iPhone News Updated

The country's largest grassroots medical marijuana advocacy group, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), launched a first-of-its-kind, free iPhone application today that will provide a vast array of tools for people new to the issue as well as for seasoned activists. ASA teamed up with iWeeds -- an application company that serves the medical marijuana community -- in order to make it easier for advocates to get educated and take political action. The ASA Advocate App gives users access to all of the organization's projects and programs.

"The ASA Advocate App is another way to empower grassroots action that is bringing change on medical marijuana policies to every corner of the country," said ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer. "We have to be innovative if we want the widespread public support that exists for medical marijuana to translate into concrete results," continued Sherer. "The ASA Advocate App will help put greater pressure on all levels of government to adopt sensible medical marijuana policies."

Specifically, the ASA Advocacy App will provide immediate updates on rapidly changing local, state, and federal issues across the country to keep users on top of the latest in medical marijuana politics, science, law and community action. In addition to ASA news feeds, users will also have easy access to political action alerts, video advocacy trainings, and ASA's printed publications, such as newsletters, condition-based booklets, and legal manuals, all from their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch devices. The ASA Advocate App even guides users to businesses in their community that support the work of ASA.

The ASA Advocate App will also allow users to become members of the organization's 50,000-strong grassroots network. And, because of the heightened concern over federal interference in medical marijuana states, the ASA Advocate App connects users to a legal hotline and enables them to sign up for raid alerts and activist phone trees. The ASA Advocate App is currently only accessible from Apple devices, but will be expanded to Android and other application markets over the next few months.

Since 2002, ASA has been educating patients, doctors, lawyers, scientists, key decision-makers, and the general public on issues concerning medical marijuana. The organization has also used lobbying and litigation over the years to help achieve the goals of protecting and expanding the rights of medical marijuana patients across the U.S.

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

It appears one of our sources caught this blunder by Tiny Code, on their website (as you can see below), that described an alpha of firmware 1.1.4 being worked on. Soon after, the site went offline, and it then redirected to Apple.

Here is an excerpt that existed on the site: “Tiny Code no longer produces fixes or applications for firmware 1.1.3.
We can’t say much, but we are working with Apple and with their SDK for the next firmware release and SDK applications and we shouldn’t be missed for long. We will no longer update our Installer.app repo for legality reasons and you should see us soon on iTunes.”

Normally this kind of info would be under an NDA (Non-discosure Agreement), which, as our other source says, is probably a reason why the site doesn’t exist anymore. In the end, it’s quite possible that 1.1.4 will be released along with the SDK, if Apple is having outside help on its firmware.

Thanks: Macenstein (Picture included) , iTWire

Written by Arnold Kim

Apple announced Aperture 2, the next major release of its photo editing and management software. The new version contains over 100 new features with a streamlined user interface and entirely new image processing engine. Aperture 2 also introduces new imaging tools for highlight recovery, color vibrancy, local contrast definition, soft-edged retouching, vignetting and RAW fine-tuning, and lets users directly post their portfolios on the .Mac Web Gallery for viewing on the web, iPhone, iPod touch and Apple TV.

“Many of the most respected photographers on assignment all over the world trust Aperture to organize, edit and deliver their images,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing. “With its simpler interface and lower price, anyone can take full advantage of Aperture’s power.”

Aperture is now priced at $199 and available immediately through the online Apple Store. More detiails at apple.com/aperture.

A free trial download is now available. Recent purchasers of Aperture 1.5 (Jan 1-Mar 14, 2008) can upgrade for $9.95.

9to5Mac believes that the iPhone and iPod touch will be seeing $100 price drops in the next two months, simultaneously discontinuing the low capacity models.

Their belief is that the 8GB Touch and 8GB iPhone will be discontinued, leaving a 16GB iPhone at $399, 16GB Touch at $299, and 32GB Touch at $399.

The move would be reminiscent of the $200 iPhone price drop and discontinuation of the 4GB iPhone that took place in September, 2007. The surprise iPhone price drop -- only 3 months after the introduction of the iPhone -- caused an outcry amongst early adopters. The outcry was so great, that Steve Jobs posted an open letter to explain the decision and gave existing iPhone owners a $100 Apple store credit.

Based on this experience, it seems Apple would be reluctant to make a similar move when they could have easily timed the price drop to coincide with iPhone/Touch updates last week. This being said, the iPhone is still expected to receive further updates this year with the introduction of a 3G model in 2008. It's possible that any future price drops could correlate with the introduction of the 3G iPhone. AT&T has already committed to expand their 3G network to more U.S. cities in 2008.

