iOS Devices

The New Year was supposed to bring with it the new, easy to use, SIM unlocking tool for iPhone.   Dubbed YellowSn0w by its developers, it appears to have a few hiccups.  Hopefully by my next trip to Europe, they’ll have this sorted out.

Image courtesy

Frank Zappa, eat your heart out…

 

Michael Arrington of TechCrunch says that 3 independent sources have confirmed that Apple is getting ready to build an iPad type of large iPod touch device.  Specs given are sparse but they anticipate a 7-9 inch display. 

The August release time frame coincides with Apple’s yearly iPod refresh.  This would also give the PA Semi sufficient time to have turned out a ARM Cortex class processor. 

Along these same lines, we think some cool stuff should hit during WWDC in the form of a higher powered iPhone…but we have no word from any sources.

 

 

This is the kind of thing we hate to report but since we’ve got so much vested in Apple…(we know his health is his own business – this is more what we’d like to think) -but here goes from Gizmodo:

According to a solid source, Apple misrepresented the reasons behind MacWorld and Steve Jobs’ keynote cancellation. The real cause is his rapidly declining health. In fact, it may be even worse than we ever imagined:

Steves health is rapidly declining. Apple is choosing to remove the hype factor strategically vs letting the hype destroy apple when the inevitable news comes later this spring.

This strategic loss will be less of a bang with investors. This is why MacWorld is a no-go anymore. No more Steve means no more hype. Saying they are no longer needing [MacWorld] is the cover designed by the worldwide "loyalty" department.

This source has repeatedly been 100% correct before. Those times, however, were always related to news and images of unreleased Apple products. I can only hope that, in this more personal matter, it is absolutely wrong and this just means that Steve Jobs is retiring according to his plan.

While Steve Jobs’ health is nobody’s business—not the press, not investors, not the public—we believe that there’s a line between saying "no-comment" and plainly misleading—once again—the public.

According to our Deep Throat’s report, the fact seems to be that, whether or not Apple had other reasons to pull out of MacWorld, they weren’t the only ones, and they certainly weren’t the same ones used for not putting Steve Jobs through the ordeal of a two-hour presentation.

Ooooof.

As expected, Walmart announced they will be selling iPhones with a big fat $2 discount.  No surprises there.  Best Buy actually has better prices on iPhones.

The big news comes to us from 9to5mac.com/toys where the fabled $99 iPhone comes to us in refurbished 8Gb form direct from AT&T with free shipping:

With activation of new voice and data plans, AT&T Wireless has several refurbished models of the iPhone 3G on sale, with prices starting at $99. With free shipping via 2-day delivery, each is $50 off our mention from earlier this week and the lowest total price we’ve seen. Sales tax is added where applicable. It features compatibility with AT&T’s 3G network, built-in GPS navigation with Google Maps, enhanced enterprise support, a 3.5" touch screen, at least 5 hours of talk time, and more. Note that a $36 activation fee applies. The deals:

• Apple iPhone 3G 8GB in Black for $99
• Apple iPhone 3G 16GB in Black for $199
• Apple iPhone 3G 16GB in White for $199

If you don’t have one already, you might want to hop on over and get one before the stocks dry up.

There is probably some witty thing to say about the fact that Chinese manufacturers are already cloning an as yet (and probably never) revealed product.  No wonder Apple is so secretive about its products.

via Gizmodo

Merry Christmas to those who asked Santa for more Apple tablet type products in 2009.  These aren’t our words…they are Apple’s:

The Mac OS X software team is looking for an exceptionally talented software engineering manager to lead Apple’s Core OS Network Authentication and Security team. This team is responsible for the development and support of key networking infrastructure for Mac OS X. Specific areas of responsibility include VPN, 802.1X, and related Internet protocols, network security protocols and applications, and network configuration management. The software developed by the networking team runs on a broad spectrum of platforms, including Macs and Windows, and from servers down to a growing number of embedded devices including iPhone.

 

It frankly doesn’t get any more clear than that. (originally from September)

The Archos 5 and 7 have TI OMAP ARM processors running at 600Mhz.  Notice how fast they browse websites (with Flash)?  Oh, and 10 hours of video playback? Imagine these devices with further optimization and some additional speed, iPhone Mobile OS X, App Store, 720P HD resolution and half as thick due to using flash instead of a hard drive and you might have something special. 

