Casey already told us about how an iPhone ad was banned in the UK for “misleading consumers” about providing “just the internet”, and based on how many ZOMG! No Flash Vidz! comments we get, I’m going to go out on a limb and say most people probably share the belief that MobileSafari – ( Flash + Java) != the internet.
Fine.
But allow me to retort. As a long time web (and Flash) developer, however, I’m calling shenanigans on that, and on the UK Advertising Standards Authority. Flash and Java are factually and empirically NOT part of the open, standards based Internet (i.e. HTML, CSS, Javascript/AJAX). Flash and Java, along with things like SilverLight, Real, ActiveX, and a host of other proprietary add-ons are plugins, extensions, and otherwise additions to the Internet — with all the benefits and drawbacks that go along with that.
Like what? Read on after the break!
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Welcome to the first in a new series from TiPb, where we take the often outlandish, sometime surreal predictions of iPhone analysts and pundits, blogeratti and the ‘net elite, and compare them to the potentially equally precise prognostications of a… magic 8-ball (running on an iPhone, of course!)
This edition kicks off with Gene Munster, who boldly states Apple will sell 13 million iPhone 3Gs this year, and 45 million next.
Magic 8-ball? “Most likely”
Next up we have Diggster Kevin Rose, with a multitude of maybes:
- Apple Event on September 9th? “Very doubtful”
- Firmware 2.1 debuting on sleeker iPod Touch? “Most likely”
- iTunes 8 with music recommendations? “Cannot predict now”
- New, candy-bar Nano with rounded widescreen? “It is certain”
- Massive iPod price drops across the line? “Don’t count on it”
- Mac OS X with Blu-Ray? “Ask again later”
Lastly, iDealsChina is rumormongering GPS for the iPod Touch? “Cannot predict now”
Who’s right? What’s left?
When a story breaks — if it breaks — we’ll come back and compare results. And we’re betting on a pretty even race, you?
(Special thanks to K. Michaels for the inspiration).
Gizmodo has uncovered what can only be described as a gigantic, huge, and completely embarrassing security flaw on the iPhone.
If you have your iPhone ‘locked,’ it can be circumvented very easily with very little trickery aside. On the ‘lock’ screen, you can still make an emergency call. When you tap that, you can then double-tap the home button to bring up your favorites (assuming you have that set).
The issue is that your favorites are basically the keys to the kingdom. You can tap the blue arrow next to a favorite to gain access to a contact’s information. From there, you can further tap email, a url, or sms to gain access to email, Safari and your bookmarks, or all of your SMSes, respectively.
Rene notes in an email that this is reminiscent of the old PalmOS bug wherein you could still search the device while it was locked. This, though, this is definitely worse.
Thankfully, Apple has the best ROM update system in the entire smartphone industry — able to push out updates to every iPhone via iTunes with minimal carrier delays. Let’s hope we see 2.0.3 very soon. Meanwhile Giz recommends you set that double-tap behavior to either ‘Home’ or ‘iPod’ to temporarily fix the issue.
Of course, this only applies to people who actually use the lock function on their iPhones, the rest of us just live dangerously.
Update: Macrumors reports that Apple is aware of the issue and has a fix on the way:
[...]this security flaw was already reported to Apple earlier this month and has been acknowledged as an issue. A fix will presumably be included in a future firmware update
Have an iPhone on AT&T and want to travel internationally without re-mortgaging your house to pay for the data roaming? You’re in luck… mostly. Engadget says the USA’s exclusive iPhone carrier has just released two new plans to help mitigate your risk: $119.99 for 100MB and $199.99 for 200MB.
Realizing AT&T does have to pay other carriers for any users on their networks, we still can’t help but wonder if there’s an ulterior motive… Given the poor marks AT&T’s network received in Wired’s survey when compared to European carriers, maybe Ma Bell is trying to dissuade frustrated users from fleeing the country? Unfortunately, these new plans are pretty much Rogers’ 2006 domestic rates, and probably still competitive with several international carrier-gougers!
So, AT&T travelers, will these new plans encourage you to keep the data roaming enabled for your next trip?
The Advertising Standards Authority, which we at TiPb are going to (foolishly) assume is the executive power of advertisements across the pond, has deemed an iPhone Advertisement as misleading in the UK. The sticking point? When Apple said:
“…all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone.”
And well, we know that isn’t
exactly true. We still don’t have Flash or Java support on our iPhone and Flash and Java are a pretty big part of the internet. Apple claims that the advertisement implied the availability of webpages, rather than their specific appearance. Which honestly sounds like a cop out to us. But still, pulling the advertisement seems a bit excessive.
We think to please the guvnuhs on the other side, Apple will probably throw in one of them fine prints across the bottom of the page that specifies on what technology you ‘really’ do get. Does anyone know if Apple makes the same claim on the US commercials? Methinks yes.
Thanks Lee Richards!
