Filed under: Cellphones

The T-Mobile G1’s Google Maps Street View implementation is one of the slickest features of the first Android phone, but it looks like Apple’s going to keep feature parity — the latest builds of iPhone OS 2.2 seeded to developers have Street View, as well as the ability to give mass transit directions. That’s pretty useful for cityfolk like us — and we’re also stoked that line-in audio is now supported in the SDK, giving devs the ability to create voice recorders and other interesting audio apps. Of course, there’s no word on when 2.2 will actually arrive, but until then we suppose we’ll live with regular, non-data-augmented streets. Lots of screenshots of the new features at the read link.

[Via MacRumors]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets

We’re going out on a limb here and assuming that the Haute Diggity Dog iBone comes jailbroken and ready to rock, or at least that’s the impression we get from checking out that heretofore unseen bevy of icons. Customized for the “tech savvy dog on the go,” this here iPhone chew toy gives dear Fido access to bark / hand-shake training, posture lessons, Washington Huskies sports updates (it’s the Clemson Tigers in all honesty, but work with us here), a mysterious fitness app and a bone application for times when supper just seems too far away. You know your pup’s worth the $11.95, you just know it.

[Via textually]

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Filed under: Cellphones

One might think that the BlackBerry Bold and the BlackBerry Storm could get along together, but similar to twin brothers who both aspire to graduate Magna Cum Laude from an Ivy league school, these two aren’t exactly the most loving of siblings. Oh, and toss in that iPhone 3G — which played a huge role in helping Apple sell more phones than RIM last quarter — and you’ve got yourself a bona fide mess. Check out all three getting shoved up on one another in the name of comparison just after the break. It’s a little uncomfortable at first, but you’ll get used to it.

Continue reading iPhone 3G, BlackBerry Storm and Bold compared on video: awkward…

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Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops

Continue reading Apple Q408 results out: 6.9m iPhones sold, record Mac sales UPDATE: Steve answers analysts’ questions

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Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Room_service_via_iPhone_iPod_touch_at_Malibu_Beach_Inn’; Take one look at the room rates at the Malibu Beach Inn, and you’ll fully understand why you’ll be treated to a loaner iPod touch for the duration of your stay. For those who already own an iPhone / iPod touch, they’ll be given access to a web application that was built for the Safari browser to give guests all sorts of remote capabilities. For instance, ordering up room service, setting a wake up call, requesting luggage, renting a limo and flipping the door placard to “Do Not Disturb” no longer requires any strenuous work; instead, users can simply hit a few buttons and be on their way. The hotel chose a web app in order to avoid the Apple certification process and to make it available on other hot devices in the near future. But then again, if you can swing this place, you’ve probably got a butler handling the front-desk inquiries, anyway.

[Via Fashion Funky, thanks Daisy]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Browser bakeoffs are never without a certain amount of controversy, but we’re sort of into Pocketable’s latest comparison since the three devices on the bench represent three very different points on the spectrum of touchscreen devices. Having used all three, we’ll say upfront that the results are surprising: the Archos 5 smokes both the iPhone and the N810, and not always by small margins — the 5 loaded Engadget 18 seconds faster than the N810. (We did the same test with our 5 and iPhone 3G and the results were basically the same.) Now, that’s not to say that makes the 5’s Opera-powered browser the best or even the most useable, since in our experience scrolling is painfully choppy and hard to do with the resistive touchscreen, but it’s interesting that the hotrodded PMP managed to load pages consistently faster than either the smartphone or the Linux-powered tablet. Take a peek at the full results at the read link.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

C’mon, what iPhone 3G user who actually takes full advantage of that 3G radio hasn’t been disappointed with battery life at one point or another? And be honest, you’re also disappointed with the downright naff battery extenders floating around out there. Granted, mophie’s iPhone 3G Juice Pack isn’t the most elegant thing in the entire world, but the “sled” design sure beats adding an unwanted appendage onto your handset. The device — which is shipping today to those who pre-ordered early — will reportedly provide up to 350 additional hours of standby, up to 6 hours of 3G talk time (or 12 hours on 2G), another 6 hours of web surfing and a 458% boost in overall happiness. Hell, you’d pay $99.95 just for the latter, now wouldn’t you?

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Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops

You were looking for a laugh to start your Columbus Day / Canadian Thanksgiving Day / etc. off, weren’t you? Consider yourself lucky. OLO Computer is reportedly thinking of bringing to market a netbook-styled device that would actually enable (require?) users to plop their iPhone / iPhone 3G into the palm rest; from there, the handset would act as the brains of the operation and double as a trackpad. At the present time, there are no real specifications to speak of — just a zany teaser page and lots of speculation. We shouldn’t have to remind you what an epic failure the whole “cellphone companion” sector has been, as one look at Palm’s axed Foleo and the deeply discounted Celio REDFLY should be explanation enough. Hey, we’re not trying to discourage you from giving this a go, OLO, but we’d probably have a backup plan ready to roll in case Apple itself drops a netbook on the world in the next 48 hours.

