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News, Reviews, & Opinion
Using an Original iPhone without a Service
Plan
Apple Support says:
"If you upgrade to an iPhone 3G or cancel your wireless service
account/tariff for your original iPhone, it is possible to continue
using the original iPhone without an active wireless service (using it
with Wi-Fi only). To do so, you need to leave the inactive SIM card in
the original iPhone to continue using it. You will be able to use the
original iPhone as you would an iPod touch (Wi-Fi only, no cellular
service) as long as you keep the SIM it was last used with, even if you
update or restore the original iPhone...."
Link: Using an Original
iPhone without a Wireless Service Plan
Apple Reaches $22.5 Million Settlement in Nano
Scratch Suit
CNET's Dawn
Kawamoto reports:
"Apple has reached a $22.5 million settlement agreement in the class
action iPod Nano scratch lawsuit and potential claimants began
receiving settlement notices this week, according to the plaintiffs
attorney.
"The lawsuit, filed in October 2005 in a California Superior Court
in Los Angeles County, alleges Apple's iPod Nano is prone to scratches
and its alleged defects were not disclosed by the company...."
Link: Apple Reaches
$22.5 Million Settlement in Nano Scratch Suit
Apple Explores Auto iPhone Audio
The Register's
Rik Myslewski says:
"What if your iPhone could set its own volume?
"Today, the US Patent & Tradmark Office published an Apple
patent application for an intelligent sound sensor that would adjust a
device's audio volume level in relation to the ambient sound in its
environment...."
Link: Apple
Explores Auto iPhone Audio
Apple Proposes Audio Sensor to Auto-adjust iPhone
Ringtones
Appleinsider's
Sam Oliver reports:
"Apple is exploring the possibility of adding an ambient sound
sensor to the iPhone that would allow the handset to adjust its
ringtone volume to its surrounding audio environment, which would
ameliorate potentially-disruptive audio outputs."
Link:
Apple Proposes Audio Sensor to Auto-adjust iPhone Ringtones
Some Days, Jailbreaking Looks Better and
Better
Red Eye
Chicago.com blog says:
"Cookie cop is back, but this time I feel a little more like the
criminal with bad thoughts than the person helping to fight crime.
"If I went back and linked to all of my blog entries warning of the
horrors and injustices of jailbreaking your iPhone, well, it would take
all day. Almost as long as it would take to link to all my complaining
about fart apps.
"But every once in a while, like a dieter who just needs a candy bar
or a vegetarian that's craving bacon, I have moments of weakness where
I think about a jailbroken iPhone in my pocket...."
Link:
Some Days, Jailbreaking Looks Better and Better
Copy and Paste on (Some) iPhones
Macworld's
Christopher Breen reports:
"Invariably, when Apple releases a new version of the iPhone's
software, users ask this question: 'Is copy and paste finally
implemented?' And, just as invariably, the answer is 'No.'
"As far as Apple is concerned, the answer remains no. But those
who've jailbroken their iPhones can now reply, 'Yes, sort of.'"
Link:
Copy and Paste on (Some) iPhones
Does the iPhone Need Help?
InternetNews's
David Needle says:
"It's not Burning Tires 3D, Crazy Tanks or any of the other
silliness that makes the iPhone fun to use. Its may not even have the
immediate practicality of say, Soonr, which automatically backs up your
Mac or PC files to the cloud for easy access from your iPhone.
"But somewhere, someday, Tony Bove thinks plenty of iPhone users
will find his $2.99 program indispensable.
"Released for the App Store earlier this month, Tony's Tips for
iPhone Users is an online help system of thousands of iPhone
tips...."
Link:
Does the iPhone Need Help?
iPhones Will Win the War in Afghanistan
The Register's
Lewis Page reports:
"The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer, has said that progress is being made in the
international community's battle against terror in Afghanistan - and
that progress is being made by iPhones.
