IPhone news, updates and Iphone information

With Jaxtr, we've got a cheap (free) and easy way to send messages internationally. Before now, whenever we saw a hot lady dressed up in a Stormtrooper outfit we had to send Jesus hundreds of IMs in hopes that the chime would wake him up. No longer! Now all we have to do is log on to Jaxtr—it works from the iPhone too—and type our message in there. Their service only supports a limited number of countries such as the UK, Sweden and Germany, but it leaves out some big ones like Japan and Spain. Wait, Spain? Guess Jesus is going to have to wait a few hours to see Ms. Stormtrooper. [Jaxtr via Gear Diary via JkOnTheRun via Into Mobile]

written by iPhone Fan

You may not remember this because the news came out during CES, but back in January there was a gigantic leak of Windows Mobile 7 details, including an Alaskan Senator's dump truck full of images. Brandon from Pocket Now recently got to SEE Windows Mobile 7 at a Microsoft MVP event, and while he thinks it's a fantastic OS, he's got a huge problem with the release date.

Based on what he heard at Microsoft, the target release date seems to be mid to late 2009. He's got no problem with the technology in WM7—he says it basically addresses everything wrong with WM6 today—but the fact that it's not going to be released until a year and a half from now is troublesome. How can Microsoft compete when the iPhone will already been out for two and a half years, and iPhone clones have been out for more than one? It's tough.

And it's not like Microsoft can do anything about it. After they finish the OS, they have to send it out to OEMs and carriers and third-party companies in order to test and embed and develop on it. That's the problem with creating only an OS, instead of making an all-in-one OS and hardware product. But that's where Brandon thinks Microsoft has bomb to drop.

There's a possibility that Microsoft will take the recently acquired Danger (the makers of the T-Mobile Sidekick) and put them to work on hardware made expressly for Windows Mobile 7. Just think about how well Apple's done by integrating software onto hardware they built themselves. The same could be true with Microsoft. [PocketNow - Image Credit]

written by iPhone Fan

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops

Whoops! Apple's gone and leaked its brand new aluminum MacBook and redesigned MacBook Pros to the interblogs. Yeah, it seems old Jobsy has really loosened the binds over in Cupertino -- he doesn't care what gets out these days. No, but seriously, some cats on the internet supposedly discovered a .Mac page which appears to display mockups (or actual product renderings) for a new line of laptops, as well as adverts for iTunes 8 and iPhones in the 32GB variety (for Australia, naturally). Of course, this is wild, crazy, unfounded speculation, and likely has no basis in reality at all. Then again, you never know... stranger things have happened. Steve, we await your takedown requests. See full pages for yourself in the gallery after the break.

[Thanks, al]

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written by iPhone Fan

The Samsung/Armani design train keeps rolling, now from cellphones to HDTVs. Today in Milan, Sammy and Giorgio showed off the first Armani LCD TVs—a 46-incher and a 52-inch model. Both are 100Hz "Full HD" sets (hopefully that means 1080p, not 1080i), and will strut their stuff in Europe, Korea and Russia this summer. The fashionable part is apparently the customizable the Samsung and Armani logos. Ooooo... Oh, and it's got two remotes, a mini-pebble for basic functions, and a swankier one that does everything, but we don't have any pics of 'em yet. No price, but it's probably stupid expensive. [Samsung]

written by iPhone Fan

Microsoft's near-mythical Surface table just appeared at five AT&T Stores across the country (with 50 more locations soon to get one), and we were happy to have a go with it this morning. As you'll see in the video, this one is programmed for mobile phone sales pitches, and doesn't have all of the fun apps we've heard about, but even here, Surface's massive, beautiful potential is obvious.

I panned and zoomed around coverage maps easily, best when I relaxed my touch, as pressing too hard made the table less responsive. Placing a specially-tagged phone on the Surface brought up information about it, including service plans, accessories, and the ability to see it in different colors. When two phones are placed on the table, a side-by-side comparison chart appears. The actions available on the AT&T Store table include flick, zoom in/out, flip, drag and the object-sensing ability.

