November 2008 Archives

Chunghwa Telecom Co. (CHT) hopes to attract more subscribers and boost revenue with the launch of the third-generation iPhone in Taiwan, Executive Vice President Lin Jen-Hon said Friday.

Chunghwa, Taiwan's largest telecom services provider by revenue, will start selling iPhones from Dec. 13, though customers can register in advance for their phones from 0400 GMT Saturday to Dec. 10.

"We hope our revenue and subscribers will increase after the launch of iPhone, " Lin said. He said Chunghwa will seek to "satisfy all customers' demand" for the iPhone, but declined to give specific figures on sales targets.

Apple wants to stop iPod owners from using non-Apple software with their iPods, so its lawyers have sent a "cease and desist" order to BluWiki, which hosts the public face of the iPodHash project. However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has offered to help.

Apple is trying to use the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to stop the iPodHash project, and thereby to restrict the freedom of iPod owners who'd prefer to use alternatives to iTunes, such as Songbird and WinAmp. Since Apple does not make iTunes available for Linux, this is also an attack on open source users who own iPods. It could even result in BluWiki -- which has received a "cease and desist" order from Apple -- being forced offline.

The background is that Apple has added a new hashing algorithm to its iTunesDB database file -- which stores user data, such as the details and location of each song on the iPod, as obfuscated by Apple -- to prevent anyone else's software from writing to it. The iPodHash project is an attempt to crack the latest hash.

On the run up to Christmas, you’ll have an exciting countdown, showing you how many days until you can open your first window. Once the 1st of December arrives, you can start opening your windows and unlocking the secrets in this Christmas iPhone application.

There are lots of things to unlock including songs, wallpapers, extra features, jokes and facts about Christmas. You can open a new window every day in December and every window has something to unlock behind it!

This app will work for Christmas 2008 and every Christmas year after year making it great value compared to advent calendars in the shops. 24 Christmas Days is compatible with the iPhone and 2nd Generation iPod Touch and can be downloaded from the App store.

An Apple iPhone advert has been banned by the advertising standards watchdog for exaggerating the phone's speed. The advert boasted the new iPhone 3G model was "really fast" and showed it loading internet pages in under a second. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints by 17 people who said the TV advert had misled them as to its speed.

Apple UK said it was comparing the iPhone 3G model with its 2G predecessor and its claims were "relative not absolute". The advert repeatedly stated that the phone was "really fast" and showed news pages and the Google maps service taking just fractions of a second to appear. Text on the screen said: "Network performance will vary by location." After upholding the viewers' complaints, the ASA said the advert must not appear again in the same form.

It said the advert was likely to lead viewers to believe that the device actually operated at or near to the speeds shown in the advert. The watchdog concluded: "Because we understood that it did not, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead."

Though it is believed that both, the iPhone and iPod Touch, are powered by similar platforms, significant differences in performances of these devices have been noted.

As per the reports from a mobile developer firm, Handheld Games Corp., the performance of their 3D TouchSports Tennis game is different across both iPod Touch and iPhone, and therefore they had to optimise the game for these devices. 

The difference of performances is attributed to the fact that these devices sport distinct processors; the 2nd generation iPod Touch incorporates a robust 532MHZ processor, whereas the iPhone includes a processor of 412MHz.  While both these devices are powered by ARM processors, theoretically capable of delivering performances at 620-667 MHz, Apple has apparently clocked down the speed of processors to enhance the battery life. 

Wacky Owen Louis is doing his bit for the environment by charging his iPod with an ONION.

Owen, 21, bores two holes in the veg before soaking it in an energy drink for two hours. The shop shelf-stacker then inserts a USB cable, which produces enough power to charge his iPod for an hour.

Owen, of Portsmouth, said: “I’m trying to find ways of using electricity without damaging the environment.” Physics lecturer Phil Stubbles said: “By soaking the onion in the drink it acts as an electrolyte and reacts with ions to produce the charge.”

Netlog, Europe's leading social networking platform, has launched an application for iPhone and iPod Touch.

