Apple iPhone subscribers still tallying their lengthy first phone bills, take heart: AT&T understands your pain (and the potential for paper cuts and lower back injury).
The San Antonio-based carrier began sending text messages to iPhone users Wednesday, telling them that from now on they would receive pithy summary bills instead of detailed listings of every call, text message and bit of Internet of data. While customers can still view unabridged bills online or get them in paper form for $1.99, the Big Bill will no longer be the default option.
“Given the fact that some of our iPhone customers are going to be heavy data users - and we like that - we also don’t want them to be burdened by getting tons and tons of paper in the mail, figuratively,” AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said.
The billing changes also will be true for all new AT&T wireless customers and existing ones who make account changes starting Sept. 28.
AT&T’s news comes about a week after blogs, message boards and video-sharing sites began filling with reports of consumers receiving iPhone bills dozens or even hundreds of pages long. AT&T says the billing changes have been in the works for months and are unrelated to the online chatter.
“We just decided to get going right away on the iPhone customers,” Siegel said. “It’s going to be in a decidedly thinner envelope.”
Source: statesman
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
AT&T puts iPhone bills on a diet
Sony Ericsson W960i to launch in October?
According to a poster on the SE-NSE forums, the company's newest smartphone will roll out in October and not in December as some people thought. The poster first talked to a Carphone Warehouse employee then to a Sony Ericsson representative that confirmed the launch date.
We remind you that the W960i will feature a a 2.6", 262k color TFT touchscreen (240 x 320 pixels), a 3.2 megapixel camera with 3x digital zoom, Walkman Touch Player, an 8GB hard drive and Wi-Fi.
T-Mobile, Orange and O2 land Europe iPhone deal
T-Mobile, Orange and O2 are to sell the iPhone in Germany, France, and the UK respectively, according to the Financial Times. The paper also reports that the operators have agreed to give Apple 10 per cent of all revenue generated from iPhone users.
The companies concerned have dismissed the story as speculation and rumour, though the FT quotes "people familiar with the situation".
Sharing 10 per cent of revenue is a remarkable development. While manufacturers such as Nokia have been embedding applications into their phones to bypass the operator, this marks a real shift in power to the handset manufacturer - a development other manufacturers are unlikely to ignore.
Part of the attraction of the iPhone, to operators, is Apple's insistence that operators do not subsidise the device. This makes the launch low-risk as consumers pay the full price, but puts the iPhone on the shelf beside a free Nokia N95.
The FT is predicting a UK launch this autumn, with Germany and France following next spring, but remains silent on the matter of 3G capabilities.
O2 paid £4,030 million for its 3G license, so launching a data-centric device which makes no use of that investment would be politically difficult.
If Apple really has convinced the operators to pass on 10 per cent of all revenue, it will open the doors to other manufacturers to demand the same. Nokia would already like to be seen as a service provider, and Apple may give it the opportunity to have a go.
Source: theRegister
SIM-free iPhone unlock achieved?
According to an online group that's involved in searching for access controls to the Apple iPhone, it's possible to unlock the device without the help of SIM cards or software solutions.
While previous versions of unlocking solutions have required a convoluted procedure of using special SIM cards and software to unlock the iPhone, the new method that was made public by this group involves a secretive method that has yet to be announced.
The new method allegedly involves soldering circuit board connections within the iPhone itself, but little else is known about the procedure.
The online group that discovered this method has already stated that the procedure is risky and could render the iPhone completely useless if not followed properly. But if successful, the procedure allows any SIM card from a GSM-based carrier to send and receive calls. Interestingly, the hack also allows iPhone users to continue using the software as if nothing was touched.
Further details about the hack are being withheld until one week from Tuesday when the group claims it will publish detailed instructions on how to repeat the procedure.
Source: tech.co.uk
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Apple updates iPhone software
Apple on Tuesday updated the software for its iPhone, bringing the most current version to 1.0.2. Notes accompanying the software update only say that the new version fixes bugs, but does not provide any details on what has been fixed.
The update is available when the iPhone is connected to your computer. After iTunes launches the update can be downloaded and installed.
Similar to the first iPhone update, 1.0.2 validates the current iPhone software — if hacks are installed, a complete restore will be necessary. If you have not hacked your iPhone, the update process only takes a minute or two to complete the process.
Monday, August 20, 2007
The 10 most ridiculous iPhone stories so far
Two months after its release in the US, and the hype surrounding Apple's iPhone - sometimes generating enthusiasm bordering on insanity – has already produced some of the wackiest, news stories ever witnessed in the history of technology.
So prepare to be amazed, ladies and gentlemen! Step right up and take a front-row seat for Steve Jobs' unintended sideshow attractions.
