Category: I-phone

Following up from this morning’s flurry of news surrounding a series of legal threats to independent developers, there’s this thorough and wonderful dissection of the situation by Florian Mueller, an intellectual property activist.

On his blog he states, “…companies like Apple will look at these issues on a case-by-case basis and make a determination in each case how far they go with their support.” As Macworld pointed out early on, Section 6.2 of the iOS Paid Apps Agreement seems to put the liability for any infringement back on app developers. But that’s unlikely to happen. Still, it’s a sticky situation that (once again) turns our attention to some ugly truths about our courts and our patent system.

The patent in question, according to Cnet, appears to be patent number 7,222,078, an invention of Dan Abelow. Abelow is a successful inventor and in his resume he notes that his communication and customization patents are licensed and owned by Lodsys, LLC. I’m not a lawyer, but Mueller points out that the patent is broad, covering “methods and systems for gathering information from units of a commodity across a network” and in today’s case (along with a previous infringement threat to Computer Logic X) is being applied to the “upgrade” button used to transition free iOS apps to their paid equivalents; it could possibly apply more broadly against the mechanism for in-app purchasing. Again, I’m no lawyer, but I’m not so sure it’s that the patent is too broad, but that it is being very loosely applied here.

Continue reading Lodsys patent claim threatens independent developers, what next?

Lodsys patent claim threatens independent developers, what next? originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 18:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When it comes to ad-hoc video chatting with friends, strangers or space aliens, the heir apparent to the Chatroulette throne is TinyChat.

This Flash-based video-chatting service, launched in 2009, lets you create chatrooms on the fly. You and several friends can all broadcast, while more attendees/fans/you-name-its can watch and comment.

It’s become quite popular with more than 30,000 people joining the site every day and a million active daily users. It’s even got the requisite celeb cred with financial backing from Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs and Charlie Sheen’s replacement Ashton Kutcher.

Today, the site released a major redesign along with a new feature: location tagging for your video chats. You can choose to reveal your region or location down to a 10-mile radius, and the service displays a ‘chats in your area’ map to help you identify nearby conversations.

Co-founder Dan Blake says that this feature is a natural extension of the geotagging options in social services like Facebook or Twitter: “This is all about continuing to make the world a more connected place via the web. Say, if there’s a regular Tinychat room you use to discuss fishing, we think this feature will make it even easier for those users to meet ‘IRL’ for an actual fishing trip!” (Of course, the service’s safety tips page reminds you never, ever to agree to meet someone in real life that you encounter on the service… a bit of cognitive dissonance there.)

Where there’s video and location awareness, you know what’s bound to be right around the corner. TUAW has learned that TinyChat has an iPhone app in the late stages of development, scheduled for release within the next couple of weeks. iPhone 4 users will be able to participate in chats on the go, and can include their location information (again, this is optional) with their user profile or their chatroom settings. It’s likely that TinyChat will be first to market with this capability; although Apple could always add location to FaceTime, that would probably provoke a wave of privacy concerns.

You can sign up for a free TinyChat account through the site or via Facebook; when the iPhone app is ready for prying eyes, we’ll preview it here.

Exclusive: TinyChat to enable location-linked video chat on iPhone 4 originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has seeded the first build of Mac OS X 10.6.8 to developers, according to MacRumors. Right now there’s no word on any changes included in the 10.6.8 build, but as is standard with later 10.x.x updates, most of the time any changes made are minor maintenance updates.

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is scheduled to be released later this summer, so it is a possibility that Mac OS X 10.6.8 could be the last iteration of Snow Leopard we see. We’ll keep you abreast if we get any any word on the release notes for the latest Snow Leopard build and, as always, feel free to mention any changes you notice in 10.6.8 in the comments.

Mac OS X 10.6.8 build seeded to developers originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Photo sharing site Flickr tracks and publishes the device origin of all the photos that are posted to its site. With over 4.5 million users uploading photos daily, this data set is enormous.

Stats from a month ago show the iPhone 4 is at the top of the heap of not just smartphones, but of digital cameras as well. Currently, over 4,000 daily users upload photos taken with their iPhone 4. Over 7 million photos have been uploaded since the iPhone 4 launched last June.

Moving to the iPad 2, the stats are pretty abysmal. A month ago, only nine users were uploading iPad 2 photos. Today, that number has climbed to a meager 22. If the camera was a key feature of the tablet, you would expect to see a lot more than 22 people uploading per day, especially with the millions of iPads that are circulating in the wild.

