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Tag: iPhone

  • CES 2012: Lifeproof Wants You To Take Your Phone Anywhere

    Lifeproof first made news with their iPhone cases several months ago. These cases are designed to be, well, life proof. An iPhone in a Lifeproof case is supposed to be able to withstand almost any amount of water, dirt, snow, and shock – pretty much anything you can throw at it. The case is so rugged that the assembly instructions actually ask buyers to assemble the case without their iPhone in it and submerge the empty case in water for half an hour in order to be sure they’ve assembled it correctly.

    Today at CES Lifeproof has announced a new line of accessories for the case that will make it even easier to take your iPhone absolutely anywhere. The new Lifeproof in Motion line includes belt clips, a bike bar mount, an adapter for those with GoPro mounts, and an armband for jogging and swimming. Yes, swimming.

    The accessories are available on Lifeproof’s website now. The case itself runs $79.99. And don’t worry, if you’re one of those people who has to see it to believe it (I was), they have a series of videos showing the Lifeproof case in action. The video demonstrating the case’s performance in water is embedded below, for your viewing pleasure.

    [Source: Press Release]

  • The iPhone Was Unveiled Exactly Five Years Ago Today

    I guess you could debate what date to call the birthday of the iPhone. Maybe you could call is June 29th, as that’s the day it was released. Or maybe you could refer to an earlier date – when the idea was finalized conceptually, or when the first prototype was held in someone’s hands.

    But I like to think that the birthday of the iPhone is the day that Steve Jobs first unveiled the device to the world. If that’s our metric, then it makes today the 5th birthday of the iPhone.

    On January 9th, 2007, Jobs took the stage presented the iPhone. You can check out the original unveiling below:

    Half a decade later, the iPhone remains insanely popular. The most recent edition, the 4S, broke sales records right out of the gate. A recent study asked future smartphone buys what particular phone they panned on purchasing in the upcoming months. A whopping 54% said the iPhone.

    A recent comScore report shows that as far as smartphone platforms are concerned, Apple holds 25% of the market share, bested by Google’s 26% and RIM’s 33.5%. But the iPhone is still the most popular smartphone on the market. Moral of the story: Android is fractured into many different smartphones, while iOS is obviously only available on a handful of phones.

    In 2007, Steve Jobs called it “revolutionary” and said that Apple will “reinvent the phone.” Was he right? Let us know in the comments.

    [Huge Hat Tip To Soshable]

  • CES 2012: USB 3.0 Coming to Tablets And Smartphones This Year

    CES 2012: USB 3.0 Coming to Tablets And Smartphones This Year

    The USB 3.0 standard has been around for several years now, but most smartphone and tablet devices have remained stuck with the older, slower USB 2.0. According to Rahman Ismail, chief technology officer for the USB Implementers Forum, that is about to change. Speaking at CES, Ismail said that MicroUSB technology would be available and coming to the smartphone/tablet market by the end of the year.

    The new technology offers data transfer speeds between computers and mobile devices of roughly 100 megabytes per second, or 800 megabits per second (Mbps). While that is not much compared to the nearly 5 gigabits per second available between PCs with USB 3.0, it is nearly double the 480 Mbps available for mobile devices with USB 2.0.

    Data transfer isn’t the only area of improvement, either. In most of our gadgets these days, USB does double duty: data transfer and charging. In addition to significantly faster data transfer, the newer standard also improves the power transfer speeds, which means faster charging for tablets and smartphones with the technology.

    [Source: PC World]

  • Nest Learning Thermostat Brings The Cool At CES 2012

    Amid the barrage of technological wonders sure to stream out of CES this week, one device that deserves your attention (especially if winter ever belatedly arrives) is the Nest Learning Thermostat, the thermostat that learns from your dwelling habits.

    In spite of my yearning to make Hal 9000 jokes about a thermostat that learns from people’s habits and then takes the wheel to control temperatures, that’s as close as I’m going to get; it’s too brilliant of a device to defile with my half-baked humor. The Nest Thermostat is a welcome innovation that finally brings the antiquated science of home energy use within pace of today’s technology. “It was unacceptable to me that the device that controls 10 percent of all energy consumed in the U.S. hadn’t kept up with advancements in technology and design,” said Tony Fadell, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nest Labs. “Together with the team, Co-Founder Matt Rogers and I set out to reinvent the thermostat using advanced technologies, high-quality manufacturing processes and the thoughtful design elements the iPhone generation has come to expect. The resulting Nest Learning Thermostat is like no other thermostat on the market. We hope it will not only save money and energy, but that it will teach and inspire people to think more about how they can reduce home- energy consumption.”