The Lobster-Thumb Boy
The North Denver News published a story on August 8 that reported that 28-year-old Thomas Martel, of Bonnie Brae, had his thumbs "surgically narrowed with a revolutionary new surgical technique known as 'whittling'," in order to save time while typing on his iPhone. Hundreds of bloggers believed it and reported it as true - but there was more to this 'story' than meets the eye – click here for more.
World's Fattest Phone Bill
It turns out that AT&T itemises every instance of iPhone internet access. That means every text message, every web connection - everything - even though those instances generally don't cost extra. As a result, Pittsburgh graphic designer and blogger Justine Ezarik received her first iPhone bill in a box - 300 pages worth. Page after page listed items called 'Data Transfer', each costing '$0.00'. Naturally, Ezarik posted a video of the 'unboxing' on her blog.
Although Ezarik's bill was the world's fattest, the total came to just $275 (£140). Another iPhone customer and blogger, Adam Aronson, received the world's largest bill so far: $5,086.66 (£2,550). He blogged about it and in the post said the high cost came from roaming charges incurred when he brought his iPhone to England. He didn't make any calls; he just used the internet.
The Elastic iPhone
Everyone wants an iPhone these days - even Gumby! One overzealous enthusiast built a life-size replica of an iPhone out of clay, including icons, ports, buttons, cradle - even the box!
The Missing Link
Quick! When you think of what sort of person owns an iPhone, what comes to mind? Gadget freaks? High school and college kids? Celebrity types? How about unemployed Republicans? US Presidential adviser Karl Rove, who recently announced his resignation, was spotted in Minneapolis pecking away at his iPhone. The sighting explains why Rove retired: to spend more quality time with his iPhone, obviously! Bizarre!
World's Fastest iPhone
No, I'm not talking about compute performance or data access. I'm talking about revolutions per minute. Blender vendor Blendtec posted an inspired series of online publicity stunt videos titled 'Will It Blend? 'in which it grinds up all kinds of random objects to show how strong its blenders are. Guess what it blended. Here comes the video.
Freaky iPhone Does Magic
A magician named Marco Tempest centres his act around the iPhone. He's written or commissioned applications that run video and play sounds to coincide with his illusions. For example, he makes it appear that his iPhone is brewing coffee, which he then 'drinks'. When he shakes his iPhone, the icons get jumbled, and you can see Mac OS X for a second. His iPhone even dispenses money!
Least Valuable iPhone Ever
A man recently attended a Weird Al Yankovic performance and managed to get an autograph. He asked the comic to sign the back of his iPhone, thereby reducing its resale value instantly.
The iPhone of Doom
First-person shooter game enthusiasts are foaming at the mouth about news that one of the original significant games in the genre, Doom from ID Software, will soon work on the iPhone. A clever developer who goes by the name 'Stepwhite' has ported Doom to the iPhone. He hasn't got the controllers working yet, but demo games play from native 'WAD' files. (If he gets this thing fully working on the iPhone, heck, I might even buy one.) Awesome!
The Amazing Hall of Mirrors iPhone
The iPhone's great screen, built-in microphone and camera provide all the tools you need for videoconferencing. Trouble is, the screen points one way, and the camera points the other. But the same clever lads who are getting close to building a fully functional videoconferencing software application for the iPhone have also built a contraption that uses mirrors to direct the image of your face to the camera in back. Spectacular!
Fabulous Phoney iPhones
A Japanese man built an exact replica of the Apple iPhone - almost indistinguishable from the real thing - except for one minor problem: It doesn't work. It just sits there, looking exactly like the iPhone.
Who can top that? China, of course! There are several mobile phones reportedly being manufactured in China that clearly violate Apple's intellectual property, but none has gotten more press than the Made-in-China Meizu MiniOne. The phone not only looks like an iPhone from both a software and hardware perspective, but improves upon it - on paper, at least. The MiniOne has a whopping 3Mp autofocusing camera (compared with iPhone's puny 2Mp camera). And it's smaller and lighter than the iPhone.
Strange Case of the Dangerous iPhone
The iPhone is all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. Which somebody did. Atlanta resident Travis Gohr says the big gash on his back, which he generously posted pictures of on Flickr (a post dramatically titled, 'How my iPhone almost killed me'), is the first-ever documented iPhone injury. It happened when Gohr was using a treadmill and his iPhone slipped off, hit the treadmill surface and was launched backward. Gohr's injury resulted from him following the phone's 'trajectory' with his head, losing his balance and falling on the moving treadmill. Scary!
Source: PCAdvisor
Where Are The iPhone YouTube Ads?
As you may have noticed there are no Ads displayed when you visit YouTube on the iPhone through the built in Application. Odd isn’t it?
