iphone news
The iPhone developed the way a lot of cool things do: with a notion. A few years ago Jobs noticed how many development dollars were being spent—particularly in the greater Seattle metropolitan area—on what are called tablet PCs: flat, portable computers that work with a touchscreen instead of a mouse and keyboard. Jobs, being Jobs, figured he could do better, so he had Apple engineers noodle around with a better touchscreen. When they showed him the screen they came up with, he got excited. So excited that he thought he had the beginnings of a new product.
Jobs had just led Apple on a triumphant rampage through a new market sector, portable music players, and he was looking around for more technology to conquer. He found the ideal target tech sitting on his hip. Consumers bought nearly a billion of cell phones last year, which is 10 times the number of iPods in circulation. Break off just 1% of that and you can buy yourself a lot of black turtlenecks. Apple's new iPhone could do to the cell phone market what the iPod did to the portable music player market: crush it pitilessly beneath the weight of its own superiority. This is unfortunate for anybody else who makes cell phones, but it's good news for those of us who use them.
Cell phones do all kinds of stuff—calling, text messaging, Web browsing, contact management, music playback, photos and video—but they do it very badly, by forcing you to press lots of tiny buttons, navigate diverse heterogeneous interfaces and squint at a tiny screen. "Everybody hates their phone," Jobs says, "and that's not a good thing. And there's an opportunity there." To Jobs's perfectionist eyes, phones are broken. Jobs likes things that are broken. It means he can make something that isn't and sell it to you for a premium price.
That was why, two and a half years ago, Jobs sicced his wrecking crew of designers and engineers on the cell phone as we know and hate it. They began by melting the face off a video iPod. No clickwheel, no keypad. They sheared off the entire front and replaced it with a huge, bright, vivid screen—that touchscreen Jobs got so excited about a few paragraphs ago. When you need to dial, it shows you a keypad; when you need other buttons, the screen serves them up. When you want to watch a video, the buttons disappear. Suddenly, the interface isn't fixed and rigid, it's fluid and molten. Software replaces hardware.
Into that iPod they stuffed a working version of Apple's operating system, OS X, so the phone could handle real, non-toy applications like Web browsers and e-mail clients. They put in a cell antenna, plus two more antennas for WiFi and Bluetooth; plus a bunch of sensors, so the phone knows how bright its screen should be, and whether it should display vertically or horizontally, and when it should turn off the touchscreen so you don't accidentally operate it with your ear.
Then Jonathan Ive, Apple's head of design, the man who shaped the iMac and the iPod, squashed the case to less than half an inch thick, and widened it to what looks like a bar of expensive chocolate wrapped in aluminum and stainless steel. The iPhone is a typical piece of Ive design: an austere, abstract, platonic-looking form that somehow also manages to feel warm and organic and ergonomic. Unlike my phone. He picks it up and points out four little nubbins on the back. "Your phone's got feet on," he says, not unkindly. "Why would anybody put feet on a phone?" Ive has the answer, of course: "It raises the speaker on the back off the table. But the right solution is to put the speaker in the right place in the first place. That's why our speaker isn't on the bottom, so you can have it on the table, and you don't need feet." Sure enough, no feet toe the iPhone's smooth lines.
All right, so it's pretty. Now pick it up and make a call. A big friendly icon appears on that huge screen. Say a second call comes in while you're talking. Another icon appears. Tap that second icon and you switch to the second call. Tap the big "merge calls" icon and you've got a three-way conference call. Pleasantly simple.
Another example: voicemail. Until now you've had to grope through your v-mail by ear, blindly, like an eyeless cave-creature. On the iPhone you see all your messages laid out visually, onscreen, labeled by caller. If you want to hear one, you touch it. Done. Now try a text message: Instead of jumbling them all together in your in-box, iPhone arranges your texts by recipient, as threaded conversations made of little jewel-like bubbles. And instead of "typing" on a four-by-four number keypad, you get a full, usable QWERTY keyboard. You will never again have to hit the 7 key four times to type a letter S.
Now forget about phone calls. Look at the video, which is impressively crisp and plays on a screen larger than the video iPod's. This is the first time the hype about "rich media" on a phone has actually looked plausible. Look at the e-mail client, which handles attachments, in-line images, HTML e-mails as adroitly as a desktop client. Look at the Web browser, a modified version of Safari that displays actual Web pages, not a teensy crunched-down version of the Web. There's a Google map application that's almost worth the price of admission on its own.
Weaknesses? Absolutely. You can't download songs directly onto it from the iTunes store, you have to export them from a computer. And even though it's got WiFi and Bluetooth on it, you can't sync iPhone with a computer wirelessly. And there should be games on it. And you're required to use it as a phone—you can't use it without signing up for cellular service. Boo.
The iPhone breaks two basic axioms of consumer technology. One, when you take an application and put it on a phone, that application must be reduced to a crippled and annoying version of itself. Two, when you take two devices—such as an iPod and a phone—and squish them into one, both devices must necessarily become lamer versions of themselves. The iPhone is a phone, an iPod, and a mini-Internet computer all at once, and contrary to Newton—who knew a thing or two about apples—they all occupy the same space at the same time, but without taking a hit in performance. In a way iPhone is the wrong name for it. It's a handheld computing platform that just happens to contain a phone.
101 Most Commonly Asked iPhone Questions
1. What is the Apple iPhone?
The iPhone is the latest upcoming product from Apple and combines an iPod, Cell Phone and internet device into one handheld mobile product.
"A revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching -- into one small and lightweight handheld device."
2. Does the iPhone have all the features of a normal phone?
The iPhone has all the basic features you'd expect from a mobile phone along with all the features you'd expect from a camera phone, multimedia player and internet device.
3. What models will be available at launch?
The iPhone will ship in 4GB and 8GB memory sized models.
4. Will there be other iPhone versions like a Nano or Shuffle?
Currently it is unknown whether other models of iPhone will be released in the future, although many critics predict it will follow in the steps of the iPods many variants.
5. When is the iPhone release date?
The iPhone is scheduled for release in the United States on June 29th 2007.
6. Where will it be sold?
The iPhone will be available from the Apple Store and AT&T Mobility.
7. Are AT&T stores really going to open at 6PM on June 29th?
It has been announced that AT&T will begin selling the iPhone from their stores at 6PM on the 29th, although to date the exact time zones have not been specified.
8. When is the European iPhone release date?
The iPhone is expected to launch across Europe in the 4th quarter of 2007.
9. When is the Asian iPhone Release Date?
The iPhone is expected to launch across Asia sometime in 2008.
10. How much will the iPhone cost?
The 4GB model will retail at $499, with the 8GB model priced at $599. These prices are based on a 2 year service contract.
11. Can I buy the iPhone online?
It is believed the iPhone will be available via the Apple Store on launch.
12. Can the iPhone be pre-ordered?
AT&T will not be accepting pre-orders for the iPhone and will be selling the device on a first-come-first served basis.
13. What carriers are currently available?
AT&T is the only carrier available for the iPhone in the United States.
14. Can I use the iPhone with any other carrier?
No, AT&T (Cingular) is the exclusive carrier for iPhone.
15. How long does Cingular/AT&T hold the iPhone exclusivity for?
AT&T will be the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the US until 2009.
16. Can the iPhone be purchased 'unlocked'?
No, neither Apple nor AT&T have any plans to offer the iPhone unlocked at this time.
17. Who will be the exclusive carrier for Canada?
Apple has not to date revealed any news on this although it is widely believed that Roger Wireless is a front runner for the contract.
18. What carriers will be available for the iPhone in Europe?
This is still to be announced.
19. Does AT&T have a minimum contract length?
Yes, there is a minimum 2 years airtime contract with AT&T
20. Does AT&T offer a pre-pay option?
No, there will be no pre-pay option available for the iPhone.
21. Will Europe support pre-pay?
No, there will be no pre-pay option for Europe.
22. Will the iPhone work in any country?
Yes, if you live in the US and travel overseas provided you have an international plan this will be possible.
23. Can I buy an iPhone from the United States and use it in Europe?
No, it won't be possible to purchase an iPhone in the US and assign it to a European provider.
24. Will insurance be provided?
It is currently unknown as to what insurance cover will be available.
25. Can I take out AppleCare on the iPhone?
Again this is yet to clarified.
26. Does the iPhone use a different version of iTunes?
The iPhone will be compatible with the standard iTunes software available for both Windows and Mac - it does not require any different software.
27. Can iTunes be installed directly onto the iPhone?
No, this won't be possible.
28. Can the iTunes Store be accessed directly from the iPhone?
No, this won't be possible. However you can access the music store via iTunes on your PC and Mac and the content will be transferred to your iPhone the next time it is synchronized.
29. How do I transfer music to the iPhone?
Tracks are transferred via the iTunes software as per the iPod.
30. Is it possible to download tracks 'over the air' directly to the iPhone?
No, tracks are only transferable via the PC or Mac iTunes software.
31. Does the iPhone support video playback?
Yes, like the 5th generation iPod's the iPhone supports video playback allowing users to watch TV shows and films.
32. Does the iPhone have a built-in camera?
Yes, the iPhone has a built-in 2 mega pixel complete with camera software that allows users to view, upload and email photos to each other.
33. Can the iPhone's camera capture video?
No, the iPhone does not support video capture via the built-in camera.
34. Does the iPhone support iPhoto?
Yes, the camera software will interact with the Mac's iPhoto.
35. Can the iPhone play games for the iPod?
No, the iPhone will not be able to play the iPod games that are available from iTunes.
36. Will the iPhone have any playable games?
It is currently unknown whether the iPhone will adopt similar downloadable games like the iPod has.
37. Will the iPhone vibrate?
Yes, the iPhone will have the vibrate feature as outlined in the AT&T work book.
38. Does the iPhone have a loudspeaker?
Yes, the iPhone has a loudspeaker that can also be used for hands free calling.
39. How does the touch screen work?
The iPhone touch screen is specifically designed for use with a finger and works similar to the iPod's scroll wheel in a sense that menu navigation and scrolling speeds up and slows down depending on the speed of your finger.
