Articles by Jeremy Sikora
AT&T has unveiled plans to upgrade their 3G network to 7.2 HSPA in various markets across the US by the end of the year. What cities happen to have all of the luck on their side? Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami.
If you don’t live in any of those cities don’t worry, I will let you all know how it works here in Chicago. Unfortunately for those who are not so lucky, the wait for HSPA 7.2 will will take a bit longer as AT&T is only planning on having 25 of the nation’s 30 largest markets upgraded by the end of 2010. John Stankey, president and CEO, AT&T Operations:
“Our deployment of HSPA 7.2 and supporting backhaul connectivity will enable our customers to continue to ride the leading edge of emerging devices and thousands of mobile applications, our network is based on the predominant technology platform used by operators worldwide and has been tested by today’s most popular devices. That experience gives us an important advantage in developing and deploying new technologies to meet customers’ future needs.”
Who knows, maybe as these network upgrades are taking place we will slowly start to see apps such as SlingPlayer Mobile get rid of their Wi-Fi-only chains? Only time will tell.
If you just happened to miss today’s video of the “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” keynote or just so happen to be having issues downloading the full 850MB podcast feed like I am, jump on over to Apple’s site and instantly view it in it’s entirety via Quicktime stream.
Sure good to see Steve back…
Now that the dust is starting to settle after the return of Steve, we would like to take a moment and issue another friendly reminder to all of you who currently using an unlocked iPhone 3G or the 3GS – do not install the iPhone 3.1 update via iTunes. You will lose your unlock and it may be permanent as Dev Team’s MuscleNerd stated on Twitter earlier today:
3G+3GS unlockers..you must not update to official 3.1! unlock needs pre-hacked 3.1 with 04.26.08
So what does that mean, well like I mentioned earlier do not update via iTunes. You must first hack the 3.1 software to include modem firmware 04.26.08. If this confuses you, please do not attempt to unlock your phone until an easier way is released.
We here at TiPb are wondering, what about iTunes? Have any of you with unlocked iPhones updated to iTunes 9.0? Let us know how it went in the comments!
As always, be safe out there, as we are not responsible if you blow up your iPhone.
*If you have questions regarding unlocking please visit our iPhone Jailbreak and Unlock forum.
For those of you who are not familiar with our Apps for Less posts, they are a great way for us to point out a few good iPhone (and iPod touch) applications available in the App Store that are currently on sale, or ones that have come down to a price permanently that we feel are worth mentioning to our readers.
First app worth a mention was a much anticipated game, EA’s SimCity. [iTunes Link] Now for a limited time you can design, build and manage the city of your dreams for $2.99!
- Pick a time by choosing from 3 time periods, 1900, 1950 or 2000, for your city setting – each with special buildings and technologies
- Create chaos and allow UFOs & Toxic Clouds to invade your city or let mother nature have her way with natural disasters like Tornadoes & Earthquakes you get to repair and restore when its all done
- No experience necessary with varying levels of difficulty, SimCity is fun for everybody, from novice city dwellers to the most seasoned urbanites!
This next game is a racer that Chad has nothing but great things to say about, Real Racer. [iTunes Link] The price of this most impressive racer has now dropped down to $6.99 from $9.99. Any racing fan should jump all over this one.
- 36 cars in three classes, a dozen unique tracks, five game modes
- In-car cockpit view or external camera
- Massive career mode with 57 events to complete
- Local multiplayer over WiFi
Last buy not least we have an oldie but a goodie, Super Monkey Ball is on sale for $3.99. [iTunes Link] That’s down $6 from it’s normal price! This game is simple, addictive, fun, frustrating, and well worth your $3.99.
If you see any other great weekend deals, let us know in the comments, or send them our way any time for inclusion in a future Apps for Less!
Welcome to From the Forums. If you are curious as to what all of the hot topics are on the TiPb forums, this is the place to be. In order to create any new threads of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now.
Our first thread of the day includes a poll and comes to us from cobra302 – Glass up or down? Are you one of the brave few who actually set their iPhone face down?