My favorite part of the Surface is that it has lots of touch points; one person can zoom in on an object while another person flicks a different object. At one point, we had 30 fingers on the table, and they were all registering. The ability to collaborate in a physical way (group painting or photo sharing come to mind) will definitely be a big draw. Inevitable comparisons to the iPhone—curiously unavailable to place on the table—are warranted: It's basically the same feel, but 10x bigger.

Don't expect this to replace AT&T reps just yet, as purchasing still can't be done directly on the Surface. Still, it's definitely one cool tool that we look forward to seeing in other arenas. It's at five AT&T locations starting today (two in NYC, one each in San Fransisco, San Antonio, and Atlanta), and it will be in 50 stores by next month. [Microsoft Surface]

written by iPhone Fan

Apple has applied for a patent for a laser-based headset to use with its iPod and iPhone. And, unlike most headset displays, which can be bulky due to the light source and optical elements, the Cupertino company has come up with a way of slimming the device down. Here's how.

All the image-generation electronics, the laser engine and other optics can be put into a compact, battery-powered box, that can be clipped onto the wearer's belt. Laser-generated video is then transmitted to the headset display via optical cable, before ultra-thin wedge optics display the image in the glasses.

With a thickness of just 2mm on the optical display element, Apple's patent design means that the display could be the same size as a pair of spectacles. When not being used, the optical display elements become transparent, meaning that you can transform the headset from common-or-garden reading glasses to a display in just the flick of a switch. [Unwired View]

written by iPhone Fan

We ran this photoshop contest of Steve Jobs, asking for Good and Evil versions of the man. For some reason, we got an overwhelming result of Evil Steve Jobs entries. Actually, they're almost all evil Steve Jobs photoshops. Is that because it's more fun to dress him up as Osama than it is to make him Jesus Christ? Or is it because people actually think Apple is evil?

I judge the company by the products, and I use most of em, and am happy with most of them. I also note how swiftly the company responds to public outcry with generally reasonable responses. (SDK, Airport Extreme Time Capsule support, iPhone pricing rebate.) So I consider their actions and products to be generally on the side of good. But clearly, there is something going on there in terms of public perception, Jobs's reputation as a tough cookie, their closed ecosystems and their recent success.

So, what do you think? Apple: Good or Evil and Why? Or were the photoshoppers just having a bit of fun with Steve?

written by iPhone Fan

Case-Mate claims to be the world's first touch-through case for the iPhone or iPod Touch, but that honor seems to be taken by the Ivyskin Xylo T2 Reflect Chrome case we saw last week. Even though Case-Mate's edition is just slightly late, their Naked Case looks slightly thinner than the Ivyskin's, even though both of them have a technology that transfers your touch through the protective membrane onto the iPhone's screen. Which one should you buy? Wait for our Battlemodo. [Case-Mate]

written by iPhone Fan

We've been talking a lot about emerging mobile tech lately, tossing around crazy acronyms and words like WiMax, LTE, 3G, G-Spot, EDGE and whatnot. A lot of you probably already know this stuff cold, but in case you don't, here's the quick and dirty guide to what you need to know.

GSM is the most widely used mobile standard—210 countries—and by AT&T and T-Mobile in the US. What's groovy about GSM is that any device that'll take a SIM card—"subscriber identity module" is a chip that identifies you to the network and allows you to get on—can get you on a local network. Hence the market for "unlocked" phones that aren't tied to any carrier, which you can just pop an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM card in. It's also AT&T's response to Verizon's open initiative: GSM networks are technically already open.

CDMA is a competing voice-and-data standard that is smaller in distribution—but highly prevalent in Korea, Japan, South America and the US, on the networks of Verizon Wireless and Sprint (including MVNOs such as Helio and Virgin Mobile). CDMA is actually more efficient in terms of the way it uses channels, but it doesn't have GSM's "open" advantage of SIM card swapping. (This is why you can't take your iPhone to Verizon.)

2G refers to any second-generation networks—like CDMA and GSM/GPRS—that are digital, and not analog (which would be 1G). It's mostly for voice, but there's some slow data, too. (Remember WAP?)

