Saturday, March 29, 2008

iLibertyX, iLiberty+ iPhone unlock hacks (Mac / Windows)


Another neat new program (actually, two of them) popped up online for complete GUI iPhone and jailbreaking. Both of the programs (one is for Mac, the other is for Windows machines), just like ZiPhone, can unlock any existing and currently available iPhone firmware version (from v1.0.0 to v1.1.4 — it can also jailbreak the iPod Touch).

The programs provide a nice clean, user-friendly interface, and can also fix the no EDGE/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth problem some may have run into. It even automatically shuts down iTunes and detects which type of device is connected (iPhone or iPod Touch), and then changes the settings accordingly.

ilibertyx iphone

Direct downloads:
- iLibertyX Mac iPhone unlocker (18MB) - visit the project page for more info and screens
- iLiberty+ Windows iPhone unlocker (23MB) - visit the project page for more info and screens

iPhone’s future -”lifestyle companion”?


Several Apple patents have emerged describing what iPhone might become one day. A “Lifestyle companion” is similar to Nike+iPod exercise system. It uses accelerometer and other external sensors like GPS to track your workout and provide data for various lifestyle applications, which would show you statistics and provide further suggestions on how to maximise your workouts. Imagine it as a personal trainer program for your iPhone. Of course, this is not the only use of such system.

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Another use of this invention would be as a personal diet coach. You set up your nutritional goals, after which program suggests nutritional activities. It also monitors your intake and provides progress reports. Those components would also work together, with the system suggesting workouts based on your diet and physical condition and vice versa.

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Of course, these are just patent applications, and do not necessarily means that they will be developed.

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Thanks: Unwired

Handwriting recognition for iPhone?


Apple has posted a new job opening, demanding Handwriting Recognition Engineer. The person should be well versed in pattern recognition, C/C++ coding, Cocoa programming, be familiar with hidden markov model and neural net algorithms. The primary are of focus will be on handwriting technology, but the ad notes that the development may go beyond Mac OS X and the iPhone.

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This is really good news, since many people complained about touch screen keyboard and this may add an alternative input method which will make the device more versatile and accepted by a bigger group of people.

Thanks: DailyTech

Buzz Technologies launched a search portal for iPhone


Who will provide iPhone in China is still unknown, but that does not stop people from buying unlocked phones. Reportedly, there are over 600,000 unlocked iPhones in there, and some companies decided to make the best from the situation like this. Buzz Technologies has launched a mobile search portal for the iPhone in Chinese.

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It offers the ability to check your emails from the Easy Anywhere platform, VoIP, Search, News, Video Search and File Sharing. The company reports it is in discussion with distributors and manufacturers to install Buzz as the default operating system for web and email services.

You can access the portal here. http://www.mobi.12buzz.com/

Video of unlocking iPhone 2.0 firmware


iPhone Dev Team does it again. As usually, they have managed to hack the latest build of firmware — this time the upcoming and yet to be released v2.0. This time however, they used curiously named ‘Pwnage tool”. Not only it allows you to jailbreak and unlock the iPhone, but also because the program patches bootloader, you can load any firmware image you want which simplifies jail breaking.

Here is a video of the unlock:

Although this is the first available video of the 2.0 firmware unlock in action, the makers of ZiPhone earlier this month claimed to be the first out there to claim a full v2.0 unlock, although they’ve decided not to release any details so Apple wouldn’t have a way to patch the unlock hack before the new firmware is launched.

Thanks: Engadget

Canada Wants iPhone Real Bad, Starts Petition


Creditpaul_akuma_ap

Canadians are getting antsy about not having an iPhone yet. It's a question with some history, wrapped up in local trademark concerns and Apple's easy-does-it approach to internationalizing its iPodification of phones. What can you do about it, Canadians?

"PhoneWorld.ca and our friends from iPhoneInCanada.ca, the two largest Canadian iPhone news and information portals ... bring you The Great Canadian iPhone Petition."

It's a lovely thought, but the Fakesteve post kind of writes itself in your head the millisecond your "fan petition" neuron and your "Steve Jobs" neuron link up.

The Petition [Petitionsite]
The Great Canadian iPhone Petition [iPhone World]

Original Photo: AP/Paul Akuma

The Great Canadian iPhone Petition


It’s been a long while since the iPhone was announced, launched in the USA, launched in Europe, and underwent so many different changes (including the 16GB version launch and iPhone SDK launch) that it’s not even the same device we’ve seen in January 2007, when iPhoneWorld.ca itself was launched.

One thing never changed: Canadians still don’t know when they will even get their hands on Time Magazine’s Invention of the Year 2007. All requests for additional information through official channels don’t yield any results, or rather, produce highly conflicting reports. In the meantime, one can see more and more iPhones on the streets of Canada and wonder how they got here.

iphone canada

That’s why iPhoneWorld.ca and our friends from iPhoneInCanada.ca, the two largest Canadian iPhone news and information portals with a combined monthly audience of over 100,000 unique Canadian readers a month, teamed up to bring you The Great Canadian iPhone Petition.

The primary goal of this petition is to simply show Apple and Rogers that there is a great demand and great amount of love for Apple iPhone in Canada. We are hoping that by having as many people as possible signing it, maybe, somehow, someone, at Apple or Rogers, will hear our voices – the voices of potential customers, highly interested in purchasing the said device and monthly service plans for it. Even if this is a long bet that this will hasten the release date in Canada, we’d still rather try than not.

iphonecanada.jpg

The secondary goal of this petition is to at least ask for some more official information on iPhone’s launch in Canada – we would certainly be more than satisfied to at least have an approximate release date to count down days to, even if it won’t be happening next month or the month after. Simply putting it, some certainty as to the release date is all we really need – and that can be achieved via one simple press release sent out by either Apple or Rogers.

There are no other goals or other agendas. All we’d like, is to get the iPhone in Canada, or at least know when it will come here. As such we sincerely ask all Canadian readers that care about iPhone’s future in Canada to sign this online petition (preferably with your own name, since this gives more weight to it) at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/827108925 and send a link to it to those that you think would care.

And if you’d like to link to this petition’s page from your site, we’ve even made a special 180×180 pixels graphic for it (see the image below), which you can freely reuse on your own site or blog page.

The Great Canadian iPhone Petition

P.S. If you run a .ca site (no matter which kind it is, as long as it’s Safe For Work) and you’re supporting the petition with a link to the petition’s page, feel free to send us the URL, so we could add you to the list below.

Petition advocated by:
- iPhoneWorld.ca
- iPhoneInCanada.ca
- iPhoneUser.ca

P.P.S. En Francais: Salut a tous qui veulent avoir une possibilite d’acheter un iPhone legalement au Canada. Nous vous appelons de signer cette petition ici pour montrer aux compagnies Rogers et Apple que il y’a assez du support et demande pour l’iPhone au Canada. SVP signez la, et montrer cette lien a ceux que peuvent etre interesses. Ecrivez nous si vous avez mis un lien de votre site web au site du petition pour que on aura une possibilite de vous mettre sur la liste de sites sponseurs. P.P.P.S. SVP Excusez nous pour notre Francais pire.

Device Seizure 2.0 - forensic solution for the iPhone


Paraben Corporation, which provides digital forensic technology, announced today that it has released Device Seizure 2.0 with iPhone support. Device Seizure is the first forensic tool to support iPhone in the forensic acquisitions.

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“We immediately started hearing from examiners when the iPhone was released asking what they should do,” stated Amber Schroader, CEO of Paraben Corporation.

