Although the iPhone 4’s reception issues get all the press attention, the iPhone 4 has another pressing issue: the tendency of the proximity sensor to misread how close your face is to the handset, which can in turn cause the touchscreen to turn on when it’s close to your face, allowing your chin or cheek the unfortunate liberty of blindly dialing or even hanging up during a call.

The proximity sensor issues are commonly theorized to be a software issue, but according to an Apple Store Genius spoken to by TUAW’s Aron Trimble, we may be looking at another design flaw.

Why? According to the Genius, Apple had to move the proximity sensor location in the iPhone 4 so that it actually points into the ear canal during a call. That means that if you have particularly glistening ear canals, light bouncing around the ear canal can mistakenly tell the proximity sensor that you’re no longer on a call.

The Genius’ recommendation on how to fix the issue? He said that you should make your calls from somewhere darker.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V2rhMnncZQ

During the WWDC keynote, Steve Jobs’ efforts to show off the improved speed of Mobile Safari on the iPhone 4 were thwarted by a catastrophic WiFi meltdown, but a month later, our good buddy Obama Pac-Man is here to prove what Steve could not: Mobile Safari on the iPhone 4 is wicked fast.

In a showdown against the iPhone 3GS on 3G with WiFi turned off, Mobile Safari rendered all the tested sites significantly faster on the iPhone 4. It’s all a matter of a few milliseconds here, a half a second or so there, but that time adds up in an app as integral to the iOS experience as Mobile Safari.

Extra points go to Obama Pac-Man for his stylistic choice of silence for the video: anyone else would have supplemented it with a loud soundtrack of moist mouth-breathing or, failing that, phlegmatic nu-metal. Bravo.

TUAW published a report today that included new video evidence supporting the belief that the iPhone 4 death grip is very real. I know you are probably rolling your eyes about this, since there have been many other videos covering this topic, but this time things are different. This video includes the demonstration of the iPhone 4 along with a customized field services app that clearly shows the iPhone 4 antenna problem isn’t the result of some software glitch as Apple claims.

Apple has issued an update to its MobileMe iDisk application today and version 1.2 brings some welcome improvements. As well as support for multitasking and fast app switching, iDisk is now a universal application and works natively on the iPad.

What’s more, iPad users can now export documents from iDisk in to iBooks or office applications like Apple’s own Pages, Numbers & Keynote offerings.

Another big improvement is the ability to listen to music from within the iDisk application – this means you can save space on your device by uploading your tracks to an iDisk folder and then listening to them from there. Obviously this will require a data connection to your iDisk, however.

The full list of improvements is as follows:

• Designed for both iPhone and iPad
• Multitasking support for iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS (iOS 4 required).
• Quickly switch to another app and back to iDisk
• Play audio from your iDisk while using another app
• When app is opened, the last file or directory viewed is displayed
• Option to open iDisk documents in compatible apps such as iBooks
• When sharing a file, an email can be sent from any configured email account
• The URL for a shared file can be copied and pasted
• Various stability improvements

iDisk is the last of Apple’s MobileMe apps to be updated for multitasking and iOS 4. All we’re waiting on now is the MobileMe Gallery app improvements and iPad support!

Download MobileMe iDisk for your device from the App Store here.

The much anticipated Archetype first-person shooter has hit the US App Store today and claims to deliver a “high quality console-style FPS experience on iPhone or iPod Touch.”

First launched in the Czech Republican App Store, Archetype, for just $2.99, offers 3 game modes; Training, Challenge and 5-on-5 Team Deathmatch over Wi-Fi, 3G and even EDGE. With 5 maps to choose from a variety of weapons, Archetype seems a must for any online FPS fan.

Features include a precise dual joystick-style control system, the ability to rank up by earning experience points, an offline tutorial mode and the opportunity to add friends and challenge them in team deathmatch.

Developers, Villain, have also optimized Archetype for the iPhone 4’s retina display by offering high-resolution graphics that provide fantastic looking weapons and textures, and, they claim, “headshots never looked so good!”

