November 2009 Archives

iPhone owners spend more for digital content than people who haven’t bought Apple’s super–phone, according to research by technology law firm Olswang. So why are iPhone owners more likely to splash their cash?

Olswang’s Convergence Survey reveals that in the wider population, 58% of people would legally download new films and 40% would grab a digital copy of a film that’s out on DVD too. iPhone owners stats are significantly higher – 73% would download a new film while 54% would pay for a download of an older film.

iPhone users are also far more excited by ebooks and digital magazines. While only 30% of the entire population would download an ebook and 29% would buy a digital magazine, 42% of iPhone users will buy ebooks and 38% are up for reading digital magazines. With the vast iTunes App Store catalogue at their finger tips, it makes sense that iPhone users are up for buying more digital content – they’re doing it all the time anyway.

The worm was designed to exploit jail-broken iPhones, where a user has removed Apple's protection mechanisms to allow the iPhone to run any software. Estimates suggest that up to 10% of the more than 55m iPhones and iPod Touches devices sold worldwide have been cracked. The worm specifically targeted those handsets with SSH (secure shell) installed, a program that enables other devices to connect to the phone and modify the system and files.

Mr Towns is the latest in a long line of programmers to find employment after a high-profile iPhone hack. "We interviewed Ashley, assessed him with our iPhone developer test - which he passed with flying colours - and we employed him today," said a spokesperson for the firm.

Shazam, the online music search engine, has announced the launch of its brand new iPhone app in collaboration with RED, a charity which fights against AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis in Africa. The launch of the app comes just two weeks after the launch of its premium iPhone and the application has been christened as SHAZAM RED. Shazam incidentally has more than 10 million iPod Touch and iPhone users around the world.

Expressing satisfaction at the development, Seb Bishop, the CEO of RED mentioned that various collaborations had generated $140 million globally since the launch of the charity and all of the money was going to fund its AIDS program in Africa. He also said that the iPhone collaboration with Shazam will be of immense importance to the charity's cause.

Andrew Fisher, CEO of Shazam, said that Shazam will help its users to positively impact the people in Africa who are suffering from AIDS and other severe diseases. He also said the company was honoured to be the first mobile application to partner with RED.

Pixies seem to have given up slicing up eyeballs in favour of releasing an iPhone app. The US alt-rockers have slipped their own Pixies iPhone app onto the iTunes Store bringing you photos, tunes and tweets from the band. An effective marketing strategy and a great way to keep in touch with their fanbase, we can expect to see more bands follow suit soon.

Pixies didn't announce their iPhone app to us via an official release. Instead, we discovered the Pixies app had been launched in tweets from drummer (and sometime magician) David Lovering.

The Pixies app is out now for free on the iTunes app store. It gives you instant access to Twitter and Myspace updates from the band, a quick glance view of the band's discography (with the ability to buy tracks there and then), tour dates and fan photos. You can also read Pixies biography, watch their videos, get alerts to update you of upcoming live shows and view official photos of the band - all on your iPhone.

If Apple announced a next-generation iPod, made you a macchiato and then automatically uploaded a video of you drinking it to YouTube while noting the experience on Twitter, would you be terribly surprised? There isn't much iPods don't do, to the point where one is tempted to ask what they'll think of next. Well, it's just possible that whatever that happens to be, it could well kill off iPods as we all know and love them.

The days of the ubiquitous iPod, the most popular portable digital music player by a streak, are seriously numbered. Consider this. An 8G iPod Nano records eight hours of video, complete with sound, and you get twice that with the 16G version. If you just want music, the cheapest Nano stores up to 260 hours' worth. But you can't phone people with it, or send them texts.

With none other than Apple's own iPhone, you can. And you can take still photographs and video with autofocus. You can command functions with your voice, get directions for where you're heading, record voice messages and access the internet. It will store up to 10 hours of video or 30 hours of audio. And then there's the staggering number of applications you can access. The iPhone is becoming the world's first superphone and as prices decrease, this could cost Apple their most dominant product.

The end of compact discs (CDs) as a way to buy and listen to music came one step closer today. Linn, one of Britain's oldest and most prestigious hi-fi manufacturers, announced that it will no longer be making CD players after a sharp fall in demand from consumers. This is in stark contrast to the massive growth in popularity of iPods, iPhones and other MP3 players, for which users download music straight from the internet.

According to Ivor Tiefenbrun, head of Glasgow-based Linn, the success of the iPod has made people familiar with downloading and streaming music. The CDs which are still being bought are no longer played - they are simply ripped for use on iPods or iPhones and then stored away.

