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In search of Push
Wherefore art thou, Push? Macworld has gone in search of the much-awaited iPhone feature that would let applications get their own notifications even while not necessarily active (so apps like Twitterific could have a little red number on them showing the number of unread tweets, and so on). But the Push system was "pulled" (still makes me laugh) from the 2.1 firmware during the beta phase, and as you probably know by now, it's still not on your iPhone. Unfortunately, there's no official news on the subject (Apple hasn't canceled the service completely, as far as we know, but would they really tell anybody if they did), but Macworld has a few ideas: it could be that Apple has abandoned the system, thinking that it didn't really help as much as they thought it would, or Apple is still working on it, or Apple is working on something even better. Which one of those you decide is true probably depends on what you think about Apple in general, so we'll let you make your own guesses on that. But we will say this: we're near the end of the known roadmap for the iPhone, and people are already talking about a new version of the hardware. If we don't see an update on Push in the next refresh, it's probably likely that the only thing the notification system will be pushing is daises.
Apple trims push notification out of newest iPhone firmware beta
According to Appleinsider, the newest beta of iPhone firmware (2.1, beta 4) has been seeded to developers, but takes one crucial element off the table -- push notification. If you'll recall, the new feature will allow third-party developers to take advantage of Apple's servers for real-time push of data to applications. Apparently, the feature has been cut from the most recent beta for "further development" with no indication of when it will be reinstated. Of course, this is a beta seed of the firmware -- the actual release is slated for September -- and it makes sense that Apple would be tweaking major additions like this before going live, especially considering its recent launch debacles.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Push notification services now in hands of select few iPhone devs
You have to be one of the cool kids to get it, but Apple has apparently pushed out another beta of iPhone firmware 2.1 (along with the SDK) to a few devs that for the first time contains a "rough" implementation of Cupertino's arguably overengineered solution for dancing around the contentious background app issue. The Push Notification Service routes real-time notifications through an Apple server, which in turn tosses those notifications onto iPhones around the globe -- a service Apple intends to make available to a general audience in September. There's apparently no actual hardware running on Apple's end yet, though, so the chosen few included in the early seed will just have to close their eyes and make believe as they enjoy the fruits of a new ROM a few days before their equally qualified, equally worthy counterparts.[Via Gearfuse]
iPhone Push Notification API released to select developers
CrunchGear notes that a version of the iPhone Push Notification Service API has been released to "a handful" of developers, and, according to them, will "surely" be released to everyone when iPhone OS 2.1 is released. If you remember our WWDC keynote coverage (around 11:05 a.m.), the Push Notification Service maintains a connection with third party servers to alert you via an icon badge, custom sounds, or text alerts. An app that uses this feature isn't really running in the background, but instead sort of registering itself with a metaphorical "hotel operator" that lives in your phone. Once there's something new to tell you, the hotel operator notifies you. Hopefully this has little effect on battery life, but without actual, real-world use, it's hard to say.
Apple posts 3 new iPhone 3G ads: Everyone, Unslow, Work Friendly
Apple has finally posted three new iPhone 3G commercials on their website. In these ads, Apple seems to be pushing (quite literally) the features of the new iPhone 3G/2.0 firmware. Push, half the price, twice as fast, and other Jobsian quotes are in these new ads. Just in case you were wondering, the song playing in the background of the new commercials is You, Me and the Bourgeoisie by the Submarines (iTunes link). You can watch Everyone, Unslow, and Work Friendly on the iPhone ads website.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Apple apologizes for its MobileMe mess, admits bungle on "push," offers 30-days free
After six long days, Apple has issued an official statement on the debacle that was / is the MobileMe transition, and has offered a 30-day extension to contracts as an olive branch to disgruntled users. According to a form letter being sent to subscribers, the company openly admits that the switch to MobileMe was "a lot rockier than hoped," and claims that the service is now running smoothly. Additionally (and somewhat surprisingly) Apple rescinded its use of the word "push" to cover all of its services, conceding that while there is indeed push to-and-from iPhones and the "cloud," computers are still being polled every 15 minutes... which is the same as .Mac (and honestly Apple, you didn't know that wasn't technically push?). We suppose this would be all well and good provided that MobileMe was actually functioning as advertised, but indications from readers -- and our own testing -- suggest otherwise. Customers are still having difficulties with email and syncing between iPhones and the cloud (duplicate messages, deleted messages that don't leave the inbox, etc.), the advertised "auto-complete" on mail addressing doesn't function at all, and calendars are plagued with small moving / deletion problems, as well as being unable to sync subscriptions... and that's just off the top of our head (see the company's support forums for more). The 30-day extension is a nice gesture Apple, but we're thinking customers would prefer a service that works as advertised.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
MobileMe not so pushy
Many commenters and bloggers hither and yon have noticed that MobileMe lacks "true push" capabilities, even though Apple uses the "push" buzzword extensively to describe MobileMe services. A commenter in a MacRumors thread about the subject took screenshots from Apple's site, showing they had removed the phrase "Push happens automatically, instantly, and continuously." In its place, Apple clarifies that changes from the iPhone and web apps are updated instantly on connected computers, but not vice versa. Apple also notes in a Knowledge Base article that changes "made on your computer will be synced to the MobileMe 'cloud' once every 15 minutes (or every hour in Mac OS X 10.4.11)." That, to me, doesn't sound like "push," it sounds like "sync." The term "push" still applies, however, to me.com email, as that shows up immediately (in my experience, at least.) Calendars and contacts, though, not so much, apparently. [Via BetaNews.]
