iPhone and iPod Area

Besides unveiling a new line of iPods and the new Apple TV on Wednesday, Steve Jobs also launched the new and revamped iTunes 10, which comes with a brand new logo. As always when there is a drastic design change, people are angry and bitch about it.

That’s what adman Joshua Kopac did by emailing Steve Jobs about it. Of course Jobs couldn’t disagree more with Kopac. Here is the full/short email exchange: Read More

"Does the New iTunes Logo Suck?" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

I hate Flash. But you know what I hate even more? Not having the choice to have Flash on my iPhone. Whether you like it or not, Flash is a major plugin of the online world, which is trying to get its way to the iPhone the legit way, and the not so legit way.

The lack of Flash on the iPhone has been an ongoing battle between Adobe and Apple, but it now brings the battle to the turf of other smartphone makers, like Motorola. Read More

"Take That, Apple!" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

It was a Thursday morning like any other. I woke up at 7:45am  to “Kanye West – Addiction” blaring from my Sony alarm clock/ipod dock. I grabbed my iPhone off that dock and hobbled to the bathroom and launched a pre made playlist to listen to as I got ready for work.

For those of you who frequent the blog this is a great example of where my beef with the iPhone’s speaker quality comes into play. But that’s neither here nor there. I updated myself on the day’s technology news using RSS Reader and bouncing around from site to site, once again on my iPhone. Read More

"iPhone, is There Anything This Phone Can’t Do?" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Skyfire is a browser on other mobile platforms that was at one point purely proxy-based like Opera Mini (where everything was pre-rendered on a server then pushed out to the device via compressed files) but is now an all-grown up WebKit engine where Flash content is still proxied (processed server side and sent out as iOS friendly video).

They’re submitting it to the App Store — we know because, also like Opera, they announced their intent to submit — for iPhone and some concerned internet denizens are wondering whether or not it will get accepted, and what if anything it may mean about Apple’s current stance on Flash.

Short answer: nothing.

Long answer: Skyfire for iPhone would use the built-in WebKit viewer any app could use, and would probably proxy Flash the same way Microsoft claimed they worked with Apple to serve Silverlight. That means you’ll have a way to watch video, but probably not interact with punch-the-monkey adds. Win. [Hat tip to @sachasegan]

Why is it an apparent issue then? Because Skyfire posted about submitting it, because Apple conspiracy theorists love to conspire about theories concerning Apple, and because the App Store approval process remains utterly opaque and at times seemingly arbitrary.

Hopefully Skyfire gets approved and works well. My guess is it will get approved partly because it won’t work well — on-the-fly transcoding Flash to H.264 is a daunting task for developers (getting Flash to run native on Android is still hit and miss), and will be an exercise in patience and perseverance for users accustomed to things that just work.

We’ll see.

[Skyfire]

Regarding Skyfire and proxied Flash on iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

It seems like only yesterday Steve Jobs introduced make-your-own ringtones in iTunes, where you could take a song you already bought, and pay again just to use it in cut-down form as a ringtone. And — whoosh! — now it’s gone from iTunes 10?

The recording industry is no doubt to blame for the $0.99 price tag — they manage to both charge consumers and stiff artists on those, keeping all the money for themselves — but I’m guessing there were at least a few people for whom the ease of use was worth the price.

You can still roll your own ringtones outside iTunes, or purchase them pre-made by Apple (though reader John shows you may be subjected to a humorous iOS downgrade image, after the break).

I never used the ringtone creator myself, so I won’t lament it, but surely someone is going to miss it? Right?

[MacLife]

$0.99 iTunes ringtone creator no more? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

I spent the past week using the PixelSkin Case for iPhone 4. Speck has a lot of great accessory lines from iPhone cases and skins to everything iPad and iPod as well, but I was a little hesitant at first as I’m not a fan of cases that add bulk and most pattern or etched cases do.  I was pleasantly surprised with this one and still have it on my iPhone. 

I’ve never been a huge fan of textured cases, but this one is deceiving. It isn’t really “textured”. Most of the square pattern you see is actually smooth on the outside of the case. It feels nice in the hand and slides in and out of pockets incredibly easily. Part of the reason I have always preferred smooth cases is I’m not a purse girl by any means. I prefer keeping my phone in my pocket. I carry about a messenger type bag with me for all intensive “purse purposes”. Throwing my phone in there, it would take me 20 minutes to find it when I needed it. Pockets are quicker and easier. So I’ve always looked for cases that don’t fight me when trying to slip it back into my pocket. Finding smooth, thin cases and not sacrificing any protection is always a tough battle.

