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London — Mar 07, `08 — The BBC has launched a version of its iPlayer video on demand service for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch.

It is the first time the service has been available on portable devices.

The iPhone and iPod touch are able to stream shows from the iPlayer website over wi-fi networks. The iPhone cannot stream BBC video over the cell network. A BBC developer said that the corporation was currently working on other versions of the iPlayer for “many more” devices.

The software currently comes in two versions - a program which allows users to download programmes to their Windows PC and a streaming version on the web available to all users.

The version for iPhone and iPod touch users will allow streaming over a wi-fi connection. However, the EDGE mobile network used by the iPhone is too slow for streaming video. More at BBC.

CUPERTINO, California —Apple on Thursday, March 06, previewed its iPhone 2.0 software, scheduled for release this June, and announced the immediate availability of a beta release of the software to selected developers and enterprise customers.

The iPhone 2.0 beta release includes both the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) as well as new enterprise features such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide secure, over-the-air push email, contacts and calendars as well as remote wipe, and the addition of Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to private corporate networks.

The iPhone SDK provides developers with a rich set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and tools to create innovative applications for iPhone and iPod touch. Starting today, anyone can download the beta iPhone SDK for free and run the iPhone Simulator on their Mac. Apple today also introduced its new iPhone Developer Program, giving developers everything they need to create native applications, and the new App Store, a breakthrough way for developers to wirelessly deliver their applications to iPhone and iPod touch users.

With the iPhone SDK, third party developers will be able to build native applications for the iPhone with a rich set of APIs, including programming interfaces for Core OS, Core Services, Media and Cocoa Touch technologies. The iPhone SDK will allow developers to create amazing applications that leverage the iPhone’s groundbreaking Multi-Touch user interface, animation technology, large storage, built-in three-axis accelerometer and geographical location technology to deliver truly innovative mobile applications.

Apple has licensed Exchange ActiveSync from Microsoft and is building it right into the iPhone, so that iPhone will connect out-of-the-box to Microsoft Exchange Servers 2003 and 2007 for secure over-the-air push email, contacts, calendars and global address lists. Built-in Exchange ActiveSync support also enables security features such as remote wipe, password policies and auto-discovery.

The iPhone 2.0 software supports Cisco IPsec VPN to ensure the highest level of IP-based encryption available for transmission of sensitive corporate data, as well as the ability to authenticate using digital certificates or password-based, multi-factor authentication. The addition of WPA2 Enterprise with 802.1x authentication enables enterprise customers to deploy iPhone and iPod touch with the latest standards for protection of Wi-Fi networks.

Pricing & Availability
Apple plans to release the final iPhone 2.0 software, including the iPhone SDK and new enterprise features, as a free software update for all iPhone customers by the end of June. Third party applications created for the iPhone will also run on the iPod touch, and iPod touch users will be required to purchase a software update to run these applications. The free beta iPhone SDK is available immediately worldwide and can be downloaded at developer.apple.com/iphone/program.  More at Apple.

Cupertino, Calif — Feb 05, `08 — Apple today added new models of the iPhone and iPod touch which have double the memory, doubling the amount of music, photos and videos that customers can carry with them wherever they go. The iPhone now comes in a new 16GB model for $499, joining the 8GB model for $399. iPod touch now comes in a 32GB model for $499, joining the 16GB model for $399 and the 8GB model for $299.

Both iPhone and iPod touch feature Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface and pioneering software that allows users to find and enjoy all their music, videos, photos and more with just a touch of their finger. All iPhone and iPod touch models include the latest software enhancements announced last month including the ability to automatically find your location using the new Maps application; create Web Clips for your favorite websites; customize your home screen and watch movies from the new iTunes Movie Rentals. Both iPhone and iPod touch feature the world’s most advanced mobile web browser in the world with Safari and mobile applications including Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes.

Pricing & Availability The new 16GB iPhone is available immediately for a suggested retail price of $499 through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and AT&T retail and online stores. The 32GB iPod touch is available worldwide immediately for a suggested retail price of $499. More at Apple.

On Wednesday, Dec 12, Google Mobile released new iPhone interface for Picasa. After you go to Picasa on your iPhone and log in, you can quickly see all your albums that you’ve uploaded to Picasa Web.

