iOS Devices

A new app hit the app store this week which might be something for those who send emails on the go.  Email’n Walk (iTunes link) turns on the iPhone camera and presents the video as a backdrop to your email entry page.  The idea was apparantly originally an April Fool’s gag.

We like this implementation but aren’t sure how it will work in practice.  Won’t the camera just be looking at your feet?  Perhaps it depends on what angle you send emails at.  Anyone try this yet?

iPhone Arena got a snapper of the Best Buy inventory system which has a new set of items in under AT&T Mobility named "Project Charlie".  You guessed it!  iPhone Arena thinks that these are the new iPhones.  While just wild speculation at this point, the 3 inventory items might signify 8,16 and 32 GB sizes.  Or maybe it is just black and white models.  Or maybe it is the new Palm Web OS devices.

Macbidouille is reporting that iPod Nanos and Touch will receive cameras during their traditional fall updates.  It isn’t hard to see how the iPod Touch will receive the iPhone’s camera, iPod Touches have been slowly catching up to the iPhone’s functionality, getting Bluetooth, speakers, and mic-in. It should also get the new iPhone OS’s video producing capabilities, which will be a real differentiator against new products like the ZuneHD.  The iPod touch camera will likely be the same 3.2 megapixel model expected in the new iPhone.

They also note that the Nano will get a camera in September.  This would be a more interesting proposition because the Nano OS doesn’t have as many capabilities as that of the Touch.  It is also so small that the quality of the experience would be questionable.

Finally, they mention that the June 2009 iPhones will retain the same form factor as the current iPhones.

New iPods were released on September 9th 2008 and Apple is widely belived to now be on a yearly release schedule with its major products.  (the image is a Chinese knockoff btw)

This one makes us sleepy.

Guess they missed the $999 white MacBook which would have competed very well with the Dell.

We heard about this one a few months ago but it seems like it has finally hit the app store. Great idea for insurance companies and at the same time gives yet another reason to own an iPhone.

The flashlight function is a gimmick but starting a claim right from your device seems very cool.

Features:
* Calls emergency services
* Helps connect Nationwide customers with towing
* Helps you collect and exchange accident info
* Stores your insurance info for easy lookup
* Helps Nationwide customers start the claims process
* Locates Nationwide agents near you
* Takes accident photos and lets you record details
* Handy flashlight function for rainy nights or anytime

After all the hoopla, the Slingplayer is now available at the iTunes Store.

At $29.99, it represents a pretty serious commitment, but for many, having their television wherever they are (with WiFi) will be a small cost. 

Also, Jailbreakers note that it should be easy to make a workaround on this that allows Slingplayer to run on 3G networks just like Skype and other VOIP applications do. 

Update: We have confirmation that the jailbroken VoIPOver3G.app also allows SlingOver3G.

Download Slingplayer now [iTunes Store Link]

Word on the street is that the much-anticipated Slingplayer.app will be hitting the App Store…any…minute…now.  This follows numerous setbacks and reported rejections.   The app will cost a hefty $29.99 and will unofficially work with all Slingplayers.  This contradicts Sling’s own website which said it would only work for newer models.

Additionally, the app will only work over Wifi, which eliminates much of the utility of having a Slingbox in your pocket.  Sling had originally said that their app would work over Wifi, 3G and even EDGE.  No doubt, AT&T and other carriers had a hand in this decision.

We’ll post the app link when it becomes available, for those of you with $30 burning a hole in your pocket.

Some chatty character on Microsoft’s Office 2010 Twitter account is espousing some pretty big words.  The account seems legit because it is linked to directly from Microsoft’s site.

• He/she is implying that a Zune Phone will be released close to Apple’s new iPhone and the Palm Pre in June
• Says that Office 2010 will be "available" to Mac Users.  Does that mean VM Available?  AVMailable™
• Facebook and Twitter baked right into Word?  Ugh.  That doesn’t seem necessary does it?
  

Any thoughts on this out there?

Update: Microsoft couldn’t confirm or deny the rumor.

Via Giz

A Chinese forum poster has laid out (hilarious Google-English translation) the next generation iPhone almost exactly as described in recent rumors. Faster processor, 32GB Flash storage, 3 Megapixel camera with focus, digital compass and FM radio all make the cut.  He (she?) even gets extra credit for reciting the 9.7 inch tablet rumor as well.

