Unlocked iPhone handsets finally hit Apple Store

With its annual smartphone refresh creeping ever forward, Apple has moved to maintain interest in the iPhone 4 by unveiling an unlocked version through the official Apple online store.

The GSM handset in question hit virtual shelves on Tuesday and will allow prospective buyers to select between AT&T and T-Mobile USA when it comes to choosing a host telecommunications network (but no Verizon Wireless).

The 16GB and 32GB versions of the ‘unlocked’ smartphone are being offered in chassis colours of either black or white for $649 USD and $749 USD respectively.

It’s worth noting that those buyers selecting T-Mobile to meet their connectivity needs will be restricted to the slug-worthy EDGE network as T-Mobile’s more nimble 3G platform is not compatible with the iPhone. Nice.

This, of course, leaves only AT&T—not exactly the nation’s favourite telecoms provider—which therefore only enables customers to sidestep a mandatory two-year service plan but not the company’s patchy reputation.

Given the choice (or lack thereof), we’d recommend sticking with a subsidised version of Apple’s market leading iPhone 4, or perhaps holding off on any kind of purchase until the upgraded iPhone 4S (or iPhone 5) arrives in September.

Google embraces voice search

"The next big thing is definitely speech and voice recognition," Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently told the Daily Mail. Voice recognition is a key feature of Microsoft's popular interactive Kinect for Xbox 360.

In a June 14 blog post, Google noted that "mobile search traffic growth over the past three years is comparable to overall Google search traffic growth ... earlier in our history." Due to this exponential growth, including a  six-fold increase in mobile voice search traffic during the past year, Google has added voice recognition to the desktop.

Microsoft's Bing is Google's chief search engine rival in the U.S.  Google currently has 65 percent of the U.S. market. Bing controls most of the rest.

Google  also introduced a desktop Search by Image feature and increased the speed of searches with Instant Pages. Google provides an overview of its new features in its Inside Search blog.

Sony Begins Phased Restoration of PlayStation Network

Sony Corp. began a limited and phased restoration of its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment videogame services Saturday, bringing the company a step closer to normalcy following an attack on its systems that compromised personal information for more than 100 million user accounts last month.

The Japanese electronics giant said that following the release of a mandatory software upgrade for all PlayStation 3 videogame console units, it would begin bringing its PlayStation Network back online in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. The network will be limited at first, the company said, restoring Internet-based game ...

• May 14, 2011 07:08pm EST
 
• 1 Comment

IPhone 5G Sighting Shows Edge-to-Edge Screen

By Damon Poeter

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What's purported to be an "iPhone 5G" case with an edge-to-edge screen has surfaced at Asian trading site AliBaba.com, Electronista reported Saturday.

The listing on Guangdong, China-based Kulcase's trading site shows the front and back of what it claims to be the "Newest design crystal case for apple iPhone 5g." The unconfirmed case mockup is colored teal—we're guessing that odd choice doesn't make Apple's final cut for the iPhone 5—and has the flash component moved away from the rear camera, which would be a change from earlier versions of the iPhone.

The steady drumbeat of rumors about Apple's plans for the iPhone 5 seem to have fallen off in the past few weeks. But in March and April, speculative stories about delays, a faster processor and the like were flying off the shelves.

One thing that lends some credence to the AliBaba.com sighting is that Apple has already had trouble keeping its case designs for new products under wraps, notes AppleInsider.

Three employees of Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn Electronics were reportedly charged in March with leaking the iPad 2's case design to third-party accessory suppliers.

The workers, employed at Foxconn's Shenzen, China plant, were arrested by Chinese authorities on Dec. 26, 2010 and officially charged with violating company trade secret regulations on March 23, according to reports.

Foxconn, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry, assembles iPads, iPhones and iPods for Apple.

Images of iPad 2 cases featuring a rear-facing camera and a thinner profile than the first-generation media tablet from Apple began to surface last December. At the time, Foxconn reported its suspicions that the design had been leaked by its own employees, according to reports

Samsung announces 10-inch "Retina" Display for tablets

In the upcoming SID Display Week 2011 International Symposium, Samsung has announced it will present an LCD 10'1 "display for tablets with a resolution of 2560x1600 pixels (superior to the current FullHD resolution), with a whopping 300 dots per inch.

Samsung and Nouvoyance (technology partner), will make a demonstration of this amazing screen WQXGA format, with PenTile™ RGBW technology. As we could read in BussinessWire,Samsung's plans are to have this type of display ready by the end of this year in order to start its marketing.

