February 2008 Archives
Author: Philip L. Graitcer
The January 2008 iPhone software revision added new map features, that give your iPhone almost the same capability as Mapquest on the Web or the $800 GPS system in your car. Like most new features on the iPhone, how to use them is not well documented. Here are some tips to get you started mapping.Current Location
In maps, you are now able to map your current location.
The smaller the circle, the more accurate the location. iPhone uses triangulation from nearby cell phone towers to determine location. It's not a true satellite GPS system, but depending on how many towers are nearby, it can be fairly accurate.
Drop Pin
On the lower right side of the map screen is an "eye" icon. Touching that will reveal a screen with several options, one of which is "Drop Pin".
Real Time Traffic
On the page revealed by the "eye" icon, there is an option to color code the map with real time traffic information on major highways.
Map Options
iPhone can show a flat map, a satellite image or a hybrid picture of both satellite and map. You can also list driving directions.
Getting Directions
iPhone can help give you driving or walking directions, much like you can get from Google Maps or Mapquest or from your automobile's GPS system
o Touch Bookmarks - either your current location or any bookmarks you have saved. o Recents - a list of recent searches or directions; to chose one of these, touch one.
o Contacts - your contact list. Find a contact, then touch the contact's address. You'll go back to the keyboard screen.
iTunes is now the second-largest overall music retailer - online or offline - in the United States, behind only Wal-Mart, according to research the NPD Group released yesterday. After Wal-Mart and iTunes, the top music retailers in 2007 were Best Buy, Target and Amazon, in descending order.
In order to get the iPhone into more markets, Cook indicated Apple would be willing to drop some important features and services, such as Visual Voicemail, which allows you to see who left your messages and listen to them in any order, and move beyond its current business model of partnering with a single mobile operator per market.
That's all find and dandy. Apple has every right to change its tune regarding carrier exclusivity, for example. But when Cook says, "Apple is not married to the single, exclusive-carrier model," does that mean you'll soon be able pick up an iPhone from operators other than Apple's current carrier-partners in markets where the iPhone is already available? Not necessarily.
With operators like AT&T, the exclusive provider of the iPhone in the U.S., Apple signed long-term agreements. While it is not known exactly how long these deals are supposed to last, the length of the contract with AT&T, for instance, is said to be for five years.
So unless Apple gets out of its contract with AT&T (buying it out, perhaps), it could be a long time before we see Sprint, Verizon Wireless or T-Mobile offer versions of Apple's smartphone this country. After all, we're still months away from late June and the first anniversary of the iPhone's availability in the U.S. even.
This single-carrier strategy doesn't seem to have hurt sales all that much, as some predicted it would. Apple has sold over 4 million iPhones thus far and, according to Cook, is on track to meet its goal of shipping 10 million this year, in spite of today's cloudy economic climate. .
Here are a few more things Cook had to say:
(It's estimated hackers have unlocked one in four iPhones sold. For example, hundreds of thousands of iPhones have been smuggled into China, which is ironic considering many of these were built in that country.)
The SDK, due to be introduced at a special Apple event on March 6th, will enable developers to create and distribute official applications that run directly on the iPhone and not through its Safari browser from a remote location. While this is possible today, it is only with unofficial programs enabled to run on the iPhone through what’s called jailbreaking.)
For more, check out Apple’s audio stream of Cook's Goldman Sachs presentation here.
[Via MacDailyNews]
Texas-based Abilene Christian University recently announced it would give incoming freshman either an iPhone or an iPod touch this fall. While this seems like a gimmick to attract new students—after all, it would be easy enough to bury the cost in tuition—the college asserts this isn't the case.
By providing these converged mobile devices students, 93 percent of which already come to school with their own computers, Abilene Christian University Chief Information Officer Kevin Roberts asserts the university is "choosing to take them to the next level" by making the iPhone and iPod touch an integral part of the learning experience.
Here is how:
Students will use their iPhones and iPod touches to access specific web applications, 15 of which have already been developed by the university.
So freshmen will be able to receive homework alerts, answer in-class surveys and quizzes, get directions to their professors' offices, and check their meal and account balances all from their iPhone or iPod touch, for example.
