TechRiot | News & Reviews

News about Apple:

Which is more important, the fact that Microsoft rolled out a brand-new developer preview of their mobile OS or the fact that Nilay can get some free protection from Apple for his sweaty kill-hands? You be the judge.

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Christopher Voss – Where is My Mind (Pixies cover)

02:25 – Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview
44:00 – Apple to give away free cases to iPhone 4 users

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Oh, Steve — you should’ve known better. You show up and remove a laptop from a manila envelope, and Earth’s most creative go and create a case fashioned out of one. You go and suggest that Eminem could “come out with a band-aid that goes over the corner” of your controversial iPhone 4, and well… this happens. You could wait for a free case, or you could buy six of these Antenna-aids for five bucks. The choice is obvious. Read the rest of this entry »

You’ve heard about it for months, and now the universal remote that looks nothing like a universal remote is finally on sale in 52 nations. Thinkflood’s RedEye Mini — which simply plugs into the headphone jack of your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch — can now be procured for $49, and when used with the gratis app in the App Store, can control anything in your home entertainment setup that accepts IR commands. ZDNet was fortunate enough to get a little hands-on time with the device, and their early impressions are quite positive. In fact, they recommend skipping the Harmony hoopla and heading right for this if you’re already an iDevice owner, and at a buck under a Grant, we certainly aren’t in a position to argue. Read the rest of this entry »

RIM and Nokia aren’t the only ones saying “WTF Steve!?” after last Friday’s press conference attempted to draw the competition into the Antennagate saga. Samsung has issued its own choice reaction about supposed problems with the Omnia 2, though this one is somewhat less sternly worded than the others:
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iPad may be a blockbuster hit for Apple, but it looks like it is getting treated like an ugly step sister. Not only do iPad owners have to wait for some time to get iOS4 update, but apparently they will also have … [visit site to read more]

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The name may sound like something out of a Final Fantasy game, but we hear it stands for Music On the Go, and today MO is doing the name proud by bringing a wide swath of streaming music to Android and iPhone. $10 a month gives you access to 7.8 million songs, and during a completely unscientific impromptu testing session, that number actually included a reasonable amount of most everything we’d want. Of course, you don’t get to keep any of the 320Kbps MP3 files, merely store local copies on your phone for as long as you pony up, and even on Android (where we take task switching for granted) the merest jump to web browser stops those tracks cold. (MOG says it’s working on it, at least for the iOS 4 version.) We were also disappointed to find out the MOG Radio feature is nothing like we were told — rather than a Pandora you can tune to specific artists, the feature just seems to filter your existing queue. Playback options were also lacking in this early version (like volume and jog sliders) but at least MOG’s got a slick, robust discovery mode, and with this many songs to choose from that’s a very good thing. Both versions should be live immediately with three-day, no commitment trials, and there’s a press release after the break if you still need more info. Read the rest of this entry »

Apple iTunes 9.2.1 update as well as iBooks 1.1.1 are available to download now. The update brings a whole host of fixes and changes, which include minor changes to the way that apps can be organised, an improvement to the syncing of iPhone 4 as well as small bug fixes to do … [visit site to read more]

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As we reported yesterday, at Apple’s press conference, Steve Jobs, as well as ‘solving’ the antenna issue also brought almost every other smartphone company into the equation. The antenna … [visit site to read more]

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As if waiting around until fall to get iOS 4 weren’t enough of a downer for iPad owners, the latest rumor we’re hearing is that they’ll have to pay a fee in order to do so. That’s right, for the privilege of waiting patiently to get some semblance of multitasking on your slate device, you’ll have to pony up the cash — or so the story goes. Stuff has it on strong authority from app developers in the know that Apple will be asking for a (relatively small) tithe from those wishing to update their iPads when the leaves start turning amber. We’d advise keeping the pitchforks stowed for now — at least until there’s some solid corroboration for this — but then it’s not like Apple hasn’t done this before. Read the rest of this entry »

When Apple’s latest privacy policy revealed the company could track any iPhone’s location in real time, it threw some for a loop… including a pair of gentlemen from the US House of Representatives, who asked what Cupertino was up to. In a thirteen page letter dated July 12, Apple’s legal counsel explains the whole matter away, while giving us a fascinating look into how the company collects — and justifies collecting — all that GPS data. Legally the defense is simple, as Apple claims users grant express permission via pop-up messages for ever single location-based service and app, and if you don’t care to be tracked, you can simply shut down location services globally or (in iOS 4) on a per-app basis in the phone’s settings panel.

