Microsoft and Apple still in talks for Bing iPhone search option, Google is not on notice
What turned into a pretty frenzied rumor this afternoon ended up being much ado about nothing, but there is something noteworthy. As the story goes, TechCrunch reported that Microsoft was going to completely replace Google with Bing as the search engine of choice for the iPhone once OS 4 launches next month. Enter All Things Digital’s Kara Swisher, who has a pretty strong track record on all things Redmond. According to her sources, what’s being discussed isn’t a full swap — instead, Bing is being considered for an “option” that users can decide between. None of this is what we’d call brand new gossip, and in fact, it sounds exactly like what we heard back in January. So, discussions still seem to be ongoing four months later, which is pretty interesting. For its part, the original TC article has been amended to say the issue is “more complicated” than originally presented. Hey June 7th? You really can’t get here fast enough.
Microsoft and Apple still in talks for Bing iPhone search option, Google is not on notice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 22:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AT&T prepping MobileProtect insurance program for iPhone?
Shots of some docs over on BGR have us believing that AT&T is on the cusp of launching a program called “MobileProtect,” but don’t be fooled by the fancy name — this is basically an Asurion-operated handset insurance plan just like any other, the only real difference being that it’s for the iPhone and offered directly by the carrier. Interestingly, it seems that you’ll buy the protection through the App Store of all things, automatically billing the credit card that you’ve got on file with Apple, but you’d better really want the protection because it’s going to run $13.99 a month. Oh, and you’ll have to pay a $99 deductible to fix an 8GB 3G, scaling up to $199 for a 32GB 3GS. To put that in perspective, that means it’ll cost you $367 to replace an insured 32GB 3GS after a year of coverage, at which point you’ll say “well, I’d rather have an iPhone 4 anyway” and shell out $200 with an upgrade pull-ahead. Yeah, call us jaded.
AT&T prepping MobileProtect insurance program for iPhone? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 17:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Boutique publishing house les éditions volumiques shows us that print is far, far from dead
Say what you will about traditional media and the continually shrinking size of print magazines, but we’ve got some proof right here that good ‘ol pulp still has a lot of life left. French publishing house les éditions volumiques has been doing research into new and… interesting ways to use the print medium and to combine it with mobile devices. The company’s site is like a playground for bookistas, with short videos showing off all sorts of wondrous things. One project is The book that disappears, a volume printed on reactive paper that turns black after 20 minutes. Another is The Night of the Living Dead Pixels, a graphic novel (shown above) that allows you to choose your path, with terminal pages featuring QR codes that trigger videos on your smartphone. There’s a board game that uses iPhones for pawns, and even a book that turns its own pages. All are demonstrated at the company’s site (in Flash, so watch out for Steve), and most are destined to actually see print by the end of the year. We’ve already made room on our bookshelves.
Boutique publishing house les éditions volumiques shows us that print is far, far from dead originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 08:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sound ID’s 510 Bluetooth headset has iPhone app to match
Occasionally, we long for simpler times — times when “handsfree” meant little more than connecting a corded earbud to your phone and calling it good. Nowadays, of course, things are a little different: Bluetooth is quite literally everywhere, headsets have their own frickin’ apps, and bone conduction tech is the real deal. Take this Sound ID 510, for example, featuring its very own iPhone app (which Sound ID made sure to get approved by Apple ahead of the actual hardware’s release) that lets you control a number of settings, check your battery level, and find the set if you misplace it. To be fair, it’s not the first time we’ve seen an on-phone companion app for a Bluetooth earbud, and something tells us it won’t be the last; that’s right, welcome to our frightening new reality. Look for the 510 to hit shops in early June for about $130.
Sound ID’s 510 Bluetooth headset has iPhone app to match originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Wi-Fi Sync now compatible with Windows and iPad
Wi-Fi Sync is quite the gem (at least we think so) but it had some limitations — namely, it only worked on OS X for desktop, and only with iPhone / iPod touch. Developer Greg Hughes pinged us earlier today to let us know he’s thrown the gates off such restrictions. The jailbroken app now works for both iPads and Windows — XP, Vista, and 7. The desktop client is free to download but it still cost just a hair under $10 for the appropriate mobile device. Worth the price of breaking free from wires? Your call.