“We were right in line to get a device and begin the research. We wanted to give law enforcement the best and most forensically sound methodology as soon as possible and we are really pleased with the results. As a rule, cell phone forensics is an uphill battle and the iPhone was no exception. It is a quality device that is difficult to gather data from.”

Device Seizure currently supports over 1,928 devices.

The program can acquire many types of data from the iPhone. SMS and call history, physical memory dumps (system and video files, images, deleted data), scheduler and more. So even if you plan to do a crime, think ahead. Most likely, it will fail.

Bank of America predict June 3G iPhone release


Bank of America analyst said that 3G iPhone will most likely ship in June. “Our latest channel checks point to a significant production build of a 3G iPhone beginning in the month of June after an initial small build in May,” says Scott Craig.

Craig also said that Apple is to build 3 Million iPhones by the end of May, with 8 more Million by the end of 2008. That’s 1 million more then what Gartner predicted. Craig says he had previously expected just 8 million phones to be built in all of 2008.

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Another researcher, Avi Greengart of Current Analysis said that 3G phone is meant to be released at the same time as the iPhone 2.0 firmware, which would make it even more popular.

Thanks: Electronista

Java ME tools for iPhone games developers. Private beta registrations now open!


Innaworks, a premier provider of development tools for the mobile game and application industry, today announced the beta program for alcheMo for iPhone.

alcheMo for iPhone is designed for simultaneous Java ME and iPhone development. Initially targeted at game publishers, alcheMo for iPhone is fully automated and designed to instantly port a standard Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) mobile game to iPhone and iPod touch without the need for further manual adjustments. Innaworks will showcase its products in booth 1557 at the CTIA Conference, being held 1-3 April in Las Vegas.

java development iphone

With the addition of alcheMo for iPhone, the alcheMo product family allows you to address iPhone, BREW and Java ME with a single code base. alcheMo for iPhone is an effective method to develop immersive and high-performance native iPhone games in Java while taking advantage of the iPhone’s accelerometer and multi-touch features.

Stephen Cheng, CEO of Innaworks, said, “With the expected introduction of iPhone’s AppStore in June, iPhone is emerging as a serious gaming platform. We are amazed by the effectiveness of the touch screen and accelerometer on enhancing gaming experience. We expect the early backers among game publishers to significantly benefit from their first mover advantage. alcheMo for iPhone will help mobile game publishers to reach the eagerly awaiting gamers with quality games on iPhone and iPod touch.”

alcheMo for iPhone incorporates a patent-pending optimizing translator to convert Java ME application source code to equivalent application source code for iPhone. Compiled using an iPhone tool-chain and linked with alcheMo’s optimized run-time library, a native iPhone application is produced. alcheMo for iPhone is capable of converting Java ME applications utilizing an extensive subset of Java ME CLDC 1.1 and MIDP 2.0 (including touch screen support) and supports several JSR extension APIs including the JSR-256 mobile sensor API. Advanced language features such as Java-style exception handling, multithreading, synchronization, interfaces, and inner classes are supported. alcheMo’s run-time library incorporates a garbage collector for automatic memory management.

The translation technology behind alcheMo for iPhone has been time tested on alcheMo for BREW, which powers many of the high profile BREW game titles today. “Urban Attack is one of Vivendi’s most technologically complex games. This award winning first person shooter provides an immersive 3D gaming experience on even low end handsets,” said Eric Huynh, CTO of Vivendi Mobile Games of alcheMo for BREW. “It was therefore an incredible achievement that alcheMo enabled a Vivendi J2ME engineer with no previous BREW experience to deliver Urban Attack onto a wide spread of BREW handsets. The alcheMo-optimized BREW SKUs delivered a very smooth gaming experience despite the complex graphics and heavy computation.”

The private beta program for alcheMo for iPhone is immediately open. Innaworks is inviting qualifying game publishers and game developers to join this program. Contact them at alcheMo-sales@innaworks.com to register your interest while there is more information about Innaworks’ products on their official website.

This could certainly be a very nice program for professional mobile game developers to have.

Countdown to iPhone 2.0


Citing ambitious production plans, observers eye a big June debut of Apple's next generation iPhone.

(Fortune) -- Apple is gearing up for a big bump in sales of the next generation iPhone, if new production plans are any guide.

The plans show the faster iPhone will be rolling off the assembly line this summer. The initial order calls for 11 million iPhones to be built this year, with that total split between the existing 2.5G phone and the upgraded 3G phone, according to people familiar with the plan.

Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) appears to be targetting a June introduction of the 3G version of the phone, roughly a year after the original iPhone's debut. And similar to last year, Apple seems to be scheduling a limited initial supply to be followed by more phones in the fall quarter.

Observers are split on how to interpret the plans however.

Bank of America analyst, Scott Craig, who put out a research note Friday dissecting the Apple production plans, says the order indicates a significant production increase. If true, this could provide a surprise boost to the company's numbers. BofA expects 8 million iPhones will get sold this year, and if the 3G model is successful, every additional million beyond their projection translates to about $400 million in added sales and 12 cents per share - or 2% - more in profit.

But other analysts familiar with Apple's order patterns say the production reports are typically overestimated by the company, largely to keep component suppliers fully stocked should demand take off. By this reckoning, Apple will probably make about half of the 11 million iPhones the initial production plan calls for. It will probably have about one million 3G phones ready at launch and 4 to 5 million to follow later this year, says one analyst.

The curious part of the upcoming 3G iPhone introduction is just how Apple plans to handle the older iPhone. The new phone will operate on AT&T's (T, Fortune 500) faster network giving a big speed boost to mobile Internet users. The new phone will also be packed with more features including GPS navigation. Apple will clearly have a big price tag on the new phone, and observers speculate that the older version - which fetches $500 for the larger memory model - will likely get another price cut.

With two premium phones in the market, Apple is looking at a potentially robust second half sales spree. But the Cupertino, Calif. gadget giant will not have the field entirely to itself. Several phone makers are introducing touchscreen phones aimed at the iPhone this year. Sony Ericsson dazzled fans at recent gadget shows with a prototype of its upcoming Xperia phone, a touchscreen design with a slide-open keyboard. Another prototype that is a dead-ringer for the iPhone is Garmin's (GRMN) nuvifone, a GPS touchscreen device with a phone built in.

And probably the most hotly anticipated new smart phone in the wings is Research in Motion's (RIMM) 9000 BlackBerry. Though RIM acknowledges that a new BlackBerry is in the works, there have been scant few details available about its design. It will most likely include a touchscreen and easily be regarded as a sweet piece of handcandy for BlackBerry loyalists.

iPhone’s future is military use


Most of you probably heard that Nintendo Wii’s Wiimote is not just a console controller. According to a report, it can be used to operate military robots, manipulate ultrasound images and monitor movement deficiencies in people with Parkinson’s disease.

David Bruemmer and Douglas Few, from the US Department of Energy center in Idaho, have adapted a mine-clearing robot to be directed by the Wii controller. The reason they chose Wiimote is because using it was more intuitive, allowing them to concentrate on the data the robot gathered, compared to traditional controllers which took too much time to learn and control.

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However, scientists are not stopping with the Wiimote. According to a report published in the New Scientist, they now plan to prepare the iPhone for military use and probably ship it off somewhere hot half a world away.

They say it could replace the laptops carried by soldiers and used to receive data from the robots. That’s some great future for a little device. And possibly a lucrative military contract for Apple.

