August 2008 Archives
The original edition of Myst (that's right Myst), the classic exploration and puzzle game first launched in the early nineties, is in the process of being ported to the iPhone, according to an employee of Cyan Worlds. Cyan Employee Chogon writes in the Myst Online Forums:
This is a small project that probably a very few of you know about. We are porting Myst to the iPhone. Ok, before some of you start groaning, this is an outside funded project that is keeping a few developers employed... but it is really more than that. It is an interesting and fun project. This is also a very small team with three of us (which includes Derek, Rand (not Randy) and myself).
The immersive graphic adventure game first appeared in 1993 for the Mac. Versions of Myst later found their way to numerious other platforms, including Windows, the PSP and Ninendo DS, among others.
A huge hit, both with the public and critics, Myst, which made excellent use of the then nascent CD-ROM format, held the title of all time best-selling PC game for years, until The Sims eclipsed it back in 2002. There have been several sequels and spin-offs in other media over the years.
[via TouchArcade]
KeyTasks is a new application from Chapura that offers iPhone and iPod touch users a way to easily carry their Microsoft Outlook Tasks with them, something Apple doesn't do off the shelf. As with Apple's MobileMe service and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, KeyTasks allows users to wirelessly synchronize and manage Outlook Tasks from anywhere.
According to Chapura, when a data connection is available KeyTasks can wirelessly synchronize with Chapura's Web servers or, in today's parlance "cloud." When a change is made in Outlook or on the iPhone and synchronized, that change is sent up to the cloud. The iPhone or Outlook Tasks receives this change when synchronized - keeping information current in both places.
You can download KeyTasks now from the iPhone App Store in iTunes. It goes for $9.99 per year.
Whoops. The Bloomberg newswire made a bit of unwanted news of its own Wednesday when it accidentally posted an obituary for Steve Jobs who, by all accounts, is still very much alive. See here for the full story by David Needle at InternetNews.com Blog.
The question of how well the iPhone 3G may (or may not) access and maintain a wireless connection to a 3G network remains open. Be that as it may, when you do connect to the Web or e-mail via a high-speed 3G connection, the results are impressive, blowing away - for the most part - the original iPhone's EDGE-only cellular-wireless connectivity. The problem is 3G takes a toll on the iPhone 3G's battery life. A toll that can be pretty frustrating when you go to make a phone call or are waiting to receive one, only to discover there's very little, if any, juice left to keep you going.
There are several settings you can turn off in the iPhone 3G to maximize battery life. These range from Bluetooth to GPS to Wi-Fi to...3G connectivity. How important you find any of these features depends on your personal preferences. (See here for a full list of suggestions on "The Art of iPhone Battery Life.")
Notwithstanding Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, turning off 3G is the one that should have the most immediate impact on the length of time between charges. Especially for someone - like me - who uses the iPhone primarily as an Internet-access device.
Sure, the toll on cellular-wireless data performance is going to be great. However, the more iPhone-optimized sites you access, and there are more all the time, the less noticeable the difference between EDGE and 3G.
Anyway, if you're one the people who feel they've been experiencing the 3G network performance issues with their iPhone 3G, going with EDGE exclusively may not be such a bad thing to do until the problem's been fully resolved.
See how to disable 3G in the iPhone 3G after the jump.
First published in 1926 – and available for the last ten years online - the Kelley Blue Book has long proved a valuable tool to automobile dealerships as well as anyone looking to buy or sell a car. Today, you can now access a version of this trusted vehicle pricing and information resource that’s been optimized for the iPhone. To access the iPhone site, which is simply designed and easy-to-use web application, go to kbb.com from your iPhone or iPod touch's Safari browser. You'll automatically be re-directed to iphone.kbb.com. In addition to price and value information, the iPhone site lets you view the same pictures, videos and automobile reviews that have been posted to the standard Kelley Blue Book.
Flixwagon is a new video-sharing application iPhone and iPhone 3G. Already available for the Symbian/S60 platform, Flixwagon allows people capture and share video, as well as stream live video, directly from their iPhone to the Web. You can broadcast to individuals and groups, your blog, social networks and popular video sites.
For instance, MTV reporters with Flixwagon-equipped mobile have been covering the National Democratic Convention in Denver over the last few days. The reporter's have been broadcasting live video to their pages on the MTV Think website. See here, here, here, here and here for examples. 
images from Flixwagon blog
Unfortunately, you can't download and install Flixwagon through the iTunes App Store. It must be installed on an iPhone that is running on firmware 2.01 and has been jailbroken to run unofficial third-party applications.
All one needs to do is Tap Emergency Call and double tap the home button to unlock a password-protected iPhone. This lets you into Favorites, which is convenient in the case of an emergency where the PIN code's been forgotten or is in doubt.
The thing is, these few steps would give an intruder the same direct access to your Favorites (and all the personal contained within, not just phone numbers) as well, allowing them to quick dial anyone in that list. This type of access to individual contacts can easily lead to full access to Safari, SMS and Maps as well. Another problem is that folks also get direct and full access to your iPhone's Keypad, Voicemail, Recents and Contacts as well.
Until Apple releases a fix to this problem (quickly, I hope), there is a simple workaround you can perform to offset bug. You can simply reassign the purpose of the iPhone's Home button to a function other than favorites .
To do this:
From the Home screen, tap Settings. Then hit General and tap Home Button. On this page, you'll see Phone Favorites checked with the Home option above and iPod below it. Pick the one you want.
Author: Judy Mottle
A second plaintiff has joined the lawsuit against Apple regarding problems with its iPhone 3G, giving the company until Sept. 10 to respond to charges that it sold a defective device under false marketing promises.
Wilton Lee Triggs II is now the second complainant on the lawsuit initially filed Aug. 19 by Jessica Alena Smith, regarding the purchase of 3G iPhones from a Birmingham, Ala. Apple store this summer.
