A few weeks back we mentioned a little blurb about 4G and when we may start to see it. Even though AT&T announced its decision to deploy Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology for its 4G network, they are confident they can get more life from their 3G network by tweaking it, and in doing so give them more time to perfect their future network. (I know what you are thinking… maybe they should have taken more time to perfect their current network!)
Yesterday at the 4G Executive Summit in Chicago, AT&T’s VP of Architecture Hank Kafka spoke out and put to rest any perceived urgency on the part of the carrier to push out a 4G network saying:
The introduction of the 3G iPhone at AT&T Mobility has made a huge impact in showing people how to use handsets to connect to the Internet, but it’s just the beginning of wireless broadband. Now we’re on the verge of that creativity being unleashed.
Kafka said he’d be surprised if LTE wasn’t available “within five years”. And within those 5 years, AT&T “has a lot of runway left with HSPA and HSPA-plus.” We can only hope.
So please, I beg of you, unleash that creativity on us all. I’m sure we are all ready for it.
[Via AppleInsider]
Everyone’s favorite (i.e. only licensed) LightSaber emulator for the iPhone just got a tiny micro-point bump of its own tonight. The change?
After 5 times, the annoying marketing screen for the paid Star Wars: The Force Unleashed App is permanently disabled. Says THQ:
Just want to let you know we are listening to your feedback and working hard to make Lightsaber Unleashed the best we can.
And may the force be with them for that!
Thanks Cherryhead25 for the tip!
Continuing the (very welcome) trend of rapid, bug-fix (including the nasty HD overwrite Dieter wrote about a while back!) and stability themed product updates, Apple has released its first minor bump to iTunes 8 (see our feature overview), the aptly numbered 8.0.1. The list of changes, voluminous by Apple’s standards, include (via Macrumors):
Seamlessly plays the current song when creating a new Genius playlist.
Improves syncing spoken menus to iPod nano.
Addresses an issue of deleting HD TV episodes when downloading.
Improves checking for updates from the App Store.
Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.
Addresses problems syncing Genius results to iPod.
Head on over to Apple Software Update to get the latest — and hopefully greatest version for your iPhone. Then come back here and let us know how it’s working for you, and… er.. whether it breaks anything else…
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Searching for a unique case that’ll make heads turn? Looking for a case that offers great protection and adds superb grip for your iPhone 3G? Well then, the Speck Products PixelSkin for iPhone 3G ($24.95) just might be for you. With a waffle-like texture wrapping around the entire case it offers both daring style and a sense of security. How does it perform? Are all those squares really put to use?
Read on for the rest of the review!
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Confession: I’m a Canadian. We schedule elections whenever the wind changes, have incredibly short 6-week campaigns with more parties than you can shake a maple leaf at (seriously, I think there’s a Leaf Shaking Party as well!), and don’t directly vote for a prime-minister anyway, so my understanding of the passion and prejudices that go along with every-4-years Red vs. Blue SuperElections in the US is next to nill. As long as you folks to the south keep using our hottie singers, actors, and comedians for those wonderful “television shows” you beam back across the border, I’m happy.
The poor iPhone, however, is getting drawn App-deep into the pomp and circumstance of Decision 2008. Looks like if you search for either Obama or McCain on the App Store these days, you get almost as many results as you do for racing games! Bonus? They look a lot better than the ones our Windows Mobile bearing friends are getting!
So, Republican, Democrat, or Independent, load up your Apps and go get your vote on!
(Now where are my Canadian Election Apps? How will we even know who’s running? Seriously!)
Taking a break from not buying Yahoo! and single-handidly driving the internet Monkey Boy dance phenomena, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer decided to throw a little advice Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ way: Break up the iPhone! (Please!)
Right now, of course, Apple tightly integrates both the iPhone hardware and software, just like they do with the Mac. This gives them unrivaled fit and finish and ensures developers (and consumers) a unified platform, end to end. It also ensures Apple — who makes their money on hardware, not software — very good margins and, thus far, very profitable business.
Enter Steve Ballmer’s plea, according to Ars Technica:
[Ballmer]’s expecting Apple to do poorly in both the smartphone and notebook markets over the next five years, mostly because the company continues to stand by its rather un-Microsoft-like integration of both proprietary software and proprietary hardware.