Thanks: NewScientist

Apple secures iPhone naming rights in Japan


Apple and the largest Japanese intercom maker Aiphone, who was in talks with Apple over the name “iPhone”, have finally ended their long lasting dispute.

The conflict arose because, although ‘Aiphone’ and ‘iPhone’ are spelled differently in English, in Japanese they are the same.

Aiphone says it has “reached a friendly agreement with Apple” that allows both companies to use the Japanese spelling version within Japan.

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At least one conflict solved without long lasting lawsuits. One wonders how it will end in Canada.

Thanks: Techradar

Nokia Siemens ‘Dual Carrier EDGE’ – useless for today’s iPhone owners?


A software upgrade to 2.5G EDGE networks promises download data speeds of ‘up to’ 592Kbps, rivalling 3G networks, but will today’s iPhones, Blackberries, Nokias and other EDGE phones be able to access it?

Slated to arrive in the third quarter of 2008, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has a developed an EDGE software upgrade it will be offering to the 260 operators in 177 countries that offer a GSM/EDGE network to their customers, offering downlink speeds of up to 592Kbps.

But that’s isn’t the be-all and end-all of the technology – Nokia Siemens is already working on the successor, called EGRPS 2, to “further boost end user experience in up- and downlink performance”.

NSN say that when EGPRS 2 is release, it will result in “downlink speeds of up to 1.2 Mbps and will double uplink speed to up to 473 kbps, thus quadrupling the capabilities of EDGE today”, and that the “EDGE Evolution is based on the 3GPP release 7 standard.”

But EGRPS 2 is still to come in the undefined future – the new ‘up to’ 592Kbps will theoretically start being rolled out by year’s end, helping telcos with existing GSM/EDGE networks get more bang for their buck and better compete with 3G and 3.5G networks, especially in areas where telcos have GSM/EDGE coverage but haven’t installed 3G or 3.5G towers as yet.

As you can imagine, NSN is upbeat, saying it will help enable “a mobile broadband experience, such as maintaining relationships in virtual societies, posting video clips to blogs in real time or streaming the latest news in mobile TV” – although anyone with a 3G or 3.5G phone can already do this.

The big question is whether existing EDGE capable phones will be able to take advantage of the faster network speeds offered by the new software upgrade. Plenty of articles on the Internet claim this is great news for existing iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Windows Mobile (etc) owners, including a CNET story listed below.

But a commenter called “Ian Storrs” in CNET’s story on the same topic makes the claim that it won’t help iPhone, Blackberry or other existing EDGE capable phones at all.

Storrs claims that: “Dual carrier means the phone needs to listen to two downlink channels simultaneously. No handset on the market today supports this. Sadly you will need to buy a new handset to use this feature.”

So, what’s the answer? We don’t have it yet, but have more information on how we hope to get an answer from NSN, as well as more details from NSN's statement on their upgrade on page 2... please read on!

[Thanks: http://www.itwire.com]

Friday, March 28, 2008

Earth Hour - turn off your lights on Saturday between 8 pm and 9 pm local time



Maybe change out some of those bulbs with CF or LED? Earth Hour US site Slightly associated, I have been interested in the argument about white backgrounds vs. black backgrounds for web sites (see Google’s response). Not sure which side is right but I know I tend to design more on the light side so I would like to know.

3G iPhone Update; Rumors Of 10 Million Orders May Not Be True


Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision, which also goes by the name of Foxconn, has secured an exclusive contract with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) to assemble a new iPhone, an unnamed person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires today. The report comes a couple days after a Gartner analyst had reportedly heard that Apple had placed an order for 10 million 3G iPhones, but coincidentally, reports today are now saying those statements were misunderstood.

Dow Jones (NYSE: NWS) reported that a Hon Hai official, who declined to be named, told them that the company was in talks with Apple for the supply of a "more advanced version" of the current iPhone, but provided no further details. The more advanced version of the iPhone is likely one that comes with the faster 3G chip inside, which some analysts speculate could come out as early as May.

This week, the iPod Observer reported that Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney heard Apple may have ordered 10 million iPhones that support 3G networks. InfoWorld reported today the comments were misinterpreted Dulaney's boss, Bob Hafner, said. To clarify, Hafner said they do believe the next version of the phone will be 3G, but "we have not got confirmation that an order had been placed."

3G iPhone - Go or no go?


Apple may or may not have placed an order for 10 million 3G-capable iPhones. Well, that’s informative …

iPhoneMy take on the 3G iPhone goes something like this - if Apple is planning a revamped “iPhone MKII” then the anniversary mark is as good a time as any to plan a new release. With that in mind, Apple would be placing orders with manufacturers right about now. Who knows, maybe Apple is anticipating a cooling off of interest in the current iPhone and planning accordingly.

On the other hand, the MK I iPhone is still young. Sure, there are a lot of features that Apple could add and tweak, but these could wait another year or so without putting much of a dent in the sales. Also, by the 24 month mark users would were early adopters of the first generation iPhone would be getting ready (both emotionally and fiscally) for an upgrade.

[Thanks: http://blogs.zdnet.com]

iPhone hackers look to an uncertain future


Apple’s announcement of an iPhone Software Development Kit will empower developers to plug gaps in the iPhone’s functionality. But for those who have been developing iPhone software via the unauthorized process called jailbreaking, the announcement raises questions about whether the thriving underground iPhone development market will continue or wither away into a small collection of carrier-unlocking hacks.

Although Apple CEO Steve Jobs suggested in May 2007 that Apple was working on a rich development environment, when the iPhone was first unveiled, the only opportunity for third-party developers was in the realm of Web-based applications accessed through the phone's Safari browser. Four months later, Jobs acknowledged that Apple would allow the development of native iPhone applications.

The screen of a "jailbreak" iPhone filled with third-party software.

For the first year of the iPhone's existence, those who have wanted to create or run native iPhone software have been reliant upon the work of hackers who have managed to bypass the iPhone's software barriers. "Jailbreaking" an iPhone gives access to all of the phone’s underpinnings, which are similar to the underpinnings of Mac OS X. Once programmers had access inside the iPhone, they quickly began assembling a set of tools that would allow them to create iPhone applications.

Those third-party apps brought in additional functionality that Apple didn't build into the phone's software itself. The programs ranged from the obvious omissions—instant messaging clients and a to-do program—to those with more limited appeal, such as an app to help you remember where you parked.

With most new releases of the iPhone software, Apple plugged the holes that the hackers had used to gain access to the iPhone's software. The back-and-forth between Apple and the hackers at times resembles a breakneck ping-pong match, with each Apple release followed in short order by the discovery of a new hole allowing the jailbreak to continue.

But now that Apple has take the wraps off its own development and distribution plans—complete with their own set of restrictions and limitations—the future of jailbreaking has been thrown into question. Why, with an Apple-approved and easy-to-use distribution method, would anyone continue to go through the bother of jailbreaking their phone?

Where the money is

When asked why he robbed banks, notorious thief Willie Sutton was said to have replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” The same might be applied to Apple’s iPhone application distribution plans. While there is nothing to prevent those developing apps for jailbroken phones from charging for their software, it’s certainly an uphill climb to convince the average user to fork over money for a program that requires them to hack their phone.

“Many developers will undoubtedly switch to the Apple distribution system in order to make money,” said Cody Overcash, co-founder of ModMyiFone.com, a site that tracks applications for jailbroken iPhones. Overcash expressed hope that some developers might adopt a two-pronged approach, making applications available in both Apple-approved and jailbroken flavors.