I hate to say it, but my own usage reflects this trend. I use my iPhone 4 all the time for taking photos and sharing them with friends. The camera on the iPad 2, though, has not been used once since I bought the tablet a month ago. If you have one or more of these devices, do you use them in the same way?

[Via Electricpig]

The iPad 2 is highly unpopular… as a camera originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jeffries & Co. analyst Peter Misek issued a research note to clients today in which he claims the next iPhone will be branded the ‘iPhone 4S’ and will debut in September. The iPhone 4S will reportedly be a minor revamp of the iPhone including “minor cosmetic changes, better cameras, A5 dual-core processor, and HSPA+ support.”

The iPhone 4S however, would not feature an LTE 4G chipset. Misek writes that despite Apple’s hopes that LTE chipsets would be available in sufficient quantities for the next iPhone, the Qualcomm LTE chipset Apple would have used “is currently not achieving yields sufficient for inclusion in the iPhone 5.” Hence, Apple has prepared a version of the iPhone without LTE.

iPhone fans may bemoan the lack of major new hardware features in the next iteration, but it seems that Apple is going to be relying on iOS as a major selling point for the new phone. Also, US users will be happy to learn that Misek is claiming that Apple is preparing to expand US carriers, adding Sprint and T-Mobile by the end of the year.

Misek’s assertions for the expanded carriers seem to match a post from BoyGeniusReport that Apple is testing T-Mobile-compatible iPhone 4s in the wild. While the existing iPhone 4 will work on T-Mobile’s GSM network in the US, it is limited to EDGE speeds as the AT&T and T-Mobile systems use different frequencies to support 3G data.

Misek also states that Apple is set to add China Mobile as a carrier in China by the end of 2011.

[via Forbes]

Rumor: ‘iPhone 4S’ to launch in September with T-Mobile and Sprint as added carriers originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s reach in Asia is about to grow bigger, according to a report from DigiTimes published earlier today.

Foxlink, one of Apple’s component suppliers and primary retail partners in Asia, revealed plans to expand its chain of Apple specialty shops in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea. The Taiwan-based company aims to double the number of stores it operates in the region from 50 locations to 100 by the end of the year.

Similarly, Foxconn, another of Apple’s biggest partners, also has plans to build more locations for its chain of Cybermart electronics outlets in China. One of Foxconn’s new locations, in Changchun, China, will dedicate 200 square meters exclusively to Apple products. Other Cybermarts are expected to open in Xiamen, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, Tianjin, Xinjiang, and Kunming.

China represents a huge opportunity for growth for Apple. The Cupertino company operates four of its own stores in the nation that have become its most visited and highest revenue generating locations in the world. Even so, Apple relies heavily on third party resellers to promote its hardware and software in Asia.

[via MacNN]

Apple retail partner Foxlink to double footprint in Asia originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Travel juggernaut Hotels.com has a new app available for both iOS and Android. The site is similar to discount travel sites such as Priceline and Orbitz, and it features last-minute deals from more than 135,000 around the world.

A rudimentary app released in 2008 basically served as a redirect to the Hotels.com site. The updated app allows you to access a complete reservation history even if you don’t have a data connection, one-touch map location for your hotel (immensely helpful, I find), the ability to create a Hotels.com account from within the app and more.

The app is very fast and easy to use. I’ve not used Hotels.com very much, but I plan to keep this app on my phone in case I’m traveling and need to find a place to stay at the last minute or want to find a good deal.

[Via Macworld]

Hotels.com app a good way to find last-minute hotel deals originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are many things that OS X does well, and a few things that it could do better. One area of potential weakness is window management, and that’s where Flexiglass comes in.

Flexiglass, a US$7.99 (currently 20% off) app from the Mac App Store, adds to and enhances the built-in window management features of OS X. It allows you to quickly resize and move a window using any part of said window when a modifier key is held down (the Option key by default), not just the title bar or the resize corner. With the modifier key, a left click and drag allows you to move the window, while a right click resizes the window, altering its size from the bottom or right hand-side edges. If on a trackpad, one, two or three-finger mousing does the same. The result is a fast and efficient means of window movement and resizing that doesn’t get in the way of normal operations.

Flexiglass also allows you to move and resize windows to set positions like full screen, half screen horizontally or vertically by dragging the window to the edges of the screen or through keyboard shortcuts. An option to double click the title bar or right click the green zoom button to maximize a window is also included, while a right click on the red button will quit the program, not just close the window.

