News - page 2177

Beijing’s flagship Apple store closed at noon after opening at 7am Wednesday, after massive crowds and store personnel began pushing and shoving as some customers bought 20 and 30 iPhone 4 units at a time, with the clear intention of turning around and selling them on the street, according to a report at the China-based blog MICgadget.

Perhaps the idea of removing the two-phone purchase limit and allowing Chinese iPhone 4 fans to by them in unlimited quantities was not such a great one.

At press time MICgadget is reporting that sanity has been restored: “All four Apple retail stores in China now require customer to show his/her identity card while purchasing the iPhone 4. Every customer could only purchase one iPhone 4. Apple employees will unbox the iPhone 4 for customers and activate the phone right away. So, the iPhone 4 scalpers could not resell the iPhone 4 as “brand new” and buy in large quantities.”

Qwiki, a startup offering a new way to get informed, won the $50,000 first prize and Disrupt Cup at the 2010 TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco on Wendesday.

Founded by Doug Imbruce, a self-described recovering software engineer, and Louis Monier, sometimes called the Father of Web Search for his role as the founder of AltaVista, Qwiki has the ubernerd community all aflutter over the prospects for its automagical transformation of the way we search for and obtain information. Combining text, audio, video, and images presented together in a seamless interface, Qwiki is meant to generate dynamic movies of whatever a user searches for.

The company’s software is designed to run on the web as well as in apps on mobile devices. Qwiki crawls data covering millions of topics and presents it to a user in an engaging and visual way, which, as it turns out, plays quite nicely with the super-portable, visually oriented attributes of the iPad.

The company’s official presentation at TCDisrupt showed only a concept video of an iPhone wake-up app based on the service, and a working prototype running on a laptop in Flash. As the video above shows, however, their iPad prototype that remains in development offers tantalizing possibilities.

The software engineer who showed this little glimpse backstage at the conference seemed pretty stoked about it, anyway.

If, for whatever reason, your brand new iOS-driven AppleTV gets thoroughly corrupted, rest assured you won’t need to take it to your local Apple store: you’ll be able to restore iOS to your AppleTV yourself just by hooking it up to iTunes like any iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

It’s a little different, of course: the AppleTV doesn’t have an iPod Dock Connector, so you’ll use a standard mini USB cable. You also need to make sure that neither the power nor HDMI cables are connected, or the AppleTV won’t show up in iTunes.

Oh, what a difference a new handset and some heavy-duty subsidies make. China Unicom has sold 100,000 iPhone 4s in the first four days of availability, up drastically from the tepid 5,000 iPhone 3G customers when Apple first entered the market in 2009.

According to China’s People’s Daily, China Unicom sold 40,000 iPhone 4s on the first day with 200,000 preorders filed with Apple’s current exclusive provider in the Asian giant. The 100,000 customers who preordered Apple’s latest handset and have yet to receive iPhones will get units by the end of next month, according to the carrier.

Last time we heard about the iControlPad, the long-delayed physical gamepad for the iPhone and iPod Touch had finally completed its two-and-a-half year journey from the brainpan of its makers to their hands as the very first model dropped off the production lines… now boasting a modular design that would allow the iControlPad to be easily updated to support future iOS handhelds. Since the official site was about to start taking preorders for the first 3,000 units, we imagined that the iControlPad was pretty much done.

Apparently not, though. As fallout to Cupertino’s recent decision to sue Sanho for using repurposed MagSafe adapters and iPod Dock Connectors in their line of HyperMac batteries, the iControlPad team has apparently gotten nervous about connecting the gamepad through the iPhone’s dock connector. Instead, they are looking to switch over to Bluetooth support.

Just a friendly reminder: if you fancy a free case or bumper for your iPhone 4, today is your last day that Uncle Steve is going to make it easy for you to get one.

Yup. Today, September 30th, is the day that Apple’s free iPhone 4 case program comes to a close, making getting a bumper to wrap around your attenuation-prone iPhone 4 antenna as easy as downloading an app and waiting (quite) a few weeks delivery.

