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Join Rene, Chad, and Precentral.net’s Keith Newman for Apple gaming, profit share, OnLive, private API, Facebook fallout, Verizon attack ads and AT&T strikes back, gPhone cometh, Palm Pixi, and all the news, plus your questions answered! Listen in!

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Presents: iPhone Live! #76 — Game On!

Facebook for iPhone and iPod touch [Free - iTunes link], by updating to version 3.03 for “minor bug fixes and Japanese localization”, but underneath that listing all the major changes from the original 3.0 release, has resulted in flood of tips to TiPb actual. Shows us a few things:

1. Wow but do people love that Facebook for iPhone app
2. Devs need to be careful how they list their changeroll
3. Users need to be careful how they read the changeroll

Still, if you’ve been experiencing bugs, or really wanted to get your Japanese on, this updated is for you!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Facebook for iPhone Updates to 3.03 “Minor Bug Fixes and Japanese Localization”

Joe Hewitt, the developer who saw the Facebook App for iPhone and iPod touch to version 3.0, and the cusp of 3.1 (which promised/threatened push notifications), has thrown us the Twitter-equivalent of a curve-ball:

Time for me to try something new. I’ve handed the Facebook iPhone app off to another engineer, and I’m onto a new project.

Just to be clear, he’s staying with Facebook, just no longer working on their iPhone app. Does it have anything to do with his dissatisfaction with the iTunes App Store approval process?

According to the quote he gave TechCrunch, it did:

My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer.

(Hit the link above to read the rest of it). Some are no doubt happy to see such a high profile developer quit the App Store over the review process. Hey, we’ve complained about it quite a bit as well. Still, with the current process Hewitt was able to give us a pretty darn good app up to this point. Was it frustrating? No doubt it was, but many of us face frustrations on the job. The web is free, but it’s also often far from a premium user experience. Apple has thus far decided managing the App Store is, in their opinion, the best way to ensure their users’ experience (not just their noisy tech-blogging-and-commenting users’ experience, but the kids and moms and casual users as well). That the implementation remains capricious is another matter — one they need to be fixed and now. That the App Store should by all divine right and reason be as open as web development, however, is just another opinion, another option, and certainly not any more right or reasonable “just because”.

In any event, on behalf of TiPb, we thank you, Joe for all your hard work and the awesome app you’ve given us to date, and wish you well on your future endeavors.

And to the new developer, here’s wishing you the best, and the best for future versions of the Facebook app as well!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone Facebook App Developer Says Goodnight and Good Luck

I’m a big Facebook user, and I’m guessing many of you are as well, given the interest in our Facebook for iPhone posts. Well, I was able to spend a little time with the Droid in a Verizon store on launch day, and while I wouldn’t call this a full-blown comparison, it is a quick overview of some of the similarities and differences I noticed between their Facebook applications.

The setup is a little different than the iPhone. For starters, it was reminiscent of the Palm Pre; the Droid will sync your contacts to your address book. After the initial setup, I was eager to get started using the app.

At first facebook for droid looks like its iPhone cousin; very familiar news feed page. After that however, is where the similarities start to diverge. Let us take it back a step. The facebook app has a “launcher’ page with News Feed, Friends, etc. The Droid app is missing Inbox.Yup. You read right. There is no Inbox on the Droid app. Ok, moving on…

So, like on the iPhone, the Droid shows links in posts and status updates. So, I went to click on a link one of my friend’s posted web links and it took me directly to their profile. Odd. I then tried to click on the post again and it created a vicious circle. Conclusion with links? It appears you cannot launch them from the Droid app. Hard to believe, I am sure.

I was also unable to switch between News Feed, Pages, Status Updates and custom groups I created. I am not saying there is not a way to do this, but I could not figure it out and the Verizon representative was less than helpful. It displayed News Feed in the top-right corner, but it was tiny and I could not find a way to switch with the brief amount of time I had with the device.

Oh, and one more thing: the app seems to cache really well, but also does not seem to refresh on launch; there is no refresh button and shake to refresh does not work like on the iPhone. So, I walked away unimpressed, but I can’t believe the Droid suffers from all of these short comings. I am looking forward to clarification and inquiries in the comments!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Facebook App: An iPhone vs. Droid Quick Comparison

Early this morning developer of the iPhone Facebook application, Joe Hewitt, posted that Facebook 3.03 is on it’s way to squash a few bugs. Even bigger news is that update will then be followed by Facebook 3.1 which will include push notifications.

Facebook happens to be one of the most used iPhone applications today while push notifications is the most sought after missing feature from the application. Techcrunch brings up a few valid points regarding how these notifications are currently handled and the potential issues that can arise from an application that will pop up more than a few notifications on your screen. The major issue being if you receive more than one notification you are completely lost as to what the previous notification(s) were for.

