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TUAW's Daily App: Unearthed
Honestly, I spent all day yesterday playing Pocket Frogs, so go try that if you haven't yet. But since we covered that one earlier this week, I'll tell you about Unearthed. To be honest, I don't exactly know how it all works. The app is complicated, and getting it to do what you want it to do is half the fun. It's designed to be like a government security app, except there's no five-inch thick manual binder to go along with it. The idea is that the app turns your iPhone into an "anomaly scanner," and with augmented reality, you're tasked with scanning various alien beings in the world around you. It's a little hard to explain, but once you play around with it, it's pretty trippy. You use the iPhone's camera (3GS or better required) to look around the actual space you're in, and aliens of various kinds appear on the screen as if they were actually there. Scan them in, and you earn points towards leaderboards and get recognized with bonuses and upgrades. Unfortunately, as a game, Unearthed leaves something to be desired. It's a little clumsy, and as I said, it's not entirely clear what is happening, even when you figure out what all of the little buttons and lights do. A tutorial mode would be quite helpful, if the idea wasn't to engage the conspiracy theorist side of your mind. But as an experience, Unearthed is definitely worth checking out. Fortunately, it's a free app that's supported by some in-game purchases for access to the highest levels. If nothing else, give it a download and see for yourself just how freaky augmented reality games can be.
Found Footage: iPod touch 4G goes head to head with iPhone 4
A site called Letem Svetem Applem has put together some performance comparison videos with the iPhone 4 and the new iPod touch, and the results may surprise you. In the startup speed test, the iPad actually beat all of the other iDevices, and the new iPod touch barely beats the iPhone 4 (but all of them were faster than last year's iPhone 3GS, so your upgrade was not in vain). The iPod touch's camera looks slightly darker than the iPhone 4's, and perhaps most interesting, the displays of the iPhone 4 and iPod touch look pretty different. The Retina Display on the iPod touch looks just as sharp, but without the in-plane switching tech found on the iPhone and the iPad, the sides of the display are slightly muddier. Some of the YouTube comments on the speed video claim that if your iPhone or iPad is stuffed with music, documents, or apps, the speed will be affected, but I'm not sure how much of a factor that actually plays on startup (not to mention that we're talking seconds here -- not nearly enough to judge a purchase by). But Apple's claim that the iPod touch is sporting the same Retina Display as the iPhone appears to be missing the mark a bit. Watch all of the comparison videos right after the break below. [via AppleInsider]
The silly season: No Comment on The iBottleopener
Now I've seen everything. To give lie to the meme that there's an app for that, perhaps a new and upcoming meme will be that there's a case for that. The iBottleopener (US $19.99) is a case for an iPhone 3G or 3GS that has a bottle opener on the back. The video, that you've probably just seen, sets a new standard for cheesy adverts. The tagline of the ad campaign is "a party in your pocket." At least they didn't use "a party in your pants," which shows that the manufacturers do have a modicum of restraint. I'm sure that The iBottleopener is the perfect back to school gift for any college student. And iPhone 4 owners won't be left out of the party, or the pants for that matter, since a case to fit the newest iPhone is on its way. For adding a beery note to your iDevice lifestyle, this case deserves a hearty No Comment. Thanks Zack (I think) for sending this in.
Mophie and Intuit partner to create Complete Card Solution for iPhone, try to make Square look square
Who knew that credit card processing would be the new hotness for smartphones? The Square mobile payment system has been making waves by letting small businesses receive credit card payment directly on their smartphones. Now, mophie and Intuit are looking to get in on the same action with their Complete Card Solution for iPhone. It's a $179 package that includes both mophie's card-swiping phone case and the 3.0 version of Intuit's GoPayment app. After a quick application users are said to be approved (or, erm, declined) within 15 minutes and can immediately start accepting payments. Full details, including just how much users will be forking over in fees, after the break.
