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(Credit: CNET Networks)

You may have noticed a trend in my iPhone apps of the week posts: I mostly download games. To offer a little balance to my posts, this week I have a couple of useful iPhone apps that aren’t just for when you want to waste some time. Both are free so you can take advantage of these useful tools right away.

Preview the results before hitting the send e-mail button.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Free Translator is a language translator that lets you send e-mails in different languages. The concept is fairly simple: choose a source language, choose a target language, and then hit translate. When you’re finished, you can send the translated message via e-mail–great if you have non-English-speaking relatives living in another country. Free Translator can translate between 31 languages. Like all software translators, your mileage may vary as far as accuracy, so try to keep it simple and most likely the recipient will be able to understand what you’re trying to say.

Browse Wikipedia easily with this app that's perfectly formatted for the iPhone.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Wikiamo makes Wikipedia a much better experience on the iPhone because it automatically formats the screen for easy readability. It offers forward and back buttons for quick navigation between pages you’ve already visited and the ability to create and use bookmarks for info you want to save. You also get your viewing history to go back to favorite pages, and Wikiamo caches pages so you can view them even when you’re not connected. I think my favorite feature is the contents button, which sends you immediately to the table of contents so you can get the specific information about your selected subject immediately.

What’s your most useful downloaded iPhone app? Got a good game for me to try? Let me know in the comments!

Filed under: Displays

E-ink displays, whether they be a couple-inches or a couple-feet across, hold a lot of potential, but in the four and a half years we’ve been covering the tech it hasn’t exactly made huge progress. Nothing spurs innovation like a little competition, and Sharp (which has dabbled in the e-ink before) is looking to provide just that with a new display type also able to hold an image sans-power. Few details about its construction are known, except that it’s based on LCD tech and can be manufactured on current production lines. In other words: it should be cheap. Current sizes are 1.7-, 2.4-, 6.1-, and 14.1-inches, with the largest two available in either monochrome or 8-color flavors, and the biggest offering a passable resolution of 1030 x 606. There’s no indication of when these will be readily available, but they are currently on limited tests as inventory tags in an Osaka grocery store — where even supermarkets are apparently cooler than ours.

Sharp shows off memory-capable, e-ink fighting LCDs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Oh RIM, why must you torture us? Just when we’d moved beyond our nightly dreams of the Javelin and had our sights set on a Bold, here you go reminding us of just how luscious the next-generation Curve looks to be. Sure, the omission of 3G makes us none too happy, but it’s hard to kvetch about the design. The Boy Genius managed to get his paws around one of the forthcoming BlackBerry Curve 8900s, and his initial impressions are almost universally positive. He’s totally digging the size, the screen, the keyboard and even the bezel. That’s right, the bezel. Check the read link to see what the fuss is all about.

RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 8900 gets hands-on treatment, looks mighty good originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Podcasts

We hope you’re prepared to be menaced by the unstoppable, demon-like tech punditry and heart attack-inducing fear that only the Engadget Podcast can provide. This week, the team takes you on a hellish ride through the rancid underworld of the New Xbox Experience with Joystiq’s evil kingpin Chris Grant. You can also hear Josh, Paul, and Nilay psychotically sound off on new Netflix happenings, explore the twisted nature of HP’s Mini 1000, tear into the meaty gristle of Windows 7, and more. Enter at extreme risk of bodily harm to your personage!

WARNING: This podcast has been known to kill people. Engadget assumes no responsibility for injury or death.

[Thanks, JS and Rom for the image]

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, and Nilay Patel
Guest: Chris Grant
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Don’t Fear the Reaper

00:01:08 - New Xbox 360 Experience hands-on and impressions
00:31:54 - Week of Netflix
00:51:39 - HP Mini 1000 hands-on
01:02:16 - Windows 7 details galore

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Engadget Podcast 116 - 10.31.2008: Terrifying Halloween edition originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia’s North American N96 has already made an appearance at Best Buy Mobile locations but, if you’re the die hard type that prefers to keep things as Nokia-centric as possible, you’ll no doubt be pleased to know that Nokia’s flagship phone is now also available at Nokia’s two flagship stores in New York and Chicago. You will have to pay a slight premium for all that Nokia-ness, however, with the phone running a hefty $842 (unlocked, of course) at the stores compared to the $800 Best Buy is asking. Those with a bit more will power and slightly less affection for Nokia may want to think twice though, as Amazon now also has the phone listed for just $705.99, albeit with a promised ship date of November 9th.