[Via Liliputing]

Read - Official teaser page
Read - Netbook-style clamshell for iPhone is coming

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Filed under: Cellphones

No need to defog your spectacles, what you just read there in the headline is the truth. Astoundingly enough, Motorola’s nearly archaic (in cellphone years, anyway) RAZR V3 is still the top-selling handset in the United States. Of course, it helps that it’s highly subsidized on practically every carrier from coast to coast, but we’re still a little stunned that it’s selling this well nearly 2.5 years after Moto moved its 50 millionth unit. The rest of the top five isn’t nearly as shocking, with Apple’s iPhone snagging the silver, RIM’s BlackBerry Curve grabbing the bronze, LG’s Chocolate at number four and the BlackBerry Pearl at five. With the original RAZR still selling so well, one would think Motorola could just tweak it slightly and issue a second iteration for even more windfall profits. Er, wait.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Just when you think you’ve escaped the darkened woods of firmware 2.0.2 and previous ilk, along comes 2.1, wrapped in faster-loading-contacts-finery to convince you all is well in the iPhone world. That isn’t entirely the case, it seems, if you’re user of POP or IMAP mail accounts which are set to fetch messages. Apparently, a maddening bug exists in the new software which — in the interest of battery power conservation, we assume — stops the device from pulling down new emails while sleeping… unless the phone happens to be plugged in and charging. An ever-growing thread on Apple’s support forums has been barraged with reports of the problem, and editors here at Engadget have certainly felt the burn. So we’re putting the question to you, dear readers (and hoping the folks in Cupertino are paying attention). Are you noticing email issues with firmware 2.1? Let us know in the poll below!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

View Poll

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Filed under: Cellphones

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment.

In the 1999 geek classic, “Pirates of Silicon Valley”, an Apple employee watching the famous “1984″ commercial with Steve Jobs points to the Big Brother character — intended to represent IBM — and then points to Bill Gates of Microsoft, whom Jobs has just introduced as part of Apple’s family. The silent message is that the real threat to Apple is Microsoft, not IBM, and indeed the following scene depicts Jobs confronting Gates after Jobs sees Windows 1.0 running on an NEC PC.

That scene, set in 1983, could be easily recreated 25 years later, substituting the iPhone for the Macintosh, Microsoft for IBM as the iPhone’s perceived threat, and Google for Microsoft as the iPhone’s more serious threat. Like Microsoft in 1983, Google is a key Apple partner in 2008. The iPhone features Google Maps, GMail and Google as its default Web search engine, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt even sits on Apple’s board of directors. And also like Microsoft in 1983, Google is working fervently to create a wide range of competitors to Apple’s iPhone. None of these may ever match the integrated experience of Apple’s iPhone, but it’s clear that the first Android phone has come closer to the iPhone experience than Windows 1.0 did to the original Macintosh operating system.

Nevertheless, Google’s task is a lot more daunting than Microsoft’s was at the dawn of Windows for several reasons.

Continue reading Switched On: With friends like Google, does Apple need Microsoft?

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

If you can’t get your goods into China via the front door, there’s always the back. Apple is now selling its iPhone 3G unlocked via its on-line Apple Store in Hong Kong. The 8GB model sells for HK$5,500 (about US$694) or HK$6,200 (about $797) for the 16 gigger. Already available since July 11th with a local Hutchinson Telecommunications contract, this is the first time that Apple has sold its device unlocked in Hong Kong:

“iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation.”

Unfortunately for the 1 billion mainland Chinese, the terms and conditions limit sales to those in Hong Kong only — not that the gray market cares about T&Cs. It’ll be interesting to see if Apple extends the unlocking more broadly (presumably as exclusivity deals expire) or if this is strictly a local phenomena, perhaps in direct response to having its WiFi and the imperialistic 3G gutted from handsets sold under Apple’s rumored China Mobile deal.

[Via PC World, thanks Twins N]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Currently, over 400,000 unlocked iPhones are roaming around China. Now that China Mobile is about to officially launch Apple’s latest handset in the world’s most populous country, we can only imagine that figure going up. In a bizarre twist of trying to keep a homegrown 3G standard (TD-SCDMA) alive, the carrier has announced that it is intending to launch the mobile with WiFi and 3G disabled — a move that would make it less appealing to those who may be considering buying one, unlocking it and using it on the expected W-CDMA network from China Telecom. Uncool, China Mobile. Very uncool.

