The first video sex chat service to use FaceTime on the iPhone 4 has just launched.

The service — iP4play.com — claims to offer “the hottest Video Chat models from the sexy girl next door to Penthouse’s finest.”

Interactive video sex chat is nothing new, but FaceTime offers portability and convenience. Who knows when the need for sex chat will strike? It’s also somewhat more discreet that a 27-inch iMac screen.

FaceTime is an iPhone 4-only videonferencing service that works over Wi-Fi. Both parties must have an iPhone 4 for it work. FaceTime calls are free, and it’s unclear how iP4play.com will charge for calls. It looks as though the company will charge the user’s credit card for a pre-set time with the performer, who will hang up when the time runs out.

UPDATE: iP4play.com says calls will start at $4.00/minute. 5-7 models will be online simultaneously to start.

As soon as Apple launched FaceTime, the porn industry recognized its potential for interactive sex services, which can command premium payments from clients. The industry started advertising for performers on Craigslist last month.

According to iP4play.com, here’s how it works:

Geoff Teehan of Teehan+Lax writes to say that his company has just released a Photoshop file with all the iPhone GUI elements at Retina Display resolution. It allows designers to create App designs in Photoshop rather than the Xcode programming tool.

Thought I’d reach out and let you know that we just released a fully rebuilt version of the iPhone GUI PSD at Retina display resolution. I think many designers and devs will find it useful.

The giant 62.7MB file, which measures 4074×2986, can be found here.

Teehan+Lax made the file for themselves and are sharing to help others. If you find it useful, please pay whatcha’ like.

We close out another week of dealing with a mix of bargains for Mac lovers. We start with the latest batch of iPad freebies from the App Store, including “Al’s Comedy Club.” For hardware, we have a deal on a 160GB iPod classic for $176. For MacBook and MacBook Pro (13-inch screens) owners, there is a deal on AppleCare.

Along the way, we’ll also check out deals on more iPhone software, Apple gadgets, and skins for iPhone. As usual, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Were you one of the many prospective customers disappointed that the iPad didn’t run OS X? Axon’s got your cover: their forthcoming Haptic tablet is designed from the ground up to run any Darwin-based operating system… which means it can be Hackintoshed to run OS X.

The stats make it clear that the Axon Haptic is strictly a netbook on the inside:

• 1.6GHz Atom N270
• 10″ 1024×600 LED-backlit LCD
• Resistive touchscreen w/ built-in stylus
• 2 200-pin SO-DIMM slots (2GB standard)
• 2.5″ HDD bay (320GB standard)
• 1.3MP webcam
• Wi-Fi (A/B/G/N)
• 3G SIM slot (AT&T or Verizon)
• Built-in speaker
• 3x USB, Headphone, mic, ethernet, VGA ports, card reader
• On-screen keyboard and handwriting recognition
• Removable battery (3000mAh, ~3hrs)
• 0.9kg (just under 2lb)

For $800 bucks, that’s some pretty woeful performance, particularly when it comes to battery life. Worse, if you do decide to break Apple’s EULA and install Snow Leopard on this thing, the operating system isn’t really designed to be useable on a tablet.

The bottom line is that while this tablet’s interesting from a hackability perspective, if you want a Hackintosh, you’re better off with a netbook, and if you want an Apple tablet, the iPad is going to be superior in performance and functionality in almost every way. For collector’s only, we’d say.

Yesterday’s report that the AppleTV would be rebranded the iTV was something of a puzzlement to Brits. After all, ITV is already an extremely prominent UK television broadcaster, isn’t it? Isn’t that obviously a brand conflict?

That’s just what ITV itself is asking, according to a sketch report by the Mirror, and they are reportedly hopping mad about the rumored name change.

“You only have to look at recent problems with the iPhone 4 to see not everything Apple produces is gold dust,” said an ITV insider. “We all take our ITV brand very seriously and we’ll do everything in our power to protect it.

Yup, they went there: the low blow of Antennagate. And isn’t this all much ado about nothing? A rumored name change does not a lawsuit make.

In fact, it seems like Apple themselves are denying the name change, telling the Mirror that the names won’t be “too similar.” Unless Apple’s being patently disingenuous here —renaming the AppleTV to the iTV won’t be “too similar” to the ITV brand because it will, in fact, be identical to it — that reads like an official denial of a name change.

Or is it? According to 9to5Mac, the original Apple comment cited by the Mirror was the “the names won’t be too similar” quote above, but the Mirror article has since been updated to the standard “Apple does not comment on rumors” response.

In other words, the Mirror is a rag engaging in some shady journalism, and has silently edited its story to eliminate some out-of-character verbiosity on Apple’s part. ITV might be mad about this rumor, but Apple’s certainly not ready to comment about it yet.