"...the Alliance chief also revealed that he had suffered phone envy
during a recent trip to Kabul. He also seemed to suggest that when a
suffering people turn away from the dark horror-wracked night of
despair and legacy technology, and instead reach out into the bright
new Multitouch dawn - well, then peace and prosperity can't be far
away.
"According to Mr De Hoop Scheffer:
"Today, half the country is relatively at peace . . .
And when I saw an Afghan fellow pull out his Apple iPhone in Kabul,
while I was talking on my 5 year old NATO mobile, I saw another symbol
of progress...."
Link:
iPhones Will Win the War in Afghanistan, Says NATO Chief
Apps & Services
Cooliris for the iPhone: Sharing Photos on the Go
Is Easy
PR: The Cooliris iPhone app has been getting a lot of
attention lately - both MacWorld and Mashable have called it one of the
top productivity tools for the iPhone.
Today, with the release of Cooliris for iPhone version 1.3, added
are a number of performance improvements, from graphics to usability,
making the browsing experience even better - a number of performance
and stability improvements - faster, smoother scrolling and no more
crashing.
Version 1.3's biggest new feature is the addition of the "My Photos"
tab, where you can search any public account in Flickr and Picasa, add
as many accounts as you would like, then view the albums in
Cooliris.There are a number of cool ways to enjoy the "My Photos"
feature:
- Show off your public Flickr or Picasa photos on the wall
- Use the send function to email your pictures to your friends while
you're on the go
- Save pictures from a friend's album to your iPhone
- Set pictures from your Flickr and Picasa albums as your iPhone
wallpaper
So whether you're a photo aficionado or just want a smoother, richer
Cooliris experience on your iPhone, we hope you enjoy the new version
1.3. To update to this version, just download it here or search for
Cooliris in the iTunes App store straight from your iPhone or iPod
Touch.
Link: Cooliris for the iPhone
(available through the
iPhone App Store)
Sketches 1.5 Includes Opacity and Customer
Suggested Features
PR: LateNiteSoft has just announced the release of Sketches
1.5 through Apple's App Store. The latest update of the popular drawing
app for the iPhone and iPod Touch includes some new features suggested
by existing customers, as well as increased reliability. Existing
customers can download the update for free, whereas new users can
purchase a full license of Sketches for just $4.99/3.99 Euro.
"As we have stated since our initial launch of Sketches in July, we
are committed to improving the application and listen to our customers'
feedback. Due to our Mac shareware heritage, we don't believe in
ephemeral success; instead, we strongly believe in quality apps and
regular updates" says Jorge Llubiá, co-founder and COO. The new
update brings some new features which have been requested by
LateNiteSoft's existing customers. These include the ability to select
color opacity, an improved stroke width selection control or a new
hosting service to facilitate sharing your work via twitter or
email.
"Adding varying degrees of opacity was not a technical issue. The
real challenge was to incorporate that feature in a consistent and
coherent way with the rest of the interface, without negatively
impacting usability. In the few days that Sketches 1.5 has been
available, we are amazed to see people already taking advantage of the
new feature to create awesome works - we will definitely expand into
this area in our upcoming Sketches 2.0 release.", explains Jorge.
The new version of Sketches also brings its own image hosting
service, which is used to store pictures that Sketches users are
willing to share via twitter or email. "The sharing features have been
available since the initial release of Sketches, but they relied on
third party image hosting services to operate" explains Pedro Cuenca,
CTO. "Starting with Sketches 1.5, shared images are uploaded to our own
service, fully developed and operated by us. This way we are in full
control of all the aspects of the application, and can avoid unwanted
side effects, such as excessive or inappropriate advertisements,
downtime or privacy concerns. In addition, operating our own image
hosting service will allow us to grow Sketches sharing features easily
- we have some ideas we'd like to expand on in Sketches 2.0 and other
future releases.".
