by Christopher Meinck on July 29, 2010
As part of our Summer of iPhone Cases, we enter week three of our iPhone cases giveaway. The first week Hondamaker won a Bodyguardz skin for the iPhone 4 and @ericinsideout just won our Twitter contest during week 2. Each week, we’ll select a winner who can choose a case of his/her choosing from the everythingiCafe Store.*
This week, it’s all about Facebook. Simply hit us up at www.facebook.com/everythingicafe and hit the ‘like’ button next to our name (see image below for an example). That’s it! On August 4th, we’ll randomly select a Facebook member who likes us and send them the case of their choice. There is plenty to like about this contest, so why not head on over to Facebook and click “Like”.
If you already like us, we like you too and you are already entered in the giveaway.
Complete contest rules available here.
by Christopher Meinck on July 29, 2010
Thanks to everyone who took part in week #2 of our Summer of iPhone Cases Giveaway. To enter, readers had to retweet a message and follow @everythingicafe. Congratulations to @ericinsideout. For his part, he’ll get to choose any iPhone case* from the everythingiCafe Store they would like to win. Congratulations!
That’s two weeks of giveaways, but we’re just getting started. Stay tuned, week #3 starts in a matter of minutes.
*Valued at $29.99 or less
by Tim Barribeau on July 29, 2010
The cover of the newest issue of MacWorld not only has a gorgeous picture of an iPhone 4, it was taken with one — and all the editing was done in-phone too.
In order to accomodate the loss of resolution from his usual rig, photographer Peter Belanger had to shoot extremely close to the subject, as he couldn’t afford to crop. Once he got the shot, it was edited using PhotoForge to tweak the color, and Resize-Photo to get the right DPI for printing. Belanger said:
“The iPhone’s Retina display was truly awesome. I was really able to see the detail in the photo as I was shooting. It made me wish Apple produced all its monitors this way. The final photo was dust-free and looked great. I was extremely impressed with the detail that the iPhone was able to capture.”
Now, someone should go out, and photograph the magazine with their iPhone 4, just to make the whole thing a bit more meta.
[via 9 to 5 Mac]
by Tim Barribeau on July 29, 2010
We’ve previously reported on the late night data usage which has plagued many iPhone owners. In the early hours of the morning, data packets appear to be sent to AT&T, when the phone clearly isn’t being used. Numerous attempts to ask AT&T about this occurrence has lead to the idea that the company has no idea what’s going on. Seriously, read comments on our previous post, and see some of the stuff AT&T has used to explain it.
It looks like we finally have a legit explanation. Gizmodo did a piece on the issue, and finally managed to wrangle a legitimate sounding explanation:
This is a routine update of your daily data activity on your device to ensure the accuracy of your data billing. Customers are not charged for data usage, given that no data session is generated. It’s not uncommon for devices that are ‘always on’, like iPhone, to process data event records for billing purposes after a certain amount of inactivity or after long periods of time. It’s also separate from how our system lets you monitor your data consumption.
So it doesn’t count against your data usage, thank goodness for that!
by Tim Barribeau on July 29, 2010
Jacqui Cheng of Ars Technica spotted that Apple has opened iAds to developers to advertise their apps. This gives a chance for developers — with sufficiently large cash reserves — to get in on iAds, and get their apps into more hands. What’s very cool is that the service allows for the downloading of apps without leaving the application they’re already in.
iAd for Developers. A great way to promote your applications.
You can now purchase iAd advertising to promote your app to millions of users across the iAd Network. With iAd for Developers, users can download apps from the App Store without leaving the app they’re in. It’s easy to get started, contact us today and learn how you can drive more downloads of your app with iAd for Developers.
I wonder if it’s possible to make a profitable feedback loop here:
- Advertise your app on iAds
- Put iAds in your app, collect 60% of revenue
- ????
- Profit!
