iPhone 3G Spotted. Again. Maybe.
Another day, another iPhone 3G sighting. This time is comes courtesy of iphoneclub.nl [currently down, via engadget mobile] and the image seems to confirm our previously posted image of the iPhone 3G inside a case - which is to say it’s a little bit bigger, a little bit whiter, but otherwise looks like an […]
Could ‘electric computers’ be the new iPhone?
An unusually-large shipment of 188 mysterious containers has arrived in North America from Apple’s manufacturing partners in China. The contents? “Electric computers,” a term that Apple has never before used on its customs declarations.
Additionally, 67 of the containers were destined for Canada, landing in Vancouver, BC.
These containers are not to be confused with Apple’s regular flotilla of shipping destined for the west coast. Typically, those containers are labeled as having “desktop computers” inside on their customs forms.
ImportGenius.com speculates that each container could contain up to 40,000 units of new iPhones.
Either that, or the UNIVAC I ordered finally arrived.
Thanks, Ryan!
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AppStore is on the way. How much are you willing to pay?
Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone
Apple’s iPhone-based AppStore is sure to debut sometime in the next month or two. My guess is that it will launch at WWDC, with select close partners at the launch and then a general opening to the rest of the third-party developers. I’d be quite surprised if AppStore launched and allowed immediate access to everyone who wanted to post an application for sale.
Follow the jump for more thoughts and questions.
Continue reading AppStore is on the way. How much are you willing to pay?
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iPhone’s Raging Thunder: the Developer Interview
Filed under: Gaming, iPod Family, Interviews, iPhone
TUAW was lucky enough to spend a little time recently chatting with Anders Nilsson of Polarbit.com. Polarbit is an independent game developer based in Europe. They recently ported their mobile Raging Thunder racing game to the iPhone and released it as a free beta to the jailbreak community. (It’s hosted at the Big Boss repository.) Built around the iPhone’s accelerometer, Raging Thunder really expresses the fun, interactive potential of the iPhone as a gaming platform.
Read on past the jump for the full transcript of our interview.
Continue reading iPhone’s Raging Thunder: the Developer Interview
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Top 5 Things the iPhone Could Learn from the Competition - Wait-a-Thon!
[Note: This a a Wait-A-Thon post! Comment on this post — or any post tagged “Wait-a-Thon” — for your chance to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card! Note that you must post with a valid and real email address so we can send you your prize — no switching!] No need for double-takes. You didn’t click […]
Telstra Exec’s 42Mbps iPhone Claims Are All But Impossible
A Telstra—iPhone’s carrier in Australia—senior executive, has declared that “by Xmas (the iPhone) will be capable of 42Mbps, which will make it faster than a lot of broadband offerings and the fastest iPhone on any network in the world.” While Telstra’s network may reach that speed in 2009, his claim seems nothing but hot air and kangaroo dung, for a long list of reasons, starting with the iPhone’s alleged baseband chip—the Infineon’s S-GOLD3, which tops at 7.2Mbps.
There are no 14.4Mbps baseband chips commercially available in the market now—much less back when the new 3G iPhone development started
• In fact, there are no HDSPA-based mobile devices of any kind supporting more than 7.2Mbps at this point, and even those are still not common.
• Any 14.4Mbps mobile devices won’t hit the market until 2009.
• 24 and 42Mbps mobile devices are, at this point, nothing but a hot fantasy that won’t materialize until the next decade.
The 3G baseband chip most likely to be in the iPhone 3G is the Infineon S-Gold 3.
• The iPhone beta firmware code specifically mentions the Infineon S-GOLD 3.
• There have been multiple press and analysts’ reports about Infineon getting the contract for the next version, continuing its relationship with Apple—right now the iPhone uses the Infineon S-GOLD 2 as its baseband chip.
The S-GOLD 3 tops at 7.2Mbps.
S-GOLD 3 Multimode - HSDPA, WCDMA, E-GPRS Baseband IC with embedded multimedia functions; launch in the market Q3 2007 HSDPA 7.2Mbps, WCDMA 384kbps class UL/DL & EDGE multislot class 12, including SAIC/DARP support
So yes, the Telstra network may support 14.4mbps devices, but most likely—and unless there were five million supersecret 42Mbps baseband chips that nobody knows about, hidden in an subaquatic lair in the Pacific—the iPhone 3G, already well into production ahead of its June 9 launch, will not support those speeds for a very long time to come.
