How to Password Protect Specific iPhone Apps

Sébastien Page ∙ June 10, 2010

LockDown is a new application available in Cydia that lets you protect individual applications with a password. If like me your iPhone gets into many hands, there might be some applications you'd like to use LockDown with.

If you have an iPhone and your kids are used to play with it, installing LockDown on a few of your apps might be helpful to prevent them from accidentally delete some of your stuff.

LockDown gives another layer of protection to your sensitive data, even though we saw that anyone willing to can easily steal your iPhone data.

You can download LockDown from Cydia for free. One advice though, don't do the mistake I just did... Don't install this on your iPad (at least not as of today) because it is not compatible and will get you into trouble...

Read More

Invisible Shield for iPhone 4 Now Available

Sébastien Page ∙ June 9, 2010

The new iPhone 4 isn't even out yet that screen protection is already available for it. Zagg was quick to update its product line with a new Invisible Shield for iPhone 4.

Yesterday I wrote an article in which I was mentioning the iPhone 4 will probably cost more in screen protection since it is covered with glass on the front and the back. I'm not big on screen protection but for testing the Invisible Shield in the past on my 3GS, I can tell it's great quality products.

Invisible Shield is so tough that Zagg backs it with a lifetime guarantee. So, if it ever does wear or scratch, they will replace it for free, for the life of your device.

If you feel like you're going to need protection for your iPhone 4, click here to learn more about Invisible Shield for iPhone 4.

Read More

Steve Jobs A Modern Day Willy Wonka?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 27, 2018

After Monday's keynote address by one of the most recognized and charismatic people in the industry, I couldn't help but be in awe of Apple's latest creation. It didn't matter that there was no mention of a Verizon iPhone in the works, or that the screen size was gonna stay at a complacent 3.6".

It was all the magic, the way they presented FaceTime and iMovie for the iPhone with HD recording. It was the fact that 9 years ago, this was done in a tiny lecture hall in front of a handful of people when Steve Jobs introduced the first ipod.

Just to think about the type of evolution that has taken place in consumer electronics, mobile phones and media players in particular is mind blowing. And as much as most people hate to admit it, the juggernaut from Cupertino is responsible for a lot of the industries progress. From the iPod to the iPhone and iPod touch, and now more recently the iPad, Apple seems to pick areas in the market where there's not a a dominant leader, and set a standard.

Full touch screen phones were a joke before Apple came in and set a standard, no stylus, no combing the internet for compatible applications. Same can be said for iPad. The tablet industry was made up of heavy, stylus only machines that took up as much space as a regular laptop, so weren't too practical as a notebook substitute.

If you watched the iPad get introduced, one 'buzz' word Steve Jobs kept mentioning was "magic." This was a magic device that completely revolutionized how you could interact with a computer. And even though the naysayers put in their 2 cents, "where's the webcam, where's the usb port, etc." after selling 2 million iPads in the first 60 days, it's safe to say Apple's got another hit on their hands.

And with a slew of tablets scheduled to hit the market later this year, also running mobile phone operating systems (Android, web os anyone?), once again Apple has set a standard in an area that had no definite leader, not to mention, setting the bar awfully high in terms of design and function.

Not only has Apple been a constant leader in the industry, their products have garnered near celebrity-like attention, especially their unreleased ones. As typical before any large Apple event where Steve Jobs is scheduled to keynote, the gadget blogs and mac-focused web sites were swirling with rumors of possible product announcements.

This year even saw a story unfold that captured the world's attention involving a prototype of Apple's new iPhone 4 design in a tale that save for the lack of murder (yet?), would fit right at home on any one of Jerry Bruckheimer's prime time crime shows.

In fact Steve Jobs himself has grown to celebrity status. He was seen attending the Oscar's this year, where his new magical device was used through out the night to read off winner's of various Academy awards. The iPad continued to make cameo's in TV shows and garner attention up to it's April 3rd launch date.

Much like the iPad, the new iPhone stirred up all kinds of discussion among tech blogs and gadget forums alike. What size camera will they use? Will they finally implement multitasking, the prototype appeared to have a front-facing camera, will video calls finally be a main stay here in the U.S.?

We talked about this thing until we were blue in the face, and why? It's simple. Steve Jobs has become a present day Willy Wonka. We all wait outside his factory in Cupertino, and try to imagine what goes on inside. I myself picture an almost Utopian like society where mythical creatures run about amongst wizards who wave their wands and things like iPads just kind of appear.

Whatever your mental image, chances are, yesterday when Steve Jobs took the stage you were glued to your phone or computer, hanging on every announcement Mr. Jobs made about the new iPhone.

And if you weren't one of the millions who tuned in to Macrumors.live or Boy Genius's coverage of the event, you are at least aware of its existence and probably could tell me when the device will become available.

This phenomenon had not become so evident to me until today visiting my local post office, I overheard a clerk who was well over 60 years old (not profiling, just telling you facts) discussing with another senior citizen the problems Steve Jobs had during his keynote yesterday accessing the internet on the new iPhone due to 500+ wifi devices running. Even when Microsoft and Bill Gates were at their peak of domination, they never produced this much media attention.

