Image via CrunchBaseIsrael-based developers of Tawkon, who have already released their app for the Android market last year were keen to exploit the iPhone 4death grip issue by releasing an iOS version of their radiation detection software. However, Apple immediately blocked the application from appearing in an official capacity so the company has gone underground and released it on the Cydia store instead.
Apple must have been pretty serious about blocking Tawkon as it is believed that Steve Jobs himself put a stop to is with two small words “No Interest”.
In the past Apple’s iPhone 4 has suffered the so called death grip issue which dampens the signal strength of the phone. What most people don’t know is that when the phone is in this state it is emitting higher levels of radiation as it attempts to re-acquire a signal. Tawkon is supposed to detect these levels. The video below shows this in action, as you can see the presenter holds the iPhone 4 normally and the app shows a safe level of radiation, she then switches her hand position to the death grip and at this point you can see the radiation levels starting to rise to red.
I’m not completely sure how they measure the radiation levels, but it’s something to do with the RF parameters that are extracted from the device. So it measures the proximity of the phone in relation to the user’s hold on the phone, and if he places it next to his ear or on his lap. This apparently then allows them to determine the exposure level.
Mind you, as we mentioned earlier the condition is also known about on Android phones and the company even has a Blackberry app that can measure the radiation, so its not just a problem with Apple’s phone.
Still, the company feel so strongly that users need to know what levels of radiation they are being exposed to that they have set up a public petition to force Apple to make their app appear in iTunes.
CrunchBaseOne of the best new features in iOS 4.3 is the ability to stream video from apps to your Apple TV via Air Play.
Discovery Channel HD is a free iPad app that includes clips of the network's popular shows. The app doesn't include full episodes, but there are plenty of clips updated daily to keep you occupied. Price: Free Vevo is a music video streaming app. It includes all the popular artists and their latest videos in a searchable database. The app and AirPlay will work on iPad and iPhone. Price: Free
We're not sure what use cookie recipes on your TV would be, but Martha Stewart Makes Cookies will let you beam the latest recipes directly to the big screen using AirPlay. Price: $4.99 FitnessClass is an iPad app with a huge library of workout videos. AirPlay makes this app especially useful now that you can watch the videos on your TV. The app is free, but each video costs between $0.99 and $2.99 as an in-app purchase. There are also 30-day subscriptions to certain classes. Price: Free ESPN The Magazine can now push its videos to your TV over AirPlay. You can watch clips from the Wide World of Sports and other video reports. Price: Free, each issue costs $9.99 as an in-app purchase Golfplan includes video tutorials from golf pro Paul Azinger. You can also input your own golf statistics and track your progress. The app will work on iPhone and iPad. Price: $0.99 My Daily Clip delivers a movie scene to your iPhone or iPad every day of the year. The app also includes movie trivia and links to download the full movie from iTunes. Price: Free Authentic Yoga has yoga videos and tutorials that you can stream to your iPad. Price: $1.99 Baseball Gameplanis an instructional app full of video tutorials to help you with every aspect of the game. Each video category -- pitching, fielding, hitting, etc. -- will cost $0.99 as an in-app purchase. Price: Free for iPad and iPhone MLS MatchDaywill let you stream any Major League Soccer game live to your iPad or Apple TV via AirPlay. For $39.99 you'll get access to the live streaming content. Non-paying users can watch highlights and scores from previous games. Price: Free Air Videois a great app that lets you stream any video file type to your iOS device. Now, the app supports AirPlay, which means you can stream your videos to your TV from your computer, even if they aren't in an iTunes format. It's a much better option than jailbreaking Newsy is a series of quick video roundup of the day's breaking news. Reporters aggregate news and opinion from multiple sources and condense them into quick one or two minute videos. Price: Free
Image by Getty ImagesIf you need to wake up at any specific time tomorrow, beware: It appears that some Verizon iPhones fell back an hour at midnight tonight instead of springing forward. Daylight saving time hits tonight/tomorrow morning, which means we all lose an hour of sleep — unless you have a Verizon iPhone, in which case you’ll wake up utterly confused, as phones are currently falling back an hour.
This isn’t the first time the iPhone has been foiled by time — an alarm glitch kept many Apple users from getting to work on time back in January as well.