Members can download the Netlog application onto their iPhone or iPod Touch to keep in touch with their network of friends wherever they go. The application allows them to connect with new people, send and receive messages, check and sign guestbooks and update their shouts.

By using the built-in GPS location capability of the iPhone, users can give their precise geographical details whenever they update their status. Users are also able to upload pictures from their devices onto Netlog. "Since Apple launched the iPhone, consumers have become very interested in possibilities of the mobile web. Providing them with a Netlog application was the next step" said Lorenz Bogaert, CEO of Netlog.

Digital Lifestyle Outfitters on Thursday announced the release of HomeDock HD, a new home entertainment peripheral for iPods. It costs $249.99 (£166).

First introduced at Macworld Expo in San Francisco in January, 2008, the HomeDock HD features an iPod dock connector, and attaches to your home entertainment system. It connects the iPod to a High Definition TV (HDTV) using the highest picture quality available, upscaling video to 1080i or 720p using a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connector.

The HomeDock HD also features support for analogue TVs using S-Video and composite video connectors. Other connectors include a USB interface (for synching to a host computer), digital audio output, and RCA stereo audio output. Auxiliary audio input is also supported.

Apple released a major update for its iPhone operating system late Thursday, around. New iPhone 2.2 firmware weighs 247 megabytes and brings a bag of long anticipated features and improvements including Google Street View in Google Maps and remote pod cast downloading.

In the past, users had to download podcasts onto their computers and then sync them to their iPhone and iPod touch. With remote podcast downloading, users can now download audio and video podcasts right to their iPhone over WiFi or 3G.

Other features of the iPhone 2.2 update include public transit and walking directions in Google Maps, as well as displaying the address of a place when you drop a pin. You can share your location via email. The update also improves stability and performance of Safari browser, fixes a scheduled fetching of email bug, and most importantly, decreases rates of dropped calls.

A new web page called “iPhone Your Life” helps you organise your iPhone usage. The webpage is loaded with tips and tricks for getting more out of your iPhone, arranged by activity, like “At Home” and “World Travel.” The site suggests applications that might be useful for that activity.

Under “Around Town,” it includes a Yellow Pages app, one that reminds you when your parking meter is running low, a taxi locator, and a way to find nearby restaurants. There is also a list of the basic applications, like “phone” and “mail” with operating instructions and shortcuts to becoming a power user.

The website helps highlight common features that many users don’t know exist, such as the iTunes Starbucks icon that if tapped while in the store will tell you what song is currently playing.

While not an official design, the iPod Shuffle Bracelet could offer another way for Apple to get its iPod line into our digital lifestyles. Dreamed up by Isamu Sanada, the iPod Shuffle Bracelet takes the form of a fashionable bangle available in different colours to be worn like jewellery.

Functioning just as much as a fashion accessory as a portable media player the bracelet-style iPod would make it completely seamless to wear while on the go. To avoid tangles, the design calls for the inclusion of stereo Bluetooth, although this could be wishful thinking – even the iPhone doesn't do stereo Bluetooth yet.

What makes the iPod Shuffle Bracelet particularly interesting is that it would have to have a flexible build and the iPod dock connector could be built right into one end.

Maxell on Wednesday announced it will soon release noise-cancelling earbud headphones that are compatible with 4th or newer generation iPods and the first and second generation iPod touch. The iPhone 3G however, is not supported. The headphones plug in via the dock connector, as they draw power from the device to perform their function.

The earphones include a built-in microphone that detects ambient noise and instructs the headphones to output up to 20dB of sound in the opposite phase for noise suppression. The Active Noise Suppression works between 50Hz and 700Hz.

The headphones are 9mm (0.35-inch) in diameter, and include small, medium or large eartips. Their sound pressure sensitivity is rated at 103dB/mW, while frequency response ranges from 20Hz to 20kHz. Due for a December 12th release in Japan, the HP-NC20.IP will be priced at about $83 (£56).

