iPhone Firmware » iPhone rumors

Android and iPhone to get PlayStation 3 like Graphics in 3 Years

Taimur Asad — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:48:17 +0000

Imagination Technology, makers of the PowerVR GPU chip has said that we will definitely have “graphics comparable to the PlayStation 3 in three years” time. For those of you who don't know, PowerVR GPU chip is the one that powers both, the iPhone and Motorola Droid.

Opera Mini For iPhone Could Be Coming Soon To App Store

Andy — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:04:43 +0000

Norwegian web browser developer Opera has revealed that the company's mobile browser application for the iPhone is just "weeks" away from submission to the App Store for approval. According to sources, the new Opera Mini iPhone app was likely to be six...

AT&T Claims To Be Working Hard To Enable Tethering For iPhone Customers

iPhonehacks — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:50:53 +0000

AT&T’s iPhone customers have been waiting for tethering to be enabled on the iPhone ever since Apple introduced the feature in iPhone OS 3.0. If you have been patiently waiting for AT&T to officially enable iPhone tethering then we have some ...

Apple Has Developed A “Full-on Solution” To Multitasking In iPhone OS 4.0

iPhonehacks — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:26:00 +0000

Folks at AppleInsider are reporting that iPhone OS 4.0, which is expected to be released in June will finally allow third party iPhone apps to run in the background. Multi-tasking is one of the most requested features by iPhone users. AppleInsider clai...

More suggestions of multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0

Dave Caolo — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:00:00 +0000

Filed under: OS, Software, Developer, iPhone

Developers have found further evidence of multitasking support for 3rd party iPhone apps in the latest beta (3.2 beta 4) of the iPhone SDK, and suggest that it will become a reality this summer.

9to5 Mac reports on a new line found deep within the latest iPhone SDK. Specifically, SpringBoard.js has a reference to a "multitasking dialog box" that did not appear in version 3.1.3 of the SDK; it seems that it's new to version 3.2. Of course, there's no assurance that this refers to 3rd party support for multitasking, but it is new.

Additionally, Appleinsider's souces with "proven track records" state that Apple has developed "a full-on solution" for 3rd-party multitasking which will be a part of iPhone OS 4.0. No specifics were given on how it will be pulled off or how it will address the two main concerns: battery life and security.

Let's assume that Apple's plan addresses the security issue, but battery life still presents a problem, one that was supposedly addressed by Push Notifications. Apple's remote notification service allows applications to offload polling processes to web servers. By keeping the update algorithms working off the device, the iPhone's battery is spared. Certainly the iPhone itself must take on the task of keeping all of those apps up and running.

It should also be noted that iPhone OS does not use a paged memory model. That means, multi-tasking applications must compete for the same memory space, making it more likely that apps will receive memory warnings and even crash when they use too much memory. That's not an issue in the one-app-at-a-time space, but a real problem with multitasking

Of course, the iPhone OS is already fully capable of multitasking. In order for non-Apple apps to participate, Apple must lift the current restrictions within the OS. That's something the company won't do until the iPhone engineers have devised the best and safest method. As for iPhone OS 4.0, Appleinsider notes that it's got "a ways to go." Hopefully we'll have an answer in July.

More suggestions of multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iPhone 4.0 to Support Multitasking?

Taimur Asad — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:44:18 +0000

According to the reliable sources at AppleInsider, folks in Cupertino are preparing to finally bring multitasking support in the next version 4.0 of iPhone OS. If this rumor holds up to be true, then Apple can finally silence all the iPhone critiques who have been praising the rival Google’s Android for its superiority in multitasking support; something which iPhone has lacked since day 1 with the original iPhone (EDGE) launch back in 2007.

New Gestures Found and Camera Features Removed in Newest iPad OS 3.2 SDK

Mike McKinnon — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:10:42 +0000

9to5Mac is reporting that a couple of new gestures have been uncovered in the the iPhone SDK 3.2 Beta 4. There seems to be a triple tap gesture and a long press gesture revealed. In the gestures folder, a couple of new plist files have been discovered: "3Tap.plist" and "LongPress.plist".

