IphoneOs4
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iPhone covered front to back with camera-related rumors
Well, here's a nice bit of symmetry to emerge from the Apple rumor mill in recent days -- some new purported details on both the rear and front-facing camera on the next-generation iPhone. The first, and more straightforward of the two, comes courtesy of The Chosum Ilbo, which is reporting that the next iPhone will pack a 5-megapixel camera supplied by LG Innotek. Details on it are otherwise pretty light, but the site says that LG has already started producing the "sophisticated cameras" at its plant in Gumi this month, with mass production supposedly set to begin in the second half of this year. The second rumor concerns the iPhone's front-facing camera, and comes after a bit of digging in the latest iPhone 4 SDK beta. According to MacRumors, the SDK not only includes an unfortunate bit of code that suggests video calls will be WiFi-only, but evidence that video chat will be integrated into Apple's Game Center as well -- exactly how remains unclear, although there's certainly no shortage of possibilities. Dive into the links below for the complete details.
Apple's next iPhone: what we know (and what we don't)
The iPhone 4G? iPhone 4? iPhone HD? Simply "iPhone"? There's plenty we still don't know about Apple's upcoming handset, like the name for instance, but thanks to an unprecedented leak and a whole bunch of peripheral rumors, we've got just about the most info you could hope for going into a major Apple launch. Follow along after the break as we parse through what we know, what we've heard, and what we hope for in the next iPhone.
Apple rumor roundup: Intrinsity behind the A4, ARM being eyed
Mama always said that downpours followed Spring showers, and sure enough, the Apple news has been flowing hot and heavy overnight. For starters, an IEEE Spectrum report has people talking once more about Intrinsity; if you'll recall, rumors flared up earlier in the month about Apple nabbing said company, similar to the way it acquired P.A. Semi way back in the naughties. Now, it seems that round two of those whispers are gaining steam, with some analysts suggesting that without Intrinsity's expertise, there was simply no way the silicon within the iPad could've been pushed to 1GHz in time for launch. In related news, we're also hearing that Cupertino is interested in acquiring ARM Holdings, and considering just how much business Apple pushes ARM's way, it's not illogical to imagine Apple wanting to just bring ARM in-house. If the deal went down, Apple would obviously hold a huge amount of control over whether or not ARM chips ended up in rival products, and if it yanked those Cortex slabs out from the market place, you can bet there would be a mad scramble to create a competitive portfolio to serve those suddenly chip-less product makers. Finally, a new iPhone OS 4 (beta 2) video has surfaced, giving the world a solid look at a new circular side-swapped animation that occurs when switching apps -- head on past the break to check it out, and give those links below a visit for more of that succulent nitty-gritty.
Adobe halts investment in iPhone-specific Flash dev tools, has another dig at Apple (update: Apple responds)
Color us unsurprised, but it's still notable to hear that Adobe is stopping investment in its software's capability to port content over to iPhone OS. The company's great hope on this front, Packager for iPhone, will still ship as part of Flash CS5 as planned, but beyond that Adobe is essentially giving up on Apple's mobile OS until further notice. In spite of being repeatedly rebuffed by Jobs and company before, the Flash maker had kept up hope that it could sway (or nag) Apple into validating its wares, but the final straw in this relationship seems to have been Apple's dev tool lockdown. So what will Adobe do now? Principal Product Manager Mike Chambers tells us that Android is doing kind of okay and his company will shift its attentions to it and other mobile platforms. Of course, we're just giving you the cleaned up version -- for the full finger-pointing diatribe against Apple, you'll have to hit the source link. Update: Right on cue, here's Apple's terse response: "Someone has it backwards--it is HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and H.264 (all supported by the iPhone and iPad) that are open and standard, while Adobe's Flash is closed and proprietary."
iPhone OS 4.0 beta 2 hits the scene
That's right: a little under two weeks since the launch event and the release of the first beta, Apple has pushed out beta 2 of its next-gen iPhone OS 4.0. Considering that our units have seemingly gotten buggier over time the longer they've had beta 1 loaded, we've got high hopes for this one -- hopes that stand a very real chance of being crushed, of course, as long as this isn't a gold build. Guess we're still months off from that, huh? Stay tuned for a report of anything that's changed, new, awesome, or lame. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
iPhone OS 4 reveals its social side: Facebook integration?