Especially more so when you consider that the AppleTV and iPhone are the only Apple products to take advantage of the H.264 converted YouTube clips. So in addition to potentially lost revenue, Google also went through the trouble of converting their entire video base just for two products.
Two products which make no profit whatsoever for Google or at least publicly. You have to consider, how does one actually integrate Ads in an Application without hampering the design interface?
This is a very tough call but I can only speculate why Google is so in bed with Apple on the iPhone. It could come down to Google receiving a cut of Apple’s monthly revenue. It is the only logical explanation to compensate Google for providing YouTube Ad free.
Source: iphonematters
Vodafone tweaking iPhone?
Apple's well known for its control freakery, especially when it comes to the iPhone, but the latest rumours suggest Jobs' money-making mobile might be tweaked before release in the UK, and at the behest of Vodafone no less.
The well-informed guys at Engadget say their insider has a list of improvements demanded by the big V before it'll even consider stocking the touchscreen handset.
Top of that list is a simpler YouTube application. Apparently, the network wants it to "work much more like the Internet version."
There're also calls for improvements to Outlook and Exchange support as well as boosted security, Wi-Fi refinements and the much demanded ability to cut and paste.
If the rumours are true it'll be a boon for UK iPhoners, although there's still no mention of whether Apple will crank out a 3G version for our shores, for that nugget of cellular joy, we'll just have to wait for word from Apple.
Source: T3
Hong Kong iPhone Unlock has 22x markup
The store, G-World in Mong Kok, has priced the 100 handsets it has in stock at a whopping HK$13,800 ($1,765) each, and claims that until it has sold them all it won’t be offering an unlock service to customer’s own iPhones. Still, that might not actually be much of a hardship, since it plans on selling a basic unlock for $767.
Source: myitablet
More iPhone MultiTouch Issues: handset goes haywire
The random spate of iPhone touchscreen problems continues, with Shannon McMahon experiencing some particularly erratic behaviour from his handset.
Unlike previous issues - mainly taking the form of bands or patches of screen with reduced or no responsiveness - Shannon’s iPhone decided to take a tour of its features by itself, activating its own virtual buttons and generally flying about the interface as if manipulated by an ADHD ghost-ferret.
It’s good to hear that Shannon’s experience of Apple aftercare was everything you’d hope it would be, but on a broader scale you have to wonder how closely this ongoing MultiTouch saga relates to the stability problems experienced by the technology’s original developers. If you recall, they too had issues with the chemical-based heat-reactive touchscreen process, and it’s this same technology that has been so-far blamed for the certain iPhones’ patchy responsiveness.
Nokia N-Gage to get I-play Casual Games in 2008
The first two casual game titles to be introduced for the Nokia N-Gage phone are “World Rally Championship” and “Super Mah Jong”.
Interestingly the game “World Rally Championship” has acquired the official license of the FIA WRC. “Super Mah Jong” will need no introduction to most people, but incase you aren’t a fan then you must know that the game revolves around an epic tale based on eth ancient spiritual game Mah Jong. Also, “Super Mah Jong” has been created by the makers of the highly addictive casual game “Jewel Quest”.
According to Gregg Sauter, Director, 3rd Part Publishing, Nokia, “I-Play brings a diverse games portfolio to N-Gage, and we’re excited to have them on board. The N-Gage toolset provides the opportunity to deliver new features and richer experiences to consumers through I-play’s strong portfolio of content. We look forward to this cooperation.
Now that I-Play has struck the deal, the company will be providing a big line-up of casual games for Nokia’s N-gage mobile phone. In fact, they will concentrate on casual, ‘one-thumb’ games for the mass market.
I-play’s “World rally Championship” and “Super Mah Jong” for the Nokia N-Gage mobile phone will be introduced in 2008.
Source: TechShout
Nokia turns up legal heat on Qualcomm
Nokia has moved to take advantage of Qualcomm's legal woes by applying for a US import ban on devices containing Qualcomm chips.
Nokia has asked the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to prohibit Qualcomm chipsets from landing in the US, alleging that five of its CDMA and W-CDMA/GSM patents have been infringed.
Nokia's application comes after a series of legal setbacks for Qualcomm, which is already under an ITC ban on the import of some chips after losing a case against Broadcom. The case is now being appealed.
Nokia said in a statement that the patents related to technologies critical to the performance of mobile devices. "These technologies are important to Nokia's success as they allow its products to have competitive advantages over those of competitors," Nokia said.
The dispute between the two mobile industry technology leaders has sharpened since a 15-year-old patent licensing agreement expired in April. Under the agreement, Nokia had been paying Qualcomm a reported $500 million in license fees. It is seeking to substantially lower the amount it pays to the US firm.
