Apple to Differentiate Future iPhone Models using Software?

iPhone Rumors Accelerate as WWDC Approaches: TelecomNZ, Support Staff, Possible Specs?

With Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference only a few weeks away, a larger number of rumors are starting to appear about what Apple might have in store for us. While legitimate reports do often emerge closer to the event, there also tends to be ...

iPhone Easter Eggs Could Kill App Store Golden Egg?

A billion apps. Developers getting rich. Apple making a bit of money. Or is it all just a house of cards ready to come tumbling down, with only one sneaky developer and a rule-breaking easter egg to blame?

See, the App Store has rules. You can’t, for example, include porn in an application and expect it to get approved and hosted by Apple in the App Store. But lets say your app looks all sweet and interesting, gets approved by Apple, and then lets slip that with one little gesture or secret code — porn. Or worse, malware or other malicious code.

Sound crazy? Wired (via Ars) tells us it’s already happened, albeit with language in an app called Lyrics.

Seems the app had some language that caused Apple to reject it, so the dev applied a language filter to clean that **** up, but added in a stealthy way to swipe the About screen to re-enable it. Said developer Jelle Prins:

“It’s almost impossible for Apple to see if there’s an Easter egg because they can’t really see the source code. In theory a developer could make a simple Easter egg in their app and provide a user with whatever content they want.”

Until Apple reads that quote, begins scouring apps even more closely, maybe asking developers to submit the actual code base, and making current app approval delays look like the blink of an eye.

Geniuses the lot of you.

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

iPhone Easter Eggs Could Kill App Store Golden Egg?

Review: Today Show for iPhone

NBC's venerable morning show dominates all competitors. And the iPhone app for Today sets a similar standard for fans of the morning news program.

Report: AT&T may offer cheaper iPhone data plan

BusinessWeek reports that AT&T may soon offer lower-priced iPhone plans.

Review: PuzzleQuest Chapter 1 & 2 for iPhone 1.3

PuzzleQuest, ported to every game platform imaginable, comes to the iPhone and iPod touch.

Apple’s New iPhone Specs Revealed? Launch date July 17?

Teachers: Monitor school attendance with iPhone 3G

Filed under: Education, iPhone

Here's an interesting idea. The Mainichi Daily News is reporting that Japan's Aoyama Gakuin University has distributed 550 iPhone 3Gs to staff and students so that they can use the phone's GPS capabilities to monitor class attendance. In fact, the school will cover the basic charges so that the students aren't required to absorb the extra financial burden.

That seems like an awfully expensive way to accomplish what my sixth grade teacher, Sr. Dolores, did by shouting, "Caolo!" and waiting for my "Here!", but a major university has different needs (and budgets) than a tiny elementary school in Scranton.

We've seen similar large-scale iPhone adoption recently at University of Missouri's Journalism School and Abilene Christian University. Good luck to everyone involved.

[Via MacDailyNews]

Teachers: Monitor school attendance with iPhone 3G originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 May 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Teachers: Monitor school attendance with iPhone 3G originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 May 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Next iPhone to launch July 17 with OLED display and glowing Apple logo?

You had to know we'd see a flurry of iPhone rumors and news as the Apple community reacted to the Pre's official price and launch date, and right on schedule, we've got whispers that Cupertino's next handset will be announced at WWDC, feature an OLED display and a glowing Apple logo, and launch on July 17. There's also a longer list of detailed specs, but for the most part they're just a combination of that matte black casing leak from February and those Chinese specs from last week. So are they the real deal? Well, the source and the site they're on seem a little shaky to us, but the specs themselves don't seem too far-fetched -- OLED screens are getting cheaper and more prevalent, and we're almost certain to see bumps in camera resolution and storage, so even if they are totally made up, we'd venture to guess they're more right than wrong. That's just us, though -- check out the full spec list after the break and tell us what you think.

[Via Wired; image from MacRumors]

Continue reading Next iPhone to launch July 17 with OLED display and glowing Apple logo?

Filed under: Cellphones

Next iPhone to launch July 17 with OLED display and glowing Apple logo? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 May 2009 14:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Super Rumor: Next Gen iPhone in Stores July 17?

