NEWS: iPhone 4 and iPod Touch: July 2009

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Free Elisha Cuthbert iPhone Wallpaper

Get a Free iPhone 3GS! Yes, that is correct! Stay away from the trouble of earning enough to pay for it for you can get it the simple way .... straight to your doorstep! Free! Interested? Then find out how to get a Free iPhone 3GS!

Free Elisha Cuthbert iPhone Wallpaper

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

iPhone Suicide Victim's Family Paid $52,000, and $4,400/year After

Company hopes that payment will lay matter to rest

Apple and its Chinese iPhone manufacturer Foxconn made headlines when an employee Danyong Sun committed suicide. The circumstances were anything but ordinary. Mr. Sun had been given a set of never-before-seen iPhone fourth generation prototypes to deliver for testing. He lost one of these prototypes and was subsequently the victim of a burglary and assault, reportedly by his employer's security division. He then committed suicide.

Following initial statements by Foxconn and Apple, new details have emerged. Foxconn has announced that it will pay off the family of Mr. Sun in hopes of laying the matter quietly to rest. It has agreed to pay his parents a lump sum of $52,000 and a yearly payment of $4,400 for the rest of their lives.

The government is still investigating the incident. Apple says it will wait until that investigation finishes before it takes action. The main subject of the investigations is Mr. Gun Qinmin a security supervisor. Mr. Qinmin insists that he's innocent, though he admits to sending people to search Mr. Sun's office.

The average salary of a worker in one of China's cities was 5,000 yuan ($3,560 USD) in 2007.

[via Daily Tech]

iPhone Suicide Victim's Family Paid $52,000, and $4,400/year After

Company hopes that payment will lay matter to rest

[via Daily Tech]

iPhone can be VERY Dangerous if iPhone is Unlocked

Apple says terrorists could use iPhones to attack cell phone towers

Apple has tried everything to stop iPhone unlockers. Bricking iPhones didn't work -- it just generated more headaches and bad PR. Apple's internal protection technology turned out to be just as weak and poorly implemented as its consumer security on the iPhone -- the hackers quickly overcame the latest protections Apple threw at them. Now with its shiny new iPhone 3G S becoming yet the latest handset to be freed, Apple has turned to none other than the U.S. government for help.

The company has submit a report to the U.S. Copyright Office suggesting that iPhone unlocking be outlawed (and jailbreaking from the AT&T network, essentially as well as it would be impossible without unlocking) as Apple claims it threatens cell phone towers across America. Apple claims that unlocking the iPhone provides easy access to the iPhone’s BBP — the “baseband processor” software, which enables a connection to cell phone towers.

[via Daily Tech]

iPhone can be VERY Dangerous if iPhone is Unlocked

Apple says terrorists could use iPhones to attack cell phone towers

[via Daily Tech]

Monday, July 27, 2009

AT&T and iPhone -- Exclusivity Might End Soon

AT&T CEO says end of partnership is inevitable

No one can deny the business sense that AT&T used when it locked up the iPhone from Apple as an exclusive back in 2007 when the phone first debuted. The iPhone has helped AT&T grow significantly since it debuted.

According to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, the partnership with Apple will inevitably end and ultimately the only differentiator between the wireless providers in America will be network quality. The exclusive agreement between Apple and AT&T is believed to end next year.

In Europe, O2 is facing the same problem as AT&T with its exclusive period ending. Apple is allowing O2 to keep the exclusive on the iPhone 3GS in the UK while opening the iPhone 3G up to other carriers. Reuters reports that AT&T added 1.4 million new subscribers in the second quarter and out of those subscribers about had more than 2.4 million iPhone activation during the quarter.

The prospect of losing the exclusive on the iPhone has to raise eyebrows at AT&T and with Wall Street. Research firm Pali Research issued a sell advisement on AT&T stock in June because it was believed to be losing its iPhone exclusive. At the same time, the research firm issued a buy order on Verizon, believed to be picking the iPhone up on its network.

Pali Research wrote in a report, "Our buy rating on Verizon is based on our view that its market share gains will lead to profit growth that tops other telecom companies and Wall Street consensus estimates. Our sell rating on AT&T is based primarily on our belief that its wireless business will enter a prolonged period of erosion after being propped up by the iPhone for the past two years."