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“An iPhone, an iPhone, my carrier’s reputation for an iPhone.” Grab a cup of coffee and get yourself comfortable, fans of behind-the-scenes industry drama. Wired has published an exhaustive and fascinating expose on the “loveless celebrity marriage” that is Apple and AT&T — all from sources familiar with the matters but who cannot (or will not) be named, of course. In other words, don’t take this as gospel, but frankly, none of this sounds too crazy or outside the realm of what we’ve already surmised ourselves. In brief, the two companies have been contentious towards one another since just after the iPhone was unveiled. For AT&T’s part, the carrier was reportedly taken aback when its requests (delivered by Senior VP Kris Rinne) to restrict YouTube’s bandwidth usage (or make it WiFi-only) while the network infrastructure was built up fell on deaf ears in Cupertino. Word has it Apple also refused to allow its devices to be used in campaigns to combat Verizon’s Map for That ads: “It was [effective] because of AT&T’s network. We would have been letting them use the iPhone to put lipstick on a pig,” remarked one anonymous Apple exec.

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Merely days after iTunes 9.2 hit the pipes in order to enable iPhone 4 syncing, Apple‘s software team has pushed out the first “minor” update since with 9.2.1. Truth be told, the list of changes, fixes and tweaks is rather lengthy for a simple point-point update, with this one allowing users to organize apps on the iOS 4 home screens into folders using iTunes, organize and sync PDF documents as books, etc. As for fixes? For starters, it’ll “disable older versions of some incompatible third-party plug-ins” (thanks?), while also addressing “minor issues with dragging and dropping items, a performance issue when first syncing to some devices with iTunes 9.2″ and other general speed issues that users were reporting. As for iBooks 1.1.1, that one still seems to be propagating through the iTunes server factory, promising support for books with audio and video, improvements for PDF documents and other miscellaneous bug fixes. Feel free to toss your impressions of the new builds in comments below, but don’t blame us if your eagerness ends up breaking something you love dearly.

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We’re admittedly using our Jump To Conclusions Mat a little bit here, but we’re pretty sure Apple’s Magic Trackpad (or whatever they’ll end up calling it) just got FCC approval — and considering how tightly Apple usually manages its FCC dealings, this could mean it’ll be announced as early as this week. A device known only by its model number A1339 is the culprit here, described as a “Bluetooth Device” used in conjunction with a MacBook without any associated filings for WiFi or WWAN networks. The ultra-rough label location diagram is definitely the right shape for the accessory, and what’s interesting is that the test report was completed way back in October of 2009. Has Apple seriously been sitting on this thing for the better part of a year? Keep a close eye on the Apple Store for this one, folks.

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Looks like Seagate’s not content with giving users a choice of connector — the outfit’s latest GoFlex apparatus utilizes a docking system to give users an easier way to upgrade their NAS. ‘Course, those that really plan ahead will go ahead and grab a multi-bay device like Data Robotics’ Drobo FS, but for the money, it’s hard to argue with the FreeAgent GoFlex Home. Designed to work seamlessly with Windows-based PCs and Apple’s Time Machine, the 1TB and 2TB devices provide a NAS dock for the drive to sit in, and the dock itself also boasts a USB port for adding external storage to the mix or sharing a printer over the network. Seagate’s also tossing in its Share Pro service, which enables families to access content stored on the drive from mobile devices such as an iPhone, iPad or BlackBerry. Best of all, the $159.99 (1TB) / $229.99 (2TB) asking prices won’t totally crush the bank, so it seems like you’ve just about run out of excuses for backing up those childhood memories. Read the rest of this entry »

If you carry your sheet music in a laptop, AirTurn’s got a USB dongle for that, but if you’ve migrated your musical cues to an certain slate, never fear, Bluetooth is on the way. The AirTurn BT-105 will bring the company’s page turning technology to iPad, using a transmitter that attaches to standard professional footswitches, allowing you to turn full pages and half pages of sheet music while keeping hands firmly affixed to your instrument. Though there’s no word on price, we imagine it’ll cost close to the existing 2.4GHz version, which runs from $40 for a dongle to $100 for a package with two Boss pedals, and when it surfaces in Q4 of this year, we’re hoping it will extend bicycling input to all the other wild and crazy apps you dream up. PR and video after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

Apple has just let word out that it’ll be bringing its super-selling slate to nine new markets. The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore are all getting their hands on the device this Friday, July 23. We were just remarking on how the iPad’s sales pace had slowed down recently, but this expansion in markets should move things along toward rounding the next milestone. Local pricing hasn’t yet been revealed, but it’s not like there’s long to wait now. “Many” more countries are promised before the end of the year, so don’t despair if your local Apple Store isn’t stocking the iPad just yet. Read the rest of this entry »

Yet more news on the iPhone 4 antenna fiasco; there’s been complaints, and fixes and independent tests but Apple themselves have been keeping quiet until now.