Each vendor has filed suits against the other, claiming patent infringement in GSM, CDMA and W-CDMA standards.
An application by Qualcomm to the ITC to ban the import of Nokia GSM phones will be heard next month.
Source : AmericasNetwork
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Introducing The New and Improved iPhone -- by Hackers
Well, that was quick. The hacker community has taken over the iPhone. Heck, in some cases, hackers are already releasing updated versions of their underground software.
Apple's new flashy and pricey smartphone, released to much fanfare at the end of June, has a nice array of features straight out of the box. But do a little unauthorized tinkering on the thing, and it can do a few more tricks, ranging from the frivolous to the useful.
Last month, for example, Silicon Valley-based software consultant Stephen White posted software that lets people play classic Nintendo games, such as the Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros., on the device."I was sitting in a pub with a friend one night musing about what the iPhone needed," he said. "I decided that every device I own needs to have Mario on it."
After investing about a dozen hours of work, White made his results available online.
Now, for his second iPhone project, he's fine-tuning the controls on a version of the classic shooter game Doom for Apple's new phone. When I talked to him last week, he had just found out how to access the phone's "vibrate" function, which he hopes to incorporate into this or future iPhone applications.
This is White's idea of a good time. Before the iPhone came along, he spent his time tinkering away at iTunes and his TiVo. He says the day he bought his new smartphone was the happiest of his life -- though that's partly because he was sick of his Treo.
White is just one member of a new and very active community of iPhone hackers. Another group of programmers worked up a Web-based video-conferencing tool that uses the iPhone's built-in camera lens. One programmer, who is already working on a book on how to push the iPhone to its limits, has developed a program to make the device record voice memos.
Hackers based in Europe claim to have already figured out how to make the device work there. Apple isn't scheduled to make the iPhone available there until later this year.
Since you're probably wondering: No, Apple has not given this community its blessing, and the company did not open this device up for the software tinkerers of the world. The Apple smartphone is on what techies call a "closed" system -- meaning that users are supposed to be able to install only software that has been approved and distributed by Apple.
The work that Mac programmers and hobbyists are doing here relies on a new class of underground applications designed for the iPhone called "jailbreak" programs. These unlock the file system and give brave users access to parts of the phone's inner workings that Apple went through some trouble to rope off.
Let the tinkerer beware, though: It's not an area for the squeamish. The risk involved in this kind of activity generally includes voiding your gadget's warranty and turning the device into a useless chunk of metal, silicon and scratch-resistant glass.
If the history of consumer electronics is any guide, this will probably turn into a cat-and-mouse game between Apple and the hackers.That seems to be what's happened with Apple's recently released update to iTunes; if the update software detected anything strange about an iPhone's file system, it reformatted the iPhone and made the hackers reinstall their home-brewed applications from scratch. Apple wouldn't say last week whether the update was a reaction to the hacks and declined to make any comment about the iPhone's home-brew hacking scene.
Regardless of the risks, new underground applications keep hitting the Web at a steady pace. There's one that lets people take control of their hacked Xboxes in order to, for instance, watch movies stashed on the game console's hard drive. Other programs, like one called iFuntastic -- already in version 2.5 -- make it possible for iPhone users to pick iTunes songs as custom ringtones.
Last week, an unauthorized game, called Lights Off, was released for the iPhone's operating system."Apple didn't give people the tools they needed to do this in the first place, so they're making their own," said Mike Schramm, who has followed the iPhone hacking community for the Unofficial Apple Weblog ( http://www.tuaw.com).
Hardware manufacturers are usually not happy about such user-created innovations because they can lead to piracy. Why buy a game or a software application if you can download one free?
That's why just about every time somebody figures out how to hack Sony's mobile gaming device, the PlayStation Portable, the company releases a new version of the operating system that you have to install if you want to play the latest games. Each new version of the software blocks off vulnerabilities exploited by hackers in previous versions.
It's impossible to know how many people are hacking into their PSPs or their iPhones, but it looks as if there's an audience out there. Earlier this summer, an old and relatively obscure PSP game called Lumines suddenly shot up the sales charts at Amazon. The sales spike happened just after hackers discovered a way to exploit the game's coding in order to play home-brew software on the device. At eBay, sellers unloading their copies of the game are touting it as the one that lets users hack their PSPs.
Funny thing, though. As much as corporations officially disapprove of this sort of work, the people who are fanatical enough about their technology to pull these tricks off are sometimes the ones who end up getting the cool jobs.
In some forums at the Guitar Hero fan site ScoreHero, fans figured out how to hack into the game's software and insert their own music selections into the popular guitar game. At last count, three of the programmers from that scene have been hired to develop the next version of the game, due out this holiday season.
source: washingtonpost
