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Stalking the Killer App

Hands-On at Macworld: First Spreadsheet Editing App for iPhoneYesterday

To date, the iPhone has lacked the ability to edit Microsoft Office documents. But now it has edged one step closer, thanks to a new app from Quickoffice, the mobile-document-editing-software company. In a break from its past, QuickOffice has decided to stick with just Excel for now, in lieu of a complete office suite that handles Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files--but at a much lower price.

That may turn out to be a shrewd move. We first got a glimpse of QuickOffice for the iPhone back in September. Now it seems that the company--perhaps in a nod to recent customer tastes, which lean toward free or 99-cent mobile apps--has abandoned its prior, more expensive pricing model. Traditionally, the company's pricing has ranged from around $39 for a typical version of their slick Quickoffice Premier Symbian and Palm-based mobile office-editing suite, to all the way past $100 for the old, creaky, DynoPlex-developed eOffice for BlackBerry. (Quickoffice acquired DynoPlex in 2008--and wisely slashed the price of that app several times since.)

Fast forward to today. MobileFiles Pro, Quickoffice's new spreadsheet-editing iPhone app, costs just $9.99.

College Admission Interviews From Home Via SkypeYesterday

I remember the fear and angst that accompanied my college admission interview. The surroundings were foreign. The stakes were high. What if they saw through my veneer (and sweaty palms) and found the real Geoff? I'm not alone. You probably sweated up a storm for your turn as a high school senior turned college applicant.

Now it's possible to use a webcam to 'make the sale' and get yourself admitted. No personal contact--none!

When the AP first reported this story the headline read, "No Shoes? No Problem for This College Interview." With all due respect to the Associated Press, this experience didn't leave me scared shoeless--though my state of mind that day does sound similar to shoeless.

Among the video tech trailblazers is North Carolina's Wake Forest University which joins Pennsylvania State University, the University of Georgia and Arizona State University with similar programs. This is not Wake's only recent innovation. You no longer need SAT or ACT scores for Wake Forest admission!

"While a personal visit is the first choice, the virtual int

New iTunes is Footloose and DRM-free (Finally!)Yesterday

The debate rages on over iTunes: incredibly awesome, or just good enough? Sure, it's tied to the most popular MP3 player in the market, but where were conveniences like DRM-free tracks and streaming radio? While we may have to wait a while longer on the latter, new features announced at MacWorld yesterday were enough for us to bump iTunes 8 up to an Editors' Choice, edging out perennial favorite Rhapsody.

As we heard in the keynote yesterday, 8 million songs in the iTunes library are now DRM free, with the remaining 2 million to follow shortly. This fits right into the new three-tiered pricing plan as well, with songs ranging from $0.69 to $1.29. Plus, iPhone owners will be able to download songs wirelessly via 3G.

For more on why we love the newest version of iTunes, be sure to check out the full review on PCMag.com.

MelZoo: New, Easy-to-Use Search EngineYesterday

MelZoo.com launched a new search engine today, which is unlike most others out there. But many of us are pretty chummy with Google, so why would we want to change to a new search engine? MelZoo claims it speeds up the search process with its "inventive left sidebar results window."

When you enter a search term, MelZoo opens up your returned results in a sidebar on the left-hand side of the page. Scroll over any of the listed sites, and the page will appear right next to it on the right. Not having to flip back and forth between the Web site and the search engine, or open new tabs or windows, is what speeds up the process. You can view the results just by hovering above them. That saves at least a few seconds. MelZoo also claims that sites load more quickly than on other engines.

The left sidebar is a novel idea, and one that many other search engines may soon be providing. Advertisers will also appreciate MelZoo's innovative search features. Thanks to the search engine's preview function, only true hits will be marked as cost per click (CPC). MelZoo is the first site to offer this kind of protection to advertisers. Accidental visitors are limited because advertisers aren't charge

MobiTV to Offer CBS ContentYesterday

MobiTV, the streamed mobile television service, has now added CBS to its roster of channels, enabling it to offer full-length episodes of primetime shows such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "CSI:NY," MediaPost reports. Individual episodes will show up on MobiTV subscribers' screens the day after they're broadcast on terrestrial television stations.

The report said that the service will also feature video-on-demand news, sports and comedy clips from CBS's mobile division. MobiTV currently offers more than 40 channels, including ABC, NBC, ESPN and Discovery Networks. In addition, the article said that the company recently passed the five-million subscriber mark.