Quiet style font viewer Cédille

Cédille price: FREE! size: 0.2MB developer: Kanotomo iTunes I've dreamed what I feel well if I handle scale able font book on my hand. Cédille is simple font viewer shows in iPhone/iPod touch for it.

Sometime when I'm planning website or presentation style, I launch this simple font viewer on my palm and place on drafting paper in order to feel letters in my physical. Simple and well designed interface of Cédille does not interrupt my plan. And iPhone's clear bright screen show me letters like printed.

Cédille shows font collection list on iPhone/iPod touch at start up. Tapping font name shows letter samples. Sample viewing style is able to selected from Repertory or Sample. Sample is same with Font Book.app on Mac OS X. Japanese font shows a part of poem "The Square of Polano" by Kenji Miyazawa. Repertory view shows all sample shape included font. Blue line on repertory view are baselines.

In sample view, bottom slider changes scale of font size. This feature helps me at web or graphic design in point which how letters are seen in particular size.

When I launch Cédille at first time, I've been surprised that Mobile Safari shows website well, but iPhone/iPod touch does not contain so many fonts. It means I've ignored that Apple's work to take carefully in selecting fonts. Cédille opens me this fact and gave me the result of Apples in clearly anytime.

This is 2nd time to reviewing developer kanotomo's work. At last time, I've reviewed his modern simple designed calender "Quick Calender" in order to know Japanese Holidays. I like his excellent simple, quiet and clear graphic style and waiting next work.

Minimum dance moves Japanese

UNIQLOCK price: FREE! developer: UNIQLO CO,. LTD. size: 154MB iTunes

UNIQLOCK is simple clock application shows time and movie. Every 10 second, typography and beauty girls minimum dance sequence loop by 5 seconds turns.

Developer company is UNIQLO. Well know as Japanese casual clothing maker. UNIQLOCK is advertisement application promoting new lightweight fabric HEAT TECH.

Releasing UNIQLOCK surprised Japanese companies rather than famous Chanel's promoting app. One of the most succeed Japanese company UNICLO's quick approach to iPhone knocked Japanese prejudice, because many company doubt Apple and iPhone business in Japan. In fact, I have some experience that person directing company changed opinion after I showed UNIQLOCK.

With having strong sympathy and feel something related with Japanese ones, almost Japanese company think they have no relationship with oversea companies like Google, IBM, Oracle and Apple even if it actually affected.

If you're working in advertisement or graphics in Japan, I suggest install UNIQLOCK though you don't boot for yourself, in order to show your client. With talking, taking out iPhone from pocket, "Yes this is iPhone, BTW, do you know that UNIQLO does promoting HEAT TECH on it? ...". Modern style movie and easy-listening music have no extra message and you are able to build various opinion with it. More quality, simplicity, Japanese Zen style and so.

If only I say that real UNICLO store is not so cool instead.

The way to know Holidays

Quick Calender price: FREE! size: 0.2MB developer: kanotomo iTunes

The legend workaholic Japanese finished.

Though Japanese don't take a 2 weeks vacation or 2 hours siesta, there are many scattered 15 holidays beside summer and new year small vacant. Even as for Japanese can't remember these many holidays (I think this is not my special case...), I have some experience to go office at holiday what I don't know. Dark and blank office make me so sad... Q Calender will help this sad situation. Basically, Quick Calender is cool calender wall paper making app.

Previous version shows only one holidays suits language set on iPhone but current version can show any counties holidays without link to language. It means that now we get the easiest way to show Japanese holiday on iPhone set English or other language with launching Quick Calender.

Quick Calender shows China, Unites Stats, Hong Kong, France, Russia, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany,Canada and Japan. Not only these but also, this app shows calender in independent language style from iPhone set. Supported language are Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Assamase, Azerbaijan, Belorussian, Bulgarian... I've gage up to count. Anyway many.

Quick Calender is not only wall paper maker as developer say in modest way at AppStore. I've surprised that this worth-full multi cultural supported calender is shipped as Free application. Take and try it.

Developer kanotomo released some nice looking small applications. I love his apps. Especially, Cédille -the Font Viewer for iPhone is my favorite app in these days.