If you click on any of the albums, you can get a full view of your picture with comments from your friends. Or you can click on Slideshow, sit back and watch the pictures scroll. You can also search for photos in your album or through community photos. Finally, you can view your friends’ albums through favorites.

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch go to http://picasaweb.google.com and check it out. More at Google Mobile Blog.

Mountain View, CA –Marketwire–Dec 06, ‘07 — JAJAH today released version 2.0 of its calling application for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. In addition to saving on international calls, users will have an iPhone style dial pad, iPhone address book and full calling functionally with the device.

Hand-in-hand with JAJAH’s developer community, the enhanced application enables users to make ultra-low cost international calls directly from the iPhone and iPod touch. The application combines the best of both worlds: The reliability and quality of a standard landline or cell phone while profiting from the cost savings of Internet telephony.

Apple users have modified the application on top of the JAJAH platform to make it look exactly like any other phone call on an iPhone device! There is no need to install an application so users globally can use the service without any jailbreaks. This new JAJAH Web app is available from today at http://iphone.jajah.com

Users can access the application at jajah.com/iphone. To place an international call, users simply use the Web apps dial pad or click a name in their address book and JAJAH connects the call right away. To sign up for the JAJAH iPhone service, visit Jajah.

Nov 26, ‘07 — Electronista is claiming that some developers are gaining early access to Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch software developer kit, citing “reliable sources”.

Last month Steve Jobs announced in an open letter that an iPhone/iPod touch SDK would be released in February 2008.

Eelctronista further writes, “A handful of companies are said to be getting rough versions of the tools to help code more advanced applications than would be possible with the current web-only solution. Exact details of what the kit allows are unknown, though it is confirmed that it produces native programs and somewhat resembles Google’s OpenSocial in that it mediates between the programmer and the iPhone operating system.

Although treated as a welcome development, the SDK will not be the same as writing a Mac OS X application and has its clear limits, people familiar with the matter say.

The group of companies has only received its development tools within the past two weeks and is allegedly unable to provide a timetable for when finished software will be ready, though it should be well ahead of the community at large, which only receives the SDK in February.” More at Eletronista.

Nov 19, ‘07 — According to XianLi, a senior member at Hackintosh forum, the iPhone spies on you. The evidence in the code shows that the Stocks and Weather applications send your IMEI number—the unique number that identifies your iPhone and which is tied to your personal information—to Apple, along with the kind of app you were using to access the data.

If this is confirmed I can see some privacy lawsuits would be knocking Apple’s door.

Excerpts from Giz:
“While there’s no evidence that Apple actually uses this information for any purpose, good or evil, the code shows that every time you try to access a detailed information on whatever stock, the information will be sent embedded in the URL. This could be combined with IP location and the information in Apple or its partner’s databases to know what are you accessing, when and from where, all over the world. This could be a powerful data mining source for Apple and, if true, a breach on your privacy.

More importantly, there’s no op-out and Apple covers its back with the iPhone’s license, as readers have pointed already in the comments.”

Here is what some of the Hackintosh forum members say about this:

A Comment from “brand1130″:
“This is how they know exactly how many iphnoes have been unlocked. total # of IMEIs minus the number of IMEI’s that have contacted the stocks/weather pages and were never activated

The bad thing about this is they konw exactly which IMEIs have been unlocked or at least bypassed activation. Hopefully, they can’t do anything further with it.”
Another comment from a senior member, “NotFound”:
“Apple is evil and monopolist.
1. They seal the batteries. You have to pay them $50 to $75 to replace the problematic batteries after warranty.
2. They use non-standard headset plugs. Technically, standard plug interface is enough in doing what iPods and iPhones should do with it.
3. They steal development ideas from 3rd party developers. For example, they stole widget from Konfabulator. It’s just the tip of the iceberg.
4. They rob the open source community and barely contribute. For example, Apache, Virtual Desktop and so on.
5. They don’t donate. While Bill Gates became the most generous donor on Earth many years ago, we barely heard Apple or its executives being on the news for the same reason.
6. Commercials, way too many commercials. If you notice, Steve Jobs and his team keeps advertising iTunes Store etc. They even put a iTunes Store icon on the SpringBoard. They charge for everything. All they talk about is money. Only money.”

More at Hackintosh, Giz.