Users of webOS and HTC Sense can skip ahead, you're already familiar with tight social networking integration on your handsets. Now Apple appears ready to join the social, so to speak. New evidence of low-level Facebook event and contacts integration has been revealed in iPhone OS 4 hinting at the possibility of unified Calendar and Contacts apps from Apple when the OS launches this summer on, um, this device. Web site Website Gunning for Safety says that Apple appears to have created a "separate type of contact" just for Facebook. On its own, the claim is suspect if only because the site's focus is related to nail gun safety. But we've grabbed copies of the associated .plist files from a jailbroken iPhone running OS 4 that seemingly back the claim. There's even mention of a generic "SocialKitInternal.framework" opening the door for integration with services like Twitter -- though we found no evidence for that. All this aligns nicely with a "Linked Contacts" feature discovered by AppleInsider last week. According to AI, multiple Linked Contacts can be associated to a single entry in the new iPhone OS 4 Contacts app. See some of the .plist evidence in the gallery below.%Gallery-91124%
iPhone OS 4 jailbreak released to developers, not you
Be clear on this: if you're not a jailbreak app developer then the redsn0w 0.9.5 beta release is not for you. The iPhone OS 4 jailbreak previously hinted at is for real and it's for devs only so that they can prep their wares for the summer update. Don't worry, it doesn't reveal anything new to Apple and no, it won't work on the iPad -- it's Mac OSX only, iPhone 3G only, and iPhone 4.0 beta 1 only for now. But hey, it's early days, at least you know it's out there and that people smarter than you are tending to things.
Steve Jobs apparently says original iPhone won't be upgraded in the future
Now that the iPad is out and iPhone OS 4 has been announced, it looks like Steve Jobs is taking a little time to catch up on his email -- in addition to taking up the new SDK rules, it appears he's very tersely confirmed what we sadly suspected all along: the first-gen iPhone won't get an upgrade to iPhone OS 4. That makes a certain amount of sense, given that Apple's subscription accounting model for the original iPhone only booked free upgrades for 24 months, but really, that's just paperwork -- we don't see why Cupertino couldn't at least allow for an iPod touch-style paid upgrade, especially since the upgradeable iPhone 3G runs essentially the same hardware. And let's not forget that first-gen iPhone owners paid more or less full price for their devices, so if this is true, Apple's summarily dead-ended a $400 phone just under three years after it launched. Of course, none of this is officially confirmed yet, so anything can change -- we've pinged Apple for comment and they haven't responded yet, but we'll let you know what we find out. [Thanks, Tanzeel]
Engadget Podcast 191 - 04.11.2010
We were gonna rename the show Padz n' Podz but it turns out the maternity store at the mall is already called that.Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul MillerProducer: Trent WolbeMusic: Doctor Octoroc - CheersHear the podcast00:02:35 - iPhone OS 4 unveiled, adds multitasking, shipping this summer00:06:00 - Multitasking comes to iPhone OS 4.0 -- but not to the iPhone 3G00:07:10 - iPhone OS 4 versus Windows Phone 7: the tale of the tape00:25:00 - iPhone OS 4 hands-on (updated with video!)00:28:48 - Jobs: If you see a stylus or a task manager, 'they blew it'00:32:09 - Apple previews Game Center social gaming platform for iPhone OS00:50:10 - Apple's iPhone lockdown: apps must be written in one of three languages, Adobe in the hurt locker00:52:25 - Apple iAd brings ads, cash money to third-party iPhone apps01:01:00 - Adobe distances itself from JooJoo, cites lack of 'direct relationship'01:05:12 - Kindle coming to Target on April 25?01:12:25 - Verizon teasing a Microsoft Pink announcement for Monday?01:12:45 - SanDisk calls it: Microsoft Pink being announced on Monday01:20:11 - Editorial: HTC and Palm should get hitched and make beautiful babies Subscribe to the podcast[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune MarketplaceDownload the podcastLISTEN (MP3)LISTEN (AAC)LISTEN (OGG)Contact the podcast1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
Apple ditches "Rate on Delete" in iPhone OS 4
MacRumors is reporting that Apple has removed the "Rate on Delete" feature from the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0 release. "Rate on Delete" is a pop-up notice that appears when a user deletes an app from their iPhone. The user is able to select a 1 to 5 star rating for the app or to refuse rating it by tapping the "No Thanks" button. "Rate on Delete" was first introduced in iPhone OS 2.2 as a way for users to easily rate apps without having to access the iTunes Store. The feature has been widely decried by app developers; many believed that it contributed to biased negative reviews since the "Rate on Delete" reviews were only coming from users who deleted the app (and hence were presumably unhappy with it) and not the users that chose to keep the app on their iPhone.
Talkcast Tonight, 10pm EDT: iPhone OS 4 and more!
For those of you (like me) who don't have an iPad, tonight's lead topic on the Talkcast will be a nice change: The future! We'll chat about iPhone OS 4 and with the addition of a couple of special guests, we will see where the conversation takes us. Remember, your call really IS important to us, otherwise we're talking to ourselves. So give it a shot, participation is pretty easy. Take your pick: you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; However, for maximum fun, you should call in! For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (yay for free cellphone weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our Talkcast ID, 45077. During the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac (iPhone headphones do a good job here), you can connect via the free Gizmo or X-Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk with you then!
