Google Voice Coming To iPhone “One Way Or The Other”

Apple iPhone 3GS vs Google/HTC Android Nexus One Hands-on Video — Round Robin Redux

Literally right after I finished my 2009 Smartphone Round Robin week with Google’s Android platform, represented by the HTC Hero and Motorola Droid, Google went and brought in a ringer — the HTC-built, Android 2.1 sporting Nexus One.

Android Central’s is still en-route but our Editor-in-Chief, Dieter Bohn has been using the Nexus One all through CES so we grabbed him — literally — and got him to very quickly put it one-on-one with the great one — the iPhone 3GS.

Does it change things from our previous hands-on-Android video, and my “power but no passion” full review? Like I said when I posted our iPhone vs. Nexus One gallery, my first impressions are that the Nexus One is top notch when it comes to Google services and hardware specs, but the iPhone is still the king of media and it’s user interface remains unequalled. Am I right? Watch the video below and tell me in the comments!

[Note: No, I didn't slam it in the video or try to make the iPhone look better -- that's not the point of the Round Robin. Ultimately the more, better devices that hit the market, the more, better iPhones Apple will have to make for us here at TiPb.]

[YouTube link]

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Apple iPhone 3GS vs Google/HTC Android Nexus One Hands-on Video — Round Robin Redux

Crapgadget CES, round 4: The Fingerist

Continue reading Crapgadget CES, round 4: The Fingerist

Crapgadget CES, round 4: The Fingerist originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Will Apple add a camera flash to the iPhone?

Filed under: Hardware, Multimedia, Rumors, Apple, iPhone, iPod touch

Isn't competition wonderful? Apple Insider is citing a well-placed source saying Apple is grabbing significant quantities of LED flash devices for use in the iPhone -- possibly for the iPod touch as well, if Apple decides to add a camera to that product.

"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. "

Other reports say Apple has placed an order with Omnivision Technologies for 5 megapixel camera sensors. The current 3.2 megapixel Apple currently offers is looking a bit stale in light of 5 MP chips on some of the newer Android phones. I wouldn't be surprised to see multi-tasking finally make it to the iPhone in an upcoming iteration as well.

While Apple has a top selling smartphone, the competition will certainly push Apple into adding more features to keep a dominant position. Google Voice and Google Navigation anyone?

Rumor: Will Apple add a camera flash to the iPhone? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Rumor: Will Apple add a camera flash to the iPhone? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mophie juice pack TV hands-on

You won't know it by the product's official name, but this is the FLO TV appendage for the iPhone that's been teased since November last year. Combining a mobile TV receiver with Mophie's juice pack, this is 2mm thicker and noticeably heavier than the normal external battery pack. You can see comparison shots in the gallery below -- the red and black units are samples of the new peripherals while the white one is the standard Mophie hardware. Alas, no working FLO TV demos were available, but we were told the iPhone UI should be on different from what the company offers at present. Reps kept mum on pricing, but they confirmed the juice pack TV should be arriving in the first half of 2010.

Mophie juice pack TV hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MOTO gives straight advice on smartphone touchscreen quality

Like simple and unsophisticated tests? Here's one sure to generate some heated discussion. MOTO, a group of super brains that assists companies from startups to Microsoft in their product development, has devised a dead-simple test to measure the accuracy of touchscreen devices. The test involves slowly drawing a few diagonal lines across the display using any drawing program on your device. Straight lines are good -- stair-stepping is bad. Now, assuming the app isn't doing some kind of smoothing algorithm then what you see above is symbolic of the accuracy of the iPhone, Droid Eris, Droid, and Nexus One (moving left to right). We met with Morgan Venable, Senior Project Lead / Electical Engineer at MOTO, and saw this test performed live here at CES. Compelling stuff. Video after the break.