Roberts has launched the iDream, an iPod-friendly DAB clock radio. Designed for the bedroom, it's an DAB/FM RDS digital stereo clock radio with a built-in iPod dock.

The iDream lets users listen to their iPod through its speakers and charges the iPod at the same time. There are 20 station presets as well as auto timeset, and the radio displays time and station info on a blue backlight screen that's dimmable.

User can select the clock to stay on screen whilst tuned to a favourite station, unlike other DAB clock radios on the market that default to the details of the station being listened to. Two different alarms can be set to wake to iPod, the radio or a buzzer with adjustable sleep and snooze timers.

Interactive entertainment company Ludia and FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), the brand extension arm of The Price Is Right(TM) producer FremantleMedia, today announced the launch of The Price Is Right game on the Apple App Store.

Based on the highly successful television game show, iPhone and iPod touch owners can now "Come on down" anytime, anyplace for their shot in contestant's row, to bid on items in 16 different pricing games, to test their luck with spinning the big wheel, and experience the winner-takes-all tension of the Showcase Showdown.

"After more than 35 years The Price Is Right remains one of the most successful game shows in history, and it's very exciting to expand The Price Is Right experience to revolutionary products like iPhone and iPod touch." said David Luner, Senior Vice President, Interactive & Consumer Products, FME, North America.

When Apple introduced the iPod touch a few months ago, they called it "the funnest iPod ever." What they didn't say was the commercial for the iPod touch would feature a song that could also be described as "funnest."

The advert, featuring a grooving drum beat, cowbell, and a female voice that assures us there are some "good, good times around the bend."

For the touch commercial, Apple have plucked from obscurity the duo of Lars Iversen and Mette Lindberg, from Copenhagen, Denmark. They call themselves The Asteroids Galaxy Tour and their song Around The Band is gaining in popularity.

"It's a song about sexual energy," Iversen says. "An energy that you want so bad from someone, and you'd do whatever it takes to get it."

With bad economic times and Christmas around the corner, bargain hunters are going to be out in droves.

But if a deal seems too good to be true, it likely is. Clever copies of Apple’s iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano models have popped up for sale on the Internet, often priced substantially cheaper than the real deal. Lockport resident Jake Crandall bought his phony iPod Nano off eBay in early November for $99.99, $50 cheaper than a store-bought version.

“The first thing I noticed was the packaging,” Crandall said. “It was in a crinkled sleeve, just not as clean and neat as something Apple would put out.” It’s easier for sellers to peddle a fake over the Internet, since customers don’t get a chance to examine the product before they buy.

iPod boss Mark Papermaster, the ex-IBM executive trying to defect to Apple, has countersued his former employers. Papermaster was IBM's vice president of the company's blade development unit, until he became Apple's senior vice president of devices hardware engineering at the beginning of November.

However, IBM immediately sued claiming Papermaster signed a non-compete in 2006 which prevented him from working with a competitor for at least a year. A US court then ordered the executive to stop working immediately, while it files through the details.

Papermaster has now responded, filing his own suit which blasts IBM's claims as unenforceable as they are governed by New York laws, and he has no ties to the state.

The A2DP allows you to stream your favourite tunes from your iPhone (or iPod) through virtually any Bluetooth accessory including speakers, headphones and car stereos. The Bluetooth iPod/iPhone Adaptor enables Bluetooth connectivity for the iPod and iPhone. The Bluetooth iPod/iPhone Adaptor supports A2DP and AVRCP profiles.

This means that you can stream music from your Apple device to your Bluetooth accessory. It also adds a remote control functionality so you can play, pause and skip tracks using your speakers or headphones.

You can also connect to Bluetooth car stereos. Gadgets such as the iTrip rely on FM frequencies to broadcast music from your iPod and play it though your car stereo speakers. With the Bluetooth iPod/iPhone Adaptor you no longer have to rely on FM signals or suffer interference when listening to your iPod whilst driving.

True Move, Thailand’s third-largest mobile operator, has reached a deal with Apple to offer the iPhone 3G in the country. “True Move has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone 3G to Thailand in the coming months,” the company said in a statement without providing further pricing or release details.