That way, according to Roberts, the university will "ensure these tools will become critical to the students' learning experience."
The university says it spent the past 10 months preparing for the launch of its new iPhone/iPod touch freshmen program in September. It plans to expand the program in the future.
O2, the carrier that brought the iPhone to the United Kingdom last fall, today announced it would do the same for Ireland a couple of weeks from now, on March 14th. It'll offer the 16GB model for €499 and the 8GB edition €399. There will be three monthly service plans available to iPhone customers on the Emerald Isle, all of which includes 1GB of data usage: The first plan offers 175 voice minutes and 100 text messages for €45; the second includes 350 minutes and 150 text messages for €65; and the third bumps that up to 750 minutes and 250 text messages for €100.
See here for more details.
Please join us to learn about the iPhone software roadmap, including the iPhone SDK and some exciting new enterprise features.
The SDK was supposed to ship this month, but obviously Apple couldn't get it out the door in time. Whether or not Apple actually rolls out the SDK next week isn't clear, however.
At the least, we should finally receive some details about how Apple plans to handle the development and distribution of native third-party applications—those that run on the iPhone itself and not through the Safari Web browser.
It's also about time Apple started to take the enterprise as seriously as consumer for the iPhone. While it's clear business people and IT pros alike are excited it, very few are likely to make it their primary smartphone due to a lack of enterprise-ready features.
Depending on what direction Apple goes with the SDK, maybe it'll even allow companies to create their own internal iPhone apps, as they can today with most other smartphone platforms.
If you think you paid alot for that smartphone in your pocket you likely didn't pay what the snazziest iPhone is going for these days, writes Judy Mottl at internetnews.com. It only costs $180K. The Apple iPhone Princess Plus boasts 138 princess-cut diamonds and 180 brilliant-cut diamonds...combining for 17.75 carats. Take a look:
Author: Damon Brown
Don't blame yourself for expecting Apple to launch the iPhone with a fully-functional Apple Music Store, downloadable ringtones and several third-party applications. One or all of these additions seemed to be the last Ace the company was holding, a final, last-minute announcement to blow sales through the roof. It's now several weeks later and we're still waiting on that announcement. It probably won't come until October.
Fortunately, unauthorized third-party companies are stepping up and filling in the vacuum created by Apple's slow start.
Social Networking
The biggest new addition to the iPhone is Facebook (see top image), the addictive Web site that allows you to link with other people from work, school and other social circles. As a recent Newsweek cover story proclaims, it's pretty much taken over MySpace and Friendster as the place to connect.
This month the hottest social Web sute launched on the most popular cell phone - and, most importantly, Facebook on the iPhone is free. Go to the Safari Web browser, type in http://iphone.facebook.com and log in. That's all you need to do.
The iPhone version of Facebook has most of the original Web site's features including your e-mail. Facebook e-mail Inbox, the status of your friends and colleagues, and a robust search engine that makes it easy to find long-lost people. You can even view your network's latest photos while on the go.
In fact, the photo viewing may be the best part of Facebook on the iPhone. The application has a smooth interface similar to the iPhone's own photo library, and your can shuffle through friends' pictures quickly and easily.
The resolution is as crisp as any iPhone photo. Unfortunately, you can't upload your own iPhone photos, which stops this just short of being the perfect traveling app. For a free and timely program, however, it doesn't get much better than portable Facebook.
The Movies
The iPhone also has the potential to be the ultimate portable movie device, but there are at least two hurdles.
One, Apple only allows movies purchased through the Apple Store. Apple TV notwithstanding, it seems impractical to pay up to $20 for a low-resolution movie only watchable on a screen measurable in inches—especially when DVDs, a more practical alternative, can be had for as cheap as $5. Two, Apple couldn't use a standard DVD if it wanted to since the discs are larger than the iPhone itself.
Which brings up one of my favorite new iPhone applications, Red Kawa's Videora. The small application adapts video files to the iPhone format. AVI, divx, mpeg, and yes, DVD, are listed as supported. Ironically, the iPhone program only works on the PC. 