Continue reading MOTO gives straight advice on smartphone touchscreen quality

MOTO gives straight advice on smartphone touchscreen quality originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OpenFeint announces version 2.4, now in Fieldrunners

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Apple, Developer, iPhone, App Store

The guys over at OpenFeint have released version 2.4 of their social gaming platform, and they've also corralled one of the biggest games on the App Store into using it: you can find the brand new version in the popular Fieldrunners app. New features of the software include a simplified UI, a completely revamped "Discovery" section (popular among developers for recommending games to users, but good for users as well in terms of finding new things to play), and a new "Forum and Fan Club" system which allows for discussion about games and between devs and customers right inside the app.

Other improvements include a new geolocation leaderboard (so you can see where people are nabbing the high scores), and tweaks on other social features like the "presence" system, which features Xbox Live-style announcements when friends come on and offline while playing.

It's interesting how this sort of sub-culture is burgeoning simply inside individual games, completely unofficially, on the App Store. You have to wonder if Apple is watching any of this -- certainly there's a call from both devs and players for social connections like this, and it would be interesting to see a system that worked App Store-wide, perhaps even with current iTunes accounts. OpenFeint and the other folks working on their own social networks are doing a lot of interesting things already, but I have to wonder what it would be like if Apple got involved.

OpenFeint announces version 2.4, now in Fieldrunners originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

OpenFeint announces version 2.4, now in Fieldrunners originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Working on Multi-Touch iWork for Tablet and iPhone?

Apple Working on Advanced Gesturing and Multi-Touch Version of iWork

The New York Times offers some additional tidbits that might come in the rumored Apple Tablet.

According to former Apple employees, Apple has been working on advanced multi-touch gesturing that was originally pioneered by Fingerworks. ...

App review roundup: VoiceBand, Soulver, Doc²

Filed under: iPhone, App Review

App review roundup: VoiceBand, Soulver, Doc² originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

App review roundup: VoiceBand, Soulver, Doc² originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CEO(is)h-Snap: Android Founder Rubin Doesn’t Like Two-handed Operations

Engadget confronted Android Founder Andy Rubin — by all accounts a brilliant and passionate guy who really wants to make great products — about why the US versions of the Droid and Nexus One don’t use the Android 2.0 supported multitouch keyboard and gestures, while the non-US versions do. The response:

“It’s not an America versus outside America kind of thing. It’s a decision that is a result of the OEM model. I personally don’t like two-handed operations… there is no conspiracy.”

Both TiPb (because Apple’s name keeps come up on the suspect list) and our sibling site, Android Central have been covering this story and it still makes the kind of sense that doesn’t. “Like” or “dislike” seems an odd way to talk about something that so affects usability (pinch-to-zoom is intuitive and ingrained enough that it should just be a standard). There were rumors that Google didn’t want to violate Apple’s multitouch patents in the US, but Engadget looked and couldn’t find any that applied to these specific implementations.

Perhaps, as otherwise rumored, there’s a gentleman’s agreement between Apple and Google, and since Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt was on Apple’s board of directors (even though he reportedly recused himself from iPhone discussions), Google could be playing it extra super safe.

Whatever the answer is, however, the founder not liking something is an odd answer as to why it doesn’t exist only in his own country. Remember, RIM’s CEO doesn’t like typing on glass and even he made the BlackBerry Storm…

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CEO(is)h-Snap: Android Founder Rubin Doesn’t Like Two-handed Operations

iPhone Wins Touchscreen Performance Tests Against Moto Droid, Nexus One and Others

The very first time I used the capacitive touchscreen of an iPhone it was clear that there was no other mobile device on the market that could match it’s performance. Now a few years later, that still holds true for most of us and if you’d like proof labs.moto.com has performed a touchscreen stress test.

The iPhone’s touch sensor showed the most linear tracking with the least amount of stair-stepping. The Droid Eris and Nexus One tied for second with only faint wiggling – but actually performed best at the edge of the screen. Last in the line-up was the Motorola Droid, which demonstrated significant wavy artifacts or “stair-stepping.”

Something to keep in mind, the MOTO Development Group used more sophisticated tools to test touchscreen accuracy but the above video simply demonstrates a technique any of you can use to evaluate the accuracy of your own device.

