Toshiba develops translation system for cell phones

Toshiba has developed a cell phone translation system for English, Chinese and Japanese that could one day find its way on to the iPhone.

AT&T Stops Selling iPhones Online in New York City; Claims Online Ordering Fraud is the Reason [Updated]

Apple Looking to Expand Cloud-Based iWork Experience?

TechCrunch reports on a new Apple job posting that appeared last week that seems to reveal plans for an expanded online "cloud" experience for the company's iWork productivity suite. While Apple has offered an iWork.com beta site for document collab...

iTablet Rumor Updates — Hardened 10″ Panels, and iSlate Nostalgia for MessageSlate

Some interesting rumor updates on the iTablet, or iSlate if Apple goes that way, including the status of its panel and production, and some nostalgia for another unreleased bit of Apple kit — the Newton-era MessageSlate.

Last things first — a while back on iPhone Live! Chad and were chatting tablets and he wondered if Apple would go with iBook. To me, 1) that sounds more like a device that folds open and closed like a laptop or dual-screen tablet and 2) Apple is historically the very opposite of nostalgic and ruthlessly disposes of the past in a relentless drive for the future.

But now MacRumors reminds us about the old Newton-based MessageSlate, and we’re left to wonder — does this make the rumored tablet name of iSlate more likely, or less likely?

Now to the meat of it, MacRumors is also quoting Economic Daily and Digitimes on stories involving orders for supposedly tablet-bound “connectors” and Foxconn’s subsidiary Innolux for 10″ touch panels.

The panels, they say, are what’s been holding the tablet up:

Apple has been seeking solutions to strengthen the glass of the 10-inch panel for the device and was forced to delay the launch until first-quarter 2010, the sources noted.

To go along with these rumored details about rumored products, we still have a rumored January 26th, 2010 for the rumored announcement, so stay tuned!

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

iTablet Rumor Updates — Hardened 10″ Panels, and iSlate Nostalgia for MessageSlate

AT&T, iPhone, and New York City: Fraud? Really?

As Rene mentioned earlier today, AT&T online is not selling iPhones to people in the New York City areas, but physical stores and Apple are selling them. AT&T’s latest explanation for this is fraud.

I mentioned this story to the folks that run The TiPb Accessory Store and they said that they have experienced ‘waves’ of fraud from the NYC area over the years, necessitating increased scrutiny on every order destined for the Big Apple. Much of their anti-fraud system was developed, in fact, in order to deal with fraudulent NYC area orders. AT&T Online refusing to sell anything to New Yorkers is an extreme and extremely bad solution, but it’s not crazy to think that it’s a bad solution to a real problem.

So either AT&T is lying about their incompetence in running a network or AT&T is telling the truth about their incompetence in running an online store. Or it’s a third issue we haven’t heard yet, one which we would like to think doesn’t involve incompetence.

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

AT&T, iPhone, and New York City: Fraud? Really?

Forrester: Google Android smartphones to take 10 percent of market in 2010

Android phones will make significant headway in the smartphone market and 4G service providers will zero in on apps in 2010.

Quick App: ZumoDrive Cloud Storage for iPhone

For those of us looking for an iDisk alternative, Zester has come out with the ZumoDrive. The ZumoDrive is a free service (up to 2GB, you can purchase more) that allows you to store and sync files to the cloud just like Apple’s iDisk. The app has three main sections: Files, Music and Photos.

This is how it works: You install the Zumo client on your PC or Mac. Once installed it can automatically look for your music and photo libraries. You can also add your own files and folders to sync too.

Once your data has synced to the cloud, it is accessible on your iPhone over EDGE, 3G or Wi-Fi. One nice feature I particularly like is when playing music, it displays the album art of your song; this is really a nice touch. Your data is also accessible via a web browser too when the iPhone isn’t enough. To learn more about ZumoDrive, click here. [Free- iTunes link]

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

Quick App: ZumoDrive Cloud Storage for iPhone

Want to Take an iPhone, iPod touch, or Any Gadget on a Flight Into the US? Here’s What You Need to Know!

In the wake of the latest act of terrorism attempted on a US airplane, the TSA has enacted what appear to be deliberately unpredictable new security measures that seem to include a complete ban on the use of electronics like the iPhone or iPod touch, and even the use of the bathroom for the last hour of any plane trip in-bound to the US.

“Seem” is the operative word, as there looks to still be a lot of confusion as to how, when, and where the new policies are being implemented. We could joke about the come back of non-tablet paper books, or the train and automobile industries in the face of skies being so friendly, but missed flights and connections, mass confusion and sustained minor panic aren’t too terribly funny. Likewise we’ll side step the whole “eternal vigilance” vs. “deserve neither” debate.

The current policies seem to be effective until Jan. 1, 2010, and then we’ll see what happens next. With gadget-lovers coming into the US for CES in just over a week, and with no doubt plenty of Americans with return flights planned from the Vancouver Olympics (and countless other places) thereafter, let’s hope everything stays safe and and secure while returning as quickly as possible to functionality.

Meanwhile, Gizmodo has the TSA memo which basically lays out that if you don’t run your own country, get in line way early and be prepared for anything. You’ll likely get patted down once or twice. Your carry-on baggage may be restricted to one item and will be visually inspected. You’ll likely not be able to use any electronics or go to the bathroom for the last hour of the flight. The in-flight entertainment system may be completely shut down, or may just not show live location information or news. Everyone is going to be tired, frustrated, and on edge.

[Much of this via PCMag's @saschasegan who's doing a great job passing along information via Twitter]

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

Want to Take an iPhone, iPod touch, or Any Gadget on a Flight Into the US? Here’s What You Need to Know!

The ‘iSlate’ - Reviving an Old Name?

Even with news that Apple has registered the iSlate trademark, we can't be certain that's the name the company will ultimately use for their rumored tablet. Of historic interest, however, is the fact that this is not the first time they used the "Sl...

Review: SugarSync for iPhone

This app -- which lets you access your backed-up files on the go, and share them with friends -- delivers on its core features, but it's missing some obvious ones, like the ability to view Pages documents and Quicktime videos.