TUAW Review: MobileMe
MobileMe, the successor to Apple's lackluster .Mac service, is poised to bring subscribers into the realm of "cloud computing," one of those nauseating phrases that's been around for a while, but nobody has a better term for. MobileMe provides email, calendaring, contact management, photo sharing, and online file storage to Windows, Mac, iPhone, and iPod touch users for $99. A family pack subscription is also available for $149, which adds four 5GB accounts to a standard-sized 20GB account (making 40GB of storage total). Users can also add 20GB or 40GB of storage to their account for $49 and $99, respectively. MobileMe got off to a really rough start last week, but we still don't know exactly where the hangup was during the transition. I know I'm interested to know what happened, but for now, let's just all be glad that it's working, and have us a look-see at what's new. After the jump, join me for an in-depth look at MobileMe's features, and how they compare to .Mac and other free services available elsewhere on the web.
Sprint's "Mobile Mail Work" brings corporate mail to non-PDA devices
Tired of just how productive -- and smug -- your co-workers are with all that 'Berry mail, direct push, and instant connectivity? Sprint's about set to cover your six with its new Mobile Mail Work, a push mail solution for non-PDA handsets. Launching on the Samsung Instinct -- pictured above and mentioned no less than six times in the PR material -- it'll see you picking up your Exchange mail, works both on and off-line, and even features searchable contacts. Not too shabby, huh? The price of admission you ask? Free for all those on Everything, Talk / Message / Data share, and the Vision Pro packages, all others can hop aboard for $9.99 a month. The software will be available via Sprint's mobile web downloads, and should support 11 more sets in the coming weeks. So go on, wreck your life by tethering yourself to your office mail, we know you wanna, and now Sprint wants you to, too. Follow the read link to check the list of supported devices
Verizon's RemoSync brings Direct Push email to select handsets
Hankerin' for some bona fide push email on your VZW handset, are you? If this is indeed the case, look no further than RemoSync, the latest Get It Now application that enables a handful of the carrier's handsets to get their Exchange-hosted email pushed directly to them. More specifically, those who purchase the app will be able to read, compose, reply, delete, forward, etc. emails, download Outlook contacts and view those immensely annoying calendar events. The pricing structure is quite curious, though. First off, it'll cost you $9.99 per month, and while a data plan isn't required per se, those without one will be charged $1.99 per megabyte (or "airtime") when using RemoSync. For a list of compatible mobiles, tap the read link and give that scroll wheel a few turns.[Via PhoneScoop]
Helio will push your Gmail to you -- or any other mail, for that matter
Owners of Helio devices equipped with the MVNO's "Ultimate Inbox" feature -- Ocean, Fin, Mysto owners, we're looking straight at you -- will find that they now have a fun little gem waiting for them. Gmail's now being touted as supporting push notifications right alongside Yahoo!, Hotmail, AOL, and My Helio, but the real trick here is that Ultimate Inbox now supports push for any POP or IMAP account of your choosing. In other words, that "my bad, I haven't checked my email recently" excuse suddenly holds, like, zero weight if you own one of these devices. Sorry!
iPhone gets ActiveSync support for Exchange
As was hinted at some days ago, the Cupertino crew decided that the iPhone was finally ready for prime time in belt clips around the nation. Well, great news friends, Enterprise to Apple means Microsoft Exchange and ActiveSync support. We can expect features like Push mail and Contacts, Global Address List, Cisco IPsec VPN, authentication via certificate, and even remote wipe. Also on the table is Salesforce.com's Sales Force Automation CRM Application (SFA) and they've even thrown in support for maps. When can we get our greedy little hands on this you ask? As soon as the next iPhone firmware update rolls out, that's when.
Mystery Solved? 10.4.10, Yahoo!, and the iPhone
The addition of a Yahoo! sync framework in 10.4.10 certainly seems a bit puzzling on the surface, but after some grinding of my mental cogs, I think I've figured it out.If you will think back to MacWorld 2007 and the announcement of the iPhone, you'll remember that Steve Jobs brought three special guests on stage. Stuffed between Eric Schmidt and Stan Sigman (of Google and Cingular, respectively) was Jerry Yang from Yahoo! who used his time to talk about the free Yahoo! IMAP "push" email that will be bundled with every iPhone.With an email account comes a contact list, and in this day and age of do-everything service providers, a calendar usually comes with it. It makes sense then that Apple would make it possible to edit and sync these things from your desktop– thus the new framework. Sure, I can do all that from my iPhone, but do I really want to enter and tweak 300 address book entries on such a small device?Obviously, this is just idle postulation, but I'd be surprised if something like this didn't get announced before the release of the iPhone later this month.
Grundig B700 crams Linux in a smartphone
Just as Grundig is no stranger to the cellphone realm, Linux has seen its fair share of smartphones too, and the B700 marks yet another mobile in which an open-sourced OS is at the helm. Boasting a respectably thin ten-millimeter frame, this handset packs a two-megapixel CMOS camera, MP3 / AAC / video playback, 2.4-inch 320 x 240 resolution display, 2.5-hours of minimum talk time (150+ hours on standby), EDGE / GSM quad-band connectivity, USB, Bluetooth, built-in FM tuner, 100MB of internal storage, and a microSD slot for loading up any excess media. Aside from looking slightly like an antiquated calculator when powered down, the B700 manages to include a POP3 email push client, handsfree speaker, voice recorder, and animated wallpapers as well. Unfortunately, there's no word on future pricing nor availability, but we have our doubts about this thing ever flourishing here in the States.[Via MobileWhack]
Qtek 9000 gets AKU2
Qtek has become the latest company to bless another group of customers with the glories of AKU2, adding not just push email, but the extra bonus of A2DP to their version of the HTC Universal (owners of the i-mate version have had the goods for a month already). Owners of the Qtek 9000 can hop over to Qtek's web site and download the update right now. Now. So, do it already!
