A Russian iPhone site claims to have information on the 2.2.1 iPhone firmware beta, stating that it includes background push notification. Apple first committed to a push notification service for iPhone applications back in June that would allow notifications to be sent to your iPhone even when the applications in question are not running. Apple stated it would be available for developers in September but it was missing from the recent 2.2 firmware update and no official word has come from Apple on the cause of the delay or when it can be expected at this point.
The image below is posted at RussianiPhone.ru but its authenticity has not been verified.
According to iPhone Hellas, the 2.2 firmware for the iPhone will be released on November 21. It should incorporate the features previously leaked from developers who had access to the first and second beta distributions, including Street View in Google Maps, the ability to turn off auto-correction for text entry, Japanese Emoji, changes to the App Store, and the ability to download podcasts directly in the iPod application.
What still appears to be missing is the push notification feature that was promised for October. There's been no word and few rumors about this feature, but it is still a hotly-anticipated one for many iPhone users. Of course, the iPhone is still missing other highly-desired features like copy and paste and MMS, but we can all hope and dream that Apple will throw something we're not expecting into this release.
According to MacRumors, developers have received the second version of the 2.2 firmware beta. The first 2.2 beta included elements of Google Street View, as we reported then, and this 2nd beta fully enables this feature.
Street View on the iPhone will make its mapping capabilities very similar to those of the new T-Mobile G1. Street View enables a realistic view of your current location in Google Maps, and also includes a compass function that automatically adjusts the view as you move around on the G1. Street view is currently available on Google Maps online (pictured below), and iPhoneYap has pictures of how it will look on the iPhone in the 2.2 firmware.
Developers working with the iPhone firmware 2.2 beta that was released a short time ago have uncovered a few new features. These will be a welcome addition to the iPhone’s features, and one in particular should help to increase the iPhone’s appeal in Japan.
Developers uncovered the existence of emoji, small graphic images used often by the Japanese in text messaging, hidden in the iPhone’s firmware. 461 (!) of these were found, and they appear to include a number of smiley face emoticons that texters in the U.S. and other countries have been used to on other phones.
According to
MacRumors, the 2.2 firmware beta has been seeded to developers for testing. No new features have surfaced yet, though one interface change in Safari has been noticed. In 2.2, the Google search bar is now visible next to the address bar at the top of the screen - see
here for a screen shot.
No reports of the push notification service previously promised have surfaced, though many iPhone users and developers are anxiously awaiting this feature.
Posted by: Marianne Schultz in steve jobs, special event, Kevin Rose, iTunes, ipodtouch, iPhone software update 2.1, iphone software, iphone accessories, iphone 3g, games, firmware, EA, apple event, app store on
Sep 8, 2008
First and foremost, iPhone 2.1 firmware will be out on Friday, September 12. Steve said it's a big update that includes many bug fixes, addressing dropping calls, crashing apps, long-backups, and battery life. And it's free to all owners! I am quite excited for this update, and have my fingers crossed that it will work as promised and that the issues many users, including me, have been experiencing are addressed.
Kevin Rose was spot on with iTunes 8, including the new grid-like view and Genius functionality. HD TV shows has also come to the iTunes store, though they are only viewable on your computer or through your Apple TV - there goes putting HD shows on my iPhone to output to our home entertainment center! Shoot!
iPods continue to kick ass in marketshare with 73.4%, with "Other" players a distant second at 15.4%. The iPod Classic is now offered in one size only - 120GB at the same price as the previous 80GB model, $249. The new iPod Nano is indeed like the leaked pictures that have been circulating on the internet - tall and skinny with a curved front and back. It features a new UI and has an accelerometer like the iPod Touch and iPhone, allowing you to turn it sideways to switch automatically to cover mode view. And the new Genius functionality works right on the Nano without needing to be connected to iTunes, and shaking the Nano puts it in Shuffle mode.
A nice accessory upgrade is a pair of headphones that have functionality similar to that of the iPhone's - a control button that allows you to double-click to get to the next song, and a microphone that will work with the built-in voice recording function. And it has volume controls! I sure hope those will work on the iPhone too.
When Kevin Rose
first described what he believed would be released by Apple in September, he listed the 2.1 firmware for the iPod Touch with the version for the iPhone to follow shortly after. Now, others are chiming in to say that we might see the iPhone 2.1 firmware tomorrow as well, not later. I am personally all for that since I've experienced many of the problems with apps not opening, text entry lag, and GPS/triangulation not working, and I want all of that fixed NOW, thank you very much.
