SplashData let us know that, with the release of SplashPhoto and SplashNotes, they’ve finished porting their well-known suite of mobile applications to the iPhone:
SplashPhoto features easy sync with the desktop companion, and integration with Flickr and Picasa for photo sharing. SplashNotes sync with the desktop is even better because it’s easy to take notes on a laptop and then take them with you on your iPhone — or vice versa.
Check out their complete — and extensive — lineup of apps at SplashData.com, including one of their favorites, Birthdays:
It tells you how many days are left before your friends’ birthdays. It automatically pulls in birthdays from your contacts.
If you’ve tried any yourself, drop a us a comment below and let us know how it worked for you!
Apple has announced that for the second year in a row — the second year iPhone development has been on the program — their annual World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) has sold out.
Last year Apple used WWDC to unveil the iPhone 3G and MobileMe, and give second-looks at iPhone 2.0 and App Store. This year, smart money is on the next gen iPhone and iPhone 3.0 software, with wild-cards in the form of a low-end iPhone and iTablet. Steve Jobs is not scheduled to be back in time, but we’ll continue to hold out hope for a surprise cameo appearance.
In related news, Apple is reminding developers that the deadline for Apple Design Award submission is May 4, so get those apps in soon!
Show off your hard work by submitting your iPhone OS or Mac OS X Leopard application to the Apple Design Awards. You can also demonstrate your ability to take advantage of early technologies by submitting a Mac OS X Snow Leopard or iPhone OS 3.0 beta application.
“Pink” iPhone Killers, from the folks who brought you “Blue Screens” and “Brown Zunes”. Mmm, taste that rainbow… Sigh. Maybe Pink is the XBoxPhone we’ve always dreamed of. Maybe it really is just a candy-coated Diamond 2 with pop-tart trademarks. Dunno. Nobody does. Giant mystery in puzzle pastry with enigma frosting. Until we know for sure, however, there’s no danger in speculating, is there?
WMExperts links to a Wall Street Journal story that makes it seem like something Microsoft and Verizon think could might possibly take on the iPhone with such killer features as “multimedia” and “App Store”.
Wow, never heard that one before.
(And really Verizon, you haven’t even gotten Apple to go out on a date with you yet and already you’re chatting up Microsoft? What happened to your “iPhone Killer” with Nokia…?)
Seriously, isn’t it time ya stopped skating to where the puck was?
Digital Trends was gracious enough to invite CrackBerry Kevin, editor-in-chief Dieter, and yours TiPb-truly to:
Smartphone Wars: iPhone vs. BlackBerry vs. Palm pre vs. Android – Our panel of smartphone experts from all different corners of the Web duke it out over some of the most contentious issues facing the smartphone industry today.
Apple Insider reports that the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) is helping OdioWorks LLC file suit in an attempt to get Apple to stop threatening to sue them. Complicated much?
OdioWorks, which runs the free and open wiki service BluWiki, wants to bar Apple from repeatedly threatening its own legal action simply for letting BluWiki users host a wiki for iTunesDB, a project to learn about iTunes’ database file system and create third-party software that can replicate the sync functionality of iTunes for iPhones and iPods without forcing users to run Apple’s own media software. Over the course of several months, Apple has claimed the very existence of iTunesDB violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)’s rules on circumventing copyright locks and, in November, successfully frightened OdioWorks into taking down the wiki entries.
EFF says it’s legal to hack code to increase competition — i.e. to allow an iPhone to work outside of iTunes. Is it also legal to hack bank accounts and transfer large sums of money so my net worth is more competitive with Bill Gates?
Not the same thing, of course, just pointing out that while I’d personally love Apple to open-source more of their code, the way they’ve done with OpenCL, CardDAV, CalDAV, etc. it’s still their code. As much as I don’t want to live in a corporate-controlled world where big business owns the rights to math, I also don’t want to live in a world where the over-entitled populace thinks they can take whatever they want. Because, if either side gets too extreme, what’s to stop them from targeting me next?
Other than the fact that I’ve never made or hacked any code worth stealing or knowing…
Lately all has been quiet in regards to Apple’s MobileMe service and shady activities. In the past we’ve told you about a few separate cases of phishing scams going around. Well today we’ve heard that Oscar nominated actress, Salma Hayek’s account has been hacked.
