What Would a Verizon iPhone be Like?

What would a Verizon iPhone be like? We ask because almost everyone in the US wants the iPhone on Verizon (or so our comments, tweets, and email tell us). But how often do we stop and think about what that device might actually be?

Developer Marco Arment has done just that, but instead of a wondrous network dream, he’s giving us a lockdown nightmare:

• Verizon to demand 30-50% commission on all on-device App Store sales, and all iTunes media sales.
• If not a complete replacement of the App Store with Verizon’s own application market.
• Removal of key applications to force users to pay for premium Verizon services (like V-Cast in lieu of Maps)
• Removal of WiFi and lockdown of GPS (okay, we added that for old times sake — but it’s happened with BlackBerry and Windows Mobile)
• Ugly Verizon branding plastered all over the iPhone.

Arment theorizes this is why we haven’t seen it happen yet:

I bet Apple did go to them this past spring to attempt to get a Verizon iPhone off the ground, and I bet Apple’s reps left the discussions, thinking, “These guys are nuts.”

Fact or FUD? It will be interesting to see, based on yesterday’s Android “openness” announcement, if Verizon really has changed its ways, or if users who want the iPhone on Verizon would ultimately get an iPhone they didn’t want.

Oh, bitter, poetic irony.

Let us know what you think, best case and worst.

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

What Would a Verizon iPhone be Like?

Genachowski lays out FCC mobile strategy

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski outlined a four-part strategy for U.S. wireless communications on Wednesday at CTIA.

Sn0wBreeze: PwnageTool to Jailbreak iPhone OS 3.1 for Windows Coming Soon

Mobile version of Bento updated for recent desktop overhaul

Version 1.0.3 of Bento for the iPhone is now available from the App Store. It adds compatibility with the recently released Bento 3 for the Mac.

AutoPilot should be with you on your next trip

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

USA Today has released AutoPilot for the iPhone and iPod touch, and it looks like a winner. This free app [iTunes link] lets you plan your trip, informs you of flight delays, gives you quick links to hotel, rental car and airline phone numbers, gets you the weather for your destination, and pulls up Flickr photos of where you are going. Whew!

There are lots of other travel apps, but I think AutoPilot has hit all the highlights of useful information that people will want in one place.

The app even reminds you to check in for your flight, and allows you to email your itinerary to others. If you need to quickly call your hotel or your airline, all that information is there. You can tap on a phone number and the call gets made, or you can save the info to contacts. You can also click on a URL and go to a hotel, airline or rental car website

I put in some suggested trips, and everything worked very well except for flights with connections. Each flight had to be entered one at a time. I'd have preferred to be able to enter all the flights at once by typing in flight numbers separated, for example, by a comma.

The app integrates with Tripit, so if you have an account there it can pick up your flight information. Tripit, by the way, has an excellent iPhone app [iTunes link] as well.

Everything else about this app worked very well. There are ads at the bottom of the screen, but I did not find them distracting or obtrusive.

Having the flight tracker is very nice when you are meeting friends at the airport, and the information appeared up to date. The app was developed by Mercury Intermedia, the same firm that did the excellent USA Today [iTunes link] app. It's very slick and reliable for a version 1.0.

I can't think of any reason why a traveler wouldn't want to try this app out. I'm thinking about making a trip I don't even need to go on, just for the experience.

One other suggestion I'd make. The app shouldn't be limited to just air travel. If I'm driving somewhere, I'd still like the ability to define a trip, have the hotel and weather information and the destination galleries available for me, and maybe add some points of interest whether I'm driving or flying.

Check out the gallery for screen shots of AutoPilot in action:

AutoPilot should be with you on your next trip originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

AutoPilot should be with you on your next trip originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DoubleTwist Brings Amazon MP3 Store to the iPhone; Gives Palm an iTunes Alternative

iPhone Live! Tonight at 8pm ET/5pm PT

Join our regular cast of TiPb characters for all the week’s news, views, and rants. If you have any questions, leave a comment below, hit us up on Twitter @theiphoneblog, or better still — join us live in the chat room via http://www.tipb.com/live

Chat with you soon!

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

iPhone Live! Tonight at 8pm ET/5pm PT

Nissan’s iPhone app encourages better driving

Nissan and Yokohama plan to test an iPhone eco-driving application.

Hands on with Nissan’s eco-driving system

If my driving and the environment were together in a room they probably wouldn't get on very well. I don't drive at steady speeds, I wait too late to brake and...

iPhone finds a little love in Japan

Apple's iPhone isn't hugely popular in Japan, but Japanese companies are experimenting with iPhone apps.

