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iOS 5's panorama enabled with backup hackery, jailbreak not required
Did you want in on iOS 5's hidden panorama feature, but weren't down with the whole jailbreak shindig? You're in luck, because RedmondPie found a roundabout solution. All interested parties need is an iTunes backup, a little elbow grease and a program called iBackupBot. That last item will allow you to bust open your device backup, where you'll find a preference file that needs an "EnableFirebreak" value changed from "false" to "true." Once that's done, a quick restore is all that stands between you and some epic panoramic vistas, bro. A full step-by-step guide awaits you at the source, just triple check that backup's recent before you obliterate and restore, okay? [Thanks, Brian]
Judge tells Apple to reveal Australian contracts to Samsung
Things are really heating up between Apple and Samsung in Australia. In the war between the two electronics behemoths, a judge ruled that Apple Inc. must now provide Samsung Electronics Co. with copies of contracts with Australian mobile-phone carriers. If you remember this story, Samsung has sued Apple in Australia claiming that the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad 2 infringe on patents that the company holds for various wireless technologies. For some reason, Samsung asserts in the patent lawsuit that carriers are contractually obligated to subsidize iPhone sales -- that's not surprising, since that's standard procedure for many carriers and many phone manufacturers. However, Australia Federal Court Justices Annabelle Bennett ordered Apple to produce agreements that it has with Vodafone, SingTel Optus, and Telstra if they don't agree on the assertion. Apple's lawyer Andrew Fox told the judge that "This is quite clearly a fishing expedition," and that Apple will fight the disclosure, suggesting that it's an effort to find other damaging evidence. The Samsung lawsuit was filed in September after Apple requested a court order to bar the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia. Apple did win that battle, with an injunction granted on October 13. Apple has also been required to turn over 220 pages of documents to Samsung relating to the source code for the iPhone 4S firmware, but Samsung wasn't happy with what they got, stating that there was a "missing file."
Siri apparently won't come to older iPhones
Everyone's saying Siri won't come to older iPhones, but this report may be premature. It's based on an email Michael Steeber received from Apple support about a bug in Siri. The customer service rep was told by Apple's engineering team that "Siri only works on iPhone 4S and we currently have no plans to support older devices." Most people are focusing on the "have no plans" part of the response and overlooking the key word "currently". Yes, right now, Apple doesn't have plans to expand Siri, but these plans could change next month. It's not like Apple hasn't said one thing and done another before - remember the iPod, which was deemed to have a screen too small for video? Looking beyond words, there are other signs that suggest Siri won't be exclusive to the iPhone 4S. First and foremost, there's no technological reason why Siri won't work on older handsets. The iOS hacking community has managed to get Siri running, as a proof of concept, on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and both iPad models. The major hurdle these developers had to overcome was Apple limiting Siri requests to the iPhone 4S. Siri can and does run on older hardware. Apple's just not allowing it, at least not yet. Apple may be proceeding slowly with Siri. It's a beta product and still undergoing refinement. Just look at Apple's Siri FAQ page and all the new languages that are being added. Apple's smart enough not to swamp their system by rolling out Siri to millions of iPhone 4 handsets at the same time they are still adding features. Apple customers just need to be patient and wait. Wait for Apple to flesh out the service and get it firmly established on the iPhone 4S. By that time, Apple will be done using the voice assistant to sell their flagship handset and will be ready to bring Siri to the iPhone 4 and possibly other older iOS devices.
Vooma Peel PG92 case brings dual-SIM capability, added appeal to your iPhone 4, 4S
Vooma's new Peel PG92 handset case isn't the first to bring dual-SIM capability to the iPhone 4, but it may be the most elegant. The accessory, which has yet to be released, essentially consists of an extra battery pack and an unlocked SIM slot. All you have to do is download Vooma's customized app to your jailbroken iPhone 4 or 4S, strap on the Peel PG92, and insert your spare SIM card into the case (judging from the photos, it appears that the device is tailored for mini-SIM cards, rather than micro-SIM). Once that's taken care of, you'll be able to place calls via the app and external SIM, using a dialer interface that's only slightly different from what Apple offers. No word yet on pricing or availability, but you can sign up for more information at Voom's website, linked below. Otherwise, check out the coverage from our friends at TechCrunch, who managed to get their hands on a pre-release model.
