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iPhone OS 3.1.3 available now
It's not version 3.2, but there's a little stopgap out now for iPhone and iPod touch owners in the form of OS 3.1.3. According to the changelog, we can expect better battery level reporting and fixes for problems with the Japanese Kana keyboard and some mysterious issues where third-party apps would fail to launch. Sounds good to us! Update: As usual, we're hearing blackra1n (and presumably redsn0w) has been busted by 3.1.3, so you probably want to hold back if you're jailbroken until you've gotten the all-clear. Thanks, Eric!
How many icons on that iPad dock?
A reader has sent us the above screen shot. It clearly shows six application icons on the iPad dock. I was messing around with the iPad simulator, and I noticed that I could fit 6 icons in the dock. There was no modding involved. Since the iPad has a roomy screen, this could be very plausible. And since I am a jailbreak person, I know how uncommon this kind of thing is. But it goes along pretty well with Apple allowing the modification of the background. Given that the the iPad has a much larger screen, this would be expected. However, none of Apple's official shots of the devices shows six dock icons. With everything that's been leaking out from the dev SDK in the last two days, there are surely many more surprises to come.
iPad UI gets ported to the iPhone and iPod touch
At this particular point, 50-something days away from the earliest iPad deliveries, we doubt too many people are up in arms about the iPad's ability to act as a jumbo iPhone. On the other hand, if we told you you can take pretty much the entire iPad experience and distill it down to your iPhone OS device, well you'd probably care a lot more, wouldn't you? To get that extra 3D flavor to your UI, including the fetching iBooks shelf and other iPad-specific touches, you'll need a jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch, access to the Cydia app store, and the manpower to click past the break for the full instructional video. Come on, you know you want to. [Thanks, Taimur]
Confirmed: iPhone OS 3.2 has support for video calling, file downloads, and SMS (update: handwriting keyboard?)
The iPad may not have a camera in its current incarnation, but Apple's at least laying the foundation for one: we just confirmed with extremely trusted sources that iPhone OS 3.2 contains rudimentary support for video calling, which could explain that mysterious space at the top of the device in our leaked pics. We're told that there are hooks to accept and decline a video conference, flip a video feed (which suggests a front-facing camera) and -- most importantly -- run the video call in either full screen mode or in just a portion of the screen. That means you'll be able to chat and do other things at the same time, which could mean there's at least some type of multitasking going on here. We can also confirm that iPhone OS 3.2 supports file downloads and local storage in the browser, which means you'll be able to pull files off the web and use them in other apps, and there's at least the beginnings of SMS support buried within the code -- a fact we were able to verify with noted iPhone jailbreaker chpwn, who sent in the above screenshot from a hacked-up copy of the iPad simulator. (The simulator always says "iPhone simulator" in the menu bar, but that's the iPad.) chpwn also tells us he's found some inklings of actual phone support, there's a spellchecker, and that both the new landscape orientation for the homescreen and keyboard support appear to be destined for the iPhone itself when 3.2 comes out. We're not sure what any of this means at this point, or if any of it will ever be implemented, but we're definitely starting to get the impression that Apple didn't tell us everything there is to know about the iPad on Wednesday -- and we're even more curious to find out what iPhone OS 4.0 will look like when it arrives. P.S.- chpwn was also able to port iPhone multitasking hacks ProSwitcher and Backgrounder to the iPad simulator, which is certainly going to be useful if an iPad jailbreak exploit is eventually discovered. Check out a shot of it going in the gallery below, along with some other settings panels the coder dug up. Update: We just got another tip from iPhone jailbreak dev Ryan Petrich, confirming that there's a spell checker with multiple dictionaries and user-added entries (huzzah!), much richer text support for apps, the ability to selectively draw to external displays (using the VGA or component adapters, we'd imagine), location-aware ads in Maps and possibly other programs that use the Maps API, file upload ability in Safari, a modifiable cut / copy / paste menu, and, most interestingly, prototype support for a "handwriting keyboard." Maybe we'll see some stylus action on this thing after all. Peep Ryan's take after the break. %Gallery-84265%