2.5G are data upgrades to 2G networks that allow for faster data transfer. EDGE is the best known, used by T-Mobile and AT&T (and the bane of iPhone owners everywhere) and a transitional tech to 3G. Still pretty pokey, topping out at 200kbps downstream real world. Verizon and Sprint have a 2.5G technology called 1XRTT.

3G Now we're talkin'. Third generation is what we finally call "mobile broadband," with the potential for early DSL-like speeds. In the US, this involves two standards: the CDMA-based EV-DO for Verizon and Sprint, and HSPA for AT&T (running now) and T-Mobile (coming this year). Japan, parts of Asia and Europe also make use of W-CDMA. Despite the name, it's actually a GSM technology developed by NTT DoCoMo. For Americans this doesn't matter and only confuses things, so forgetaboutit.

HSPA High-Speed Packet Access is the umbrella term for two complementary GSM technologies, HSDPA and HSUPA, with the D and U standing for "downlink" and "uplink" respectively. Currently HSDPA can pull down info at speeds up to 14.4Mbps, but in the US it's more like 3.6, and only under amazing conditions. AT&T plans to hit 7.2 later this year. HSUPA is an add-on to HSDPA, rolling out in the US this year, which can transmit data at up to 5.7 Mbps, up from 384Kbps.

EV-DO is CDMA's 3G data service, used by Sprint and Verizon. There are different revisions, called Revs. The latest, Rev. A, is capable of 3.1Mbps downstream and 1.8Mbps up in ideal conditions. Though its specs are not as hot as HSPA, it is the most robust and widespread 3G network currently in the US.

4G is the near future of wireless data, with download speeds equivalent to or faster than most US broadband networks.

WiMax is 4G ultra-high-speed mobile broadband developed by Intel, Motorola and Samsung. In the US, Sprint is the only carrier planning to deploy it nationwide. WiMax promises incredible long range and connectivity on par with what you can get at home—think of it as Wi-Fi on 'roids. It was supposed to roll out hard this year, but Sprint has been having a lot of internal problems, necessitating cash injections from partners like Intel. Consequently, you probably won't see WiMax till '09 or '10.

LTE Long-Term Evolution is the other major 4G ultra-high-speed mobile data dealio. It's a GSM-based technology, and quickly emerging as the dominant next-gen standard, in part thanks to WiMax's stupor and Verizon's adoption of it. Though Verizon and AT&T have competing formats currently (CDMA and GSM respectively), both pledge to roll out LTE in the US. Verizon will do this as an overlay to its current network, meaning both CDMA phones and new LTE devices will work throughout the footprint. You'll start seeing LTE in the US in 2010 with mass coverage by 2012.

We skipped over some acronyms, and sped past others, but this should be all you really need to know to navigate Giz's mobile device coverage, so do yourself a favor and bookmark it.

Do you want Giz Explains to clear up any areas of overwhelming confusion? If so, fire a message to our Tips line with the subject "Giz Explains," and we'll see what we can do.

written by iPhone Fan

Holy Egg Freckles! A chinese developer has released handwriting recognition software—both latin and chinese alphabets—for the iPhone. Similar to Graffiti, the classic writing software for Palms, you can setup HWPen from Installer.app to give you an a writing area that can take over the standard keyboard at the touch of button. It's a 1.0 beta version, but it works. Screenshots and more info after the jump.

You can download HWPen today using Installer.app. Go to "Sources," click on "Edit" and "Add" a new source:

http://iphonecake.com/src/new

Then refresh your sources and look for HWPen in the iPhoneCake packages category. Install the software and restart the iPhone.

You will have to restart your iPhone.

The software is still in beta and it has quite a few errors—it doesn't work correctly in landscape mode, for example—but it works better than Doonesbury's Newton, although not as good as later incarnations of the Newton or Graffiti, as you can see in the video. But it's a start and hopefully it will get into a solid alternative for the people who hate the on-screen keyboard. [Hanwang via ModMyiFone]

written by iPhone Fan