Premium Game Section in the App Store??

Up until now, Apple has maintained a hands-off approach to the App Store with the theory that the better apps will rise to the top on their own, but that may be about to change. Rumors are circulating that they are going to start a new section in the App Store for premium games, all of which will be priced at $19.99 each.

PocketGamer.biz, who first reported the story, says that the offer would only be open to a select few chosen "large publishers" of iPhone games. They don't have any details on when such plans will be put in place but say the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) may be one possible date.

Apple refused to comment on the rumor (as usual), as did EA Mobile and Gameloft, two prominent iPhone game developers.

If true, this may be a sign that Apple is paying attention to the criticisms they have been getting from developers of apps, many of whom claim the abundance of $0.99 single-task apps has created a sort of natural price ceiling, making the development of higher-quality but more expensive apps unprofitable.

Slide to Play was able to get more confirmation and some additional details while talking to an unnamed publisher representative, who said that the section will be for "PSP-quality" games:

When we asked what Apple meant by “PSP-quality,” our source indicated that premium games are likely to have much larger file sizes than most of the games we’ve been seeing; Apple also wants the section to attract prominent franchises that publishers have been reluctant to bring to the platform thus far.

While it may bring in some higher-quality games from big titles, smaller indie developers are concerned that it may push them out of the loop and create a barrier for success between large and small devs. Still, as John Carmack said back around the time the App Store first launched, the iPhone has a lot of gaming potential.

“The iPhone, as a device, is in the same generation power-wise as the PS2 or Xbox,” he says. “The graphics are a little lower but the RAM is a lot higher. … You could easily spend $10 million on an iPhone game, but the market just can’t support that yet.”

How to Put your iPhone in Recovery Mode

Welcome to iPhone 101, our helpful new how-to series for new iPhone users (or experienced users who want a handy link to send to their new-user friends and family!). Previously, we’ve shown you how to Force Quit applications to free up memory if things seem a little stuck or stalled. But what happens when your iPhone is completely non-responsive, even when connected to iTunes via the USB cable? Don’t worry, it’s not a time to panic, just time to put your iPhone into Recovery Mode. We’ll show you how… after the break!

1. Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes (8.0.2)

2. Plug your USB cable into your computer.

3. Turn your iPhone off by holding the power button down until you see “slide to power off”. Do as instructed.

4. Now press and hold the Home button while reconnecting the USB cable to your iPhone. After iPhone is connected it should power on the device.

5. Continue holding the Home button, you will see the Apple logo appear and then finally a “Connect to iTunes” will be displayed, now is the time to release the Home button.
   

This is a story by the iPhone Blog

iPhone blog apps?

WTF, are there any good blogging apps for the iPhone? I tried a couple and so far none that I have tried work well with google's blogger/blogspot. I find myself getting so frustrated when trying to post on my blog when there are pictures I want to put up. If anybody knows any good blogging apps for google's service please leave a comment and let me know. If you have any suggestions on other blog services I could use please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks...

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Crack.. Pretty Cool App

New iPhone Ad Focuses on Reading Apps

Classics (and all around awesome icon and UI) designer Sebastiaan de With posted on his Cocoia blog that his co-creation is currently being featured in a new ad for the iPhone:

How very awesome it is to see this on Apple’s website (and possibly on TV!). You can read about the design process of Classics here.

This latest ad continues Apple’s current trend of focusing on apps as the killer iPhone feature, this time specifically on a variety of different apps that let you “read” in one way or another: Yelp for restaurant reviews, OsireX for MRI scans, and Classics for “regular old book”.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog.

Push Notification?

TiPb has theorized before that Apple’s promised-by-September-yet-still-undelivered Push Notification Service (their alternative to actually allowing 3rd party multi-tasking) hasn’t shipped yet because MobileMe taught Apple — very painfully and publicly — that it’s better to take their time and get push services right than rush them out broken and buggy.

Now it’s almost February, iPhone OS 2.1 has become 2.2.1 with still no PNS in sight, and rumors around Macworld this year whispered that, if PNS wasn’t dead, it was at least playing that way.