This particular case not only feels good in the hand, but protects the sides of the phone and allows the screen to be a bit recessed without adding extra bulk. I’m the master at dropping my phone and I dropped it once with this case on it. It landed face down on hard wood floor with no damage to be seen. Since the case comes up over the edges, it helps for those times when you’d like to set your phone screen down, or Jobs forbid it, you’re like me and just have the clumsy gene. Either way – if you’re looking for a case that provides a decent amount of protection without adding “too” much bulk, check out the Speck PixelSkin case for iPhone 4 in the TiPb Accessory Store. It’s available in purple, pink, and black. If you already have it, let us know your thoughts on it in the comments as well! Still not the case for you, browse the rest of our case selection in the TiPb iPhone 4 Accessory Store!

Pros

• Doesn’t collect dust or pocket lint

• Extremely smooth despite being silicone

• Rugged look but smooth in your hand

• Doesn’t add bulk

• Doesn’t get dirty quickly like many silicone-based cases

Cons

• Stretches out a bit after being taken on and off

• Some 3rd party chargers and accessories may not fit into the dock connector with the skin on

Speck PixelSkin Case for iPhone 4 – Accessory Review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Anyone who has an iPhone knows that trying to watch Flash videos is just not possible. There are a few hacks and cracks that bring synthetic Flash knockoffs to your device, though the jury is still out on how well they actually work. That could be changing real soon.

Skyfire has submitted an application to the App Store that would perform a nifty little conversion and bring real Flash to your iPhone. We know that natively, the software would never get a chance to grace the presence of Apple territory, so the developers created a way to make the content compliant… Read More

"Skyfire Submits App That Brings Real Flash Videos to Your iPhone" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

iOS 4.1 adds HDR photo capability to the iPhone — and now iPod touch — Camera app. HDR stands for high dynamic range and usually involves a photo with one or more identical photos that are over and under exposed and then combined together so that far more light and shadow information is available than a single exposure would allow. These high dynamic range images can then be tone mapped to provide a far greater amount of detail, far more like what the human eye can see. (That’s my lay person, non-photo geek understanding of it anyway — feel free to tear me apart in the comments, but only if you can explain it better).

So basically, you can see detail in the sky and in the shadow under the tree, rather than having one blown out or the other lost to black.

To enable HDR you simply tap the HDR button, much like the LED Flash button under iOS 4. Then, when you take the picture, iOS takes not only the regular shot but one overexposed and one underexposed. Shooting the picture seems to take roughly the same amount of time, but saving it takes noticeably longer.

So far, based on the results we’ve seen online, iOS HDR does a good job pulling color and detail back into what were previously blown out skies, but an only okay job revealing detail in shadowy areas.

For non photo geeks, however, all they’ll notice is better pictures with bluer skies and brighter people, which is probably why Apple added the feature in the first place.

iOS 4.1 features: HDR photos is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

This week has gone by faster than usual. Perhaps the Apple event made the days come and go quicker but nevertheless it’s Friday. This is the day I’ve been known to spout off about a topic that I feel needs further attention. This week I go after those who feel the need to warn people that jailbreaking your iPhone can “brick” it.

I recently posted an article announcing the recent jailbreak of my iPhone 4. Having been away from the dark side since my iPhone 3G, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the process. Read More

"Why Do People Think Jailbreaking Can Brick Your iPhone? [Rant]" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Net Applications is reporting that iOS has passed Linux to become the third most popular platform accessing the internet. With a 1.1% share, they’re still behind big brother Mac OS X’s 5% and way behind Windows all-encompassing 91.3% share. However, for a mobile OS, especially considering the next most popular mobile OS, Android, is at 0.2%, that’s a fairly huge accomplishment. According to Vince Vizzaccaro, VP of NetApps:

“Whatever the sales are, we’re seeing iOS totally dominate the market on the Web. iOS has nearly a 6:1 advantage over Android.”

