Easy Custom Ringtones- No Jailbreak Necessary

There it is again. That song in your head. You can't get it out of your mind, and now you want to make it your ringtone. But the problem is, you imported the song into your library, and didn't buy it from iTunes, so it doesn't have the little ringtone bell icon next to it (you did, however, obtain this song legally, right?).

Thanks to the people at Rogue Amoeba (creators of a multitude of software guaranteed to delight the audiophile within), this is no longer an issue. They have a freebie software gem known as MakeiPhoneRingtone, which will soon become a quintessential part of your relationship with your iPhone, especially if you haven't had the nerve to jailbreak it yet. Download the software (Mac OS X 10.4 and up, sorry Windows users) and you'll open it up to find a small window with an iPhone icon asking you to "Drop AAC Files Here." Simple enough. But wait, your song isn't in AAC format, it's MP3, or something else. No problem. They recommend using another piece of their software, known as Fission, to handle your file conversion. Having used several of their programs before, I am sure it's a great piece of software, but in all honesty, converting directly in iTunes works fine too.

But how do you do it? Follow these simple instructions from Apple's website. It will help you to have the "Kind" option checked in your iTunes' View Options menu, so that you'll know which track is your new AAC file and which is your previous version.

Then what? Simply drag your new song to your desktop (copying it from iTunes), then drag the file from your desktop onto the "Drop AAC Files Here" window in the MakeiPhoneRingtone software. Magically, the file will appear in your iTunes' Ringtones library, which you can add to your phone during your next sync. From there, just follow your phone's settings menus to choose it as your ringtone.

But it says your file is over 40 seconds long- how do you trim it down so this will work? You can use Rogue Amoeba's Fission software to make this a snap, or Quicktime Pro. If you don't have either of these, with a little finagling, you can do it in iTunes too. Here's how:

Click on your song in iTunes and go to File, then Get Info. Under "Options" are two checkboxes indicating your track's start and stop times. Decide what part of the song you'd like for your ringtone, then type in the time that is the beginning of that chunk in "Start Time", and the end in "Stop Time." Here's what I mean by that:

The exact fraction of a second might take a little trial and error to figure out, but keep pressing OK and playing back your track until you're satisfied with how your song has been cropped. Make certain that Crossfade Playback is turned off in your Preferences, so you can hear your track without it fading into the next song.

Then, with your track selected in iTunes, go up to Advanced and click Convert Selection to AAC. The new AAC will only be the portion you've established between the start and stop times. Your old song is still in tact in the other file, just uncheck the Start and Stop time boxes to get your full length song back.

Finally, drag your new AAC to your desktop, and follow the directions above to get your new, perfectly cropped, custom ringtone. Woo-hoo! There's no stopping you now! But please, for the sake of those in the cubicles around you, no Crazy Frog. Thank you.

I for iPhone: Britannica Does Apple's Mobile

What say you old information seeking hound? Can't get enough of Encyclopedia Britannica? That's what the folks behind the venerable printed font of knowledge seem to think, as they've gone iPhone in their quest to enlighten. The publisher earlier this week announced its new iPhone edition.

The Britannica iPhone offering has been live for about two weeks now, letting users access "tens of thousands of articles." It is described by Britannica as boasting "a look and feel tailored to the iPhone, with full-text searching, thousands of high-resolution thumbnails that expand to full-size images, and page layouts optimized for cell phone bandwidth.  It's fully searchable and hot-linked, similar to Britannica's Web editions."

Goldstriker Selling 24ct Gold 16GB iPhone

You are among the iPhone elite. No regular old iPhone will do - you want yours to literally shine. To that end UK-based Goldstriker has you covered with its new gold 16GB iPhone.

Goldstriker is selling this particular iPhone for close to $1,790. It is set in .999 hardened 24ct gold and has a total mirror finish. It is also unlocked for most regions of the world and ships with firmware 1.1.3.

Go on...you know you want one.