Macworld’s Dan Moran is sharing his own thoughts and theories on the issue, that Apple might have tried for more than it could accomplish, that PNS doesn’t really go far enough anyway, that too much notification can be a Bad Thing, that Apple will kill poor solutions, and most interestingly, that maybe regular users just don’t care:

Maybe that’s the simple answer: that people—to wit, users—just don’t care. They’ve learned to adapt to the iPhone’s way of doing things, and that way doesn’t include notifications or multitasking…at the moment, anyway. At some point in the future it seems likely that Apple will introduce a new feature that takes care of the issues that notifications would have addressed, and it appears that most users are content to wait until then.

How about it, regular users? Would you rather have bad PNS than none at all? Or are you really content to wait, figuring Apple will figure it out eventually? Or do you really just not care about PNS at all?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog.

Frostyplaces iPhone App

The new frostyplaces application that allowed you to enable the emojicons on your iPhone, seems to have been killed. It seems like apple has disabled the app from being used on your iPhone. If you have already enabled the emoji's on your phone they still seem to work. The weird thing about this is that apple still let's you spend your 99cents to buy the app, but once you buy then you get nothing. So for now don't buy frostyplaces.

Emojicons
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Posted by iPhoneNovice.net

I thought this was pretty funny...

Erica Sadun has written an article over at Ars all about teaching your touchable pocket pal some nasty habits. If your language is generally more "explicit," or you just have a need for the iPhone (or iPod Touch) to learn someone's last name, then take heart, ye weary iPhone typists!

We previously covered TJ Luoma's tip that involved adding a new contact whose name was a word that does not appear in the system dictionary; TJ has since updated the tip to note that you can include the target words outside the contact name and the approach still works. Erica has suggested a slightly different approach that does not require you to salt the address book with contact fluff. This is especially useful if you have young children or mothers who might happen to peruse your contacts.

The general assumption is that after correcting the auto-correct, the system will eventually add whatever it is you're typing to the dictionary. As it turns out, not all apps are created equal in terms of updating the dictionary with new words. I won't spoil the surprise, but I will tell you that the Notes app is not where you should conduct your keyboard-training session.

This excellent tip can also be used for teaching your tactile friend some less abrasive words that are not in the dictionary. Erica's article walks through the procedure for updating the built-in dictionary on an iPhone or iPod Touch. If you happen to have jailbroken your device and installed SSH, she shows you how to directly access the dictionary. Hit the read link for the full scoop on how to update your dictionary with your off-color language or otherwise unique verbiage.

TUAWTeach your iPhone to swear, take two originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Have you ever wanted emojicons on your iphone with out jailbreaking?

Thanks to ijustine for pointing this out to me..

If you want emojis (little Japanese icons in your text messages) on your iphone

Got an amazing link today from Ashot about this application that will allow you to send Japanese emoji icons to anyone with an iPhone — without hacking it! You all know I won’t jailbreak my iPhone

Anyways, it’s really simple. This is all you need to do:

#1. Get this $0.99 app called frostyplace from the iTunes store [ link ]
#2. Play with the app for a minute to activate, click on a story, then scroll down and click the blue tab at the bottom of the story. etc
#3. Go into you settings -> General > Keyboards > International > Japanese
#4. Click the Emoji option to on!
#5. Text anyone with an iPhone and they’ll get your icons!

Don't know what game to buy?

Don't know what games to buy out of the app store? Here is an awesome free app to help with your choice. It called IGN game reviews, search for it in the app store.









Posted by iPhoneNovice.net

Ustream App

The ustream application is now in the app store. You can get it now to watch Obama


Posted by iPhoneNovice.net

Inauguration from your iPhone...This is just getting better and better!!

Ustream through your iPhone:

If Ustream.tv gets their iPhone app approved before Tuesday, then simply search for "ustream" and you'll get a live feed of the Ustream coverage mentioned above. If not, TechCrunch has details on getting a beta invite. Ustream's site also suggests an email to iphone@ustream.tv might do the trick.

Inauguration Report apps:

For both iPhones (search "inaugurationreport") and Androids (search IR09), the join project's mobile apps let you view semi-real-time Twitter updates, Flickr photos, text messages, and content upload from other mobile IR users from one handy app screen.