The standard way to importing iCal calender data to your iPhone

brandonheato tweets http://is.gd/lGt0 is a better choice i think... show holidays directly in your ical by downloading or subscribing.

Yes, importing iCal data is standard Mac's way to use various calender published on websites. Unfortunately, MobileMe doesn't share online subscribed calender data with iPhone. If you want to use these data, it's necessary to download and import to iCal as solid archive. Following is the way in example to importing "Japanese Holiday Calender" from apple.com.

1. Go to "Apple - Download - Calenders - Japanese Holiday Calender"

2. With Right-Click "Download" NOT single clicking. If you click "Download" button simply, this iCal data will subscribed from apple.com and MobileMe don't send it.

3. Open downloaded file and importing to iCal. MobileMe or wired sync will send downloaded calender to your iPhone.

thanks iphoningjapan to remind me this way.

Cézanne, Monet nor Gogh. Paint like yours

Oil Canvas price: ¥230($1.99)FREE! developer: BIG CANVAS Inc. iTunes

Oil canvas make impressive painting from photo with simple operation.

User interface is very simple, importing image from your photo library with tapping top-left button, and painting with scratching screen automatically picking color from template photo and when you think it's finished, save or share it.

Though Oil canvas have 5 sized brushes which shapes are simple, I feel not only it's enough, this simple interface is necessary to concentrate to paint it. If oil canvas have more 3 type of shape and painting opacity, I would gave up to spend to change tools. I suggest start from XL size brush and fill all part of canvas, and paint where you want to show with selecting brush getting smaller and smaller.

A tip here, Try color re-touching before import to oil canvas. Painted color is picked from template photo then contrast is lower than your imagination. Left image is made from high contrasted and blurred with using PhotoGene and Photo fx.

iPhone is not fixed concrete set-top box like gaming terminal or many other cellphones, though clipboard is lacked, data is able to be gave hand to hands on many cool applications.

Now (1, Mar, 2009), this simple but wonderful application is free until 50,000 download as which developer's gratitude for their nifty app PhotoArtist's sales.

Impressive tool doesn't go behind Photoshop

re:NancyKPH price: FREE! developer: gravity loves time iTunes

Picturely effect app is popularity in AppStore. Today, cool stuff is shipped, “re:NancyKPH - woodcut/rubber plate print-” is impressive wood cut picture effect application.

This strange name is from Japanese pop rubber print artist "Nancy Seki". Her likeness portrait prints are graved on eraser rubber and printed. She died but you can see her impressive prints on Google image. Application re:NancyKPH make picture like her print from photos on iPhone.

re:NancyKPH name is built as Nancy + K(o -"ko" means small) + S(eki) and (Hirax --read below) means in literal "dedicated small app for Nancy Seki and Hirax".

Developer gravity loves time serves well designed web site for re:NancyKPH and tutorial page "re:NacyKPH Tutorial".

Launching re:NancyKPH, Tutorial baby picture is shown and automatically process works.

Tapping screen shows menu button bar at bottom. Picture effect is able to be adjusted with tapping second left button. 3 sliders shown (pity! slider meaning is not shown. If the parameter names are shown below of sliders...). When you tap slider controls, parameter names appears on control panel. From top "Smooth", "Bold Edge", "Threshold" and "Paint". Effects don't work in real-time. Update button below panel shows effects after set parameters.

Only I want developer make to implement on this cool app is real-time processing though it's not too slow.

After set outline of your print, setting color from second right button shows ink color setting panel.

This cool processing is based on Japanese famous geek engineer Hirax's one of huge archive. His humorous, informative and filled of deep wisdom blog impress many programmers in Japan. His blog “Dekirukana?(Can I do it?)” since 1998 is filled with fascinate toys for image processing engineers and programers. It's jewel box for our Japanese engineer.

Developer gravity loves time seems to decide this cool app's price to be free from his respect to Nancy Seki and hirax.

I'll keep in use NancyKPH for printing wood cut impressive picture on my hand.

It's my URL! ServersMan

ServersMan price: FREE developer: FreeBit Co., Ltd. size: 3.3MB iTunes

How do you use web-server if you can bring to anywhere? ServersMan is tiny web-server hosts web site an WebDAV storage on iPhone.

