Archive for the ‘iPhone News’ Category

We’ve talked about Multifl0w before, one the first jailbreak apps to give a multitasking UI to the iPhone. At the time, I wasn’t really a fan because I thought that ProSwitcher was a much better application. Things have changed a lot since then. Apple developed their own multitasking feature, and ProSwitcher was left for dead by its developer who recently said he will not update it. Read More

"Multifl0w Brings Awesome Multitasking to the iPhone" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Those of you who own an iPhone 3G or an iPod Touch 2G (non-MC model) can jailbreak/unlock iOS 4.0.2. To jailbreak your iPhone 3G 4.0.2, you will have to use RedSn0w 0.9.5b5-5.

How to Jailbreak iPhone 3G iOS 4.0.2

Step 1: Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed (iTunes 9.2).

Step 2: Download iOS 4 (not iOS 4.0.2) for iPhone 3G to your desktop from our iPhone downloads section.

Step 3: Update your iPhone to iOS 4.0.2 via iTunes.

Step 4: Download the latest version of RedSn0w from here.

Step 5: Point RedSn0w to the iOS 4 (not 4.0.2) you downloaded in step 2.

Step 6: Select “Install Cydia”.

Step 7: Follow the onscreen instructions.

Step 8: Let RedSn0w do the hard work for you. Once jailbroken, your iPhone will reboot.

How to Unlock iPhone 3G iOS 4.0.2

Since iOS 4.0.2 didn’t update the iPhone baseband, you can still use UltraSn0w to unlock your iPhone.

Step 1: Jailbreak your iPhone using the method described above.

Step 2: Go to Cydia and search for UltraSn0w. If it’s not there, you might have to add the following repo: repo666.ultrasn0w.com

Step 3: Install UltraSn0w.

Step 4: Reboot your iPhone.

Tell us how it goes for you by leaving a comment below.

[Thanks Bruce for the tip]

"Jailbreak & Unlock iOS 4.0.2 on iPhone 3G" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

The iPhone 4 antenna issue claimed another victim, and a big one! Apple’s Senior Vice President of iPhone Hardware Engineering Mark Papermaster isn’t on the payroll anymore. The NY Times article that broke the story doesn’t know if he was fired or if he resigned.

However, according to John Gruber, Papermaster did get fired over the antennagate:

From what I’ve heard, it’s clear he was canned. Papermaster was a conspicuous absence at the Antennagate press conference. Inside Apple, he’s “the guy responsible for the antenna” — that’s a quote from a source back on July 23. (Another quote from the same source: “Apparently the antenna guys used to have a big chip on their shoulder. No more.”)

I’m a bit confused here. According to Apple, there is no antenna problem with the iPhone 4, so why did Mark Papermaster got ousted? Sarcasm apart, someone had to take the heat for this.

"Apple Exec Gets Canned After iPhone 4 Antenna Issue" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

FaceTime accounts are currently tied to iPhone 4 phone numbers but new reports on iOS 4.1 beta 3 show the option to initiate a FaceTime video call via email address as well.

We’ve already seen rumors that FaceTime would be tied into Apple or iTunes IDs, and if Apple does indeed plan to roll out the service to future iPod touch and iPad devices with front-facing cameras but without phone numbers, it’s a logical and necessary step.

Why Apple didn’t use email as the basis for iPhone 4 FaceTime to start with is anyone’s guess but the idea of an Apple supported VoIP system for both video and audio (hit the home button to exit the video but keep the call going), that’s standards based and released as an open standard, is certainly interesting. If every iPod touch 4 and iPad 2 supports it, and other apps and devices running Android, webOS, etc. pick it up, it could be even more interesting.

Until/unless it supports SkypeIn/SkypeOut-like ability to call people on regular old phones it won’t be a threat to traditional telephony, but it could be a strong contender to the future.

I’m already using FaceTime whenever possible. I’d like to use it more. Opening it up to connections based on email is the first step.

Hopefully we’ll learn more at Apple’s traditional fall iPod and iTunes event, where iOS 4.1 is widely expected to debut.

