The iPhone is a powerful tool. As app developers get more creative, it’s slowly displacing all the other stuff we’re used to carrying around. It started with the iPod and PDA, then moved on to our handheld gaming devices and portable DVD players, and now it’s eliminating the store loyalty cards from our wallets and the car keys from our pockets.

Another entirely natural target, even in the days when iPhones and iPod touches held just a few gigabytes, has been the humble flash drive, and File Magic aims to make it obsolete.

SpashData’s $2.99 (at the time of writing) File Magic product consists of an iPhone app which runs on iPhone OS 2.1 and up (including the iPod Touch) and a desktop companion which is supported on Windows XP and Vista and Mac OS X 10.4.11 and up. It’s easy to add, manage, and delete files through the desktop application and I had no connectivity issues during my two-week trial of File Magic.

While the desktop companion does make managing files from your home computer relatively painless, it puts some distance between File Magic and other forms of portable storage. Flash drives, portable hard disk drives, and even floppy disks all work on modern operating systems with no drivers or add-ons. File Magic does not, and if I want to quickly dump a file or two onto a friend’s computer, I do not want to spend time downloading and installing software, and I doubt that my friend (or the local librarian or school administrator) would take kindly to the idea either.

Other iPhone file managers don’t have this limitation and offer FTP, WebDAV, or web browser-based access to files. For me, WebDAV and plain HTTP are the perfect combination: I can mount the phone in the Finder for bulk uploading and file management, or load it in a browser to quickly upload or download a file or two. And, you know what? Aside from being noticeably slower than a flash drive, that model works. But File Magic can’t do it.

File Magic has other quirks. It organizes files into categories: documents, music, video, images, email, others, and folders. I can’t find much of a point to this, as it puts an extra tap between me and my files. I can make my own folders, and if I don’t it probably means that I’m happy with all my files in one big list, just like every other storage medium. File Magic also has a splash screen, which abuses the iPhone OS’s loading image feature intended only to display a minimal rendering of the application while it’s starting up. The interface is confusing, glitchy, and outright broken in places, but does get the job done if you’re willing to look past the bugs.

There are some features that makes this app stand out from others in its domain. In addition to transferring files to and from computers, File Magic can transfer between devices running the app. I wasn’t able to test out this feature. It can email your files too, and while this feature could use a lot of polish (the interface for composing messages is rough and separate emails are sent for every file), it works just fine.

File Magic also includes a couple of features which are entirely unrelated to its main purpose but could be useful. There’s an “Import Address Book” button in the desktop application that dumps the iPhone’s contacts to a CSV file. You can compose emails in a minimal interface and transfer them to the device for later sending. The emails can’t be edited and disappear from File Magic the first time they’re used (even when you don’t send them), so as it stands the drafts folder on an IMAP or Exchange account is far better suited to holding half-finished emails.

In the end, it’s a solid choice for toting your data around. I’ll probably stick with Air Sharing — it’s more polished and doesn’t require (or even have) an application running on my desktop — but File Magic offers many more features, and a lower price. That alone might give it the edge, for some.

Disclaimer: We received a review copy of File Magic which inspired and was used in the writing of this article.

In a somewhat-unexpected-yet-not-entirely-surprising turn of events, Apple announced to developers today that in-app purchases are available to free applications.

At WWDC this year, Scott Forstall defended restricting In App Purchases to paid applications (costing a minimum of 99¢).

…to keep it simple, when a consumer sees a free application, free apps remain free. You won’t be asked ever to buy something inside that free application.

Because of that, developers who wanted to offer free, feature-limited lite versions of their applications had to publish it and the full version as separate apps, and some previously-free apps, including the hugely-successful Tap Tap Revenge, gained 99¢ price tags to support add-ons unlocked through In App Purchase.

All that’s missing now are paid updates.

That’s right, people, the 2009 Gizmodo Gallery is here! As I’m sure you have read, it’s bigger and better! Guess who got to go to the media day today?! That’s right, The iLife!

Take a look after the jump, and get a sneak peek at whats inside.
Read more…

As we all know, people cannot live forever. While many of us thought Steve Jobs might defy the odds of humanity, it seems he may soon be resigning from his position as CEO of Apple, Inc. Due to this troubling news (me being one that hoped he would live forever), many questions have arisen, two of the most prominent being who will take over Apple, and will the company survive or fall in to another “dark age,” possibly one that ends in the demise of Apple?

The first major question is, who will run Apple once Steve Jobs retires. It would seem that the front-runner for Jobs’ job is Apple’s own Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook. He was in charge of Apple’s day-to-day operations while Jobs was on medical leave for his pancreatic cancer treatment. He has done a fine job I running the company even in the middle of a recession. But is he capable?

