Apple has just seeded iPhone 2.1 beta 4 to developers—uninteresting, really, except for the fact that the push notification service has been pulled from the release "for further development."
Targeted to hit your iPhone in September, the push service allows apps to receive notifications (internet data) in the background while they're not running, a godsend for AIM and other messaging apps. Hopefully this doesn't mean it'll be delayed.
This iPhone application is for sending MMS. It works, there are some bugs, but I was able to send MMS. New version has minot bugfixes. It is still only for firmware 1.1.4 nd below. No 2.0 support yet.
MSNBC recently spoke with several GPS manufacturers about their plans to develop a turn-by-turn GPS solution for the iPhone. Such a program is likely some months away. Several of the 'bigs' in the business — TomTom, Garmin and Magellan — are interested.
"We have made our navigation system run on the iPhone; it looks good and works very well," said Dutch-based company TomTom, in a statement to MSNBC.com. "We will have to look more closely to Apple’s strategy before we can say more about what kind of opportunities this will bring us,:".
"We’re always looking at new phone platforms to expand into for Garmin Mobile, but we don’t have any announcements regarding the iPhone at this time," said Jessica Myers of Garmin International. Magellan spokesman Raphel Finelli said the company does "not have immediate plans for this, but we are looking into it."
With Simplify Media installed on your computer you can stream your home iTunes library to your mobile device wherever you may be. It will supposedly work over EDGE, 3G, or WiFi
Simplify Media for Mac/PC is a free download. Only the first 100,000 copies of the iPhone version are free to download, after that it will be $3.99.
There was a post about Qik:Broadcast video live from iPhone. At that time only users of old iPhones with firmware 1.1.4 could use it. Now there is a new version for 2.0 users.
You can get Qik with the iPhone 3G and old iPhone with firmware 2.0 by doing the following:
If you have not already, you'll need to sign up at http://qik.com/sign_up and receive an SMS from us to activate the application.
Launch Cydia.
Go to the "Sections" tab at the bottom and scroll down to "Multimedia."
Under Multimedia, you will find Qik. Tap on it then select "Install" at the top right, then in the same spot tap "Confirm."
Now you will see Qik get installed. You may hit the "Return to Cydia" button at the bottom or just quit Cydia when it is done installing.
You'll now notice a "Qik" icon on your home screen - Go ahead and launch it.
As long as your initial signup SMS/text message is still in your inbox for the first launch, your account will be linked to your device.
Make sure you have 3G service or are on WiFi (edge is not sufficient enough to stream video) before you begin broadcasting.
Digital Daily notes that Apple's market capitalization at $159.37 billion is now worth more than Google's which is at $157.56 billion. Apple's market cap first exceeded $100 billion in May of 2007. Apple was included into the S&P 100 index at that time. For interest, MacDailyNews compiled a list of the market values of other notable companies:
ZDNet Australia reports that banking "giant" HSBC is considering ditching the BlackBerry and switching over to the iPhone for its staff. HSBC has about 300,000 staff worldwide and this transition could result in 200,000 iPhone orders.
"We are actually reviewing iPhones from a HSBC Group perspective ... and when I say that, I mean globally," HSBC's Australia and New Zealand chief information officer Brenton Hush told ZDNet.com.au yesterday.
iLightr is a virtual cigarette lighter for iPhone and iPod touch that is available in the App Store now. It's only US$0.99 and is an amazingly good simulation of a lighter. Next time you're at a concert and just gotta have an encore, don't pull out a cigarette lighter. Instead, launch iLightr!
This 40-minute talk by Neil Young, CEO of ng:moco, makes a compelling case for the iPhone as the industry’s next dominant gaming platform. The address took place at iPhoneDevCamp 2 in San Francisco earlier this month.
It’s a bit long, but definitely worth a watch if you’re an iPhone gamer or game developer:
The app, which costs $6.99, turn your iPhone into an easy-to-use wireless storage device that can be access by any other device on your wireless network. A one way drop box can be added to a normal machine to drop files onto the iPhone, or alternatively you can set up a two-way shared drive to move files between the iPhone and a computer. More info on developer's website.
Here are couple videos, one for PC and one for Mac:
Today Twenty08 released a new instant messaging client for the iPhone/iPod touch. MobileChat (iTunes Link) allows you to connect to multiple IM services, including:
AIM/ICQ/.Mac/MobileMe
Windows Live/MSN
Yahoo
GTalk
Jabber
This application is well known to many iPhone users. This application is feature rich, allowing you to take and send images or IM a phone number from any of your 10 supported IM accounts. Application cost is $2.99.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Best Buy Co. will start selling the iPhone on Sept. 7, becoming first U.S. chain to do so outside of Apple Inc.'s and AT&T Inc.'s own stores.
The announcement by Best Buy expands the availability of Apple's vaunted phone to 970 full-size stores and 16 smaller Best Buy Mobile stores. It's also a coup for the Minneapolis-based chain, which has been upgrading its cell-phone departments.
Last week, Best Buy announced it had completed a two-year conversion of its stores to include upgraded cell-phone departments under the Best Buy Mobile brand. It has upgraded its computer systems to handle cell-phone activation and spent 250,000 hours training its employees.