Other improvements in Sketches 1.5 include bug fixes, and a more
responsive stroke width control. "This might seem a silly change, but
we did not realize you need to precisely touch on top of the slider
knob until some of our customers pointed us to this problem - so used
as we were to the default behaviour. After we created our own version
of the same control, our customers are no longer finding it difficult
to operate it the way they naturally expect the control to behave",
explains Jorge. "Likewise, the bug fixes in this version solve
scenarios we had not tested ourselves. We are very grateful for all the
feedback and encouragement we receive".
Among other distinctions, Sketches has received a 4.5 mouse rating
from Macworld, has been favorably reviewed by TUAW, Ars Technica and
Gizmodo, and has earned 5-star ratings from iPhoneAlley and 148apps. An
Apple "Staff Favorite" in most countries, it is the #9 Entertainment
application in the "Best of iTunes 2008" selection posted by Apple in
their various sites.
Sketches 1.5 is available through Apple's App Store for only $4.99 /
3.99 Euro. It can be downloaded for free by existing customers.
Link: Sketches (available
through the
iPhone App Store)
ReaddleDocs 1.3 Adds RTF Support and Works with
iPhone Photos Library
PR: Readdle announces the release of ReaddleDocs 1.3, the new
version of their popular document and file management solution for the
iPhone and iPod Touch. Now ReaddleDocs owners can read RTF and RTFD
files, and browse their Photos folder directly from the
application.
ReaddleDocs combines a network file server, web storage client, web
browser, file manager and powerful document viewer in a one iPhone
business application. It allows users to transfer files and documents
to their devices over Wi-Fi and 3G networks; view them on the go, email
and share files and documents with other iPhone users easily.
ReaddleDocs 1.3 provides access to iPhone Photos folder. Users can
sort photos directly on their devices and zip them before sending the
photos by email. The access to the Photos folder is "read only" so it's
impossible to accidentally delete an image or break the iPhone photos
database.
The lack of RTF support on the iPhone was a very common problem for
Mac OS X users, because RTF is a default format for TextEdit.
ReaddleDocs 1.3 can view RTF documents created with both TextEdit and
MS Word; RTFD files, RTF documents with embedded images, are also
supported.
"We received a lot of feedback and reviews from our users during the
last 6 months and one of the biggest complaints was inability to view
RTF and RTFD files on their devices. Now this function is finally
available among other iPhone missing features implemented by
ReaddleDocs" notes Alexander Tyagulsky, Readdle CMO.
Also, ReaddleDocs 1.3 includes a new and improved Web Browser, that
is now compatible with secure HTTPS web sites and can accept untrusted
network certificates used by home WebDAV servers.
ReaddleDocs is available at the special price of $9.99 at the App
Store. More information about ReaddleDocs could be found at their
website.
Link: ReaddleDocs (available
through the
iPhone App Store)
Palringo Adds Location, Distance and Maps to Its
Rich-messaging Application for iPhone
PR: iPhone users looking for their nearest friends need only
to glance at their screens, thanks to the addition today of location
functionality to Palringo's popular rich-messaging application.
From today, users
looking down their contact lists see not only the location of their
Palringo contacts - typically a town name - but also how far away those
contacts are from them.
In the next update (due soon), a further click will bring up a map
showing the location of a contact and also the location of any other
Palringo contacts within a 10km/6-mile radius.
In the same update, the location function will allow a user to
display his own location on a map - highly convenient for a user
visiting somewhere for the first time.
Location and proximity information adds an interesting new layer of
social network connectivity. A Palringo user can choose to reveal her
location to any, all or none of her contacts, changing this selection
at any time. Location can be set manually by the user, or Palringo can
detect location automatically, keeping it continuously updated.
"Just knowing where people are can be really useful, and knowing how
far away they are is even better. The prospect of knowing where someone
is before you start adds a whole new dimension to your conversation,"
said Kerry Ritz, Palringo's CEO. "It can eliminate worry and will
probably mean the end of a lot of unnecessary 'Where are you?' calls.
