When my grandchildren ask me what news I remember most vividly, my answer won’t have anything to do with wars, tsunamis or alien invasions — I’ll tell them about the day Apple admitted they made…a mistake.
Fine, that may be somewhat hyperbolic; but I don’t recall Apple ever kneeling in the past about anything, let alone about what amounts to their killer product — and even managing to look sheepish in the process. Of course, there’s good reason for that lack of kneeling; keeping one’s mouth shut makes perfect sense for any entity, as an admission of guilt is a fatal move in the arena of liability — and in Apple’s case here, may leave it vulnerable to all sorts of nasty lawsuits.
But it turns out there’s nothing wrong with the hardware. Turns out Apple’s been using the wrong formula for calculating and displaying signal strength, and has been doing so since the 3G model came out.
So if your phone told you signal strength was four bars, it might have only been two. And where it said you had two bars, it might have been non-existent.
Oops.
The letter says:
“To fix this, we are adopting AT&T’s recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone’s bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.”
The changes will appear in a forthcoming software update (which will also apply to 3G and 3GS models).
Apple signs off with a hopeful: “We hope you love the iPhone 4 as much as we do.”
Apple has announced via their iOS Developer newsfeed that iOS apps that were developed and compiled for iOS 2.x will no longer be supported. Developers are being advised to re-build their apps in Xcode targeting iOS 3.x or later. Developers that continue to submit or have existing apps compiled against iOS 2.x will face removal of their app from the iTunes App Store.
In the same announcement Apple directed developers to their iOS 4 Readiness Checklist which includes a “wealth of technical resources” to help developers to take advantage of resources in iOS 4. Instructions and information about submitting iOS 4 apps to the App Store are also included.
Apple released iOS 4 as a free update for all iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the 2nd and 3rd generation iPod touch devices. iOS is fully compatible with all of these devices with the exception of the iPhone 3G and 2nd generation iPod touch which do not support all of iOS 4’s features. Apple has uncharacteristically offered iPod touch owners a free update, since in the past they had to pay approximately $10 for an OS update.
We’ve received some comments from iPhone 3GS users that their battery life after the iOS 4 update has declined. This can in most cases be attributed to poorly written apps or apps that don’t support the multitasking feature introduced in iOS 4. Are you experiencing this problem? Have you identified an app or some other reason for the decline in battery life on your iPhone 3GS? Tells us all about it in the comments.
The New Paradigm - iGripping (Image: iPhoneSavior)
User Interface Watch: Apple’s march towards hands free, thought controlled computing continued this past week with the widely misunderstood iPhone 4 “Death Grip” episode. Perceived and quickly lambasted as a design flaw, Apple is stategically taking high levels of flak as they quietly persue their true longterm goal.
[Tags: ANALYSIS, HUMOR, SATIRE]
Steve Jobs has always been a minimalist, be it product design, the breadth of his wardrobe, or succinct email replies. This minimalism also applies to the ways in which we interact with our computers.
Early computers required both hands and all fingers to operate, utlilizing bulky keyboards. This mimicked the way humans had conveyed information since the invention of the typewriter, but was clearly just a technology to be milked for all it was worth, then cast aside.
I just confirmed that the iPhone 4 loses reception when the antenna band is touched. Plus, it’s enough to make the iPhone drop calls. This is a serious problem, and I can’t believe Apple let this slip through.
My new iPhone 4 drops from full reception (four-to-five bars) to just one bar in a matter of a few seconds when my fingers and thumb are touching the antenna band. See the video above. But when I take my fingers off the sides and hold the iPhone by its glass back, the number of bars quickly climbs to five again. The problem was first reported by Gizmodo, and seems to widespread, if not universal.
It’s enough to make the iPhone drop calls. I just tested it by calling my office phone. Holding the iPhone in my left hand, reception plummeted and the call dropped.
Today is iPhone 4 day and like the rest of you I got up early today. I’d say way to early since it was 4:00 am and I was surprised to find out that my alarm clock on my iPhone could be set to such an early hour. The engineers at Apple HQ in Cupertino could not have done a better job on that alarm, but for once I was wishing they’d screwed it up since I think it should be a crime for an alarm clock to ring before 5:00 am.
Author Farhad Manjoo does a fabulous job of “capturing something that feels like magic” behind Apple and the company’s success by delving into its relationships with current partners such as San Francisco design firm Eight, Inc., by speaking with former employees and others who have watched the company for years, and coming away with 10 essential lessons for any company wanting to become the Apple of its industry.
Of course it’s well known the secret to Apple’s success — notwithstanding Steve Jobs’ personal direction — is nothing more than “discipline, focus, long-term thinking and a willingness to flout the rules that govern everybody else’s business.” And yet, as Manjoo discovers, it’s also much more.