Eh. Given the high adoption rate of greeks and mainstream now, Android will probably catch up quickly. Linux probably won’t. Mobile as a whole is on a tremendous growth curve.

[NetApps via 9to5mac]

iOS now 3rd most popular internet platform after Windows, Mac is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Apple introduced a new iPod nano this week with a multitouch screen, and a new Apple TV with an A4 chipset, but didn’t make clear if either or both were running iOS. Unlike iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, where they shout iOS from the rooftops, they’ve historically kept mum about iPod and Apple TV OS.

iPod nano looks like it’s running iOS. It has an iOS-like user interface with a subset of iOS-like built-in apps controlled by iOS-like gestures. There’s inertial scrolling with elasticity. You can even put icons into jiggly mode and rearrange them. In fact, when demonstrating that during his keynote, Steve Jobs said (emphasis mine):

Say… I want [albums] on the home page, I can just push down, jiggle it, and move it, just like I can with my other iOS devices

Not official confirmation to be sure, but think about it this way: given their focus on iOS of late, would Apple spend the effort to re-create that interface on the old iPod OS just for iPod nano, or to spend it getting iOS running on iPod nano hardware?

Apple TV on the other hand looks nothing like iOS. However, it’s running on an Apple A4 chipset which has, thus far, only been used for iOS devices. Again, given Apple’s focus on iOS, would they spend the effort porting OS X to Apple A4 just for Apple TV, or recreate the Apple TV UI for iOS?

I didn’t hear Jobs mention anything about iOS during the show but Daring Fireball’s John Gruber claims it’s definitely iOS.

I’d love to know for sure, but for now my guess is Apple sees iOS as their future and any effort they put in to new mobile or media devices is going to be put into iOS, including iPod nano and Apple TV.

Are the new iPod nano and Apple TV running iOS? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

When we wrote an article last month about police being able to use iPhone data to help them further investigations this wasn’t quite what we meant. An Alabama burglar is facing possible revocation of probation after he left his iPhone at the house he was robbing.

The Times Daily reports that the homeowners noticed the iPhone and told investigators that the device didn’t belong to any of the residents and it was seized as evidence. Franklin County District Attorney, Joey Rushing, stated the following: Read More

"Stupid Criminal Leaves His iPhone at the Crime Scene" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

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We’re all up in Apple’s 2010 Special Music event – new iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod touch with Retina Display and FaceTime, Apple TV with iOS… but no apps! Along with iOS 4.1 and iOS 4.2. We’re streaming like crazy. This is iPhone live!

Oh, and here’s the Vapor Case give-away we mentioned…

Credits

Thanks to the TiPb iPhone accessory store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

iPhone live 115: Whoosh! Another 200! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Ars Technica has confirmed that the new Apple TV software and features won’t be coming to the old Apple TV.

We confirmed with an Apple spokesperson that the maximum HD resolution of the Apple TV is 720p, consistent with recent rumors. Additionally, there will be no software update to bring the new features to older Apple TVs. Older Apple TVs will continue to work as they have been working up to this point, and they will continue to be able to purchase movies and TV shows even though the new Apple TV is rental-only.

Though it stands to reason, given that the old Apple TV runs a variation of OS X (Tiger?) on Intel and the new one runs a variation of iOS (4.x?) on Apple A4, and Apple probably doesn’t want to devote any resources to making a distinct update to a now dead system, those expecting TV rentals and Netflix support will no doubt be unhappy.

However, those who preferred to be able to sync and buy their media on-device won’t be shedding any tears, or trying to avoid any updates that take those features away.

Which side are you on? And does this change anyone’s mind about updating?

[Ars]

Old Apple TV won’t be getting new Apple TV features is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Have you ever wondered how popular iOS devices are amongst internet plaforms? Well you can stop wondering because Computer World has the details that show Apple’s operating system is currently 3rd amongst all platforms.

iOS devices of course include the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad tallied up as 1.1% of all hardware that used the internet. They ousted Linux with that number which fell for the second straight month to 0.85%. Windows took first place with Mac OS coming in 2nd. Read More

"Apple’s iOS is the 3rd Most Popular Internet Platform" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

I just got words about a nice little trick that allows you to insert YouTube videos in iMovie on your iPhone. It’s pretty simple, and best of all, you don’t even need a computer to do it. For this to work, you will need a jailbroken iPhone and 3 applications: Read More

"How to Insert YouTube Videos in Your iMovie for iPhone Creations" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Dieter’s at the IFA show in Berlin, Germany and he’s scored us a first look at mophie’s upcoming juice pack air for iPhone 4. It’s got soft touch paint and they claim ZERO signal degredation because the entire PCB board is on the bottom, so there are no electronics around the antenna. It’s shipping to Apple now and will be available in “Nationwide retailers” next week for $79.95.