Get your hands on Archetype in the App Store here and let us know what you think!

A Chinese gadget site has reviewed the best iPhone 4 knockoff on the market, and while it looks good ands costs only $100, it’s really a piece of junk.

Says M.I.C Gadget:

“It’s the new king in the knockoff market, built to look like a real iPhone 4 while doing its best — with features like a front-facing camera with flash, removable battery, and that outrageous imitation of the industrial design, no one would say that this knockoff is not cool.”

But under the hood, the hardware and software are rubbish. The touchscreen barely works; the back is made of plastic, not glass; it says 64GB but it’s only 64MB; video is so crappy it is unwatchable; the Mail app is MMS, not email; the “five megapixel” camera is only 0.3 megapixels, and so on.

M.I.C Gadget: iPhone 4 Knockoff Review.

PS:  M.I.C Gadget also has reviews of a knockoff MacBook Air and a phony iPad.

If you want to give your MacBook more of the oomph of a desktop, the DeskBook Pro dock from Zemno would be a neat little solution… except for its mind-boggling expensiveness.

Like most laptop docking stations, the DeskBook primarily functions as a port multiplier: slot your MacBook in and you’ll expand your available USB 2 ports to six, as well as two FireWire 800 and one FireWire 400 ports.

The DeskBook Pro also operates as an external hard drive, with two bays that can accept either a 500GB hard drive or a battery. Don’t expect the battery to juice your MacBook, though: it’ll only power the DeskBook away from a power outlet.

Additionally, the DeskBook packs a DVI-out port for the connection of a third monitor to your MacBook. The important thing to note here, though, is this monitor will be driven by USB, so you’ll want to go light on it: it won’t hold up to more performance-intensive tasks.

Not a bad array of functionality, all told, but the price is enough to prevent this from being dropped in many shopping carts: $600 without the $180 hard drive or $150 battery pack. If you want a desktop that bad, at that price, you might as well just buy an iMac.

Prince is one of the most played musicians in my library,but I can’t buy any of his newer albums on iTunes: he won’t license his music to Apple. Why? According to a new interview, it’s because the “Internet is over” and iPod and iPhones fill our heads with malevolent “numbers.”

“The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it,” Prince said in an interview with the Daily Mirror.

“The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

This, of course, is typical nuttiness from The Formerly Known Formerly Known Artist: Prince, who is also a big believer in chemtrails and, as described by Kevin Smith, has some very curious opinions about the appropriation of both camels and women for a God-loving Christian’s personal use.

But all can be forgiven for “Sign ‘O’ The Times.” I think I’ll go listen to it on my evil, number-spurting iPod now.

Two of the most popular sporting games for iPad have gone on sale today for a limited time only courtesy of Gameloft, who have slashed the prices of Real Soccer HD (previously $6.99) and NFL 2010 HD (previously $4.99) to just $0.99.

I’ve found both games to be a great buy, in fact, Real Soccer is one of my favorite soccer games for the iPad, so if you’ve been considering either of them, now is a great time to snap them up!

Gameloft also has a sale currently running on two of their other games including Hero of Sparta HD and Brain Challenge HD, both of which have also been reduced to $0.99.

The savings don’t stop there, though – as well as their sales, Gameloft have permanently cut the prices of both Modern Combat: Sandstorm HD and Gangsta: West Coast Hustle HD from $6.99 to $4.99.

We start a shortened week with three top deals: News Anchor is software for your Mac that presents your RSS subscriptions as if the nightly TV newscast. Babylonian Twins is a puzzle game for your iPhone or iPod touch. We wrap up the top deals with an inexpensive way to protect your iPhone (including the controversial iPhone 4) with two SkyTouch screen protectors for $5.

Along the way, we’ll check out other assorted Apple items, including a seven-piece iPhone repair kit and an external battery for your iPod. As always, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

So you’ve just bought a shiny new iPhone, and now you’re itching to plaster apps all over that pretty wallpaper. Well, we’ve come up with a few suggestions; in fact, we’ve come up with 23 of them.