Flexiglass rolls in many features found in other separate apps, with lots of options to enable or disable features that you don’t want. It’s a fast, slick experience that caters to keyboard and mouse jockeys alike, so it’s well worth considering if you find OS X lacking in the window management department.

TUAW’s Daily Mac App: Flexiglass originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday, Other World Computing wrote a post suggesting you could not install third-party hard drives in the new Sandy Bridge iMacs. According to OWC, any change in the hard drive or switching to a hard drive bay would cause the drive fan to spin at maximum speed. Though this problem does exist, it may not be as troublesome as everyone first reported.

According to the developer behind HDD Fan Control, this is a problem that has been present in iMac models since late 2009. The dev wrote his HDD Fan control application after he replaced his own hard drive and the fan speed for the drive increased to 6000 rpm. He used the hard drive’s S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) interface to control the speed of the fan and bring it down to a normal level. While Apple may not want you to replace the hard drive in your iMac, you may want to try this software option if you decide to crack open that all-in-one and do some hardware hacking. If you test it out, let us know how it works.

HDD Fan Control software addresses iMac hard drive replacement issue originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eager to make my new iPad 2 earn its keep, I’ve stopped rationalizing the purchase and gotten down to work. The next logical purchase, I figured, is Pages, which I’ll use for word processing while on the road. Mobile productivity is what the iPad is all about, isn’t it?

I read the “getting started” tutorial and then waited for a project to present itself while I was away from my Mac. An opportunity soon presented itself during a boring train ride.

While riding the train to music rehearsal, I needed to type up a simple set list of songs. On the left, I wanted to type the song titles, and on the right, each song’s key. This is something I’ve done hundreds of times on my Mac with minimal fuss.

Unfortunately, however, I hit a snag in Pages. I discovered that there is no tab key on the iPad’s virtual keyboard — even in Pages. I quickly double checked this on my iPhone keyboard and found the same result. I searched “tab” and “tab key” in the Pages help section with poor results.

I started fumbling around the various menu options in Pages, growing frustrated and confused at the lack of a tab key. Had the iPad let me down?

Fortunately, after ten minutes of repeated menu hopping, and searching various internet forums, I saw the tab icon staring me in the face, next to the text alignment icons. Pulling into the train station, I tapped the icon and a short menu appeared with the tab option at the top.

I can’t fathom why Apple would decide not to put a tab key on the iPad’s keyboard, at least in Pages. But thank goodness it’s there, even if it does require two taps to make a tab indentation instead of the single keyboard stroke required on a conventional keyboard.

Have you had a little tiff with your iPad? Why not let us know in the comments below? We may even be able to help you work it out!

iPad 101: finding the Tab key in Pages originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s an incredible story of how author Sean Power retrieved his stolen 17″ MacBook Pro from 800km away, using Prey and Twitter.

Sean’s bag containing his laptop, some money and other important items was stolen. Three days later, he received a report from Prey noting the computer’s location and a picture of the alleged thief, which was taken by the MBP’s camera. Soon the man in custody of the laptop launched Skype from a bar, and Sean was able to learn his name.

Sean then took to Twitter, explaining the situation to his followers, who began to do a Google search on the name, determining that he was part owner of the bar. Sean then contacted the police while a Twitter follower volunteered to wait for them to arrive at the bar, posing as a woman who was waiting on a friend.

The police never arrived, noting that Sean hadn’t filed a stolen item report. In the meantime, Sean watched as the man checked his email and even his bank account. Eventually, Sean called the man’s cell phone.

The man freely gave up the laptop, bag and all of the stolen belongings to people in the bar.

It’s an incredible story, and one that could have gone very wrong (approaching an alleged thief is best left to police). Prey played no small role. This piece of software can take photos of a person using a computer as well as sceenshots, all undetected. It will use either GPS or Wi-Fi triangulation to note its location, and it can keep your data locked down.

It’s an incredible story, and we’re glad it worked out. Congratulations to Sean and Prey.

Man uses Prey to track stolen MacBook Pro hundreds of miles, calls thief originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple recently filed a patent application for a text-to-speech and a speech-to-text converter designed to work in noisy environments. The patent describes a system that uses a converter included on the logic board of the phone. This hardware-based conversion would have a distinct advantage over current text-to-speech systems, which use an internet-based service from a company like Nuance to translate conversions.