    Once you’ve replaced the thermostat in your home with a Nest Learning Thermostat – and these guys are insistent that their goal is replacement of your outdated climate technology – Nest automatically learns from your personal schedule within the first week of use. After it’s figured out your patterns of heating and cooling at home, Nest will begin controlling the temperature based on when you’re around and when you’re away in order to conserve energy (and, more immediately, money you spend on controlling your energy costs). The people at Nest Labs provided the following video to show you how it works:

    Whenever the seasons change, Nest can re-learn your habits for the seasonal adjustment in order to make sure you stay cozy all year long. What’s more, Nest can connect to your home’s WiFi network so that you can control the temperature of your home from your smartphone, tablet, or computer. Wanna make sure the house is pre-emptively warm by the time you arrive home from a frigid day at the salt mines? Just log on using the Nest Thermostat app and set the temperature via your mobile device. The apps necessary to control Nest from your mobile devices are currently available in both iTunes and Android Marketplace.

    Ahead of this week’s CES extravaganza, Nest Learning Thermostat already earned CES’s Best of Innovations Award in Eco-Design and Sustainable Technology last year shortly after the device debuted. Following that celebrated award, don’t be surprised if you hear many more a splendid thing about Nest Labs and their intelligent technology to help control energy consumption and costs.

  • Gorilla Glass 2 Coming To A TV New You

    Corning has announced that they will be unveiling the next generation of their famed Gorilla Glass at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which takes place at the end of January. The company announced that they would have a booth showcasing Gorilla Glass 2 at the Las Vegas conference.

    Gorilla Glass is specially formulated to be extremely strong and durable, resisting damage ranging from scrapes, scratches, and bumps to drops. It is currently used in a wide variety of devices including smartphones, tablets, notebooks, and even some TVs. One of its more famous implementations is in Apple’s iPhone. Both the front and rear faces of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S are made with Gorilla Glass.

    Though Corning’s announcement is light on details about how Gorilla Glass 2 differs from its predecessor, the statement does say that the company has started to focus on far more large-scale implementations of the glass. Examples cited in Corning’s press release include interior automobile surfaces, kitchen appliances, and an 82-inch multitouch LCD display that will serve as the centerpiece of Corning’s CES booth.

    There is no information in the press release about when Gorilla Glass 2 will start making its way into consumer products, but given the timing, we should perhaps not be surprised to find it making its way into the next generation of Apple’s iOS devices – the iPhone 6 at least, if not the iPad 3.

    [Source: Corning Press Release]

  • AT&T 4G Network Available In 11 More Markets

    AT&T 4G Network Available In 11 More Markets

    Wireless carrier AT&T has announced their new 4G LTE data network is now available in 11 new markets, bringing the total to 26. Cities now with 4G access include New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Raleigh, and Orlando. Markets that already had the network include Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

    AT&T’s 4G network is dual-layer, meaning that it uses both LTE and HSPA+ technology. This makes it compatible with a larger number of phones and prevents users from experiencing a sudden drop in data speeds when transitioning out of an LTE-covered area. This also gives AT&T a competitive advantage over Verizon regarding the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 4S is HSPA+ compatible, but not LTE compatible, which means that Verizon iPhone users have no access to their carrier’s 4G network. AT&T iPhone customers, however, will get at least a partial speed boost from AT&T’s new network.

    According to AT&T’s press release, they expect deployment of their 4G network to continue throughout 2012, and be mostly done by the end of 2013.

    Are you in one of AT&T’s new 4G markets? Tell us about it in the comments.

    [Source: AT&T Press Release]

  • iOS 5.1 Reveals Details About iPad 3, iPhone 6

    The latest beta release of iOS 5.1, the forthcoming update to the iOS operating system, has been found to contain some hints about what to expect from the next generation of iPhones and iPads. It seems that the software’s processing core management system contains references to quad-core processing. This means that Apple likely has a quad-core chip in the works, probably meant to go into the next-generation iPad and iPhone devices.

    The current generation of devices – the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2 – currently run on Apple’s dual-core A5 chip. The inclusion of references to the quad-core chip in the iOS 5.1 beta suggests that Apple is already testing such a chip – presumably to be called the A6 – in prototypes of the iPad 3 and iPhone 6.