iPhone SDK calls out nonexistent iPad cam, confirms split views and popovers are iPad-specific
iPhone owners holding out hope that OS 3.2 would bring some of these fancy new iPad spoils to their devices might be in for a disappointment, because two of the big ones -- split view and popovers -- are both referred to in Apple's updated human interface guidelines as "iPad-only." Realistically, this shouldn't come as a surprise; both of these UI elements were built to shine on larger displays, and it's hard to say how you could make either one of them work on HVGA -- but it's important for devs to note that heavily investing in these are definitely going to make it difficult to make their apps compatible across all iPhone OS-powered devices. Considering that iPhones will almost certainly continue to dominate iPads for sales volume, we know how we'd be developing. In other news, running the updated iPhone simulator in iPad mode gives you the option to take photos, which doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense considering that it doesn't have a camera. There are plenty of plausible explanations for the muck-up, but our guess is that Apple's left the vestigial capability on-board since the framework's already in place for the iPhone and there could very well be iPads down the road that have a cam (or two). Follow the break for a shot of the iPad's Address Book imploring you to take a photo -- and savor it, since it's probably the closest you'll actually get to snapping a shot on the device any time soon. [Thanks, iPhone Dev and Eric]
iPhone OS 3.2 SDK released, supports iPad but covered by NDA
The Apple Developer Center is providing iPhone OS 3.2 beta, complete with iPad developer guides and support for Apple's latest creation. Unfortunately, just as Apple has done in the past, they have enshrouded the details of developing for the iPad in yet another NDA, preventing developers from discussing the OS outside the highly sanitized Apple forums. It's possible that Apple will lift the NDA once iPads start flying off the shelves (or cargo containers) in about 60 days, but it is disappointing that developers continue to be hamstrung by what is, frankly, a futile effort to contain SDK details. The idea of an NDA is great, and it is an agreement, but it's not going to deter people from sharing details if they want to send an email or post in a forum. Granted, you won't be developing long if you do this, but doesn't that seem a little ridiculous? This adversely affects honest developers who wish to share information. Looks like we'll again have to wait for books on development to get the green light once Apple gives their green light. Again.
Apple's iPhone dev program whoopsie: 'Need to update this for the 27th launch'
We're sure everyone in Cupertino is ordering Chinese to the office this evening; it's going to be a late night. I's to dot, T's to cross, as they say, in preparation for what's undoubtedly going to be a big day tomorrow. Of course, consistently burning the candle at both ends leads to mistakes -- mistakes like this, for example: a placeholder on the signup form for Apple's iPhone Developer Program (that we've been able to confirm) reading "Need to update this for the 27th launch." 27th launch, indeed -- so what does this mean? If we had to guess, devs are going to get first crack at an updated iPhone OS -- something the company has done before -- which is suddenly going to make the $99 sign-up fee for the program sound a whole lot more reasonable for the impatient among us, isn't it?
Google Voice comes to iPhone and webOS, as a web app
FCC investigation be damned, Google has finally managed to bypass the App Store and release Google Voice to the iPhone (and webOS, too) the same way it pulled off Latitude, i.e. via a HTML5-based web app. According to Senior Product Manager Vincent Paquet, it should work with any HTML5-compliant device, although the formatting at this point has been tailored to Apple and Palm's platforms. So here's how it works: much like with its mobile Gmail site, the app caches your contacts list in a browser page. All the usual GV functionality is there, writing SMS messages, checking your inbox, and even listening to voicemails (although that latter functionality wasn't working for us yet in our trials). Placing phone calls is an interesting trick: as pictured above, after you choose the recipient, the app prompts you to call one of Google's local numbers via the native dialer -- even for international calls, hence the lower rates by paying through Google. The recipient will see your proper GV digits, and upside with this method is you'll still be able to utilize call waiting and background usage. The catch, of course, is a call history littered with random numbers. It's not a perfect solution by any means -- if anything, take solace in an assortment of home screen icons for each section of the app -- but it's probably the best we're gonna get for the time being. The page should be up and running later today, so if you're anxious, direct your mobile browser to voice.google.com and just keep hitting refresh. %Gallery-83907%