[via Daily Tech]

AT&T and iPhone -- Exclusivity Might End Soon

AT&T CEO says end of partnership is inevitable

[via Daily Tech]

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Free Lindsey Lohan iPhone Wallpaper

iPhone is "Incredibly Insecure", says Hacker

The iPhone yet again experiencing criticism over poor security

Jonathan Zdziarski, an iPhone developer and a hacker who teaches forensics courses on recovering data from iPhones, hasn't been very impressed with the iPhone's security -- or lack thereof. Mr. Zdziarski has indicated that iPhone OS v3.0 is a bit better when it comes to security, but he says with only a few pieces of readily available freeware you can easily crack it in under two minutes. That news must be concerning for the corporations and government agencies that support the hundreds of thousands of business iPhones Apple says it has sold.

Mr. Zdziarski says the iPhone's security woes are entirely unnecessary and are the result of incompetence. He states, "It is kind of like storing all your secret messages right next to the secret decoder ring. I don’t think any of us [developers] have ever seen encryption implemented so poorly before, which is why it’s hard to describe why it’s such a big threat to security."

His statements stand in stark contrast with Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook's cheerful news that 20 percent of Fortune 100 companies have purchased 10,000 or more iPhones apiece and that multiple government organizations had purchased 25,000 iPhones apiece. Mr. Cook had bragged, "We’re seeing growing interest with the release of iPhone 3.0 and the iPhone 3GS due in part to the new hardware encryption and improved security policies. The phone is particularly doing well with small businesses and large organizations."

[via Daily Tech]

iPhone is "Incredibly Insecure", says Hacker

Friday, July 24, 2009

30 Best Free iPhone Photo & Video Applications

iphone photo video apps

Editing, enhancing or having fun with photos in your iPhone is not a dream anymore as the latest 3Gs iPhone is now furnished with an auto-focus mechanism taking 3 megapixel images. A look around the internet will show you rather decent photos taken by iPhone as people quit printing photos – who will when with a few taps, they can share theirs instantly.

Plenty of photography apps are available for that cause, be it subtle enhancements or quirky modifications – It’s time to put your new iPhone on play and show off to your friends! In this article, we put together 20 Free Photography Apps and recommendation of some good paid apps. On top of that, we’ve also included 10 best Free Video Applications. Free apps after jump.

Photography Apps

Free Photo Filters
Free photo filters app provides filters include Lomography Filter, Poloarizing Filter, Black and White Filter, Retro Effect Filter and more.

SP Photo Fix Lite
You can fix your photo (brightness, contrast, sharpness, hue, saturation) before sending it by email directly on your iPhone.

PhotoBox
PhotoBox is the all in one solution for the weekend warrior photographer, giving you a large range of photo filters and effects.

[via Web Burning]

30 Best Free iPhone Photo & Video Applications

iphone photo video apps

Photography Apps

Free Photo Filters
Free photo filters app provides filters include Lomography Filter, Poloarizing Filter, Black and White Filter, Retro Effect Filter and more.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Motorola Morrison Running Android

It looks like the upcoming Motorola Morrison will be Android-powered. At least that's what we see on this photo. Apparenly, it runs the vanilla Android build, though it might be a custom one, and we can clearly see some of the soft keys. The phone's specifications remain unknown, but we’ll keep you up to date on that.

Google Mobile gets local with iPhone 3.0

Mobile Safari joins Android and BlackBerry browsers in getting location awareness with Google, using GPS or Wi-Fi triangulation to figure out what food, stores, or other goodies are nearby when you search.As with its counterparts, the location setting sticks with the browser until you hit update, or it happens to notice you’ve moved locales. Google says it doesn’t pull location data unless you

Samsung Mobile Announces Samsung Comeback and Gravity2 for T-Mobile USA

Complete with full QWERTY keyboards, T9 predictive text and auto word completion, Samsung Mobile and T-Mobile USA today announced their latest text-friendly messaging phonesThe Samsung Comeback, available in pearl white plum or frost silver cherry, is a stylish messaging phone with a unique side-flip that reveals its full QWERTY keyboard. The Comeback takes messaging to the extreme with access to