[via MacRumors]
by Tim Barribeau on July 29, 2010
Like most of the early reviewers, when Walt Mossberg got the iPhone 4, the antennae issue was still unknown, and didn’t surface till after his story was printed. Now, after six weeks of heavy usage, and purchasing an extra phone just for himself, the godfather of Tech writers has weighed in on the phone again.
He freely admits that this is entirely based on personal experience, but the guy definitely puts gadgets through their paces. So, how does he feel after an additional month and a half of use, even with the antennae problems dogging at his heels?
After my six weeks of constant use of two iPhone 4s, I still believe it is, overall, the best device in its class, for reasons including its ultra high-resolution screen; easy, integrated video calling; slick software; strong battery life; a remarkably thin body; and a world-beating selection of 225,000 third-party apps
As for reception, I am sticking with my initial conclusions. I have found that in areas with average or strong AT&T coverage and capacity, the iPhone performs better than its predecessor and about as well as other AT&T smartphones I’ve recently tested. It still drops too many calls for my taste on AT&T’s heavily stressed network.
[...]
[I]n areas where I had good or just adequate reception, the iPhone 4 performed better than its predecessor, dropping fewer calls.
In weak coverage areas, however, I continue to find that the iPhone 4 performs worse than the 3GS.
[...]
So that’s my six-week, real-world report. Despite the hot-spot issue and the exposed antenna, the iPhone 4 does better than the 3GS for me in decent coverage. But I still wouldn’t advise adopting it as your primary phone if you live, work or travel in areas with poor AT&T reception, or if you prefer a network under less stress.
TL;DR? It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the 3GS in general.
by Tim Barribeau on July 29, 2010
If you have an iPhone 3G, and you installed iOS 4 on it, there’s a pretty good chance that its been rendered almost unusable. Some people haven’t had any problems, but others have been hit by horrific delays in typing text messages, basic apps crashing, and everything running at approximately the same speed as a snail on ketamine.
It looks like Apple has finally looking into the issue. A spokeswoman told the WSJ that they are aware of the issue, and are looking into it.
Until we learn more, there are a couple of tricks that seem to help. Turn off spotlight, hard reboot twice, make sure to close all Safari tabs, reset the phone to factory settings, or do a complete wipe and re-install. Your mileage may vary.
by Tim Barribeau on July 28, 2010
Time Inc. was all set to launch a subscription version of its Sports Illustrated iPad app last month, finally heralding an app version of a magazine where we don’t have to download a new one every month. Just before it launched, they hit one little snag — Apple decided not to let them. At the last minute Apple decided they weren’t happy with the plan, and Time had to fall back on selling individual issues.
Apparently Time execs are getting increasingly frustrated, as they can’t seem to get a subscription model past Apple. It’s so bad, that some have apparently mooted even pulling out of the App Store completely. They don’t know why Apple is being difficult on the matter, especially seeing as they were communicating with Cupertino during development.
Apple being over-controlling and arbitrary in the app store? That never happens!
by Tim Barribeau on July 28, 2010
The Street thinks they might know why the white version of the iPhone 4 has been eternally delayed: light might be leaking out of the back. According to “a person familiar with the manufacturing process,” the white version of the iPhone’s glass is significantly less opaque than the black version. This allows light to seep out from the LCD, out the edges and back of the phone. According to the source, having a glass back makes this problematic to fix, as if it were plastic or metal, you could just use a coating to block the light.
If true, this would obviously would not live up to Apple’s legendary design requirements. However, unnamed source, grain of salt. You all know the drill by now.
by Tim Barribeau on July 28, 2010
Engadget is reporting that Best Buy is giving away InvisibleSHIELD cases for the iPhone 4, including installation. It appears the usually $9.99 covering is completely gratis, for anyone with an iPhone. That’s right, you don’t even have to have bought it from Best Buy, just rock up, and they’ll put it on for you.
This hasn’t been officially announced yet, and much of this is supposition. It’s probably worth giving your local giant blue box a call, and making sure they’ll actually honor it. If they do, hey, it’s free, right?
