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Apple News is a News and downloads site for the
Apple Iphone, iTouch and Ipod, We have all the latest emulators, homebrew and all the downloads on this site,
we also cover commercial gaming and console news including all Cydia News, Jailbroken News, Latest appstore releases and Zodttd emulators. Part of the
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While the list of tweaks is absurdly small in the latest iPhone OS update, we know that some of you simply have to run the latest and greatest OS at all times regardless of risk. Fortunately for you, the Dev-Team has stepped to with a new version of PwnageTool (v3.1.5 for Mac OS X) that handles the update to iPhone OS 3.1.3 with aplomb while preserving your device's ultrasn0w unlock and jailbroken state. As usual, there's a litany of precautions depending upon the device you own so hit the source link and read the dev-team's words carefully before proceeding. With a little luck, patience, and undue stress, improved accuracy of your device's reported battery level can be yours -- Huzzah?
Well, well, well. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal today, Apple management is going to remain "nimble" in iPad pricing if sales start off slow. Hey, wait a minute—are you thinking what I'm thinking?
The scoop originates from a Credit Suisse analyst, who apparently met with Apple executives recently to discuss all things tablet. In addition to the execs pitching how the iPad wouldn't cannibalize Apple's other product lines, they outright stated that they'll adjust pricing if they have to:
"While it remains to be seen how much traction the iPad gets initially, management noted that it will remain nimble (pricing could change if the company is not attracting as many customers as anticipated)."
This actually isn't all that surprising, if you think back to the iPhone's launch in 2007 and the dramatic $200 price cut that followed just a few months later. That caused sales to surge 200% and garnered no small amount of publicity for the new device.
Bottom line: I don't exactly have $500 to $830 burning a hole in my pocket to spend on a first-gen device. So spread the word! And for goodness sake, stay strong and don't buy an iPad. Yet.
Remember all those clever iPhone peripherals that we were supposed to see with firmware 3.0? Well ZoomIt is among the first. It's an SD card reader for the iPhone and iPod touch.
There was inevitably some cultural friction when Apple's secretive CEO took his new iPad around to New York's professionally indiscreet media. Exhibit A is a single tweet from a Wall Street Journal editor, which purportedly made Steve Jobs go ballistic:
The Journal's online executive editor Alan Murray quickly deleted the Feb. 4 tweet, which, it is now obvious, was issued during Apple CEO Jobs' show-and-tell with select Journal staff. A tipster told us the deletion ultimately traces back to a furious Jobs. We asked Murray for comment, and he wrote back "I would love to talk about this, but can't." In a later email, he added:
I will say that Apple's general paranoia about news coverage is truly extraordinary— but that's not telling you anything you didn't already know.
If Jobs did give Murray a tongue lashing — his withering verbal abuse is infamous — the editor can console himself with the knowledge that this is is an especially touchy time of year for the paranoiac. And not just because of the pressures of shepherding and unveiling a new product.
At Jobs' meeting at the Times, the CEO was mostly on point, painting a utopian picture of happy future world awash in iPads. But at one juncture in the meeting, we hear, he took a detour, telling assembled newspaper staff that he gets tons of hate mail from people whenever he launches a new product — people who have never even used it, including angry Apple "fans." Jobs reportedly described the mail as "really nasty stuff... [things] like '**** you and your family.'"
It sounds like Jobs has been fighting this sort of backlash his whole career, judging from this 1994 Rolling Stone interview:
"I've always been attracted to the more revolutionary changes. I don't know why. Because they're harder. They're much more stressful emotionally. And you usually go through a period where everybody tells you that you've completely failed."
Of course, "**** you and your family" sound less like fanboys than regretful stock speculators. That's the sort of e-note to go ballistic over.
Linus Torvalds, the inventor of the Linux kernel, has an absolute disdain for mobile phones. All of the ones he has purchased in the past, the man writes on his personal blog, ended up being 'mostly used for playing Galaga and Solitaire on long flights' even though they were naturally all phones run on open source operating systems. Things have changed now, he adds, now that he has caved and bought Google's Nexus One a couple of days ago.
Its Tap Tap Revenge games have been downloaded more than 25 million times on iPhone, but now Tapulous has launched a new game called Riddim Ribbon.
Developed in collaboration with Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas, the game (App Store link) is a futuristic racer with three of the band's songs preloaded.
As players speed along the undulating track, they can choose to shift paths, triggering different remixes of the songs.
The game offers extra tracks via in-app purchases, with songs from Tiesto and Benny Benassi available at launch.
Early purchasers are also being offered a free MP3 remix download, and 100 credits to use to buy songs in Tap Tap Revenge 3.
UK games retailers have mixed feelings towards Apple’s new iPad.
The device was revealed last week after months of speculation and is due for launch early next month. Senior execs at Gameloft and EA presented new games for the device at its unveiling.
