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iPhone 3G Stuff

June 30, 2008 6:47 AM • by R. Look • Posted to News | Rumors Comments (0) | Permalink
With less than 12 days before the iPhone 3G arrives at Apple and AT&T stores all over the country, there is quite a bit of news coming from all over the place...First of all, it seems that the end of the month is the deadline for iPhone developers to get their apps in the AppStore on opening day of July 11.

Also, in other news, the iPhone is being brought to Australia via Telstra and in an even more surprising move, Telstra will be selling the iPhone for a whopping 0$. The only catch is that you would need to sign up for the $80 plan...Few details are being given regarding what that plan includes...

Meanwhile back in the states, AT&T is revving up their customer service, ads and distributing procedures to help the iPhone 3G launch day go smoothly be on the lookout for more activity as the days go by...

Updated: News from AppleInsider: It seems that on July 11, AT&T (POS) point of sales systems will need to have a special application that will "unbrick" iPhones during the activation process. What this means to us as consumers is that all iPhone 3Gs will need to be unboxed and activated when you buy them. This is completely different from when the iPhone was first introduced over a year ago, when both AT&T and Apple allowed in home activation. This move is seen as an attempt by both companies to limit the black market on iPhone 3G devices...More to come as we find it...

iPhone SDK Beta 8 & iTunes 7.7

June 27, 2008 6:51 AM • by R. Look • Posted to News | Rumors Comments (0) | Permalink
News from the field point to iPhone SDK Beta 8 being released as the Golden Master for iPhone software update 2.0. "Golden Master" is the term software developers usually use to denote that the software has been QA tested and is ready for release to the public for general consumption. This news makes sense as the release of the iPhone 3g on July 11 is right around the corner and you'd want the developers to have a stable platform to code against. No news as to feature details have been revealed probably due to the NDA (non-disclosure agreement).

In other related news, iTunes 7.7 was also released to developers and this has brought interestingly enough the ability to turn an iPhone or an iTouch into a iTunes media remote. No mention of this has been made by his Steveness however, filings with the US patent office have shown the development of such a feature...

Anyhow, that's all for this week and we'll be back bright and early on Monday unless some breaking news happens over the weekend...TTFN!

Apple Increasing iPhone Orders to 15 Million

June 26, 2008 6:32 AM • by R. Look • Posted to News | Rumors Comments (0) | Permalink
0ur friends over at AppleInsider are reporting that Apple has raised the amount of iPhones originally ordered to a staggering 15 Million. Also in their story, it was interesting to see that 2 million more first generation phones were being ordered.

Also talked about in the story was a steady increase in iPod, iTouch and Mac orders. Here's a direct link to the story.

iPhone 2.0 Golden Master - June 27th?

June 25, 2008 6:46 AM • by R. Look • Posted to News | Rumors Comments (0) | Permalink
Happy Hump Day Everyone!

Our friends over at Gizmodo are reporting that their sources say that the iPhone 2.0 software could be declared as golden master by as early as this Friday. Golden Master is usually the last release before the software is distributed to vendors/manufacturers. In Apple's case, Golden Master means that the iPhone 3Gs software has been completed. This is good news for the upcoming July 11 launch.

In other news, iSuppli a market researcher has stated that the iPhone 3G costs only $173 to make. Keep in mind that these numbers do NOT include R & D and are just guesses until the actual units come out...

3rd Party Resellers to Sell iPhone in Europe

June 23, 2008 6:56 AM • by R. Look • Posted to Rumors Comments (0) | Permalink
Reports have been cropping up lately pointing to the fact that in Europe, 3rd Party Resellers will be able to sell the iPhone 3G.

For example, in Germany, T-Mobile has reportedly signed a deal with computer reseller Gravis to help resell iPhones. Additional reports are further collaborating this story as similar arrangements are said to be made in Italy.

We'll keep you updated as the news comes.

Flash Reportedly Working on the iPhone

June 18, 2008 7:17 AM • by R. Look • Posted to Rumors Comments (0) | Permalink
News from the field seems to point to the fact that Adobe has gotten Flash to run successfully on the iPhone emulator. While the iPhone emulator is where programs are supposed to be tested, we here at iPhoneNewsBlog feel that Flash on the iPhone could be a battery draining experience...In any case, counternotions.com has an additional theory as to why Flash is not yet on the iPhone..in a nutshell, it's all about the user experience...