Personally I tend to turn off the alerts in certain applications that push a lot of notifications to my iPhone. Applications such as Beejive and Twitbit are just a few that I simply leave the “badge” option on so I can just see how many messages I have. That still does not change the fact that I want a better push notification system…

What are your thoughts on the current push notification system and how would you like to see it improved? Sound off in comments below!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Facebook 3.1 With Push Notifications Coming Soon

Wow. Apple’s iTunes Store now has a Facebook Fan Page. During today’s It’s only rock and roll, but we like it special music event, Apple announced iTunes 9 and said it allowed users to share via Facebook. Apparently you can share some love for iTunes right back.

And if you do, you can get 20 free songs by indie artists. The process sounds hecka convoluted, but TUAW takes you through it admirably.

Let us know if you become a fan, and get your music!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iTunes Launches Facebook Fan Page, Offers 20 Free Songs

Facebook 3.02, i.TV 2.0, and QuickOffice 1.4 — among many others, no doubt — have just hit the App Store, and what do they bring to the iPhone this time around?

• Facebook 3.02 [Free - iTunes link] contains the obligatory bug fixes as well as VoiceOver support. Very nice!

• QuickOffice 1.4 [$14.99 - iTunes link] now provides support for creating and editing Microsoft Office 2007 Word and Excel files (DOCX and XLSX)

• i.TV 2.0 [Free - iTunes link] offers a slew of new features, including remote control frameworks, push notification, and more.

If you update, let us know what you think!

[Thanks to everyone who sent these in!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick App Updates: Facebook 3.02, QuickOffice 1.4, i.TV 2.0

Facebook 3.0.1 for iPhone [Free - iTunes link], which fixes some of the bugs found in Facebook 3.0 (others are reportedly being fixed on the Facebook backend servers), is now being served piping hot and ready from the iTunes App Store.

(And wow but can Apple approve fast in some cases?!)

[Thanks Cameron for the tip!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Facebook 3.0.1 for iPhone — With Bug Fixes! — Now in the App Store

Yep, you read the headline right, after many days of anticipation, and a few minutes of is-it-or-isn’t-it, Facebook 3.0 [Free - iTunes link] for iPhone (and iPod touch) is now live in the iTunes App Store. Go download it now, or check out Chad’s preview if you’re still on the fence… (Why would you still be on the fence, it’s the biggest social network in the ‘verse and it’s for free!)

Note: It’s not showing up for every user in every store on every device yet, so be patient, try searching, try iTunes on your PC or Mac, try it on the iPhone, or just wait a bit and it’ll be all good…

If/when you do get it, let us know what you think. Finally better than the WebApp? Better than the full on web version? Hit the comments below or drop us a line on our Facebook page!

[Thanks to everyone who mailed and tweeted us!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Facebook 3.0 for iPhone Now in iTunes App Store

I love Facebook and this is a preview of the hotly anticipated  Facebook for iPhone 3.0, coming soon to the iTunes App Store for iPhone and iPod touch.

Where to begin? When I first installed the app, I was frozen with anticipation. I have seen some sneak peeks on Facebook’s app page, but that was it. Now with it in my hands… Let’s begin by looking at the basics.

Home Screen

Facebook 3.0 has a brand-new redesigned home screen (see above). From here, you have access your fundamental Facebook actions such as your News Feed, Profile, Friends, Inbox, Chat, Requests, Events, Photos, Notes and Search. Notifications have been relocated to a very accessible location on the bottom of the screen that tells you the last notification you have received and the total number of new notifications. Tapping this bar brings up a notification list that is practically identical to the notifications list you have on the Web Browser. You can also tap the title bar at the top of the page to return home any time. For example, if you are commenting on a post and you are done, you can tap the word “Comments” at the top of the page and it will return you to the home screen. Tap again, and it takes you back to your comment. Nice.

New Feed

If you separate your friends and paged into different lists, these have also carried over into Facebook 3.0. You can easily and quick access your News Feed, Links, Pages and more from one spot.

Profile

Friends

Inbox

Chat

Requests

Events

Photos

Notes

Search

Posting

Add a Favorite

Issues and Conclusion

I have also encountered the infamous ”Error, Your comment could not be posted at this time” message. I had thought this was resolved in the last version of Facebook. I have not seen this error for quite some time.

Overall, I could not be happier. This version of Facebook is leaps and bounds better then version 2.0. The developer, Joe Hewitt, deserves kudos for his work her. Joe has also promised push notifications and other enhancements for 3.1 to be released later this year.

The promise of the iPhone is to have a mobile computer in your pocket. The iPhone is able to deliver on this promise because there are developers out there like Joe Hewitt that keep making apps better and better. Thank you Joe.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

App Preview: Facebook 3.0 for iPhone