Siri ported to iPhone 3GS, likes to kick it old school
Still clutching that 3GS in a jealous rage over your iPhone 4 and 4S toting mates who've been hooking up with Siri? Qwell your anger, friends, as iOS 5's favorite sidekick has been successfully ported to a 3GS by the same hacking pros (Steven Troughton-Smith included) that got her going on the 4 and iPod touch. Not only does Siri work on the older model iPhone, but the device also is able to connect to Apple servers. Take look at the video to see the action for yourself as we wait for our 3G to help us find the best waffle in Kansas. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Apple Store iOS app adds in-store purchasing, we go hands-on (video)
If you've been to an Apple Store recently, you're probably familiar with EasyPay -- Apple's not-always-so-easy handheld checkout system that enables employees to process transactions on the floor, sending a receipt to your inbox. Well the latest Apple Store iOS app eliminates the middleman -- those t-shirt and jeans-sporting retail employees -- letting you process the transaction on your own iPhone 4 or 4S, completely eliminating any need for human interaction. The tool is currently limited to accessories, so you won't be able to pick up an iPad, "scan" it with your phone, and walk out of the store. What's unclear is how Apple will prevent dishonest folks from shoplifting, since your iPhone lacks the ability to spit out those nifty white shoulder bags or blue purchase stickers. We took the app for a spin, running up a $107.79 tab with an Airport Express. As expected, checking out is painfully simple -- after you launch the app from within a store, a popup window gives you the option for EasyPay. You then hover over the item's barcode using the iPhone's camera, and click through to complete your purchase using the default credit card from your iTunes account. We then walked right out the front door with our purchased Airport in hand. You'll still need to head to the registers to return an item, however, which we were able to do within minutes of making our purchase. Jump past the break to see how it works.%Gallery-138810%
Consumer Reports finds iPhone 4S to have worthwhile antennas, says newer iPhone 4 is still problematic
"Consumer Reports recommends the iPhone 4S." It's only half a dozen words, but to the engineers (and marketers) at Apple, it spells "relief." After being profusely impacted by Consumer Reports' decision to recommend against buying the iPhone 4 due to those Antennagate issues, the entity has allowed all in Cupertino to breath a sigh of relief by effectively declaring the reception issue dead on the newest edition. To quote: "Apple's newest smart phone performed very well in our tests, and while it closely resembles the iPhone 4 in appearance, it doesn't suffer the reception problem we found in its predecessor in special tests in our labs. In special reception tests of the iPhone 4S that duplicated those we did on the iPhone 4, the newer phone did not display the same reception flaw, which involves a loss of signal strength when you touch a spot on the phone's lower left side while you're in an area with a weak signal. (The iPhone 4, which is still available, continues to exhibit that problem, we confirmed in tests of new samples of the phone. Because of the flaw, we continue to omit the iPhone 4 from our list of recommended models, despite its otherwise fine performance.)"In other words, even the newer samples of the iPhone 4 (perhaps even that one for Sprint?) continue to have antenna quirks, but at least the latest and greatest seems to have addressed 'em. Hit the source link for the full report.
US Cellular: we don't need no stinkin' iPhone
Dost a company actually dare turn down the seductive wiles of the iPhone? As a matter of fact, there is at least one US carrier that has the audacity to say no to Tim Cook's face: US Cellular. During her company's quarterly earnings call, CEO Mary Dillon mentioned that the mobile provider was given the opportunity to sell the iPhone, but Apple's "terms were unacceptable" when considering the risk and profitability involved. It's bad news for anyone on US Cellular that was remotely interested in grabbing one; the good news, however, is that the fact the opportunity was even available -- paired with C-Spire's intentions of selling the devices next week -- will at least give hope to customers of the little guys. Cricket? Cincinnati Bell? Who's up next? [Thanks, Cliff]
Apple seeds iOS 5.0.1 beta 2 to developers, beta 1 was so yesterday...
If you downloaded yesterdays iOS 5 beta you might want to check that iPhone / iPad / iPod touch for an OTA update. No word on what's new in 9A404 -- a mere two builds from yesterdays 9A402 -- but the updated build should still bring solace to those suffering from battery-drain issues. We're getting errors trying to download the developer notes, but we'll update if we find anything new or noteworthy. [Thanks, Haseeb]
C Spire Wireless will begin selling the iPhone on November 11
A few weeks ago, Mississippi-based C Spire Wireless announced it had inked a deal with Apple to sell the iPhone, making it the country's first regional carrier for Apple's smartphone. Today the company announced that both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S will go on sale on November 11th. From the press release: iPhone 4S will be available starting at $199.99 for the 16GB model, $299.99 for the 32GB model and $399.99 for the 64GB model with a new two-year contract and data plan. In addition, the iPhone 4 8GB model is available for $99.99, also with a new two-year contract and data plan. iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 will be available at C Spire Wireless retail stores, online at www.cspire.com/iPhone and through the Telesales group at 1-855-CSPIRE4. C Spire Wireless is a CDMA carrier that serves Mississippi and parts of Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee. If you live in its coverage area, you can begin pre-ordering your device today. The pricing of the handsets are the same as the iPhone's national US carriers. However, a look at its data pricing plans reveals that C Spire is trying to undercut the national carriers by offering an entry-level voice and data iPhone plan for only $50. Oddly though, the $50 plan and a $70 plan do not allow customers to "stream" data, which I've contacted the company about because I'm not exactly sure what that means; perhaps it has something to do with streaming video and audio, but it's not clear how transport-agnostic applications like YouTube or Pandora would know the difference. No word from Apple on whether other regional carriers will join the iPhone bandwagon yet, but it seems very likely considering the exclusivity agreements with the national carriers have come to an end.