At a, some would say overdue, press conference Apple released pictures of its $100 million antenna testing centre consisting of 17 separate testing suites that test the iPhone antennae. The anechoic chambers are connected to sophisticated equipment that simulate cellular base stations, Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth devices and GPS … [visit site to read more]

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Shocking as this might sound, there are no only a few games in which iPhone and Android users could go at each in live multiplayer mode. Exploiting this vast void is Social Gaming Network, whose Skies of Glory aerial dogfighting title has been ported to Android (2.0 and above) while retaining the ability to communicate with iOS devices over WiFi, 3G or Bluetooth connections. Frankly, we can’t think of a better game to get the cross-platform multiplayer movement going: fAndroids and iPhoneys gunning each other down while talking smack to themselves should prove therapeutic for both parties. On a more serious note, given the tireless growth that both platforms are showing, this kind of thing should hopefully tend toward being the rule rather than the exception.

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Although Apple confirmed at their iPhone 4 press conference last Friday that the elusive white iPhone will be released later this month, there were no exact details regarding an actual release date, which does make you question whether there … [visit site to read more]

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As well as highlighting details on how Apple were going to fix users iPhone 4 issues at the ‘special’ iPhone 4 conference held by Mr Jobs and team, they also announced that the iPhone 4 will be available in more than 17 countries … [visit site to read more]

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Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he’ll explore where our industry is and where it’s going — on both micro and macro levels — with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.

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This almost goes without saying, but it’s truly been a wild ride for the iPhone 4 over the last three weeks. While most of us will just happily open our hands to Stevie J’s freebies, there’s one question that’s still bugging us: what’s actually holding back the white iPhone 4? Sure, Apple’s now promised us an “end of July” delivery for its latest iTemptation, but it has yet to specify what the manufacturing difficulty is. According to Chinese newspaper 21st Century Business Herald, the problem stems from a little-known Chinese factory by the name of Lens Technology, which is apparently responsible for transforming fine raw glass into the majority of iPhone glass panels out there (and contrary to previous reports, Corning doesn’t seem to play a part here). Read on to find out what’s causing our invisible hero to stall. Read the rest of this entry »

Apple’s Friday press conference may have left a bad taste in some rival handset manufacturer’s mouths, but not all of them are taking Cupertino’s derision of their devices seriously — HTC’s Droid Eris was arguably the most effected by the grip of doom, its bars dropping to zilch when held, but the Taiwanese company keeping any controversial opinions to itself for now. Instead, it’s sharing a simple percentage to help clear the air. Whereas Apple claimed over 0.55 percent of customers called AppleCare with reception-related complaints, HTC’s Eric Lin told Pocket-lint the Droid Eris technical support rate was 0.016 percent, nearly thirty-four times lower — though even with a seven-month head start, we have to wonder if the Eris sold close to three million by the time Verizon brought the axe down. Read the rest of this entry »

Consumer Reports got a few name-checks at yesterday’s Apple conference, in fact the independent reviewers even managed to get onto Steve’s big screen with their “The Bumper solves the signal-strength problem” quote.  Unfortunately, if Apple thought that giving all customers a free Bumper would placate the reviewers, they’ll be disappointed; Consumer Reports say that it’s good but not good enough, and they’re still withholding their “Recommended” award from the iPhone 4.

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# iphone4 Apple is announcing something about the iPhone 4 in just a few hours. Maybe it’s about the antenna . Maybe it’s about how many bajillion they’ve sold. Our coverage starts live, right now, right here: [ Gizmodo Live ] More »

Thought Nokia’s statement was strongly worded? That was nothing compared to the little tirade put together by RIM co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie — a pair of dudes known for having some of the bigger mouths (and bigger egos) in the wireless industry — in direct response to Apple’s Friday press conference on antenna issues. Of course, unlike Nokia, Apple made it personal for RIM because it used the Bold 9700 as a demonstration device in its attempt to prove that signal loss was a problem for phones and manufacturers from all walks of life, but Mike and Jim are having none of it. Phrases like “self-made debacle” and “deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding” should give you an idea of the statement’s overall flavor, but basically, they’re saying that RIM puts a lot of time, money, and energy into avoiding dropped call issues and that you don’t need a case to use any of their phones. Snap!