Oct 29, ‘07 — The Unofficial Apple Weblog, TUAW reports, “A crew of hackers (including hdm/metasploit, rezn, dinopio, drudge, kroo, pumpkin, davidc, dunham, and NerveGas) have introduced a one-touch instant jailbreak for both iPhone and iPod touch. The jailbreak opens your iPhone for full disk access and installs Installer.app so you can add pretty much any third party application you like.  

To use it, open Safari and point your browser to jailbreakme.com (which we aren’t linking to so folks won’t install this by accident, but you are prompted to confirm). Once there, read the directions, scroll to the bottom, and tap Install AppSnapp. If Safari disappears and you return to the main Home screen, you’re good. Just wait a minute more for your unit to restart–don’t touch anything until you see the slide to unlock screen. If Safari hangs, just quit out (press and hold Home for 4-8 seconds) and try again. 

More at TUAW

The iPhone Dev Center is your single source of information for designing, coding, and optimizing web applications for iPhone and iPod touch. Says Apple. Yesterday Apple added this new section to Apple Developer Connection, iPhone Dev Center. There is no word on iPhone SDK yet but this Dev Center is aimed at “designing, coding, and optimizing web applications for iPhone and iPod touch”, for now.

More at Apple

This process is designed to rebuild your lock table in the seczone area and repair the damage done by the original anySIM unlock. In essence, it re-virginizes your phone. This method has been personally confirmed by Zibri who intentionally bricked a phone (wrong IMEI, Invalid SIM) then ran through this process which successfully restored the device to working condition.

More at iPhone Elite Dev Team

Apple Inc beat Wall Street targets with a 67 percent rise in quarterly profit on Monday, led by strong sales of its Macintosh computers and a big first full quarter from the iPhone, sending its shares up nearly 6 percent.

CUPERTINO, California—October 22, 2007—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2007 fourth quarter ended September 29, 2007. The Company posted revenue of $6.22 billion and net quarterly profit of $904 million, or $1.01 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $4.84 billion and net quarterly profit of $542 million, or $.62 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 33.6 percent, up from 29.2 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple shipped 2,164,000 Macintosh® computers, representing 34 percent growth over the year-ago quarter and exceeding the previous quarterly record for Mac® shipments by 400,000. The Company sold 10,200,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 17 percent growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone™ sales were 1,119,000, bringing cumulative fiscal 2007 sales to 1,389,000.

“We are very pleased to have generated over $24 billion in revenue and $3.5 billion in net income in fiscal 2007,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re looking forward to a strong December quarter as we enter the holiday season with Apple’s best products ever.”

“Apple ended the fiscal year with $15.4 billion in cash and no debt,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the first quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $9.2 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $1.42.”

More at Apple

This is sort of a new method to “Revirginize” the iPhone to the factory locked state. Be warned: It may not be ready for the mainstream just yet, despite the excellent guidance manual. More details at Hackintosh

The iPhone’s Installer.app has been updated to 3.0beta3 and features a much better organizational system. You can “Update All”, and the packaging backend is improved as well. You can’t install this directly on your phone, but instead you have to install the older version, then update via installer itself. If you have 1.1.1, you’ll have to jailbreak first, then transfer it on manually. However, it does detect what firmware version you’re running and only displays the apps that run fine on yours.

More at Installer.app Beta - App. Tapp. Install

Steve Jobs of Apple finally declares iPhone SDK after months of speculations. Here its official delaration from Apple:

Third Party Applications on the iPhone

“Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February. We are excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users. With our revolutionary multi-touch interface, powerful hardware and advanced software architecture, we believe we have created the best mobile platform ever for developers.

It will take until February to release an SDK because we’re trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once—provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc. This is no easy task. Some claim that viruses and malware are not a problem on mobile phones—this is simply not true. There have been serious viruses on other mobile phones already, including some that silently spread from phone to phone over the cell network. As our phones become more powerful, these malicious programs will become more dangerous. And since the iPhone is the most advanced phone ever, it will be a highly visible target.

Some companies are already taking action. Nokia, for example, is not allowing any applications to be loaded onto some of their newest phones unless they have a digital signature that can be traced back to a known developer. While this makes such a phone less than “totally open,” we believe it is a step in the right direction. We are working on an advanced system which will offer developers broad access to natively program the iPhone’s amazing software platform while at the same time protecting users from malicious programs.