According to Reuters, Thailand is currently in the testing stage for 3G networks, meaning that the iPhone 3G would likely operate on EDGE networks when it’s first released. In addition to True Move, Apple remains in talks with Thailand’s largest mobile operator, Advanced Info Service, over the iPhone 3G.

Somchai Lertsuttiwong, AIS’ executive vice president for marketing, said, “Apple is talking with every operator, including us and DTAC. When will we sell iPhone? It depends on when we can reach a deal with Apple on terms and conditions.”

Apple has released a significant update for the fourth-generation iPod nano, in the form of new v1.0.3 software. The firmware should allow use of Apple's special in-ear headphones, which feature a remote and mic and should allow some form of audio recording. Apple has also introduced the ability to disable Cover Flow when rotating a player, and turn on Cover Flow manually through the Music menu.

Troubleshooting measures have addressed instability when using the Nike+iPod kit, and an issue with Genius playlists, in which hitting play with a selected song would not acknowledge the Songs shuffle setting. Apple has also addressed two video output-related problems: one in which Cover Flow art would distort in a TV slideshow, and another in which photos would become distorted after waking a Nano from sleep. The v1.0.3 update is a 57.8MB download through iTunes.

A bug revealed within the handling of apps on the iPhone could represent a serious security threat, developers claim. The bug is specifically connected to an image file called "Default.png," which is displayed whenever any app is being loaded on an iPhone. While third-party software is limited to a static version of the graphic, Apple's own apps are able to change the file in order to display items such as the date, or a simulated preview. According to developer Patrick Collison, it is possible to fool the iPhone firmware into thinking third-party code should be allowed access to a dynamic PNG file.

The key issue is said to be that in implementing the hack, the iPhone API could be made to think an app comes from a trusted source, and is thereby allowed to access secure areas of the firmware. By linking this with an arbitrary code attack, an iPhone could in theory be made to do virtually anything, a collection of developers is said to be arguing.

It is further worried that a hacker could implement this strategy while bypassing Apple's App Store screening, which has so far been successful in preventing any serious threats. Although much of Apple's efforts appear to be devoted to perceived intellectual property, the company is also invested in technical aspects, such as bugs and abuse of cellular bandwidth.

The iPhone 3G has overtaken the Motorola RAZR to become the leading handset purchased by adult consumers in the U.S. in the third quarter, according to The NPD Group. “The displacement of the RAZR by the iPhone 3G represents a watershed shift in handset design from fashion to fashionable functionality,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD.

“Four of the five best-selling handsets in the third quarter were optimized for messaging and other advanced Internet features.” The RAZR had held the top position for the last three years, but ranked second to the iPhone in the third quarter of 2008, followed by the BlackBerry Curve, LG Rumor, and LG enV2.

The iPhone is about to get even more useful.

AT&T’s head of the wireless and consumer markets division Ralph de la Vega said Thursday that the company was working on a new service that would let Apple iPhone owners use their devices as a modem for their laptop computers. He was responding to a question from the press at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

A spokesman for AT&T declined to provide more details, but confirmed that “we’re working on that applicationwith Apple and hope to make it available soon.” AT&T currently offers a similar feature for users of Research in Motion’s Blackberry device for an extra $30 a month.

Though the two companies have been rumored to be working on this feature for the iPhone, de la Vega’s statement is the first official confirmation that it’s doing so. A spokesman for Apple didn’t immediately return a call for comment.

Norway's consumer mediator said Thursday he would take US electronics manufacturer Apple's iTunes before a government agency for failing to make its online store compatible with music players other than its iPod. "iTunes has shown a lacking will to comply with our demand and we are now preparing to try this case in the Market Council," Consumer Ombudsman Bjoern Erik Thon said in a statement.

At the end of September, Thon gave Apple until November 3 to respond to his demands that it break the exclusive link between its iPod music player and online iTunes store. In 2006, Norway was among the first countries in the world to insist that Apple break that link.

