Leaked Photos of iPhone 3G S with Matte Finish were Real?

iPhone 3.0 GM: iTunes App Gets On-Device Movie, TV Show, Music Video, Audio Book, and iTunes U Downloads

Previously twice rumored and now recently made real during the WWDC 2009, iPhone 3.0 GM (gold master) sees the on-device iTunes app, which previously added the ability to download video podcasts in iPhone 2.2, round out its content with movies, TV shows, music videos, iTunes U, and audio books.

To make room, the tabs at the bottom lose Top Tens and Downloads and now include Videos (movies, TV, music video) and a standard More icon, which gives access to a screen offering Audio Books and iTunes U, as well as the displaced Downloads and relocated Redeem (for gift certificate codes).

Like with the iPod App, an Edit button lets you drag around tab icons to lay things out just the way you want them. Also, like with video podcasts, music, and App Store apps, 3G isn’t an option for anything over 10MB — which for video we imagine will be almost everything — so have your Wi-Fi standing by.

More pics after the break…

[Thanks to Muero for the screenshots!]

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

iPhone 3.0 GM: iTunes App Gets On-Device Movie, TV Show, Music Video, Audio Book, and iTunes U Downloads

iPhone 3G S Unboxing in China!

Engadget China (via MacRumors) scored the first pictures of an iPhone 3G S, unboxed and in the wild. Pretty much what everyone expected — looks just like the iPhone 3G but has some nifty new software like the Compass App (complete with re-calibration instructions), voice control, etc. but still drool-worthy none the less.

A few more pics after the break, but check out their full gallery for all gadget pr0n goodness!

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

iPhone 3G S Unboxing in China!

Advertising Age Magazine Looks at iPhone and the AT&T Backlash

Advertising Age Magazine ran a couple of articles this week on AT&T and the iPhone, and were kind enough to talk to TiPb about the issues surrounding how AT&T Needs to Raise the Bar on it’s network service, and How AT&T Should Handle the Online iPhone Price Backlash.

Lots of good ideas offered all around, but is AT&T listening? Reader David from Texas wrote in to let us know they just might be after he received a direct email newsletter from the US iPhone carrier saying:

[AT&T's] commitment to you is to continue to expand the scope, capacity and speed of that network. We’ve raised the bar and we intend to continue raising it. This is a top priority for us in 2009 so you can have a great experience every time you make a call, check an email, surf the Internet or watch TV.

So they’re getting the words. Hopefully the actions will follow…

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

Advertising Age Magazine Looks at iPhone and the AT&T Backlash

Pogoplug: Your data, wherever you are

Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, iPod Family, Peripherals, Internet Tools, Reviews, iPhone

When word about the Pogoplug hit TUAW central, we debated to see who would luck out and and cover the device. Apart from a few cuts and bruises, nearly all of which will mend in a matter of weeks if the doctors are to be believed, I won. The past few days, I've had the pleasure of road testing a unit. And it's awesome.

The Pogoplug offers a USB NAS adapter, i.e. a network-attached storage system, that gives you network access to your data from home and on the road. With NAS you can use common protocols like AFP and SMB to connect to a remote disk. And you can do so easily. That's a big win, because choosing and setting up these remote devices has been a deal killer for many otherwise interested people. As Brad Dietrich, Pogoplug's CTO, told TUAW, "[Until now], the state of home networking has been too complicated and geeky for most people." Pogoplug provides a simple solution.

What Pogoplug brings to the party is a remarkable ease of use that crosses past any issues of firewalls and port setup and delivers remote storage to normal (i.e. read "non-geek") humans. It transforms remote file access into a consumer device. And best of all, it provides this for just $99.

Continue reading Pogoplug: Your data, wherever you are

Pogoplug: Your data, wherever you are originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Pogoplug: Your data, wherever you are originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 3G S Unboxing Photos

iPhone artists: paint your way to $500 in the Pogo Stylus art contest

Filed under: Accessories, Odds and ends, iPhone, Graphic Design, iPod touch

The iPhone is designed to work with your fingers, but those stubby appendages aren't the best for doing detailed work. That's why Ten One Design developed the Pogo Stylus (US$14.95), an aluminum stylus with a special tip that allows it to work on the capacitive display of the iPhone and iPod touch. It's also handy for operating your iPhone with gloves on, or for anyone who has trouble working with the touchscreen directly.