Quick Tip... Save Images in Safari and from Email

Save Any Image from Safari and/or Email-

To save any image from the web to your camera roll, simply press and hold the image. A menu will appear asking "Save Image" or "Cancel" its the same with your Email. Once the image is in your camera roll, you can set it as your wallpaper.

Quick Tip... Fast Foward/Rewind Music & Videos

I gotta admit that i didn't even know this one.

Fast Forward/Rewind Music & Video -

Press and hold the skip forward/back arrows to fast forward or rewind rather than skip tracks. Also, tap on the album art to pull up the manual FF/rewind controls.

Quick Tip.... Soft Reset Your iPhone

Soft Reset -

Press and hold the Home button and the Sleep button to restart your iPhone. A white light will flash, the screen will shut off and then turn back on.

Once the screen shuts down release the two buttons. After releasing press the sleep button to turn your iphone back on.

If your phone ever freezes or gets locked up you would use this technique.

Quick Tip... Take a Pic of Your Screen (screen capture)

Take a Screenshot -

To take a screenshot, hold the home button and then click the sleep button. The screen will flash white and the screenshot will be stored in your camera roll.

Posted by: iphonenovice.net

Quick Tip..... Keyboard Tricks and Tips

Domain Suffix - [On firmware 2.0 and up]

Hold down the ".com" key for ".net, .edu, .org" keys. Note: Slide your finger from .com to .net/.edu/.org, rather than lifting and pressing.

Press & Hold For Alternate Characters -

Hold a letter for a popup of various versions of the character (i.e. to type España with the "ñ" simply hold "n" and simply slide/release to the appropriate character).

Quick Tip.... Scroll to Top of a Page

In any application, Safari included, you can automatically scroll to the top of the page by tapping on the "top bar", which has the time, service bars, and battery. In Safari, this not only brings you to the top of the page, but also brings up the URL bar.

Posted by iPhoneNovice.net

Quick Tip... How to turn off GPS in Apps

You might have seen this before. It is a safety function of the iPhone 3g's gps. I am sorry to inform you that there is no way to turn this warning off and still use the gps. But don't fear it is set to a default setting to only show you this warning 3 times as you exit and enter the app. So if this really bothers you, simply exit and re-enter the app 3 times and this warning will no longer so it's ugly face.

Golden VF Fashion Covers Make Your iPhone Look Like a Million Bucks

In the past we’ve mentioned several companies which offer blinged out versions of the iPhone. We’re talking about gold, platinum, and diamond studded iPhones that will cost you thousands. But we’re sensible folks, and while we like reading about that stuff - we dont know anyone insane enough to drop down 10k on a gold iPhone - even if they are loaded. However, if you are looking for a way to glamorize your iPhone, check out these Trump-style iPhone cases. VX Fashion Covers are gold plated and come in several designs that look very highend, some with a sprinkling of crystals. Unfortunately, we have no word on pricing and availability, but we’re hoping they’ll show up at some retailer soon.

Apple: 15,000 iPhone Apps, Half a Billion Downloads

Head over to Apple.com yet today? If you haven’t seen it already, a new hero image has taken it’s place boom smack in the middle of the home page and it’s announcement couldn’t be more mind-boggling: the App Store now includes over 15,000 iPhone applications, and iPhone users have downloaded apps more that 500,000,000 times.

Considering the App Store only launched 6 months ago, we’re reminded of what Steve Jobs said last quarter — that, in all his time at Apple, they’d never seen platform growth or attachment rates this fast and this furious.

How many apps do you think you’ve downloaded?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog.

AT&T Outage, When will it END!!!

So once again AT&T seems to be having issues. TiPb reported on the two previous outages, which seemed to affect a much larger area then the current outage.

I read one report of someone in Philadelphia on the forums today, did not think much of it until I read a post on BGR just now. According to a BGR tipster this outage is affecting Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. It is creating the inability to hear the party on the other end of the line during outbound and inbound calls. Data at this point does not seem to be affected.

AT&T is said to be well aware of the situation and is working on getting it back up to be fully operational. So just how many of our readers are currently having issues? Anyone?

[Via BGR]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog.

Quick Tip.. Fast Music Control Access

Quick tip, double tap the home button while the phone is locked. If you are listening to music and your phone is locked here is a quick tip to navigate to your music controls. Simply double tap the home button (while the phone is locked) and your music controls will pop up. There you are, quick access to your controls.