After a brief setup, Videora will help you find media files on the computer. It can only convert one file at a time - no batches here - but the process is quick and painless. A 30-second Windows Media video took just as long to convert. The program will set up a cache file to store all the converted media. Then just launch iTunes, click on "Movies" and drag-and-drop the converted movies into iTunes (see image below). Watch them within iTunes or, when the iPhone is connected, Sync the iTunes movies to your phone. The Videora's default resolution is widescreen. Red Kawa isn't going to be getting you out of legal trouble for downloading new movie releases and using Videora to convert them (the required agreement absolves the company). However, the conversion of your own movies and content should fall well into the legal realm.
The Written Word There is also the frustration of accidentally tapping on one item when you actually meant to jog to another—something very common on the busy Times Web site since there really isn't a resting place for your finger. It's clear the Times site wasn't built for something like the iPhone.
Fortunately, we now have Leaflets, a free third-party app and portal that turns the iPhone into a big RSS feeder. It aims to improve the Web experience by optimizing applications for the iPhone's often-limited access speeds.
Leaflets gives several reading options from the get-go including the The New York Times, Major League Baseball scores and Newsvine, a news aggregator that collects the best items from the Web. The popular bookmarker del.icio.us is also available, so all your favorite Web sites can be reached quickly and easily. The New York Times RSS feed is smooth and efficient. A bulk of the screen is the main story. A small left-hand column highlights all the major sections of the New York Times, such as Frontpage, U.S. and Technology. Of course, all parts of the display can be tapped and stretched for more detail. The streamlined topics, vertical layout and text-focused design make the Times feed much smoother than the original Web site.
About the Author
Finally, the first batch of iPhone commercials hyped up reading The New York Times online, but going through the front page on the iPhone can be kind… of… slow. Ditto for the New York Post or any other graphic-intensive newspaper Web site. Wi-Fi browsing is okay, but using AT&T's default EDGE network is nearly unbearable.
The New York Times in Leaflets
Damon Brown wrote the "Pocket Idiot's Guide to the iPhone" (Alpha/Penguin Books), the first book on the iPhone, available at Amazon or your favorite bookstore. Damon also writes for Playboy, SPIN and The New York Post.
Susan Schrank at MobileContentToday writes:
Sony has unveiled a new version of its ICF-C1iP clock radio that acts as a speaker system for the iPhone. This new model, due in stores in May, improves on the current version that only supports the iPod.
iLounge reports that the ICF-C1iP MK2 comes with a wireless remote that lets users access the iPhone menus, as long as they've set the phone to "iPod mode."
The unit also has all the functions you'd expect including line-in, automatic time setting, adjustable brightness, automatic adjustment for Daylight Savings time and the ability for users to wake to their iMusic, the radio or a buzzer.
The $100 device also acts as a docking station, charging the iPhone or iPod when it’s connected. It will be available in black or white.
Today, Apple rolled out firmware upgrade 1.1.4 for the iPhone and iPod touch. Still no sign of a software development kit (SDK) to allow developers to create official native applications for the iPhone, however.
As with previous updates, most users will want to download and install 1.1.4 through iTunes. To do this, simply plug your iPhone in and hit Update or Restore. As with all major software upgrades, back everything on your iPhone or iPod touch by performing a full sync to your PC or Mac before moving forward.
Though the 1.1.4 file itself is rather large, at 162MB, early reports indicate it is more about fixing bugs than bringing anything new to the table. While Apple hasn't said what these bug fixes are, some who've installed update report 1.1.4 fixing some SMS, Bluetooth, and e-mail errors that were introduced with the previous firmware upgrade, 1.1.3.
There's also good news for folks who've jailbroken their iPhones to run native applications using ZiPhone or a ZiPhone related jailbreak under 1.1.3. Apparently, the jailbreaks work even after the installation of 1.1.4, allowing you to continue to use third-party software.
This is very different from previous firmware upgrades, all of which disabled the ability to run unofficial software on the iPhone.
