All Articles Tagged Apple

We have covered the iPhone and gaming from top to bottom here at TiPb. The iPhone still has a lot of catching up to do in terms of the quality of the games and you can also toss in the lack of physical controls as a huge negative. All that aside, for the most part we’ve felt that if Apple plays their cards correctly, they could be a major player in the handheld gaming wars alongside the likes of Nintendo and Sony.

Maybe you’ve agreed with us, maybe you haven’t. If you’ve disagreed with our opinions and views that’s fine and dandy but maybe, just maybe, you will listen to Trip Hawkins. Who’s Trip Hawkins you ask? He started a little gaming company called Electronic Arts.

“The iPhone is by far our most effective platform. We make as much money with these games on one device as we do putting a game on 100 different cell phone platforms. Between the iPod touch and the iPhone, I think the platform is freaking out Sony and Nintendo.”

That is a pretty strong statement. It may be a great thing as more and more developers will take the iPhone as a serious contender and produce more and higher quality games, or it may prove to be one of the biggest pitfalls. It may encourage more developers to throw quality and innovation out the window and simply pump out below-average games just to make that quick profit. Up until this point we’ve seen a combination of some high quality games and some pure garbage. In the end, it’s about the almighty dollar and we get that. Hopefully game developers come up with ways to push the platform to the next level.

So where do you see this going in the long run for the iPhone as a gaming platform? Lets hear your thoughts!

[Via theappleblog.com]

With all of these rumors about about AT&T interfering with Slingplayer getting into the App Store and changing their ToS to simply retract it the next day, it has to make a person think… What is AT&T up to?

Could the next iPhone be headed in the direction of some other smartphones by having AT&T bloatware thrust upon it? Would Apple even allow AT&T to restrict or replace 3rd party apps with their own carrier branded, white-label built-in options that perform similar functions at premium service prices?

Skype and Ustream are already not allowed on 3G, only WiFi. We’ve also heard rumors that AT&T was working on a U-Verse application for the iPhone. Features such as programming shows to record, using the iPhone as a wireless remote, ability to allow iPhone voicemails to be managed and controlled through the U-verse interface, etc… On top of all of those features it may be possible they want to add some sort of SlingPlayer-like capabilities such as streaming channels directly to your iPhone. Granted, you would have to be a subscriber of their U-Verse service but never-the-less, could it be a sign of things to come as carriers desperately try to avoid becoming “dumb pipes“?

AT&T’s Chief Technology Officer John Donovan had the following to say:

“We’re looking at the whole landscape, of what people use, and what’s out there in the home”

So what do you, our readers, think about all of this ? Is it possible that AT&T is trying to steal some control back from Apple? Trying to get their same-old bloatware onto our iPhones?

The iPhone and music pretty much go hand and hand. Your music deserves to be played through a more than decent stereo headset, one that can deliver clear, clean, crisp sound at any volume. That said, I jumped at the chance to try out the iharmonix Pro i-Series Stereo Headset and put it through some serious usage. You can purchase this exact headset right in TiPb’s very own store, for the low price of $39.95. Honestly, I did not know what to expect while waiting for UPS to drop these babies off but I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised. For a full review, read on after the break!

Read the rest of this entry »

It is no secret that AT&T has the iPhone locked up through the year 2010. Today the Wall Street Journal is reporting that AT&T is in talks to add yet another year to the current deal. Of course neither side is commenting about the matter at this point, and when contacted, an Apple representative said:

“We have a great relationship with AT&T.”

While we here at TiPb are well aware of how many of you truly despise AT&T, is this where we give them another chance? It has been rumored they are still beefing up their network for the next iPhone launch.

Personally for me here in the Chicago area, I’ve never had such great service. No other cellular service performs as well for me and I’ve tried tried them all. Yes, I said it, go easy on me.

So what do you say? Is another year of AT&T iPhone lock-in a good or bad thing?

[Via WSJ Thanks also to Tyler for the tip!]

Welcome to iPhone 101, simple tips for novice iPhone users to help you take advantage of your new device.

Maybe your kid spends way too much time browsing the internet via Safari, uses the camera in ways that are not appropriate, or perhaps they went on a spending spree in the App Store and you didn’t know until your credit card bill came in the mail. Whatever the case may be, find out how to regain some parental control by enabling restrictions after the break!

Read the rest of this entry »

Back in January Rene made us all aware that the Apple App Store hit the half billion mark in terms of downloads. A few months later it seems like they will be doubling that number by hitting 1 billion app downloads. This is indeed impressive and Apple wants to celebrate with giving you a chance to win some really sweet prizes.

As of today, nearly one billion apps have been downloaded around the globe. So we just want to say thanks — a billion. Download an app and you’ll automatically get the chance to win a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro. Just go to the iTunes Store, browse the App Store, and download your best app yet.

Apple has even laid out the top 20 paid and free apps [iTunes Link] of all time with Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D and the Facebook app leading their respective categories. So what are you waiting for? Get your download on for your chance to win some sweet Apple goodness! (Just remember entries are limited to 25 per person per day.)

Good luck!