Overcash also suggested that open-source developers would be more likely to remain on the jailbroken track. “There is the age old battle between closed-source software for money and open-source software for free," he said. "One is about making money, the other is about sharing and learning from one another to build upon each other and make something great.”

“I think we will see many of the current apps pulled from free distribution and put into the iTunes Store for pay,” said Nate True, one of the hackers who contributed to the efforts to jailbreak the iPhone. True suggested that some developers might opt to also take advantage of jailbreaking in order to beta-test their products, but admitted that “the vast majority of developers will move to the SDK.” (Apple will also give developers the option of releasing their software on the iPhone's new App Store for free.)

Apple’s way or the highway

Under Apple's iPhone software-distribution plan, only programs submitted by Apple-approved developers and approved by Apple will appear on the iPhone App Store. It is Apple's role as the gatekeeper of all third-party iPhone software that most concerns existing members of the iPhone hacking community.

“I would much rather be able to put whatever I want on my phone,” said True. Overcash cited programs that allow users to customize, or "skin," the iPhone's interface, as an example of a type of functionality that isn't covered by Apple's development kit and therefore won't be a part of the official iPhone economy.

The added bureaucracy that Apple is likely to bring also has Overcash concerned. “Getting your [program] approved and passed through the Apple system and finally onto distribution via App Store (assuming an app makes it through initial approval) will be time intensive,” he said. Overcash contrasted that with the jailbreak system, which he called “quicker and more flexible.”

Such bureaucracy, however, is balanced out with the legitimacy that only Apple can offer.

“It sounds like Apple is going to provide a powerful SDK and distribution channel,” said Ken Aspeslagh, iPhone specialist at software and accessory developer Ecamm Network.

Paul Kafasis, CEO of software developer Rogue Amoeba, suggested the Apple's approval may have a chilling effect on the jailbreak process: "I think it will slow things down as people can do more with the proper channels." And, he added, when it comes to the end user, simplicity rules. "I think fewer people will be willing to jailbreak their own phones now," Kafasis said.

True and Overcash don't see the SDK and jailbreaking as mutually exclusive, however. “I see Apple’s SDK as a tool that can only improve on what has been accomplished on jailbroken phones,” said Overcash.

And True said that the two approaches will be able to co-habitate. “Jailbreaks are designed to leave the rest of the phone functioning properly, and the SDK is one of those functions that will likely be preserved,” he said.

The politics of unlocking

Apple has already used its status as the arbiter of iPhone applications to say that certain things will not be allowed on App Store. When asked point blank at the iPhone SDK event whether Apple would allow an application that would enable users to unlock the iPhone for use on mobile phone carriers other than those with which Apple has deals, Steve Jobs gave an unequivocal "no."

The popularity of unlocking iPhones is difficult to ignore. It’s been estimated that as many as a million iPhones are currently in use in countries where Apple does not yet offer the device for sale and anecdotal reports of unlocked iPhone sightings have come in from countries as close as Canada and as far as China. Apple executives have acknowledged that unlocking is widespread; Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer quipped at an investment conference earlier this month that it was easier to name countries where the phone wasn’t being unlocked than those where it was.

“People who need their phones unlocked still have to run unauthorized software,” said Nate True. As a result, True said that jailbreaking the iPhone will continue. “As long as there are iPhone unlockers there will be jailbreaks, and any mechanisms Apple puts into the iPhone to stop jailbreakers will thus be broken,” he said.

“People want to choose the carriers they use in the countries they live in," said ModMyiFone.com's Overcash. “Until the point where the iPhone is free from the carriers it’s sold on and available for purchase unlocked, for use in ‘non-approved’ countries, unlocking will not stop.”

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

And, indeed, if recent events are any indication, the hacking will continue. One group has already announced that they’ve hacked a beta version of the iPhone 2.0 firmware to allow not only jailbreaking but unlocking as well. The team claims that their solution, which involves creating custom firmware, will be difficult for Apple to patch.

It appears that, for now, the ping-pong match is far from over.

[Thanks: http://www.macworld.com]

The iPhone Pain Train Keeps Coming



Don't think Apple can hit its goal of selling 10 million iPhones this year? Think again. Chief Executive Steve Jobs is about to open a fresh crate of pain for the rest of the mobile-phone industry.

Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn, has secured an exclusive contract to build the next-generation iPhone, Dow Jones reported Friday. The report, which cited an unnamed source, is in line with Apple's (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) usual practice of outsourcing the gritty business of building its products to big contract manufacturers in Asia. Apple declined to comment on the report.

That was just the latest sign that a fresh iPhone is on the way. The Huffington Post reported earlier this week that iPhones were sold out at Apple's New York stores, hinting that the company may be trying to keep supplies of its current generation lean as it prepares to add a new handset to the mix.

In a note to investors Friday, Bank of America analyst Scott Craig said Apple will begin building a third-generation iPhone in May. He added that he now believes Apple will build more than 3 million phones next quarter, and more than 8 million in the third quarter, backing away from an earlier estimate that Apple will sell just 8 million phones this year. "Our iPhone estimates are starting to look too conservative," Craig wrote.

While the 3G iPhone is something of an "open secret" (see " Sorry, First Adopters--A Better iPhone Is On The Way"), the biggest mystery remains the new handset's design. "Apple almost always updates its design just enough so you can tell who has the new one and who has the old one," said Roger Kay, President of Endpoint Technologies. "Where's the snob value if it looks just like the old one?"

Kay said the business-friendly features Apple unveiled last month for the iPhone are just a start. It's unclear if they would be tied to the release of the 3G iPhone, or bundled in with future iPhone software and hardware updates.

Pricing will be much less of a surprise. Kay thinks Apple will drop the price of today's iPhones and sell the new model for $499, or--somewhat less likely--it will sell the new iPhone for $100 more than the current-generation phones.

Either way, the result will likely be a renewed sting for Apple's rivals. Since its release in June 2007, Apple has grabbed 28% of the U.S. smart phone market, according to research firm Canalysis. Apple now lags only Canada's Research in Motion (nasdaq: RIMM - news - people ), maker of the BlackBerry, with 41%, and leads Palm, (nasdaq: PALM - news - people ), which holds 9%.

But thanks to a slow start in overseas markets, Apple controls only 6.5% of the worldwide smart phone market. A 3G iPhone would help change that, giving Apple the ability to grab more sales in markets such as Japan and Korea, where high-speed wireless networks are already ubiquitous. It would also pep-up Web browsing in areas of the United States where high-speed networks are available. "One of the very few complaints you get from iPhone users is the slowness of the network," Kay said.

[Thanks: http://www.forbes.com]

Latest rumours: iPhone in Mexico and Netherlands soon


There were many rumours this week. First rumours from Digg founder Kevin Rose, and then the story from Gartner, which turned to be not true, and here are the latest rumours from the world of iPhone.

According to a Mexico City based newspaper El Universal, Apple is in talks with mobile service provider Telcel to launch the iPhone in June. Unfortunately, the device might cost as much as 8% more than it normally does in the USA due to taxes.

telcel.gif

Another interesting rumour comes from the Netherlands.

Dutch Apple reseller ‘The Innovators’ has stated that they will reveal a new product on March 29th, and posted some interesting hints. The hints state that the product has never been available in the Netherlands and that it makes it easy to call…. We do wonder what that could be.

innovators.jpg

It is interesting to note, that Apple has never used reseller to distribute iPhones. It seems we will have to wait until March 29th to find out.