Official Star Wars shop selling R2-D2 case for iPhone
As a big Star Wars fan, I followed all of the news out of the Star Wars Celebration event last weekend, but this might be my favorite. The official online Star Wars shop has begun selling its very own iPhone case, which as you can see above, will dress up your favorite smartphone as a not-quite-as-round version of R2-D2. I love it! We still don't have an official all-white iPhone, but this case will not only give your iPhone a white outline, it'll add a few droid ports and vents as well. Unfortunately, it's only for the iPhone 3G and 3GS, so it probably won't fit around your new iPhone 4 quite as well. And it's only on preorder for some reason -- you can put down US$30 right now, and it will be shipped out to you in October. It's weird that they're taking preorders for a case for an old phone, but maybe they figure that there are more of the older models still around. At any rate, if you're a Star Wars fan with an un-cased 3G or 3GS, then this case is probably your only hope. [via Macworld]
Pleco 2.2 Chinese Dictionary uses iPhone camera to translate text in real time (video)
Can't say we've heard of the Pleco Chinese Dictionary app prior to today even though it's been around for two full version releases. Of course, we've seen plenty of Google Goggle-like smartphone apps that can snap pictures and then convert the image to text using optical character recognition (OCR) -- something that can be incredibly useful when important stacks of business cards. Pleco 2.2, however, is one of the first apps we've seen that can translate text in real time using the live image presented on your phone's camera display. The new feature, targeted for release in September, requires iOS 4 and should work with either the iPhone 4 or older 3GS. Sure, you might not need this app every day, but it might just be the difference between ordering chop suey or a thousand-year old egg garnished with a side of stinky tofu. See it in action after the break.
China Unicom getting WiFi-enabled iPhone 3GS next week, iPhone 4 on September 1?
Remember that WAPI-compliant version of the iPhone approved back in May? Yeah, well, China Unicom is just now getting around to rolling it out, promising it'll be available next week in the form of an 8GB 3GS for an incredible 4,999 yuan (about $739). As far as we can tell, the phone will be compatible both with straight WiFi and WAPI wireless networks, which is a big step for the country -- traditionally, the Chinese iPhone has been WiFi-free while the iPod touch has gone unfettered, the result of bureaucracy, product categorization, and strange laws that don't fly in many other locales. On a related note, rumor has it that the iPhone 4 -- presumably also with WiFi / WAPI -- is on track for a September 1 release, so if the 3GS is feeling a little too 2009 for you, you may not have long to wait.
Report: iPhone 4 owners report fewer dropped calls than iPhone 3GS
With all of the Antennagate hoopla since the release of the iPhone 4, you'd think that owners of the new phone are never able to complete a call normally. According to a recently published survey from ChangeWave Research, iPhone 4 owners are reporting fewer dropped calls than iPhone 3GS owners. 5.2% of iPhone 4 owners reported dropped calls during the month of July, while 6.3% of owners of the iPhone 3GS said they had experienced dropped calls in a June survey. The survey also noted that one in five iPhone 4 owners said that the antenna issue had caused them problems, but respondents also overwhelmingly felt that Apple's solution (the free case / bumper giveaway) was acceptable. The survey contained more fascinating information about the iPhone 4. While 72% of iPhone 4 owners are Very Satisfied with their phones and another 21% weigh in at Somewhat Satisfied, those numbers are lower than what ChangeWave saw for the iPhone 3GS in August of 2009. At that time, 82% of iPhone 3GS owners were Very Satisfied, and 17% were Somewhat Satisfied. ChangeWave believes the tidal wave of negative publicity around the release of the iPhone 4 may be the cause of the lower numbers for the new phone. Even more fascinating were the results of a survey question asking "What do you dislike the most about your iPhone 4?" While the same question about the iPhone 3GS last year found 41% of respondents griping about the short battery life, a huge number of iPhone 4 owners find AT&T to be the worst thing about the phone. 27% found the requirement to use AT&T's network to be their top complaint, while 24% found the coverage, speed, and quality of the AT&T network to be their top beef. ChangeWave thinks that now that the wave of negative publicity about the iPhone 4 has passed, the phone may eventually surpass the customer satisfaction figures of the iPhone 3GS. [via AppleInsider]
iPhone 4 unlock available now (update: video!)