Flurry sees fifty devices that look like tablets
Mobile analytics firm Flurry tracks usage of mobile apps and lo and behold, look at what popped up this week. There are 50 devices running iPhone OS 3.2 within the Apple Campus. Flurry also reports that they've been tracking 200 apps across 50 devices since October of last year, and that usage has really ramped up in the last few weeks. Internal testing typically increases sharply just prior to a release. Flurry's report doesn't give a lot of concrete evidence that these devices are tablets, but they do note that "...we have a fair level of confidence that we are observing a group of pre‐release tablets in testing." If only they had shared what raised their "level of confidence." As you can see from the chart above, the majority of these devices are running games, with the entertainment and news & books categories tied for 2nd place. Apps in the lifestyle category come in third. Flurry also reports that they've been tracking activity on these 50 devices since October of last year, and that usage has really ramped up in the last few weeks. It's interesting for developers to note that the devices seem to be running iPhone apps. If they are tablets, that means it'll be easy to move applications over (though we don't have any information on how they will scale or the final resolution for the device). At the end of the day, we have data collected by Flurry from apps installed on 50 or so devices placed inside Apple via geolocation that are running on iPhone OS 3.2. They could be tablets -- rumors have suggested that the tablet's release is delaying the next iPhone OS upgrade -- or they could be test unit iPhones running an unreleased version of the OS. Either way, two things are certain: There's cool stuff inside 1 Infinite Loop All of this conjecture will end on Wednesday OK, so number 2 is a "probably." [Via Engadget]
Boy Genius: Multitasking, new interface in iPhone 4.0
The folks at Boy Genius Report (BGR) have been speaking with a little birdie from Cupertino again, and this time it's allegedly spilled details on iPhone 4.0. If the source is to be believed, this update will bring multitasking and a new interface. First, there will be "A few new ways" to run applications in the background, which means multitasking -- something developers and users have wanted for a long time. Also, multi-touch gestures "...will be OS-wide," which makes sense if we're to believe that the tablet OS is preventing the iPhone OS release. Other rumor nuggets include improved navigation (which was on our list of requests) and improved syncing for contacts and calendar apps. Finally, the update will be limited to the iPhone 3G and 3GS (we assume this also includes the iPod touch), and will "...make them more like full-fledged computers." Now, we know that a single iPhone OS release may offer platform-specific features. For example, VoiceOver and Accessibility, as well as hardware features like Magnetometers, are not available on iPhones earlier than the 3GS. For that reason, we're unconvinced that the anticipated "Multitouch Revolution" expected for the tablet device will extend in all of its glory to the iPhone. In other words ... Is it the 27th yet? [Via MacRumors]
Apple rumor roundup: future of media edition
Now that Apple's officially announced an event to show off its "latest creation" on the 27th, the rumors and gossip are about to get even more out of hand -- eventually we expect them to take flight and start raiding small towns for soda water and appetizers. In the meantime, however, we've got the latest batch of somewhat-sober whispers to tide us over, so let's run through 'em, shall we? The rumor: The iPhone Blog points us to a China Times piece setting the tablet's screen size at 9.7 inches. (We covered the 22-inch touchscreen iMac rumor separately.) Our take: At this point we've heard pretty much every screen size from eight inches to 11, so we're not making a call either way on this one. We will say that the only other product with a 9.7-inch screen we can think of off-hand is the Kindle DX -- a relatively simple device that's still so large and heavy we generally hold it with two hands. Just something to think about. The rumor: Ars Technica talks to the director of the OLED Association, who rules out a 10.1-inch AMOLED screen by saying "there's no real production of 10.1-inch panels." Oh, and the only place to buy those would be Samsung, really, and Sammy doesn't have the capacity. Our take: We never thought a 10.1 OLED screen was likely: not only are prices insane, but OLED still has terrible daylight viewing issues. The Ars piece is well worth a read, though -- it's a nice look at the state of OLED.
