iPhone - page 384

If you’ve ever played the classic NES fighter, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out, you can probably sympathize with Nintendo right now: an absolutely huge juggernaut of an enemy has filled their screen, capable of knocking them out with a one-two punch… a blow that is only tipped by a sly wink a millisecond before.

That enemy’s Apple, and it is fighting with two weighted gloves with the iPhone and iPad, accordingly. Now Nintendo’s so punch-drunk that they are dramatically lowering the price of their latest console, the Nintendo 3DS, less than six months after it debuted.

Photos published by TechCrunch this morning reportedly claim to be of the upcoming “iPhone Lite,” with panels made from plastic rather than glass, and a “metal banding around the edge.” However, I’m adamant it’s just a poor quality white iPhone 4 conversion kit. What do you think?

Qualcomm launched its augmented reality SDK for iOS yesterday, allowing app developers to create impressive augmented reality apps for our devices. While augmented reality is nothing new to iOS, Qualcomm’s SDK should mean more AR apps in the App Store because it makes it easier for developers to create apps for a number of different platforms.

Despite what seems like too much iPhone 5 speculation at times, technical specifications and design details regarding Apple’s fifth-generation device are still very much a mystery to mere mortals like you and I. However, that doesn’t stop 35% of consumers wanting to buy the device before they’ve even seen it.

Not all patent defenses against Apple are created equally, HTC has learned. A trade court told the Android handset maker its shiny bundle of $300 million S3 patents aren’t infringed by Apple’s iPhone or iPad, and just partially by Mac OS X.

Rumor has it that Apple is already working on a new method of charging our iPhones for 2012, and many believe the company may introduce wireless magnetic charging using technology developed by WiTricity. But according to a report from DigiTimes, future iOS devices may absorb all the energy they need from the sun.

Review by Jordan Trimas

The iFunner iTur is a hard-shell iPhone 4 case that incorporates a wallet compartment, in which you can store a few credit cards and your ID, accessed through a hinged door.  But is it really funner than other cases? Nope.

JVC is now shipping the UX-VJ3B speaker system. What sets the UX-VJ3B apart from similar systems is its dual-dock support for the iPad and iPhone at the same time.

For $199.99, the JVC UX-VJ3B is an affordable speaker system that will also mount your iPad and iPhone side by side. Isn’t that every Apple geeks dream?

Can we talk? That’s the message coming from executives at Android-handset maker to Apple. HTC’s finance chief wants to “sit down” with the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant flush from a patent win that could be costly for companies touting Google’s mobile operating system.

Ah, the marketing sleight-of-hand, it’s something to behold. On one hand, Android sales are thundering past the iPhone. Yet, on the other hand, buyers are finding Android isn’t as easy-to-use as iPhone, resulting in returns of 30-40 percent.

It was revealed yesterday that the long-awaited Facebook app for iPad was already here — not in the App Store, but hidden away inside the Facebook app for iPhone. We published details on how to install the app on your iPad, but soon after the news spread, Facebook decided to block access to those using the app before its public release.

Fortunately, as is often the case with these things, jailbreakers have provided a workaround — a new tweak called FaceForward that reactivates the official Facebook app for iPad.

Amazon’s Kindle app for iOS was updated yesterday in order to comply with Apple’s latest in-app purchase terms and secure its place in the App Store. In addition to removing the link to its external Kindle store, however, did you notice that the update introduced more than 100 magazine and newspaper subscriptions to iOS?

Adobe wants to help iPhone photographers improve their pics.

The company, which recently released Photoshop Elements 9 on the Mac App store, is sponsoring a series of events called Photoshop & You in San Francisco until Aug. 6.

On Friday, July 29, you can first learn more about the mobile camera that made those point-and-shoots practically obsolete, then head out into the streets of San Francisco with the experts to shoot.

Dan Marcolina, who wrote a well-received book on iPhone photography called iPhone Obsessed and Knox Bronson, founder of P1xels, hub of the iPhoneography movement, will be talking on “Phone Art: The Exploding Digital Inevitable in Technology, Technique, and Culture.”

The pair will discuss with participants the global community of photographers united by these handy devices and some of the more interesting issues around the evolution of the medium and working with apps.

Afterwards, you can take part in a mobile photo walk (caveat: no regular cameras allowed) with Marcolina and Bronson through iconic Union Square.

Events are free but space is limited, you can sign up here.

Judging by the name “VooMote One” — the name German-based Zero1.tv came up with for its just-launched VooMote One app-enhanced universal remote for iPhone — German words sometimes don’t translate too well into English. Hopefully its super-customizable app will do all the talking.

I’m sure you’re already aware by now that Spotify is finally available in the U.S., with over 13 million songs ready to stream on demand. But did you know that to accompany it there’s an awesome iOS app for listening to those millions of songs on the go? Spotify for iPhone is the first app in this week’s must-have roundup.

Coverjam Pro is another great app for music lovers that provides you with awesome slideshows of your favorite bands and artists while your listen to their music. It searches Instagram and Flickr for photos with the appropriate tags and aims to “enhance your listening pleasure.”

Google+ (yes, it finally hit the App Store!) is the official iPhone app to accompany Google’s latest social network, and “makes sharing the right things with the right people a lot simpler,” with access to your Circles, Stream and Huddle.

It’s looking increasingly likely as the weeks go on that Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone will launch this September, and strengthening all that speculation is a new report that claims AT&T is now beginning to communicate launch plans to its staff.

Research in Motion is axing 2,000 employees, or 10.5 percent of its workers. RIM also rearranged its management, the Canadian company announced. Now that the iPad is trouncing RIM’s PlayBook gamble, how long can the beleaguered company keep its head above water?

Many of us are patiently awaiting the official Facebook app for the iPad to hit the App Store, having tried a number of third-party alternatives that just aren’t quite as good as the official app for the iPhone. Well now the Facebook app for iPad is here — but it’s hidden inside the iPhone app and you’ll need to do a bit of tinkering to install it.

iPhone citizen journalism app OneNews is looking for photos from people on the scene of the Oslo bombings to sell to news organizations.

In a bit of pre-emptive posturing, PC maker Acer charges Apple “started the patent war,” warning any losses should be seen as the cost of doing business. What patent war? Acer is among a number of Android-backers worried a recent Apple patent court win could result in more lawsuits.

Apple’s second U.S. carrier partner announced iPhone 4 activation numbers suggesting AT&T is still preferred by owners of the tech giant’s iconic handset. Verizon Wireless activated 2.3 million iPhone 4s during June, below the figure AT&T announced yesterday.

A 9-year-old boy battling leukemia was granted his wish to develop an iPhone game.

Owain Weinert, who has pre-B Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, asked the Make-a-Wish Foundation to develop a mobile game. His wish was granted: the game, called Allied Star Police, launched in the Apple App Store Thursday. Developed with Seattle firm 4th & Battery, it’s offered gratis and also comes in an iPad version.

Well, that’s one way to end an argument about last month’s AT&T bill. A New York man has apparently been arrested after trying to ram his girlfriend’s iPhone down her throat.

Apple has held its earnings call for the third business quarter, and there’s plenty of new information and speculation to glean from what was said. The rumor mills are always churning, but rarely does the industry get as much actual hard data from Apple as it does during one of these earnings calls.

Apple’s success up to this point is phenomenal, but what’s even more interesting is the future of Apple’s business. We’ve gathered the main highlights from this last earnings call to give you a good idea of where Apple is headed in the coming months.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing guidelines to monitor a “small number of mobile apps.”

Before you start wondering whether the feds are going to jump into your pocket along with your ever-present smartphone, it doesn’t look that way yet.