Starbucks wiped from Apple’s site, but what does it mean?
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Wireless
Fresh off an extensive corporate decaffeination downsizing and a scaling back of its foray into music sales, it’s a fair question to ask: just how ironclad is Starbucks’ commitment to rolling out iTunes WiFi Music Store integration across its entire chain? We just happened to notice that the Starbucks page on Apple’s site is now stone-cold gone, redirecting to the standard iTunes 8 stuff. You might say “no big deal, Apple’s just playing down an agreement that’s now been in place for a full year,” but there’s some other weirdness, too — the company’s iTunes WiFi Music Store at Starbucks FAQ, for example, still references the dead link. The partnership was kinda ill-conceived to begin with; getting access to the store meant hooking up to AT&T WiFi, which you wouldn’t normally have configured unless you actually had an AT&T WiFi account. We haven’t heard any official word here that the deal is in danger, but really, would anyone be welling up if it fell apart?
Starbucks wiped from Apple’s site, but what does it mean? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Vodafone’s BlackBerry Storm art department all soon to be fired
Filed under: Cellphones
We can’t put our finger on it, but there’s something vaguely familiar about this new Storm 9500.
In case you’re reading this after these images get taken down — which they inevitably will be — this was the official marketing material posted tonight by RIM’s Storm launch partner, Vodafone.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Continue reading Vodafone’s BlackBerry Storm art department all soon to be fired
Vodafone’s BlackBerry Storm art department all soon to be fired originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Keepin’ it real WTF, Part II: Russian iPhone "boots up," does nothing else
Filed under: Cellphones
It’s been a long time coming, but we’ve finally found a KIRF suitable to become the one and only successor to our very first “Keepin’ it real… WTF?!” This here iPhone — which is little more than a familiar chassis with a lead weight and a small amount of internal hardware — is reportedly used by scammers in Russia in order to barter for train tickets, grub, etc. In essence, the phone has just enough electronics within it to give the appearance of a “boot up” sequence, complete with the Apple logo; the scammer in possession of it then explains that the battery is simply drained, but that it will work perfectly fine once charged. After any given sucker hands over something quite valuable in exchange for this heap, he / she proceeds to crush it into a million pieces while cursing the unknown name of whoever fooled them in the first place. Moral of the story? Stay sharp, street traders.
[Thanks, Abhijit]
Keepin’ it real WTF, Part II: Russian iPhone “boots up,” does nothing else originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
EU directive aims to make all batteries removable, even THAT battery
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Laptops
EU directive aims to make all batteries removable, even THAT battery originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Poll: Is iPhone firmware 2.1 breaking fetch for email accounts?
Filed under: Cellphones
Just when you think you’ve escaped the darkened woods of firmware 2.0.2 and previous ilk, along comes 2.1, wrapped in faster-loading-contacts-finery to convince you all is well in the iPhone world. That isn’t entirely the case, it seems, if you’re user of POP or IMAP mail accounts which are set to fetch messages. Apparently, a maddening bug exists in the new software which — in the interest of battery power conservation, we assume — stops the device from pulling down new emails while sleeping… unless the phone happens to be plugged in and charging. An ever-growing thread on Apple’s support forums has been barraged with reports of the problem, and editors here at Engadget have certainly felt the burn. So we’re putting the question to you, dear readers (and hoping the folks in Cupertino are paying attention). Are you noticing email issues with firmware 2.1? Let us know in the poll below!
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Poll: Is iPhone firmware 2.1 breaking fetch for email accounts? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Apple drops iPhone NDA
Filed under: Cellphones
Apple’s insistence on locking down iPhone developers with a restrictive NDA has been controversial from the start, and it looks like the company’s seen the light — it’s just posted up a tersely-worded letter saying that the NDA is being dropped. It’s a strange little note, actually — the first paragraph comes off as a little defensive and whiny, if you ask us — but we’re not going to complain about anything that makes developing apps easier and faster for devs. Now let’s work on not capriciously rejecting and deleting apps from the App Store, and maybe we can go back to focusing on the iPhone platform’s actual merits instead of all these paperwork shenanigans — we’ve got some suggestions if you’re having a hard time figuring this out on your own.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Apple drops iPhone NDA originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Verizon getting a CDMA iPhone that runs Windows Mobile, clears acne
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Rumors are coming fast and furious today citing unnamed tipsters that Apple is hard at work hammering out a CDMA iPhone for its friends at Verizon to be announced and released next year, the carrier it had initially approached about carrying the device back in 2005. Way we see it, though, 2009 ain’t 2005; Apple’s wielding boatloads more power in the wireless biz than it was before the first model launched, the industry’s economics have changed, and technology roadmaps have been rewritten.