The wide range of headphones, docks and sophisticated speakers available for use with the iPod is sure to hasten the end for CDs as a means of playing music. However, it is not all bad news for the CD - in the past 15 years it has transformed into one of the most versatile methods of data storage, saving documents, running computer games and playing films.

A new £500,000 operating theatre at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary has been built to include an iPod dock amongst its state-of-the-art equipment. It means that the choice of music in the theatre can be controlled directly from the operating table, in a move welcomed by medical chiefs.

Surgeons have long appreciated the value of music in helping to calm medical staff during tense operations. In the case of the Edinburgh installation, iPod music will accompany keyhole procedures treating the gall bladder, hernias and cancer, amongst other operations.

The new facility has been designed by a partnership between the hospital and medical technology specialists, Olympus Keymed. It is due to be officially unveiled today by Sir David Carter, former Chief Medical Officer for Scotland. His choice of iPod music is, as yet, unknown.

Have you always yearned to listen to music as you weigh out your ingredients? Probably not. Have you always wanted to play with Rihanna in your kitchen? Quite possibly, yes. Oddly, this new iPod and iPhone accessory from ADE Germany will help you to do both . . sort of.

Strangely dubbed "Rihanna", after the world-famous singer, this new product combines an iPod dock with a set of kitchen scales. It features an integrated speaker beneath the glass measuring pad and a digital LCD display for both the music and ingredients.

Initially launched for the US market, "Rihanna" measures weight in pounds and ounces. And as for its own "weight", the iPod-compatible item will be retailing at around $103. So if music be the food of love, this may be the gift idea for your loved one.

Google yesterday launched an update to one of the most popular apps for the iPhone - Google Earth. It is hoped that the new 2.0 version will prove more usable than its predecessor, as well as introducing enhanced functionality.

The original Google Earth app soon became a firm favourite amongst iPhone users after its original release just under a year ago. Within six months it became the second most downloaded free app available for the iPhone, allowing users to view maps, Wikipedia articles and local photographs.

Already available via the iTunes App Store, Google Earth 2.0 features a new My Maps interface viewable on the iPhone. This gives you the ability to view your customised maps created on your laptop or desktop right from your iPhone. Also included in the update are new usability features and a number of additional languages.

Twenty years since the first ever screening of Wallace and Gromit, the much-loved duo are to appear on the iPhone and iPod Touch. To celebrate the anniversary, Titan Publishing have announced a range of comics especially produced for viewing on the Apple products. The first episode, Wallace and Gromit: The W Files, will be offered free of charge for a limited time.

Numbering four in total, each comic adventure is packed with bonus features on the prolific inventor and his faithful mutt. After the initial free offering, episodes will be available for 59p and will require the iPhone 2.1 Software Update or later. Aardman Animations, the studio responsible for Wallace and Gromit, also announced that they will be offering a remastered HD edition of A Grand Day Out on the iTunes Store for 99p.

According to digital comic editor, Ned Hartley, it is exciting to see Wallace and Gromit involved with "such a cracking new technology" as the iPhone and iPod Touch. However, he did go on to add that he secretly believes that Wallace would prefer "the type of apple that comes with cheese".

In addition to being able to show off Apple technology, switching to an iPod Touch-based POS means employees won't have to rely on the Windows based EasyPay devices they used to use and allows Apple to banish Microsoft from stores all together (apart from software they actually sell).

Sales assistants are able to process your order, have a receipt sent to your address and move on to the next customer within a matter of minutes.

Until Tuesday, wireless provider O2 was the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the UK. Orange currently has 16 million mobile customers, compared to O2's 22 million.

The numbers were far more impressive than the iPhone's debut on China Unicom's network last week. China's first attempt at selling the iPhone was by most accounts disappointing, with only 5,000 units sold over the first four day period. Of course, China Unicom is dealing with factors Orange is not. Besides having to sell the iPhone without Wi-Fi connectivity, China has to contend with something UK and US carriers largely do not: a vast market for iPhone knockoffs, or gray-market phones.

The software aims to save doctors time by reassuring non-serious but hypochondriac patients that they'll be fine but telling more urgent cases to "get thee to an A&E".

In a similar way to how Shazam identifies music tracks, the iPhone app compares your cough to a database of both ill and healthy people of both sexes and various ages, weights and other variables. The team behind it - STAR Analytical Services - says they'll need about 1000 patients in the database before the app can be reliable and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given the team a $100,000 grant to pursue the research further.

The Sky Mobile TV News & Sport app will allow people to watch the likes of Barclays Premier League football along with cricket, rugby, golf and horse racing. The Sky Mobile TV app will not (as yet) include film or entertainment channels, but does include Sky News, Sky Sports News, all sports channels, ESPN and At The Races.