40. Is the iPhone's touch screen better than a dedicated keypad?
Ultimately this is down to personal preference, whilst some users will likely learn to type on the iPhone and not need tactile feedback others will prefer the physical tactile feedback that a touch screen cannot provide. Most would be wise to wait until the handheld ships for a personal evaluation prior to potential purchase.
41. Is the keypad available in a horizontal screen setup to allow for larger keys?
This orientation was available in the prototype versions and it isn't currently known whether Apple plan to offer the landscape keyboard layout for the final product.
42. Does the iPhone have a scratch resistant screen?
The iPhone's screen is made from the same polycarbonate that's used for iPod screens, although apparently the coating has been substantially improved.
43. Does the iPhone use or need a stylus?
No, a stylus will not work on the iPhone's touch screen interface.
44. What is the virtual keyboard?
The virtual keyboard is the device that allows you to input text on the iPhone. With features such as auto spellchecking, predictive text and a dynamic dictionary for easier text input.
45. Does the iPhone support an external keyboard?
Simple folding keyboards have been developed in the past for other popular phones so it is a possibility, but to date none have come to light.
46. What do the switches on the side of the iPhone do?
There are 3 switches on the side of the device, sleep/wake, volume up/down, ringer on/off.
47. What is Cover Flow?
Cover Flow is similar to that on iTunes and allows you to scroll through your album inventory on the iPhone. Albums are arranged alphabetically and scrolling is achieved by swiping a finger across the screen.
48. What is Visual Voicemail?
In conjunction with AT&T the iPhone has the ability to offer Visual Voicemail to its users. This technology allows users to view a list of current voicemail messages onscreen, without having to call into their voicemail account to retrieve them.
49. Does the iPhone have an operating system?
Yes, the iPhone will run on Mac OS X.
50. Is this a slimmed down version of the Mac OS X?
Apple confirmed the MAC OS X operating system is a slimmed down version for the iPhone with unnecessary components removed.
51. How much storage space does the iPhone OS occupy?
The operating system install is expected to take up less than 500MB.
52. Is the iPhone capable of running Linux?
Although no official confirmation has been given it is very possible the iPhone is capable of running Linux.
53. Will the iPhone support Java applications?
No, the iPhone will not support any Java applets or applications. According to Steve Jobs, "Java's not worth building in. Nobody uses Java anymore. It's this big heavyweight ball and chain."
54. Will the iPhone support Widgets?
Yes, the iPhone will support widgets.
55. Will the iPhone support Mac Widgets?
No, Dashboard widgets written for Mac OS X will not be compatible with the iPhone.
56. Are iPhone widgets the same as Mac widgets?
No doubt there will be some similarity between widgets written for Mac OS X and those written for the iPhone. Presumably they both use DashCode.
57. Will it support 3rd party applications?
There has been much discussion on whether the iPhone will be a closed device to 3rd party developers, with the latest comment from Steve Jobs being that this is still very much under discussion. Steve Jobs says he doesn't want the iPhone to be "one of those phones that crashes a few times a day." He adds: "We would like to solve this problem and if you could just be a little more patient with us, we'll do it."
Currently the only publicly announced way to write apps for the iPhone is to make web apps (including AJAX). There is still the possiblity that certain developers will get invitations to make native programs for the iPhone. (emerrill)
58. Will the iPhone support Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint files?
The iPhone will offer no support for Microsoft Office documents and therefore will not allow for reading or editing of any such Word, Excel or PowerPoint files.
59. Will the iPhone support Adobe PDF documents?
Yes, it will be possible to open and view Adobe PDF documents on the iPhone although editing will not be possible.
60. Does the iPhone support iChat?
No, the iPhone does not support iChat.
61. Does the iPhone have internet capabilities?
Yes, the iPhone has internet capabilities.
62. Does the iPhone have WiFi capabilities?
Yes, the iPhone has built-in WiFi which will allow internet access via a wireless network.
63. Does the iPhone support EDGE?
Yes, the iPhone will be able to connect to the internet via AT&T's EDGE network.
64. Is the iPhone 3G compatible?
No, the iPhone will not support the 3G network although Steve Jobs has mentioned that 3G would be a future feature.
65. Why does Apple support EDGE and not 3G?
Outside of Apple HQ it is unknown as to why Apple have put more weight behind EDGE than 3G. It is reasonable to speculate that the decision could have been based on the cost of availability of and battery usage.
66. Will the iPhone support 3G in Europe?
3G has far more coverage across the UK and Europe than in the US so it seems very likely this will be included in the iPhone for those regions - Although there has been no official confirmation as of yet.
67. Does the iPhone support MMS?
No, the iPhone does not have support for MMS.
68. Does the iPhone Bluetooth capabilities?
Yes, the iPhone has built-in Bluetooth 2.0.
69. Is email supported on the iPhone?
Yes, the iPhone features an HTML email program which allows the user to embed photos into email. Exchange servers are also supported provided they have been setup with IMAP/POP3.
70. Is it possible to sync Microsoft Outlook with the iPhone?
Yes, Outlook and Outlook express are supported. (http://www.apple.com/iphone/easysetup/getready.html).
71. What browser will the iPhone use?
The iPhone will use the Safari web browser
72. Is this the full Safari browser?
Steve Jobs has noted on numerous occasions that the iPhone will indeed utilize the real Safari browser for real internet browsing.
73. Does the web browser display the full web page on the iPhone's screen?
Yes, the entire web page will be visible on the iPhone's display - To zoom into any specific area just double-tap the screen.
74. Will iPhone Safari support Flash?
No, iPhone Safari will not support Flash technology.
75. Will the iPhone support YouTube playback?
Yes, it has been mentioned by Steve Jobs previously that the iPhone will most likely support YouTube playback.
76. Will iPhone Safari support Java?
No, Java will not be supported.
77. Will iPhone Safari support JavaScript?
Yes JavaScript will be supported.
78. Will iPhone Safari support Ajax?
Yes, Steve Jobs has said in the past that AJAX can be used to make programs that run within Safari on the phone.
79. Can I use the iPhone as a dial-up modem?
It is currently unknown whether the iPhone can be used as a modem although it does seem unlikely as this would have already been publicized by now.
80. Is an iTunes account required for the iPhone?
Yes, iTunes software is required for the iPhone.
81. How large is the iPhone's screen size?
The iPhone has a screen size of 3.5 inches, with a resolution of 320x480 pixels at 160 ppi.
82. Are the 8GB models larger in physical size than the 4GB?
No, there is no physical size difference between the 2 models.
83. What is the iPhone's battery life?
The battery is capable of up to 5 hours of talk time, web browsing or video playback.
84. What is the battery life for music playback?
The iPhone's battery lasts up to 16 hours for music playback.
85. Does the iPhone support removable media?
No, the iPhone does not support any removable media.
86. Can the iPhone's memory be expanded?
No, the iPhone's memory can not be increased or expanded.
87. Does the iPhone have a removable battery?
No the iPhone has a built-in battery unit like that of the iPod.
88. How does the iPhone battery charge?
The iPhone battery charges with a cable just like the existing iPod.
89. How long does it take to charge the iPhone?
Recharge times are currently unknown.
90. Can I use my iPod dock to charge the iPhone?
Although there has been no official confirmation the iPhone has a USB-based iPod 'dock connector' on the base of the device. Therefore it seems likely that the majority of iPod accessories that are compatible with modern iPod models will be compatible with the iPhone as well.
91. Does the iPhone have SIM card slot?
Currently it is not known whether the iPhone does have a SIM card slot or not. It has been missing from earlier pre-production models. It is being speculated that lack of access to the SIM will help Apple prevent the iPhone 'black market' to develop.
Recent reports suggest a very slim SIM card "tray" at the top of the phone similar to the way you would remove a battery from an Apple remote. Although there is not hard evidence.
92. Does the iPhone support Mac OS X programs?
No the iPhone will not run Mac OS X programs.
93. Does the iPhone have built-in GPS?
No the iPhone does not have GPS.
94. Can I use the iPhone when I travel overseas?
Yes, the iPhone is quad-band GSM enabled.
95. Will the iPhone allow iPod-playable tracks as ringtones?
It is currently still to be decided whether tracks will be allowed as ringtones.
96. Does the iPhone have speed dial?
A speed dial function hasn't been clarified as of yet but seems likely this will be incorporated into the device.
97. Can I use my iPod earphones with the iPhone?
Yes, the iPhone will support the iPod's earphones.
98. What processor or processors does the iPhone use?
It is not known what processor(s) the iPhone uses.
99. Can music, videos and photos be transferred between iPhone's?
Sadly the iPhone software does not allow for transfers of such media between devices. There have been earlier reports that such file sharing via Bluetooth or WiFi will also not be possible although this hasn't been officially confirmed.
100. How do I sync the iPhone with my PC or Mac?
The iPhone will connect via a USB input into PC or Mac.
101. Can I use the iPhone as a hard drive like the iPod?
It is currently unknown whether this will be possible or not.
Early Info On The Apple Iphone
Apple Computers (Now Apple Inc.) has recovered from years of corporate doldrums through the introduction of an innovative line of computers but more importantly, through the phenomenal success of the iPod. Apple more or less created the market for personal digital MP3 players and has sold millions of units, along with millions of songs through their online music store.
Now the video world is coming into the handheld market - virtually every cell phone has a screen of some sort and the recent iPods have video screens as well. Apple's most recent product introduction is the much-hyped iPhone, which combines the functions of a cell phone, a "wide screen" iPod with touch controls, and an Internet communications device.
Apple has chosen to make an exclusive deal with Cingular, the AT&T cell phone network. Your only source for an iPhone will be through Cingular, along with a Cingular cellular service contract. They plan to make the product available
in June. Back in the digital dark ages, Apple made the choice to keep their computer operating system in house, while Microsoft moved beyond IBM and licensed to any computer manufacturer who wanted it. It was the most important misstep that Apple has ever made, and is the reason that they will probably never extend beyond ten to twelve percent of the computer market. It will be interesting to see what happens when iPhone clones begin to appear in Verizon and other cell operator outlets.