Will iPhone OS 4.0 Unify The iPhone And iPad Platforms?

Andy — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:48:06 +0000

Though the iPhone and iPad run on a common operating system, the version of OS installed on iPad will not be compatible with an iPhone. The reasons are evident: With a different screen size and variant features that the iPad will come with, the OS on i...

Apple Patent Hints At Technology To Replace Conventional Keys With iPhone

Andy — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:36:07 +0000

Carrying a bunch of keys in your trouser pockets could soon be a thing of the past if a fresh patent filed by Apple is anything to go by. In the patent application, Apple has described a technology that can replace conventional locks with electronic al...

Report Claims Apple Is Threatening iPhone Competitors For Patent Infringement

Andy — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:53:20 +0000

Apple is reportedly in talks with several leading handset manufacturers over their alleged infringement of the company's proprietary inventions. In a recently published report, Oppenheimer & Co's Yair Reiner writes that Apple's lawsuit against HTC has ...

Apple Releases iPhone OS 3.2 SDK Beta 4 For iPad; Removes Camera Tab

iPhonehacks — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:37:44 +0000

Apple has seeded developers of its iPhone Developer Program with the fourth beta version of iPhone OS 3.2 SDK (build 10M2144). Based on initial reports it looks like the latest beta version of iPhone OS 3.2 SDK includes many bug fixes, including a fix ...

Black Swan brings Google Voice back to the iPhone without the App Store

TJ Luoma — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Filed under: iPhone, App Review

Google Voice on the iPhone has been something of a sore subject for me. If you need a full-recap of the whole sordid iPhone/Google Voice story see this story from December or more of our coverage. I even started a little site devoted to waiting for Google Voice on the iPhone called IsGoogleVoiceAvailableForTheiPhone.com.

It has been 6 months and 19 days since Apple claimed it had not "rejected" Google Voice but was "studying" it. During the course of Apple's "study" the company moved to purge all existing Google Voice apps from the App Store.

There were three reactions to this from developers:

Google revamped the Mobile Google Voice page so that it looks a lot nicer on the iPhone.

GV Mobile released its app for free on Cydia for those who have jailbroken iPhones.

The folks behind Voice Central went a different route. They decided to make a web app instead. I've been using it in beta for the past few months, but as of today it has been released to the public as Black Swan.

The difference between the Mobile Google Voice site from Google and Black Swan is that Black Swan is stored locally on your iPhone, like Pie Guy from Neven Mrgan of Panic.com. Riverturn calls this a "weblication," which is a fairly awful name, but apparently they aren't the first ones to use it.

Continue reading Black Swan brings Google Voice back to the iPhone without the App Store

Black Swan brings Google Voice back to the iPhone without the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iPhone 4.1 to Unify iPhone and iPad OS?

Mike McKinnon — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:40:12 +0000

The Loop is reporting that it is possible the iPhone and iPad firmwares will not unify until fall of this year. The iPad will release with OS 3.2, but The Loop is suggesting the iPhone OS will not be updated until the summer, with the release of new hardware.

Apple to Ban More Apps from App Store

Mike McKinnon — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:49:09 +0000

Another batch of iPhone apps are, apparently, about to get the axe. Reports are popping up around the net, that "cookie cutter" type apps are starting to be pulled from the App Store. This would include RSS apps, and photo gallery type apps. Any app that just packages an online service, and doesn't offer any other functionality.

Will iPad be missing some iPhone apps?

Megan Lavey — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:00:00 +0000

Filed under: App Store, iPad

Wired noticed that there are some notable exceptions among the announced iPad apps, including Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather and Voice Memos.

These apps could be available for download through the App Store. However, blogger Kevin Fox suggested last month that could hint toward a possible Dashboard implementation on the iPad. He argues that these apps, with the exception of Voice Memos, were originally Dashboard widgets to begin with.

