This week, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch all published rumors that Apple plans to compete in the mid-ranged smartphone sector, with the launch of a smaller, more affordable iPhone, to be sold alongside the iPhone 4. At Cult of Mac, we predicted as much six weeks ago.
Of course, rumors of a smaller, cheaper iPhone are nothing new. They’ve been around for almost as long as the iPhone itself. And with good reason. Any seasoned Apple watcher will recognize this as Steve Jobs’ standard MO. Launch an iconic, up-market product, allow the market for it to grow and mature, and when the underlying technology becomes cheap enough, introduce a smaller, more affordable mass market version.
The recently released Greenpois0n jailbreak tool has been updated to release candidate 6 today, and this particular version will allow you to jailbreak your second-generation AppleTV and install the popular NitoTV software, adding a few great new features to your device.
The process is exactly the same as that used for release candidate 5, and just as before, this will provide an untethered jailbreak for all devices, meaning you won’t need to plug them in to your computer when you want to boot them.
Greenpois0n RC6 is available for both Mac and Windows, and you can download it now from here.
Kicking off our list of must-have iOS games this week is NBA Jam, the latest App Store hit from EA Sports, featuring all the over-the-top, high-flying, 2-on-2 arcade basketball action, just as you remember it. Relive that ’90s nostalgia with the hottest new arcade sports game for the iPhone, with the voice of Tim Kitzrow, the original NBA Jam play-by-play announcer.
Also in our favorites this week is Karoshi, an incredibly popular PC game which has now made its way to the iPhone, and also into the news headlines this week thanks to its dark storyline. Unlike the majority of games in which your sole purpose is to survive, in this one you take control of an overworked Japanese businessman whose mission is to end it all. As horrific and offensive as it sounds, it’s nowhere near as bad as you think, and it’s actually a lot of light-hearted fun.
Hungry Shark – Part 3is the third of our choices this week, as well as the third in this series of top-selling aquatic eat ’em-ups. Chomp your way to the top of the food chain as you trawl the depths of the ocean in search of food to satisfy your voracious appetite in the most exciting Hungry Shark yet.
Find out more about the games above and check out the rest of this week’s must-haves, including Carnivores: Ice Ageand Chicken Coup, after the break!
Taking screenshots in Mac OS X can be a useful tool. Unfortunately, Apple never talks about this tool, so in turn, it is a relatively unknown feature. In this video, I will show you two easy methods of taking screenshots.
Ben David Walker, a student from the U.K., has designed a new banner notification system for the iPhone that cleverly uses some empty space in the current iOS.
As we reported yesterday, Apple is revamping the much-criticized pop-up notification system in iOS and is buying a third-party app developer for its technology.
The current notification system is a mess. It was designed in 2007 when users had the odd SMS message or alarm, but is useless for 2011 when users have multiple messages coming in from Twitter, Facebook, SMS, as well as alarms, reminders, voicemails and missed calls. There is nowhere in iOS to see them all in one location.
But there would be using Walker’s new system. Here’s how it would work.
Going around town today, I didn’t have time to plop myself in front of a television, and so I constantly checked my iPad when at WiFi hotspots to update myself on the exciting developments in Egypt.
Oh, there’s gonna be a bumper crop of iPhone musicians born this weekend if Frontier Design Group has their way. Practically all their music-slinging iPhone apps are on sale to celebrate the iPhone coming to Verizon, including the highly regarded iShred app — sister app to the free iShred LIVE app required to use Griffin’s GuitarConnect and StompBox accessories — GuitarStudio and PianoStudio, all three of which are normally $5 each, but on sale for a buck apiece.
As musician and fellow Cult of Mac contributor Lonnie Lazar says, these apps won’t turn you into a Rock God; but they’re certainly a truckload of fun and great tools to learn with. Sale ends tomorrow, so don’t mess around if you want ’em.
Now that Apple’s killed off the XServe once and for all, there’s not a lot of options when it comes to fitting the existing Mac server options into a standard 1U rack space… or is there?
The RackMac mini by Sonnet Tech allows system admins to install two Mac minis in a standard rackmount enclosure while allowing full access to the CD drive, power LEDs and even the IR port on the unibody mini.
I’m no admin, but Sonnet seems to have thought of everything here, right down to a wiring and ventilation system to prevent the Mac mini from overheating. Each kit costs $16.
Apple doesn’t let app developers assign functions to the iPhone’s physical buttons. It’s easy to understand their point in the matter — those physical buttons are for system settings, not as function keys — but I’ve always wished Apple would make an exception when it came to camera apps. Using an onscreen shutter button just isn’t very nice, especially when you’re trying for a self-portrait.
The Camera Mic App is an ingenious dodge against the prohibition against using the iPhone’s physical buttons as a shutter in a camera app: instead, it uses the iPhone’s mic itself as a shutter button. Just load the app and tap the mic when you want to take a picture.
Briilliant, and only $0.99. If you take a lot of duck-lipped Facebook self-portraits, this is the app for you.
Over at Geek.com, I took Sparrow — the new Tweetie-esque Gmail client for Mac, now available on the Mac App Store — for a spin.
What’d I think? I really liked it… so much so that it has dislodged Postbox 2 as my e-mail client of choice.
Here’s a bit of my review:
Sparrow treats email a lot like Twitter, a four-year old micro-blogging medium still in the process of evolving. It’s a presumptuous move on the part of Sparrow’s developers, and one many users will just never be able to get beyond, either because they needmore functionality from an email client… or, after decades of using email one way, they just can’t believe that they could be more productive treating it more ephemerally…
How seriously do you take your email? How much can you go with its flow? Power users will be driven mad by the lack of sophisticated mail wrangling functionality in Sparrow, but that’s the whole point. Sparrow wants you to treat your inbox like a stream that can be dipped into, not an ocean to be tamed; it’s the equivalent of skipping stones, not piloting a submarine.
You can read the whole review here, and stay tuned to Cult of Mac for an interview with the Sparrow team next week in which we discuss the philosophy and future of the app.
When I wrangled a brief listen to Antec’s new soundscience rockus 3D 2.1 system at CES last month, I was pretty sure this was a direct challenge to Bose’s venerable Companion 3 system. All the pieces are there: subwoofer, two satellite speakers and the stand-alone volume dial; even the price, $250, is the same.
Antec’s take, though, takes more style risks and adds this: an active system that feigns 3D, giving the impression of a 5.1 system by processing incoming signals and “placing” the sounds in a virtualized 3D soundscape to create the effect. At least, that’s the idea; the little taste I received at CES certainly inicated they might have got it right. Full test coming.
The profile image on Twitter for Egyptian activist Wael Ghonim shows him wearing a Pharoah’s crown, typing away on a Mac laptop. Ghonim, a Google marketing exec in Cairo, was released after 12 days in custody by authorities for a Facebook pageFacebook Page about the death of everyman activist Khalid Said that catalyzed protests.
I got to talk to a researcher this week about social media in the Arab world – and how the services many of us use to keep in touch with far-flung old flames and cousins serve as portable microblogging and news distribution tools in places where most media is state-run or party-funded.
We’ll try to catch up to Ghonim after the euphoria dies down to ask him what role Apple devices play in these historic events.
UPDATE: we corrected the FB page thanks to reader ademsemir who says that iPhones played a big part in recent events.
We close out another week with an iPhone extravaganza in the spotlight. First up is the latest crop of iPhone application price cuts, including “Toy Story Mania.” Next is a new batch of freebies from the iPhone App Store, such as “Garmin Pilot My-Cast Aviation,” a weather and flight-planning tool. We wrap-up with a deal on Verizon’s iPhone 4, which began sales to the general public Thursday.
Along the way, we check out cases for your iPad, deals on MacPros and iMacs, along with software and accessories. As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.
I’m with Scoble on this one: the Nokia/Microsoft partnership is a pretty good idea. Here’s why:
1. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 is actually pretty good. It’s certainly better than Nokia’s Symbian and arguably better than Android.
2. Microsoft gets massive hardware distribution, which will attract developers.
3. Apps: The platform will be too big to ignore. And apps are what count. You can’t just have cool devices or cool software, you’ve got to have a platform. This is why HP should also go with Windows Phone 7, instead of trying to get webOS off the ground (it’s great, but it’s doomed).
As Scoble says:
Nokia has great hardware design and supply chains. They always have great cameras, great screens. Supply chains matter. A lot more than anyone thinks (the stuff Apple never talks about, but works its ass off on is supply chain management — I got to see this first hand when I visited China).
You add that all up as a salad and now the smart developers have to take another look at Microsoft and Nokia. They can’t ignore them like they can RIM (we all know people won’t use a lot of cool apps on a Blackberry).
UPDATE: I sent an email to App Remix’s CEO Jonathan George asking whether his company was going to be bought by Apple. His response? “No comment…” he said.
Apple is working on a new notification system for iOS and will be buying a small company to build its technology into the operating system, according to one of our sources.
Apple’s pop-up notification system for new text messages, voicemails and the like has often been criticized as one of the weakest parts of the iOS. Notifications are intrusive, modal and often cryptic. It’s a mess.
HP/Palm’s webOS banner notification system, on the other hand, has been widely praised for its utility and ease of use. And from this week’s preview, it looks to be getting better.
There were rumors last year that the iPhone’s notification system would be fixed after the chief architect of Palm’s system, Rich Dellinger, returned to work at Apple. However, the system still hasn’t been fixed, and according to our source, Apple is now trying to buy a small app developer to fix it.
Our source, who asked to remain anonymous, didn’t know the identity of the company, except it already has an iPhone app in the App Store.
One candidate is Boxcar, a free app from App Remix that enables push notifications for Twitter, Facebook, and email. Boxcar’s system has been highly praised, especially the new iPad version.
Other than that, we couldn’t find other obvious possibilities for the company Apple is buying. If anyone has a good idea, please leave it in the comments.
Dude, Valentine’s Day is like four days away! Haven’t bought your sweetie a gift yet? Don’t despair, we have some clever gift ideas that will make you look like a hopeless romantic. Or at least you won’t be in the doghouse!
Above: When saying it just isn’t enough, show her how much you love her with the Love Quotes Wallpaper for Valentines day. With over 450 glow effects in 24 patterns and 20 colors, you are sure to find something for your sweety. The more sickly sweet the better! You can even share by Facebook, Twitter and Email.
Love Quotes Wallpaper for Valentines Day App is available from iTunes for free
We see a lot of Kickstarter pitches come through our inboxes, but WALdok is one of the rare ones that actually catches our interest.
The idea is pretty simple. The WALDok is a compact speaker dock for the new iPod Nano that fits into any wall socket, juicing your Nano even as it plays your tunes. That’s not particularly innovative in and of itself, but where WALdok is aiming to distinguish itself is in audio quality: not only does the design include a large 40mm driver for precise highs, excellent audio clarity and robust volume, but the WALdok has been designed with a spacious bass chamber inside the body to act like a subwoofer, achieving a fuller and richer low-end response,
WALdok looks like an absolutely gorgeous product, taking complete advantage of the modularity and portability of the Nano while making it easy to take both your tunes and your charger with you on the road, wherever you go. WALdok is now looking for backers, and production will begin once $30,000 has been committed, with a single WALdok starting at $79.
Nothing like a fresh round of recriminations from the music industry against Apple’s dominant digital delivery platform, iTunes. The latest round comes from Sony, which hints it may pull the likes of Bob Dylan and Beyonce from Apple following a dust-up over the Cupertino, Calif. company’s rejection of Sony’s ebook reader application.
In an AdAge interview, Sony executive Michael Ephraim charges music publishers are looking for alternatives to iTunes. (Sony just happens to own one of those alternatives, “Music Unlimited”, which the company plans to launch.) In addition, Ephraim asks and answers whether the music giant will continue selling titles at Apple.
If you need a good laugh as much as you need a roll in the hay, a new app that promises to synch music to the intensity of your lovemaking may be just the thing.
The Matt Berry Sexytime Soundtrack App works using the iPhone’s accelerometer – put your phone on your bed and it should regulate the music to your amorous ministrations. So the harder you go at it, the raunchier the music gets.
Just don’t expect to keep a straight face: you’ll be goaded and chided by the voice of Matt Berry, who interjects things like: “You’ll probably get breakfast for this.”
Sorry, guys. If you want to woo that random slice of scrumptious across the cafe, making eyes at her over your iPad isn’t the way to do it: you’d be better off pulling out your MacBook Air.
So says Retrevo, who have asked consumers in time for Valentine’s Day if they notice other people’s gadgets, and how likely they are to be attracted to someone based upon that gadget.
As you can see, according to Retrevo’s results, reading a book is sexier than e-reading your iPad. An iPhone or MacBook is the most likely gadget to get you some action. As for showing an interest in the creative arts, it seems universal: artists give pretty much everyone a big rubbery one.
Notice that the results, though, are heavily skewed towards men finding a girl attractive if she’s reading, drawing or using a gadget. The fairer sex, on the other hand, seems less interested in the superficial traits implied by an iPhone 4, iPad, drawing easel or volume of Sartre.
In other words, if you’re a girl and want a guy to notice you, play the geek. Guys? As usual, you’re out of luck: women just aren’t superficial enough to be easily seduced. Or so my girlfriend keeps telling me.
The Verizon iPhone may cost the same as its GSM counterpart, but it’s making Apple about $16 more profit per handset sold, according to the latest data from iSuppli.
iSuppli’s teardown of the Verizon iPhone’s bill of materials adds up to just $171.35 for every 16GB device, compared to the $187.51 estimated cost of the AT&T compatible iPhone 4.
iSuppli asserts that Apple had made “significant changes in its design and component” selection for the Verizon iPhone.
Apple’s usually pretty good about making sure that even if their latest iPhone doesn’t ship fully patched, an update is waiting for users the second they plug it into iTunes for the first time.
No surprise, then, that on the first day of the Verizon iPhone’s official release, Apple has already issued a patch to the firmware, resolving a bug that affects the accuracy of the Verizon iPhone’s exclusive (for now) Personal Hotspot… namely in its data reporting.
Of all the bugs to afflict the Verizon iPhone at launch, one that potentially misreported how much data was being used is the most egregious. Because Verizon charges $20 per month for 2GB of tethered data, with each additional gigabyte costing another $20, any discrepancy in data reporting could have led to some big problems.
If you don’t intend on using the Personal Hotspot feature on your new Verizon iPhone, this is not a critical patch… but if you do, better grab it now, before you find yourself staring at a higher bill than you expected.
What does Nokia’s decision to junk Symbian for Microsoft Windows Phone 7 mean for Apple? The view on Wall Street is that the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone maker will stay strong – and its strength only increase the longer the Finnish cell phone maker waits to release handsets.
“The more time it takes for [Nokia] to launch their product, the tougher it will be for them to compete against iOS and Android-based devices,” ISI analyst Abey Lamba remarked Friday. Lamba expects Apple “will remain the leader.”
Apple is among only two notebook makers in early 2011 experiencing strong demand, with the Cupertino, Calif. firm doubling orders for some “hot-selling” MacBooks, according to a Friday report. The news follows indications the Apple notebook was “flying off the shelves” during the holiday buying period.
HP was the only PC notebook brand seeing first-quarter demand amid a flaw discovered in an Intel chipset which depressed production levels. HP could ship 10 million notebooks during this year’s first quarter – down from 11.13 million units shipped last quarter. The chipmaker says its Sandy Bridge chips won’t return to full production until April. (MacBooks should see an update of the Intel chips in June, other reports indicate.)
