iOS Devices

Google has introduced Google Shopper for iPhone, making the free App available for download via Apple’s App Store.

The App is a shopping assistant for iPhone. It makes it easy for you to:
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With the help of the iFixYouri iPhone 4 repair shop, we have been able to acquire what we believe is an iPad 2 LCD, fresh out of China. At this point, we cannot tell if the resolution is higher (or “Retina”) but it is definitely higher quality in terms of its build. The iPad 2’s display is also lighter, and over a mm thinner than the current iPad’s display with a smaller surrounding frame. This is a dream for a product designer like Jony Ive who now has some more tapering options for what looks to be a significantly lighter iPad 2.

After the break, we have pictures comparing the LCD of the iPad 1 and iPad 2 in addition to several close up shots.

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AT&T has sent a nice little e-mail to their customers explaining that the Verizon iPhone won’t be able to talk and surf the web simaltaniously. Oh, and they included a nice 25% off an accessory coupon as a nice gesture, too.

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Pocket-lint claims that a source has told them the white iPhone 4 will be launching in the UK in “late March”.  That’s in the UK which is sometimes a little behind the US.  We’ll see.

We have silently observed over a critical bug in the iOS 4.3 betas, and now that a third beta has launched, with the bug present, we think it’s a good time to share it. When you go to update your applications through the App Store update tool, you are prompted to put in your password to confirm. In iOS 4.3, when you click the cancel button on the password input popup, your homescreen layout will often revert to Apple’s default layout, and you will lose all of your folders.  Sux.

This is a critical bug and we’ve heard from some other readers who have experienced it. So here’s a warning for everybody reading this, and hopefully iOS 4.3 does not drop for the public tomorrow with the bug present.

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Apple has updated its Developers page with information and download links to the latest iOS 4.3 firmware beta.

No visible changes have been discovered in this beta, but AppAdvice is reporting that iOS 4.3 will allow users to cancel App Store downloads right from their iOS devices.

You know all that AT&T moaning where the company said it had a great network but accused iPhone users of being “data hogs” as an explanation for network patchiness? Well, it seems the company may have been telling some fibs, and there’s a new lawsuit in town that seeks to prove it.

“AT&T has ‘systematically’ overcharged iPhone and iPad owners with capped data plans by inflating the amount of data they download and adding ‘phantom traffic,’
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Apple’s iPad and iPhone have transformed the fortunes of chip designer, ARM, but the company is keeping quiet on the extent and significance of Apple’s business on its overall profit explosion.

Ask anyone involved in Apple’s mobile device supply chain how their business is performing and they’ll smile broadly. Ask any of them just how much of a contribution their AAPL business makes, and the smile will weaken and your source will clam-up.

Apple’s partners know that if they want to keep on sucking on the Cupertino money machine they need to keep the details quiet. So ARM’s news of a record-breaking quarter this morning is no surprise — though details are scant on the iDevice front — as we also know AAPL is prepping for a huge rise in sales this year.
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Mobile device users are acquiring ever more discretion about the Apps they use, with 26 percent of Apps only ever getting used once after being downloaded.

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According to the NYTimes, Apple has rejected Sony’s ‘Sony Reader’ ebook app for inclusion in the iOS App Store. Sony Reader is similar to Apple’s own iBooks and Amazon Kindle apps in that it would allow users to purchase and read books in the app (though Kindle does this through the web). Apple says they rejected the application because they are not allowing developers to sell content within their applications, without going through the App Store’s actual in-app-purchase feature.

This recent change could signal the launch of Apple’s rumored app subscription service. There is no word on whether or not Apple will begin removing applications such as the Amazon Kindle app, but if they did, there would most likely be an extreme backlash from successful developers like Amazon.

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It looks like Apple made some tweaks to the iOS 4.2.5 we saw at the Verizon iPhone’s launch event, and is now upgrading it to iOS 4.2.6. The firmware is available for you to download and mess around with, if you’re into that sort of thing that is.

The firmware weighs in a 652mb which is 28mb more than the iPhone 4 GSM’s latest release.  We are assuming that 4.3 is going to be ready pretty quickly after launch, with its hotspot features being one of the prime Verizon advantages over AT&T’s service.

Verizon iPhone are now probably in the wild with last minute testing going on and store users and insiders using them.  Mossberg probably has one and Woz two.  And maybe even some of the guys at Best Buy?  Nah.

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Job listings mentioning the LTE wireless data technology have appeared in Apple’s database before, but none of these listings have been like what we have just found. Those jobs listings mentioned LTE technology-familiarity as a skill, but now we have discovered a job that lists the integration of LTE in iOS devices as a “specific duty.”

Specific Duties
– Implementation, Integration, customization, enhancement and maintenance of L1-3 Protocols for one or more of the following air interface: GSM/UMTS, CDMA (1x/EVDO), LTE etc.

Apple’s job listings are usually a good indication of what’s to come, and Apple listing the integration of LTE in their iOS devices as a specific duty, is definitely an indication that they are building and potentially planning to sell devices with an LTE 4G data connection. Many were surprised that Apple’s CDMA-version of the iPhone does not support LTE, but there is the possibility that a new iPhone in June will support this technology.