The suit, filed by the Birmingham-based Trimmier Law Firm, states the plaintiffs have suffered "significant monetary and non-monetary damages" due to the "defective" devices. According to the suit, their iPhones allegedly do not provide the data speeds and voice call connectivity promised in Apple advertising. The lawsuit also aims for class-action status, claiming it's also being filed on behalf of the "millions" potentially affected by defective iPhones.
The latest development comes two months after Apple's second phone took the mobile device industry by storm, selling one million devices during the weekend of its launch.
It's also the latest snag for the new device, which for weeks since launch has suffered persistent problems with its MobileMe online service, while a firmware update to existing models may have posed additional activation difficulties in the wake of the debut.
Click here for full story at internetnews.com.
While AT&T and Apple continue to wrestle with complaints related to 3G network issues with the latest iPhone, an analyst firm speculates Research in Motion may be delaying its latest product release to avoid the same problem. A report by Citi Investment Research, speculates RIM may be moving back the release of its BlackBerry Bold in the U.S. to make sure the network performance is acceptable.
Click here for the full story at internetnews.com.
A college student who developed a Tetris-clone called Tris for the iPhone and iPod touch has pulled his application from the iTunes App Store.
In his blog, the student, Noah Witherspoon, wrote of how he'd received a notice from Apple stating that his free application had been cited by the Tetris Company for copyright and trademark infringement. Apple warned that they'd take action if he didn't resolve the dispute himself, he said.
Not surprisingly, Witherspoon doesn't think much of the Tetris Company's assertions:
Author: Amy Mayer
Keeping your personal finances in order with a program like Quicken means you can tell quickly how much wriggle room you've got til your next payday. But when you're out and about and contemplating an un-planned (okay, impulse) purchase, chances are you're laptop's not handy. But your phone surely is. Enter, Quicken Beam. Sign up for the free service, and whenever you want, you send a text message and receive back your balance and your last five transactions.
Author: David Needle
Admit it, what would you really like to do: manage your calendar or race a monkey encased in a transparent ball through a dazzling 3-D landscape of obstacles?
iPhone users have voted for the latter; Super Monkey Ball ($9.99) is one of a raft of games and entertainment titles for the iPhone atop both the free and paid list of applications available for download at the company's online App Store.
Click here for the full story at internetnews.com.
In the market for a case for your iPhone 3G (a scratch and smudge magnet if their every was one), but don't won't to add much - if any - bulk to your sleek new smartphone? Then perhaps Air Jacket ($34.95) from Power Support is for you. The millimeter-thick Air Jacket (available in clear or Black) is a hard backing that fits snugly to the back of the iPhone and promises to fully protect the iPhone from scratches, dust, and impacts. The package also includes Anti Glare and Crystal Films to keep the iPhone's display safe. You can learn more about Air Jacket here.
The iPhone is slowly finding its way into the enterprise. There's been a lot of hype regarding Exchange and Notes support in this setting, but not much has been heard regarding Novell GroupWise, until now. That's becauseNotify Technology has extended its NotifyLink Enterprise Mobility Solution, which supports GroupWise, to the iPhone.
So, in version 4.5 of NotifyLink, enterprises can now manage and provide wireless access to e-mail, calendar, contacts (personal address and global address books) and tasks to iPhone and iPod touch users in a GroupWise setting.
“Since the initial release of the iPhone last year, the GroupWise customer demand for supporting these devices with our NotifyLink Enterprise Edition has continued to escalate," according to Notify president and founder Paul DePond. “GroupWise customers will be able to choose between our NotifyLink On-Premise or NotifyLink On-Demand versions for their specific environments.”
The “On-Premise” version is for organizations who want to maintain and support their wireless e-mail and PIM synchronization on site. Whereas the NotifyLink Enterprise Edition “On-Demand” edition is hosted by Notify .
Trulia, the real estate search site, is now available as a free native application for the iPhone and iPod touch. The app automatically detects a user’s location via iPhone 3G’s GPS technology, or by user input, to find nearby homes for sale. Property search results include price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, color photos and local open house information. You can download Trulia at the App Store here. 
In addition to the iPhone, a version of Trulia is also available for a number other smartphones and feature phones, including models from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, RIM, Motorola and Samsung. These devices access Trulia through the mobile content platform LightPol. See here for a list of compatible phones and
You can now access your QuickBooks Online account from an iPhone and BlackBerry, two of the most popular and fastest growing smartphone platforms today.
Through the Web apps, users can users can check current bank and credit card balances, track who owes them money and who they owe, find vendor and customer contact info with addresses via Google Maps, and run balance sheet and profit and loss reports while on the go.
"A growing number of small businesses are looking to mobile technology to run their business," said Intuit small business division VP Rick Jensen in a statement. "Our goal with these new mobile services is to give QuickBooks Online users the edge they need to compete and manage their busy lives by keeping tabs on their business even when they are out of the office."
Rather than a full hard reset, all you need to do is hold down the iPhone's Home button for a six seconds or so writes the iPhone Blog, however. This will open up resources and return you to the Home Screen in far less time than it takes when resetting everything through a hard reset.
As with the Mac, this procedure is referred to as a Force Quit.
There's a lot to like, if not love, about the iPhone 3G and, according to a number of users, a number of features to dislike - battery life is my least favorite. Another aspect of the iPhone that falls into the latter category is the smartphone's wireless reception capabilities. The 3G performance is supposed to be so poor that at one user's decided to launch a lawsuit against Apple for not meeting connectivity expectations.
What happens when you compare the iPhone to other smartphones in a controlled setting, however? The results are - to say the least - enlightening.
Some Swedes (a group of people known for their neutrality) with engineering degrees recently put the iPhone 3G through its paces in an antenna test chamber, comparing it against the performance of a pair of other popular smartphones: the Nokia N73 and Sony Ericsson P1.
The equipment (a chamber), which measures how cell phones and smartphone perform - sending and receiving signals - under various conditions, found something interesting. According to the Swedish engineer (M.Sc. in Engineering Physics) Magnus Franzén, the iPhone 3G's performance was completely normal. Huh.