[Via Symbian-Guru.com]

North American N96 hits Nokia flagship stores originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Wii Fit might have some competition brewing, if Men’s Fitness magazine is a publication worthy of the public’s trust, that is. The details are vague, to say the very least but, here’s what we “know”: Dave Kushner, executive producer at EA Sports, told the magazine that the company is planning an ‘unnamed fitness game’ with a ‘new peripheral’ which will connect the Wiimote to the player’s body, enabling all sorts of newfangled measurements, movements, and exercises barely dreamed of before. Sounds totally awesome, right? Well, if and when it materializes, we’ll be sure to rush to the store, buy one, then sadly rue its unused, guilt-inducing existence every day thereafter.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

We keep waiting for “wireless” contact charging pads to blow our minds and revolutionize the way we use gadgets, but perhaps we’re just being idiot optimists. Or perhaps not. We’re seeing great possibilities with this latest implementation of WildCharger’s tech, the TouchCharge Kit from Psyclone for Xbox 360 controllers. The kit includes a rechargeable battery pack with the appropriate contacts and of course the charging pad. If you need to keep four controllers charging simultaneously, the $69-per setup pricetag might put this out of reach, but the Federal Reserve wouldn’t be dropping interest rates right and left if it didn’t want us racking up hundreds of dollars in consumer debt for game peripherals, right? EB Games has this up for pre-order now, should ship on December 15th.

[Thanks, Ken C.]

Psyclone’s TouchCharge Kit for your 360 controller finally puts WildCharger to good use originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The Apple / Microsoft ad war keeps escalating — while Apple continues to insist that John Hodgman is the human representation of all PCs, Microsoft is taking its populist approach to the streets. Very specific streets, actually — it’s placing “I’m a PC” recording booths outside of Apple stores, like the one pictured here in Birmingham, England. The booth is staffed with three ‘Softies who’ll try to sell you on the latest in Windows tech while making nyah-nyah faces at Apple store patrons, and guests are invited to make a short video explaining why they, too, are PCs. Not to be outdone, Apple has pledged to send Justin Long to your house to charmingly condescend to you about his various abilities while still pretending to be your best friend.

Microsoft placing “I’m a PC” recording booths outside Apple stores originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Desktops, Handhelds

In broad, soap operatic strokes of the finest sort, IBM and Apple are at each other’s throats over Apple’s latest recruit: IBM’s vice president of microprocessor technology development. Improbably named Mark Papermaster, the man in question is responsible for IBM’s blade server division, and IBM is pretty sure there’s a non-compete in there somewhere, especially with Apple’s recent acquisition of PA Semi, a chip developer with PowerPC technology similar to IBM’s — IBM has filed lawsuits both against Apple in California (a state traditionally indifferent to non-competes) and against Papermaster in New York. We’re not going to get into all the sordid details, but just because IBM and Apple are very, very angry at each other right now doesn’t mean they’re mad at you. Probably.

IBM slaps Apple with a lawsuit for recruiting top chip designer — like they were going to use him anyways originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Sure, downloading songs and movies is easy these days (even when done legally), but what if you don’t have a computer or internet connection? “How would I be reading this post, then?” you might ask. Fair point, but there must be dozens of other people out there with portable media players yet no way to fill them, and for this market Sony and Universal have partnered to create POP, the “instant entertainment 24/7″ vending machine hitting the UK this holiday season. Unlike other boxes that sell media players, this one sells content to fill them, downloaded straight to a memory card, flash drive, PMP, or other (USB-supporting) portable device. You can also purchase media-based content on DVD and Blu-ray if you like, games too, all of which “pop” out shrink wrapped and in full retail garb. Being able to buy a Blu-ray disc at midnight on a dark corner sounds mildly interesting, but with no mention of file formats or DRM or anything else, you won’t find us sticking our memory cards into this thing’s slots anytime soon.

Sony and Universal launching POP “instant entertainment” vending machines in UK originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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