“Six months from now you’ll say the opposite. Because ultimately applications vendors are driven by volume. And the volume is favored by the open approach that Google is taking.”
That was Google Chairman Eric Schmidt speaking at LeWeb a couple days ago. Specifically, he was addressing a question from the audience wondering why most big application developers are still choosing to develop for the iOS platform first instead of Android.
First of all, if you haven’t watched Schmidt’s entire talk with Loic Le Meur yet, you really should. They cover a range of topics important to both Google and the broader tech space. Plus, it will avoid the small situation that arose yesterday when Schmidt was misquoted, making him sound much more arrogant about the Android platform than he actually was. → Read More
With all the talk of iPhone vs. Android these days, it’s easy to forget how the majority of the world’s mobile users still make calls and access data: via feature phones. A recently released report from mobile strategy firm VisionMobile takes a look at today’s mobile marketplace finding that, despite the sharp rise in smartphone shipments over 2010 and 2011, global smartphone penetration (by OS) is at just 27%.
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Most folks spent their Thanksgiving weekend ensuring that every inch of their intestinal track was thoroughly covered in gravy. Others spent it trying to get just drunk enough that their relative’s worst habits were bearable.
Some, however, spent the weekend doing something pretty much only they can do: hacking the heck out of the iPhone. As a result, everyone waitin’ and wishin’ for an iPhone 4S carrier unlock has something to be thankful for. → Read More
By now you probably know there’s a hidden camera feature that people can enable on iOS 5 devices, allowing users to snap photos in panorama mode (see video).
However, to enable the hidden feature your device needed to be jailbroken. But as it turns out, you can actually get panorama mode working on your iOS 5 device without jailbreaking it. → Read More
Japan-based Sanwa has announced the so-called Geiger Fukushima [JP], a portable and light (70g) geiger counter that uses the iPhone to measure beta and gamma rays in your environment. Just connect the 14cm long probe to the iPhone, fire up an app that supports the device and view the handset’s display to track radiation readings. There are many portable geiger counters out there, but the idea here is to make use of the iPhone’s capabilities to keep the price down: just the handset and the Geiger Fukushima are enough. The device can be ordered by people living outside Japan, too (it costs US$203 in the Japan Trend Shop). → Read More
iPhone hacks are pretty cool and this is one of the cooler of the cool ones. It’s an app that sends out an acoustic wave in order to measure the distance between two phones or between the phone and a microphone. While it’s not completely accurate, it’s still pretty fun.
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The Kogeto Dot isn’t necessarily new. We spotted it back at TechCrunch Disrupt New York and found it to be quite the fun little iPhone accessory, but back then it was merely a prototype. Today, we’ve gotten our hands on the real deal and I have to say, I’ve had a pretty good time playing around with this little guy.
Along with the accessory itself, you’ll also need the Looker iPhone app to shoot, de-warp and upload your videos. You see, since Dot shoots in panoramic mode, the video looks kind of like a swirling black hole until you de-warp it. Processing the video into something watchable only takes a couple minutes tops. → Read More
Verizon’s new 4G data plan promotion sounds awfully generous, but CFO Fran Shammo said at an investors’ conference yesterday that it’s more than just a way to push 4G hardware during the holidays. The deal is also meant to reduce congestion on the company’s 3G EV-DO network, so iPhone users will be able to enjoy a more consistent network experience.
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If you have more money than sense, I have an iPhone case for you. Watchmaker De Bethune has created the DW4 aka the Dream Watch 4, an iPhone case made of bead-blasted titanium with an embedded mechanical watch in the back. Why? Because the poor can suck it is why.
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Recently we’ve seen reports flying around claiming that Apple has plans to put Siri on older generation devices, and may even be testing out the personal assistant on the iPhone 4. The news seemed more than a bit unexpected, so we decided to wait for Apple’s confirmation.
Lo and behold, Apple has responded just as we thought they would: Siri is an iPhone 4S exclusive, at least in any official sense. → Read More
The makers of the Peel iPod phone adapter have outdone themselves. Their new device – called the Vooma Peel PG92 – is a unique case that, in conjunction with a jailbroken iPhone – adds dual SIM capabilities to the iPhone 4 and 4S.