In fact, iPhone's antenna performance fell right in line with the Sony Ericsson P1 and Nokia 73, with the former smartphone doing a tad better at receiving signals and the former a drop better at sending signals.
Thousands of iPhone 3G users can't be wrong. Can they?
Does this mean we're going to have start look at the wireless network again for the culprit? Could it be that AT&T 3G data network has a bone to pick with the iPhone 3G and not other smartphones that run on it? Or, perhaps, the reported connectivity problems are the result of the way the immature wireless chipset Apple used in the iPhone 3G interacts with AT&T's wireless network.
Hopefully, we'll find out for sure soon. And we'll get a fix that corrects the problems. That is, if - as it turns out - a patch is truly needed after all.
[Göteborgs-Posten via engadget]
Author: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
For me, reading reviews is an important part of almost any purchasing decision I make.
OK, I don’t usually trawl the Web for reviews of, say, a coffee shop before I sit down, and I’m usually happy to buy a sandwich for lunch without first needing to see what others think of my choice. However, for most other things, having a quick read of a few reviews either gives me the confidence to proceed with the purchase, or it will stop me in my tracks and make me reconsider.
Now, for me, an important part of any review is being able to feel that I can trust the reviewer. After all, this is Web 2.0 and there are a lot of people out there saying a lot of things about a lot of stuff, and you can’t take it all on face value.
A key part to trusting a review is the knowledge that the person who wrote the review actually owned the product they reviewed. Problem is, most online stores don’t limit reviews to people who actually bought the product or service through the online store. I can understand this for most outlets since the reviewer might have bought the product (or come across it) somewhere else.
This is a tradeoff because, while the outlet increases the overall number of reviews that is receives for a particular product, it also opens itself up to review abuse where people who didn’t buy the product (or who have a vested interest in either promoting or trashing the product in question) post fake or worthless reviews. We, as consumers trying to get the best bang for the buck, have to wade through the reviews and sort out the valuable from those that are of no value.
So, given that I can understand why retailers like, for instance, Amazon.com, allows customers who haven’t actually bought the product from the Web site to post a review.
But what about products that are only available from a single outlet? Shouldn’t that outlet restrict the posting of reviews to individuals who are actually listed as having purchased the product?
Enter Apple’s App Store, the one-stop shop for applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. When you visit the App Store you’re seeing products that you can only buy there. You can’t have bought these apps from somewhere else, you can’t have downloaded them from the developer’s site, and you can’t have been given a copy from a friend or family member. The only outlet for Apple App Store Apps is the App Store.
So, if that’s the case, why does Apple allow people who didn’t buy a particular app to review it?
Here's a cool-sounding application for all you car buffs out there. Developed by BunsenTech, Dynolicious is an automotive meter that uses the accelerometer built into the iPhone and iPod touch to measure all sorts of performance characteristics of your vehicle. That's because the accelerometer allows Dynolicious to sense and sample your car's motion up to one hundred times per second, data it then uses to determine speed and distance travelled.
As a result, the software can automatically measure 0-60 acceleration, 1/4 mile elapsed time, lateral g's, and horsepower. Dynolicious will also maintains a history of test runs, showing you averages and trends in your results. It even allows you to enter modifications performed to your vehicle, and will instantly show before-and-after results so you can identify gains or losses, according to BunsenTech.
To learn more about Dinoliciousis, check out its PDF manual here and FAQ here. A complete feature list is available here. And you can download the software directly from iTunes here.
See more Dinoliciousis screen shots after the break.
Reuters reports the carrier Orange hired actors to stand in line in front of 20 or so stores, creating fake queues, when it launched the iPhone. Why? To, in the words of a spokesperson, "drum up interest in the iPhone." I don't think Orange had anything to worry about, You'd think the well over year of watching others use the iPhone would have been enough to get folks interested in buying one for themselves. After all, the iPhone's been hugely popular in nearly every market it launched - long lines
Author: Todd Ogasawara
Wikipanion is a free iPhone app that simplifies using the great Wikipedia crowd-sourced (public contributions) encyclopedic web resource. It also reformats its content for the iPhone's smaller screen. Personally, I find the portrait formatted output hard to read. However, turning the iPhone on its side to display in landscape mode made it more comfortable for me to read the reformated Wikipedia content.
Post courtesy of MobileAppsToday.
Author: Susan Schrank
Patrick McMullan and new media company Hot Phone Hit Factory have launched a luxury fashion magazine available exclusively on the Apple iPhone. The new iPhone-based publication features art, entertainment and fashion content including, of course, photography by McMullan as well as articles by a variety of guest writers. Learn more at MobileMarketingToday.
An iPhone user is suing Apple over complaints that the device fails to meet connectivity expectations--a move that illustrates consumers' growing frustration with their mobile device experiences, industry watchers say. Read the full story at internetnews.com.
Author: Kenneth Corbin
The Mac rumor sites are lit up again about whether Apple plans to unveil an iTunes subscription service next month. The latest rumor is courtesy of an anonymous tip supplied to several of the what's-Steve-Jobs-up-to-next blogs. One involves a "late September Apple Event," which purportedly will see the introduction of two music subscription plans and a host of upgrades to MobileMe, the cloud-based service to sync applications and devices across the Apple product family. The service got off to a rocky start with its introduction last month.
Click here for the full story at internetnews.com.
At about three times the U.S. retail price and twice the monthly salary of white-collar middle managers, the phone may still find buyers among affluent young professionals who are snapping up iconic brands and luxury items and helping fuel the Asian giant's trillion dollar economy.
Click here for the full story at internetnews.com.
The iPhone's Safari web browser is great, as far as mobile browsers go. But unlike many older smartphone browsers (Palm’s Blazer browser, for instance) it has only offered a shortcut for one domain name ending, .com. With the iPhone 2.0 firmware update and iPhone 3G, this has changed. Now, when you press and hold the .com button in the iPhone keyboard for a second, three more options appear: .net, .edu, and .org. Simply press the one you want with your finger to have it added to the URL your typing in the address bar.