Call it "magic", call it innovation, call it whatever you want, but just a few days after the announcement of the new iPhone 4, people are already guessing what the next Apple product to receive a refresh will be. A new mac mini? A revamped Apple TV? A "magic" touch pad device? Apple's ability to make something that appeals to everybody due to sexy design and simplicity is only out done by its own way of capturing our imagination and making us "think different."

In fact this is the one company where someone says "what will they think up next?" and your mind really ventures off into the seemingly  impossible because with Willy Wonka and his Cupertino factory, you never know how to answer that question.

Read More

iPhone 4 Likely to Cost Twice the Price in Screen Protection

Sébastien Page ∙ June 8, 2010

Part of the iPhone 4 presentation yesterday was the fact that both the front and the back of the iPhone will be made of glass. When I heard the news, I thought to myself "wow, it's gonna look so nice". Then a few seconds later my mind went a different way and I started to realize that with the iPhone 4, I'll have twice the trouble of protecting the screen.

I'm not big into screen protection. Products such as the Invisible Shield do a great job at protecting the iPhone but I like my iPhone naked. No case, no screen protector.

Things might change with the iPhone 4.

Apple's description of their new engineered glass is however quite reassuring:

All the breakthrough technology in iPhone 4 is situated between two glossy panels of aluminosilicate glass — the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains. Chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, the glass is ultradurable and more scratch resistant than ever. It’s also recyclable.

But will this be enough to protect the back of the phone against time? I really doubt it.

On top of worrying about protecting the front, you now will have to worry about shattering the front AND the back of your iPhone should you accidentally drop it.

I won't change my mind. I won't apply a screen protector but I know I'll be twice as careful with the 4 as I was with my 3G.

What about you? Will you stick your iPhone 4 in a case or under a screen protector?

Read More

Poll: Will You Buy the New iPhone 4?

Sébastien Page ∙ June 7, 2010

The new iPhone 4 was announced just a few minutes ago. If you haven't read much about it yet, you may want to check this article out: everything you need to know about iPhone 4.

Will you be buying the new iPhone 4? Please take the time to vote and leave a comment to let us know what you think.

Will you buy the new iPhone 4customer surveys

Read More

Everything You Need to Know About the iPhone 4

Sébastien Page ∙ June 7, 2010

Today Apple unveiled the long-awaited and imazing iPhone 4. Despite the fact Gizmodo spoiled the announcement, I'm still more than impressed with what I saw. Enough boring talk, let's see what this iPhone 4 has to offer.

Features of the iPhone 4 9.3 mm thick (that's 24% thinner than the iPhone 3GS) Front-facing camera Micro SIM LED flash for the camera A second microphone for sound cancellation Integrated antennas Glass on the front and the back 326 pixels per inch display Powered by Apple's A4 chipset The integrated antennas

If you look at the edge of the iPhone 4, you will see 3 lines that are part of the structure of the device. With the iPhone 4, Apple introduced something new. The stainless steel band around the iPhone is actually part of the antenna system.

In other words, the iPhone 4 has got integrated antennas right in the structure of the phone.

Retina Display makes the iPhone 4 an HD device

In any display, there are pixels. Retina Display dramatically increases the pixel density by 4 in the same amount of space.The result is that you get far more precised display.

Inside iPhone 4

Apple went with a Micro SIM because they needed the place for everything else, especially for the battery, which is the largest component of the iPhone 4.

A bigger battery

Because Apple gave the iPhone 4 a bigger battery and also because the A4 chip is better at power management, the battery life has been considerably improved. A fully charged iPhone 4 battery will get you as far as this

7 hours of 3G talk time 6 hours of 3G browsing 10 hours of wifi browsing 10 hours of videos 40 hours of music 300 hours in standby Three-axis gyroscope

Don't know what a 3-axis gyroscope is? Don't worry, I guess no one knew what it was until Apple introduced it today. I'm still very confused what this is about but I'm sure we'll learn more in the next few days.

My guess is that this is a much-improved accelerometer that will make your gaming experience better.

A 5MP camera

I was right when I predicted Apple will add a 5MP camera to the iPhone. Like Steve said, megapixels are nice but cellphone cameras are about capturing light. Apple kept the pixel sensors the same size while increasing them to 5MP.

Last but not least, the iPhone 4 also has a 5X digital zoom and a LED flash.

HD video recording

With such a nice camera, a powerful chipset, and a beautiful display like the iPhone 4, HD video recording doesn't really come as a surprise.

The iPhone 4 will record full HD videos, with 720p at 30 frames per second (that's just amazing) and will come with built-in video editing, and one-click sharing (YouTube, MMS, email, etc...).

iMovie for iPhone

Ok, now I'm going completely nuts just typing this. I can't wait to have my hands on the new iPhone 4.

For great videos, you need a great video editor. That's what Apple created with the iMovie for iPhone app.

