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Continue reading Keepin' it real fake, part CLXXXV: the world-renowned GiPhone F5

Filed under: Cellphones

Keepin' it real fake, part CLXXXV: the world-renowned GiPhone F5 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did you put down Rolando after a mere 10 minutes of play time, never to touch it again? You're a cold, soulless person with nary a fun bone in your body, but you may not be alone. Pinch Media, whose analytics engine can be used to track the performance of participating iPhone apps, has found that merely 30 percent of people purchasing iPhone apps use them the next day, and free apps clock in at a miserable 20 percent. Over the long run, loyal users dwindle to just a single percent of downloaders -- and this is where it gets strange: free apps get used a whopping 6.6 times as often as paid apps, which may not bode well for devs looking to make a decent living off the App Store, Windows Marketplace, Ovi Store, Android Market, and the million other mobile software store initiatives coming up over the next year. It's likely a testament to the fact that your average free app is simpler (and possibly more indispensable day in and day out) than your average paid app -- which means we should all be paying $15 for tip calculators and $25 for speed dialers.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

App Store stats suggest humans have attention span of gnats originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The GPS circuitry in the iPhone 3G could be used to do more -- a lot more, in fact -- than it currently does, and it looks like Apple might have an eye on an angle most people wouldn't have considered (in other words, something other than turn-by-turn). Digging through iPhoto '09's innermost sanctums has apparently revealed references to some sort of asynchronous geotagging capability, whereby selecting locations from an app on the phone (or iPod touch, as the case may be) could be transferred directly to iPhoto and associated with events -- perfect for shooting with, say, a real camera while toting your phone in your pocket. Of course, the capability is purely vestigial for now -- no announcement has been made, and there's no way for users to access this directly -- so Apple could've spiked it or has it queued up for a future firmware update. Time will tell.

[Via iLounge and Ars Technica]

Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras, GPS, Handhelds

Apple to use iPhone's GPS to geotag locationless photos? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would you like to save $100 on a new iPhone? Sure, we all would, and Best Buy giving its Premier Silver Reward Zone members the chance to do just that; to knock a full Benjamin off the price of any 8GB or 16GB model. Meanwhile other, non-premier members (anyone who didn't drop $2,500 at Best Buy last year) will have to make do with $50 off. This is in addition to the other discounts you'll get when signing up for a new plan, and is a nice bonus either way -- assuming you're already a Rewards Zone member. If you're not and still want to get in on the action, tough cookies. You should have joined prior to the 21st, when the retailer opened the window on this deal. It closes again on the 28th.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Best Buy shows membership has its benefits, offers up to $100 off new iPhones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not that we've never seen a jailbroken iPhone get cozy with a keyboard before, but this is just a match made in heaven. Not according to those who matter in Cupertino, mind you, but since when have you renegade hackers cared about those folks? The video waiting down in the read link shows off an Apple Bluetooth keyboard interacting with an iPhone 3G, but it seems that you'll have to wait a bit longer before the general public gets instructions / files / etc. in order to replicate.

[Thanks, Ralf]

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

Video: Apple's iPhone and Bluetooth keyboard get together, have a good ole time originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you were thinking offline Gmail on your desktop was the greatest thing since sliced bread, prepare yourselves people. If an MWC keynote from Google's VP of engineering, Vic Gundotra, is any indication, the same functionality might be coming soon to an iPhone / Android phone near you. Amongst other things, the souped up web app boasts an overhauled interface, supports labels, and of course, offline access. Despite our own hunch that Google's just using black magic and voodoo to make this happen, Gundotra claims that it's all made possible through HTML5 standards -- AppCache being the biggie. This development certainly opens the doors to more offline-enabled web apps in the future -- Docs, anyone?. Of course, we know Apple has a thing about people messing with its own apps, so it's probably going to take some time / knee-breaking to get them to come around, but for some reason, we don't think it'll take as long with Android. There's a demo video available after the break, and please, try to contain yourselves.

