iOS Devices

Dell Home offers the Western Digital Elements 1TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive, model no. WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN, for $59.99. With free shipping, that’s $0.06/GB and $5 under our mention from three weeks ago as the lowest total price we’ve seen, this time by $18. Sales tax is added where applicable.

Both Apple and AT&T don’t have no-commitment pricing options on their websites.  Apple states on its US website:

At launch, AT&T said that they’d sell iPhone 4s without contract for $599 and $699 for the 16 and 32 GB versions.  Now you can’t buy it without a plan online at Apple or AT&T for any price.  

(Update: AT&T has contacted us and stated that there is no difference in policy on their end and they can’t account for Apple’s website.  Also, you can only buy a no-commitment iPhones in an AT&T store, there is no way to do so online [which seems insane because less paperwork has to be filled out])

(Update 2: Apple contacted us to first say that you could buy the no commit iPhone 4 in a store but not online)

Below, is Nokia’s new N9 phone (hadn’t heard of it) sitting on what has to be its ‘inspiration’.  Too bad iOS wasn’t more of an inspiration as well.

From the Toys Section:

Today only, Dell Home offers the Toshiba Canvio Plus 1TB Portable USB 2.0 External Hard Drive in Raven Black, model no. E05A100PBU2XK, for $94.99. That’s the lowest price we’ve ever seen for this drive, which can be pulled from its enclosure and installed in many Unibody MacBooks.

Dell also offers a Western Digital 1TB desktop USB Hard Drive for $60.

There’s a lot of folks who say the iPad isn’t proper competition for netbooks because it isn’t a ‘productivity tool’. They’re all wrong. Take the visual arts, for example, and you’ll find a growing army of examples of artists using the Apple device to create stunning pieces of art,

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Update: Apple kept us up for no reason.. nothing new. 

We tweeted that the Apple Store went down, but due to increased interest, here’s a post. It’s a Wednesday night and the Apple Store iOS is down also, so were thinking this isn’t the usual Saturday night fever/maintenance. LED 27 inch display is here? New MacBook Air (PLEASE!!!!), iLife and iWork ’11? Who knows! Let us know if you see anything suspicious. K?

White iPhone 4!!?? — Heh in our dreams…

Facebook has just dropped an anticipated update to their iOS application that brings their newly announced Places feature into the hands of users. Places is like foursquare and allows you to check into the place you go to. You can even tag who’s with you, neat! This very stalkerish new service is complemented by the addition of background photo and video uploading. 

Facebook iPhone users can finally shoot their pics and flicks from the road to their profiles while using other features on their iOS devices. Additionally you can now set new privacy controls for your status updates and the messages interface got a few updates as well. Users who do not immediately see the update available to them can get it by deleting the current version from their phones and simply re-downloading. 

And perhaps the coolest new feauture?!! Tweetie/Twitter for iPhone style pull to refresh! (Thanks, Mitchell):

Today, Facebook invited the media to their Palo Alto headquarters to show off their new “Places” feature. Places is Facebook’s version of a social check-in service similar to foursquare. Places will intuitively be integrated into the desktop version of Facebook.com and Facebook isn’t leaving their gulp of the mobile social networking space behind. The iOS application will receive Places integration tonight, and it’s yet to be known whether this will be a proper App Store update or something Facebook will push out over the air.  

Here’s the last person in the world you want telling you about the new Facebook:

http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/microPlayer.swf

TechCrunch got a peak at a few slides showing off the Place app-integration and they state there will be a Places button on the Facebook home screen and the whole mobile system is very seamless. You can easily check in, add venues (if they’re not already there), see where your fellow friends are checked in, and even tag which friends are at the place with you. 

We will be sure to update when we find out whether Place will come via a full App Store update or over the air. Be sure to let us know via the tip e-mail or comments if you find out first, Okay? 

Google has announced a nice update to their iPad Gmail website which brings the stacked card UI from the native iPad Mail.app into the browser. This stacked card interface allows easier selection of multiple messages so you can efficiently organize your messages into folders, archive, and delete them. 

Korea’s exclusive iPhone 4 carrier, KT, reportedly sold 130,000 iPhone 4 pre-orders within 13 hours today. Pre-orders were issued via KT’s website and their 2900 retail stores across Korea. Like the initial iPhone 4 pre-order launch in the U.S. and other initial launch countries, the website servers crashed and many people were not able to get their order through. 130,000 pre-orders in Korea is a major rise from the 14,500 first day iPhone 3GS pre-orders in 2009. As a comparison 600,000 pre-orders were issued on the first day of initial launch in the U.S. and other launch countries. 

KT was initially set to launch the iPhone 4 on July 30th, until they were omitted from that international launch due to government certification reasons. The iPhone 4 will officially get into Korean consumers hands in September, but an exact launch date is yet to be announced. As Fortune reports, the Android Samsung Galaxy S Android phone sold 300,000 units in its first 19 days on sale in Korea. So that’s more than double the iPhone 4 pre-orders but it took 18.5 more days.

Google has problems getting the support it needs to progress its Google TV plan, even while Apple is quietly plotting its own path. Content providers have serious misgivings with Google’s business model, while content creators generally are wary of giving Apple too much control. Breaking the deadlock is critical if either competitor is to successfully reinvent TV.