[via BornRich]

iPhone to be Released in Ireland on March 14th

Ireland's network operator, O2,  has confirmed that the iPhone will be launched in Ireland on March 14th. The exclusive deal signed by O2 follows the exclusive deal they have for the UK.

And just like the UK, the iPhone will be available through O2 retail stores and Carphone Warehouse retail stores. The 8GB and 16GB iPhones will be released with prices of €399 and €499 respectively. O2-Ireland will introduce three voice & data plans, starting at €45. Plans will include voice, texts and 1GB data bundle.

Will this deal help Apple to reach its 10M iPhones for 2008? Not really, Ireland total population is 4 million. That's just a bit more than 1.3% of the US population. The Cupertino company needs to sign many deals like this one if they want to make their sales figures...

Next country on the list? Austria. Austria's population: 8 million, or 2.6% of US population...

Beyond Anime and Babes: iPhone Wallpapers You Will Actually Use

Not that there's anything wrong with those happy clownfish swimming through their sea of gelatinous green orbs, but let's face it, sometimes you need to see something new. Enter the world of iPhone wallpapers. All over the web, you've seen your fair share of scantily-clad models, or anime characters, or scantily-clad anime characters. But you deserve something more. Here are six places to go when you just know there's got to be something better out there.

A while ago, we mentioned ^manicho on Deviantart's 199 iPhone wallpapers. This collection has now been bumped up to a whopping 370 wallpapers. A lot of them are the same image, just recolored, but regardless, this is definitely worth checking out.

Next up, we have Poolga. With the tag line, "iPhone and iPod Touch wallpapers for the rest of us," these images come to us from hand-picked designers and illustrators from all over the world. Ranging from edgy sketches to photos to abstract renderings, this site is definitely one of my favorites. Ay!

Looking for something a bit more playful? Check out Ben Schlitter's wallpapers at Studiobenben. If the iPhone wallpapers aren't enough to satisfy your urge, check out his desktop wallpaper and icons too. His clean, modern illustrations give a warm fuzzy feeling sure to last through your next irate phone call to your cable provider.

Another site, previously known for its plethora of outstanding desktops and now stepping onto the iPhone wallpaper scene, is Pixel Girl Presents. Check out the icons for your computer while you're there. And take a look around the shop too, full of hipster delights to tickle anyone's fancy. Didn't you say you needed an iPhone Monster? Yeah, I thought so.

Moving on to one of the premier websites for stock photos, illustrations, and fonts, Veer.com now provides free iPhone wallpapers. You have to register to download them, but it doesn't cost you anything. Actually, you get a visually stunning catalog from them in your mailbox a few times a year, with the added bonus of being to download all their freebies. If you're in the visual arts, this is something you should be taking advantage of anyway. If not, and you only want to download the goodies, then you can choose to opt out of the mailings. It's a win-win.

And lastly, if none of these appeal to you, and you want to fool yourself into thinking that your iPhone was fashioned out of an old wooden log, then check out this collection of wood grain wallpapers from Crawlspace Media. In fact, why stop there when you can buy a wooden iPhone case from Miniot.com? You can actually purchase a dock to match your chosen finish of wood as well. At $115, these cases aren't cheap, but I have to admit they are pretty cool. Anyone checked these out yet?

The Everlasting iPhone: Firmware Update 1.1.4

Willy Wonka offered the everlasting gobstopper, the candy that never got smaller. With the new iPhone update, Apple offers the everlasting iPhone.

Well, ok, it just seems like it. . .

That's right, fellow freaks, like many with virgin iPhones who went to the  1.1.3 firmware, I found that update seemed to suck the juice outta my beleaguered battery faster than Dracula could fasten onto necks in the Playboy mansion pool. That and the strangely weak signal/connectivity was driving me nuts.

But! last night! With the new 1.1.4 update in place all today, I found that I wasn't rushing home in the evening with a gasping iPhone that needed to be charged ASAP. The candyman was definitely here for me today.

