Review: Evernote for iPhone

While there are some limitations to this mobile version of the note-capturing application also available for desktops, it's still a great addition to Evernote's stable of productivity tools.

Could the Apple TV be Replaced by the iPhone, iPod, or iTablet?

With Apple consolidating its Apple TV offerings this morning down to a single 160GB SKU at a lower $229 price point, we’re once again split between Apple axing their “hobby” or giving it a much-needed refresh.

If Apple does axe the Apple TV, however, something would need to take its place in the living room. Could that something be the iPhone 3GS and iPod touch G3 and the still-mythic iTablet? Dock them properly to an HD TV, and could you have a solution with one heck of a built in controller?

We know the iPhone (and likely new iPod touch) can support 720p and 1080p out. We even hoped Apple would flip the switch on that feature last week in order to better position themselves competitively against the about-to-ship Zune HD. They could still flip it at some point, however, along with introducing new HDMI-based video output cables.

This would go a long way towards showing iPhone and iPod touch content on the big screen, but right now one of the Apple TV’s strengths is streaming rather than just storing and showing. You can attach an Apple TV to your HD TV and, without any local content, stream all the iTunes media you have on your Mac or Windows PC, and the potentially 2TB drives that can now attach to those (or more with RAID, Drobo, etc.)

Neither iPhone nor iPod have ethernet, and both are stuck on the older, slower 802.11g Wi-Fi standard (though the iPod touch G3 might be updatable to 802.11n).

That’s where an iTablet, presumably with much beefier internals and faster Wi-Fi (though we still doubt ethernet) comes in. Apple could position it as a dock-at-home, take it with you on-the-go solution.

Of course, whether you’d want to lock your iTablet to a TV rather than using it to surf and chat while watching TV is debatable, and could be a deal-breaker for many. Though better that than just trying to up-sell everyone to a Mac Mini…

Looking at it this way, it seems that even in an iPhone, iPod touch, and perhaps iTablet world, there’s still a place for an Apple TV in the lineup. If only for now.

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

Could the Apple TV be Replaced by the iPhone, iPod, or iTablet?

Apple clarifies iPhone anti-phishing feature

Over the weekend, Apple responded to questions about how the new anti-phishing feature of the iPhone 3.1 software works.

Monday Fun Concept: Lexus iPhone Headrest Docks

What’s funner than and iPhone in the car? And iPhone — literally — in. the. car. Or at least the new Lexus LF-Ch concept car thinks so. Gizmodo sibling site, Jalopnik has the details from the Frankfurt Auto Show:

The LF-Ch has four sport seats that feature trim lighting along the cushion’s edge for cabin illumination. Rear passengers can enjoy headrest-mounted iPhone® docking capability for audio and video entertainment. In addition, the LF-Ch has storage in the rear seat armrests for small items such as iPods®, PDAs and cell phones.”

The battle for most expensive iPhone accessory — oh, it’s on! So who wants 2 to 5 of those babies in their Rob Corddry-chauffeured hooptie?

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

Monday Fun Concept: Lexus iPhone Headrest Docks

Vonage gets mobile app approved

Many consumers are changing from traditional home phone lines to VOIP service with carriers like Vonage. Services like Vonage are cheaper than most traditional phone plans, especially for those who call outside of the US frequently. Vonage has announced that Apple has approved its mobile app for the iPhone. Vonage says ...

Does the end of iPhone exclusive mean a better AT&T Network?

I have lamented the fact that the AT&T network in my area leaves a lot to be desired with daily dropped calls and other irritating issues. I have been with AT&T in my area for years and looking back, the network used to be pretty good. I only had issues with ...

Sony offers up cool iPhone alarm clock

I have an alarm clock for my iPhone, the only catch is that it seems to be unable to fully charge my new iPhone 3GS while it worked perfectly for my original iPhone. This has me on the market for a new clock that will work with my iPhone 3GS. ...

Men’s Health offers Jimmy the Bartender app

If you have ever read Men's Health magazine you have probably seen the Jimmy the Bartender section where guys can get advice on bars, women, and other things. The publication has announced that the tips from Jimmy are now available in an iPhone App. The app is on the App Store ...

Apple TV: 160GB Price Cut, 40GB Completely Cut

Speaking of Apple TV and the future, MacRumors reports that Apple’s “hobby” lost its smaller SKU this morning as the 40GB Apple TV was cut from the Apple Store — and Apple product lineup — and the 160GB Apple TV was given a healthy price cut down from $329 to $229 [Apple Store link].

So our question becomes, is this a sign of Apple TV’s slow slide to oblivion, or just a clearing of the deck before a long, long, long overdue update?