[MacRumors]

iOS 4.1 beta 3 features: FaceTime connections via Email is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple has added a Genius tab to the iPad version of the App Store. Tap the tab, agree to the terms of service, and Apple will upload an (anonymized) list of all your apps and games, compare them to lists of millions of other (also anonymized) users, and recommend other apps and games you may be interested in.

So if the what’s new and what’s hot sections just don’t strike your fancy, if the top selling, grossing, and free stuff has lost its charm, if the categories are just impossible to sort through, give the Genius tab a try.

Then come back here and let me know just how smart the newly enabled iPad Genius was for you.

(My results so far: it recommended Fruit Ninja based on Angry Birds, Tetris based on Flight Control, iTeleport based on Brushes, Osfooha based on Twitterrific — which is interesting because I already own all of those I just don’t have them installed currently).

[Thanks @ltaylor5311]

App Store Genius now serving up iPad recommendations is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Well, I told you WebIS moves fast in my review last week. Pocket Informant version 1.52 had already been submitted to the App Store by the time I finished, and it hit the App Store this afternoon. Here is a list of notable features included in this update:

1. New Appearance Settings for Today, Overdue, and Priority Colors.
2. Added ability to tap/hold any location in Map to set a location.
3. Improved iOS4 features such as Context Location Notifications, Local Alarms.
4. Improved reliability throughout.
5. Improved sync reliability.
6. Continued support of iOS 3.13

(...)
Read the rest of Pocket Informant 1.52 hits the App Store

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Post tags: 1.52, app store, App update, Apple, iPhone, Iphone app, iphone apps, Pocket Informant, Pocket Informant 1.52, Pocket Informant for iPhone, Pocket Informant Review, WebIS

Apple generally holds an iPod and iTunes event, where they announce the new iPod family, every September. However, the rumors are pointing towards a mid-August event this year instead.

The MacMagazine today received information from a reliable source within Apple about a new event to the press that the company was planning to soon. Although the schedule cite the source as somewhere around 14 and 16, we bet our chips on a Monday or Tuesday – that is, 16 or August 17.

We’ve already seen evidence of a new iPod touch with a front facing camera for FaceTime and a new rear camera with flash. In addition to these expectations, the source claims that Apple will deliver information about iOS 4 for the iPad as well as release iLife ‘11.

Apple has never discussed iLife during their fall iPod event, so why would they this year? Perhaps they will introduce a new music application to the suite that integrates with the iPod and iOS 4.

What do you think? Will we actually see an event in just a matter of weeks and what will be discussed? Sound off in the comments below!

[MacRumors]

Apple to host iPod, iTunes, iOS 4 event in August? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple recently introduced a new category in the App Store called “Try Before You Buy”. This category brings together the free or “lite” versions of popular iPhone applications. If this is a move to put an end to app piracy, then it’s a big fail!

As a point of comparison, the Android Market let’s you use the full version of an app for 24 hours. If you don’t like the app, you just get your money back. I don’t understand why Apple doesn’t implement such a policy in the Apple Store.

Personally, I want to try the full app, not a watered down version of it. While Apple made a step in the right direction, I think it’s still not enough.

What do you think?

"Apple Introduces “Try Before You Buy” Section in the App Store" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

YouTube Link

Birdbrain for iPhone [iTunes Link] is an app that aggregates your Twitter statistics such as followers, following, blocked, and several other variables into one app.  It also shows you differences in how many followers you’ve gained or lost.  You can also see the specific people that have started following you or stopped following you.  Clicking on a user will also allow you to view certain statistics about that user.

If you’re someone who likes to keep track of your statistics on Twitter, Birdbrain could prove to be very useful to you. I could see this app being helpful for companies who want to use Twitter as a marketing tool and track trends. On the same token, I could also see it causing problems where people now have a way of knowing exactly what users have stopped following them (let the Twitter fights commence).

When you open the app for the first time, it’ll grab initial info from Twitter. So at first, you can’t see past information such as the last 7 days or last 24 hours. When you open the app in the future, it will begin to congregate past statistics and show you the differences.

