Would you buy an iPhone if it only cost $99 subsidized? It could make choosing other smartphone-like devices a lot tougher for most consumers. Analyst Charlie Wolf of Needham Research thinks that Apple would be able to lower the subsidized price of the 8GB iPhone 3G to $99 and still make a not-too-shabby 42.3% profit margin, according to Electronista. Wolf also said that if the price dropped to $99 it could double or even triple projected sales figures and leave most other smartphones in the dust, with the exception of “niche” products like BlackBerry devices. → Read More
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2069634&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=13G Baseband Tool from iphonedev on Vimeo. The wizards at the iPhone-Dev Team have just about cracked the iPhone baseband which means carrier unlock is almost upon us. What does this mean? Sadly, not much. The iPhone is still physically – at least in theory – locked to purchase and activation at AT&T and Apple stores so those heady days of buying an iPhone to crack at home are long gone. It is my suspicion that lots of 3Gs will soon be falling off the back of trucks around the world, especially in Russia and Asia, as folks dedicated to one G.S.M. carrier or the other decide they don’t want to switch. Baseband unlocks essentially cede control of the phone’s telecomm portions to hacked code. Usually it’s impossible to run hacked baseband code but the iPhone Dev folks have patched the baseband without alerting the phone itself, resulting in the Great iPhone Unlocking of 2007 and the future iPhone unlocking of 2008/2009. → Read More
Yes, we know you can get Qik for your jailbroken iPhones now, but this is the App Store version and Mr. Rose, personal hero of mine, gets a look at it before all of us. Jealous? Didn’t think so. Anyway, Rose pontificates that the version he has is near final and that it should be coming soon for free. Would you want your Qik followers to know exactly where you’re streaming from? Also, you better order that Mophie Juice Pack now because this is going to suck the life out of your iPhone 3G faster than a paparrazo’s shutter when Lohan slips a nip. Update: Bhaskar Roy, Co-founder of Qik, has commented on the matter: Hi all – wanted to clarify that we are looking into having Qik be available on App Store, but at present are not sure when and how this will happen. → Read More
That’s if you pre-ordered yours on or before September 8th, suckas. If you ordered beyond that date then don’t expect your juice pack to start shipping until the 30th of October. But be warned, consumers, for the juice pack for the iP3G is still awaiting its “Works for iPhone” Apple certification, which could effect shipping dates so maybe they should have held off, no? Either way, I hope mine will be waiting for me at the office when I get back next week. Mophie → Read More
According to BGR, Wal-Mart may be carrying the iPhone 3G starting on November 15th. Also noteworthy is that it doesn’t look like the iPhone will be sold at Radio Shack, as previously rumored. Now, I’ve never purchased a cell phone from Wal-Mart before but here’s to hoping the activation process will be relatively hassle free, as I don’t remember ever seeing anybody in the electronics departments of any of the Wal-Mart stores I’ve been in. I’ve seen a counter, I’ve seen locked glass cases holding cameras and video games, and I’ve seen a cash register, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen an actual person. It might be a good idea to cross-train the dependable lady behind the jewelry counter in the art of cell phone activations, because she’s almost always around. → Read More
The is the best use of the iPhone 3G I’ve seen yet. That is, other than using it as a communication device. Some guy, captain-ahab, dropped his phone in a river, rendering it useless. So, in the true spirit of something or other, he decided to turn his once head-turning phone into a fishing lure. A bit of revenge, if you will: that river took you from me, precious iPhone, now I’m going to use you to take something from the river. In the future, may I suggest not using your phone near a large body of water, or at least being less clumsy? via Make Blog → Read More
Earthscape (iTunes link), the incredible iPhone application that brings Google-earth to the iPhone, just discounted its $10 pricetag to…free. For a “limited time.”
The app, which we first wrote about in May, puts a little globe in your pocket that you can spin around and zoom in to specific locations. It shows where you are based on your GPS coordinates, highlights locations with Wikipedia entries (and lets you read those entries as well) and flickr photos. Users can also take their own photos and add them to the application’s database. They are then optionally displayed to other users with the geotag information (see if you can find the TechCrunch image I uploaded to Atherton, California). → Read More
Once you’re done turning your iPhone photos into works of art that Monet would be envious of, check out iGolf, a minutes-old app created by Palo Alto-based Social Gaming Network.
The application uses the iPhone’s accelerometer to detect a golf-swing like motion with the phone. Choose a club and swing the iPhone just like a golf club. Save your high scores and challenge your friends to beat your distance. Our best score with the driver so far is 406 yards.
The app is free, which will be appreciated by those of us who’ve spent untold numbers of quarters playing Golden Tee at the local bar. TechCrunch writer Jason Kincaid tests the app – see the video below.
Try not to throw your iPhone through the window while playing. But if you do throw your iPhone through a window, please send us a video of you doing it. → Read More
Congrats, Steve ol’ buddy! Your life long dream has finally come true! Yeah, yeah, selling millions of iPhone 3Gs was cool and all – but now it has won the UK’s Stuff Magazine readers pick award for “Gadget of the Year”! You can pick up your plaque and $50 dollar Hometown Buffet gift card next week. The other nominees for the readers choice award were the PS3, 360, Wii Fit, and the Zeppelin iPod speakers. It’s a good thing those iPod speakers didn’t win. If they had, all iPods and iPhones around the world would have simultaneously stopped working due to sadness. → Read More
If you like taking and sharing photos on your iPhone, add this to your list of must have applications: Gesture. The $4.99 application lets you turn any photo you take on the iPhone into a really cool artwork-type image. Easily pointilize the photo, or zoom in and do the detail work yourself. My quick artwork is above, with my dog Laguna acting as the model.
Altered images can be saved in the photos folder and/or posted to the web (example). Publicly saved images can be viewed here. → Read More
Add this to your list of must have iPhone applications. Direct Line (iTunes link) is a service that helps you automatically navigate phone trees to get right to an operator (exactly what companies don’t want you to do).
Install the application, browse of search the included companies, and select the one you want. Direct Line then calls the number and preselects the appropriate choices to get you to an actual person. → Read More
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