Catholic Confessions to an iPhone?

When I got to see the “Confession: A Roman Catholic app” for real, I stopped wondering why confessions to the iPhone has been the buzz in the apps world today. The application basically helps a person examine his or her conscience in order to participate in the Rite of Penance. According to the Catholic spokesperson:

The text of this app was developed in collaboration with Rev. Thomas G. Weinandy, OFM, Executive Director of the Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Rev. Dan Scheidt, pastor of Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Mishawaka, IN. The app received an imprimatur from Bishop Kevin C. Rhodes of the Diocese of Fort Wayne – South Bend. It is the first known imprimatur to be given for an iPhone/iPad app.

However, this app has created some kind of a problem to people who don’t understand its real use. Some people directly give their confessions to the iPhone instead of going to a real priest to confess. Vatican was not happy about this:

It is essential to understand that the rites of penance require a personal dialogue between penitents and their confessor. It cannot be replaced by a computer application. I must stress to avoid all ambiguity; under no circumstance is it possible to "confess by iPhone."

Photo credit: Gizmodo

Google Translate for iPhone Lets You Listen to Correct Pronunciation!

Language barrier when visiting a foreign place will no longer be a problem as long as you are with your iPhone 4 or other Apple mobile devices. This new Google Translate app for iPhone will let you translate sentences and phrases in many different languages.

We all know that the Google Translate application on the web has been existing for many years now but this app has become handy since you can now translate anywhere just by using your phone. Compared with the web application, this Apple sized app is more polished and can recognize voice input for 15 languages. So you will not only know the translations but you will be able to hear the correct way to say them. This is really amazing!

This app comes with a dictionary where you can start by tapping some words and translate them. What’s good about this app is that it is very useful not only to travelers but also to everyone who wants to learn new languages and show off some “bonjours” and “arigatos” to their friends.

The Google Translate for iPhone is just one of the few free but download-worthy apps which serve its purpose very well.

Video credit: HowToiPhone via YouTube

Voice Control for iOS Lets You Open Apps with Your Voice Command

We know that the typical voice activators that we even have in our 2000’s phones are used for calls but wait till you see this new application for iOS devices. The new Voice Control from Apple is a smart feature that will let you open apps, open webpages, and even perform activations by just configuring your choice of voice commands to work with it. With this app, anyone can program his own set of commands to play music, open favorite sites, and even perform screenshots.

This reliable tweak developed by chpwn for iPhone can be used in iOS device. The VoiceActivator can be accessed in Settings where you can choose a list of assigned keywords that you can use as commands. All you have to do is to speak aloud the word and it will do the assigned task.

The VoiceActivator can be used with the iPhone4, iPod Touch 4G, iPhone 3GS, and iPod Touch 3G. The download site can be accessed now or by using your iPhone or iPod Touch now.

Video credit: Xuss149 via YouTube