Month: January 2011

iOS 4.3 Reveals New iPhone and iPad Models

It’s been less than 24 hours since Apple started seeding iOS 4.3 Beta to developers and we’ve already found out many new features the new OS brings, but news doesn’t stop there.

The eagle-eyed folks over at Engadget have made another interesting discovery. Within the iOS 4.3 Beta code there are references to two new iPhone models and three new iPad models. The model names that appear include iPhone (4,1 and 4,2) and iPad (2,1, 2,2, and 2,3)...

Microsoft Claims that Apple Can’t Trademark “App Store”, Proceeds to Throw a Legal Hissy Fit

What do you do when your company has 66 billion dollars in revenue from last year? Invest in lots of hot startup companies and acquire more talented employees? No. You hire a highly-paid team of lawyers to file a pathetic motion for trademark denial to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

That's exactly what the giant industry grandfather, Microsoft, has done. Apple has already trademarked the phrase, "There's an app for that." But Microsoft doesn't think that Apple should have the rights to also trademark the term "App Store."

Although it's unclear as to whether Microsoft will win this appeal, it seems that Apple would have a stronger case. After all, the App Store has practically become a household name...

Rumor: Apple Will Remove the Home Button in the Next Version of the iPhone

A new, unexpected report from Boy Genius is claiming that the next version of the iPhone and iPad will have no home button. That's right, a device with hardly any physical buttons will lose its only major one. This rumor doesn't seem unlike Apple, we are talking about a company who took all of the buttons off the iPod Nano at one point.

It seems that the reason multitouch gestures were added to the iPad in iOS 4.3 is because Apple plans to implement such gestures for all iDevices. These multi-finger gestures would most likely replace the current functionality of the home button. Boy Genius Report reveals the following...

T-Mobile Ad Takes a Jab at Verizon and AT&T iPhones

We all knew it was bound to happen, but I don’t think we were expecting it this early. T-Mobile’s latest 4G campaign, featuring an Apple vs Mac style, takes a jab at both AT&T and Verizon.

Previously, T-Mobile aired several advertisements outlining the disadvantages of the iPhone on the AT&T network, including the inability to video chat over WiFi on the AT&T iPhone whereas the T-Mobile myTouch 4G can make calls anywhere.

The latest advertisement shows that there’s no fun in having a great handset running on a slow network, referencing AT&T’s unreliable 3G network and Verizon slow CDMA network, when T-Mobile’s network provides 4G speeds... 

Doing Business with Apple: Verizon’s Side of the Story

By now you must have heard that AT&T didn't have the exclusivity of the iPhone anymore, as Apple signed a multi-year deal with Verizon. Business Week has an interesting article showing how it took years for this agreement to take place.

In this article, Verizon's President Lowell McAdam gives us an idea of what it was like to deal with Apple. Let's analyze what he has to say...

Comex Waiting on Verizon iPhone for Next Untethered Jailbreak?

According to a recent tweet from well-known iPhone hacker Comex, the untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1 might be released after the Verizon iPhone’s debut. In reply to a tweet asking if Comex would wait for iOS 4.3 to release his untethered jailbreak, Comex replied:

“I don’t know, I think I’m waiting for the Verizon iPhone.”

So far, the only untethered jailbreak method available for 4.2.1 is the iPhone Dev-Team’s redsn0w 0.9.7beta6 which is currently Mac only...

More iOS 4.3 Beta Details, AirPlay Video for Apps, New Gestures

More information is trickling in regarding the new features packed into iOS 4.3 beta, and for fans of AirPlay, it looks like we have a winner.

As you're likely already aware of, Apple significantly gimped the functionality of AirPlay in their iOS 4.2.1 release, only allowing streaming from the iPod and YouTube apps. This led jailbreak developers to release tweaks like AllPlay and AirVideoEnabler to circumvent the lack of 3rd party app support.

The good news is that with iOS 4.3, these tweaks should no longer be necessary...

Apple Seeds iOS 4.3 Beta to Developers

A day after tales of the new iOS 4.3 came out touting the merits of the new Personal Hotspot feature, mostly due to the release of the Verizon iPhone, Apple started seeding iOS 4.3 beta to developers.

This pre-release version of iOS 4.3 is for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, as well as for the Apple TV. Hopefully this new iOS will have a few surprises for us. More to come soon...

iPhone Hacker Geohot Sued by Sony for Jailbreaking the PlayStation 3

We usually don't cover anything that is not related to the iPhone but I thought this piece of news was interesting enough to share with you. Apparently, wonder boy Geohot, the kid behind BlackRa1n, LimeRa1n, and more is being sued by Sony for jailbreaking the PS3 along with the fail0verflow team, a group of hackers dedicated that focus their efforts on Sony's PlayStation.

Sony basically claims that jailbreaking the PS3 is illegal because it facilitates game piracy. Geohot posted the Motion for Temporary Restraining Order as well as the Proposed Order on his website...

A Closer Look at The Verizon iPhone’s ‘Personal Hotspot’

Yesterday, the Verizon iPhone was announced. Not much is different; there is a new CDMA antenna and mobile hotspot feature coined as "Personal Hotspot." This new (currently) Verizon-specific iPhone feature mimics popular jailbreak utilities like MyWi.

Personal Hotspot will be a new, pre-installed software feature for the Verizon brand of iOS. This mobile hotspot feature has been available on most Android phones for quite some time. Some more details have surfaced about Personal Hotspot...

New Verizon iPhone Could Significantly Alter Apple’s Release Strategy

One of the things that concerns me about the release of the Verizon iPhone 4, is how this anomaly in the iPhone release schedule will change Apple's strategy. Will it change it at all? Will it be business as usual come June 2011? The main group of people that are potentially impacted from this change are current iPhone owners, AT&T customers.

Are we still likely to see the next iteration of the iPhone released this summer, or does this bring significant change to what we've all grown accustomed to over the years?

Has Apple Finally Solved the iPhone 4 Antenna Woes?

Now that the Verizon iPhone 4 has been officially unveiled, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to replicate the infamous "death grip" which causes signal degradation to the point of dropped calls. Those issues stemmed from the way the iPhone 4's antenna was designed, which resulted in attenuation issues when holding the device a certain way.

After a few flat out denials and a misguided PR campaign, the situation was dubbed antennagate, after the famous Watergate political scandal of the 70's. Now that Apple has released a revised version of the iPhone 4 in order to meet the compatibility standards of Verizon's CDMA network, were they able to address the antenna issues along the way?