[Via mocoNews]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Worried about long lines for the iPhone 3G come this holiday season? Already breaking into cold sweats at the thought of standing knee-deep in snow for three hours so that your loved ones won’t be filled with contempt for you? Take heart, consumers — Apple has you covered. The company has just launched an online tool to take you through the process of purchasing an iPhone 3G, allowing you to just pop into your local Apple Store for retrieval and activation. Sure, this still doesn’t let you just order a phone for delivery like a normal person, and it’s a day late and a dollar short for the people who’ve already wasted precious time waiting for this thing, but it’s nice to know it’s there if you need it.

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Filed under: Cellphones

We’re not particularly inclined to believe them, but the whispers that Apple is about to bump the top-end iPhone capacity to 32GB are getting harder to ignore — especially since 8GB inventory is drying up, leading to speculation that’s it’s going to be dropped as soon as next week. We think the timing’s a little odd on the heels of the Let’s Rock iPod refresh, but considering the rampant speculation that Apple was forced to bump the nano to 16GB and drop the “limited edition” 4GB model entirely at the last minute in response to the new Zune lineup we suppose it makes competitive sense. AppleInsider also says customers will once again get the option to activate in-home, but we haven’t heard anything about that — we’ll see what happens in the next few days.

[Thanks, Harry]

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Filed under: Cellphones

We’re not particularly inclined to believe them, but the whispers that Apple is about to bump the top-end iPhone capacity to 32GB are getting harder to ignore — especially since 8GB inventory is drying up, leading to speculation that’s it’s going to be dropped as soon as next week. We think the timing’s a little odd on the heels of the Let’s Rock iPod refresh, but considering the rampant speculation that Apple was forced to bump the nano to 16GB and drop the “limited edition” 4GB model entirely at the last minute in response to the new Zune lineup we suppose it makes competitive sense. AppleInsider also says customers will once again get the option to activate in-home, but we haven’t heard anything about that — we’ll see what happens in the next few days.

[Thanks, Harry]

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Seriously, you’re not surprised to see John Hodgman — aka, PC from those Get a Mac ads — using an iPhone in the New York subway are you? After all, Apple does pay his bills.

[Thanks, tbeam]

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Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_3G_has_a_hidden_data_matrix_code_2′; fsjk85 at the Australian Whirlpool forums was playing around with his camcorder’s NightShot function when he found something interesting — a hidden data matrix code on the left side of the iPhone 3G. We’re guessing that’s where Apple imprints the serial and IMEI numbers of each handset since it can’t exactly hide them under a removable battery (cough), but we’ll leave it to the rest of you to decode this sneaky tag and solve the mystery once and for all.

Update: We just got a much higher-res image of the code — check it after the break. [Thanks Ben]

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading iPhone 3G has a hidden data matrix code

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Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Portable Audio

We’re not saying a transparent box designed to “acoustically amplify” your iPhone speakers is an unmistakable ripoff or anything, but we do believe your $19.99 would be better spent on materials and beverages of choice as you exercise that DIY muscle. At any rate, Griffin Technology has today introduced the AirCurve (that’s the thing we just described) alongside the Clarifi ($34.99; pictured after the jump), a polycarbonate protective case for your iPhone 3G. Unlike alternatives, though, this one has a “close-up lens,” which supposedly gives your iPhone 3G the ability to take remarkably detailed macro shots with even “more accurate colors.” Call us jaded, but both of these things have marketing hoopla written all over ‘em.

[Via iLounge]
Read - AirCurve
Read - Clarifi

Continue reading Griffin unveils AirCurve acoustic amplifier, Clarifi case for iPhone

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Filed under: Cellphones

So, you’ve gone and updated to that new “big fix” firmware 2.1 — but is the Kool Aid as delicious as you’ve been promised? On our end, we’re certainly seeing noticeable improvements on lagging keyboards, app switching / opening (particularly with contacts and text messages), moving through menus / scrolling, application installation and iTunes syncing, but has Apple solved the big issue? The software update page boasts of a “decrease in call set-up failures and dropped calls,” and while that might make you think you’ll see the proverbial “more bars in more places” (and you probably do), it’s likely related to another change in this update, namely, “improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display.” We know that a lot of you are seeing apparent improvements in signal strength, but is that a matter of updated icons, or a reflection of some crazy voodoo Apple performed on the phone’s radio? We’re leaning towards the former, but we’d like to hear what you have to say. So what’s the deal? Is the iPhone 3G seeing actual reception improvements, or is it just cosmetic? Let us know in the poll below.

View Poll

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