AT&T Calls Operation Chokehold Irresponsible and Pointless. Fake Steve Calls AT&T the Same.

In response to Fake Steve’s call for Operation Chokehold — a flashmob event intended to overwhelm AT&T’s data network — AT&T has told Cult of Mac:

We understand that fakesteve.net is primarily a satirical forum, but there is nothing amusing about advocating that customers attempt to deliberately degrade service on a network that provides critical communications services for more than 80 million customers. We know that the vast majority of customers will see this action for what it is: an irresponsible and pointless scheme to draw attention to a blog.

Fake Steve has responded thusly:

AT&T has a much bigger problem on its hands. The problem is that the wireless data explosion is just beginning. This 3% of AT&T users who are supposedly accounting for 40% of bandwidth use? Pretty soon that 3% is going to become 30%. [...] The whole point of having these mobile devices is to consume data. This is not just about the iPhone. There’s the Droid, and the Pre, and soon there will be the Nexus One and a zillion other Android phones. Plus all the tablets. This is the future. We are going to carry these devices and use them as our televisions, our radios, our newspapers.

And finishes with:

Go look at [AT&T's] financial statements and open up the Financial Operations and Statistics Summary and look at capital expenditures over the past eight quarters. I’m no math whiz, but it looks like capex has gone down by about 30% over the time period. Scroll down a bit to the Wireless section and check out data revenues — they’re up 80% over the same period.

Irresponsible? Pointless? Yes, that sounds familiar.

Valid arguments all around, then?

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

AT&T Calls Operation Chokehold Irresponsible and Pointless. Fake Steve Calls AT&T the Same.

Apple-developed PastryKit WebApp Framework Spotted in iPhone User Guide

Daring Fireball has a supersized post up on PastryKit, which looks to be an Apple-developed framework for making HTML, CSS, and JavaScript-based WebApps, and its been quietly lurking for a while now in the online iPhone User Guide when viewed via the iPhone (or Mac or Windows Safari with the browser-agent set to MobileSafari 3x, or just watch the screencasts). What does it do? According to Gruber:

• Completely hides the address bar, even when running not from a saved-to-the-home app icon, but within a page in MobileSafari itself.
• Allows for fixed-position toolbars that never budge from the top when you scroll.
• And: sets its own scrolling friction coefficient, allowing you to fling long lists.

At WWDC 2007, when Steve Jobs announced WebApps as the original “sweet” iPhone SDK, it was arguably too soon and developers rightly pushed back and hard. Now, with HTML5, SQLite local storage, fast 3G connections, and no App Store “gatekeeping” (not to mention webOS, Chrome OS, and other web-platform initiatives), is Apple re-embracing the cloud? (See Lala, purchase of). Gruber sticks the finish as well:

The $64,000 question, though, is whether PastryKit is something Apple intends (or that a team within Apple hopes) to ship publicly. It seems like a lot of effort to build a framework this rich just for this iPhone User Guide, so I’m hopeful the answer is yes. Perhaps something integrated with the next major release of Dashcode? And, perhaps with integrated UI layout tools, along the lines of Interface Builder?

Yes please.

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

Apple-developed PastryKit WebApp Framework Spotted in iPhone User Guide

Microsoft Bing’s it’s Way Onto the iPhone With New Search App

Microsoft has just made Bing [Free - iTunes app] their second iPhone and iPod touch app (no, Office wasn’t first — that’s still MIA — the amazing image-zooming Seadragon was), and it’s fairly impressive. It takes a lot of the services Google powers throughout the iPhone and the Google Mobile app and collects them all in one place — internet text string search, image, movies, a business directory, news, and maps and directions. You can also do Voice Search though without the accelerometer and proximity sensor tricks that make’s Google’s version so Star Trek.

The Bing app is great looking as well, with large photo backgrounds a la Bing website (and yes, you can tap the rounded square overlays to get factoids). Text string searches are pretty much on par with Google, sometimes returning more sensible results in more logical orders, sometimes not. A simple image search for “theiphoneblog bing”, however, returned no results from the Bing app, and exactly what I was looking for in Google. (see below). Likewise, Voice Search tended to crash the app when it went into “thinking” mode. The business and other directory-style information is great, as usual with Bing.