Folks who've unlocked their iPhones to work on networks other than those of Apple's official carrier partners aren't as lucky with 1.1.4, however. Unlocked 1.1.3 iPhones do not – apparently - automatically become unlocked 1.1.4 iPhones.
So while it is always recommended that those who've jailbroken their iPhones wait until developers have had time to fully go over a firmware update before upgrading, this time around it is those who've unlocked their iPhone who should be the most careful about proceeding. In other words, wait until hackers have cracked firmware update 1.1.4.
Some University of Glasgow PhD students, in the Computing Science Department, have posted a prototype applet that is the first to bring some level of haptic or sensory feedback to the iPhone's keyboard. The idea is to enable iPhone users to actually feel something when tapping the keyboard and distinguish one key from another through touch.
Although the iPhone's touch screen keyboard is well-designed and easy to use, you wouldn't want to hammer out an e-mail, for example, without looking directly at it the whole time. Because, unlike with a hardware-based typer—such as those on the BlackBerry, Treo, Q, BlackJack, etc.—the iPhone's QWERTY doesn't offer anything in the way of tactile feedback.
It is this feedback that helps to make users of smartphones with physical keyboards more accurate and faster typists than those of devices with touch-screen typers. It is also what keeps a lot of heavy e-mail types from taking up the iPhone as an alternative to their BlackBerry or Windows Mobile.
The Glasgow student's haptic home page sums up the problem with touch keyboards this way:
The majority of interaction on a mobile device is visual thus placing a huge demand on the users visual attention which can be dangerous in certain mobile situations or socially inappropriate in meetings for example. Furthermore, when interacting with a button - for example, with the fingertip - the image of the button is covered by the fingertip and therefore any visual feedback can go unnoticed.
(Apple gets around the latter problem with the iPhone keyboard by popping up a larger image of a key when a user covers that with a finger.)
To bring touch feedback to the iPhone, the Glasgow students took advantage of the iPhone's vibrotactile actuator, which, among other things, makes the iPhone vibrate in silent mode. Because the actuator is capable of vibrating at 12 different speeds, they were able to integrate a wide range of tactile sensations into their haptic keyboard program
The folks over at tuaw have given prototype haptic application a try. And while they offer up kudos for the effort, they emphasize that there are a number of issues keeping the software firmly in the proof of concept arena.
The program is very unstable, causing it to crash often and sometimes keep the iPhone vibrating even after lifting your finger up off a key. You must test the haptic system in a text editor rather than with an application like Safari. And the battery life of the iPhone takes a heavy hit, which is an unfortunate byproduct of a system that causes the vibrotactile actuator to vibrate often.
Otherwise than these caveats, the software apparently - for the most part - performed as advertised. It successfully simulated the up and down events of pushing a key on the iPhone keyboard and enabled tuaw to distinguish the edges of keys.
[via tuaw]
Mobile is waiting in the wings, ready to take the place of the desktop search as top dog. That's what a recent interview with Google's head of mobile operations in the Financial Times might lead you to believe.
According to Google's Vic Gundotra, the search giant received 50 times the search traffic from the iPhone than any other mobile device. So much more, they couldn't believe the numbers were accurate at first. “We thought it was a mistake and made our engineers check the logs again,” Gundotra said.
One nice thing about the iPhone is how easy Apple makes it perform a Google search from within the iPhone's Safari browser. No doubt this contributed greatly to the amazing results Google tabulated.
And while you can decide to change the search option to Yahoo within Settings, it's apparent most iPhone users either don't know this or have consciously decided to stick with Google. ,Why should search trends on the iPhone prove any different from than those on the PC or Mac.
Since Google earns most of its revenue through advertising, the more people go to it to fulfill their search needs the more money it earns. This applies as much to the fledgling mobile arena, which, in Gundotra's words, is growing "above expectations" in usage and revenue, as it does to the desktop.
And its not just Google that's benefiting from the iPhone's ease of use. The first carrier to offer the iPhone, AT&T, earns twice as much per iPhone user than with other smartphones due to the far greater data usage the iPhone encourages.
