Apple

There were quite a few updates for iPhone 3.0 which is amazing. I didn’t expect such a significant update because after all, this is Apple. So, let’s see what is coming to our iPhones “this summer:”

+Peer-to-peer connectivity over Bluetooth for gaming and other uses
+Paid apps will have the potential to be subscription fee-based, and can include optional paid content that can be bought from right inside the app. An in-store if you will
+Developers can now build apps for turn-by-turn
+Developers can connect with hardware accessories over in their apps now, such as a blood pressure monitor and the other demoes that they talked about. Its neat
+Push functionality at last!!
+Developers can add streaming video and audio to their apps via push
+Cut, copy and paste. At last! Implementation of this is brilliant.
+MMS, at last!
+A2DP stereo Bluetooth, which some people really wanted as well
+Spotlight has been added to a new home screen page to the left of existing pages, allowing for universal search on the phone.
+A new app called Voice Memos which lets you record notes and reminders.
+Landscape keyboard… more...

I was able follow the live event, and although there were some boring parts of the demo, Apple have seemed to cover every feature we wanted plus some.

Stay tuned for a full detailed list and an expected date…

What would you like to see for the future iPhone update? Copy/Paste; Sure. MMS messaging; Of course. Push Notification; Definitely!

Out of those most wanted features, I have been truly waiting for push notification. Of course the others are much needed but for some reason I am really looking forward to push.

According to Appleinsider, one of the features has the possibility of showing up with Apple’s recently announced event planned for March 17th.

Earlier today, Apple issued a press event announcement that promises to offer a “sneak peek” at iPhone OS 3.0. It’ll go down at 10am Pacific on March 17th in Apple’s Town Hall building in Cupertino.

By sneak peak, I assume we won’t have any goodies to put on our iPhone on that date, but at least we can see where Apple is going with the next software release.

My question is, who will host this event?

Gizmodo posted a concept of the next iPhone, and I must say, it looks heavenly.

According to Macrumors, the next version of the iPhone could come by June, however, I don’t think it will look quite like this, but it is nice to dream.

Specs for this phone include:

-Titanium and Glass
- OLED screen
- 3G
- GPS
- Front camera for iChat
- Removable battery
- 3.2 Megapixel camera
- Video
- 32 GB

Apple has released a 2.2.1 update for the iPhone today. The update improves the following:

-Miscellaneous bug fixes
-Improved general stability of Safari
-Fixed issue where some images saved from Mail do not display correctly in the Camera Roll (Thank god, that was annoying)

If you discover anything else, please let us know!

Apple released the results of the most recent quarter (through DEcember of ‘08) yesterday but the thing iPhone folks want to know is how did the iPhone do? The iPhones sales were down by almost 40% from the previous blow out quarter (that quarter featured the introduction of the iPhone 3 G) but up 80% year over year. All that means that Apple moved 4.3 million iPhones. Couple that with the the previous quarters and you realize that Apple has sold about 17 million iPhones thus far. Mix in the number of apps downloaded so far (500 million) and you can conclude that the average iPhone owner has downloaded around 30 applications.

There was more than just the numbers reported. Apple ruled out a cheap phone (but not a nano). So if you wanted a very basic iPhone from Apple you can forget it. Those who just want an Apple phone that dials will have to put electrical tape over all the icons except the phone icon. There was more to the conference call when it came to competitors. When queried about competitors and Palm in particular Tim Cook… more...

If you’re an iPhone developer EFF wants your help. No they don’t need help moving a couch or anything, they’re looking for developers to back their proposal to make jailbreaking the iPhone exempt from the DCMA (Digital Copyright Millennium Act). Specifically EFF is requesting that the copyright office grant a three year exemption on bypassing the software that prevents people from installing non Apple approved programs on the iPhone.

At this point you’re thinking that it doesn’t matter wither way and people jailbreak their iPhones all the time without repercussion. That much is true but Apple could, at some point, argue that the jailbreakers are in fact lawbreakers because they bypassed software installed on the iPhone. The reasoning behind the DCMA is all about piracy prevention but the iPhone is a pretty closed system, you’re not going to be running iPhone apps on anything but your iPhone and iPod touch.

Hence, the lock on third party applications looks to many more like a cash grab and control ploy by Apple than a legitimate method of preventing piracy. If you’re a developer and you feel similarly to EFF share your thoughts… more...

A new patent application from Apple has been published by the US Patent and Trademark Office showing that they are considering linking the functionality between the Maps, GPS, and Calendar apps on the iPhone.

One cool feature that the patent mentions is the ability to trigger alarms to tell someone they’re going to be late based on how long it will take to reach a destination. These alarms could then be linked to send messages to either confirm an appointment or notify someone that the iPhone’s owner will be late to the meeting. Pretty cool, eh?

In addition, the technology would let users view an address associated with a calendar event in the Maps app. Other uses include using the map to mark a rout between several events on the same day, including travel time estimates.

Of course, don’t get too excited. It’s just an idea for now.

Via: MacNN

iPhonematters has taken a quick glance at what the iPhone at Wal Mart might mean before. But when we took a look at it firm conclusions were hard to reach. did the iPod start selling even more crazily because it was at Wal Mart or was the iPod at Wal Mart because it was selling like crazy? Reaching a firm conclusion either way is difficult. Doesn’t mean Wal Mart isn’t excited to have the iPhone though, check out this screen shot:

Just because iPhonematters can’t quite decide if the Wal Mart made the iPod ubiquitous or if Wal Mart just wanted to get in on the inevitable ubiquity doesn’t mean other folks can’t reach a conclusion. Don Reisenger at CNet is certain that the iPhone at Wal Mart is the move that will take the iPhone clean over the top, ensuring domination of all competitors. Is Don right?… more...

As I lay in bed this morning in my darkened room, the curtains drawn still, and catching up on the world using my iPhone, I was reading yet another amusing article on iPhone Matters by Chris Seibold when my iPhone’s screen suddenly got a lot a brighter.

CooI, I should be saying, or so you’d expect. Coz that means the auto brightness must be working. Dark room, screen gets brighter.

Wrong though. It proved what I’ve long suspected - it’s back to front. Whoever coded the auto-brightness was thinking of backlit keyboards where you do want extra light in a dark room.

However, for screens, we want them less bright in dark rooms, and more bright in sunshine. You ever tried reading your iPhone in full sun? Did you find you needed to go and max out the brightness?Likewise have you found yourself dimming the screen when it’s dark?

It appears someone at Apple screwed up over this one and nobody has noticed.

Hopefully it’s a simple fix that can be addressed with the next update.