If you’re interested in comparing Microsoft’s own Windows Mobile version, our buddy Phil from WMExperts has you covered. If you’re wondering why Microsoft made Bing for the iPhone, despite Steve Ballmer cracking wise about the iPhone and the internet, Apple’s platform enjoys a huge share of the mobile browsing space and Bing wants those eyeballs as much as the just-as-competitive-now Google.

Screenshots after the break!

[Bing via Thurrott]

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

Microsoft Bing’s it’s Way Onto the iPhone With New Search App

Outnumbered presents an interesting twist on iPhone multiplayer

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Veiled Games sent word of their new game, Outnumbered [iTunes link], on the iPhone app store, and it seems intriguingly different. It's basically a multiplayer arcade game, which pits two iPhones or iPod touches against each other via Bluetooth. One player takes over the role of the O.N.E., a singular robot armed with weapons and special attacks, and the other player controls M.A.N.Y., which is a top-down view where you can control waves of attacking units and robots. The two players duke it out, with the first controlling his robot around the arena, and the second overseeing the armies and buying new units with collected currency. When the single robot is dead, players switch sides, and whoever earns the most points while fighting (for attacking, moving, or a few other criteria) wins the game.

Interesting idea. Of course, you'll need a friend with their own iPhone or iPod touch to do all of this, and you'll have to be in the same room, as the connection only works (so far) over Bluetooth. If you're still confused as to how it all works, there's a nice tutorial video up (although that voice gets to be a bit much after a while) that explains how the game goes down. Most of the big iPhone titles we've seen this year mostly focus on single player gaming, so it's cool to see an attempt like this to try something that more than one player can share. Outnumbered is available in the App Store [iTunes Link] right now for 99 cents, and a lite version (that will allow a second player to play along, although one of the two players must own the full version) is due out soon.

Outnumbered presents an interesting twist on iPhone multiplayer originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Outnumbered presents an interesting twist on iPhone multiplayer originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple updates MobileMe iDisk app for iPhone

Filed under: Internet, Internet Tools, iPhone, MobileMe, App Store

Apple has updated it's MobileMe iDisk app [iTunes link]. Besides a new (much cooler) icon, version 1.1 features:

• Auto-complete email addresses when choosing recipients for a shared file
• File sharing emails are automatically saved to your Mail account's Sent folder
• When viewing an image, tap and hold to save it to your photo roll or copy it to another app
• Maximum setting for cache size is now 500MB (up from 200MB)
• Faster downloads
• Various bug fixes
• Localizations for Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish

The MobileMe iDisk app requires iPhone OS 3.0 and a MobileMe membership. When you give the new version a go, let us know what you think and tell us any other things you've found different about it in the comments!

Apple updates MobileMe iDisk app for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple updates MobileMe iDisk app for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UPDATE: AT&T “unimpressed” with “irresponsible” Operation Chokehold

Filed under: iPhone

I posted earlier today about Fake Steve Jobs' Operation Chokehold.

Well, AT&T has just told Cult of Mac they're not impressed:

"We understand that fakesteve.net is primarily a satirical forum, but there is nothing amusing about advocating that customers attempt to deliberately degrade service on a network that provides critical communications services for more than 80 million customers. We know that the vast majority of customers will see this action for what it is: an irresponsible and pointless scheme to draw attention to a blog."

So, the battle lines are drawn. Where do you stand?

UPDATE: AT&T "unimpressed" with "irresponsible" Operation Chokehold originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

UPDATE: AT&T "unimpressed" with "irresponsible" Operation Chokehold originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Wins Permanent Injunction Against Psystar

On Tuesday, Apple won a permanent injunction against Psystar following summary judgement in favor of Apple's claims of copyright infringement and violation of the DMCA. (court document PDF). The court orders that Psystar is now prevented from the f...

