Posts Tagged ‘slew’

Fring Finally Lands on iPad

Fans of video chat, rejoice, as developer fringland just updated fring to make it compatible with the iPad. If you never heard about fring, the app allows you to place free voice and video calls with other fring users, and is compatible with a slew of IM services, including MSN Messenger and Google Talk.

The updated app, dubbed version 5.1.1.2, allows users to video chat with up to 4 users, over WiFi and 3G. A couple of caveats to remember: the video streams look much better over WiFi than over 3G, and first generation iPad users will not be able to send any video, as their device doesn’t sport a camera.

fring is free, and is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, Android and Nokia versions of the app.

The service also allows you to place ‘normal’ phone calls, for friends not yet on fring, with rates starting at less than 1 cent a minute for the US.

fring for iPhone and iPad (universal) can be downloaded here.

» Related posts:

• D-Link Releases WiFi Camera with Night Vision for iPad and iPhone
• Vtok Allows Google Video Chatting from Your iPad 2, iPhone
• Ragdoll Blaster 2 HD – One of the Best iPhone Physics Puzzler Finally Lands on the iPad

iPad 3 Launched Before Christmas?

According to research firm CLSA, the iPad 3 will be released before Christmas, and will be compatible with LTE, the 4G technology currently rolled out by Verizon, AT&T and a slew of other wireless providers. The device is also expected to come with a better (retina?) display.

While as usual, this kind of prediction should be taken with a grain of salt, we will most likely learn more during WWDC 2011, scheduled to start next Monday. While the focus of Steve Jobs’s keynote will be iCloud, he might also offer a preview of what the iPad 3 could offer.

While most vendors appear fixated on matching the specs and features of iPad 2, our checks suggest Apple will release iPad 3 in time for the holiday season, sporting a better display and LTE capabilities.

Note that according to CLSA, an LTE iPhone is not scheduled before 2011. If the rumor proves to be true, it would confirm the prediction from Daring Fireball and TechCrunch, which reported in February that the device might be released as early as the third quarter of this year.

The early launch could be motivated by the slew of “iPad killers” currently in the works. While the iPad 2 is powerful enough to compete with the upcoming wave of new tablets, it soon will not have the edge performance wise. The addition of LTE support to the device would help Apple stay ahead of its competitors.

[parts via wsj]

» Related posts:

• New iPad Models Launched Later This Year [RUMOR]
• iPad 2 to Launch in the U.S. on April 2 or 9?
• iPhone 5 and iPad 3 to Feature New A5 processor, iPad 2 will Come with Older A4

iPad 2 Cases up to 70% off, 20% off Coupon, $2 Credit at HandHeldItems

Still looking for a good deal on an iPad 2 case/shell? HandHeldItems just knocked up to 70% off a slew of Apple iPad 2 cases.

Note that if you use the “ipadcases20″ coupon, you will get an extra 20% off your order, and receive a $2 HandHeldItems store credit for a future purchase.

Hundreds of items are available, at rock bottom prices.

Amongst others, the snap on case for iPad 2 will set you back $14 including shipping, after the coupon and the store credit, instead of its regular price of $28. Similarly, the rubberized snap on back shell (pictured) will set you back $15 including shipping, instead of $30.

[via dealcatcher]

» Related posts:

• Deal – Smart Covers for iPad 2 on Sale
• 2-in-1 iPad Camera Connection Kit for $23
• Hard Candy Cases Launches New iPad 2 Cases

Lodsys’s In-App Puchasing Patent – A Legitimate Request?

Late last week, several independent iOS developers woke up to a bad surprise: Lodsys, a company specialized in technology-related patents, threatened to sue them over the use of in-app purchasing mechanisms, which are supposedly covered by patents owned by the company.

Lodsys’s actions sparked an outcry amongst iOS developers, which prompted the company to come out of its silence and give more details about the patent it holds. As it turns out, Lodsys’s request appears to be legitimate, as according to the company, it has licensing agreements with Apple, Microsoft and Google, for the use in-app purchases mechanisms. However, the license does not include to third-party software, and Lodsys is trying to collect royalties directly from iOS developers as well.

Lodsys expects iOS devs using in-app purchases to give 0.575 percent of their U.S. revenue to the company – a fairly low amount, but enough to tick off most devs, who have no choice but to use in-app purchases mechanisms in order to sell anything from their app, per the iOS Developer Program License Agreement.

Why going after iOS devs, instead of Apple? After all, the in-app purchases mechanism is built and promoted by the Cupertino-based company, not iOS developers, and Lodsys could ask Apple to re-negotiate the licensing agreement between the two companies to cover all iOS devs as well. Maybe it’s easier to go after independent developers who do not have a slew of lawyers to defend them seem to be much easier prays, instead of having to face Apple’s department… Regardless, it’s difficult to believe that Apple’s legal department will not eventually get involved: after all, if iOS devs start to pony up to be able to legally use in-app purchases mechanisms, it would most likely mean the end of it.

» Related posts:

• In-App Purchases Patent Troll Threatens iOS Developers
• Apple Files for Patent to Remotely Disable iPad and iPhone, Targets Jailbroken Devices
• Apple Awarded Patent for Horizontal Docking Port for iPad

In-App Purchases Patent Troll Threatens iOS Developers

Several independent iOS developers woke up to a bad surprise earlier today: an unidentified company is threatening to sue them over the use of in-app purchases mechanisms, which are supposedly covered by patents owned by the company. Interestingly enough, the company is going after iOS developers, instead of going after Apple, which included the mechanisms at the heart of iOS in the first place, and requires developers to use them, for all purchases made via their apps.

The info comes from the folks over at MacStories, who noticed that the news was making the rounds among iOS developers. For instance, James Thomson, the developer behind DragThing, received an interesting letter in the mail earlier today, asking him to pay a fee to use in-app purchases mechanisms, covered by the alleged patent – if he chooses not to pay, Thomson might face further legal actions.

Why going after iOS devs, instead of Apple? After all, the in-app purchases mechanism is built and promoted by the Cupertino-based company, not iOS developers. The fact that the unidentified company is going after iOS developers instead of Apple is odd, and leads us to believe that its claim of patent infringement might not hold up in court, especially against Apple’s legal department. Independent developers who do not have a slew of lawyers to defend them seem to be much easier prays, in order to make a quick buck on a potentially bogus patent.

It’s difficult to believe that Apple’s legal department will not eventually get involved: after all, if iOS devs start to pony up to be able to legally use in-app purchases mechanisms, it would simply mean the end of it. Stay tuned for more details as the story unfolds.

» Related posts:

• Apple Files for Patent to Remotely Disable iPad and iPhone, Targets Jailbroken Devices
• Microsoft Patent May Cause Problems for Apple
• iOS 4.3 Update Makes In-App Purchases More Secured

Location Tracking in iPad and iPhone: Apple Representatives Testify Before the Senate

Earlier today, Bud Tribble, Vice President of Software Technology at Apple, testified before a Senate panel about concerns raised by the location bug found in GPS-enabled iPhones and iPads.

According to Barron’s, Tribble explained the function of the “crowd-sourced location cache,” the mechanism that stores the whereabouts of iOS devices users. Tribble re-iterated Apple’s official position with regard to the issue, the company doesn’t track its users, end of story.

We do not share customer information with third parties without our customers’ explicit consent. Apple does not track users’ locations. Apple has never done so and has no plans to do so. An Apple device does not send to Apple any specific device information associated with a user. The purpose of the cache is to allow the device to more quickly and reliably respond to location requests. Apple was never tracking an individual user’s location. The data seen on the iphone was not the location past or present of the iPhone, but the location of cell towers surrounding the phone. Although the cache was not encrypted, it was protected from other apps on the phone.

An article published by the Guardian about the fact that both iPad 3G and iPhone keep track of their user’s whereabouts sparked an outcry amongst iOS users. The issue quickly went all the way to Washington, with a slew of senators and Congressmen demanding answers from Apple – they got them today.

Apple even issued a press release about the issue, to explain that “Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone [and iPad 3G]. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.” In the press release, Apple explains that the location feature introduced in iOS 4 is nothing more than a way for iOS devices to calculate their location faster.

The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it’s maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested. Calculating a phone’s location using just GPS satellite data can take up to several minutes. iPhone can reduce this time to just a few seconds by using Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data to quickly find GPS satellites, and even triangulate its location using just Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data when GPS is not available (such as indoors or in basements). These calculations are performed live on the iPhone using a crowd-sourced database of Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data that is generated by tens of millions of iPhones sending the geo-tagged locations of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers in an anonymous and encrypted form to Apple.

Data extracted from an iPhone location file – Credit: Guardian

» Related posts:

• Location Tracking in iPad and iPhone: Just a Bug According to Apple
• Apple Responds to Location Tracking Questions
• Apple Sued Over iPad and iPhone Location Tracking Issue

Hearst iPad Publications Soon Available with Subscriptions

Hearst, the publisher behind magazines such as Esquire, Popular Mechanics and O, as well as a slew of newspapers, allegedly struck a deal with Apple in order to use the iTunes subscription model, to allow its subscribers to receive new issues as they are released, and be automatically billed.

The news came from The Wall Street Journal report:

Starting with their July issues, iPad apps for Esquire, Popular Mechanics and O, The Oprah Magazine, will be available through a service from Apple that allows customers to sign up for subscriptions inside the apps and get billed automatically. Subscriptions to all three publications will be sold for $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year.

Hearst was one of the last publishers to embrace the subscription model, as other publishers, such as News Corp and Time Inc. signed up for the service soon after Apple made it available. The last major publisher still opposed to the iTunes subscriptions service remains Condé Nast Publications, the owner of magazines such as Vogue, GQ, and Wired.

» Related posts:

• Apple About to Offer iPad Newspaper Subscriptions
• Apple Announces App Store Subscriptions
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Location Tracking in iPad and iPhone: Just a Bug According to Apple

An article published by the Guardian about the fact that both iPad 3G and iPhone keep track of their user’s whereabouts sparked an outcry amongst iOS users. After the issue went all the way to Washington, with a slew of senators and Congressmen demanding answers from Apple, and after civil lawsuits started to pour in, the Cupertino-based company finally came out of its silence, via a press release published earlier today.

While the location tracking file was discovered some time ago, it didn’t get much coverage until the Guardian published a piece about it last week. For some unknown reason, GPS-enabled iOS devices such as 3G iPad 1/2 and iPhone save the location of their owner on a regular basis, in a file stored on the device, and saved by iTunes each time the device is plugged into a Mac or a PC.

In Apple’s own words, “Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone [and iPad 3G]. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.” The press release explains that the location feature introduced in iOS 4 is nothing more than a way for iOS devices to calculate their location faster.

The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it’s maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested. Calculating a phone’s location using just GPS satellite data can take up to several minutes. iPhone can reduce this time to just a few seconds by using Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data to quickly find GPS satellites, and even triangulate its location using just Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data when GPS is not available (such as indoors or in basements). These calculations are performed live on the iPhone using a crowd-sourced database of Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data that is generated by tens of millions of iPhones sending the geo-tagged locations of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers in an anonymous and encrypted form to Apple.

Data extracted from an iPhone location file – Credit: Guardian

When asked about why the files was designed to hold up to a year’s worth of location data, Apple simply explains that a bug prevents iPhone and iPad 3G to purge the file – technically, Apple never planned to record more than seven days’ worth of location data.

This data is not the iPhone’s location data—it is a subset (cache) of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database which is downloaded from Apple into the iPhone to assist the iPhone in rapidly and accurately calculating location. The reason the iPhone stores so much data is a bug we uncovered and plan to fix shortly (see Software Update section below). We don’t think the iPhone needs to store more than seven days of this data.

Sometime in the next few weeks, Apple will release an update to iOS to clear the issue. The update will:

• reduce the size of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database cached on the iPhone and iPad
• cease backing up this cache
• delete this cache entirely when Location Services is turned off
• encrypt the location cache on the iPhone.

In other words — much ado about nothing!

» Related posts:

• Apple Sued Over iPad and iPhone Location Tracking Issue
• iPad and iPhone Location Tracking: Apparently Just a Bug
• Are your iPad and iPhone Tracking your Whereabouts?