The 4GB iPhone model will cost $499 with a two-year contract and $599 for the 8GB version (also with a two-year contract). Those are expensive phones, but Apple is in a unique position in that it has a dedicated core of iPod fans that may become Cingular converts. The iPhone's design is cutting edge: it has done away with keypads and with the exception of a "home" button the controls are operated on a 3.5 inch square touch screen.
According to early reviews the videos and photos look great. One giant touch screen controls the phone, the picture component and the videos - no stylus needed. For text messaging, there will be an onscreen keyboard - again controlled by touch.
Apple's iTunes store has gone into the video business, most recently negotiating a distribution contract with Paramount. Videos are downloaded onto the iPhone the same way that music is: through a wired connection to your computer. Apple's decision to push the viability of the iPhone as a video viewing device raises a couple of questions. The first is how satisfactory watching a movie on a three and a half inch screen will be, and the second is whether or not 8GB is enough to manage a library of music and video content. The current largest video iPod model has 60GB of space, in comparison.
For Internet and video functionality, the iPhone runs on the most recent Mac operating system. It has a 2 megapixel camera and promises support for Google maps, conference calling, and text and multimedia messaging. In short, all the features are included that young people use their phones for today, along with increasing numbers of traveling execs. The iPhone has Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity and includes both email software and a browser.
If you judge by the hype, Apple is betting big on the iPhone. It's worth noting, however, that Steve Jobs is pretty good at hyping every new Apple product. But the integration of telecommunications, video, and full blown Internet interconnectivity into the revered iPod is a major step - and the cell service completes an impressive multimedia package. It should be interesting.
me and my iphone
I'm such a geek I had to have one. But I'm still me, so I wasn't going to wait in any line for a telephone-not for 3 days, not even for 3 minutes. So my initial plan was to head out on Saturday morning and see if I could jump on an iPhone early, the day after the launch. I had already scoped out the 4 largest AT&T stores in my area.
About 9:45pm Friday night I got a call from a "mole" inside the Chicago's flagship Apple store, saying that the lines were gone and the store would be open until midnight. So I jumped in the car with my wife, drove downtown and parked nearby. We walked 2 blocks from the garage to the store, spent 3 minutes choosing a rugged-ized case for the phone and then proceeded to the counter. I spent more time walking the lengthy yet empty roping in front of the counter than I actually did paying for the 8GB model iPhone, leaving the store at a mere 6 minutes after we got there, with my credit card screaming in pain all the way.
The New Toy
My 18-month-old Razr had been on life support for the last 2 months, so I was more than ready for a new phone. After a good overnight charge (not needed but habit with any new device), I settled in for what I expected to be the usual nightmare when changing over to a new phone.
This time, I plugged iPhone into my laptop, launched iTunes and answered 5 questions. Since my existing cell account was Cingular/ ATT, it took only 10 minutes for the whole registration and setup process. My chosen mail accounts with all the passwords and server info transferred direct from Mail without incident.
Not a nightmare at all.
Starting pros and cons
This is a computer more than it is a phone. The screen is incredibly sharp and easy to read in all light levels, even outdoors viewed through polarized sunglasses. The scrolling and zoom functions are every bit as cool as they look yet my fingers often trip over the wrong things. I am glad it learns as I go. It is heavier and larger than many phones, more than twice the size and weight of my Razr, and a tad warm when you use it extensively.
So now that I'm getting started.
Connections
I love that almost all of my iPod accessories work with it. My iPod car chargers from XtremeMac.com works just great, as do all the various iPod connector accessories that clutter my desk like my JBL and Bose speakers.
But one important accessory doesn't. My Bose® noise canceling headphones don't fit into the headphone jack. It seems Apple has decided that we can only use their white earbuds, because the headphone jack is recessed into the unit and most mini plugs are way too short to work correctly with the 1.25 millimeter recessed plug. (Time to go to RadioShack®.) I travel a lot and the noise canceling headphones are critical on planes and the Apple headphones just don't cut it.
While I am at it, when did they stop including the little "booties" that fit over the ear buds so they stay in your ears better?
SMS text messaging looks and acts like iChat rather than a stream of SMS messages. Incoming text shows up onscreen as a pop up-even with the phone locked-with the subject and sender displayed. I hope Apple will update the text engine so I will have the ability to store messages that I send a lot, a normal cell phone function that's not included here. Even though I expected it from the other features, there's no typing mode in the horizontal-aspect.
iCal calendars on my phone is a dream come true. I wish I could use them in the horizontal viewing mode like I can with Safari.
The Photo / Camera function is good. The interface resembles an iPhoto viewer, vastly superior to the one on your iPod, since it links directly to the integral camera.
The camera leaves much to be desired with a rather small f 6.8 opening. It takes a lot of light to capture images without camera motion. Image capture responds quickly enough so that you are able take images at about 1 frame per second. There are no sequential image captures or video in this first rev.
I don't really understand including YouTube on the device. At least it allows me to view YouTube links that arrive in my mail box daily, so for that I give it a definite plus.
Because I don't spend my day checking on the financial wellbeing of my Stocks, that's something I won't regularly use, if ever. Same for the Calculator, with a noticeable lack of the conversion functions I use regularly in the in desktop version. Unfortunately they are statically locked in place on the display, and the current iPhone OS does not allow me to customize my User experience.
On the other hand, Google Maps rocks. Select a place to navigate to using an either an address in your contact list or just type in the location. It also allows for airport designation codes like LAX, ORD, JFK. View your content as a map only, the hybrid map/satellite view known to Google users or a list of turn-by-turn directions according to your route. Try the reverse route button and you can see why the maps feature really jumps out.
One of the coolest functions for Maps is the arrow button. Activating it jumps to a close-up view of the next intersection or turn when viewing in map or hybrid mode. I see a GPS enabler in the iPhone's future.
Weather is another function I like a lot. I have 10 locations stored in mine and it looks like the weather widget on my desktop. You browse between the cities using a single finger to scroll just like with songs in iTunes.
The Clock offers the functionality direct from my OSX widgets, with a World Clock, a surprisingly good Alarm Clock, along with StopWatch and Timer Functions, although the rotating timer dial did take a minute to understand.
Yet the heart and soul of the iPhone are the 4 applications that are fixed at the bottom of the screen-the iPod, Safari, and Mail functions and some other one - umm - ahhh - mmm - OH YEA and the Phone! More about that in a bit.
iPhone as an iPod
We all love our iPods. While I am not one to live with headphones on every minute of the day, I cannot imagine traveling without mine. With the 60GB video model I catch up on TV, watch a movie and even review client work while I am away from my computer. My 8 gig iPhone holds over 7 hours of video, 2000 songs, about 1000 images with nearly 1.5 gigs still available.
Bless Apple for finally understanding that much of the content on iTunes uses a widescreen aspect ratio and giving us a device that allows us to choose that. It's a shame, however, that Apple failed to include the ability to output the video to an external device like my iPod does, partially inhibited because of the recessed headphone jack and lack of controls to do so.
One interesting note is that the iPod app is really the only place on the phone were one can truly customize the interface. Nowhere else can you rearrange the icon positions on the screen to suite your personal tastes.
Now if Apple could only translate that to the main screen. I wish I could turn off the album art when looking thru songs in list view. And I want the Cover Flow album art scrolling to work in the vertical orientation, not just in the horizontal aspect ratio.
One other iPod function I desperately would like to see is storing files. The current version does not allow one of the most basic of iPod functions, the ability to store data and access it from a computer. I suspect that Apple did this to not alienate Windows users. Since it is running in the MacOS, it most likely has HFS+ formatting instead of the Windows friendly FAT32 used on the current iPod models. Treating
Music fades out when an incoming call arrives, but many users don't know that when a song is playing in the background while you are surfing, there is a play indicator arrow next to the battery usage icon in the upper right of the screen no matter what application you have open. And yes, you can use the internal speaker to listen to music, even when plugged into the included base, if you want to listen to a nostalgic AM radio-like sound.
Browsing the Web
Like many Mac users I use Safari for most of my surfing. The version here isn't quite what I have on my desktop version, and has a number of deficiencies. My main problem with the application lies in the lack of Flash and only limited Java support. When transferring bookmarks, it did not transfer my saved Safari passwords from my laptop, yet it is smart enough to move all of my bookmarks. Safari on iPhone does not have a home page setting either.
Surfing on the phone is very cool, yet incredibly slow when using AT&T's EDGE connection network, even in downtown Chicago, where one might expect the network to be faster. Yet with the wireless connection the phone is nearly as fast as my on laptop.
iPhone has got to be one of the best wireless sniffers I have ever seen. At one point, stopped at a stop light in one high rise neighborhood in Chicago, I was able to view a couple dozen wireless points, with indications of which were available or locked and how much signal power each one had.
Apple really needs to allow us some customization with Safari. I hate the Add Bookmark function on the top of every web page. I erroneously tap on it dozens of times a day. When I add a bookmark in the phone, it shows up in Safari on my desktop when I sync, a somewhat annoying feature to me. I would like to be able to choose where and which version of Safari I have uses specific bookmarks.
To manually add an URL, touch the screen in the URL window and the "web" keyboard comes up with specific buttons for a period, slash and a .com button along with a standardized qwerty key layout, making it very easy to type in URLs.
Unfortunately, that it is the only time you see this keyboard layout. It would be invaluable in typing in your email address and passwords when you are reloading the security for your bookmarks.
Below the URL window is your chosen search engine input area, and you can currently only choose between Google and Yahoo for that function.
Selecting hyperlinks automatically shows a grey "mouse down" button in Safari and there is a "pop-up" blocker setting in the application preferences. Multiple pages can be viewed. The greatest number of pages I have been able to open is 8. There are very small indicators on the bottom of the screen to tell you where you are in the page order.