At the end of the day it all comes down to touchscreen hardware and the integration of that hardware with software and user interaction development. Was there really any doubt of which device would come out on top?

[Via labs.moto.com]

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

iPhone Wins Touchscreen Performance Tests Against Moto Droid, Nexus One and Others

NYT: Apple Developing Multitouch iWork, Complex Gestures for iTablet (and iPhone?!)

The New York Times says Apple has been working on a multitouch version of their iWork office suite — Pages word processor, Numbers spread sheet, and Keynote presentations — for their rumored upcoming iTablet/iSlate, along with complex gestures based on technology they acquired from Fingerworks.

“The tablet should offer any number of unique multitouch experiences — for example, three fingers down and rotate could mean ‘open an application,’ ” said one former engineer, who asked not to be named because Apple demands secrecy from all current and former employees.

Sounds a little complex and obtuse from a company whose success to date has been primarily based on simplicity, but Apple could feel multitouch has been introduced well enough by the iPhone, trackpads, and even the Magic Mouse that users could now handle more complex gestures. We’d imagine, however, that the more complex the gesture, the more complex the function it’s intended to invoke — meaning average users could stick to the simple stuff.

Another former Apple designer said a team at the company had “spent the past couple of years working on a multitouch version of iWork,” Apple’s answer to Microsoft’s Office software suite. This could indicate that Apple wants the tablet to be a fully functional computer, rather than a more passive device for reading books and watching movies.

It also makes us think a multitouch version of iWork would be just great on the iPhone and iPod touch as well (right Apple?)

For their part, 9to5mac also points out the previous rumors about Apple seeking engineers for an online iWork WebApp. An integrated offering with local and server storage and access, perhaps?

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NYT: Apple Developing Multitouch iWork, Complex Gestures for iTablet (and iPhone?!)

CES: A first look at the Motorola Backflip smartphone

At the AT&T Developer Summit, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha hinted at a new Android-based Motorola smartphone with "a unique form factor" will be coming.

AT&T’s Network Woes at CES Highlights Limitations Of Mobile Web

CEOh-Snap! Palm’s Rubinstein, Father of the iPod, Says He’s Never Used an iPhone

Did Palm’s Joe Rubinstein say he’s never, not once ever touched an Apple iPhone. Not in 2.5 years. Not one? According to Digital Daily, that’s just exactly what he said.

Now we don’t think everyone has to have at least tried an iPhone, but when you’re the CEO of another smartphone company these days, especially when you’re a CEO who came from Apple, where you were the “father of the iPod”… frankly we have a hard time believing this is anything other than a misquote or misinterpretation of what he said. Even though there’s doesn’t seem to be much room for either –

“We don’t pay that much attention to Apple….I know it sounds really strange,” says Rubinstein.

“Really?” Kara replies. “You don’t worry about the iPhone?”

“No, I really don’t,” Rubinstein answers.

“I don’t believe you,” says Kara, telegraphing a sentiment I imagine is widely held among the audience.

Rubinstein: “I don’t have an iPhone. I’ve never even used one.”

I think I just heard Palm’s entire PR team audibly groan.

According to Gizmodo, he lacks the Sun Tzu. Our guess? He’s got an iPod touch.

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

CEOh-Snap! Palm’s Rubinstein, Father of the iPod, Says He’s Never Used an iPhone

On-Star Chevy Volt App for iPhone – TiPb @ CES 2010

Without question one of the coolest things on the CES floor is the Chevy Volt and their On-Star app for the iPhone (and iPod touch — and Android Droid and BlackBerry Storm). The app gives you incredible control over everything from when you charge the electric wonder car, to notifications for completion or interruption of charge, to opening the doors and warming it up (or cooling it down) before you get in.

You can try out the demo app now [Free - iTunes link], with the real version coming late this year.

Catch our video walkthrough (drive through?) after the break!

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On-Star Chevy Volt App for iPhone – TiPb @ CES 2010