One of the first — if not the first — apps to take advantage of the iPhone 4’s forward-facing camera for security purposes should appeal to users with nosey coworkers and paranoid types alike.

Free app Big Brother keeps grubby mitts (that aren’t yours) from defiling your iPhone 4 by launching the passcode screen if someone attempts access while the app is running, then emits a blaring alarm if the passcode is botched; it also takes two photos and records the GPS coordinates if the alarm is triggered — and emails you the info — so you can maybe identify who’s prying, and where the attempted access occurred.

It’s no realtime GPS iPhone tracker, but it could act as a deterrent — or possibly help locate a stolen iPhone in cases where the iPhone is snatched and then fiddled with later.

Steve Jobs is famous for driving without his tags. Many theories have been floated as to why that is and how he’s getting away from it, but Gizmodo’s got a better one: since a car doesn’t need to have plates for the first ninety days of ownership, and since Jobs’ drives pristine-looking cars he’s just playing the odds that cops won’t pull him over.

Public records only reinforce the fact the Jobs has absolutely no problems rolling plateless. A comprehensive search of traffic records in Santa Clara (where he lives) and other adjacent counties show the CEO has successfully avoided plate-related fines for the past four years. At least. Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and San Francisco county courts-all show no evidence that Jobs has ever been cited for not displaying a license plate. Zilch…

Since most of Jobs’ daily driving is done to the Apple campus twenty-two miles away round trip, Jobs’ is counting on the unlikelihood of being pulled over for driving tagless on a car that looks pristine. Most trips further afield are done by helicopter, and as for Apple’s new product announcements…

For big events like these -which, given the car’s low mileage, are likely the longest road trips it takes-the company’s in-house security always works in close conjunction with police, who have to cordon off intersections and direct traffic to make sure that their keynote speaker isn’t held up by San Francisco’s notorious gridlock. In those cases, you can be sure that traffic officers know, and think differently, about hitting that silver Benz with a ticket.

Canny, Mr. Jobs! But does a license plate really gall your sense of aesthetics so much that it needs to come at the expense of legal road accountability?

Apple is named in a patent-infringement lawsuit which alleges the Cupertino, Calif. company’s iOS devices violate technology claims regarding virtual private networking.

VirnetX is asking for a court trial and unspecified damages, claiming the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch violate two U.S. patents: No. 6,502,135 – “Agile Network Protocol for Secure Communications with Assured System Availability” and No. 7,490,151 – “Establishment of a Secure Communication Link Based on a Domain Name Service (DNS) Request.”

[]

Jordan Hollender and Scott Harris have put together this fantastic cover version of Survivor’s seminal Rocky theme, “Eye of the Tiger,” created using only iPad apps like Pocket Drums, Babyscratch and Pianolo HD. A magnificent time waster for a lazy Friday afternoon.

[via TUAW]

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeXe_G0xmY0&feature=player_embedded

By all rights, id software’s John Carmack should be an engorged psychic brain floating in a tank somewhere: he talks like some kind of representative of a spatial robotic hive mind, and his ability to code next-gen graphics engines are often years ahead of their time.

Consider, for example, this demonstration Carmack gave at yesterday’s QuakCon 2010 keynote. What you see here is the id tech 5 engine, which will drive id software’s forthcoming next-generation post-apocalyptic shooter, Rage… except it’s running on the iPhone 4 at 60 frames per second , with Xbox or PlayStation 2 level graphics. That’s nothing to sneeze at… and Carmack promises it’ll

Sure, this isn’t an actual “game” yet, just a technology demonstration… but Carmack expects to see the iPhone version of Rage come to the App Store later this year as a smaller prequel game, with a more robust sequel to be released simultaneously with the console version next year.

Of course, where id software tends to fall over isn’t in the technology, but the actual gameplay, so who knows if Rage for iPhone will actually be worth playing. Either way, though, this is on track to be the best looking game on the App Store.

Google’s Android has topped Apple’s iOS in worldwide smartphone operating system sales during the fiscal second quarter, analysts announced Thursday. The lapping of the iPhone maker came as smartphones saw a 50 percent jump in second-quarter sales.

Android jumped to 17.2 percent of the worldwide smartphone operating system market, selling 10.6 million units, up from 1.8 percent a year ago with 755.2 thousands units sold. Apple’s iOS, by contrast, showed a smaller increase of market share, up just 1.2 percent from the same period last year, when it stood at 13 percent of the global smartphone operating system market.

In the U.S., the Android platform displaced the RIM OS to become the No. 1 smartphone operating system in the United States, Gartner announced.

“A non-exclusive strategy that produces products selling across many communications service providers, and the backing of so many device manufacturers, which are bringing more attractive devices to market at several different price points, were among the factors that yielded [Android’s] growth this quarter,” Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, said.

