February 09, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Apple is now the world’s third largest smartphone producer, coming in behind Nokia and Research in Motion. IDC’s latest report from its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker cites continued interest in the iPhone and Apple starting to offer the device in China as major driving forces behind the growing dominance in the smartphone world.

Apple shipped 25.1 million iPhone units in 2009, 8.7 million of those in the fourth quarter. By comparison, Nokia shipped 67.7 million device units throughout the year with 20.8 million in the fourth quarter alone. Manufacturers Motorola and HTC round out the top five smartphone makers. Read more…

February 09, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Last week I downloaded (but did not install) the iPhone OS 3.1.3 firmware for my 3GS. I wanted to have a copy of the firmware on hand, but didn’t want to upgrade right away. I checked “Do not ask me again” and clicked Download Only. I thought that was the end of the matter.

Unfortunately, this Sunday, I plugged in my iPhone and left the room to grab some tea. When I returned, the iPhone was 50% of the way through the 3.1.3 firmware upgrade procedure. It did something I had no idea that it would do: it upgraded me without asking. Read more…

February 08, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Game Developer Research has published its 2009/10 survey of video game developers, and the results are pretty impressive for the still relatively fledgling iPhone platform: The number of developers who are working on mobile games increased by 12 percent, and there are actually twice as many developers working on iPhone games as are working on the Nintendo DS and Sony’s PSP handheld consoles. Read more…

February 08, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Released last Tuesday, iPhone OS 3.1.3 was a minor update, bringing a battery reporting fix, fixing an issue where third-party applications would not launch, and patching a number of security holes. In its first six days of release, an estimated 14 percent of users opted to upgrade, mobile ad group Medialets reported Monday.

As of Feb. 6, most iPhone users — 72.3 percent — were still running iPhone OS 3.1.2, while 3.1.1 has 0.8 percent of users, and 3.1.0 has 4.6 percent. About 13 percent of total users are running a version prior to 3.1.2. Read more…

February 08, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Apple plans to be “nimble” on pricing of the iPad and could lower prices if demand for the tablet lags.

This information comes via a note from Credit Suisse analyst Bill Shope who met recently with Apple executives.

Apple wants the iPad to be the best device for a few key use cases. For instance, the company believes it could eventually be seen as superior to both handheld and notebook devices for browsing the Internet, using the App Store, and consuming mobile media (video, photos, and e-books). Read more…

February 05, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

The iPhone will inevitably be available on multiple carriers in the U.S., one analyst believes, though 2010 is not likely to be the year Apple ends its agreement with AT&T.

Based on that assessment, Jonathan Chaplin, research analyst with Credit Suisse, downgraded Verizon stock to a “neutral” rating. The iPhone remaining exclusive to AT&T, he said, will have a negative impact on Verizon.

“Our analysis suggests that Apple will eventually sell the device at all carriers; however, there is a much greater probability that AT&T keeps exclusivity for another 12-18 months than investors realize,” Chaplin wrote. “We think this has profound impacts for Apple, the carriers and the other handset OEMs.” Read more…

February 04, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Sharing your current location with a contact could be as simple as a button press in a future iPhone upgrade, according to a new Apple patent application revealed this week.

While the assisted GPS in the iPhone currently allows users to view their own location through the integrated Maps application, the described addition would make it simple and easy to share that data with someone else. The location data could be quickly shared with a person who is currently connected with a phone call, or with someone who was recently sent a text message.
Read more…

February 03, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Pegatron Technology has reportedly landed a contract to produce next generation iPhones for Apple, according to a DigiTimes report.

The company will join Foxconn Electronics which manufactures current iPhones for Apple.

Pegatron declined to comment, although it stated in previous reports that it expects its shipments of handsets to grow substantially in 2010.

DigiTimes also notes that Pegatron reached a deal with Microsoft to produce its Xbox 360 Natal Controller in late 2010.

[Via iclarified.com]

February 01, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Apple may be working on a second Mac OS X based tablet, according to TechCrunch sources.

The information ‘originated from a good source’, though it was a second hand source. Some of the main details were corroborated with another source as well.

It appears that Apple is pretty far along on work on second bigger tablet device (possibly up to 15.4″) and it could run a more traditional version of OS X, unlike the iPad which operates on an iPhone based OS. Read more…

January 31, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

The iPhone Dev-Team has released RedSn0w 0.9, a cross-platform jailbreaking, unlocking, and customizing tool for iPhones and iPod touches. This version adds support for the iPod touch 3G as well as IPCC tethering.

How is it different from blackra1n?
- It offers custom logos and verbose boot
- It installs Cydia, afc2, and the IPCC tethering hack without needing separate downloads. Because they’re all installed in one go, redsn0w doesn’t need the multiple levels of installs that blackra1n requires.
- It uses their original Pwnage bootrom exploit for iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, and iPod 1G. (Because it’s a bootrom exploit, it can’t be fixed by Apple without a new hardware release.) Note that redsn0w 0.9 does use the USB exploit for iPhone 3GS and iPod 2G+3G running 3.1.2, but that exploit will be fixed in Apple’s next FW release. Read more…