This week we look at the push notifications client, Boxcar and another Google powered translator, iTranslate Plus.

Boxcar

Since the (long overdue) arrival of push notifications in iPhone OS 3.0 back in July, quite a few heavy Facebook and Twitter users have practically been begging for push notifications in their favourite client. While it’s not a built-in feature (yet) of the official Facebook app or Tweetie (the Twitter client you should be using), the recently released Boxcar claims to give you push notifications all by itself with it’s own stand-alone application.

When it comes to push notification apps, the biggest factor in determining it’s success is reliability. If the notifications aren’t reliable, it just isn’t worth using the app. Boxcar, with a stable wi-fi connection is able to deliver pretty consistent push notifications for Facebook’s notifications. It isn’t quite perfect – I still check the Facebook app for notifications just as much as before Boxcar arrived, but it’s nice to be able to see when, for example, someone leaves a wall post on my profile.

Since I don’t often receive Twitter mentions or messages, I don’t really feel the need to have Boxcar notify me when I’m, well, mentioned or messaged, but it’s worth noting that Boxcar is capable of doing so (Boxcar opens your choice of Twitter client when you get a new notification, too). Push notifications can also be shown on your iPhone when a new email arrives (Boxcar shows the sender’s address and subject only) but as a MobileMe member, I don’t see much use in that capability either.

What I would like to see in Boxcar (though a somewhat difficult to develop feature) is more control over which notifications I receive. It’s not often that a heated argument starts on Facebook, but when it does, it becomes rather frustrating when dozens of push notifications come flying in. It would be really nice to be able to, say, not be notified when the same friend comments again on your own status.

Since Apple made it possible for developers to add in-app purchases to free apps, Boxcar is now free with your first service (your choice between Twitter, Facebook or Email accounts) included. If want to add other services (or multiple accounts), you’ll be charged $1.19 or $2.49 for each one you decide to add. Perhaps the most important question you have to ask yourself before you get into Boxcar is whether you can deal with the annoyance of (potentially) dozens of new notifications all the time.

Version reviewed: 2.1
Price: Free (with in-app purchases)
Developer: appremix
App Store

iTranslate Plus

I’ve been waiting a long time for a good, cheap translation app. Previously on MacTalk, I’ve reviewed the (now paid) application GTranslate, but I’m still unsatisfied with the interface and limited feature set. iTranslate Plus, the premium version of iTranslate, promises a “beautiful design” and “improved translation quality” – two things I could really use in a translator, and that I will be focusing on in this review.

The first, an enhanced interface, is largely true. With iTranslate, there’s a clear focus on text input, and that’s where the focus should be. The screen is pretty much divided into two halves (one, obviously, for each side of the translation), with two nice flags at the top of the box. It honestly almost feels like one of Apple’s iPhone widgets (such as Stocks and Weather). There’s a nice favourites menu for saving your most used categories and translations, plus full landscape keyboard support – features that are exclusive to the ‘Plus’ edition of iTranslate.

iTranslate Plus’ biggest downfall (just like GTranslate) is of course it’s translations. You’re constantly reminded that the app is powered by Google, which unfortunately means more inaccurate translations, more often. Unless you’re paying for a top-of-the-range dictionary based translation app, it’s likely to be serving up Google’s translations so it’s not unexpected, but disappointing nevertheless.

Overall, there is much to like about iTranslate. For a fairly low priced translator, it’s got a great range of features and a nice, clean user interface. There’s not much you can do about Google’s often horrendous translations, and while it attempts to improve that with spelling correction and auto capitalisation, it’s still going to give you slightly incorrect translations for even the most basic of phrases. If you’re going to use the app alot and you’re just not sure if you can live with an app powered by Google, you might want to give the free version a try first.

Version reviewed: 3.1
Price: $2.49
Developer: Outer Space Apps
App Store