Category: I-phone

CNET reports that an Apple employee lost a prototype of an unreleased iPhone in a San Francisco-area bar. No, you haven’t fallen through a wormhole and woken up in 2010 — it happened again. The prototype was reportedly lost in July, and Apple’s efforts to recover the device have not succeeded thus far.

Rather than immediately remote-wiping the phone as it did with the iPhone 4 prototype last year, Apple used the Find My iPhone feature and co-ordinated with San Francisco police to trace the phone to a home in San Fran’s Bernal Heights area. The homeowner gave police permission to search his house, but the device was not recovered.

Supposedly the prototype has already been sold on Craigslist for US$200, a paltry sum compared to the $5000 a certain “gadget blog” (CNET’s words) paid for the iPhone 4 prototype last year. No other details on the device are available, but considering the firestorm that erupted in 2010, it’s unlikely that any “gadget blog” would have the stones to buy the device even if it was offered to them.

We’re not judging here, but doesn’t it seem like bars, pubs, watering holes, and all other forms of alcohol-serving establishments ought to be off-limits to prototype testers from now on?

Apple loses another prototype iPhone originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today on TUAW TV Live, I’ll be running a bit of a trivia contest — or at least testing your abilities at performing internet searches. It’s sure to be a fun and educational episode for anyone who loves Apple.

Below, you’ll find a Ustream livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments.

If you’re driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you’re stuck in traffic, please don’t — keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream App. It’s a universal app and is wonderful on an iPad, both for viewing and participating in the chat.

We’ll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you’re seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you see the live stream. For those of you who are not able to join us for the live edition, you’ll be able to view it later this evening on our TUAW Video YouTube channel and as part of the TUAW TV Live podcast viewable in iTunes or on any of your Apple devices.

Update: The winners of today’s Unofficial Apple Trivia contest were — everybody who enjoyed the game! In terms of points accumulated during the trivia fest, here were the final rankings:

BRANTWALSH 10 points
FIOSUSER001 5 points
KENYONJ 5 points
FATSUSHI 5 points
URIKELMAN 3 points
JONNYCOUSINS 2 points
BXC164 1 point
HOMEPUP 1 point
DRALLGOOD 1 point

TUAW TV Live: The Unofficial Apple Trivia episode (Updated) originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to Hardmac, Apple is testing a remote diagnostic tool for iOS devices. The tool will allow support personnel to obtain information on a device’s UDID, name, battery diagnostics, iOS version, and crash logs via an entirely online interface. The supposed intent behind this tool is to simplify the process of troubleshooting and diagnosing iOS device faults when bringing the device in for a physical inspection is impractical.

MacRumors notes that Apple has employed several similar remote diagnostic tools for quite some time, but according to Apple retail sources these tools have not yet seen widespread use. Apple Store Geniuses have found it both easier and faster to simply plug devices into a computer for diagnosis. However, this tool could be useful to AppleCare’s phone support agents by greatly streamlining the process of obtaining device information from users.

Hardmac says the new diagnostic tool will be deployed “in the next months everywhere.”

Apple reportedly prepping remote iOS diagnostic tools originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last week SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott told Jim Cramer that SAP was the largest enterprise user of iPads on the planet. In the 8 minute interview, which you can watch here, McDermott and Cramer talked about the iPad’s adoption among businesses and the fact that the iPad is “the future.” But one of the most interesting tidbits to come out of the interview was a personal story about Steve Jobs.

Bill McDermott’s mother had cancer and one day McDermott called Steve Jobs and asked him for help on the matter. As he told Jim Cramer:

“As a matter of fact, when my mom was sick — she had a similar ailment to Steve’s — I called him up for help, and I asked him for help. And the guy gave me an hour of his time. He gave me all of his docs, his experiences. He’s a tremendous human being and the world is in his debt, he’s a great visionary, and he’s a terrific person. My heart goes out to him and his family.”

This story is one of the many that have leaked out from tech leaders after Steve Jobs’ resignation last week and shows a compassionate and empathetic side of Steve Jobs that one rarely hears about. However, Steve Jobs private life will come into much sharper view in November when his authorized biography is published. For the biography author Walter Isaacson had access to dozens of personal and professional contacts in Steve Jobs’ life. In addition to this unprecedented access Jobs also agreed to not read the book’s manuscript until it was published. Steve Jobs biography will hit shelves on November 21st.

