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iPhone 4 defenders debunk reception, ‘grip of death’ issues

Filed under: iPhone

Most of the news about the iPhone 4 has been negative, particularly about the reception and 'grip of death' that causes the phone to lose signal and sometimes drop calls.

Apple has famously responded to all the bad press, and perhaps has dug an even deeper hole for itself in terms of PR.

All the chatter is not apocalyptic though, and I thought it was worth a moment to point out the other side of the proverbial coin, both from a respected antenna designer who has tested the new iPhone, and from the venerable Consumer Reports group.

Continue reading iPhone 4 defenders debunk reception, 'grip of death' issues

iPhone 4 defenders debunk reception, 'grip of death' issues originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone 4 defenders debunk reception, 'grip of death' issues originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPhone 4 and the growing art of self-photography

Filed under: iPhone

This little piece over on the New York Times Fashion and Style page is only tangentially related to our subject at hand, which is that the onset of the iPhone 4 and its front-facing camera has put a spotlight on the growing art of self-photography and the casually narcissistic tendencies that drive it. I still found it very interesting, both as a series of tips on how to make some fascinating self-photographs, as well as a little meditation on what it means to learn that cameras are slowly turning around on their owners. When cameras were first created, the photographer was almost removed from the equation -- viewers of photographs were given direct views of subjects.

As time has gone on, the photographer has become more instrumental and important in the camera's life. At this point, in 2010, most of the pictures taken today are taken specifically to be shared on Facebook or Flickr -- here's me at the club, here's my new shirt, here's my and my girlfriend, and so on. Instead of looking through the photographer's eyes at the world, the iPhone 4's camera looks through the photographer's eyes ... back at the photographer.

Maybe that's too serious for the Fourth of July weekend (and if nothing else, the NYT piece offers a great bit of advice for being on camera anywhere: "smile"). But it is interesting that, as front-facing cameras become more popular (and even technology like Microsoft's Kinect, which is basically a camera watching you, the player), the art of photography itself is changing. Going out and "taking pictures" may eventually come to mean "taking pictures of me."

The iPhone 4 and the growing art of self-photography originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The iPhone 4 and the growing art of self-photography originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EyePhone reference mysteriously disappears from online clips of Futurama

Remember how awesome and clever Futurama was the other night? Well, if you missed it, your chances to see it in its original form might be slowly dwindling. It seems that Comedy Central has wiped out the reference in the dialogue to the "EyePhone 2.0." So, while we don't have any conspiracy theories brewing about what happened, it's a pretty odd thing to scrub, and we figure there are two possibilities: either Comedy Central is trying to cover their <censored> on this one, or they got a late night email from... someone. Thankfully, nothing disappears on the internet, so you can check out both clips and see for yourself after the break.

[Thanks, Henry L.]

Continue reading EyePhone reference mysteriously disappears from online clips of Futurama

EyePhone reference mysteriously disappears from online clips of Futurama originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 12:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spirit2Pwn: Hack Allows Users To Update And Jailbreak iPhone 3GS With iOS 4, Which Is Already Jailbroken Using Spirit [Updated]

FarmVille for iPhone – app review

FarmVille is a widely popular real-time farm simulation game created by Zynga. It was originally created as a flash game for Facebook and eventually became available at farmville.com. Players can now farm on go with the most recent version of FarmVille on the iPhone.

If you have already invested a lot of time with a farm on Facebook, FarmVille for the iPhone allows you to access your existing farm via Facebook Connect. If you’re a new farmer, you can create a new farm with the app; however, you must have a Facebook account to play.

Farming on the iPhone is much better than on the web. Although the game takes a long time to load, there is no lag while playing – this can’t be said for the flash-based version. It’s a quick tap to harvest anything which makes collecting from animals and trees nice and quick. To use a tractor, tap and hold a plot of land, then drag across the other plots you want to plow; your plowing can take any shape and does not have to be in groups of four at a time (like on the web). When your crops are ready to harvest, FarmVille sends you push notification.

You can also visit your neighbor’s farms, send and receive gifts, purchase coins and FV cash, access the market, organize your farm, and much more. The only FarmVille feature that seems to be missing is co-op farming. There is also one bug; sometimes the harvest indicators for tress and animals are misaligned making it difficult to know which object needs to be harvested.

Zynga did a great job with FarmVille on the iPhone, and now I rarely play FarmVille on the web. Now, if Zynga would make FarmVille a universal app for iPhone and iPad, a farmers life would be complete!

[Free - iTunes link]

Pros

• Tractoring is better than web version
• Special iPhone only items (like Snow Leopard)

Cons

• Takes over 40 seconds to load (on wifi)
• Many harvest indicators for trees and animals are misaligned
• Must have a Facebook account

FarmVille for iPhone – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Law firms suing Apple not impressed with explanation of reception issues

Filed under: iPhone

The fix from Apple for the increasing complaints about iPhone 4 reception is, not surprisingly, not going over very well with the lawyers representing people who are complaining of dropped calls.