The technology could lead to Apple introducing a retina display for the iPad 3 though there are serious practical issues to consider besides battery life and the processing power needed to drive such high resolutions.

This display also includes some new features, such as Samsung's PenTile technology.This technology is the only display technology that uses up to 40% less energy, but provides twice the visual performance offered by a Full HD.Currently,there is no other display technology on the market offering this resolution and that density of pixels on a  10'1 "display.

An interesting step made by Samsung which perhaps could benefit all users, including  iOS users .I find it incredible that anyone has been able to create a high quality display that is capable, in 10'1 "to give the same resolution as an iMac of 27 ".

Apple App Store, iPhone 4, Angry Birds earn Guinness World Records

Apple's App Store, the iPhone 4 and a few iOS games, have been awarded Guinness world records,  including the iPhone 4 being named the fastest-selling portable gaming system.

"The release of the iPhone has not just changed the mobile industry, but the video game world too,"Gaz Deaves, Guinness World Records' gaming editor, said in a statement. "With the never-ending App Store selection and an intuitive device, Apple has created a gigantic new space for itself in the casual games genre that literally brings entertainment to users wherever they may be."

The iPhone 4 was named the fastest-selling portable gaming system by Guinness after selling an estimated 1.5 million handsets on the first day it was released on June 24, 2010.

"For comparison, the PSP shifted 200,000 units on its launch date in 2005, and the DS took a week to move 500,000 consoles in November 2004," Guinness said in a statement announcing the records.

The PSP, from Sony, and the DS, from Nintendo, are both portable video game systems, but neither is also a smart phone.

Guinness also said Apple's App Store is the most popular application marketplace.

"With over 6.5 billion downloads since its launch in July 2008, the Apple App Store is the most popular downloadable app service in the world," the world-record-tracking organization said.

About 259,470 apps were available for purchase or free download as of September 2010, while about 50,000 other apps that were once available in the App Store have been discontinued, Guinness said.

"Of the apps currently available, 61 are flatulence simulators, a genre that includes such masterpieces as Fart Machine, Fart Ocarina and iFart - Epic Rip Edition," the organization said.

The App Store is also the largest downloadable video game store, with about 37,362 games available for download as of last September, Guinness said.

"By comparison, PC games download service Steam offers around 1,110 titles, the Xbox Live Indie Arcade has slightly more at 1,300 and the Japanese Virtual Console store for Wii offers 576 titles covering a good chunk of the back catalogues of both Sega and Nintendo," the group said.

The App Store was also given a world record for the largest launch lineup of any gaming system with more than 145 games available on July 10, 2008.

Angry Birds was recognized at the top paid-for App Store game in most countries, having sold more than 6.5 million downloads of the iOS version of the game since it was first released in December 2009.

Plants vs. Zombies, "with more than 300,000 paid downloads in its first nine days on sale in February 2010" was noted as the world's fastest-selling iPhone/iPod strategy game. The game is also the world's highest-grossing strategy game launch in the history of Apple's App Store, Guinness said, generating about $1 million for developer PopCap in just over a week.

The Tap Tap Revenge game series, from game developer Tapulous, was cited as the most popular game series in App Store history, "having been downloaded more than 15 million times since the first game in the series was released in July 2008," Guinness said. "Market research firm ComScore reports that the games have been installed by 32% of all iPhone/iPad users."

Apple In-App Purchase Policy Has Consequences

Apple's policy on in-app purchasing is having some serious negative consequences--just not for Apple. While the policy opened the door for app subscriptions, and gives Apple an edge over competitors like Amazon, smaller app developers and parents are the ones paying the price.

What is the big deal with the in-app purchases? Well, Apple wants to 'encourage' app developers to offer additional content and services through the Apple infrastructure, using your Apple ID and password. There are theoretical advantages from an operational and security point of view for trying to filter all purchases through one channel, but the real reason for the Apple policy is that Apple wants its cut.

Apple in-app purchase policy is angering parents and putting app developers out of business.The policy states that purchasing done within an app must be done using the Apple system. Some apps, like the Amazon Kindle app, have gotten around this by not conducting purchases within the app--technically. Kindle purchases from within the app are redirected to the Amazon Website. So, Apple added another stipulation that if an app allows content to be purchased outside of the app, it must also provide the ability to purchase within the app using the Apple system.

Crushing The Little Guy
One app developer has already been forced out of business as a result of these policies. Amazon may have the financial resources to go head to head with Apple, but BeamIt Down Software--makers of the iFlowReader app--can't stay in business selling books at a loss.