While 9to5mac had an excellent early rumor record, their record has not been perfect, with their recent claims of 5 million iPhones sold by Macworld failing to come true.

George Hotz remembers taking apart his first computer, an Apple II, when he was 4 or 5 years old.

He cracked open an answering machine, remote control, vacuum cleaner and more computers. He scavenged for more products to tinker with on trash night in his neighborhood.

Now the 17-year-old from Glen Rock, N.J., has reached the big leagues of hacking. He says he has "unlocked" the iPhone, finding a way to get around the device's restrictions and allow it to be used not only on AT&T's cell phone network but also on T-Mobile's network and overseas.

"I'm talking to you on it right now," Hotz said during an interview with The Chronicle on Friday as he traveled from an appearance on CNBC to an interview with Fox.

The feat comes two months after the highly publicized debut of the iPhone. Combining a digital media player, a camera, the Internet and a cell phone in one gadget, the iPhone represents Apple Inc.'s first foray into the mobile phone business. One of the most anticipated gadgets of the year, it's expected to transform the industry much as the iPod and iTunes helped change the digital media market. The Cupertino technology company said it plans to sell 1 million iPhones by the end of September.

Until now, however, the iPhone has come with a catch. Because of a revenue-sharing agreement between Apple and AT&T, the iPhone operates only on AT&T's network and requires a two-year subscription.

Hackers have spent the better part of the summer tackling that challenge. Hotz said it took him nearly 500 hours - about eight hours a day - to figure out how to make calls on his iPhone through T-Mobile. "It wasn't to be rich," Hotz said. "I wanted to use it with T-Mobile."

Holz published step-by-step directions on his blog at iphonejtag.blogspot.com. Another group, known as iPhoneSimFree.com, said on its site that it also had found a way to get around Apple's locks and connect to T-Mobile. It offered proof to Engadget, a popular technology blog, which published a video demonstration, and said it plans to sell the software. In general, scores of hackers have been working on a way to make the iPhone compatible with other services since the phone debuted.

AT&T and Apple officials declined to comment. But it's highly doubtful Apple will let the hacking continue.

"Hackers are going to have to stay one step ahead," said Raven Zachary, an analyst with the 451 Group research firm and the co-founder of the iPhone Developers Camp, which brought software developers together last month to brainstorm programs for the iPhone. "Each time Apple hardens the operating system to minimize unlocking, it's going to get more difficult for the hacker community to find a workaround to unlock the iPhone."

Since Apple and AT&T began selling the iPhone on June 29, hard-core fans have made Herculean attempts to the bend the iPhone to their will.

For security reasons, Apple allows developers to design programs for the iPhone only through the Web and not directly to the phone. That hasn't stopped programmers from trying. One group, for instance, created a way to video conference on the iPhone, said Damien Stolarz, co-author of the forthcoming book "iPhone Hacks."

Hotz, who is driving with his parents to the Rochester Institute of Technology today to start his college career, had planned to spend the summer replacing the clutch on his green Mitsubishi and building a hot air balloon with his friends.

The car remains in pieces in the backyard. And though he bought some fabric, he abandoned the hot air balloon project to focus on the iPhone. Staying up by drinking vast amounts of Red Bull, Mountain Dew and other drinks, he purposely destroyed one iPhone to figure out how the pieces operated. Keeping one iPhone, he is selling another unlocked iPhone on eBay.

His parents occasionally worried he was spending so much time on the iPhone.

"We're proud of him. He worked all summer on it, so we're glad it was fruitful," said Hotz's father, also named George Hotz and a high school technology coordinator. "There are worse things teenage kids could be doing."

Amazon announced today that they would be rolling out their Amazon MP3 store internationally in 2008.

"We have received thousands of e-mails from Amazon customers around the world asking us when we will make Amazon MP3 available outside of the U.S. They can't wait to choose from the biggest selection of high-quality, low-priced DRM-free MP3 music downloads which play on virtually any music device they own today or will own in the future," said Bill Carr, Amazon.com Vice President of Digital Music. "We are excited to tell those customers today that Amazon MP3 is going international this year."

Amazon's MP3 store is presently the largest Digital Rights Management (DRM) Free selection of downloadable songs available for sale online. As of January, Amazon had managed to sign on all the major record labels to their service and will be launching a billion song giveaway during the Superbowl.

MP3s downloaded from the Amazon store are compatible with Apple's iTunes software as well as their iPods and iPhones. Amazon offers a list of bestsellers including a number of freely downloadable MP3 tracks. (U.S. Only at Present)

Written by Arnold Kim

DealExtreme sells a 6x Optical Zoom lens for your iPhone's camera.