Part of a mobile phone and smartphone vendor's job is to create devices that help maximize revenues for their carrier customers. Since the iPhone has done this for its operator partners by making it easier than ever to access the Web from a mobile device—and therefore driving data usage way upwards—Google's Gundotra expects other manufactures will start to pay closer attention to ease of use with their products as well. Should this happen, Gundotra predicts mobile search could overtake fixed (or desktop) search “within the next several years.”
Overall, Google is paying closer attention to the mobile market than ever—with its own mobile platform, Android; the introduction of new, more iPhone-friendly versions of its applications; and the recent roll out of a download to place a Google search box directly on the idle or home screen of Nokia's Symbian-run, S60-interface phones, by far the most popular smartphones in the world.
Apple's iPhone continues to rack up accolades. The latest kudos arrive courtesy of a poll of 590 South Korean CEOs who voted the iPhone the "most inspirational invention" of last year.
The iPhone topped the list of 26 percent of respondents, even though the smartphone isn't even available in Asia yet and hasn't exactly gained a foothold in the enterprise in markets where it can be had.
Being voted "most inspirational" by South Korean CEOs is important for Apple, as awards like these can only help as it expands the iPhone's availability beyond North American and Europe into Asia and beyond. South Korea is one if not the most advanced mobile phone and smartphone market in the world.
An eBook reader form Readius with rollable and foldable light-emitting diode display came in second behind the iPhone with 22 percent of the vote, followed by a a solar and wind-powered car with a 17 percent response.
Ironically, the Samsung Economic Research Institute, of all organizations, conducted the poll that gave the iPhone its latest win.
Apple has thus far sold over 4 million iPhones, since its release last June.
One in four of these were unlocked for use by carriers other than Apple's official partners. Most of these mobile operators operate in markets outside regions where the iPhone is already available.
For instance, over a million unlocked iPhones have been smuggled into China, the very same place where they were built and shipped out of in the first place.
[Via JoongAng Daily]
Social networking site LinkedIn is the latest online service to take a more mobile-friendly stance, as wireless devices continue to become more Web-enabled and attract applications typically used by desktop and notebook computer users, reports David Needle at internetnews.com.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company today announced m.linkedin.com, a special Web site where mobile device users can access their LinkedIn accounts. Currently in beta, m.linkedin.com is available to users of Apple's iPhone, as well as the RIM BlackBerry and other popular smartphones. The company plans to release a final version in spring.
StyleTap allows Windows Mobile users to run Palm OS applications on the their PDAs and smartphones and plans to soon so the same for Symbian S60/UIQ devices. A video posted to StyleTap’s Web site indicates a version for the iPhone and iPod touch may be in the offing as well…eventually.
The video is showing off StyleTap's Palm-platform emulator running on an iPod touch, according to the company. It is experimental prototype edition, however, and does not mean a beta, let alone a commercial version of the software will ever become available.
StyleTap is quite emphatic about that point. A notice from StyleTap reads:
This is an EXPERIMENTAL version – it is NOT a product, nor is its presence here a commitment of any kind, express or implied, that StyleTap Inc. will ever release an official version of StyleTap CrossPlatform for Apple iPhone or iPod Touch.
Here's the video:
Should StyleTap eventually release a commercial version of this software, however, it'll certainly be a boon to consumers, who will gain access to the well over 30,000 Palm OS applications already on the market. This would tide them over as the official iPhone application market (there's already a market for unofficial programs) slowly builds once Apple releases its iPhone software development kit (SDK).
Apple's yet to release the SDK or layout the details of its distribution system, however. The SDK is supposed to become available this month. But February is quickly coming to close with nary an SDK in site.
StyleTap's caution on the matter is warranted. They'll want to stay on Apple's good side to have a chance of accessing consumers directly should they eventually develop a commercial version of the software.
Rumor has it Apple's going maintain strict control over how users t buy, download and install native iPhone software, relying on iTunes as the method for doing so, as it does with everything else iPhone and iPod touch related.
There have been reports over the last few days that introduction of the kit has been delayed for one to three weeks. We’ll see.
