Tim Cook: Apple Will Aggressively Protect iPhone Intellectual Property

One item of particular interest from Apple's earnings conference call yesterday was Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook's comments regarding Apple's intellectual property related to the iPhone. Cook's forceful comments made clear that Apple will vigoro...

Quick App: Air Mouse 1.5 for iPhone

Chad reviewed Air Mouse a while back, and now they’ve let us know they’re back with a 1.5 update that adds some nifty new features, including:

the computer notifies Air Mouse as to which app it’s currently running so that Air Mouse can show the correct keys for that app. We plan to make more use of this system in future versions and think that this is the directions that all remotes will be heading in the future.

Check out the above video for more on the navigation and media player support, and if you try it out, let us know what you think!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick App: Air Mouse 1.5 for iPhone

Patent Watch: iPhone Audio Sensor for Ringtones

Apple Insider brings word that Apple has filed a patent for:

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.

Sounds nifty! In addition, Apple has also filed for a patent for self-cleansing audio jacks:

An alternative cleansing method would allow the end portion of the adaptor plug to rotate freely through the application of compressed air. This method, Apple said, would force debris from the jack as the adaptor plug is removed and the switches that hold the plug in the jack are closed.

Of course, many of these patents never see the light of day, but we like that Apple is exploring many different alternatives for future iPhone development.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Patent Watch: iPhone Audio Sensor for Ringtones

First Look: Mobile Colloquy

Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch

I've used the IRC for at least 10 years, if not more, and I've utilized a range of clients starting with the stalwart mIRC for Windows. When I migrated my home system to a Mac, the IRC client of choice quickly became the open-source Colloquy. It was simple to use and easy to integrate scripting via AppleScript. I could easily join chat rooms across multiple servers

So, it should be no surprise that Mobile Colloquy [link opens iTunes] shares many of the same features as its desktop kin. We first saw Mobile Colloquy back in 2007 when it was made available via the Installer.app and it very much the same on the surface as its jailbroken predecessor. It's taken the promise shown back then and has turned into an excellent and stable release that's now available through the App Store.

One of the unique features is a built-in browser that will open links transmitted in a chat room or private message. The some of the pages opened through the link are not iPhone-optimized version, but the regular Web sites. I accessed the optimized versions of CNN and Google just fine through the built-in browser, but TUAW came up as the normal site.

The button on the bottom right of the browser will take you into Mobile Safari. There is no bookmark tool, you'll go into Safari to take care of that. The "Done" button closes out the built-in browser and returns you back to your chat. It's a very nice feature, but I wish you could bookmark links without having to open the same web page again in Safari - something that could be extremely tedious over the EDGE network. Another drawback is when you do choose to go into Safari, you will be knocked off the servers you were logged into. Give the client a few seconds for the servers to reconnect, then tap the name of the chat room you were in. You will get a prompt asking you if you want to rejoin it.

Another very nice feature is completion pop-ups for basic IRC commands, including user names of other people in the chat room. You can also use specialized commands, such as /google query and /wikipedia query, which will bring up results in the built-in browser. All chat rooms and private messages are gathered under one screen. You can set specific words to be highlighted and turn on an optional vibration when the word is used, such as your nickname. Colloquy can be used either in portrait or landscape mode as well.

Mobile Colloquy is available in the App Store for $1.99, and it's well worth the money.

First Look: Mobile Colloquy originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First Look: Mobile Colloquy originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple Defuses iPhone nano Rumors?

Also touched on briefly during Apple’s Q1 conference call yesterday was the prospect of a low-end iPhone, and Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook was quick to dispel hopes of that (and of an iPhone nano?) as well (text via Macworld):

Tim: We’re not going to build a low-end voice phone. Our objective is not to be unit share leader, it’s to build the world’s best phone.

Interestingly, however, Apple is still pondering what to do about unsubsidized markets (where, unlike AT&T, the carriers don’t foot part of the phone cost, making it initially much more expensive for buyers):

Largest example is India. Sales less in non-subsidized markets, obviously. Huge market opportunities and will make adjustments in future to play in a stronger way.

So what does this mean? No iPhone nano or iPod with phone features bolted on, it seems. But how will Apple increase sales in those non-subsidized countries? a 4GB SKU? Or when the iPhone hits 32GB, will the 8GB become a special SKU for those markets? Maybe if we get an iPhone HD this summer, the 3G itself will become that SKU?

The again, Apple is famous for denying (even bashing) things until the moment they release them…

Our forums are weighing in, so head on over there and let us know what you think!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple Defuses iPhone nano Rumors?

Apple Hints at Palm Lawsuit?

As we mentioned briefly during TiPb’s live coverage of Apple’s Q1 conference call yesterday, and our new sibling site, PreCentral.net elaborated on, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook, might have made a shot across Palm’s bow when it comes to the Pre and Apple’s multi-touch patents (text via Macworld):

We like competition, as long as they don’t rip off our [intellectual property], and if they do, we’re going to go after anyone who does. [...] Don’t want to talk about any specific company, just making a general statement. We are ready to suit up and go against anyone. However, we will not stand for having our IP ripped off and will use whatever weapons we have at our disposal.

Recent capacitive touch devices like the Google Android and the BlackBerry Storm have steered very clear of anything even remotely resembling the iPhone’s behaviors, but the Palm Pre duplicates many almost exactly (rubber banding, pinching, panel sliding, etc). Then again, Palm hired Rubenstein and many other Apple employees to round out the Pre team, didn’t they?

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at Macworld 2007, one of his big bullet points was “and boy have we patented it”, so I guess now we can all sit back and see if we’ve got a fight on our hands. Will Apple go after Palm, and does Palm have any patents in their own portfolio to fight back with? (Because they sure don’t have Apple’s multi-billion dollar war chest behind them).

And yes, we know Jeff Han showed off many “Minority Report” style multi-touch behaviors long before the iPhone. UPDATED: Apple filed for their own patents starting back in 2004, before Han, and also acquired a large amount of patents when they bought Fingerworks in 2005 (via Engadget comments).

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple Hints at Palm Lawsuit?