Apple Sued Over iPad and iPhone Location Tracking Issue

An article published by the Guardian about the fact that both iPad 3G and iPhone keep track of their user’s whereabouts sparked an outcry amongst iOS users. After the issue went all the way to Washington, with a slew of senators and Congressmen demanding answers from Apple, civil lawsuits are now pouring in.

According to a Bloomberg report, a couple of iPhone customers in Florida are already suing Apple over the location tracking ‘feature’ introduced in iOS 4.

While the location tracking file was discovered some time ago, it didn’t get much coverage until the Guardian published a piece about it last week. For some unknown reason, GPS-enabled iOS devices such as 3G iPad 1/2 and iPhone save the location of their owner on a regular basis, in a file stored on the device, and saved by iTunes each time the device is plugged into a Mac or a PC.

Data extracted from an iPhone location file – Credit: Guardian

Apple has been surprisingly mute about the issue, a fact that fuels current lawsuits: “Apple hasn’t commented on the matter since the April 20 report was released. [...] We take issue specifically with the notion that Apple is now basically tracking people everywhere they go,” according to Aaron Mayer, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

Interestingly enough, the issue may be nothing more than an iOS bug: according to John Gruber over at Daring’s Fireball, the tracking file was never meant to store as much data as it actually does, and a bug is preventing iOS from purging older location information.

My little-birdie-informed understanding is that [the file] acts as a cache for location data, and that historical data should be getting culled but isn’t, either due to a bug or, more likely, an oversight, i.e. someone wrote the code to cache location data but never wrote code to cull non-recent entries from the cache, so that a database that’s meant to serve as a cache of your recent location data is instead a persistent log of your location history.

Steve Jobs himself commented on the issue, via one of his typically short, straight to the point email, sent to an iPhone user who asked him to explain why Apple was apparently tracking users:

Q: Steve,
Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? It’s kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don’t track me.

A: Oh yes they do. We don’t track anyone. The info circulating around is false.
Sent from my iPhone

» Related posts:

• iPad and iPhone Location Tracking: Apparently Just a Bug
• Are your iPad and iPhone Tracking your Whereabouts?
• Apple Sued for Privacy Rights Infringement

Apple Sued Over iPad and iPhone Location Tracking

An article published by the Guardian about the fact that both iPad 3G and iPhone keep track of their user’s whereabouts sparked an outcry amongst iOS users. After the issue went all the way to Washington, with a slew of senators and Congressmen demanding answers from Apple, civil lawsuits are now pouring in.

According to a Bloomberg report, a couple of iPhone customers in Florida are already suing Apple over the location tracking ‘feature’ introduced in iOS 4.

While the location tracking file was discovered some time ago, it didn’t get much coverage until the Guardian published a piece about it last week. For some unknown reason, GPS-enabled iOS devices such as 3G iPad 1/2 and iPhone save the location of their owner on a regular basis, in a file stored on the device, and saved by iTunes each time the device is plugged into a Mac or a PC.

Data extracted from an iPhone location file – Credit: Guardian

Apple has been surprisingly mute about the issue, a fact that fuels current and future lawsuits: “Apple hasn’t commented on the matter since the April 20 report was released. [...] We take issue specifically with the notion that Apple is now basically tracking people everywhere they go,” according to Aaron Mayer, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

Interestingly enough, the issue may be nothing more than an iOS bug: according to John Gruber over at Daring’s Fireball, the tracking file was never meant to store as much data as it actually does, and a bug is preventing iOS from purging older location information.

My little-birdie-informed understanding is that [the file] acts as a cache for location data, and that historical data should be getting culled but isn’t, either due to a bug or, more likely, an oversight, i.e. someone wrote the code to cache location data but never wrote code to cull non-recent entries from the cache, so that a database that’s meant to serve as a cache of your recent location data is instead a persistent log of your location history.

» Related posts:

• iPad and iPhone Location Tracking: Apparently Just a Bug
• Are your iPad and iPhone Tracking your Whereabouts?
• Motorola Sues Apple over Patents Infringement on iPad and iPhone