June 2009 Archives

Skype says it has also improved the "look and feel" of the application, particularly when calling phones using the dial pad. Users can download the update in iTunes, or launch the App Store on their device and select "Updates" to get the latest version while there's more info on the Skype site.

Language support has also been improved - now available in Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish and traditional Chinese as well as English.

"AdSense for Mobile Applications allows developers to earn revenue by displaying text and image ads in their iPhone and Android applications," she adds. Because of the built-in GPS chips on the iPhone and Android handsets, Google can target advertising by location, as well as keywords and demographics. It is also possible to filter out inappropriate adverts.

Google conducted a small-scale test of the platform with a handful of popular iPhone applications including Backgrounds, Sega, Shazam and Urbanspoon. The service is now open to applications from all developers.

Woolworths is set to sell iPods, iPhones and TVs online. The UK retailer who was the biggest casualty during the UK economic downturn is using the power of their brand to lure consumers online with low cost gear.

In January Woolworths closed 807 shops in January, resulting in the loss of 27,000 jobs. In a statement issued in the UK Shop Direct asked one million British families what they would be likely to buy from the relaunched Woolworths brand, taking a poll via its own blog, email, as well as social-networking sites Twitter and Facebook.

"Customers wanted a more targeted offer, " Shop Direct Chief Executive Mark Newton-Jones said in an interview. "It will be a one-stop-shop for the family. "

Woolworths is set to offer free movies to consumers who buy technology goods from them including the latest movie blockbusters. The company has also said that they anticipate making a profit in their first year.

Apple has announced that "third-party game accessories" are on their way to the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. A listing of new OS 3.0 benefits for the iPod Touch says: "Connect fun new game accessories via the iPod touch 30-pin connector and Bluetooth."

Better Bluetooth wireless accessory support is one of the features inside OS 3.0 for both the iPod Touch and iPhone. And Apple is clearly beginning to understand how big gaming is for its devices and the iTunes Store. So it's not surprising that wireless (and apparently wired) controllers specifically to enhance gameplay are on their way. What is surprising, if anything, is how long they've taken to arrive.

Pricing and availability have not yet been announced for any controllers.

Dunkin' Donuts, the popular fast food chain famous for its coffee and baked goods, has released Dunkin' Run, a free app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It's designed to make it easier for Dunkin' Donuts customers to make group orders - a social application, according to the press release.

"I'm making a run to Dunkin' - does anyone want anything?" is a refrain heard in workplaces near where Dunkin' Donuts are common. The Dunkin' Run app and its companion Web site help to make it easier for Dunkin' customers to solicit and place those group orders.

"Runners" initiate the group order, then interactive alerts are sent to the Runner's friends and co-workers, informing them when a trip is planned and inviting them to place an order online. The Runner can then print the order or use their iPhone to produce a checklist, to make sure everyone gets what they wanted.

The eyes of the technology industry will be watching Californian giant Apple this morning, following reports over the weekend that chief executive Steve Jobs had undergone a liver transplant.

The Wall Street Journal ended months of speculation about Jobs's health late on Friday by reporting that the billionaire technologist had been admitted to a Tennessee hospital two months ago for the procedure.

The report on his condition was not attributed to any source - a highly unusual step for the Journal - but said that Jobs was currently in recovery and would return to the company on a part-time basis. Others have since confirmed the news. The report broke shortly after the US stock markets closed, with Apple's share price riding high on the successful launch of the latest model of its iPhone handset.

O2, which has the exclusive rights to sell Apple's new iPhone 3GS in the UK, said by 1.30pm that it had sold more of the phones this year than it in the entire day of the previous model's launch last year.

A spokeswoman for the company said that the sales total includes both the 3GS and older 3G model, which was released last year, but as the price of the 3G has not changed the difference is probably accounted for by sales of the 3GS.

O2 said that some stores may sell out today, to be restocked at the weekend. According to the company, "We sold more iPhone 3G S devices in the first two hours than all handsets we'd normally sell in an average day."

