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Switched On: Of guiltlessness and giveaways

Posted on July 24, 2010 by Ross Rubin.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Beyond an opportunity for a lucky few to visit the surreal and sophisticated wireless testing labs buried deep within the Apple campus, the Steve Jobs "Antennagate" press conference had few surprises in terms of using a tool at Apple's disposal -- its own Bumpers (augmented by those of third parties) -- to address a vulnerability of the iPhone 4 antenna design. The difference between the iPhone 4 and other devices is the clear marking of the spot at which physical contact causes the signal to degrade. Optimists could consider this a visual reminder to avoid contact while pessimists could see a constant reminder of imperfection. Regardless, at its press conference, Apple added - and continues to add -- visual verification of its assertion that multiple handsets (or at least smartphones) can fall victim to a strategic grasp.

Beyond that, the only muted revelation of the day was that AT&T is reporting that the iPhone 4 is monitoring dropped calls on the iPhone 4 at a rate ever so slightly above that of the 3GS. However, the 3GS did not have a reputation for being particularly tenacious at holding on to a call. Indeed, were it not for all the heat the previous iPhone took at AT&T, perhaps Apple would not have had to push for so radical an antenna redesign. Therefore, it would have been interesting to know how the iPhone 4 compared to the AT&T smartphone average (skewed as it is to iPhones anyway), especially given the earlier Apple demonstration of how other smartphones can suffer from attenuation.

Continue reading Switched On: Of guiltlessness and giveaways

Switched On: Of guiltlessness and giveaways originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple posts Droid X antenna issue video

Posted on by Michael Grothaus.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Filed under: iPhone

Just two days after Apple posted a video showing antenna issue on Nokia N97 mini, the company has updated the Smartphone Antenna Performance page with a video showing the Motorola Droid X dropping from three to zero signal bars when held in the "death grip." The Droid X, which runs Google's Android OS, is seen as the greatest rival to Apple's wildly popular iPhone 4, so it's no surprise that Apple has gotten around to showcasing that the Droid X, like most smartphones, suffers from attenuation issues.

Apple has posted the video on both the Smartphone Antenna Performance and YouTube pages.

Apple posts Droid X antenna issue video originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Train Conductor 2: USA for iPhone

Posted on by McKinley Noble.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Train Conductor 2: USA isn’t as strong on content as its predecessor, but at a budget price with new levels, it’s still plenty of fun in small doses.

Apple releases iBooks 1.1.2 update

Posted on by Michael Grothaus.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Filed under: iPhone, App Store

Just days after releasing iBooks 1.1.1, Apple has updated the app again. iBooks 1.1.1 introduced the ability to double-tap an image within a book in order to view it in greater detail and the ability to experience books that include audio and video, among other fixes.

Today's 1.1.2 update only lists one fix: "Addresses a minor issue when updating iBooks." While we can't tell what it's actually fixed (everything was working fine for us), it's nice to see Apple is on top of things. If any of you notice a difference with iBooks 1.1.2 let us know in the comments!

Apple releases iBooks 1.1.2 update originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Posts Videos Of Droid X And Nokia N97 Mini Antenna Performance And Their Weak Spots

Posted on by iPhoneHacks.
Categories: Uncategorized.

iOS 4 app updates: 1Password Pro, Dragon Dictation, BargainBin

Posted on by Rene Ritchie.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Just a quick update on some freshly released iOS 4 goodness today. As you know, Ally has been watching the App Store for iOS4 compatible updates and if you guys find anything especially awesome, feel free to leave it in a comment or send it to her in an e-mail (ally (dot) kazmucha (at) tipb (dot) com) and if we think it’s awesome too, we’ll include it in our next roundup!

1Password Pro

If you’re a 1Password desktop (Mac or Windows) user with a Dropbox account, 1Password Pro’s latest version is nothing short of a revelation. Just open it up, log into your Dropbox account, and all your passwords and secure data are automagically synced to your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch over the air (OTA). This is the big one. This is what all Todo, Notes, and every other app that should be everywhere needs to do, with every major online storage option. It’s the future.

Oh, and it looks great on Retina Display and works great with iOS 4 fast app switching as well too.

(And yeah, there’s even an Android version now for those who dual-wield).

[$14.99 - iTunes link]

Dragon Dictation

Sure, iOS 4 still lacks universal voice integration but luckily… wait for it… there are apps for that. Dragon Dictation is one of the big guns and it’s just updated to include Facebook and Twitter support, send text to the clipboard and paste into SMS. It’ll also be coming to the UK soon. (They’ve figured out brogue, apparently).

[Free - iTunes link]

BargainBin

App Advice’s BargainBin lets you set a price for an app (including free) and then alerts you when the app drops to that price. So, for example, if you know holidays usually beget sales and there’s a game that’s been just a bit too expensive for your tastes, you set it up in BargainBin and if it drops to your sweet spot, you’ll know about it and you can go get it. (And if you’re cheeky enough to have set BargainBin itself to free, here’s you’re alert — it’ll cost you nothing for a limited time).

[Free on sale - iTunes link]

iOS 4 app updates: 1Password Pro, Dragon Dictation, BargainBin is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Chain Link Pro for iPhone – App Review

Posted on by Allyson Kazmucha.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Chain Link [iTunes Link] is based on the concept of creating as many links as you can and dragging them into the vortex in the middle of the screen without disturbing any other types of links. The game starts off fairly easy and gets harder pretty quick. There’s also support for OpenFeint to share your scores with your friends and other Chain Link users. I found the game pretty addicting after a while. Hit the jump for more screens and a walkthrough.

When you first open Chain Link, you’ll be asked to choose a game mode. The differences are that in easy mode (static), the pieces won’t move by themselves. They stay in one spot, where in arcade mode, they’ll move around, making it harder to avoid collisions. Whenever pieces collide with another piece that isn’t a like kind, instead of creating a chain, the pieces that collide will shatter. You’ll also lose one of your lives. You get 3 lives. After your third collision, game over.

Besides having regular game play modes, you can also choose timed modes. The pieces will float up from the bottom and down from the top and you’ll have to try and coordinate chains as quickly as possible and drag them to the center.

All in all, Chain Link is a pretty decent game to kill time with. It gets hard pretty quickly and there’s tons of game play modes to keep you busy. There’s nothing more depressing than beating a game you like in a couple days and either having to wait for an update to add more levels or just retiring it altogether. Especially when it’s a game you enjoy. I don’t see this being the case with Chain Link. There’s a lot of different game play options to keep you busy for quite some time. I think adding a few more options and maybe more visually appealing menus could improve the user experience.