RockMelt - Everyones Favorite Social Browser Goes Mobile

The social web browser RockMelt, which is based on Google's Chromium engine, is extending it's reach with a real-time synced browser for the iPhone/iPad. TechCrunch's Eric Schonfeld speaks with RockMelt's Co-founder and CTO Tim Howes in the following video, explaining the features and benefits of the mobile app. 

Hey Tim... android please! 

iPhone Let You Down In 2011?

It seems as though the iPhone has had another clock related issue resulting in non-recurring alarms not functioning after the stroke of midnight on January 1st 2011. Many Apple related message boards and twitter posts are showing frustration amongst iPhone owners. The following is a post from a thread on Apple's own support forum:

Hi, 

I'm really quite annoyed Right now with apple, my iPhone alarm didn't go off meaning I was late for everthing, what the heck is the matter with it?

I understand there is some sort of glitch due to the new year 2011? Does anyone know how to fix this as I need my phone to wake me up,

Thanks in advanced, 

Sam. 

It doesn't appear as though Apple officials have posted a response to this however one user suggests:

It will be fine tomorrow, or set a recurring alarm instead.

Don't you have a regular alarm clock?  

My Android device is working just fine thanks :)

French Security Firm Warns Of Apple IOS / PDF Vulnerability

French security firm Vupen has reported a vulnerability targeted at Apple products running IOS, namely the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, that could allow hackers to take control of your device. The scam is an old one, lure users to a malicious website planted with an infected PDF document. It's been done before on PCs but this is the latest in a string of attacks aimed at Apple's popular mobile devices. It would seem as though Apple is feeling the pain long suffered by Microsoft, it's tough being at the top!

Apple is looking into the claim.

Credit: The Globe and Mail

Doodle Jump - 5 Million Downloads And Still Jumping

What started as an attempt to make a little extra money by two Croatian born brothers has turned into an iPhone sensation with a reported 5 million downloads to date. Doodle Jump is a $0.99 download from the iTunes App store and  Igor and Marko Pusenjak believe their little game is the first to reach the 5,000,000 download mark. The brothers have quit their day jobs and now dedicate all of their time to iPhone - iPad development through their company  Lima Sky.

“I remember a moment of frustration when we were selling only 20 or 30 copies a day,” he said, “then we made it into the top 25 apps and we’ve been there for almost a year now.” Growth of sales is also aided by their fans who post videos showing off their skills and via a number of Facebook groups dedicated to the game and it's fans.

Well done Igor and Marko! Great success story.


Credit: NY Times Bits Blog

Police Seize Gizmodo Editor's Computers

Gizmodo editor, Jason Chen, who blogged about the mysterious nextgen iPhone found in a bar has had his computers seized by a technology related police task force. The investigating officers as well as the San Mateo County’s chief deputy district attorney, Stephen Wagstaffe, have declined to comment on the matter. 

I would say it's looking less likely that this was an Apple publicity stunt... authorities acting on a court order apparently entered Chen's home and removed four computers and two servers. 

More at the NYTimes Bits Blog.

Adobe Will No Longer Support iPhone Development Tool

It would appear as though Adobe has given up it's fight with Apple over developer tools ,after Apple updated the terms and conditions of the license that software developers must sign to create and sell apps for the iPhone and iPad shortly before Adobe's release of Creative Suite 5 earlier this month. CS5 was Adobe's tool that would open up the path to iPhone and iPad for Flash developers, Apple however wants full control over it's platform and is playing rough.

Mike Chambers, Adobe's principal product manager for developer relations has written on his blog "...as developers for the iPhone have learned, if you want to develop for the iPhone you have to be prepared for Apple to reject or restrict your development at any time." 

It's as if Apple has a burly bouncer at the door to an exclusive club, and that's why I love my android powered phone! 

Sorce: BBC

Gizmodo Asked To Return Nextgen iPhone Prototype To Apple

Whether they found the device as they claim, or they paid $5,000 for it as has been reported, Apple just want's their prototype next generation iPhone returned to them by Gizmodo. The popular tech blog had earlier posted photos and video of the device that some speculated was a knock off, but it would appear by Apple's reaction that it is the real deal. Gizmodo shared a letter received from Apple lawyers stating in part that "This letter constitutes a formal request that you return the device to Apple," to which Jason Chen of Gizmodo writes "Now that we definitely know it's not some knockoff, and it really is Apple's, I'm happy to see it returned to its rightful owner,"

Perhaps a third scenario exists where this is a new tactic by Apple to generate hype about the new product!