Apparently, however, this issue is only affecting those with Verizon iPhones. If you have such a phone, restart your device to fix the issue and get the clock back to normal. ***It looks like some AT&T phones were affected by the glitch as well.***
Source:mashable
Same 10-hour battery life claim as with the original iPad
The iPad 2 is thinner, lighter, faster, and better equipped than before, just as we've been hearing leading up to the official launch. Curiously missing is any mention of RAM, which leads us to believe it won't ship with 1GB. There's also no USB port or microSD card slot, and of course no support for Adobe Flash. There is, however, the option of an HDMI mirrored video out cable that will provide up to 1080p output to your swank HDTV.
Launching with the iPad is a new Smart Cover that serves double-duty as a folding stand. Unlike the original, however, this one magnetically attaches to magnets built into the iPad 2's bezel. In addition, the new Smart Cover "automatically wakes the iPad 2 when it's opened and puts it to sleep when it's closed."
Source:hothardware
Where are the safest and most dangerous places in the world to use the internet? — w During the last week of July, AVG researchers compiled a list of virus and malware attacks by country picked up by AVG security software. — This means we have compiled data from over 127 million computers …
Source:thompson.blog.avg.com Apple Said to Prepare New 99-Cent TV Show Rental Service — Apple Inc. is in advanced talks with News Corp. to let iTunes users rent TV shows for 99 cents and is in discussions with other media companies about similar deals, said three people familiar with the plan.
Source:bloomberg.com Firefox Panorama: Tab Candy Evolved — I am happy to announce that Tab Candy is coming to Firefox 4. Starting today, Tab Candy will be called Firefox Panorama and be available as a feature in Firefox betas. Head to the Firefox 4 feature list, or watch the video below …
Source:azarask.in iTunes U Downloads Top 300 Million — In just over three years, iTunes® U downloads have topped 300 million and it has become one of the world's most popular online educational catalogs. Over 800 universities throughout the world have active iTunes U sites, and nearly half …
Source:apple.com Yahoo! Transitions Organic Search Back-End to Microsoft Platform — First let me say, wow, what a week! As I hope everyone saw our post from last week, Yahoo! began transitioning certain back-end functions for Yahoo! Search over to Microsoft's search platform.
Source:ysearchblog.com Businesses Add iPads to Their Briefcases — Some Companies, Which Barred the iPhone, Build Apps for Tablet Computer and Give Apple Gadget to Employees — When Apple Inc.'s first iPhone came out in 2007, many companies told their employees that the device wasn't appropriate for the workplace.
Source:online.wsj.com Apple exec stashed $150K in shoe boxes — Bail for Paul Devine is set at $600K, plus any money he has in foreign bank accounts — IDG News Service - SAN JOSE — Federal agents found more than $150,000 in cash when they searched the house of Apple manager Paul Devine earlier this month, prosecutors said in court Monday.
Source: computerworld.com Toshiba to launch first glasses-free 3D TV — TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese electronics giant Toshiba plans to market the world's first 3D television that does not need special glasses later this year, a report said on Tuesday. — Toshiba will unveil three models of the television
Source:news.yahoo.com
The Library of Congress made it legal, MuscleNerd showed us it was a go, and now Comex and company have delivered the long-awaited jailbreak to the fourth rendition of iPhone. According to their new page JailbreakMe, the hack works right on the iPhone 4 (or 3GS, or 3G, or iPad, or...) itself, using via the handset's Safari browser to reportedly break into most any iOS device. The servers are getting slammed pretty badly, and only a few Engadget editors have so much as seen the page pictured above so far, but rest assured we're testing this as we speak and will have more details up soon.
Update: Sorry folks, we've tried repeatedly, but apparently the servers just can't handle the load -- Comex tweets that the purple screens we're seeing are evidence of server fail. Here's hoping for a Cydia celebration when the stampede is over.
Update 2: Comex says you might want to reboot if you got stuck staring at that purple screen, and you could also try their backup server (click our second source link) to help the Dev Team divide the load.
Update 3: We successfully got the jailbreak to start working, but it crashed Safari. Upon reboot of our phone we've got... nothing but the Apple logo. Take note, this can brick your phone, so proceed with caution! Video of the experience after the break. After a reset, our phone is giving us nothing but the Apple logo. (Update to the update, the phone has been restored).
Update 4: Our intern Sam has successfully jailbroken his iPhone 4 according to this pic, so it can be done!
Update 5: Comex reports that iPads running iOS 3.2.1 aren't presently working properly, and that MMS problems after jailbreak are a known issue.