Already, some UK retailers have confirmed plans to stock the device – with the likes of GAME for one already promoting its upcoming release online.
“It’s always great to see another format hit the market where publishers and developers can create new content for consumers,” The Hut’s product marketing manager Sarah Jasper told MCV.
“When and if stock becomes available, The Hut Group would definitely be excited about stocking this.”
Morrison’s gaming buyer Jon Biggs added: “The iPad has promising potential across business, communication and entertainment and of course it’s part of what could possible be the most iconic family of products over the last ten years.
“In terms of gaming it seems to hit a sweet spot of having a massive screen whilst retaining a large degree of portability due to its slim profile. It might not fit in your pocket but in the car or on the train it will deliver not only gaming but a raft of other features, which will make it a popular choice.”
Gaming is a major part of iPad’s proposition following the popularity of games on iPod Touch and iPhone.
At the time of writing, the top four grossing games on the Apple App Store are all major video game brands – Grand Theft Auto, Rock Band, Broken Sword and Call of Duty.
However, specialist retailers are cautious over the machine due to its digital-only nature – and slow sales of the last download-only console, PSPgo.
“We do not see the iPad as the kind of product that we would welcome for our core customers,” said ShopTo CEO Igor Cipolletta. “Once the unit is sold, we would have no further customer interaction or sales opportunities.
“We still feel that, despite the relative successes of the iPhone and iPod Touch, the majority of gamers still prefer to purchase a physical product, that they can trade in or sell once finished with.
“We were correct in our assumption that PSPgo would be a sales flop, both in terms of its price and in its method of delivery. The majority of the gaming community definitely doesn’t share the developers’ thoughts on downloads.”
Grainger Games is also not convinced the iPad is ideal for their customers.
“After looking into the Apple iPad we can see that it is a great bit of kit, but it is not something that we will look to stock at this point,” said commercial director Chris Harwood.
“Being an Apple product we have no doubt that it will sell well – it just does not fit our brand proposition at this point in time. Our expectations would be that this product will undergo a number of iterations until it becomes more mass-market. Perhaps then, with more gaming support, we would look to stock it.”
It’s been clear that games developers have been flocking to iPhone ever since the launch of the App Store in July 2008, but a new survey from Game Developer Research puts some figures on it.
The survey of more than 800 developers found that 25% are now making mobile games – double the 12% in last year’s survey. Of those, nearly three quarters are targeting iPhone and iPod touch.
The report points out that this is twice as many developers as are supporting Nintendo’s DS and Sony’s PSP.
Numbers isn't the whole story about iPhone gaming, of course. There are tens of thousands of companies making games for the App Store, but many of those games aren't much cop (and aren't selling many copies either).
However, the new GDR report shows that iPhone is picking up more interest from traditional console and handheld developers.
Consumers unwilling to pay for latest model make false claims, insurer says
iPhone insurance fraud goes “through the roof” when a new or upgraded model of the device becomes available, an electronics insurer has said.
As new generations of Apple’s smartphone are launched, older models are frequently ‘lost’, ‘stolen’ or damaged by consumers with "iPhone envy" who know they will receive the latest version as a replacement, Supercover Insurance director Carmi Korine said.
According to Supercover, iPhone owners are 60 per cent more likely to take out insurance than other mobile phone users. Policies for the devices are the fastest growing type of cover in the gadget sector.
"While most customers take out insurance because they value their iPhone, we started to notice increases in claims as new and upgraded iPhones were launched - for short periods around new model or upgrade launches, claims for lost, stolen or damaged iPhones go through the roof,” Korine said. “For the unscrupulous, £8.99 a month insurance is cheaper than £500 to buy the latest iPhone.”
‘Accidental’ iPhone damage the insurer had seen included hammer marks, heel imprints, toilet bleach and “fire damage which the claimant found very difficult to explain”.
"The issue appears to be that most iPhone owners can only go for so long realising that they're a generation behind the latest must-have spec before they resort to extreme measures; they can't upgrade before their contract ends, so those who can't wait will try practically anything to get back on level fashion terms with their friends," Korine said.
Earlier today, it emerged that Apple is telling iPhone developers that it won't approve apps that use location primarily to push geo-targeted ads at users.
Although the exact details are still unclear - it's possible the ban will only apply for apps that don't use location in other ways already - it could have an impact on the plans of mobile ad networks like AdMob.
So, we asked the company for its response, and it just provided us with this statement:
"Apple’s iPhone and App Store platforms have been critical in driving the growth of mobile advertising. We’ve heard about this change from a number of worried application developers and share their concern. We hope this is not indicative of a new approach by Apple and that many different companies will continue to have the ability to contribute to the rapid innovation in mobile advertising on the iPhone."
With Apple now owning its own mobile advertising network - Quattro Wireless - and getting increasingly competitive with Google (which is buying AdMob), it remains to be seen what this new approach means.