So, yes, I do think that the new firmware has somehow improved the power management. Let's also applaud what seems to me to be the much increased connectivity.

It's no secret that in New York where I live, connectivity's an issue. The subway has random connectivity as signal will sometimes leak through grates over the track.

But normally, you descend into the Pits of Hell (also known as the N&R or Never & Rarely, for the infrequency of the trains -- that's the BMT for you old Noo Yawk hands) and lose signal. When you emerged aboveground at your destination, it could take a block or two aboveground before EDGE or the phone bars would return. Midtown being what it is, you could also sometimes lose bars in the elevator or in Henri Bendel.

So today I made careful note of how many bars I had and where, as well as how long it took to recover bars once I returned aboveground. Signal strength and connectivity are definitely improved, even in elevators, and the bars return now within a few feet of the subway exit.

Of course the update itself was as easy as pie. This one went even faster than 1.1.3, I thought. I was definitely finished in less than 2 minutes, and the re-activation was instantaneous.

Count me one happy iPhone camper. I'm interested in hearing if fellow freaks agree. Tell me: do you too notice better signal and connectivity with 1.1.4?

Jailbroken Phones and the Games I Can't Live Without

Yesterday saw the release of the newest Apple firmware. 1.1.4.  Like many of us, this is one of those "hold your breath" moments where you have to carefully take stock of what you have, what you stand to lose and what you might gain.  The 1.1.3 upgrade "balance sheet" was definitely in Apple's favor.  Give up my apps and gain all sorts of jiggly icon and faux-GPS goodness. 

Within days, however, I was over the jiggling and longed for the custom 3rd party apps that make this phone as close to the "Mac in my pocket" I envisioned.  It appears this time around that the 1.1.4 firmware includes "bug fixes", but it would seem on of those bugs not "fixed" is jailbroken iPhones.  For my part, I'm going to wait a few days for the dust to settle.

Back to my title.  I've installed, and then subsequently uninstalled, nearly everything that comes across Installer.app.  Ever firmware flash is when I vote for those apps I continue to keep. 

I like games.  Not arcade style games, because I was never very good at those save for my Atari 2600.  I like puzzle games.  My favorites include:

iAppADay's Mixup; an astonishingly simple yet addictive jumble game with a pretty large dictionary. 

Chris Miles'iCrossword, a very usable crossword game that supports standard .puz files freely available around the Net. Note: you'll need to use SSH to get these on your phone, I haven't encountered an Installer.app bundle.

Also from Chris is the time-wastingiSolitaire is very good adaption of the classic klondike solitaire from my old Windows days.  Chris also has a slot machine game that's good for a spin, but don't think the casino slots are that loose.

For gamblers you can try your hand at iBlackJack is very good adaption of the popular 21 card game.  The payouts seem generous to me so don't think you'll master this and head to Vegas.

Finally, the NES Nintendo emulator is great for showing off your phone to friends, but the gameplay is a little tricky with the virtual controller.  I only keep it so I can amuse myself with the Super Mario Brothers theme.

All of these are entertaining and engrossing, but not so engaging that you have to set aside your afternoon or miss your next meeting.  These developers have done a great job of showcasing the iPhone as a gaming platform, and I'm curious to see where this trend goes with the SDK coming up on March 6.

Do you have a favorite? Post it on the comments. 

Cheers and happy gaming!

Apple to Reveal an "iPhone Software Road Map" on March 6th

In an invite sent to journalists for an Apple event, the company said it will present an "iPhone Software Road Map on March 6th", at 10:00 AM Pacific time. Apple will undoubtly present the promised iPhone SDK at the same time.

Apple said to expect details on "some exciting new entreprise features". That's fantastic news for the iPhone community as we see more and more people trying to fit the iPhone into their business life. Apple has not specified if the SDK would be available next week or not, but the details of it should be announced at the event.

Developers are dying to see what will be available in the package. Let's hope Apple didn't had to block access to too many core features of the iPhone just for security reasons.

