An ode to iPhone tethering

Filed under: Portables, Odds and ends, iPhone

Sometimes I feel sorry for you poor iPhone users in the US. Sure, the telecommunications landscape in New Zealand isn't exactly perfect, but our small nation has the US beat on at least one very significant point: unlike AT&T, our wireless providers let us tether our iPhones as much as we want (within our monthly broadband limits, anyway). Sure, there are workarounds that let you do iPhone tethering in the States, but nothing beats the pure simplicity of officially supported tethering: flip a couple switches in your iPhone's settings, then either pair over Bluetooth or dock your iPhone, and boom, your Mac runs off your iPhone's data connection.

I've been using iPhone tethering since it became available in iPhone OS 3.0, and it's saved my geek bacon many times. On a recent monthlong vacation where my wife, my mother-in-law, and I hopped all over both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, using my iPhone's data connection on my MacBook Pro was often the only feasible way of connecting to the world beyond our campsite.

Many of the places we stayed had Wi-Fi available, but the prices were pretty astonishing; some places wanted $10 for 20 minutes of internet access. In towns where we had a decent 3G connection, we were able to watch videos in Safari (No Flash? No problem), look up tourist information, get access to Google Maps, download music and apps from the iTunes Store, and keep an eye on the notoriously fickle weather. All these things are possible to an extent using the iPhone by itself, but things went much faster and more smoothly on my MacBook Pro, where multitasking, multiple downloads, and a 17" screen are all big improvements over the browsing experience on the iPhone.

Read on to find out what else iPhone tethering can do for you, and why AT&T's excuses for not letting you have it are totally disingenuous.

Continue reading An ode to iPhone tethering

An ode to iPhone tethering originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

An ode to iPhone tethering originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The ‘Mass Effect’ Of a Free iPhone Comic From Dark Horse

Since its debut this past Tuesday, "Mass Effect 2" has been clogging trending topics on social networks, forcing gamers to call in sick to work and even gaining the attention of Hollywood with its intense brand of action and sci-fi. But comic fans don't necessarily have to shell out for ...

Gates/Alchin Email: iTunes “Smoked” Microsoft, Caught them “Flat Footed”

Former Microsoft CEO, Bill Gates, and Windows Vista honcho, Bill Allchin, had an email exchange back in 2003 when Apple launched iTunes and were rather candid about how well Steve Jobs put it together, and how badly Microsoft was caught off guard.

Gates says Microsoft was caught “flat footed”. He also praises Jobs and doubts the subscription model Microsoft now uses for the Zune HD:

Steve Jobs ability to focus in on a few things that count, get people who get user interface right and market things as revolutionary are amazing things.

[...] With the subscription who can promise you that the cool new stuff you want (or old stuff) will be there?

Allchin was much briefer:

1. How did they get the music companies to go along?

2. We were smoked.

Gizmodo, via Groklaw have the full emails online. The question now becomes, is Apple still catching the competition flat-footed, or is Apple the one who now needs to be careful, lest they be smoked?

Gates/Alchin Email: iTunes “Smoked” Microsoft, Caught them “Flat Footed” is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple Releases Apple TV 3.0.2 Update

Apple has released a software update for the Apple TV, bringing their set-top box up to version 3.0.2. No word yet on what it includes — and I won’t be able to test mine until Sunday — so if you find anything, let us know.

(9to5mac suggests it’s to tie in the new wave of photo-related updates)

Apple Releases Apple TV 3.0.2 Update is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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FT: Apple to Test $1 iTunes TV Downloads with iPad Launch?

Financial Times is reporting that Apple might just be set to test drive $1 iTunes TV downloads as part of their iPad launch in March:

Some television networks agreed to the lower prices after months of negotiations, and having initially resisted Apple’s push. Media executives are under pressure from declining DVD sales and cut-rate rental services such as Redbox, that offer rental DVDs for $1.

Not all networks say they’ve been approached, and being networks some may still refuse, but if the test is successful they’d be complete idiots not to jump on board (which means, of course, some won’t).