Wi-Fi Sync now compatible with Windows and iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AT&T: 40 percent of iPhone sales are enterprise, Android ‘built with a very specific focus to consumers’
It isn’t just Verizon’s Lowell McAdam with fascinating commentary at this Barclays Capital tech conference going down in New York this week. Ron Spears, who leads up AT&T’s Business Solutions division, had some notable things to say about enterprise mobility — specifically, the iPhone’s role in taking businesses to the road, a magic trick typically associated almost exclusively with BlackBerry over the past ten years. Basically, Spears says that he’s seeing extraordinary uptake on the business side with the iPhone since 2008 and the introduction of the platform’s first enterprise-focused features; in fact, he claims that “four out of every 10 sales” are to enterprise users these days and that it has all but caught up to BlackBerry for the kind of modern, tight, full-featured security that your average IT department needs. On a related note, Spears says that he hasn’t “seen the Android platform yet in the enterprise space,” but that he figures it’ll evolve over time to become “hard to ignore” to the enterprise segment. Of course, considering that AT&T has virtually no presence in the Android market at the moment, we’re not surprised that he’d take a lukewarm tack — so here’s hoping that changes fast. Follow the break for more highlights of Spears’ comments.
AT&T: 40 percent of iPhone sales are enterprise, Android ‘built with a very specific focus to consumers’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 17:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Bluetooth headset comes with its own iPhone app
Filed under: iPhone
The Sound ID is a Bluetooth headset with its own iPhone app. EarPrint is an app created just to control the sound of the headset — you can tweak the audio in and out, change volume, and even find a lost headset directly from the iPhone itself. Not exactly revolutionary (personally, I’ve never really found a reason to use a Bluetooth headset — when the actual iPhone didn’t work for me, the wired headset works fine), but it’s a nice bit of added functionality, especially if you know you’ll always be using this headset with an iPhone.
The Sound ID is available for $130 (there are many cheaper BT headsets out there, but for the money it’s a respectable piece of tech), and the EarPrint app is free.
Bluetooth headset comes with its own iPhone app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 28 May 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Bluetooth headset comes with its own iPhone app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 28 May 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple patents on-phone shopping list, e-checkout
Filed under: iPhone
Apple has patented the idea of using a mobile device “to acquire pricing information for a shopping list of products,” which basically sounds like an official version of SnapTell Explorer — point the camera at something and then get a list of available prices for it. But this patent goes a step beyond that. It also suggests that a “mobile device” user could scan a full list of products, and then possibly even buy them directly from the phone. I imagine that’s something like walking around a grocery store, scanning items as they go in your cart, and then checking out wirelessly from your phone.
We’ve seen a “pay-by-phone” system in place before, but this sounds like a much larger system. And of course, security concerns would come along with it, so it’ll probably be a while before you use your phone to check out in a major store. Still, even though there are lots of Apple patents coming down the pike that might never actually get implemented, I’d much rather deal with my phone than a line and a surly cashier.
Apple patents on-phone shopping list, e-checkout originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 28 May 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple patents on-phone shopping list, e-checkout originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 28 May 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Bring your iPhone for SCVNGR hunts around museums and universities
Filed under: iPhone, App Store
SCVNGR looks like an interesting idea for an iPhone app: It’s sort of a virtual scavenger hunt, composed of a series of “challenges” at certain real-life places that are found via the GPS on your iPhone. When the iPhone first released with GPS, the idea of a real-life MMO was something I wanted to see, and while SCVNGR (on the App Store for free) seems targeted more towards exploration than actual gaming, it’s definitely something that should get you to exploring your world a little differently.
Lots of organizations have already jumped in to make up some challenges, and this note, about how a few LA museums got their challenges, caught my eye. If you’re looking for something fun to do with the family this holiday weekend and want a new iPhone-based twist on the usual museum tour, SCVNGR might be just the thing.
Bring your iPhone for SCVNGR hunts around museums and universities originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 27 May 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Bring your iPhone for SCVNGR hunts around museums and universities originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 27 May 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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OpenFeint hits 25 million users, announces 2.5 beta release
Filed under: iPhone
OpenFeint has announced that they’ve reached 25 million users on their social networking service for apps on the App Store. That’s an astounding number, and not only does it represent an amazing achievement by the folks at Aurora Feint, but it hints at just how big Apple’s official Game Center service will be (whenever they get around to, you know, implementing it). Just for comparison, location networking service Foursquare is still racing to try and hit 3 million users, so in just over a year’s time, OpenFeint has picked up many times that number. Those users represent almost a third of the iDevice market and over 85 million devices across 1900 different developers.
The service has also announced that they’re bringing out the beta of version 2.5 for developers to implement in their iPhone apps and games. The new version includes a revamped API, which will allow for both turn-based and “action replay” multiplayer (a functionality that Game Center won’t yet offer, as far as we know); it’s also Game Center compatible, so developers who implement OpenFeint in their games will be able to easily transition to Apple’s official service when it comes out (that’s what we heard from Jason Citron a little while back, too). OpenFeint 2.5 is in beta right now and will arrive on iPhones later this summer.
OpenFeint hits 25 million users, announces 2.5 beta release originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 27 May 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
OpenFeint hits 25 million users, announces 2.5 beta release originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 27 May 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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