Continue reading Google demos offline Gmail for iPhone, Android at MWC

Filed under: Cellphones

Google demos offline Gmail for iPhone, Android at MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Usually, it's Apple who has the problem with a potential app. Now, it's The Man taking issue with one that Cupertino deemed fit for distribution. Nevada gaming officials have been tipped off a card counting application that can be installed on the iPhone and iPod touch, which would obviously give Blackjack gamers an upper-hand over the system. According to control board member Randy Sayre, using a device to "aid in the counting of cards is considered a felony under Nevada laws governing cheating," and considering that the program can even be used in "stealth mode," it could be easy to miss unless you're really on the lookout. Of course, it's up to individual casinos to determine their policies on cellphones, but if you were planning to counter this recession by racking up on ten straight 21s this weekend, you might want to seriously consider the consequences first.

[Via TUAW]

Filed under: Cellphones

Card counting iPhone app frowned upon in Vegas originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We've had our eyes peeled for ARM Cortex-based netbook news, and now among the action this week at MWC '09 we're getting our first look at Sparrow, a Cortex A9 processor aimed squarely at netbook manufacturers. This is a multi-core update to the Cortex A8 (processor of choice for the Palm Pre and Pandora), and it's been speculated that this could be the processor for the next generation iPhone, with "at least triple the computing power of the ARM11 processors found in the [current] iPhone and T-Mobile G1." Toshiba, Pegatron and Wistron are all said to be showing demos of their ARM-powered netbooks at the conference this year, with a company spokesman saying that Ubuntu for ARM will go public in April, with Sparrow phones coming to market sometime in 2010. Additionally, companies like Adobe, On2, and Symbian are said to be "tuning their apps to run on the latest cores from ARM" as we speak.

[Via Gadget Mix, Mac Rumors]

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops

ARM debuts Sparrow multicore netbook processor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You've probably never heard of Picsel Technologies, but the Scottish company claims that its technologies are in over 250m handsets worldwide from manufacturers like Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Samsung and Sony Ericsson -- and, if a lawsuit it filed today is to be believed, Apple. Picsel says the iPhone infringes on a patented method of accelerated screen updating, and as usual, the answer is probably going to be for Uncle Steve to open his $25 billion piggy bank and dole out some cash. On the other hand, Apple legal might take a little batting practice before they start hunting the big game, but honestly, that's just us wishing for a little Friday night drama.

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple sued over iPhone screen rendering tech originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Uh oh, Ashton, it looks like Apple might have a thing or two to say about that jailbroken iPhone of yours. Every three years the Copyright Office asks for proposed exemptions to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act's rules against breaking access protections, and this time around the lovable scamps at the Electronic Frontier Foundation have asked that jailbreaking phones -- like, yes, the iPhone -- be classified as one of those exceptions. As you might have guessed, Apple's response to the EFF isn't exactly supportive of the idea: it says the proposed rule will "destroy the technological protection of Apple's key copyrighted computer programs in the iPhone device itself and of copyrighted content owned by Apple that plays on the iPhone." Both sides have filed long briefs supporting their positions with extremely detailed legal arguments, but the main takeaways are that the EFF thinks that allowing jailbreaking will result in more apps and innovation, and Apple points out that the App Store is already hugely successful and that jailbroken phones are technically running unauthorized modifications of Apple's copyrighted iPhone code that allows them to run pirated applications. Interestingly, Apple's convoluted App Store approval process is the center of a lot of discussion, and Apple is totally disengeniuous about it, saying there's no "duplication of functionality" rule and as proof claims to have allowed "multiple general web browsers... and multiple mail programs." Note to the Copyright Office: if you believe this we have a very nice bridge to sell you.

Now, let's be clear: while we're definitely hoping the EFF pulls this one out, the worst thing that can result of all this is the status quo -- Apple isn't asking for jailbreaking to specifically be ruled illegal, it's just asking that it not be specifically ruled legal. If that sounds like a fuzzy distinction, well, it is, but that's the sort of gray area that keeps everyone else out of court for the time being. We'll find out more in the spring, when the Copyright Office holds hearings -- final rulings are due in October.

Read - EFF page on the jailbreaking debate
Read - EFF's brief (PDF)
Read - Apple's reply (PDF)
Read - EFF's second brief (PDF)

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple and EFF spar over iPhone jailbreaking and the DMCA originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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