    Sidenote: Though many are still calling the next generation iPhone the iPhone 5, it will most likely be called the iPhone 6, since it is in fact the sixth generation iPhone. The iPhone 4S is the iPhone 5 in all but name, just as the iPhone 3G was actually the iPhone 2.

    Digging through the code of Apple’s iOS updates is a time-honored means of looking for information on the next generation of Apple’s gadgets. Members of Apple’s developer program have been able to find references to the iPad, the Apple TV, and newer versions existing devices like the iPhone and iPad simply by digging through the operating system’s code. As launch time approaches, Apple will most likely continue to use current versions of the iOS software to text next generation devices – especially the iPad 3. Look for more juicy details to be found in the iOS code in the coming months.

    [Source: 9to5Mac]

  • iCloud Helps Man Find Stolen iPad

    The iCloud detective agency is back for another round of solving thefts.

    The Times-Tribune is reporting that a New York man had left his briefcase containing an iPad under his seat on a plane in Dallas, Texas. After realizing he had forgotten it, he called the airline looking for it but they could not locate the missing briefcase.

    This led the tech-savvy man to use Apple’s iCloud service to track his iPad to Monroe County, Texas. The man then contacted state police to hit the address that iCloud had pointed him to.

    Lynette Simpkins, 52, admitted to the theft. The iPad and other stolen items were returned to the man. Simpkins was arrested on a charge of receiving stolen property.

    This was all accomplished through the Find my iPhone app that allows users to locate their device through GPS tracking software when the device ends up missing. If the device is just lost, it will play a loud sound, even if the phone is set to silent, and display a message to anyone who has found the phone a way of contacting the person who has lost the device.

    The service also allows users to remotely lock their devices so that anybody who does find the device can’t access any of the personal information stored on it. It also sends an email to the user once it is found in case the device is not getting a signal either through 3G or wi-fi.

    This isn’t the first time that Find my iPhone has helped solve crime. Porn actress Jesse Jane had her iPhone stolen recently and used iCloud to get it back.

    Find my iPhone isn’t the only service out there to help find stolen property either. An OSX app called Hidden helped a man get his macbook back last year.

    Heck, even digital cameras are no longer safe from the prying eyes of the internet police. Stolencamerafinder does as its name implies by finding pictures on the internet that have the same EXIF as the stolen camera.

    As Find my iPhone and other tracking systems become more popular, it’s going to become harder to steal items such as smartphones. At least people can still run burglary rings without getting caught by the internet police. Oh wait…

  • iPad 3 Coming In March, iPad 4 In October?

    Another day, another iPad 3 rumor. As rumors surrounding Apple’s next tablet have heated up, Taiwanese news site DigiTimes has consistently argued that Apple would be launching not one, but two iPads in 2012. Today they are offering a timeline for the release of these tablets, apparently dubbed the iPad 3 and the iPad 4.

    According to the report, the iPad 3 will launch in March with an improved display and a better battery, though otherwise the tablet will be rather less spectacular than most industry watchers are expecting. Even so, Apple will use the launch of this interim iPad 3 as an opportunity to drop the price of the iPad 2 to $399, a change that will position the iPad 2 at the upper end of the price range currently occupied by the iPad’s Android-based competitors.

    October is when things are really supposed to get interesting: according to the report, Apple will launch a second iPad, the iPad 4, in October. This iPad will have the same 9.7-inch display as previous iPads, but will feature a number of major hardware and software upgrades designed to compete with the next generation of Android tablets.

    So, if this report is to be believed, we will see two separate iPads this year, roughly six months apart. Frankly, I’m sticking this one in the “I’ll eat my hat” file. Rumors like this are very nearly as old as the original iPad. In fact, the same sort of rumor has also swirled around the iPhone every year for years. And yet, Apple has consistently proven itself to be a creature of habit. Their pattern of releasing one device per year has served Apple extremely well since 2007, we should expect them to hold to it for as long as it keeps working.