Recent reports coming out of China that Intel might not have much more time as the exclusive supplier of 3G chipsets for the iPhone and iPad wouldn’t be reason to start expecting a new iPhone coming to a Verizon outlet near you by themselves, but when those reports also peg Qualcomm as Intel’s baseband successor and the possibility of a CDMA iPhone (and iPad!) starts looking a lot more plausible.

If you purchased a MacBook Pro between May 2007 and September 2008 and subsequently had problems with the wonky GeForce 8600M graphic chip inside, NVIDIA has just opted to settle a class-action lawsuit on your behalf.

Apple appears to face an up-hill battle convincing studios of the wisdom of the Cupertino, Calif. company’s plans to rent tv episodes for 99 cents. Time Warner’s CEO became the latest to speak out against the proposal, saying it ‘jeopardizes’ sales by the networks.

“How can you justify renting your first-run TV shows individually for 99 cents and episode and thereby jeopardizing the sale of the same shows as a series to branded networks that pay hundreds of millions of dollars and make those shows available to loyal viewers for free,” Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said during the London-based Royal Television Conference.

This is ace. This is today’s Best Thing Ever. It’s called Revinyl, and it’s a one-dollar app that turns your music collection into a quiz that you can play on your own or with friends.

In “Rediscover” mode, the app will play you short snippets from songs, and show you a selection of album art. Pick the correct album – then name the song or the artist for bonus points. All against the clock, of course.

Taking a break from the Smartphone Wars to fight a growing threat, Apple and RIM are speaking with one voice when it comes to a common scourge afflicting their App Stores:  No More Fart Apps!

According to Alan Panezic, RIM’s Vice President of Platform Product Management:

For us, apps are all about adding real value to the end-user’s life and creating revenue for developer. We don’t need 200 fart apps in App World. Those are apps you’ll use three or four times then never open again. [recombu]

This mirrors the sentiment expressed by Apple three weeks ago with the release of their App Store Development Guidelines:

We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don’t need any more Fart apps. If your app doesn’t do something useful or provide some form of lasting entertainment, it may not be accepted. [Apple]

You know the scourge must be serious when Apple is forced to take this stance even though their own Director of Applications Technology (and Influencer of App Store Approvals), Phillip Shoemaker, previously developed fart apps for the iPhone.

This was probably inevitable.  I suspect we’ll survive.  But Cartman is furious.

[via SlashDot]

John Gruber of Daring Fireball spoke at the Web 2.0 Expo 2010 on the subject of “Apple and the Open Web.”

Here’s the full talk:

He makes an interesting argument: based solely on what you see of its website, you’d never think that Apple was a web company. But its dependence on the web itself, and of the HTTP protocol, for things like the App Store and Mobile Me, makes it more of a web company than many would think. Apple’s innovations around the web, and its contributions (such as WebKit, the basis for Safari and many other competing browsers), make it “a great web company.”

“I think mobile is the best thing that’s ever happened to the web. I say the iPhone is the best thing that’s ever happened to mobile.”

What do you think?

iPods have been banned in schools from Australia to Idaho by officials citing reasons from cheating to social isolation, but one at one Massachusetts school students prevented the ban saying that the MP3 devices help them study.

The Natick School Committee canceled its vote on banning iPods after about 70 students students packed the town hall  to  ask members to let them hang on to their iPods in school, The Boston Globe reported.

“When I listen to music, it helps me concentrate,’’ said senior Craig Dickey, who said he has attention deficit disorder. He likened the music on his MP3 player to white noise, saying, “It blocks everything else out.’’
“It’s hard to focus without it,’’ student Patrick Shaughnessy said. “The ones not listening are the ones who are talking’’ and disrupting study halls, he said.

Continue reading

If you’ve not had the pleasure of reading the interviews at The Setup before, I urge you to set aside some of your precious time and go and read them today.

Paypal is about to release a new version of its iPhone app that will allow users to deposit checks simply by taking its picture.

