Flash isn't a necessity. There, I said it. Heck, Flash is automatically blocked on all browsers on all my computers, whether for home, work or recreational use. That's why the Apple hate for Flash isn't all that big of an issue to me.

However, you will occasionally need to turn Flash on for certain sites (such as when you're trying to contact a manufacturer and - alas - their site is 100% Flash). When the only available browser you have is on your iPhone, that can get pretty frustrating. Not anymore with Cloud Browse, an app that lets you view Flash by playing it on a remote computer and streaming the display to your handset.

Created by AlwaysOn Technologies, the app connects you to a remote machine running on one of the company's data centers. You control the browsing session right from the virtualized machine, choosing sites and playing them back for streaming to your phone. As such, it can pull up just about any website, other than those that specifically block the service (currently, the only well-known site doing so is Hulu).

The app behaves much like a traditional mobile browser, so you can use it the same way you'd work around Safari. It's only available over WiFi, though, due to the likely bandwidth restrictions imposed over 3G connections. Also, it's currently limited to the US and Canada, where the company's servers are located.

According to AlwaysOn, they'll have a premium version of the app available soon, which will give you 30 fps of video streaming and 1GB of disk space to store bookmarks on their servers. Currently, you can only use the free version, which, from our tests, is on the slow side. There were lots of hiccups in the streaming and the server is often full (you can't connect due to the sheer number of users).

Despite the issues, Cloud Browse sounds like a promising service that iPhone users who want Flash should definitely keep an eye on.

[Cloud Browse]

Watching TV on a 3.5-inch screen probably sucks. But we're pretty sure you'll gladly do it if it's available. So is MobiTV, who now have an app available for the iPhone.

Offering both live and on-demand television content, it can literally take the place of your cable - as long as watching programming on a cellphone is within the limits of your patience. They have a beefy roster too, with tons of current shows (CSI, The Office, Caprica and more) and a slew of premium channels (ESPN, Disney, SyFy and more).

It's available for free download, although the starting lineup is limited: ABC News, Classic Cartoons, Comedy Time, Fox News and NBC News. Basically, the free version just offers a way to let you get a whiff of the service, testing to see how it works and how good the video quality is.

When you launch the app, you'll find a very busy interface that looks just a tad overwhelming. Once you get acclimated, though, it shouldn't be so bad and actually ends up very usable. Tap on either the Live Channels or On-Demand button to get a list of available choices, then tap your pick to start the show. Once you start streaming, you can toggle between the video and the menu overlay with one tap.

Quality is very good over WiFi and pretty good over 3G. There's an occasional stutter over the latter (very seldom), but it shouldn't be that much of an issue. Anything less than 3G, though, and it becomes unwatchable.

Once you've had your fill of the free stuff, unlimited subscription costs $9.99 for one month, $24.99 for three months and $44.99 for six months, which I think is pretty good if you'd like to watch your programs on the road. It's strictly for the iPhone, though, so iPod Touch and iPad users will have to wait a while.

[MobiTV for iPhone]

MLB's At Bat made its debut on the iPhone last year. This year, Android users get their turn at the service, which is an absolute must-have for any baseball fan.

While the app itself seems lightweight (0.9MB Android Market download), the features aren't. In fact, it's quite surprising to see how much functions they crammed into it, all in a clean and straightforward interface.

On first launch, you see all MLB games scheduled for the day, with options to navigate both forward and backward into the timeline. It's an easy way to see game schedules, as well as to check out past scores. Click on a game and you'll get detailed information about it, from box scores to pitch-by-pitch descriptions to video highlights. Unfortunately, no streaming video on At Bat 2010 for Android.

The main selling point here is the Gameday Audio, which lets you tune in to any game broadcast during the year, from spring training to the World Series. With a live data connection (3G or WiFi), you won't have to miss a single game anywhere you are. Do note that some pre-season games won't have audio available, but all games after that will have feeds for broadcasts from both home and away teams. Streaming isn't perfect (yes, audio is sometimes dropped), but the quality is good.

Priced at $14.99, MLB At Bat 2010 for Android may seem a bit too expensive at first crack. Consider that it gets you audio for all games during the year, along with a slew of scores and stats, however, and it actually sounds like a fair deal.  Sucks that streaming video isn't available, though.

Unlike other radio apps for the iPhone, Aha Radio doesn't actually have a single music-playing station in its roster. What it does bring, however, is a creative new service that turns numerous web-based services into "stations" that you can listen to.

The best way to give you an idea about what it does is the Facebook station, which turns your friend's status updates into audio that you can listen to. It's very handy, especially when you get a hankering to do some social networking while driving on a busy highway. Basically, it's content you'll usually get with a browser open turned into radio stations, so you can just sit back and listen.

