iPhoneNewsBlog.com

Tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2009, Apple is holding their media event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. The California-based company is expected to refresh their iPod lineup as they have done each year.  The most talked about new feature of the iPod is the inclusion of a video camera on the iPod nano and the iPod touch.

From what seems to be a questionable post from a forum poster at a Chinese site, it seems that the 3rd generation iPhone may be a small upgrade. So far, the features unveiled are:

It seems with the ending of the Apple/AT&T contract imminent, Verizon and Apple have renewed talks on bringing the iPhone to the nation's largest network, according to sources at USA Today. And though very little details have been divulged, all signs point to a 2010 target release date at the earliest.

Some of the interesting news floating around the blogsphere is that the next iPhone will have the capacity to playback High Definition (HD) media. It makes sense that the next iPhone will support HD, however tipsters are also saying that there will even be HD video output...

Reports from the field suggest that in the U.S., AT&T is looking to maintain its exclusive carrier rights with Apple to be only iPhone distributor until at least 2011. Previously thought to expire in 2010, AT&T stands to lose some competitive ground over competitors Verizon and Sprint if the iPhone were available on other carriers.

Macrumors is reporting that since the release of iPhone OS 3.0 beta, code hackers have been busy scourging configuration files to find what Apple might have planned for us in the next version of the iPhone.

Wow, what a month it's been, so far a new iPod Shuffle, iTunes 8.1 and now mention of iPhone OS 3.0, amazing!

Now that MacWorld's come and gone, the questions in a lot of users minds are: when is the next iPhone OS update going to be and what is it going to include. The answers to these two questions are very elusive as seemingly no information is available on them. At least for iPhone OS 2.2 there were rumors prior to it being available as to what it would include and when it would be released, but as far as this next release, anyone's guess is as good as the next.

In what almost seems like a sure-fire indication that an iPhone Nano will be released at MacWorld in January 2009, well-respected case manufacturer Vaja has also made room for a iPhone Nano case.

While most iphone developers who have the latest iPhone beta OS are aware that Apple has made refinements to the interface of mobile safari, apparently there are features in the upcoming release that have snuck in under the radar.

Rumors around the web are saying that Apple will soon be offering a way for customers to "pre-qualify" themselves for a subsidized phone in the convenience of their homes. In the past, the pre-qualification checks would actually have to be performed in an Apple or AT&T store. We feel that this is a good thing as home pre-qualification check SHOULD speed up the currently tedious iPhone purchasing process....

If reports from Gizmodo are true, Apple and AT&T are in talks to offer a "data tethering" plan so that users will be able to pair their laptops with their iPhone 3Gs to surf the web.

There have been numerous reports about how Apple has hidden a remote blacklist that supposedly can remotely disable rogue iPhone apps previously distributed through the App Store. The discovery of this so called blacklist made by Jonathan Zdziarski has caused widespread controversy over whether or not Apple has your best interests in mind.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball puts an end to all the speculation over this supposed blacklist site and clears the air on what it actually is:

Apple has no reason to hide such a configuration in a sneaky place. If it's "tucked away in a configuration file deep inside" the Core Location framework, doesn't it seem more likely that this list has something to do with, say, Core Location? Even the URL of the file in question hints at this:

https://iphone-services.apple.com/clbl/unauthorizedApps

An informed source at Apple confirmed to me that the "clbl" in the URL stands for "Core Location Blacklist", and that it does just that. It is not a blacklist for disabling apps completely, but rather specifically for preventing any listed apps from accessing Core Location -- an API which, for obvious privacy reasons, is covered by very strict rules in the iPhone SDK guidelines.

So let's put this one to rest okay? Read more on Gruber's findings here.

Seems as if there have been a few reports from the field that some iPhone 3G units cases are developing hairline cracks on their "backs." So far, all the pictures I've seen show white 16GB iPhones, but it's unusual that a black iPhone with cracks hasn't shown up yet. We'll keep you posted on this as we think that this is very unusual and is only happening in a very few cases. Here's what the cracks reportedly look like:

The iPhone 3G has only been generally available for sale for only four days and updates are coming fast and furious. Reports coming from the field say that iPhone software version 2.01 is in testing and will soon be released. This update addresses issues of performance, security and contains a few bug fixes. Look for the update to appear in iTunes in the near future.