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Best Buy has just reduced the price of the iPad WiFi + 3G by $30. That’s for all storage capacities: 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB. The 16 GB 3G model is now $599, the 32 GB is $699, and the 64 GB is $799. Maybe this is a to clear some inventory for the new iPad 2? It’s interesting that the WiFi-only models are not discounted, and the iPad 3G is not discounted at Apple’s online store.  Get them here:

Apple iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G – 16GB: $599

Apple iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G – 32GB: $699

Apple iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G – 64GB : $799

Best Buy recently showed three new iPad SKUs on their website, but it is unclear as to what they may be placeholders for. We’ve heard through the grapevine that Best Buy will soon be selling the Verizon iPad + MiFi bundle, but this may change with the impending launch of an iPad 2 with built-in CDMA functionality.

The iPad 2 is set to adopt two cameras that both shoot pictures and video. The front camera will be 0.3 megapixels with the back being an 720P HD video recording capable one megapixel sensor. The iPad 2 has been rumored to adopt a Retina Display, but evidence we found in the SDK, and a report from an analyst state that the iPad 2’s display will keep the current version’s 1024 x 768 resolution.

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We all know the intricacies of the famous Best Buy inventory system.  Today our tipster sends us this wonderfully confusing screenshot which seems to indicate that a Verizon iPhone type product will indeed be entering the retailler at some point in the near future…perhaps around Feb 10th.  This follows similar rumblings.

It is also interesting to note that Best Buy is showing a $699 price point (below) rather than the $649/$749 points that Apple showed earlier.
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Android sales, they say, are skyrocketing, taking marketshare away from the iPad. Except — for all the Android-powered slates you see around the electronics retailers, how many of your friends have one? One, a couple, none? I’m betting none based on statements today from a senior Samsung suit who said that while sales to retail channels are pretty good, actual sales to, you know, consumers — they’re small, “quite small“.
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COMPUTERWORLD: The iPhone ‘iWallet’ becomes even more real today as Visa Europe launches the first commercial deployment of its own iPhone payments App today. This news as NFC-capable iPhones should show later this year, with AAPL apparently pondering ways to offer a merchants cheap and easy set-up for payment kiosks — mobile payments are nothing without the infrastructure to accept them.

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If you can’t build an ecosystem, then buy one — that at least looks like the deal as it seems Google’s hiring in Android developers in its attempt to put apps up for sale in its Market; in related news Android tablets have grabbed a slice of the iPad market even while Android has become the world’s leading smartphone maker, according to Canalsys.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgvBnUNDDFM&w=640&h=505]

If you are jailbroken and want to make an angel cry, here is a iPhone running a pretty convincing Windows Phone 7 theme.
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Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Securities released a note to investors today detailing his ideas on the iPad 2’s components. The analyst seems to agree with 9to5mac‘s findings in the SDK and is claiming the iPad 2 will keep the iPad 1’s 1024 x 768 display, but will introduce some improvements like a thinner panel and Kindle-like anti-reflection. This new screen should put commercials like this from Amazon to shame.

The report also claims the new iPad will sport a dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 processor. This new processor will likely be dubbed the A5, according to various reports. In terms of graphics processors, the iPad 2 will  utilize the SGX543 as our SDK findings would also tell you. The report also states there will be three different connectivity options: WiFi-only, GSM, and CDMA. This corroborates with three versions of iPad 2 we found in the SDK: K93, K94, and K95.

Finally, the report backs up our SDK findings and claims the iPad 2 will gain a front-facing and a back-facing camera. The front is said to be a 0.3 megapixel VGA shooter, and the back is said to be a 1 megapixel lens.

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Google has finally brought their helpful ‘Instant Previews’ feature from the desktop browser, down to the mobile experience. ‘Instant Previews’ let you tap the accompanying magnifying glass for a pop-up preview of the website. This saves you time, as now you can get a quick glance at the site without actually having to load up the page. The neat part about Google’s implementation in iOS Safari is that you can flick through the previews of a particular search query, like you flick through iOS’s native Safari tabs function.

At this time, Google’s ‘Instant Previews’ feature for iOS has not hit all user devices, as the feature is yet to appear on our iPhone 4 or iPad. Google is yet to announce the ‘Instant Previews’ feature for mobile, so this could be an early and/or limited rollout. Google has been releasing new features for the Google mobile website lately, with the most recent additions being ‘Google Instant’ and enhanced Google Docs editing in the iPad‘s browser. Let us know if the new ‘Instant Previews’ feature is present for you, in the comments. Thanks, Jimit!

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrVgvTgyUs8&w=560&h=340]

Chpwn has posted a video of his latest jailbreak-only app, VoiceActivator. VoiceActivator picks up where the native iOS Voice Control leaves off, and adds system-wide, customizable commands. VoiceActivator lets you open webpages, launch applications, and other actions like taking screen shots. The video above gives you a good look at what you can expect from the tweak launching next week. Chpwn hasn’t said anything about pricing at this point, but we speculate it will either be cheap, if not free.

In case you are not familier, the built-in iOS voice control application lets you dial phone numbers, initiate FaceTime calls, ask for the time, and of course control your music playback. VoiceActivator is an idea that Apple should incorporate in future versions of iOS. The tweak, itself, is somewhat similar to Android’s voice control features and this is something Apple has been exploring for some time. We may even see this functionality, along with new interface gestures, in iOS 5. An enhanced voice control and new gestures might even be the way of getting rid of the home button. (via Chpwn)

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