iOS Devices

 As I pointed out last month, the TomTom kit has a GPS unit on it and therefore could turn a garden variety iPod touch into a TomTom.  Today we learn it has.

You’ll, of course, need the kit for it to be worth a hill of beans…unless that new camera toting iPod coming next month has a GPS unit inside – you know, to tag those photos with GPS coordinates?  Yep.

Google Machine translated:

We wanted to learn more and offer a small interview with Yann Lafargue, public relations manager at Tomtom, answering our questions. And good news, support GPS expected soon, which loads its own good chip will work with the iPod Touch and even with the Tomtom software competitors. 

TomTom, now for iPod touch (App store link)

I hate mine, I bet you hate yours, too – I’m talking about my TV remote control. It’s rubbish, complex and clunky and takes an age to navigate to what I want it to do. Plus each TV has a different remote – not to mention the stereo and DVD player. If only life were that little bit simpler. If only I had a simple remote control that worked…well, now that integrated vision’s taken a step forward with i.TV’s introduction of the i.TV Remote Control Framework.

This is one of those small but big deals. I’ve been hoping someone would begin to get this together for a very long time. What i.TV’s framework does is  make it possible for you to turn your iPhone or iPod touch into a universal remote control for televisions, DVRs, AV receivers and other home entertainment devices – and TiVO is the first company to introduce an integrated remote control for their subscribers who use i.TV.

A quick feature list:

Remote Control: i.TV now combines the TV guide and the remote control on an iPhone or iPod touch. Remote controls are powered by the i.TV Remote Control Framework, which allows third parties to develop remote controls for use on the i.TV platform.

TiVo remote: TiVo is the first to introduce a soft remote on i.TV. You can now change the channel, fast forward, record and most importantly play your favorite shows and movies, with just a tap on your iPhone or iPod touch.

New look: i.TV now has a simplified and streamlined user interface.

iTunes: From within i.TV, discover related TV and movie content and then tap to download from iTunes.

Push notifications: Set alerts for when your favorite TV shows air. Never miss a show again.

While the i.TV 2.0 software isn’t quite available yet, it has been submitted to the App Store.

We’re hoping electronics manufacturers will see the light and share their remote control codes with i.TV, as we’d very much like a remote control for our devices that was so integrated and easy to use…

You are bound to grab some attention when you say stuff like this:

"We just met with Apple executives at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, CA, including Peter Oppenheimer, Greg Joswiak, and Eddy Cue."

Last week, (flew under our radar) Barclays Analyst, 
Ben Reitzes used the above heading to postulate on all things Apple products.  Though most of what he said, you’ll find familiar, he did talk about a low end MacBook and gaming updates to AppleTV which piqued our interest.  Here’s what he  had to say:

• New iPods with cameras (likely September). He expects a launch, possibly before the end of August, of iPod touches with cameras and video capabilities and perhaps even an iPod nano with a still camera — prompting another round of iPod upgrades. "We believe that imaging ties in well with Apple’s strengths in software and can help drive more Mac sales over time."
• A new tablet computer (likely in first half 2010, but possibly before the end of the year). He sees it priced between $399 and $999, and eventually becoming the fourth leg of Apple’s business model. "We believe this type of product would open Apple up to more opportunities in mobile gaming, navigation services and other content related growth – which could all be distributed through iTunes."
• New low-end MacBooks (Q4 2009) He believes the MacBook line needs to be revamped (there is only one MacBook available now, an old white model). He expects to see new MacBooks before the end of the year that are priced below the low-end MacBook Pro.
• An upgrade for Apple TV (Q1 2010). "We believe Apple TV can eventually become a platform that integrates gaming and other new features."
• An iPhone for China (by year end). But as early as this September, according to his sources, with China Unicom as the most likely partner.
• A new iPhone upgrade cycle (2010) "We believe more can be done with product width, battery life, speakers, gaming controls and more. Also, many developers realize that Apps may need to be recompiled for new screen sizes and Apple may be taking steps behind the scenes to ease any transition."

Dell’s iPhone-class contender has made a quiet debut in China, with images of the new device emerging just days since news of the computer maker’s plan came to light.

