IPhone news, updates and Iphone information

This Line2 app was just approved after a 3 month delay, partially caused by the Google Voice shenanigans Apple pulled back in July when they pulled out all the Google Voice apps from the App Store. This is really similar.

Toktumi works similarly to Google Voice, letting you use one virtual number to forward to your real numbers. It doesn't support SMS, and it costs $15, but it supports business features like phone trees and other filtering options. The Line2 app is by Sean Kovacs, the guy who made "GV Mobile", the Google Voice app we still use on our iPhones now.

It's strange that there's a double standard for these apps in the app store when they're so similar, but it could be the missing SMS functionality that makes Toktumi more appetizing for Apple/AT&T when compared to Google Voice. [Tech Crunch]

Ars Technica

Heavy Data Use Puts a Strain on AT&T Service New York Times Not only do iPhone owners download applications, stream music and videos and browse the Web at higher rates than the average smartphone user, ... Roundup: Mystery laptops, AT&T overload, Google's fingers in ...VentureBeat AT&T actually offers iPhone customers the service they pay for?ZDNet Blogs Apple responds to iPhone cracksKansas City Star ZDNet -Cable360.net -Switched all 216 news articles »

Today's now available features another in-ear headphone release, although the latest stylish-yet-sturdy cans from V-Moda fit into a much lower price bracket.

• V-Moda released another pair of in-ear headphones called the Faze, and the spec sheet certainly makes it sound like they can withstand a beating. With aluminum alloy bodies and Kevlar reinforced cabling, I half expect to be able to use them as a zip-line cord (disclaimer: don't try it, you'll get hurt). V-Moda didn't sacrifice the Faze's looks in exchange for their solid construction, either. The cans strongly resemble their fashionable precursor, the Vibe, with shiny silver accents on black metal earpieces. The headphones feature an in-line mic so you can take calls from your cellphone, and even include a 2.5mm adapter for anyone without a 3.5mm headphone jack on their mobile. If you're looking to pick up a set of earbuds that are both stylish and solid enough to trip an elephant, you can grab a pair of Fazes today for $50. [Best Buy via iLounge]

Detect language - Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Belarusian Bulgarian Catalan Chinese Croatian CzechTrade Danish Dutch English Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician < / option> German Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Islenska Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Korean Latvian Lithuanian Macedonian Malay Maltese Norwegian Persian Polish Portuguese Romana Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swahili Swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese Welsh Yiddish < span class = langselect id = sl_select> > Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Belarusian Bulgarian Catalan Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Croatian CzechTrade Danish < option value = "nl"> Dutch English Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician German Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Islenska Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Korean Latvian Lithuanian Macedonian Malay Maltese < option value = "no"> Norwegian Persian Polish Portuguese Romana Russian Serbian Slovak < / option> Slovenian Spanish Swahili swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese Welsh Yiddish class=swap swap < / span> < tr> window.jstiming.load.tick ( 'br'), h) = new (_History; ctr = new _TranslateForm (new _LanguageSelector ( 'old_sl', 'sl_select', ' 3 '), new _LanguageSelector (' old_tl 'tl_select,' ', '3'), 'old_submit', 'submit_button', h, 'source', 'result_box', 'dict', 'auto trans', '/ translate' , '/ translate_t', undefined, 'http://209.85.225.132/translate_f', 'select_text', 'select_document', 'file_div', 'file', true, 'search', 'CLIR'); window.jstiming . load.tick ( 'prt') span © 2009 Google < iframe id = "annotation" marginheight = "0" marginwidth = "0" scrolling = "no" frameborder = "0">

Translating … Detect language—AfrikaansAlbanianArabicBelarusianBulgarianCatalanChineseCroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGermanGreekHebrewHindiHungarianIcelandicIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseKoreanLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseNorwegianPersianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSpanishSwahiliSwedishThaiTurkishUkrainianVietnameseWelshYiddish > AfrikaansAlbanianArabicBelarusianBulgarianCatalanChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGermanGreekHebrewHindiHungarianIcelandicIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseKoreanLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseNorwegianPersianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSpanishSwahiliSwedishThaiTurkishUkrainianVietnameseWelshYiddish swap window.jstiming.load.tick(’br’);h = new _History();ctr = new _TranslateForm(new _LanguageSelector(’old_sl’,’sl_select’,'3′),new _LanguageSelector(’old_tl’,'tl_select’,'3′),’old_submit’,’submit_button’, h,’source’,'result_box’,'dict’,'autotrans’,'/translate’,'/translate_t’,undefined,’http://209.85.225.132/translate_f’, ’select_text’,’select_document’, ‘file_div’, ‘file’,true,’search’,'clir’);window.jstiming.load.tick(’prt’)Contribute a better translationThank you for contributing your translation suggestion to Google Translate.We'll use your suggestion to improve translation quality in future updates to our system.</ div> <div id=clir> </ div> </ td> </ tr> <tr> <td class=submitcell> <div style=float:left> <select name = sl id = old_sl tabindex = 0 > <option value="Auto"> Detect language </ option> <option value="separator" disabled> - </ option> <option value="af"> Afrikaans </ option> <option value="sq"> Albanian </ option> <option value="ar"> Arabic </ option> <option value="BE"> Belarusian </ option> <option value="bg"> Bulgarian </ option> <option value = "ca "> Catalan </ option> <option value="zh-CN"> 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Translating…

