Category: I-phone

It’s Friday, and that must mean Verizon-on-the-iPhone rumor time. This one comes from the SyFy Network’s DVICE blog of all places and is all about the hardware. They’re claiming that an “inside source” has provided some specs on a new Verizon handset.

According to DVICE’s source, the iPhone will feature a larger screen than what the iPhone 4 has, as well as an internal antenna (we imagine that’s a bit of a sore spot with Apple these days). They also report that Verizon “insisted” on an internal antenna.

As for the display, expect something like 3.7 inches. Finally, DVICE suggests that a zippy 1.2GHz chip will run the whole thing. It’s all speculation, folks, so keep that in mind. Do you buy it?

TUAWRumor: Verizon iPhone to have large screen, new processor originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget’s tasty scoop on Wednesday suggests that the long-rumoured but still-mythical Apple TV hardware refresh would lack 1080p output. As is fairly routine now, weblogs, forums, and Twitter exploded with “ZOMG APPLE #FAIL” and similar thoughtful criticism. But assuming it’s true, is this really that surprising? Everyone automatically assumes 1080p is the natural choice but I’m not sure it’s that simple.

Notwithstanding (slightly dubious) recent rumours of a new video codec capable of pushing out 4096×2160, iTunes today can only offer high definition video in 720p. To move that to 1080p would require 2.25 times more disk space on the iTunes servers and the same increase in data bandwidth between those servers and the paying customers. Those are not cheap investments.

In turn, consumers would see a similar increase in streaming requirements. Xbox Live can stream 1080p video, but it requires 8-10meg broadband, which leaves an awful lot of people out in the cold. It has the option of downloading instead, but if you’re out in the sticks on a 2meg stream you’re looking at more than eight hours to download your film at 1080p. You’d best plan your Friday night viewing before leaving for work on Friday morning.

TUAWDoes the Apple TV need 1080p? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We posted about Times way back in April of last year. Back then, it was an RSS reader for Mac that organized your feeds into a newspaper-style page, so you could quickly and easily scan and browse a lot of information. Nowadays, of course, the iPad is one of the main devices for consumption of online content, and the team at Acrylic has finally brought that reader over to Apple’s tablet (and the 2.0 Mac version is due out soon as well). It doesn’t hurt, I’m sure, that apps like Flipboard have made it cool to consume RSS content in a programmatically designed form again.

Times is pretty smooth, as you can see on the website. It will seamlessly bring in content from all of your feeds, as well as Facebook and Twitter, and organize them all in an easy to read newspaper/blog format. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sync up with the Mac version (or any other readers that you may already have set up), so you’ll probably have to rebuild whatever group of feeds you’re already reading. And personally, I have the same problem with this that I have with all of these “nice” feed readers; it’s cool to see your feeds all prettied up and formatted, but sometimes I just want to make sure that I see important news or hit a certain site first.

But that’s not the kind of reading you’d do with an app like this anyway. (Since I write for TUAW, a lot of my RSS reading is systematically combing for interesting stories and posts.) As a simple iPad reader that makes multiple feeds pretty and easy to read, Times for iPad is worth checking out if you haven’t landed on a good solution yet. It’s US $7.99 on the App Store right now.

TUAWTUAW’s Daily App: Times for iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TUAWChange Case uses OS X Services to expand TextEdit originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This might be the wackiest patent that I’ve ever seen Apple apply for. The company has recently put in a patent to describe the process of making a digital comic book out of a video game playthrough. The idea here is that you’d play through a segment of a video game (Mass Effect is the one used in the example), and then Apple would collect information about your character and the way that you played the game. It would then use that information to turn the experience into an e-book, which could either be sold digitally or printed.

Say what? I guess that’s cool, but this just seems like Apple is laying down a quick patent on a pretty harebrained idea; it doesn’t seem like a preview of an actual service that we’ll eventually see implemented on the Mac. Then again, Apple has worked pretty closely with Comic Life in the past, and it has connected the popular comic creation app to both iPhoto and MobileMe. Maybe it’s looking at extending that service further.

Another (presumably more practical) patent has Apple examining improved equalizers on iTunes and in the iDevices. This one I can get behind. The EQ that’s there right now works, but the patent involves more dynamic adjustments and some user-free audio enhancement. Again, Apple patents ideas, not actual products, but there’s still a possibility that we’ll see either or both of these ideas implemented in the future.

TUAWApple patent turns video games into comics originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The UK’s oldest commercial television network, ITV, is supposedly livid over the rumor that Apple will rebrand the Apple TV as “iTV” in the near future. According to Mirror.co.uk, the network is already taking legal steps to “…stop the move.” They’re looking to prevent Apple from using the name “iTV” in any way. Mirror.co.uk quoted a source as saying, “We all take our ITV brand very seriously and we’ll do everything in our power to protect it.”

Easy, folks. It’s just a rumor. iTV may be what’s coming as a new name, or it might not. Besides, Apple and Cisco were able to work things out when Apple renamed the iPhone OS “iOS.”

Can’t we all just get along?

[Via AppleInsider]

TUAWBritish TV network angered over iTV rumor originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adobe has released Adobe Photoshop Express for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch in the App Store. Adobe Photoshop Express is the new name of the Photoshop.com Mobile app and now it comes with iPad support and improved UI.

Adobe Photoshop Express description and changelog after the jump…

Description

Adobe Photoshop Express software lets you use simple gestures to quickly edit and share photos from your mobile device. Enjoy having your photo and video library right in your hand — without wasting your device’s valuable storage space.

Photoshop Express is a companion to Photoshop.com, your online photo sharing, editing, and hosting resource. Create a free Photoshop.com account to upload and store 2GB of photos and videos online.