Getting POPed by Mail
Now I have to admit, I like my iPhone far more as a computer than I thought I might, never having succumbed to a "crackberry" and studiously avoiding getting email on my old phone. Now I can see why there are so many rear end collisions with the darn things. It is way too easy to get lost in the device while driving a car or walking on the street.
As I said in the beginning, transferring my preferences from the Mail app settings from my laptop was a breeze, until I found out that one of the accounts I wanted to transfer was available only as a POP account. This old style "Post Office Protocol" mail server downloads the mail to your computer then deletes it from the server, originally because the servers were not smart enough to keep track. However in my case it is a requirement for one client due to their security concerns of leaving confidential emails on a public accessible server.
Be careful about how you set up your email accounts. For example, one of my main accounts dumps up to 400 emails a day in my In Box. With this level of traffic it took everything I had to keep up. My mistake took more than a few hours to clean off my phone, as there is not a function to delete multiple emails at one time, but I did learn something with my fumbling. Sliding your finger right to left on a mail message brings up a red delete button that did speed up the process.
Apple offers Mail users easy setup for Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and the Dot Mac accounts, with manual entry for other mail servers. Preferences allow you to choose how many lines of each mail can be pre-read without opening the email how each message is viewed and how often it pings the server looking for new mail. Typing is easy and intuitive, and it gains intelligence on your typing patterns with each use. When an alternate spelling pops up, you tap on the space bar or hit return to accept.
Now if you could just type emails in the horizontal viewing mode, copy and paste text, blind copy someone or make a selection for a highlighted inclusion in a return email. It is the little things like those with the iPhone that just drive me batty. But I'm hooked anyway.
Can You Hear Me Now?
In spite of all functions the iPhone has, it's just a slightly better than average cell phone. It is heavier and larger than many phones, more than twice the size and weight of my Razr, and a tad warm when you use it extensively.
I have run into many locations where I can't get a signal to make a call in the downtown Chicago area. On the city's lakefront with clear line of site to at least 10 cell towers, I could not make or receive a call or text message in the middle of a weekday. My Razr may not have been the best phone in the world, but I could send a text message with it from inside of elevators and in the bowels of a heavily wired machine room. The iPhone continually drops calls and loses the network when I walk away from the window in my office.
While I have heard this same whining from Treo users and numbers of people keep trying to tell me it is the AT&T network, I have had an AT&T/Cingular Cellular account for 15 years. It is not the network, it's the phone.
My whining aside, I love most of the features. The "visual voicemail" is even cooler in reality than you may have heard, with an iTunes like scroll function to jump to later parts of the Voice message and the ability to retrieve them from the trash, should you throw it out by accident. The phone sounds great on both ends of the call, even using the Apple headset, with it mic/mute/next tune button function. So I'll finally be relegated to using a Bluetooth headset, something I have never liked after a bad experience with multiple versions of the poorly manufactured Jabra headsets.
One of the coolest things that Apple did not tell us is the Recently Dialed section of the phone keeps every number you make or receive until you clear the list. This is a welcome addition since my Razr only kept the last 10 calls for each -- an annoying pain when you get 20-30 calls on some days. Missed calls show the number or contact info in red, noting that phone number is already in your database, giving you direct access to the contact's info.
The Contact section of the phone has the tiniest alphabet you've seen to allow you to click on a letter to jump to that letter group. It is a shame Apple did not include voice dialing, something that many of us use.
Finally
Even in spite of these issues with the operation of the iPhone, I do love it. Many of my complaints here can be fixed with an update to the phone's operating system, several of which have been announced or heavily rumored from usually reliable sources.
I am now mercilessly hooked. I don't care that you have to constantly clean the fingerprints off the screen, or that I have to recharge the phone nightly. It won't replace my laptop, but then my laptop has not replaced any of the desktops I have even though I use it for all but my editing.
I have to admit Apple has really delivered with the iPhone. I instantly fell in love with even this first generation, one we'll all be laughing at in 4-5 years, just like I did finding my first Gen iPod a couple of weeks ago. By 2010 this may have replaced my laptop for 70% of what I do.
My only question is how do I get FCS2 and the Adobe Production Bundle on this thing with only 8 gigs of available space?
The iPhone
When word of Apple's iPhone came trickling into the newsroom at the Consumer Electronics Show from San Francisco, there were yelps of excitement, anticipation -- and protest.
"No 3G?!" one journalist moaned, referring to the lack of support for connecting to the fastest data transmission networks. Even while gawking at online video of the phone's features, others pooh-poohed the device's $500 price and the exclusive carrier contract with Cingular.
Steve Jobs, master of hyperbole and the overhyped product launch, succeeded in grabbing attention away from his industry's largest expo in Las Vegas, 420 miles southeast of his presentation.
But will the phone live up to the gushing blog posts, morning show babble and advance reviews it has already received?
We pored over the specs and talked to observers and admittedly biased competitors, and here's why it might not:
NETWORK CAPABILITY
So about that 3G comment. The iPhone will use Cingular's EDGE network, which is considerably slower than the more advanced WCDMA technology. Many next-gen smartphones will allow for the faster speeds, including Palm's Treo 750 and Samsung's Ultra Music Phone, launched at CES with yet-to-be-determined price and availability.
"The math is very convincing," says Muzib Khan, Samsung's vice president of product management and engineering. "If you have to download a music (file) which is 4 MB, iPhone could not do it over the regular network. They may have to go to a special hot spot or WiFi network. Otherwise one song will take several minutes to download, and that's not right."
With Samsung's phone, he said, "they'll be able to download music very efficiently."
STORAGE
The iPhone will have as much storage capacity as iPod nanos currently have -- a lot, at either 4 or 8 GB. But there's currently no potential to expand beyond that, as most smartphones currently offer with SD or micro-SD memory card slots. Such cards are growing rapidly in capacity and also allow simple transfer of music or other files between devices.
"In Apple's case it makes sense to offer that much memory onboard, because they're specifically focused on multimedia," says Palm spokesman Jimmy Johnson. The Treo 750, targeting business customers, includes just 16 MB of storage capacity but allows more with an up to 6 GB mini-SD card. "We feel like expansion capability is a good choice for customers without having to pay initially up front for something they don't need," Johnson says.
TOUCH SCREEN
While the iPhone touch screen innovation has its admirers, it also has drawbacks: exposure to oils on your fingers and the possibility of cracks or scratches that have plagued iPods in the past.
"I think it's really going to stand out," says Tark Abed, lead designer at Spreck Design, which has worked with Apple in the past. "They basically took what's really kind of a cobbled-together interface on most smart phones and most media phones and turned it into this beautiful flow, beautiful graphically."
But what about when it's not so beautiful anymore? "One of the things that people have been talking about is the longevity of the screen. If you put it in your pocket, is it going to get scratched? How's it going to wear?"
Both Johnson and Khan noted the iPhone's lack of tactile feedback -- that feeling of pressing down a button to let you know you've entered a number or letter. "Touch screen doesn't allow you to dial while driving very well. .... You need the tactile feedback." Of the iPhone, he concludes, "It might appear to be very sexy, but it's not very practical."
iphone music
Iphones haven't been on the market all that long and already they are becoming one of the most popular must have gadgets around. One of the questions on many Iphone owners' lips' is how to get music onto their Iphone. If you're familiar with Ipods you may already know how this is done, but if not, read on to find out how to get some music on your Iphone.
In order to download music to your Iphone, there are a few things you will need-
1-A computer-age and specifications shouldn't matter, as long as it's newer than say 6 or 7 years. You'll also need enough free space on the computer's hard drive. 2-An internet connection. Speed isn't an issue, you will however be better off with the fastest connection you can find though, as if you are still stuck on dial up or something it can take a while to download the files you want. 3-You'll also need the USB lead that came with the Iphone to connect it to the computer. At this stage it's not yet possible to download songs directly from the internet to the Iphone, so you will need to save them to your computer first.
The last thing is the trickiest-somewhere to download the music from!
The first thing you will need to know is to avoid the torrent sites-they are also known as P2P or peer to peer sites. Using these sites may result in you having criminal proceedings brought against you, as they are illegal, and it can also result in your computer being damaged beyond repair by malware and trojans etc that may be embedded in your downloads.
You'll find that there are no places where you can actually download free music for your iphone, but you will find there are a few sites which can offer the next best thing-unlimited downloads after a small one off fee. If you can find a site like this you will end up getting fantastic value for money.
The other alternative is to put your CD collection on your Iphone. This is usually done by obtaining a "ripping" program to use on your computer-this will enable you to literally "rip" the songs from CD and save them as files on your computer. Despite it's scary name, ripping the songs from a CD doesn't affect it in any way. Once you have the songs saved on the computer, it's usually just a case of connecting the Iphone to the computer and synchronizing the Iphone, which should then automatically transfer all the songs over to the Iphone.
Hopefully you have found this article informative and helpful when transferring music onto your Iphone.
games for your Iphone
For many Iphone owners, their main priority once they get their hands on it will be to find a good game to play and some good movies for it. In case you don't know, the Iphone is the spiritual successor to the Ipod. The Iphone's early stages of release have been so popular that many retailers have struggled to keep up with demand.
If you are lucky enough to have gotten an early Iphone (and in many cases it wasn't luck but a willingness to stay up all night outside the Apple store!), you're going to want to get some games and movies for it as quickly as possible. For those of you that can't wait a moment longer, you can simply log into one of the many browser based games with the Iphone's internet connection. These games can be great, if a little limited, so once you've had your fill you're probably ready for the real downloads.
The main thing you need to keep in mind when you are downloading both movies and games for your Iphone, is safety and security for your home computer. The internet can be a pretty hostile place if you stumble into the wrong place. Many people over the last few years have been downloading all kinds of things online, and using the peer to peer or torrent sites as a downloading source. This can seem great at first, but as soon as you download anything from a site like that, you are breaking the law. Not only that, but opening your computer to such a site can really cause problems. Many hackers and malware creators hang around the torrent sites, trying to get their shady files downloaded, so it's altogether better just to stay away.