The overall layout of the app is pretty slick. It’s incredibly easy to figure out and very user friendly. One thing I wasn’t sure of was how the app loaded your statistics. I wasn’t sure what happens if you don’t open the app for a week or so? Are the 24 hour statistics still accurate or what is it loading it from? That’s what had me a little confused. It definitely doesn’t load your statistics in the background.

I could also see some users wanting push notifications. Getting push notifications for when users follow or unfollow you would be a nice added feature but that would require Birdbrain to poll the Twitter servers quite often in order to aggregate and push the information. I could see that being a little overkill. Personally, I wouldn’t really care to see notifications of when someone stopped following me, but I wouldn’t mind having notifications for when someone starts following me. Then I’d disable the emails Twitter sends me.  There’s also a mentions tab within the app, which will congregate all your mentions and keep a running total of how many times you’ve been mentioned on Twitter.

Overall, it’s a decent app that does what it says it will. If you’ve been looking for a way to monitor your Twitter statistics more closely, this app could be what you’ve been looking for.

Pros

• Nice interface

• Shows a nice amount of statistics

• Seems to be really accurate

Cons

• Push notifications would be a nice addition

• Takes a few days to start aggregating information

Birdbrain for iPhone – App Review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

The winners of the iVogue cases giveaway are:

• Kevin Floria
• Gabby Minch
• Timothy Polumbo
• Patrick Ferree
• Tony Gilmore
• Desire Cardiello Mellano
• Nicholas Dimichino
• Ron Levine
• Paul Jurado
• Andre Manzyuk

Winners should watch their Facebook inbox as I will send them emails soon. Don’t forget to email me back your address!

Thanks everyone for playing. If you didn’t win, try again next time. We’re going to have more and more of these giveaways.

I also want to check iVogue for giving us 10 cases. Check their website. They have some great stuff over there.

"Winners of the iVogue Cases" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

     

Another super cool wallpaper for the iPhone via the excellent Poolga.com site. This one is called Call of the Wild, and is by Brock Davis.

(...)
Read the rest of Featured iPhone Wallpaper: Call of the Wild

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© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2010. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Poolga.com, wallpapers for iPhone

chpwn isn’t just the developer of InfiniBoard, InfiniDock, and InfiniFolder — he’s also a dispenser of sage Cydiatic advice.

One of the most annoying things about perusing Cydia for apps is scrolling past the 10 billion themes, ringtones, and wallpapers, and, before yesterday, I had no idea anything could be done about them. Then I saw one of chpwn’s tweets, which suggested that users head to the Sections tab and tap on the Edit button to selectively hide all of the things you don’t want to see. I then proceeded to hide about 50 sections worth of crap and threw an impromptu five-second dance party where  I was standing.

I’m still waiting on chpwn’s tweet about how to hide similar crap in the App Store, though.

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© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2010. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Here is a screenshot of the newer, higher definition-ier version of Icebird ($3.99 – review here) for your updating pleasure. I still really like the app, but I’m afraid I haven’t used it in a while, because I’m just addicted to the Twitterriffic interface.

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© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2010. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iPhone Twitter client

I have three surprises for in this post, and it’s up to you to find them all.

Remember the Video Edit app I reviewed a while back? Well, it’s out now. Surprise!

It’s also a little cheaper than I had initially announced, since the developers decided to lower the price from $4.99 to $2.99. Surprise!

But wait, there’s more: for a limited time, you’ll be able to purchase the app for the sale price of $1.99. Temporary surprise!

Goodness, this excitement is making me dizzy.

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© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2010. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iphone video editing

The TiPb forums are naturally a great place to talk, commiserate, celebrate, get help, and offer advice to your fellow iPhone users. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is easy and free so if you haven’t already head on over and register now!

• Those of you who the the iPhone 4 probably have already ordered your free case and if so, have you received it yet?

• There is no question that the battery life on the iPhone 4 is superb. In the following thread post up a screen shot of the best battery stats you have obtained – iPhone 4 Battery Life: Post a usage screenshot.

