Mark Gurman

Today, Microsoft unveiled all the specifics about their new Windows Phone 7 operating system. First off, their new operating system will launch on 10 brand-new devices for over 60 carriers in over 30 countries.

Surprisingly, the operating system is not really similar to iOS and the phones look pretty slick. They all run a 1 GHz processor at minimum and all rock displays larger than or equal to the size of the iPhone’s. Engadget‘s got a nice overview of them.

Oh, and Apple hit at an all time high today, crossing $297 at some point.  (From the looks of it it was right around 9:30 ET). :D

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Late last week we told you that Yahoo would be updating their Yahoo Messenger app to include 3G video calling. The neat thing about their video calling is that it works between computers and phones too.

Smartphones with front-facing cameras besides the iPhone are supported as well so a huge user base will be present for video calling. The update also includes iOS 4 multitasking and instant notifications. It’s free and get it here.

Update: Doesn’t appear to to work on iPod Touch

A few weeks ago we reported on a bug present in iOS 4.1 which wakes up countries on daylight savings time an hour early. According to ZDnet a patch is being worked on that should be available through the iOS 4.1.1 update soon.

Oh, Apple will probably patch up the new exploit which allows for limera1n. Jailbreakers, you know what to do .

On the heels of FaceTime being blocked in multiple Middle Eastern countries, SaudiMac investigated how the video calling service is actually blocked in the iPhone’s file system. Hidden deep in the file system (revealed via SSH on a jailbroken device) is a file dictating what is restricted per region. SaudiMac has determined that countries marked with a “NOVOIP” restriction are the one’s that have FaceTime blocked in that region. We’ve taken this even further and discovered that this file not only exists in iPhones and iPod touches with FaceTime, but also exists for the iPad.

The screenshot above is from the file displaying the iPad’s restrictions (SaudiMac pulled the iPhone’s). As you can see, FaceTime for iPad is restricted in Middle Eastern nations like the United Arab Emirates, but obviously an interesting thing here is that FaceTime for iPad doesn’t exist.  Sure, the next iPad is likely to have a camera, but perhaps Apple will let the current iPad do “VoiceTime”.

Also, what’s this about a “Google” block, above?  (thanks, Weito!)

Geohot is back, and has just released the latest iOS jailbreak. The jailbreak is untethered which means you don’t need to plug it in everytime you want to turn it on. It works for iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 3G, iPad, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4G on iOS 4.0, 4.01 and everything after that.

The jailbreak is sort of still in beta and doesn’t include that one-click-jailbreak feature from past releases. Oh, and it’s only for Windows at this time – Mac and Linux coming soon. If you really want to jailbreak you may want to wait for Chronic’s Green Poison. The Chronic dev-team has let us know that the untethering feature is “unstable right now” so take caution. You can download Limera1n here.

Meizu, the infamous copy cats of the iPhone, have been mimicking the iPhone’s design and features since way back in 2007 and today they are announcing they are stopping sales of their M8 device. On Meizu’s online forums today, Meizu CEO Jack Wong announced that sales of their M8 will cease indefinitely due to pressure from Apple. Additionally, future devices in development, like the M9, may be cancelled or postponed for the foreseeable future.

Image via CultofMac.com (thx commenter)

Apple initially had Meizu to agree to cease development of future devices so this news shows Apple’s change of plans. It looks like Meizu is complying but they are upset that Apple brought China’s Intellectual Property department into the ordeal as a form of pressure. This government office has the right to shut down Meizu’s factory without a formal order from the courts so it looks like Meizu is doing all they can to prevent that.

Update: Here’s a likely fake e-mail from Jobs stating his views on the M8.

On a support document on their technical support website (via SaudiMac), Apple has officially confirmed and outlined where their FaceTime video calling service is not available. When looking at the chart, every country and carrier with a footmark of ‘4’ does not support FaceTime.

If you look through the entire support article you will find that five Middle Eastern countries, cropped out and shown above, are the only ones that do not support FaceTime. These are Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Oh, and Apple is very clear to say “FaceTime is not available on this CARRIER.” — Saying it’s the carrier’s decision?