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This is a lovely one, and we couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw this. Phillip Shoemaker, the guy Jobs and Co. brought in to lead the App Store has his owns app under the company name, GrayNoodle LLC. These aren’t your everyday apps from such a professional guy, but are apps that allow you to hear animal fart sounds and practice your mad peeing skills. 

For the developers out there, in case you didn’t know… This is the same fine individual who’s in charge of removing and rejecting your fine applications. Shoemaker even has a website for his apps here. One of his most popular apps, iWiz, helps you “simulate the experience of urination for a long time”, which is nice, right?

An Apple spokesperson says Shoemaker’s “perspective as a developer is one of the valuable things he brings to Apple’s developer relations team,” and this honestly makes sense. Wired discovered Shoemaker’s class-act by snooping around his Linkedin profile. All references have been removed and we truly wish Philly well.

The very best of Shoemakers tweets are after the break:

Verizon Wireless is reportedly working on an iPad application based around their FiOS TV service that will make its way to users in early 2011. The release date is based on Verizon being able to gear up enough partners, but it seems likely that they will be able to. The FiOS iPad app will only be available to paying FiOS subscribers (Oh, Dish network!) and at first will only work in their actual homes. This is to ensure that the devices will only play live TV in homes where FiOS is installed and being payed for. 

Plans for versions of the application that allow streaming out of the house and on 3G are unknown. The apps development is supposedly far along as the technology is behind it works, the only possible issue is getting enough partners for a successful launch. Can’t Verizon finally make a deal with Apple to carry the iPad or some Apple cellphone thingy also?

A picture of the FiOS application in use is after the jump:

You know what that lady above has in her hands?  That’s 64GB of speedy SATA interfaced-iSSD goodness.  That little postage stamp sized chip, which weighs about as much as a paper clip can be plopped on a computer motherboard (or an iPhone, iPod, etc) and act as a boot drive or as speedy storage.

What I’d like to see is a kit (OWC?) that allows one of these to be inserted on top of a hard drive in a MacBook, allowing a dual drive system.  Seems reasonable, right?  Press release below: 

SANDISK INTRODUCES WORLD’S SMALLEST 64GB SOLID STATE DRIVE – FIRST IN NEW EMBEDDED SSD CATEGORY

HBO Go is a service which allows paid HBO subscribers to access HBO original TV shows, movies, and sports on their computers all in HD. This service is phenomenal for those who enjoy HBO’s content and in movies in general but aren’t always able to get to the TV. In an interview with Bloomberg, HBO CEO Reed Hastings stated the service will make its way to iPads and other mobile devices in 6 months. 

This exclusive service for paid subscribers seems sweet and we can’t wait to see their iPad implementation. Hopefully it will be similar to the website and will play HD content and work fairly well over 3G. 

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1

Today 1UP (via Tech Crunch) revealed spy shots of Google’s App Store for the web and let’s just say you’ll be familiar with how it works if you’ve been to Apple’s iTunes App Store. Here’s the main Google web App Store landing/feature page:

Here’s an individual app description page:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnQEZ5MLxGs&w=680&h=400]

You remember the dude who ripped off the guy’s finger stealing his iPad?  Well, that is just the beginning.  Turns out the robber ordered a hit on the guy who he de-fingered so that he wouldn’t get charged for robbery.  

In the letter, Smith identifies Jordan, his home address and tells the person he is writing, “YOU GET THIS DONE! AND I GO ON ANYTHING I’ll rob a bank if you want me too. Just do this for your boy and I got you for sure. You know how we do it.” Smith points out that Jordan’s address is included and says, “That’s the address, so handle it A.S.A.P.” He concludes the letter by saying that, “I really need this otherwise it’s a wrap!! If you do this, case is dropped.”

Jeez!

Apple just cut iOS 4.1 beta 4 loose and if you’re a paid iOS developer you know where to get it. There’s no word on what new features this beta brings but we’ll be sure to let you know if/when we find out. Let us know if you hear anything, K? thanks. 

Apple has just publicly dropped an update to improve frame rate and graphic performance in Snow Leopard. This is the first Snow Leopard graphics update and weighs in at just under 70 MB. You should be able to find it in the Software Update application. 

Here’s the direct download link. 

Computerworld reports Apple won’t be changing the antenna design for the purported Verizon iPhone coming in January. According to their source, Spencer Webb, “The antenna design is architecturally fixed in the design, and it would take them a while to make whatever the next design is.” The report also states that Apple is likely planning to keep that antenna design around for a few years to match their previous three year iPhone design roadmap.

It makes sense that Apple would not have enough time to design an entirely new antenna for a device supposedly launching in only a few months. An antenna redesign would call for a device redesign, as the iPhone 4s new slimmer casing is based on the antenna not being internal. It also makes sense that if Apple waited until June 2011 to unveil the first Verizon-compatible iPhone and 5th generation AT&T iPhone, the antenna could change. 

It took Apple a little longer, but they finally dropped iOS version 4.02 for the second generation iPod touch. No word on why it took this long or if it’s getting any special feature treatments, so it’d your job to let us know, OK? 4.02 was released last week for the rest of the iOS lineup excluding the first-gen iPhone and seals the PDF exploit bug used for Jailbreakme.com to work. So if you want to jailbreak with jailbreakme.com anytime soon, you shouldn’t update.