Steve Jobs and crew will be announcing the new iPhone in about 3 hours. As usual, I'll be frenetically typing and updating the blog with the latest information available.
So come back in a while to get up-to-date info about the newest, coolest and bestest iPhone ever.
If you don't feel like refreshing the page every 5 minutes, you can also follow me on Twitter where every new blog article published will be syndicated.
Yeahhhhhhh!
Are you excited?
Some good news just came from a tweet from Dev Team member MuscleNerd who confirmed that a jailbreak and unlock for the new iPhone, whatever its name, will be available this month.
This jailbreak/unlock will be for iPhone OS 3.1.3 and 4.0 and will be compatible with all basebands to date for iPhone 3G/3GS as well as the new iPhone.
I'm trying not to get too excited because history showed us that sometimes things don't go as expected and the release of a jailbreak and/or unlock could very well be delayed.
Still, I'll cross my fingers.
Wouldn't it be great if we could get the new iPhone and not wait too long for a jailbreak? That'd sure be another reason to update. What says you?
This is a summary of the articles that were published on the blog this week.
ProSwitcher HD for iPad to be released soon SmokeScreen to play Flash videos on your iPhone/iPad Netflix hacked to work on iPhone Quickly change wifi network with YFiSelect Really cool iPad magic How to turn your iPhone into a webcam Mover+ transfers photos and more between iPhones over the air AT&T announces new data plans and tethering for iPhone Featured iPhone theme: Stickers Verizon will not have the iPhone anytime soon How to check your AT&T data usage How to mount a USB stick on the iPad What is Apple going to reveal at the WWDC? Circuitous updated for iPad Remove unwanted details from your pictures with CaPixCaPix is a new application in the App Store that will help you remove unwanted details from any of your pictures quickly and easily.
Because a picture is worth 1,000 words, here are 3 screencaps of CaPix in action.
You can download CaPix from the App Store for $1.99.
The excellent Circuitous has been updated for the iPad. For those of you who don't know Circuitous, it is a custom app switcher that shows your open applications in a dock on top of your springboard from where you can easily and quickly launch and exit apps.
To get Circuitous to work at its best, you will need to install Backgrounder and Activator.
Circuitous previously made it in our list of best jailbreak apps for iPhone. Something tells me it's now going to make it in our list of best jailbreak apps for iPad.
Damn you Gizmodo for spoiling the only event I'm excited about in the tech world! If it wasn't for you Gizmodo, I'd still be dreaming of what the next iPhone will look like.
But sometimes I wonder if what Gizmodo revealed is really going to be what Steve Jobs will unveil this Monday at the WWDC. In my mind, all this "next iPhone debacle" can't be real. A 20-something kid from Apple can't be responsible for a new iPhone prototype. More importantly, he can't lose it in a bar. That just doesn't make sense to me.
On the other end, seeing how Apple ferociously goes after Gizmodo makes me believe they must do this for a good reason. I'm confused. I'm confused because I'm still not sure we know everything there is to know about the new iPhone. I'm confused because in my mind there can't be no surprise at this event.
So, what is Apple going to reveal iPhonewise on Monday? In the 10 predictions about the iPhone in 2010 I wrote last January, I gave a few hints to what I thought the iPhone would be like:
the new iPhone will still be for AT&T only (confirmed) improved battery life a 5 MP camera 64 GB of storage a louder speaker a new design backgroundingI still stick 100% behind what I said. Seeing the leaked new iPhone, I'm glad to add to the list that it will most likely have a front-facing camera and a camera flash.
If all these features come with the new iPhone, I'll be a happy camper. The iPhone will then be the device it was meant to be with features really competing with all these new Android phones.
Still, I'm expecting Apple to surprise us all with something none of us expected. If you had to make a wild guess, what do you think Apple will announce for the iPhone on Monday?
Yesterday I told you about AT&T's new data plans. While these plans will benefit a large majority of iPhone owners, there is still a few of us who'll have to closely monitor our data usage to make sure we don't go over board.
Checking your data usage on the AT&T network is pretty easy and straightforward and will prevent you from having bad surprises when the bill comes.
Checking Your AT&T Data UsageHow to check your data usage on AT&T's website
I think the best and most comprehensive way to check your data usage for your iPhone is to do so directly from AT&T's website. This will give you a nice graph showing the last 6 months of data activity, making it clear for you to see what you used through your 3G or EDGE data connection.
This graph excludes all data transferred over wifi network connections because this is not part of your AT&T data plan. That means you can download/upload as much as you want from your iPhone over wifi, you will never be charged for that.
How to check your data usage with AT&T's myWireless app
AT&T has a free application in the App Store called myWireless. On top of giving you important information such as how many voice minutes or SMS you've used, the app will also show you how much data you've used for the current billing period. That's a great way to monitor your data usage on the go directly from your iPhone.
I really like the myWireless app. It is clean and simple and it also allows you to pay your bill from your iPhone. I consider it a must-have.
That's it, now you should be able to manage and monitor your data usage efficiently. For those of you who decide to stay on the unlimited plan, that shouldn't be an issue at all.
If you have more tips and tips like this, please feel free to share them in the comment. [Credit images: TiPB - MacObserver]
How many times did I tell you that Verizon wouldn't have the iPhone this year? One? Two? Actually more than that but I'm not going to link to every article about it.
Verizon spokesperson John Johnson told Beet.tv that there is no plan for Verizon to support the Apple mobile devices, in the "immediate future".