Update: We missed Egypt:

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Back in May we reported that major retailer, Walmart, would begin selling the iPad at some point in 2010. Since then Target has begun selling the iPad through their retail stores and rumors of an imminent iPad launch at Walmart have recently emerged. Today, MacRumors reports that Walmart will begin selling iPads very soon and Walmart corporate is already feeding instructions to store managers. The report also includes a spy shot of a Walmart store’s iPad and iPad accessory launch inventory.

The image shows that Walmart will be carrying all six models of the iPad along with all the Apple-branded accessories including the Apple Wireless Keyboard and the AppleCare protection plan. Following Target’s iPad launch, Amazon began selling the iPad through their online store earlier this week. Apple is clearly expanded their iPad distribution with the help of major online retailers and thousands of physical retail locations across the United States.

Update: MacRumors adds that Walmart’s iPad launch will occur next week and iPads should be at 1000 Walmart retail locations by October’s end.

Update: iPads are already hitting Walmart shelves – This makes it official.

One of AT&T’s major selling points, especially for the iPhone, is the ability for users to talk on the phone will using data. This selling point has even been marketed in AT&T’s own commercials and even one of Apple’s. This talking while browsing feature allows you to hit the home button while on a phone call and browse Safari or check the weather for example. Verizon is yet to gain the feature, but The Wall Street Journal claims the feature is coming soon.

Verizon Wireless is working on providing that capability, said Verizon executive Brian Higgins. He wouldn’t say when it will be ready, but played down the need for handling voice and data at the same time.

Verizon working on this important feature now is pretty convenient for the rumored launch window of the CMDA iPhone 4 and we think this news will only add more fuel to the Verizon iPhone rumors.

FaceTime, one of the iPhone 4’s marquee features, already has some heated competition in the App Store. These apps include the popular Fring and most recently Tango video calling applications. Fring is popular for its large feature set, 3G video calling capabilities, and compatibility with other mobile phone. The recently launched “Tango” app is known for its ease of use as well as 3G video calling capabilities with other iPhones and smartphones. Today Reuters reports on some interesting information they learned regarding an upcoming Yahoo video calling application for the iPhone.

This Yahoo video calling application will be a free update to their already available Yahoo Messaging app on the App Store, and it has some surprises hidden up its sleeve. The updated application will not only work over WiFi and 3G, like Fring and Tango, but will allow for video calls between iPhones and computers running the desktop Yahoo Messenger application. This new app poses some serious competition to Apple’s built-in FaceTime feature as it not only allows for video calling over 3G but opens up the door for video calling with many more users.

Apple announced back at WWDC that FaceTime over 3G would be coming at some point in 2011 as they still have to work out terms with carriers, and from our tests 3G FaceTime works very well. Apple is rumored to be launching a desktop version of FaceTime that will be integrated into the Mac’s iChat application. This upcoming app from Yahoo is reportedly yet to be approved, and hopefully this helps serve as a push for Apple to bring FaceTime to the desktop, iChat to Windows, and FaceTime to more devices.

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Just the other day we reported on claims from the Wall Street Journal stating a Verizon iPhone will indeed launch in early 2011. The latest reports are the most substantial yet, and Verizon is not the only one rumored to be getting a CMDA iPhone with Chinese carrier, China Telecom, reportedly also in talks with Apple for a CDMA device in 2011. Today, The New York Times backs up these recent claims stating that Apple will in fact be delivering a CMDA version of the iPhone 4 for Verizon.

After more than three years of using only AT&T cellphone networks, Apple is making a version of the iPhone 4 for Verizon’s network, according to a person who is in direct contact with Apple. Apple and Verizon will begin selling the phone early next year, the person said, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity because the plans were supposed to be confidential and he did not want to alienate his contacts at Apple.

There has been much discussion regarding a Verizon iPhone but a few important details are still up for debate. The question no longer seems to be ‘is Verizon getting the iPhone?’ but is how. Will the device simply be an iPhone 4 with a CMDA chip? Will it be the next-gen iPhone with new features? Most importantly, will it be 4G or 3G? It is not clear which direction in terms of phone design Apple will take with their CMDA version, but it makes sense that Apple will stick to their current design and feature set at initial launch.

The New York Times speculates that this will not simply be a Verizon iPhone 4 but will be a CMDA iPhone 4 that is compatible with multiple CDMA carriers world-wide. Just yesterday rumors of talk between China Telecom and Apple emerged that seem to lineup with many of the recent rumors.