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If you’ve never played around with BeeJive’s JiveTalk, boy, you don’t know what you’re missing! Even though third party apps such as AIM and Palringo are available, I still prefer the look and feel of the JiveTalk WEB APP. I’m sure Crackberry Addicts can attest to JiveTalk’s IM supremacy. And you know what? BeejiveIM (formerly JiveTalk) is coming to the iPhone and from the looks of it, seems to better than ever.
It’s planned for Beta Release in September 2008 but the Boy Genius got his hands on it early and gave away a few details. It supports most IM programs, we’re talking about: AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, Windows Live Messenger, MySpace IM, and Yahoo! Messenger. Plus, it looks like the clean look of JiveTalk extended over to BeejiveIM and it’s rock solid.
An added bonus, BeejiveIM is ready for Apple’s push notification, which will be a godsend for IM programs. Though there isn’t a current release date or price, BeejiveIM can’t come soon enough…AIM blows big time. Click on the Read Link for more pictures.
Photo Credit: Boy Genius Report
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Think your iPhone 3G needs some sprucing up? Hate that the chrome bezel of the iPhone 3G scratches too easily? Well, for those who are wealthy beyond even the most wildest dreams, you can now get the diamond edition of the iPhone 3G. With only 50 being made worldwide, it’ll cost $10,000 for the first 10 customers with the other 40 being priced at a later point.
Here’s the lowdown on the diamonds:
- 475 Diamonds
- Brilliant Cut
- Color: F
- Clarity: VVS
- Carat 3.75ct
Oy! Talk about excessive, at least the diamonds rock. So, who’s going to be the first to team the $10,000 iPhone with the
$1,000 app? Any takers?
ReadVia
Apple, via Medallia, is sending out customer satisfaction surveys:
Thank you for your purchase of the Apple iPhone 3G. We would like to ask you a few questions about your experience with your new phone. [...] The information you provide will be used to improve our product support. We will not use your responses to sell you products or services.
Questions include where you’ve gone for iPhone help (cheat sheet: TiPb!), whether you’ve returned your handset to your carrier for repair or replacement, whether you primarily use Windows or Mac, whether you primarily use your iPhone for work or play, whether it’s your first Apple product, and general demographic info.
These questions will no doubt better help Apple understand what you’re thinking about your new iPhone 3G — and which questions they chose to ask will no doubt better help us figure out what Apple’s thinking about their iPhone 3G customers… Hmmm…
Have you gotten your survey yet?
T-Mobile CEO Hamid Akhavan, speaking to Focus, revealed that Big Magenta(TM) has sold 120,000 iPhone 3G units since it went on sale July 11. The breakdown included 75,000 for Germany with the remainder being gobbled up in the Netherlands and Austria.
This may sound small considering Apple previously reported 1 million iPhone 3Gs sold over launch weekend alone. However, AT&T has said the iPhone 3G was selling twice as fast as last year, which seems in line with these numbers, given T-Mo “only” managed to sell 100,000 of the first generation iPhone 2G during the two previous quarters combined. (Though bringing an EDGE handset to a trans-Euro 3G fight probably wasn’t a winning strategy back then, eh, Apple?)
Add these numbers together with the total 70+ launches scheduled for this year, and the probably huge holiday sales season still to come, and Apple might just make shatter that 10 million sales goal of theirs for this year– if not bite considerably into that rumored 45 million handset order for next…
If they can keep them in stock… and on network. Anyone using an iPhone 3G on T-Mobile? Easy to find on the shelves? Getting good data connections?
(via Ars Technica)
Last week Apple and Infineon were getting all the heat for shoddy 3G performance. Now AT&T is getting its share of the blame with a dizzying array of combinations. First it was Wired’s fairly damning survey and the Swedish antenna tests that pointed further fingers at the network, and now Gizmodo head-honcho Brian Lam has had the chance to chat with AT&T CTO John Donovan:
I asked Donovan if caution was the overriding strategy behind waiting to match Sprint’s initial 3G rollout, he replied, “I’d like to say we’re deliberate. ” He added that initially meeting the voice quality and data rates of Sprint’s 3G network would have been both technically and financially impossible, despite the customer benefit. (One only needs to look at Sprint’s financial weakness now to appreciate the wisdom of his point.) He also pointed out that by waiting, they got to leapfrog the limitations of Sprint’s EVDO networks, referring to the extended data rates their network will eventually run at, at a better value. “The most astute thing you can do is be as late as possible and as fast as possible. Because it’s going to cost you more if you do it too early, and if you do it too late, you don’t get the features you want.”
Well bully for AT&T, but where exactly does that leave frustrated customers with dodgy 3G reception? According to Donovan, they have a multipart plan to make sure AT&T really, truly, eventually delivers on the “more bars in more places” promise.
Lam likes having them on the record, so they can be held accountable. We think customers would prefer having them simply get the job done, so that dead zones, dropped calls, downgraded connections, and basically everything else that’s currently broken about AT&T’s 3G network is fixed and fast.
