Iphone Updates

Filed under: Software

The kind folks at the Mac BU dropped me a note announcing Messenger for Mac 7’s availability. The big ticket item is full Audio/Visual conferencing support between Messenger on the Mac and on the PC. Sadly, this is only available for corporate accounts, so if you have a personal account you’ll need to wait a little longer for that feature. Personal users, though, aren’t entirely left out in the cold. You can now assign nicknames to contacts, search your contacts, and chat with people on your Bonjour network.

I use Messenger for corporate IM everyday, so I was excited to get by hands on this new version. Sadly, I can’t seem to be able to log into my account using Messenger for Mac 7, so I’ll have to take Microsoft’s word on the new features.

Update: Oops, Messenger 7 does work for my corporate account because it requires Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (my workplace is still running 2005). Ah well, the neato new features will be mine soon enough.

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Filed under: Accessories, iPod Family

This is fun. iPod Building Block speakers from Perpetual Kid snap into your iPod’s connector port and resemble a certain brand of construction blocks that we all know.

Available in five colors, the tiny speakers pull power from your iPod (they won’t work with iPhones, unfortunately) and look cool doing it. Our only complaint is that there isn’t a model designed to sit flush on an old-school iPod nano. Don’t expect theatre-quality sound, of course, but they should spark some conversation. They’re $24.95US each and shipping now.

They’re certainly unique, but they don’t quite crack our list of top five weird iPod accessories

1. The nano thong. It’s what you think it is.
2. iBuzz. As far as we know, the first iPod-powered sex toy.
3. Combo iPod dock/toilet paper dispenser. Because someone’s never heard of magazines.
4. iPod boxer shorts. At that point, just turn on the radio.
5. The KNG iPod DJ dock. I can’t explain it in words; You have to look.

[Via Engadget]

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Filed under: Audio, Software, iPhone

Here’s a new way to fulfill your ringtone lust. RingtoneFeeder is a paid subscription service ($1.98US/mo. or $19.98US/year) that allows you to download brief songs and other audio files to use as ringtones on your iPhone. Once you’re subscribed, a new ringtone will be sent to your machine one a week via iTunes.

From there, you can easily make a Smart Playlist (kind = ringtone) and you’re all set. All of the ringtones you’ll receive from RingtoneFeeder are created by Geoff Smith, whom you may remember from Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code Podcast.

Of course, you can create your own ringtones for free (what’s the difference between a “ringtone” and an audio file, anyway?). For example, create a file in GarageBand (40 seconds max) and select “Send ringtone to iTunes” from the “Share” menu. Note that you can only use unprotected audio files for this process (Unless you strip the DRM. We would never suggest doing that!).

For those of you who couldn’t be bothered, check out RingtoneFeeder.

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Take one pretty generic spring-loaded PDA holder, one bicycle handlebar clip and some zeitgeist branding and you get the iPhone Bike Mount Holder.  Ostensibly an ideal way to both watch movies while cycling and to crash into cars and railings, USBfever are suggesting that it might be safer to just use it to play music during your eco-friendly, thigh-chafing commute.  They also claim the mount is “quakeproof”, which should be a reassuring fact when you’re catching air off of the speed bumps.

Of course, this isn’t just for the iPhone, they’ve just seized on that as the gadget-of-the-moment.  That doesn’t make it a bad accessory, per se, just a lazy one.  An iPhone-specific cradle could’ve recharged your cellphone via one of those generators that more usually powers a lamp.

If you’re still interested (and I suppose it’s safer than digging around in your bag or pocket whenever you want to change the track), it’s available now and priced at $14.99.  Alternatively, you could make your own.  eBay has plenty of PDA holders listed from $0.99, and you could salvage the mount from an old bike light.

[via Red Ferret Journal]

It seems that AT&T might be looking to make the new iPhone a little bit more affordable than the current iteration. Word on the streets is that AT&T could subsidize the new iPhone, and take up to $200 off the price of the unit. Many flocked to AT&T for the iPhone the first time, subsidized or not. Fast forward to now, with new iPhone, new features, and the possibility of the device being more affordable than the last, and AT&T could see an even greater number this time around.

We of course know that the new iPhone will come in 8GB and 16GB flavors. The source says that the devices will sell for $399 and $449, respectively. If the devices were sold at this rumored contract price, then they would sell for $199 and $249. Even at the most expensive, the new iPhone would be cheaper than the current one on this pricing scheme.

