Mark Gurman

The creators of FacePlant made something that should have come standard with FaceTime. A way to tell which of your friends is currently on WiFi and ready to FaceTime. Steve Jobs went on record to say that they did not want a buddy list for FaceTime, so FacePlant is basically Job’s enemy in that case. The app uses your contact list to show who’s available, but you can also turn on privacy for yourself if you don’t feel like seeing anyone that day. 

The super-neat thing about the app is the ability to leave them video messages. Instead of leaving standard voice messages you can have some fun and leave them one with video, without killing your MMS charges. How neat! The app’s not available yet and there’s no word on cost or if the app breaks any App Store rules, but we’ll soon find out and we’ll let you know when/if/how it’s available. 

via Gizmodo.

Nokia didn’t seem to happy about Apple’s antenna comments so they stuck it to the man. Looks like Apple’s kind response is a nice little video on their website and YouTube channel that displays the Nokia N97 Mini’s antenna performance. 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b-aoZNv-q0&w=640&h=385]

Apple notes on their antenna website that the “death-grip” causes a drop from 7 to 2 bars on Nokia’s device. 

Update: It is now gone.  Hope you got it while you could!  BTW, the developer of this app is 15!

When developers could not sucessfully keep tethering on the App Store by means like Netshare, Nick Lee thought to make something stealthier. The new approach came via a basic flashlight application, Handy Light, with the SOCKS proxy functionality tethering hidden behind it. Last week, the developers posted a YouTube video detailing how to activate the functionality. 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwwWlvCJuMk&w=480&h=385]

The app costs 99 cents and you can get it here. We recommend downloading it right now if you seriously want it as the privilege will be removed very soon. We’ll update on our thoughts once we get to play around with it.

Our Notes:

Had to restart my iPhone 4 to get it working. May not be a widespread need, let us know in the comments if you had to also. 

Speedtest (upload is better than my house WiFi) :

via MacRumors.

We’ve got a first look at the new MobileMe Calendar web app and and it looks and works great. We’re not going to bore you with the technical details as those are already known, instead we have screenshots!

As you’ll definately notice if you’ve used an iPad, the new calendar web app is identical to the iPad’s calendar app. It really seems like the future of Apple’s software and operating system takes design and use elements from the iPad’s iOS. 

Click here for the walkthrough.

<a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=fa48cc4dbd” >Apple Q3 Earnings Liveblog</a>

Steve Job’s unknowingly summed up Palm’s upcoming tablet device very well 6 months ago at the iPad unveiling when he said “If you see a stylus, they blew it.” How did he sum it up? The PalmPad will have a stylus. It’s also made by Palm/HP so we already know how this will go down. That is all.

Apple has sent out emails to registered iOS developers informing them that they will no longer have the ability to submit or update their App Store apps via the online iTunes Connect client. This has been the preferred way by many since the App Store was released in the summer of 2008. Developers will now have to use the already available native Mac application called “Application Loader.” 

Application loader comes installed in iOS 3.2 SDK’s or later, or can be downloaded from the iTunes Connect website. Apple decided to require uploads via “Application Loader” as it offers quicker upload speeds, stabler connections to iTunes Connect, and more precise verification warnings for developers. “Application Loader” will also now accept apps with the “in-app purchase” API to smoothen the transition from the web portal to the native app. 

You’ve all seen the famous iPhone 4 antenna song, featured by Jobs at the press conference, and you’ve probably even seen the love song we posted the other day. Today, Jonathan Mann has turned wacko and has made another video about Steve, specifically this time about his head. Stalker much? 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLrSqwFrfmU&w=480&h=385]

Is he talking about Twitter for iPad? All-new Twitter for Mac? Probably not and that is all. 

Remember the banned iPhone 4 promo video we showed you? Well, the dudes behind that one are back with a banned video about the iPhone 4 antenna. Drop us your favorite quotes in the comments. 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMl_71dqeR8&w=640&h=385]

Apple’s on a roll today and just released iBooks 1.1.1 as a universal update. The update has multiple media improvements such as the ability to access videos and audio embedded into books. You can also view photos and define words in greater detail. These new features come coupled with many performance enhancements and especially in the PDF reader. 

The update just hit Apple’s iTunes website, and is still making its way to the Software Update application worldwide.