Samsung recently told its downstream customers it will have to reduce the amount of 8GB NAND flash chips available to them due to Apple buying approximately 50 million of the units to cover iPhone and iPod production through the rest of the year.

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).

Happy Hump Day Everyone!

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...

Insiders who are familiar with the software development process of the next generation 3G iPhone report that geo-tagging will be a much welcomed addition. Geo-tagging for those who are not familiar is the ability to add the location to the photo that was taken. For instance, if you take a photo at San Francisco, the iPhone will be able to add the coordinates of the photo in the meta data of the picture.

Yesterday, Intel Germany chief Hannes Schwaderer let it slip that Apple will be releasing an Atom-based iPhone device in the near future. Then in an awkward move, he later denied saying anything of the sort and was instead referring to a general class of devices called Mobile Internet Devices (MID).

In what looks like preparation for the 3G iPhone launch, Apple iPhone partner in the UK has almost completely sold out of first generation iPhones an also has reached the 80% penetration point of being able to provide 3G services to about 80% of the UK.

Apple has reportedly ordered 24 - 25 million 2nd generation iPhone handsets from Foxconn according to the Chinese newspaper Commercial Times. Right off the bat, shipments of the 3G iPhone are expected to top three million units in June alone.

Recently, rumors about the 2nd generation 3G iPhone has been flying fast and furious over the Internet. The most common consensus seems to center around the following featureset:

Over the past few days, there have been a lot of rumors and predictions regarding Apple's forthcoming iPhone update. Being an Apple watcher for many years, I'd like to throw in my predictions that I think you'll be able to count on. Back in January, we had a list of predictions that were all pretty much on the nose. So we'll throw these out and see where they land.

What we know for sure (or we're pretty sure):

• Apple iPhone 2.0 is coming SOON - Expect a End of June or July release. The latest we can see it coming out is August, but that would be a surprise.
• Apple iPhone 2.0 will have 3G
• Apple iPhone 2.0 will have GPS

A seemingly believable video on YouTube shows that Quake 3 Arena has been ported to the iPhone/iTouch platforms. In this video below, you can see that the person is controller one player with his left hand and the other player with his right hand...multi-player? YUP

An article at Hardmac.com reports that iPhone update 2.0 may be coming down the pipeline soon. A survey from Orange mobile(Apple's partner in the UK) reports that the following may be included with the 2.0 update:

-- Update 2 (this would be the correct name, not 1.1.4), will bring new features:
* Support for Flash, files with extension .Docx
* Adding a mini file manager
* Adding a "clipboard" to manage copied and pasted text, and send files to the clipboard via email or bluetooth
* iClips Management (is this the name of apps distributed via iTunes?)
* A more complete bluetooth manager
* iChat accessible only via wifi

-- But it would not bring:
* Management of MMS
* Video capture
* Editing of office files

As always, take this report with a grain of salt as it says the update is due in a matter of days...we'll see how things pan out.

What could possibly be in the air?

That's what signs are saying up at Macworld Expo going on today. Active readers in the Mac community did a little sleuthing over the weekend and found that the domain name "macbookair.com" as well as the .org, .us, .biz, and .net were all registered to a company living at 1 Infinite Loop... hmmmm.

What if there IS  a MacBook Air coming out tomorrow? What will it do? Perhaps a wireless feature to use the iPhone as a modem to get wireless signal anywhere? We'll just have to wait and see...

With news of the impending iPhone 1.1.3 firmware update arriving soon, the hacker community as well as those who have jailbroken their phones to install third-party software is up in arms.  It seems that the rumored version 1.1.3 update will once again break hacks that worked with the previous firmware according to people who have access to the new firmware.

