With the release of iPhone iOS4 last week the following MMISoftware iPhone Apps have been upgraded for the new operating system:

chemCal – (download | more information) – a basic chemistry calculator for molarity and dilutions calculations.

bmrPounds (free) – (download | more information) – a basal metabolic rate (BMR) calculator that works using pounds (lb) for weight, and feet (ft) and inches (in) for height

bmrKilo (free) – (download | more information) – a basal metabolic rate (BMR) calculator that works using kilograms (kilos;kg) for weight, and meters (m) for height.

bmrStone (free) – (download | more information) – a basal metabolic rate (BMR) calculator that works using stones (st) and pounds (lb) for weight, and feet (ft) and inches (in) for height.

bmiKilo (free) – (download | more information) – a body mass index (BMI) calculator that works using kilograms (kilos;kg) for weight, and meters (m) for height.

bmiStone (free) – (download | more information) – a body mass index (BMI) calculator that works using stones (st) and pounds (lb) for weight, and feet (ft) and inches (in) for height.

bmiPounds (free) – (download | more information) – a body mass index (BMI) calculator that works using pounds (lb) for weight, and feet (ft) and inches (in) for height.

(Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of energy your body requires per day to maintain current weight. If dieting, or training, you need to know this value so your calorific intake can be controlled. Body Mass Index (BMI) is an indication of whether or not your weight is ideal.)

Other MMISoftware iPhone Apps will be updated over the coming weeks.

So, what is mobiQuiz (home page – download)? Well, it is FREE easy to use quiz and test app for your iPhone and iPod Touch. mobiQuiz uses the quizzes at quizlet.com for your ‘testing fun’.

mobiQuiz – Welcome Screen

mobiQuiz – Start Screen

mobiQuiz – Subject Search – with subject search you can search for specific quizzes on a particular subject at quizlet.com – there is also a quiz author search available.

mobiQuiz – Saved Quizzes – found a quiz (test) you like? Once you have taken it you can save a link to it and take it again and again and again….

mobiQuiz – taking the test – taking a test is very easy… just start the test by touching on it in the search list (or saved quiz list) and then answer the questions… Read the question and then just touch on A, B, C or D in the answers provided. If you want, you can skip ahead (or back) in the questions by using the small blue and white arrows.

mobiQuiz – feedback – once you have answered a question you get instant feedback – right or wrong, and your current score. You can go back and try the question again (you won’t get the mark if you get it right) by using the Questions button on the menu bar. To move on to the next question just touch Next.

mobiQuiz also comes with built in help to use the App – if you get stuck!

mobiQuiz is a FREE download for your iPhone or iPod Touch at the App store – mobiQuiz Download

The video shows the App in operation, and so users can see how the program works before going to the iTunes App Store.

The video shows cookCal being used to calculate the amount of time that would be needed if you were following instructions such as: “cook for 10 minutes, and then at 20 minutes per pound (lb), and rest for 15 minutes before carving”. The calculation is also shown in metric (kilograms, kilo, kg).

The video finishes with a demonstration of how to calculate start and end times, and how the inbuilt presets can be used for calculating cooking times for beef (rare, medium, and well done), chicken, duck, goose, lamb (medium rare, medium, and well done), pork and a range of turkey sizes.

For more information visit the cookCal home page or read our recent blog post.

cookCal is available on the iTunes App Store

So, what is new in cookCal?

cookCal is a very easy to use cookery calculator that helps you do those tricky calculations such as cooking a piece of meat from 25 minutes, and then at 20 minutes per pound (or 44 minutes per kilo), and resting for 15 minutes before carving. Using the calculator is very easy, you just touch on the number that you wish to enter until it turns green (see the screen shot below – standing time shown), and then using the number buttons to enter new values.

With version 1.0 you could:

1. Enter the time per weight (min per pound or min per kilo)
2. The weight as kilo (kg) or pounds (lb)
3. Any standing time or pre-cook set times (such as the 25 minutes in the above example)
4. Set a start time and get an end time, or set an end time for cooking and get the start time.

It was also possible with cookCal to enter a time per weight for min per pound cooking, and the weight in kilos (or vice-versa) and get the cooking time calculated.

Version 2.0 of cookCal, builds on version 1 and has some great new features and these include:

1. Pre-cook set times (such as the 25 minutes in the above example) can be added
2. A post-cooking standing (relaxing) time can be added
3. Start and end cooking times, and the time to remove the meat from the oven, can all be calculated – enter a start time and get the end time, enter an end time and get a start time, enter the time you wish to remove the meat from the oven and get start and end times calculated
4. Cooking guide – meat presets – cookCal now comes with a number of suggested cooking times, and oven temperatures, for a range of meats including beef (rare, medium, and well done), chicken, duck, goose, lamb (medium rare, medium, and well done), pork and a range of turkey sizes.

Just like version 1.0 there is also an extensive help section built in to cookCal.

Screen shots of cookCal

New imperial cookCal calculator
If your recipe called for the meat to be cooked for 15 minutes and then at 20 minutes per pound, with a 10 minutes rest before carving, then the data would be entered as shown above. The 10 minutes would be entered as the ‘Set Time’ and the resting time as the ‘Standing’ time.

New metric cookCal calculator
If your recipe called for the meat to be cooked for 15 minutes and then at 44 minutes per pound, with a 10 minutes rest before carving, then the data would be entered as shown above. The 10 minutes would be entered as the ‘Set Time’ and the resting time as the ‘Standing’ time.