Update 6: Good news? Saurik (of Cydia fame) has pitched in to secure JailbreakMe some better hosting. Bad news? Reports indicate that FaceTime doesn't work after jailbreak, either.
Update 7: Seven updates? You bet, because it's looking like there's already a fix for the missing FaceTime and MMS features. Head on over to Redmond Pie (in more coverage below) for instructions to install the Cydia package that brought video chat back to two of our iPhone 4 handsets. If you're just downloading JailbreakMe for the first time though, you shouldn't need to do a thing, as Comex claims both have been fixed in a new version of the hack that just went live.
Steve Jobs, the Apple chief executive, held a press conference on Friday morning to apologize for the Apple’s iPhone 4 reception problems. He said the company would give free bumper cases to all buyers of the device at least until the end of September. Regarding users' complains about faltering connections when they touch the lower left corner of the phone, Steve Jobs said: “I apologise to them. We will do whatever it takes to make them happy.”
“Most of the customers that own iPhone 4s think it’s the coolest thing they’ve ever owned,” he added.
Mr Jobs also said that many smartphones had similar problems “Most smartphones behave exactly the same way. Phones aren’t perfect and it’s a challenge for the whole industry.”
Apple promised to refund those who had paid for a case already and would give money back to anyone returning their phones.
It’s not officially available in Ireland yet but the iPhone 4 is already getting its first firmware upgrade. According to Engadget iPhone 4 users are being prompted to upgrade to iOS 4.0.1 right this second, just weeks after iOs 4 itself became available.
The main reason for the new software is to fix the apparent software bug which over-estimated the amount of reception a user had in any given area. This – according to Apple – goes a long way to explaining why iPhone 4 users could go from full to zero bars depending on the way they hold the phone… unfortunately no software fix will be able to stop the design issue itself, however.
Apple are also due to hold a press conference tomorrow to talk about issues people have had with the new iPhone. Rumours of a product recall have been circulating but so far this looks unlikely.
As far as Irish customers go this is all meaningless. Originally given a late-July launch date there is still no word on an Irish release for the iPhone 4 (or the iPad for that matter) and the reception issues are sure to be part of the reason for the delay.
Moves by both Three and Vodafone suggest there may be some progress, however. Both are takingpre-orders online and promising the device ‘soon’, though anything more precise than that is still anyone’s guess.
The iPhone 4 should be on sale in Ireland on the Friday 30th July, if Apple CEO Steve Jobs is to be believed.
Until now Irish customers – along with those in a number of other countries – have been given nothing more than a vague ‘end of July’ time-frame and this is the first time a precise date has been officially confirmed.
At the time of publishing there was no mention of this date on the Irish Apple Store or on the websites of the various networks that will carry the phone. As mentioned before some networks are already taking pre-orders, however.
Jobs made the date announcement towards the end of his press conference on the iPhone 4′s antenna problems, which has seen reception disappear when the device is held in a certain way.
At it he accepted there were issues with the phone but contended they were not unique to Apple’s device. He said the company would offer a free case (which would stop the antenna from being interfered with) to anyone who buys the phone before the end of September and a full refund to those still not happy.
With a date now set for the iPhone 4 in Ireland next week should see the call packages of each of the three carrier networks – O2, Vodafone and Three – along with details of upgrade and purchases costs.
What is still missing is word of an iPad release date, something that was also promised in July. Given the high demand for that tablet, however, and the fact that there is still no word half way through the month, August is probably the earliest it will be seen here.
Sam Gaddis was about to listen to voice mail on his iPhone 4 recently when a vaguely familiar voice came on the line.
"Hello?" the woman asked. A confused Gaddis glanced at his phone only to gasp in dismay – his iPhone had inadvertently dialed up an ex-girlfriend from his contact list.
"All of a sudden, it's this girl," Gaddis, 25, recounted to AOL News. "I looked at the screen and see it's someone that I dated in college. I couldn't hang up, because I knew she probably had me on caller ID."
Many people lined up to buy the iPhone 4 in June, like these people in London, but some got more than they expected with the new device: erratic, and often embarrassing, calling behavior.
Mortified, Gaddis played off the call as an attempt to reconnect with an old flame. "'I just wanted to kinda see what you're up to,'" he recalled saying.
And so they chatted – she was seeing someone; he was developing an iPhone app – for what he characterized as "three minutes of utter awkwardness."
Gaddis' story isn't unique, as iPhone 4 users the world over have reported erratic, and often embarrassing, calling behavior when the device is pressed to the cheek. There's even a name for it: "facedialing."