Fox theorizes that a five-finger pinch would bring forth a Dashboard with these apps and a second would send them back to the background. This is not the first Dashboard theory that's been floated for the iPad.

It's an intriguing idea, and I can see that being part of a future version of the iPhone/iPad OS. For now, I hope that these apps are available as a free download, or are already pre-loaded but on a second screen. The worst case scenario is that Apple will charge a premium for these basic apps, similar to the way they're charging iPod touch users for upgrades. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did either.

Will iPad be missing some iPhone apps? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple prepping Wi-Fi iPhone for China

Dave Caolo — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:30:00 +0000

Filed under: Apple Corporate, Apple Financial, iPhone

At long last, Apple and China Unicom Ltd. are working to introduce Wi-Fi-enabled iPhones to China.

The iPhone has failed to thrive in China, due in part to an active black market and the Golden Shield Project (GSP), which censors certain Internet content. To comply with the GSP, devices that include wireless Internet have been required to use China's own WAPI standard. Meeting that requirement forced Apple to re-design the iPhone for China.

In the meantime, a change in policy permitted devices to have both WAPI and Wi-Fi, but by then it was too late, and the 1st round of re-designed iPhones were released in China without Wi-Fi.

Now, Unicom Chief Executive Chang Xiaobing says that iPhones with Wi-Fi will be made available to his company's customers. He didn't announce when that will happen, but did suggest that existing customers (without Wi-Fi) will be compensated, perhaps with expanded use of Unicom's high-speed 3G network.

Unfortunately, this probably won't send iPhone sales soaring. There's still a powerful black market to contend with and less expensive iPhones in Hong Kong.

[Via Silicon Alley Insider]

Apple prepping Wi-Fi iPhone for China originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Another iPhone video conferencing rumor surfaces

Chris Rawson — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Rumors, Video, iPhone

There's been many rumors pointing to the possible inclusion of video conferencing in the next-gen iPhone -- everything from faceplate photos to code embedded in the iPhone SDK itself has set off our rumor radar. This latest rumor from site Redmond Pie tends toward the weaker end of the spectrum as far as evidence goes: UK mobile provider O2 has listed "Video Calls" as a "Key Feature" of the forthcoming iPhone, with pricing for video calling listed as identical to standard phone calls.

Note that third-party sellers regularly advertise features for Apple's products well in advance of their actual release based on a "best guess" approach without any verifiable foreknowledge of the devices -- Best Buy's recent page update listing i7 processors for the upcoming MacBook Pro update is a perfect example -- so this latest update from O2 by no means confirms the presence of video conferencing capabilities in the next iteration of the iPhone. It's merely one more rumor to add to the stack we've built up so far. One thing is certain: given all the rumors that have been swirling around already, which will surely accelerate over the next few months, if the next iPhone doesn't have video conferencing capabilities in it, the internet rage is going to be pretty profound.

Another iPhone video conferencing rumor surfaces originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Analyst: Apple will sell 35m iPhones next year, with or without Verizon

Steven Sande — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:30:00 +0000

Filed under: Apple, iPhone

One of the questions that always seems to come up during our TUAW Talkcast and TUAW TV Live sessions is "When do you think Verizon Wireless is going to get the iPhone?" According to recent comments from Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig, the answer to that question is irrelevant to Apple.

Craig anticipates that Apple could sell 33 million iPhones in 2010, and that number would rise to 35 million in 2011 even without a second U.S. carrier. However, the upside to Apple in selecting a second U.S. carrier -- possibly Verizon Wireless -- is that the number of 2011 sales could rise to as high as 55 million.

Other Wall Street analysts believe that Apple's decision to stick by AT&T for the iPad indicates a vote of confidence for the carrier, with analysts at Credit Suisse even going so far as to say that there's a 75% chance that AT&T will keep iPhone exclusivity for another year.