Hacker "Natetrue", who also created the app "iBrickr", says that iPhone update version 1.1.3 disables both unlocks and third-party software. Most notably broken are any software that tries to unlock the iPhone such as AnySIM 1.2u, although iPhoneSIMFree and TurboSIM techniques have not been tried with the new firmware yet.

According to "Natetrue", Apple has patch a lot of vulnerabilities in the new firmware update. How did "Natetrue" get a copy of the firmware? Well it seems that it was leaked by someone in the inside who wanted to give hackers a head start on unlocking it.

We've been reading many comments on this story on other iPhone sites and think it's funny how so many people who have unlocked their iPhone or even jailbroken their iPhone are up in arms. Relax folks. If you like your jailbroken iPhone or your unlocked iPhone, we said it once before and we'll say it again... just don't upgrade to the latest firmware. Apple is doing what Apple should: protecting it's assets from vulnerabilities. If you don't like it, don't upgrade!

I for one haven't Jailbroken the iPhone since the first firmware update. Heres hoping for that new iPhone firmware 1.1.3 soon! What a way to start the new year!

Apple using iPhone Software 1.1.2
TUAW is reporting that iPhones are running 1.1.2 firmware in the UK during Apple training sessions.

Apple to launch official iPhone web app directory
It will have the same submission process as Apple's Dashboard widgets. We'll see if this pans out or not.

The other side of iPhone security
Interesting article. Talks about the fact that the iPhone runs on OS X and what the iPhone hackers have done is expose vulnerabilities and how eventually this will help tighten up security on OS X but may eventually mean more folks trying their best to break in.

3% of U.S. Teens Surveyed Already Own iPhone
Piper Jaffray's bi-annual survey of 980 American teenage buying patterns found that 3% own an iphone, 9% expect to buy one and 4.2% of 212 parent's surveyede own iPhone.

A new hack developed by some iPhone hacking forum members claims to have finally achieved "full unlock" for the iPhone. If it's true, this means the iPhone can be used by just about anyone in Europe. The hack is said to allow all of the basic functions of the iPhone cellular features including receiving calls, SMS messages, and EDGE data services. Visual Voicemail is not supported as it needs the protocols from AT&T in order to work.

Unlocking the iPhone to achieve "full unlock" is not for the faint at heart. You'll need a number of specific hardware and software. So these aren't necessarily things you can pick up at Radio Shack. A SIM reader/writer, a V1 SIM, a "SilverCard" smartcard (whatever that is) and you'll have to install Jailbreak.

We'll look deeper into this today.

UPDATE: JP Morgan has retracted Chang's assertions. See TUAW article here.

JP Morgan analyst Kevin Chang has everyone talking about a potential iPhone Nano. Kevin found a patent that was filed by Apple on November 1st, 2006 but was only published by the patent office on July 5. The patent involves a scroll wheel similar to the iPod and a "a user interface for controlling an electronic device, particularly a multifunctional electronic device that is capable of operating in multiple modes as for example a phone mode for communications and a media player mode for playing audio files, video files, and the like".

After Chen called around to suppliers, he concluded that Apple is planning an iPhone Nano, which would be cheaper than the current iPhone but with limited functionality but most of all, lacking the iPhones uber cool touch-screen. He predicts the product will launch in the 4th quarter of this year.

We're not sure if Apple would actually bring something out that soon. We really think Apple's next move is the 6th generation iPod with iPhone touch screen but no wireless phone and no WiFi. We also think Apple would sell this around October or November for the Christmas buying rush. YMMV.

Read more about this report that made Apple's stock jump here.

We'll take this as a rumor since there is no confirmed source from the information we're getting.

Triston McIntyre claims he's been speaking to an "anonymous" AT&T store manager, and this manager claims:

"...visual voicemail, Google Maps, or any of the other main features will be available only through a contractual AT&T data plan."

We're not sure if we buy it or not, so we'll have to roll with this until someone says otherwise. If it's true, we'll be paying for a dataplan we'll hardly ever use since we're surrounded by wi-fi constantly during our work day.

If this is indeed the plan, then it would make sense that AT&T would try to milk iPhone customers over the 2 year plan since they can't make it on the hardware itself.