Competing with “free as in pirated” is a tough model but Apple showed music how to do it with the $0.99 price point (while it lasted). Hopefully the networks pay attention. Selling iTunes TV for more than it costs on DVDs isn’t only consumer-hostile, it’s simply bad business.

[Financial Times via Macrumors]

FT: Apple to Test $1 iTunes TV Downloads with iPad Launch? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple: Want to Stream Video Over 3G? Use HTTP and Have a 64 Kbps Option for the Network

Apple’s latest bulletin via the iPhone Developer News feed highlight how we really might see 3G connected SlingPlayer — and even Hulu — on the iPhone and iPad without melting the cell towers, courtesy of HTTP Live Streaming:

HTTP Live Streaming provides a state-of-the-art standards-based solution for streaming video over wireless networks. A key benefit of HTTP Live Streaming is the ability to dynamically adjust to varying network bandwidth conditions. It can store multiple video clips of different quality on a server, and then deliver the one that matches what the customer is capable of viewing on the network they are currently accessing.

Your application must use the HTTP Live Streaming protocol if it uses the cellular network to deliver video for any stream with a duration of 10 minutes or more. In addition, applications using HTTP Live Streaming over the cellular network must include a low quality stream of no more than 64 Kbps for your app to resort to when network conditions demand it.

The key here is that HTTP Live Streaming can dynamically increase or decrease video quality as you move from beefy Wi-Fi to 3G, standard or starved. Do we mind getting worse-looking video when the network is being strained? Years of putting up with blocky YouTube cat-on-piano videos likely points to “no”…

Apple: Want to Stream Video Over 3G? Use HTTP and Have a 64 Kbps Option for the Network is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Hulu Working on a Non-Flash Player for iPad?

Apple Reportedly Set to Test Lowering Prices for Some Television Downloads to $1

Financial Times reports that Apple is set to begin a trial coinciding with the launch of the iPad that will reduce the price of certain TV downloads through its iTunes Store to $1 from the current $1.99. The trial will reportedly begin in April. Fi...

Apple Releases Apple TV 3.0.2 Update

We have received multiple reports today that Apple has released an Apple TV 3.0.2 software update, but we have yet to learn the details of changes included in the update. Readers have so far not reported any obvious changes, so the update may simply...

Hulu coming to the iPad?

Filed under: Video, iPhone, iPad

Popular (US-only, grumble) television site Hulu is a name that comes up in just about every conversation about the iPad's lack of Flash support. Second only to YouTube's popularity, Hulu streams TV shows from several US networks, allowing for free (albeit ad-supported) access to shows that Apple's iTunes Store charges $1.99 and up to download. When people bash the iPad and claim "No Flash, no sale," a lot of them are probably really saying, "No Hulu, no sale."

All that could be about to change. According to TechCrunch, an "industry insider" has revealed that Hulu is already working on an iPad version of its site which should be ready to launch by the time the iPad is released in March. Whether this will take the form of a dedicated app or a "mobile version" of the site coded in HTML5 rather than Flash remains to be seen. TechCrunch notes that "putting Hulu on the iPad boils down to a business decision, not a technical one." Unlike YouTube, which had to re-encode a large portion of its videos for iPhone compatibility back in 2007, Hulu's videos are already encoded in the iPhone/iPad-friendly H.264 video format. The only Flash-encoded portions of Hulu that would have to change for iPad compatibility are the player itself (the "wrapper" for the video with its controls) and the ads.

Nothing official has been announced yet, of course, but Hulu's CEO has said that "Mobile is a monster - we are very bullish. We will embrace any device," and "We are very big believers in mobile and we don't think about (just) one device only." Considering that YouTube has been available on the iPhone from day one, it seems less a question of if Hulu will be available on the iPhone/iPad, but when. When that happens, a lot of that "no Flash, no sale" bias against the iPad is sure to die off very quickly.

[Via MacRumors]

Hulu coming to the iPad? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hulu coming to the iPad? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best iPhone Apps For Valentine’s Day

Review: Random Play for iPhone

This app takes a visual approach to shuffling your music, displaying up to 12 album covers for randomly selected songs in the music library stored on your iPhone or iPod touch. It's a nice upgrade over the shuffle feature, but it's limited by the app's inability to run in the background.