Analyst: Apple Prepairing 4GB iPhone 3G

Analyst Maynard Um with UBS is predicting iPhone 3G shipments this quarter to fall short of his previous 5 million estimate. He also predicts that they may be prepairing to launch a 4GB version of the device in the near future.

from iPhone Alley - RSS by Edward Kirk

Aloisson Creates A New Most Expensive Phone

Phone customizer extraordinaire Peter Aloisson is at it again, creating a new most expensive phone. We've seen diamond iPhones before but this one is worth 1.79 million euros (around $2.45 million). The phone doesn't just feature a generous sprinkling of brilliant cut diamonds around the edges, it also features the King's button, a home button with a 6.6 carat diamond. The diamonds are set in white, yellow and rose gold.

Steve Jobs Takes Leave of Absence From Apple

Following the speculation, the turning of the final Macworld Keynote over to VP Phil Schiller, and an unprecedented open letter to the Apple community on his health, Steve Jobs today sent out word to Apple employees that he was taking a leave of absence from the company he co-founded. Text via Engadget:

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve

Needless to say, everyone here at TiPb wishes Steve Jobs a fast and full recovery.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog.

Chipotle Mobile Ordering Comes to iPhone [Updated]

Burrito restaurant chain Chipotle has launched a new free iPhone application, Chipotle Mobile Ordering [App Store], which builds upon their online ordering system launched in December 2005 and revamped this past October. The application allows iPhone and iPod touch users to customize orders from Chipotle's full menu, pay for their food via credit card, and find directions to their nearest location. The app also allows users to save their orders as "Favorites" to simplify future orders.

Apple's interest in the iPhone as a platform for wireless ordering extends back to a patent application filed by Apple in July 2006 and published in December 2007. The first widely-publicized concept images of how an online ordering app might work were published at about the same time by designer Phil Lu, whose mockups of a Starbucks iPhone ordering app drew significant media attention. While a number of restaurants and third-party ordering systems have deployed web applications compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch, Chipotle Mobile Ordering appears to represent the first major release of a native application for this purpose deployed through the App Store.

Update: Chipotle Mobile Ordering has been removed from the App Store for unknown reasons, although users have reported that the app suffered from a number of bugs that may have precipitated its removal.

Update 2: TechCrunch spoke with the app's developer, and learned that unexpected demand had overwhelmed their servers. The goal is to have the app back online in two weeks, with some bug fixes to help things perform even better.

Apple suddenly approves a bunch of browsers for App Store; major policy shift in progress?

Okay, so maybe a new browser isn't the first thing we'd like to see replaced with some fresh thinking out of the App Store -- that honor probably goes to the email client, preferably with something that could rival the G1's capabilities -- but regardless, Apple's infamous "duplication of functionality" argument has hamstrung iPhone developers from even coming close to stepping on the mothership's toes from day one. Consistent application of policy is still at a premium when it comes to getting iPhone apps approved, it seems -- it's hit or miss, and as best as we can tell, a happy ending involves the crossing of fingers and getting a reviewer inside Apple who's having a good day. It looks like Apple's slowly and quietly tweaking its game in response to complaints, though, with MacRumors noting that a slew of browsers have gone on sale in the past day; some of these things have submission dates several months old, so it seems like they've been holding in some sort of purgatory while Steve and the gang debate the merits of letting programmers actually practice their trade in peace. Odds are none of these initial entries will hold up to Safari for good, old-fashioned browsing, but more importantly, this might just open up the door for Opera and others to get in on the game.

Update: As it turns out, all these new browsers are WebKit-based, so while things do appear to be changing, we wouldn't hold out hope for an iPhone edition of Mobile IE just yet.

Use the RichardSolo coupon while you still can!!! i just confirmed it still works!!

If you were wandering the halls of Macworld Expo last week, you might have seen a familiar face -- no, not the everpresent TUAW video crews, but the gadget-loving visage of Richard Thalheimer, founder of The Sharper Image and current head honcho of RichardSolo. The RS booth was a brief walk away from The Sharper Image's floor presence, but I believe maturity prevailed and no miniature helicopters or USB missile launchers were seen to buzz the competition's displays.