Anyway, I've gotta get going so, have a great Wednesday and we'll see what the rest of the week has to bring us!

Game Changing $200 iPhone

June 17, 2008 7:25 AM • by R. Look • Posted to Comments (0) | Permalink
Now that the iPhone is approaching its first birthday, we just wanted to point out how this ground-breaking device is literally leading the cell phone industry. Since its inception, the iPhone has resulted in a flood of touch screen phones and to date, none that I know of can match the iPhone as far as maturity of its interface. Other phones may have better specifications, but our stance is what good are they if the features are too hard or confusing to access...In any case, the iPhone as Steve Jobs once said maintains a several year lead over current generation touch phone...not only that, all other phones are just seen as pale imitations of the real thing.

Now that the iPhone has established itself in the market as a solid contender, Apple shows us it can think differently and has been able to bring the iPhone's pricing down to $200 and $300 for the 8 and 16 GB model respectively.

Now when you compare that with current cell phone offerings, one can see how attractive the iphone begins to look...especially when one considers the recently announced Palm Centro is listed at $99 and the Instinct (which is directly poised as a 1st Gen iPhone competitor) has already been priced at about $200.

Well, we look forward to July 11 and keep coming back as we will post more news as it is available...

iPhone 3G Download Speed Capped at 1.4 Mbps?

June 16, 2008 7:17 AM • by R. Look • Posted to News Comments (1) | Permalink
Numerous people have noticed that specifications from the Apple website state that the 3G iPhone may be limited to 1.4Mbps. This is very unusual as other phones that are 3G enabled post much higher download rates...One such example is the Motorola Q which is able to download at 3.6 Mbps...Also, HSDPA cards are able to download data at 7.2 Mbps.

We'll find out more as we get closer to the iPhone's ship date...keep ya posted!

Apple Reportedly Shutting Out Developers from GPS Capabilities

June 13, 2008 6:51 AM • by R. Look • Posted to News Comments (0) | Permalink
Word out in the field is that Apple is not allowing 3rd party developers to have access to the iPhone 3Gs GPS capabilities. Although Steve Jobs demonstrated turn by turn directions and live GPS tracking during the WWDC keynote on Monday, it was unclear whether those were Apple produced applications or 3rd party applications.

We feel that Apple is just trying to protect itself from legal liabilities, however we also feel that over time they may HOPEFULLY change their position. The current SDK EULA reads, "Applications may not be designed or marketed for real time route guidance; automatic or autonomous control of vehicles, aircraft, or other mechanical devices; dispatch or fleet management; or emergency or life-saving purposes."

Anyway, we'll see how this all pans out next month as the AppStore comes online.

Hands on with the 3G iPhone

June 12, 2008 11:53 PM • by iPhone News Blog Staff • Posted to News Comments (0) | Permalink

Not a whole lot of folks get to have a private hands on session with one of the most coveted gadgets in the world. Glen Fleishman over at TidBits was one of the few who got to spend a few minutes with the 3G iPhone.

We won't rehash his entire story but will summarize it for you:
- Plastic back feels good, better than the aluminum back of current iPhone.
- Not that much difference from original iPhone. Subtle differences. Refinement.
- OS feels faster overall.
- New power plug is REALLY small!
- Geotagging built in to iPhone photo meta data
- GPS will only activate when you are using it.
- Tracking will occur by permission only

Overall a wonderful read for anyone who is clamoring for more information about the 3G iPhone.

AT&T Listing of 3G Coverage

June 11, 2008 10:25 AM • by iPhone News Blog Staff • Posted to News Comments (0) | Permalink
oahu-coverage.jpgIf you're already chomping at the bit to get your hands on a 3G iPhone, you'll probably want to know if you've got 3G coverage in your area before hand. Luckily AT&T has a listing of what areas are covered by State and City. 

For those of you looking for a static map with colored views of the 3G areas, our pals at TUAW have made one just for you: 3G here and Edge version is listed in another map.

P.A. Semi to produce future iPhone and iPod chips

June 11, 2008 9:31 AM • by iPhone News Blog Staff • Posted to News Comments (0) | Permalink

pa_semi_chip.jpgSteve Jobs revealed in an interview with the New York Times John Markoff that Apple's recent acquisition of semiconductor company P.A. Semi was an investment in their future. Jobs revealed for the first time that P.A. Semi will indeed produce the next chipset for future iPods and iPhones.