There is a much safer way to get your download fix online these days-there have recently started to be a few alternatives to downloading from the P2P sites. These sites are modern, regulated and even have dedicated customer support. They work by charging a one off fee for a lifetime membership, and once you are joined you are then able to download as much as you want. That includes all the games and movies you can imagine, plus you will usually find music and TV shows waiting there for you as well. The one off fee is usually something like $50, which represents pretty good value for money I find.
iphone songs
As an Iphone owner, you may or may not know that you are able to download free songs from a few different places. You can't have failed to notice the popularity of the Iphone, even though it has only been with us a short while it looks set to be a runaway success, and for good reason-an Iphone can do everything the Ipod does but also give you internet access and a pretty handy cellphone.
In order to download any songs at all for your Iphone, you will need to first have some very basic hardware at your disposal. The main thing is a computer and internet connection, as at this time it's not possible to download anything directly to the Iphone from it's own internet connection. As far as specifications go, you will usually be okay with any computer as long as it's not older than say 5 or 6 years, and the internet connection is also not too demanding, though you will find that the faster your connection, the faster you can complete your downloads.
The main obstacle that stands in the way of people wanting to download free songs for their Iphone is not knowing where to get them from. You can obviously get the downloads directly from Itunes, which is fine if you want to pay out fortunes for your music collection, but most people don't know there are a few other less costly alternatives.
The first, and something that is not at all recommended, is using the torrent sites or peer to peer sites. Over the last few years many people have used sites like this for all their download needs. Unfortunately using these sites is illegal-people actually get arrested and go to jail for it. Aside from that there is also the huge risk of permanent computer damage. Sites like this are not regulated in any way, and so the users can upload anything they want. This makes them a haven for hackers and spammers, and they will often use sites like this to spread their viruses/malware through the internet. These reasons are why it's not recommended to use peer to peer sites as a place to get free Iphone music downloads.
Thankfully, there are a few alternatives to sites like these. A new kind of download site has emerged over the last year or so, and these sites are a lot safer to use than the peer to peer sites. The way it works is that the site will charge you a small fee to begin using their service, usually something like $50, and this will usually cover you for life-meaning you get unlimited free downloads for life, as soon as you become a member. This represents excellent value for money, as there are often a huge range of downloads other than music-you can get games, tv shows, movies, and obviously all the music you could want.
Hopefully this article will help you get everything you need to download free songs for your Iphone.
Iphone Applications For College Students
As a college student, you need to have several things in order to keep your sanity. For one, you have to have a good study schedule, next you need to be able to communicate with your friends and family, which is why so many students have the iPhone. However, one of the most important aspects about having an iPhone and being a college student, is the fact that you can apply certain applications that will help you both in your academic life, as well as in your social life. With the iPhone consistently coming out with new applications, you are able to find some that are entertainment and helpful.
Perhaps one of the coolest applications for a college student who always wants to have a good time is the Ajax Bartender iPhone application. This amazing application allows you to find and make over 40,000 various alcoholic drinks. However, what really makes this application so unique is the fact that it allows you to choose your drinks based on what you want to put in them. Have you ever been with friends, and someone says they want to drink Tequila, but they don't know how to make very many different types of drinks with it.
Well, with the Ajax Bartender application, you can choose Tequila, and then you are able to choose what you want to mix it with and an entire list of various drinks featuring the two ingredients you want pop up on your screen. This is perfect for holiday party ideas, spur-of-the-moment get together with friends, or just a great companion when you go bar hopping. You will never have to wonder what you're going to drink that night.
Another great application is a far cry from the above one; however, it serves an equally important role in the life of a college student. Whether you are majoring in physical science or criminal justice, you will have to take math courses. And if you are like most people, than you have to have a calculator when you enter these dreaded classes. However, instead of having to carry your iPhone and a huge calculator, you are able to carry just your iPhone when it has the Belfry SciCalc installed. This scientific and programming calculator will give you access to many different types of equations. Whether you need this calculator for Algebra, Trigonometric functions or even with standard math problems, this application can handle anything mathematical you throw at it.
Which is what makes this application perfect for a wide variety of college students, because it doesn't matter if you are working on a hexadecimal problem, or you can't remember what the square root of 164 is, you are able to use this calculator with ease and precision. Also, the main reason why so many people love this application is because it eliminates the need for a bulky scientific calculator, in most cases, and it allows you to carry only your iPhone. When you're in college, you have enough to worry about, so why not let your iPhone Belfry SciCalc take care of the math for you?
Iphone for business
As a business professional, you require accessories and other equipment in order to make your business life run smoother. One of the top ways to streamline your business communications is through having a cell phone that is dedicated to keeping you connected with your business world. The best cell phone for this type of use is the Apple iPhone. The reason for this is because with the iPhone, you are able to not only have crystal clear voice communication with your business contacts, but you are also able to check your e-mail, surf the Internet and text message quicker than you ever thought. Of course, when you're tired of dealing with the business world, you are able to listen to your favorite song and relax after a grueling day at the office.
However, having an Apple iPhone isn't enough to make your professional life streamlined and compact. There are many accessories for the iPhone that have been developed with the business professional in mind. You will find that with these various accessories, you will be able to become more productive as well as allowing your iPhone to better suit your individual needs. If you use your iPhone constantly, than you are probably tired of having to hold the device up to your ear, and you do more than likely not want to fill your ear with a headphone or Bluetooth set. If this is you, than you will want to have an iPhone accessory that not only frees your hands to type on the computer or make notes, but also your ears so you can hear what is going on around you, which is very important when driving in the car.
Perhaps the most unique professional iPhone accessory is the Blueant Supertooth II Speakerphone for the Apple iPhone. This unique accessory not only has the same benefits of a Bluetooth device, but it also frees your ears and your hands from any responsibility to the iPhone. This wonderful iPhone accessory provides you with chilling vocal clarity, even though the sound is being produced through a loudspeaker. It doesn't matter if you are in your office, at home, driving in the car or sitting in a coffee shop, this Bluetooth speakerphone will give you the freedom that you need to get your work done smoothly. With this product, you are given fifteen hours of talk time, as well as up to 800 hours of standby time.
One of the coolest features about this Bluetooth speakerphone is the fact that you can attach it to your sun visor within your car, allowing you to drive safely while still holding a crystal clear conversation. The reason why this accessory is so useful in the car is because unlike normal in-the-ear Bluetooth devices, your hearing is not obstructed in any way. If you have ever tried to have a conversation while driving with a Bluetooth device in your ear, it is easy for you to become distracted and you are also not able to hear your driving environment.
This poses a driving risk, and is not suggested. However, with this device you are able to drive in pure safety, without having to worry about becoming distracted. Also, this device is extremely portable, set up time for car use is literally less than five seconds. You are able to attach this device through a magnetic clip, thus making the transfer from car to car extremely easy. With this device you will not have to worry about your words not being heard by the person on the other end of the line, because you are given one of the best noise cancelling microphones in the industry. The individual you are talking to will be able to hear you, and only you, which is very important when holding critical conference calls.
In today's business world, you have to be ruthless and constantly taking note of the changing financial environment you are in. One of the greatest ways to do this is have a device that allows you to accurately control your expenses as well as keep track of how your money is being spent. If you have an Apple iPhone, than you most likely have a life that requires detail and organization. When it comes to finances, you must be extremely organized in order to make sure that your money isn't being thrown around. And when you have an iPhone, you are able to add applications to your device, that will help organize your life. One of the best productivity applications for the iPhone is the JustAddMoney Expense Tracker.
This amazing application not only allows you to keep track of your money, but also you are able to share this information through a multi-user online tracker. This is perfect for a business that wants to be constantly updated on the financial happenings of the company. With this application, you are able to update your expenses in real-time, by entering in checks, receipts, credit card purchases and even how much cash you currently have. Since you are able to add additional users to the expense tracker, you can see how much money everyone has spent before making the next big purchase.
One of the coolest features about this application is how it can accurately manage your finances, no matter how complex they are. If you are running a business, and you want to keep your decision making employees up-to-date with all of the financial happenings, than you can do so by creating an account for them. After you have created an account, you can transfer money from these accounts, organizing expense categories and even create financial reports based on a certain date. This will keep your financial reports extremely organized and easy to understand.
Also, when you have this application, you can have real-time updates to how much money has been spent, and where. This will save you time in waiting for your checks to clear with the bank, and also will keep you from being surprised when you open your credit card billing statement.
Another great application for the business-minded, as well as those who want to keep information private, is the Mobile Password Safe. In today's world, it is very important that you have a secure place to store all of your sensitive passwords, and what is a better place that your cell phone. You always have access to these passwords, however, only you are able to gain this access to the passwords. How this system works is you create labels for your passwords, and then put the actual password within the application.
After you have done so the passwords are actually decrypted into your browser, which means that plain text will never be transferred to the various servers. By doing so, this means your passwords can never be hacked and you are provided with 100% safety and security. If you have many passwords to sensitive locations, or if you just want to keep your online banking password even more protected, you will love this application.
overseas use for Iphones
If you are a business professional, than you use your iPhone for more than simply keeping in touch with your friends and family, in many cases your iPhone is your link to the business world. Whether you are keeping track of your stocks, checking your e-mail or conducting conference calls while on your way to a business meeting, your iPhone is literally your key to keeping connected with your professional life. However, if you are like most business professionals, than you travel the globe in order to keep your business active and profitable. There are many concerns that people have with cell phones are whether or not you will be able to use your phone when you are in a different country, especially if you are visiting for an extended period of time.
Like most cell phones, the iPhone works with a particular cell phone carrier, and in this case you have your service through AT&T/Cingular. Many business professionals want the security in knowing that their cell phone service will not be disrupted simply because they travel from country to country. Since the iPhone is serviced by AT&T/Cingular, you will not have to worry about loosing service, or features, because the iPhone uses the GSM system. GSM is an acronym that stands for Global System for Mobile communication, thus allowing you to use your cell phone in many different countries. Actually, there are over one hundred countries around the world that use GSM, thus allowing you to keep using your iPhone without any hindrance to cell service.