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/04/20/tech-iphone-4-gizmodo.html?ref=rss#ixzz0ljNiNsqf

Apple Smack Down Ads Continue...

With a plethora of smartphone choices in the marketplace Apple has taken to the air waves again in a show of oneupmanship with the holiday season in full swing. This time however, Apple has not been so bold as to name it's rival, perhaps that's because there are multiple targets? It'll be interesting to see how the competition reacts and who will fire the next volley? Will Google stick to it's "do no evil" motto or will Microsoft see this as an opportunity to shoot back for the I'm a Mac... I'm a PC ads in the wake of the recent iPhone security problems?

Apple iPhone Ad - Did You See My Email? from Arik Hesseldahl on Vimeo.

iPhone/iPod Touch Owners Rickrolled By ikee Worm

A self-propagating program believed to be the first iPhone worm, that changes an iPhone's (or iPod Touch's) wallpaper to a picture of Rick Astley with the message "ikee is never going to give you up", has been unleashed in Australia. Known as "ikee" the worm only affects devices that have been jail-broken, have had SSH installed (a program that allows users to make changes to the phone's file system), and who's owners have not changed the default root password after installing SSH.

"What's clear is that if you have jail-broken your iPhone or iPod Touch, and installed SSH, then you must always change your root user password to something different than the default, 'alpine'," wrote Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos.

"In fact, it would be a good idea if you didn't use a dictionary word at all."

Source: BBC

Skype Calls on iPhone Now Permitted By AT&T

On Tuesday AT&T reversed its position on voice over IP (voip) calls via it's cellular data network. Now iPhone users will be able to use their devices along with services such as Skype to make calls over the internet. “IPhone is an innovative device that dramatically changed the game in wireless when it was introduced just two years ago,” Ralph de la Vega, chief executive of AT&T’s consumer and wireless unit, said in a statement. “Today’s decision was made after evaluating our customers’ expectations and use of the device compared to dozens of others we offer.” What about Google Voice?

Source: NYTimes

Air Canada Launches iPhone App

Air Canada has released an iPhone/iPod Touch application that, according to the CBC, allows passengers to "check in with their device, select their seat, retrieve electronic boarding passes and keep track of real-time flight status and information."

"This is only the first iteration of our app, and we will continue to add new features in response to customer demand." Air Canada executive vice-president Ben Smith said of the application developed for the airline by IBM Canada.

iPhone 3.0 Upgrade Causing Some Owners Issues

The reports seem to be mixed over the newest version of the iPhone Operating System. Some users are excited and have reported no issues while others are frustrated after many failed attempts, dubbing the upgrade "iFail". According to the NYTimes Bit Blog "Reports are flooding Twitter and the Web that attempts to upgrade their devices to the latest version of the iPhone operating system are being hit with an error message stating that the “iPhone activation server is unavailable.”" Sounds to me like an indication of just how many iPhones are in the wild, Apple likely didn't expect all of you iPhone users to upgrade at once...

Analysts Agree Apple May Cut Price Of iPhone

Speculation is that Apple is getting ready to cut the price of the iPhone and create a two tiered offering of Basic and Pro models. The feeling amongst analysts is that Apple will offer an 8GB model for $99 which would prop up sales in a slumping economy. "We expect a price cut to the current generation iPhone to drive 50 per cent to 100 per cent incremental unit demand," said Morgan Stanley analyst Karen Huberty. RBC analyst Mike Abramsky expects three prices -- $99, $199, and $299 for the 32GB iPhone Pro.

Source: Globe and Mail

New Yorker Cover Art Painted On iPhone

The June 1 cover of the New Yorker Magazine was created entirely on an iPhone by artist Jorge Colombo using the $4.99 Brushes application he purchased through the apps store. The amazing process was captured in the following video:



“I got a phone in the beginning of February, and I immediately got the program so I could entertain myself,” says Colombo. “Before, unless I had a flashlight or a miner’s hat, I could not draw in the dark.”