As noted by Mobilewhack, the attachment costs $15 and doubles the weight of your iPhone.

iPhone Atlas claims that while the jailbreak method for 1.1.3 has reached a state that is suitable for end users, the developers of the jailbreak are still debating whether or not to release it ahead of Apple's official SDK release.

There appears to be some limitations to the 1.1.3 jailbreak, with applications running in "restricted user mode" meaning that the popular Installer application will not run properly in its current form.

Reuters reports that Apple is in talks with Thailand's Advanced Info Service about selling the iPhone in Thailand.

"We are negotiating on details, including a revenue sharing standard. Apple needs a local operator to promote iPhone," Prattana Leelapanang, assistant vice president for AIS's wireless business marketing, told Reuters.

The news comes after reports of Apple and China Mobile terminating talks over revenue sharing terms.

As rumored, AT&T launched business plans for the iPhone today.

To use iPhone as a business customer, you’ll need to sign up for a 2-year service agreement or a renewed 2-year service agreement if you’re an existing AT&T wireless customer.

$45/mo. 200 SMS. Unlimited Data. Visual Voicemail
$55/mo. 1500 SMS. Unlimited Data. Visual Voicemail
$65/mo. Unlimited SMS. Unlimited Data. Visual Voicemail

For international travelers, there are Data Global Add-Ons for the iPhone that can be purchased in addition.

$24.99/mo. 20MB Data Global Plan.
$59.99/mo. 50MB Data Global Plan.

There's something kind of odd going on here that elevates this one beyond your garden variety KIRF, and into the hall of fame of ill-advised fakery. What we have here is a pocket-sized scale, with a cover that makes it look exactly like an iPhone -- until you look a bit closer and see that somebody did a rework of the interface in MS Paint. The mind boggles! The American Weigh CP3-500 is only $52 in case you're interested in exploring this mystery further, we're getting out while we're ahead.

As far as novelty news goes, Apple tea leaf reading and rumor speculation seems fairly fruitless (no pun intended). Oh sure, just about everyone entertains the indulgence, even if it's only a debunk, but you can always count on a seemingly endless torrent of unnamed sources dishing the latest leaks leading up to Macworld (and any big Apple event). We were almost afraid to look, but we went ahead and compiled a report card for this year's predictions. Warning: it ain't pretty.

Please note, all rumors listed originate from sources at or close to Apple, feeding info to publications. This doesn't include sites or posts digging up evidential information, like the MacBook Air domain name stuff.

AppleInsider - MacBook ultraportable to have external optical drive: correct! Still, this was pretty clear, almost no ultraportables have optical drives. Being that there was no mention made of Remote Disc, we're gonna give this a half point.
AppleInsider (twice - our take both times) - MacBook ultraportable to have 13-inch LED-backlit display, internal NAND flash, SSD option: right, wrong, and right again (half point!).
Bloomberg (our take) - iPhone comes to Canada: nope.
Bloomberg (our take) - Warner Bros, Fox, Disney, Paramount and Lionsgate to rent on iTunes: nailed it!
Boy Genius Report (our take) - Jay Z and Apple found record label: not yet. (But who knows, it might be announced later!)
Boy Genius Report - Ultraportable absolutely definitely launching: correct!
BusinessWeek - Major Apple TV update planned (including a possible tuner), but Jobs can't get Universal and Sony to sign on for rentals: eh, vaguely right about the ATV update, but otherwise basically wrong.
Financial Times (our take) - Fox signed to movie rentals, and will also distribute pre-ripped iTunes movies on discs: totally correct!
Gizmodo - Macworld "will be bigger than usual" with "overloaded" keynote and tons of new product revisions: nope.
Macrumors (our take) - Lots of laptop upgrades, one with multi-touch trackpad: correct (kind of). There obviously weren't multiple notebook revisions, but the trackpad was dead on.
Macrumors forums (our take) - "Leaked" keynote #1: total fabrication.
Macrumors forums (our take) - MacBook ultraportable endowed with super-wide trackpad: so very wrong.
New York Times (our take) - Apple got more than just Fox to sign on for rentals: true. Half point, though, for lack of any specifics despite "multiple sources."
Variety (our take) - 24 hour rentals: correct!
Void Inside (our take) - "Leaked" keynote #2: also a total fabrication.
Wired - Details and description of the ultraportable: (mostly) wrong. Described as: thin, tapered profile with "aluminum and glass". Close! But we all knew it'd be thin and aluminum -- the multi-touch capable iMac-esque glass display gives this one away.