Like c0mpguru mentions in the following thread, MMS is finally coming to your iPhone on September 25th. Most of you should be excited judging from the anger and outrage from this long delay but we want to know have your feelings changed what so ever toward AT&T?
So you are having an issue with your iPhone and need some help? Perhaps you have some time to kill and feel like helping others with their iPhone issues? If you answered yes to either of these questions then please stop by and visit our dedicated iPhone Help forum.
See you on the forums!
Well it’s official, TomTom’s much anticipated iPhone car kit accessory will not make it out this summer like the company initially had planned. Rather, it has been delayed until October according to their website’s FAQ page.
The TomTom car kit availability was originally planned for this summer. But we have decided to take some extra weeks in order to deliver the highest quality on this innovative product. So, the car kit will become available this October on www.tomtom.com.
We suppose it is best to delay the accessory for a few weeks in order to insure you, the consumer, can purchase the very best TomTom has to offer. It could have been worse and the kit could have been delayed until next year, right?
[Via TUAW]
Most AT&T iPhone owners have been waiting for any word from their beloved carrier regarding the activation of MMS and as it turns out, AT&T just notified us personally to make sure we pass on the good word that MMS will be available on the iPhone on September 25th.
The date is September 25th, which does indeed fall a few days past the official end of summer. It was important to give our customers a positive experience from day one. We support more iPhone customers than any other carrier in the world so we took the time necessary to make sure our network is ready to handle what we expect will be a record volume of MMS traffic. We truly appreciate our customers patience and hope theyll understand our desire to get it right from the start.
The email went on to also make a point that this indeed will be a software update that iPhone owners will need to download via iTunes. Perhaps the release date for iPhone OS 3.1?
Anyone exited yet?
*Just to be clear, MMS will only be available on iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. No MMS is offered for the original iPhone 2G.
Updated to include AT&T Network 101 & MMS Availability Update (thanks Gregg & sil3ntrid3r11!)
Lars Ulrich rejoice, Napster will NOT be heading into Apple’s coveted App Store any time soon. Strange considering they once toyed with our emotions by mentioning an iPhone app was in the works? Sadly, unlike Spotify, it is just not going to happen anytime in the near future. Did Apple reject it? No, so do not go ditching your iPhone for a Android or RIM device just yet — Napster have scrapped apps for those devices as well.
One of the most common questions Napster receives is, When will you offer an iPhone app? Well, Napster has created an iPhone application that allows subscribers to stream music on-demand to their iPhoneincluding personal playlists, albums and radio stations. You can imagine the company is also looking at streaming applications for several other mobile platforms as well (Blackberry, Android). However, due to the high licensing fees for streaming to a mobile phone, Napster has not yet submitted the iPhone app to Apple for approval or attempted to bring the application to market.
Now let’s think about this for a moment, they put their iPhone application on hold due to “high licensing fees”. If Spotify and Rhapsody can pull it off why can’t Napster? Maybe it’s due to the fact those companies charge $10.00 more a month for their service perhaps.
Whatever the case may be, would you be willing for fork over some extra cash to get Napster on your iPhone?
[Via MediaMemo]
Apple has gone and shocked the world again as, according to the company’s Twitter feed, popular VoIP service Vonage has been approved for the iTunes App Store.
Vonage has announced that Apple approved its mobile application for iPhone and iPod Touch. Vonage is currently conducting a beta test and general availability will be announced at a later date. This new service, along with the recent launch of the Vonage World unlimited calling plan, continues Vonage’s heritage of using innovative technology to create significant value for its current and future customers.
While it remains to be seen if Vonage will be granted 3G access, or made WiFi only like Skype, if you follow them on Twitter, you may have noticed Vonage was searching for a few lucky volunteers to become official beta testers of their iPhone app. Were any of our readers lucky enough to be selected as the chosen few?
If so, let us know how the testing is going in the comments!
The RexRegina Hamilton Case [$44.95 - TiPb Store link] is hands down one of the finest crafted leather pouches I have used to date. While this particular type of case may only appeal to a certain crowd, I can not recommend it highly enough for those of you who are fans of the pouch case. For the full run-down read on after the break! Read the rest of this entry »
