November 17, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Apple plans to release a new “Concierge” application for the iPhone and iPod touch that will allow customers to schedule appointments at retail stores, AppleInsider has been told.

According to a source that has proven reliable in the past, the App Store software will allow anyone to view memberships and make appointments for services at retail stores, like the Genius Bar or One to One. No release date or the alleged application was provided.

The information on the potential new iPhone application was corroborated Monday in a separate report from MacRumors.
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November 16, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

OnLive, the Internet-based interactive streaming service hyped as “the future of video games,” is also capable of running on mobile devices such as Apple’s iPhone, the company has claimed.

At the Wedbush financial conference in New York, OnLive CEO Steve Perlman demonstrated his company’s game streaming service simultaneously on two iPhones. Perlman detailed the event on his company’s official blog.
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November 15, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Apple is looking to hire a game and media software engineer for its iPhone and iPod touch team, perhaps signaling that the company intends to expand its first-party software offerings.

The listing posted this week is noteworthy because Apple has only released four applications on its iPhone App Store since it first launched, and only one of them — Texas Hold’em — is a game. The $4.99 virtual card game was released in 2008.

The advertisement seeks a full-time employee to work at the company’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters. Apple is looking for a “passionate gamer” with 3 to 4 years of video game development experience. The person would help design and implement “interactive multimedia experiences” on the iPhone and iPod touch. Only candidates who have shipped “at least one AAA title” are asked to apply.
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October 27, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Any lingering hopes of new last-minute holiday hardware from Apple have been cast in doubt, as the Mac maker has reportedly confirmed that its holiday 2009 lineup is “set.”

In a recent conversation with Gizmodo, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, reportedly said that Apple will not introduce any more new products this year. The report was issued to quash recent rumors of even more hardware updates portrayed as potentially imminent.

After the story initially ran, Apple’s public relations contacted to clarify with an official statement: “The holiday lineup is set.” No further explanation was given. Read more…

September 24, 2009 :: Posted by - Thomas :: Category - News

Extra-hot venti with whip white chocolate mocha?

Yeah, there’s an app for that.

Starbucks has introduced two new applications for the iPhone and iPod touch that will allow users to order and pay for coffee beverages directly from the device.

The myStarbucks application allows you to customize your favorite drink, remember friends’ or coworkers’ preferred drinks and locate nearby Starbucks stores to order them. The app allows you to share your concoction with others (hey, intern!).

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September 19, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Hours after Google’s letter to the FCC was published in its entirety, Apple has directly responded to the claim that it has formally rejected the Google Voice application from the iPhone App Store.

In a note to Silicon Valley Insider, an Apple representative Friday reiterated what the company said in its own letter to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in August: That it has not rejected the application, but it has not accepted it either.

“We do not agree with all of the statements made by Google in their FCC letter,” the Apple rep reportedly said. “Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application Read more…

September 05, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

With users’ permission, the social networking iPhone application Loopt will report the phone’s current location even when the software isn’t running, based on a new agreement with AT&T.

In a report from Silicon Alley Insider, Loopt cofounder Sam Altman said the always-connected feature has been the most requested from users. The service allows people to track where their friends are at any given moment, a task difficult to constantly maintain on the iPhone, which doesn’t currently allow third-party applications to run in the background.

Ordinarily, closing the application would cease any connections, but the new AT&T-sanctioned feature comes with a price: The always-on capability will add $3.99 to a monthly AT&T bill, after the 14-day trial. The initial trial will be open to 5,000 users.

According to the report, the new deal doesn’t change the policy on third-party apps — think of it more like a service than the entire Loopt application running in the background. It says that the application Read more…