Next Generation iPhone Might Come With LED Camera Flash

AR.Drone Brings Augmented Reality Gaming to the iPhone

Apple iPhone 3GS vs Google/HTC Android Nexus One — Gallery

Dieter has his Google/HTC Android Nexus One here at CES, which means we grabbed it, put it next to our signature Apple iPhone 3GS, and took tons of pics.

First impressions: killer Google services. Killer. Solid hardware. Still Android OS 2.x, so while powerful and flexible, it hasn’t reached the user experience level of the iPhone OS yet. Nor media, of course. And it’s still not as fluid. On a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor. Really? But voice to search, launch, and type? Right back at killer.

Check out the pics after the break!

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Apple iPhone 3GS vs Google/HTC Android Nexus One — Gallery

CES 2010: Hands On Pixel Qi Screen, Upcoming Tegra 2 Tablets

Pixel Qi provided demonstrations of its transflective screen for the press this morning and we were able to see it in action. Pixel Qi had first announced last month that production of its screens would start soon, with shipments of the first...

ION iType brings a full-size keyboard to the iPhone

Filed under: Hardware, Peripherals, Portables, iPhone

So far, only the jailbreakers have been able to pair up a Bluetooth keyboard with their iPhone, but ION is working on a hardware solution -- they're showing off what's basically a dock at CES that has a full-size keyboard connected to it. Very interesting. Of course, it makes the iPhone a lot bigger (though their marketing says it's for travelers who want a little something less than a full laptop computer -- if only there was a device released to fill that need), but it's also battery-charged, so it'll recharge your handheld while allowing you to type out emails and messages on a full keyboard.

The price is supposed to be "slightly more than $100," and a release is set for the second quarter of 2010. If you've wanted to use a full-size keyboard with the iPhone but haven't gone for the jailbreak, we'll keep an eye on the release for you.

ION iType brings a full-size keyboard to the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

ION iType brings a full-size keyboard to the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google faces deluge of Nexus One complaints

Google's support pages are full of hundreds of complaints from Nexus One customers or people who would like to buy the phone.

Review: Police Radio for iPhone

With an easy-to-use interface and great support, this app could be just the ticket if you’ve got the citizens-band itch to scratch.

The iDiscover keyboard turns your iPhone into a piano and more

The iDiscover keyboard turns your iPhone into a piano and more originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagination Technologies announces new mobile GPU, casually glances in Apple’s direction

Imagination Technologies announces new mobile GPU, casually glances in Apple's direction originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Game Developers Conference posts iPhone sessions

The new iPhone Games Summit provides a space for would-be, indie and big time developers to talk about both the technical aspects of working with the iPhone as well as business strategies at the March conference.

Imagination at CES: POWERVR SGX545 Graphics Core… Could it be the 4th Gen iPhone GPU?

Imagination, which counts Apple as one of its owners, has provided the GPU (graphics processing unit) for every iPhone to date, including the current iPhone 3GS PowerVR SGX, so it’s not unreasonable to assume the latest, greatest PowerVR SGX545 introduced at CES will be in the 4th generation iPhone, likely to be announced in June/July (and the iPod touch to follow):

SGX545 will also deliver OpenGL ES 2.x and OpenGL 3.2 to deliver class leading 3D graphics performance, and will also support OpenCL 1.0 full profile capability which will enable mobile and embedded applications to take maximum advantage of the capabilities offered by these GPU APIs for both 3D graphics and general purpose applications.

Could we see this spun into a new, ARM Cortex A9 multi-core cpu by Apple’s own PA Semi? We’ve already got great 3D gaming, what’s this one designed to do, burn our eyeballs into the back of our Avatar-scorched skulls?

[Imagination via 9to5mac]

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

Imagination at CES: POWERVR SGX545 Graphics Core… Could it be the 4th Gen iPhone GPU?

Reuters: Aluminum iTablet/iSlate Set for Q2 Launch?

Hey, wow, look here — more Apple iTablet/iSlate rumors, and this time they’re bringing aluminum (unibody?) casing rumors along for the wild ride:

Suppliers for Apple Inc’s new tablet computer have begun shipping touchscreen panels and will start delivering aluminum casings for it next month, sources said, implying a second-quarter product launch.

Does aluminum, which was removed from the iPhone with the 2nd gen iPhone 3G, make sense in an iTablet with an HSPA or CDMA radio? Or will that get the plastic finish, and the Wi-Fi only version get the aluminum? That would be two finishes like we heard rumored previously, and would mirror the iPhone/iPod touch model… What do you think?

[via MacRumors]

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Reuters: Aluminum iTablet/iSlate Set for Q2 Launch?

HTC brews up entry-level smartphone

HTC plans to ship a smartphone that runs Qualcomm's Brew MP operating system.

Blue Microphone Mikey for iPhone 3G/3GS Hands-on — TiPb @ CES 2010

As iPhone Live! regulars know, I use a Blue Microphone Snowball for our podcast, so when they announced their 2nd generation, iPhone 3G/iPhone 3GS compatible Mikey, I was gravitationally pulled towards their booth for a quick look.

It’s small, it plugs into the iPhone dock, and they also offer a free Blue Fire field-recorder app in the iTunes App Store [Free - iTunes link]

The 2nd gen Mikey should ship this spring. Check out the video after the break, and note: this was recorded using a pre-production unit of that very mic!