As long as iFlowReader could redirect users to a Website for book purchases, BeamIt Down software could manage a small profit from book sales. But, selling books within the app means giving Apple a 30 percent cut, which is more than BeamIt Down gets paid from the book publisher in the first place.

Bill Shock for Parents
Parents learned the hard way that those in-app purchases add up quickly...even on "free" games. There are thousands of apps targeted at children that are available for free. Many of those free games, though, offered the ability to level up or purchase content from within the game, enabling children to rack up huge costs without parental consent.

Parents filed a class-action suit against Apple over the in-app purchase bill shock. WIth iOS 4.3, Apple tweaked the process to require the Apple iTunes password for all in-app purchases and prevent children from unknowingly spending hundreds of dollars.

Patent Lawsuits
As if the negative consequences of the in-app purchase policy aren't punishment enough in and of themselves, app developers are now being threatened with patent infringement lawsuits. A company called Lodsys claims that the in-app purchase process violates patents that it owns.

Apple has the deep pockets and legal muscle to engage in a patent battle (which explains why it is engaged in so many patent lawsuits), but tiny app developers who are just trying to follow the rules laid out by Apple can't really afford to defend themselves in patent litigation.

It is Apple's platform, and Apple gets to make the rules inside the walled garden. But, the policy around in-app purchasing seems to be having little impact so far in Apple's battle for ebook supremacy with Amazon, but is having serious repercussions affecting just about everyone else.

With this kind of fallout, developers may think twice about playing in Apple's sandbox, and Apple may find that the in-app purchase policy isn't worth it.

Microsoft says Skype ‘will have more adverts

Microsoft is planning on ramping up the amount of advertising free users of Skype see while they are making video calls and using the rest of the service.

Talking ysterday at the announcement of Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype for $8.5bn, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive said that he could see huge revenue potential in the online video chat service, especially in the video advertising area.

Tony Bates, Skype’s chief executive, who will now become the president of the Microsoft Skype division, said: “We think advertising is a powerful monetising stream for us.”

Ballmer than revealed that the acquisition had come about after both companies had been discussing Skype using Microsoft’s sales team to ramp up advertising on the internet telephone service.

Neil Stevens, Skype’s vice president and general manager of its Global Consumer team, would not reveal exactly how the increased level of advertising would affect those making video calls but did say: “The key thing will be not to get in the way of the calls…We need to find a clever way of doing it [inserting adverts].”

Currently Skype users see limited advertising messages on the top of the video screen when using the service on a Microsoft powered laptop. However, it has yet to take advantage of more lucrative video advertising.

Microsoft: WP7 Mango Update due in Fall

The much rumoured update for Windows Phone 7 dubbed Mango would be released this fall. Joe Belfiore, Director of Windows Phone Program, in the keynote demonstrated the different features and enhancements to be included in Mango update at the on-going Microsoft event MIX 11 in Las Vegas. Belfiore also explained the issues that lead to the delay in the latest NoDo update for several Windows Phone 7 Devices. Apparently, it's the same update we reportedabout earlier this month.

Microsoft's Mango update for Windows Phone 7 will bring some of the heavily demanded features like multi-tasking, deeper integration of apps with phone, camera access and access to the motion sensor library. Apart from that, Belfiore also stated that Windows Phone 7 Mango update will bring new apps like Skype, Spotify and IMDb (with better integration) for the platform. 

Beginning with the demonstration, Belfiore showed the new slick multi-tasking user-interface and it surely looks promising in the video. Apart from that, Belfiore stated that IE9 web browser for desktop has been ported directly to the Windows Phone 7 platform. Basically, it's the same - Microsoft boasts of greater "native" HTML5 capabilities including hardware acceleration for Windows Phone 7 devices. 

Belfiore demonstrated HTML5 capabilities in form of a "read test" where IE9 on a Windows Phone 7 loaded HTC prototype was tested with iPhone 4 with iOS 4.2 and Google Nexus S with Android 2.3 Gingebread. Test resulted giving Windows Phone 7 device highest in-browser FPS rate compared to other two devices. 

Apart from that, the update will open up several other APIs for the developers to take more advantage of and developer compelling Apps for Windows Phone 7 devices. During the presentation, Belfiore also briefly mentioned that IE9 will also bring Silverlight 4.0 support to Windows Phone 7 in the browser finally. 

Check out the Windows Phone 7 Mango update demonstration below:

Apple's white Iphone 4 is finally on the way

MAKER OF BLACK IPHONES Apple will start shipping a white version of the Iphone 4 within the next few weeks, ending a long series of delays for the pale incarnation of the iconic smartphone.