[via tuaw]
Tired of the iPhone's default "Sent from my iPhone" signature at the bottom of every e-mail you send? If so, it's easy enough to change it to one more to your liking or get rid of it altogether.
From the iPhone's home screen, tap on Settings --> Mail, Contacs, Calendars --> Signature.
If you don't see Signature right away, don't worry, it is located further down the page. A sweep or two of your finger and you'll see it.
Once in Signature simply delete all the text. Leave the text field empty if you don't want another e-mail signature. If you do, however, simply use the iPhone keyboard to type one in.
Yahoo! recently launched an enhanced search application for the iPhone. Called Yahoo! Search for iPhone, it promises to deliver a desktop-like Yahoo! search experience to users of Apple's iPhone. Here are some of the features:
Other helpful features like Quick Links, same-host indent, and more
To use Yahoo! Search for iPhone go to search.yahoo.com/i from with the iPhone's Safari browser.You can learn more about Yahoo! Search for iPhone here and view photos of it in action at Flickr here.
Author: Judy Mottl
IBM continues sounding the charge on bringing its enterprise software to mobile users by introducing several new offerings, as well as partnerships with carriers AT&T and Sprint to extend its Rational, Lotus, and Domino applications to wireless devices.
Products include Rational Host Access Transformation Services (HATS), an application that allows mobile devices users to access mainframe applications. The new WebSphere Business Monitor software, which enables enterprises to measure business processes and performance, is now available for Research in Motion's BlackBerry devices, and will be provided for the Apple iPhone in the fourth quarter of 2008.
IBM also said the carriers certified its Lotus Notes Traveler software for select smartphones.
Click here for the full story at internetnews.com.
For an application to be compatible, developers must participate in the OpenClip program, so as to integrate OpenClip's open source framework into their software.
Applications that don't integrate the OpenClip framework can't be copy and pasted to and from in this system You can find a list of OPenClip-compatible applications here.
So far there are eight that have pledged support and a couple that are listed as coming soon. The more who adopt OpenClip the more useful OpenClip will become.
OpenClip provides a useful Faq about its cut and past solution, which it acknoledges in interim until Apple finally integrates the feature itself ,here. See the video below to see OpenClip's copy/paste solution in action.
Pad is a new application that allows you to control your Mac computer from your iPhone or iPod touch.Pad features include:
• Full multi touch mouse support (left/right-click, scroll, double-click, drag)
• Custom keys (any keystroke/hotkey)
• Send text strings (non-ascii characters present in iPhone keyboard also supported)
• Application-specific custom keys
• Four customizable gestures (Up/Down/Left/Right)
• Direct control of system volume
• Auto-connect to host computer
• No screen size limit (all resolutions supported), no screen count limit (all screens).
You can also send text strings from the device - into the address bar of your web-browser, chat client, Spotlight, etc. With shortcut buttons in Text View- such as copy, paste, undo, enter, backspace and tab - you can also edit almost any type of text.
Pad sells for $1 through the iTunes App Store. See here for its iTunes listing page.
Apple's released a pair of software updates for the iPhone 3G. Neither of them seem to address the ever growing complaints regarding wireless connectivity and application loading—although the latest, firmware 2.02, according to Apple's Jennifer Bowcock should improve"communication with 3G networks," it doesn’t appear to have for most people.
Nonetheless, Apple continues to work on solutions to these and other iPhone 3G problems. The strongest indication yet arrives courtesy of a short reply from Apple CEO Steve Jobs in response to an AppleInsider reader's iPhone 3G complaints.
Jobs said in his e-mail that "this is a known iPhone bug that is being fixed in the next software update in September."
Although Jobs seems to be referring specifically to the issue, apparently introduced with firmware update 2.02, where users’ iPhones won't load non-default programs, it's hard to believe that the wireless connectivity problems won't be addressed in some way as well.
The wireless bugs are said to be the result of the immaturity of the chipset used in the iPhone 3G. With any luck, it can be corrected through a software update and not require Apple to initiate a massive recall of the iPhone 3G.
While it's good to know Apple is continuing to work on fixing the iPhone 3G, let's hope users don't have to wait too long for them to be resolved. September is still ten days away. That in itself is too long to make folks continue to wait. Let alone should the next software update appears any later - say the second, third or - I hope not - the last week of the month.
Author: Rob Enderle
Part of what makes the iPhone special, other than its impressive number of problems this year, is the fact that it promises a near no compromise Web experience on a phone-sized device. (Granted, “phone size” seems to be drifting a bit larger these days.)
The 2.0 iPhone has had an impressive start but seems to have run into some hardware quality problems, some cloud quality problems, and Apple seems to be repeating the Atari mistake with their Application Store. (Atari nearly died when they failed to ensure the quality of their games in the early ‘90s when buyers abandoned their game console). Several of us actually argue the 1.0 iPhone is better.
Bad timing, given that Intel is pushing two new portable platforms which could eclipse the iPhone if done right (big “if” here), and Google’s Android phone platform is on final countdown and the first, from HTC, is gorgeous. In addition, Google appears to be doing a better job ensuring most of their initial applications aren’t crap, something that Apple may want to emulate.
Click here for the full story at Datamation.
The release of the iPhone 3G and 2.0 firmware last month gave the iPhone a number of required features for the enterprise. Still, there remains much debate surrounding the iPhone's suitability for business use. There are those that say no, a few that answer yes, and many more who hedge their bets with 'sort of.' At least one industry expert, Michael Gartenberg, says "absolutely."
Formerly an analyst with JupiterResearch, Gartenberg is now the VP of Mobile Strategy for Jupitermedia (the company that owns this site) and Editor o thef MobileDevicesToday blog.
In a blog entry from yesterday, Gartenberg cites a number of reasons as to why he thinks the iPhone's already ready for the business market. Among them: the iPhone supports Exchange Active/Sync to provide over-the-air access to a user's calendars, contacts and e-mail; it is reasonably secure; and, importantly, with firmware 2.0 Apple's given IT the tools they need to successfully manage the iPhone remotely.