Ten One Design is holding an art contest through July 1st, 2009. The rules are simple; you must use a Pogo Stylus to create a work of art on an iPhone or iPod touch. You can use whatever software you desire, although most of the artwork seen below was created with the help of Brushes [App Store]. The winner will have $500 paid to his or her PayPal account.
What are you waiting for? Get your Pogo Stylus and get to work!

iPhone artists: paint your way to $500 in the Pogo Stylus art contest originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone artists: paint your way to $500 in the Pogo Stylus art contest originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm and Verizon looking to take shine off Apple and AT&T

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone

In a minefield of failed "iPhone killers" one is making some headway on fulfilling that murderous promise: the Palm Pre.

Perhaps it's no surprise: the Palm Pre was conceived by a team that includes plenty of Apple alumni, including Jon Rubenstein, who was made Palm's CEO yesterday to replace Ed Colligan. (John Gruber reminds us of one of Colligan's more famous quotes.) Rubenstein used to be the general manager of Apple's iPod division.

Not only that, but Fred Anderson, Lynn Fox, and Mike Bell are all connected (if not employed by) the re-energized Palm. Valleywag's Ryan Tate says it's no wonder, then, that the Pre syncs with iTunes right out of the box.

Competition is good, though, right? We'll see improvements to both the iPhone and the Pre because of the products' competitive relationship with each other. Look at the rivalry between Canon and Nikon: The result? Awesome cameras both. In the end, the customer wins.

This is true with carriers, too, as exclusivity agreements begin to expire. There were rumblings that the Pre would be released on the Verizon network around Christmas, but blowback from Sprint CEO Dan Hesse pushed the rumor mill's schedule back a month to January 2010, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Watercooler talk suggests that the iPhone's exclusivity agreement with AT&T expires around the same time for U.S. customers, but the Magic 8 Ball says that we might not see an iPhone for Verizon until both they and AT&T finish their LTE networks.

If you're using a Pre with your Mac, especially if you're taking advantage of the iTunes sync capability, let us know in the comments how it's going.

Palm and Verizon looking to take shine off Apple and AT&T originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Palm and Verizon looking to take shine off Apple and AT&T originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First iPhone 3G S Unboxing Photos Showing Compass and Voice Control

It seems that the first iPhone 3G S unboxing photos have been posted to the Chinese version of Engadget.com. The images show the new 32GB iPhone 3G S unboxed and demoed with compass and voice control applications. Apple will be officially r...

Review: Baseball Pitch Count for iPhone

Despite a few flaws, this is a useful app for tracking balls, strikes, and pitch counts if you're a baseball coach.

Walt Disney World Notescast for iPhone: one Disnerd’s review

Filed under: Software, iPhone

To start with: I am a Disney fan -- to be precise, it's a lot like the way Jack Nicholson is a Laker fan -- so on my very nearly annual expeditions to a Disney park, I don't really need the map. I have memorized shortcuts and low-traffic restrooms, how to get all the good stuff done in one day, and loads more random bits (look closely in the Hall Of Presidents; molds for their faces are used on other animatronics around the park), mostly because carrying them around in my head was the easiest way to carry them.

Then I got my iPhone (my first smartphone) and was able to put data on my phone (which I always carry with me). Enter the Walt Disney World Notescast. This $0.99 app is a handy planning/informational tool that can guide your entire Walt Disney World trip, from vacation packages to tips on annual events and park history. I tested the iPhone version of this app, but TimeStream Software also sells a $1.99 version for notes-capable classic iPods and nanos. It doesn't rely on a data connection and you can carry all this info with you easily.