MobileMe email aliases will be supported in iPhone OS 4
A reader has sent us a little tip that MobileMe email aliases are now supported in iPhone OS 4. Apple describes MobileMe email aliases as "nicknames" for your account. When you join MobileMe you have a primary user name/email address, but Apple also allows you to create five "nickname" aliases that you can send and receive email with. The advantage of this is that if you go to a site that requires you to register your email address to log in, but you're worried about getting spammed, you can create an email alias in MobileMe and use that new email alias as your email address. All emails sent to that alias show up in your primary account's inbox. If you suddenly start getting spammed, you can just delete the email alias and any emails sent to that old alias will not make it to your inbox. Aliases are also good for shopping sites or using as separate personal and professional email addresses. Since Apple introduced email aliases in MobileMe, you could always use them to send and receive email, but it had to be done in the Mac's desktop Mail client or on MobileMe's webmail site. It looks like you will also be able to send and receive emails from your MobileMe email addresses using the Mail app in iPhone OS 4.
Poll: Will you be upgrading your iPhone hardware to take advantage of multitasking?
Multitasking is the number one requested feature since the iPhone launched almost three years ago. With the introduction of iPhone OS 4 SDK, Apple has finally brought multitasking to the iPhone and iPod touch. The catch is that you need to have a 3rd gen iPod touch (released in 32 and 64GB versions last fall) or an iPhone 3GS. Any iPhone or iPod touch before those versions do not possess the hardware capable of supporting multitasking. At least, that's Apple's position; jailbreak users have been multitasking for a long time on that gear. What we want to know is how many of you are going to be updating your iPhone OS devices to take advantage of the multitasking features? Vote in the poll and leave us your thoughts in the comments! %Poll-44275%
Numerous new iChat clues found iPhone OS 4
We don't really know why Apple wouldn't have mentioned iChat at its "tentpole"-filled keynote if it was all ready to go on it, but the eternal optimists within us would like to believe that the merest glimpse of the app would instantly reveal a front facing camera on whatever new iPhone hardware is in the works, therefore relegating the app to secrecy. Still, the evidence does indeed seem to be mounting for the software's inclusion in the OS. Outside of the iChatAgent process that was spotted last week, 9 to 5 Mac has pulled the covers off references within the SDK to moderators, chat rooms, encrypted video conferences, and more. They even uncovered the same notification noises that the desktop iChat application uses. Sure, this could all be one big misunderstanding, but hopefully these breadcrumbs actually do point to a long-overdue, well-integrated IM experience on the device, video or no. [Thanks, Maj0]
Steve Jobs responds directly to developer over new iPhone SDK rules, cites blog for explanation
Plenty ink has already been spilled about the new restrictions in clause 3.3.1 of the new iPhone SDK terms of use. The new wording disallows developers to use third party, cross platform development tools (like Flash CS5) to build their apps, and plenty of folks (like Adobe) are angered by it. Now it seems Steve Jobs has chimed in as well. Developer Greg Slepak reached out to Steve, citing the large outpouring of negativity on the topic, including a post by John Gruber of Daring Fireball, who Greg calls Apple's "biggest fan." Steve apparently responded, citing a newer post by Gruber that explains Apple's theoretical reasoning for locking down the platform like this. Steve called the post "very insightful." When Greg replied, raising some very legitimate defense that highly popular, important apps like Mozilla Firefox are built with cross platform frameworks, Steve Jobs had a slightly less terse response: We've been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform. On Greg's blog he breaks down some of Gruber's claims and makes a pretty compelling case for third party toolkits -- important examples of which can be found all over the Mac and Windows landscape. We get the feeling his impassioned pleas, and the oft-bandied threat of developer migration, will fall on deaf ears at Apple as always, but at least he helps shape this debate somewhat, which will no doubt rage on for months and years to come. Check out the full conversation between Greg and Steve, including Greg's final response, after the break.
Adobe admits Apple's no-Flash policy could hurt business
Adobe has filed its latest quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) report, just one day after Apple previewed iPhone OS 4.0. In the document, Adobe outlines the risk that Apple's prohibition on Flash brings to the company. In the "Risk Factors" section of the filing, Adobe stated that exclusion of Flash on devices "such as the Apple iPhone or iPad, make it more difficult for our products to perform, and [if] our customers are persuaded to use alternative technologies, our business could be harmed." Apple does not compete with Adobe over technologies like Flash. Apple's decision to leave Flash off its multi-touch devices is based on (according to Apple) the instability of Flash and the power drain Flash causes on portable devices. The lack of Flash on the iPhone has been a realm of contention between Adobe and Apple since the iPhone launched in 2007. Now things have heated up again, since Apple's just-released beta version of the iPhone OS 4 SDK license bans ported Flash, Java, and Mono apps. A primary feature of Adobe's forthcoming Flash Professional CS5 is the ability to export Flash content into the native iPhone format. While Adobe has officially so far remained mum on this, their platform evangelist (who apparently had to be reined in by corporate, after his initial post did not include adequate disclaimers) has told Apple to "Go screw yourself."