Developers now can use private API for screen capture on iPhone, says Apple

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, SDK, iPod touch, Jailbreak/pwnage

As Apple seems to be lightening up and accepting more applications using private APIs (including Ustream and others that stream video from the iPhone 3G), word comes that the review team is now officially allowing the UIGetScreenImage() function to be used in applications distributed in the App Store.

An Apple forum moderator stated in the developer forums:

"After carefully considering the issue, Apple is now allowing applications to use the function UIGetScreenImage() to programmatically capture the current screen contents." The function prototype is as follows:

CGImageRef UIGetScreenImage();

Apple also states "that a future release of iPhone OS may provide a public API equivalent of this functionality." It's also noted that "At such time, all applications using UIGetScreenImage() will be required to adopt the public API."

This function, which is a part of the Core Graphics framework, allows an application access to what's being currently being displayed on the screen. It's useful for things like capturing a screen shot, as our own Erica Sadun's BETAkit does to allow developers to send screen shots to a developer. It also allows streaming video from the iPhone camera, as an application like this captures what's being displayed on the screen from the camera, and records it or sends it somewhere.

What other features devs are hoping to see opened up? There's things like general calendar access, Core Surface, and XMPP and app-settable timers that developers would like to take advantage of in their SDK apps.

I hope this is a sign of what's to come for the iPhone SDK, and that we'll see more things like this opened up soon for App Store distribution.

[via the Apple Developer Forums, dev membership required]

Developers now can use private API for screen capture on iPhone, says Apple originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Developers now can use private API for screen capture on iPhone, says Apple originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T Unimpressed With ‘Operation Chokehold’ Proposal to Strain Cellular Network

Earlier this week, Newsweek's Dan Lyons as part of his popular "Fake Steve Jobs" blog proposed "Operation Chokehold", a plan for AT&T iPhone users to simultaneously use their devices to place high demand on the carrier's network at a specified time t...

Research firm: Smartphone subsidies will end

Carriers will start pulling back from offering generous subsidies for mobile devices on their networks next year, predicts a new report from Yankee Group.

Is Blaming Apple’s iPhone for AT&T’s Network Woes Justified?

Review: Camena–Song Lyrics for iPhone

If your musical taste is fairly mainstream and the track info on your songs conforms precisely to LyricFind.com, then this lyric finding app will probably work just fine for you. But if your musical taste or track information is a little off center, then your results with Camena may vary.

TiPb Invades PalmCast Live Tonight for Round Robin — 8pm ET/5pm PT (1am GMT)

Okay so the PreCentral.net PalmCast called again (I’d changed my number, but that darn Synergy just yanked the new one right off of Facebook. Thanks Zuck!) and they’re like:

“Hey, iPhony, we have your precious little slab in the Round Robin this week, why don’t you come on and watch us torture it with multitasking?”

“Sorry,” I said. “I just received the script via email while I was on this call and now I’m tapping through the web-links without having to hang up on you, what were you saying?”

“How great this Google Voice connection is.”

“Really, sync’ed it over from iTunes, did you?”

“Side-loaded. Now shut it and listen — you show up for 8pm ET/5pm PT at http://www.precentral.net/palmcast-live and Dieter, Derek, and Keith will make sure you’re taken care of.”

“Dieter’s our editor-in-chief as well,” I said. “He loves all his children equally. He swears it.”

“Keep believing that, virtual keyboard boy. Gotta Sprint.”

Then it hung up. Or it needed to connect to the ‘net. Whatev.

But seriously, the 3rd Annual Smartphone Round Robin is on. Don’t miss PalmCast Live.

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

TiPb Invades PalmCast Live Tonight for Round Robin — 8pm ET/5pm PT (1am GMT)

Amazon’s Kindle iPhone App Now Reaches 60+ Countries

iVideoCamera shoots video with any iPhone

You don't need a 3GS to shoot iPhone video anymore, if you're willing to spend a buck and deal with some serious limitations.

Gartner: Smartphone sales increase disappoints

Smartphones grabbed a smaller than expected part of the overall mobile phone sales in 2009, and Nokia is largely to blame, according to market research firm Gartner.

Operation Chokehold: Help Fake Steve Help You Hurt AT&T?