Bloomberg cited three anonymous sources who are aware of the company's plans. They revealed that AT&T and Verizon Wireless will be selling the device by the end of April and explained that the delay was partly due to the white paint peeling under heat and a bug with one of the sensors.

The Iphone 3GS and Ipad 2 are both available in white, which makes the Iphone 4 issues seem somewhat puzzling. We would have imagined that the same techniques that worked for them would be carried over to the latest Iphone, but somehow things kept going wrong along the way.

It is also believed that the next Iphone will not be announced in June, the traditional announcement period, but in September instead. It is not clear if this is a delay or an intentional move to make the most out of sales of the white Iphone.

Reuters also reported that Foxconn, a major supplier of components for Apple products, will assemble the white version of the Iphone 4. We expect this to involve more than slapping a layer of white acrylic over old Iphones.

The ivory Iphone was unveiled in June of last year, but consistent problems have led to a delay of nearly 10 months. The string of delay announcements over the past year led to it being dubbed by The INQUIRER "the Duke Nukem of mobile phones". µ

YouTube to invest $100M in 'channels' with original programming: report

The Wall Street Journal has reported that YouTube will open a series of "channels" with originaly programming, spending about $100 million in the process. YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, has continued to struggle in monetizing its service since Google acquired it in 2006.

According to the WSJ, YouTube will modify its homepage, and spotlight channels based on different topics. Reportedly, about 20 of those channels will feature "several hours of professionally produced original programming a week," some of these people said. Additional channels would be use content already on the site.

Most of YouTube's content comes from amateurs, and far more than "several hours" (x 20). That figure would amount to say, about 150 - 200 hours of original programming a week.

The idea, the anonymous sources told the WSJ, is for YouTube to tap into the Internet-powered TVs that are coming out, as well as other devices such as the iPad, Motorola Xoom and other tablets, and computers and smartphones, as well.

Google has been, so far, unwilling to pay licensing fees for original programming "on the same scale as Netflix and others," the report said. Thus, it is seeking a middle ground, by investing in its own programming instead of spending large sums of money to license content.

The sources added that the changes are expected to be phased in over time, beginning before the end of 2011. YouTube is currently in the midst of hiring people to help with these initiatives, the sources added.

Here we go again, with content providers wanting end users to use more bandwidth. Meanwhile, ISPs want us to use less, and continue to issue caps on usage, which means that some (such as Netflix) have to manage quality to ensure users don't go over their data tiers.

Via: WSJ

Grooveshark booted from Android Market; how to sideload it

Google has booted the music app Grooveshark from the Android Market. While it's still unclear as to the exact reason that the app was kicked out, the theory is that it was booted because of pressure over possible copyright violations.

>Grooveshark is a service that allows free music streaming via files that its users have posted to the site.

While the app is not in the Android Market any longer, and isn't in the Amazon Appstore either, you can still install it via sideloading. Unlike iOS, Android apps can be installed from other app repositories as long as the end user sets the appropriate setting in the Android OS.

From Settings, go to Applications and check the box next to Unknown Sources. Unfortunately, just as with the Amazon Appstore, which is based on sideloading as well, there's no easy way for AT&T users to do this as that carrier has seen fit to remove that setting. AT&T users can use the Sideload Wonder Machine (SWM) but it's not for the non-techie.

Grooveshark for Android, the app, is free, but in order to use it, you have to have a Grooveshark for Anywhere account that costs $9 / month. Therefore, downloading this APK (Android Application) file is not piracy.

You can download the file here. It's version 2.0.8; we're unclear if that is the latest version, but the file itself was discovered by BI, so we believe it to be legitimate. Hopefully, the company itself will post the APK on its own site.

Amazon Appstore's free app of the day, 4/7/2011: Wolfram Alpha

Amazon.com has promised a free app every day in the Amazon Appstore, and today's app is Wolfram Alpha, the computational knowledge engine.

>Wolfram Alpha is $1.99 in the Android Market, and normally is priced at $1.99 also in the Amazon Appstore (as noted previously, the two marketplaces sometimes have differing prices).

Wolfram Alpha's is mobile app that give access to the Wolfram Alpha computational knowledge engine. Not a search engine per se, it's also available online. Rather than giving a simple list of links to a search query, it attempts to compute answers to questions. It's described on Wikipedia as:

an answer engine developed by Wolfram Research. It is an online service that answers factual queries directly by computing the answer from structured data, rather than providing a list of documents or web pages that might contain the answer as a search engine would.