Last week AT&T created quite a ruckus for altering their ToS, but after the backlash they ultimately decided against it. Well, we may be looking at round 2 here.

This time a tipster has told TiPb that iPhone 3G owners in the Atlanta and Austin markets who are not currently provisioned with an iPhone 3G data plan will receive an SMS message advising them that an iPhone 3G rate plan will be added to their line of service. These customers will begin receiving SMS messages today and the plans will be provisioned on the evenings of April 8th and 9th. It appears that AT&T just tapped these two cities as a trial run, the rest of the country should start getting similar alerts on April 21st.

So what does all of this mean? There are a few possibilities, depending on your mobile situation:

• If you are using an iPhone 3G and you snuck in one of AT&T’s MediaNET data plans for $15 you will be forced on the $30 iPhone 3G data plan.
• For those of you who share SIM cards between an iPhone and Blackberry while using a Blackberry data plan, well it may be a bit more troublesome. Since your BlackBerry requires a BlackBerry plan to work, you’ll need to make extra-double-sure you don’t get an alert and if you do, you will want to call up AT&T right away and explain that you’re a SIM-swapper and to leave your plan set to your BB plan — which will hopefully continue to work fine on an iPhone.
• Lastly, with a PDA Unlimited data plan, expect minimal damage.  It’s theoretically possible that MMS will not work since the iPhone currently does not support MMS, at least until AT&T flips the switch when iPhone OS 3.0 drops.  So check that.

The thing that really rubs TiPb the wrong way is that the BlackBerry, PDA, and iPhone data plans all are $30. Why not allow us to change our devices as we see fit and keep it simple by one data plan to rule them all.  BlackBerry users who try to switch their SIM to another device have long lived with the pain of not having a plan that easily works on non-BB phones.  For now, iPhone plans do work fine on other devices.

So to all of the SIM swappers out there or for those of you who flew under the radar, how are you feeling about this?  Isn’t part the point of having a GSM phone being able to swap the SIM with minimal hassle?

If you are a Twitter addict and are following Trent Reznor (Yes, it really is the one and only TR), you would be well aware that the official Nine Inch Nails application is making it’s way onto the App Store any time now, for FREE.

You may be thinking “many bands have apps in the App Store”, which may be true. But to be honest, they are pretty poor attempts. If anyone can get a iPhone application done the right way, it would be Reznor.

“Anyone who’s an executive at a record label does not understand what the internet is, how it works, how people use it, how fans and consumers interact — no idea, I’m surprised they know how to use e-mail. They have built a business around selling plastic discs, and nobody wants plastic discs any more.”

For a full run down on the app from the man himself be sure to check out the video on wired.com. This is an app that any NIN fan will not want to miss.

If you’re Bono, however, you’re well warned to avoid this one, especially after yesterday’s RIM shot…

[Via Wired.com and thanks to Phil for the title!]

The past 2 weeks have been pretty exciting in terms of iPhone news/rumors and to be honest, even I have neglected our forums. So today it’s time I get back to my roots. Lets begin!

The first thread today has to do with the iPhone 3.0 OS. Apple has given us all the features that most of us have asked for but what features did they leave out that you would have loved to see included?

This next thread, started by John T, is one that everyone should chime in on. John feels that in order to stay competitive Apple needs to re-design the iPhone and give its exterior a nice fresh overhaul. So what do you think, does Apple need to make significant exterior hardware changes? If so, what direction would you like them to go?

This thread was started by a Crackberry forum regular, CrunchDude. It’s a pretty straight forward, how good is AppleCare and is it worth it? Be sure to drop by the thread and let him know some of your experiences with AppleCare. Good or bad.

Last but not least, we have another TiPb Give Away. The premise this time is simple, tell us the most embarrassing song in your music collection for your chance to win one of three promo codes for XBMC Streamer! For more details about XBMC Streamer be sure to hit this link!

So there you have it, a few good threads worth checking out. Now in order to join in on the conversation, be sure to register. You won’t regret it!

See you on the forums!

First we had Crackulous, and now as is the case with any sort of media today, piracy is running rampant. It is something that is bound to happen no matter how many ways are created to prevent it. DVD’s, CD’s, Satellite TV, Video Games, and now iPhone applications. According to Wired.com nearly 20% of all the App Store apps have been pirated and are now available. One torrent file of 5.4 gigabytes worth of apps, 808 cracked apps to be exact, was recently floating around on the web. It’s all out there to grab… but it doesn’t make it right and no we won’t tell you where.

Wired.com interviewed a creator of one of these pirated app web sites:

“We want people to think of these as trial apps since Apple doesn’t allow trials of apps before purchase,” said “Omar,” one of the creators of the site, who refused to disclose his real name to Wired.com. “It’s Apple’s fault for not putting up a trials system.”

Has “Omar” ever really been on the App Store lately? There are lite versions all over the App Store and that rests in the developers hands whether or not they want to make that available, but certainly that is not Apple’s fault. Right? Either way, this is getting out of control just a bit, I mean you have pirates pirating other pirates now!

So who really is to blame for this piracy gone crazy in the App Store? Apple? Developers? Let us know where you stand on this one!

[Via Wired.com]