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_4_unlock_is_now_available'; It's the moment that many of you have been waiting for: the Dev-Team's ultrasn0w carrier unlock for iPhone 4 is out. You'll find version 1.0-1 of ultrasn0w in Cydia on jailbroken devices. If not, just add the repo666.ultrasn0w.com repository. It works for iPhone 4 baseband 01.59 and 3G/3GS basebands 04.26.08, 05.11.07, 05.12.01 and 05.13.04. If none of this makes sense then you've got no reason unlocking your device in the first place, buddy. Update: No-nonsense video embedded after the break showing how to jailbreak and unlock. Easy peasy. [Thanks, Adam]
Found Footage: Four generations of iPhone compared
Here's a fun video of four generations of the iPhone -- original, 3G, 3GS, and 4 -- performing the same tasks simultaneously. From launching intensive apps like Plants vs. Zombies and Google Earth to shutting down and booting up, the differences in task durations are often significant. As you'd expect, the iPhone 4 out-performed its peers on most tasks. For example, it had Plants vs. Zombies ready to play in 8.5 seconds, while the original iPhone took 26 seconds to reach the same point. Likewise, the iPhone 4 had Google Earth ready to go in 21.4 seconds while the original took just over 37 seconds. Now, don't think the iPhone 4 won every contest, because it didn't. The original iPhone was the first to complete the shutdown process at 8.2 seconds, while the 3GS was the first to successfully boot up at 26.4 seconds. You can watch the video after the break.
Apple discussed Verizon switch 'at least half a dozen times,' and other stories about its AT&T relationship
"An iPhone, an iPhone, my carrier's reputation for an iPhone." Grab a cup of coffee and get yourself comfortable, fans of behind-the-scenes industry drama. Wired has published an exhaustive and fascinating expose on the "loveless celebrity marriage" that is Apple and AT&T -- all from sources familiar with the matters but who cannot (or will not) be named, of course. In other words, don't take this as gospel, but frankly, none of this sounds too crazy or outside the realm of what we've already surmised ourselves. In brief, the two companies have been contentious towards one another since just after the iPhone was unveiled. For AT&T's part, the carrier was reportedly taken aback when its requests (delivered by Senior VP Kris Rinne) to restrict YouTube's bandwidth usage (or make it WiFi-only) while the network infrastructure was built up fell on deaf ears in Cupertino. Word has it Apple also refused to allow its devices to be used in campaigns to combat Verizon's Map for That ads: "It was [effective] because of AT&T's network. We would have been letting them use the iPhone to put lipstick on a pig," remarked one anonymous Apple exec. What's most interesting to us here is the ongoing reported discussion to drop AT&T in favor for Verizon. That chapter apparently begins just months after the original's launch, with an investigative team (including Scott Forstall) ultimately concluding that Qualcomm's CDMA (or CDMA / GSM hybrid) chips would require a complete redesign of the device, not to mention a nasty lawsuit with AT&T over its exclusive contract (perhaps a minor issue, knowing Apple). Back then, Verizon wasn't seen as a guaranteed improvement, and according to one executive privy to such meetings, the carrier switch has been discussed at least a half dozen times, with the general consensus always being that it would "cause as many problems as it solved." We can't imagine this is gonna help stem the perpetual VZW iPhone rumor mill. Hit up the source link for the full tale, which does hit on a fundamental issue of the mobile industry going forward: as smartphone makers continue to push their devices' capabilities, bandwidth concerns will continue to grow and carriers are likely to take the majority of the blame. If you ask us, David Fincher has just found his ideal follow-up to The Social Network -- we'd especially love to see someone film the part where AT&T asks Steve Jobs to ditch the turtleneck and wear a suit when meeting with its board of directors.
iPhone 4 Bluetooth issues reported
While testing out the Jawbone Icon wireless Bluetooth headset recently, the parties I called complained of diminished sound quality on their end. They talked about overly compressed muffled sound, with decreased dynamic range. Over at the Jawbone end-user forums several threads have been discussing exactly that. Plantronics forums are reporting issues as well. Informal testing here at TUAW central with a couple of Jawbone units on both an iPhone 3GS as well as the iPhone 4 showed that the 3GS displayed none of the problems that the iPhone 4 is demonstrating.