The Windows iPhone Forbes Don't tell Apple, but the App Store currently holds an iPhone application that works with Adobe Flash, runs Google's Chrome browser and hosts a fully ... and more »

We'll be honest, it takes a whole lot to get us excited about iPhone / iPod docks or digital picture frames these days, but congratulations Sony, you've managed to pierce through our hardened hearts with the ICF-CL75iP Dream Machine. Sony Insider brings word of the actually quite handsome bedside attraction, an assimilation of those aforementioned products with an alarm clock to boot. We're looking at a 7-inch WVGA LCD screen, 1GB built-in memory, FM / AM radio, and a retractible dock -- in case you don't feel like capitalizing on the total synergistic package. Photos can be pulled directly from the Apple handheld or loaded via USB, and your wake-up options include built-in presets, a customizable 10-second voice recording, or the iPod / iPhone itself. Our only knock at this point is the minimal codec support -- MP3 and WMA for audio, and MP4, M-JPEG, and AVI for video -- but if the $149.95 price on a cached SonyStyle listing stays accurate, we can be a little forgiving. In fact, throw in Chumby widget support and we'll be downright smitten -- make it happen, Sony.

Read - Sony Insider
Read - Sony Style cached listing

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household

Sony ICF-CL75iP alarm clock / digital frame / iPod dock a surprisingly attractive assimilation originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ipodnn

Sony's ICF-iPod alarm clock, digital frame and Dock for ipod/iphone Slippery Brick We're used to seeing alarm clocks, digital photo frames, and ipod/iphone docks that are boring and simple. But lately manufacturers have been delivering ... Dexim Premium mhub Dock Station for iphone/ipod/BlackberryU.S. Daily Sony preps iPhone clock radio with 7-inch LCDipodnn Sony Debuts First PC Speaker With Dock for iPod / iPhone:SYS-CON Media Review seeker -Electronista -Sony Insider all 73 news articles »

Victory Records Announces AIDEN iPhone Application Reuters 2 /PRNewswire/ -- VICTORY RECORDS' recording artist AIDEN debut their new iPhone application today, available immediately, on the Apple App Store. ... and more »

We can't say that the idea of stereoscopic displays on cellphones ever really appealed to us -- more than anything, it sounds like the recipe for a nasty migraine. But provided a company figures out how to do it right (and without the silly glasses) true 3D could lead to some pretty interesting interface design, to say the very least. With Sony singing the technology's praises at IFA this morning, it's fitting that Nokia is showing off one such number at Nokia World in Stuttgart today. According to Pocket-lint, the N810 Internet Tablet shown above has been outfitted with a "special screen" made by a "secret third party manufacturer" and displays 3D content to the naked eye. Sure, we're pretty skeptical that 3D will be a hit (or even stop being lousy) any time soon, but who knows? There seem to be a few companies out there who think that it could pull them out of their doldrums.

[Via The Raw Feed]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Nokia's 3D N810 Internet Tablet caught on blurrycam originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tech standards are important. They're, well, standards. They shape the way the world works, ideally. So if you wanna influence your little world, you probably wanna shape (or maybe even create) standards. Take Apple, for example.

They Call It "Open" For a Reason
One of the more excellent aspects of Snow Leopard, actually, is its full-scale deployment of OpenCL 1.0—Open Computing Language—a framework that allows programmers to more easily utilize the full power of mixes of different kinds of processors like GPUs and multi-core CPUs. (Much of the excitement for that is in leveraging the GPU for non-graphical applications.)

OpenCL lives up to its name: It is a royalty-free open standard managed by the Khronos Group, and supported by AMD/ATI, Apple, ARM, IBM, Intel, Nvidia, among others. Interesting thing about this open industry standard is that it was developed and proposed by... Apple.

What Is a Standard?
By "standard," we're talking about a format, interface or programming tool that a bunch of companies or people or organizations agree is the way something's going to get done, whether it's how a movie is encoded or the way websites are programmed. Otherwise, nothing works. A video that plays on one computer won't play on another, web sites that work in one browser don't work in another, etc. With increased connectedness between different machines and different platforms, standards are increasingly vital to progress.

Standards can range from open (anybody can use them, for free) to open with conditions (anybody can use them as long they follow conditions X, Y and Z) to closed (you gotta have permission, and most likely, pay for it). Some companies view standards strictly as royalty machines; others don't make much money on them, instead using them to make sure developers do things the way they want them to. Apple falls into this latter category, by choice or possibly just by fate.