Not a great deal is known about Dell’s iPhone in China launch spoiler, bar that it has a higher resolution screen than an iPhone: a 3.5-inch touchscreen with 360×640 resolution, compared to the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen with 320×480 resolution.  It most likely runs a version of Google’s Android OS.

It’s also known to feature a 3.2MP camera, Bluetooth, a 950mAh battery, a mini USB port and a microSD card slot, said MobileCrunch. There’s no WiFi or 3G support, though – which is par for the course in China.

Yet more trouble for Apple as European Commission consumer watchdogs have asked the company to provide information on its iPhone following several widely-publicised instances in which the screen has cracked.

What sparked this investigation off was the case of a young French customer who was slightly injured when the iPhone screen spontaneously cracked and a shard hit them in the eye.

Ton Van Lierop, EC spokesman for industry and enterprise, said Europe’s taking up the problem in the interests of consumer protection, health and industry. He revealed Apple had been invited to comment on the above incident, but hasn’t done so at this time.

The EC is also seeking information from France and the UK, where an iPod reportedly exploded, as well as from the US government entity in charge of product security.

Regional daily La Provence, which first reported on the case in Aix, has since made two additional claims that iPhone screens have spontaneously fissured. Though with several million sold it’s not unlikely some units will have faults.

It looks like Tom Tom is finally available for the iPhone.  Australia and New Zealand have gone live and we’re anticipating rollouts to stores globally throughout the night at around Midnight.   The prices shown below are in New Zealand dollars.  It will probably be just south of US$100 for the US.

App Store Links below:

Australia 
New Zealand
Western Europe
United States+ Canada
UK and Ireland

Update: Europe and North America now live.  Video with a thereIfixedit.com mount below. 

Expect more on this this later as Changewave Research goes public with detail of its findings, but at this stage in the game Apple’s iPhone seems ahead of Palm’s Pre, though both devices are experiencing warm reception.

These graphs compare and contrast customer likes and dislikes on both smartphones, and while Apple is ahead, the Pre has clearly touched a nerve – though with 50 million iPhones set for sale next year, we’re not convinced its going to live up to its potential.

More graphs after the jump. (Sorry about the image quality, BTW, one of those things, but figured people might be interested)

Nowhereelse.fr has the 2006 version of the Apple tablet.  After this, we are going on a self-imposed tablet mockup hiatus…that is until a good one comes of course.

Another milestone toppled.  Mad Men, the wildly popular TV Show about the Madison Avenue advertising industry in the early 60’s is entering its third season in the US on AMC.  In Canada however, the show has decided to forgo the traditional broadcast medium and has agreed to only be distributed via iTunes.

Previously, the series was carried in Canada by CTV, which ran season one amid much acclaim in 2008. Season two aired on its secondary A network.

The network says seasons one and two will continue to be streamed on its website. There was no immediate word from CTV on how the network and Mad Men parted company.

This is the latest big deal for iTunes Canada, which in recent months has acquired big shows including both Sex and the City and The Wire from HBO, and Dr. Who from the BBC.

Almost one-in-ten iPhones may have been jailbroken, new data from analytics company, Pinch Media, suggests.

The company claims an estimated 8.6% of iPhones are jailbroken – up from 8.43% one month ago. Pinch Media adds that of the nearly 1 million new iPhones they recorded with their analytic software last week, 17.1% were jailbroken.

We expected an increase in frequency of jailbreaking following the release of the iPhone 3GS. We think the carriers must carry the can for their part in this – it’s not all Apple’s problem.

Why?

Apple’s network partners failed to offer a subsidy to existing iPhone users in order to facilitate their upgrade to the 3GS, causing many upgraders to sell or to give away their older iPhone, putting millions of them potentially into the arms of jailbreakers.

Last year O2 in the UK allowed customers with the first-generation iPhone to break their contracts and upgrade to the iPhone 3G on the day of release. However, to get the new iPhone 3GS, existing customers were asked to buy themselves out of their existing contracts, (very expensive), or invited to purchase the new model on Pay & Go.

In the UK, once a Pay & Go iPhone 3GS was purchased, O2 recommended customers should “give your existing iPhone 3G to someone you know”, after having swapped across the SIM card in order to retain their existing number.

