What is it? The latest build of Apple’s next generation desktop browser, based on their Open Source WebKit framework. Why do we care? Because the very same framework powers the desktop version’s baby brother, MobileSafari on the iPhone, and while the 2.0 firmware brought some improvements to the latter, we ain’t seen nothing like 4.0 yet.
Quoth Apple Insider:
Safari 4.0’s implementation of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) includes support for masks, gradients, reflections, and specifying a named canvas. Also being carried over from the latest WebKit builds is rudimentary support for the WAI-ARIA (Rich Internet Application) and cross-site XMLHttpRequest specifications. Among the technologies supported from HTML 5 are the ability to send messages between documents, storage of data either locally or just for the user’s session, the option of running web applications outside of a browser or when disconnected from the network, and canvas pixel manipulation.
I’m guessing WebKit’s ultra-new, ultra-fast SquirelFish Javascript engine is also revving up in this preview, hopefully getting set to speed up our already class-leading iPhone browsing experience, especially considering the TraceMonkey competition Firefox is pointing its way…
This is some serious tech, and personally we can’t wait for it to filter down into our multi-touching little hands!
Cool. Who else loves this cat and mouse game that Apple and the iPhone dev team have with one another? First one goes and the other quickly follows, you gotta admit, at the very least it makes for good theater. At best? Well, a jailbroken iPhone of course!
This time around 2.0.2 has been pwned and is available to us via Pwnage Tool 2.0.3. It’s Mac-Only so Windows users will have to use QuickPwn. PwnageTool 2.0.3 includes the newest build of Installer.app. Heads up to those waiting for QuickPwn to come to the Mac (I am), they state that it’s about a week away.
But bad news for those still looking for a baseband unlock of the iPhone 3G since there are no significant updates on that front. Well, I guess we can’t have everything right?
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Following up his big blog rumor-fest with an appearance on This Week in Tech (TWiT), Kevin Rose filled in a few details, including that the supposed new Nano, face-lifted iPod Touch, and 2.1 firmware (presumably) would drop on September 9 at a Special Apple Event (or perhaps that the invitation for the special event would be issued on the 9th, it wasn’t crystal clear).
In addition, when bullied by Laporte and Dvorak, Rose — who said he feared criticism if he were wrong — revealed that one of the major new features in iTunes 8 could be song recommendations, perhaps similar to how Pandora or Last.fm work. He also said he’d heard the iTunes Unlimited subscription rumor was false.
Is Rose dead wrong? Startlingly right? We’ll know for sure in a few weeks!
Remember the Wired.com Global iPhone 3G Study Casey posted about a week or so back? Well, the results are in, and Wired’s conclusion is interesting to say the least:
In our view, this data is a strong indicator that performance of the mobile carrier’s network is affecting the iPhone 3G more than the handset itself.
Wired further cites the recent Swedish engineering tests, run by Bluetest, which showed that the iPhone 3G’s eponymous radio and antenna performed roughly the same as those of the other handsets they tested.
So where does this leave the last, 2.0.2 firmware tweaks from Apple, and hopes that 2.1 would further fix 3G connection problems? Chipset and firmware finger-pointing may have been misplaced, or at least been only part of a larger overall 3G connectivity knot. Either way, it looks like the tennis ball has just been rocketed back into AT&T (and the other carriers’) court for now.
From an end-user’s perspective, however, especially if you’re one of the unfortunate 2%, other than providing some entertaining distraction, does the blame game really help us? Or do we just want it fixed, like, yesterday?
(Thanks Bad Ash and yc for the tips! Thanks to the TiPb faithful who went over there to help out with the study, and thanks to Wired for recognizing them!)
Bluetooth headsets often offer the same feature set, the same styling, and the same performance. Plantronics is known for offering unique takes on Bluetooth Headsets and often add a new wrinkle to each headset in their product line. Popular because of their comfortable fit and Audio IQ technology, the Plantronics line constantly innovates.
With the Plantronics Voyager 815 Bluetooth Headset ($89.95), the innovation is an in-ear earbud and a sliding boom mic. Do they create a better Bluetooth Headset? Or are these features just bells and whistles? How does the Plantronics Voyager 815 perform?
Read on for the rest of the review!
