With uncharacteristic swiftness of a government organization, the FCC says they are now investigating the removal of all Google Voice applications from the App Store. Specifically, they say they are focusing AT&T's possible involvement in it's removal. The FCC submitted three letters to Apple, AT&T and Google asking why the apps were removed from the App Store and why the official Google Voice app was rejected. It also asks if AT&T was "consulted" prior to the decision.
Filed under: Cellphones
How would you change Apple's iPhone 3GS? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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(Credit: Matt Hickey)So Apple on Friday released an update to the iPhone OS (3.0.1) that takes care of an SMS vulnerability. It's a fairly important patch, and usually when Apple updates the iPhone OS, jailbreakers have to wait until the Dev Team comes out with a new version of jailbreaking software before they can update.
But according to the iPhone Dev Team's Twitter, this is not the case with the 3.0.1 firmware. In fact, the current versions of redsn0w and ultrasn0w work the same with the 3.0.1 firmware as they do with the 3.0 firmware that came out a few weeks ago. In short, the jailbreaking software already works. I checked with the Dev Team community and had this confirmed. "Restore to 3.0.1, run redsn0w, select the 3.0 file... Bang zoom."
So go ahead, iPhone hackers, and secure your devices soon. You don't have to worry about losing Cydia and other rogue apps.
Originally posted at Crave
(Credit: CNET)I went to Portland, Oregon, to visit my parents last week and had a great time spending time with my family and checking out the local breakfast spots. I even found new places to explore (thanks to my trusty iPhone). One thing I knew going up there is that my father and his girlfriend had already bought two iPhone 3GS phones and I would not be hearing the end of how much better theirs were than my year-old iPhone 3G. But my mother and stepdad live up in Portland too, and once they saw how cool and fun my iPhone was (and had heard about my dad's iPhone), they brought me to the Apple Store in downtown Portland and bought two iPhone 3GS models for themselves.
Like many 3G owners who bought their iPhones when they were released last year, I have one year left on my contract before I can upgrade to a new iPhone at a reasonable price. This means, of course, that even as a reviewer of iPhone apps at Download.com, all my parental people have better iPhones than I do. My hope is that next year, there will be an even better iPhone, but for now I expect to be receiving a lot of iPhone 3GS videos, crisp 3.2 megapixel photos, mom saying, "I just called you using voice control!", and other iPhone 3GS madness. Just wait until next year, mom and dad. Just you wait!
This week's apps include an app that gives you a concert calendar for your favorite bands and a popular touch boxing game that came out last week.
You'll be surprised at some of the concerts available for the more obscure artists in your library
(Credit: CNET)iConcertCal is the iPhone version of an already popular iTunes plug-in for Mac that lets you find concerts for your favorite bands in your music library. The application starts by scanning the music library on your iPhone and then searches an online database to find upcoming concerts in your area using your location information. When it's done, iConcertCal presents a nice list of concerts at your local venues that you can touch to buy tickets, and get more information.
Beyond its concert-finding capabilities, iConcertCal lets you flip your iPhone sideways to get a full-month calendar view so you can easily plan which concerts to attend. Separate tabs let you view shows from artists in your library or all shows playing in your area. You also can search by artist or venue. Once you find the show you want to go to, you can buy tickets, send e-mail reminders to notify friends, and look at a built-in map with directions to the venue. Overall, we think anyone who enjoys going to live shows will find this app very useful, and with the ability to discover shows from your library, will make a great addition to any music lover's iPhone.
Keep your guard up and wait for openings to succeed in this game
(Credit: CNET)Touch KO is the long-awaited touch boxing game from Chillingo that mostly lives up to the hype. Either enter a quick match or battle through career mode to work your way to huge championship bouts. Play the tutorial mode to learn the type of punches you can throw by using different swipes on your screen. As you progress through your career, you can use your cash winnings to buy new trunks, gloves, and shoes to add bonuses to your stats, and there are several aesthetic options to personalize your boxer with such as tattoos, skin color, and facial features.
The thing I noticed right away about Touch KO, is that it's not your average arcade boxing game. You'll need to concentrate on blocking your opponent's punches just as much as finding the right moment to break through their defenses. But even with the more technical focus in this boxing game, the AI of each boxer is fairly easy to figure out, making it pretty easy to win fights against even the most challenging boxers. The folks at Chillingo have promised a better AI in future versions to make the game more challenging, but even in its current state, it is quite satisfying to go toe-to-toe in the ring against several different types of boxers.
There's no multiplayer component in Touch KO, but there is a leaderboard so you can match up against other players' records. Overall, Touch KO is a fun boxing game, and if Chillingo is able to enhance the AI for a more challenging experience, it will be tough for other boxing game contenders on the iPhone to compete.
What's your favorite iPhone app? Are you stuck in your contract and wishing you had an iPhone 3GS too? Is iConcertCal the live concert-finding app you've been waiting for? Have you made it to the championship in Touch KO? Let me know in the comments!
Originally posted at The Download Blog
It appears that the rumors of an impending Chinese iPhone have been true. Chinese news portal Sina.com.cn has posted a series of photographs of an iPhone with Chinese text printed on the back and running a Chinese language version of the iPhone OS. Not long after, the images were pulled, possibly at the request of either China Unicom or Apple, which may confirm their authenticity.
Apple has released iPhone OS 3.0.1 Software Update which is intended to address an SMS security issue. The flaw was discovered by Charlie Miller and would allow an attacker to run malicious code sent via SMS. Initially announced at a conference in Singapore, Miller agreed to not share details of the exploit until the Black Hat security conference which ended yesterday in Las Vegas.
The update can be applied by plugging your iPhone into iTunes and using the "Check for Update" feature.
Well... what do you know about that?We appreciate the information provided to us about SMS vulnerabilities which affect several mobile phone platforms. This morning, less than 24 hours after a demonstration of this exploit, we've issued a free software update that eliminates the vulnerability from the iPhone. Contrary to what's been reported, no one has been able to take control of the iPhone to gain access to personal information using this exploit.
Filed under: Cellphones
iPhone OS 3.0.1 update released, fixes SMS vulnerability (updated with statement from Apple) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
O2 claims iPhone security patch will hit iTunes on Saturday, Apple stays silent originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsHere's an interesting solution for anyone who has a killer idea for an iPhone app but doesn't know the first thing about software development: Moobila turns your idea into an app and markets it on the App Store.
Actually, the company specializes in turning existing corporate software into iPhone apps, thereby eliminating the need to train or hire programmers.
But Moobila also provides an opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to see their ideas turned into potentially money-making software. You pay for the development; you keep whatever revenue it generates.
Want to see a few proofs of concept? Moobila has already developed three iPhone apps, including tape-measure replacement iFlipMeasure and iPicolo, which lets you upload a photo to multiple social-networking sites at once.
You'll have to contact Moobila for a quote, of course, as no two apps are alike when it comes to development. But hourly rates start at around $15-20, according to a company rep.
I think this is a big hit for Apple. Why Mike Arrington quits? Simply because Apple doesn’t want Google Voice on the iPhone.
I think it will make some noice soon enough, and I think Apple will have to find solutions to work with Google on that subject, my bet is the problem sits with AT&T contract…
Tags:google voice iphone michael arrington techcrunchgoogle voice, iphone, michael arrington, techcrunch