Naturally, this generated growth in the second user market for older iPhones. A swift eBay search reveals a healthy trade in these.

There also appears to be some hesitancy when it comes to installing iPhone Software 3.0.1. Pinch Media reports there are now 56.4% users and 57.2% sessions on 3.0, and 18.0% users and 17.1% sessions on 3.0.1, for a total of 74.4% users and 74.3% sessions on OS 3.0 or higher.

Apple meanwhile warns that phone networks could suffer “potentially catastrophic” cyberattacks by iPhone-wielding hackers at home and abroad if iPhone owners are permitted to jailbreak their devices.

That’s against the background of the US Copyright Office which is mulling over a  request by the EFF to legalise jailbreaking. Apple warns that opening the platform in this way could see national communications toppled, and may even give the street drugs industry a boost by enabling criminals to hack into the iPhone to make free and anonymous calls. A set of arguments which underline the intensity with which Apple wants to oppose jailbreaking.

As with file-sharing, however, the cat’s out the bag, and we think the frequency of jailbreaking will only increase as the second-user iPhone market grows.

Pinch Media’s statistics indicate this is what is happening.

Mac|Life found a curious question on a survey sent around by Borders.  They asked if:

Curious because if Apple was building a tablet eBook reading device, Borders would be one of the first to know…but could obviously be speculation as well.  Do you plan on buying an iPAD this year?

OK, we admit it, we were a little skeptical. Well, after this video from the Covino and Rich people, we are a little less so.  You?

The iPod Touch leaks are in full effect right now.  Here’s anther round of "next gen iPod touch leaks" from the Corvino and Rich Blog (Satelite radio show).  These look somewhat similar to the one we’d posted earlier today.  We are starting to feel like the September event might not be very surprise-y.  Many more picts below.

Are leaked hardware photos a new advertising medium? 

Update: Engadget says these are faker than this morning’s but a closer look makes them look a little less so.

Better quality fakes here

Portuguese online store and Authorized Apple reseller (for now at least) Promais offer up these new 3G iPod Touch and 5G iPod nano cases.  Via MDN.  More below.

All change in the games industry where the iPhone gold rush is generating serious deals and forcing major strategic change.

There’s big prizes at stake. Most smartphone users (62 percent) download one to five applications per month, while iPhone users are far more active, with 82 percent downloading apps, according to Goldman Sachs. iPhone users, more than those on any other platform, are keen on games, the analysts confirmed.

There’s cash in the iPhone attic: Overall downloads from all app stores will reach 6.67 billion applications by 2014, up from two billion this year, Vikrant Gandhi, analyst at market research firm Frost & Sullivan, told internetnews.com.

Games have become the dominant category on the App Store, with analysts predicting Apple will grab 10 per cent of the handheld games market by the end of the year.

This developing competition for a slice of Apple’s growing market is in the spotlight again today, with comments from Namco, where recently hired ex-Apple veteran, Jonathan Kromrey has taken charge of a new dedicated Apple device development team.

He explains: “I bought a group of people with me from Apple". And Namco seems prepared to make major investment in Apple’s platforms, “We are evaluating partnerships with other developers,” he said.

Confirming just how seriously developers see iPhone development, he says, “My charge is to make games that are the best for the iPod touch and iPhone. There is a gold rush to do Apps for the App store and Namco is at the forefront of that movement."

On future games developments, he admits Namco’s working on a back catalogue of Japanese games along with some new ones, and the company will bring Tekken to iPhone if it can figure out effective game-play.

“No matter the game, what’s most important is that the player feels this real sense of immersion, of tangibility, so they’re no longer playing a game on the device, they’re in the poker room or at the fighting tournament.”

It’s not just Namco, Sega recently began canvassing iPhone gamers to find out which old Sega classics should be given the iPhone treatment.

And it’s not just games developers. There’s serious VC investments being slammed down as Wall Street considers all the estimates and follows the money.

– Backflip Studios, the indie developer behind the popular Paper Toss game for the iPhone, has raised $145,000 in funding, it announced this month.

– Z2Live has just raised a total $4 million in finance to develop the first multiplayer game platform for the iPhone and other platforms.