Through the rest of this month or so, we’ll be listing apps we think no iPhone user should be without — apps that almost anyone should find useful — which will fortify your iPhone with just over an extra screen’s worth of valuable apps. And since most of these are free — with a few costing no more than three bucks — there’s really no reason not to own all of them. And this series isn’t just for noobs; we’re willing to wager there’ll be at least one app on our list that’ll surprise even the old-schoolers.

So fire up the App Store and prepare your iPhone for incoming apps as we launch the series with our first essential: the Bing app, in the running for the best Microsoft product I’ve ever used.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gEAeE9kd2E

It was only a matter of time before some plucky app developer divorced the iPhone 4’s flash functionality from the Camera.app proper to create a bitchin’ Strobe app… but huskily-voiced 15 year old John H. Meyer is the first dev out of the gate with Strobe Pro, an app sure to please photographers and ravers alike.

Strobe Pro probably won’t be particularly useful when used with the iPhone 4’s built-in camera, but paired with a DSLR as a strobing flash could result in some startlingly effective shots. As for the app itself, I’m particularly impressed by Strobe Pro’s wicked slick transparent view mode.

Strobe Pro isn’t available on the App Store yet, but it should be out as soon as it gets through App Store approval.

Machine-carved unibody aluminum is fine and all, but sometimes I miss the less austere Apple aesthetic: the cheery white plastic, the GLBT-friendliness of the rainbow logo. For just $3.50, you can retro your iPad up with this wonderful retro logo decal for the iPad.

As Charlie Sorrel over at Wired notes: “If Apple was in any way nostalgia-minded, it should include these stickers in the boxes of its products instead of those awful, thin white stickers that we throw away by their thousands every day.” Amen to that.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAKhftX0cjk

This isn’t exactly going to replace your HDTV or iPad, but check this out: a 1920 x 960 display made up of 12 daisy-chained iPod Touches, with a thirteenth iPod Touch as a remote. Just imagine how many pixels this would be pushing spread across 12 Retina Displays.

Badminton hasn’t really caught on wildly here in the U.S. Still, if Super Badminton 2010‘s graphics are as good as its screenshots suggest, who cares about popularity. The game boasts “hyper-realistic physics” to complement the slick graphics as well as deep control options and details like being able to play on a wooden court and realistic badminton moves.

The game’ll set you back a moderately hefty $5 though, so those screenshots will have to do a considerable amount of persuading to anyone who isn’t a badminton nut.

How’s iPhone 4 carrier unlock coming along, you ask? Jolly well, says Dev Team member MuscleNerd.

Despite the fact that the baseband-unlocking code used by ultrasn0w on the last three iPhones won’t work on the iPhone 4 due to a baseband change, a carrier unlock should still be attainable.

“Next step is to keep the task backgrounded like we did for 3G/3GS,” MuscleNerd wrote on his Twitter feed. “Backgrounded task is the unlock.”

Great news for those of us who want to migrate our phones to different networks, or use the when we travel abroad without paying exorbitant rates.

[via BGR]

Last year we published a list of five Apple stores to visit before you die. The list, done just in time for summer jaunts, included Sydney, Tokyo, Scottsdale, London’s Regent Street and New York’s famed 5th Avenue store.

But now there’s Paris, which definitely makes our bucket list of Apple stores to visit.  The recently-opened store is Apple’s third retail outlet in France and the Cupertino company’s 294th shop.

I cannot think of another iPad app that makes me want to take out the velcro and stick my iPad on the wall as much as Emerald Observatory does. This gorgeous app is simply stunning to look at and it is a useful astronomy tool too. Once you have it running on your iPad you won’t hesitate to display it for everyone to see and it will become a striking conversation piece.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the long-term future of the iPod line. Long the key driver of Apple’s revenue growth, since the launch of the iPhone, it has slipped into the background. Now, the conventional wisdom goes, Apple is going to run out the life of the scrollwheeled wonder until the entire line goes touch with the introduction of a nano-sized iOS device. The iPhone, in three short years, will have eaten the iPod entirely. For all the talk of Dell or Microsoft or Samsung or Sony developing an iPod-killer, Apple did the job better than anyone else could. 