Apple said yesterday it was 'stunned' to learn the signal strength graph on every iPhone made is not accurate, and is displaying much better reception than the phone is really getting. To fix it, Apple is going to recalibrate the display, essentially giving you fewer bars in more places.

Dan Ward, of Ward & Ward, one of the law firms suing Apple and AT&T told me:

We at Ward & Ward, along with many others, are very skeptical of this "fix." While Apple admits to misrepresenting to the public [about] the signal strength its iPhone 4 is receiving, and then says they will fix that problem, there is no indication that this "fix" will actually solve the underlying design problem.

Another firm with clients suing Apple, Mason LLP, told TechCrunch:

Our investigation revealed that users lost reception when gripping the phone in a conventional manner. We believe that the problem is not merely how the signal strength is displayed but involves a physical blocking of the antennae which cuts off calls.

The other firms suing Apple are also not likely to be persuaded by Apple's explanation, so don't expect those lawsuits to go away any time soon.

Law firms suing Apple not impressed with explanation of reception issues originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Law firms suing Apple not impressed with explanation of reception issues originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tropical Software Releases TopXNotes touch for iPhone and iPod touch

Tropical Software today announces TopXNotes touch for iPhone and iPod touch is now available in the Apple iTunes store. This is the first of a series of companion products we plan to release for Apple touch devices. TopXNotes touch features basic note creation and editing in landscape and portrait modes, emailing a note from TopXNotes [...]

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iPhone 4 – Faster 3G speeds or nothing but speed bumps?

While iPhone 4 adds 3G HSUPA (high speed uploads) to preview HSDPA 7.2 (high speed downloads) and is giving many users much faster data, others are filling our inboxes with complaints their speeds are so slow they border on 2G EDGE… or worse.

I know when I upgraded my iPhone 3GS to iOS 4 I had some data issues but almost immediately my carrier, Rogers, pushed out an OTA (over the air) Carrier Settings Update, taking it from 7.0 to 7.1. After that, I was flying.

AT&T seems to still be on 7.0, could a 7.1 update fix the woes of those currently suffering from poor 3G connections? We’ll have to wait and see.

iPhone 4 really is faster, but once again it’s confusing when many people have no problem and get to enjoy that speed boost, and others have nothing but problems and speed bumps.

Let us know which group you fall into, on what network, and where.

iPhone 4 – Faster 3G speeds or nothing but speed bumps? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Consumer Reports: iPhone reception problems not unique, may not be serious

Consumer reports has posted up their thoughts on iPhone 4 and all the reception issues some users are experiencing. They start off by corroborating Apple’s line that all phones, from smart to flip, suffer the same attenuation problems — since they’re all used by humans whose bodies are interfering bags of water.

They also say iPhone 4 is reported as having better overall reception and less dropped calls than previous versions of iPhone, including the 3GS. They refer back to AnandTech’s tests, and conclude:

There’s no reason, at least yet, to forgo buying an iPhone 4 over its reception concerns. And even if those do materialize, Apple’s Steve Jobs helpfully reminds new iPhone buyers that “you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.”

Apple is claiming the issue is related to a software miscalculation that erroneously reports high bars in low bar situations. Given all phones can definitely be susceptible to signal drop due to the position and placement of the antennae, we’ll have to wait and see whether or not Apple’s update fixes the issue or just the perception. What do you guys think?

[Consumer Reports]

Consumer Reports: iPhone reception problems not unique, may not be serious is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

iPhone 3GS Recognizing FaceTime URLs?

It seems one sharp reader over at AppleInsider has noticed that the iPhone 3GS does indeed recognize FaceTime URLs under iOS 4. 

Now most people familiar with how these URLs work will understand how this is possible.  Ever noticed if you’re in a regular web browser and there’s a link to e-mail someone, you’ll see in the bottom progress bar a path that contains a URL that will say something to the effect of:  mailto://user@emailaddress.com?  Well, Apple uses a similar interface.

A reader by the name of Felipe Baez started to look a little deeper into how FaceTime was actually working and figured out the scheme is quite similar to the typical schemes Apple uses for apps such as the phone, e-mail, and SMS apps.  If you try and use one of these links on a 3GS running iOS4, it will recognize it as a FaceTime link but won’t currently do anything.

Could this potentially lead to hacks for FaceTime to work on a 3GS? Obviously a 3GS does not have a front facing camera, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be opened up to where 3GS users can view and converse with iPhone 4 users.  As of now, the audio on the 3GS won’t even work, but I’d guess it’d only be a matter of time before another sharp reader or developer finds a way around that.  Whether or not it would require a jailbreak is anyone’s guess.  Hey maybe a way to use the regular camera in the 3GS could become an option.  The jailbreak community is strong and I don’t doubt this is something that could potentially interest a lot of them. Thoughts?

[Apple Insider]

iPhone 3GS Recognizing FaceTime URLs? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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