You can move the mouse around, click, double-click, and even drag (double click but keep it pressed and then move around). Vertical scrolling is even possible, by click-and-dragging on the right edge of the iPhone screen.You can use it to control videos, show pictures, advance slides in a presentations—whatever a regular touchpad can do.
The video below shows Touchpad for iPhone in action.
The software, which is runs on top of VNsea, a graphical VNC client—software to allow you to interact with a remote computer—for the iPhone and iPod touch, also requires Installer.app, an iPhone hack that enables you to run and intall unofficial third-party applications on your device.
You can download and learn more about Touchpad for iPhone, including how to install the applet, here.
A story on Electronista.com notes that there wasn't much change among the top players, with Motorola keeping a lock on the number-one spot with 32% of the US market. The only significant move, according to the NPD report, was Samsung sliding up to 17% and stealing the number-two slot from LG, which remained stagnant with 16%.
Add in Nokia and Sanyo in fourth and fifth place respectively and Apple took sixth place from...whom exactly? Reader comments on both Electronista and Ars Technica, which also picked up the story, note that "6th place" might sound impressive when you first hear it, but then ask: How many people can even name any other mobile phone makers?
Years ago, there was this song that would come on over the loudspeakers nearly every time I worked out at the gym. I still don't know its title, let alone the performer or what album it was on. How cool would it have been if all I needed to do was take out my cell phone and have it automatically identify the track name and artist for me?
Although technology that does this very thing has been available to some (see here and here) already, a new hack called Listen, developed by tuaw contributor Erica Sadun, promises bring song identification to the iPhone. Very much in beta, the software samples 5 seconds of music before trying to contact a song ID server remotely to come up with title, artist and album information. Comments on Sadun's Web site regarding Listen have been generally positive thus far. Click here to give it a try. 
(image from tuaw)
Keep in mind, you'll need to jailbreak your iPhone to run third-party applications before running this or other hacks. The iPhone won't be capable of officially supporting native applications—software that runs directly on the iPhone and not from a remote server in the smartphone's Safari Web browser—until after Apple releases a software development kit for developers next month.
Author: Damon Brown
In August, Apple started holding classes in its Apple Music Stores to help people operate the iPhone. As many of you know, the iPhone doesn't come with an instruction booklet. Instead, there is a little pamphlet (see top picture), twelve or so pages, with drawings like something from IKEA (see: finger rubbing on the phone). A National Public Radio program interviewed me about the phenomenon—Apple teaching classes instead of just including instructions like everyone else— but I was never able to attend the classes myself. It may have been for the best, the author of the first book on the iPhone sitting in.
In all honesty, even so-called experts are learning more about the iPhone every day. Apple updates the iTunes and/or iPhone software as often as twice a month, so the capabilities are literally evolving as they are learned. There is plenty little hidden goodness within the iPhone, inluding tips and tricks that are undocumented and often undiscovered.
Some of these you may already know. All of them are simple.
Silence is Golden
Like many cell devices, the iPhone has a silent/buzz function. Unlike other companies, Apple doesn't actually tell you about it. Take your iPhone and look on the left side. There is a small, all black switch above the volume buttons.
Flip the switch and a red dot will appear. The iPhone screen will show a bell with a line through it a la Ghostbusters. 
Now all calls will buzz, not ring. Flip the switch again and the screen will flash a regular bell, indicating that rings are normal now.
Battery Power
Another area that has not been discussed is battery power.
Some users err on the paranoid side, wary from all those short battery life concerns six months ago, and connect their iPhone to a nearby power outlet as soon as the "20 percent power" warning flashes. (I would be in this category.) The iPhone will warn you twice, at 20 percent and again at 10 percent. It will then shut down. No beep. It will cut off a phone call or any other activity immediately.
The phone will not function at all until it is charges for roughly 15 minutes. 
Press any button and a Mac-like set of icons will appear on the screen: the current battery power followed by a powerplug and an arrow pointing to a lightning bolt. Expect to see this screen for about an hour.
Call it poor design, but once the iPhone juice runs out, it requires a long time to power up again. (Connecting it to the computer doesn't help, either.) Consider investing in a car charger if you're planning a long road trip.