To Gartenberg many of the issues people cite as potential problems for business acceptance—such as the lack of removable battery, a touch-screen keyboard, AT&T as the only operator—shouldn't stop enterprises from supporting the iPhone. As these are issues that affect the individual and not the organization as a whole.
So, given what's good about the iPhone, if an employee finds it a suitable mobile to use, then IT should have no reason to deny them the chance to use it. A core framework for devices should be broad and inclusive enough to include the iPhone.
See Is the iPhone Suitable for Business Use? Yes at MobileDevicesToday for the full story.
Apple has issued a software update (2.02) for the latest iPhone to help fix connection problems that led to a flurry of online complaints from customers, a European mobile service provider said on Tuesday.
T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom, said the software was available for users to download to their iPhones on Tuesday, but that it was not yet clear if the upgrade would fix all the connection problems.
AT&T the only U.S. network operator carrying the iPhone, confirmed that Apple had provided a software update but declined to give details about what it was aimed at fixing.
Click here for the full story at internetnews.com.
Apple's been trying hard to make up for the many service problems MobileMe subscribers have experienced since the service launched on iPhone 3G day. Part of Cupertino’s strategy for smoothing ruffled feathers included the addition of 30 days of free service to customers. Well, Apple's just tripled that number.
This week it sent out an e-mail notifying users they're going to receive another 60-day extension, bringing the total number of free MobileMe service days to 90. Not bad.
Here's what Apple had to day about the free service extension:
The transition from .Mac to MobileMe was rockier than we had hoped. While we are making a lot of improvements, the MobileMe service is still not up to our standards. We are extending subscriptions 60-days free of charge to express appreciation for our members’ patience as we continue to improve the service.
You are eligible if you are a MobileMe member whose account was active as of today, August 19. See here for more information on eligiility.
Veteran developer of software for PDAs and smartphone (and recent Handmark acquisition) Astraware has released a new motion-controlled racing game called GTS World Racing for the iPhone and iPod touch. Available at iTuneshere, the game uses the iPhone's built-in accelerometer to allow players to accelerate, brake and steer their car by moving and turning the device itself. The game includes 64 track layouts and offers a choice of multiple car types and difficulty levels, as well as four play modes - Single Race, Challenge Cup, Grand Tour, and Championship. See video below to see GTS World Racing for the iPhone in action.
iSkin has released a version of its silicone-based iPhone protector for the iPhone 3G. The company says the case fully encapsulates the iPhone 3G and provides complete coverage from everyday hazards such as impact, shock, dirt, dust and moisture.
The Revo2 sports Microban antimicrobial product protection, a detachable ViSOR transparent face shield, a dust repelling micro–texture grip, integrated port–to–port protection, accented volume and power buttons, an anti–glare an anti–fingerprint screen film, as well as an unobstructed silent mode switch. The case also offers mic, camera and speaker access and a special translucent silicone zone that protects the iPhone’s proximity and ambient light sensors without obstruction.
Offered in a range of two–tone colors combinations - Onyx (Black/Black), Diablo (Red/Black), Sonic (Blue/Black) and Ozone (Clear Frosted/Black) - the revo2 sells for $39.99.
iSkin still sells the orginal Revo case for the first iPhone.
Author: Judy Mottl
Jim Balsille, and likely his top sales team, must have been suffering some serious palipitations last week when a tech news site ran a big headline, and big story, about how a big Research in Motion (RIM) customer was considering switching off the BlackBerry platform for Apple's new iPhone.
A tech leader at HSBC, the world's biggest bank, was quoted in a story as saying the company was thinking about moving thousands of users off BlackBerries to the iPhone.
This would be big news, and, like most other tech reporters I suspect, I jumped on the phone to get details.
But the news was that it wasn't news at all. It wasn't true.
As one person I called, who asked to remain anonymous, told me "there's not a snowball's chance in hell" it was happening.
Click here for the full story at the internetnews.com The Blog.
AirMe is an application that enables iPhone users to take photos, have them tagged with location, weather, time and any other customized information and have the pictures delivered immediately to a Flickr or a personal AirMe account. You can download to give AirMe a try through iTunes here. More information is available through this FAQ.
Author: Judy Mottl
Yes, Virginia, the iPhone is ready for the enterprise.
Just barely, that is, as there's still room for improvement on everything from application support to security to calendar access. Yet Apple's latest handset is now viewed as a legitimate enterprise mobile device, according to a new Gartner report.
"It's acceptable for enterprise use if the security it provides is the same as other handsets in play," Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner , told InternetNews.com. "You're only as secure as the lowest denominator," the analyst added.
The iPhone features a complex password system for Microsoft Exchange users and a "wipe" feature that clears the phone's contents when a password is violated. Neither security aspect was provided on the initial firmware, according to Gartner.
The research assessment comes as iPhone users are increasingly pushing the device through back doors to use as a workplace smartphone, since IT teams have been reluctant to formally adopt the popular handset due to what has been viewed as weak security mechanisms.
Click here for the full story at internetnews.com
Author: Andy Patrizio
One month into the two-year marriage many have made with an iPhone 3G, and the honeymoon is definitely over in some quarters. While I am not as angry as others, when I see this kind of bubbling frustration, it's usually an indicator of one type of ending. Ever heard of Mt. Vesuvius?
Within a day of use, it became obvious that the 3G service stunk. San Francisco is supposed to have full 3G coverage, and I had no problems with my prior 3G phone at all. It was a very different story with the iPhone. Calls were dropped and the battery drain was unacceptable for a cell phone. On disabling 3G, service improved immediately. There were no more dropped calls. Audio quality was fine. Battery life was much better.
As it turns out, I wasn't the only person to notice this. AT&T denied their network was dodgy by pointing out they have plenty of other 3G phones with no such problems. Turns out they were right. The culprit, it seems, is turning out to be the Infineon chips used in the phone.