The RichardSolo iPhone and iPod extended-life batteries were visible at the show on attendees' iPhones, and most people visiting the booth seemed to be satisfied customers or would-be customers (Steve reviewed the latest model in November). Buyers at the show were eligible for a $30 discount on the original and newer 1800 models, but if you missed that opportunity you can still save: through the end of January, use coupon code 'Macworld' at checkout and get $20 off either product (usually $50US for the lower-capacity model and $70US for the 1800 model).

There's a good list of still-running Macworld Expo discounts at dealmac, but if you know of any that aren't on the list, shout them out.

[via MacObserver]

Archive Instead of Delete Gmail Messages on Your iPhone or iPod touch

If you stick with Mail's default settings, every email you delete from your iPhone or iPod touch goes to your trash. It makes sense, but if you're used to the Gmail life, you're probably thinking "Archive."

The Official Gmail Blog has published a nice video walkthrough for how to set up Mail to archive instead of delete email from your iPhone. The video itself doesn't explicitly talk about the whole Delete vs. Archive debacle, but if you set up your account following the method described, deleting a message on your iPhone will place it in your All Mail folder—which is what archiving does. We've discussed this change before, but the video offers a nice hold-your-hand approach to making your iPhone email behave more in line with what you'd expect from Gmail.

Tip: Archive mail on your iPhone [The Official Gmail Blog]

Rumor: iPhone Nano Coming in June… But NOT to the USA?

We’re still considering these iPhone nano rumors to be way over on the far side of fetched, by they just keep on keeping on, so here’s the latest (via MacRumors):

DigiTimes highlights a report from Taiwan’s Economic Daily News stating that two chip manufacturers, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and United Microelectronics Corporation, are expected to receive chip orders for Apple’s rumored iPhone nano. The report states that orders would likely come in March, leading to a June release of the iPhone nano at the earliest. [...] Meanwhile, American Technology Research analyst Brian Marshall believes that the iPhone nano will not initially be launched in the United States.

Marshall (via International Business Times) bases this claim on no word of AT&T testing an iPhone nano, and then leaps to the speculation that China would be a likely place to the launch the new device.

Aiya.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog

Apple Researching 3.5G Technology from iPhone Alley - RSS by Edward Kirk

Apple recently posted job listings for several positions hinting that the next iPhone might have more advanced 3.5G data capabilities. Listings for performance engineers in the areas of both analysis and testing that specialize in High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) have been posted.

Apple Patent Shows Linking Maps And Calendar Apps On iPhone

A new patent application from Apple has been published by the US Patent and Trademark Office showing that they are considering linking the functionality between the Maps and Calendar apps on the iPhone. The technology would let users view an address associated with a calendar event in the Maps app.

A day in the life of my iPhone 3G from The iPhone Blog

The iPhone has been available for an while now and folks have made it a part of their daily lives. Now, with so many applications, surely people are using the iPhone for more than making phone calls. So, I thought I would outline how I use my iPhone 3G on a daily basis. Ready, here it goes!So let’s start of with first things first…