Music @Home
There is "Home", the square button located at the bottom of the iPhone's face. Its main purpose is to take you back to the default menu screen, but it can also make controlling your music easier.
Let's say you are listening to one of your favorite songs on the iPhone, for instance, James Brown's classic "Funky Drummer". Press the sleep button at the top of the iPhone to make the screen lock. 
It will say "slide to unlock" at the bottom, along with the current time and song. Now double tap the "Home" button. The music controls will appear immediately under the time (see just below).
Press rewind, fast-forward or pause as you would normally do, or use your finger to adjust the volume by sliding the silver ball along the blue line below. 
A similar "Home" technique can be used on the main menu screen. Press the "Home" button to get to the main screen. Now tap "Home" again. Music info will pop up, including performer, song and album, as well as the volume ball. Unlike the previous mode, you remove the information—by hitting the onscreen Close icon—or move to the actually iPod menu - by tapping the onscreen iPod button.
iPod Mode
A simple, often neglected music control is actually in the iPod mode. Press the iPod icon on the main menu, find a song and press play. The album art will appear as the music starts. (If it has no art, a grey music note will appear instead.) Now tap the center of the album art. A nice list of options will pop up at the top of the art.
The first icon is a loop. Press the loop once and the current playlist or album will repeat. The icon will turn blue. Tap it again and a small "1" will appear on the bottom-left corner of the loop. Now the current song will repeat.
In the middle is the current song number within the current album or playlist (4 out of 14, for instance). Above the song number is the song time elapsed, song time remaining and a silver-and-blue line identical to the other menus. However, the line here represents the song track. Move the ball with your finger to rewind or fast forward the song.
The last icon is two arrows twisted together. Tap it once to randomize the current album or playlist.
Last But Not least
As a final hidden goody, look in the upper-right hand corner when in iPod mode. You'll see a series of three lines.
Tap it.
The icon will "flip," turning into a miniature version of the current album art, and the large album art will turn into a list of the current album songs. (It will always list the current album, even if you are playing from a playlist.)
Click on another song to hear it.
The list icon is always available in iPod mode.
Apple may have designed the iPhone's touch screen for finger input only, but that hasn't stopped a company called Ten One Design from releasing the a stylus – the first – for Apple's smartphone.
The Pogo Sylus, $25, is composed of aluminum and features soft foam tip, which is supposed to simulate a finger tip, but without the smudges that greasy fingers tend to leave behind. A soft tip is a prerequisite for any iPhone stylus, as the iphone's display is quite different from your typical touch screen. A plastic or metal tip simply won't do the trick.
A custom holster keeps Pogo—available in three colors (black, gunmetal and silver)—nestled right next to your iPhone. So you always know where it is should the need for Pogo arises.
The question is: Why would you need a stylus for the iPhone in the first place?
After all, part of the charm of the iPhone's interface is Apple's multi-touch technology, which supports multi-finger gestures and can ignore inadvertent touches. Squeeze your fingers together to shrink a picture, apart to enlarge an image, for example.
It would seem multi-finger gestures would be hard to perform with stylus sitting in your hand like a pencil or pen, right?
Then again, with winter approaching, how many iPhone users will welcome the prospect of having to take of their gloves to make any sort of entry when temperatures start to fall well below zero? Not many I would think.
The Pogo isn't just for the iPhone. You can also use it with the iPod Touch.
Although the most obvious thing (aside from bricking unlocked iPhones and causing 3rd-party apps to disappear) about firmware update 1.1.1 is the addition of iPod Touch-like access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store—after all, a bright purple iTunes icon is placed on the home screen—it is not the new feature you will likely use the most. That honor will probably go to the expanded responsibilities Apple has given the otherwise underused Home button—the only button on the iPhone.
All the Home did before the upgrade was take you back to the Home screen - the center of the iPhone universe - with a single tap from within any application. While it still does that, the Home button now has a second, context-sensitive purpose to take you to your favorite contacts or bring up iPod music controls.
Here's how it works:
When no music is playing on the iPhone, a double