So why isn’t this happening, exactly? First, Apple appears to be having no trouble finding enough customers (carriers, that is) to keep iPhone 3G production at a nice clip. Second, CDMA represents a minute fraction of the world’s mobile customer base that GSM / UMTS does — no matter how big Verizon, Sprint, Telus, Bell, KDDI au, and the remaining CDMA stalwarts may be. Third, CDMA is a dying technology that will be finished off in the early part of the next decade as networks make the migration to LTE and other 4G platforms. Fourth, we have to believe Apple would sooner pour its engineering efforts into advancing the iPhone platform in the same direction as the world’s networks than divert considerable resources to busting out a one-off special.
Might this mythical CDMA iPhone yet exist? Yeah, Verizon’s a huge carrier, and yes, stranger things have happened — but until Steve and Ivan get on stage together at Macworld 2009, we’re not buying it.
Verizon getting a CDMA iPhone that runs Windows Mobile, clears acne originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
iPhone gets tweaked Safari in firmware 2.2
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
We’re going down our “things that absolutely must change on the iPhone” list, and yeah, “redo the Safari toolbar” isn’t anywhere on there. Not even at the very bottom. Cupertino works in mysterious ways, though, and they’ve decided in firmware 2.2 that it’s time to muck with the positioning of the text boxes so that the address bar and search bar both appear at all times without needing to first tap in the area. They’ve also moved the refresh button inside the address bar itself, which should truly revolutionize our browsing experience yet again. Apple, screw copy / paste — we’re officially stoked.
[Via Wired, thanks Konstantin]
iPhone gets tweaked Safari in firmware 2.2 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Switched On: With friends like Google, does Apple need Microsoft?
Filed under: Cellphones
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment.
In the 1999 geek classic, “Pirates of Silicon Valley”, an Apple employee watching the famous “1984″ commercial with Steve Jobs points to the Big Brother character — intended to represent IBM — and then points to Bill Gates of Microsoft, whom Jobs has just introduced as part of Apple’s family. The silent message is that the real threat to Apple is Microsoft, not IBM, and indeed the following scene depicts Jobs confronting Gates after Jobs sees Windows 1.0 running on an NEC PC.
That scene, set in 1983, could be easily recreated 25 years later, substituting the iPhone for the Macintosh, Microsoft for IBM as the iPhone’s perceived threat, and Google for Microsoft as the iPhone’s more serious threat. Like Microsoft in 1983, Google is a key Apple partner in 2008. The iPhone features Google Maps, GMail and Google as its default Web search engine, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt even sits on Apple’s board of directors. And also like Microsoft in 1983, Google is working fervently to create a wide range of competitors to Apple’s iPhone. None of these may ever match the integrated experience of Apple’s iPhone, but it’s clear that the first Android phone has come closer to the iPhone experience than Windows 1.0 did to the original Macintosh operating system.
Nevertheless, Google’s task is a lot more daunting than Microsoft’s was at the dawn of Windows for several reasons.
Continue reading Switched On: With friends like Google, does Apple need Microsoft?
Switched On: With friends like Google, does Apple need Microsoft? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
iYo YOYO Induction Charger lets you enjoy your tunes sans AC
Filed under: Peripherals
For any iPhone or iPod user brimming with energy that might otherwise go wasted on aimless fidgeting, Swedish designer Peter Thuvander has devised the perfect way for you to marry your hyperactivity and your love for your Apple device: the iYo YOYO Induction Charger. While playing with the charger as you would an ordinary yo-yo, a small lithium-ion battery is charged inside, which in turn powers your device. The idea sounds great, and if it ever gets out of the concept stage we look forward to having our idle hands finally used as something other than the Devil’s playthings. Check out a video of the device in rendered action after the break.
[Via Engadget German]
Continue reading iYo YOYO Induction Charger lets you enjoy your tunes sans AC
iYo YOYO Induction Charger lets you enjoy your tunes sans AC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments