Power Support's $30 Crystal Jacket Set for iPhone (
) is another in that long line of time-honored combinations: a clear plastic iPhone case paired with belt holster.
Like many of its ilk, the Crystal Jacket comprises two pieces-front and back-that snap together with the iPhone in the middle. Power Support includes a thin, static-adhesive screen protector, but the screen is not protected by the case itself. There are openings for the headphone jack and the Sleep/Wake button on the top of the case; for the camera on the back; for the volume controls and Ring/Silent switch on the left side; and one for the microphone, speaker, and dock-connector port on the bottom. A small slit in the plastic lets you use the receiver speaker and there's a cut-out in the front of the case for access to the Home button.
Once you've got the iPhone in the case, you can pop the whole thing into the included holster. From my tests, it seems that the holster prefers you to orient the phone with the screen facing in. You can make it work with the screen facing out, but there's definite resistance to that direction. The belt clip rotates 90 degrees clockwise or counter-clockwise, and though the clip itself feels a little flimsy, it held up well enough in my everyday use. The case itself is pretty slim; it doesn't add a a lot of bulk to the phone.
The only problem I ran into the with Crystal Jacket was that when I put the case into the holster, one corner of the case would catch on one of the holster's brackets, pulling the two halves of the case apart slightly. It may have been a slight imperfection in the particular unit I was testing, but it wasn't a huge problem; the solution was just to push it a little more firmly, and the case would snap back together and into the holster.
Other than that minor glitch, though, the Crystal Jacket Set is a decent entry in the hardshell/holster lineup, though it's perhaps a little pricey for the rather barebones features that it offers.
Given their long-standing rivalry, you might think that Microsoft would be wringing its hands over the iPhone. But if there's one thing the Redmond-based company knows, it's where the money is. With the announcement of the iPhone SDK, combined with Apple's support for Microsoft's Exchange email protocol, the iPhone has become a ripe target for Microsoft's software development.
Microsoft's Tom Gibbons (pictured), who heads up the company's Specialized Devices and Applications Group—which includes the Mac Business Unit—told Fortune that they're investigating iPhone development.
“It’s really important for us to understand what we can bring to the iPhone,” [said Gibbons]. “To the extent that Mac Office customers have functionality that they need in that environment, we’re actually in the process of trying to understand that now.”While the iPhone can, of course, view Office files from Word and Excel, many users have made known their desires to be able to edit those files on their iPhone as well.
Outside of Gibbons's group, there are other at Microsoft who are apparently interested in the opportunities presented by the iPhone platform as well, such as TellMe, the voice recognition software that Microsoft purchased not long ago. Seeing as voice-dialing is another oft-requested feature, if Microsoft can make it happen, the customers will probably flock to them.
One of the most useful advantages to the iPhone's software keyboard is that it can change—mutate, if you will—depending on the context in which you find yourself. Safari's location field is perhaps the best example of this: the iPhone removes the spacebar and replaces it with buttons for the period, slash, and ".com" suffix—all handy additions when you're typing in URLs.
But what of those other domains besides .com? Well, as a tipster over at Mac OS X Hints points out, it turns out if you've enabled any international keyboard support (under Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> International keyboards), you'll find an extra added bonus. When you switch to those keyboards in Safari's location bar (by using the Globe button), holding down the ".com" button will also give you the option of choosing the country domain for the keyboard you're using. So, for example, using the French keyboard layout will let you pick between ".com" and ".fr," German will give you the option of using ".de," and the British keyboard layout will let you choose ".co.uk".
Sure, that's all great, but there are more than just country codes. I'd like to see Safari's keyboard offer the choice between ".com," ".org," and ".net". Why the hate towards those non-.com sites? Is this because of that whole boom and crash? That was years ago! Time to move on.
Annnnd big software companies are now 0-for-2 when it comes to their iPhone development plans. First it was Sun, who backpedaled on its promise to bring Java to the iPhone faster than a kid doing a 180° on a Big Wheel. And yet, even having seen that, Adobe still went ahead and said that it would bring Flash to the iPhone.
Only maybe not so much. A follow-up statement from Adobe took a more conservative bent:
“However, to bring the full capabilities of Flash to the iPhone Web-browsing experience, we do need to work with Apple beyond and above what is available through the SDK and the current license around it,” the company said.Yes. There is the little matter of that. Sounds like someone over at Apple slipped a copy of the SDK details under Adobe's door with the relevant portions highlighted.
And thus, the question: will Apple make an exception for Adobe in order to bring the much-ballyhooed Flash support to the iPhone's browser, or will it stick to the ground rules it's already laid out? Seeing as how Easter weekend is upon us, I suggest we solve this issue via the time-honored sport of Peep jousting. I'm offering 4:1 on Adobe's peep—any takers?
I was away at the end of last week, so I missed much of the hubbub about Apple's letters to the would-be iPhone developers. The poorly-phrased missive was initially interpreted by some as a rejection, but later assessments suggested that it was intended more to keep devs in a holding pattern as Apple scrutinized the requests.
Since then, it's become apparent that some developers have gotten accepted into the program, though the numbers appear to be fairly limited at present. While the SDK allows you to develop apps for the iPhone, developers need to obtain a certificate from Apple in order to to test applications on their phone and distribute programs via the App Store, get access to Apple's iPhone documentation and support, and to install the 2.0 beta version of the iPhone OS. Even those in the program appear to have limitations, though, as there seems to be a five iPhone limit for testing; installing it on unauthorized devices will render those devices inoperable.
Presumably, more devs will be allowed access to the program as time goes on, but I have to wonder what kind of impact the five phone limit will have on beta testing. One developer I spoke to pointed out that if there's no way to enable wider beta testing, we'll likely be seeing "a lot of buggy apps on day one." Given how much noise Apple has made about security and stability, I'd think that's a scenario they'd want to avoid.
Miss watching hours of random embedded videos on your iPhone? Frustrated by interactive sites that show up blank in Mobile Safari? Well, you can thank Adobe: they're bent on bringing Flash to the iPhone, come hell (read: Steve Jobs's wrath) or high water. So says CEO Shantanu Narayen:
"Flash is synonymous with the Internet and, frankly, anybody who wants to browse the Web and experience the Web's glory really needs Flash support"Well, that's great, Shantanu, but have you wondered exactly what Apple might think about that? Jobs said earlier this month that there were technical and performance issues with Flash on the iPhone. Some have contended that the technical hurdles are not an issue, and that the sticking point between the two tech titans rather comes down to politics.[...]
We've evaluated the SDK, we can now start to develop the Flash player ourselves and we think it benefits our joint customers."
But Adobe doesn't apparently see this as an issue, nor is it apparently worried about the SDK restrictions that have hamstrung Sun's intentions to bring Java to the device. Meanwhile, Apple remains mum on the whole issue.
Time for some news of the truly shocking variety. According to a survey by M:Metrics, a company that researches mobile media, an astounding 85% of iPhone users accessed news and information on their device in January of this year. This, compared to 58% of all smartphone users (those who use Blackberrys, iPhones, Symbian-powered, or Windows Mobile devices), and just 13% of the market average.
M:Metrics also cites numbers saying 31% of iPhone users watched mobile TV and/or video, against 14% of smartphone users, and just 6% of the market, and 74% used their iPhones to listen to music, as opposed to 28% of smartphone users and almost 7% of the market as a whole. They also paint a picture of the iPhone's demographic, who are described as more likely than average cell phone users to be "male, aged 25-34, earn more that $100,000 and have a college degree." (Well, three out of four isn't so bad, I guess. Think I can swing a a raise?).
The firm points to AT&T's unlimited data plan as one factor in the secret of the iPhone's success, but the big reason seems pretty obvious to us: the iPhone's UI makes such tasks friendly, easy, and, most of all, fun. Never underestimate the power of a good UI. Despite the lack of Flash, browsing the web on an iPhone and on a Windows Mobile device is—if you'll pardon the expression—apples and oranges.
You can find M:Metrics's full numbers at the link above.
[via New York Times]
Looking to pick up an el cheapo iPhone? Look no further than your local AT&T store, which is currently selling refurbished 8GB iPhone models for a sweet, sweet $250. That's a good $150 less than a brand new unit from Apple. While you can sometimes also get refurbs from Apple itself, they aren't offering them at the moment, so AT&T is the only game in town (and it appears as though you may only be able to net this deal online).
Of course, you'll need to activate and sign a 2 year contract with AT&T, as per usual, and there's a limit of one per customer. We presume it also includes the standard one-year warranty (you can extend that by two years for $69). If you've been holding out for an iPhone price drop, this might be the best deal you see for a while.
[via Consumerist]
If there's one area of software that will likely benefit most from the iPhone SDK, it's probably gaming. To the surprise of many, myself included, Apple decided not to include even a single game on the iPhone or iPod touch (even the very first iPod had a hidden version of Breakout).
So, of course, game developers are pretty psyched about bringing titles to the iPhone and iPod touch, both because of their wide popularity and because of all the unique features available on the platforms, such as the multi-touch interface and accelerometer.
But to find out what's really in store, Macworld Senior Editor and resident gamemeister Peter Cohen sat down with Michel Guillemot, President and CEO of mobile game developer Gameloft. Gameloft was one of the first companies to start producing games for the iPod and they're continuing that tradition with the iPhone—they plan to have 15 titles out by the end of this year alone.
For more insight on the future of games on the platform, check out the full interview at the link above.
If there were some venue where I could put money on software hackers, I'd have made a mint by now (if I were betting Tic Tacs, anyway). Apparently at least some of those 100,000 SDKs downloaded found their way into the hands of those determined to find a loophole.
According to details provided to Gizmodo, the iPhone Dev Team is reporting that they've fully cracked the iPhone's beta 2.0 firmware to allow both jailbreak and SIM unlock. The jailbreak, which uses a custom firmware, allows all applications to run on the phone, regardless of whether or not they've been approved by Apple (some current apps downloaded via Installer.app may need to be updated because of changes to the API, though). And because the hackers created their own custom patched firmware, they claim this loophole is impossible for Apple to close.
So, for those determined to continue running apps that won't be allowed via Apple's App Store, it looks as though you have a upgrade path right now. Of course, future official software iPhone upgrades could change the situation.