Apple's App Store said to have 99.4 percent of all mobile app sales, more like 97.5
The latest research from Gartner indicates that, for the year 2009, only 16 million app sales were executed on mobile devices not bearing the infamous bitten apple logo. In reporting this data, Ars Technica inadvertently conflates Apple's latest announcement of three billion apps downloaded with the notion of three billion apps sold and pegs the App Store's market share at a whopping 99.4 percent -- but more realistic calculations still show it to be somewhere in the vicinity of 97.5 percent. Going off estimates (obtained by GigaOM) that a quarter of App Store downloads are paid-for apps, and taking a rough figure of 2.5 billion downloads in 2009, leaves us with around 625 million app sales performed by Apple, which comfortably dwarfs all its competition. Considering the fact 18 months ago there wasn't even an App Store to speak of -- whereas today Cupertino is gobbling up the best part of $4.2 billion in annual mobile apps revenue -- maybe you can now understand why we're covering every tiny drip of info about that mythical tablet.
Next week's Apple event to be iLife / iPhone OS 4.0 / tablet trifecta?
We're realistically no closer to knowing the outcome of next week's Apple event than we were a week, a year, or a decade ago, but rumors are obviously congealing around the mythical tablet that users, fans, and media have all but willed into existence recently -- and our buddy Clayton Morris says that's indeed a part of the story. Morris reports having spoken with a source at Apple this morning -- prior to the company's invites going out, interestingly -- who said that the event would focus on a new version of iLife, iPhone OS 4.0, and naturally, the tablet. Loosely speaking, you can see how these would all tie together pretty nicely: the seemingly "creative" theme of Apple's invite rolls into a new version of iLife, and the announcement of a tablet could have implications for how a suite of artsy tools gets used. Rumblings that the tablet is underpinned by a new version of iPhone OS have gone back months, so that would give Apple impetus to tease it at the same time the tablet's shown off -- sans new iPhone hardware, possibly, which the company has done before. It's also possible that Apple will open source its entire catalog of software and shut down, buy an island nation, or do nothing at all -- but in fairness, there's an awful lot of logic to what Clayton's saying here. We'll know soon enough.
Zaprudering the invite: Obsessive fun with TUAW
As you can see in the image at the top of this post, several features stood out to our TUAW team. Mike Rose was first to notice that the art used spray paint rather than finger paint, as you might expect for a tablet event invite. "Could this be a hint of MacPaint Pro?" asked Steve Sande. "That would harken back to the original Mac (MacPaint) and be very cool." Dave Caolo noticed that the Apple logo front-and-center, along with the thin (tablet-shaped?) border pointed to a Macbook-like presentation. It would be awesome if the tablet really could mimic and/or replace many laptop features, although all early Humint rumors point to an iPhoneOS-only system. So what does the art-styled presentation hint at? To most of the team, this seemed a vote for augmented reality interaction a la Excelitech's Virtual Graffiti app [iTunes link]. Maybe we'll be able to interact in new ways with maps and images through a touch-based interface. Will the target audience differ from the anticipated Kindle crowd? Maybe this touch-based creation will be aimed more at tangible creative media than at simple video and book display? Maybe the rumors about gestures gone wild with a high-powered CPU we've been reading about give a better sense of who Apple is aiming their "latest creation" at. What do you think? Let us know in the comments. Update: Commenters point out that the colors used almost perfectly match the current nano line. Update: TUAW's Megan Lavey adds "I think Apple is announcing the release of its interactive paintball set. It uses the built-in iSight camera. You mad at someone? Click a button on iChat and the paint color of your choice blasts that person in the eye." *hee*
Apple rumor roundup: iPhone patent 4.0 edition
On today's edition of the never-ending Apple rumor roundup, we take a quick detour into the murky realm of the United States patent database, topped off with a charming unsourced tip and some delightful analyst conjecture. Let's blaze. The rumor: A recent Apple patent application for a capacitive touchscreen-specific stylus may or may not mean The Tablet uses a stylus for input. Our take: We've already promised to eat our hat if Apple puts a removable battery in the iPhone, so what's next? A shoe? We will eat a shoe if Steve Jobs introduces a product that requires the use of a stylus. Besides, this product already exists: it's called the Pogo Stylus, and it's not exactly rocking minds (although we are intrigued by Inklet). Apple likes to file silly broad patent applications and see what it can get away with -- it's never been wise to read too much into them. The rumor: Another Apple patent application hints that portable DVR functionality is coming to the iPod / iPhone -- you'll be able to grab TV and radio content from cable, satellite, OTA, or using "services" with your portable device and then load that into iTunes. Not only will you be able to connect new iPods to a cable box to record shows -- channel changing and everything -- but Apple's going to release an accessory for older iPods to enable this functionality as well. Our take: This would be like a dream come true for the consumer, and a crazy heroin nightmare for Apple to actually implement -- can you imagine an iPod with a freaking CableCARD slot? Neither can we. Besides, it's not like Apple to push content sales from anything other than the iTunes Store, and it's especially not like Apple to extend functionality to older iPods when it can just release a newer one in a slightly different metallic finish. Next!