When you first launch the application, you get a list of options to choose from. I liked the variety of options, but I wish I could customize or at least re-order it so I could get at a few of the options more quickly. There is a bookmark system available, but I ended up bookmarking a lot of things so that list went non-functional pretty quickly. And while I understand not having a ton of information on one page, I had a hard time figuring out why there were breaks between, for example, "Tours of EPCOT I" and "Tours of EPCOT II". I love the list of phone numbers, especially since I can tap the number to make the call. In the now cutthroat world of Disney Dining, having that number handy -- as well as the ticket line and even the camping and Magical Express numbers, not usually easy to find on the WDW site -- is a huge convenience.

Continue reading Walt Disney World Notescast for iPhone: one Disnerd's review

Walt Disney World Notescast for iPhone: one Disnerd's review originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Walt Disney World Notescast for iPhone: one Disnerd's review originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone surcharge protest highlight carriers’ loss of control

The backlash against AT&T for its iPhone 3G S pricing underscores the conflicted relationship phone users often have with their carriers, Computerworld writes.

iPhone 3G S Rumor Roundup: Features that didn’t make it to the Official Feature list

First Look: Get Home for iPhone

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, First Look, App Review

If you own a GPS system, then you're sure to know about the best feature ever invented for GPS: The "Take Me Home" button. Most GPS systems can store your home location and route you back to it with a single tap. The iPhone, of course, doesn't have one of these features ... until now.

Get Home [iTunes link] gives you many options for finding your way back home. You can add a button to the main screen of the app that will call a taxi, find your current location, call a contact, text message a contact, get walking directions, or find a bus route. At the bottom of the app's main screen, you will find how far away you are from your home location. From this same screen, you can tap any of the buttons you've added to open the Maps app and perform the requested action; for instance getting walking directions. If you select to phone a person or text a person, those actions will be carried out immediately as well.

Get Home is a good application for people who like to do a specific task from one application. The main purpose of this application, which is to find a way home, can be carried out mainly with the Maps application and saving bookmarks. That being said, Get Home does work as advertised and does have a nice interface. You can purchase Get Home from the App Store for $1.99 US.

First Look: Get Home for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First Look: Get Home for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Snow Leopard 10A380 Screenshots Emerge

Attendees of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference this week received copies of a "near final" version of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard following Monday's keynote. As we had heard just prior to the start of the conference, Apple is distributing Build...

Road Tested: Mophie Juice Pack Air

Filed under: Accessories, Reviews, iPhone, Road Tested

iPhone 3G and 3G S owners now have an attractive, lightweight, and functional way to provide extra juice to their power-hungry devices -- the Mophie Juice Pack Air. Available in black, white, and purple, the Juice Pack Air is a slightly more svelte version of Mophie's Juice Pack. Compared to the original Juice Pack, the Juice Pack Air is .1" (2.54 mm) thinner and a full third of an ounce (9.44 grams) lighter.

I had a chance to try out the Juice Pack Air, and my impressions are quite positive, albeit with one exception. Read on for a TUAW road test of Mophie's latest battery pack.

Continue reading Road Tested: Mophie Juice Pack Air

Road Tested: Mophie Juice Pack Air originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Road Tested: Mophie Juice Pack Air originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Need for iPhone 3G S Speed. Or, What Did You Want, a Built-In Espresso Maker?!

Jeremy and Chad both gave excellent, compelling reasons for why they ARE SO or ARE NOT upgrading to the iPhone 3G S. For certain, intelligent people will have different yet equally valid reasons for choosing to upgrade, or not to upgrade. For myself?

Apple had me at speed.

As anyone who ever managed to snag NetShare before it was yanked off the App Store, or anyone who has ever spun up PDANet, for anyone who has tethered under the iPhone 3.0 beta knows — 3G networks are a lot faster than the iPhone 3G lets on.

See, internet connection speed is only one factor. CPUs (and/or GPUs — where’s my OpenCL ES?) need to render HTML, CSS, and — the killer — JavaScript. Doing that takes a lot of crunch power, and that’s the bottleneck on the current iPhone 3G.

The new iPhone 3G S, however, has 150% of the CPU power and 200% of the RAM.

Remember a few years back when you bought a new laptop or desktop and it had a better CPU and twice as much RAM, remember how that new experience just flew. And remember going back and trying to use your old computer again, and how it just felt so slow?