"PA Semi is going to do system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods," Jobs said. This finally brings to light the reasons for Apple's acquisition of the chipmaker. This is bad news for bigger companies like SamSung and Intel though. By bringing the system-on-chip inhouse, Apple will not only be able to have exclusivity for the chipset but also control what it can and can't do.

iPhone 3G to be Distributed to 16 Additional Countries via Telefonica

June 11, 2008 8:26 AM • by R. Look • Posted to News Comments (0) | Permalink
In addition to already announcing their intent to distribute the iPhone in Spain, Telefonica announced today that they will also be delivery the upcoming 3G iPhone to Czech Republic, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, just to name a few...

The iPhone is expected to be available on July 11 in 22 countries and 70 countries by the end of the year....I can't wait to get my hands on one of these!

3G iPhone Announced by Apple...

June 10, 2008 6:47 AM • by R. Look • Posted to News Comments (0) | Permalink
Much to the surprise of none, Apple yesterday introduced the 3G iPhone, almost a year after the original was introduced to the world. In any case, not only is this phone 3G, it also has an assisted GPS built in to it. That means, all types of things will now be possible...like social network/location aware applications and other sorts of fun stuff...

I can only imagine what developers are going to do with this...Anyway, the other shocker is the price...the new iPhone has broken ground as far as pricing: $199 for the 8 GB model and $299 for the 16 GB model...with an original price of $499 and $599, this is an amazing deal...one can now get an iphone cheaper than an iTouch! Once again Apple has turned the whole cell phone business model on its head.

Anyway, the 3G iPhone will be hitting the shelves on July 11, we just can't wait to get our hands on one of em!

WWDC Monday, 3G iPhone to be Unveiled

June 9, 2008 6:52 AM • by R. Look • Posted to Misc | Opinion Comments (0) | Permalink
Well, everyone expects Apple to unveil the 3G iPhone today. There have been sooo many rumors of what is going to be announced and what it is going to look like, that it is enough for your dear editors to go batty.

In any case, the rubber is about to meet the road and in less than 1 hr and 5 minutes, the whole world will be watching apple with baited breath to see what they will be announcing. It is amazing to us here at the IphoneNewsBlog how much the iPhone has influenced the tech and cell phone industries. I can't wait to see what our friends in Cupertino have up their sleeves next....catch you after the news!

Live Coverage of WWDC 2008 Keynote

June 8, 2008 6:32 PM • by iPhone News Blog Staff • Posted to News Comments (0) | Permalink

We'll be following along with the rest of the world. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to WWDC this year. Maybe next year I'll be able to get there...

Here are some sites that will have live info as the show progresses:
http://www.macrumorslive.com/
http://www.engadget.com/
http://www.macnn.com/
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php
http://www.macworld.com/
http://www.macscoop.com/
http://arstechnica.com/index.ars
http://www.thedigitallifestyle.tv/blog.html

See you tomorrow for some awesome news in the iPhone world. Can't wait!

3G iPhone in 3 days

June 5, 2008 7:11 AM • by R. Look • Posted to Opinion Comments (0) | Permalink
Well, the time is almost here, WWDC is almost upon us and it seems only a matter of time (3 days) that the 3G iPhone will be unveiled. Here at iPhoneNewsBlog, we all have current generation iPhones and are anxiously awaiting what Steve Jobs pulls out of his pocket come 9 a.m. Monday, PST. As this is almost a given, I guess a more important question is, are they going to do anything for the "early adopters?" I doubt it but hey, one can wish right?

In any case, hold on to your hats, the next few days are going to be nerve racking!

Japan & Spain Slated to get iPhone

June 4, 2008 6:28 AM • by R. Look • Posted to Comments (0) | Permalink
The hot news today is that Japan and Spain are now finally getting some distribution channel love for the iPhone via Softbank and Telefonica, respectively. The two carriers say that they will be shipping an iPhone later this year.

Of interesting note, is that this is further evidence that a 3G iphone is coming: Softbank only deals in 3G phones.

Time is counting down till the supposed 3G iphone launching date...here we have all of our fingers crossed
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