Palm Pre announces a release date and all of a sudden iPhone and Apple blogs have to rumor up a next generation iPhone release date? Yep, that’s how we roll… right over the news cycles.

Last year Apple introduced the iPhone 3G at WWDC and had it on sale July 11, so a similar pattern this year makes the kind of sense that does, even if July 17 just also happens to be the default date on every iCal instance in the world…

How does that sound to you? Perfect timing? To soon? Too late? Too many crazy rumors, bring on WWDC already?!

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

Super Rumor: Next Gen iPhone in Stores July 17?

Rumor: iPhone next gen specs, on-sale date July 17

Filed under: Rumors, iPhone

The previously unheralded Apple iPhone Apps blog has a rumor post up regarding the next generation iPhone hardware, suggesting that July 17th is the expected date for the new phone to be on shelves (reasonably well aligned with an announcement at WWDC). As 9to5Mac and Gadget Lab note, most of the covered ground is familiar -- better camera, storage bump, magnetometer & turn-by-turn, video recording -- but there are a few interesting tidbits, including the suggestion of an OLED screen, an illuminated backside logo (perhaps capable of doubling as a photo flash?), the integration of Google Street View with the compass for 'visual intelligence' as in the Android demo, and a built-in FM transmitter.

I'm not sure that an FM transmitter as an onboard capability is such a great idea, considering the percentage of car stereos nowadays that include either an iPod dock connector or an aux-in jack, but maybe it's plausible. Everything else seems to pass the sniff test, although OLED and a lit back panel are an odd combination. If we do see the new device in mid-July, how many of you are checking your contract expirations right now to see if you can pick one up? Mmm-hmm, thought so.

[via Techmeme]

Rumor: iPhone next gen specs, on-sale date July 17 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 May 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Rumor: iPhone next gen specs, on-sale date July 17 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 May 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Differentiation of Future iPhone Models to be Driven by Software?

Register Hardware reports on a meeting last week between Apple senior executives and analysts for investment firm Oppenheimer & Co. which provided a bit of insight into Apple's options for increasing iPhone market share. A report on the meeting issu...

Eight iPhone apps and services for system admins

John C. Welch rounds up the iPhone apps and services that make his IT job go a lot smoother.

Apple tests push notifications

Apple is starting to test the push notifications feature promised for the upcoming iPhone 3.0 update.

Over one million downloads for Stanford’s iPhone dev course

Filed under: Odds and ends, Podcasts, Developer, iPhone, SDK

Here's a telling sign of the popularity of iPhone development: we posted about an online course being offered by Stanford just a few months ago, and in that time, the course has been downloaded over a million times through iTunes. The director of iTunes U at Apple says this is the fastest any course has ever hit the million mark.

Only those attending Stanford will get credit for completing the 10-week course, but the material is available to the public right there in iTunes. And of course there are lots of ways to learn how to make apps on the iPhone -- Auntie TUAW has answered that question, and we've even got an iPhone Dev 101 series to help you wrap your mind around all of it. The iPhone itself seems made for newbies, and considering that there's apparently lots of money to be had in Ye Olde App Store, it's no surprise that people are flocking in huge numbers to the documentation.

Whether any of those apps are any good, of course, is still up in the air. But who knows -- someone who starts with the free iTunes U course might one day be a game-changing designer. There's got to be at least one winner in those million downloaders, right?

Over one million downloads for Stanford's iPhone dev course originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 May 2009 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Over one million downloads for Stanford's iPhone dev course originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 May 2009 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm Pre takes aim at iPhone, launches days before WWDC

Filed under: iPhone

In a shot across the iPhone's bow, Palm is launching its new Palm Pre smartphone the weekend before Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference. This means any iPhone announcements at WWDC will be undoubtedly compared to Palm's new platform.

The Pre handset will cost $200 after a $100 mail-in rebate, and if you sign up for a two-year contract with Sprint. The monthly service costs roughly the same as AT&T's iPhone plan but offers unlimited text messaging -- a $20 option with Ma Bell.

Electronista points out that the Pre has some small technical advantages over the iPhone as well: a three megapixel camera, an optional inductive charger, and EVDO networking. Depending on the area, EVDO can be faster than both EDGE and GPRS, but not faster than HSDPA (the latter of which AT&T is rolling out across the U.S.). In any case, AT&T is already preparing its sales staff for the looming battle.