Honestly, this is something that is really not that difficult to do, especially depending on how much information you have about a person. Sarah Palin’s Yahoo! account was famously hacked last year using information from Wikipedia, as have several other celebrities.
In this particular case, all that was needed was Salma’s birthday and the answer to her security question which just happened to be “What is my favorite character?”. Just in case you were wondering what the answer was, it was “Frida” which was Hayek’s most popular role in a movie. (And yes, I’m sure it is now something a bit tougher to figure out so don’t bother trying.) In the end, that is all of the information that was needed to gain access to all of her emails, calendar information, etc…
Moral of this story, choose your security questions and answers wisely… And if you’re well known, make up a fake set of answers, memorize them thoroughly, and don’t tell anyone else.
[Via Macworld]
Drop one tiny Verizon rumor pebble into the pond, and watch the iRipples spread like crazy. Cases in point:
Business Week (via MacRumors) is reporting that Apple will introduce two (2) new devices on Verizon this year:
- iPhone “Lite”, which would be thinner and cheaper than the iPhone proper due to the system on a chip technology Apple has been amassing lately (i.e. PA Semi, Arm and PowerVR licenses, etc).
- “Media Pad”, which would be smaller than an Amazon Kindle but with a larger screen and described as yet another breakthrough device on the scale of iPod or iPhone, with photos, HD movies, music, and Wi-Fi for — presumably browsing and — VoIP calls.
To further the rumor, one of these new toys may come as early as this summer. (WWDC time frame?)
We’re still not sure about any of this. iPhone did begin life as a larger, iTablet-like Safari Pad, and recently developer Craig Hokenberry made an interesting argument for a “Front Row To Go” pad that sounds similar.
Meanwhile, sucking the oxygen out of the lower-cost market is something Apple did with the iPod nano, however Apple has repeatedly said there’d be no iPhone nano (for whatever that’s worth…) but more importantly, unlike the GSM iPhone, a CDMA iPhone Lite or “Media Pad” wouldn’t enjoy the international portability of the iPhone (sure, “world phones” typically do some EDGE, but we’d want ultra-fast HSPA+, right?).
Just 2 years post launch, the GSM iPhone is in over 80 countries. The CDMA Amazon Kindle? Still just 1. Apples to oranges, we know, but it’s something to consider for “Media Pad” class devices.
Amazon liked the iPhone E-Book Reader Stanza so much, they didn’t just buy the app, they bought the whole company! That’s what the New York Times makes it sound like, quoting Amazon spokesperson, Cinthia Portugal:
“It’s very early days for e-books, and we believe there is a lot of innovation ahead of us. [...] Lexcycle is a smart, innovative company. and we look forward to working with them to innovate on behalf of readers.”
Translation: Amazon, not content with Kindle, wants to own the E-Book space. All books space, actually. All space in general, pretty much.
Lexcycle, for their part, claim not to be making any changes to the Stanza iPhone users all know and love.
But how do we feel about putting all our E-Books in one megacorp’s basket?
The Inquirer (via iLounge) is reporting that AMD (formerly ATI) Graphics Products Group CTO Bob Drebin has updated his LinkedIn page to show he’s found a new home — at Apple.
This is another in an increasingly long line of chip-related acquisitions, licensing deals, and staffing additions Apple has made in the chipset arena in the last year, including buying PA Semi, licensing ARM and PowerVR, and hiring Mark Papermaster.
Even though leaked specs for the next gen iPhone suggest previous iPhone chip-maker Infineon is still on board for now, it’s fairly clear Apple is looking to make changes further out on the product road map.
Our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn, is wondering what they think they know about chips that nobody else does, driving them to move this in house?
We’re guessing it combines Apple’s desire for control and hardware customization/differentiation. Why do you think, and more importantly, what do you think Apple is going to do with all this firepower under the iPhone (and iPod touch) hood?
Apple, via their MobileMe News blog, has just announced Live Chat Support 24/7:
We’re pleased to announce that English language Live Chat support is now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you encounter an issue while using MobileMe and would like to address it immediately, simply go to MobileMe support. Click on the topics at the bottom left of the page to see if your question has already been answered. If it’s not, click the Chat Now button to initiate a realtime help session with a MobileMe support agent.
If you have cause to try it out, let us know how it works for you.