    [Source: DigiTimes]

  • Apple Retailers Siding With eBizcuss In Legal Dispute

    Late last week we brought you news of a lawsuit brought against Apple by French retailer eBizcuss, the largest Apple Premium Retailer (APR) in France. The suit accuses Apple of anti-competitive behavior. Specifically, eBizcuss says that Apple unfairly gives preferential treatment to its own Apple Stores over local retail partners. In an interview with Le Figaro, eBizcuss CEO François Prudent claimed that his stores had seen a significant decline in business since Apple brought their own retail store to France (to the Louvre, no less) in 2009. This, he said, is despite his company investing $6.5 million to bring itself into line with Apple’s stringent requirements for resellers.

    Now, British news site ChannelWeb is reporting that eBizcuss is not the only European APR to have problems with Apple’s business practices. After the story broke in Europe, two other APRs – one continental and one in Britain – approached ChannelWeb to offer their agreement with eBizcuss’s accusations. The continental retailer even sent ChannelWeb a 4,400 word letter enumerating its concerns with Apple’s business practices.

    The letter listed a number of ways in which Apple has treated its APRs unfairly. The letter says that APRs have often received major Apple products later and in fewer numbers than Apple’s own stores, that many have not been allowed to sell the iPhone at all, that Apple has cut some APRs’ credit lines, leading to cash flow problems, and that Apple’s requirement for in-store reorganization reduces the number of third party accessories APRs can sell, stifling a lucrative aspect of their business.

    These two retailers’ support for eBizcuss stopped does not appear to go further than their communication with ChannelWeb, however. Both spoke on condition of anonymity, out of fear that Apple could retaliate if their support of eBizcuss were known.

    It will be interesting to watch how this case pans out. If eBizcuss gains even a small measure of victory now, it could have significant repercussions for Apple’s dealings with its retail partners later, especially if other retailers are emboldened to take similar action in other countries.

    [Source: ChannelWeb]

  • Verizon Sells 4.2 Million iPhones During The Holidays

    Verizon Sells 4.2 Million iPhones During The Holidays

    The iPhone did incredibly well for Verizon during the holiday season with the sale of 4.2 million units of the device. Those impressive sales, however, bring a shrinking profit margin for the company.

    Bloomberg reports that Fran Shammo, CFO of Verizon, said the company had to cut six percent off their profit margin. This was caused by the sizable subsidy that Apple slaps on every iPhone sold. The iPhone 4S sells for $199 with contract and Apple receives a $450 subsidy.

    Shammo said that the company sells the devices at a loss to encourage people to sign up for contracts that last two years. These subscriptions are where Verizon did well with 2 million subscribers in quarter three of 2011, even though they are still trailing behind AT&T’s 2.7 million subscriptions during the same period.

    To combat the high subsidies that Apple is putting on iPhones, Verizon has taken to increasing the price of their more popular high-end Android devices such as the Motorola Droid RAZR and Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The company now sells these devices at $299 with the Android licensees only getting $350 in subsidies.

    Verizon did come out on top overall in the third quarter in total subscriber gains thanks to Android smartphones. The company earned 882,000 new subscribers while AT&T only signed on 319,000 new subscribers during the same quarter.

    We won’t know exactly how well AT&T did during the holiday season until their earnings call on January 26. Regardless of who won between AT&T and Verizon during the holidays, the real winner was Apple. The company will reveal its holiday earnings on January 24 and is expected to set all-time records for iPhone and iPad sales.

  • Obama “Clock” Redistributes Wealth To Developer

    When I first thought of an “Obama clock”, I imagined that thing that hung on my aunt’s wall: a cat with swinging pendulum tail and eyes that swung back and forth, frightening 5 year-old boys. But, with an Obama face.

    Turns out, it was far less exciting.

    The press release from Trojan Tree touting the newest release of “Obama Clock”, a giggling favorite in the conservative world, says that “a simple click on each countdown statistic calls forth a graphical depiction of the depressing trend in unemployment, gas prices, housing depreciation, and public debt over the entire Obama term.”

    So, I popped over to the iTunes App Store to download the free version of the Obama Clock app to see what this was all about. The reviews of the app were not encouraging. They were divided between hardcore Republicans who approved of the spirit of the app and people who were disappointed with the app itself as less-than-functional or pandering for upgrades.

    Upon firing it up, the first thing that happened was a pop-up ad that tried to up-sell me to the Deluxe version of the app for $1.99.

    Turns out, you have to shell out that amount to actually see the “graphical depiction” they announced. After clicking [No Thanks], I landed on the main screen. Here there are statistics displayed that reportedly show:

    * President Obama’s approval rating, as reported by Rasmussen Reports.