Apple and Skype announce their reactions to AT&T’s voice network move

AT&T’s announcement that it will allow iPhone VoIP services over its mobile network was met with mostly good reaction from customer and commenters on blogs around the web, and now Apple and provider Skype have issued statements reacting to the announcement, and their reactions have been quite positive as well. The AP recorded Apple’s reaction: — “We are [...]

Android to pass iPhone by in market share by 2012?

We’re not quite sure about this report, but ComputerWorld is saying that tech research firm Gartner is forecasting huge growth in the now quite low-on-the-totem-pole Android OS for smartphones, predicting Android to pass Apple’s iPhone to claim the number two spot behind Symbian OS with 14.5% of the smartphone market in the world by 2012. [...]

Apple and Google Included in Suit Over Embedded Interactive Media in Browsers

CNET reports that Apple, Google, and twenty other companies have been sued by Eolas Technologies for patent infringement related to the use of browser plug-ins and Ajax to offer interactive content in Web browsers. The move comes several years after...

Review: Battle Bears for iPhone

This twisted first-person shooter -- in which you're a brown teddy bear battling pink teddy bears who want to hug you to death -- has a handful of flaws with its gameplay and save system. But if you've got the right mindset (an immature one), Battle Bears can be a guilty pleasure.

FCC’s Genachowski to enter wireless hot house

Appearances by U.S. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski at a conference this week should prove interesting as the US government looks into wireless regulation.

Digg Founder Confirms Native App For iPhone

TiPb CTIA2009 AT&T Keynote Live-Blog

Editor-in-chief Dieter Bohn is live and on the scene at CTIA, and so TiPb will be covering AT&T’s Raphael de la Vega Keynote. (And we hope to hear more about their new Skype-friendly, VoIP over 3G policy). The action starts at 12:30pm ET, 9:30am PT, so bookmark this page, and join in live!

AT&T CTIA Keynote

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

TiPb CTIA2009 AT&T Keynote Live-Blog

Google Street View Comes to Canada, Canadian iPhones

Google today flipped the switch on Google Street View for Canadians, making it available to Canadian iPhone users for the first time via the built-in Maps App. According to the CBC:

The service is now available in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Vancouver, Squamish, B.C., Whistler, B.C., Ottawa, Kitchener, Ont., and Waterloo, Ont.

Due to concerns brought by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, faces and license plates have been blurred out, and a method to request privacy-based image removal has been created.

So, Canadian readers, can you find your favorite local landmark on your iPhone now?

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

Google Street View Comes to Canada, Canadian iPhones

XGear Nitrous Oxide Case Brings Carbon Fiber Protection to the iPhone

The XGear Nitrous Oxide case for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS [$37.95 - TiPb Store Link] is a carbon fiber bottom loading hard case that gives you triple layer protection along with a few extra goodies. For the full scoop, follow us after the break!

When it comes to cases, the amount of protection the case provides is the first thing that comes to mind. The Nitrous Oxide is constructed in 3 individual layers that provides phenomenal protection. You get a super soft interior lining surrounded by hard shell case that is wrapped in a layer of carbon fiber. That carbon fiber not only acts as good protection but also provides you with a pretty solid grip while holding your phone. As an extra little bonus, XGear also tosses in a clear screen protector along with a small microfiber cleaning cloth.

As some of you already know, I am not a big fan of hard cases for the simple fact that many, not all, have a tendency to scratch the bezel of your iPhone and sometimes even the phones backing. With the soft interior lining provided you are guaranteed to not scratch your phone. Why all makers of hard cases do not regularly include a soft lining is beyond me.

While the Nitrous Oxide is on your iPhone you have easy access to all of you buttons and ports. Some of you may even feel like it’s too much open space, especially on the bottom, but in my testing I had zero problems with it. The only worry I had before testing was since the case is bottom loading, I was afraid that the phone would slip out if it happened to suffer a drop. However once the case was on, I was comfortable with the fact that my phone would not easily come out. So that’s something that you should not be concerned about. Also, some of you may prefer the open bottom for an easy docking solution.

Overall the XGear Nitrous Oxide Case for iPhone and iPhone 3GS is what it is, a hard case that offers good protection that does not add much size to your iPhone. While some of you may be turned off by the carbon fiber look and feel, others are sure to enjoy it and the Nitrous Oxide will most likely meet your requirements.

Learn more and purchase @TiPb Store>>>

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

XGear Nitrous Oxide Case Brings Carbon Fiber Protection to the iPhone

Amazon Partners With AT&T to Introduce Kindle with Global Wireless Coverage

Amazon today announced that it is dropping the price of its basic Kindle e-Book reader from $299 to $259 and also partnering with AT&T to introduce a new version offering global wireless coverage in over 100 countries and territories. The new global...