The Iphone Blog

Archive for August, 2009

China Unicom announced today in a press release that they will begin selling the iPhone in the 4th quarter.

On 28 August, the Company and Apple reached a three-year agreement for the Company to sell iPhone in China. The initial launch is expected to be in the fourth calendar quarter of 2009. This will provide users with brand new communication and information experience.

Unlike the arrangements with carriers in other countries, such as AT&T in the U.S., Apple and China Unicom will not share any revenue over the 3-year deal. Unicom will buy iPhones directly from Apple and re-sell them to subscribers. Unicom does plan to offer a subsidy, though no details are available yet on the amount of the subsidy nor plan pricing.

Chinese flag courtesy of 4 International Flags

iPhones sold by China Unicom will not have Wi-Fi to ensure compliance with government regulations.

[Via Engadget Mobile and The Wall Street Journal]

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While TomTom is still mum on price and availability, Engadget reveals that its car kit has made it through the FCC, who has posted detailed information on the kit from its testing process.

Image courtesy of Engadget

The kit’s user guide is also posted on the FCC’s site. The guide is brief, describing the general operation from placement in the car to Bluetooth pairing.

At a cost of $99 for the North American version, the TomTom app is one of the most costly GPS apps currently available. The TomTom Car Kit, rumored to cost ~$125 according to Handtec’s site, will bring the total bundle cost to over $200, a price comparable to many dedicated stand-alone GPS units.

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As you might imagine I do a lot of shopping online and therefore receive a lot of packages. In most cases they are shipped via FedEx, UPS or USPS. Also in most cases I’ll get an email with the tracking number. Prior to iPhone OS 3.0 I was not really interested in Package Tracking apps [...]

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Written by Bryce Durbin
Facebook 3.0 For iPhone Now Available On The App Store

Altec Lansing announces new computer speakers, iPod boombox device

USB-powered, hand-held Japanese bamboo fan

CrunchDeals: 22-disc Family Guy box set for $75

Ron and Fez go nuts about our Knissors interview

Original story at

CrunchGear
.

View our complete collection of news and blogs, plus related videos, photos and more at
GearShrine: Apple iPhone.

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Below is today’s roundup
of news and blogs that haven’t yet hit top story status by our community. Visit
Apple iPhone news and blogs for even more
news and blogs converage.

  •   Facebook 3.0 For iPhone Now Available –
from I4U News
  •   Viral Video Chart: Lego goes 8-bit –
by Kevin Anderson from Technology: Technology blog | guardian.co.uk
  •   Analysis: Mobile games aren't worth $5.4 billion –
by Mike Schramm from The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
  •   Swift Fans Rejoice: Sirius XM SkyDock for iPhone –
by Thomas Estilow from The iPhone FAQ – Information about the Apple iPhone
  •   FCC makes it official: Cellular carriers policies getting a closer look –
by Mel Martin from The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
  •   Sonim XP3 Review: Boiled Alive –
by John Herrman from Gizmodo: Cellphones
  •   What to ask your ISP if you're having issues sending, receiving, or configuring Mail –
from Apple – Support – Most Recent
  •   Apple to iPhone developers: Please make your apps less useful (Zach Epstein/Boy Genius Report) –
from Techmeme Firehose
  •   Mac OS X v10.6: About Sync Diagnostics assistant –
from Apple – Support – Most Recent
  •   Apple, AT&T Sued For Misleading MMS Marketing –
by Thomas Claburn from InformationWeek News

See complete Apple iPhone news, blog, video, and photo coverage at Boxxet.

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Good news for freebie junkies like me: Promo Dispenser offers free, no-strings-attached promo codes for iPhone apps.

Good news for developers: Promo Dispenser offers a free and easy way to promote your apps.

Here’s how it works: Developers add their apps’ info and promo codes to the site. Users (who must register with an e-mail address) grab the allotted codes on a first-come, first-served basis. (There’s no waiting and no random draw, as with previously mentioned AppGiveaway.)

Score free App Store promo codes at Promo Dispenser.

Users are limited to one code per day, and you can’t get another code without first commenting on and rating the previously downloaded app.

That’s good news for the developer, as it ensures at least some feedback. And Promo Dispenser encourages users to copy their reviews to the App Store, so this can actually improve sales.

In other words, the site helps developers promote their apps, not just give them away. (Find out more on Promo Dispenser’s FAQ page.)

And for users, of course, it’s a simple way to score freebies. Definitely worth a look!