The source did not stop at this information either. They took the time to leak a few features of the new device. All the usuals were listed. GPS, etc. One thing that was said that conflicts with our earlier reports, is the new iPhone will be 2.5mm thinner than the current one. Since their sources are not confirmed, take that at face value.

[Via Fortune]

When Elizabeth Mateo (cnnmoney.com) put three ultraportables through their paces, only one stole her heart. MacBook Air. “Using the Air,” she says, “is like Christmas, your birthday, and Valentine’s Day all rolled into one.” In fact, Mateo was so impressed with its looks, size, weight, and performance that the 20-year PC users says “I now lust for this laptop and will switch to a Mac as soon as possible.”

Happy to tease (im)patient Canadians that little bit more, Rogers has confirmed that it will be selling the iPhone later this year. We’re thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada,” said company president Ted Rogers in a statement. “We can’t tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned.”…

A friend or colleague sends you a Word document and asks you to give her some feedback. Don’t have MS Word on your Mac? Not a problem. You’re running Mac OS X Leopard, so you have an application on your Mac that will let you open the Word document, edit it, then save it as a Word document again. What application could that be? Read the latest Pro Tip of the Week and find out.

Explains Rob Pegoraro (washingtonpost.com) Time Capsule “combines a fast 802.11n WiFi router and a massive external hard drive in an enclosure no bigger than a regular AirPort Extreme router.” Working in conjunction with Time Machine, it “allows you to back up every Mac in the home over your home network.” And, notes Pegoraro, since he began using it, “its primary trait has been a near-complete lack of drama.”

Filed under: Apple Corporate, Retail

Much like crew of the Starship Enterprise, the roles played by employees at Apple Retail stores will be identifiable by the color of their shirts.

Now, before you confuse the guys in blue shirts for science officers and those in red for security, we’ll explain how it’s going to work. According to a post at ifoAppleStore, Geniuses and Creatives will wear dark blue. Specialists will wear light blue, and the Concierge will wear orange.

Also, orange shirts will bear the slogan, “I know people,” while the dark blue will read, simply, “Business.” Finally, the crew in the back room will wear the traditional black T-shirt, assuming the role of the guy you don’t recognize in an away team who’s sure to die.

One must imagine that the Concierge will console irate customers by offering them Earl Grey tea “…in my ready room.”

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Filed under: Software

MacMage has just released a clever little app that aims to make keeping track of your small purchases easy as pie ($7.99 for that pie). Cents ($4.99 for a full license) sits in your menubar and patiently waits for you to spend some money. Simply click the coin icon in your menubar, and the interface as seen to the right pops up. Enter the name of your purchase and how much you paid for it and you’re well on your way to financial independence (priceless). You can also export your data from Cents for importing into your main financial tracking app.

Cents 1.0 requires OS X 10.5, and there is a free demo available though exporting is disabled.

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Filed under: iPhone

If you’re willing to go the extra mile (and paycheck) to customize your gadgets, but you’re not a big fan of the flashy ColorWare colors that we’ve covered before, the new custom edition matte black iPhone (Stealth iPhone) may be the ticket.

ColorWare has been making drastic hue adjustments on iPhones for a while and recently announced that their color-customizing services were available for the MacBook Air. While they’ve offered a gloss black before, the new “stealth” iPhone’s matte black finish is a departure from their usual eye-catching pigments. I imagine it’s also more appealing to a good number of people.

The customization is only available on new phones purchased from ColorWare, and with the matte black customization your new iPhone will run you $675 for the 8GB iPhone, $775 for the 16 GB. A 1-year warranty is standard, but you can extend that to two years for an additional $149. You can find more details on the ColorWare site.

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Whether you want to develop applications for iPhone or the Mac, you can get expert assistance at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference from Apple engineers and learn hands-on in the highly informative sessions and labs. And since we’ve extended early registration until May 9, you can still save $300.

Goldstriker, who - depending on your taste in metal plating - either make the iPhone even more beautiful courtesy of precious metals or turn it into a gaudy, over-blinged embarrassment, have once again unleashed their electroplater and come up with the Solar Star edition.  Both the front bezel of the handset, and the Apple logo on the rear, are 24ct gold plated.  Meanwhile, the rest of the casing, including the antenna cover, is painted in the same Balloon White as you might find on a Lamborghini Gallardo.