With Photoshop Express, it’s easy to improve your photos. Choose from a variety of one-touch effects, or simply drag your finger across the screen to crop, rotate, or adjust color. Add artistic filters like Soft Focus or Sketch. And never fear: You can undo and redo changes until you get just the look you want—a copy of your original file is always saved.

Top editing features

• Basics: Crop, Straighten, Rotate, and Flip
• Color: Exposure, Saturation, Tint, Black and White, and Contrast
• Filters: Sketch, Soft Focus, and Sharpen
• Effects: Vibrant, Pop, Border, Vignette Blur, Warm Vintage, Rainbow, White Glow, and Soft Black and White
• Borders: Rectangle, Rounded, Oval, Soft Edge, Vignette, Rough Edge, Halftone, and Film Emulsion

What’s New In Version 1.3

• Initial support for iPad
• New name: Adobe® Photoshop® Express
• Updated UI
• Bug fixes and performance improvements

Features specific to iPad

• Support for portrait and landscape orientations
• Redesigned Online, Edit, and Upload workflows
• Ability to work on multiple photos in sequence from within a single workflow
• Redesigned Organizer view with simplified album sharing
• Updated icons and visuals that make it easier to navigate and use the Editor
• Ability to upload to Photoshop.com and Facebook simultaneously

You can download Adobe Photoshop Express from the App store for Free. [iTunes Link]

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Today we presents a collection of most useful Firefox extensions for developers.

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There are some interesting rumors coming from the usual suspects, suggesting that Apple’s fall product update will not only bring the expected iPod refresh, but also a new Apple TV that may be called iTV. The interesting piece of that rumor is that the new set-top box may include the A4 processor and run on iOS 4.

Such a product would be consistent with Apple’s product strategy and even if some voiced some disappointment that the iTV may be stuck at 720p, there is the logical assumption that it will connect to the App Store. And if it does, it will open up apps to even larger displays than the iPad – your TV. Imagine running your app on a TV. What could it do? What about casual gaming on a TV? It’s entirely possible with an iOS-based iTV.

We may be speculating a bit here, but we believe that Apple will continue to eliminate the borders between different types of devices and eventually allow mobile, desktop and consumer electronics to access the App Store. The implications for iTV include the fact that the box may be bridging the gap into the gaming world and turn into a game console as well. If so, imagine iPods or iPhones to be used as game controllers. There is a whole new opportunity out there, provided Apple will take this step, which we do not know for sure will actually be the case.

However, it may be a good idea to start thinking about Apps that run on much higher resolutions than on the standard iPhone and iPad screen.

Facebook has updated its SDK for iOSfor iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad apps. The big news is that this new SDK enables the use of the Graph UI and allows authentication with OAuth 2.0.

According to Facebook, more than 150 million people are using a mobile version of Facebook and the company intends to take its mobile app environment closer to where its desktop development stands.

Facebook said that it encourages developers to upgrade to the new SDK, but it will continue to support the older SDK for the “foreseeable future.” You can download the kit and find all information here.

Case-mate has decided to promote its new iPhone and iPad case-making site (one tip, Case-mate: Don’t create an iPhone case site that requires Flash) with some videos, and rather than put together images of how great the cases work or how good they look, the ad people decided to just jump right into the deep end of the insane pool.

As you can see above, the first concept involves some kind of mystical girl in the mountains who can create objects with her mind, and has six arms, and … well, just watch it for yourself. I already have a case on my iPhone (and it’s not a Case-mate, I just use the iSkin Revo), but honestly, I prefer some crazy ads like this to, say, the FaceTime commercials. I can only take that “Baby, it is so short” commercial so many times.

Case-mate tried to tell us that the second commercial they made wasn’t quite as nuts, but man, it’s even crazier. It’s also kind of not-safe-for-work, too (some mild gore and implied nudity), so I’ll just link to it by name: Living With Steel Wool Hands (How I Lost My Nipple). No, really. Watch if you dare. I don’t know what they’re putting in the water over in the marketing department, but maybe they should splurge for bottled.

TUAWFound Footage: Case-mate will freak you out with iPhone case commercials originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple’s website, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun.

TUAWSafari extension highlight: Facebook Photo Zoom originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When you’re tired of flinging birds at pigs, here’s a new way to have fun — an addictive game called Cannon Cadets (US$1.99) from XMG Studio.

I was fortunate enough to get a preview of Cannon Cadets a few weeks ago, and quickly jumped into the fun. The back story of Cannon Cadets is that there’s a very unhappy monkey by the name of Gordo who seeks to remove fun from the universe with his army of evil robots. Your mission is to use your cannon to launch your characters — RocketBoy, RocketGirl, Pop, Granati and Beats — at the robots, structures, and flying targets to try to knock out the robot army and finish a level. There are 80 levels on four different planets (not including hidden levels) to work your way through, all of which are challenging and fun to look at.

The game physics are a lot of fun — there are objects in higher levels that are more like Rube Goldberg devices than just knock ’em down structures, with spinning and swinging bits that are a delight to work with. The sound effects are musical and crazy (yes, those two adjectives do work together in this game), and the graphics really pop on the iPhone 4 Retina Display. You need to work your way through one level to unlock the next level, or if you’re impatient, you can spend $0.99 on an in-app purchase that will automatically unlock all levels.

What will delight some players and irritate others is that there is no scoring in Cannon Cadets. You basically work your way through the levels, and if you’re unsuccessful, you try again. There are some levels further on in the game that are just so much fun to defeat that you’ll find yourself playing them again just to watch the game in action. If you’d like to win a copy of the game or a specially-designed Cannon Cadets / TUAW skin for your iDevice, read on.

TUAWCelebrate the launch of Cannon Cadets with XMG Studio and TUAW originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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