Mike and I mentioned this in the podcast, briefly, and so here’s the full skinny. Apple has filed a patent for basically all the weird and wacky things you might want to do with a multitouch trackpad (of the kind found on the MacBook Air). Basically, the idea is you slap a certain number of fingers down to go into certain modes - 1 finger for standard stuff, 2 fingers for scrolling (plus some switching around for Exposé features), and so on.
The juicy one, though, is the “Thumb plus 2 fingers” section, which shows how you could switch from scrolling around to go into an “Edit” mode — one where you could select text, copy it, paste it, and so on. Exactly what the doctor ordered for the iPhone.
Also noted on the podcast, but I’ll repeat it here: Once Apple manages to add system-level select, cut, and paste to the iPhone, can document editing be far behind?
Two weeks later and we’re still waiting for the SDK. Mike talks about what he hopes will come, Dieter about what he fears. Plus we discuss the Tiny Code excitement (lies!) and, yes, Google again too.
That giant gaping hole you see in my cheek, that would be the result of the hook that KellyTM of Tiny Code used to fish me in. Thankfully, I’m not alone. Turns out that, per this MacRumors post, he was just joking around. Yeah: No 1.1.4. No NDA broken (or ever even signed). No wrist slap. No nothing.
At least the rumors were plausible, right? Oh well, we shouldn’t be surprised. With the official SDK so close, it was inevitable that there’s be some crazy rumors floated about.
Angry verbs and adjectives are flying from iRate iPhone users brewing over the revelation that a site claiming to have a leaked SDK and working in partnership with Apple, was in fact a hoax intended to generate traffic and a some laughs. It’s getting lots of the former, but very little of the latter. The person behind the hoax site, Tiny Code, perpetrated this caper by posting what he alleged to be “leaked” information, then later pulled down the information, at the request (so he claimed) of Apple’s attorneys, and even redirected the site domain to point to Apple’s server.
In a forum post on MacRumors he confesses to his crime and then blames the blogosphere for picking up the story in the first place…
Overall I just apologize. I do not expect forgiveness and I definitely understand the posts following this to be nothing more than bashing. Just know than when I posted that information I had no intention for attention or otherwise, it was simply an excuse to stop publishing to the repo; seemed like a good one at the time.
Yeah, and I thought about faking my own death to get out of paying taxes. Seemed like a good idea the time. Well I forgive you, Kelly. But you’re still a tool.
For everyone else, look on the bright side; the SDK is coming despite this juvenile hoax, so keep the candles burning. It will get here when it gets here.
Remember those long hot summer days, back in your childhood, when the musical sounds of an ice cream truck pulling into your neighborhood sent you bolting out the door and running into the street, painting the sidewalk with your saliva along the way? Well prepare to feed your inner child another tasty treat. Tiny Code, the site behind Installer.app repositories (yes, THAT installer.app) has apparently leaked information regarding Apple’s upcoming iPhone SDK, claiming that it was working with Apple to develop said SDK, no less.
The site, which went down soon after exposing its alliance with Apple, now redirects to Apple’s developer website. Huh, you say? Yeah, that was my reaction as well. But let’s be honest here; the iPhone jailbreaking /hacking community has been so creative in implementing application development and integration, is it any wonder Apple may have to chosen to use this as a base for its own framework? Makes sense to me. As the saying goes… “Always dance with the one who brung you.”
rener points us to this story: that roughly 400,000 iPhones are showing up on China Mobile’s network. That’s 1 in 10. That’s alotta iPhones:
According to China Mobile, the biggest wireless carrierin China, there were about 400,000 cracked iPhones using its cellular network service at the end of 2007, representing one out of every 10 iPhone shipments announced officially by Apple. - In-Stat - Information Alert
We’ve treaded lightly on the issue of the iPhone Gray Market and the question of just how many unlocked iPhones are floating about (and why these missing iPhones matter) - but it’s time to stop treading lightly and stomp: Apple either needs to get more carriers (especially China Mobile) on board with the iPhone to staunch this wound or they need to finally admit that unlocked iPhones are still sold iPhones and the lost revenue sharing ain’t a big deal.
Tiny Code (more on that mysterious link in a moment) pulled their apps off of installer.app, saying the following:
Tiny Code no longer produces fixes or applications for firmware 1.1.3.
We can’t say much, but we are working with Apple and with their SDK for the next firmware release and SDK applications and we shouldn’t be missed for long. We will no longer update our Installer.app repo for legality reasons and you should see us soon on iTunes.
They said this at http://tiny-code.com, which if you visit you’ll note is now redirected at the iPhone Dev Center. This, it turns out, was something developer “Kelly” did in order to, well, stop the tsunami of questions that followed his statement. It also turns out Apple was none too pleased about the leaks in the above statement.
“you should see us soon on iTunes” sounds a lot like “iTunes is definitely going to be the way that these apps get distributed, sold, and installed.”
Next to the statement above was “Now targeting fw 1.1.4 Alpha 2.” Oops.
Each of the three above “leaks” is a surprise to exactly nobody who’s been watching the iPhone news with any degree of attention lately, but nevertheless Apple did some hand-slapping, as Kelly explains in this MacRumors forum post
One: Yes, I have a copy of the Apple SDK for the iPhone targeting firmware 1.1.4. Two: Yes, Tiny-Code.com was ordered to be removed from operation by Apple, Inc because by releasing firmware versions and stating I had possession of the firmware and SDK was apparently a violation of the Non-Disclosure Agreement I agreed to when I accepted a copy of the SDK and firmware. Three: Yes I was wrist-slapped by Apple and won’t be included in any further firmware beta’s or testing/coding.
It might not seem very intuitive, but iPhone Atlas is reporting that if you’re experiencing bad signal strength on your iPhone, you might want to consider checking that the SIM card is properly seated. They even go so far as to say putting a small piece of scotch tape on the back can help with the connection. I’ve personally experienced the benefits of using scotch tape on a SIM card on lesser phones, but I’ve never had a problem with the iPhone.
Other options for boosting signal strength via uncomfortable hacker include: Resetting your phone and even attaching the USB cable as an ad-hoc antenna (ugh).
There’s a great article over at Newsfactor about the booming iPhone gray market, it appears that unlocked iPhones (of which there are supposedly as many as a million) are coming out of all sorts of crevices in the standard iPhone market. One big source is apparently iPhones that “fall off the truck” directly from the factories in China. That’s not the only way they get out, though, turns out that people are using an incredible amount of ingenuity to grab the suckers for reselling on the gray market:
Sometimes, it is as simple as asking friends and family members to tap out their limit, which for individuals is five phones at Apple and three at AT&T. One reseller admits he got a friend to print business cards and pose as a small business owner so as to dupe an Apple Store manager into letting him buy 100 iPhones for his “employees.” - Newsfactor
Buyer beware, though. If you’re buying it direct from Apple or AT&T, about the only real risk you’re taking is a precipitous price drop right after you buy it. If you buy one on the gray market, you never really know. And for the resellers themselves, the number of people trying to defraud them is awfully high, as well.
Psst! Hey, buddy. Yeah, you! Over here. You want hot merchandise? These here iPhones just ahem fell off the truck today. Oh these are real beauties too. Fresh from from the factory, as they say. Get’em while you can because my supplies are rather limited, if you catch my meaning, and the Chinese Police are very interested in my wares. Meet me tonight behind the workers dormitory and we can discuss this further.
The iPhone Blog merged with the Phone different site in May of 2008. Both sites were founded on a premise that comes one from one of Apple's old slogans: Think different. The iPhone Blog: for people who dare to phone different.
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