Navigon Launches iPhone GPS Navigation for North America

Navigon AG today announced the availability of a North American version of its on-board navigation software in the iPhone App Store. After downloading the GPS application, the software and map data is saved directly on the iphone. The software includes navigation functions such as Reality View Pro, Lane Assistant Pro, Speed Assistant and Day & Night Mode. The NAVIGON solution sells for $99.99

New Google Maps 3.2 Adds Info Layers

Released for Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile phones, Google has updated its Google Maps for Mobile with version 3.2. The new version allows you to add many layers of information to your maps such as public transit, traffic condition, local search results, Latitude friend locations, Wikipedia and more.Other than the layering feature, map search results can now be also displayed on the map as little

Another nice photo shot on the HTC Click Android Smartphone

Leaked as HTC Click with Android OS this week, a vietnamese forum tinhte has a clearer photo of the entry level Android smartphone. The big round pad at the middle does not look like a trackball. According to slashgear, the HTC Click share the same button layout as HTC Magic, but the track ball is changed to a Dpad instead. The HTC Click should feature the new Sense UI like the HTC Hero and could

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

ROK TV Now Streams On BlackBerry Smartphones

ROK Entertainment has today announced its streamed Mobile TV service, ROK TV, is compatible with the latest BlackBerry smartphones. ROK TV enables the stream of live and on-demand video to mobile phones over mass-market 2.5G as well as over 3G and has successfully launched its subscription-based mobile TV service with several Operators worldwide.

Vertu Introduces Ascent Ti Carbon Fibre Editionh

Vertu has unveiled its new Carbon Fibre Ascent Ti luxury phone this week, which said to have Carbon Fibre components produced with new sophisticated design methods. Handcrafted in England, the Ascent Ti Carbon Fibre has been repeatedly tested to ensure the optimum amount of fibres and resin and processed together to achieve a flawless uniform look on both the flat and curved parts. The Ascent Ti

Nokia Surge Going to Europe as Nokia 6760 slide

Nokia today announced the Nokia 6760 slide, a messaging optimized device with a sliding QWERTY keypad. While it will be released in US by AT&T as Nokia Surge, the europe version has a 3.2 megapixel camera instead of the 2 megapixel on the Nokia Surge. The Nokia 6760 slide will be available during the third quarter of 2009 for EUR 199 before subsidies and taxes.Ideal for individuals who want to

5 Millions LG Cookie Sold in Nine Months

LG announced today that more than five million LG-KP500 “Cookie” mobile phones have been snapped up worldwide since its launch nine months ago. As a slim and lightweight handset, LG’s Cookie is fully equipped with most of the key features found in premium full touch screen phones, including a 3.0 megapixel camera, 3D accelerometer and an Active Flash User Interface with vivid widget icons to

Top 5 Free iPhone Music Apps

1. Pandora

Pros: Straightforward and easy to use; saves user data to account; nice interface with prominent album art; good music selection.

Cons: Skip limits; pop-up ads on every track; no community features.

The gist: If you only get one music streaming app for the iPhone or iPod Touch, make it Pandora--it's a great introduction for those who are anxious to hear some new tunes.

[via CNet]

Top 5 Free iPhone Music Apps

1. Pandora

Pros: Straightforward and easy to use; saves user data to account; nice interface with prominent album art; good music selection.

Cons: Skip limits; pop-up ads on every track; no community features.

The gist: If you only get one music streaming app for the iPhone or iPod Touch, make it Pandora--it's a great introduction for those who are anxious to hear some new tunes.

[via CNet]

iPhone Prototype Disappears - Chinese Worker Commits Suicide

This Chinese story is full of crazy twists

Apple is apparently hard at work cooking up what will become the successor to the iPhone 3G S. In China, an army of parts designers are working on the phone's circuit boards and components. Leading them is Foxconn in Shenzhen, a city in the industry-heavy Guangdong province near Hong Kong.

At Foxconn, a 25-year-old college graduate working in product communications, Yong Sun Dan, was in charge of the phone's prototypes. On Thursday, July 9, he set out to pick up 16 prototype units from the factory. He would later discover that one was missing according to DigitalBeat. His theory was that he left it at the factory. On Monday, July 13 he unhappily reported it to his boss.