Apple has posted an updated version of its iPhone User Guide online. The new guide, which is labeled as "For iPhone OS 3.0 Software," features several sections on iPhone 3G S-exclusive features, including entire chapters dedicated to the compass and Nike+ iPhone integration.

Also mentioned in the guide are iPhone 3G S controls for the Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic, Voice Control, complete with instructions on how to use the feature, MMS messaging, and a section on how to shoot and edit videos on the iPhone with the Camera application.

Apple has officially released its iPhone Software Upgrade 3.0 for the iPhone and iPod touch. The second major update to the iPhone OS brings with it a host of new features, including Copy & Paste, widespread landscape keyboard support, in-app and Spotlight search, a new Voice Memos application for the iPhone and iPod touch 2G, MMS support for the iPhone 3G, multi-photo emailing and deletion, stereo Bluetooth support for the iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G, and more.

iPhone Software Update 3.0 is now available as a free download for the iPhone and iPhone 3G; the software is a £5.99 upgrade for the iPod touch, and iPod touch 2G.

There may be 40,000 apps on the iPhone app store, but few are as headsmackingly innovative as Tube Exits, launched today. Anyone stuck in the capital's commuter crush will go crazy for this one: it's a simple program that works out where you should stand on an Underground platform to drop you by the stairs at your destination, so you can beat the rush every time using your iPhone.

We've said before that Tube Deluxe is a must-have iPhone app for anyone living in the Big Smoke, and Tube Exits is set to join it on your iPhone's Home Screen. With long platforms and narrow staircases, it's all too easy to get delayed coming out of a station, even when your tube is on time. The Tube Exits iPhone app gets round that by showing you which carriage to get on to help you get off quickest, even when you have to make multiple changes during your journey.

Reports out of the US suggest Apple iPhone 3G S buyers could be left disappointed when the smartphone launches on Friday. US Apple iPhone 3G S buyers could be left wanting as reports coming out of America are already pointing at a shortage of the new mobile phone for Friday's big launch.

According to Information Week, Apple will have no more units available for purchase when the iPhone 3G S officially goes on sale in America. Anyone who pre-ordered their iPhone from last weekend onwards looks likely to still be waiting for the handset to hit their doormat for up to two weeks. And the story doesn't get any better for those hoping to grab an iPhone on the day from the Apple store or AT&T network store. Again, according to Information Week, the network will have an 'uncertain' number of handsets to sell on the day.

It remains to be seen what the picture will be like in the UK, with no word from the retail partner Carphone Warehouse or network O2. The predecessor to the iPhone 3G S, the iPhone 3G, shipped over a million handsets in just three days but Apple has not yet released any figures on the pre-order sales of its latest smartphone offering.

A newly-disclosed Apple patent application suggests the company is working on a system to enhance emergency calls on the iPhone. Titled "Method and system for prolonging emergency calls," the patent describes a system for determining when a call is an emergency call, either by automatically classifying numbers as emergency services--such as 911--or via an emergency tagging system in the contacts application.

When an emergency call is detected, the iPhone could then implement a number of different tactics to help facilitate the call, including but not limited to deactivating Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or various sensors, implementing a confirmation alert before the call can be ended, and providing options for "emergency phrase buttons," which would allow the user to simply touch the iPhone's screen to send his/her current location, an "unable to speak" message, phrases describing the user's problem, or an automated request to contact a certain contact, all via pre-recorded audio messages.

As with all Apple patents, this filing does not necessarily represent any future product release for the iPhone, but offers evidence of the company's research in this area.

The e-guides can be personalised, with places marked as favourites, and can be easily searched with the use of keywords.

And as they are in digital form, they can be easily dated - so if that four-star hotel you were going to treat yourself to has become a clip joint, you will be told. The release of the guides comes after a free version of the San Francisco guide was a hit on the iTunes store.

The game sports 10 music tracks from indie artists, up to six cars on the screen at once, touch or tilt steering controls, in-car cockpit or external camera views, local multiplayer over wifi, global leaderboards, online league play, manual or automatic acceleration and breaking and video replays via YouTube.

Firemint Real Racing requires iPhone OS 2.2 or later.

iPhone OS 3.0 supports more than 100 new characteristics. Some of them are the ability to send MMS and to copy and move text from one application to another. One of the new characteristics will make this phone loved by carrying parents and jealous husbands. The subscriber of the service MobileMe will be able to find out from any connected to the internet computer, where exactly the iPhone is and if the phone is stolen, then the owner will be able to tell the phone from distance to delete all personal data it has.

When it comes to the market of iPhone - for the last year, 40 million iPhones and iPod Touch were sold. The applications, which they have, exceeded 50 000 and the number of downloaded applications exceeded one billion. Apple believe that 65% of their clients surf online from an iPhone.

"As graphic assets need to be designed from scratch to benefit from 2.0 shaders, it will be very hard to monetize the extra effort in the early days," he said.

Schade was not however unconcerned that developers will have more iPhone systems to optimise for. He said the catalogue of iPhones and iPod Touches will create "some fragmentation", but he says Fishlabs can still support all devices, using "just one SKU that detects automatically what device it's running on, and switches to the best graphics automatically."

Listings for both black and white versions of 16GB and 32GB "V3," or third-generation, iPhones have appeared in the inventory system of UK-based iPhone retailer Carphone Warehouse.

The new listings appeared just hours ago, mixed in with listings for both iPhone 3G and original iPhone models. Many expected Apple to double the maximum capacity of the iPhone 3G to 32GB earlier this year, as it had done with the prior version when it announced the 16GB model in February of 2008; the iPod touch is currently the only iPhone OS device available in 32GB capacities.

Apple is widely expected to introduce new iPhone models this coming Monday during its WWDC 2009 Keynote Address, which we will provide live coverage of beginning at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

Several text strings found in iTunes 8.2 suggest that the iPhone may be receiving the third-generation iPod shuffle's and fourth-generation iPod nano's spoken word navigation features as an optional control method, as well as Nike + support.

The strings, found inside the iTunes application bundle, include a variety of alerts for Nike + iPhone integration--such as "Do you want to automatically send your workout info to nikeplus.com when you sync your iPhone?"--as well as a single string stating "VoiceOver changes the gestures used to control iPhone. Are you sure you want to continue?," an addition to VoiceOver strings that the report says have been in the iTunes codebase since version 8.1.

A handful of other strings seem to suggest the addition of radio tagging capabilities, although it is unclear whether these would be related to built-in radio functionality, a radio-tagging application, or some other external accessory. The strings appear to be similar to ones used by current docking iPod models for iTunes Tagging of HD Radio broadcasts picked up by external accessories.

Apple has released iTunes 8.2, the latest version of its digital media management software. According to Apple's release notes, iTunes 8.2 supports "iPhone or iPod touch with the iPhone 3.0 Software Update," and also includes "many accessibility improvements and bug fixes."

In April, Apple began providing registered iPhone developers with a pre-release version of iTunes 8.2, which was required to activate the later beta versions of iPhone OS 3.0. iTunes 8.2 is available now through Apple's Software Update utility or as a free download from apple.com/itunes.

A Chinese blog has photographically confirmed two previously rumored features of the iPhone OS 3.0--an autofocus feature for the still picture camera, and a digital compass--along with new details on their user interfaces. Believed to rely upon new camera hardware found in the upcoming 2009 iPhone, the autofocus feature places a blue box on the existing camera screen to show the current area of crisp focus, enabling users to move the focus area with finger gestures.

Separately, they show an image of a new magnetic compass application, which provides a digital readout and a full rotating analog compass on screen. The application appears to be similar in graphic design to Apple's voice recording software, previously revealed in beta versions of the iPhone OS 3.0, and is expected to be available only for the 2009 iPhone due to hardware changes.

Additional photographs add further credence to previously discussed new iPhone features, such as a movie recording mode, and suggest additional debugging tools will be available to help optimize CPU performance.