[via Forbes]

SAP co-CEO shares story of a compassionate Steve Jobs originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of my new favorite games for the iPad is EDGE Extended. In it users control a color-fluctuating cube by continuously tumbling it backwards and forwards, left and right. The goal is to get the cube across a platform of raised buttresses, moving tiles, traps, and enigmatic mazes to the other side where it transports off to the next level. If the concept of the game sounds simple that’s because it is, but what makes this game stand out is its art direction, physics, and ingenuity.

EDGE Extended offers beautifully simple controls. There is no virtual joystick or pad. Just place your finger anywhere on the screen and drag to tumble the cube in any direction. The game is designed as an homage to the simplistic-looking arcade games of the 80s. But the simplicity is deceiving, because the developers obviously put a lot of subtle detail into it. As the cube tumbles over, you really get a “feel” every time its flat surface plops to the ground. Its 8-bit score and sound effects compliment the game’s 44 levels without getting annoying. And its puzzles, levels, and traps are varying enough so you don’t get the feeling of “I’ve played this level before.”

EDGE Extended is my new addiction. And for US$0.99, I think it’s going to become many peoples’ addictions. Best of all, for that $0.99 you get a universal game that plays on both the iPad and iPhone.

Daily iPad App: EDGE Extended originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has struggled with the sale of counterfeit iPods, iPhones and iPads in China for years. A recent WikiLeaks report notes that the company enlisted members of Pfizer’s global security team to combat the industry of fakes. Why Pfizer? The answer should be obvious to anyone who’s received spam email within the last few years: Pfizer’s team had been tracking down counterfeit Viagra manufacturers in Asia for years.

It’s been an uphill battle for Apple and other tech manufacturers, according to a source quoted by Atlantic Wire. While the Chinese government has assisted pharmaceutical companies, the source said, the same can’t be said of requests made by the tech industry. Why? S/he offers one theory: “Whereas a defective pill could cause sickness or death, a shoddy iPod has less dire consequences.”

Philip Elmer-Dewitt has posted the body of the memo obtained by Wikileaks. It’s a compelling illustration of the thriving counterfeit market as well as Apple’s efforts with Pfizer.

Apple used Pfizer security team to root out Chinese pirates originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You can do almost everything from your iPhone, so it was only a matter of time you could clean your home with it.

LG is set to demo its iPhone-controllable Roboking VR680VMNC robaotic vacuum cleaner at IFA 2011 this week. The Roboking sports three cameras and multiple sensors, which allow it to capture video and send it back to your iPhone over your home’s Wi-Fi connection. You can then use the video to select which areas you want Roboking to clean first.

According to SlashGear, the Roboking can also act as a sort of robotic sentry, streaming live video of your home to your iPhone so you can see what’s going on while you’re away. The Roboking VR680VMNC launches in Korea this fall for the equivilant of US$800. No word on when the device starts cleaning up America.

iPhone-controlled robot vacuum transmits photos of its work originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You’ll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes, which is perfect for a quick review of what’s happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today’s Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for listening through iTunes, click here.

Daily Update for August 31, 2011 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Baseball is undergoing a digital revolution thanks to the iPad and the iPhone. Sports fans, management and even players are using the iPad to improve America’s favorite game. Fans can watch every Major League game on their phone or tablets. Managers can keep track of their rosters and players can analyze both their own performance and that of their competitors.

Companies like Baseball Info solutions have embraced this trend. The service compiles the statistics for every player in the Major Leagues and makes it available to all thirty MLB teams. Sports professionals are not alone in this move to a digital future. Recently, we took a look at Extra Innings Mobile Instructor, an app which lets coaches and parents record and analyze the technique of both hitters and pitchers.

And baseball isn’t the only sport being transformed by the iPad. Recently, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers handed out iPads to all its players and management to replace the paper-based playbook.

How the iPad is changing baseball originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dear Aunt TUAW,

Now that most of the country’s college students are going back to school, I need recommendations for note-taking software for my Mac. In the meantime, let me say, “Boo-hoo Microsoft for not making OneNote for OS X.”

