iOS Devices

…complete with annoying light reflection.  Many of you voiced concern that yesterday’s video was a simulation and didn’t have real world speeds.  You were right, the Pre seems to be significantly slower in person…as does the iPhone when compared to Apple’s commercials.  Who would have thought it?   Now for the walkthru:

Also nice is the fact that previous Palm users will be able to use their old apps (30,000 total for the old Palm platform) while they get used to the Pre’s new apps and interface.  Much like Apple’s classic application helped in the transition to OSX from OS 9.

…or 6 times per second!!  According to a Skype blog post,

In less than two days, Skype for iPhone has been downloaded more than one million times – around six downloads every second.

This is a phenomenal performance, and we’re confident that it’s one of the fastest-downloaded iPhone apps ever. We’ll be back next week with an update, but for now, Skype on

Many feel that Skype’s success on mobile devices doesn’t bode well for mobile carriers or telcos in general.

Sometimes-reliable Digitimes is reporting that Apple will have a 3.2 Megapixel camera sensor on its next iPhone.  The brief report states:

OmniVision has received 3.2-megapixel CMOS image sensor (CIS) orders for Apple‘s next-generation iPhone, according to market sources. The company is also said to have secured 5-megapixel CIS orders for another Apple product expected to be launched later in the year.

OmniVision beat out STMicroelectronics and Aptina Imaging for the Apple orders, the sources added.

One of the bigger complaints about the current iPhones is the camera’s low-megapixel output.  While the picture quality is amazing for 2.1 megapixels, there is certainly room for improvement (yes, there are many other factors contributing to the quality of a picture besides megapixels).

This would put the iPhone (again) on par with the soon to be released Palm Pre.

And what is with the 5 megapixel camera?  Is it us or does that have "tablet thingy" written all over it?

iPhone 3.0 is also expected to bring video recording capabilities to the next iPhone.

Yes, we know that jailbroken iPhones have had video for decades now.

(image from Macrumors)

Telcos.  You can’t live with them and you can’t use an iPhone without them. 

If you are a Tmobile iPhone customer and you are enjoying your Skype application, you might be in for some bad news.  Deutsche Telekom AG on Thursday said it may prevent its customers from using Skype on Apple Inc.’s iPhone.  Word is that Rogers in Canada might be trying to do the same.

Skype, a phone service that routes calls through the Internet and is owned by eBay Inc., made its debut on the iPhone on Tuesday. It allows most iPhone users connected to a wireless Internet network or third-generation cellular network to call other Skype users at no extra cost.

Skype’s iPhone application puts it in competition with cellular operators such as Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile and Telefónica SA’s O2 in Europe..

The article cites a TMobile spokesperson as saying: "…even using Skype at a Wi-Fi hot spot is a breach of contract."

If there is any possible way for them to do this, you can be sure that AT&T will try to do the same as well.  Apple has made it clear that it wants to allow VoIP on its devices so long as they aren’t using AT&T’s network.  That seems to be more than fair.  I’ve done a lengthy post on why the telcos are screwed because of VoIP here if you re interested.

What happened to that European fair competition regulation that forced France to allow every carrier in the country to carry the iPhone?  Oui Oui!  We hope they step in and allow Tmobile customers to use Skype.

Tech Crunch reports that Microsoft’s Stephen Elop slipped and admitted to Tim O’Reilly that there was a version of MS Office coming for iPhone.  He then backtracked a bit. 

We’ve got the video – but it is a half hour long talking about Microsoft Office and we can’t watch for more than a few minutes.  We’re going to crowd source this one.  At what time does he talk about the iPhone?  Leave it in the comments and you win!  Update: 5:35 is the good stuff. 

it1294 wins some crappy gifts in the comments.  Losers, you can have them too.

It is too nice outside.

Want to brush up on your coding skills and make a truckload of money selling your great idea as an iPhone application?  Stanford is offering their CS193P Cocoa programming for iPhone class online through iTunesU  for free. 

From the press release:

Relevant Web URLs:

• Stanford on iTunes U
• iPhone Application Programming Course
• Stanford Computer Science Department
• Apple iPhone App Store

It’s a hot ticket: Free Stanford course on developing software for iPhone and iPod touch comes to iTunes U

From the toys section:

Amazon is having a 56% off special on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500K 10.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom.  It ships for free and is the lowest price we’ve ever seen for this 5x wide angle lens.  Silver is available for $1 more.

Throw in an 8GB SDHC Memory card for $15 including shipping.

Manufacturer Description
The Lumix DMC-FX500 is Panasonic’s first digital camera with a 3-inch touch-screen LCD, and also features a 25mm ultra-wide-angle Leica DC lens, 5x optical zoom and 10.1-megapixel resolution. With a dual control system using both touch-screen and joystick operation, the ability to record high-definition video and advanced Intelligent Auto technologies, the FX500 packs both innovative features and intuitive design.