There’s a great series of photographs showing everyday, normal people dressed in the Steve Jobs “uniform” of jeans, running shoes and long-sleeve black mock turtleneck, from which one comes away amazed that only Jobs himself doesn’t look like a total dweeb wearing it. There’s a fabulous graphic by Jeremy Caplan, the iCensus (possibly available only in the print article), depicting who matters (and who doesn’t) in Apple Nation.
And in the end we learn how clues to the future are already built in to Apple’s most current products, and why “we’ll only be able to spot them in retrospect.”
Following the steps of their comic book competitors Marvel, DC Comics has just released their own iOSself-branded comic reading app for iOS, built for them by Comixology.
Like the Marvel app, comics cost between $0.99 and $2.99 an issue, and there are some free comics available… although the selection of those is quite paltry compared to Marvel’s offerings, although no doubt this will change. The best freebie right now is probably a black-and-white comic by Neil Gaiman and Simon Bisley that portrays the Joker and Batman as actors working on a television series.
Otherwise, if you’ve used Comixology or the Marvel app, you’ll be pretty familiar with how the DC Comics app works. It really only trades in Spider-Man for Superman.
White models of Apple’s new iPhone 4 have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected, and as a result they will not be available until the second half of July. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.
Just in case the iPhone 4 thought it was going to steal the iPad’s thunder, Apple has shot out a preemptive press release proudly proclaiming that in just eighty days, they’ve managed to sell three million iPads.
That’s pretty incredible. To put that in perspective, a million iPads were sold within the first four weeks of the iPad’s (demand limited) availability. About thirty days later, that number had creeped to two million. Apple sold the third millionth iPad just three weeks later.
Demand is picking up… which only makes sense, with the device being more widely available in the United States thanks to increased supply, as well as the iPad’s long-awaited international launch finally putting the iPad in the swarthy, wildly gesticulating hands of those weirdo foreigners.
If anyone thought Apple’s “big iPhone” wasn’t going to be a success, these numbers should certainly help to garnish their steaming plate of crow.
With yesterday’s major update to iOS comes a major new source of revenue for both Cupertino and app developers: iAd, Apple’s new mobile advertising service.
In a best case scenario, iAd will result in cheaper apps that deliver interesting, interactive advertisements finely targeted enough that you’ll actually want to play around in them. The worst case? Invasive, privacy-invading ads spreading across all ads that are just as annoying and irrelevant as the braying flash banners splashed across a Yugoslavian torrent site… just with no way to install AdBlock.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to get rid of iAd on your device… at least until the jailbreaker community comes up with their own iAdBlock. That said, you can easily prevent Apple from using your personal details to serve you up user-targeted iAds. Just click this link on your iOS 4 capable device, and Apple will no longer use your personal information to serve you up user-targeted ads.
To be fair, all this is likely to do is make iAds more irrelevant and annoying than they would be otherwise, but if you’re worried about privacy — or just don’t want to help Apple along as they try to build a Google-challenging advertisement empire — it’s good to know Cupertino’s made it easy to tell them to shove off.
The UltraSn0w iPhone unlocking software has been updated to support iOS 4.0.
The iPhone Dev-Team’s has updated Ultrasn0w to version 0.9.3, allowing you to unlock your iPhone running iOS4.
The update was announced on the Dev-Team’s Twitter stream. According to the release notes, it works with all basebands from 04.26.08 through 05.13.04:
iPhone DevTeam’s 3G and 3GS software unlock, now with added PwnApple. Compatible with basebands 04.26.08, 05.11.07, 05.12.01 and 05.13.04! Thanks to @sherif_hashim and @Oranav for contributing baseband crashes.
We will have an easy-to-use unlocking how-to guide coming soon.
NOTE: This post has been edited. It incorrectly said Ultrasn0w was for jailbreaking iPhones.
Apple knows where you are and plans to put that information to work.
The Cupertino company updated its privacy policy today to disclose that it may now “collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device.”
The new terms of service will pop up as a prompt next time you try to download or buy anything on the iTunes store — there is currently no opt-out option. (As Cult reader Joh pointed out — iOS4 users can opt out of iAd, however, online here.)
The only service to users mentioned in the privacy policy update is the recently-announced “Find my iPhone” for MobileMe subscribers.
It was a big disappointment to many when it became apparent that the white iPhone 4 would not be available at launch, forcing many to choose between waiting to upgrade their handset or getting a different color.
According to iClarified, though, there may be one big box retailer with some white iPhone 4s on hand come June 24th: Best Buy.
According to their intel, there are between 10 to 20 white iPhone 4s ordered by each Best Buy location. It’s unclear if Best Buy will actually get these white iPhone 4s, but it appears they at least expect to receive a limited number of them.