While the analysts don't seem to see a real downside risk for Apple, Credit Suisse recently downgraded Verizon from Outperform to Neutral based on the absence of the iPhone from their product line. It would definitely be in Verizon's best interest to make an agreement with Apple to carry the iPhone; however, Apple is unlikely to make agreements with non-GSM carriers such as Verizon Wireless until they are well into a transition to the 4G LTE technology.

[via Cult of Mac]

Analyst: Apple will sell 35m iPhones next year, with or without Verizon originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple’s video advertising options detailed in patent application

Michael Rose — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Multimedia, Rumors, One More Thing, iPhone, Apple TV, iPad

In the battle of the network superstars between free-to-stream, ad-supported video (the Hulu model) and pay-per-show, ad-free TV (the iTunes model), there's been a big missing piece: how to monetize shows and sell ads for content that's downloaded and played on mobile devices like the iPad? Obviously, it's a better deal for the user if they can watch at will, without having to maintain network connectivity on the go (to say nothing of the streaming quality, or lack thereof, when connected over 3G), but making sure they see the ads in the content -- and reporting back to advertisers who want to know who watched what -- is much more challenging for anywhere, anytime viewers.

Wherever there's trouble, they're there on the double: the Bloodhound Gang known as Apple's engineering team has a patent application that may offer a way forward. First filed in September of 2008 and made public on March 4, this patent received a thorough analysis over at Patently Apple. The core idea: watch a block of ads to 'unlock' the next segment of video content, not unlike the way most network streaming sites appear to work now. The difference is in the implementation, reporting and controlling how the ads appear and which content is freed up. Users might be able to 'pay past' the ads, or watch them all at the beginning of the program to deliver a more seamless viewing session.

More intriguingly, Apple's patents suggest that advertisers can require or customize a particular level & kind of user interaction that will be embedded in the ad experience, requiring viewers to engage on some level before proceeding to the next segment (thereby ensuring that they're paying attention and not off making a snack). That would be something of a Holy Grail for advertisers who fear that their messaging is getting lost in the TiVo/DVR 'just skip it' timeshifting era.

Combined with the October 2009 patent regarding ad-subsidized hardware platforms, which lists Steve Jobs and Mike Matas among its co-inventors, and it's looking like we might be moving towards a future where that $499 iPad can be had for a fantastic, subsidized price of $199... if you accept a certain level of embedded and un-skippable advertising alongside your media and mobility experience. "Magical & revolutionary," you betcha. The idea of power-ads taking over your media playback might not bother everyone, but if you buy Fake Steve's argument, that's where the $30/month TV subscription plan comes in. Can't take the ads? Just pay to play.

[via MacRumors]

Image from Apple patent, courtesy Patently Apple site. No comment on the fact that it looks like a picture of Charlie from Lost (Dominic Monaghan).

Apple's video advertising options detailed in patent application originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Next-Gen iPhone 4G Will do Video Calls, Reveals O2 UK

Taimur Asad — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:25:15 +0000

The updated O2 UK iPhone plans has added “video calls” in their list of “Key Features”, hence strongly suggesting that the next-gen iPhone will support video conferencing of some sort come this June. The said option can be seen in the screenshot below, or on the O2 UK site here.

iPatent – Steve Jobs Favorite iPhone App

Taimur Asad — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:09:23 +0000

Most of you I am sure by now would have read about the lawsuit which Apple has filed against HTC for its alleged involvement in infringing 20 iPhone patents in US. Talking about the lawsuit, Steve Jobs said.

AT&T CEO Claims Variable Pricing Model Is The Future, Sees Less Demand For iPad 3G

Andy — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:46:06 +0000

Would the data hogs on AT&T network be castigated with a variable pricing model? AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega was the first to hint at such a possibility. However, earlier this year, David Christopher, the CMO at AT&T dismissed these speculations...

Apple Wants To Stream Movies To iPhone, iPad From iTunes Cloud

Andy — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:42:46 +0000

Speculations over a cloud based iTunes platform has been doing the rounds for quite some time now. We had written about this for the first time after Apple announced the acquisition of struggling online music service, Lala. It now appears that Apple's ...