Speaking of freebies, check out these previous posts on gratis apps:

• Twitter feed notifies you of newly free iPhone apps
• Another way to find free iPhone apps
• Win (and promote) iPhone apps at AppGiveaway

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After a short banishment, the Offender Locator iPhone app is back on iTunes, but without access to offender data from California.

ThinAir Wireless, the app’s creator, began updating Offender Locator with the California data earlier this week. As part of the process, the company contacted a California attorney, R. Sebastian Gibson to determine whether or not the app breaks any laws in that state.

In his reply, which CNET obtained Wednesady, Gibson said that Offender Locater does not break any California laws. He also disputed an early complaint about the app (shown below) that said it was not legal in California because “selling the personal information of people (even ex-criminals) for profit is forbidden.” Gibson called that complaint “not valid.”

App review by anynicknameready

(Credit: Apple, Inc.)

A revised version of the app has been submitted and has been waiting Apple’s approval for about a week, but ThinAir said that Apple has yet to respond.

<!– caused the app to be rejected in the first place and many have been aggravated by a story that appeared on TechCrunch.
ThinAir spokesman Trip Wakefield confirmed in a recent interview that the app was banished before for legal reasons.
Shortly after some dialog with Apple the app reappeared in the App Store (currently ranking at number 33 under paid apps).
Neither Apple or it’s legal department have responded to multiple attempts by ThinAir Wireless to get the update approved. It is unfortunate that Apple will quickly pull an app over hearsay and then fail to act as quickly to fix an app when allegations against it are proven to be false and without merit.–>

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Facebook 3.0 introduces new navigation, notifications, events, and more.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

The third major edition of Facebook for iPhone has just crept into the iTunes App Store. It’s a huge update, with numerous advanced features that make Facebook more interactive than before and which bring the app as close to the desktop experience as it’s ever been.

Facebook for iPhone opens on your news feed as usual, but the upper left corner now sports a tiny grid icon that serves as the main organizing feature for this new build. Click it to see a screen equipped with a search bar on top, a notification alert area on the bottom, and a grid of nine activities you can perform in the middle. These include the news feed, your profile details, your message in-box, Facebook chat, friend requests, events, photo albums, and notes.

Those who use Facebook on the iPhone frequently will notice that quite a few of these actions are brand new, like viewing events and submitting an RSVP from your phone. You’ll also be able to view friends’ birthdays and upload photos to any album. Anyone sporting an iPhone 3GS gets the added bonus of uploading video.

Photos received a lot of attention in this update. You’ll now be able to zoom into photos, create albums and delete them, as well as upload and delete photos and photo tags, all from the Facebook interface. In addition, you can upload a new profile picture.

Facebook has also poured energy into how it deals with friends. You’re now able to call or text friends from the interface, which brings Facebook’s social connectivity into the real world. You can see friends of friends and mutual friends from the app, too, as well as the Pages you subscribe to. If you’re trying to locate a friend from within a page, Facebook has thought of that too, by equipping the page with search. To top it off, you can subscribe to Pages from the phone, not merely view them passively.

The new built-in Web browser is one feature addition that some may miss at first, but which is ultimately one of the most practical and useful for keeping the Facebook experience on iPhone firmly within the Facebook app. Before this integration, clicking a link would kick you out of the app and open a Safari browser. You would have to restart Facebook to resume your place.

There are more additions besides, but we thought we would start you off with a little taste and some first impressions. To see the full list, visit the Facebook page on iTunes.

So far, this app impresses, but we’ll keep you up to date on any quibbles we develop as we spend more time with this it and really get to know both its strong points and its flaws. iPhone and iPod Touch users, what do you think?

How to see version 3.0 in iTunes.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Tip: If iTunes is still showing version 2.5 on your desktop, click the “Facebook” breadcrumb on the page’s top navigation. Refreshing the Web page won’t necessarily do the trick. On the iPhone, delete the Facebook application and download it anew from the App Store on your phone. Even if the app page does not say it’s version 3.0, the new version should install.

Originally posted at Webware

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Spotify’s much-hyped streaming-music service has been given the green light by Apple’s iPhone app approval board, according to a report from U.K.’s Paid Content. Though the Spotify app has yet to officially surface in the iTunes App Store, an Apple spokesman made it clear that the app would be available “very soon.”

While the news is sure to excite Spotify’s current user base in Europe and the U.K., music fans in the U.S. have yet to experience what all the fuss is about, since the service is currently blocked on this side of the pond. Rumors abound that Spotify plans to open its doors to America before the year is though, but until then, the availability of an iPhone app isn’t doing us much good.