Source

Apple Releases 1.1.4 Firmware, Jailbreaks Work, Hackers Rejoice

Apple released firmware update 1.1.4 for the iPhone today, addressing, in typical Apple prose, "bug fixes." It seems that souls braver than I have tried battle-tested 1.1.3 jailbreaks and found they indeed work. 

I have yet to see a definitive list of address "bugs", but welcome reader input.

Novel Accounting Methods May be the iPhone's Silver Lining

Throughout 2007, AAPL was the darling of Wall Street. Shares more than doubled between January and December, from a respectable $84 in January to a record $202 on December 27, 2007.  Since then, the story has been dramatically different, with Apple shares shedding $83, or 41%, since their post-Christmas high. After reporting their best quarter ever, Apple was punished as they guided lower for the Spring due to a weakening overall economy and weak consumer confidence.  To be fair, the stock market places value on future potential, not past results.  So, nice work, but what will you deliver next quarter?

The future of Apple may be in its core, no pun intended, with sales of desktops, notebooks and workstations expected to continue to outpace previous quarters and a resultant surge in consumer market share.  Its predictable that iPod sales would slow as the device reaches saturation, and in fact the iPhone was developed as "the next big thing" after witnessing the convergence of portable phones and music players. 

During Apples now-famous 2007 keynote, Steve Jobs predicted Apple would sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.  This is probably the most-frequently misquoted iPhone statistic.  Yesterday, BMO Capital Markets analyst Keith Bachman lowered his price target on Apple shares citing concerns about sluggish iPod sales and his prediction that Apple could not sell 10 million phones in 2008.  Recall that the 10 million unit figure includes the 4 million phones sold before January, plus all units sold in 2008.  Yes, the unit is pricy, and probably, most of the technorati probably already own one, but there are still large, untapped markets around the globe that make me think this goal is still achievable.

I Still Love Signal: Alloysoft Updates web-based iPhone Remote

The iPhone community has rightly been abuzz about Apple's forthcoming SDK, which is now thought be delayed by at least a few weeks into March. In the meantime, enterprising software authors have been hard at work developing a raft of interesting and albeit sometimes curious applications delivered via Installer.app or other means onto jailbroken iPhones.

Some of these developers charge for their efforts, which is understandable yet bold as anyone buying cannot be assured they would work after the next software update (1.1.4 released today seems to leave jailbreaking intact).  I've steered clear of these apps, not because I'm opposed to buying software, but I'm leery of buying something that even the vendor couldn't assure would work in the future.

A notable exception to this is Alloysoft's Signal.  Signal loads a lightweight webserver on the Mac or Windows machine hosting your iTunes library, and displays a few carefully thought-out screens that, to the unaware, are a dead-ringer for the native iPod interface on the iPhone.  Pointing my phone's browser to this server gives me full remote access to control the playback of my iTunes library, including search, managing and creating playlists, rating songs, viewing cover art and managing volume control.

Since I'm always running around the house with the music on, especially when I'm not at my computer, I found this to be a great way to quickly skip that Garth Brooks tune that founds it way into my party shuffle, or turn up or down the volume should the phone ring or a guest arrive (I opened this up to guests at my Christmas party and the soundtrack ended up being "chaotic" at best).

Signal's latest update allows me to remotely choose which remote speaker to use, and improves the navigation of the playback interface to more easily find and playback specific tracks. 

Because Signal is web-based, it will run on any stock iPhone or iPodTouch, or frankly any web browser attached to your network.  If you're using DHCP on your router, you'll probably find that your iTunes machine's IP address is ever changing so may wish to consider fixing that NAT address to make it easier to use.

By not running afoul of Cupertino's software plans, it earned my purchase and I've been a big fan. 

Signal can be purchased from Alloysoft (www.alloysoft.com) for $24.95. 