File this under “Whatever,” but DVICE is claiming that they have a source who has been testing the CMDA Verizon iPhone prototype, which they say will be very different indeed from the iPhone 4.

The suspect differences include a new internal antenna which they say might be made out of Apple’s new LiquidMetal acquisition, a larger 3.7-inch display and a 1.2GHz A4 processor.

Look, we’re just reporting it. If Verizon gets the iPhone in January, we seriously doubt it’s going to be significantly better than the iPhone 4: Apple’s not likely to offer different features for different iPhones, especially when a CDMA iPhone can’t really be rolled out internationally.

A Verizon iPhone would just be the foot in the door to a wider US market, not a major revision of the handset. After all, eventually Apple’s going to want to converge both the CDMA and GSM flavors of the iPhone into one device capable of running on any network under the sun… and they’re already looking at the Qualcomm chips capable of making that happen.

If you’re a photo editing professional, the news that Photoshop has finally come to the iPad will probably produce some swelling of ebullience within your breast, but you’d best be served by tamping your enthusiasm down: it is not the finger-controlled Photoshop for iPad that you’ve been dreaming of.

Rather, all we’re looking at here is an updated binary of the old Adobe Photoshop.com Mobile app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, bringing native iPad support to the mix. That app will allow you to do some cropping and rotating and color adjustment on your photographs, but not much more than that.

If that’s all you want from an iPad photo-editing app, fantastic: Photoshop.com Mobile is absolutely free. I just wish we’d seen a more meaty update to indulge my desire for more substantial couch-side putzing about.

The Apple Store ‘geniuses’ are not just there to sell you an iPad or tweak or iPod. No, according to a retail executive, Apple’s retail staff “look into the heart, not the pocket book” of customers. Ron Johnson, senior vice-president of retail for the Cupertino, Calif. firm, views the growing number of brick-and-more stores in almost mystical terms.

Speaking with Retail Week, Johnson said Apple’s Regent Street location “is our highest traffic store in the world.” Apple’s new Covent Garden store in London is much more than a store. “We’ve created a place for people to be,” Johnson said.

 Apple may be planning to use Liquidmetal for a new iPhone antenna, says the co-inventor of the sci-fi metal alloy.

Interviewed exclusively by CultofMac.com, Dr. Atakan Peker says Liquidmetal might be a good material for building a next-generation antenna to replace the problematic part in the iPhone 4.

“Let me state that this is very exciting for me,” he said. “I made the first and original alloy formulations… I am a big Mac fan and greatly admire Apple as a company. I have been using Mac exclusively my whole life, both at work and home. It is a pleasant surprise for me to see both get together.” As Apple explores innovative materials, it could also be working towards an apple folding phone with a cutting-edge Liquidmetal hinge. Learn more about it here.

As Apple explores innovative materials, it could also be working towards an apple folding phone with a cutting-edge Liquidmetal hinge. Learn more about it here.

Liquidmetal is already used to build the antenna for the Verizon USB727 wireless modem, which got great reviews for its reception.

Forget liquid metal T-1000 Terminators and morphing iPhones, Apple already uses Liquidmetal in one of its products, and you’ll never guess what it is…

I learned the answer by talking to Liquidmetal’s co-inventor, Dr. Atakan Peker, who granted CultofMac.com an exclusive interview. It’s not confirmed by Apple. Peker bought the product and immediately recognized his alloy: “That’s my metal,” he said. It’s not used in European versions of the product — only U.S. and maybe Asia.

Leave your best guess in the comments. The winner gets a brand new Magic Trackpad. The answer will be revealed on Monday. You have to name the specific component. Saying “iPhone” or “Mac” won’t cut it.

Apple has just signed an agreement with Liquidmetal Technologies for the exclusive use of the space-age material in consumer electronic products. Peker, who used to be VP of Technology at the company, thinks Apple will make extensive use of Liquidmetal alloys, which are super hard but extremely light and flexible. They will likely be used to make seamless, scratch-proof cases, possibly in freaky shapes. First order of business is likely a new antenna for the iPhone, Peker predicts. More here: Liquidmetal May Be Used For New iPhone Antenna Says Inventor [Exclusive]

Rising from the dead like a Newton running Mac OS 9, a new form of Mac Zombie is evolving in the wilds of Apple Geekdom: recycled old Macs being used as iPad stands.

One way for old computers to beat mortality is emulation: early Macs had Apple II emulators, PowerPC Macs running Mac OS X had Classic mode, even the venerable Lisa has an emulator.  Software emulation gives life to vintage machines long after the actual hardware ceases to function.

A new trend seems to be developing with the iPad: rather than running software within iOS, the iPad is making a home for itself inside the modified cases of old Macs!  We’ve covered these items before, but taken in aggregate a new form of Mac recycling seems to be evolving within the Cult of Apple.

