Boxcar is a nearly-flawless notification app for Facebook, email, and Twitter, and I love. What else is there to say?

GPush will be on App Store Monday 17 August 9.00AM EST

The long awaited Gmail Push Notification Service is not coming from the search engine giant and creator of Gmail, Google, but from Tiverias Apps: a non-related company specializing in productivity enhancing applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Tiverias Apps have released a statement saying that “GPush is the missing link between GMail and the iPhone. For the first time, receive instant Gmail message notifications”. The application was released on the App Store earlier this month but was taken down just hours after its release due to server complications. Tiverias have subsequently fixed the problem and have used this downtime to address other issues and concerns with the application. The downtime serves as both a fix and an update.

In essence, the application will mimic what it is like to receive a text message, where a user is alerted and a notification is shown on the front screen displaying what the message says. Several applications already take advantage of push notifications, but none have been posted to the App Store that allow push notifications of incoming mail.

Users should see signs of increased battery life as well, as data will be pushed instead of pulled. Under the current system, the Mail application operates under “Fetch”, a feature that pulls data to the iPhone at specified intervals (usually every 15 minutes). With the arrival of push notifications, data can now be pushed to a phone from external servers as opposed to be being pulled by phone:

Fetch (Data Pulling)
iPhone –> Talks to servers –> Pulls any data from servers

Push (Data Pushing)
Servers talk to Apple –> Apple Push Notification Service –> iPhone

As you can see, in the former (fetch) it is the iPhone that does all the work. With push, it’s the third party servers.

We’ll have a review of GPush up within a few days of its release. Check back soon!

6.00AM PST
9.00AM EST
14.00PM GMT

This is a great idea and is really worth a look at! You can see where you are walking, what is right in front of you, as you email. It’s not perfect yet but the potential for this creative idea is immense!!

Unfortunately this app has been released before it is ready. I could not get it to work with any POP3 email accounts (and have read customers saying that IMAP didn’t seem to work), and I also could not get it to work with GMail. I also tried Hotmail accounts and other generic accounts. None worked with this application in my experience.

Although this is billed as a great way to showcase URLs (websites, blogs…) to a client, the application is much more than that. Essentially, it’s giving you back precious application space on your device!

Organizer is useful for writing your daily plans, jotting down your ideas and for an advanced memo tool. The options in this application for making notes are impressive, but lack of calendar integration lets it down.

Picture dialing for your contacts, with the ability to phone, message or send an email.

iTree is a nicely done, interactive Christmas card app that allows you to send a customized postcard to friends and family via email, directly from your iPhone.

Landscape Email All of a Sudden Very Popular

An odd thing happened last night. Our list of New App Store Applications picked up 5 applications, all nearly the same, all approved at the same time. These apps had been waiting in queue for a while — some as far back as 8/25.

Sideways – $1.99 – 8/27 – http://148apps.com/app/289146621
Lettera – $1.99 – 8/25 – http://148apps.com/app/289247074
Wide Email – $1.99 – 8/25 – http://148apps.com/app/289274499
Touch Type (Landscape Email) – $0.99 – 9/4 – http://148apps.com/app/288916937
Compose – $4.99 – 9/11 – http://148apps.com/app/290987348

It looks like someone at Apple made the decision, finally, that these applications were OK and didn’t duplicate the functionality of Apple apps.

Sketches is an amazingly useful and fun application!