iOS Devices

We had a hunch this may happen – and the latest Business Week report confirms it has – the first-generation iPhone is become the second-hand market’s plat du jour…

We anticipated that on the release of the iPhone 3G the market would initially be saturated with first-gen iPhones, as users got rid of them in order to upgrade.

We also thought that – given unlocking tools and a rich crop of applications are already available for any jailbroken iPhone (1G?) – the second user iPhone would become a cult object, creating its own alternate ecosystem.

The report hints that’s what’s taking place. eBay prices currently suggest the 16GB iPhone to be worth $600 while the 8GB model is worth a tidy $500 on the second hand market. As TUAW notes, "In other words, the $250 AT&T refurb specials from March are now worth roughly double what you paid for them."

The majority of these iPhones are being shipped out of the US for resale (or perhaps for use in countries such as India in which potential customers are a little reluctant to pay the huge price tag). 

However, there’s also strong demand in the US for these devices, the report notes – particularly from users who don’t mind sacrificing a few features in order to free themselves from the thrall of being hitched-up to AT&T.

"Whatever the reason, sales of the old iPhone are booming, and plenty of other companies besides NextWorth want in on the resale action. Many are striking trade-in agreements with retail stores like Circuit City (CC) to accept old iPhones on the spot," Business Week notes.

iLounge has some follow up images of dimensions of the new iPods that are slated to be released next week.  Peep them out…What other kinds of craziness do you expect to see next week?  Take a look at one guess and then vote!

Is anyone else feeling the iPod nano Zune vibe on these?

Not a rerun exactly – this is newly-released video shows you just how far handset manufacturers will go to attempt reproduction of the iPhone/iPod touch experience on their devices. This gadget’s called the Meizu M8 and the video was released by the CEO of the company.

Via: TUAW

Adobe will introduce its all-new Adobe Creative Suite 4 series of applications in a special online event on September 23 – and is inviting creatives to pre-register for the webcast of the launch. 

It’s been an open secret the company intends launching the new software at some point this year, now the cat’s escaped the bag and Adobe plans to stream a webcast of the new features inside the creative application power tools set.

"It’s going to be brilliant: See the unveiling of new Adobe Creative Suite 4 on September 23," Adobe explains on its website.

Adobe’s plan to webcast the event was revealed on the blog of Adobe’s Lee Brimelow, last night.

"That’s right we will be officially announcing the 4th version of the Creative Suite on September 23," he wrote. "Now before you get the wrong idea, this is NOT the release date but rather our official unveiling of it."

He also counselled: "Get plenty of sleep now as you will have more new toys than you’ll know what to do with very soon."

Adobe released public betas of new versions of Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Fireworks and Adobe Soundbooth as free downloads on Adobe labs in May. Once downloaded and launched, the betas work for 48 hours after which time only Creative Suite 3 customers will have an extended ability to use the betas "until the next release of Creative Suite becomes available", the company has previously said.

Some information on the Photoshop CS4 UI was also revealed earlier this year.

Apple’s iPhone 3G seems set to knock BlackBerry out of some markets, with the device on the way to becoming the most popular smartphone for the legal profession.

"I suspect most law firms will soon, if they aren’t already, be trialling iPhones, and as a single mobile platform makes sense, I suspect that over time these firms will also standardise on iPhones," said John Duckett, IT general manager at DLA Phillips Fox. The IT decision-maker notes that as the business applications available for the Apple device widen in number the iPhone will become more focused and useful to business. And Apple’s move to license ActiveSync has been a crucial step.

"Although an iPhone is primarily aimed at the consumer market it’s still going to be very attractive to the corporate world, and that includes the legal market," said Duckett.

"Mobile computing devices such as the iPhone are probably one of the few areas where there is the possibility of increasing productivity, and legal firms will be quick to recognise this."

Via: ITWire

Engadget got a ticket to the ball...surprisingly, we didn’t.  Oh, and notice he’s holding a 4G nano? Will it be rainbow-licious?  Will there be a GPS touch?  All signs point to yes…Let’s Rock!!

I have been exchanging emails with Dan Lyons, the man behind Fake Steve, and he revealed some scary news. I emailed him to tell him that Steve Jobs isn’t dying like some believe, and that according to the New York Times, he’s sick, but not even close to the magnitude of a disease like cancer, hoping I could convince him to revive the blog. However, Dan claims to have sources who are telling him otherwise.

"Well it’s a weird situation. I can’t really get into this but people close to him have been saying for quite a while (before the appearance onstage) that he’s really sick. And someone who saw him last week says he still looks like (expletive)".

While this is obviously terrible news if it is true, Dan Lyons revealed some good news at the end of his conversation with me, regarding the future of Fake Steve Jobs.

"Anyway, I’m starting at Newsweek tomorrow and Fake Steve was supposed to be part of my job. So we’re going to discuss whether to revive the blog". 

So there you have it. Lets all pray he’s wrong about Steve Jobs, but right about Fake Steve Jobs.

Update: Nevermind – this is an oldie!