Cooking start and end times calculator
Once the required cooking time (including any resting time) has been calculated it is possible to calculate start and/or end times. If you enter a start time the time to remove from the oven (assuming there is a rest time) and the time for serving will be calculated. Alternatively, the end time can be entered and the start time calculated. It is even possible to enter the time you wish to remove the food from the oven and have the start and end time calculated.

Suggested cooking times and temperatures
cookCal now has inbuilt cooking guide for a range of meats including beef (rare, medium, and well done), chicken, duck, goose, lamb (medium rare, medium, and well done), pork and a range of turkey sizes. The calculator gives suggested cooking temperature, cooking time, cooking time per weight, rest times, and some cooking hints.

Suggested cooking times and temperatures
cookCal also comes with an extensive help section.

cookCal is now available for download on the iTunes App Store.

The new version of cookCal was submitted to the App Store late afternoon on Sunday 7 February, 2010, and was approved and available for download by the evening of Wednesday 10 February, 2010…. Great! Fantastic!

It is great to see that Apple has listened to its developers and improved App store review process. And, again, I am sorry about the poor score I gave!!!

Assuming there are no unexpected coding problems the new version should be submitted to Apple next week.

This will be a 2.0 update with a bunch of exciting new and useful features (a number of which have been requested by current cookCal users). Of course this will be a free update to current owners of the App.

Watch this space for more deatils…..

Well, currently MMISoftware has 14 iPhone / iPod Touch Apps on the iTunes App Store (MMISoftware at the App Store). These include:

chemCal – chemistry calculator for students
beatCal – beat and rhythm timer
TipTax – a tip and tax calculator
cookCal – cooking time calculator
snowNews – latest news from ski and snowboarding resorts – FREE
bodyCal – a BMI and BMR calculator
bmiCal – a BMI calculator
bmrCal – a BMR calculator
bmiPounds – a BMI calculator – FREE
bmiStone – a BMI calculator – FREE
bmiKilo – a BMI calculator – FREE
bmrPounds – a BMR calculator – FREE
bmrStone – a BMR calculator – FREE
bmrKilo – a BMR calculator – FREE

(BMI = body mass index; BMR = basal metabolic rate)

Now according to Apple all these above Apps will run unmodified on the iPad. However, MMISoftware will be checking out all their Apps on the iPad simulator in the SDK (and a real iPad as soon as I can get my hands on one)…

Plus, MMISoftware has some other Apps in the works, and these may need a small re-think.

But the question is, what to do to take advantage of all that screen space? Well, MMISoftware has a few ideas, so watch this space….

At first I thought it was a conflict between the syncing contacts via MobileMe and during syncs to the Mac (I had sync with Mac and sync via MobileMe turned on), however, turning off the Mac Sync, and rerunning a sync did not fix the problem.

Next I tried to use the Advanced settings in iTunes: Sync Contacts with Mac: ON; Advanced, Replace contact information on iPhone, checked (this is all in Info section of iTunes) and the clicking Apply. Still no joy. Still have duplicate contacts, even after click Apply.

Re-ran sync again….

Still no solution.

What appears to be happening is the iPhone holds two address book. One from the Mac and one from MobileMe. IF you sync your Mac with MobileMe then the iPhone imports that address book, AND the address book from computer, so ‘Show all contacts’ will show duplicate material as it is showing the computer address book, and the MobileMe address book.

I find this behaviour odd. Why had a contacts ‘On my iphone’ and a ‘Contacts on MobileMe’ on the phone. Duplicate data? How will it remain synced?

Now, if the iPhone is in ‘Airplane Mode’ (i.e. no internet connection), you can still see all the MobileMe entries, so why the iPhone version?

It appears that if you sync your iPhone with a computer with the settings for the address book to be synced then the addresses are copied over. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a way to remove them, even once the sync is turned off and only MobileMe is used.

So, I guess, the only thing to do is turn off MobileMe and just sync with the computer….

If any one has a solution, please post below….

So, what is snowNews?

snowNews is a free App for the iPhone and iPod Touch for downloading the latest news from ski and boarding resorts around the world. snowNews directly follows the official twitter accounts of around 200 ski resorts (more being added all the time), and also takes the twitter news feed from theSnowSite.com (@theSnowSite), which reports on around 600 ski and boarding sites. With snowNews you can keep up with the latest snow conditions, special offers and general news from around 800 ski and boarding areas all in one App.

snowNews – news loading screen – available on the iTune App Store

So, if you want to keep up with the latest news from ski and snowboarding sites or resorts around the world then give snowNews a try – IT IS FREE – and available now on the iTune App Store.

For the last 2 weeks I have been relying on ‘hotel’ wifi and my iPhone in ‘tether’ mode.

The hotel wifi access was not great. Connecting with a MacBook Pro was easy enough, but the hotel network seemed to have some DNS (domain name server) issues. Luckily I was able to get around most of these problems by connecting back to the office computers (vpn), and therefore using their DNS. For some reason I couldn’t override the hotel’s DNS settings.

Working from the iPhone (keeping up with news, tweets and emails) has been great, except when I was abroad and had to worry about exorbitant ‘data-roaming’ charges. In the UK the ‘tether’ has worked great, but on some of the long train journeys I have had real problems with no connectivity in rural areas.

Basically, bottom line, I am looking forward to getting back on my own stable networks… amazing what you miss when you don’t have it?

Finally, happy new year to all MMISoftware’s customers, and I hope you had a great holiday season.