Maybe the unnamed Telstra senior executive is implying that, next Xmas, Apple will introduce an iPhone with a radically redesigned motherboard using that supersecret baseband chip that nobody knows about right now. Or maybe he’s just a clown.
I’ll take Kangaroo dung for $500. [Channel News]
ID that mysterious tune
The beauty of jailbroken iPhones is the ability for developers to demonstrate the amazing potential of native iPhone apps, inducing the salivation of mouths throughout the techie world. And indeed, some incredible examples of mobile possibilities have already hit the interwebs, like the neat-o PlayStation emulator I wrote about before….
AT&T 3G network will be mostly ready by June 30
Filed under: iPhone
AT&T announced today that about two-thirds of its U.S. network will enjoy download speeds of 1.4 Mb/s and upload speeds of 500 to 800 Kb/s by June 30.
Compared to the actual throughput of the EDGE network, it could be about 15 times faster.
According to the press release, 275 markets will be ready by the end of June. As to which cities and towns those are, Ma Bell is silent. It expects to have its nationwide network entirely 3G-enabled by the end of the year. The upgrade is part of a $20 billion network overhaul which has been in the works since 2005.
AT&T also didn’t mention anything about a new iPhone, but hinted at “the addition of more 3G-enabled smartphones in the summer and fall of 2008.”
[Via Apple 2.0]
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Putting the Earth on your iPhone
While there’s still no Google Earth app for the iPhone (*cough cough*), Google Earth developer Frank Taylor recently got a chance at the Where 2.0 conference to check out a 3D Earth app from Colorado company Earthscape. He posted a YouTube video of the app, and man, it looks pretty fly. I’m particularly digging on the ability to use the iPhone’s tilt sensors to navigate around in 3D space.
No word on a timetable for availability for the iPhone; the software is in private beta for Windows right now, with Mac and Linux versions coming soon.
[via TechCrunch]
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iPhone ramp delay; iTunes movies for UK & Canada; WTO complaint
One analyst has tied an Infineon profit warning to “delays” with Apple’s 3G iPhone ramp. Meanwhile, the UK and Canadian versions of the iTunes Store will soon serve up feature films. And Apple is among a handful of US companies who’ve filed a grievan…
Review: IntelliScreen, Native App-a-Week
Can t wait any longer for Native Apps? Me neither. (Late) June seems too far away? I m with you. So why wait, when you can jailbreak! Over the next couple weeks before 2.0 is released, I ll give you guys a glimpse into the jailbroken world of native apps every week. Plus: let s face it, Jailbreaking isn t […]
TeliaSonera bringing iPhone to Nordic and Baltic markets
Filed under: iPhone
To our friends living in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia: welcome to the growing pack of iPhone-serviced countries! Telecom provider TeliaSonera just signed an agreement to bring the iPhone to these countries just in time for the (rumored) announcement of the 3G iPhone.
Apple is definitely spreading the love (and the exclusive carrier contracts) far and wide. I’m not even sure anymore which countries don’t have service, presently or forthcoming, but I did get terrible grades in geography. Fortunately, our commenters will be sure to make up for my cartographic shortcomings.
Thanks, Olk, Mattias, Jari, Johan, Borger, Undero and everyone else who sent this in!
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Filed under: iPhone
Alex at iPhoneBlog.de (Germany) tipped us off to a simple “hack” they discovered while doing speed tests between EDGE and WiFi. It involves creating an ad hoc network with your computer or a hotspot and changing the default route of the network to point to the IP address of your EDGE connection. Accomplish that and you should be able to run applications over EDGE that are normally WiFi-only, such as the iTunes store.
I can’t test it right now, but I’m sure that some of you will be eager to give it a shot. The speed tests in the video look decent considering the obvious handicaps. If you happen to sprechen Sie Deutsch you’ll probably be able to glean more details from the post. You’ll also want to check out the podcast on using Skype over EDGE.
Thanks, Alex!
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Apple signs iPhone deals for Hong Kong, Macau
Hutchison Telecommunications Limited said Thursday that it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Hong Kong and Macau later this year. Similar to other international iPhone carrier announcements over the past two months, Hutchis…
Interview with iPhone Designer Jonathan Ive
If Steve Jobs is the patron behind the concept of the iPhone, then Jonathan Ive is certainly the artist whose hand crafted its ultimate realization. Apple’s reclusive Vice President of Design recently spoke with the Independant’s Claire Beale on the nature of design, winning an unprecedented six (6!) Black Pencil awards, and what drives Apple’s success: “We […]