Rumor: Tablet delays iPhone updates
With Apple's rumored media event only two weeks away, people are hopeful that it'll bring an announcement of the tablet. Could it be that the next iPhone OS update is also waiting for that event? iPodNN quotes a source who suggests that the next version of the iPhone OS is laden with references to its forthcoming sibling, and therefore must wait until the tablet is made public. Last month, The Boy Genius Report pointed out alleged evidence of iPhone firmware 3.1.3 and 4.0 in private testing, which is likely, but these builds have not yet been made available to developers or the public. Just this week, Boy Genius suggested that the tablet is a sort of "iPhone on steroids," that is to say, a larger and more tricked-out version of the little guy. At the same time, John Gruber relayed one of those "friend-of-a-friend" tales suggesting that the iPhone is actually a by-product of the device they originally intended to build. Only now has the technology caught up to allow for the tablet's existence. Oh what a tangled web we weave...
Apple tries for 'adding a contact to a home screen' patent, but Android beat them to the punch
Despite the incredible realism of the drawing above to the left, we're probably not looking at iPhone OS 4.0 right here. Instead we've got Apple doing what Apple does: applying for a patent for some pretty vague functionality that may or may not end up in a device someday. No harm in that game, but it looks like Google's already done the "put a contact on the home screen with their picture" thing before Apple got a chance, as demonstrated on the right. There are other little tidbits to Apple's approach, however. Apple is naturally showing that little numeric badge we know so well, to show what sort of new activity the contact has (hopefully that pulls calls, SMS and email into one pretty little package, like we've seen on other modern operating systems), but Apple also mentions that "an icon associated with an entity can be temporarily displayed on the mobile device based on the proximity of the mobile device to the entity." So, Stalking 2.0. We like it, and hope to see it in some future iPhone software, but between the crazy broad claims in the rest of the patent and Android's prior art, we'd say Apple's chances of getting this 2008 submission approved are pretty slim.
Enough already with the draconian NDAs, Apple
Yo, Apple. February's coming, and likely with it, the iPhone OS 4.0 SDK. And you know what? We're totally over this infuriating ducking NDA thing when it comes to the iPhone software development kit. NDAs refer to nondisclosure agreements. They are contracts -- in this case, between Apple and would-be developers -- that prevent those who have been granted beta access to early releases of Apple's software development kits from discussing any aspect of the SDK in public forums. Apple has pulled this NDA on us a few times before, for iPhone SDKs that anyone and their brother could download and look at freely. I'll say it for the record: NDAs on new iPhone OS SDKs are a bad, bad thing. These NDAs provide no protection against competitors discovering Apple's proprietary secrets. Apple places no restrictions on who may sign up and access those materials. At the same time, they limit developer discourse outside of Apple's rather minimal members-only developer forums. Under past NDAs, TUAW could not publish how-to articles or code samples, which was frustrating. The fundamental problem is not limited to this site, though. Developers couldn't tweet about their experiences, write about them on developer e-mail lists or otherwise engage in the kind of productive peer support that makes a development community thrive. Limiting discussion to a vendor-approved site where posts can be modded and/or deleted at the vendor's whim does not exactly cultivate open discourse. Of course, we're talking about Apple. As avowed "Gearhead" Aleksandr Milewski puts it, "It's Apple. They'd NDA their customers if they could." So you can take it as likely that once again Apple is going to slam down an NDA on our collective selves. At least unless enough people proactively stand up and say: "We're mad as hell about NDAs and we're not going to take it any more." So what can you do? Add your voice to this post. Leave a comment and express exactly how you would feel about Apple NDA'ing the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0 SDK. Tweet it. Status wall it. E-mail it to your friends and to Apple. File a bug report at bugreport.apple.com. Give some unofficial feedback. Post about it on your own blog and leave a link in the comments. It's time to be heard. We're tired of REDACTED and we want change.