Apple Employees to Get iPad on March 10th, Retail Availability on March 26th?

Skipper — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:18:47 +0000

In January this year, Steve Jobs unveiled the much hyped iPad to the world. He, however, was somewhat ambiguous about the shipping date which he mentioned as “late March” for the Wi-Fi version of the device. Since then, no further information about a specific shipping date or pre-order options were given. For the last few days though, strong rumors were buzzing the web-world that iPad launch has been delayed by a month or so. This unspecified production problem was attributed to bottle-necks at the manufacturer’s end. Everyone was worried why Apple was keeping so mum on the subject.

Apple iPad Will Go On Sale On March 26?

Andy — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:02:37 +0000

Folks at the Examiner have dug out some pretty interesting information about the launch of iPad. According to inside sources, which includes an Apple Store manager, the tablet would be out on the shelves by the 26th of this month. This is what we curre...

Adobe Talks About Apple Not Supporting Flash on iPhone, Clash With HTML5 & More

Andy — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:25:18 +0000

A lot has been written in the past few weeks over the Apple-Adobe standoff and a good deal of perspectives have been offered on the issue of iPhone OS not supporting Flash. While Apple has maintained its position on the Flash platform being a CPU hog a...

Apple expected to offer Wi-Fi-enabled iPhone in China soon

AppleInsider iPhone blog — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:05:00 +0000

While the first version of the iPhone released in China came without Wi-Fi due to a temporary ban on the wireless standard, Apple is expected to remedy the situation with a new handset model in the near future.

Virgin America dumps Flash over lack of iPhone support

Michael Grothaus — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Internet, iPhone

As the smack down between Apple and Adobe continues, Virgin America has dumped Flash from its website because of the lack of iPhone support. Virgin's new website, which launched Monday, replaces Flash with HTML to give users the ability to check in via their iPhones in the future. Virgin plans on moving their new site to HTML 5, once it's cleared standards ratification at the World Wide Web Consortium.

Virgin's Chief information officer Ravi Simhambhatla told The Register: "I don't want to cater to one hardware or one software platform one way to another, and Flash eliminates iPhone users. This year is going to be the year of the mobile [for Virgin]."

While Apple has left Flash out of the iPhone since it debuted in 2007, things stayed relatively civil between Apple and Adobe. That all changed when Apple unveiled the iPad and decided to leave Flash off that as well. Four days after the launch of the iPad, Steve Jobs held a town hall meeting with Apple employees where he trashed Adobe and Flash, saying, "They are lazy. They have all this potential to do interesting things, but they just refuse to do it. They don't do anything with the approaches that Apple is taking, like Carbon. Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it's because of Flash. No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5." Three weeks later Jobs met with the board of the Wall Street Journal where he allegedly talked smack about Flash again, saying Flash is a dying technology and likened it to floppy discs and CCFL-backlit LCDs.

With iPhone sales soaring with no peak in sight, will Flash still thrive without Apple's support? Then again, it's not just Apple that is turning against Flash. Google is openly committed to HTML5 and Microsoft has its own proprietary Flash competitor in Silverlight. Only time will tell if Virgin's dismissal of Flash is a one-off case or the first domino to fall.

Virgin America dumps Flash over lack of iPhone support originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iPad to Make Emergency Phone Calls like iPhone?

Taimur Asad — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:52:46 +0000

Well it looks like iPad will allow you to make emergency phone calls in the time of need. According to GumballTech’s finding using the latest iPhone 3.2 SDK for iPad, if you incorrectly enter your passcode for 5 times consecutively, iPad brings up a screen with slide to emergency call just like the one found on the iPhone.

Netflix Considering A Movie Streaming iPhone App; Are You Interested?

Andy — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:37:19 +0000

If rumors are to be believed, Netflix is considering launching a movie streaming application for iPhone users. Folks at Hacking Netflix have noted that the DVD rental company has been surveying select users of the service on their interest to watch str...