Two days later, three Foxconn employees broke into his apartment and searched it. Sun, according to an IM exchange, also may have been detained and physically abused during the search.

The story came to an end of Thursday at 3 a.m. when Yong Sun Dan leapt from the window of his apartment building to his death. The tragic story showcases the potentially deadly game of intrigue and leaks that blog sites play. On the other side of the aisle, it shows the tremendous pressure that manufacturers like Foxconn feel about defending the secrecy of its star products.

[via Daily Tech]

iPhone Prototype Disappears - Chinese Worker Commits Suicide

This Chinese story is full of crazy twists

[via Daily Tech]

Monday, July 20, 2009

TwitterBerry 0.9.1 Beta 7 Released

This one is for Twitter users running a BlackBerry: TwitterBerry 0.9.1 Beta 7 is now available from Orangatame. This latest version adds a few features and bug fixes: * Added support for Zannel.com uploads. Select “Zannel” from the “Media Provider” choice on the Configure screen; * Embedded Camera is now available for OS 4.2+ for smartphones with a camera. Try the “Take Photo” menu item

HTC Touch Pro2, Snap and BlackBerry Tour Coming Soon to U.S. Cellular

According to this leaked rebate sheet, U.S. Cellular is planning on releasing a number of interesting handsets, among which are the high-end HTC Touch Pro2, the WM-based HTC Snap, as well as the hot BlackBerry Tour already available from Verizon and Sprint. All three should be available till November 12th. Check the image for the full list of handsets and prices.

BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 Now Out

We know many of you have waited for this moment to come. The latest BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 has been leaked yesterday and appears to be available on most new BlackBerry's from OS 4.5 through OS 5.1. Direct download links for different models are available here.

The iPhone coming to China may be nearing reality

Apple may have finally cleared a hurdle in bringing the iPhone to China as it has reportedly applied for a Network Access License in the Asian country, putting a release just a few months away — albeit without Wi-Fi.Although he doesn’t say how he obtained the information, Wedge Partners analyst Matt Mathison claims that the application was filed today but doesn’t make any mention of onboard Wi-Fi

Google Mobile gets local with iPhone 3.0

Garmin-ASUS nuvifone M20 and G60 shipping to Singapore in August

The word is though that the much delayed Garmin-Asus smartphones will launch in Singapore in August. The Garmin-Asus nüvifone product line represents a significant step forward in location based service (LBS) technology and offers a superior and innovative value proposition for those seeking an all-in-one, LBS-centric phone mobile web-browser and personal navigator.The nüvifone G60 features an

HTC Leo – the return of the HTC Omni?

HTC, Taiwan-based mobile phone maker, is said to be preparing for the launch/release of the Leo. The Leo is apparently a flip phone which will offer an internal WVGA screen and an external QVGA screen. The existence of the new device seems to have been unveiled by the leaked Manila 2.5, or the TouchFLO 3D 2.5 UI that HTC designed to work with its Windows Mobile-based devices.The new device might

Saturday, July 18, 2009

How to Make a free iPhone Ringtone from a Song

If you have a song that you want to turn into a ringtone, there's no need to shell out money for something you've paid for already. Making a free iPhone ringtone from a song just takes a few simple steps to complete.

These steps have been tested with iTunes 8.2.0.23 on an iPhone 3GS. If you are having trouble getting a song to show up on your iPhone after converting it to a ringtone and syncing, it might have DRM. These steps only work on songs not protected by DRM.