Rumor: Beta version of iPhone SDK with tablet simulator to be unveiled on 1/27
In yet another drop of information from the firehose of tablet rumors, French blog Mac 4 Ever claimed earlier this week [English translation] that a beta version of the iPhone SDK -- used by developers to create applications for the iPhone, iPod touch, and now possibly Apple's new tablet device -- could be unveiled during the upcoming event to be held on January 27th. What I find interesting about this tidbit is the timing: most of the rumors we have heard concerning which operating system the tablet might run have generally pointed towards a newer build of the iPhone OS. So, if the tablet will be running a new build of the iPhone OS, and that build is only expected to be in beta stages by the end of this month, then it stands to reason that the tablet may not actually hit the market until later this year. I'm thinking somewhere around March, maybe? Then again, it is possible that the device might ship with a preliminary version of the OS which doesn't make immediate use of the App Store, buying some time for developers to get their feet wet using the beta SDK and giving Apple the chance to ramp up a good selection of apps to be ready for sale when the App Store becomes available. Either way, the idea that Apple may release a beta version of the SDK more than a month ahead of schedule serves as an indication that Apple has indeed learned from past mistakes, and hopefully developers will be able to get their hands on the SDK sooner, rather than later. [via AppleInsider]
TUAW readers: Help us tell Apple what you want in the next iPhone!
Apple's campus is a surreal place to be. You're surrounded by a loop of buildings where some of the most advanced technological innovation is going on behind closed doors. That excitement aside, another great thing about being on campus was being able to dine at Café Mac. Café Mac is Apple's cafeteria/restaurant for employees. It's some of the best food you'll ever eat and the café rivals whatever Google has. But I loved Café Mac for more than the food. It is a place where you can meet and mingle with people from all different departments, be that legal, marketing, IS&T, software, or hardware. Now before I go any further, let me state right now that every single Apple employee I've ever met takes their NDAs very seriously and no employee has ever revealed insider knowledge or let any secrets slip (to me anyway). I've remained iChat friends with a bunch of Apple employees I've met from some very cool departments on various trips to campus. I can tell you, though Apple would never admit to being influenced by sites like Engadget or TUAW, individuals at Apple do read those sites and do take into consideration what they read on them. Now, here's where you come in: I know there's been a ton of excitement about the impending Apple iSlate, but let's not forget that, if past years are any indication, the iPhone OS 4.0 will be previewed sometime this Spring with a probable Summer release. I'm sure you all have your hopes and dreams what you want the next iPhone and iPhone OS to include, so here's your chance to get your voices heard – hopefully by many of the people on Apple's campus too. I'm writing a series of features about what people want in the next iPhone and I need you to send me emails detailing what you would like to see in it. I'll have one iPhone article a week for the next month. Each article will deal with a specific wished-for area of the iPhone: next week's article will deal with the iPhone OS as a whole (settings, home screen, search, general behavior, etc.). Week two's article will cover iPhone hardware, while week three and four will cover the iPhone's built-in apps like Mail, Maps, Calendar, etc. Until Friday, January 8, I'll be collecting your wishes and ideas for the next "general" iPhone OS. You have until then to email me your feedback, wants, mock-ups, and concept drawings. Don't be afraid to link to concepts you've seen at other places on the web either. And don't be afraid to borrow features from the Palm Os or Android, too. If they have something you like there's no reason Apple can't learn from them, so by all means include it if you think it would make the iPhone better. I'll present everything you guys tell me in an article and hopefully the boys in Cupertino will take notice. Only feedback sent to tuawiphone [at] me dot com will be considered, but please feel free to lash out your thoughts in the comments too. Also, please only send me your "general OS" wish-lists now, or things could get lost in my mail box if you send your hardware wishes for articles down the line, etc. And, judging from the amount of email I'll get, it would be a great help if you could put your ideas in list form with a description for each if necessary.