For the full video interview, see ZDnet.
For a reality check, see how the current iPhone model has rejuvenated an industry and led to a bevy of iClones, while Ballmer’s Windows Mobile 7 has been pushed back to 2009, meaning we won’t even begin to see a 2007 iPhone competitive device running anything Microsoft until 2010…
So, yeah, we’re sure Jobs will get right on that…
But what do you think? Should Apple scrap the iPhone model and go the Microsoft route?
All play and no work makes TiPb… pretty happy really. But with the GRAND PRIX done and the great prizes won, it’s time for us to get back to business, and that means a new contest with even more App Store apps, more TiPb reviews, and more ways for you — our readers — to win… AT WORK!
Once a week for the next few weeks we’re going to review 2 business/productivity Apps head-to-head and app-vs-app. But here’s the twist: there are so many Apps, we can’t decide which ones to review. So the TiPb iPhone Forum will decide for us!
Every Thursday we’ll be posting a poll up in the iPhone Exchange and Enterprise Forum containing the candidates for review. You vote on your favorites and we’ll review the top two. Voting closes on Saturday, and we review on Wednesday. Based on our review scores, we’re going to pick the winner of the head-to-head… and TWO of you, are going to win that app! (Technically: an iTunes App Store gift certificate in the amount of the winning productivity app).
TWO of you? Yup, each week, one TiPb iPhone Forum member who votes (or posts on the thread) and one blog reader who leaves a comment on the review will EACH win a copy of the winning App!
We’ll randomly pick a voter and commenter and announce the winner the next week on the following AT WORK review. (First winner announced on second review, second winner on third review, etc.) So make sure you hit them all!
One more thing: TiPb reserves the right to throw a final twist in at the end.
The first Forum Poll is up now, so head on over and vote for the Instant Messenger you most want to see reviewed App vs. App! (And most want to win, of course!)
Contest details after the jump…
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So, we’ve heard all about how the bloggers feel about iPhone 2.0 and the issues surrounding its launch, but we’re not what anyone would call — by any stretch of the imagination — normal. We love our gadgets hard, and hate their flaws with a breathing passion, so we’re skewed from the outset. What about real users, however? You know, the sane ones. What are their impressions?
Technologizer wrote in to tell us about their look into
The State of iPhone Satisfaction. 2150+ iPhone Users surveyed, top 7 answers on the board:
Vast majority love their iPhone and rate the App Store highly, but are ticked off about Apple’s acceptance (read: rejection) policies and think Apple responds only “fairly well” to problems/issues. Almost everyone has gone 2.1 and thinks it improves the iPhone. Half of MobileMe users loves it, the rest are mixed or haters. For those who have problems (just about everyone), freezes, crashes, slow internet, and poor coverage were the culprits. The biggest missing feature? Cut/copy/paste (who knew?). And no one cared about the lack of a tic-tac-tile keyboard.
For the full results, head on over to their expanded coverage entitled: “An iPhone Opinion Explosion”.
TiPb loves answering your emails, but we also love sharing our answers with the community in hopes that more people will benefit, and even better answers will present themselves (hey, that’s why we have them forums!). Today’s question comes from Brandon:
I think it was universally acknowledged that September was when Apple promised is background notifications for the iPhone 2.x. September has come and gone and I don’t know about you guys but I still don’t have background notifications on my iPhone. Would be nice if you guys posted something busting apple’s 3@!!$ for missing the date and hoping we wouldn’t notice. I think alot of people like myself bought iPhones with the promise of these notifications in mind.
TiPb answers, after the jump!
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Looks like Apple might be shutting down iTunes in the US and Norway. At least that’s what VP of Internet Services (iTunes, Mobile Me, App Store), Eddy Cue says (via Macrumors):
“If the [iTunes music store] was forced to absorb any increase in the … royalty rate, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss – which is no alternative at all. Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it is in this business to make money, and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes music store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably.”
What’s the deal’yo? In two separate, but equally perplexing bits of news, the US Government is thinking of dumping an extra $0.15 surcharge (going to copyright holders) onto digital downloads, which would result in either consumers paying $1.14 a track for iTunes music, or Apple eating the $0.15 itself.
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