The FX500 has a hybrid control system that combines joystick control with touch-screen operation, so users can make fine adjustments by touch, using their finger, or the included Lumix stylus-pen. In manual exposure mode, adjustments can be made using the on-screen sliders to adjust aperture and shutter speeds. You can also set the auto focus and exposure in frames by simply touching the subject, on screen, while recording. In playback mode, a new Easy Organization menu allows for photos to be selected and viewed by scrolling through the thumbnails located below the main window. Then, users can edit the titles using an on-screen keyboard.

Plus, with an ultra-wide-angle, 25mm lens, the FX500 can capture almost double the photo area at the same shooting distance compared with a conventional 35mm lens. Also new is Auto Focus (AF) tracking, a feature that tracks the photo subject even if it moves after the AF is set — especially helpful for catching active children or pets.

Panasonic’s iA (Intelligent Auto) mode is an advanced system of technologies that engage automatically, so the user does not have to change any settings. Maximizing the iA mode, users can go a step further and easily set auto focus and exposure by simply touching the screen. This kind of quick, easy operation is made possible with the touch-screen technology.

Additional Features

Intelligent Exposure: To help correct photos from being under- or over-exposed, the FX500 instantly analyzes the framed image and adjusts the brightness in areas that are too dark because of dim lighting, backlighting or the use of the flash.
Digital Red-eye Correction: Helps eliminate the red-eye problem that sometimes results when taking flash shots at the night. Incorporated into the built-in flash, the camera emits a small preliminary flash before the main flash, detects red-eye and digitally corrects it.
MEGA O.I.S.: Gyrosensors detect hand-shake and the lens system shifts to compensate, helping to prevent hand-shake from creating a blurry image.
Intelligent ISO: Determines if the photo subject is moving and changes the ISO setting and shutter speed accordingly.
Intelligent Scene Selector: Senses the ambient conditions, recognizes the shooting environment and automatically selects the appropriate scene mode from: Scenery, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait or Night Scenery mode.
Face Detection: Detects faces anywhere in the frame and automatically chooses the optimal focus and exposure settings so portraits come out clear and crisp. Detecting up to 15 faces, Panasonic’s Face Detection can even track a face if the subject is moving.
Continuous AF: Maintains focus on the subject even without the user pressing a shutter button halfway, thus minimizing the AF time.
Other features include the ability to take1280 x 720p HD video content and still photos with a 16:9 aspect ratio, perfect for viewing on an HDTV. In addition, the FX500 incorporates the Venus Engine IV processor, featuring more advanced digital signal processing technology for taking even higher-quality images. The fdsa proprietary Venus Engine IV also heightens the detection accuracy and corrective features in both MEGA O.I.S. and Intelligent ISO Control.

Product Description
10.1 MegaPixel / 5x Zoom / 3.0" LCD Touchscreen / HD Movie / Picture Adjustment

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0011Z44KA&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

We know some of you are excited about the Pre while others (most?) of you are diehard iPhone fans. I think we can all agree that competition is good for consumers. With that, we’d like to share the latest Pre video with you.  Notice the speed at which the apps switch – likely due to that ARM Cortex A8 processor under the hood.  It is almost as fast as an iPhone commercial! 

While the Pre hasn’t yet sold one handset and the iPhone is heading toward 20 million, we hope to see some more competition in the smartphone (and how about carrier?!) field soon.

via Giz

We really thought we liked Sling.  Not anymore…They just became another greedy media company in one very poorly thought out move.  Sling is only allowing users of its more expensive products to use the upcoming iPhone client.  Slingbox, Slingbox AV, and Slingbox TUNER owners won’t be able to use their Slingboxes on the iPhone or iPod touch.  They will need to buy some of the more recent hardware (with a $50 discount).  Poor form Sling, very poor form.  Image below.

via Engadget

We’re not trying to get all wishy washy here on you but Obama’s iPod gift to Queen Elizabeth II actually could be seen to have some deeper meaning. 

For any of you that have to do work in Europe, you know that the prices of iPods over there are about 25% higher than you can find in the US.  We often get hassled by our European colleagues to bring iPods (and sometimes iPhones and Macs) with us whenever we visit.  It is also why, oftentimes, when you see Europeans in the US, they are likely looking for an Apple store or walking out of one. 

But that’s not the point.  The Queen didn’t ask Obama to get her an iPod to save a few bucks (hopefully).

Obama’s choice of the iPod as a gift represents a lot of what America is good at.  We are the world leader in Technology (for the time being).  We may not manufacture all of it but we design a lot of it.  Apple is also one of the leading brands in the world.  It is a very recognizable symbol of ingenuity and creative thinking.  The iPod also holds Music and Movies.  We are also pretty good at those things as well.  In fact, these areas are some of the last where the US still leads the world.

Of course the British press is all over Obama’s gift giving choices.  Hiis previous "gaffe" was getting Prime Minister Gordon  Brown a set of 25 incorrectly region-coded DVDs.  Who knows if this had some sort of deeper meaning or sentimental value?  If gift giving is the biggest complaint they can throw at Obama, we’re still in good shape. 

We think the iPod Touch makes a great gift, even for a Queen.  They even loaded it with videos of the Queen’s last visit to the US and some Broadway showtunes.  

It certainly beats a framed self portrait.