Engadget links us to TRS blog who think they might have spotted the new iPod touch in this week’s Best Buy ad.  It is a stretch, there isn’t much difference between the ad’s iPod and the one we all know and love.  But hey..you know the drill….if it disappears, it is real..

Thoughts?  More picts below

The big news of the day?  Google announces Google Chrome, a WebKit (yes the very same Webkit that Safari uses) based-browser. 

As you can see from the example to the right, Google’s browser will have tabs on the top and a speed dial front page like Opera.

On the back end, major features include:

• a new, super-fast Javascript engine called V8
• an auto-completion feature that uses Google’s monster DB of the Web’s information
• the browser tabs are all separate processes so if one crashes, it doesn’t require a browser restart

The real question is how is Google going to use the browser?  Will they optimize their sites to take advantage of Chrome (a la Microsoft).  Will the planned Gears integration overshadow the support that Google gives to Firefox and recently "Geared" Safari? 

Is this the Google OS? (More screenshots below)

It now works on Windows but will be released for all platforms (Mac of course) including Linux.   All of those little Linux-based EEE type NetBooks will be prime targets for the browser.  As the browser becomes more and more important and more applications go online, the browser will begin to be everything. 

Gears is be best example of the browser going offline.  At the moment you can take your Reader, Docs and Spreadsheets offline.  Soon Gmail and many of Google’s other applications will work offline and on.

Overall, as Google Apps/Mac users, this is great news for us.  Hopefully Apple and Google can work together to make Webkit better across many platforms.

Thanks

O2 today released plans for a September 16th Pay as you go plan.  What is really interesting about this one is the pricing.  You pay once for the iPhone AND data (£349.99 and the 16GB version for £399.99).   The initial price covers data fo the whole year (and is £10/month after the first 12 months).  Not bad!  Um AT&T, got anything to say about this?!?!

Also note the date of release September 16th…

Pay & Go customers can now enjoy the iPhone 3G without a monthly contract. The new iPhone 3G 8GB for Pay & Go will be available for £349.99 and the 16GB version for £399.99.

This also includes unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first 12 months after you activate your iPhone 3G*. At the end of the 12 months you can continue to receive unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for just £10 per month. We’ll notify you before the end of the 12 month period by text and you can easily unsubscribe if you choose to do so.

It will be available to buy from 16th September in O2 stores, The Carphone Warehouse and Apple stores.

Please note visual voicemail and call merging are not available with Pay & Go. You’ll also need to change your data settings to use services such as Mobile Internet. Take a look at the activation tab on this page for more information.

 See more on O2’s website.

 Stone Design has introduced Twittelator Pro, a more advanced version of its Twittelator application for the iPhone.

The advanced version offers a range of pro features, including support for multiple accounts, personalised themes, the capacity to add a map of your current location, image uploads, access to addresses, bookmarks, searches and more. 

Stone Design’s CEO and lead computer scientist Andrew Stone said, “As the good doctor said: ‘When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!’ We were overwelmed with the enthusiasm and positive response from mobile Twitter users with Twittelator 1.0, and decided to spend the time and energy to make a low-cost yet high-end professional twitter client”

The company was founded in 1984 by Andrew Stone and has shipped over 20 titles for Mac OS X and its parent operating system, NeXT. Stone Design’s $4.99 application is available now from the App Store.

My Computerworld colleague Mike Elgan found a little bit of interesting news in a job posting online.  Looks like Microsoft is hiring that certain someone for a new App store type of thing called "Skymarket" (I guess Sky Mall was taken?).

According to the ad, the service/store plans to debut in 2009 on Windows Mobile 7.  Google announced a similar service for Android phones last week.  It seems the iTunes App Store is kinda a big deal…

From the Job posting:

Job Title: Senior Product Manager – Skymarket
This is a unique opportunity and time of rapid change in the mobile industry for a Senior Product Manager in the Mobile Communications Services team to drive the launch of a v1 marketplace service for Windows Mobile.

…according to their Job posting the candidate will be involved in:

• "Definition of the product offering, pricing, business model and policies that will make the Windows Mobile marketplace “the place to be” for developers wishing to distribute and monetize their Windows Mobile application

• Responsibility for the business model and key elements that will drive the optimal experience for developers and monetization of the service by Microsoft

• Preparation and driving the cross group collaboration for the initial launch of the marketplace offering to the developer community this fall

• Preparation and driving the cross group collaboration with stakeholders in the commercial launch of the marketplace service with the launch of WM 7

• Define and mange the consumer, developer and mobile operator value proposition and supporting materials for use by PR, MCB’s developer outreach organization, and other teams across Microsoft

• Working with multiple stakeholders (product team, product planning, developer outreach, business operations, legal and more) in definition on the process, policies and terms of use through which developers and consumers take part in the marketplace

• Work closely with product planning on prioritization of consumer, developer, and mobile operator scenarios

• Support business development on engagements with mobile operators and integration of the marketplace offering into broader Microsoft services offerings or discussions

• Work closely with the Mobile Communication Business developer outreach organization

• Management of KPI’s for the service post launch"

Woops…FAKE!