Conspiracies, kittens, applesauce, and AT&T SIMs
Yesterday, Steve Sande posted about his experiences testing iPhone 3GS signal attenuation. In his post, he showed a picture I had snapped during our morning experimentation showing my 3GS and my 4 competing head to head with the same carrier. My 3GS appeared to have better signal strength than my 4 throughout our testing. I used a Best Buy O2 SIM for that test. It's basically a re-branded AT&T SIM. Because of that it works in any 3G or later iPhone, just by dropping it into the unit. (Unfortunately, no such luck for 1st generation iPhones, which must be jailbroken and hacktivated to take advantage of the SIM.)
TUAW presents: iPhone 3GS 'death grip' video, 3GS / 4 reception comparison
TUAW fans who watched Erica Sadun's proprietary "Strength" app in action yesterday saw proof that there is a degradation in signal quality on the iPhone 4 when it is handheld. The so-called iPhone 4 "death grip," which consists of cradling the phone in your left hand to manipulate the screen with the right hand, appears to be another example of regular cell phone signal loss caused by the proximity of a human hand to the antenna of a working cell phone. In the video above, we tested an iPhone 3GS with Erica's app, and found pretty much the same results -- the signal strength is lower when the 3GS is held in the hand, and recovers when it is not being held. The big difference between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS is that the 3GS doesn't tend to drop calls as often as the iPhone 4 does. Erica also provided the photo shown below, which shows an iPhone 4 (left) and an iPhone 3GS (right) both running the app. They're both on the AT&T network (the 3GS has an O2-rebranded SIM purchased at Circuit City) and they're both the same distance away from the cell towers. The iPhone 3GS is running on iPhone OS 3.1.2 rather than iOS 4.0, which should not affect signal strength readings in any way. It displays a different font than the iPhone 4 as the older OS does not support custom fonts. What the photo shows is that although both of the iPhones show 5 bars of signal strength, the actual signal strength is lower on the iPhone 4 (-95 dB vs. -85 dB on the 3GS), and the Apple Graded Signal Strength is also lower (29 vs. 45 on the 3GS). This is in line with Apple's PR statement of July 2nd that says "the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength." The iPhone 4 should be showing fewer bars than it is, since it's apparent that the reception of the vaunted stainless steel antenna is worse than advertised.
Found Footage: Browsing speed compared on the iPhone 4 and 3GS
Thanks to Obama Pacman, here's a neat (audio muted) video comparison of web browsing speed over 3G on an iPhone 4 (shown on the left) and an iPhone 3GS (shown on the right). The test was done using only mobile 3G with Wi-Fi turned off, and it shows a variety of sites using Safari in a head to head comparison. In almost all the tests, the iPhone 4 was much faster in Web browsing. When you look under the hood at the iPhone 4's 3G performance, the improved browsing speed is not much of a surprise; CNET benchmarked the 4 against the 3G (not the 3GS) and found dramatic improvement across the board. Even against the more recent 3GS, the iPhone 4 delivered stronger download performance in Andy Ihnatko and John Gruber's tests. The processor is obviously kicked up a notch as well. MacRumors, running benchmark tests, found the iPhone 4 processor to be 31% faster than the 3GS using Geekbench 2.1. The iPhone 4 came in with a 2.514 score across routine tests like memory allocation and view drawing, easily besting the 3GS at 2.298. Both were tested under iOS 4. Benchmark tests are not really analogous to real life usage, of course, but they do give a basic indication for comparison purposes. So although it probably takes more muscle to paint the screen using the iPhone 4's high-resolution Retina Display, the faster A4 chip combined with the improved network throughput (when you've got all your bars, that is) seems more than up to the task.
Is AT&T capping iPhone upload speeds? Inquiring minds want to know
The MacRumors forums are abuzz with users comparing their recent upload speeds. TUAW reader Becca Holmes tipped us that iPhone users are experiencing uploads that appear to be capped at 100 kbps rather than the 1.6mbps that was a previous norm. Users have been comparing rates captured with tools like Speedtest.net's Speed Test to put concrete numbers on perceived performance drops -- and it looks like that drop is huge, compared to the way things were just a week or two ago. According to the thread, affected cities include: NYC, Central Jersey, Boston, Orlando, Seattle, South Jersey/Philly, Columbus, Cleveland, West Houston, Phoenix, Northern Colorado, St. Paul/Minnesota, Suffolk County/Long Island, Quad Cities, South Jersey, Denver, Detroit Metro, and Cincinnati.