Storage aside, the Apple TV hardware has been unchanged since it was announced back in 2006 and then launched at Macworld 2007 alongside the introduction of the iPhone. The software received minor 1.x bumps before getting the Take 2 treatment at Macworld 2008 as part of Apple’s expansion into HD, TV, and Movie rentals, but since then has again been relegated to minor 2.x bumps — mostly in keeping with iTunes and QuickTime updates.

Of course, with iTunes 9 and Snow Leopard’s QuickTime X both being fairly significant updates this time around, no doubt another software bump is on its way… Could there finally be some new hardware coming with it?

We’ll keep our hopes up, but we’ve learned to live with anticipointment…

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

Apple TV: 160GB Price Cut, 40GB Completely Cut

Why the Cliq won’t click

Motorola's Cliq has a number of innovative and cool features, but ultimately lacks the chemistry to capture any significant portion of the smartphone market, PC World's Tony Bradley says.

WebGL and TuneKit, Not Flash, the Future for iPhone?

More than 2 years post-iPhone launch, no news on Flash ever coming to the iPhone, yet Apple is pressing ahead with technologies like H.264 video (YouTube App’s been using it since day one), HTML 5 and CSS animation (iPhone Safari supported them first), HTTP Live Streaming, and now WebGL for hardware accelerated 3D-graphics, and TuneKit, the framework behind the new iTunes LP rich media content.

Read on to find out what they are, how they work, and why they might make plugins like Flash increasingly unnecessary…

Says developer blog Wolfire:

WebGL is basically an initiative to bring 3D graphics into web browsers natively, without having to download any plugins. This is achieved by adding a few things to HTML5, namely, defining a JavaScript binding to OpenGL ES 2.0 and letting you draw things into a 3D context of the canvas element.

This would bring 3D-gaming (or any 3D application) right into the browser with hardware acceleration, with no plugin like Flash needed to hog your memory, heat up your processor, or crash the browser. (Browsers can do all of those things well enough without the extra help). In addition to WebKit (which is the foundation of Apple’s Safari, Google’s Chrome, Palm’s Web, BlackBerry’s just-purchased Torch Mobile, and some Nokia devices), Firefox and Opera are also supporting it. Internet Explorer? Shrug.

TuneKit is the foundation behind iTunes 9’s new iTunes LP and iTunes Extras formats, according to AppleInsider:

Similar to Apple’s use of the SproutCore JavaScript framework to build its MobileMe web apps, TuneKit provides media developers with a familiar JavaScript framework for creating interactive bonus materials. TuneKit, like SproutCore, proves that a proprietary middleware runtime plugin such as Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight is simply unnecessary to deliver this kind of interactive media content, thanks in part to rapid advances in JavaScript rendering engine optimization.

Like TiPb, they couldn’t help but notice the 720p nature of the current iTunes LP and iTunes Extras formats seem destined for the Apple TV, and we’re keeping the oft-rumored iTablet on that list as well.

Adobe Flash on the other hand, still hasn’t produced an optimized version for Mac OS X, never mind iPhone OS X, according to Apple is the number one cause of browser crashes, continues to experience security threats (though Javascript is no angel here either), and is under increasing privacy scrutiny due to Flash cookies. (If you’ve never checked, here’s the page on Adobe’s site that shows which websites are storing information about you in the Flash plugin).

Since, at the end of the day, users don’t care about Flash or WebKit/browser technology, they just want their videos and games, things like WebGL and TuneKit could very well replace large amounts of Flash (and competing formats like SilverLight) on the web, especially the mobile web.

And personally I’m fine with that. A series of cutting edge, specific, highly optimized technologies are sometimes better than aging, overextended architectures anyway (feel free to insert iTunes jokes here).

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

WebGL and TuneKit, Not Flash, the Future for iPhone?

Wait to update jailbroken phone to iPhone 3.1

If you have a jailbroken iPhone and were wondering if you should update to 3.1 via iTunes, PC World's Mike Keller says you should wait until hackers figure out a way to crack the latest iPhone OS update.

Novell tool opens iPhone to .Net developers

Novell is releasing a tool that makes it easy for developers to build iPhone applications using .Net.

Palm Pre to be unveiled in UK Tuesday

The touchscreen smartphone, dubbed this year's iPhone killer, will make its UK debut at a September 15 press event.

Apple Drops 40GB Apple TV and Discounts 160GB Model to $229

Apple has quietly discontinued the 40GB Apple TV overnight and reduced the price of the 160GB model down to $229. Previously, the 40GB and 160GB models were priced at $229 and $329, respectively.


Now Apple is offering only a ...

Review: FileAid for iPhone

This free file manager and reader for the iPhone and iPod touch offers up some nice touches. But technical issues make it a chore to use.