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It’s not surprising that after Apple finished explaining the iPhone 4 antenna issues to the press today, the company wanted to go one step further and say “yes, actually, we do test the hell out of these phones before we release them to the public.” Though Steve Jobs went over the lengthy and intensive kinds of radio evaluation that goes on at Apple’s headquarters, it didn’t seem to be enough for the folks in Cupertino. And that, we suspect, is why we were invited (along with a small group of other journalists) to take a brief tour of Apple’s Infinite Loop labs. Though we weren’t allowed to shoot video or take pictures, we can tell you about what we did — and what we didn’t — see and hear behind closed doors. Read the rest of this entry »

Steve Jobs had his time on stage today, and in the process, managed to not only clarify Apple’s position on “antennagate,” but also call out the entire smartphone industry at the same time. All in a day’s work, if you ask us. In any event, while we weren’t expecting major manufacturers to actually respond to the Apple press conference today (we probably should have), here we are telling you that Nokia has their own opinion on Jobs’ comments. And, sure enough, they’re full of Nokia innovation.

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It’s been eight days since we reported that a defective USB cable, which connected to the iPhone 4, got so hot that it actually caught on fire, and managed to burn the owner. While the general assumption was that these USB cables couldn’t produce enough power to do such a thing, hence the defective part, we’re now faced with a second incident. But, the truth is, we’re still chalking this up to a random fluke, rather than an impending epidemic.

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In case it wasn’t obvious enough from Apple‘s agitated response to our question during today’s iPhone 4 Q&A session in Cupertino, there’s no software fix in the pipeline for the antenna issues that are plaguing users today. A prior report in the New York Times seemed fairly confident that the troubles could (and would) be solved in the near term by a simple software update, but the company’s own Scott Forstall called said report “patently false.” So, there you have it — the only thing that’ll be fixed via software is how big your smallest bar of signal is. Beyond that, you’ll need to grab some Duct tape, a free case or a white glove if you’re looking to avoid attenuation entirely. Read the rest of this entry »

Nokia’s looking to ride the mojo of any negative fallout from today’s Apple press conference, slipping out a rather fascinating statement this afternoon. The gist of it is that Espoo’s keen on letting everyone know how much blood, sweat, and tears they’ve poured into perfecting their antenna design strategy over the years, going so far as to say that they “prioritize” it over the physical design of the phone if they need to in order to optimize its call performance — an opinion moderately different from the “we want to have our cake and eat it too” philosophy espoused by Jobs today. In closing, Nokia acknowledges that a “tight grip” can mess with the performance, though they say they’ve done a bunch of research on the ways their phones are typically held so that the antennas are placed optimally. Interestingly, there was a stink not long ago about the severe signal degradation some E71 users were seeing when they placed their hands on the lower rear of the phone — but you can’t win ‘em all, we suppose. Follow the break for the full statement. Read the rest of this entry »

So, you didn’t get a chance to make it over to the press conference that Apple held today? That’s a real shame. Then, hopefully you managed to watch our Liveblog of the event, or you’ve already read our summary of all things announcement related. And once you get all caught up in the text format, you’ll probably want to watch Steve Jobs on stage, talking about all that, right? Right. Now you can.

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In a day filled with Apple and iPhone 4 news, we are still surprised that this one managed to pop up. Today, it was revealed that the San Mateo Superior Court Judge, Clifford Cretan, has officially granted an application to withdraw the warrant obtained in the effort to search Gizmodo’s journalist, Jason Chen’s home. The application was submitted by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s office, and despite the fact it was granted, that doesn’t mean that this is the end of the story.

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When something as massive as an antenna issue hits the Internet, you can imagine that every option has already been considered by the masses. And when Consumer Reports are being released, not helping the situation at all, we can see where people might begin to get worried. But, rest easy in knowing that Steve Jobs realizes that every option has to be considered, but that a hardware recall isn’t at the top of their list. In fact, it sounds like they’re ready to try just about everything first, before they get to that point.