Sincerely,

Kenny M

Dear Kenny,

If you’re looking for an OS X app that hits many of OneNote’s sweet spots, consider the US$39.99 Pear Note from Useful Fruit. Developer Chad Sellers tells TUAW, “Pear Note is often looked at as a more focused Mac alternative to OneNote.”

If you record lectures as you take notes, Pear Note may be the app for you. It integrates your typed notes with audio, providing many of the same kinds of note-taking features as OneNote.

Timestamps for each keystroke allow you to associate what you typed with what was being said at the same time. Just click on the text notes to jump to the point in the recording when you typed it, and start listening again to that topic.

If you plan to use an iPad and a Mac, the upcoming Pear Note for iPad will coordinate with the Mac version via Dropbox. Do recognize, though, that Pear Note is for creating notes, not organizing them.

Sellers says, “I wanted people to be able to use whatever organizational tool they like with Pear Note. So, some organize their notes in folders on the filesystem, some throw them all in Documents and use search to find things, and some use Yojimbo, Together, or Evernote to organize them.”

Now, if you’re more of a visual scribbler than a listener, Auntie suggests the $29.99 Circus Ponies Notebook.

Notebook shines in its ability to add diagrams, flow charts and sketches to any page and provides full stylus integration. You can import PDF documents and add notes on top of that material.

Plus, you can “…’clip’ selections from web pages and other apps straight into your Notebooks,” according to Circus Ponies’ marketing text. Notebooks stores the URL with the clip, allowing you to return to pages that you’ve taken notes on.

Perhaps your prefer an outline approach? Auntie’s got a suggestion for you, too. How about the $39.99 OmniOutliner? It provides excellent outlining tools.

OmniOutliner lets you collect and organize information using a traditional outliner on steroids. With it, you can build multi-columned documents that include many spreadsheet enhancements, so your outlines can come to life. If you’re a bullet-point style note taker, OmniOutliner probably provides all (if not more) the functionality you need for in-class organizing.

Got another OS X note-taking app to recommend? Drop a note in the comments, because Auntie loves hearing from you.

Hugs,

Auntie T.

Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me take notes at school originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The last week has given Apple fans a chance to reminisce about the company, its products, and the individuals who have helped make history. Now it’s your chance to show just how much you know about Apple.

Today on TUAW TV Live at 5 PM EDT, I’ll have a pile of Apple trivia questions ranging in difficulty from stupidly easy to incredibly obscure. Depending on your memory of all things Apple (or your Google-fu) and your speed at typing the correct answer into the chat room, you can emerge at the end of the day with bragging rights as The Unofficial Apple Trivia Champion.

As usual, I’ll be starting the show at 5 PM EDT (2 PM PDT / 10 PM BST) sharp, and we’ll take a few minutes to chat before the demos start. To join in on the chat and watch the live streaming video, drop by TUAW about five minutes before the start time to get your instructions on how to participate. If you’re unable to join us for the show, remember that you can always subscribe to the video podcast and watch the show at your leisure in iTunes or any other favorite podcatching app. The past shows are also available on the TUAW YouTube channel.

If you don’t want to use the Flash Ustream chat tool, remember that you can always connect through IRC. The default chat server is chat1.ustream.tv (port 6667), the chat room is #tuaw-tv. You’ll need to set up a Ustream account first with a username and password, and then log into IRC with that.

TUAW TV Live at 5 PM EDT: Test your knowledge of Apple trivia originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Astute TUAW readers may remember a story from two weeks ago about a prototype 2007 MacBook Pro with a 3G antenna built into the side of the LCD screen as well as a SIM slot. The device was being sold on eBay and had received bids in the neighborhood of US$70,000 before Apple requested that the sale be stopped. Now Apple wants the prototype back from its current owner.

CNet contacted the seller, Carl Frega of North Carolina, who had purchased the unique machine from someone on Craigslist. The machine wasn’t working, so Frega sold it again on Craigslist. This owner brought the machine to an Apple Store Genius Bar. When the machine was opened up, Apple refused to repair it as they noted that almost every part inside the device was “third party” — the main logic board, optical drive, display, hard drive, and top case were all non-standard.

The second buyer was miffed that Apple refused service and, thinking that the machine was a fake, took Frega to small claims court. Frega was forced to return the buyer’s money and got the one-of-a-kind MacBook Pro back, after which he tried to sell the device on eBay to see if he could recoup his losses.