1. Alarm: I use the iPhone for my daily alarm. I set mine for 4:45AM everyday. I am out the door by 5:00AM to begin my daily walk/jog
2. iMapMyRun: I use this app to track my exercise progress. It uses the GPS functionality in the iPhone to now only track my pace and time, but it also records my travels on a map and tells me verbally where I am in my work out and my pace. Not bad for a free app!
3. iPod: On my drive to work I listen to a smorgasbord of music from my library, to podcasts, to audiobooks, I really use my 45 minute commute in the mornings to catch up on news and relax.
4. Evernote: Once I am at work, I use Evernote on my laptop to take meeting notes, etc. However, the iPhone version of Evernote comes in really handy to take pictures of whiteboards or flipcharts. The added benefit of Evernote’s OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology means I can contextually search those pictures at a later date. very handy!
5. Getting Things Done (GTD): After my meeting, I usually need to add some tasks to my projects, so I add them to my new favorite app, Things for iPhone. It follows David Allen’s GTD methodology and really helps me to stay organized.
6. Calendar: What usually happens after a meeting? You schedule a follow up meeting! Again, iPhone to the rescue…
7. Social Networking: Of course when I have time between meetings and work I check out what is going on with Facebook and Twitter. I use Facebook’s native app and Iconfactory’s excellent Twitteric app too keep up with my fellow Tweeters!
8. Lunch: Sometimes we might order out at work, but don’t know the number or directions on where to call or pick up our food. Google Maps on the iPhone comes in really handy! Of course the recently updated iPhone-optimized Google search is nice too.
9. Documents: Of course, it is very handy to have some documents available and accessible when you need them. If you are a MobileMe subscriber like I am, the free version of MobileFiles allows you to access your iDisk and save files locally for quick retrieval. I use this feature to access our shuttle schedule at work. We have several shuttles to transport us to different parts of campus. This is a huge time saver!
10. News: On the shuttle ride I usually catch up on my RSS feeds. I do this with one of two apps: Bloglines (web app) and NetNewsWire (native app). These are two awesome apps to for on the go news reading.
11. Jott: On the way home, I might have an epiphany or remember a todo I completely forgot about. Jott allows me to audibly record my note which I can review later and add to Things if needed. Truly a life saver for when you are brainstorming and can’t write anything down! The value Jott brings to the table over Evernote (Evernote can record audio notes too) is that Jott transcribes your audio note. Cool. (Note: Jott has recently delisted the iPhone app, not sure why. You can still use the 1-800 number, which is probably better anyway)
12. Dinner: My wife and I aren’t great cooks, so sometimes we need a little help with dinner. All Recipes Dinner Spinner has a great app that allows you to enter what “ingredient” you have (like chicken, etc) and help you with simple recipes based around time, available food, etc.
13. Blogging: I don’t blog as much personally as much as I used to, but I try to keep my blog updated as much as I can. A great way to do that is with WordPress for iPhone. This app is awesome and there are some really cool features coming soon to help me be even more severed from my iMac.
14. Relax: After dinner my wife might want to watch something on Apple TV, so I kick it on the couch and watch one of my own TV Shows or Movies on the iPhone before retiring for the evening.

Well, that about sums it up! Of course there is always time to play the endless amount of gaming to be had during free time, but that is a given! So, how do you use your iPhone on a daily basis? After writing this post, I am not sure how I would survive without mine!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog.

Multi-Core iPhone Coming Alongside OS X iPhone 3.0?

Jason O'Grady at ZDNet has picked up on an interesting rumor here at Macword. According to him, Apple is currently working on a four-core iPhone running OS X iPhone 3.0. The 3.0 software is said to be required on the iPhone "quad."

O'Grady also points out that Imagination Technology will be announcing their first multi-core general-purpose graphics processor

tomorrow at CES. The chip may be suitable for the iPhone and can theoretically scale to an unlimited number of cores.

However, Arnold Kim at MacRumors believes that the ARM Cortex A9 multi-core processor would be a more likely candidate for Apple. Apple currently uses ARM-based chips in the iPhone and iPod touch, and it's likely that they're an ARM architectural licensee.

MacRumors has also heard independent rumors that iPhone 3.0 will include multi-core support.

[via ZDNet]

Rumor: AT&T Considering Reducing iPhone Tethering Plan to $10?

We’ve reported on the iPhone tethering situation, both unofficial and official, before, and last we heard AT&T was considering it as a $30 addition service charge. Now comes a rumor via MacBlogz that the price point is being reconsidered — down to $10:

The biggest piece of information we learned was that AT&T is playing around with a $10 price-point. This made my eyes light up and I asked them how they could get away with charging a third of what was initially reported, here’s the response I got. “iPhone tethering is primarily an AT&T offering, but it involves Apple at least wanting or allowing the service, which they do. If it doesn’t function as expected, I know of a few people who may lose their jobs,” my colleague explained. “While you may think it’s as easy as streamlining our Blackberry tethering service over to the iPhone, it’s not. Connection may be tied into iTunes, and Apple is incredibly controlling when it comes to this space.”

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Biggest Battery Drain on iPhone 3g that You Might Not Know

I have had an iPhone and an iPhone 3g since day one and just before the new update to fix the battery life for the iPhone 3g came out it really suffered. Now that the update is out and on just about everyones phone the battery life is pretty smooth.