Thanks: AppleInsider

Gartner clarifies 10 Million 3G iPhones report


A few days ago, we reported on a story about Apple ordering 10 Million 3G iPhones. Apparently, it was a misunderstanding, and Gartner has decided to clarify it.

Gartner said that they do not know whether Apple has actually placed an order for 3G iPhones and there is no way for them to get a confirmation that an order had been placed. However, they do believe it would be logical if Apple would have done so.

“If Apple was to place an order, then 10 million would be a reasonable number,” Hafner said. “And we absolutely believe that in the next-generation iPhone 3G will be there”

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Since iPhone sales were not as strong as expected in Europe, due in part to a lack of 3G support, it is vital for Apple to release 3G iPhones as soon as possible. However, 3G might not be enough, since there are already 3.5G devices, reports Gartner.

They also said that one improvement they expect from Apple is OLED display for the iPhone. Current LCD is the most energy consuming part of the device, and having OLED screen would allow for power balance for 3G.

Thanks: InfoWeek

Thieves arrested after stealing 332 iPhones


The thieves are at it again. Two men, Joshua Garrand, 28, of Methuen, Mass., and Christopher Nashed, 22, of Sandown were arrested yesterday, because they gave in to the iPhone lust, and maybe quick money as well.

Both men were employees at the Apple store in the Mall at Rockingham Park, who decided to make an easy profit by stealing 332 iPhones worth $132,468.

Interestingly, the first reports of missing iPhones appeared in early January. However, after three months on the case, Sgt. Steve Malisos finally caught the culprits. After stealing the iPhones thieves were reselling them online. Police did not reveal how sophisticated their operation was.

There is one thing criminals never learn: don’t steal the iPhones!

Thanks: EagleTribune

Hon Hai to manufacture next iPhone model


Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world’s largest contract electronic maker by revenue, is in talks with Apple to make the next-generation iPhone. They are also known by the name Foxconn, and they make current iPhone models.

Hon Hai official, who declined to be named, said this Friday that the handset will be a “more advanced version” of the iPhone.

quanta-wins-order-for-2nd-iphone.jpg

Apple spokeswoman Jill Tan declined to comment on the next-generation iPhone.

iPhone's Development Limitations Could Hurt It In the Long Run


ZDOne writes

"Apple might have finally come around to allowing third party developers to create applications for the iPhone, but only up to a point. ZDNet UK claims Apple is leaving itself vulnerable to the competition and to a loss of lustre by blocking background tasks on the device. The author notes, 'Perhaps it doesn't trust application designers or users very much. Perhaps it wants the best software for itself, where it can limit what it can do in order not to upset its telco friends. Whatever the reason, it reflects badly on Apple. The iPhone is not an iPod; it's a smartphone connecting to a universe of fast-changing data on behalf of innovation-hungry users. The sooner it stops pretending to be a 1981 IBM PC, the better it will be for everyone.'"

Taiwan company in talks to make new iPhone


Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, is in talks with Apple to make the next generation iPhone, Dow Jones Newswires reported Friday, citing an unidentified Hon Hai official.

The Chinese-language Commercial Times carried a similar report Friday morning, calling the second-generation iPhone a 3G (third generation mobile telecommunications) handset. The Commercial Times cited unidentified "mobile phone industry sources" for its information.

Hon Hai representatives could not be reached, and did not return repeated calls.

Apple has said it expects to ship 10 million iPhones by the end of this year.

[Thanks: http://www.infoworld.com]


Thursday, March 27, 2008

Apple Releases iPhone SDK Beta 2


The update includes an interface builder, the Xcode IDE, the iPhone simulator, frameworks and samples, compilers, and the Shark analysis tool.

Apple on Thursday released the second beta version of the software development kit for building applications for the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

The free download is available online through the company's Apple Developer Connection Web site. The second beta of the SDK includes an interface builder, the Xcode integrated development environment, the iPhone simulator, frameworks and samples, compilers, and the Shark analysis tool.

Developers who want to test their code directly on the iPhone and distribute their applications through Apple's App Store have to apply for membership in the iPhone Developer Program.

Apple released the first test version of the SDK on March 6. Since then, developers have logged a number of complaints, starting with Apple's requirement that all distribution of applications to iPhone users go through the company's App Store.

More recently, developers learned that they won't be able to create music players for the iPhone. The SDK apparently doesn't permit access to iTunes, the iTunes library, or any facets of the iPhone's music player. As a result, music services such asAmazon (NSDQ: AMZN).com and eMusic, won't be able to write their own download services for the iPhone.

Some developers, however, have been trying to make an end-run around Apple. Hackers calling themselves the iPhone Dev Team reported a couple of week ago that they found a way to run applications on the upcoming firmware of the iPhone and iPod Touch without a development certificate from Apple.

The company plans to upgrade the devices' firmware in June. The new software will have the hooks necessary to run applications built with the SDK.

[Thanks: http://www.informationweek.com]

The 3G iPhone cometh (and this pun returneth)


Speculation time again... or is it? According to Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney, Apple has placed an order for 10m 3G iPhones, apparently to satisfy us pesky Europeans who aren't satisfied with EDGE.

Dulaney also claims that the new version of the Jesusphone will have an OLED screen to cut down on battery consumption, seeing as juice issues are probably what stopped the iPhone going 3G from day one.

The 3G iPhone really has to happen. Why else would the BBC take the trouble of issuing an iPhone version of the iPlayer? The app doesn't work well over EDGE - yes, it does work over Wi-Fi, but is that a big enough market to justify doing a special iPlayer version? Probably not. Most Wi-Fi usage is at home, where you can just use the iPlayer on your PC etc.

Ergo, Dulaney's words ring true. Also, ta to Mr G for pointing me towards this article, which covers how Apple has apparently won the right to use the "iPhone" name in Japan. And if we Euros get snotty about a lack of real high-speed broadband in a phone, then that goes double for the Japanese market.

June apparently, since you ask...

[Thanks: http://community.zdnet.co.uk]

Gartner Clarifies 3G iPhone Reports


The technology research firm says it doesn't know whether Apple has actually ordered 10 million iPhones that support 3G networks, as was reported on the Web.

Technology research firm Gartner on Thursday tried to clear up reports that it had said Apple might be buying 10 million iPhones capable of connecting to much faster data networks.

The iPod Observer reported this week that Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said Apple may have ordered 10 million iPhones that support 3G networks, based on rumors in Asia. That report later got circulated on the Web, where the comments were misinterpreted as a Gartner prediction, Dulaney's boss, Bob Hafner, said.

Gartner doesn't know whether Apple has actually placed an order for 3G iPhones, but the researcher does believe the next version of the touch-screen smartphone will have those high-speed capabilities. "If Apple was to place an order, than 10 million would be a reasonable number," Hafner said. "And we absolutely believe that in the next-generation iPhone 3G will be there."

As to rumors of Apple placing an order for the high-speed phones, Hafner said, "We have not got confirmation that an order had been placed."

Apple has predicted it will sell 10 million of the current iPhone by the end of the year and has reportedly ordered that many units. The iPhone currently uses an EDGE radio, a digital mobile phone technology for increased data transmission rates over a cellular network. EDGE, however, is considered a 2.75-generation technology, versus a 3G technology, such as HSDPA, which is used in Europe.

Because data transmission on the iPhone is slower than 3G devices in Europe, there has been speculation that Apple hasn't done as well as the company expected in the region. Gartner says the move to 3G is necessary for Apple to compete globally with other devices, but it won't put the company on the bleeding edge of technology. HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, and others are selling 3.5G phones, which are available in Korea, Japan, Europe, and Australia.