Source: New Yorker

iPhone OS 3.0 - With Cut and Paste

Much to the delight of all and surprise of few, Apple at it's OS 3.0 event has announced the inclusion of a cut and paste functionality that many had pondered the exclusion of since the first devices hit the street. According to the New York Times:

"Among the new tricks of the updated software are features that will allow developers to create multiplayer games that work over a phone-to-phone wireless connection, and ways for iPhone applications to push messages to users even when they are not running.

That last improvement could unleash a new wave of creativity on the iPhone. Companies like ESPN can send scores to sports fans, and instant messaging can now become far more practical on the device."

9 Year Old Writes iPhone App

According to his father, nine year old Lim Ding Wen "...is now an iPhone developer, with his software Doodle Kids available in Apple App Store. Ding Wen is also probably the world youngest iPhone developers." The program, written by Ding Wen for his younger siblings, allows you to draw colourful images on your iphone with the touch of your finger, shaking the iPhone clears the screen like a modern day etch-a-sketch. According to his father's web site "Ding Wen is an ActionScript and JavaScript programmer. He also understand Applesoft BASIC, GSoft BASIC, Complete Pascal, Orca/Pascal and a little Objective-C." Lim Thye Chean, Ding Wen's father is the chief technology officer of a technology company in Singapore and writes "The goal of Virtual GS" a tool he created "is to bring back the fun and excitement of Apple IIGS programming for all the young children, especially my son Ding Wen."










Source: CBC

Voip Enable Your iPod Touch

It may not be an iPhone but with the addition of a freeware application called truphone and a clip on microphone you can turn your iPod Touch into a Wi-Fi powered Voip phone. "There are a slew of new features we're rolling out for the iPod Touch that will let users call landlines, Skype users or send instant messages. We're talking weeks, not months, before these go live." said Geraldine Wilson - Truphone's CEO. You won't be able to make calls from anywhere like you can on the iPhone, you'll have to be in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot, but then again you won't be locked into a rediculously high priced cell phone contract either... cool!

BBC Story here.

Google Mobile App - Voice Search On The iPhone

Google has added voice search to the Google Mobile App for the iPhone. With the app running a user simply has to put the phone to their ear, wait for the beeb, and speak their search query. Taking things a step further Gummi Hafsteinsson, Product Manager says on the Official Google Blog "When you do local searches, Google Mobile App can now automatically use your location to make results more relevant to where you are."

Now if only Google could read your mind and provide you with the search results... on second thought, no!

Apple Sells More Smartphones In Quarter Than RIM

Steve Jobs is reveling in the fact that for the first time since the iPhone was launched it's sales out paced those of Research In Motions Blackberry devices. A report released Thursday by U.K.-based research firm Canalys showed Apple shipped approximately 6.8 million iPhones compared to RIM's 6 million Blackberry devices during the 3rd quarter of '08. Jobs said during a conference call announcing Apple's 3rd quarter results "I'd like to point out [a] remarkable milestone resulting from iPhone's outstanding performance last quarter," he said. "Apple beat RIM." The number gives Apple a 17.3 percent share of the overall 39 million smartphones shipped in the quarter and pushed the company into the number 2 spot behind Nokia who owns 38.9 percent of the market.

Canalys also noted however that RIM showed a year over year increase of 80% and that there were many factors at play. The 3rd quarter was expected to be high for Apple with the release of the iPhone 3G and RIM will likely have had many faithfuls awaiting the arrival of the Blackberry Storm.

CBC Story.

iPhone Recession Proof?

According to the Globe and Mail 255,000 iPhones were sold in Canada between its launch on July 11th and the end of September, and there appears to be no slowing down in sales irregardless of how the economy is performing. “We've seen time and time again that if people want something bad enough, they're willing to put themselves in debt or save less in order to buy it,” said consumer research analyst Josh Martin of Boston-based Yankee Group. “It would be interesting to see if consumers are cutting out other things so they can afford to have their iPhone.” Martin added. They certainly have a lot of appeal and I've definitely noticed more of them in the wild, we'll have to keep an eye on the Christmas season sales numbers...