That adds up to a white and gold cellphone, colors more usually found in the bathroom of a somewhat old-fashioned five star hotel.  Goldstriker do at least provide them updated to firmware 1.1.4 and unlocked for worldwide GSM use.  The iPhone itself is the 16GB version.

Personally, as with much of Goldstriker’s range, it’s not to my taste.  In fact I think Apple did a pretty good job with designing the iPhone as it is, and it doesn’t really need a 24ct makeover.  So that’s saved me £749.95 ($1,477).

[via iPhone Investigator - thanks Michelle!]

Back in November last year, deaf would-be iPhone users highlighted the lack of a data-only AT&T plan for the Apple cellphone, after the carrier began to sell a voice-only contract.  Now, a mere five months later, AT&T have released details of their Text Accessibility Plan (TAP), designed for those who are deaf, hard of hearing, have a speech disability and/or hearing loss.  Apparently created “with input from the community”, the new tariff costs $40 a month.

That $40 gets you the same unlimited data and visual voice mail as the standard iPhone contracts, together with unlimited SMS messaging.  Voice calls are charged at $0.40 a minute, presumably for both incoming and outgoing calls.  A two-year contract is also required.

However, AT&T are requiring customers to file disability certification forms [pdf link] before they can sign up to the plan.  That includes getting official confirmation of the hearing or speech problem from a professional the carrier deems appropriate:

“A certifying agent must be a qualified health care professional, audiologist or hearing health professional, speech or language therapist/specialist, representative of an institution, agency or non-profit 510c3 organization actively engaged in work in the disability area specified by the applicant. A certifying agent must have direct knowledge or documentation of the applicant’s condition or functional limitation” AT&T disability certification form

Users activate their iPhone in the normal way, then send off the certification form.  AT&T review it, and then - assuming the customer qualifies - switch them to the TAP plan.  Now I’m not deaf and as such I’ve not had to fill out such a form before, but it all looks very complicated; I’d appreciate someone letting me know in the comments whether this is par for the course or been made unusually difficult by AT&T.

You folks up in Canada have been waiting real patient for this, and it looks like you will finally be rewarded. Most of you probably already have your iPhone unlocked and on Rogers anyway, but hey some official iPhone love is always good. Details are very few at the moment, which is also echoed in this statement that was issued concerning the matter.

“We’re thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. We can’t tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned.” -Ted Rogers, President and CEO of Rogers

That is the entire press release, I am not kidding. However it comes right from the President and CEO himself. Why can he not tell us any more about it? There are a few possibilities. Why negotiate with Apple and just get the original iPhone ‘later this year’? You know what I am getting at. It could be the 3G iPhone, which is why he has to be mum. Rogers has the HSDPA network, so it is possible.

The other possibility, is he is just wanting to build up a little hype. Either seem possible, and either would not surprise. This story is still developing. Check back for any more information that we get a hold of.

[Via CNW Group]

According to very sketchy rumours, streaming of music from a remote iTunes account to the iPhone could be part of the iPhone 2.0 software. Supposedly called “iControl”, iTunes content could be played over a local network, and the iPhone may also be usable as a remote control for other devices with iTunes libraries on them…

Filed under: Hardware, Steve Jobs

As we noted earlier this week Apple purchased of the chip design firm P. A. Semi and speculation has been rampant about what it all means. Well the Journal is reporting that Jobs spoke recently about Apple’s relationship with Intel saying: “We have a great partnership with Intel. We expect that to continue forever.” He further suggested that the acquisition was mainly to improve chips to go in portable devices and dismissed speculation about a return to the Power PC platform (the technology on which P. A. Semi’s designs are based).

[via MacNN]

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Filed under: iPod Family, Tips and tricks, iPhone, iPhone 101

Over at MacTips they have a nice tip which I figured would make for a good iPhone 101. If you find yourself needing to type an accented character (acutes, graves, umlauts, etc.), all you have to do is hold down the relevant key for a couple of seconds and voilà a nice pop-up menu will appear with the available choices. The trick works for a number of different characters besides the vowels (e.g. ‘z’ and ‘?’) and seems to function as well on the iPod touch.

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Filed under: iPod Family, Rumors, iPhone

An anonymous tipster tells TUAW that according to code found in the latest firmware release, Apple is working on a new iPhone application called iControl. Like Apple TV and other remote controllers, it would allow the iPhone to connect wirelessly to local iTunes libraries and browse through and play media from those sources.

