iPhone News Updated

LivingSocial comes to iPhone

With the holidays just around the corner, it’s probably time you tried to figure out what to get your friends and family. How about you show them your wish list and they show you theirs?

That’s the idea behind LivingSocial, a social Web site that on Monday announced its iPhone application. The social network allows users to access information on the interests of friends and family for gift ideas, as well as to publish photos and reviews. Its arrival on the iPhone could make for a handy on-the-go mobile resource for the holidays.

Just like using the Web site, the mobile application grants users participation in a community of almost 7 million people who have cataloged nearly 98 million of their favorite books, music, movies, games, restaurants, and, of course, beer. Unlike generic social networks such as Facebook or MySpace, LivingSocial is an interest-based online community. This means you will find what you want more easily, in less time.

I tried the app on my iPhone and it worked very well, better than that of Facebook, which crashed once in a while. The LivingSocial application is available now at the App Store and you can download it for free.

Review: iStartup for iPhone

You’re working away at your Mac and something goes kablooey in that, “Uh oh, my Mac appears to have given up the ghost and won’t restart” kind of way. What do you do?

Troubleshooting at Your Fingertips: Yes, it is handy to have these shortcuts in hand. The question is whether they’re worth $2 it costs to download iStartup.

If you have another computer, iPhone, or iPod touch, you might be tempted to Google OS X Startup Key Combinations, which leads you to Apple’s Startup Key Combinations for Intel-based Macs support document. With the information on this page you might be able to find a combination that allows you to restart your Mac and repair what ails it.

If, on the other hand, you have $1.99 to throw at the problem, you can get the same information with Bayhoff Software’s iStartup. As its name hints, it present a list of tasks—Force Mac OS X Startup, Reset NVRAM and PRAM, and Bypass Primary startup Volume, for example. Tap a task and the resulting screen presents the keystroke to execute at startup.

iStartup is helpful in that it’s convenient to have these keyboard commands at your fingertips. How desirable it is depends on what you think your time is worth. This information is easily found on the Web and it wouldn’t take a lot of time to key it into your iPhone or iPod touch’s Notes application (and even less time to print it out and tape it to your Mac’s monitor). But maybe your time is worth more than the measly $2 the author asks for the application. Only you can make that judgment.

iStartup is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 2.x software update.

[Thanks: http://www.macworld.com]