Many business travelers go to Europe and Asia, and since their iPhone uses GSM, they are able to have excellent service throughout both of these locations. However, there are some precautions that you will want to take before you leave the country with your iPhone. If you have ever traveled throughout the world and used your cell phone, you were probably surprised by extremely high charges for phone and data use.
This is because your number is an American telephone number, thus every call you make within another country is looked upon by your carrier as an international call. If you are overseas for quite some time, than it is easy to accumulate several hundred dollars worth of fees and roaming charges, this is why you will
want to alter you calling plan if you travel overseas frequently.
AT&T/Cingular has really great international calling plans that are very cost effective. Thus you are able to still travel throughout the world without having to worry about roaming and international call fees. Also, if you use data on your iPhone, which most of you do, you will want to make sure that you have an international data plan as well. The worst homecoming surprise you can get is opening your cell phone bill only to find several hundred dollars worth of extra charges and fees. However, if you plan ahead and make sure that you obtain a new service plan that includes international cell phone use, you will not have to worry about extremely high charges.
Send MMS Messages On IPhone
For those who have the Apple iPhone, it is probably quickly becoming your number one used electronic device, and why not? With such amazing features as internet access, music storage and the simplistic interface design, this product is literally taking the place of three major personal electronic devices. However, no matter what you use your iPhone for, it is still a cell phone, and with your cell phone there are several things that you expect it to do. One of the major reasons why so many people flocked towards the iPhone is because it promised to make text messaging extremely simple and convenient. And after using the iPhone for any length of time, it is easy to understand that text messaging with this cell phone is extremely easy and quick.
However, if you are used to being able to communicate to your friends and business partners through text and multimedia messages, or MMS, you may find yourself being extremely disappointed with the iPhone. The reason for this is because throughout all of the major improvements and superior features of the iPhone, it still lacks one simple feature. This feature is the ability to send MMS text messages, such as video and picture messaging. When many users first discovered the lack of this feature, there was an outcry because so many people rely on this means of communication to keep their contacts up-to-date on their current activities.
Even though the iPhone is an amazing piece of electronic equipment, not having the capabilities for sending MMS text messages is a major turn-off for so many potential customers and current ones as well. However, what if you were to find out that there was a way to get around this road block, and still send pictures of that funny looking dog to all your friends? Even though you can't send a MMS text message, there is a way to still send pictures to your friend's cell phones, without the means of text messaging. Most cell phones that have been made within recent years now come with e-mail capabilities, whether the users know this or not. It is by the means of e-mail that you are now able to send MMS messages to all of your friends.
It is extremely easy to do this with your iPhone, and requires very little time on your part. What you will do is "e-mail" the photos to your recipient; however, the person you are "e-mailing" doesn't have to have e-mail support on their phone in order to receive your message. The only requirement is your recipient must be able to receive MMS messages. What you will do is find the photo you want to send on your iPhone and tap the send photo link, which is located on the bottom left hand side of your iPhone.
To send the MMS message, you will include the recipient's phone number along with their carrier's e-mail prefix. An example of this would be 3145556847@tmomail.net for a T-mobile telephone number. This does require that you know who your recipient's carrier is, however, all you have to do is ask your friend who their cell phone carrier is. After you have done this, you will be able to send the MMS message to them, and they will receive it like a MMS text message.
Below are the Email Prefixes for the major cell phone carriers: Verizon, vzpix.com; AT&T/Cingular, mms.att.com; T-Mobile, tmomail.net; Sprint/Nextel, messaging.sprintpcs.com; Virgin Mobile, vmobl.net; Amp'd Mobile, vzwpix.com; Alltel, message.alltel.com
Protect Your IPhone
When you have an iPhone you regard it more than simply your cell phone. This amazing electronic device is literally connecting individuals to the outside world through more than mere vocal communications. You are able to check your e-mail and stay connected to your Internet Social Networking sites, as well as having access to a speedy QWERTY keyboard, which makes text messaging a breeze. However, it is within the various applications that you can install within your iPhone that truly makes it a one-of-a-kind device. iPhone owners respect their iPhone and think of it as a way to keep you entertained, connected and informed.
Of course, iPhones are not a cheap electronic device. In some cases individuals have paid more than six-hundred dollars for this cell phone when it first came onto the market. When you have made an investment into a product that is of this caliber, you want to protect it from the elements. However, buying an iPhone case is simply not going to provide you with ample protection. Out of any type of electronic device, you want to protect the most vulnerable part of the machine, and in this case, it is the touch screen. This touch screen is your link to your cell phone, music and internet, so if it becomes damaged, you will not be enjoying your iPhone for very long.
This is why there are many companies that have established products which are dedicated to protecting the iPhone's touch screen. However, one of the most popular screen protectors is the iPhone invisibleSHIELD by Shield Zone. This amazing product provides your iPhone with superior protection that will keep not only scratches from forming on the sensitive touch screen, but also it will keep your iPhone from becoming seriously damaged by objects.
The origins of the invisibleSHIELD come from the military where it was originally used to protect their helicopter blades from rocks and other items. The cool part is, the same technology has been applied to the invisibleSHIELD iPhone protector. You are now able to carry around your iPhone, without having to worry about scratching the surface, or even bumping it against the table.
When you have a product, such as the iPhone, you are literally streamlining all of your major portable electronics into one single product. This is why so many people take such care and pride in their iPhone. However, if you are like most people, than you use your iPhone on a regular basis, thus making the wear and tear possibilities extremely high, and while cases are a great way to protect your investment, they can be bulky and many users actually stop using the cases after a period of time.
With the invisibleSHIELD you are able to have high quality protection without having to add extra bulk to your iPhone. This is a great benefit that very few protection products have. When you are able to provide your precious iPhone with ultimate protection, while still keeping it extremely portable and thin, than you have a great product, and you will find this within the invisibleSHIELD screen protector.
One of the best features about the iPhone
One of the best features about the iPhone is how you can add additional applications to the phone, depending on your specific needs. If you are a business professional who needs help organizing your life, than you will love the productivity applications you can download onto your iPhone. However, if you are a simple iPhone user, who just wants to be better connected to the world around you, than there are many applications that you can choose from. One of the most popular applications for the iPhone is the WeatherBug application.
This amazing feature allows you to have up-to-date weather readings, which make planning a picnic extremely simple. How many times have you wondered what the weather was going to be like next week? Well, instead of tuning into your nightly news for the long-winded forecast, you can simply look to your iPhone and it will give you a detailed weather forecast.
Another great application that everyone should have on their iPhone is the Food Network Application. This application is perfect for families, as well as those who live alone but enjoy a great meal every night. With this application you are able to discover and read-off the hottest recipes from various Food Network shows. These recipes give you detailed instructions, as well as videos, to over 30,000 recipes. Are you in the mood for particular types of food, but you don't know exactly what it is? Well, you can browse the index of recipes depending on the type of ingredients it uses, how long it will take to cook as well as even holiday dishes. This application is one of the most useful apps that you can have on your iPhone, especially if you love to cook.
This next application is for those of us who adore music and going to concerts. The application is called MyMusicServed and it allows you to view and access information concerning concert dates, concert venue information as well as even driving directions to the venue. This is a great way to keep in touch with all of your favorite bands, and where they are playing next. However, one of the coolest features about this application is the fact that you can share what you see. You can e-mail a specific concerts' information to anyone in your address book by simply tapping, "Mail It."
After you have done this, you can send this vital information to anyone you want to share it with. Also, after you have bought your tickets and your friends are all ready to go, you can get seamless driving directions to the venue.
However, these driving directions are unlike any that you have ever seen. They will give you detail directions, as well as traffic information. This is extremely important because the last thing you want to do is be stuck in traffic while your favorite band is playing one of their greatest shows. With this application you can streamline your musical life, and have constant access to the bands that you love. Whether you are an avid concert attendee, or if you just enjoy knowing who is playing where, you will love this application.
Is Apple Working on Flash or Just Stalling?
“At launch, the iPhone version of the Safari browser is missing some plug-ins needed for playing common types of Web videos. The most important of these is the plug-in for Adobe’s Flash technology.
”Apple says it plans to add that plug-in through an early software update, which I am guessing will occur within the next couple of months.“
Mossberg certainly might have inside information on Apple’s plans, but there are a number of facts that suggest Apple may not really be interested in delivering Flash at all.
When originally asked about Flash and Java on the phone, Jobs said no to Java, but said Flash was a ”maybe.“ It is interesting that he did not say ”we’re working on it as hard as we can.“ Contrast his comments on 3G mobile data service, which were closer to, ”we’re working on it, EDGE is okay now, and we have WiFi.“
We Don’t Recommend It.
In ”Optimizing Web Applications and Content for iPhone,“ Apple makes a number of recommendations to iPhone web developers which do not exactly convey optimism about the speedy arrival of a Flash plugin. It makes four references to Flash:
•”Don’t bring up JavaScript alerts that ask users to download Flash. Flash isn’t supported and neither are downloads.“
•”Safari on iPhone does not support… Java applets, Flash, Plug-in installation“
•Under the section ”Unsupported Technologies,“ Apple lists one technology: Flash.
•”You’ll want to avoid using Flash and Java for iPhone content. You’ll also want to avoid encouraging users to download the latest Flash on their iPhone, because neither Flash nor downloads are supported by Safari on iPhone.“
Of course, Apple does like to focus on the here and now rather than future distractions. However, it doesn’t just tell developers to ”deal with the existing omission of Flash,“ but instead to begin using alternatives.
[Apple Developer Connection - Optimizing Web Applications and Content for iPhone]
Try This Instead.
Rather than dropping any hints about the imminent arrival of a Flash plugin, Apple is actively encouraging developers to ”Stick With Standards,“ recommending CSS, JavaScript, and Ajax.
”The web is always evolving, and as it does, so will Safari. You’ll want to keep informed of the evolving standards emanating from WHATWG and W3C standards bodies.“ The WHATWG, of which Apple is member, is specifically developing Web Hypertext Application Technologies, quite specifically alternatives to using Flash, Flex or AIR.