David Gibbs, General Manager for Mobile at Sky, said: "Our new Sky Mobile TV App combines the demand for great live TV on the move with the high quality viewing experience offered by iPhone and iPod Touch." A subscription to the service will cost £6 a month and users will need a Sky ID.

Included in the service are all models of iPod, and most Mac computers. There appear to be some teething problems as the Apple TV is oddly missing from the system, and the iPhone link simply pops up a message promoting the iPhone Gift Card.

All iPods and laptops can also be gift wrapped. No charge is applied at the time of reservation - customers must simply pay instore when picking their items up between December 15 and 24.

Fortune magazine has taken a close look at the world's best CEOs and has voted the boss of Apple, Steve Jobs, the CEO of the decade.

Jobs, who chose the 2000s as the decade to launch the iPod and iTunes, has had an extraordinary busy time, yet has managed to change the way people consume music forever. Alongside creating Apple as a force to be reckoned with in the computing and music world, his latest endeavour, the Apple iPhone, is currently a premier choice in the mobile marketplace.

Fortune magazine comments "In the past 10 years alone he has radically and lucratively reordered three markets - music, movies, and mobile telephones - and his impact on his original industry, computing, has only grown. Remaking any one business is a career-defining achievement; four is unheard-of."

Orange is soon to introduce the brilliant iPhone, as well as releasing its first iPhone and iPod Touch application - Orange Wednesdays.

The Orange Wednesdays application now brings the popular Orange Wednesdays cinema experience to the small screen. Customers will receive 2 for 1 cinema tickets with a similar deal available at Pizza Express. You'll be able to view the latest film reviews and trailers with up to date info on what's on, where films are showing, information on how to get there and how to redeem the 2 for 1 Orange Wednesdays cinema voucher on your Orange iPhone.

Available from the Apple iTunes App Store, Orange Wednesdays is free and requires the iPhone 2.2.1 Software Update or later. The iPhone 3GS and 3G will be available in selected Orange stores next Tuesday from 7am and is available to Orange Pay as you Go, Pay Monthly and Business customers.

Flying is generally considered one of the safest forms of transport, yet being afraid of flying isn't an uncommon fear. Virgin Atlantic aims to cure these anxieties with an iPhone app that brings their Flying Without Fear course, which they boast has a 98% success rate, to the iPhone and iPod Touch. The course can help those with minor anxiety when stepping on a plane and those whose anxiety means they avoid all flying.

Flying Without Fear has a personal introduction by Sir Richard Branson, a video-based in-flight explanation and frequently asked questions about flying. It also contains relaxation exercises and a Fear attack button for emergencies.

The app was developed in partnership between the airline and Mental Workout, a company that designs, develops, and markets mobile applications to help people resolve issues and increase mental performance. Anyone with a flying phobia will also be reassured to see that the latest version of the app promises "minor crashes fixed".

Canon has recently introduced Easy-PhotoPrint for iPhone, which is a free application for iPhone and iPod Touch. Compatible with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch, the application prints photos wirelessly to Canon PIXMA MP990, PIXMA MP640 and PIXMA MP560 printers, automatically detecting printers on a WiFi connection.

Users can now review an index of thumbnail images with a simple flick of their finger, whilst shots can be enlarged, with a pinch of the fingers, for a clearer print preview. A swift touch then sends the selected image directly to the Canon PIXMA printer.

The application supports various Canon media types and sizes including Plain Paper, Photo Paper Plus Glossy II, Photo Paper Pro II, Photo Paper Pro Platinum and Photo Paper Plus Semi-gloss, with options for bordered or borderless printing. Available from the Apple iTunes App Store the Canon' Easy-PhotoPrint for iPhone is free and requires the iPhone 2.2.1 Software Update or later.

All pupils - over 1,000 - at a Bolton school are to be given an iPod as part of a wider technological drive costing £250,000. Some pupils have already received their 8GB iPod Touch, which offers access to the Internet over Wi-Fi and the ability to download, hopefully educational themed, applications and podcasts.

Apple offers iTunes U, part of the iTunes Store, which features free lectures, as well as language lessons, audiobooks and more.

Head teacher Showk Badat believes that this move will improve GCSE results as the pupils will have "the best possible learning resources the world has on offer at their fingertips." He understands the risks involved in taking such a bold step, but asks parents to play a part in helping their child stay safe. Showk Badat says: "The iPod Touch will bring equality. Every child no matter what their background will have access to life changing resources. We believe that all can have success."