If you’re a rugged, outdoorsy type — or just really careless — you’ve undoubtedly been looking for the toughest case ever for the iPhone 4.

OtterBox has been the go-to company for this sort of iPhone protection. And while it’s taken them some time to come up with something for the iPhone 4, the company has finally released something in its tough-as-nails Defender line.

OtterBox offers three levels of case protection. There’s the Impact, which is designed for everyday casual protection; the Commuter, for people who are looking for a little more; and the bulk-be-damned Defender series, for those who want the absolute most protection money can buy.

How does it measure up?

We start with a couple deals on iPods. First up is a 4GB iPod Shuffle for just $57. Next is an 8GB iPod nano for $99. At the other end of the spectrum is a Mac Pro Workstation powered by 12-core Xeon processors running at 2.93GHz for $6,469.

Along the way, we check out price drops on iPhone and iPad apps, plus various software and hardware deals. As usual, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Last month, the always somewhat suspect Digitimes asserted that Apple intended on going head-to-head with the netbook market by releasing an 11.6-inch MacBook Air something later this year. Here’s one fan’s wishful thinking Photoshop on what such an Air might look like.

There’s nothing too hard to buy about the way Apple would choose to layout the keyboard on an 11.6-inch MacBook: as netbooks have shown, twelve inches is the sweet spot when it comes to not compromising keyboard size. Nor is the trackpad hard to swallow, given the fact that Apple will doubtlessly eliminate the physical button from future Air trackpads.

Making the Air even thinner seems like a pipe dream, though: Apple’s not about to switch over to an Atom chip, which means a thinner Air would come at the expense of battery life. And where’s the black glass bezel that Apple’s favored for all of their modern computer designs?

Still, I’d buy a smaller Air if the price was right and Apple could match the existing MacBook line’s battery life: my Hackintosh netbook is getting woefully long in the tooth.

[via 9to5Mac]

Remember Clear’s iSpot, a wireless hotspot that gives $25 all-you-can-eat WiMax to any iOS device wirelessly connected to it? It was a great deal, but the only limitation was that it couldn’t be used with your MacBook, iMac or — horf — PC.

Some plucky modders, though, have come to the rescue, ungimping the iSpot for use with any device you want to connect to it. It’s a simple fix: all you do is load a new config file in the iSpot’s web portal. Once it reboots, your iSpot will be completely unrestricted, and you’ll be able to connect the $99 device to anything you choose to throw at it, making the iSpot an even more stellar deal than ever before.

[via Gizmodo]

We were delighted by Apple’s surprise roll-out of a battery charger last month, having long wanted a solution as green-friendly as Cupertino to the problem of peripheral juicing. It’s also a pretty good deal: Apple’s charger comes with six batteries capable of retaining 75% of their original charge after three years, all for the song of $29.

We might have gotten a better deal with the Apple Battery Charger than we thought, though. According to Czech site Superapple, Apple’s batteries and charger appear to simply be a rebranding of Sanyo’s Eneloops… which are actually a little cheaper than Apple’s own. Good to know.

Monday’s rumor that Apple would throw its annual iPod event next week has been flatly contradicted by Cupertino’s failure to send out press invites, but don’t worry: according to AllThingsD, it’s definitely happening this year.

The rub? It’ll be later than usual, not earlier: Kara Swisher’s floating a mid-September date as the most likely bet for the event. As for what we’ll be seeing, a new iPod Touch with a FaceTime-capable camera, an A4 CPU and a Retina Display is probably a given, with a new iOS-driven AppleTV called the iTV also looking possible, and maybe even a new multitouch iPod Shuffle.

Following up their earlier report that the next iteration of the AppleTV would be a $99, iOS-driven device, Engadget is now reporting that when that device arrives, it’ll be an AppleTV no longer. Come this autumn, prepare to meet the iTV.

Internally, the iTV will be very similar to the iPhone 4, right down to an A4 CPU. According to Engadget’s sources, though, the A4 won’t be able to output full high-def, 1080p video, but will max out at 720p… prompting some truly bitter internal debate in Cupertino’s halls, we’re told.

Why not? Engadget’s source says it’s because the A4 CPU can’t handle 1080p output, but that doesn’t make any sense, given the fact that the iPhone 3GS could play full HD video just fine. And why would there be any internal debate about maxing out at 720p if it was an unavoidable hardware limitation, and not a conscious choice? Are they planning the iTV’s second-generational obsolescence right out of the gate?

Half of U.S. retail stores can’t keep the iPhone on their shelves – but that’s an improvement, one analyst said Thursday. Additionally, the ‘antennagate’ mess of a few weeks ago had little or no effect on demand.

Seven weeks after the iPhone 4 was launched, barely half – 16 of 30 stores – had the new handset available. To try to keep up with the continuing demand, Apple is shipping the handset out every day, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.