Another improvement Gartner expects in the next-generation iPhone is the use of an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display instead of the current lower-resolution LCD screen. An OLED screen uses less power than the latter, which should help balance the increased power use of a 3G radio, Hafner said. "The screen is one of the biggest power users."

In addition, an OLED screen has "very, very nice resolution -- beautiful resolution," he said.

[Thanks: http://www.informationweek.com]

Mozilla: No Firefox for iPhone


Mozilla has invited a handful of technology writer to come down to its office on Wednesday for a roundtable discussion. They discussed many things one of which was iPhone.

Mozilla CEO John Lilly and VP of engineering Mike Schroepfer said that Apple’s software requirements for the device are too restrictive, and as such, they will not be making Firefox for iPhone, at least in the near future.

firefox-2-iphone.png

Lilly said, “Apple has not written a license which allows Firefox to run on the iPhone.”

Instead, they will pursue more open platforms like Android.

“Android and iPhone are closed platforms. There are carriers and device manufacturers who are more open with their platform, and we’ll do well there — the Nokia N810 internet tablet, for example. People can just take the (Firefox) code and run with it, so there’s a lot happening that we don’t even see until it shows up… XUL (the language in which Firefox’s user interface is written) makes it easy to experiment on mobile devices. That’s our main advantage on mobile platforms” said Schroepfer.

[Thanks: http://www.iphoneworld.ca]

More rumors from Kevin Rose about 3G iPhone


Digg founder Kevin Rose, whose previous story you can read here, has posted an interesting update on Twitter.

It says: “another person confirming iPhone rumours w/me (high level VP at a big company that works w/Apple) - “it will ship in June w/3G and GPS” ”

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Previously Rose said that 3G phone will have second camera, and now he claims there is a real GPS on the device.

It seems these are not the last rumours before the real launch of the phone.

Thanks: MacLife

Cheap iPhone cases from Sourcingmap


Sourcingmap.com, an online wholesale Superstore based in Hong Kong, announced the availability of new iPhone cases.

“We have already been offering many models of iPhone Cases, which are mainly plastic or silicon skins. But this time we focus on iPhone Leather Cases.” said Leslie Chan, Sales Manager of Sourcingmap Company

The iPhone Cases are made of soft faux leather, durable material that provides excellent protection. The cases are priced from $2-$7. To check more about the cases visit Sourcingmap store.

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Previously they offered iinteresting portable Phone chargers.

CECT P168 - another iPhone clone


CECT P168 is yet another iPhone clone. This one really looks like iPhone. Even the main wallpaper has been copied from iPhone concepts. However, similarities end there.

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The CECT P168 has a 3.5-inch QVGA LCD touchscreen (240 x 320 pixels), a 1.3 Megapixel camera. It also features music and video player, dictionary, text messaging and all other standard phone applications.

One thing it misses is Wi-Fi. Nevertheless, it does support dual-Sim cards. Unfortunately, you cannot use them both at once, and have to switch between them.

Thanks: Idealo

RadTech ProCable headset for iPhone


RadTech has announced their new product: ProCable Headset for iPhone. It features isolated earpieces, so you are not too bothered by surrounding sounds when listening to your favorite music or making a call. Another interesting feature it uses is Sound Valve Technology, which allows you to hear ambient sounds, when you lower or turn off the volume.

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The headset is available in either black or white, and it is priced at $24.95.

Thanks: TUAW

Fill Your iPhone Downloads


Fill Your iPhone is a downloads site for Apple iPhone owners that offers access to all the tools one may need to download and transfer all sorts of different media onto his/her iPhone.

According to the site, Fill Your iPhone features:

* Free Music, Movies, Games & More!
* Fast & Reliable Downloads – Immediate Access!
* You Have No Restrictions – Use As Much As You Want!
* No “Per File” Fee, No Monthly Fee!
* Over 1 Million Files To Choose From!
* Free Installation Software – Step by Step Instructions.

fill your iphone

Access costs $49.95 for unlimited downloads membership.

Link: Fill Your iPhone Downloads

NES.app: first “game” to run on iPhone v2.0 firmware


Jonathan Zdziarski, the creator of NES.app and the author of iPhone programming book published by O’Reilly (you can read our interview with Jonathan here), claimed yet another impressive victory: iPhone NES.app emulator is now the first “game” (if you could call an emulator so) that runs on upcoming iPhone v2.0 (actually v1.2) “Aspen” firmware (screenshot below).

Jonathan writes: “NES.app now successfully builds using the Apple SDK with low-level “tool chain” headers, and can install straight to your device from the most excellent Xcode. It also builds fine using the open tool chain for Aspen. Source code has been committed to CVS along with new Makefiles and an Xcode project file. I could distribute a binary (using the open tool chain), but there’s no point at the moment. As you’ll see, only a very minimal number of code changes have been made that are specific to Aspen, illustrating that the proprietary Apple SDK headers are merely restricted overlays on top of the “real” objects used by the open tool chain.

nes.app iphone aspen

This serves as a good example for continued low-level application development on the iPhone, using the private APIs offered by the open source tool chain. Oh, and it runs faster on Aspen too. Unfortunately, Apple’s SDK license would prevent an “official” developer from building and distributing applications that use these private APIs so if you plan on distributing with the AppStore, your app will never get to be a “real app” (Pinocchio reference) like this one. Fortunately, the open source community has a community Installer application with hundreds of great applications, and somewhere around 40% of the eyeballs on the iPhone.

Not bad, considering I have never even installed Aspen on my iPhone. I’ve steered clear from it, as it is presently “warez” status. Just for the record, I condone ethical, sportsman-like hacking, but not illegal activities. A little bit of testing was done by a few people running Aspen, however my phone is still running 1.1.4.”

You can read more on Jonathan’s blog.

XviD4PSP: free iPhone video converter


iPhone World reader jtarrio writes: I can’t believe you haven’t yet discovered Xvid4PSP. This tools is 100% free and has buit-in profiles for most widely used portable devices, including iPhone, it’s very simple to use and provides very good quality! … I’d NEVER pay for a video conversion tool knowing something like Xvid4PSP existed!!

And indeed even though its name doesn’t imply anything iPhonic in it, XviD4PSP is actually an excellent program that can help you transfer your videos collection to your iPhone / iPod Touch without paying anything.

xvid4psp iphone

The software is very intuitive, has an especially added 1.500 out aspect (for MP4 iPhone and MP4 iPod Touch formats), quite a big number of features, and generally is great because it’s completely free and supports a huge number of platforms apart of the iPhone (PSP, XBOX, iPods, and general PC/Mac video conversions are supported).

You can find out more about XviD4PSP on its official site or download the program below.

Direct download: XviD4PSP v5.031 - only for Windows, sorry Mac OS X users (18MB)
NOTE: You’ll need to have Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 installed first, and the program only works on Windows XP and above.

iPhone Notes: sync and edit your iPhone notes! (Mac)


Quite a lot of iPhone owners are probably annoyed with the fact that they can’t sync and edit their iPhone notes to their computer. Thankfully, at least Mac users now have a free program that will do just that.

iPhone Notes is a universal Mac binary (meaning it will work with both PPC and Intel Mac versions) that allows you to easily backup your iPhone’s notes on your computer. It also allows you to view the notes, edit (change,add and remove them), and then save them back to your iPhone.

iphone notes iphone

You can find out more about the program on its official website, or download it below.