It’s a killer idea and super convenient. Just take a picture of the front and back of a check with your iPhone’s camera, and it will be added to your PayPal account. The new version of the Paypal app will be released in the next day or so, PayPal’s Laura Chambers revealed on Wed. at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco.

Depositing checks by cell phone camera has been implemented by a couple of banks already. USAA Bank was the first to launch mobile depositing capability, followed by Chase. Citibank and Bank of America have similar systems in the works.

Via Techcrunch.

An iFixit teardown of Apple’s brand new AppleTV has revealed some interesting details about the new device’s insides, most notably the inclusion of onboard storage and its internal similarities to the iPad.

Despite a focus on streaming content, rather than storing it, the tiny new device includes a Samsung 8GB NAND flash chip, something Apple has chosen not to publicly disclose. Interestingly, right along side this NAND chip is an empty slot that could possibly accommodate another chip if more storage was necessary.

The new AppleTV also features 256MB RAM, which is the same as the iPad and the iPod Touch, but less than the iPhone 4 which packs 512MB. Another similarity to the iPad is that AppleTV runs the new A4 chip and Broadcom Wi-Fi chip.

The discovery of this onboard storage in the new AppleTV gives more hope to users wishing to jailbreak their device to run apps, games, and other content. It also means that we’d have somewhere to store our downloads from that AppleTV App Store that MacRumors recently reported about.

Back in May, Apple passed Microsoft as the most valuable technology company in the world based upon market capitalization, but the lead was slim, putting Microsoft just $2.94 billion down of Apple’s $222.12 billion. What’s the race look like now?

Well, here’s a hint: since May, Apple has released a new AppleTV, iPhone and iPod Touch while Microsoft has released… nothing. No surprise then that Apple’s now increased its lead over Microsoft to an astonishing $49.53 billion. Apple is now worth $263.75 billion… making it only $52.47 billion shy of displacing Exxon as the most valuable American company.

Curiously, there’s one number that Apple is behind on: patents. In the past eight years, Apple has secured only 1,033 patents, while Microsoft has gone on the offensive, racking up over 8,000 in five years alone. Even Dell has more patents than Apple. If only number of patents alone was an accurate measure of innovation, Dell stock would be a good investment right now.

This is gorgeous.

Sherwood + Meister’s Block 22 iPad stand is carved fro a block of kiln-dried Ipê, lending it a resilient and waterproof build and a handsome natural patina, which in the Block 22’s cases is supplemented with a light finish.

The stand aspect of the Block 22 works about how you’d expect: you just slot your tablet into the 22-degree notch in either portrait or landscape. What I like more though is the round bowl in the back to hold ear buds, connector cable or car keys: it’s a subtle flourish, but an incredibly useful one.

This is just incredibly handsome design, but it’s the price that’s the handsomest single aspect of the Block 22: it’ll only cost you a mere $35.

[via Gadget Lab]

Dell said Wednesday it will launch a 7-inch Android-powered tablet device “within the next few weeks,” according to a Wall Street Journal interview with the computer maker’s China executive. The tablet would join the already unveiled “Streak” tablet and be the latest in what CEO Micheal Dell recently described as a “whole slew” of new products.

“In fact, very much in the near future we’ll be launching the seven-inch tablet as well as the additional three-inch product,” Amit Midha, Dell’s Great China President, said. Dell launched a five-inch tablet in the U.S. earlier this year and plans to offer it in Australia, starting Friday for $628. The device will also enter China “later this year,” according to Midha.

Halloween’s coming up, and I know what you’re thinking: “What costume can I wear that will also accommodate me pocket room enough to carry around my iPhone with me without delving into the more odious choice of nature’s pocket to store my cherished handset?”

Don’t sweat it: we’ve got you covered. Just go as Batman this year and pick yourself up this TDK Batman Utility Pouch, complete with a functional iPhone holster.