The image which is shown shows "AT&T3.5" (without the space between the "T" and the "3") all the way over in China – rather than local Unicom or China Mobile.  The 3.0 iPhone software shows "AT&T 3.5"

Also, we’re not sure Apple are the FM radio types, even though we’ve seen that present and future iPhone chips do have the capability to do FM radio.

We like to think there are going to be some surprises both in design (thinner?) and functionality (front facing camera?).  If not, it will be hard to upsell current iPhone 3G users with a slightly better camera and compass.

For a rundown of all of the latest leaks and rumors on the iPhone 3, check here.

It really is that simple…

Amazon today released their new iPhone Kindle Store Application.  The App seems to circumvent Apple’s 30% cut of the store proceeds by making the purchase through a Web browser interface and having the purchase be delivered on the backend directly to Amazon’s App.  Will Apple let this stand?  Will other large product and service distributors follow suit?

An interesting alternative for publishers and authors who want to be on the iPhone is the Iceberg Reader by Scrollmotion.  This company takes a digital book and makes an application out of it.  At the end of the process the publisher pays about the same amount to get a book on the App Store, but pays Scrollmotion and Apple instead of Amazon.  Since each book is its own app, the authors have more flexibility in producing the book.app as well as in pricing and updating.

It will be interesting to see how Apple responds to the book apps situation.  Steve Jobs famously said that people don’t read anymore, that’s why Apple won’t build an eBook reader.

iLounge is reporting that Apple has rejected a Bittorent client controller app for the iPhone.  On the surface, it seems like a pretty standard move for Apple, who have a reputation for guarding digital rights. 

After an initial email stating that Drivetrain required “unexpected additional time for review,” Maza then received a rejection email from Apple, stating that “this category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing third party rights. We have chosen to not publish this type of application to the App Store.”

Obviously, there is a lot of gray area swathed away with this rejection letter.  The app is perfectly legitimate and could easily be used for legal downloads.  The defensive argument could be made that apps like Safari could also be used for illegal downloads.  If there was a Web control panel for Transmission, Safari could even control the Bittorrent client.  Just because an application can be used to infringe doesn’t mean that it is.

We aren’t idiots here.  We know that 95% of Bittorrent traffic is illegal copyrighted material.  Apple would like to show its content partners that it is serious about reducing piracy.  Apple also sells a lot of the software commonly found on Bittorrent clients and might want to eliminate a route to pirating. 

Not that it will work of course.

Last week we heard AT&T might be charging less for iPhone usage.  Today, the Wall Street Journal is saying that AT&T should charge more for data hungry iPhones.  iPhone users use the web much more than any other smartphone’s users (except Android?) and according to comScore, web usage is much more data intensive than other network tasks like email or chatting.

The 3.0 version of the software will only increase usage because of the push notifications.

Users of iPhone download games, video and other Web data at two to four times the rate of other smartphone users, according to comScore. Yet AT&T charges iPhone subscribers the same fee of $30 a month for data that it levies on other smartphone customers. And aside from restricting certain activities, like file sharing, AT&T doesn’t limit how much data can be downloaded.

But Web applications popular with iPhone customers are bandwidth hogs. A recent analysis by Alcatel-Lucent of North American wireless network use during the midday hour on one day found Web browsing was consuming 32% of data-related airtime but 69% of bandwidth, while email used 30% of data airtime but only 4% of bandwidth. Email taxes network resources but in a different way.

As the proportion of customers with iPhones grows — 5.9 million 3G iPhones were activated in the last three quarters, 7.5% of AT&T’s total subscribers — the resulting growth in downloading and Web browsing will strain AT&T’s network. AT&T will need to add cell towers and spend more on the back-haul lines that connect the towers to the rest of the network.

Because of this increased cost, the WSJ thinks the carriers should go away from unlimited bandwidth.

In the short term, carriers should abandon unlimited data pricing plans. Both AT&T and Verizon Wireless already charge extra for heavy users with wirelessly connected laptops. They will have to contemplate similar strategies for smartphone users.

Bad idea.  One of the best features about the iPhone (and other smartphones for that matter) is that you don’t have to count your packets in and out.  There is know worry in the back of your mind about what your bill is going to look like.   Changing a huge part of the iPhone model could have adverse affects on the whole ecosystem.

We also think their model might be too simplified.  First of all, the cost of extra packets to AT&T isn’t directly proportional to data plan cost.  Once the infrastructure is in, ramping up data throughput is much much cheaper than putting in new towers.  Also, the price of the equipment is coming down as well as the cost of bandwidth.