 Not enough?  How about a WWAN connection?  Just sayin’…

iFart has hit the top paid app spot and has recieved over 13,000 purchases on Dec. 22nd. according to MR.  That means $9200 went directly into developer Joel Comm’s pocket. 

Joel’s climb up the "ranks"

12/14 – 841 units – #76 overall
12/15 – 1510 units – #39 overall
12/16 – 1797 units – #22 overall
12/17 – 2836 units – #15 overall
12/18 – 3086 units – #10 overall
12/19 – 3117 units – #9 overall
12/20 – 5497 units, – #4 overall
12/21 – 9760 units  -#? overall
12/22 – 13274 units, #1 overall

Interesting.  These facts bring in a wealth of reactions.  Good for independent app developers.  Green with envy for a dumb app.  Also, the number two app Sim City costs ten times as much.  That means it has approached $100,000/day in income.  Oh, and Apple is taking in a few bucks as well.  The App store is certainly the technology breakthrough of the year.   Thoughts?

ifart  Mobile (iTunes Link)

 

The iPhone awhile back became the most popular camera phone on Flickr, beating out even rivals with 5 Megapixel cameras.   It is now far and away the leader. (sure you can combine all of the Nokia phones and have a much closer race – but stick with us here)

Today CNet shows that it is quickly becoming one of the most popular cameras overall.  Quite a big acomplishment for the 2 megapixel, flashless, zoomless device. Next month, the iPhone should only be behind the Canon Rebel XTi – which will only be heading south in favor of Canon’s new, upgraded XS, XSi lines.

There is something to be said for having a great interface and an app environment that let’s you easily integrate your content with other services.  It also doesn’t hurt to have only one product instead of 40 like Nokia or in the camera category, Canon.

XSKN appears to be Apple’s designated iPhone Nano PR agency at this point, releasing Photos of the, until now only rumored, device (we still don’t buy it btw – imagine trying to type on that sucker).  Perhaps Apple’s lawyers are too busy body-slamming Psystar.

More shots below…

Gizmodo got another shot:

Macrumors posted a mockup last night:

Changewave continues the glut of iPhone data with this month’s installment from their user surveys.  Check the pretty tables below:

Don’t forget about the 27% of other category which is down from 29% in Sept. and June.

 

 

Uh oh, this doesn’t bode well for future quarter of iPhone sales

But alas, where it really counts – in customer satisfaction, the iPhone really destroys the Storm.  Which really isn’t news at all.

From Changewave:

Bottom Line

The smart phone market is now dominated by two companies – Apple and Research In Motion. According to our survey results, the Apple iPhone trails the RIM BlackBerry in terms of current market share – but the iPhone has experienced strong growth since its inception and explosive growth since the release of the 3G model in July 2008.

Going forward, RIM is showing a surge in momentum due to its slew of new product launches – and appears capable of giving Apple a strong challenge in 2009. But the real test in a cutthroat market is how satisfied consumers actually are with their new models.

In this survey, we found the BlackBerry Storm’s satisfaction rating to be middle-of-the-road – lagging behind the average rating for other RIM BlackBerry models. It’s not that the BlackBerry Storm is a bad phone. It’s just that the initial launch has glitches which have resulted in a mediocre satisfaction rating.

Competitive pressures may have caused the Storm to be launched before it was quite ready for primetime. But if RIM can rapidly fix its initial glitches and bugs, the survey shows that this new offering – along with RIM’s other recently released models – will provide accelerated momentum for RIM in 2009.

Third party functionality keeps adding more and more features to the iPhone.  HP has just introduced (Store Link) a new app that lets you print your pictures to an HP printer.

From HP:

HP iPrint Photo is a free downloadable software application that allows you to quickly and easily print 4" x 6" photos. Images stored on your iPhone or iPod touch can print on most HP networked ink jet printers connected to a local WiFi network. Wireless printing is a fun extension of the iPhone / iPod touch’s easy photo capture and viewing experience.

It will be interesting to see if Apple releases some universal printing standards or if Printer manufacturers will have to each produce their iPhone application.

 

http://www.hp.com/united-states/consumer/digital_photography/free/software/iprint.swf var so = new SWFObject(“iprint.swf”, “iprint”, “560”, “280”, “8”, “#ffffff”); so.addParam(“quality”, “high”); so.addParam(“wmode”, “transparent”); so.addVariable(“startMovie”, “6”); so.write(“flashcontent”);

Download instructions

The HP iPrint Photo application is available as a free download from Apple’s "App Store" which is easily accessible from your iPhone, iPod touch or iTunes on your computer. You can download HP iPrint Photo in just a few moments directly to your iPhone or iPod touch or to your computer, then manually sync to your handheld device.