Since it's intended for use while you're driving, it offers a dashboard-friendly interface that limits the main screen to four large icons, each one representing a different "radio" station. Tap on the one you want to listen to and have it play. You can customize which stations to make available, choosing from a pool of over 50 different channels.

There's a whole host of interesting stations here. For instance, a number of popular podcasts are on offer, including Fox News Radio, Car Talk and This American Life. Motorist station Nearby Traffic determines your current location and reads the current traffic status (including construction spots) for roads within your immediate vicinity. There are various Twitter stations too, which reads updates on preselected feeds. Very handy for keeping up with sporting events and celebrity gossip.

You want music? While there's no real radio, they do have a My Media station, which lets you play tracks from your own library. I would have preferred hooking up with several streaming stations, but it will do.

Overall, I found Aha to be a unique app with some novel features for motorists who may want more than the standard music station piping through their car audio. Price is even better: free.

[Aha Mobile]

I still can't believe Apple (and, possibly, AT&T) approved it, but it's here - a video broadcasting app that lets you stream live feeds from your iPhone's camera to the web in real-time.  Called the Ustream Live Broadcaster, it turns your smartphone into a veritable webcam that you can take anywhere in your pocket.

The App Store download is not the first video-streaming app for the iPhone, though.  That honor belongs to Knocking Live, which debuted less than two weeks ago.  However, that streaming pioneer only made feeds available to other iPhone users.  Ustream's new service, on the other hand, lets everyone tune in - whether you're on an iPhone, a PC or some other internet-enabled device.

Effectively, the app turns the iPhone into a webcam, capturing video and sending it to viewing audiences (it supports both 3G and Wi-Fi) who can watch it through Ustream's site.  It works with both the 3G and 3GS models, which is quite impressive, considering the 3G doesn't even have a video recording facility.

It's a feature-rich app, too.  When a live connection isn't available, for instance, it gives the option of recording videos for later uploading.   You can also choose whether to let everyone see the stream (public) or restrict it for pre-approved audiences (private).  Other capabilities include creating on-the-fly polls for current viewers, social media integration (YouTube, Facebook and Twitter) and location-sharing.

Overall, it's very impressive stuff.  You can download Ustream Live Broadcaster and give up your last remaining bits of privacy free of charge from the App Store.

Both the MLB and the NFL have entrenched themselves into mobile phones by way of various apps and services.  With the 2010 NBA season having just commenced, pro basketball fans are getting in on the action too.

The National Basketball Association has released the NBA League Pass Mobile, a downloadable app available to all iPhone and Android users that somehow mirrors what's being offered with the league's NBA's League Pass TV package.  It's also coming to Blackberry users before the end of the year.

What does it do?  The app lets users watch up to 40 live games weekly directly on their mobile phones.  Not all games will be available depending on your location, though, as local TV blackout rules will continue to be enforced (damn GPS on cellphones, right?).  You can also watch the games on demand up to two days late, along with game alerts and live statistics.

Sounds awesome?  Yep.  Priced pretty steep, though, costing $39.99 for the duration of the season.  If the price is a little too rich for your tastes, you can opt for Game Time Lite (available on all three platforms above), a free download that lets you read scores, stats, standings and team schedules.  For a little more content, you can pay $9.99 for the full version, which offers some games on demand, highlights, live alerts and real-time updates via Twitter feed.

Too cheap for all that?  Me too. I just wait till I get home and open up NBA.com on my browser.  Works every time.

[via CNET]

Streaming radio is now spilling like torrential rain on the iPhone and it's making for a whole lot of fun.  There's a swath of music-based apps, a couple of news-centric ones and now, with ESPN Radio, a full-fledged audio streamer for sports fans.

Delivering ESPN shows, podcasts and live play-by-play for various events, you get a wide range of content from 15 different stations, letting you get your fill of sports-related information wherever you are  throughout the day.  Even better, the app is so well done, it's a breeze to use.

It loads fast and runs fast, immediately tuning to one of the fifteen stations as soon as you launch it.  UI is attractive and vibrant, with that familiar ESPN ticker panning along the bottom, showing headlines and scores for numerous events throughout the sporting world.  Tap a headline and you can read it in full-screen right from the app, all while the current station continues to play.

Control panel offers several additional features, including SportsCenter (which displays the latest news in 20 minute intervals), PodCenter (which gives you access to over 35 podcasts) and a texting facility (which lets you send a free SMS to the station you're currently listening to).   A cool little addition is the Background option, a workaround of sorts that launches ESPN Radio in Safari (right on the same content  you're listening to) when you want it to keep playing while you run a different app in the foreground.

