So you thought your PIN-protected iPhone was secure enough to keep your friends away from trying to unlock it and call your mom pretending they kidnapped you. I’m sorry folks, you might want to reconsider your mobile security.
Valve Working On Source SDK Update to Bring Mods to OS X
Steam for Mac is doing great (the latest updates should have fixed the few bugs we encountered with first release for Mac) and users seems to be very satisfied with the performance of the platform on their Macbooks. Still, there’s one big feature missing: an update to the Source SDK to compile mods for OS X.
As you can see from the screenshot after the break that’s exactly what Alfred Reynolds (software developer at Valve) is confirming: “a code update so you can compile your mods for OSX”. This should bring the whole Steam / Source platform at the same level of Windows’ one, and we’ve got the feeling this update will be out by the WWDC.
Steve Ballmer To Show Up At The WWDC Keynote?
So here’s the big news guys: Steve Ballmers might take the stage at the upcoming WWDC keynote and talk about Visual Studio 2010, the development tool that will allegedly allow devs to write native apps for iPhone, iPad and Mac OS.
As Barron’s reports:
“Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with tiny Global Equities Research, contends that 7 minutes of the June 7 keynote by Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been blocked off for a presentation by Microsoft (MSFT) to talk about Visual Studio 2010, the company’s suite of development tools.”
So, what was the story about surprises, again? Seriously, this is gonna be interesting.
Win A Copy of Chirpy for iPhone
Chirpy is an iPhone we reviewed last week that allows you to use Twitter DMs as text messages. It supports push notifications and it’s powered by a nice and well designed user interface.
We have 5 copies up for grabs, and to enter the contests you just have to leave a comment below telling us why you’d like to win the app. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 28th.
Good luck!
TinyGrab for iPhone Is What We Were Missing
It’s been a while since I last wrote about quick file sharing apps. I’m talking about excellent pieces of software like Cloud, Droplr, Fileshuttle and Tinygrab: apps that allow you to select an image, file or URL from Finder or Safari and send it to the cloud with a few clicks, and then share a short link on your social network of choice.
Let’s talk about Tinygrab. Tinygrab is one of the most popular image sharing services that, unlike many others, comes both with a Mac desktop app and a Windows version. They have a pretty huge userbase and they have just released a shiny new iPhone app, developed by my good friend Tim Davies. Wait, what? An iPhone app to share images? Yeah, I have to admit that it’s a new thing to me as well - I mean, if I want to share an image on Twitter I use the built in img.ly uploading features.
Could a mobile image sharing app hold on to its desktop version?
AT&T Confirms New iPhone In June
If you still have any doubts about the new iPhone coming this summer, BoyGeniusReport’s latest news is the “final confirmation”: AT&T seems to have told to its employees that the device is coming, and is coming in early June.
Like we had any doubts.
Steve Jobs Wants to Manufacture 2.5 Million iPads A Month
Don’t get me wrong, he only wants to reply to emails and drink cocktails with some Gawker dude.
Thing is, Vijay Rakesh is writing that Apple wants to crank up production of the iPad and get 2.5 million units a month out of factories. Impressive, isn’t it? As Barron’s reports, Apple has been producing 1 / 1.5 millions units a month for a while now, and the production could go up to 2.5 million by this September.
On a side note, please remember that the iPad is still sold out in many retail stores. And he’s answering emails. What a weird strategy.
[via 9to5mac]
Apple Actually Had Considered AMOLED Displays
It turns out that Apple really thought about implementing AMOLED displays in the next generation iPhone, but had to reject the idea due to problem with supply and technology.
As Digitimes reports:
“According to our sources, Apple had spoken with Samsung Mobile Display (SMD) about the possibility for AMOLED panels since the development of the iPhone 3GS, but production capacity remains a big issue. SMD only has the capability to fulfill 50-60% of iPhone orders at the moment even it dedicated all AMOLED capacity to Apple.
Of course, cost is always a concern. AMOLED panels cost US$34-38. TN panels cost less than US$10 and IPS panels around US$20.
AMOLED also has display weaknesses. SMD uses PenTile technology developed by Clairvoyante to produce AMOLED, which is less suitable for displaying text. With Apple quite keen on pushing e-reading businesses, AMOLED may not be the best solution at the moment.”
So there you have it, folks. The whole truth is coming in 12 days, by the way.
They’re Telling Us We Shouldn’t Hold Our Breath for WWDC
Gene Munster is telling us that we shouldn’t hold our breath for the upcoming WWDC and the stuff Steve Jobs is going to announce. He says that Apple has “little room for surprise”.
Let me ask you this: even if you knew that Apple was set to announce a tablet device back in January, did you enjoy the event? Even if you thought you knew what the device might look like, didn’t your jaw drop when you saw the iPad in action?
These predictions are useless. It’s like saying “don’t read that book because we all know it’s got a happy ending”. What about the content of the book? What about how the iPhone 4G works and relies on the new iPhone OS 4.0 features? Here’s a suggestion for analysts: try to focus more on the content sometimes, because Apple is not about surprises - not as much as it’s about refinements.