Fake Steve Jobs has had enough of AT&T and their “bastardly behavior over bandwidth usage” and so is launching a crowd-sourced, flash-mobbed, Rickson Gracie-style assault on their network called “Operation Chokehold“:

Subject: Operation Chokehold

On Friday, December 18, at noon Pacific time, we will attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees. The goal is to have every iPhone user (or as many as we can) turn on a data intensive app and run that app for one solid hour. Send the message to AT&T that we are sick of their substandard network and sick of their abusive comments. THe idea is we’ll create a digital flash mob. We’re calling it in Operation Chokehold. Join us and speak truth to power!

TiPb commented on Fake Steve’s previous, glorious AT&T flamefest and Ralph de la Vega’s statements that lit the latest match in this particular powder keg.

Let us know how you feel about Operation Chokehold in the comments. Are you warming up YouTube, standing next to a cell tower, and just waiting to press “play”? Or is it just kicking a network when it’s (quite often) down at this point?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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

Operation Chokehold: Help Fake Steve Help You Hurt AT&T?

Pastebot Brings Robotic Clipboard Awesomeness to iPhone Cut, Copy, Paste

[Vimeo Video link]

Pastebot [$1.99 - iTunes link], the delicious-looking new clipboard manager from Tapbots brings their flare for fantastic, and fantastically original user interface to iPhone and iPod touch cut, copy, and paste. (And, yes, insert — it took Apple 2 years and a 3.0 to give iPhone users the much-requested clipboard function to begin with — sarcasm here).

The usage case is simple and elegant — anything you’ve copied or cut to the iPhone clipboard is automatically added to Pastebot when you launch the app. Up to 99 such clippings can be stored at any one time, and inside Pastebot you can title them, organize them into folders (for example, keep email boilerplate handy), copy them back to the clipboard, share them (including via embedded email, which makes that boilerplate incredibly functional), search them (on Google), and even run some automated actions on them like changing case, decoding and encoding HTML, find and replace, quote, etc. Images can also be brightened, converted to B&W, inverted, etc. And Mac users can get the free desktop companion for sync’y goodness as well.

TiPb was able to try it out for a few days already, and I liked it enough to run out and buy it on launch (disclosure — I’m an easy mark for great design and functionality).

Like Weightbot and Convertbot before it, Pastebot is a powerhouse in a delightful robot candy shell. By the same token, some may argue Tapbots trades speed-of-use for joy-to-use and that’s certainly valid. If you didn’t appreciate the robotic gimmick of their previous fare, you likely won’t enjoy it here either. However, if you’re serious about your clipboard and love you some innovative interface, check out Pastebot and let us know what you think.

Gallery after the break!

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

Pastebot Brings Robotic Clipboard Awesomeness to iPhone Cut, Copy, Paste

Review: Sniper Vs Sniper for iPhone

As a sniper in Sniper Vs Sniper by Com2uS, you'll have mere seconds to line up your shot and take out other sharpshooters. Available for the iPhone and iPod touch, the action ranges from a robust set of single player campaigns to heart-stopping competition against other players online.

From the Forums: Help Dieter, iPhone 3.1.3, Returning to iPhone, Jailbreak & Unlock

It’s time for some good old forum action. From the Forums is a great way to see what all of the current hot topics are on the TiPb forums. In order to create any new threads of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now.

• Our good friend from PreCentral.net, Dieter, needs your help. He’s been stuck using the Palm Pre for so long he’s forgotten all about his iPhone. Help answer some of his questions in this thread here!
• We’ve heard some rumblings of iPhone 3.1.3, so it made us wonder what Apple may have up their sleeves for us but an even bigger question is when will 3.1.3 actually be released?
• How many of you have left your iPhone to go to another platform just to eventually go running back to your lonely iPhone? Come on, we know you are out there… This is the thread for you.
• Jailbreaking is always a popular topic and lately it’s been on fire. That being said, be sure to visit our iPhone Jailbreak and Unlock forum for some great conversation.

See you on the forums!

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

From the Forums: Help Dieter, iPhone 3.1.3, Returning to iPhone, Jailbreak & Unlock