works over Wi-Fi or 3G.

Restore: Restock your data on a new phone. The feature is also useful for transitioning from an old BlackBerry device (that was never lost or stolen) to a new one.

Web interface: The Web interface for BlackBerry Protect has a couple more advantages over the on-phone app. Namely, the ability to monitor the status of remote management requests, and change your backup/restore and account settings.

More details: It will support up to five devices associated with one account, which is perfect for a family or small business. Also, for any remote command to work, the device needs to have some sort of data connection, either over the cellular network or over Wi-Fi. If the battery has been pulled, the service won't work. However, BlackBerry Protect will queue up commands for when connectivity returns.

BES compatibility: Though the service is billed as a solution for both consumers and corporate users, BlackBerrys connected to BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) will override BlackBerry Protect, so as to safeguard the company's data.

Availability: Starting Monday, BlackBerry Protect will be available as a limited beta. Open beta and general availability "later on this year."

Phone support: BlackBerry Protect will work on the Bold 9000, 9700, and 9650; the Storm 9500 series and Storm 2; and the Curve 8900 and 8500 series, the Tour, and other BlackBerry phones running operating system 4.6 or higher.

Originally posted at Crave

Although much of Microsoft's focus at its partner conference will be on the cloud, many of its product announcements have to do with on-premise software such as Windows and Windows Server.

On Monday, the first full day of its annual Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft is scheduled to announce, among other things, the beta of Service Pack 1 for both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The update for Windows 7 is quite minor and consists mostly of previous bug fixes and other tweaks. On the server side, though, the service pack will add some new features around virtualization.

Microsoft had said in June that it would release the beta versions of the service packs this month.

Also at the partner conference, Microsoft will also show off early versions of two servers aimed at small businesses. One, code-named Small Business Server 7, is an update to the existing Small Business Server product, which combines Windows Server, Exchange Server, and other products into a single server software bundle. The other product, code-named Aurora, is aimed at helping small businesses balance work between their own hardware and cloud-based services. Aurora will allow businesses with up to 25 PCs to run file and print server functions locally, while linking to Microsoft online services for things like e-mail and portal software.

Microsoft isn't saying when to expect final versions of either small business server product.

At the event, Microsoft will also detail plans for the next version of its customer relationship management software, which will run locally and be available in hosted form. A beta of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 will be released in September for both hosted and on-premise use. Among the new features are expanded use of the Ribbon interface within Outlook. Microsoft is also adding a new Dynamics Marketplace to highlight a range of third party services.

Microsoft also said it will expand availability of the online service version to eight more markets by the end of the year, bringing to 40 the number in which the hosted service is available. The new countries are: Australia, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Chile, Cyprus, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is also discussing an Azure appliance that will let large customers or partners run Microsoft's cloud-based operating system within their own data centers.

Other stories from Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference:
Microsoft sets price for Windows Intune
Microsoft boxing up its Azure cloud

Originally posted at Beyond Binary

Welcome to the first installment of CNET 100: iPhone apps. Each day for the next 10 business days, CNET personalities you know and love will publish slideshows of their 10 personal favorite iPhone apps. With each post, you get a chance to vote for your own favorite app. Two weeks from now, we'll collect the full list of 100 apps and announce the 10 that  you, our readers, love the most.

So let's get to it. Our first expert is the esteemed Kent German, senior editor at CNET Reviews and our resident iPhone reviewer. (You can see what Kent thinks of the iPhone 4 in our full iPhone 4 review.) Kent's 10 favorite apps give you a peek into his jet-setting lifestyle. He knows the very best apps to help you navigate air travel and have a blast when you land, whether at a local restaurant or while snapping photos of local attractions.

Once you've seen all of Kent's faves, return to this poll to let us know which app is your favorite, then check back each day on iPhone Atlas to see app choices from Brian Tong, Bonnie Cha, and the rest of the CNET crew.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

When you're working on your Mac, sometimes things happen in the background that you would like to keep track of while working in another application. Growl just received a big update and it works with hundreds of popular Mac apps to notify you of specific events, such as when a download is complete or when your CD-burning project is finished.

Also this week, MacPilot's update adds more ways to fiddle around with your Mac, optimizing it to run better, and unlocks the hidden potential of OS X. Our game this week is Jalada Boskonian, a 2D arcade shooter in which you defend the earth by destroying enemy bases all while enemy ships try to thwart you at every turn.

Don't forget to check out our iPhone apps of the week!