Also, Sprint claims that having a Pre will cost $1,430 less over the two-year contract period compared to owning an iPhone for the same period.

Meanwhile, for those of us on Verizon, we'll just have to make do with calculators connected by string. Which reminds me -- you all got the notice Verizon was upgrading us to nylon cord this week, right?

[Via IGM]

Palm Pre takes aim at iPhone, launches days before WWDC originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 May 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Palm Pre takes aim at iPhone, launches days before WWDC originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 May 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple starting to hire At-Home support people for virtual help desk

Apple is believed to be in the process of drawing together a virtual helpdesk consisting of 450 employees working from home. Numerous job listings have been spotted on Apple.com, Monster.com, Yahoo HotJobs and MySpace Jobs for the position of “Apple At Home Experts”. The requirements listed on the ads include access to a private and quiet [...]

Apple begins to test 3.0 push notifications

Apple this week enlisted the services of the Associated Press and called upon many of its iPhone developers to help stress test its new Push Notification service slated for delivery in iPhone 3.0. In an email sent to iPhone developers, Apple wrote, “We have selected a pre-release version of the Associated Press app for iPhone OS [...]

Palm Pre to sell for $199 after rebate on its release on June 6th

Sprint Nextel Corp said Tuesday that Palm’s much anticipate Pre smartphone will launch on its 3G network Saturday June 6th for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. The announcement comes amid increasing speculation from industry watchers who believe Apple, an established rival standing in Palm’s path to regaining steep market [...]

TUAW Wishlist: iPhone apps I’d like to see

Filed under: iPhone, SDK

Sure, the transparent email and the yet-another-dialer brigade are all well and good, but there are a few things the iPhone doesn't do that I really wish it would. Here's a pair of app suggestions that are probably outside the bounds of the SDK and prime fodder for jailbreak developers, but if someone came up with a way to do them that would make it onto the App Store, I can guarantee you at least one customer.

WiFi Master: If you use your iPhone in a major metropolitan area, you've probably encountered the problem I have in New York City -- scores of access points named 'linksys,' 'netgear' or 'default' or a Starbucks broadcasting AT&T's WiFi network on every corner. Join one, just once, and your iPhone insists on hopping aboard whenever it's in range, whether or not the named network is the one you meant to use or whether you've signed into the web portal for the WLAN (leaving you starved for connectivity, as the 3G connection is superceded by the WiFi link).

Tweaking the network settings is generally a no-no for non-Apple apps, but we need help. Give me a quick way to turn WiFi on and off from the home screen, a way to exclude or include access points by MAC address instead of just by SSID (locking out the rogue 'linksys' networks), and instant display of my assigned DHCP address without diving four screens down into the Settings app. Granted, the Devicescape sign-on automation apps are a good start towards this goal (the Easy WiFi for AT&T iPhones app is worth the $0.99 in aggravation reduction) but I need more active WiFi control in this network-dense environment.

GotThis?: One of the favored activities of appoholics, when meeting in their secret underground lairs, is comparing screenfuls of cool iPhone apps to see what they might want to download next. It would be easier if these phone-waving sessions could be automated with -- of course -- an app that would compare your installed suite with that of your neighbor's, point out what he's got that you don't and vice versa, show you most-run statistics and then perhaps link you to the App Store if you've gotta have one of those apps right away.

The problem is that the roster of installed apps is not accessible to a sandboxed app running on the phone, at least not under SDK rules; one way to do this would be to scrape the installed app profile from iTunes and then store it, with the user's permission, on an external website (leveraging the existing iUseThis for iPhone, perhaps). Give this app the interface and location awareness of contact sharer & billionth-app Bump, let users tap iPhones to compare installation profiles, and you'd have a fun social networking tool plus an appoholic enabler of devastating proportions.

What's on your app wishlist? Have you seen apps like these, either in the App Store or in the Cydia Store? Let us know below.

TUAW Wishlist: iPhone apps I'd like to see originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 May 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAW Wishlist: iPhone apps I'd like to see originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 May 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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