How to make a free iPhone ringtone from a song in iTunes

Locate the song you want to convert in iTunes.
Right click the song and choose Get Info.
Click on the Options tab.
Right down the Stop Time or copy it to the clipboard and paste it in notepad.
You'll have to modify the Start Time and Stop Time to choose only a 30 second (or less) clip for your ringtone. If you just want the first 30 seconds, just type "0:30" in the Stop Time. Make sure both are checked. Click OK when done.
Right click the song and choose Create ACC Version. You'll see it create a new song with the same name and a Time of 30 seconds.
Now, before you forget about it, right click the original song and reset the Start Time and Stop Time back to what it originally set to.
This is where it gets tricky. You will need to browse to your music folder. In Vista, this is as simple as clicking the Computer icon and choosing Music. In Windows XP, it is the My Music folder under My Documents. From here, you'll need to go into iTunes and iTunes Music and then browse to the particular song. These folders are arranged by artist and then album, so it should be easy to find.
Once you locate the song file, you'll need to figure out which version is correct. Hover the mouse pointer over the song and you'll see the size of the files. The one that is much smaller is the newly created file. (Remember, 934 KB is smaller than 2.54 MB.)
You need to copy this file to your desktop. You can do this by dragging it to the desktop, or by right clicking the file and choosing copy then right clicking the desktop and choosing paste.
Once it is on your desktop, go back to iTunes and delete the newly created song.
Now we need to set the right extension, so right click the file, choose rename and change the extension from ".m4a" to ".m4r".
To get it into iTunes, you should be able to just double click on the file. If that doesn't work, just drag it to where it says "Library" on the right menu in iTunes. If you don't already have a Ringtones section, it will create one at this time.
Once you verify it is in iTunes, you can delete the file from your desktop.
The last step is to sync your iPhone. Clcik on your iPhone under Devices, choose the Ringtones tab and either sync all ringtones or make sure the new ringtone has a check mark next to it if you sync only selected ringtones. Hit sync, and you are done.

Having trouble getting a song to convert? The most common problem is that the iTunes import settings aren't set to use the ACC Encoder. Got to Edit->Preferences in iTunes and on the first (general) tab click on Import Settings. Make sure it says Import Using ACC Encoder and then click OK.

If you are still having problems, try a different song. As I mentioned above, some songs, especially those with DRM, simply won't convert to a ringtone.

[via Examiner]

How to Make a free iPhone Ringtone from a Song

How to make a free iPhone ringtone from a song in iTunes

Locate the song you want to convert in iTunes.
Right click the song and choose Get Info.
Click on the Options tab.
Right down the Stop Time or copy it to the clipboard and paste it in notepad.
You'll have to modify the Start Time and Stop Time to choose only a 30 second (or less) clip for your ringtone. If you just want the first 30 seconds, just type "0:30" in the Stop Time. Make sure both are checked. Click OK when done.
Right click the song and choose Create ACC Version. You'll see it create a new song with the same name and a Time of 30 seconds.
Now, before you forget about it, right click the original song and reset the Start Time and Stop Time back to what it originally set to.
This is where it gets tricky. You will need to browse to your music folder. In Vista, this is as simple as clicking the Computer icon and choosing Music. In Windows XP, it is the My Music folder under My Documents. From here, you'll need to go into iTunes and iTunes Music and then browse to the particular song. These folders are arranged by artist and then album, so it should be easy to find.
Once you locate the song file, you'll need to figure out which version is correct. Hover the mouse pointer over the song and you'll see the size of the files. The one that is much smaller is the newly created file. (Remember, 934 KB is smaller than 2.54 MB.)
You need to copy this file to your desktop. You can do this by dragging it to the desktop, or by right clicking the file and choosing copy then right clicking the desktop and choosing paste.
Once it is on your desktop, go back to iTunes and delete the newly created song.
Now we need to set the right extension, so right click the file, choose rename and change the extension from ".m4a" to ".m4r".
To get it into iTunes, you should be able to just double click on the file. If that doesn't work, just drag it to where it says "Library" on the right menu in iTunes. If you don't already have a Ringtones section, it will create one at this time.
Once you verify it is in iTunes, you can delete the file from your desktop.
The last step is to sync your iPhone. Clcik on your iPhone under Devices, choose the Ringtones tab and either sync all ringtones or make sure the new ringtone has a check mark next to it if you sync only selected ringtones. Hit sync, and you are done.

If you are still having problems, try a different song. As I mentioned above, some songs, especially those with DRM, simply won't convert to a ringtone.

[via Examiner]

Friday, July 17, 2009

Free Pamela Anderson iPhone Wallpaper

Top 40 Free iPhone Music Apps

Top 40 Free iPhone Music Apps Its easy to forget sometimes that the iPhone is also an iPod, but with the ever growing collection of music applications, you can get yourself an endless supply of music for “the best iPod yet” (as Steve Jobs like to say).

