News

FileChute to the rescue for sending large files

FileChute from Yellow Mug Software has been kicking around for awhile, but has been pretty much under the radar for most people. Some of our readers mentioned it when we reviewed YouSendIt last January. FileChute is powerful because it can send any size file, as long as you have space on your iDisk, FTP site, or WebDAV web server.

Livespeakr now accepting pre-orders

Just to refresh our memories, the Livespeaker is a speaker cradle that holds the iPhone/iPod. The speakers are protected against RF (radio frequency) noise, so you can enjoy pristine audio without the cell signal getting in the way. The speakers will expand, rotate, and contract to fit movie/Cover Flow viewing angles, and will fit in your pocket. The speakers are powered by rechargeable batteries, or AC adapter.

First Look: Sharecard for iPhone

When you first launch the application, you are able to set the default vCard to send. When you navigate back to the vCard tab, and tap the "Send Card" button, you will have the option to send the card via email. In the email section, you can either type in a new email address, or select an email address from your contacts.

Boingo Mobile comes to the iPhone/iPod touch

Good news for travelers or anyone who is frequently on the go: Boingo has just released Boingo Mobile for the iPhone and iPod touch. Boingo Mobile is actually a pretty handy service, especially for the frequent traveler. For $7.95 a month (5.95 EUR, 3.95 GBP), you get unlimited data and VOiP access to all Boingo Mobile hotspot locations throughout the world. This includes practically every major airport, US Starbucks and McDonalds locations and an insane number of hotels.

Walmart workers back iPhone launch rumors

Newer sources back the notion that Walmart will soon begin carrying the iPhone, Bloomberg reports. The news agency cites cellphone department workers at five California Walmarts, who again say that the iPhone is due by the end of December, and that sales training for it is already in progress.

Google pushes AdWords advertising to iPhone, G1

Google is adopting a more concentrated approach to marketing on cellphones, an announcement reveals. The company says it has revised its AdWords advertising system, and will now allow advertisers to push desktop-like web ads to the iPhone, the T-Mobile G1 and other phones with full HTML support.

PocketFinder launched for iPhone 3G

Location Based Technologies has released its latest PocketFinder Location software, now in the form of an iPhone app. By using the program, a person's friends and family should be able to view the location of their iPhone worldwide, from any smartphone or computer. Included in the app are alert zones, which allow customizable alerts to be sent out whenever a user leaves a specified area.

Songbird Remote Controls Playlists from your iPhone or iPod Touch

One of the great strengths of Songbird, a jukebox app intended to serve as a more open-ended iTunes killer, is its Firefox-like extensibility. The 779Media group jumps out of the gate with a remote-control application for iPhones and iPod touch devices that, while simple in functionality, does give you basic play/pause/back/forward control from anywhere your home wireless network reaches.

Slydial: Great, if you can get it...

I found this great iPhone app last night called Slydial. It lets you leave a voicemail on someone's mobile phone without bothering the person to answer. So, the recipient will not get a ringtone but will get your voicemail message. And it's free!

In the news today:

We had a pretty good weekend in term of news. First the 2.2 update, and hours later, the release of QuickPwn 2.2 and PwnageTool 2.2. That kept me busy for quite a while as I was writing all these tutorials on how to jailbreak your iPhone.

In the news today:

This was a very poor day in iPhone news but here are some of the highlights of the day...

Husband Blames iPhone For Smutty Pic Debacle, Fate of Marriage Hangs on Apple Support Discussion

A Jersey woman has called out to Apple support forum users for a little help with a problem she is having. Apparently, she borrowed her husband's iPhone and found a raunchy pic of him attached to an email sent to another woman's address. The husband admits to taking the picture, but claims that the email attachment was a glitch. In fact, he said that the folks at his local Apple Genius Bar informed him that "photos sometimes automatically attach themselves to an e-mail address and appear in the sent folder, even though no e-mail was ever sent." The wife has asked support forum users whether or not this could be true and adds that the future of her marriage rests on the answer.

iTunes Plus coming to 3 remaining majors?

Apple is discussing deals with the three major music labels yet to sign on to iTunes Plus to remove the locks on their music as well, alleged sources tell CNET. Two reported contacts describe "preliminary" negotiations that would expand Apple's deal for music without copy protection beyond EMI and independents to include Sony, Warner and Universal. The talks are said to have been spread over the past several months for at least two labels and aren't certain to result in a favorable income.

Walmart will sell iPhones starting Dec. 28

Walmart will be taking a pass for most of the holiday shopping season with one particular item: the iPhone. It will begin selling the handset December 28, according to Jamie Townsend, of research firm JRPG.

TouchTerm Puts a Terminal Client on Your iPhone

iPhone/iPod touch only: With Mocha VNC Lite, iPhone and iPod touch users already have a tool for connecting remotely to their desktops, but what about those who like to get things done over a command line? Free iPhone app TouchTerm provides SSH-encrypted terminal access to any Linux, OS X, or even Windows system running a server, making mobile rebooting or service starting over Wi-Fi or EDGE/3G connections possible.

PhotoArtist adds Photoshop-like effects via iPhone

Big Canvas has launched a new photo manipulation program through the App Store. PhotoArtist allows users to add Photoshop-like filters to an image, using an iPhone or iPod touch. Images are selected from an existing library, or in the case of the iPhone, photos from the onboard camera; there are currently six different filters, including illustration, watercolor, cartoon, mono, pen and halftone.

Mophie intros Juice Pack iPhone 3G battery extender

Mophie has introduced its latest accessory for the iPhone 3G, the Juice Pack 3G battery extender. The device features a lithium polymer battery that is claimed to offer an additional 350 hours of standby time, 6 hours of 3G talk time, 12 hours of 2G talk time, and 6-7 hours of internet use.