Made from cowhide leather, the belt comes with a bronze metal finish, chrome studs and adjustable buckle; only 750 will be made, with each one costing $149. Don’t expect veracity for your money, though. Shamefully, the smartphone Batman uses in the Dark Knight is indisputably a Nokia, not an iPhone.

[via Chipchick]

Running iOS on another device would be a damn intimidating undertaking without the source code, but theoretically, there’s nothing necessarily stopping you from running another operating system on your iPhone or iPad. It’s all ARM architecture, after all. Heck, we’ve even already seen Android running on a jailbroken iPhone, but it just raised the most obvious point: if you can run iOS on your device, why would you want to run another operating system on it?

Like many questions in the hacking scene, it all comes down to “because it’s there,” an answer which probably also explains the image above: Google’s Chromium operating system running on an iPad. The port was accomplished by this guy, who claims that instructions on how to install Chromium to (presumably jailbroken) iPads will soon follow, albeit with some “major caveats.” Like the major caveat of infecting your tablet with an inferior operating system, for instance?

Apple is again challenging Nokia in court, this time on its home turf, Europe. The Cupertino, Calif. company Tuesday filed suit against the Finnish cell phone giant, claiming Nokia violated the same 9 patents which led to an ongoing legal battle in U.S. courts.

The patents cover technology related to GSM and wireless transmissions. While Apple had no comment on why it filed a UK lawsuit, Nokia told Reuters it was investigating the claims. The two companies expect to wait until 2012 before a U.S. court takes up the case. The U.S. International Trade Commission told both companies the body will look into both complaints.

Although the iPhone 4 is superior hardware to even the latest iPod Touch, the fourth-gen Touch does have a leg up on its sibling in at least one area: making FaceTime calls. While the iPod Touch’s FaceTime app makes it easy to initiate video calls through its built-in app, the iPhone makes you place a voice call first.

FaceNow levels the playing field between the fourth-generation iPod Touch and iPhone 4. It’s simplicity itself. Just open up the application, add a contact from your address book and you’re ready to make a FaceTime video call to them: the app will at that point bypass all the usual steps and just make a straight video connection, no voice call required.

Interested? FaceNow is available on the App Store right now, for the attractive price of jack squat.

About two weeks ago, Steve Jobs told a college journalism student to “leave Apple alone.” That e-mail exchange left a bad taste in people’s mouths; it was pretty rude. But that hasn’t been my experience at all.

I also wrote to Jobs about the same time complaining about the problems I’ve had with my iPhone 4. But instead of being told to leave Apple alone, Steve got his people right on it.

I received a phone call from Steve’s Corporate Executive Relations (his A-Team of executive ninjas who get shit done), and a week later, I’ve got a new iPhone 4 after receiving extra special customer service.

I’ve had continual problems with the iPhone 4’s proximity sensor ever since I got my first iPhone 4 on launch day back in June. Cut a long story short, I’ve spent weeks dealing with Applecare and Genius Bar Geniuses, and three replacement handsets. It’s been a frustrating and irritating experience. Finally fed up, I sent the following email to Steve himself.

The Sonos Controller for iPad is now available on the iTunes App Store.

The app turns the iPad into a music hub for WiFi-connected Sonos players, streaming music from a variety of online music sources.

We got a sneak peek earlier this summer and were very impressed. The slick app makes digital music very easy — especially listening to online music services like Pandora, Rhapsody, Last.fm and the fantastic Mog.com. Using the iPad as a big Wi-Fi remote control, you can play music from your iTunes library, thousands of online radio stations, satellite radio subscriptions, or online sources.

Sonos sells wireless music players that make it easy to get multi-room audio around your house. Plug in a player in each room and stream music to each one (or the same music to all of them). Sonos’ products have won kudos for painless setup, ease of use, relative low-cost (you can spend a lot more) and innovation — this is the home stereo of the future. The iPad app takes it to the next level.

Analyst Michael Gartenberg is a fan. “I’ve been testing for a while and it shows the power of the tablet platform perfectly,” he just tweeted.

Sonos Controller for iPad [Sonos]

Sonos controller app page [iTunes]