TUAW is told that a media navigator will allow you to view videos, play podcasts, listen to music and even support shuffle playback. The screenshot shown here shows some of the localizable strings for the iPhone-based application. There’s obviously no timeline for release, but since the SDK event back in February, it’s been rumored that Apple would release some official iPhone apps of their own, and iControl might be the first.

Update: The data is so thin on the ground that it’s hard to respond to readers who have asked whether this will be a “Back to my iTunes” application. Just having local Bonjour support wouldn’t be all that useful. Apparently a screenshot of the bundle (not apparently a real application) here

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When you find a link for a PDF while surfing the Web, Safari lets you open it right in the browser with a single click. In Mac OS X Leopard, Safari also offers new PDF controls that let you zoom in, zoom out, save that PDF file, or open it in Preview. Find out how by watching the latest Quick Tip of the Week.

A recent rumour surrounding the iPhone is that a future model may get a vibration feedback system licensed from Immersion. This could be used to provide physical feedback when the soft keyboard is used, or for other functions…

An article printed in a Chinese news paper, The Commercial Times, is saying that the manufacturer Foxconn, Hon Hai Precision Industry, has landed the contract to manufacture the new iPhone. Foxconn was also the manufacturer of the original iPhone, so it is not too far fetched of an idea. The article says that the new iPhone should ship around June. We all knew that already though, didn’t we?

The Chinese Times article claims that their sources have been instructed by Apple to begin preparing to manufacture the new iPhone. The article says that the sources were told they need to “begin preparing material supplies by the end of May.” It also claims that the new iPhone should sell over three million units by the end of June.

That seems to be pretty generous estimate for just one month of sales. Potentially even less than a month depending on when in June it starts shipping, if at all. This is not the only number they are estimating. The article says that the new model would ship about 25 million units during it’s life span. It very well could; after all, 3G opens up a much broader market than it’s 3G-challenged first generation brother.

[Via DigiTimes]

The updated all-in-one iMac introduced today offers the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and the most powerful graphics ever available in an iMac. The ultimate all-in-one desktop computer includes faster processors with 6MB L2 cache, a faster 1066 MHz front-side bus across the entire line, and 2GB of memory standard in most models. And the 24-inch iMac now offers a 3.06 GHz Intel processor and the high-performance NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics as options. Available immediately, the new iMac starts at just $1,199.

It was just not enough to be able to use custom images as the background to your iPhone’s home screen. Well, not for the iPhone developers over at Skrew at least. They have just released an alpha version of their new application, vWallpaper. Just as the ‘v’ before ‘Wallpaper’ would have you expect, it allows you to use videos as the background to your home screen.

Ignoring the fact that your battery will most likely suffer from such an application, it looks pretty cool. It is a very early release of the application as of now, on the settings page of the application, there is a warning of it being a release for preview and and testing only. There are a few bugs that will need to be ironed out, but with a little patience, it is said to be working.

As of now, there are only two wallpapers that can be used for the background. One, is a explosion with fire balls. The other, is drops of water rippling outwards. There are some who have figured out what files and properties need to be changed to load your own video as the background. vWallpaper can be downloaded on Installer now. You will need to add the source http://i.danstaface.net to your sources list.

[Via Just Another iPhone Blog]

Sun is not going to end their tireless pursuit of getting Java to the iPhone. Sun is still in talks with Apple over the goal. Sun has been very vigorous in their attempts at getting Java to run on the iPhone via a JVM, or Java Virtual Machine. Java is a functionality that Apple would have to approve, as it is very unlikely that Sun could get Java to the iPhone without Apple’s blessing.

“We’ve expressed our intent to do this and our desire, really, to work with Apple to build a JVM (Java Virtual Machine) for the iPhone and we’re sort of moving forward with that” -Eric Klein, Vice President of Java marketing

Although Java functionality would be a very big hit for the iPhone, especially if the many current Java applications could run on it, Apple has not said too much about it. They have had not clear approval or disapproval over bringing Java to the iPhone. The benefit of Java for the iPhone is not only the end user, but for the developer as well. The more phones your application can run on, the more successful it will be.

A Java Virtual Machine is not the only approach to Java for the iPhone. Innaworks is looking to provide a solution to bring Java to the iPhone as well. The Innaworks Java solution would create an application to translate Java application to the native iPhone programming environment. In conjunction with an actual JVM, this solution could provide an easy way for developers to bring their applications to the iPhone.