Yeah, that feeling, that’s what I’m talking about.

Not only will web pages render faster at current 3G speeds, iPhone 3G S will use 3.5G/3.75G 7.2Mbps HSPA to really give them a turbo boost in areas where it’s available (hurry up, AT&T!)

And all of that is in addition to the faster task/app switching, load speeds, OpenGL ES 2.0, and other, tangible, perceptive speed boosts that Apple averages out to being TWICE as fast on the iPhone 3G.

Imagine if your new car suddenly went twice as fast.

For some people it won’t be worth it. For some the iPhone 3G wasn’t worth upgrading from the 2G either. It depends on what you value. On a tiny screen, seconds matter to me. Waiting for a page to render or apps to switch is dead time, and I’m trying to fill the interstitial moments, not just fracture them into smaller bits.

I know expectations were impossibly high for the third generation iPhone’s debut at WWDC 2009. Sites like TiPb and the rumors we all love so much didn’t help. But complaining about the iPhone 3G S not being improved enough — what did you want, a built-in espresso maker?

Apple puts new CPUs, GPUs, and RAM into their iMacs, MacBook Pros, Mac Pros, etc. all the time. Much more often than case changes (hello G5 = Mac Pro!). Fashion is nice when we get it, features perfect when they make sense (I expect that Mobile iChat one year!) but it’s power that will still drive mobile adaption. Performance size matters.

So I’ll be lining up on Friday for a new 32GB iPhone 3G S. (No pre-orders on my carrier). And when I start using it, when web pages just pop up, when apps launch in a heartbeat, when I hit HSPA 7.2, when I load up my first OpenGL ES 7.2 game…

Well, let’s just say I won’t be able to go back.

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

The Need for iPhone 3G S Speed. Or, What Did You Want, a Built-In Espresso Maker?!

AT&T to provide underground service on Chicago subways

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Internet, iPhone

Good news for those of you who live with me here in Chicago and also don't have a car: while AT&T has gotten on the bad side of a lot of iPhone owners lately (seriously, that MMS delay is lame), they're at least doing one good deed for us Chicagoans. They've just announced that they're bringing cellphone service to our underground transit systems.

Many's the time I've stood underground out on the Logan Square Blue Line station heading out to O'Hare, bummed that my iPhone isn't pulling up my flight times for one last check, but no more -- with a contract set up this week, AT&T says they'll have service up and running underground by the end of the year. And the deal will generate $3.1 million for the CTA, which could probably use the money.

That may do little to soothe the pain of all AT&T has done to us iPhone users. But being able to use my iPhone underground while waiting for the train will definitely be nice.

AT&T to provide underground service on Chicago subways originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

AT&T to provide underground service on Chicago subways originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pre-order your new iPhone 3G S online at the Carphonewarehouse

Want to be the first to get a new iPhone 3G S? Well if you’re in the UK Carphone Warehouse are now accepting online pre-orders for delivery on the 19th June to your home. These are subject to availability so if you want to get one you might need to be quick They have both the [...]

OpenFeint 2.0 brings social discovery to the iPhone

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Odds and ends, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

The Aurora Feint folks are at WWDC with the rest of the Mac development world this week, and while out there, not only are they having a party, but they sent out an announcement: OpenFeint 2.0 is out now, and it has some "social discovery" features now included. Their open platform already supported doing things like leaderboards and profiles from directly within iPhone applications and games, but now the new release will also allow users to bring their friends lists in from Facebook and Twitter, update profile pictures of themselves, and both find their friends and figure out what they're playing. The system is free to integrate into iPhone apps and games, and there's a user-based model that costs more at higher levels.

OpenFeint isn't the only system attempting to do something like this (be a sort of Xbox Live for iPhone games), but they are certainly the biggest, with more developers jumping into their boat every day. And as is the way with social networks, sometimes being the biggest is just as good as being the best. Look for their features in an iPhone game near you.

OpenFeint 2.0 brings social discovery to the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

OpenFeint 2.0 brings social discovery to the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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