Everything iPhone

Following on Daring Fireball’s suggestion that iPhone 4.0 might bring the Calculator, Clock, Stocks, Weather, and Voice Memo to the iPad, The Loop Insight argues that it might just be iPhone 4.1 instead:

Phone OS 4.0 will include lots of new features, just like you would expect to see from Apple. However, It doesn’t make sense for Apple to unify the two operating systems for 4.0 with the timeline they are working with.

Rather, I expect Apple to release OS 4.1 in September or October. It will not only address issues with the 4.0 release, but also unify the operating systems.

iPhone 4.0 would presumably hit with the 4th generation iPhone (not to be confused with an iPhone 4G for LTE which is likely 2012). For the last two years, new iPhone software has been released as beta at SDK preview events in March while new iPhone hardware has been debuted at WWDC in June. New iPod touch hardware has followed in September, typically with updated software.

If Apple sticks to this pattern, the above does indeed make sense as getting as many users — iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch alike — on the same version of the OS is better for Apple, better for developers, and better for users.

For us, we’ll take it one step at a time and wait for that iPhone 4.0 sneak preview…

iPhone 4.0 in June, “Grand Unifying” iPhone 4.1 in September? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Live from Macworld 2010, Rene and Leanna talk to Sean Lindo, Marketing Manager for Box.net about their iPhone app [Free - iTunes link], integration into QuickOffice, and the power of the cloud.

Watch along after the break and let us know your thoughts!

YouTube link

TiPb Apps 4.2 — Box.net for iPhone (Macworld 2010) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Daring Fireball’s John Gruber suggests that bigger, iPad versions of the built-in iPhone Stocks, Calculator, Weather, Clock and Voice Memo were scrapped by Steve Jobs:

It’s not that Apple couldn’t just create bigger versions of these apps and have them run on the iPad. It wasn’t a technical problem, it was a design problem. There were, internally to Apple (of course), versions of these apps (or at least some of them) with upscaled iPad-sized graphics, but otherwise the same UI and layout as the iPhone versions. Ends up that just blowing up iPhone apps to fill the iPad screen looks and feels weird, even if you use higher-resolution graphics so that nothing looks pixelated. So they were scrapped by you-know-who.

Gruber was responding to theories that these apps would instead be offered as App Store downloads, or could be part of some secret widget dashboard implementation. In other words, that it’s a design issue, not a technical issue.

However, new UI that would make the iPad an amazing bedside clock (how’s that for a Lock Screen), or show Stocks with a variety of graphs and related news and data, or weather for several days and cities at once, certainly seems possible for Apple’s UI wizards. Perhaps they simply lacked time to re-do the apps for the already extended April 3 release date?

Perhaps they’ll appear on the iPad in some re-imagined form this summer with OS 4.0, but when the iPad ships next month, there won’t be versions of these apps. At least that’s the story I’ve heard from a few well-informed little birdies.

Speaking of which, any little birdies hear anything about an iPhone 4.0 sneak preview event yet? Or is everyone just focused on getting the iPad out right now?

DF: iPad Stocks, Calculator, Weather, Clock, Voice Memo Apps Scrapped by Steve Jobs is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

I already mentioned I’m on my way to GDC 2010 to cover the iPhone panel, and that iPhone gaming is getting big, so it’s interesting to see CNET reenforce just how big it’s getting:

strikingly absent among those 18 [Mobile Gaming] panels are any that deal with game development specifically for the iPhone. And why? Because for the first time, the GDC advisory board decided that Apple’s smartphone is an important enough platform to warrant its own summit. And it filled quickly.

Simon Jeffrey, vice president of social applications for leading iPhone game developer Ngmoco says:

“The iPhone is now recognized as a leading platform that’s independent from the mobile. People are specifically naming the iPhone as a threat to their businesses. Nintendo said the iPhone is taking customers away from [its popular] DS handhelds.”

The cost of entry is lower than Microsoft or Nintendo, and it’s getting more and more popular while still maintaining its cool factor.

While Android and Windows Phone 7 Series will bring the competition (and perhaps Palm as well), right now the iPhone is riding high on its head start.

iPhone No Longer “Mobile”, Big Enough to be Own Gaming Platform Now is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Cameron Daigle’s “is the iPad just a big iPhone” user interface presentation from PodCamp Nashville. Note, the second slide is a gigantic “NO.”