In order to install HP iPrint Photo to your device via a computer, Apple iTunes application must be installed and in use, and your handheld device firmware must be version 2.0 or higher. To access the latest version of iTunes, visit the download site at:

www.apple.com/itunes/download

.

How to use HP iPrint Photo

Once you have loaded HP iPrint Photo to your handheld device-you are ready to go. It’s only a few simple clicks to print your photos from anywhere within the range of your wireless network.

1) Click on the HP iPrint icon

2) Choose the photo album where your picture is stored

3) Select the photo

4) Select the "Print" option in the lower portion of the screen

You should now be printing a 4" x 6" or 10 x 15 cm photo from your HP Inkjet printer*. Note: If this is the first time printing to a specific printer, select the desired printer from the list of available printers. You will not be required to complete this step again in order to print additional photos on the same printer.

Supported Network Environments:

HP iPrint Photo leverages Apple’s Bonjour technology to automatically identify HP wireless printers or other supported HP printers available on your network. HP iPrint supports industry standard WiFi environments (including Apple Airport, Linksys, D-Link, Netgear…).

HP iPrint Photo Support:

Get

support for HP iPrint Photo

.

*HP iPrint Photo defaults to print borderless 4" x 6" (American standard) and 10 x 15 cm (European standard) photos. If your printer has a separate photo tray, it will be automatically selected. Otherwise the default will be the printer’s main paper tray.

Printable version

Kids out there, go ask your parents before hitting the read link on this one.  iBoob is still getting denied by the apple store even though it doesn’t use real models and doesn’t show anyone nude.

NPR just released their new iPhone app (built by Pass Time Software).  Now you can listen to Car Talk and All things considered and On the Media on the go.   OK, yes NPR had a perfectly good WebApp that has most of the same functionality but Apps are the new black..  Also, for your laggards on 2.1 or below, you won’t be able to install this until you get around to updating.

There should be an app update within a week, which will make the station finder and podcasts available according to the developer

Get it here (iTunes link)

On a related note, you can hear NPR’s Macworld predictions here.  Screenshots below.

 

 

Smaller, cheaper(?), Nanoier, it looks like we’ll have some more room in the iPhone family for a little one in 2009.  The iPhone nano skin just appeared on XSKN’s website.  As MR points out they were also a bit premature in their release of 3G iPhone cases and 2G iPod Touch cases.  For this we have the following video…

Also, FYI, the nano screen is 320×240 pixels, you you *Could* have the current iPhone screen resolution in something the size of a fatty nano.  The touch keyboard would be more like a shuffle keyboard at that level though.

There is something poetic about using the iPhone’s coolest jailbroken app to document the SIM unlocking of the iPhone 3G.  Dev team, we and our European offices <3 thee :D

http://qik.com/swfs/qikPlayer4.swf

http://qik.com/swfs/qikPlayer4.swf

We have to admit we love this idea.

 

Got to love Google’s sense of humor

From 9to5mac.com/toys comes the news that AT&T is now selling refurbished iPhones for $50 off of retail.  That beats the deep $2 discount that Walmart will save you.  Subscribe to get all of the latest Apple shopping news.

 

 

Admob has a very interesting data sheet out today with lots of interesting iPhone and iPod touch data.  They measure data in terms of web requests (much like NetApplications)…some of the highlights below:

• Apple is now the top smartphone by Internet page requests with 10% of the total market, up 3%
• There is a small but significant percentage of iPhone requests over Tmobile’s US network
• Ad clicks in Asia and specifically Indonesia are literally off the charts
• Although it is in 5th place globally with a quicky growing 7.8% of handset data requests, the iPhone model has the market lead with 6.3% (they count 1.5% of traffic from iPod Touch devices).
• Apple has about 25% of the smartphone handset market in the UK, but is gaining on market leader Nokia who has almost 2/3rds of the market
• Perhaps most interestingly, iPhones are using Wifi much more than other Wifi enabled devices by a wide margin.   The only other device on the radar is the PSP (and Nokia’s N95-6 series in Europe).  This has to be good news for AT&T who bear the burden of the iPhone’s 3G capabilities.  It is also a testament to the iPhones ease of switching between WWAN and Wifi networks.