Apple Rejects CastCatcher 1.3 App for "Transferring Excessive Volumes of Data"

I think Apple's rejection of the latest update to CastCatcher—an internet radio app—is the first we've seen because it "transfer[s] excessive volumes of data over the cellular network." Interestingly, the current version, 1.2, is still in the store, and return7's co-founder, Amro Mousa, told us that CastCatcher 1.3 doesn't "use more bandwidth than prior versions (or any other streaming app)."

iPhoneize your website, instantly!

If you don't know anything about the iPhone, the MobileSafari browser, or web design in general, creating an iPhone version of your website can be daunting. Intersquash.com makes it easy. Just put in the address of your site's RSS feed, give it a name, and click iPhoneize. If you want, upload an icon. That's all you have to do: Intersquash gives you a little bit of code to paste into the body of your site, and it's magically optimized for iPhone viewing.

Richard|Solo 1800: More of everything!

We reported on the Richard|Solo Smart Backup Battery for iPhone a few months ago. Now Richard|Solo has released a much improved version of the Backup Battery that not only provides more power for your iPhone or iPod, but some excellent new features that trash the competition.

New iPhone ad series features wide range of apps

Another week, another Apple ad on TV -- a new entry in the series of iPhone commercials that have dropped the "This is how you enter the App Store" opening. Eagle-eyed readers have also noted that some of the new ads include a subtle "Sequence shortened" caption that reminds us things may go a bit slower in real life than they do on TV.

NPD reports iPhone was top US handset in Q3

There's word this morning that the NPD Group's latest research shows a surprising finish for the iPhone in the 3rd-quarter sales competition among US cellphones bought by consumers; for the first time in three years, there's a new top model. The Motorola RAZR, long the most popular handset for adult consumers, has fallen before the touchable juggernaut from Cupertino, CA.

Classics: The iPhone e-reader to rule them all?

The application comes with a dozen public-domain books ready for you to read: with more promised in future (free) updates. As you might expect, there's plenty of attention paid to the application's handling of your reading too: pressing home places a neat ribbon bookmark on the page you were reading, for example.

Group claims iPhone twice as reliable as BlackBerry

The iPhone is an extremely reliable smartphone, a study from a warranty extension company claims. SquareTrade says that within one year of ownership, the failure rate for the iPhone is just 5.6 percent; this is half the rate for Research in Motion's BlackBerry phones, and almost three times less than the 16.2 percent for Palm's Treo line.

Onyx Online Could Turn iPhones Into Nifty Social Gaming Devices

Onyx Online, for the iPhone, is kind of like Xbox Live. Sort of. The ambitious service is the brainchild of Trism developer Steve Demeter, who hopes to add a slew of "social media" features to iPhone games, like leaderboards, achievements, forums, and the like. There's even a pissing contest feature, wherein Onyx-enabled games will allow players to view each other's profiles, scores, challenge friends, and see what games people are playing. Like we said, just add a headset and some 15-year-old boys screaming "your gay" and you have Xbox Live (and no, there's no typo there— even when they scream it, they use the wrong spelling, just like in the forums).

Hey New York Times! Fix Your Stupid iPhone App

If you'll allow me, I'd like to unleash a small personal diatribe. I promise it'll be brief. But I've been suffering through the buggy pile of crap that is the New York Times iPhone app for long enough.

This is your daily fix of iPhone news, all in one place. Since we don't have time to blog about it, it doesn't mean we should tell you about it... Click the links to read the full stories.

Review: OtterBox Defender for iPhone 3G

Overall for protection of the iPhone 3G you’re going to be hard pressed to find a case that looks as good at the Defender and protects as well as the Defender. I don’t know if I’d recommend it for daily use (unless you’re a careless or somewhat clumsy person) but if you find yourself on construction sites, camping areas, or some other area where the risk to your iPhone is fairly high - you simply can’t go wrong with this case.

Safari Bookbag - Your Library on Your iPhone

Safari Books Online has announced Safari Bookbag, a free App for the iPhone that allows you access to downloading chapters or full books in PDF format from your Safari Books Online library. Users of the Safari Books Online service can sync their iPhone with the “My Downloads” library from their Safari account. Once downloaded onto your iPhone you tap the title of the book to open it. Books can be downloaded to your iPhone whenever an internet connection is present. They will be stored in and available within the Bookbag App.

The Next Steps to Accelerate the Tectonic Shift in Mobile, Part 1

Is the iPhone the answer to all prayers and complaints in the mobile startup world? No, it is not. One phone alone cannot deliver that. But it is the kickoff to a tectonic shift. Away from an industry structure based on structural and size advantages to an industry structure driven by innovation, consumer choice and software developers. To date, the players owning the customer billing relationship and the infrastructure have been favored (carriers/operators). The iPhone AppStore and its ease of web browsing kick off the shift to an industry structure that unbundles billing and infrastructure from the services running on top of those.

John McCain Finally Gets His Own iPhone App

Sure, Obama may have had his official iPhone app out a while ago, allowing supporters to easily make calls on his behalf and do all sorts of other things, but don't think there isn't a John McCain app out there as well.

AT&T announces free Wi-Fi access for iPhone users (again)

After several false starts, AT&T on Wednesday began sending SMS messages to iPhone owners announcing that they can now access free of charge the carrier's nation-leading Wi-Fi network of more than 17,000 hotspots.

First look: 'Classics' aims to kindle iPhone reading surge

E-books are just beginning to gain traction with consumers today, a phenomenon that seemed to start quietly with offerings from Sony, then taking another large step with Amazon's Kindle. However, the iPhone -- a device not meant for dedicated reading -- is increasingly turning people on to digital reading.