Unlike Android’s text-to-speech system, which is used for searching and navigation, Apple’s patent describes a system used for sending and receiving phone calls. In one embodiment, a microphone on the iPhone would detect the ambient noise level and prompt the user to answer a call using text-to-speech in a noisy environment when talking on the phone may be difficult. The person answering the call would type in their messages, and the phone would convert it to speech heard by the caller.

In another example, the user could choose to talk via a two-way texting system that uses both text-to-speech and a speech-to-text within the conversation. Basically, your caller’s words would be converted to text that you could read, and you could input a text response that is converted to speech for the caller on the other end. It’s an elegant system that would be useful for making phone calls at a loud sporting event or a crowded bar.

Apple is rumored to be in talks with Nuance that could bring an advanced speech recognition system to iOS. This above patent may describe a small part of what is to come for iPhone owners in the future.

Apple patent reveals a text-to-speech and speech-to-text system for the iPhone originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An ITC judge has ruled that Apple’s allegations of patent infringement against Kodak are unfounded. You’ll remember that Apple claims Kodak is using two of its technologies illegally in several products, including the Z-series, M-series and C-series cameras. One of the technologies in question allows a camera to process two images simultaneously, while the other lets users adjust an image’s color, balance and resolution at the same time.

ITC Judge Robert Rogers did not agree with Apple’s complaints, but his ruling is still subject to full ITC review. Also, the ITC is yet to rule on a separate filing raised against both Apple and RIM by Kodak.

Judge rules for Kodak in Apple lawsuit originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This morning, several iOS developers have tweeted that they have been served with papers regarding their applications’ use of in-app purchases. PCalc Lite developer James Thomson tweeted that he received a FedEx package of legal papers this morning. Thomson lives in Scotland. As Thomson clarifies, he hasn’t been sued yet, but he’s “been told that I am infringing their patent, they want me to license it, and I have 21 days.”

Chicago-based developer Patrick McCarron confirmed that he too had met with identical circumstances. Both developers have declined to name the party of the complaint, and both will be consulting with Apple, whose in-app purchase mechanism they are using, before making any further statements. Thomson told John Siracusa it was not MacroSolve, a company that has been increasing its enforcement of patents around mobile tech.

In-App purchase is the mechanism by which applications can offer upgrades and extended features to customers from inside the application, creating an extended revenue flow after the initial software purchase. Many developers use this feature to provide free-to-paid pathways or to offer upgrades, subscriptions and booster packs.

More as this develops. If you are an independent developer served with a similar complaint and would like to discuss it with TUAW, please contact us here.

Update: MacRumors suggests this is Lodsys, based on previous claims against some pretty large printer companies and a conversation with developer Rob Gloess over a potential lawsuit surrounding an “upgrade” button in his apps.

But the Lodsys patents appear to target “upgrade” mechanisms, not in-app purchases. Of course, the meaning of an in-app purchase to enable certain features or add-ons could be construed as an “upgrade.” Still, we as yet have no confirmation that Lodsys is behind the current notices being sent out, but we have reached out to them for comment.

Update 2: Both MacRumors and Macworld are reporting independent verification of these claims coming from Lodsys.

Well, Lodsys, good luck with that. If you think Apple will roll over and let you scuttle the App Store, you haven’t been reading the news for the past several years.

Update 3: Nilay Patel tweets that he believes patent portfolio kingpins Intellectual Ventures may be behind this. His tweet: “ The patent was assigned to Ferrara Ethereal LLC, which is an IV shell company. They must have given some enforcement rights to Lodsys.” It just keeps getting better, doesn’t it?

iOS developers hit by patent infringement complaints for using in-app purchase originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chinese accessory maker Nuu has released the MiniKey, a stylish case and Bluetooth keyboard combo for the iPhone 4. The case includes a landscape keyboard that makes the iPhone look, well, just like an HTC phone.

The keyboard slides out from the back side of the case and works with email, messaging and other text-based applications. Because the virtual keyboard does not launch, the MiniKey lets you write a novella using the entire screen of the iPhone 4. It also includes a few extra features like backlit keys, a command key that can be used for shortcuts and a toggle key that lets you switch between the MiniKey keyboard and the on-screen keyboard.

The Nuu keyboard is a bit pricey at US$79.99, especially when 4iThumbs sells an overlay keyboard for under $25, and ThinkGeek sells a flip keyboard case for $39. You can order the Nuu Mini Keyboard from Nuu’s online store or a variety of retailers in Europe, Hong Kong and the UK. The full list of online merchants can be found at Nuu’s website.

[Via Electronista]

Nuu ships MiniKey for iPhone 4 originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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