[Via Info World]

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Universal Binary, Deals

Imagine you’re trying to sell a bundle of Mac applications that includes Parallels. It’s an obviously appealing deal for anyone in the market for Windows virtualization, since the bundle is priced below the retail cost of Parallels alone. Might you choose to place a teensy promotion of your bundle someplace that would-be virtualization customers would see it? Someplace, I dunno, associated with a Parallels alternative? Hey, waitasec — you’ve got this handy site where people come to see updated and reviewed Mac software… now you’ve got something going!

Sorry, MacUpdate Promo team, but this kind of internal cross-promotion strikes me as being more than a little disingenuous, especially in the wake of a recent VMware update that is bound to drive readers to the VMware page. Lose the sales pitch and regain some editorial dignity.

Update: To clarify for our commenters, I couldn’t care less if MacUpdate advertises the bundle at the top of every page on the site (as they do), including the VMware page. The issue here, however, is the specific contextual ad right next to the update listing for VMware (and ONLY there). You can call it valuable consumer information for someone who might otherwise purchase VMware at full price; I call it advertising/promotional interference with the editorial content of the site. Having it say “Editor Note” implies that the editors of MacUpdate judge the value and worth of applications by whether or not they choose to participate in a promotional bundle; so much for editorial judgement and independence. Tomato, tomahto.

Thanks to J. Carlos de Pinho for the heads-up.

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Filed under: Accessories, iPod Family

Apple and Nike have sold millions of those tiny little transmitters that fit inside running shoes, as well as the receivers that attach to iPod nanos. Casual runners and former couch potatoes enjoyed them (yours truly included), but more serious runners lamented the lack of certain features, most notably a heart monitor.

According to iPodNN, a patent has been filed which hints at a slew of additional Nike+ functionality, like EKG, heartrate, body temperature and even hydration, through new equipment mounted “on or in” articles of clothing.

It definitely sounds cool, and could help convince more serious athletes to join the Apple cult buy these cool products.

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Filed under: Cool tools, iPhone

Aaron Besson of MyTriniPhone posted this morning about a new iPhone video recorder. Unlike previous entries into this realm, this updated version from DreamCatcher records both sound and video.

I download a copy and gave it a try. The interface is a little on the prototype side but it recorded without a hitch. I was able to copy the resulting mp4 video onto my Mac and play it back. It was grainy (as expected, given the low quality of the iPhone camera) but the audio was clear. Playback on the iPhone itself simply did not work for me.

Apparently this code is based on ffmpeg and there’s a lively little discussion about this over at the Hackint0sh forums, if you care to check that out. You must pay to register if you’d like to record more than 30 seconds at a time or if you simply like the program and want to support the developer. Deets are in the program. Just tap Settings > About > Buynow.

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It is true that the earbuds that Apple ships with their iPods and iPhones are not the most comfortable. They have gotten a little better, as the newer ones are much less unpleasant than the original earbuds. While I would not say the sound on the earbuds are horrible, they still just do not provide the best sound quality. Thankfully third-party manufacturers have generously stepped up to offload your money in return for some aftermarket ‘buds, but out of the hundreds on offer, which do you go for?  Gear Diary’s Chris Chaimberlain has been trying out Comply’s Whoomp! Earbud Enhancers; billed as a middle-ground before you ditch the original ‘buds, can an accessory redeem Apple’s mediocre earphones?

Traditionally you have to purchase high priced head phones to get good quality out of them. Generally, if you want the best quality you are looking at at least $50 bucks. This is for the in ear headphones, which I find to be the most comfortable, and to have the best sound quality. The Whoomp! earbud enhancers can be had for under $20. This makes them affordable enough that it is not unpleasant on your wallet.

The Whoomp! enhancers work by attaching to the end of the earbuds that come with your iPod, or iPhone. They also increase the bass that the headphones deliver, apparently providing more space for the sound to resonate in. They come in black or white, and if you lose one of the pair, a single one can be had for $11.95.

[Via Gear Diary]

Unless you have been living under a rock the last few months, then you know that the 3G iPhone is one of the single hottest news items being discussed right now. This week is no different. One rumor of it may offer a little light at the end of the tunnel though. The 3G version of the BlackBerry has been pushed back. The reason is not confirmed, but the BlackBerry was supposed to launch in June. Some are speculating the delay is due to AT&T not wanting to launch two competing devices at the same time.