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

Blue Microphone Mikey for iPhone 3G/3GS Hands-on — TiPb @ CES 2010

VoiceBand: Personal music artistry gone wild

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Review, Music

I don't usually gush during App reviews. I think today I will, change things up a bit. Because If you like playing with sound and music, and you like GarageBand, empty out your change purse, check under the sofa cushions, steal your kid's lunch money (okay, maybe not that -- kids have to eat, after all), and head over to one of those Coinstar places. Cash in your spare coins to an iTunes gift certificate because you'll want to spend it on VoiceBand [iTunes link]. The $2.99 VoiceBand app is simply awesome.

The marketing buzz on its iTunes home page says the app is a "revolutionary new way to make music," and by darn it they're not that far off the mark. VoiceBand transforms your voice in real time into almost a dozen instruments. You can lay down tracks, layer new performances one at a time, and build up an audio performance that you can then e-mail to yourself or friends.

I bought a copy of VoiceBand for myself, yesterday. And the reason this review didn't appear until today? I was too busy playing with the app to get around to writing it up.

You start by selecting the instrument you want to synthesize. You can pick strings (including lead guitar, bass, and power chords), saxophone, a number of percussion items, and "voice", which does exactly what you expect it to. It lets you add a voice track to your performances. You set the playback characteristics for the instrument including distortion, reverb, auto pitch tuning, and so forth. You can also set the scale and the time signature.

That time signature thing is important, and you'll want to use the metronome, because the real time analysis matches your singing against the beat to determine whether you're creating quarter notes, triplets, and so forth. I'm a bit rhythm impaired (you can substitute the word "extremely" for the phrase "a bit"), and your performances will suffer if you don't quite keep to the beat. The notes will split oddly.

You'll want to wear headphones while using VoiceBand. That way, the synthesized output won't interfere with your voice input. It's seven kinds of awesome to be singing out to an empty room and hearing a sax or guitar playing back the same song in your ears.

Even if you're completely musically impaired, and you don't know a grace note from a cantaloupe, you can still have lots of fun with this app. Select "Voice", pop into the Recorder section, and record a track of yourself speaking as you manipulate the Pan slider. When played back using headphones, you'll hear your voice move around your head as the synthesized output automatically generates stereo results using tiny time delays to fool your ears into localizing that signal. It's really, really, cool. Don't forget to remind anyone you send that recording to that they have to listen to it using a headset. You lose the effect if you listen to it without.

So with all that gushing, that's not to say that the app is flawless. VoiceBand doesn't properly implement a strategy to resist the built-in iPhone idle timer, so if you leave it on your desk, the screen flashes every now and then. That's a feature I found super annoying. Also, I could not find a way to manage my recordings. That should have been a top-level menu item. It should have been obvious how to review, select, edit, and share tracks from your library. Finally, I really wanted more non-string instruments, like flutes, oboes, and other easily synthesized elements. Maybe we'll see these in future updates or through in-app purchases. It would also be nice to be able to download and/or buy GarageBand-like backing tracks that you could perform on top of.

Those quibbles aside, VoiceBand is pretty marvelous. I can't wait to finish writing up this review, so I can go back and resume playing.

VoiceBand: Personal music artistry gone wild originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

VoiceBand: Personal music artistry gone wild originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Apple Looking at LED Flash for 4th Generation iPhone?

AppleInsider is hearing that Apple is looking to acquire LED flash camera components for the 4th generation iPhone, assumed to be announced this June/July during their WWDC event, and perhaps it’s iPhone touch G4 which would come later, in September:

People familiar with Apple’s initiative claim the electronics maker is seeking allotments of LED camera flash components in the tens of millions for delivery during the 2010 calendar year, meaning future iPhones — and possibly the iPod touch — are the most likely recipients of those parts, due to their sales volume. Those same people say that Philips’ Lumileds Lighting sector is believed to be the front-runner for Apple’s business and may have already secured the design win.

The Amsterdam-based firm is well-regarded for its LUXEON LED camera flash technology, which was the first to combine the brightness of regular lighting with the long life and small footprint of LEDs. The technology is commonly coupled with 5+ megapixel cameras and has seen shipments of over 200 million units worldwide.

LED flash would be a competitive move for Apple, since HTC, Nokia, and other manufacturers have been delivering better and brighter versions with each iteration. Now, whether it would be incorporated into a “Glowing Apple Logo” or not remains unknown

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

Rumor: Apple Looking at LED Flash for 4th Generation iPhone?

Apple Tablet Set for Second Quarter Launch With Aluminum Casing?

Reuters reports on information from Apple's supply chain indicating that touchscreens for the company's long-rumored tablet device are in manufacturing and that production of the device's casing, which is reportedly aluminum, will begin next month. ...

iType keyboard brings a physical keyboard to the iPhone, but there’s a catch

Attention iPhone owners that have been praying for a physical keyboard forever: your prayers have been answers... kind of. Ion Audio has debuted its iType iPhone keyboard at CES, and we can confirm that it does indeed work as advertised. Once you pop your iPhone or iPod touch into the dock at the top of the board, you're free to type away to your heart's content -- if you're in the iType app, of course. Unfortunately, because of the closed nature of most of the iPhone platform, you can't just start typing in any iPhone app; you have to type in the iType app and then copy and paste to the app you want. It's surely an annoyance, but if you're sick of the soft keyboard and need some relief, it's your best option for now.

iType keyboard brings a physical keyboard to the iPhone, but there's a catch originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yet Another Physical Keyboard Add-On for iPhone Unveiled

Review: Aqua Forest 2 for iPhone

This sequel to the popular puzzle game features 50 challenging stages that task the player with guiding a water droplet past obstacles (such as lava, moss, and holes) and into the beaker.