Ars Technica has
gone on to say that we might even see new features in iPhone firmware 2.1, such as background push notification and more GPS capability. The background push notification sounds a little questionable, since this was removed from the last SDK beta, but I could definitely picture Apple intentionally hiding this feature so they could do something surprising with it before developers get to see it. Of course, this means that whatever that surprising thing is, it will not have been tested very much outside of Apple, and that doesn't inspire the most confidence in its stability and operability these days.
I normally love new stuff from Apple, but I think that this is the first time in my history as an Apple fan that I don't want new stuff for my iPhone.
AT&T's data network appears to be down this morning along the east coast and fairly far inland as well. Users on Macrumors.com are describing various reasons behind the outage from calls with AT&T, with the most interesting one given as "Apple's Safari servers are down." Come again? Oh, yeah - all the data on every iPhone in the U.S. runs through Safari servers managed by Apple first. How could I forget about that? Right. Engadget has reported on this outage as well.
Has your iPhone camera taken odd pictures showing mis-placed pieces of the scene you want to capture like a live puzzle? If so, you're not alone - TUAW reports on a number of these distorted pictures posted to Flickr by various people, and the phenomenon is being called "iPhone Cubism." Who knew that you could create post-modern art with your iPhone without even trying? This looks like a software bug that will hopefully be addressed in a future update.
Griffin has announced some new iPhone 3G accessories at the IFA Consumer Elecrtronics show in Berlin. The new products are a suction cup window mount, the Reflect hardshell case, and the Streamline sport armband.
Remember that goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of the year that Apple has set? Well, it sounds like they are well on their way. Some dedicated fans have gathered data from the general public and extrapolated from it that about 8 million iPhones have been sold so far. Apple stockholders rejoice! -Via TUAW .
I keep a lot of personal information on my iPhone that I don't want just anyone to have access to, so I've set the Passcode Lock option in Settings with the hope that it will keep my information from prying eyes for the most part if it's misplaced or gets stolen. And I also have my Home Button shortcut set to go to my Favorites in the phone app. It's this very combination that reveals a security flaw where the passcode lock in firmware 2.0.2 can be bypassed, allowing access to your favorite contacts and email accounts. Not good.
You can see the demonstration of how this can be done in a
video over at Gizmodo, but here's how it works:
- After sliding to unlock, select Emergency Call on the passcode entry screen.
- Double-click on the home button, and the phone Favorites list will appear.
- Click on the blue arrow to the right of a Favorites entry to see the full information for that contact.
- Click on an email address for that contact and you'll be taken to a new message in the Mail application.
- Cancel out of the new email and you'll see the full list of email accounts, which can be accessed fully.
Crazy, isn't it? I'm setting my home button shortcut to something else, effective immediately. Granted, this doesn't allow access to everything on your iPhone, but it's far more than I'm comfortable with. Chances are that someone who finds or steals your iPhone won't know about this particular security flaw, so it's probably not something for you to worry about regularly. Unfortunately, my luck isn't so good and my iPhone would probably fall into the hands of a thief well-versed in the flaws of the iPhone. Hopefully, Apple will recognize this and address it in the next firmware version...
Via [Gizmodo ]
Remember Open Clip’s Copy & Paste framework I
mentioned the other day? Well, it’s already broken. Yep, you read that right. Broken. The beta version of the iPhone’s next firmware (2.1b4) was released to developers around the same time that Open Clip’s framework was getting talked up on the internets, and it turns out that the “community space” that Open Clip was relying on to be the holding place for copied information to be accessed between applications will be closed off. According to an
update posted on Open Clip’s website , copy and paste within a single application using Open Clip’s framework will still be possible in 2.1, but copy and paste will no longer work between different applications.
Open Clip’s developer, Zac White, does not think that this was an intentional move by Apple, but just normal tightening-up on their part of the firmware that was probably in the works for a while. We can still hope that Apple will eventually implement copy and paste between applications in the future - it has been mentioned that this is on their radar, but just not very high on the priority list. Or that a developer will again find a way to make this work that will “stick” despite future firmware updates. I don’t know about you, but I am dying for a way to copy and paste the log-in information for that terrible viewmymessage.com site that AT&T so kindly sends vis SMS to remind me of the fact that I can’t view MMS messages on my iPhone when my friends forget that I can’t get those kinds of messages. Who’s with me?