    * Unemployment, from Dept. of Labor figures.

    * Gas prices, US average.

    * House prices, from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, averaging all transactions.

    * Public debt. From Treasury.

    * A countdown clock to Inauguration Day 2013

    Todays numbers look like this:

    The purpose of this app, according to their press release, is “to meaningfully influence the 2012 election”. Since it seems unlikely that a Democrat would care at all to buy the deluxe version of this app, and it seems to be mostly marketed toward the same Fox News viewers who bought it up last time, I am not sure how they intend to achieve any “meaningful” influence on the election. A preacher can’t fill a revival tent by firing up the choir.

    Any serious person who wants to make the best informed decision about whom to vote for in November will look at the stories behind the numbers this “clock” displays. Where did those employment numbers come from? Who is doing anything about those numbers? Who is obstructing those efforts? What actually causes gasoline price increases? What were unemployment numbers under the previous Republican administration? How have they changed since then?

    This looks like this is a cute little app designed to take money from die-hard Republicans. The information it displays is nothing you can’t find in a quick Google search for the rest of the country.

  • Apple Store Robbed in Scottsdale: Three Arrested

    In Scottsdale, Arizona, an Apple store was broken into by a group of six suspects, all in their teens. A security officer called 911 at 2 AM on the 3rd of January, alarming authorities after discovering the smashed glass, stolen goods, and the thieves running out down the street.

    The merchandise totaled with the damage is estimated to be over $70,000.

    According to Fox 10 in Phoenix, 18-year-old Daniella Sierra and 19-year-old James Combs are now in custody, as well as a 17-year-old whose name is protected, due to his status as a juvenile. One of the arresting officers is quoted to have asked, “All this over a couple of Ipods?”.

    Apparently, a cab driver followed the suspects only to have shots fired at him. Number of people harmed: 0. Number of shots fired: 2. Number of arrests: 3. Number of dollars lost: $70,000+.


    Image courtesy of Fox.

  • Jailbreak For iPhone 4S Coming Soon

    Jailbreak For iPhone 4S Coming Soon

    Apple’s iOS 5 mobile operating system has proven to be something of a tough nut to crack for the iOS Jailbreak community, especially on the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, which run on Apple’s A5 processor. Now it looks like users who want to jailbreak those devices may be in luck. Earlier this afternoon Dev-Team member pod2g announced on Twitter that he had made progress toward an untethered jailbreak of devices using the A5 processor.

    @pod2g
    pod2g    I made a step today for the A5. With some luck we could expect a release in a week. 3 hours ago via Tweetbot for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    This comes on the heels of an announcement on the Dev-Team blog late last week that an untethered jailbreak was available for users running iOS 5.0.1 on pre-A5 devices – e.g., the iPhone 4 and the iPad 1. All in all, it looks like 2012 is getting off to a lovely start for the jailbreak community.

  • iPhone 4S Audio Problem Angers Users

    On October 14, 2011 Apple released the iPhone 4S to, if not fanfare, at least to generally positive reviews. Critics and users alike praised the phone’s speed, its much improved camera, and several other features, including the remarkable Siri. All, however, was not quite well. Almost immediately topics began appearing on Apple’s support discussion forum about a problem with the iPhone 4S’s audio. Users complained that sometimes when they tried to place a call they heard nothing. There was no ringing sound, and though the phone showed the call as connected, there was no audio from the other end.

    One of the discussion threads is still active, and currently has 109 pages of users complaining about the problem, suggesting it is not a minor problem. According to the support discussion thread, the problem spans all models of iPhone on Verizon and AT&T. As yet there has been no acknowledgement from Apple that the problem even exists, much less any word on plans to fix it. That fact has users particularly frustrated, as it seems that Apple is ignoring a pretty serious problem.

    A request for comment to Apple has not yet been answered. There are signs that the next iOS update, iOS 5.1, will be arriving relatively soon. Apple’s continued silence about this issue, though, means that there are no guarantees that it will be fixed in the new software.

    Have you had this problem? Were you able to resolve it? Let us know in the comments.

  • The Apple / Samsung Girl

    The little girl is referred to as “Little Miss Tablet”, and although I can’t find her name, I am certain that she has made a significant mark in advertising history. I can’t recall anything like this having happened before.

    I asked myself how I would feel given the following: What if Pepsi started parading around with a polar bear on its can? What if Jared were seen eating another sandwich? What if Justin Bieber started starring in acne-fighting infomercials by a brand other than Proactiv?

