With Internet access just a Wi-Fi or 3G/EDGE connection away, the iPhone has established itself as a great tool for tracking information. And that now includes tracking information about itself.
If that sounds like the chilling first step toward sentient iPhones overthrowing their human masters, relax—the iPhone has not become self-aware. (I believe that feature has been promised for the iPhone 3.0 update.) Rather, iPhone rumor-tracking is simply a new feature added to Top-Tens, a reference tool from developer Rod Cambridge that lets users follow lists of their favorite hobbies and interests.
Like many of his customers, Cambridge’s interests include the iPhone and what Apple might be planning for the device. So he thought it would be cool to add a top 10 iPhone rumors section to his app. The update, which arrived earlier this week, lists 10 rumored iPhone changes—everything from a digital compass to a glowing Apple logo on the device—along with links to the rumors’ sources and guesstimates as to their probability of coming true.
“Even thought it only got added [Wednesday], I’ve already had e-mail from users of the app thanking me for adding it,” Cambridge told me via e-mail.
As for Cambridge’s favorite iPhone rumor? The purported mobile iMovie app. “The new iPhone is rumored to have support for capturing video,” Cambridge said. “But in addition to this, we will supposedly be able to edit this video in a mobile iMovie app before posting it up to sites such as YouTube. Very cool.”
The $2 Top-Tens tracks more than just iPhone features that may never come to pass. According to Cambridge, the app currently tracks 60 different lists—everything from Digg news items to baby names to popular App Store downloads. (The Top-Tens home page has a complete list.) Top-Tens users subscribe to the lists that interest them; the information on the lists gets updated as it changes.
Cambridge plans to keep adding topical Top 10 lists to his app, as he expands the number of lists that users can follow well beyond the current total.
“I’m hoping that in a year or so, there’ll be 10 times that much,” he said.