Sony Introduced the ICF-ClipMK2 iPhone Speaker Clock Radio

Sony, a direct Apple competitor on many products, as just released a new alarm clock and docking station for iPod and iPhone. According to Sony, the ICF-ClipMK2 (Could they make more apealing names?) is designed for bedrooms, studio apartments or college dorm rooms,

It features a wireless remote with full access to the iPod and iPhone devices' menus (the iPhone handset must be in iPod mode), as well as to alarm clock's radio tuning and volume functions. Of course, it will also
charge your iPhone while it's docked.

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Send us information about you and your previous blogging experience.

Don't hesitate and join Fortune, Brian, Nino , Allistair and I on iPhonefreak!

LiveSpeakR Gives your iPhone more Watts

The iPhone is an amazing device, but forget the internal speakers for music. It can do a decent job when you use the handfree feature of the phone but anything else is, at least for me, not an option. But thanks to 23 year old Eric Groset and his partner, Robin DeFay, we might eventually have an alternative. The two iphone early adopters have developed an ultra portable boombox that goes on the back of the iPhone.

The speakers expand, contract and rotate to work with both portrait and landscape. The product has two high quality speakers that will be protected from RF interference. It should also work with two AAA batteries and an AC adapter.

Summer 2008 is the target date for the initial release, but their goal is to license the LiveSpeakR technology for further development. Anyone interested? The product will be compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch. No pricing information is available at the moment.

Source [Thanks Paul]

iPhone SDK Delayed by a Few Weeks

According to BusinessWeek, the anticipated iPhone SDK will not meet the February deadline promised by Steve Jobs himself, last October.

Sources close the BusinessWeek revealed that, because of last minute decisions still need to be made, it could be delayed for one to three weeks . El Jobso and his team are apparently still jungling with what will and will not be included in the SDK. Come'on guys give it all to the army of developers dying to build amazing iPhone apps for our own iPhone pleasure...

Use Your iPhone as a Wireless Touchpad for Mac or PC

We've seen the iPhone used in all sorts of situations in the last 9 months. But what about a wireless touchpad to control your Mac or PC? Sounds like a great idea? Watch the demo to see this by yourself. Since the app. uses the Wi-Fi to connect to your computer, you'll need a wireless network to make it work.

Ok, this might be just another VNC application for the iPhone, but you have to admit that it brings something cool at the same time.

After the CoverFlow, here's the AppFlow

We were all amazed by Coverflow when it was first announced, but Erica Sadun brings the concept to something even more apealing. The AppFlow! Using a CoverFlow-style interface, you can launch iPhone apps and icons. Great idea. Isn't it?

With the imminent iPhone SDK release, you can be sure that tons of iPhone applications will be released in an already crowdy market. You'll have so many applications on you iPhone home screen that navigation is going to become a nightmare. Thanks to Erica, this might never be the case.

You can install the AppFlow on a jailbroken iPhone.

Hello iPhone interface designers? Was this already in your plans?

Source via TUAW

Too Many Emails on your iPhone? Use MailCurve, a Unique Email Service for iPhone Users!

The amount of excitement everyone had about using email on their iPhone for the first few months has levelled out a bit. Although there have been broad discussions about the potential support for the corporate enterprise, and comparisons with Blackberries, etc. there have also been ideas and post  about making mobile email more productive for "the rest of us" on the iPhone and other devices.

Today, my friend and iPhonefreak's very own Brian McAlpin, is launching a new email service for iPhone users that takes a unique approach. MailCurve allows you to send copies of your incoming email, from as many accounts as you're using, to an account that allows you to filter it right from your iPhone. They call it "Refined Email". What a great idea... you have a web app on your iPhone where you create different lists of senders email addresses, and then activate or deactivate those lists whenever you want to.

So even though all my mail still goes to my computer, I can have only mail from the most important senders copied to my iPhone. This seriously keeps all the junk & spam off your iPhone, and even the mail you need, but don't want to deal with while you're out.