The device itself consists of a back-up battery that can charge your phone and what amounts to a dumbed-down cellphone. When you jailbreak your iPhone and download the Vooma app, you can control the phone inside the case to make calls using an SIM card. In short, it charges, unlocks, and enables dual SIMs for your iPhone.
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If you’re a fan of the Parrot AR.Drone, you’ll probably get a kick out its earthbound relative, the AirXRacer by AniApp. I got a first hands on with this iPhone- or Android-controlled racecar in Shenzhen and you will be able to pick it up this holiday season.
The car is a standard RC racer that, as you can see, is quite fast. You control it using your phone’s accelerometer or using an onscreen “wheel,” a method that offers a bit more finesse. The creator, Jeff Luo of AniApp Labs, said the cars would be available in Radio Shack and Brookstone this holiday and the apps are available now for download. → Read More
Photos were a little hard to grab but I got to see a real, live “transparent” iPhone last night in Shenzhen. The kit is apparently quite easy to install – a few screws on the bottom and then you just slide off the back. I had seen kits advertised before, but this is the first time I’ve seen on in real life and, oddly enough, it’s kind of endearing.
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When Apple first unveiled the iPhone 4S, there was one feature that left every jaw in the room on the floor. Her name is Siri. Scott Forstall demoed the personal assistant at Apple’s media event, and the entire presentation went off without a hitch. Then, as expected, Apple released their commercials, which were equally impressive. In short, everyone and their brother was amped for Siri.
Then the iPhone 4S was released. Save for some battery life issues and my own mini-rant on Siri’s gender and humility, there really weren’t many complaints. Now, however, I find myself more bothered by my own expectations than anything else.
Why? Because Siri isn’t perfect, and perfect is what I expected. → Read More
While most of the furor over the the new iPhone has died down around these parts, Apple has announced that a few new markets will soon be able to get their proverbial hands on the iPhone 4S very shortly. The 4S is poised to hit 15 new countries by November 11, including major Asian markets like South Korea and Hong Kong.
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It hits you when you least expect it. It slips away under a mask of dormant inactivity. And it can ruin your entire day.
It’s your iPhone 4S battery life, and it sucks.
It’s been 17 days since the iPhone 4S was released — 19 since iOS 5 — and just like the madness that was Antennagate, complaints are churning out left and right. As Erick so clearly pointed out, the iPhone 4S is meant to offer 8 hours of talk time, or “up to 6 hours” of Internet use on 3G. For so many of us — including iPod touch and iPhone-not-4Ses running iOS 5 — that simply isn’t the case. But there may be hope. → Read More
In a moment as historic as Alexander Bell’s call to his assistant, an iPhone hacker wrote on Twitter that he had successfully ported Siri to the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch.
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No one is more excited about the iPhone’s availability at Sprint than CEO Dan Hesse. And it’s no surprise either, seeing that the carrier is investing at least $15.5 billion over the next four years just to offer the device to customers.
That said, Hesse has been tooting the iPhone horn as much as possible, taking special note of its efficient use of data. He even went so far as to say that the iPhone’s data handling may quite possibly keep Sprint’s unlimited data plans alive longer than expected. → Read More
Sprint Nextel, the no. 3 carrier in the United States, reported its quarterly earnings today, and they’re quite solid. In Q3 2011, the company generated consolidated net operating revenues of $8.3 billion, up from $8.15 billion in the same period last year and relatively flat compared to Q2 2011.
The company booked a quarterly loss of $301 million (or 10 cents per share), roughly a third the loss it reported in the same quarter a year ago ($911 million). → Read More
These are bittersweet days for Tony Fadell. The man who oversaw 18 generations of the iPod and the first three versions of the iPhone is finally launching his new company, Nest Labs, today. It has been eighteen months in the making and marks a new era for thermostats– and quite possibly other neglected categories of home electronics.
But he’s also recently lost his former boss and long time friend Steve Jobs. In this final segment of our sit-down interview with Fadell, he talks about the Steve Jobs he knew. He also talks about the future for Apple, and what he hopes Apple’s legacy will be for entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.
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