With all the buzz surrounding the CMDA iPhone for Verizon rumors in the United States,the South China Morning Post chimes in with a new rumor about a possible CDMA iPhone for China. The newspaper claims a Deutsche Bank analyst noted that the exclusive iPhone carrier in China, China Unicom, will be losing exclusivity soon and also notes that China Telecom is in talks with Apple along with chip suppliers for this CDMA iPhone.

Although China Telecom management in a recent lunch meeting refused to confirm whether the company would also begin selling a CDMA iPhone in China next quarter, our own channel checks suggest that the company has been in intensive talks with chipset supplier Qualcomm and Apple to ensure that this (development) indeed happens,” the paper quoted the note as saying.

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iPads are becoming a huge part of jobs across the world. We’ve told you about iPads on high-profile movie sets and iPads fit for a king, and today we find the German Parliament is using the iPad for many of their tasks. German news website, Bild.de, reports that deputies throughout the German Parliment, the Bundestag, are increasingly making the iPad part of their jobs.

For months, members of the Parliament have been using the iPad in the office, and today the Parliament approved the iPad as a paper-replacement for reading speeches. This is only the beginning for the iPad, after only being out for 6 months, and it is a sure thing that iPads will be squeezing into many other parts of people’s lives.
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PayPal today announced that their PayPal Check Capture service, via the iOS app, has deposited over $100,000 worth of checks in the app’s first 36 hours. PayPal’s Check Capture service came to the iPhone via a PayPal app update the other day. This service allows you to take a picture of the front and back of a check you want to deposit into your PayPal account and it will deposit it for you.

This new service for iPhone and iPod touch users is free, but PayPal takes a whole six days to process these mobile deposits.

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The popular Meebo instant messaging client for the iPhone and iPod touch got the long needed iOS 4 update. The usual suspects are now present such as multitasking/quick-app-swtiching support, Retina Display support, and iAds.

Meebo is yet to include an iPad version of their instant messaging client and hopefully they make some sort of paid version to get rid of this fantastic iAds.

Chronic dev team member, Joshua Hill, has tweeted the goods on GreenPois0n’s launch date. In case you didn’t read the title, the jailbreak for iOS 4.1 is coming this Sunday, Oct. 10, at 10:10:10 AM.

We still don’t really know anything about this jailbreak and hopefully it actually launches on time. Update: For iPad, iPhone 4 and iPod touch 4th gen.

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Some interesting patents out of Apple HQ have been surfacing lately including 3D user-interfaces and touch-screen iMacs, and today a patent for iOS devices with MagSafe connectors has surfaced.

The patent originally brought to light by Patently Apple takes the technology from MagSafe connectors for Apple notebooks and brings it to iOS products like  the iPad and iPhone. That will be helpful when Apple gets around to wireless synching of iOS devices and doesn’t need USB anymore.

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Last week we told you about the upcoming check capture feature in the iPhone PayPal app. This new feature uses your device’s camera to capture checks so they can be deposited into your PayPal account. This feature is similar to the Chase banking app and snaps the front and back of the check you want to deposit.

The new feature is now available on iTunes as a free update to PayPal. Thanks, Randall.

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After taking a closer look at Apple’s latest iPhone 4 Retina Display ad, we noticed the scene about Twitter. We thought it would be interesting to plug the Twitter profile username from the ad into the actual Twitter to see if it was legit. Sure enough it is, and has a whole army of people with headshot-grade picture followers. Meet Apple’s fake Twitter army, full of perfect profile portraits, perfect names, and perfect tweets:

So, Apple, what do you plan on doing with these new toy soldiers of yours? Maybe @forstall can tell us?

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Apple has just posted a new iPhone 4 ad all about the amazing, magical, revolutionary, breathtaking, beautiful, gorgeous, and blow-away Retina Display. Check it:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeDTJZtFfI0&w=640&h=385]

http://tweetcast.in/player-licensed-viral.swf

As we all know Steve Jobs had a liver transplant in 2009 that saved his life. Not everyone is as lucky as Jobs and was able to hop over to Tennessee where the line was shorter. Because of this, Jobs is on a mission for those in need. Here’s the video of him (via Cult of Mac) at a bill signing in California along with the Terminator and a few other California law makers. Jobs talk starts at around 9 mins in.

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