Orbino's iPhone Case: Italian Design at its Best

As soon as I saw Orbino’s press release announcing their new product line created to fit the beloved iPhone, I jumped on my computer keyboard and contacted the company right away to ask for a sample. They immediately agreed to my request, and I received the case only a few weeks later.

So, what’s the deal with this case anyway? Is this just another iPhone case like the tons of products we’ve seen so far in the last 8 months? Well, this is certainly a case, but it has a little something more than most iPhone cases out there don’t  have: An Italian design! Combine the Italian special touch in design with the best design ever made for a cellphone, you end-up with a perfect match. A relationship that can make others jealous of (ok, I’m sure you get to point now…).

Play Piano on Your iPhone? Please Welcome the iAno

If paying for music for your iPhone is not your thing, then try creating your own music. This guy just released what he call the iAno, a virtual piano for iPhone and iPod Touch.

The features of this iPhone application includes:

• A complete four octave keyboard.
• Multi-touch. Up to 5 keys can be pressed at once allowing complex chords.
• Sounds like a real piano with realistic piano multi-samples.
• Animated piano keys react to your touch.
• Play along to all your MP3s.
• On-screen keyboard navigation allows you to easily move up and down by octaves or "part octaves" (ie. left-most key is a C or an F).

Mister Aardvark promises future upgrades that will include a better navigation, other instruments as well as recording and playback.

Check the second video after the jump. These guys are showing us that you could really play music with the iPhone. Ok, forget the Grammys, but I'm sure you will enjoy the application for a few days. One last thing, to respect the environment, your family, friends and collegues, please use the earphones...

iPhone Owners Visiting Google in Mass

Remember earlier this month when we said Google seems to have a special place in its heart for the iPhone? We now perhaps see a reason why - the Financial Times reports Google is seeing 50 times more searches from iPhone users than any other mobile handset.

“We thought it was a mistake and made our engineers check the logs again,” Vic Gundotra, head of Google’s mobile operations told the Financial Times at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The FT added obviously that "more searches mean increased revenues for Google, which makes its money from advertising attached to search results." You know - that whole Internet chicken and egg concept.

iPhone in Barcelona... The 135 Gram Gorilla In The Room.

The largest collection of mobile industry folks gathered this week in Barcelona for the Mobile World Conference, formerly known as 3GSM.  Apple had no floor space, no presence at all there. It was interesting to hear about the product directions taken by Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG and others, who's devices were dubbed "iPhone Killers' or "On The Heels Of The iPhone". But until the conference began winding down today, there was surprisingly little discussion about the iPhone. Apple has quickly become the wiz kid in this industry... it must be aggravating.

Although many industry experts, business leaders, and pundits talked endlessly about the growing popularity of touch screens, desktop-like applications on mobile devices, convergence of multiple consumer "services" that will "rule the industry"... there was amazingly little mention of Apple, or the iPhone, which is still far in front in these areas everyone agrees are "The Next Wave", or "Giving Consumers The Content Experiences They Demand". By the way... other than the focus on touch screens, these were similar to the "directions" everyone was talking about last year.

Boingo Preps iPhone Wireless Client

Boingo Wireless subscribers may soon be able to whip out their iPhones to hop onto the provider's wireless hot spots, it was reported by PC Magazine recently. Boingo, which this week enabled access for select other smartphones, is looking to bring the same connectivity option to iPhone owners.

Boingo, which has assembled a roaming system with thousands of hotspot locations globally, charges a fee for users to access these locations. Under plans revealed to PC Magazine, Boingo is working on a client for the iPhone which it will put out "as quickly as we can after the [iPhone] SDK is available" later this month."

Boingo added it sees some six percent of those accessing its airport locations as being iPhone or iPod touch users, so incentive to get the client done is obviously high.

Flash Support for iPhone: Cross Your Fingers!

The iPhone rumor mill is running at full speed today. After the expected iPhone price cut, forecasted earlier, now Gearlive says that their sources confirmed that flash support is on its way to the iPhone.