The Problem

I have found that one of the battery life's biggest drains depends on your location on AT&T's network. If you live in a spotty area of 3g or a no 3g zone your battery can really suffer. If you have the first generation iPhone then you are fine, but 3g iPhone owners suffer. It is a big lose in battery life and you might not even know this is happening.

The Fix

The fix is to simply to turn off the 3g connection.
1. Tap to Settings on the home screen
2. Then tap General
3. Then tap Network
4. You will see Enable 3g slide that to off

I know this is not a fix that most might prefer, but, if you know you're not gonna be able to get to a computer or charging location anytime soon this will help.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Battery issues? Give this a try...

This is the RichardSolo 1800 backup battery for iPhone/iPod $69.95. It also includes a laser pointer and a flash light, you'll never know when you would need a flash light or laser pointer.

My head is always buried in my iPhone, every 10min I'm looking at my iPhone if its music, movies, apps, facebook, twitter. I will be ordering this shortly...

http://richardsolo.com/iphone_and_ipod.html

Wow this phone is really taking over!!! WebEx

Now this is getting a little more advanced but give it a shot, it's FREE!!!!

The free application lets you attend any WebEx meeting over 3G or Wi-Fi, including simultaneous conference calls, chat, and document sharing (you'll probably want to bust out your headset to use it all). WebEx is a free download, iPhone and iPod touch only (though clearly two-way voice isn't really an option for the iPod touch).

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone Demo Video

I cant wait for this!!! To get this to work on your iphone you will have to own a slingbox. The slingbox connects to your tv at your home and it streams the video from your tv to the internet.

This is not yet available, the sling team will plan to submit it to apple at the end of march.

Best Buy Selling Refurbished iPhone 3G’s "by Jeremy Sikora"

Before the holidays we reported AT&T started to sell refurbished iPhone 3G’s on their website for $50 less than what you could buy a new device for. Well now it seems Best Buy is taking a page out of AT&T’s book.

Best Buy will sell a 8GB refurb for $149 and 16GB refurb for $249. These units normally retail for $199 and $299 respectively, and normally ship with a full one-year warranty. The refurbished units will sell with at least a 90-day warranty, and possibly more. You can check the amount of time remaining on your warranty by entering the serial number at Apple’s Online Service Assistant page.

So just like the AT&T refurb deal you now have a choice to make. Save $50 on a used device with a 30 day warranty… Or spend that extra $50 and get a brand new device and a full years warranty.

Shortcut To Screen One

In the latest iPhone software update, version 2.2, Apple added a new shortcut to the Home button. Pressing the Home button from any Home screen will now bring you right back to your first home screen. This shortcut is great for those of you who just can't stop downloading apps.

Give it a try... Lets say you are looking at your apps and you swip to the second screen, press the home button and you will jump back to the first screen automaticly. This helps if you have a lot of apps and you dont want to spend your time swipping and swipping...

iTunes Wi-Fi Store Now iTunes Store, Works Over 3G

Today at Apple's Macworld Keynote Address, Apple confirmed circulating rumors that the iTunes wifi store on the iPhone and iPhone 3G would gain the ability to download media over the 3g network. Earlier this morning Phil Schiller, Apple's VP of Worldwide Marketing, announced that they would be dropping the "wifi" from it's name, officially making it just the iTunes Store on the iPhone. With this new change, users will be able to download music anywhere without the need for a wifi signal.

Enable WiFi when in Airplane Mode

There has been plenty of new features that were added to the new release of the iphone software but one you may not know about is the ability to turn ON wifi (wireless internet) while in airplane mode.

This is how to do it:

1. While in airplane mode go to Settings

2. You should see wifi and it will be labeled OFF

3. Select wifi and switch the OFF switch to ON

4. And now if there is wifi on your plane then you can enjoy wifi while in flight 

Craigs List for iPhone

How to install?
1. Touch the App Store icon
2. Touch the Search Button at the bottom of the screen
3. In the space above type "craigsphone" then search
4. Touch free then when free turns into install then click install
5. Enter your itunes password than Enjoy... (the phone will then take you out of the app store then show you that the app is being installed)




craigsphone from Next Mobile Web on Vimeo.