Direct download:
- iPhone Notes v0.3 for Mac (2.4MB)

NOTE: your iPhone has to be jailbreaked in order to use this program (Thanks for the correction, Dave)

HiPhone or iPhone? You decide!


A while ago we posted news about the “HiPhone” — a Chinese Windows Mobile powered iPhone clone that appeared to be one of the better looking iPhone copies out there.

One of our readers, Phiafly, points to an excellent TomsGuide.com video comparison of the iPhone and the HiPhone.

hiphone iphone comparison
Which one is the iPhone?

As we could have predicted, the video clearly shows that a $200 price tag doesn’t mean good quality. Check out the video and you will see why you don’t want to buy this or other iPhone clones.

Link: TomsGuide.com HiPhone vs iPhone video review

MadZ Video to iPhone Converter


MadZ Video to iPhone / iPod Touch Converter allows you to convert your favorite video files into .mp4 format so that you can then upload them to your Apple iPod Touch or iPhone via iTunes. Then you can watch them whenever and wherever you want.

MadZ Video to iPod Touch / iPhone Converter can convert almost all kinds of video files, including AVI, QuickTime, MOV, FLV, WMV, and mobile phone 3GP files. Note: this software DOES NOT convert DVD’s.

The converter also features a convenient bulk conversion function that allows you to convert multiple videos at one time, unattended, even if the input videos are in different formats. You can even drag and drop video files from Windows Explorer into the bulk conversion window.

video to iphone

MadZ Video to iPhone Converter works with Windows 2000, XP and Vista. For more information, visit the Video to iPhone converter website. You can even get a free trial of the MadZ Video to iPhone Converter (below) that will allow you to complete up to ten conversions; four individual videos and two bulk conversions containing up to three videos each.

Direct download: MadZ Video to iPhone Converter trial (19.3MB)

Full version price is USD $21.95. If that’s too much to pay for you, you can always try the Movies2iPhone software for Windows instead — while admittedly having less features than the MadZ Video to iPhone Converter, it doesn’t cost a penny.

BlackBerry or iPhone: Which horse will you back?


Lisa Hoover, CIO.com

When Apple’s iPhone stormed on the scene last year, it was heralded by users as the BlackBerry killer. Businesses, however, weren’t as eager embrace its limitations.

While some IT departments were willing to find workarounds, most kept the device at arm’s length until lessons learned from past smartphones in the workplace-such as push e-mail and remote data wiping-were released.

Steve Jobs recently released the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) and announced Microsoft Exchange support for the iPhone. Business users once again the SDK has been downloaded more than 100,000 times, Apple is giving the nod to only a small sliver of developers hoping to use it to create applications.

With both BlackBerrys and iPhones vying for the top spot (or pocket) of business-class users, the competition is a lot fiercer than it may appear. Indeed, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has been quietly helping its partners develop better tools, while other companies are (somewhat grudgingly) getting ready for an onslaught of iPhones in the workplace. The race, it seems, is on.

"We understand it’s only a matter of time before we’re being pressured by the top execs to make the iPhone work in our environment but if it happens before some of our security, etc., issues are addressed, ’making it work in our environment’ won’t be easy," says Rob Paciorek, senior vice president and CIO of Access Intelligence.

BlackBerry and Apple: Fruit Salad?

When consumers decide which of the two handheld devices to purchase, it’s not hard to reason that loyal Mac users would opt for another product in the Apple family. The challenge, then, falls on BlackBerry to keep Apple customers from hopping the fence by making their phones über-compatible with the Mac.

Andrew Bocking, director of handheld software for RIM, says though it’s tempting for Mac users to jump on the iPhone bandwagon because of the perceived ease of working with products that are compatible out of the box, they might want to reconsider. "People need to evaluate what they want from their mobile device. The BlackBerry smartphone offers a leading communication device that is unrivaled in terms of e-mail and messaging, with great voice capabilities as well as an incredible multimedia experience."

Although RIM declines to comment on the specific number of BlackBerry users who also use Macs, Bocking says "there is a large group of BlackBerry for Mac users and that number continues to grow at a quick pace."

In order to keep BlackBerry users to keep from succumbing to the iPhone’s temptation, one of RIM’s main priorities is to make sure its BlackBerrys are Mac compatible. That’s a tall order when developing tools to use on a primarily closed-source platform.

Information Appliance Associates (IAA), the company behind PocketMac, has spent four years creating a popular application that lets BlackBerry users sync their devices to Apple computers. VP of Marketing and Sales, Tim Goggin, says the development process hasn’t always been easy.

"Our biggest challenge when developing PocketMac," he says, "was the initial task of making the Mac and the BlackBerry communicate with each other. All of that work had to be created from scratch. It took over a year to develop the first version, and we’ve been perfecting it ever since."

Both RIM and IAA provide different levels of tech support for PocketMac, and Goggin says RIM’s ongoing involvement in the app has been a boon for both IAA and the end user. "RIM has a very enthusiastic partner since the initial development. Shortly before releasing the product, we became RIM Alliance Partners, and a year and a half after our joining the Alliance Partners program, RIM and Information Appliance Associates started discussing potential licensing of the app."

Goggin continues, "It’s been over two years now that RIM has licensed and distributed PocketMac for BlackBerry on their site, and I think I can say that it’s worked out very well for everyone, especially BlackBerry Mac users."

Well aware that the iPhone is gaining traction in the smartphone community, Goggin says IAA is planning ahead. "We will be building in extensive media syncing, including iTunes music and iPhoto photo syncing. Additionally, we’ll have full support for Office:Mac 2008. And for upcoming versions, we’ll be working on adding sync support for even more new applications."

The Smartphone Stew

Long before the iPhone began its march to take over the communications world, IT departments were already tasked with getting two other types of smartphones to coexist peacefully in the workplace: BlackBerrys and Windows Mobile devices. In fact, for some companies, the introduction of a new player on the smartphone field is old hat.

Access Intelligence’s Paciorek says, "We went through this with Windows Mobile devices until secure push e-mail was made available last year."

He advises IT departments to get ready for the inevitable call to arms to make iPhones accessible in the workplace. "Make sure you do your research about what it can and can’t do, and ask yourself some important questions. Like: Do the carrier-specific contracts mean anything to you? Will it work with your e-mail platform and security level? Will the lack of a real keypad be difficult for any of your users? Are there features that are available with other devices that aren’t available with the iPhone (syncing Outlook notes, for example)?"

According to Paciorek, the biggest challenge will be from employees bringing their personal iPhones to work. "We worry about bandwidth so we certainly don’t want users recklessly downloading music or videos over our network. That includes downloading to their local machine before syncing to their iPhone as well as downloading directly over our wireless network to their iPhone. We can place controls on both, but it just means another thing we have to monitor."

The biggest headache for Paciorek, however, isn’t what happens when employees have their phones with them-it’s when they don’t. ’We worry about security," he says. "Our BlackBerrys are managed directly by our BlackBerry Enterprise Server so if one of those gets lost or stolen, we can remotely wipe the device and not worry about losing company data. With the iPhones, that’s not possible. If a person is using it as a business PDA and has any kind of data-whether personal or business related-we have no control over it if it’s lost."

Paciorek says the best defense against these sorts of issues with iPhones is, of course, a good offense. "Make it clear to users what they can and can’t do before they even consider the iPhone purchase. This way the users will have the proper expectations before they bring it to the office. At our company, we’ve let everyone know as soon as there is a secure way to push our e-mail to the iPhone and as soon as features like remote wipe are made available, we will support it. Until then, we won’t."