With iMovie for iPhone, you will be able to edit your HD videos, add titles, transitions, import music from iTunes. According to Apple (and I believe it), there is nothing remotely comparable to this in terms of mobile video editing.

iMovie for iPhone will be for sale in the App Store for $4.99.

iPhone OS 4 is now iOS4

Apple renamed iphone OS to iOS. Why? I suppose the "phone" wasn't needed anymore now that the same OS goes into the iPhone, the iPod Touch and the iPad.

iOS4 comes with over 1,500 developer APIs, the biggest of them being multitasking.

iOS4 will come to the iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPod Touch for free on June 21st.

Unified inbox

That's one simple feature I've been waiting for a long time. Now you can get all your emails in one convenient spot.

Bing is not the default search engine

Remember the rumor saying the Bing would replace Google as the default search engine on the iPhone? Well, that was just a rumor. Although Bing will not replaced Google by default, it is an option you can choose in the settings, just like you can choose to make Yahoo your default search engine.

iBooks for iPhone

If you liked iBooks on the iPad, you will love it on the iPhone 4.

iBooks for iPhone has the same controls, the same highlighting, the same bookmarking, and the same PDF reading as iBooks for iPad. If you get a PDF in your emails, tap on it and you'll directly be taken to iBooks where you'll be able to read, bookmarks, create notes, etc...

Buy one book on your iPad and you can get it on your iPhone for free. Even better, all your notes and bookmarks will automatically sync between both devices.

FaceTime brings video chat to the iphone 4

This front-facing camera is going to be very useful to make video calling with the iPhone 4.

The downside is that FaceTime is only for iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 and only works over wifi. Apple says they are talking with cellular providers to get things ready for them. AT&T must be shaking right now...

The upside? Apple is going to make FaceTime an open industry standard. I'm not sure but I think this means that devs will be able to work around it to integrate it in their apps (Skype?).

AT&T offering early upgrades

Steve Jobs confirmed that AT&T will be offering generous upgrade offers to anyone whose iPhone contract expires sometimes in 2010. If you're one of those happy people, you'll be able to get the new iPhone 4 at the same $199 or $299 as a new AT&T customer.

iPhone 4 for sale on June 24

Forget the crazy rumor saying the iPhone 4 would be on sale the same day as the announcement. That was just silly.

The iPhone 4 will be available for pre-order on June 15 and will be for sale in 5 countries on June 24 (US, France, UK, Germany and Japan). 24 more countries will get it in July, and 88 more in September.

Colors and Pricing

The iPhone 4 will come in black or white, in 16GB ($199) or 32GB ($299). I'm kinda disappointed about the poor storage capacity...

Conclusion

First, I really want to thank Ryan Block and all the Team at GDGT who provided me with all the images and part of the info contained in this article. Thanks GDGT.

I really trashed Apple and the iPhone 3GS last year because this device didn't bring anything new. This year though, it's an all new device, much more powerful and packed with features I couldn't have dreamed of.

This is the Apple I like. This is a product I want to buy. This is something I believe in. The iPhone 4 is more than ever the phone of the future.

I'm not into waiting in line but I will pre-order my iPhone 4 as soon as it is possible.

What do you think of the iPhone 4? Are you impressed? Surprised?

Read More

iPhone 4 is the New iPhone

Sébastien Page ∙ June 7, 2010

No more guessing about what the name of the new iPhone is. Steve Jobs just announced the new iPhone, called iPhone 4.

When Steve Jobs revealed the name and what it looks like and said "stop me if you've already seen this", a nice little joke relating to Gizmodo leaking this last month.

The WWDC is still going on. Check the blog back in a few minutes for more info about the iPhone 4.

Read More

Steve Jobs Reveals the 3 Reasons That Can Get Your App Rejected

Sébastien Page ∙ June 7, 2010

How many times have we heard of iPhone apps being rejected for no know reason? Yes, like about one thousand times.

Today at the WWDC, Steve Jobs revealed more information about the amount of apps submitted and the 3 reasons that sometimes get them rejected.

Every week, 15,000 apps are submitted for approval in the App Store. 95% of these are approved within 7 days. The 5% remaining is rejected for one of the following reasons.

The number one reason: it doesn’t function as advertised. It doesn’t do what the developer says it does, so we tell the developer to change the app or the description.

The second reason: the developer uses private APIs. If we upgrade the OS and the app breaks, we won’t have a happy customer.

And the third most frequent reason: they crash.

If you were in our shoes, you’d be rejecting apps for the exact same reasons. I just wanted to give you the facts — sometimes when you read some of these articles, you may think other stuff is going on.

So now you know. [Credit image: gdgt]

Read More

Netflix for iPhone Coming This Summer

Sébastien Page ∙ June 7, 2010

Good news for Netflix customers. The Netflix app was previously available for iPad only, and even though a quick hack could get it to work on your iPhone too, that wasn't really ideal.

Netflix CEO Reed Harding just announced on stage at Apple's WWDC that the Netflix iPhone app would be available this summer.

I'm not sure what "this summer" means but I would assume it's going to be in the next month or so. [Image gdgt]

Read More