The net is buzzing with the rumor that AT&T is updating their network to improve the quality of it's internet speed for the soon to be released iPhone.

The update is nicknamed "Operation Fine Edge" and it's been reported to have been in progress for the last several weeks. The plan is to optimize AT&T's EDGE mobile internet access for the iPhone, but in reality it will help any AT&T customer using the network. From what we've heard, AT&T are retuning many of their cell towers and even adding T1 network lines to circumvent network congestion.

All of this has a deadline of June 15, 2 weeks before the debut of the iPhone. Hopefully this will be enough to satiate the needs of all the iPhones that will be connecting to the net the day it comes out.

Ah just what we like... more iPhone rumors!

A WordPress blogger posted this over the weekend. It talks about how the iPhone will be shipping with more features than we thought. Who is this vim3 guy and how does he know?

- iPhone will ship with more than 4 or 8 gigs of flash memory.
- There will indeed be a user replaceable battery in the iPhone.
- iPhone will support Wireless N.
- iPhone will ship with a mobile version of... iWorks. Word processing, spreadsheet and slide shows.
- iTunes will stream from a computer on your wi-fi network.
- You'll be able to purchase tunes directly from the iTunes store from the iPhone.
- AT&T will offer rebates on the iPhone.

We take it all with a large cube of salt and expect to be disappointed when none of it happens but... one can dream right? Believe at your own expense! We want to Believe!!!

Is it true? Will AT&T soon have an "Unlimited" package for iPhone users. It will be if Glenn Laurie, president of national distribution for AT&T has his way. Laurie has stated that an unlimited package is in the works, and that it makes sense to have this packages since the iPhone has so many rich features that use the internet.

This is what Lurie had to say about browsing the web:
“I think it will be great for us, and here’s why. One of the things with this device — people are going to be asked to have an unlimited package — people are going to have to have a package with us to browse.”

We're wondering how many iPhone users are gonna bite for this plan, seeing that the iPhone also has Wi-Fi built in... not to mention the high price of the iPhone!

A Wall Street Journal article reports that Apple will be including Flash, Adobe/Macromedia's de facto standard media plug-in with the iPhone. It's not sure at this time whether or not Apple will be writing the plug-in themselves or if Adobe will be doing this since the iPhone is a closed platform.

Read more about this in the updated article by Ryan Stewart at blogs.zdnet.com

For a few months now, many have speculated about the rumors that Google Inc. (GOOG) was working on an iPhone Killer but Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has once again stepped up to the plate to reveal what he thinks. Munster believes that Google will work with Apple (AAPL) instead of against it.

"We spoke with one person with knowledge of the situation, and believe the SideKick hires were 5 to 10 people, with a focus on software. We believe Google is building mobile applications for search and location that will work with the iPhone, and other mobile phones." Munster said.

This would seem to be jibe as Job's himself stated that Google and Apple were collaborating to bring Google tech to the iPhone.

ACTV has "uncovered" a few things many have missed in Steve Job's Keynote on the iPhone.

Granted, the iPhone was still a prototype, and I think a lot of the software Steve demoed was as well. So take this with a grain of salt.

After watching the YouTube video here are the meat and potatos of the report in case you don't have time to watch it.

Calendar App
- calendar app has standard three views: year day month
- Steve had a screenshot of the month view with a day selected
- at the bottom are the days events
- add new events on the fly by pressing the + button at the top right

Mapping software
There was no directional information in the demo... or was there? In a different screen shot you could see these:
- lower right show and hide traffic info
- lower left enter directions or config?

Letter Scrolling
Pressing the letter on the right side of the screen and it will take you to the correct alphabetized listing.

And here's the big one:
Ringtones
iTunes has a separate tab for ringtones built in. Having a separate tab seems to make you think that Apple will allow you to sync and buy ringtones from the Apple iTunes store.

View the video after the cut.

According to Jim Cramer from TheStreet.com, Cingular will attempt to lure customers to it's service by offering 1.5 years of Free service by purchasing an iPhone. Is this for real???

Who knows... go read more via Gizmodo.