In a research note today from Richard Windsor, an analyst with Nomura Securities, blame was laid at the feet of the chip. "We believe that these issues are typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack where we are almost certain Infineon is the 3G supplier," he wrote in a note that's been picked up all over the Internet, as he's confirmed what many people have suspected for some time now.
Best Buy will be the first national retailer to sell Apple's iPhone in the United States in a partnership that could help drive sales of a device expected to be one of the hottest gadgets this holiday season.
Best Buy, the leading U.S. electronics chain, will announce on Wednesday that it will sell Apple's newly launched 3G iPhone, which lets users connect to the Web at high speeds, at its 970 U.S. stores beginning on Sept. 7.
About 600 stores will also showcase the handset, priced at $199 to $299, in their Apple mini-shops. Stand-alone Best Buy Mobile shops, which have opened in about 15 U.S. cities, will also sell the device, which requires a two-year contract with carrier AT&T to operate.
Click here for the full story at internetnews.com.
Author: Philip L. Graitcer
As you can tell from my last post, I have downloaded six third-party applications on my iPhone that I like a lot. Most of the time, they work well, but still, they have little problems: Sometimes the New York Times app takes me back to the iPhone's home page or MLB.com At Bat 2008 just doesn't load. Here's how to troubleshoot your applications.
After each step, check to see if the problem still occurs.
Author: Philip L. Graitcer
There are almost 2,000 third-party applications available for the iPhone on the iTunes "App Store." I haven't been able to wade through all of them but I've found six applications that I really enjoy. For the most part, they work well with few crashes.
Author: Amy Mayer
The Internet browsing tool Zumobi has an Olympic offering. Follow athletes' progress, get Olympic news and more from Lenovo's "Voices" and "Olympic Podium" Web sites on this free mobile widget.
Author: Amy Mayer
Squeezing your fingers and/or thumbs onto the small buttons of a smartphone such as a BlackBerry, Treo, iPhone and any number of other mobile devices can cause pain and even long-term problems. Know the feeling? Don't let it get the better of you. Gail Hegeman, a hand therapist with Pioneer Ergonomics in western Massachusetts, says to avoid the relatively new condition dubbed "BlackBerry Thumb" you should:
Author: Troy Dreier
If you've been waiting for a time when it was safe to try Apple's MobileMe, the waters seem to be calm now.
MobileMe, the successor to Apple's .Mac suite of online tools, experienced perhaps the rockiest launch of any Apple product ever. Approximately one percent of existing customers couldn't access their mail and lost old mail for weeks, while many more couldn't use the online services. A host of smaller bugs caused syncing problems.
The worst is over and MobileMe is behaving as it should at this point. While we'd love to share what the transition problems were like, we had a perfectly smooth time moving from .Mac to MobileMe. Most users didn't have any trouble.
The old .Mac (which is still in use for people using OS X 10.4 and older) allowed people to sync and store important information with their online accounts. MobileMe is a refinement of the service that brings the iPhone and iPod touch into the equation. The key benefit is that users can wirelessly sync information between their computers, handhelds, and online account. While Apple has surprised us by dropping colorful but less-used parts of .Mac, it's successfully focused on providing a simple user experience for the most important features.
Click here for the full story at Wi-Fi Planet.
Author: Philip L. Graitcer
Independent software developers for the iPhone have created nearly 2,000 applications for your phone. There are applications that turn your iPhone into a flashlight, keep track of stocks, baseball scores, the news, and allow you to blog right from your mobile phone.You can get many of these application for free or purchase them for $.99 up to $999.99 (that was an application called “I am rich” that actually did nothing!).
You can browse the applications on your computer or on your iPhone. Here’s how you can check out the applications on your iPhone.
First, you have to have at least version 2.0 of the iPhone software on your phone. To get that, synch your phone with iTunes on your computer, and check the version on the Summary page. If you don’t have at least 2.0, click “Update” and follow the instructions. 
After you’ve updated your phone’s software, disconnect it from your computer, and click home. You should see a blue icon with a white “A” in a circle with a blue background. That’s your applications installer. Tap on it.
Author: Ted Stevenson
Global IP Solutions yesterday announced it has adapted its highly successful VoiceEngine Mobile technology (used in Skype and other Internet-based VoIP services) for Apple's second-generation iPhone.
The VoiceEngine technology will help developers of iPhone applications easily add high-quality, real-time VoIP communications to a variety of application types.
Click here for the full story at VoIP Planet.
Author: Philip L. Graitcer
One of the most touted features of the new iPhone software (Version 2.0, now updated to 2.0.1, as of August 12) is the ability to download iPhone applications from the iTunes "App Store." These are third party applications, that is, they were not written by Apple, but Apple does some kind of vetting process on them before allowing them to be available in the store.
Right now, there are about 2,000 applications available for downloading at the App Store. To check them out on your computer, go to iTunes, click on "iTunes store" and then on the left side of the page in the iTunes Store box, click on "App Store".On the App Store home page, you'll be shown lots of applications. There are new picks, top picks, and staff picks. There is also an opportunity to sort the applications so that you'll only see the free ones. (Yes, there are free ones!).
Sort through, until you find an application that interest you. Then click on the "Get Application" button. The rest is just like downloading music from iTunes - your iTunes account will be charged and then the application will be downloaded into iTunes and will appear under Library as an "Applications" button.
To get the application downloaded on to your iPhone (or iTouch), plug in your iPhone as if you were going to synch it. When it is connected, click on your iPhone, and click the tab marked Applications, and then check the applications you want synched/downloaded to your iPhone. Click the "Synch" button in the bottom right hand corner and the application will then be downloaded and synched to your phone.
Applications can also be purchased and downloaded to your iPhone directly, without using your computer. We'll cover that in another Tip.
For more on how to use the App Store, see the tutorial below or click here.
Author: Damon Brown
As Steve Jobs hyped during the June 2008 Worldwide Developers Conference, the new iPhone App Store launched with more than 500 software titles. It now sports well over a thousand apps. Many of these are free, while others run up to $9.99 or more. It is fairly straightforward to add any of these applications to your iPhone.