A new feature was unlocked for the iPhone this week, the ability to record videos. DreamCatcher has brought their recording application to the iPhone. The feature is much sought after in iPhone circles. DreamCatcher is not bringing this service to the iPhone for nothing though, and is going to be charging $20 for the application.

iPhone developers were treated to a pleasant surprise, when the iPhone SDK beta 4 was released earlier in the week. The new SDK brings OpenGL ES functionality to the included iPhone emulator, which was a much requested improvement asked of Apple by the developers. Apple also took the opportunity to release a new build of the 2.0 firmware beta, called build 5A258f.

This week we also found out that not only can can images be saved from Safari with the new firmware, but so can images sent through email. The feature was discovered right here on iPhone Buzz by Vincent. It works in much the same way as saving images from safari, you hold your finger over an image in the email for a moment, and then you are presented with an option to save the image.

Finally, after much speculation it turned out that the supposed black 3G iPhone photo well-circulated during the past few weeks is, in fact, simply a case for the current handset.  Still, apparent confirmation (as if anything is ever confirmed until Steve Jobs announces it to be the case!) of the upcoming device having 3G, GPS and more should make up for any photograph disappointment.

Though there are already ways to control your iTunes, the thought of the ability coming straight from Apple is an all new kind of excitement. A remote control application from Apple for the iPhone would allow it to have all sorts of functionality that Apple would not allow a 3rd party application to have. This rumored application, aptly named iControl, could bring iTunes control to your iPhone.

This code discovered from the latest iPhone firmware build sports these strings, which shows some sort of application, or ability to control iTunes from the iPhone. The application would allow you to connect to a local iTunes library. You would have the a ability to stream and control media from the iTunes application. Just like with the Apple TV, this would all be done wirelessly.

Apple would be building a new navigation client for the application. Supposedly it would function much like the Apple TV’s navigation. You would be able to preview and listen to music, podcasts, and even view videos. There is no time frame for when we might see this application. Hopefully it will show up on the new App Store once the new firmware and SDK come out of beta.

[Via TUAW]

One thing that would certainly be nice for the iPhone, is some sort of feedback when you press an on screen key. The answer to this, is dilemma, is haptic feedback. This technology has already made it’s way to quite a few touch devices, like the Voyager on Verizon, and the LG PRADA. Haptic feedback provides a type of virtual interaction with with a device, it helps simulate a more traditional key stroke.

The aim of haptic feedback is to make users aware of a touch interaction with their device, such as a key stroke or selection. The technology is most often used by LG for their touch enabled devices. In the game of haptic feedback, Immersion is a major player. They currently provide the haptic feedback for LG devices, several Nokia devices, and even a few non mobile phone applications of the technology as well. See more at iPhone Accessories

There has been a little executive association between Immersion and Apple as well. Clent Richardson has been appointed as the new CEO of Immersion. Richardson was a former executive for Apple. This may lend this story some more credibility. Haptic feedback would be welcomed with open arms, so lets hope this one comes to fruition.

[Via Palluxo]

Filed under: Software Update, Apple

Bootcamp 2.1 has just been released in three Windowslicious flavors: Windows XP, Vista 32 bit, and Vista 64 bit. All three updates ‘address issues and improve compatibility,’ which is always a welcome thing.

Bootcamp, in case you aren’t in the know, is Apple’s utility that allows you to dual boot your Mac: one partition boots OS X and another boots Windows (it is a little creepy, but very cool).

Windows XP users take note: Bootcamp 2.1 should be installed before you apply Windows XP Service Pack 3.

Thanks, ben.

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Filed under: Software, Leopard

iQuarantine X is reported to be able to remove the “are you sure you want to open it?” warning from your Leopard system. The quarantine feature of Leopard (which alerts you the first time you run a downloaded program) isn’t a big enough annoyance to me to dish out the $5 for the program, so I haven’t tested it out. But reports from readers are that it does exactly what it says: no background scripts or launchd processes, just some lean code to make the annoying warnings disappear.

Given that a free demo of such a program would kind of defeat the purpose of charging, you have to pay the $5 charge to download iQuarantine X. If the quarantine feature bugs you more than giving up a few cups of coffee, have at it.

Thanks Bobtentpeg!