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Mild Mannered Industries, which claims some experience with Sync Services, has an interesting and insightful blog post about how MobileMe syncing probably works, why syncing in general is so hard, and if we can ever look forward to a day where MobileMe actually, really, truly “just works”:
Is this really Apple’s fault? In the case of Mobile Me, and .Mac before it, all of the code is essentially Apple’s, but I think this just goes to show how hard it is to get a sync client and the core sync services code right. When you add in all of the third-party Sync client code, and mail synchronization, it just seems inevitable that many users will hit a problem at some point, and become very very unhappy.
Their glass-not-only-half-empty-but-broken-and-spilled-out-on-the-table outlook?
Personally, if it was me, I would have let .Mac die a quiet death. The problem set for ubiquitous syncing is just very very hard, and the consequences of failure, in terms of user dissatisfaction are too high. I suspect that, in time, MobileMe will go the same way as the Newton …
Our take? Pretty much the opposite. Not to get all Tennyson about it, but Apple is strong of will as they come, and striving, seeking, and finding the most reliable sync solution possible is only going to increase in importance when it comes to the mobile world they’re embracing with the iPhone and related technologies. Perhaps they won’t crack the nut, but they’ll mess it up something fierce in the attempt. And come on, would any of us really rather have no sync at all?
(via Daring Fireball)
The developer lets us know [via Giz] that famously lawsuit-happy Tetris©-IP-owners “The Tetris© Company” has contacted him and told him he has to take down Tris. Noah writes:
That, I’m afraid, is essentially game over. Do they have a case? No. Not really. I am convinced that if it went to court, the “copyright” claim would get thrown out completely. The trademark, perhaps not — but if I changed the name, to e.g. “Trys”, that would be much harder for them to argue.
But, like most of us, he’s not keen on the idea of taking on a big company like “The Tetris© Company” so that he can offer his Tetris©-alike game. You can still find Tris (not to be confused with Tetris©) for free in the App Store as of this writing, so go grab it.
For what it’s worth, “The Tetris© Company” has gone after pretty much every other Tetris©-alike game on every other mobile platform out there, so this is a long piece© fitting into just that one four-by-one slot© for “The Tetris© Company:” something they work very hard at achieving and when they get it, their eyes light up with joy at having cleared their board.
Oh, and for good measure: Tetris© is a trademark of “The Tetris© Company.” ©©
Already seen Dark Knight like 5 times and itching for some new content to fill your Saturday night? Well, if you’re into short form, Apple has your fix of three all new, all App Store-focused new iPhone ads.
Featuring Lonely Planet phrases, the Cro-Mag rally game, and the location aware Vicinity app, the ads highlight how quickly and elegantly App Store downloads and installs work (insert your own crash joke here), and how the Phone App is still king — interrupting your conversation, gaming, and sightseeing whenever a call comes in.
Continuing to showcase function — almost the polar opposite of the Mac “Switcher” ads — these make for a pretty smart next step in iPhone marketing, especially when it comes to the new tag line:
This changes everything.
Could all the rumors — and even Kevin Rose — have been right? Will we see a longer, widescreen iPod Nano that brings the candy-bar shape back? MacRumors rounds up some “leaked” “case designs” that suggest maybe they are — or merely that even the Chinese read Kevin Rose’s blog? Roughly Drafted, on the other hand points out that a new aspect ration for the screen might cause problems for existing iPod formatted videos and games.
Wilder still is the rumor that the next generation iPod Touch might just beef up its LocationServices with… GPS. Lacking the cell radio of the iPhone, it probably wouldn’t be aGPS (which uses the cell towers to pre-crunch, and thus really speed up, GPS location discovery), but it would certainly supercharge the current, WiFi only offering.
So, will we be seeing tall-boy Nano’s and GPS Touches? And more importantly, will they finally feature Phasers?! September cometh!
One thing the FCC is really good at: unknowingly or “accidentally” leaking information about heavily anticipated, top-secret technology. At the very least, you gotta love them for that. There latest misstep? Leaking the size of the fabled HTC Dream, which you may remember as the world’s first Android device. Yeap, that Android.
Surprisingly, it looks like it’s going to be a wee bit shorter and a wee bit skinnier than the iPhone 3G. However, it is expected to be thicker than the iPhone given its inclusion of a full QWERTY keyboard in some way, shape, or form. Even though we are the iPhone blog, we give credit where credit is due: HTC must’ve done a helluva job making the Dream a bit smaller than the iPhone. I guess the Dream is making no secret about going after the iPhone
Now about that big slow fatty Blackberry Bold…
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