    I’ll tell you how I’d feel. Like there was something dirty about it. And I am not emotionally attached to any of those products. I do not feel partial to either of the brands involved in this particular rivalry either; however, I feel that the lack of commitment from this little girl is somehow pure. After all, what is really wrong with not being married to a particular brand? Why should we not celebrate our right to buy whatever we want and not feel dirty about it?

  • “Siri For Android” Pulled From Android Market

    Last week we brought you news that a Siri clone, Speerit, had appeared in the Android App Market. Speerit is actually one of several apps promising users the same functionality as the iPhone 4S’s Siri on their Android devices. While Speerit is still available (for now, at least), another of the apps – “Siri for Android” – was pulled from the App Market over the weekend.

    The removal of Siri for Android instead of Speerit is interesting: while Siri for Android clearly infringes on Apple’s intellectual property with its name, Speerit does so in pretty much every other respect. The app’s icon, as well as several other icons within the app, are all stolen from Apple, and the app’s description calls it “REAL Siri for Android.” The highly selective nature of this takedown illustrates Google’s tendency to refrain from policing its App Market except in response to specific complaints. Since no one has apparently complained about Speerit, it stays up, despite being possibly the worst of the bunch for infringing on Apple’s trademarks.

    It puts an interesting wrinkle in the perennial iOS-Android debate over whether a closed or open system is better. Many criticize the closed nature of Apple’s App Store as stifling innovation, and for its occasionally arbitrary decisions about which apps are allowed in and which aren’t. The far more open model of the Android App Market, the argument goes, is far more developer-friendly. On the other hand, we have situations like this: the open(-ish) App Market model allows for rampant copyright infringement (and even malware, on occasion), something that Apple’s model makes all but impossible.

  • Are iPhones Becoming Uncool?

    Are iPhones Becoming Uncool?

    Is the iPhone really becoming uncool? Or is it just incredibly popular these days to say that the iPhone is uncool?

    Investors Business Daily is now another member in a growing group predicting the imminent demise of the Apple smartphone. The reasoning is simple: they say the iPhone is losing its cool factor.

    IBD published a New Year’s predictions list, and their very first look into the future projects Apple’s hold on the “coolness” factor diminishing.

    The iPhone is boxy, flat and feeling stale. The Samsung Galaxy smartphone seems cooler. With Google’s (GOOG) Android platform now the fastest-growing mobile OS, Apple’s software advantage will diminish. Smartphones and tablets will become commodity items and Apple will be eaten by the collective Android gang

    Do you agree that the iPhone’s look is “boxy, flat and feeling stale?” At least IBD has a point with this critique. It’s an understatement to say that some people were less than pleased when Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S, and phone that despite a faster processor, better camera, and Siri, contained no design changes.

    The same cannot be said about other recent slams of the iPhone’s coolness factor. One Nokia exec was quoted in December as saying that the youth “are pretty much fed up with iPhones” because virtually everyone has an iPhone. He went on to call iPhones “black mono-boxes” and said they reside in a “sea of sameness.”

    Of course, his goal in saying all of this was to promote the Windows Phone platform as the next big thing in cool. Recent reports suggest that the youth still like their iPhones, and the argument that nobody wants an iPhone because everybody wants an iPhone is flawed to say the least.

    And back in September, HTC president Martin Fitcher said that kids no longer want iPhones because their dads have them. He went on to say that iPhones just “aren’t that cool anymore.”

    As your probably know, rumors indicate that Apple is working on a redesign for the iPhone 5. Folks have been taking about its possible changes, which could include a thinner frame and a larger screen, for months. Could this shake off some of the cobwebs?

    So, tell us what you think. Are iPhones still cool? Or are they boxy and flat like suggested? How will 2012 treat the world’s biggest smartphone? Let us know in the comments.

  • Record 1 Billion iOS, Android Apps Downloaded Last Week

    People didn’t waste any time getting acquainted with their new iOS and Android devices that they received Christmas last month: following the largest amount of device activations for a single day on Christmas Day, people spent the following week filling up their new devices with tons of apps.

    Flurry reports that people didn’t just tip-toe into the mobile app waters, either – they dove right in with a 60% increase of app downloads for iOS and Android devices during the final week of December 25 – 31 and, for the first time, posted a watermark above 1 billion downloads for a single week.

