Posts tagged with "iPhone"

Twitter Makes Quick Bar Less Intrusive With Update For iOS 4.3

Along with bug fixes related to app startup and location services, Twitter has met users half-way by stopping the Quick Bar from intrusively popping over the timeline as you scroll in version 3.3.1. Intended to update users on what’s happening the Twitter sphere, users were outraged at the inability to disable the distracting pop-over. Twitter has permanently affixed the Quick Bar at the top of the timeline, which you can scrub your thumb over to scroll through recent trending topics. Twitter isn’t backing down on a feature they claim user’s want – I say let individuals decide how they want to browse Twitter.

You can get the latest update for Twitter in the App Store.

Ustream Updates iPhone App, Broadcast And Chat All At Once

Since I might (and that is a huge might) be using Ustream’s latest app on Friday to broadcast my adventure to the Apple Store and the line craziness, I figured I’d give all of you Apple iPad 2 buyers the heads-up on Ustream 2.0, which launched late February but was drowned out in the sea of MacBook news and iPad 2 rumors. Ustream was used extensively by Engadget during their last meet-up, and it worked out incredibly well. Ustream is bringing everything together in the 2.0 release so you can record, talk to peeps in the chat room, share content with friends on Facebook and Twitter, and you can customize Ustream’s menu so you have all of your favorite features right at your fingertips. The app also defaults to an audio stream when your connection is poor, but Ustream is looking into a way to gracefully degrade the quality of the video stream instead. It’s a free download in the App Store, so if you have a Ustream account and want to clog Verizon’s or AT&T’s network with iPad 2 launch shenanigans, join me in downloading the latest update from the App Store.

[Ustream Blog via TechCrunch]

Here Come The AirPlay Systems: Phillips, Pioneer, and JBL Announce New Products

2011 won’t be a year just about the iPad. Apple’s AirPlay will be saturating the market this summer with dozens of speakers, docks, and receivers designed to wirelessly stream your tunes in lossless glory. Today, Philips, Pioneer, and JBL have all announced speakers and receivers that all support Apple’s wireless sharing capabilities, and we’ve got press releases, prices, and more after the break.

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SK Telecom Gets iPhone 4, CDMA?

Update #2: MacRumors and others report the iPhone 4 on SK Telecom is a CDMA one. We’ll see.

Update: It looks like Electronista incorrectly reported the iPhone 4 on SK Telecom was CDMA, and has updated the article. We indeed noticed the lack of CDMA details, and as also noted by our friends over at SetteB.it the iPhone 4 on SK Telecom will be a GSM unit because of the mention of a SIM slot in the device’s FAQ.

As reported by Electronista, South Korean carrier SK Telecom has officially announced they are bringing the iPhone 4 to South Korea on March 16 with online and retail store pre-orders starting on March 9. Although no technical details have been provided by Apple or SK Telecom’s website in the press release, it is widely believed that the CDMA version of the iPhone will be released in South Korea, thus ending the temporary “exclusive” availability of the device on Verizon Wireless’ network in the United States.

“SK Telecom is proud to offer iPhone 4 on the nation’s top network,” said So Jin-Woo, President of Platform Business and Co-CEO of SK Telecom. “Our customers will benefit from flexible tariff plans tailored to their unique usage needs along with a high level of customer care.”

Customers may pre-register for iPhone 4 beginning March 9 at 7:00 a.m. at SK Telecom’s official online store, T Smart Shop, or at one of 1,500 authorized SK Telecom T World retail stores.

Full pricing and availability details for iPhone 4 in Korea will be available soon.

The release of the CDMA iPhone on a network outside the United States opens, of course, to the possibility of other countries getting the CDMA device relatively soon. For instance, it was rumored that China Mobile might be getting the iPhone (and LTE) this year – a great opportunity for Apple to expand the iPhone’s addressable market in Asian countries typically relying on CDMA networks instead of GSM. Apple’s move to South Korea could also mean big trouble for manufacturers like Samsung, which has maintained a strong grip on the market in the past years.

The launch comes late into the iPhone 4’s lifecycle but could have a major impact on the spread of Android in the country. Although KT has sold over two million iPhones since it began carrying the iPhone 3GS in November 2009, its role as the third-largest carrier has limited its reach and, similar to AT&T’s US exclusive, given Android free rein.

A teardown of the CDMA iPhone revealed the device is running a dual GSM-CDMA chip with worldphone capabilities, and yesterday it was reported a software hack can make the CDMA Verizon iPhone run on pay-as-you-go US network Cricket.

Google Launches Instant Previews, Available for iOS

A few minutes ago Google announced the availability of Instant Previews for mobile devices, a new way to quickly preview the contents of a webpage by simply tapping with your finger on a magnifying glass icon next to search results. Instant Previews, perfectly compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch, allow you to flick through a series of thumbnails for a specific webpage like in the iOS photo app, without actually following the link in Mobile Safari.

As soon as you tap on a link from the visual preview gallery, Mobile Safari will open the webpage. Hit the back button, and you’re brought to the gallery again. The animations are very neat and fluid from what we can see now, and there’s even some kind of rubber-banding elastic effect when you scroll thumbnails. Sadly, there’s no support for Instant Previews in mobile Youtube videos – just webpages.

For example, if you’re looking for a webpage that has both photos and descriptions, you can use Instant Previews to quickly identify these pages by navigating across the visual search results with a few swipes of your finger. Or perhaps you’re looking for an article, a step-by-step instructions list, or a product comparison chart—with Instant Previews, you can see easily spot pages with the right content without having to navigate back and forth between websites and search results.

iOS 4 or later is required for Instant Previews, and you can try them on your iPhone now. Promo video and another screenshot below. More information available here. Read more

Pocket Casts: A Full-Featured Podcast App That Doesn’t Need iTunes

Last week I decided it was about time for me to subscribe to some podcasts I had been keeping an eye on, but never really considered as an option for my free time. Podcasts are so 2001, I know, but I’ve never subscribed regularly to any of them. Plus, I have noticed a dramatic increase in the quality of tech podcasts lately, mainly thanks to the empire built by 5by5’s Dan Benjamin and a few other gems like Minimal Mac’s Enough or Shawn Blanc’s Today. I have to admit, though, that it was the B&B Podcast (also by Shawn Blanc and Benjamin Brooks) to convince me to go ahead and finally enter the podcasting scene as an active listener. Read more

Jailbreak Hack Puts Verizon iPhone on Pay-As-You-Go Network

Not so popular over here in Italy but apparently widely recognized in the States, pay-as-you-go networks allow you to get a phone from shady stores / individuals with pre-paid credit to consume at your own needs. Personally I prefer to keep my iPhone in safe waters with a proper subscription and data usage, but there’s some people who really prefer the pre-paid option over a more “secure” carrier offer. As noted by Engadget, it is possible to make the CDMA Verizon iPhone run on Cricket’s pay-as-you-go network, but you’ll have to jailbreak your phone, install some utility to set up the process and let a Cricket guy flash the device’s memory for you. Hmm. Would you trust that?

Still, it’s possible. Check out the video proof below. Read more