Now we can play on the semantics of "immediate future" but to me it means, not this year, and probably not even next year. So forget all those unfounded rumors saying Verizon is testing the iPhone 4G or even the iPad on its network.
Again, Apple has a contract with AT&T to be the exclusive carrier for 5 years (there's another 2 to go) and according to Steve Jobs recent interview at D8 Conference, both Apple and AT&T have been doing quite well: "AT&T took a big leap on us and decided they were going to trust us to do the right thing with the phone. And that’s worked out quite well for both of us."
What does that mean? That means that whether you like it or not, Apple is sticking with AT&T and Verizon may have the iPhone in 2 years. But remember, Verizon is a CDMA network. CDMA is a dying technology and Apple is not used to betting on dying species, if you see what I mean...
How do you feel about that? Disappointed?
This theme is called Stickers and is available on Cydia. I like it so much that I installed it on my iPhone. The only downside is that there are very few custom icons for it. Looks great though. What do you think?
Better late than never! AT&T finally announced an official tethering plan for its wireless customers, including iPhone customers. The long-awaited new tethering option comes with the variable pricing plans AT&T CEO had pre-announced a few months ago. These new data plans will replace the "unlimited data plan" that current iPhone owners in the US are on.
All these new plans will be available on June 7. Does this date ring a bell? Yes, it's the opening day of the WWDC where Steve Jobs will announce the new iPhone.
You will now have the choice between 2 data plans. Tethering will be an additional option. Here is the details about each plan.
DataPlus
This is the basic entry plan. It provides 200 MB of data for $15/month. According to AT&T, 65% of their customers will fall under this plan.
If you choose to go with DataPlus and you go over your 200 MB, you will be charged another $15 for another 200 MB of data. Sounds pretty fair to me.
DataPro
The name says it all. This plan is for the data hungry users. It comes with 2 GB of data for $25/month. According to AT&T, only 2% of their customers will fall into this category.
Should you go over your 2 GB, you will be charged an extra $10 for another GB of data. Again, that is very fair.
Tethering
Tethering on your iPhone will come at a hefty price of $20/month, on top of your DataPro plan. What does this mean? It means that in order to get tethering on your iPhone, you will have to sign up for the $25 2 GB DataPro plan plus pay an additional $20 to "activate" the tethering option.
Signing up for tethering doesn't entitle you to more data usage. Every byte of data used under tethering will be directly taken from you DataPro plan.
Tethering will be available when iPhone OS 4 comes out.
I don't think that's a very fair deal and I'll most likely stick to MyWi for my tethering needs.
What happens to your old unlimited data plan?
The good news for those of you who use more data than these plans can offer is that you can keep your unlimited data plan. But if you want to use the official tethering option, you'll have to give it up for the DataPro plan.
I don't use much data so I know I'll be switching to the DataPlus plan and save myself $15/month.
What about iPad data plans?
According to AT&T, "for new iPad customers, the $25 per month 2 GB plan will replace the existing $29.99 unlimited plan. iPad customers will continue to pre-pay for their wireless data plan and no contract is required. Existing iPad customers who have the $29.99 per month unlimited plan can keep that plan or switch to the new $25 per month plan with 2 GB of data."
Free wifi at 20,000 AT&T hotspots
AT&T wireless customers will still get access to their network of over 20,000 wifi hotspots. That means that as long as you're paying a data plan, you can get free unlimited access to any AT&T wifi hotspots in the US (good deal for you if you live close to one of these hotspots and get signal in your home).
Monitoring and managing data usage
Since there won't be unlimited plans anymore (except for those who choose to stay on them), you will now have to closely monitor your data usage.
AT&T will help you by sending you text message and email alerts. You will get an alert after you reach 65%, 90%, and 100% of the treshold.
Additionally, you can download the free AT&T myWireless application from the App Store that allows you to keep an eye on your voice and data usage.
Conclusion
All in all, I think it is a great move from AT&T. Sure there will be the few usual customers that get pissed at the pricing plan changes but the majority of AT&T customers should find these new plans to their liking as most of us will get to save a few bucks each month.
As for tethering though, I think AT&T should have offered a little extra to those who choose to activate the option. With an additional $20/month for tethering, I would have hoped to be offered an extra 2 GB of data. As I said above though, that doesn't bother me too much as I'll stick to the "unofficial" tethering with MyWi.
What do you think?
Now that I gave you the details of the new data pricing plans, I would like to hear your thoughts about them. Are you one of those customers that will save money each month? Or are you one of the very very few that will have to pay more?
I look forward to reading what you think.
Last week I told you about myPhoneDesktop, an application that can send images, URLs, phone numbers and text wirelessly to your iPhone from a desktop computer. Today I want to briefly introduce a somewhat similar app called Mover+.
Mover+ is an application that lets you transfer videos, photos, contacts, web bookmarks and text clippings from an iPhone to another, or from an iPhone to an iPad, all this over the air.
If for example you shoot a video at a dinner party with friends, instead of showing the video on the tiny iPhone screen, you can just move it to your iPad for everyone to watch it on a larger screen.
In order for this to work, you have to have Mover+ installed and running on both devices. Put what you want to send on the Mover table, connect via wifi or Bluetooth, and flick it offscreen where you want it to go!
You can download Mover+ from the App Store for $1.99.
Check out this video of a Japanese dude doing some cool magic tricks with his iPad. The trick is not too hard. He's playing a video and his show it timed to the second on this video. It still is a nice and entertaining show.