Apple has added several precisions to its user conditions, explaining to consumers how to burn songs onto compact discs and then convert them to the MP3 format so they can be played on other devices, but the Consumer Ombudsman has said that is not enough. "iTunes maintains its previous views in its response to the Consumer Ombudsman. The company is in other words unwilling to make changes to make music in the iTunes Store available to all music players," the agency said in its statement.

Apple's iPhone 3G and High Tech Computer's (HTC) Touch Diamond sent Taiwanese smartphone manufacturing soaring in the third quarter, a market researcher said on Thursday. Along with those strong sales, Google's new Android software promises to reshape the licensing landscape on the island.

Taiwanese companies shipped 11.02 million smartphones in the July to September period, up 125 per cent compared to the same time last year, and up 54 per cent compared to the second quarter, according to Taiwan's Market Intelligence Center, a publicly-funded industry researcher.

The big year-on-year production increase indicates that some hot technology products may be able to weather the global financial crisis. However, the Market Intelligence Center said shipment volumes among less well-known smartphone makers in Taiwan saw significant declines during the quarter due to the challenging economic climate and a lack of unique features. Apple reported selling 6.89 million iPhones during its fourth quarter, which ended Sep. 27, a figure nearly 1 million units higher than most analysts had predicted. The company also sold 11.05 million iPods, up 8 per cent compared to the same time last year. Smartphones have been a boon to Taiwanese contract manufacturers due to their higher profit margins compared to other products such as desktop PCs and game consoles.

With millions of iPods and other MP3 players in the hands of consumers, the portable media players have made a racket in the marketplace for years. Now some experts warn that the devices make too much noise.

A new study from the European Union cautions that people who listen to personal music players for too long, at too high a volume setting, may do serious damage to their hearing. The report estimates that up to 10 percent of users could start losing their hearing within five years, and most don't realize it. "It doesn't show up. They're not aware of the fact that they're doing damage to their ears," said Denise A. Blackmore, an audiologist with Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo, N.Y.

The most advanced of these portably sleek gadgets can hold and replay a tremendous number of songs, podcasts, photos, movies and TV show episodes. "If I'm not in class, I'm probably attached to my iPod," said Percy Cramer, 19, a Canisius College sophomore from Southern California who was listening to her iPod shuffle at the library.

Turns out that a former IBM executive who’s being sued by Big Blue for bolting to Apple plans to have a high-profile post in Steve Jobs’ company. Apple (Nasdaq: APPL) said Tuesday that Mark Papermaster, a former vice president at IBM (NYSE: IBM), will lead the company’s iPod and iPhone hardware engineering teams.

Papermaster will replace Tony Fadell, known as the “father of the iPod,” who will take a smaller role within Apple as an adviser to the CEO. “Mark is a seasoned leader and is going to be an excellent addition to our senior management team,” Jobs, Apple’s CEO, said in a statement.

Papermaster is in the midst of a legal drama with IBM, his employer for 26 years. Big Blue sued Papermaster late last month, saying that the executive’s agreement to join Apple violated a non-complete agreement he’d signed. IBM, which has headquarters in Armonk, N.Y., has 11,000 workers in the Triangle.

Within days of buying his iPhone, John Furrier discovered that his 13-year-old son, Alec, was sneaking off with the device and downloading games. To reclaim his phone, Furrier had to buy his son an iPod Touch, which Alec quickly filled up with Pac-Man, Magic 8 Ball and dozens of other games. "When he's not playing on his Xbox 360, he's playing on the iPod," said Furrier, a 43-year-old entrepreneur and blogger in Palo Alto.

Apple Inc.'s iPhone is a cellphone, Web-surfing gadget and digital media player rolled into one. The iPod Touch is the same, minus the cellphone. But to many people's surprise, one of the devices' most popular uses is as a hand-held video game system.

Games have become the fastest-growing and most popular type of application for iPhone and iPod Touch owners, outpacing all other categories available on Apple's App Store. As of Friday evening, 7 of the top 10 selling applications for the devices were games.