    As much as the Christmas spirit can be said to be the instigator for all of this app downloading due to the gifting of new iOS and Android devices, it can’t be singled out as the sole responsible agent. App downloads in China, Sourth Korea and Japan – countries wherein Christmas is not so widely observed – contributed over 100 million apps downloaded in the final week of 2011. Flurry points out that “South Korea and Japan have the 4th and 5th largest smart device installed bases of all countries, yet they ranked 7th and 10th, respectively, for downloads over the record week.” The full data stats of app downloads for the last week of 2011 are below.

    So given that this is probably more of a market swell than a holiday trend, Flurry says that we shouldn’t be surprised if this rate of downloaded apps doesn’t repeat a few times in 2012:

    Looking forward to 2012, Flurry expects breaking the one-billion-download-barrier per week will become more common-place. While iOS and Android growth continues to amaze, the market is still by all measures relatively nascent. We look forward to continuing to chart the unprecedented adoption of mobile computing devices, usage of applications and the way in which this technology is changing consumer behavior worldwide.

    One thing that Flurry didn’t point out is that these statistics may just be correlations without actually demonstrating causality. Sure, more active devices anticipates more app downloads but even then that doesn’t explicitly explain the bulge of apps downloaded between Christmas morning and New Year’s Day. Given that the lull between the two holidays is typically filled with abundant free time and possibly awkward family gatherings, people likely downloaded a lot more apps this week for the same reason they always have: they were bored. But all those new phones probably helped out exponentially, as well.

    Did you get a new phone? Did you download apps last week and thus contribute to the record-breaking swell of downloads in a single week? What’d ya download? Let us know below.

  • All Jacked Up Aims To Rival Shake Weight With 99 Cent iPhone App

    App developer ArchSquare has released an app called All Jacked Up, aimed at replacing the shake weight in your exercise routine. You know you use it:

    Just because it’s funny, here’s the entire press release:

    Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s true. Shake Weight might be out-stroked by the iPhone app “All Jacked Up.”
    You, too, can have all the benefits Shake Weight offers with added bonuses:
    1) Fits in your pocket without the bulge
    2) Let your date use it to see if there’s any chemistry and favorable techniques
    3) Keep your boss busy while he waits for you to finish off the TPS reports
    4) Easily performed while waiting in line behind an old lady who is writing a check for a pack of gum
    5) Shareable in a “circle” of friends – sometimes not socially acceptable
    But wait, there’s more ….
    Cost for the Shake Weight – $30
    Cost for the “All Jacked Up” app – 99 cents
    Cost for getting the same sensation – PRICELESS!

    So join the craze and shake it up and get jacking – “Do not go gentle in that good night” without using “All Jacked Up.”

    All jacked up

    There’s even a “funny video contest”. The deadline for entry is 03/01/12. More on that here.

  • A Software Solution For Your iPad Content Woes

    Of the many amazing and useful features of Apple’s iPad tablet, one of the best is the way it allows users to consume a variety of content in a convenient, go-anywhere format. Getting that content onto the iPad, however, has occasionally proven to be a tricky process. While videos purchased from the iTunes Store can be put on the iPad quickly and easily, getting your own content onto the device has always required a few extra steps – ripping DVDs, converting file formats to something iTunes will play nicely with, and so on. And that’s just for videos. Plenty of other processes for getting non-iTunes Store content onto your iDevice can be pretty tricky, as well. Putting your own ringtones on your iPhone, for example, is a process of several steps and usually at least two software programs, unless you want to lay out $.99 for a 30-second sound file in the iTunes Store.

    Now, a new software package from 4Media Software Studio aims to streamline the process of getting your own content onto your iDevice. The company announced this morning that they had released iPad Max Platinum. The software, which is available in both Windows and Mac versions, promises to be an all-in-one content solution for your iOS device. Features include iPhone ringtone creation, DVD ripping, downloading YouTube videos, and a host of other features. What’s more, it appears to work on copy-protected DVDs (screencaps on the DVD ripping How-To show demonstrate ripping and converting Pixar’s The Incredibles).

    iPad Max Platinum is free to download, or you can buy a license for $62.99 (normally $69.99). The descriptions on the site are a little vague as to what buying a license gets you, apart from discounts on future purchases and a few customer service perks. Considering that it’s free, it’s definitely worth a shot. Try it out and let us know what you think in the comments.