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When the iPhone 4 was announced, there were two version: the black model, and the white one. Of course, right at the start people had already made up their minds about which handset they’d be getting their hands on. For many, the white model was the one to own. But, what Apple forgot to mention (or perhaps it hadn’t been known at the time), was that the white version wasn’t actually going to be available at the time of launch. So, people had to wait — not that that made sales suffer, or anything, considering that Steve Jobs today announced the iPhone 4 has launched more than 3 million handsets in just three weeks. And that’s counting the (only) 1.7 percent of devices returned.

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Time to stop the speculation. Over the course of the last 22 days, we’ve heard from every angle of the Internet that the iPhone 4 is plagued with reception issues. And, throughout those days, we’ve heard all sorts of reasons: it’s the antenna, it’s the software, it’s the way you’re holding it. Maybe it’s even your face. Or, it’s a combination of all of those things, jumbled into one big issue that no one could figure out why the new iPhone was suffering from. Well, we can finally say that we’ve got an answer, and it’s straight from Steve Jobs himself. The antenna is the best antenna they’ve ever created, but it does have a flaw — just like every other smartphone on the planet.

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Apple’s not really ready to say it’s sorry about the iPhone 4 antenna design, but it is willing to give all you darn squeaky wheels free cases for your trouble. Since Apple can’t build its own Bumpers fast enough, it will give you a few options and let you decide, then send it your way for free as long as you purchased the phone before September 30th. Not good enough for you? Well, if you already bought a bumper from Apple you’ll get a refund, and you can also return your phone for a full refund within 30 days as long as it’s unharmed.

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There’s only 20 minutes to go until Apple’s iPhone 4 press conference, and the SlashGear liveblog engine is warmed up and raring to go.  Join us at http://live.slashgear.com/ for all the details from Cupertino as they happen.  Will Apple give out free Bumper iPhone 4 cases to all current owners, or is there an even more expensive recall planned?  Will the white iPhone 4 make its sales debut today?  And has Apple quietly been working on an internal fix?  Find out as we do over at http://live.slashgear.com/!

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In response to a question at its press conference today about whether Apple could’ve done anything to avoid its antenna issues with the iPhone 4, Steve took the opportunity to rip on bigger rivals, saying that making a phone so big “you can’t get your hand around it” helps, but that “no one’s going to buy that.” We’re assuming he’s likely talking about the latest crop of 4-, 4.3- and 5-inch phones that include the Galaxy S series, the EVO 4G, Droid X, and Dell Streak, even going so far as to call them “Hummers” (we take it you don’t ever drive a Hummer, Steve?). Though ripping on the competition is to be expected, perhaps the more interesting takeaway here is that we can’t realistically expect an iPhone much bigger than the 3.5-inch display they use today — presumably that’ll all be reserved for iPad territory going forward. We personally don’t mind something with a little more screen real estate — but hey, maybe humans need to go through a few more cycles of evolutionary hand enlargement before Cupertino’s willing to capitulate. Read the rest of this entry »

Not much of a surprise here, but Apple has now finally revised its previous “by the end of July” iPhone 4 launch timeframe for some of the remaining international countries to a specific date: July 30th. That includes Canada, a whole host of European countries, plus Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. Absent from that list, however, is South Korea, which had been among the “end of July” group, but has apparently been pushed back to an unspecified date due to a delay in receiving government approval.

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It’s become the stuff of legend over the past few weeks, but if you’ve been holding out for a white iPhone 4, well, today’s not your lucky day — but Apple’s now saying it’ll ship by the end of July. That’s later than the previously announced middle of July ship date, but we’re going to keep believing that when it does arrive, it’ll be the answer to all of our problems. Be sure to check out our live coverage of the iPhone press event here! Read the rest of this entry »

It’s fairly obvious that the howls around the web for Apple to address this antenna issue has gotten underneath the skin of one Steve Jobs, and in a fashion that’s very much unlike Apple (or AT&T, for that matter), the aforesaid CEO has actually handed out a bit of hard data surrounding dropped calls on the iPhone 4. According to Jobs, AT&T won’t reveal the exact amount of call drops for competitive reasons, but they did manage to push out a meaningful delta. As of today, they’ve noticed that the “iPhone 4 drops less than one additional call per 100 than the 3GS.” In other words, the iPhone 4 has actually been dropping more calls than the 3GS in the three weeks that the former has been on the market. Of course, Steve’s also playing up the fact that just a fraction of a percent of all buyers have bothered to call in about their bout with dropped calls (and why would you, knowing there’s no cure?), but it’s still interesting to finally get some cold, hard facts on this disaster. Even if it’s but a snippet. Read the rest of this entry »