Apple isn’t just barking about web standards, it has eaten its own recommended dog food by stripping Flash from its corporate website entirely.
Apple is also working with Mozilla and Opera developers to advance the web browser into a real, standards-based application platform, not just a container for running Adobe Flash and Sun Java applets.
iPhone service fees
Apple doesn’t chat too much about the iPhone service fees AT&T shares with it. But the good folks at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (who make rules for how companies keep their books) have forced it to give us some clues. The accountants say that if someone promises to pay you money in the future (as AT&T does for each iPhone activated), you have to report this “deferred revenue” to investors.
All this makes Apple’s financial statement into a rather complex algebra problem. Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, has tried to do the math.
His bottom line is rather shocking: AT&T appears to be paying $18 a month, on average, to Apple for each iPhone activated on its network. That adds up to $432 over a two year contract. In other words, Apple will receive $831 for each iPhone it sells. (It’s a little less for iPhones sold in AT&T stores.) He can’t tell, of course, what makes up that average. Apple may, for example, receive higher payments for customers new to AT&T or those who buy more expensive monthly plans.
Mr. Munster says he was surprised by the numbers. He previously had estimated that Apple received $6.50 a month from AT&T. A carrier will typically subsidize the price of a high-end phone by about $200, he says. With the iPhone, AT&T is spreading the payments out over time, but ultimately putting up twice the typical amount.
The numbers will be harder to figure out from here on out, because Apple has started selling iPhones in Europe, where it has presumably different arrangements with carriers in Britain, Germany and France. But Mr. Munster says he figures the payments from them will be at least as much as from AT&T. And that certainly is consistent with reports that Apple has been demanding as much as 40 percent of the monthly fees from European carriers.
Still to Mr. Munster, this is incredibly bullish news for Apple investors. The higher revenue, of course, compounds Mr. Munster’s already optimistic view of the IPhones sales prospects. He figures Apple will sell a total of 3.4 million iPhones this year, 12.9 million next year and 45 million in 2009. The boom, he suggests, will come from increased features such as navigation and faster data speeds, as well as a lower price. He figures the average price of the iPhone, now $399 in this country, will drop to $300 in two years.
Mr. Munster assumes that the payments from carriers will then fall to $9 a month. As a result of this analysis, his estimate of Apple’s 2009 revenue increases from $36.2 billion to $42.8 billion. And the company’s net income per share increased by 14 percent. The bottom line: Mr. Munster’s target price for Apple’s stock, which today sells for around $184, goes to $250. (He had it pegged at $220).
All this shows how much incentive Apple has to maintain its exclusive deal with AT&T rather than to sell unlocked phones or cut deals with multiple carriers. AT&T is finding that an exclusive on the iPhone draws in new customers and lures existing ones to buy more expensive data plans. Carriers will keep paying Apple big kickbacks so long as its phones still stand out from the pack.
iPhone surfed the Web
Join the club. Even Steve Jobs says he wishes the iPhone surfed the Web "a little faster" than it does on AT&T's GSM/EDGE network.
With the reports this week that Apple (AAPL) is about to sign with this or that overseas provider, rumors are flying once again that the company is set to introduce a faster iPhone in the European market, where so-called third-generation (3G) cellphone networks are better established than they are in the U.S. (For a primer on the difference between 2G and 3G cellphones, see Bandwidth 101: Why the iPhone Is So Slow.)
So far, none of the 3G rumors has proved true.
The latest bit of misinformation on this front comes from Robert Cringely, whose column for PBS this week is subtitled "Expect a 3G iPhone for Christmas."
"It is my understanding," he writes, "that Apple and AT&T are planning a fall rollout for full 3G iPhone service, with technical trials already underway in certain AT&T markets."
Because he "can't believe that even Steve [Jobs] would make us buy new phones" only months after the iPhone's debut, Cringely spins an elaborate fantasy: inside the 2G iPhone, he speculates, Apple has hidden a 3G chipset and is just waiting for Christmas to turn it on. Or, as Cringely puts it:
It is very likely that a firmware upgrade will awaken the 3G within all you iPhone owners.
If only it were that easy.
Two analysts I checked with -- Jupiter's Micheal Gartenberg and Spark Capital's Todd Dagres -- both agree that a firmware upgrade wouldn't do the trick. To send and receive data at 3G speeds, the iPhone needs new hardware: specifically, a 3G radio. And photographs of disassembled iPhones show no such thing. I don't know much about cellphone chipsets, but I can read the specs on the Skyworks amplifier shown at right: "Power Amplifier Module for Quad-band GSM/EDGE," which is what you would expect in a Quad-band GSM/EDGE cellphone.
But don't take my word for it. When the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg asked Steve Jobs about his plans for a building a 3G iPhone, this is what Jobs said:
Mr. Jobs: When we looked at 3G, the chipsets are not quite mature, in the sense that they're not low-enough power for what we were looking for. They were not integrated enough, so they took up too much physical space. We cared a lot about battery life and we cared a lot about physical size. Down the road, I'm sure some of those tradeoffs will become more favorable towards 3G but as of now we think we made a pretty good doggone decision.
WSJ: Can you say whether 3G technology has evolved to the point where you're already working on including that in the next edition of the iPhone?
Mr. Jobs: No, we just don't comment on future stuff. (link)
So, if you're waiting for a 3G iPhone this Christmas: 1) Don't expect it to arrive as a free upgrade; and 2) don't expect Apple to tell you about it until it's good and ready.
Meanwhile, the iPhone works pretty well on Wi-Fi networks, if you can find one nearby that isn't locked down.
iPhone's User Interface
There's a lot of things I could write about regarding Apple's iPhone, but there are really three issues that stand out to me right away: the importance of the user interface, the implications of the iPhone for Apple as a company, and the significance (or lack thereof) about the fact that it runs OS X (some people are making a big deal out of this last one, but for all the wrong reasons).
The iPhone's User Interface
It's pretty amazing what Apple has been able to cram into such a tiny package … but what's really intriguing to me isn't the form factor so much as the user interface they've developed. Steve jobs explained it simply: current mobile phones (and, by implication, PDA's as well) are limited in function based on their fixed, inflexible keypads.
Just like a calculator, their capabilities and limitations are determined by the way we're forced to interact with them.
Apple has removed that limitation, tossed out the keypad and replaced it with something that can change on the fly, based on the task you want it to perform at any given moment. It makes for a device that's very cool and seems to have its own reality distortion field just like its creator. People seem spellbound by it.
Actually, the idea behind this type of user interface isn't new. The characters on the TV show Star Trek TNG, for example, used computer interfaces that worked a lot like the iPhone interface. Sit down at a workstation and the 24th century computer would present to you the display and virtual keypad you'd need to perform the task at hand. Get up and trade seats with a fellow crew member, and they'll get the interface they need for their job.
Pretty cool stuff. And now, at least in a very early stage, it has become a reality.
Of course there are going to be downsides to this kind of interface. Jason Fried says that the iPhone is not touchy-feely. He writes:
Rich textures have been replaced with androgynous glass [...] with a traditional phone or device with buttons you can feel your way around it. You can find the bumps, the humps, the cut lines, the shapes, the sizes. You can find your way around in the dark. Not with the iPhone.
It's an interesting point. I'm touch-typing this article right now almost as quickly as I can think it, and I'm doing it all without having to look at the screen or the keyboard. In fact, I just took my eyes off the screen and looked down at my cats while I was typing (they're pacing because it's close to their dinner time). I never could have done something like that while using an iPhone.
But is that necessarily a bad thing? Is the flexibility of this new type of interface worth giving up muscle memory for? Only time will tell, but I'll bet the answer is yes.
The iPhone and Apple as a Company
Steve Jobs opened the keynote by saying he wouldn't be talking about Macs at all during Macworld. That didn't seem like a big deal at first, in light of what came next. But upon further reflection, I think that there's a deeper statement being made here: Apple is placing its "consumer devices" (that is, its non-computer products) much higher on the food chain, at least as far as company focus and product emphasis are concerned.
We can actually think of Apple as a company that creates three things: computer hardware, consumer electronics, and the glue that binds them … the software (more on this later).
I think we'll also see a more clear division of focus from here on out when it comes to Apple's trade shows. Two shows, two concepts: WWDC is all about Macs and Mac announcements, and Macworld highlights consumer electronics and their entertainment delivery platform (the iTunes Store, iPod, Apple TV, etc.).
The iPhone and OS X
I was just as surprised as anybody when Steve Jobs revealed that the iPhone is running OS X. It's a great achievement, but people are making a big deal about it for all the wrong reasons.
The fact that the iPhone runs OS X is important because of the possibilities it opens to both Apple as well as (hopefully, maybe?) third-party developers. With OS X, there exists the real potential to leverage an existing platform in a whole new way. This is something that very rarely happens, and it truly is a-game changer.
It's also very cool that Apple was able to develop such a compact machine that's still capable of running OS X so smoothly. This is why people should be curious to find out what CPU the iPhone is using.
But that isn't why they seem to care.
Unfortunately, rather than focusing on the novelty of OS X on such a small and portable device, it seems like most people are astounded by the fact that OS X is running on a new, third CPU.
This isn't a big deal for the same reason that the switch to Intel - and the parallel existence of an Intel version of Mac OS X existed since the very beginnings of 10.0 - is also not a big deal from the software development standpoint.
Let me explain …
Why the CPU Doesn't Matter (much)
From the standpoint of most Mac developers, it doesn't matter much what CPU the machine they're developing for (Mac, iPhone, or otherwise) is using. It might matter if their application is doing very low-level work (the kinds of things Parallels does, for example). But most modern day programmers don't have to program against a specific CPU. They program using the framework, Cocoa for example, provided to them by their operating system's development environment. This framework knows how to interact with the underlying operating system, OS X for example, which handles all of the dirty work.
The developer programs the framework to draw a window, and a window appears. They don't need to worry about how the window got there or what to do when a user drags the window's title bar. The framework and operating system handle this type of thing for them.
Of course developing apps for the iPhone requires a different type of user interface design, attention to a new form factor, etc. but the actual type of code, in most cases, won't vary.