Apple has now contacted Frega to recover the MacBook Pro, and the fate of the machine rests in the hands of the powers-that-be in Cupertino. It’s too bad that this one can’t be photographed for the Shrine of Apple.

Apple called: They want their prototype 3G MacBook Pro back originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Dear Dev Juice,

With Lion and new xCode 4, Property List Editor is missing. Opening xCode to just be able to edit a plist file is not what I want.

So my question is how do you edit your plist files ? Do you know an alternative to xCode 4?

Thanks.

Thierry”

Dear Thierry,

If you don’t mind converting your property lists to XML format (plutil -convert xml1 filename.plist), you can always use TextEdit to make quick changes.

However, it sounds like you’re looking for a third party GUI solution. Daniel Jalkut helpfully pointed DevJuice to PlistEdit Pro. A $29.95 shareware application, PlistEdit Pro offers a standalone property list editor.

Developer Brian Webster told TUAW, “PlistEdit Pro was originally written in a fit of frustration over how bad Apple’s editor was. They eventually updated it around Xcode 3.1 or so, and it was much improved, but then as you saw they pulled the standalone version with Xcode 4.”

In addition to basic property list editing, PlistEdit Pro also offers a preference file browser, which scans through your user defaults library for easy browsing, adds scriptability for automatically modifying plists, and supports extended search, replace, and undo features.

Know of any other third party standalone GUI property list editors? (As opposed to plusutil, which is command-line only…) Leave a note in the comments.

Dev Juice: Help find me a standalone property editor originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Both the New York Times and the Associated Press are reporting that the Justice Department is suing to halt the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, citing serious competitive issues with the US $39 billion deal.

The complaint says “AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low-priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market, thus, unless this acquisition is enjoined, customers of mobile wireless telecommunications services likely will face higher prices, less product variety and innovation, and poorer quality services due to reduced incentives to invest than would exist absent the merger.”

AT&T announced its desire to merge in March, and the proposal has drawn fire from consumer groups, lawmakers, and rivals like Sprint which has been urging the government to stop the merger.

AT&T and Verizon are the sole US sources for the iPhone, but rumors have mentioned Sprint and T-Mobile as possibilities.

Update: AT&T isn’t giving up. As Engadget reports, Wayne Watts, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel, issued the following statement:

“We are surprised and disappointed by today’s action, particularly since we have met repeatedly with the Department of Justice and there was no indication from the DOJ that this action was being contemplated. We plan to ask for an expedited hearing so the enormous benefits of this merger can be fully reviewed. The DOJ has the burden of proving alleged anti-competitive affects and we intend to vigorously contest this matter in court. At the end of the day, we believe facts will guide any final decision and the facts are clear. This merger will:

· Help solve our nation’s spectrum exhaust situation and improve wireless service for millions.
· Allow AT&T to expand 4G LTE mobile broadband to another 55 million Americans, or 97% of the population;
· Result in billions of additional investment and tens of thousands of jobs, at a time when our nation needs them most.

We remain confident that this merger is in the best interest of consumers and our country, and the facts will prevail in court.”

U.S. looks to block AT&T, T-Mobile merger (Updated) originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So you love your sleek, compact Apple wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad, right? Who doesn’t? There’s not a wire or cable in sight and you’re workspace couldn’t be more clutter free, functional and oh so pleasing to the eye. Until, that is, that dreadful day comes when you need to do some serious number crunching. In that moment, it’s safe to say, you wish you’d gone for Apple’s wired keyboard with a numerical keypad built into the side.

Well, thanks to the good folks at Mobee, now you don’t have to compromise. For $29.90 you get the Magic Numpad — a pack of three custom film layouts that you apply to your trackpad. Depending on how intensive the number crunching you’re about to do is, you can apply either the classic numpad (that leaves you some tactile surface on your trackpad), the full numpad or the numpad with customizable keys. With the overlays and a free download of Mobee’s free Snow Leopard or Lion compatible software, your Magic Trackpad will be transformed into a fully functioning Magic Numpad.

The Magic Numpad is up for pre-order now on Mobee’s website. Availability is set for October. Head on over to Mobee’s website for all the details.

[Via This is my next]

Magic Numpad turns your Magic Trackpad into a number pad originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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