ESPN Radio may not be complete (there are no sports schedules and on-demand content, for instance), but it's a heck of an app, all the same.  The sheer amount of options, coupled with a well-made UI, easily makes it worth the $2.99 asking price.

Photo Credit: iPodNN

Android users have been feeling a little neglected lately, what with all the developers flocking to the iPhone before even giving Google's mobile OS a little attention.  The same has been true of Pandora's streaming music service, which has put out releases for a number of platforms already.  Finally, they get around to supplying a version of their mobile software for the Android Market and, while late, the app is very polished and well-executed, making it worth the wait.

The app works much like any Pandora client on any device, allowing you to create free streaming radio stations over an internet connection.  You can give a thumps-up or a thumbs-down to songs that play over your app, which the service will remember as it grows to recognize your musical tastes.  It also integrates the facility to purchase songs and albums that you like directly from Amazon within the service.

You'll be greeted with a log-in screen the first time you use it (new users will need to sign up).  If you've used Pandora before, your account will automatically be synced to your Android phone, allowing you to access all your previously created stations.  From there, you can do what you normally do, searching for artists, songs and composers, letting Pandora build the streams based on that.

The interface is particularly good-looking, with the ability to display cover art, along with various artist, song and album information.  You can rate songs, skip them, pause or simply ask for further information. Menu options allow you to share songs with friends, change audio settings and switch accounts.  It also comes with a widget, which lets you access the current station from your homescreen, and a live folders feature that lets you scroll through your saved listings.

Overall, Pandora for Android is a great first effort.  While there are many features on the desktop version that are absent, it fits in all the necessary niceties with a couple of extras specifically for the platform.  You won't see me complaining about it anytime soon.

Via: Pandora Blog

RealNetworks is making a play to directly challenge iTunes' 99-cent-per-song dominance on the iPhone. The company has submitted an app to allow the use of its Rhapsody subscription music service to Apple and are now awaiting approval.

Intended for availability as a free download, the app offers iPhone users music streaming on their handsets.  That means all the songs you want at a fixed monthly price of $15 a month - a tempting offer that can potentially affect iTunes sales.  Given all the heat that Apple is now getting for the App Store's approval process, Rhapsody for iPhone becomes an interesting case study as to how the company will handle potential competition looking to enter their smartphone platform.

Existing Rhapsody subscribers who are on $13/month accounts won't get in on the action, as iPhone support will only be available for the new $15 To Go package.  Regardless, a library of over 8 million songs you can stream to your iPhone makes a good case for paying that extra $2, as well as attracting new subscribers.

According to Rhapsody, offline playback of songs is not currently available for the first version of the app, but will be added shortly thereafter.  Streaming will be supported over all types of internet connection, including Wi-Fi, 3G and EDGE.

Whether Rhapsody gets approved or not will likely determine the eventual fate for Spotify, as well, who are now in the process of readying their own iPhone app.  According to RealNetworks, the Rhapsody service will also be coming soon to other mobile platforms, including Android and Windows Mobile.

[via PC World]

Once available exclusively for jailbroken handsets, Simplify Media has evolved into a legitimate iPhone app, with a very cool social component to boot. While it's a media streamer at its core, it piles on to the value by allowing you to share your entire music collection with up to 30 other computers at a time over the internet.

Simplify Media involves two main components, a desktop client to index and manage your collection of songs (AAC, WMA, MP3 and Apple Lossless), as well as an iPhone app to facilitate the playback of those tunes  on the handset. You can stream songs directly from your computer over either Wi-Fi, 3G or EDGE.

It works much like iTunes' library sharing feature, except it takes the ability way further than your local network. Using the web, other users that you invite can access the same music files that the desktop software indexes on your PC for playback.  Similarly, you can access those of your friends'.

The iPhone interface is similar to the iPod application on the handset, allowing you to see your iTunes playlists, as well as numerous other browsing options. Tapping on a title will begin buffering the song, after which it automatically plays. Speed is pretty good, taking just a couple of seconds over 3G and Wi-Fi, with EDGE running at around 15 seconds.

Interface is pretty boring, but it handles intuitively with good control response. I wouldn't mind seeing it get refreshed for later versions, as it's really too bland at the moment. Note that like all other non-native iPhone apps, Simplify Media cannot run in the background. As such, your music stream stops as soon as you close the screen. Despite that, I find it to be a very useful tool at a slightly expensive (but justifiable) $5.99 price.

Simplify Media