But here’s the thing: since the release of the iPhone 4, I’m convinced that Apple sees a lot more life in at least part of the iPod line. It’s simple, really. The new iPhone was made of fragile-seeming glass in order that the all-brushed-aluminum iPod line would look that much more durable. Where does this matter? With sports and with kids.

UK artist Kyle Lambert demonstrates the viability of creating art on the iPad, painting an impressive portrait of singer Beyoncé using the Brushes app, 1 finger and 6 hours of work.  Very nice job.  Even better, Kyle’s posted a time lapse video documenting the whole process.

Thanks to MacWorld for the tip.

Superficially, the iPad’s incredible multi-touch screen has a lot of potential for graphic artists, but in reality, the lack of a stylus and the tablet’s own inability to distinguish applied user pressure gimps the iPad’s ability to challenge the venerable Wacom tablet.

To show us what could easily be, the guys at Ten One Design have put together this video in which they demonstrate an iPad capable of sensing the pressure applied to a Pogo Stylus.

It’s an impressive video, but there’s a rub: Ten One Design has to use a private API call to make the pressure function work, which means that it’s nothing we can expect to see on the iPad unless Apple rolls it into their UIKit framework.

Get on it, Apple. Through the dark times, it was artists and graphic designers who supported your brand; now it’s time to give them the drawing tablet they’ve always wanted.

Between cameras, gaming consoles, phones and laptops, proprietary cables and chargers are an irritating reality of the modern tech head’s life… and any solution that promises to consolidate them is going to find an audience with at least a few consumers with an OCD about clutter.

The iDapt charging station looks to be one of the more ambitious of charging stations, capable of juicing over 4,000 gadgets through a sleek base station capable of charging up to four devices at a time, in addition to a constabulary of interchangeable tips.

Naturally, it’ll charge anything that uses an iPod dock connector, as well as pretty much every other portable gadget under the sun. For $60, it looks like a good solution, although iDapt’s making its real bank by selling the adaptors, not the base station… and there’s just no getting around the fact that it’s way past time the world got a device charging, syncing and docking standard the way AV has HDMI.

Apple’s response to the ongoing iPhone 4 “death grip” debacle is largely cosmetic, but at the end of the day, Cupertino’s made sure that everyone knows that “if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.”

Throwing the gauntlet down and challenging your customers to return their phones if they aren’t happy with Apple’s fix is pretty daring, but at least Apple seems to be putting their money where their mouth is: Computerworld notes that simultaneously with the release of the iPhone 4 Reception memo, Apple quietly changed the terms of its return policy to exclude the customary 10% restocking fee.

According to Computerworld, Apple’s dropping the restocking fee to defend against class-action lawsuits that might otherwise cite the 10% fee as losses to be recouped. Personally, I think it’s simpler than that: Apple’s just not the kind of company to promise a full refund, then shortchange you.

Ever since Apple purchased streaming music site LaLa back in 2009 and Cupertino’s acquisition of a massive data center in North Carolina, safe money has been on iTunes moving into the cloud. But why haven’t we seen it yet?

According to an interesting rumor posted by Electronista, it all comes down to licensing.

Currently, Apple has a deal with the music industry that allows customers to stream music from their own computers to other devices, Airtunes. However, this existing licensing agreement doesn’t apply to streaming music directly from Apple’s servers, which would require an entirely new deal to be inked.

If Apple’s going to announce iTunes Live this year, it would be at September’s iPod event… but according to Electronista, many record label executives haven’t even heard of Apple’s service, which may indicate that we won’t see streaming iTunes this year at all.

[via Boy Genius Report

The honeymoon is officially over. With the release of iPhone 4 over two weeks ago, Apple has been hit by everything except the kitchen sink. From the 3G iPad privacy concerns to the most recent App Store hack, Apple has been in full damage control mode. This makes it the perfect time to add insult to injury. Read my 5 suggestions on how to improve iOS 4 after the break.