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1496857&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
iHologram – iPhone application from David OReilly

The application works by assuming a constant viewing angle (35-45 degrees), typical for when the device is placed on a tabletop. The 3d scene’s perspective is warped using anamorphosis, the same technique used in Hans Holbein’s painting The Ambassadors. This application does the exact same but updates dynamically.

Thanks ITP listserve

I have been having a serious issue with my 2.0 iPhone 3G, as I have detailed on my blog, Mac Soda. One of my main issues has been the Apple screen of death, as I like to call it. Basically, if you install or update an application, and the phone restarts, for whatever reason, it will freeze on the Apple logo every time, no matter what. If you don’t believe me, give it a try. I have had to restore my phone 21 times since I bought it July 11th, with each restore getting longer each time (I’ve gone from 1 hour restores to 12 hour restores, because of the number of apps I have acquired), and am desperate for a fix. So today, the 21st time, was the last straw. I emailed Steve Jobs, begging for him to fix it in the 2.1 Update next month. It turns out, Apple is already on the job and it will be fixed in the 2.1 Update. Click the read link for his response, or to view both my email and his response, click here.

Michael,

We are working on a software update for September that should fix these problems. Thanks for your patience.

Steve

Among the most popular iPhone Apps around, Last.fm’s iPhone development army continues to improve the software, now we get a sneak preview of Last.fm for iPhone 2.0. You can view your friend’s playlists and favourite songs. Sections for Top Artists, Top Albums and more are additionally available, you can listen to music based on tags you type in, whether that be an artist’s name, a style of music or…

Via: Distorted

Hard to argue with this video (thanks).  Yes, there are some problems with iPhone 2.0.x.  Even if you have every application in the App store, 8 hours is a long time.

We are really hoping 2.1 fixes all of these issues :D

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1603632&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

…and we were upset with out 30 minute sync times !

The iPhone tether issue keeps coming in and out of conversation.  First, rumors said that it would be added to the 3G iPhone, then it never came.  Then Nullriver released Netshare for a day before it was taken off (it is a pain in the backside btw but works for emergencies).   Now someone says they have word that there are talks between Apple and AT&T on this.

Some screenshots would be nice (especially with header information), but apparantly a Gizmodo reader got a message from Stevo’s iPhone saying the following:

AT&T offers data plans for BlackBerry that include tethering for an additional $30 per month (a total of $60 per month for the BlackBerry+tethering plan).

It seems ludicrous that the same thing is not offered with the iPhone. I understand the desire to prevent tethering with the current data plan, but I am willing to pay more money to allow tethering! With such an advanced device, why can I not do so?

From "Steve" to their reader:

We agree, and are discussing it with ATT.

Steve

Sent from my iPhone

So take it for its worth…

…the email could have easily been made up or said something like "rocket powered tablet".  Going forward, can we get a little more info?

 We’ve all been waiting for it, we all know they’re in the pipeline, and while we don’t want to speed up time (cos you can’t roll it back) we’re looking forward to what September will see falling from the Apple tree. .. could these be the products that we see?

These are just the latest and greatest set of (made up) pictures showing you just what could be on its way, cf. Digg Founder Kevin Rose. You know – goodbye short and stubby iPod nano, hello return of the new longish model, with a sideways screen, ho yus…

So – is this the face of the all new iPod nano? Short answer, no, but it’s possible they aren’t that far off the mark. Being Apple of course, who really knows?

US fans of hilarious movie, "Tropic Thunder", should rush now to iTunes, which is offering the fake documentary "Rain of Madness", a parody of "Hearts of Darkness", the classic making-of documentary for "Apocalypse Now" for free. That’s right, this also hilarious spoof is available now for free from iTunes, though only in the US at present. Across the pond we live in hope – and have to put up with this YouTube clip. Enjoy!

A major security vulnerability has been identified within the iPhone 2.0.2 software – a flaw which affects users who have password-protected the device…

The simple trick, "gives anyone full access to your Mail, SMS, Contacts, and Safari, reports a member of the MacRumors forum.

And the trick requires the technological skills of a five year old – essentially someone trying to access a password-protected iPhone simply needs to tap the emergency call button, and then double tap the home button and then…

An unapproved user doing this would land in the iPhone owner’s favourites area. If the iPhone has web addresses, phone numbers or email addresses stored there, then the invader can gain access to this information.

There’s a video detailing the flaw on the Gizmodo website. 

UPDATE: iPhone users who want to guard against this flaw have a really simple solution – in (Settings) General access the Home Button Settings, and switch double-clicking from ‘Phone Favorites’ (default) to iPod. Then all any space invader will gain is access to your music collection. Perhaps that should be the new default, pending a repair? (Thanks to reader, 9to5Noob for the suggest).

UPDATE 2: From a 9to5Mac reader (who cites MacRumors for this tip) in comment below: "a better option is to switch double-clicking to ‘Home Page’ rather than ‘iPod’ which then returns to the passcode entry screen rather than give access to the iPod contents. This is from another posting in the MacRumors forum so not claiming credit for this."