And soon you'll pretty much be able to watch your friend, a few minutes
late for your rendezvous, approaching on a map," he added.
Location and proximity information complement Palringo's rich
messaging service, which already provides the option to send/receive
vocal instant messages, picture messages and text-based messages. The
Palringo service is designed for use on mobile phones, but versions are
also available for Mac OS and other desktop environments.
While the iPhone has its own location service (and Palringo on
iPhone takes full advantage of it), Palringo on other platforms
calculates location using all available radio signals, including those
from mobile network base stations and also from Wi-Fi access points
known to Palringo's database. The database is updated with new
information constantly, so Palringo's location algorithm becomes more
accurate every day. Location can be calculated accurately to within a
single street in towns and cities.
Palringo integrates with most popular IM services: AOL Instant
Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ, Jabber and
Microsoft's Windows Live. People can also use Palringo to contact their
friends using iChat, Apple's IM application.
Palringo is free to download from the App Store. There are no
subscriptions or other hidden charges.
Link: Palringo (available
through the
iPhone App Store)
TheSnapper, a New Application for iPhone and
iPhone 3G
PR: This week Meme Incorporated launched TheSnapper 1.0 in
the Photography section of Apple iTunes App Store. The new 99¢ app
"listens" for snaps or claps to operate the iPhone camera. An options
page expands the set of features to include auto save of pictures, snap
to save, and shouting Cheeeese instead of snapping. Included are
default settings for a continuous mode where TheSnapper takes pictures
at any noise, then auto saves the pictures to the iPhone camera roll.
This new feature adds an auto shutter to the iPhone. TheSnapper was
originally designed to make it easier to take pictures of yourself and
your friends. Now settings like continuous mode turn the iPhone into a
spy camera.
"It is an exciting time to develop new native applications for the
iPhone," observed Rama McIntosh, the CEO and co-founder of Meme
Incorporated. "Developers complain it's hard to get noticed with over
15,000 applications available. However, we believe the App Store is
still new and in its infancy and we have only just begun to realize the
iPhone's capabilities. TheSnapper(tm) proves this is true.
TheSnapper(tm) made the top 100 paid Photography applications on its
first day without press or marketing, then climbed to number 42 on the
second day. We can't wait to see where TheSnapper(tm) goes today on the
iTunes' charts."
TheSnapper application is available for 99¢ from the Apple
iTunes App Store.
Meme Incorporated is a leading developer of iPhone and iPod touch
software, Ruby-On-Rails websites, and custom iPhone applications for
select clients.
Link: Meme Incorporated (available
through the
iPhone App Store)
Accessories
GWS Technologies Adds iPhone Solar Chargers to Its
Microgeneration Product Line
PR: GWS Technologies, Inc. an alternative energy company
developing and marketing solar and wind-powered renewable energy
products and solutions, has announced that it has added Solar Arcadia's
iPhone Solar Chargers to its line of innovative microgeneration
products.
"Solar Arcadia has come up with a tremendous product that lets
consumers power their electronic devices with free, clean solar power,"
said Michael Coskun, Vice President of GWS Technologies. "With over 13
million iPhones sold worldwide, this product has enormous market
potential, and we are excited to be able to add the iPhone Solar
Charger to our revenue stream."
The iPhone Solar Charger can use natural or artificial light. It is
sleek, highly functional, simple to operate and may also be used with
an iPod touch. It is available at www.greenwindsolar.com/store and is
offered in black and white.
GWS stands for GreenWindSolar. Our products and solutions are part
of the new "microgeneration" movement that is transforming the way
everyday people provide for their energy needs. Through a growing line
of solar and wind-powered products ranging from handheld devices that
can recharge an iPod to wind turbines for point-of-use alternative
energy generation, GWS is leading the way in the emerging
microgeneration marketplace. The company was founded in 2005 and is
headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