iPhone 4S gets official date and blessing by C-Spire, all yours on November 11th
Oh, heck yeah. We've already been delighted by the news that C-Spire (the hip carrier formerly known as Cellular South) is the lucky recipient of the iPhone 4S, but we now have a date -- and it's coming up pretty fast. Both the 4S and the 4 will be ready for your purchase on November 11th, unsurprisingly for the same exact cost as the big three national carriers: $99 for the 8GB iPhone 4 and $199-399 for the iPhone 4S, but the deal's sweetened by the offering of unlimited data (though the two lowest plans exclude streaming). If you're down with that, it's a good idea to head over to the site and get pre-registered as soon as possible. Now that the little guys officially have the iconic device, who's next? Full press release after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Siri port now talking to Apple servers, avoiding Cydia
A little cajoling from a clever developer got Siri talking to the iPhone 4 and the iPad, but Apple's tight-lipped servers kept the conversation effectively one-sided. The last-gen port was still missing something, and developer Steven Troughton-Smith knew where to find it: a jailbroken iPhone 4S. In an interview with 9to5Mac, Troughton-Smith said that getting Siri to talk to Cupertino's data servers only took ten minutes after he had all of the pieces in place. Ready for your personal assistant port? Hold the phone, the process is a bit dodgy -- our hacking hero said that getting Siri on the older device is a 20-step process, and it requires files from the iPhone 4S that he says aren't his to distribute. When asked about distributing the hack over Cydia, Troughton-Smith said it was something he couldn't be a part of. On Twitter he suggested that a release would "anger the hive," but promised to post detailed notes on the hack after a iPhone 4S jailbreak drops.
Daily Update for October 25, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Siri ported to iPad, still getting silent treatment from Apple servers
Developers wasted no time bringing Siri to the iPhone 4, and nine days later, it's been brought to the iPad as well. This version, running on a first-generation jailbroken Apple tablet, suffers from a similar problem as past non-iPhone 4S ports: it's still not talking to Apple's data servers. This means that until devs manage to get voice commands recognized and initiated, the iPad's unofficial virtual assistant will remain effectively gagged.
Georgia Tech spies on nearby keyboards with iPhone 4 accelerometer, creates spiPhone
Ever plopped your cellular down next to your laptop? According Georgia Tech researchers, that common scenario could let hackers record almost every sentence you type, all thanks to your smartphone's accelerometer. They've achieved the feat with an impressive 80 percent accuracy using an iPhone 4, and are dubbing the program they've developed, spiPhone. (Although the group initially had fledgling trials with an iPhone 3GS, they discovered the 4's gyroscope aided in data reading.) If the software gets installed onto a mobile device it can use the accelerometer to sense vibrations within three-inches, in degrees of "near or far and left or right," allowing it to statistically guess the words being written -- so long as they have three or more letters. It does this by recording pairs of keystrokes, putting them against dictionaries with nearly 58,000 words to come up with the most likely results. The group has also done the same with the phone's mics (which they say samples data at a whopping 44,000 times per second vs. the accelerometer's 100), but note that it's a less likely option given the usual need for some form of user permission. Furthermore, they explained that the accelerometer data rate is already mighty slow, and if phone makers reduced it a bit more, spiPhone would have a hard time doin' its thing. The good news? Considering the strict circumstances needed, these researchers think there's a slim chance that this kind of malware could go into action easily. Looks like our iPhone and MacBook can still be close friends... For now. You'll find more details at the links below.
Verizon Wireless sells 2 million iPhone 4 handsets in Q3 2011
Verizon Wireless announced its Q3 2011 earnings on Friday and confirmed it sold 2 million iPhones last quarter and a total of 6.5 million total this year. This quarterly number still trails AT&T, which activated 2.7 million iPhone 4 handsets in Q3 2011. As its has reported in previous quarters, 20% of iPhone 4 sales are to new customers and 80% are renewals from existing Verizon Wireless customers. This 2 million number is also down from previous quarters. In the first six weeks of sales at the beginning of the year, Verizon sold 2.2 million iPhone 4 handsets which was its best smartphone launch ever. Verizon also sold 2.3 million iPhones in Q2 2011. This slight decline to 2 million in Q3 may be the result of the iPhone 4S. Rather than purchase the iPhone 4, customers waited for the iPhone 4S. Verizon also confirmed it has sold 6.5 million total iPhone handsets thus far this year which is about 11% of the total 55.97 million iPhone 4 handsets sold by Apple. In the same nine months, AT&T has sold 9.9 million iPhone handsets. None of these figures include the iPhone 4S, four million of which flew off the shelves in the first three days of sales. Verizon did not divulge iPhone 4S sales, but said demand was strong. It confirmed that its initial allocation ran out in the first 24 hours and the iPhone 4S is on backlog.