iPhone OS 4: Google branding removed in Safari search
iLounge has pointed out that the "Google" branded search button in mobile Safari has been renamed "Search" in iPhone OS 4. Is this a sign that Apple is about to dump Google from mobile search? Despite their increasing competition, it's highly unlikely that Apple will entirely eliminate Google from mobile Safari search. Google is still the world's number one search engine by a wide margin; eliminating it from Safari's search function would alienate a lot of users. So what could the "Google"/"Search" switch mean? Most likely it's that iPhone OS 4 will have search engine options in addition to Google and Yahoo! (like Bing), and Apple wants to have a universal button that reads "search" no matter what engine the user chooses to use. Other possibilities could be that Apple and Google have not agreed on a financial arrangements for Google to be the default search in OS 4 yet and they want Google to know that they'll give default search to the highest bidder. Of course, there's always another possibility: Apple is launching its own search engine. Sounds like a long shot? Maybe it is, then again who would have ever thought Apple would one day be in the mobile advertising market? Personally, I wouldn't hold my breath for Apple search this year. Apple does a lot of things better that Google (and other competitors), but when it comes to search, Google is still king. [image via MacRumors]
Dear Apple, you're half-way there
In January you told Apple what you wanted in iPhone OS 4.0. Did the development team heed your advice? Well, even though iPhone OS 4 is only in its first beta release, Apple has already added 50% of the major features you wanted. What was delivered? Vertical swiping, app switching, background VoIP/audio playback and enhanced abilities for apps to save state and return you to the point where you left off are available in iPhone OS 4 through the new multitasking features. App organization and overall device app capacity has been improved with the introduction of Folders. A new home screen has been implemented with background wallpapers and a new dock. What got left out? Flash (and it's never going to happen, so just forget about it), a new lock screen, support for more codecs, and disk mode are the obvious ones that didn't make the list. However, some of the smaller feature requests are still possible, since they would be relatively minor changes that would be easy to implement as the SDK beta continues to progress. The ability to lock the device to portrait or landscape could still be a feature we'll see, especially considering Apple has already implemented the feature on the iPad via a hardware switch. It's also possible that Apple could allow users to remove or hide Apple-installed apps, though there are so far no hints of that in the SDK according to the devs we've spoken to; however, having Folders means that you can pile them all in one folder and forget about them. As for that universal documents folder, no signs of it yet, but Mail app's ability to select which apps should open attachments in iPhone OS 4 is a good start. Now we wait and see if anyone listened to your hardware wants for the 4th gen iPhone.
iPhone Dev Team's MuscleNerd shows off VNC on iPhone OS 4 beta, hints at jailbreak
We can't get a straight answer on the exact jailbroken status of iPhone OS 4, but MuscleNerd of the iPhone Dev Team (and recent iPad hacking fame) is sure hinting heavily. He's got Veency (a VNC server) and Cydia running on iPhone OS 4 on video, something he claims "you'll only find on JB 4.0." Of course, he also has the dev tools at his disposal and all the bugs and loopholes of an early beta, so we can't be exactly sure what's going on. There's also not much point to releasing an OS 4 beta jailbreak to the public, and MuscleNerd himself recommends not bothering with the betas, as they're "very buggy." Still, it's fun to see these tools alive and well on the newfangled multitasking OS. Check out the video after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
iChat video with front facing camera evidence mounts in iPhone OS 4
Of the 1,500 or so new developer APIs and over 100 new user features mentioned by Steve and Co. yesterday, only a handful were covered in any detail. As usual, Apple was careful not to reveal anything about the next generation iPhone hardware expected to launch this summer. Fortunately we can spelunk the iPhone OS 4 SDK developer preview for hints of what's to come. TUAW found a new "iChatAgent" process running on OS 4 devices -- purpose, unknown -- but surely an indicator that Apple's finally set to launch a mobile iChat app. The fact that Apple hasn't already is one of those great iPhone / iPad / iPod touch mysteries. We've also peeled back the SDK to find evidence supporting those rumors of a front-facing camera (AVCaptureDevicePositionFront), flash (AVCaptureFlashModeOn/Off/auto), and torch/flashlight (AVCaptureTorchModeOn/Off/Auto) all declared in the AVCaptureDevice.h. Who cares, right? Front-facing video cameras have been implemented on a variety of mobile devices for years. Trouble is, how many people actually use them to video conference? And if Apple's late contribution to copy and paste can be used as a guide for setting expectations (and it can), then we expect Apple's iChat implementation to be done with the same grace and ease of use -- something that should have its carrier partners a bit worried if it's allowed to function over 3G data. [Thanks, Anonymous]