With the focus on Apple, we’re unsurprised at recent rumours from Sony, which claim that company plans to match App Store prices on games sold through its revitalised PlayStation Network (PSN), where games will cost between 1-5 Euros, rumour claims.

Like Microsoft, RIM and others, Sony has begun actively sourcing iPhone developers to bring existing titles to PSN.

What’s next? We think Apple may eventually extend its growing presence in mobile gaming to attempt a grab at the console market, with the possible introduction of a Pro games store at the App Store, selling titles in higher resolution for playback on larger-screened Apple devices.

Here we go again, as the rumour-mill gathers ever more strength and reports claiming Apple will unveil its latest range of iPods in early September, perhaps during the week beginning September 7, the latest batch of iPod touch with camera pictures/mock-ups have emerged.

This latest trio of purported images have leaked out of those ever-busy Chinese forums. Meanwhile, (fresh off his geek fight with Giz editor Brian Lam) Daring Fireball last night spat out what author John Gruber hears are the price points for the new iPods: 16/32/64 GB for $199/299/399, he claims.

Allegedly, these images depict a prototype (albeit somewhat scratched, hmm..) of the future model of the device, which is also expected to be able to capture video, edit video and share video assets using services such as Mobile Me and YouTube (as the iPhone does at this point).

With the iPod touch already a major contender in the handheld gaming segment, it should be interesting to watch its future land-grab at the low end digital camera/video camera markets.

We guess success will depend on just how high a resolution camera the future product will offer, and what the market decides is the minimum necessary for casual – but effective – photography. Another image after the jump. Via: Techticker.

What do you think – real or fake?

Update: So far the consensus is pretty much in the fake category, two good reasons so far:

1/ Look at the Dock – there’s reflections, which aren’t in the current OS.

2/ That poor iPod touch is pretty scratched?

China Unicom this morning denied earlier reports it has purchased five million iPhone’s at a cost of near $1.5 billion.

The China Business News claimed Apple had reached a deal with China Unicom to sell the iPhones, now, once again, China Unicom denies a deal is on the table.

“Talks between us and Apple have been going on for some time, but no agreement has been reached yet," said Unicom spokesman Yi Difei as reported by The Street. "There are all kinds of possibilities.There is no particular timetable for the talks."

The previous report, he said, “is not true”.

Despite a recent visit to China Unicom by a high-level team led by Apple’s Greg Joswiak, Apple spokeswoman in Beijing, Tiffany Yang, said she had no information about an iPhone agreement in China.

It now seems it’s going to be a while until Apple and China Unicom break this deadlock, understood to involve revenue sharing agreements and an understanding of who will run the App Store in the country. Despite this, a deal with China Unicom has been an on/off expectation for months.

Fanboys might want to avert your eyes.  We didn’t get a good look at the shooter (Eric Schmidt?) but we have a feeling his actions arn’t going to be appreciated around these parts.  The good news is that you now know not to put your iPhone up against a 9mm handgun…if that was ever a consideration.

via Gizmodo

It is too bad too, he seemed like a pretty quick typist on the virtual keyboard.

Jim Dalrymple, former Macworld Editor at Large and current CNET contributer says he’s heard that there will be no tablet at the September event.  The event will be typical music and iPods only.  The iTablet, according to him, won’t be revealed until 2010.

Very reliable sources familiar with the product have said speculation of the tablet being introduced during the September event are flat out wrong. The Apple tablet, they said, would not see the light of day until the first part of 2010.

Though Dalrymple seems pretty sure of himself, the beard has its doubts.

Update: d’oh! Labor day is Monday and Kafka said "week of" September 7th

AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka is quoting some Industry Execs  saying that the week of September 7th will be the big day…or as they put it: One of Apple’s Famed Keynote Events.  Monday is Labor day in the US but September 9th…09/09/09 seems like a better fit to us though we’ve heard nothing specific.

Multiple music industry sources say Apple executives have told them the company is planning one of its famed keynote events for the week of Sept. 7.

The Internet is abuzz right now with speculation.  The timing makes sense as the past four iPod events have been in early September (to get those back to school kids in a lather) but Monday would be unusual for Apple as they often go with Tuesday affairs.

Thoughts?