Kicking the Big Guy in the Shins
Of course, OpenCL isn't the only open standard that Apple's had a hand in creating or supporting that actually went industry-wide. When you're the little guy—as Apple was, and still is in computer OS marketshare, with under 10 percent—having a hand in larger industry standards is important. It keeps your platform and programming goals from getting steamrolled by, say, the de facto "standards" enforced by the bigger guy who grips 90 percent of the market.

If you succeed in creating a standard, you're making everybody else do things the way you want them done, but presumably without strong-arming. If you're doubting how important standards are, look no further than Sony throwing a new one at the wall every week hoping it'll stick. Or Microsoft getting basically everybody but iTunes to use its PlaysForSure DRM a couple years ago. Or its alternative codecs and formats for basically every genuine industry standard out there. To be sure, there is money to be made in standards, but only if the standard is adopted—and royalties can be collected.

Web Standards: The Big Headache
The web has always been a sore spot in the standards debate. The web is a "universal OS," or whatever the cloud-crazy pundits call it, but what shapes your experience is your browser and in part, how compliant it is with the tools web developers use to build their products. Internet Exploder shit all over standards for years, and web programmers still want IE6 to die in a fiery eternal abyss.

Enter WebKit, an open source browser engine developed by Apple based off of the KHTML engine. It's so standards-compliant it tied with Opera's Presto engine to be the first to pass the Acid3 test. What's most striking about WebKit isn't the fact it powers Safari and Google Chrome on the desktop, but basically every full-fledged smartphone browser: iPhone, Android, Palm Pre, Symbian and (probably) BlackBerry. So WebKit hasn't just driven web standards through its strict adherence to them, but it has essentially defined, for now, the way the "real internet" is viewed on mobile devices. All of the crazy cool web programming you see now made is made possible by standards-compliant browsers.

True, OpenCL and WebKit are open source—Apple's been clever about the way it uses open source, look no further than the guts of OS X—but Apple is hardly devoted to the whole "free and open" thing, even when it comes to web standards.

All the AV Codecs You Can Eat
The recent debate over video in the next web standards, known collectively as HTML5, shows that: Mozilla supports the open-source Ogg Theora video codec, but Apple says it's too crappy to become the web's default video standard—freeing everyone from the tyranny of Adobe's Flash. Apple says Ogg's quality and hardware acceleration support don't match up to the Apple-supported MPEG-4 standardized H.264 codec, which is tied up by license issues that keep it from being freely distributed and open. (Google is playing it up the middle for the moment: While it has doubts about the performance of Ogg Theora, Chrome has built-in support for it and H.264.)

Apple has actually always been a booster of MPEG's H.264 codec, which is the default video format supported by the iPhone—part of the reason YouTube re-encoded all of its videos, actually—and gets hardware acceleration in QuickTime X with Snow Leopard. H.264 is basically becoming the video codec (it's in Blu-ray, people use it for streaming, etc.).

Why would Apple care? It means Microsoft's WMV didn't become the leading standard.

A sorta similar story with AAC, another MPEG standard. It's actually the successor to MP3, with better compression quality—and no royalties—but Apple had the largest role in making it mainstream by making it their preferred audio format for the iPod and iTunes Store. (It saw some limited use in portables a little earlier, but it didn't become basically mandatory for audio players to support it until after the iPod.) Another bonus, besides AAC's superiority to MP3: Microsoft's WMA, though popular for a while, never took over.

FireWire I Mean iLINK I Mean IEEE 1394
Speaking of the early days of the iPod, we can't leave out FireWire, aka IEEE 1394. Like OpenCL, Apple did a lot of the initial development work (Sony, IBM and others did a lot of work on it as well), presented it to a larger standards body—the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers—and it became the basis for a standard. They tried to charge a royalty for it at first, but that didn't work out. It's a successful standard in a lot of ways—I mean, it is still on a lot of stuff like hard drives and camcorders still—but USB has turned out to be more universal, despite being technically inferior. (At least until USB 3.0 comes out, hooray!)

That's just a relatively quick overview of some of the standards Apple's had a hand in one way or another, but it should give you an idea about how important standards are, and how a company with a relatively small marketshare (at least, in certain markets) can use them wield a lot of influence over a much broader domain.

Shaping standards isn't always for royalty checks or dominance—Apple's position doesn't allow them to be particularly greedy when it comes to determining how you watch stuff or browse the internet. They've actually made things better for the sake of making things better, at least so far. One glance at the iPhone app approval process should give anybody who thinks they're the most gracious tech company around reason to watch out for ulterior motives.

Still something you wanna know? Send questions about standards, things that are open other than your mom's legs or Sony Ultra Memory Stick XC Duo Quadro Micro Pro II to tips@gizmodo.com, with "Giz Explains" in the subject line.