The app is described as follows:

Whoever you are and whatever you do, Wolfram|Alpha delivers insight and understanding into any facet of your life. It's a revolutionary knowledge-querying computational engine.

Wolfram|Alpha doesn't search the web; it calculates answers based on dynamic computations.

Access Expert Knowledge Wherever You Are

"It's the first step toward a real artificial intelligence." - Gregory Chaitin, IBM emeritus computer scientist

Find out how much vitamin C is in a bowl of ice cream. Learn what European country has the fourth largest population of children. Compute solutions to difficult trig and calculus problems. Balance complex chemical equations. Discover what is overhead as you gaze up at the stars. Finally crack that crossword puzzle.

Get Answers With Wolfram|Alpha:

• Sunset Orlando two months from today
• Skychart at 8:00pm
• Words containing letters mpg
• Weather in Honolulu when Obama was born
• 4th largest child population in Europe
• Distance to moon / length AAA battery
• MSFT vs GM vs Citi
• Integrate x sin x log x
• y'' + sin y = cos x
• Pentane + O2 -> CO2 + water
• Young's modulus AISI 1080 steel

Unlike search engines, which suggest page links, Wolfram|Alpha answers inquiries by computing structured data. Voted the Best of What's New Grand Winner by Popular Science in 2009, it is considered a monumental leap forward in knowledge extraction. Wolfram|Alpha's goal is aimed at bringing instantly accessible systematic knowledge to the broadest range of people; regardless of profession or education level.

Wolfram Alpha is a little hard to get used to for those thinking of a typical search engine. However, it has a 4.5 star rating in the Android Market. In the nascent Amazon Appstore, it has a 4-star rating as well with 42 reviews.

The Amazon Appstore requires sideloading, which means that for now AT&T devices can't use it. As we noted before, however, there is a way to at least "reserve" these free apps for installation later, when AT&T corrects the issue, as it has promised.

Amazon opened up the Appstore despite a lawsuit by Apple, which has previously trademarked the term "App Store." Microsoft has filed an appeal against that trademark, saying the term is too generic.

Commodore 64 set to re-launch, same exterior with modern innards

The Commodore 64 was, for quite some time, a big hit. However, the company made some mistakes, and eventually fell by the wayside in the face of competition from the IBM PC and Apple. Now, it's about to return.

It was already known that the Commodore 64 (C64) would return in the "late spring," but it's now known that the C64 will return at the end of April. Barry Altman is president and CEO of Commodore USA, and he purchased the Commodore trademark in September of 2010 with the intention of reviving the company and brand.

Although there are plenty of laptops and all-in-one PCs around, desktop PCs still predominate, and those consist of a box for the motherboard, video cards, etc., while the keyboard and display are separate.  Altman hopes the C64 can make inroads with a retro-look and state of the art technology.

The C64 will look the same as it did before. It will have the keyboard, RAM, CPU, GPU, and other components internal to the same taupe brown/beige color colored rectangular box as before. Other colors will follow, but the internals of the device are significantly upgraded.

The C64 will sport a mini-ITX PC motherboard featuring a dual-core 525 Atom CPU and an NVIDIA Ion2 graphics chipset. That not the most powerful combination, but it's way better than the original C64, which was introduced in 1982.

The original C64 sold for $595 had a Commodore KERNAL Operating system, with Commodore BASIC 2.0, and a MOS Technology 6510 CPU which ran at 1.023 MHz (NTSC version) or 0.985 MHz (PAL version). Compare that to today's CPUs which run at GHz speeds.

The RAM was 64KB (that's kilobytes, as opposed to the gigabytes of today with a 20KB ROM. Graphics were a VIC-II with 320 x 200 pixel resolution (something exceeded by today's smartphones), 16 colors (not 16 million), sprites, and raster interrupt.

It was primitive, but it was also well-loved. During the C64's lifetime (the company went out of business in 1994), sales totaled somewhere between 12.5 and 17 million units (there are no exact figures), which makes it the best-selling single personal computer model of all time.

The new version will not come with Windows pre-installed, but an end user can be add it. The system will come with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on CD, ready to install, and Commodore OS 1.0, along with emulation functionality and a classic game package, will be mailed to purchasers when available.

Pricing ranges all the way from $250 (for a pretty much empty chassis) to $895. Storage ranges as high as a 1TB hard drive, with RAM starting at 2GB (4GB is an option). The C64 can have either a slot-load DVD, tray-load DVD, or Blu-ray.

You can watch a cross-promotional video about the Blu-ray release of TRON: Legacy and the C64, below.