From Gearlive:

We already have had a couple people ask about the supposed battery and CPU issues that were holding Flash back from being included on the iPhone in the first place. From what I am hearing, it was a complete fabrication. Flash has not yet made it to the iPhone solely due to business negotiations. As we said, it is now on it’s way!

So, this is all a licensing issue with Macromedia? This sounds too silly to be true. But who really cares anyway, all we want is the iPhone to support flash as soon as possible. Right?

Source

Rumor Mill: iPhone and iPod Touch Prices to be Slash by $100

According to 9to5Mac, Apple could slash $100 off the iPhone and iPod Touch in the next few months. The 8Gb iPhone could be reduced to $299 and the 16GB version would be priced at $399.

The falling prices of flash storage could explain why the iPhone and iPod Touch are reportedly going to get lower retail prices. 9to5Mac also says that the 8GB iPod Touch would be discontinued.

But is this a real price cut, or just a memory upgrade in a product line? The 8GB iPhone will simply take the slot left by the discontinued 4GB iPhone, and the 16GB will replace the 8GB. Apple has been doing this type of upgrades with the iPods for years. It’s part of their product life cycle. Nothing more.

Where do you see the 3G iPhone in the product line? $499/4GB and $599/8GB?

DLO Rolls Out Egg Speakers for iPhone

DLO has rolled out some interesting new speakers for the iPhone. They price at around $50 and will also work with other recently announced iPod models.

The DLO Portable Speakers for iPhone connect via the iPhone's headphone jack and feature "an extra-wide sound stage and bass vents" for a reportedly strong sound from two compact speakers. The stand rotates and is also removable. If a call comes in while the iPhone is connected the speakers turn into a speaker for the Apple mobile.

What is also interesting is that the speakers, when not in use, snap into the base to create an egg looking contraption some six-inches in diameter. Perfect for tossing into the Easter Egg pile come Easter Sunday. Available now.

A New Safari for iPhone?

It sounds like we'll see a new Safari for iPhone, possibly in the next firmware update. The desktop version is in beta now, and should translate to handset soon. Some of the features being talked about include some interesting clues. Speculation only, we understand... but some reasonably imagined...

It may render non-standard fonts better, giving iSafari better scaling/rendering capabilities... I personally think the rendering is already pretty good, and would NOT sacrifice a bit of speed for the sake of extending font representation.

It may "translate" HTML boxes in real time.. which may offer some neat additional functionality to developers... giving users the ability to scale/rotate/move individual HTML elements, and possibly enhanced coping abilities with fading elements or text and the like.

It will likely be an HTML 5 capable browser which will allow some additional embedding of multimedia elements, controllers, etc. and will support the new SQL API as well.

Here's the beauty part... it may offer a database browser tool and support for the the SQL storage API. If these show up in the mobile version, they'll be there to handle local storage of web page applications and device data manipulation.... which may be part of the direction of the native SDK coming very soon.

Good tricks to look forward to... even though there isnt a handset web browsing capability available that comes close the iPhone's... I bet Apple is, as usual, several steps ahead.. still.

New iPhone Commercial: The Great Thing

Another day, more iPhone ads. This time around we have "The Great Thing." It's an ad showing why having Internet browsing through Apple's mobile can make life more enjoyable.

[via iLounge]

iFob Offers iPhone Owners Close By Social Networking

Say you are walking around the mall in a wireless hotspot area and you see a hot person walking towards you. You wonder - does she iFob? Huh? What the hell is that? It is what looks to be an interesting new way for daring iPhone users to meet one another in passing.

iFob is developed and distributed by a company called iCloseBy. The iFob application, which the company says is available for free download to iPhones and iPod touches, stays in a constant search mode for other iFob-enabled devices. When it finds one the two devices "light up" and automatically exchange what iCloseBy calls "micro profiles" of information about their owners.

iCloseBy said the iFob application can be set in modes to guard privacy while still seeing if other iFob users are in the area. There's no login or Web registration so one can change information as much as desired. It seems like an interesting idea - have you be iFobbed yet?