• Do you use iPhone games on iPad? Chad can never decide which iOS device he wants to game on. He likes the bigger screen but he feels it takes longer for iPad versions to come out he’s not sure about buying the same game twice. How do you feel?

• Dieter, Mike, and the folks back at SPE HQ have given the forums, blog, and store an clean new look and feel. What do you think of it?

See you in the forums!

Free case from Apple, Battery life, Gaming on iPad vs iPhone,New TiPb Look – From the Forums is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple has begun filing patent applications for 1st party (i.e. Apple produced) iOS apps that include screen drawings of well known 3rd party (i.e. independently produced by developers for the App Store) apps.

Is Apple trying to steal the hard work and shatter the good will of App Store developers? Is Apple merely showing how App Store apps could hook into future Apple apps/hubs? Is it something in between?

Let’s take a look after the break…

[Venomous Porridge, Thanks Dev for the tip!]

Venomous Porridge originally posted the image up to and this commentary:

one of the diagrams in Apple’s patent application for a travel app is a direct copy, down to the text and the positions of the icons, of an existing third-party app that’s been available on the App Store for years.

I can’t see how this is even close to OK.

The image is chilling for developers, especially since it doesn’t appear like Apple contacted them to let them know they were using it, and doesn’t appear to really explain the context of the usage in the application. That Apple would use an exact rendering of an existing app, when they could easily make their own, far more defensible artwork, is curious. That they show it clearly labeled as “Where To?” is more than curious.

FutureTap, the makers of Where To? said they did not have any deals in place with Apple for the patent and posted the following:

We’re faced with a situation where we’ve to fear that our primary business partner is trying to “steal” our idea and design. So how to deal with that? — As some of you know, we’ve always been more than grateful for the platform Apple created. And, in fact, still are. However, we can’t ignore it if the #1 recognition value of our (currently) only app potentially is under fire.

This is where a lot of coverage has ended to date. A few excellent comments have kept it moving forward, however. Macro Arment of Tumblr and Instapaper added:

Is it possible that Where To is being intentionally and innocently used as an example of a related app as an inconsequential portion of the much larger and more complex patented concept that wouldn’t interfere with it?

Brian Ford adds:

The other clue that this isn’t about an underhanded attempt to patent the Where To app is that various pictures showing several completely unrelated app designs are all used to describe this same patent. None of the other drawings are consistent.

Venomous Porridge subsequently updated with a second post

I think it’s more likely that the people involved in drawing up this patent simply didn’t think about the message it would send to developers. I’m sure it’s not Apple’s practice (or intention) to plunder the App Store submissions bin for new things to patent. But there remains a conflict of interest in Apple acting as the sole steward of the iOS software universe while also filing patents in areas that have long been staked out by third-party developers. If those developers suddenly get cold feet toward submitting innovative apps for fear of their ideas suddenly appearing in Apple’s patent filings, it will be hard to blame them.

Which is pretty much how this reads. Apple is the giant in their forest and sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally they’ll step on the far, far smaller villagers who inhabit it. If enough villagers pick up torches and pitchforks and make enough noise, the Apple giant might pause, shrug, say “my bad” and be try to be more careful for a while, but it will always be the giant in their own forest.

It would behoove Apple none the less, especially since developer relations have been tense over the years, to try and create a preemptive strategy in terms of reaching out and assuaging developer fears. If they’re going to include Where To? or other app screens in their patents, create a process where that’s noted in draft and the developer is contacted and given context.

Ultimately it doesn’t look like Apple is being evil here, just inconsiderate.

Regarding Apple including 3rd party app screens in 1st party app patent filings is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

We Farm for iPad is a real-time farming game by ngmoco. If you’re familiar with We Rule, We Farm is very similar except that your are building a farm instead of kingdom.

As with most ngmoco games, you must have a plus+ account to play. If you don’t have one already, signing up is simple. When you first start playing We Farm, the game takes you through a little tutorial which is pretty helpful.