Fortunately, there’s good news for Paciorek and other CIOs making plans to integrate iPhones into the workplace; these are the very issues that will be addressed in the upcoming release of the iPhone software 2.0, currently in beta.

Access Intelligence’s hard line against the use of iPhones in the workplace isn’t meant as a commentary on the value of the device in general but rather what the company perceives as its potential limitations. Once those issues are addressed, the company plans to support the phones. "We’re not trying to single them out because we’re anti-Apple.... The iPhone is a great consumer device that may be a great business device someday."

How iPhone kills conversation


When she whipped out her iPhone, Erica Sadum could feel her husband's eyes roll. But she had a point to prove. In less than a minute, she was able to report to the skeptics around the dinner table that Menno Simons, whose followers are known as Mennonites, was in fact born in 1496.

Apple Inc.'s iPhone, which went on sale nine months ago, isn't the only so-called smart phone that provides itinerant access to the Web. But its wide screen and top-quality browser make it easy to use and read, which means it can in seconds change a lighthearted conversation into the Pursuit of Truth.

"It's turned me from a really annoying know-it-all into an incredibly annoying know-it-all, with the Internet to back me up," said Sadum, a technology writer in Denver. "It's not a social advantage."

New technology always brings new habits with it, some of them unpopular. The mobile handset took phone calls into the streets, and the BlackBerry created a generation of thumb-typing e-mail addicts. Some smart phones hook their owners up to facts and figures that ordinary people pull off the Internet with a proper computer.

As University of Southern California student and iPhoner Cliff Smith put it, "I have the ability to clear up any confusion."

Fewer than 1 percent of the 219 million cell phones in the United States are iPhones, according to M:Metrics. (One possible reason: An iPhone costs about $400.) That hasn't been enough to trigger a broader boom of Internet browsing on hand-held gadgets. The percentage of U.S. mobile phone users surfing the Internet over the past year has stayed flat at 13 percent, M:Metrics found.

Internet companies, though, report that they have been getting more traffic from mobile devices, much of it from outside the United States. And the companies have noticed that iPhoners use their handsets differently from other owners of mobile phones. They search the Internet more, particularly for movies, restaurants and news, according to market researchers, and they watch more videos on YouTube and do more online banking.

Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are betting that mobile services and advertising will be the next big business opportunity. For example, the Yahoo Go service for Internet-connected cell phones (not yet available for the iPhone) showcases a program called PriceCheck. It allows people to check prices at a number of stores by entering a product's bar code number.

"Maybe you will remember to do price comparisons for flat-screen TVs online before you head out the door to a store like Best Buy, but maybe not," said Steve Boom, a Yahoo senior vice president. "Your need for that kind of information is immediate."

Wil Shipley, a Seattle software developer, uses his iPhone at the Whole Foods fish counter to check Web sites for updates on which seafood is the most environmentally correct to purchase. He quizzes the staff on where and how a fish was caught. Because he carries the Internet with him, "I can be super-picky," he said.

The clerks who work the fish counter don't mind. "He's confirming on the Internet things that I am saying," said Whole Foods' Ken Shugarts.

That's nice, but as Sadum warned, you should pick your iPhone moments carefully. "The second you go into the pocket for the iPhone, you have disconnected yourself from the conversation," she said. "No one has the patience."

Nora Wells certainly doesn't. When she's with iPhone-toting friends and a question comes up, she braces herself, as she did recently when it was suggested that they go out for beers "stat." Inevitably, someone wanted the exact definition.

"The iPhone even gave us the Latin," said Wells, a radio traffic reporter who learned that stat is an abbreviation of statim, "immediately," often used in the medical field. "We probably could have been having our beer in the amount of time it took to look it up."

The proud owner of a Motorola Razr cell phone (from which she can forward text messages - something she happily noted was beyond the iPhone's capabilities), Wells worries that iPhoneism might overtake even her.

"I feel so pressured to get one," the 27-year-old resident of Venice, Calif., said. "People expect it from me. It's the hip, young, fun thing to do."

Or not. Backstage recently in a Little Rock, Ark., theater, actress Natalie Canerday said the cast of a play was enjoying debating the year Bruce Springsteen's album Born to Run was released. Then the director took out his iPhone. All conversation stopped as he sought the answer: 1975, according to Wikipedia.

"Everyone said, 'Oh,'" Canerday recalled. It was another awkward iPhone moment.

Daniel Bernstein had one when he arranged to meet friends at a bowling alley in Daly City, Calif., near San Francisco. The lanes were booked. Bernstein used his iPhone to locate another bowling alley 10 miles away, find out how long the wait for a lane was and got driving directions.

Bernstein, director of business development at an Internet company, said his friends seemed more irked than appreciative.

Microsoft Mulls Building iPhone Apps


Microsoft recently told Fortune magazine that it is looking at developing software for the iPhone.

It was only inevitable that Microsoft would be trying to cash in on the popularity of the iPhone, especially after the release of the iPhone SDK. The iPhone SDK gives Microsoft the opportunity to jump on the millions of people using the iPhone without having to work with Apple, at least directly. The SDK gives Microsoft the ability to produce suites of Office and other applications for the iPhone.

Don't sign the paperwork, yet. Microsoft's team of Mac developers has only been looking at the iPhone SDK for a week or so now and deciding whether or not the opportunity exists to produce applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Microsoft isn't a stranger to this area. The Mac Business Unit is a team of Microsoft developers that works on producing Microsoft applications, like Office, for the Mac operating system. Another group at Microsoft interested in the iPhone is from the voice recognition unit at Microsoft featuring the TellMe software that Microsoft recently acquired. TellMe is currently developing voice recognition software for the Windows Mobile operating system, but the iPhone SDK gives plenty of potential for the iPhone route as well.

I'm not an industry analysis, but I'd put money on seeing the Office suite available on the iPhone in the future.

[Thanks: http://blogs.pcworld.com]

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

DowntownRaleigh for iPhone


DowntownRaleigh.com is a website that bridges the gap between the marketing needs of businesses and the people who want to know more about activities, nightlife and culture in the city of Raleigh, NC.

It’s an information-rich website, which offers an email newsletter about upcoming events, printing and distributing free map guides of restaurants and shopping, and sponsoring and supporting a wide range of social and cultural activities.

And now all of the information which was available for PC users has been made accessible for the iPhone users as well. So whether you live in the city or just visiting, this is a great website to find out about the latest happenings in downtown.

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“The mobile version is all about presenting what is appropriate to the user’s circumstance in a style that is clear and easy-to-use,” remarks Penkowski, Executive Creative Director at DowntownRaleigh.com’s design agency Ulanguzi Creative Strategies. “In that way, it complements the website, just like the email newsletter and printed map guides.”

Samsung Anycall Haptic - something for next generation of iPhones to learn from?


Samsung has introduced a new phone called “Anycall Haptic”. It features 3.2-inch touch screen, internet browser, TV reception, 2 megapixel camera and Bluetooth 2.0.

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However, what sets it apart from other mobile phones, and even iPhone, is that the phone provides haptic feedback to the user input on the screen. Essentially, it means that phone simulates sounds and feel of the “clicks” like on your regular phone. There are 22 kinds of vibration in total built into the phone.

The device also features an interesting TouchWiz user interface.


It will cost between US$700 to $800 in South Korea. Samsung has not revealed when the Anycall Haptic will be available in other regions.

But it certainly would’ve been nice to have something of that sort (and knowing Apple, even better designed) in one of the upcoming generations of the iPhone.

Thanks: MacWorld