Who knows? If you’ve got your heart set on a white iPhone 4, you might want to try your luck at Best Buy later this week.
The clusterflug continues. If you were one of the few prospective buyers who managed to successfully order an iPhone 4 from AT&T last week before their whole untested system crashed, you may well have gotten an email from AT&T over the weekend, claiming your order had been canceled for no particular reason.
Over at the EE Times, they have posted an interesting comparison between Apple’s A4 CPU and the Samsung S5PC10.
The end results are that they find that the CPUs are similar in design, Apple has taken a chip originally engineered to meet the demands of a broad range of OEMs and reduced the complexity and footprint to suit Apple products, thanks to their partnership with Intrinsity.
Apple put together a video love letter to itself where app developers from A-list firms talk about how delighted they are to work with the Cupertino company.
About halfway through the 5-minute or so video, the execs start talking about how much they don’t like working with other platforms. (Read: “Android?”)
“We’ve actually spent some time working with other platforms, it’s a night and day difference,” says Calvin Carter of Bottle Rocket apps who made the NPR app. “They are more difficult for the user, they don’t have the power or the tools available, they don’t have the distribution network. They don’t have the standards, both in hardware or software.”
“It is that handset fragmentation, if you will, that causes developers a lot of problems,” says Skarpi Hedinsson of ABC TV. “Because you’re now targeting individual devices.”
“It’s really evident in Apple’s APIs, in the developer’s tools, that you’re working with something really mature,” remarks Tom Conrad of Pandora. “Not something that was invented two years ago.”
The Atlantic has posted an article discussing the iPad’s appeal to Baby Boomers, and makes some good arguments as to why the newest iDevice may be a huge hit with this demographic:
1. It isn’t that hard to use.
Your mom is awful with a computer. That time you taught her how to use e-mail, you felt like you needed a fifth of Jack to quench your frustration. But downloading an app is much, much easier than installing a program in Windows. You just go to the app store, download it, and — voila! If she thought a Mac was easy to use, wait until she sees an iPad in action. Just pray she doesn’t discover Facebook.
Currently my Mom doesn’t see the need for an iPad at all – she’s yet to be convinced that an upcoming switch from dialup to cable modem will make a difference in how she uses her computer. But as the article notes, perhaps that may change…
Our favorite unibody vivisectionists over at iFixIt have done their usually thorough job tearing down the new Mac Mini.
A lot of the Mini’s biggest changes are already obvious: the transition to aluminum unibody and the ability to easily access the Mini’s internals with a single counter-clockwise twist, making it very easy to replace RAM. In fact, there aren’t really any big revelations, except one: running at just 10 watts idle, the new Mac Mini is one of the most energy-efficient computers around, and Apple’s most frugally power-sipping desktop yet.
Apple announced 600,000 pre-orders for iPhone 4 on Tuesday, a number “far higher” than the company anticipated.
In a short press release, the company said the unexpectedly-high demand caused many system malfunctions and apologized for any difficulties and frustration.
Yesterday Apple and its carrier partners took pre-orders for more than 600,000 of Apple’s new iPhone 4. It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions. Many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in frustration. We apologize to everyone who encountered difficulties, and hope that they will try again or visit an Apple or carrier store once the iPhone 4 is in stock.
Earlier, AT&T said it had received 10-times the number of iPhone pre-orders than last year’s iPhone 3GS, and is suspending pre-orders.
“Given this unprecedented demand and our current expectations for our iPhone 4 inventory levels when the device is available June 24, we’re suspending preordering today in order to fulfill the orders we’ve already received,” AT&T spokesman Mark Siegal told the New York Times. “The availability of additional inventory will determine if we can resume taking preorders.”
Just as Apple’s servers are finally accepting pre-orders of the iPhone 4 after being down most of the day, the device may be selling out.
AT&T sold its stock of the pre-order iPhone 4s this afternoon, and now Apple appears close to running out also. In certain parts of the country, the east coast especially, the online Apple Store has pushed shipping dates for the device back to the July 6-8 timeframe, according to reader reports.
The device appears to also have been sold out in the UK and Germany, according to MacRumors.
Let’s hope you were able to order or reserve one — delivery dates for latecomers have been pushed back to July 4 at the earliest.
Earlier today, AT&T said Tuesday was the busiest online sales day in the company’s history:
“Because of the incredible interest in iPhone 4, today was the busiest online sales day in AT&T history. As of Tuesday afternoon, customers who preorder iPhone 4 moving forward will receive their device on June 25 or later, depending on when the order is placed. We’ll email customers with confirmation once their order is placed, and again when it ships. In addition, we will have devices available on a first-come, first-serve basis in our stores beginning on June 24.”