The goal of We Farm is to raise money and build your farm. You raise money by growing crops, raising animals, and receiving and placing orders with friends. Almost everything you do yields experience points. As you level, more items are available for purchase; higher level buildings will output more money. You will also be able to upgrade your farm as you level which gives you more space and gives you a nicer looking farmhouse. You can also turn on notifications to alert you when certain tasks are complete. However, they do not work for me. I’ve asked around and apparently I’m the only with this problem.

There are two currencies used in We Farm. The first is gold and is what you make doing various farm tasks and buying items. The other is Gro. This is used to instantly complete tasks like growing crops, building buildings, fulfilling an order, raising animals, and increasing your animals’ happiness. You earn Gro every time you level and is also available as an in-app purchase.

My biggest complaint of We Farm is animal raising. To make your animal happy, you have to periodically “pet” it. Each pet increases the animal’s happiness by 5%. The happier your animal is, the better chance he has of winning a prize at the fair. Once you win a prize, your pen/coop/pasture becomes available for your friends to place orders at. This means you make a lot more money from it. The problem is that if you have an animal that takes 2 hours to raise, you must come back every 6 minutes during that 2 hour period to get the happiness to 100%. This is an unrealistic expectation in my eyes. Of course, you can get around this by using Gro, but We Farm doesn’t provide enough Gro to use it on all animals before needing to spend real money. However, the happier your animal is, the less Gro it takes to bring him to 100% happiness, so my strategy is to pet my animals as much as I can, then use grow at the end to bring it to 100%.

Another small complaint I have is that there isn’t a way to quickly return to your own farm when visiting someone else’s farm. I’d like to a small icon to tap in the corner of all farms that quickly takes to your farm.

All in all, I enjoy playing We Farm. However, you must like time management games to have fun with this one. I have been impressed with the performance of the app; it runs smoothly, I’ve never received a memory error (a common problem with We Rule), nor has it ever crashed. So if you’re a fan of these types of games, check out We Farm – it’s free!

Screenshots after the break!

[Free - iTunes link]

Pros

• Good performance
• Fun
• Easy to tailor around how much you want to play

Cons

• Can’t quickly return to your farm when visiting someone else’s farm.
• Animal petting requirement for a ribbon is unreasonable
• Push notifications not working (for me)

We Farm for iPad – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been spotted outside of flour + water, a little Italian restaurant in San Francisco.

Kim, the young man in the photo, is a huge Apple fan from Sweden and just happened to get in line at flour + water behind Steve Jobs. Steve politely declined Kim’s request to take a photo with him, but when the last available seat was taken by the customer in front of Steve, Kim’s friend captured this photo as Mr. Jobs was leaving. Kim was quite excited, to say the least.

[TechCrunch, flower + water]

Steve Jobs != flower + water is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

As part of their constant tweaking of all things App Store, Apple has added a section to the on-device (i.e. on iPhone or iPod touch) App Store that’s called “try before you buy”.

Here’s the deal, on the Featured tab, under New, there are series of 4 banners at the top. If you’re in the US, the bottom right one now says Free on App Store. Tap on it and you get a list of New and Noteworthy, Try Before You Buy, and Our Favorites.

Tap on Try Before You Buy and you get a listing of free or lite versions of popular apps you can sort by Featured, Popular, and Release Date.

So, it’s not like the Android Marketplace where you can sample any app and get a refund if you hate it; it’s really just the same content repackaged in a new way. However, the new packaging will probably be helpful to users looking for just those kind of free, sample apps.

Note: I’m not seeing it in the Canadian App Store yet.

[9to5Mac, image via Engadget]

iPhone App Store gains “Try Before You Buy”. Sort of. is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Well, it only took Apple 4 days to realize they should block access to JailbreakMe.com from their stores’ wifi network to stop those pranksters from jailbreaking iPhones, iPads and iPods. According to 9 to 5 Mac, pointing a device to www.JailbreakMe.com from inside the store redirects to Apple’s website.

I’m sure Ethan will be happy about that.

"Apple Bans JailbreakMe From Its Stores" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.