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Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone

My name is Lisa and I’m a widget junkie.

I love having widgets of all kinds on my iMac — even things like the Ski Report (I live in Florida), ESPN (it’s not football season), and Flight Tracker (I rarely fly). I even have similar ones (though Apple calls them webapps) on my iPod Touch. Since I’ve exhausted all the webapps for the touch that I’m interested in, I was glad to hear Widgetbox announced a gallery of widgets just for iPhone and the iPod touch users. Check it out via any browser, or right from your iPhone.

Now, most widgets are Flash-based, but these aren’t and therefore don’t use Apple’s SDK, but they’re cool and work well nevertheless. Among my favorites are the Yahoo! News RSS feeds, Random Quote Generator, and the Flickr slideshow.

While there’s not a ton of widgets available just yet, there are around 32,000 developers in the Widgetbox community so I suspect the gallery will be populated pretty quickly. There’s even a short video tutorial on how to make the iPhone widgets, in case you’re curious — or motivated.

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I can not count the times I have been half way across the room sprawled out on a bean bag chair, wishing I could change the song playing on my computer. Thankfully, there is finally a solution out there. A new piece of software called iRemote has been made available. iRemote enables you to take control of your iTunes list from a far. It does not use a local network connection to your computer, so there is no hassle to set things up.

iRemote works by allowing users to use wkLive authentication to gain access to their computer. The application requires no configuration on the users end. This means no messing with your router, as the request goes out externally to the internet. Another plus, no VNC client or configuration is needed. This application is meant to give no headaches.

The steps to install are very easy. As of now, it appears to be a PC only affair. The application for the computer is marked with the ominous .exe extension, most likely there is or will be a Mac version later. The instructions can be found here. Also there are all the files you will need to get started.

It has now become apparent that this is not the new iPhone. It is actually a photo of a case modification. It was originally hotly debated as to whether on not the picture was geniune, and with yesterday’s confirmation, it seemed all but certain that was it. It looks like it is back to we all get to know when Apple tells us. It is unknown if the rumored features hold true.

From this photo, it is very clear that the glossy black photo of the supposed new iPhone was a fake. This case modification is touted as a protection case for the current iPhone. The picture we have been seeing, is just a picture of the current iPhone with this case on it. The reason some one did not notice immediately what it was, is it is just now in sale, in Hong Kong.

The rumors that this was indeed the new 3G iPhone originated yesterday from Engadget, who said they had a trusted source that had confirmed the information. It is not known if the source was pulling a fast one, and Engadget has not updated the post with more information. We also do not know if they leaked feature set that was presented will hold true. Aside from it having 3G, the feature set of the new iPhone is still unknown.

[Via Gizmodo]

The new iPhone SDK is going to give developers another tool in their arsenal. The new iPhone SDK has a sort of semi background process support that has been discovered. It is important to note that this is not background process support, at least not in the true sense of the word. Also, the documentation that comes with the SDK still says only one application can run at a time. So what is all this you are hearing about background process support?

The whole discussion around this is because a certain method of allowing an application to gain or lose active status. This would suggest that applications could have the ability to run in the background. It is misleading though. In actuality, it will just allow an application to continue to run when the device is locked, or if a window opens over the current application. Just as now, if you hit the home button, or open a new application, the current one exits. The documentation of the SDK says it very well.

“When an application is inactive, it is executing but is not dispatching incoming events. This occurs when an overlay window pops up or when the device is locked.”

This is at least a step in the right direction. While we can only hope for true background process support, the iPhone developers have seemed to do very well without it. With it’s broad scope of applications and powerful interface, the iPhone already is a hot platform for developers, background process support or not.

[Via iPhone Atlas]

Filed under: Software

Here’s a very handy plugin for Address Book. PostCheck does two things. First, it fills in missing Zip Codes for when you’ve only got a contact’s city and state. It’s super simple. Just right-click on the empty Zip Code field and select PostCheck from the contextual menu. In my testing, it accurately provided the accurate 9-digit code across several cities and states. It also works when you’ve got the Zip Code but need the city and state.

PostCheck’s other trick is to format your addresses so that they meet the US Postal Service’s exacting standards. As everyone knows, it’s not a good idea to tick off the mail carriers. It’s called “going postal” for a reason, folks.

PostCheck requires Mac OS 10.4 or higher, is universal and costs $10US. It’s definitely a useful tool to have around.

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