Mophie Juice Pack air for iPhone 4 comes in black, white, red, and green and “virtually doubles your power”. 6 hours talk time, 5 hours internet 3G, and 9 hours on wifi courtesy of a 1500mAh battery. It also sports pass-through USB for power, iTunes sync, and can be switched off when not in use.

What Dieter saw was prototype hardware, but felt very thin and good to him, especially the soft touch finish.

Also being shown off was the juice pack power station, which sports 2.1 Amp output so it can power an iPad. This one rates 3600 mAh and has a USB cable included to charge it. And the Marketplace, which we saw an early version of back at Macworld, is now ramped up with Intuit GoPayment and is available now for $179.95 plus GoPayment service.

Hands-on photos after the break!

mophie juice pack air for iPhone 4 preview is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

We’ve talked about iPhoDroid before, a port that allows you to install Android on your iPhone 2G or 3G. Up until now, iPhoDroid was only available for Mac. Sergio McFly, the developer of iPhoDroid finally got time to bring support for Windows. Read More

"iPhoDroid for Windows Now Available" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

The TiPb forums are naturally a great place to talk, commiserate, celebrate, get help, and offer advice to your fellow iPhone users. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is easy and free so if you haven’t already head on over and register now!

• Discuss your reactions to the official Apple 2010 Special Music event here. Was it what you expected? Disappointed? Let us know!

• iTunes 10 with Ping was released yesterday, give us your thoughts on this latest version!

• Want to discuss iOS 4.1? This is the thread to do so: iOS 4.1 update.

• Might as well chat up the iOS 4.2 as well, do so here: iOS 4.2.

See you in the forums!

Post Apple Music Event 2010 – From the Forums is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Once again Steve Jobs put sneaker to stage and at the Apple Special Music Event 2010 wowed the crowed with new gorgeous new hardware, stunning new software, and… services of a sort. The big stories were iOS 4.1 and iOS 4.2, the new iPod touch, iPod nano, and Apple TV, and iTunes 10 with its Ping music social network, and of course, what we didn’t get.

The full story… well, here it is in handy bullet-point form.

Event coverage

• Apple Special Music Event 2010 streaming video
• Apple Special Music Event — Watch along with TiPb! (Live blog)
• Poll: What did you like (or not like) about Apple’s 2010 iTunes/iPod event?
• Apple special music event – what we didn’t get

iOS 4.1 and iOS 4.2

• iOS 4.2 coming soon for iPad… and iPhone
• iOS 4.1 for iPhone, iPod touch next week, iOS 4.2 for iPad in November
• iOS 4.1 to fix proximity sensor, Bluetooth, and iPhone 3G performance bugs
• iOS 4.1 Gold Master now available to developers
• 120,000,000 iOS devices sold, 250,000 apps, 6.5 billion downloads – by the numbers
• Steve Jobs: 230,000 iOS activations a day, not counting upgrades like Google. Google responds.

New iPod touch, iPod nano, Apple TV

• Apple releases new iPod touch, iPod nano commercials
• Apple introduces iPod touch with Retina Display, FaceTime, HD Video
• Apple introduces tiny, iPhone-like multitouch iPod nano
• New Apple TV, 1/4 the size, streaming only, rental only, Netflix, $99
• Apple TV has A4 chip, iOS, so where are the apps, games, a web browser?

Epic gaming

• Epic Citadel for iPhone, iPad demo now in App Store
• Steve Jobs: iPod touch more popular than Nintendo DS and Sony PSP combined

iTunes 10 and Ping social music network

• Apple introduces iTunes 10 with new icon, streamlined UI, Ping social network
• iOS 4 Ping social music network gallery
• iTunes 10 Ping social music network gallery

Apple Special Music Event 2010 round-up is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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