[via Daring Fireball]

Cameron Daigle’s “Is the iPad Just a Big iPhone?” UI Presentation from PodCamp Nashville is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

While I was busy enjoying the subtler UI details, AppleInsider noticed that last night’s iPad commercial debut showed what might be some of the pricing inside the new iBooks Store:

The commercial showed Sen. Edward Kennedy’s “True Compass: A Memoir” for $14.99, the novel “I, Alex Cross” by James Patterson for $12.99, and “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World… One Child at a Time” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin for $7.99.

For comparison, “True Compass” currently sells for $19.25 for the Amazon Kindle, “I, Alex Cross” costs $9.99, and “Three Cups of Tea” costs $7.19.

Whether or not that was final, or merely mocked up pricing for the commercial, remains to be seen.

TUAW also notes a New York Times button at the bottom, presumably to access a special New York Times Bestsellers section of the iBooks Store.

Lastly, 9to5Mac notes the My Documents button at the top left of of the Pages iWork touch app (good for PC users?). And — gasp! — another smudge that’s likely still not a camera.

So, did the iPad commercial do it’s job and make anyone more interested in picking up a magical, revolutionary new piece of gear on April 3?

iPad TV Commercial Shows iBooks Pricing, NYT Best Seller Button, My Documents, Smudge/Camera is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Whether you are a fan of the Castle Defender genre or Zombies, you are sure to love the soon to be released ZombieSmash! for iPhone and iPod touch.

In similar fashion to the very popular Plants vs Zombies, ZombieSmash! adds a few new tricks to Castle Defender games with the addition of some fancy ragdoll physics and excessive amounts of cartoon gore. Look for ZombieSmash! to drop in the App Store sometime this month for $1.99.

Check out the official trailer after the break!

[Via Touch Arcade]

Zombie Castle Defender ‘ZombieSmash!’ Coming to iPhone and iPod touch is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

It seems like Palm’s new webOS PDK (plug-in development kit) can be used to port over iPhone games in a matter of days — or even hours. Given how fast some iPhone games have turned up on the Palm Pre we’ve kind of suspect there was a little something something going on behind the screen, and our sibling site PreCentral.net confirmed it by way of Digital Daily’s pre-GDC coverage.

As just mentioned, I’ll be at GDC to have a look at what they’re doing. If it’s really just that easy to get your iPhone games onto webOS, then Palm has once again made their platform as frictionless as possible for developers (on top of the web technology SDK and Classic PalmOS emulation). Smart.

Windows Phone 7 Series looks to be packing Xbox Live gaming muscle, so they likely won’t go the same route as Palm… but could Android and BlackBerry? And if developers can keep making great iPhone games and get webOS (and maybe others) as a bonus, is that ultimately better for iPhone gamers, or does it weaken the uniqueness of the platform? If it does, will there eventually be “exclusives” like there are on Xbox and Playstation, or will Apple do more first-party games like the console makers — especially Nintendo — do?

iPhone Games Can be Ported to Palm webOS PDK in “Days”? — The Competition is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Tuesday and Wednesday TiPb is going to be at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) San Francisco 2010 to find out what’s new and notable in the world of iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad gaming. Scuttlebutt is, if you think gaming is big on the iPhone OS now… get ready for it to explode in 2010.

We’ll do our best to meet with all your favorite game companies, from the huge houses to the best and brightest indies.

If you’re in the area, stop by and say hello. If you’re a developer with a great new iPhone OS game to show off, ping us [news at tipb dot com] so we can meet up. If you’re joining us from a far, keep your browsers locked right here on TiPb for all the video action, and follow along for live updates and behind the scenes banter with @reneritchie on the Twitter.

Game. On.

TiPb at Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2010 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Rene talks to Marc Edwards of Bjango about Consume [$0.99 - iTunes link] for iPhone. Consume lets you track your cell phone and broadband usage, packages (like new Apple Store deliveries!), club cards, and more.

And Bjango’s giving away ten (10) promo codes to TiPb readers! Just drop a comment below and tell us what you’d like to see in an iPad version of Consume. We’ll pick 10 of you at random (so make sure you leave a valid email address so we can contact you).

Note: Promo Codes are only valid in the US App Store (Apple’s rule, not ours), and they expire, so if you get one, use it asap!

YouTube link

TiPb Apps 4.1 (and Give Away!) — Consume for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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