As the money shows, yes. On the day Jobs left, Apple stocks closed at $85.33. As of this morning, Apple opened at $132.07. While at the helm, Cook has seen the settlement of a lawsuit from IBM over Mark Papermaster, the release of a new iPod Shuffle, and the one Billionth app-store download. Apple has also reported its best non-holiday quarter bringing in $8.2 Billion in March.

Maybe pancreatic cancer was just a minor flaw in Steve Jobs’ master plan to rule the world and live forever. But incase it wasn’t, we have to look into the future to see what looks best for Apple. Will we see the beginning of a new era in technology CEO’s, or will we see the demise of our beloved computer dynasty? Only time will tell.

This Saturday, Alex Lindsay posted a short video on MacBreak showing what Pixel Corps managed to do with a shiny new iPhone 3GS and the video equipment they had lying around. His rig consisted of:

• A Redrock microShoulderMount
• (What looks like) a Beachtek DXA-4
• A mic (can’t identify)
• A Sima SLB-M
• A Litepanels Micro
• A follow focus (can’t identify)

And the iPhone mount:

• A PED3-Auto

The resulting rig is total overkill, and the mic and follow focus don’t work — the latter because the iPhone isn’t capable of changing its focus while in the middle of a recording, and the former (hopefully) because they don’t have a proper adapter for the Beachtek box.

The resulting video quality? Surprisingly good! A light and some extra support can do wonders.

This is our 3GS liveblog, straight from the plaza outside the Apple Store at Fifth Avenue. Keep it bookmarked and we’ll keep you up to date. If you’re viewing this from the homepage, you’re only seeing our latest update! Hit the jump for more.

Needless to say, we’re ridiculously tired. There are still plenty of stories to tell, but this liveblog is officially over. Stay tuned.

Well, the weather outside may be brutal, but so far me and the rest of the iLife crew have managed to hang in there.

While we’ve braved the elements, a few people have come up to ask us a few questions, including Engadget, CNN, Reuters, the New York Times, and Bloomberg. I’ll be posting links to their coverage of the iPhone 3GS launch, and well, us!

Engadget: iPhone 3G S line begins in NY, weather be damned

UPDATE: 6:30 PM EDT: Reuters: IPhone to hit stores as Apple awaits Jobs’ return Matt Dodd was quoted on the second page of the article, and our plans for camping out were mentioned.

UPDATE: 7:00 PM EDT: Fortune / CNN Money: Lines form for the new iPhone in New York and Tokyo

Reuters (Again): Braving stormy weather for iPhone: well, sorta

Pocket Lint: iPhone 3G S line starts to form in New York

UPDATE: 7:30 PM EDT: The following is a listing of posts and articals after we got home. Take a look!

Fortune / CNN Money: Live from the (relatively sedate) iPhone 3G S launch

Gizmodo: Why In Hell Are People Camping Out For the iPhone 3GS?

Touch Podium: Line Ups Begin Early June 18th, for iPhone 3G S in New York and Tokyo, Most Likely Other Places Too

UPDATE 6/22/09 7:00 AM: Bloomberg: Apple’s IPhone Draws Crowds as Competition Stiffens Talks about us under ‘Camping Out’

If this is your first time at The iLife, Welcome! Be sure to subscribe to our RSS Feed, so that you always get the latest, in-depth tech news!

Photo from Engadget. Thanks!

I just had to head for work (gotta make money to buy the 3GS), but the scene in front of the store as I left was worthy of a picture.

I got completely soaked in the half hour I was there, even with all those umbrellas, so, guys, I wish you luck.

Matt Dodd, Sam Epstein, myself, and Keith Hobin are set up here at the Apple Store at 5th Avenue in New York! The staff has already come out to greet us and supply us with official Apple umbrellas (which we are absolutely going to need).

We’ll be posting updates throughout the day here and on Twitter (@theilife) and the folks at TheDigitalLifestyle.tv are planning to set us up with live streaming later today, so keep an eye on their feed.

If you’re in the area, stop by. If not, drop us a Tweet or a comment. Happy 3GS day to all!

Addictive recreation of an old-time favorite.

Galaga Remix was created by Namco, and it is a brilliant remake of the original arcade game. Galaga Remix includes an updated version as well as the original 1981 Galaga. The old version of the game does allow you to reclaim a captured ship so you can have double the firepower with dual ships like in the old arcade game, however this app really shines with the updated version. The new Galaga’s graphics are much easier on the eyes, and includes new boss battles, multiple upgrades for your ship, and plenty of levels.

The rest of the review is after the break. Read more…