Navigon determined to link with every app it can

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch

Navigon continues to be very aggressive at making its navigation platform a continued top seller for the iPhone. Today, the company announced an open app interface called AppInteract, which is a simple script that embeds a link into any app to launch Navigon's MobileNavigator. At the same time, it transfers any selected address into turn-by-turn directions.

"For example, if you find a restaurant in an app that has implemented our AppInteract interface, you can get turn-by-turn directions to a chosen place instantly," said Gerhard Mayr, vice-president worldwide mobile phones and new markets for Navigon. "Our aim is to provide elegant and easy to use navigation solutions, for our customers, as well as to the developer community."

The technology has already been embedded in the Where To? app that I've reviewed previously. Now every developer who wants the technology can get easy access to it.

It's clear Navigon wants to become a hub for all the apps that look up addresses, and for good reason -- there are many of those in the App Store.

Looking back, it's amazing how far the iPhone has come in the last couple of years. I suspect there is a lot more around the corner, especially with iPhone 4.0 being released later this year.

Navigon determined to link with every app it can originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Navigon determined to link with every app it can originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hulu Developing Non-Flash Player for Deployment on iPad?

TechCrunch reports that popular video site Hulu is working to bring its content to the iPad, despite the lack of support for Flash content on Apple's new tablet device.

One rumor I've heard from an industry insider is that Hulu is wor...

Make your iPhone hands-free for less than the price of a ticket

Filed under: Accessories, iTunes, iPhone

Continue reading Make your iPhone hands-free for less than the price of a ticket

Make your iPhone hands-free for less than the price of a ticket originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Make your iPhone hands-free for less than the price of a ticket originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adobe Says 7 Million iPhone OS Users Tried to Download Flash — Would Hulu App Fix That?

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that, according to Adobe 7 million iPhone and iPod touch users attempted to download Flash in December, well over the 3 million who tried back in June. We wonder how many of those were for Hulu, and whether rumors of a Hulu app for iPad would change them significantly?

Engadget feels that both Apple and Adobe’s competition (competing smartphone platforms that will soon include Flash 10.1, and competing video and rich-content delivery systems from HTML5 to Silverlight which now streams H.264 to the iPhone) are the only ones who will benefit.

We figure technology might as well, as Flash is forced to make less resource intensive, more security and privacy-friendly plugins and Apple and others are forced to make and push alternatives.

Case in point, Hulu. Techcrunch and 9to5mac hear a a Hulu app might still be in progress and set to launch in March in time for the iPad. Their videos are already H.264 so no conversion is required, but they make money off their advertising, which is entirely Flash-based now, and would need to either be replaced with HTML5 for a web app, or Cocoa touch for a native App Store app.

Either way, we’re still waiting..

Adobe Says 7 Million iPhone OS Users Tried to Download Flash — Would Hulu App Fix That? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Google Introduces Google Buzz For Mobile With Location Based Features

Developer Sourcebits puts focus on iPad apps

iPhone developer Sourcebits has created a new division to focus on creating "super apps" for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

iPad Component Costs Estimated to Begin at $219.35

Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports on new estimates from market research firm iSuppli detailing component costs for Apple's lowest-priced iPad at $219.35 plus an additional $10 in manufacturing costs, compared to a retail price of $499. While th...

TiPb at Macworld 2010 — Yes. iPhone Live! Tonight — No :(

Sad news, TiPb-verse, but with yours truly at Macworld and Dieter on his way to Mobile World Congress, we’re not able to do iPhone Live! tonight. However, we’ll make it up to you with lots of great coverage of both events and huge show next week.

We’ll be kicking things off tonight with the Indie Dev Spotlight, Macworld media preview, and 148apps.com iPhone App Awards. If you want live updates, I’ll post whatever I can to my twitter feed @reneritchie and round it all up for you later tonight right here on the main page.

Tomorrow the Expo proper opens and Leanna and I will be walking the floor, talking to the developers, and checking out all the great new apps and accessories.

So apologies again for the lack of iPhone Live! but stay tuned for more of TiPb at Macworld 2010!

TiPb at Macworld 2010 — Yes. iPhone Live! Tonight — No :( is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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