TUAW review and giveaway: Quirky Beamer iPhone case
We're starting off the Independence Day holiday with a bang -- a giveaway to one lucky TUAW reader of the Quirky Beamer iPhone case for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Before you enter the contest, however, I'm sure you'd like to know what makes the Beamer different and how it works. That's the purpose of this short review. The Beamer is one of Quirky's community-designed projects. We've talked about Quirky before -- anyone can make a suggestion for a new product, and if enough people like the idea then it goes through a community design and review process. The Beamer, suggested by Canadian Jenny Tyler, solves an issue for those who don't have an iPhone 4 to complain about; it supplies a very bright LED light that is amazingly useful in taking photos with the 3G and 3GS.
MicroSIM adapter moves your service back to an earlier iPhone
Yesterday, I went to lunch with a dozen or so Apple enthusiasts, all of us with our new iPhone 4's. And, yes, the topic of conversation was (as you would expect) the awfulness of the signal issues. There were various bumpers and other cases at the table, along with empirical testing. It was very clear that while the bumper added some protection against signal degradation in weak signal areas, the iPhone 4 would not perform well when held with the left-hand kung-fu grip of doom, even with the bumper. With earlier models of the iPhone, it was easy to switch service from one phone to another. Starting with the 3G, you could pop in any AT&T SIM and expect it to work. But the iPhone 4 changed the rules. Its smaller form-factor MicroSIM doesn't fit earlier models, making it more difficult to move your service. Enter the Micro-SIM adapter. Sold by the MicroSIM Shop, the €5.99 adapter (it is sold from Vienna, Austria) allows you to pop your iPhone 4 or iPad 3G SIM into a plastic shell that lets you use it in the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. It works in the first generation iPhone as well, but requires a jailbreak hacktivation to use the SIM without activating through iTunes. You can also pop that same SIM into many other AT&T phones or into an unlocked third party phone. Read on for more of TUAW's review.
Want to upload 720p movies from iPhone 4? Try Pixelpipe
If you were disappointed that you can't upload full 720p video from your iPhone 4 to YouTube without transferring it to a computer first, then check out the latest update to the free app Pixelpipe. While there has been some speculation over whether app developers would be able to access the full-resolution videos for sharing, commenters were quick to assure us there was no reason to worry. Pixelpipe claims that it will share your edited mobile masterpiece in all its splendor not only with YouTube but also to Flickr, Facebook, MobileMe, Viddler, Posterous and a bunch of other video-capable sites (as well email and FTP) for videos up to 200MB. The update to 2.01 is also quick to add iOS 4.0 multitasking for background uploading and should continue to serve as a semi-ubiquitous multi-tool for getting our videos (and pictures) uploaded almost anywhere you want them to go. We mentioned Pixelpipe previously around the time of the 3GS launch last year; it seems to have come a long way since then. It is worth noting that some users seem to be experiencing some instability with the app that will hopefully get ironed out quickly. If you are having trouble with it, keep your eyes peeled for other developers to follow up with alternatives now that we know 720p uploading is possible. Update: Reader Aaron notes that SmugShot is also 720p-upload enabled. Hat tip to Chris Pirillo
Gresso gussies up iPhone 4 with rare wooden veneer
From the front it looks like any other iPhone 4, but flip it around and a glint might catch your eye -- that's the doing of Russian technology tailor Gresso, who's embedded Swarovski crystals and an 18-karat golden Apple logo in a sheet of African Blackwood attached to the device. As usual, one wonders why anyone would bother, but honestly we can't complain -- the design is worlds more tasteful than the solid gold and diamond-encrusted contraptions we're used to seeing. Expect the dainty dillantante to arrive in December at a surprisingly reasonable $3,500, or $3,000 for the male-targeted version at right. Of course, if you've got that kind of money to spend, you want one now, right? Good news: the iPhone 3GS gets the same luxurious treatment -- and price -- in July. [Thanks, Bob]