The iPod Touch and iPhone can give you as much free music as you can handle with the following 40 applications we’ve gathered up for you. We also included a few free ones that can help you figure out the lyrics are to your favorite songs, or even help you identify a song you hear on the radio. Why not turn your iPhone into the ultimate music machine?

Please note that all of these links go directly to the page in the iTunes store so clicking them will launch iTunes.

iPhone International Music Applications

95.8 Capital Radio: A top radio station from London, England.

Classical Philippines Radio: Plays a selection of classic Philippines musical styles

iBZH: Five radio stations serving all of the Brittany territory and surrounding area featuring a mixture of music and news.

Life Radio: Life Radio is the number one radio station is Austria, and this application features multiple streams from the popular station including 1980’s, love songs and more.

Mx3.ch Mobile: An app featuring streaming music from Swiss musical acts and information on upcoming gigs around based on your iPhone’s GPS location.

RadyoD: A privately owned radio station in Turkey streaming music and news from the country 24/7.

RMC2: Radio Monte Carlo comes out of Italy and features portions of the programming in English and Italian.

Rock Antenne: Broadcasting out of Germany, Rock Antenne broadcats in English, German, Italian and Spanish.

SlowTurk: A Turkish station broadcasting nothing but love songs.

iPhone Lyrics Applications

Lyrical: Lyrical will automatically find the lyrics for the song you are listening to as soon as you launch it. The app will also let you search for lyrics for songs not in your library by entering the artist, song title or even just a few words from the song.

LyricMate: Powered by LyricWiki, LyricMate will show you lyrics for a song you are listening to, cache lyrics for offline reading and more.

[via Blorge]

Top 40 Free iPhone Music Apps

Please note that all of these links go directly to the page in the iTunes store so clicking them will launch iTunes.

iPhone International Music Applications

95.8 Capital Radio: A top radio station from London, England.

Classical Philippines Radio: Plays a selection of classic Philippines musical styles

iBZH: Five radio stations serving all of the Brittany territory and surrounding area featuring a mixture of music and news.

Life Radio: Life Radio is the number one radio station is Austria, and this application features multiple streams from the popular station including 1980’s, love songs and more.

Mx3.ch Mobile: An app featuring streaming music from Swiss musical acts and information on upcoming gigs around based on your iPhone’s GPS location.

RadyoD: A privately owned radio station in Turkey streaming music and news from the country 24/7.

RMC2: Radio Monte Carlo comes out of Italy and features portions of the programming in English and Italian.

Rock Antenne: Broadcasting out of Germany, Rock Antenne broadcats in English, German, Italian and Spanish.

SlowTurk: A Turkish station broadcasting nothing but love songs.

iPhone Lyrics Applications

LyricMate: Powered by LyricWiki, LyricMate will show you lyrics for a song you are listening to, cache lyrics for offline reading and more.

[via Blorge]

Top 148 Free iPhone Games

The following are the top 148 free games in all sub categories in the iTunes App Store based on downloads over the past 24 hours by iPhone users in the United States. An RSS Feed is also available.

Wooden Labyrinth 3D Free
Price: $0.00
Released: 2009-02-21 in the Games category

Rope'n'Fly Lite
Price: $0.00
Released: 2009-07-07 in the Games category

Assassin’s Creed Altaïr’s Chronicles Free!
Price: $0.00
Released: 2009-06-22 in the Games category

[via 148 Apps]

Top 148 Free iPhone Games

The Best FREE iPhone Games

Did you know that owning an iPhone makes you a better person? It’s true. The Department of Made-up Statistics and Lies (DMSL) recently published a study, which claims that male iPhone users who identify with the “gamer lifestyle” are happier, healthier, and have slightly larger penises than their non-iPhone-owning counterparts. Surprised? We are. Because even though we’ve been spending more time gaming on our iPhone, our penises never felt smaller.

Another more concerning problem: most of the Lite demos and free game apps we’ve come across are just too miserly with the amount of content they give you. There’s something about getting slapped in the face with an advertisement to upgrade after we’ve only played for a few minutes that makes us want to delete the app and forget that we ever downloaded it in the first place. Plus, we’re broke from buying an iPhone in the first place! That’s why we sorted through all the free apps we could find to bring you the real gems that are actually worth downloading.

[via Games Radar]

The Best FREE iPhone Games

[via Games Radar]