Is C-Spire getting the iPhone 4S? Its website says so (Update: confirmed)
Whoa, stop the presses -- we're not sure if this is officially in the pipeline or if it's just a matter of wishful thinking, but Sprint may not be the smallest carrier in the US to offer an iPhone 4S for much longer. That's right: regional carrier C-Spire (formerly known as Cellular South) has the iconic device splattered front and center on its home page, stating that it's coming soon. We're not certain if the iPhone 4 will be offered as well, and no specific availability or pricing is given yet, but you can sign up to be notified as soon as more 411 is ready. The possibility of one of the little guys getting the iPhone is an exciting prospect, since it may lead the charge for more regional service providers to get Apple'd up. We love rooting for the underdog, after all. Update: And just like that, it's official, folks! C-Spire just reached out to us to confirm that iPhone pre-registration begins today, with the device launch in "the coming weeks." Needless to say, if you're a C-Spire customer, your holiday wish list may have just grown. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
iPhone sales dip last quarter largely due to rumors
iPhone revenues and unit sales for Apple's last quarter dropped significantly compared to the previous quarter. Revenues from iPhone sales declined by 18 percent, while unit sales dropped 16 percent -- a sell-through decline of 2.4 million units over the previous quarter. During the recent quarterly earnings call, CEO Tim Cook and other Apple executives confirmed the main cause of the decline: rumors. Apple believes the explosion of iPhone rumors during the latter half of the last quarter materially contributed to the decline in iPhone sales over the quarter. Coupled with pent-up demand for a new model of iPhone after Apple unexpectedly didn't refresh the line at WWDC, this amounted to a US$2.3 billion reduction in revenue from iPhone sales over the quarter. This is the first time that I can recall Apple publicly admitting the impact rumors have had on its bottom line, and that impact appears to have been substantial. Even Gizmodo's early outing of the iPhone 4's design failed to make much (if any) dent in iPhone sales in the quarter preceding the iPhone 4's launch in 2010, but endless speculation about a supposed iPhone 5 launch apparently drove customers to hold off on iPhone purchases in anticipation of a new model. The good news for Apple is that record-breaking sales of the iPhone 4S may have already offset its lost revenue from last quarter. With four million handsets sold in just the first three days after its launch, sales of the iPhone 4S are likely to drive Apple's holiday quarter iPhone sales beyond anything seen thus far. Whether the situation will repeat in 2012 is anyone's guess. The rumor mill is unlikely to stop churning, but hopefully next year it won't cost Apple so much in lost sales in the process.
Engadget compares iPhone 4S,Galaxy S II, Nokia N8 and Amaze 4G cameras
Engadget spent the weekend comparing the cameras of the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, Galaxy S II, Nokia N8 and Amaze 4G. The iPhone 4S camera is a marquee feature of the device with its 8 MP sensor and an f/2.4 aperture lens. The 4S also shoots in full 1080p HD video. With regards to the iPhone 4S, Engadget generally praised the quality of the photos and video the device took, saying, "The iPhone 4S is a pleasure to shoot with. The camera is ready to capture its first image within a second of launch, and tapping to focus after recomposing is painless and speedy...Its image quality rivals many point and shoot cameras in most conditions...Overall, we were most often pleased with photos we shot with the iPhone 4S." Of course, Engadget found reason to praise the other phones as well. The Amaze 4G took sharper photos in Engadget's testing, for example. Engadget also noted that Apple's competitors offer more advanced manual controls over exposure, white balance and ISO sensitivity. Of course, there are a number of iPhone apps that provide similar features. The iPhone 4S lost out big on battery life. Engadget noted that "After about two hours of wandering around town, shooting several dozen photos and about 10 minutes of HD video with each device, the iPhone 4S had just 30% of battery left." The iPhone 4, on the other hand, had 53% of its battery remaining, and that's with Engadget sending some emails and making some phone calls too. The worse battery life while using the camera can mainly be chalked up the fact that the iPhone 4S has to process much larger files due to its 8 MP sensor and 1080p video recording capabilities. It's a good comparison, and we encourage you to read the whole thing.
iPhone 4S hits four million in sales after first weekend
How did you spend your weekend? If you're Apple, the answer is simple, really: selling a whole lot of iPhones. Cupertino this morning announced that iPhone 4S sales have reached four million -- quite an impressive number compared to what its predecessor was capable of, a fact no doubt helped by the addition of some carriers, like Verizon and Sprint here in the States. The handset is currently available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK, with plenty more countries coming by the end of the year. Press info can be found after the jump. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
