Archive for February 9th, 2010

Just over a week ago, Apple published a table that showed the percentage of the number of applications that were approved and therefore also those that were rejected during the review. These numbers are a bit higher now: 98 to 97% for new applications and 99 to 97% for the updates.

There are more than 140,000 applications in Apple AppStore, so a change of 2 percentage points is certainly not as small as it may seem. The number of rejected apps might increase even more in the future. The most important concern for developers right now is the obligation to add metadata to their applications.

According to the statistics just 14% of iPhone users have updated the firmware to version 3.1.3.

In particular 72.3% are still using firmware 3.1.2, less than 1% - firmware 3.1.1 and 4.6% have previous versions yet. The reasons for this are probably from the fact that 3.1.3 is only a minor update. Another reason could be the uncertainty of the jailbreak.

We have spoken several times about Flash CS5 that will allow to transform the Adobe Flash applications in real native iPhone apps ready to be distributed through the AppStore. This video shows a quick overview of everything that Flash developers will be able to:

The are many possibilities. The only limitation is the skill of the developer. You can create games using the accelerometer, a multitouch applications, apps with video, pictures or even Twitter. We are looking forward to Flash CS5 release.

iPad's announcement caused many people to wonder why Apple decided to use an ancient standard for video output rather than a more modern protocol, such as DisplayPort or HDMI output.

About ten years ago Apple changed Macs output from VGA to DVI standard that supported HD resolution displays and improved digital accuracy. Few years later Apple made another shift – from DVI to DisplayPort. So why Apple chose VGA output on the iPad? There are 2 main reasons:

1. Most of the video projectors support the iPad’s resolution of 1024x768 over a VGA port.
2. VGA is sufficient to handle the iPad’s resolution, and it is really cheaper and easier.

For more details – watch the video of Daniel Eran Dilger from the RoughDrafted Magazine:

iPhone 3G is on left and 4G is on the right

iPhone repair site iResQ.com has posted photos of the parts for the iPhone 4G that will be released later this year.

As we can see, the most notable feature is a front panel, which is approximately 1/4” taller than the iPhone 3GS.

You can also notice the reflective surface on the new front panel that is located just above the earpiece slot. iResQ suggests it is a likely location for a proximity sensor, though that wouldn’t explain the need for the mirrored surface to be visible on the front of the device.

The LCD appears to be factory glued to the digitizer. This looks more like the iPhone 2G than the 3G or 3GS, as the latest versions have a digitizer that can be separated from the LCD. This means for us that the 4G screen repair prices will be much higher since both parts will have to be replaced at once.

The iPhone Dev-Team has released PwnageTool 3.1.5 for Mac OS X. It allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to safely upgrade to firmware 3.1.3. With PwnageTool you can preserve jailbreak and ultrasn0w unlock. But if you’re using the blacksn0w unlock with baseband 05.11.07 you will need to stay at firmware 3.1.2.

PwnageTool 3.1.5 creates a custom 3.1.3 IPSW for the following devices:

• iPhone 2G
• iPhone 3G
• iPhone 3GS with early bootrom
• iPod touch 1G
• iPod touch 2G with early bootrom

Warning! Don't try to use this tool if you have  iPhone 3GS with firmware 3.1.3 - it just won't work. If you have iPod Touch 1G, iPhone 2G or factory unlocked iPhone 3G , try to use redsn0w - is would be much easier.

You can download PwnageTool 3.1.5. here.

Credit Suisse analyst Bill Shope recently met with Apple executives:

Apple wants the iPad to be the best device for a few key use cases. For instance, the company believes it could eventually be seen as superior to both handheld and notebook devices for browsing the Internet, using the App Store, and consuming mobile media (video, photos, and e-books). Nevertheless, in other areas, notebooks, the iPhone, or an iPod may be more appropriate. This clear segmentation of capabilities suggests that cannibalization may be less of a concern than most currently believe.

Shope writes about the price:

it remains to be seen how much traction the iPad gets initially, management noted that it will remain nimble (pricing could change if the company is not attracting as many customers as anticipated).

Sounds great. What do you think about $200 iPad? Would you buy one?