This doesn’t mean that AT&T isn’t planning something like this, perhaps that is why we are hearing all of this Verizon chatter.

From Battle Bricks: This is a demonstration of iPhone to Lego NXT Robot communication via the Safari browser and Lego’s Light Sensor. To build this, you’ll need a laptop, two iPhones, and a Lego NXT Robotics Kit. First, build your robot. Second write some Java LeJOS Robot code. Third write some Google Web Toolkit web application code. Fourth, plug in your iPhone into the robot, and use either a browser or another iPhone to drive the Lego Robot.

While the demo is a hack and may leave something to be desired, the increased I/O API options on the iPhone 3.0 will allow more functionality for these types of applications.

From the Toys section,

Amazon is offering the Sony HT-SS2300 Component Home Theater System for $280 (44% off) for the next four hours.  The deal is set to expire at 5PM EST

The two big names in Macintosh and iPhone Twitterring are Tweetie and Twitterrific.  The latter got a significant update in the iPhone space yesterday with the release of Twitterrific 2.0 ($3.99 iTunes link). 

It is a terrific update all around (an it has been redone, top to bottom), adding many up until now desktop only functions.  In fact, while we are sticking with Tweetie on the Mac platform, the new Twitterrific is our new iPhone destination.  The interface has been redone and a whole bunch of great new features has been added:

• New themes & timeline layouts
• Support for multiple accounts
• Extended author information
• Support for Twitter searches
• Support for Twitter trends
• Timeline filtering
• Conversation threads
• Support for retweeting
• Improved posting interface
• Advanced setting options

…to the already impressive feature list:

• Manage multiple accounts, searches & trends
• Unified timeline displays replies, direct messages, favorites & more
• Filter timeline for different tweet types instantly
• Easily view conversation threads between users
• Customizable visual themes & layout styles
• Powerful tweet actions such as RT, URL shortening, email, text compression & others
• Wide range of advanced settings

The one downer is that iPhone 3.0 testers aren’t yet be able to follow links – which is a biggie.  Twitterrific has a call into Apple regarding the problem.

BTW, if you want to follow 9to5mac on Twitter, head here.

The University of Missouri Journalism School, which you might remember from the below picture last year showing a pretty high percentage of Mac usage, is taking the Apple love one step further.  They are now requiring incoming students  to have iPhones or iPod touches.  According to the Missourian, Brian Brooks, associate dean of the Journalism School, thinks the entertainment device can also be a learning device:

“Lectures are the worst possible learning format,” Brooks said. “There’s been some research done that shows if a student can hear that lecture a second time, they retain three times as much of that lecture.”

Freshmen admitted into the School of Journalism and pre-journalism students will be sent a letter notifying them of the change. Students may buy either an iPod touch or iPhone in order to meet the new requirement.

While it is technically a requirement, the mandate isn’t going to be enforced.  Students could purchase a Zune or use their laptops to play back lectures if they want to, but judging by the picture above, that isn’t likely.

“The reason we put required on it is to help the students on financial need,” Brooks said. “If it’s required, it can be included in your financial need estimate. If we had not required it, they wouldn’t be able to do that.”

The project will use iTunesU to gather and distribute lectures to students.

This summer, Brooks said, the entire MU campus is installing a program called Tegrity which will allow the recording of lectures. Lectures can later be downloaded to media players through iTunes U which offers free content hosted by universities.

Brooks said MU is following other schools such as Stanford and Abilene Christian University in the use of this technology. The success of the new program will be evaluated at the end of the year, at which time Brooks said the program will be changed or scrapped.

“I anticipate it doing very well because it has proven to be very valuable to other universities,” he said.

(via Macworld)

A little off topic but…it is the weekend and this is kinda funny…Ding dong!http://current.com/e/90029658/en_US

That’s the story being floated over at GPSReview, who know a lot more about the Amsterdam GPS marketplace than we do.  They say that TomTom’s the likely hire behind this ad:

If they are just now hiring an iPhone developer we are going to venture a guess that it won’t be ready for the 3.0 launch in June.  But we like the competition!

The new iPhone’s compass will allow it to do a lot of interesting stuff. We’re imagining there will be some excellent apps that allow you to make a 3D rendering or a Quicktime VR using the camera with GPS and compass. It will also help out in the driving applications, especially at low speeds where the GPS can’t figure out which direction one is traveling in.

Here’s a simple use of Google Streetview using the Android’s compass. Via Appe 2.0.  Another video below.