New Apple iPhone Ads Appear

This particular ad focuses on the iPhone/Facebook interaction.

This ad details using your iPhone to help you find the best deal on a new car.

[via iLounge]

iPhone Growth Shows International Tremors

The numbers above, released today by market research firm Canalys, tell an interesting tale about how the iPhone and Apple are creeping up in the ranks of "converged devices" (smart phones and wireless handhelds) globally. The end result? Apple took third place in the last quarter, despite have limited geographic coverage.

Canalys estimated Apple had 6.5 percent of market share during Q4 2007, which is up from zero this time last year. The company reportedly shipped some 2.32 million iPhones during this period, which was enough to put it behind Nokia and RIM in world wide converged devices domination.

If you narrow it down to just the United States, Canalys said, Apple took 28 percent of the same market place, which was enough to put it behind RIM and way ahead of third place Palm.

16Gb iPhone and 32Gb iPod Touch Now Available

We knew this was just a matter of time! Right? Apple just announced that the 8Gb iPhone has a fat brother, the 16Gb iPhone. iPod  Touch lovers will also be happy to know that a 32Gb iPod Touch is now available.

Sorry folks, no new features or firmware today.

Both units have a $499 price tag and are available now. Enjoy!

Check the complete press release after the jump.

HyperOffice Connects iPhone to Corporate Email

HyperOffice, a developer of popular enterprise collaboration software, is expanding into the iPhone realm as it announced last week a beta of tools which connect Apple's mobile to corporate email and contacts, among other items. This beta includes a 30-day free trial of the HyperOffice Webware.

HyperOffice said its collaboration tools operate as an alternative to Microsoft Exchange and that it can synchronize Microsoft Outlook with the iPhone email client so one can get "wireless access to secure corporate messaging and collaboration services" from about anywhere.

To use HyperOffice, you download it to your desktop and let it migrate your Outlook contacts, calendars and email folders. It will then automatically deliver email to the iPhone's email application, said HyperOffice, will support for folders, attachments, documents and tasks.

Google Spins iPhone Fancy

Google has a funny relationship with Apple's iPhone when you think about it. On the one hand, the Internet giant has made some pretty killer applications for the iPhone. On the other hand, Google is pouring lots and lots of resources into its Google Android mobile dream.

Love or love not, Google higher ups made some comments on the most recent Google earnings-related conference call which show the company definitely has a thing for the iPhone. In one particular moment, Sergey Brin recounted his tale of using Google Maps' My Location feature to locate a small hotel he was looking for in Switzerland.

Also, Eric Schmidt said this of the iPhone when questioned by an analyst: “The iPhone is the first of a whole generation of products that will be much more search intensive,” he said. “With those search opportunities comes ad monetization.”

So maybe at the end of the day Google+iPhone=money love.

Plantronics Voyager 520 Bluetooth Headset Review

I should begin by saying that I'm not a big fan of Bluetooth headsets. I like to use one while I'm driving, but that's about the only place I can stand this piece of hardware attached to my ear. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun doing the set-up, and I enjoyed using the product in the last few months as well. Here are my thoughts on the product:

Unpacking and setup: The product comes in a really  nice packaging and a little docking station to charge the earpiece is included. You absolutely need the dock to charge the device. UPDATE: After talking to Plantronics about this, the company told me that you detach the power supply from the base and connect it directly to the earpiece. I've tried it and it works well this way also. Just don't expect that you will be able to switch from the dock to a direct connection easily though.

Before you can use it though, you have to open the dock to connect the power supply. I must say that it was not that obvious to do when I first tried. Nevertheless, it took me a few minutes to figure this out and I was ready to charge the earpiece.

I also have to say that the dock is so small and light, that it doesn't stand very well on a desk or counter with the earpiece attached to it. It tends to fall on the side fairly easily.

Pairing the earpiece with the iPhone was a piece of cake and the iPhone detected the Voyager instantly.