• apple,  ios,  iphone

    Jailbreakers Holding Up iPhone 4 Update?

    Are iPhone jailbreakers holding up the next ROM update for the iPhone 4? They might be if an article posted by RedmondPie.com is true.

    “[A] recent tweet by a twitter user @MaxdMerc, a guy working at the Apple Store, Lakeside (UK) has reportedly confirmed that the next firmware update might be delayed slightly due to Apple working on a fix to patch the hole, recently used to jailbreak iOS 4.”

    I have to believe that this is something that Apple would do to, as some would say, “protect” the iPhone and iPhone customers.

    [Via RedmondPie.com…]

  • android,  apple,  google,  ios,  iphone,  itunes

    For Apple, Google, the Stakes Are Sky High

    Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform are on top of the smartphone world right now.

    Any one who has been watching both Apple’s and Google’s rise in the smartphone, music, and video businesses knows that the two tech titans are headed for a high stakes showdown in the sky.

    Apple’s approach to smartphones, and the entire iTunes ecosystem, is a walled garden that takes care of your every need; as long as you are using iTunes on your Mac or PC and an iDevice running iOS 3 or 4. Google, following in Microsoft’s desktop footsteps, has flung open the doors to their Android operating system and allows anyone with the ambition and the know-how to develop a new phone or develop applications for their smartphone platform.

    For both companies, streaming content over the Internet, or the “Cloud” as some like to say, is the next battleground for the hearts, minds, and dollars of gadget lovers across the globe.

    A recent online Baron’s Technology Trader column, How a Droid Could Eat Apple’s Lunch” talks about how Google’s and Apple’s approach to “locking” customers into their ecosystems have taken divergent paths toward the same goal. Right now, Apple is sitting pretty as the undisputed king of the kill. The number of Android smartphones being put on the market is staggering when compared to the number of carriers selling the iPhone, which is only available from Apple.

    It’s hard to say who will be the winner of this show down. Barron’s columnist Mark Veverka writes:

    “There are other reasons why Android is gaining momentum. Many Silicon Valley veterans envision Apple’s repeating the mistakes it made during the rollout of its first personal computers, when it chose to keep a closed proprietary system over a more pervasive operating system pushed by IBM (IBM), Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC). The WinTel collaboration took Apple to the brink of bankruptcy, and some fear that Apple is going down the same path with the iOS. “Android attacks Apple at its weakest point, which is its walled-garden ecosystem[.]”

    You can read the full article on Barron’s website.

  • apple,  ios,  iphone

    Shocker: iPhone 4 Issues Requires More Than A Software Fix

    Over the weekend, I Twittered the following as I was trying to catch up on the latest iPhone 4 cellular radio no-you’re-holding-it-wrong PR disaster.

    I wrote:

    1. NYTimes: Apple Acknowledges Flaw in iPhone Signal Meter http://nyti.ms/ajIgZc
    2. Why Apple’s iPhone 4 Update Won’t Fix Your Reception Problem http://bit.ly/cpqTNR
    3. Apple says software will fix iPhone 4, others say that this is a hardware problem. What do you think? Me? I think it’s both hard/software. via mobile web

    Gizmodo is now reporting that when they spoke to AppleCare three different times today AppleCare confirmed the software update will NOT fix the reception issue.

    • One solution is to hold the phone differently, avoiding to touch the left bottom corner of the phone (coincidentally, this is how models hold the iPhone 4 in most of Apple’s promotional material).
    • The other other solution is to buy a case or one of Apple’s $30 bumpers

    Any way you cut it, this is a poor situation to be in for iPhone 4 customers. Apple has stated in an open letter on their website that, “[a]s a reminder, if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.”

    I don’t have an iPhone 4, but I am in support of the free Apple iPhone bumpers idea being floated around. Apple is sitting on a mountain of cash, and what better way to make lemonade out of lemons than giving away free bumpers until Apple is able to re-engineer the radio dead spot?

    So how about it, Apple? Are you guys game? The legions of Apple fans have earned a little kick-back for their fanatical support over the last 10 years.

    [Via GadgetsOnTheGo.net…; Gizmodo.com…]

  • android,  apple,  ios,  iphone,  motorola

    Motorola Has Some Fun At Apple’s Expense

    Looks like Motorola is jumping at the chance to go after Apple and their widely publicized reception problems with the new iPhone 4.

    A full page ad that appeared in the New York Times over the weekend, the ad reads:

    “Most importantly, it comes with a double antenna design,” the advertisement reads. “The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like and use it just about anywhere to make crystal clear calls. You have a voice. And you deserve to be heard.”

    Ouch!

    [Via AppleInsider.com…]

  • hp

    Palm: A New Day Begins

    Today is the first day that Palm operates as a division of Hewlett-Packard. The HP/Palm merger has been completed and Palm is now a division of computer giant, HP.

    On the Palm blog, Jon Zilber writes:

    “Today, Palm becomes part of the largest technology company in the world, HP.

    It’s our first day together, but it’s already abundantly clear to everyone who’s been involved in bringing the two companies together that great things are in store. The combination of Palm’s trailblazing webOS and HP’s strength as the leading provider of everything from PCs, laptops, and printers to home electronics and enterprise systems promises an amazing roadmap of new tools for your mobile and web-connected future.”

    You can read the full post on the Palm blog.

    Alongside the blog post, a press release was posted on the Palm website.

    “With webOS, HP will deliver its customers a unique and compelling experience across smartphones and other mobility products,” said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. “This allows us the opportunity to fully engage in growing our smartphone family offering and the footprint of webOS.”

    Under Jon Rubinstein, former Palm chairman and chief executive officer, the Palm global business unit will report to Bradley. Palm will be responsible for webOS software development and webOS based hardware products, from a robust smartphone roadmap to future slate PCs and netbooks.

    “With HP’s full backing and global strengths, I’m confident that webOS will be able to reach its full potential,” said Rubinstein. ”This agreement will accelerate the development of this incredible platform with new resources, scale and support from a world-respected brand.”

    You can read the full press release on the Palm website.