With issues that include random dialing, hang-ups (the telephonic kind), and muting, even the most stoic and self-assured of iPhone 4 users are appearing to friends and associates as dithering, obsessive head cases.
So pervasive is the randomness that a discussion thread among frustrated owners on the Apple.com iPhone 4 support page runs a staggering 104 pages. The consensus among posters is that the phone's proximity sensor is too, well, sensitive, and activates the touch screen when it should really just chill out.
Richard Alvarez, another iPhone 4 owner, isn't a lunatic, but he sounded like one a few days ago. The youth soccer coach from Tucson, Ariz., was venting about a referee during a call to a friend when he heard, "Uh, Rich, this isn't who you think it is..." Turns out, his phone had hung up on his friend and dialed a client from his day job.
"It was a little embarrassing," Alvarez told AOL News. "They heard some conversation that they probably shouldn't have heard. I threw out a few four-letter words."
Luckily, the client held referees in equally low esteem. "I just told him, 'My cheek must have called you,'" Alvarez added.
While some people can afford to sound unhinged, for others, it's bad business. And to Aneil Mishra, a professor at the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at Michigan State University, nothing is more odious than bad business.
Mishra was walking down the stairs while listening to his voice mail late one night when his iPhone 4 took it upon itself to call his boss. Though Mishra hung up before anyone could answer, he still worried what the boss would think upon checking his phone the next morning.
"I'm meeting with him at 5:00 today," Mishra said in a phone interview. "And now I have to explain why I was calling him at 12:47 in the morning."
In another incident, Mishra hung up on a nurse from his doctor's office – behavior unbecoming of an academic. "It's embarrassing," he said of all the facedialing. "In one conversation, four separate things went wrong, maybe more."
At least random dialing conveys an attempt to communicate. Another prevalent issue, random muting, makes iPhone 4 owners seem disinterested and aloof – not good for all the men in relationships out there. Indeed, several men interviewed for this article report the iPhone 4 has exhibited typical male behavior, often clamming up and tuning out girlfriends and wives.
Greg Welch, an iPhone 4 owner and computer science professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was on the phone with his wife when he heard incessant dog barking on the other end of the line. He asked his wife why a dog would be in their kitchen, but she continued talking.
A minute later there was a long silence. "Greg, are you there?" she asked. "Are you listening to me?"
"Yes," he replied, but she hung up in a huff.
As it happens, the iPhone 4 had muted the call, then ventured into his contacts and chosen a lovely barking ring tone for his wife. The beleaguered husband called his wife back and tried to explain, but, well, ... men.
"She was annoyed because I ignored her," Welch said in a phone interview with AOL News. "She thought I was just being my normal, callous, inattentive self."
Apple reported selling 1.4 million units in the first three days of the iPhone 4's release on June 24, an indication that a lot of people's lives have suddenly become a lot more bizarre.
Despite the clamor among users, however, Apple has yet to acknowledge a problem with the proximity sensor, and Apple representatives did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
The iPhone 4's sensor issue shouldn't be confused with its well-publicized reception issue, for which The Wall Street Journal is reporting a possible product recall. And if a recall occurs, millions of people will return to their old stable and reliable selves.
With iPhone 4 sales remaining brisk, however, those in the market for one of Apple's serendipitous machines would do well to remember the phone's prescient slogan: "This changes everything."
Apple tablet is coming this spring. Magazine publishers are preparing to use the new platform as a savior for their ailing subscriptions and ad revenues -- this time, by creating something radically new, editorial content and magazine glossiness plus swipes of video, web interactivity and social media. Sports Illustrated has unveiled one swanky prototype. Here's another, by Sara Öhrval of Bonnier, publisher of Saveur and Ski Magazine. Add a webcam to the device and you could even insert yourself, perhaps creating an ego-fueled magazine-publishing-newscast in which you, iReporters, become stars. Sounds far-fetched, but who knew typing in 140 characters would be a fad, too?
Image via CrunchBaseIsrael-based developers of Tawkon, who have already released their app for the Android market last year were keen to exploit the iPhone 4 death grip issue by releasing an iOS version of their radiation detection software. However, Apple immediately blocked the application from appearing in an official capacity so the company has gone underground and released it on the Cydia store instead.
Regarding users' complains about faltering connections when they touch the lower left corner of the phone, Steve Jobs said: “I apologise to them. We will do whatever it takes to make them happy.”