Bug Fixes:

For the fashionistas and people who protect their Apple products out there, Apple has teamed up with Cole Haan to bring stylish protective gear to the Apple Store. The luxury cases range from $129 for iPhone cases and go all the way up to $399 for MacBook and MacBook Pro cases. There are even some notebook cases in the $100-200 range as well and the cases ship out within 24 hours. 

These cases seem to be marketed as exclusives for the Apple Store, and the iPhone cases fit all generations of the device. 

We’ve already seen a couple screenshots of the iPod touch FaceTime system from BGR but we’ve found some more details about how it will exactly work. Boy Genius showed that FaceTime on these non-iPhone devices would be based on email addresses.

Just like in GameCenter for iOS 4, you will have a FaceTime username and password based off your Apple ID, and this username is changeable:

You will also get to pick what you want to show up as the Caller ID on the receiving end:

The following image confirms that your Apple ID will in fact be your main login method, and you can even create an account from within the FaceTime settings:

Now for the really interesting stuff… the behind the scenes action of BGR’s in-use screenshot of setting up a FaceTime e-mail account:

Now getting rid of your FaceTime account, which is not recommended as then you won’t be able to make or receive FaceTime calls:

Here’s some various account settings panes, and it appears you can simultaneously have multiple email addresses on one FaceTime account:

And finally, if/when FaceTime’s app gets a settings icon, it will look like this:

The iPod hasn’t a phone number but will have FaceTime this Fall.  This is why Apple’s using the e-mail method. If the next iPad has a camera, it will likely work in similar fashion.

This is actually pretty interesting because when it is all said and done, Apple users (and FaceTime is being Open-Sourced for other platforms) will be able to call each other without using a traditional or cell phone line.  Bad news for AT&T.

Apple could theoretically put in a VoIP gateway and have a Skype-type of service within a year.  That would be interesting.

Here’s an interesting one… That famous movie-directing-guy, Michael Bay, uses his iPad 3G to help direct his cast. Have you heard of Transformers? Well Bay is apparently showing Patrick Dempsey how a certain scene is supposed to look in Transformers 3, isn’t that neat? 

via Mac Forums.

Apple is already on task, setting up their online store for next week’s free case ordering portal. The first step the’ve taken was the removal of the Bumper case from the U.S. store, and by marking it as “Currently Unavailable.” They are not ready to process the free orders just yet, so they don’t want any more orders to be placed then have to go through extraneous refund processes with thousands of customers. 

The Bumpers have been removed from the U.S. store’s new items bar, but can still be found via a quick switch. The product page also already prices Apple’s cases at $0.00 and notes that users should check back soon for more ordering information. The international stores that we checked (UK and FR) still place the Bumpers in the new items section, but they are also “Currently Unavailable.” 

Are you sitting down?  You might want to go find a chair. Apple removed the Chatroulette-like app, iChatr from the App Store, because people were inappropriately exposing themselves? NO WAY! We knew this was coming, but sort of forget about it when it took Apple this long to yank it (8 days). It’s not like they didn’t know about it with all the press coverage it got.

148Apps got an official statement from the developers and it goes like this: “The iChatr application has currently been removed from the App Store due to reports of a number of users exposing themselves during the random video chat sessions. We are currently discussing possible solutions to the problem with Apple.” Umm… good luck guys, don’t think Apple will side with you on this one.  

It’s no surprise that people were pulling the usual Chatroulette style chats, but we can imagine how much worse it might have been with the portability of the iPhone 4; yuk. What is surprising is the app’s approval in the first place, we assume Apple didn’t realize the concept as the review team didn’t have much to chat with prior to release. As Gizmodo points out, you can always give a go with some fine Apple folks via 1-888-FACETIME. 

For one reason or another, Skype is no longer showing up in the App Store. There are a number of possibilities as to why that is happening and here they are. First, and most likely, Skype has pulled the current version in anticipation of a new version coming later today, or tomorrow. It is known information that a new version of Skype for iPhone has been in the works complete with iOS 4 support and multitasking. Second, Skype may have temporarily removed the app due to a bug it’s currently fixing, or a malfunction in the system.

Third and least probable, Skype or Apple could have yanked the app from the App Store due to some extreme legal issue, and we can go on and on, but one of the first two reasons was probably the trigger. 

Update: Skype issued a statement: