Who knows what’s going to come out of the Cupertino presser tomorrow regarding the iPhone 4 and its Death Grip “issue”. We don’t even know who will be saying yet. However, my guess is that it will be his Steveness and he’ll be saying something along one of these lines.
Gizmodo has put together this helpful graphic, allowing us to easily visualize how much the signal bars have grown between iOS 4.0 and iOS 4.1.
Hey, look at that! They’re way bigger now. That must mean the signal’s better, right? The software fix worked!
I love it: could Apple’s contempt for people “overblowing” the iPhone 4’s reception issues be any more palpable? It’s so sweet and sticky. It should be drizzled over pancakes. “Having reception problems? Here, have some bigger signal bars… not that there’s any problem to begin with, and you’re a moron if you think there is.”
Did the iPhone 4’s slim design trump functionality? That’s the suggestion of a Bloomberg report claiming Apple CEO Steve Jobs overruled the objections of engineer Ruben Caballero about possible reception problems. The report, citing unnamed sources, comes ahead of a Friday news conference Apple has called possibly to address headline-grabbing issues about drop calls.
According to the Thursday report, senior Apple engineer Caballero in 2009 raised the possibility with Apple executives that a Jonathan Ive-design “may cause reception problems.” Just prior to the iPhone 4’s June 24 release, a carrier also raised the same concerns, Bloomberg reports.
After the iPhone 4’s bezel design was picked by Jobs and other Apple execs, Caballero, an antenna expert, told the company leaders it “might lead to dropped calls and presented a serious engineering challenge.” Since its introduction, Apple has tried to fend-off suggestions the design was causing dropped calls due to the way the iPhone was held. Earlier this week, Consumer Reports decided not to recommend the new iPhone based on its own tests confirming the reception issues.
Apple declined any comment on the story.
Ostrich is a Twitter client made of Safari Extension stuff. You might find it useful if you like to keep an eye on your tweets while you browse the web, and especially if you like to share a lot of URLs via Twitter.
After installing, you need to click the “Sign in with Twitter” link at the bottom of the Ostrich installation instructions page – this will take you to Twitter and let you grant access to the application.
From then on it’s plain sailing. Ostrich lives in your Safari toolbar and can be summoned with a click, no matter where else you are on the web. It has a button to instantly add a link to the current page to new tweets you create.
Not everyone’s cup of tea (I still like YoruFukurou and I’m sticking with it), but might be of interest to some.
Freebie launcher app Alfred will be getting some additional features soon, in the form of a paid “Powerpack” upgrade.
In a blog post today, Alfred’s developers said they were working on a set of extra features that they will sell as bolt-ons to the existing ones.
Although Apple devices, such as the iPhone and iPad are still more than half the web traffic, Google’s Android is coming on strong. According to Internet measurement firm Quantcast, Android devices comprise 21 percent of the web hits it detected. What could be even more troubling for the Cupertino, Calif. handset maker is that Android’s gains are now coming at the expense of the iPhone.
The flurry of iPhone 4 purchases in late June didn’t translate into greater Apple handsets online, Quantcast noted. Akin to a person trading in a car not signalling more autos on the road, “most new iPhones sold were simply replacing earlier models,” the measurement firm announced.
“Big” changes rumored for Apple’s approach to customer service at the retail level are bound to impress legions of the company’s newest consumers while raising the enmity of long-time customers and customer service employees alike.
New guidelines for handling on-site service requests and repair jobs at Apple’s retail stores are coming down the pike, according to a report Wednesday, as well as to communiques rumored to have recently hit Apple’s internal Retail News Network.
The gist of the company line is that walk-in customer service issues will soon be addressed in tandem with those presented by customers already holding scheduled Genius Bar appointments, and that as many repairs as can be done so will be queued for overnight turnaround — all without the hiring of additional staff to meet what is clearly growing retail traffic and demand for service interactions.
Not only will retail staff be expected to possess Genius-level understanding of the product line, they will also exhibit model habits of efficiency and productivity, according to the company’s plan.
Apple has long been a thorn in Microsoft’s side, using the much-maligned Vista to sell Macs. Now, the software giant is pushing back as Apple attempts to respond to the iPhone 4 troubles.
“It looks like the iPhone 4 might be their Vista, and I’m OK with that,” Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner told the software maker’s WorldWide Partners Conference. Apple has scheduled a Friday news conference, an occasion many believe will be used to seriously discuss the iPhone 4’s much-publicized antenna problems.
The comment would have earlier appeared that of a bully pushing the little kids around, but now as the Wall Street Journal writes, “it sounds like a company trying to play catch-up.” Along with Apple, the Microsoft executive also cast aspersions at Google, telling the crowd Microsoft won’t “read your email and invade your privacy. We’re not soliciting vans to drive your neighborhood and spy on you, snoop your WiFi.”
Although Turner admitted developing its Windows phone had “taken too long” – and that smartphones in general was a “lowlight” for Microsoft, the executive promised its unreleased smartphone will put the Redmond, Wash. company “in the game in a big way.”
A couple of weeks ago, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration released an iPhone, a move that it promises will provide 24/7 information about the most efficient ways to zip through airport security.
For what it’s meant to do, it seems fine, though I have to say there’s something deeply unsettling about the TSA asking for my GPS location. You can check wait times at various airports, for example.
But the app has a secret value as a source of unintentional humor in the form of the “Can I bring?” tab, a very well-intentioned program that allows you to enter any object and see if it’s safe to carry onto a plane or check it in baggage.
For example, let’s say I’m uncertain if it’s legal to carry on the bomb that my son and I made in the garage. I simply type in “bomb”, and the TSA tells me to keep it at home. Crisis averted!
I spent awhile (much longer than I would like to admit) testing various household goods and weapons on the TSA to see what’s acceptable to carry on. I learned two things: 1. It’s safe to carry on a cane, and 2. The TSA could really use a bigger dictionary. I present my gallery of reasonable questions and the TSA’s often baffling responses.
[polldaddy poll=3473621]
Apple has invited a select group of journalists to a press conference about the iPhone 4 on Friday.
The press conference will be held at 10AM at Apple’s Cupertino campus. It will likely address controversy surrounding the device’s antenna performance, which degrades if the phone is held in the so-called death grip.
It’s not clear if Steve Jobs will host the press conference.
No other information about the conference is available. According got Macworld, the invite simply says it’s a “press conference about iPhone 4,” nothing more.
The iPhone 4 Antennagate went into overdrive this week after Consumer Reports tests showed the issue is hardware related, and not a software problem as Apple had claimed earlier this month.
In a statement published on its website, Apple blamed a faulty reception algorithm for displaying incorrect signal strength. The company has promised a software fix.
Given the bad publicity surrounding the device, a voluntary recall is expected.
As you can see in the above screenshot, Apple has delivered on their improved signal bar graphics. Only time will tell if this is an actual indication of signal strength. Other noticeable changes include a revamp of the Game Center app, the ability to add FaceTime favorites and the Camera app (incl. camera roll) auto-rotating in landscape. More screenshots after the break.
What a surprise: software updates don’t fix problems in hardware.
Check out our video above. An iPhone 4 running the 4.1 beta loses a couple of bars when held in a “death grip.”
Apple iPhone Configuration Utility hits version 3.0. The new version was released today and includes enhanced support for iOS 4 and bug fixes. I highly recommend this often under utilized tool as something to have in your arsenal of tools for advanced iOS troubleshooting.
Earlier today, Apple released an update to iOS 4 and the corresponding SDK to developers, bringing the current version of both to 4.1 beta. The update follows the release of iOS 4 last month.
There are a plethora of problems being reported about the iPhone 4 and iOS 4 and I hope that this update will address them. I’d particularly like to see fixes for the sensitivity of my proximity sensor and the Jawbone bluetooth connectivity issues reported earlier on Cult of Mac. I’ve personally experienced both of these issues on my iPhone 4.
It will also be interesting to see if this update includes the new signal strength formula or not and what effect if any this will have on the problems reported with the iPhone 4 antenna.
Registered iOS developers can grab a copy of the new beta at developer.apple.com/iphone.
I have not yet heard about any new features in this beta, but these details will likely surface soon. If you find out anything new about this update feel free to tell us all about it in the comments.
This is the app every iPhone sold int he U.S. should come pre-installed with. There are probably good reasons — or maybe bad ones — why it isn’t; but it’s easily available, it’s free and it might just save you some money.
If you’re a kid who grew up in the 80’s or 90’s, you might remember days spent carefully building slot-car tracks that would eventually overrun the entire floor; now all that fun can be had on the iPhone with HTR High Tech Racer — without the annoyance of hunting for slot cars sent unceremoniously hurtling off a sharp corner.
Build tracks, customize tires, chassis and motors, then race the creations. The game claims “realistic physics” and an “intuitive track editor.” And if the lure of racing slot cars on an iPhone isn’t enough, the app’s developer, Graffiti Entertainmant, says they’re also giving away an iPad to the top racer on the app’s race leader board.
HTR High Tech Racing is $2 on the iPhone, $5 for the iPad’s HD version.
TeamViewer released their free app that lets a user remotely control any computer over the Internet (with permission) back in March for the iPhone. Yesterday, they brought out an iPad version.
While it’s a pretty cool app to have sitting around on an iPhone, it practically gains Essential Status on the iPad because of the latter’s much bigger screen, making remote-access sessions much easier than on the iPhone’s tiny screen — not to mention the fact that the iPad is the kind of tool that lends itself to functioning as a remote client.
As with the iPhone version, if you’re using the app in any sort of professional circumstance, TeamViewer ask that you purchase a $100 license.
We start off with Apple’s Back-to-School offer. Buy an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air and get a free 8GB iPod touch. We also have a deal on unibody MacBook Pros, starting at $929 for a 2.26GHz version. Lastly, while the iPhone 4 has gotten much of the attention recently, there are deals to be had on the iPhone 3GS. AT&T is offering a refurbished 16GB iPhone 3GS for $99.
Along the way, we’ll also check out the latest batch of App Store freebies, including the new “Tap Defense,” a tower defense game. As usual, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.
Speculation that Apple may be preparing to build its own mapping application gained strength Wednesday on a report the Cupertino, Calif. company acquired a Canadian online mapping developer. If true, the report could be the latest skirmish between the iPhone maker and Internet giant Google.
French-Canadian news site cyberpresse.ca wrote Wednesday Apple purchased Quebec-based Poly9 and moved employees to Cupertino, Calif. The company’s website is also offline, as well as Poly9’s chief product, Poly9 Globe. The product, which operates in a web browser, lets users find their location on a 3D globe. Websites, including Skype.com reportedly offer the service.
Although there is no official comment by Apple, the Canadian report said Poly9 was “recently” acquired and it Quebec headquarters closed. The company’s customers include Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, MSNBC and NORAD.
The purchase could be the next step in Apple developing its own mapping application for the iPhone and iPad. In 2009, Apple acquired Placebase, a Google Maps rival, as well as advertising for someone to take iPhone’s Maps “to the next level.”
[AppleInsider]
This huge hollowed tree trunk serves as an iPod dock and speaker system. Created by Austrian design studio KMKG, it weighs in at 60 kg (about 130 lbs).
They describe it as “just a simple tree (trunk) hollowed out with a special technique to create extraordinary sound.” They worked with speaker company Lenz on the sound engineering, customers can choose the type of wood, length of the trunk and have some input on which techniques are used to influence the type of sound.
The one pictured above was a prototype used for a recent installation, designers are now at work on a product. They’ll be using Swiss pine or pinus cembra for it, noting that “this one is going to smell nicer, too.”
No word on price or availability, yet.
This is kind of the supersize version of all the wood iPod cases and docks we’ve seen recently, though whether the green-minded would feel comfortable knowing a tree had been cut down for it may be another thing.
We’ve heard for some time the iPad could eat into the Netbook market. Now comes Goldman Sachs with the 5 Cs of why the Apple tablet device will crush the inexpensive PCs.
First up is Consumption. It wasn’t by mistake Apple gave the iPad a big screen and no keyboard. Unlike the Netbook, the iPad is meant to mimic your TV, not the PC. You sit in front of your TV to watch, not create. That brings us to Goldman Sach’s second point: content.
The iPad is also all about Content. With a direct connection to iTunes, iPad owners can easily slurp up content from the App Store. “Apple has created an easy-to-use, direct conduit between users and a vast library of content that is custom-tailored for the iPad,” writes financial blogger Henry Blodget.
Unlike netbooks, which rely on spotty 3G or Wi-Fi connections, the iPad offers both to ensure the consumer is constantly connected. This only reinforces Goldman’s previous point of the iPad being all about content.
Again, differing from netbooks, the iPad is instantly available. Just image you have the urge to play a game or check out the news. You go to your netbook and wait up to a minute for it to boot-up. The iPad is instantly on, keeping that urge to buy or consume alive. What’s more, according to the analysts, the iPad’s battery lasts between twice or five-times that of a netbook’s.
Similar to instant-on, Apple has reduced the steps needed to purchase an item via the iPad to just one click. Because Apple stores all the credit card information at iTunes, you don’t need to enter that data and go through other steps which present opportunities to change your mind or back out of a purchase.
The 5 Cs of iPad domination: Consumption, Content, Connected, Constant-On and Commerce.
[SAI]
We’ve heard a lot about the iPhone 4 “death grip.” Reception problems are said to be alleviated by applying a spot of tape or using a bumper.
But what about those bumper cases?
Ryan McManus took a much-needed humorous spoof on antennagate with his discovery of a “shocking flaw” to using the iPhone 4 with a bumper case:
“The problem is, in a word, friction. While the rubberized front and back of the iPhone 4 Bumpers may protect the device in fall situations, and keep it it from sliding on a desk, this very friction keeps the device from easily sliding in and out of jeans pockets.”
A full recall of the iPhone 4 to fix antenna issues could cost Apple $1.5 billion, a Wall Street analyst told investors Wednesday. However, don’t expect such an event, he adds. Instead, Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi joins others suggesting the Cupertino, Calif. company could quiet the complaints by giving away a $2 rubber case.
A larger potential hit to Apple’s bottom-line is what Sacconaghi describes as “the emerging pattern of hubris that the company has displayed.”
If Apple doesn’t go along with the analyst’s suggestion of giving free bumpers to prevent the dropped-call annoyance, the company could opt for either in-store fixes or a wider recall, both with different price tags. Assuming Apple sold $6 million iPhone 4s, an in-store fix would cost $75 per handset, or $450 million. Using the same sales assumption, a full recall would cost $250 per iPhone, or $1.5 billion, he wrote.
But ‘antenna-gate’ may be small potatoes compared to the signals Apple is sending to consumers, he writes. The examples include refusing to talk about Jobs’ health, attacking Adobe, the lost iPhone prototype investigation, restricting app developers and the early poo-pooing of iPhone antenna problems.
“The worry is that collectively these issues may over time begin to impact consumers’ perceptions of Apple, undermining its enormous prevailing commercial success,” the analysts warns.
[Barron’s]
Looking for a new NAS that will play nice with your iTunes collection? Seagate has just announced the BlackArmor NAS 400 that promises to do just that.
The BlackArmor NAS 400 comes without storage bays, so you’ll have to plug your own drives into the four available storage bays, but it supports RAID 0/1/5/10, as well as JBOD configurations. The BlackArmor 400 also comes with a pair of gigabit Ethernet ports, four USB ports and ten licenses for Windows backup software.
Other than that, the usual features of a NAS are all here, including encryption support and robust security settings for data protection. The 400 is, as mentioned, also iTunes and DLNA server capable.
Don’t expect the 400 to be cheap though: without drive, the BlackArmor NAS 400 will cost you $399.99.