This framework is why developers who'd been using Apple's Xcode were, in most cases, able to make Universal versions of their applications available so quickly. Often, it was as easy as checking a box in Xcode and recompiling. The framework and operating system would handle the translation of code, as needed, from one CPU to another. So the apps work on PowerPC chips as well as Intel chips.
And now they might just work on the CPU the iPhone is using as well. All thanks to the Cocoa framework and OS X.
OS X is UNIX
To really understand why OS X on Intel (and now on the iPhone's CPU) isn't such a big deal, we need to consider that at the core, OS X is UNIX. It's based on FreeBSD, a great UNIX system built (primarily) for Intel CPUs and known for rock-solid stability. This is a big part of why Macs crash so rarely these days.
You'll notice that I mentioned (above) that FreeBSD was developed for Intel. Later, it was "ported" to work with other CPU's as well, but its primary focus has always been Intel. I believe that this focus played a big role in why Apple selected it as the basis for OS X. I think that Apple had been planning a switch to Intel all along, biding their time. The fact that the Apple had a complete version of OS X on Intel since day one is proof of this. So is the existence of Darwin (Apple's open source version of the OS X core operating system) for Intel.
In fact, Apple had to port FreeBSD to PowerPC before they could really get started working on OS X. It's even possible that Mac OS X 10.0 was an Intel operating system before it ran on the existing Mac hardware of the time.
OS X on Lots of CPUs: No Big Deal
UNIX has been running on many, many different CPUs since the beginning. This was one of its biggest selling points for ages: write your software for your UNIX of choice, and it should compile on any machine which can run that version of UNIX. Linux, a UNIX-like operating system, works just the same way. Sure, there are always issues when you're doing low level work (as mentioned above), or developing graphical tools that are based on a specific graphic card or architecture, but in general, things just work.
In fact, what works on one UNIX often "just works" on another UNIX. Most open source software, like MySQL and Apache for example, will often compile with few or no operating-system specific tweaks … and usually with no hardware specific tweaks whatsoever.
Again, this was one of the main reasons Apple wanted Mac OS X to be FreeBSD-based in the first place. As Steve Jobs explained at WWDC a year ago when he announced the switch to Intel, they've always had a version of Mac OS X running on Intel.
What's an OS, Anyway?
In a recent article, John Gruber writes:
Mac OS X and OS X are not the same thing, although they are most certainly siblings. The days of lazily referring to "Mac OS X" as "OS X" are now over.
To understand this statement, which is only a footnote in his article, I think we need to break down what we really mean when we're talking about an operating system.
Wikipedia defines an operating system like this (emphasis is mine):
An operating system (OS) is a computer program that manages the hardware and software resources of a computer. At the foundation of all system software, the OS performs basic tasks such as controlling and allocating memory, prioritizing system requests, controlling input and output devices, facilitating networking, and managing files. It also may provide a graphical user interface for higher level functions.
In many circles, the OS is thought of as being limited to only the lower level functions, such as the kernel, device drivers, the things that sit below the parts of the software that we, as users, ever have contact with - and not including the parts we actually touch (so to speak) when we're sitting in front of a computer.
Today, most people, especially non-programmers, use the term operating system to mean "the software I use to interact with my computer." They mean both the underlying tasks like writing files to hard drives as well as the visual presentation and interaction layer between user and machine … something traditionally called the graphical user interface.
In UNIX, the kernel and device drivers (the software moving data around behind the scenes) and the GUI (what we interact with when we use the computer) are separate pieces of software. This is one of the reasons why Apple was comfortable releasing Darwin, the open source version of OS X. Darwin is basically OS X without the Mac OS X GUI.
This follows the UNIX style of thinking perfectly. Anybody who has used UNIX systems like Solaris, AIX, FreeBSD, or Linux know well that the operating system (like FreeBSD) is not the GUI (usually the X Windows System).
And it gets even more complicated. In many (even more geeky) circles, the operating system is actually defined as being only the kernel and device drivers, but not the tools that are often bundled along with them.
So to clarify: We should probably think of OS X as the kernel and device drivers, as well as a bunch of other underlying software that makes the computer (be it a Mac, an Apple TV, or an iPhone) run. The rest of the software, the stuff that controls how we interact with the system, varies based on the device's purpose and function (desktop computer, set-top box, phone, etc.).
From Here to There
Still here? Good! The last bit then, is to consider how Apple would actually take OS X from one CPU to another … so that Cocoa developers (Apple's or otherwise) can start writing code.
It's no small feat, that's for sure, but it doesn't mean staring over from scratch.
Let me present an overview of the steps an operating system and framework developer, like Apple, might take to port a UNIX-based system from one platform to another.
1. Hack the kernel to work on the new CPU
2. Hack (or create) the device drivers for the new CPU
3. Compile a version of the development tools
4. Use the development tools to recompile the rest of the OS
5. Ship it
Of course it's not quite that simple, but that's the gist of it. And as I've mentioned, this exact thing has been going on for years in the UNIX world.
So in the end, we don't have to care what CPU the iPhone is running after all.
That is, unless we're curious about how hot it'll get in our hand when Core Image running full steam …
iGiki.com has announced that it will release several games designed for Apple's iPhone
iGiki.com has announced that it will release several games designed for Apple's iPhone around the same time that the highly anticipated device launches in later this month. The games are developed in Adobe Flash CS3 and are modified for use without a mouse. iGiki.com's games are separated into GikiSingles, GikiPacks, and GikiMinis. iGiki.com has priced the Arcade GikiPack and Brain KikiPack at $2 for three months, which includes GikiPods with the subscription. GikiMinis are free, and the GikiSingles are available for $1 each for three month periods.
GikiSingles include iTrek, challenging players to pilot a space ship to various locations while racing against the clock; HangMan, a version of the classic word game designed for iPhone; Outer Wars, a 3D shooter enabling players to fly into the outer galaxies; Sink or Swim, challenging players to help save overboard crewment from sharks by throwing lifejackets; and zBlast, an action shooter that boasts intense challenges.
GikiPacks are remakes of classic arcade games which include iTetri, OnPop, Squiditch, and EuroDarts. GikiMinis are free games that introduce iPhone users to the service, and the company is offering mobile mini magazines titled GikiPods.
iPod Touch and iPhone by iGiki.com
There is great new entertainment available for those of you who own the iPod Touch or iPhone. An Ultra Games Bundle containing more than 35 games has been released for the iPod Touch and iPhone by iGiki.com which is the leader in this domain.
According to Everett of iGiki.com they have made the iPod Touch and iPhone more fun for users. Now they plan to spice up the holidays with this release just in time for it. The cost of the Ultra Games Bundle DVD is $19.99. It is available for shipping and handling instantly. Also available are professional gift wrapping services if you want to present someone the bundle.
iGiki provides mobile content and specializes in entertainment and gaming for the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and other touch screen devices. Many innovations have been put on the market by iGiki. These have been engineered to keep up with the quick pace of consumer lifestyle. The first third party applications for the Apple iPhone were introduced by iGiki. Included in these was the first 3D game.
iGiki always tries to enhance the entertainment experience of its consumers. To this end it offers over 60 titles of content. The latest offering - The Ultra Games Bundle is made with this in mind.
iPhone upgrade
iPhone is a mobile phone dedicated to the entertainment of its users and has unlimited other entertainment functions which are available in market for the users. One must have heard about different software upgrades, sound options and now many games are also available for one to play on new Apple iPhones. It's good news for all the gamers who had to carry the Nintendo's and PSP along with them wherever they went. Now it will be easy for them as they can download games on their iPhones and play them whenever they want. Many big names in the gaming industry are introducing their cult games in the market. IGiKi.com has recently announced releasing many such games for iPhone users. These games will be launched very soon in the near future. They will be easy to download and install for the users. The games have been developed by using Adobe Flash CS3 software and are modified to be played on the iPhones without the use of mouse. These games will be mainly available in three versions as GikiSingles, GikiPacks, and GikiMinis which are priced accordingly. GikiPacks are priced at $2 and have validity for 3 months while for GikiSingles you will have to pay $1 for three months subscription and the GikiMinis are available for free. GikiSingles includes games like Hangman, iTrek and several others. The GikiPacks are supposed to be remakes of the famous arcade games which one used to play in their childhood.
Members of the Dutch royal family are among the latest to own iPhones
Members of the Dutch royal family are among the latest to own iPhones, German and Dutch sites are reporting. Willem-Alexander, the Prince of Orange and heir to the Dutch throne, was yesterday spotted buying two iPhones with his wife, the Argentinian-born M?xima. The purchase was unusual in that it was not made at a European store, but rather at Apple's Fifth Avenue outlet in New York City, where the iPhones are by default locked to AT&T; to use an iPhone in the Netherlands, owners must either buy an unlocked device from France or Germany, or else install hacks.
The decision to buy iPhones in America was likely influenced by exchange rates, since the US dollar is at its lowest point in years, while an officially unlocked phone costs a minimum of €749 ($1,105) before service fees. M?xima is also said to regularly visit New York City, while Willem-Alexander is said to be a regular participant in Dutch Apple forums.
The Dutch government is reportedly unhappy with the circulation of a photo of the prince and his wife at the Apple Store (seen below), and is currently asking Dutch websites to take them down.
iphone gps
It is all rumors at this point but apparently Dutch GPS navigation system manufacturer TomTom is developing an add-on module for the iPhone. We’ve had many thoughts on getting GPS on iPhone and this one seems to be the closest as far as a real navigation system (unlike the GPS-free version through Navizon or Google Maps soon available on iPhone).
Further rumors suggest this GPS module will be unveiled at MacWorld 2008 next month and the actual product will have maps of the continental U.S. instead of Netherlands and will also work on an actual vehicle dashboard unlike a wooden table as seen in the slightly fake picture.
However, what makes this rumor slightly credible is that TomTom already offers the software to bring GPS navigation to PDA and other mobile devices (TomTom NAVIGATOR 6) and Apple may choose them over other brands because of their experience in the field
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