After activate your account, node name is set as reach-able URL to iPhone... The phrase before is not impressive then I'd want say again “URL on MY iPhone”. At first launch, I've got excited like the time to write first HTML tags.

Activated ServersMan is stand alone web server ( in correct meaning, domain name is solved by developer FreeBit based on IPv6 technology named "Emotion Link"). The public_html directory hosts web contents to Internet after set "Public Web Access" on.

Factory set HTML shows location data, images and audio files which you set to publish. ServersMan have function to host images captured by iPhone's camera on the fly. Setting "Save Same File Name" to on, latest image will shown in same URL as pseudo camera streaming. This interesting function is same with audio file. ServersMan have recording function and save on same file also.

At the same time of launching ServersMan, Web DAV storage server works, and user can mount storage on computer's desktop with logging in. Mounted storage contains following directories. Node named directory contains editable html, images and other files hosted to WWW via ServersMan. You can edit html file on ServersMan application also.

If you want send files to iPhone, it is able to move files to MyStorage directory via WebDAV. Uploaded files appears on ServersMan to edit or preview. Opposite side transfer is able with using ServersMan's "WebGadget" menu. With using WebGadget, iPhone's photo album images and recorded files are able to be hosted to WWW and WebDAV.

Server transportation speed is rely on network where iPhone connected. Wi-Fi gives enough response and 3G network is not too slow.

Current version has wrong path to get user id, sent e-mail from ServersMan expire after application is shut down. Then other computer is necessary in order to read pass-code to enter ServersMan activation text box.

ServersMan has many weak-points. It is the most terrible battery eater ever I know. Even if I charging iPhone, ServersMan will eat battery out in 30 minutes. User interface is not clear. Web engineer can understand how it works but workflow is not streamlined. I think ServersMan's largest weak-point is html set by developer. Poor design html is not worth to publish from iPhone.

ServersMan is not something special at this time, but the things opened by this tiny web server and iPhone seems to bring us harvestfull future, even if ServrsMan is not exist at there.

I'm going to enjoy to think how ServersMan's concept work in future with modifying html on iPhone.

News PAPER viewer

Sankei Shinbun price: Free developer: SANKEI DIGITAL INC. size: 0.2MB(initial) iTunes

If you have an iTunes Store Japan account and want to know about something news media company in Japan, this strange free news paper viewer application “Sankei Shinbun” may help.

Sankei Shinbun app is released by Japanese quality opinion news paper company in large mass-media group. Sankei released free “news paper” viewer neither news viewer nor news reader. User can see news paper image published every morning on same style.

After launching, Sankei Shinbun app receives news paper image on each launched day. Data transport is not slow in 3G network, first page appears in several seconds. Flicking to left shows next page when fully page is shown. Page thumbnails are able to be shown with tapping bottom left button.

With pinch-in, image is able to expand into ruby fonts readable resolution with downloading necessary image data partially. Expanding are not make feel slow. Flicking to other part of view scrolls image. After page data is downloaded, scrolling and scaling are convenient.

If this app shows historic document image or fine art masterpiece, application spec is enough, some person says powerful. Engineering is not best but networking, quickness and service deployment are well balanced. From a partial scope, Sankei Shinbun app seems good application. Only and huge fault is terrible combination with news and image viewer. Search, caching (high resolution data is huge) and links or other network access are not supported by this app. Though a few Japanese engineer show high performance in strange directed product and get large success, Sankei.app's direction doesn't seem bright.

In fact, Sankei Shinbun corp is one of the best Internet familiar news paper company in Japan, though their opinion shouts PATRIOTISM based on PATRIOT'S selected news sources. I don't like their opinion but most clip-able URL is served them in technology scope. Japanese other news sites managed by quality paper company doesn't only allow links to their website, but also each entries are not given permanent URLs and sometime removed like BIG BROTHER in 1984 did.

I'm disgusted the situation that strange Sankei Shinbun Application is the best news paper company's action on iPhone in Japan.

Viewer program is licensed from Yappa corporation which is famous technology company serves JAVA based commercial web-3D viewer. I hope them to release image viewer shows more better arts or documents than boring news with using their technology.