We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones.

Steve

P.S.: The SDK will also allow developers to create applications for iPod touch.” More at Apple

“Universal Music Group is in discussions with other major labels to launch an online music subscription service that will be initially free with some digital players, a source familiar with the talks said on Monday.” Reuters is further reporting, “Called Total Music, the service is aimed at boosting Universal’s digital media revenue as CD sales plummet, the source said. It could also help reduce the leverage that Apple Inc has on the digital music market.”

On the same story InformationWeek writes, “The company is working with other major record labels, mobile device manufacturers, and wireless providers to give deliver music in a new way, according to a report on BusinessWeek.com. The move is the latest in a series of developments by the recording industry to shore up profits and regain control they have lost as consumers transition to downloading music — both through iTunes and piracy.”

TUAW, The Unofficial Apple Weblog, reports on WordPress plug  in that automatically formatts all your posts specifically for the iPhone. In their words, “I run my personal site using WordPress, and one reason I like using it so much is that is all the great plugins available for it. On another site I ran under WordPress, I loved using the WP-Print plugin– it automatically creates a “printable” version of each page on your site. All of the printer compatibility, none of the actual work.

And now, someone’s cooked up an iPhone version of that same plugin, where you simply install the WP plugin on your blog (for WordPress 2.2.1), and instantly you can see all your posts formatted specifically for the iPhone. Instead of creating a whole other, “mobile” version of your site, you can simply put in this plugin, and you can get a link that will reformat your content for the iPhone or iPod touch. Very excellent.

If you run a WordPress blog or site and were thinking about creating a version of it for the iPhone or iPod touch, your work is done. Download the iWPhone plugin from Content.Robot, install it, and you’re set.

More at TUAW, Content.Robot

AppleInsider is reporting on second Apple Force-Sensitive Display Patent. “If a recent series of patent filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office is of any indication, Apple Inc. as early as next year could add force-sensitive detection to the repertoire of its fledgling multi-touch platform, AppleInsider believes.

On the heels of last week’s discovery of a patent titled “Force Imaging Input Device and System”, documents published for the first time on Thursday reveal a successive and similarly focused filing titled “Force and Location Sensitive Display.”

Originally submitted to the USPTO on May 9th of last year — about five weeks after the first — the patent request again describes today’s touchscreens and touchpads as limited by their relatively simple input, which track only the location of the finger or stylus on the surface.

A method of detecting the strength of the user’s input would add a new element of control, Apple again suggests. Such a device capable of providing both force and location detection would include “a first transparent substrate (having first and second sets of conductive traces oriented in a first direction), a second transparent substrate (having a third set of conductive traces oriented in a second direction) and a plurality of deformable members (e.g., rubber beads) arranged between the first and second transparent substrates.”

More at AppleInsider

Ryan Block of Engadget reports on release of iPhone v1.1.1 baseband downgrade by iPhone Dev-Elite Team. In his words “For those following this stuff religiously: the iPhone “Elite” Team has released a method to downgrade the baseband on v1.1.1 iPhones. Ok, that basically means if you accidentally disabled the phone end of your iPhone with anySIM or iUnlock during the upgrade (or just decided v1.0.2 is where it’s at), now you can revert to the last working version and restore order to your iPhone’s wayward cell radio. Right, for free without paying iPhoneSimFree a cent for their unbricking solution.”

More at Engadget, iPhone Dev-Elite Team

Thomas Ricker of Engadget is reporting on iPod Touch running Mail, Google Maps and more. In his words “  We’re not looking at general availability yet, but those happy hacking cats unravelling the iPod touch have decrypted the ramdisk and are now busy installing applications. Already, Mail, Maps, and other 3rd party apps are up and running on their jailbreaked touches. The race is on between the cat and the mouse to see who will release their wares first.

More at Engadget…

Part Fun. Part Function. Apple today unveiled WebApps library for iPhone & oPod Touch. In their words “With web apps, the power of the Internet meets the brilliance of multi-touch. And suddenly, iPhone and iPod touch can do that much more. Flick through lists of news articles on Digg. Play games like Sudoku and Bejeweled with the touch of a finger. View movie times, train schedules, and blogs.Web apps don’t just extend the functionality of iPhone and iPod touch, they do it in style. Since web apps are websites designed specifically for the 3.5-inch screen, you’ll find the viewing experience amazing.”