Beyond fanning the flames of American curiosity over Spotify, news of the app’s approval demonstrates an intriguing change of tactics for Apple. For years, Apple has worked to dodge efforts to bring subscription music content to the iPod–specifically attempts from Rhapsody and Napster. And though Spotify bills itself as a free music-streaming service (a la Pandora), its iPhone app is available only to premium subscribers willing to pay a monthly fee of approximately $15. In short, the Spotify iPhone app marks the entrance of subscription music apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

So what does this mean for other subscription music services? Well, we know Rhapsody has a similar app in the works. Depending on how soon Spotify can get its service up and running in the States, Rhapsody may actually be the first to have a subscription music app that works in America.

We’ve yet to hear a peep from Napster regarding an iPhone app. If Napster jumps on the bandwagon, though, it stands to offer the best bargain if it can leverage its new $5 monthly subscription plan. That said, considering that Napster’s mobile subscription plan is priced the same as Rhapsody’s ($15), it stands to reason they’re being held to similar licensing agreements and won’t be able to undercut Rhapsody or Spotify on an iPhone-compatible plan.

The third subscription music service contender, ironically, is Microsoft’s Zune Pass. It’s a long shot, but I wouldn’t count it out. Microsoft has made it clear in the past its plans for the Zune go far beyond the Zune hardware. Already, we’re seeing the Zune Video Maketplace pop-up on the Xbox 360 gaming console, and suggestions that Zune content will makes its way to Windows Mobile phones in upcoming generations. If Microsoft’s goal is to get people hooked on the Zune experience, with or without the Zune hardware, an iPhone application might prove a novel method for recruiting new customers (assuming Apple would allow it).

Anyone who caught this week’s MP3 Insider podcast may have also heard my hopes for an iPhone app from Lala. Unlike subscription music services, Lala allows users to subscribe to songs and albums a la carte at a dime per song. It’s a brilliant little system for people who do the majority of their listening at the computer, but it seems equally suitable for an always-connected device like the iPhone (check out the Lala app demo below).

If you would have asked me six months ago if Apple would let Lala push through an iPhone app, I would have laughed at you. But then, I would have laughed if you had said Rhapsody, too. Fortunately, it looks as though times are changing and Apple may be more focused on the strength and breadth of its app offerings than on guarding music sales. Music fans, rejoice.

(Via Paid Content)

Originally posted at MP3 Insider

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Don’t worry, you can always write your own.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

The original Yelp for iPhone was a skeleton of its online self when it first debuted. Since then, Yelp has been layering on the muscle. The improvements in Yelp for iPhone 3.0 plump the app even more, bringing both important functionality from the Web version and some mobile-friendly enhancements.

Deal-seekers will notice a new category in the Nearby search screen for sales and other offers, listing happy hour deals, coupons, an even specials just for Yelpers. (Ooh, free beverages at the 4.5-star Creperie Saint Germain!) This makes a lot of sense in a mobile app, and could help Yelp boost revenue sales if this form of location-based mobile advertising catches on with Yelp’s community. Registering offers through Yelp is currently free for businesses.

Frequent Yelpers will also appreciate the ability to mark reviews as useful, funny, and cool, just like you can online. Compliments have also arrived from the online version, letting you give a reviewer additional kudos. If the suggested text is too cheesy for your tastes, you can clear it or add your own.

Movable maps are another addition. Instead of seeing a static image when you click to map a business, Yelp presents you with a map you can scroll with your finger. If you’ve searched and then scrolled around, the button “Redo Search Here” will apply your search terms (like special offers) to the new location.

There are more welcome changes beyond these community features. Yelp has finally (finally!) integrated a browser into its app–no longer will tapping a business’ URL kick you out of the app and over to the Safari browser. If you misspell a word (and completely ignore search suggestions,) Yelp 3.0 will pop up a notification within the app to ask if you meant “restaurant” instead of “restarant.” Yelp has also heeded user requests (ours included) to be able to e-mail a business’ details and Yelp.com page URL to a buddy. This will help facilitate lunch and dinner invites.

Combined, these changes add up to a familiar, useful, and full-featured tool for on-the-go business-seekers. The major lasting complaint we have is that Yelp still offers only hacks for composing reviews, not a straightforward solution to write freely as you would online.

Yelp for iPhone 3.0 is available for free from the iTunes app store. You can also get started downloading it via your computer from Download.com.

Originally posted at The Download Blog

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