The first step is to make sure you have the latest iPhone (2.0) and the latest iTunes (7) update. You should have received a notice the first time your iTunes-enabled computer was connected to the Internet after July 11th. To check, go to the Help menu, then click About iTunes. It should read "iTunes 7". If not, go back to the Help menu, then click Check for Updates. iTunes will then ask if you'd like to download the latest version. (It should be about 70 MB.)Once iTunes 7 is up and running, a new listing, Applications, will appear under the Library heading in the far left-hand column. Click on the iTunes Store.
On the left side, right under the three big cycling ads, you'll see an iTunes STORE listing with Music, Movies and so on. The last item is the App Store.
The App Store is organized very similarly to the music and movies storefronts. Below the iTunes STORE listing you'll see CATEGORIES, including Books, Games and Lifestyle. Across from the categories second you'll see TOP PAID APPS, featuring the top ten applications of the moment, and below it you'll find TOP FREE APPS, with its respective top ten. The center area is formatted like the other stores: new products, highlighted ads, the hottest apps and the staff favorites.
Choose an application you're interested in. I'm a music junkie, so one of the first applications I clicked on was Pandora Radio, a free Web site that tries to predict new music you may like based on your favorite artists. The original version, at www.pandora.com, seems to work extraordinarily well.
Author: Philip L. Graitcer
MobileMe keeps e-mail, contacts, appointments up-to-date between a Mac, and iPhone, iPod touch, and even a PC. That means if you make a change to an appointment or an address on your home computer, it will automatically appear on your iPhone and on any other computer you've set up.
Here's how to set the MobileMe service up on an iPhone/iPod touch for use with a Mac computer:
Author: Philip L. Graitcer
MobileMe might have been an all time hit, if Apple hadn't also launched the iPhone 3G and iPhone software 2.0 at the same time, and if there hadn't been technical problems with MobileMe that made it completely unusable for a group of users. Instead, the only news that MobileMe generated through much of July was bad news.
There were technical glitches with MobileMe—some people couldn't use e-mail, others couldn't even set up their accounts—and Apple was mum for a few weeks about the problems. That just made life more confusing for users. I spent at least eight hours, two of them with Apple technical support, trying to figure out accounts.Thankfully, as of late July, the technical issues with MobileMe had been fixed. And after a few weeks of using MobileMe, I'm happy to report that MobileMe is a great product.
What makes it so great?
According to Apple's CEO, App Store sales show few signs of slowing—and can delete applications a user has already installed, a report says.
In the month since Apple opened the App Store, an online software clearinghouse, users have downloaded more than 60 million programs for the iPhone, CEO Steve Jobs told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.
Click here for the full story at internetnews.com.
Author: Joe Moran
These days, integrated Bluetooth is an increasingly common option on new cars, even on many entry-level models. But if you're not in the market for new ride but would still like to have hands-free (and headset-free) calling from behind the wheel, BlueAnt's Supertooth 3 Bluetooth Handsfree ($129) may be just what you're looking for.
The Supertooth 3 is a rectangular device measuring 4.8 x 2.4 x .7 inches—that's roughly the dimensions of an iPhone (of which it is compatible)—that clings tenaciously to a windshield visor via a magnetic clip, but it comes off easily when you need it to, like when you want to transfer it to another vehicle (a spare clip is included). The Supertooth 3 supports pairing to up to 8 phones.
It offers voice prompts for device setup, status reports, and announcement of incoming calls. Six languages are available including American and British English; we found the synthesized female voice a tad too monotone and robotic, almost bordering on mournful, but you get used to it.
Author: Susan Schrank
Shopping-oriented search site TheFind.com has unveiled a new application for the iPhone. Dubbed TheFind: Where to Shop, the new app "bridges the gap between online research and offline purchases," by allowing shoppers to compare products and prices at various local stores without having to troll through endless shelves and clothing racks.
Click here for full story at MobileContentToday.
The arcade game Frogger - now 27-years old - is now available at the Apple App Store for $9.99. According to Konami Mobile, its first title for the iPhone and iPod touch, the game's been re-designed to take advantage of the platform's Multi-Touch Interface and accelerometer. As the App Store says, the goal of the game is to "help Frogger cross the busy obstacles guiding him home. Jump past cars on the road and hitch a ride on logs and turtles while crossing the river. Perils await a careless frog and not all turtles are helpful. Guide 5 frogs to safety and move to the next level."
Click here to open Frogger's App Store page in iTunes.
One of the best Twitter apps on the Mac makes its way to the iPhone with some nice enhancements for mobile tweeting.
Author: Michael Hall
As we noted a few weeks ago, the iPhone's not quite ready for IM. Though the latest iPhone SDK includes the components needed to make real-time messaging a reality, the existing IM apps involve a lot of compromise.Twitter users, on the other hand, may find the inability to run iPhone applications in the background isn't that much of an impediment to their tweeting. Twitterific is one of several apps for the iPhone that make it easy to answer Twitter's "What are you doing?" with ease, and with some interesting iPhone-specific twists.
Click here for the full story at Instant Messaging Planet.
With the iPhone 2.0 software update (and the iPhone 3G) Apple's made it easy for folks to take a screen shot of whatever appears on the display of their iPhone. To take a screen shot, simply hold down the Home Button and Power Button at the same time and let go. (Hold them to too long and your iPhone will reboot.) That's it. A white flash of the screen indicates the deed has been done.
The iPhone saves the screen shot to your iPhone's camera roll. Don't be concerned if the thumb nail seems a little burry (see right). Tap it and a nice clear picture of whatever you had on your iPhone's display appears in all its 320 x 480-pixel resolution glory (see below).
With a BlackBerry, Palm OS or Windows Mobile device and, of course, iPhone you can have the reviews and commentaries of Zagat's restaurant guides at your fingertips wherever you are without piling up books.