More at Apple…

iPhone Alley is reporting on the latest iPhone v1.1.1 Jailbreak by iPhone Dev Team. In their words “It’s been a couple of days since the iPhone Dev Team announced that they had a successful jailbreak, but their method was not released to anyone outside of the team until just recently. This afternoon we received an email from an anonymous source detailing rough jailbreak instructions. After following the instructions myself, I have written a substantially more refined guide for jailbreaking and installing AppTapp on a 1.1.1 iPhone.”
More at iPhoneAlley, iPhone Dev Wiki

Ryan Block of Engadget is reporting on full Jailbreak confirmation of iPhone and iPod Touch v1.1.1 In his words, “We were invited by iPhone / iPod touch file system hacker Niacin and Dre to test out their new v1.1.1 file system hack. We’ve tested the solution, and we can confirm file system read+write access via the TIFF exploit on an iPod touch, meaning loading a simple image file on your v1.1.1 device gives full root file system access!

Caveats:

• The release has not at this time been released to the public. Niacin claims that will happen in the near future, possibly later this morning.
• Thus far the hack isn’t entirely without issues. We’re still trying to determine exactly what’s what, but we’ve lost read and write access unexpectedly. This may or may not be a problem with our machine or device, though, and not necessarily the hack.
• We did not test this method on an iPhone, but technically there should be no difference in the effect. Side note: your v1.1.1 iPhone would, at this time, need to be activated to load the TIFF. (How else are you gonna load it?) This is supposedly being worked on.”

More at Engadget…

TUAW reports,

On iPhone v1.1.1: ” Despite the fact that Apple has added extra protections to SpringBoard and created a list of approved identifiers, iPhone hacker asap18 has managed to port several applications to the iPhone and gotten them to appear properly on the home screen. For now, only 15 icons can be added this way–the last spot appears to be reserved for iTunes. The apps have been tested and are working fine.

He has also tracked down an option for International capabilities in SpringBoard, which may lead to foreign language Application support. This will be needed in countries like Germany and France, where the iPhone will shortly debut.”

On iPod Touch root read access: ”

It looks like iPod touch hacker Niacin has achieved read access to the iPod touch root. Following up on the iPhone jailbreak earlier today, this is another step forward into opening up both the iPhone and iPod touch for general read-write access and third party application support.

Update: Niacin confirms that the TIFF exploit exposes the root partition for both the iPhone and iPod touch.”

More at TUAW on iPhone v1.1.1, on iPod Touch / Toc2rta…

Samsung has fired up its YP series MP3 players’ salvo against Apple’s iPod.

Quick Spec:

P2: 8GB, 3″ 16:9-480×272 WQVGA, MP3 + WMA, MPEG4 + WMV, JPG, FM Radio, Bluetooth 2.0, available for $249.99 at Amazon

T10: 8GB, 2″ 240×320 QVGA, MP3 + WMA, MPEG4 + WMV, JPG, FM Radio, Voice Recording, Bluetooth 2.0 will be priced $199

S5: 4GB, 1.8″ 176×220 QCIF+, MP3 + WMA + AAC, MPEG4, JPG, FM Radio, Voice Recording, Bluetooth 1.2 available for $179.99 at CircuitCity

More at Samsung…

Digitimes is reporting according to its OEM sources, ” Apple reportedly is considering adopting Intel’s Moorestown MID (mobile Internet device) platform processor in a new iPhone, according to OEM sources.

Intel revealed a Moorestown-based MID product with functions similar to Apple’s iPhone at the recent Intel Developer Forum (IDF) San Francisco. The Moorestown platform is expected to launch in 2009 and Apple is considering developing an iPhone based on it, stated the sources.

Some channel vendors think that if Apple adopts Intel’s platform in its iPhone, it will reposition the MID market place and affect both notebook and handset markets.”

Wired adds to the story, “Moorestown will be based on Intel’s much-hyped 45nn manufacturing process, that could mean your future iPhone will see an exponential boost in power-efficiency (both in active and idle modes) and performance. Good news considering Moorestown will also likely support 3G (HSDPA), Wi-Fi, and WiMax.

Electronista also notes that the processor change would also bring the iPhone’s software closer in step with that of the company’s Mac computer range.”

More at Digitimes, Wired…