We’ve been using Fring for our Yahoo IM accounts but it looks like Yahoo has finally gotten off of their lazy backsides and is stepping up to the plate with their own iPhone application.  Here’s a preview:

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3951867&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Care-factor?  Low.

BGR found out that the latest iPhone version now recieves video SMS’s. More and more, this iPhone release seems to be about Video capabilities.  Will other video tricks follow?

April Fools is in high gear today around the technology world:

Apple is selling an album of silence

Google is not only the king of search but it is the undesputed leader in April Fool’s day gags.

Quallcom is putting wireless transmitters in birds.

Macworld UK is reporting Steve Jobs is in an ice skating contest.

Opera has face gesture recognition.

Gizmodo looks like it got taken over by a pre-teen alien conficker virus.

Reddit looks more like some other site.

ThinkGeek has some good stuff on their site today.

More below

TUAW is going back in time.

Even Microsoft has gotten into the act.  Sorta.

The Guardian is moving to Twitter.

Tivo is recording ahead of time now.

We’re sure there are many more.  Hook us up in the comments, we’ll post.

Redmond’s copy machines are still going full-bore.

That being said, refunds are a nice addition. Also, Blackberry’s marketplace is also going live today.

We are probably falling into a trap but the purple kinda freaked us out…any one else?  Purple Rain build?  As a few commenters pointed out, there is now a Store option in Settings.  Also, you now have two more pages of Apps screens available (now 11) which allows 180 Apps total.

Funky Apple.  Funky.

We aren’t sure if we’ll be able to use Skype over 3G after installing this. Anyone want to test this for us before we commit to losing 3G VOIP?  More juicy details below.

Update: Skype over 3G and Tethering still work properly.

Along with the SDK, iPhone 3.0 Beta 2 Build: 7A259g is also released.  It comes in at 228 MB.

We are, as you can see, downloading them both now and will report on any improved snappieness™.

We just found something very interesting.  When you install Skype on a 3.0 developer preview iPhone, you can use AT&T’s connection to make and receive calls.  It even works pretty well over EDGE.  Skype treats AT&T’s WWAN like a Wifi connection.  I did a quick video and posted it below:

Update:we just made a Skype call over 3G to another 3.0 iPhone using 3G.  The sound quality was as good, if not  better than normal AT&T.  (Thanks  Josh!!)

BTW, if you are commenting that it doesn’t work for you and you don’t have the 3.0 developer preview, you are missing the whole point of this post.

So like we promised yesterday, here’s the news: Skype is out.  Go get it (Free iTunes link)

You baseball fan/iPhone users won’t be able to pass up on this one. MLB.com’s At Bat 2009 iPhone application (iTunes Link) includes audio broadcasts for every regular season game for the whole year. Not only that, it has video top play/wrapup of games, play by play graphics and works over AT&T’s network, not just Wifi. At $9.99 for the whole year, it seems like a bargain.

The rumors were true, Skype indeed will be landing on the iPhone this week.  CNet got a preview of the app and likes what they see.

As expected, calls can only be made over Wifi.  AT&T is simply too afraid of VOIP taking over their voice business (which it will anyway).   We look forward to the day when the mobile carriers are competing to sell us packets fast and cheap…but back to Skype on iPhone.

CNet said:

Skype’s screens are well organized and use the iPhone’s ability to add filters, for instance, to sort your contacts alphabetically, or by who’s online. There’s chatting as well, though Skype’s flagship feature is its VoIP calling that’s free to other Skype users and an inexpensive per-minute fee to landlines. Calls on Skype for iPhone work only if you’re in range of a Wi-Fi network, so your call quality will in part be at the mercy and strength of wireless networks nearby–calls will not work over the cell phone network on the iPhone (but chatting will.) Assuming your connection is solid, you can dial a number or quickly call a contacts stored in your address book. iPod Touch users will need earphones with an embedded mic to talk. During a call, you can mute the line, go on hold, or put the call on speakerphone. In the My Info window, you can follow a link to buy more SkypeOut credit online.

Taking a photo from within Skype to serve as your avatar image, or pulling a picture in from the camera roll are two iPhone-only features that makes use of the phone’s hardware attributes. Another imperfect, but still neat, feature is the ability to accept incoming conference calls. While you won’t be able to initiate a call, we’re told, you will be able to jump on one if a buddy invites you in. We hope the next version includes placing conference calls from the iPhone.

The downsides were:

Skype left a few more skills out of its maiden iPhone voyage. SMS, setting up a conference calling group, purchasing SkypeOut credit directly, and being able to field a second incoming Skype call are a few. File transferring and getting Skype voicemail native on the phone are two more. We expect to see at least two of these added in the next version, but we’ll hope for more.

We really  like what we see and especially like the fact that it will work on the second generation iPod touch.  We’ll let you know when it hits the app store.  IT is expected by Tuesday but could hit the customary App store delays.

A month after Chrome’s first builds were hitting the Mac, the browser is making some solid progress. Ars’ Erica Sadun has a rundown of the improvements and some information on upcoming builds.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3882396&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1