Zagat's mobile package includes its trademark surveys and rankings of restaurants in 70+ cities as well as nightlife suggestions and reviews of top hotels. You can download maps and directions once you decide on a locale. Other features include reviews of golf courses, and movies and a New York City shopping guide. You can register for regular updates to make sure you're never behind.
Here’s what you do: visit Zagat.com and click on Mobile. (Going to Zagat.com on your iPhone or iPod touch automatically brings up the iPhone-friendly edition of the site. )
You can choose from Zagat.mobi, which offers mobile access to all regular Zagat.com premium members, or Zagat to Go, a software package you purchase and install on your mobile.
A year subscription to Zagat to Go is $29.95 and installation is via download to your computer and then ActiveSync. A year's premium membership to Zagat.com and Zagat.mobi costs $24.95.
Not happy with the color options - black and white - available for the iPhone 3G? If so, you may want to check out ColorWare, which - for $150 - will colorize your iPhone in whatever hue(s) you like. The service allows you to select a different color from ColorWare's swatch of 'solid' and 'metallic' colors for a number of different parts of the iPhone, including the back, frame, home screen button, SIM Card Tray, ear buds, and dock. According to ColorWare, all standard colors come with a high-gloss, scratch resistant finish that's been formulated to protect against minor scuffs from normal usage. The whole process takes about two weeks.
At only 2.75 x 2.06 x inches and 1.74 ounces, the iPod in nano is pretty small and light; especially for a media player with 8 gigs of storage. Wouldn't it be cool if Apple released an iPhone version of the nano? Well, if a recent report by the Daily Mail is correct, Cupertino may just do that in time for Christmas.
According to the article, the device - called the iPhone nano - could sell for as little as £150 (about $295 by today's exchange rates) in the United Kingdom for pay-as-you-go customers through O2.
Yes, that’s more than today’s iPhone in U.S. dollars, but that price would supposedly be unsubsidized. That means, a carrier like AT&T, which subsidizes the iPhone 3G by $300 to bring the cost of purchasing down to $199, could offer an iPhone nano for even less, perhaps even for nothing with a contract.
Rumor has it this edition of the iPhone could sport a display on the front with a traditional iPod touch wheel on the back for navigation.
A few months ago, StyleTap indicated it was working on an "experimental version" of its Palm OS emulator, called StyleTap CrossPlatform, for the iPhone. Already available for Windows Mobile - and soon Symbian - the software allows users to run the more than 20,000 available Palm OS applications on the their PDAs and smartphones. While the experiment was successful, StyleTap's run into a significant hurdle in getting its software into the hands iPhone owners: Apple.
You see, the legal agreement that accompanies the iPhone Software Development Kit prohibits the entire class of applications StyleTap falls under. These include emulators, virtual machines, scripting languages, and interpreters that enable any type of non-native applications to be run on an iPhone. In other words, Apple doesn't want folks loading software onto their iPhone it hasn't approved.
As a result, StyleTap cannot deliver its Palm OS emulator directly through the App Store to iPhone users.
According to StyleTap, while it is still working with Apple to find a solution, "until Apple removes the legal roadblocks, we will not be able to provide a product that can be installed through the App Store onto a standard "off the shelf" iPhone."
StyleTap is encouraging people to let Apple know they would like to see its Palm OS emulator made available through the App Store as an official, sanctioned iPhone application. It wants you to explain to Apple that Style would allow you to run "critical applications" you otherwise couldn't.
When Apple started selling the iPhone last year, reports had it AT&T signed on as the exclusive carrier of the smartphone for anywhere from two to five years. The exact lengh of time is unknown, as both companies refused to discuss the agreement publicly.
Well, it appears AT&T and Apple are so happy with the arrangement, they've agreed to extend their exclusivity agreement. According to recent reports, the deal was set to expire at the start of 2009. It has now been extended by a year to 2010.
The hype surrounding the iPhone has helped to raise AT&T's status with consumers, according to an article in USA Today, helping the 120-year old brand become cool again - no small feat.
For years now, wireless carriers have known that they earn higher ARPU (average revenue per user) from smartphone users. As earnings from voice services aren’t cutting it anymore for their bottom lines, data has long been seen as the next great source earnings.
Operators tried to get consumers (not just mobile pros and enterprises) interested in tapping their phones for e-mail, Web access and other data services to little effect, however. That is, until the iPhone.
"Then Apple came along and, in a 30-second commercial, they just made it dead simple," accoridng to Forrester senior wireless analyst Charles Golvin in an interview with USA Today. Apple, along with its compadre AT&T, changed the smartphone landscape for everyone by showing it was possible to make data access not just easy, but fun and - most importantly (with the iPhone 3G) - fairly affordable as well.
By subsidizing each iPhone 3G sold by $300, AT&T is able to make the smartphone far more attractive to consumers. You can buy one for as little as $199. So while the carrier is losing money up front on the deal, it stands to more than make up for it over time as users shell out $30 per month (or more) for data access for at least two years after purchase.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson put it this way to USA Today: "The iPhone has repositioned AT&T as the premier wireless brand in the world. We're all about wireless."
During the first weekend of availability, Apple and AT&T sold 1 million iPhone 3Gs. And, perhaps even more importantly, the companies sold twice as many iPhone 3Gs during the first 12 days as they did of the original iPhone.
Author: Susan Schrank
Blizzard's World of Warcraft online game has legions of dedicated fans, many of whom would scoff at the idea of playing the MMORPG on a cell phone, no matter how great the graphics.
Having mobile access to all their character info, however, would probably make the lot of them quite happy.For these WoW fanatics, Pocket Gamer reports on a free, third-party app for the iPhone. Called Warcraft Characters, the application, from a gentleman named Rudolf Psenicnik, lets players "view avatars, basic info, stats and combat data" for all of their WoW characters and caches the data on the phone itself, the article says.
As with all other iPhone applications, Warcraft Characters can be downloaded from Apple's App Store.
Post courtesy of MobileContentToday.
