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oDesk Jobs: 500% increase for Apple iPhone App developers

With job layoffs happening in every industry as we head into a massive economic downturn, job searches are on the increase for all industries and oDesk Jobs have said that over the past six months there has been a 500 percent increase for Apple iPhone App developers Read more

iPhone case LeatherJacket Pro from 4Gear

iPhone cases are always a bit controversial, do you cover up something that just oozes class and sophistication with a cheap bit of rubber, or do you chance you iPhone with wear and tear, I guess this depends on what you are like as a iPhone user, are you someone who is likely to drop it on a regular basis and find yourself spilling coffee and god knows what else on it, or are you someone who keeps a glasses cloth with you - making sure at all times the iPhone is clear of fingerprints?

You will find many a company selling different solutions to case your iPhone, and you can get an array of products ranging form, rubber shells, leather slips, clear plastic enclosures and even ones that Velcro onto your arm, presumably for when you are in the gym, unless there is some crazy iPhone fashion I know nothing about.

One favourite from 4gear is the LeatherJacket Pro, it’s made of real leather and fits very well round the iPhone, has a whole at the back for the camera, a belt clip and all buttons are easily accessible with the cover on, you can get this case for £19.99

Source: trustedreview

iPhone sales set to reach 10 million Apple target this year

We all love an iPhone, if we haven’t got one then we can’t resist the temptation of having a touch and feel of a friends. Ok, I can’t talk for everyone I guess there are some people out there that just don’t like them. But, about 8 million people so far would disagree with you.

Stats from a joint project between Investor Village’s AAPL Sanity board and AFB give us a clear indication that around 8 million iPhones have been sold this year. Steve Jobs, the big wig at Apple had said that he was hoping to achieve sales of 10 million iPhones within 2008, and it look pretty much like he is going to achieve Apple’s goal and some.

The research has been found by collecting the IMEI number of all iPhone 3G they could and recording the them on a spreadsheet, by tracking the IMEIs sequence of numbers they can conclude that Apple made at least 5,649,000 iPhone 3G according to the project.

2.4 million of the original iPhones were sold in the first half of 2008, so it all adds up to around 8 million so far this year.

Source: pocket-lint

iPhone PwnageTool 2.0.3 jailbreak software available

The new version of PwnageTool is now available; 2.0.3 jailbreak software for the iPhone supports the new version of iPhone and iPod firmware 2.0.2 5C1. The latest jailbreak software updates the installer.app to Beta 6; this update also includes localization for Germany.

DevTeam have been hard at work, not only have they launched the new PwnageTool 2.0.3, but also the ‘150’ beta update to the Windows QuickPwn application. This update improves the user interface as well as fixing a number of bugs for YouTube.

There is also support for BootNeuter, so that you can unlock 2G iPhones. DevTeam have issued a warning that the new PwnageTool 2.0.3 must only be downloaded as a .tbz file from their servers. They should not decompress it by using The Unarchiver application.

DevTeam advise that you should use the standard OS X Archive Utilityin in order to decompress the download; this should avoid breaking permissions within PwnageTool.

Source

Other iPhone news

3D hologram App available for iPhone and iPod touch

A new application is out for all iPod touch and iPhone owners designed by David O’reilly which gives the look of a 3D hologram is jumping out of your screen.

It looks like you are constantly viewing the screen at a viewing angle of 35-45 degrees, almost like it is sitting on the table, it uses the same kind of technique that was used in Hans Holbein’s painting The Ambassadors, so the 3D scenes perspective is warped using anamorphosis.

The software rotates on the y-axis and uses the iPods built-in gyroscope as if we are acting looking around the scene on the screen. You can also move the scene manually with a slider that you will find on the left hand side of the screen. This is all very exciting stuff as the potential is massive within the gaming industry; O’Reilly is currently looking for developers to take this project further.

Source: pocket-lint

Has your iPhone 3G improved with the OS 2.0.2 fix?

Do you feel that iPhone OS 2.0.2 delivers improved communication with 3G networks? This is what Apple officials are now claiming, users of the OS 2.0.2 are mixed with their feelings on the new software which users loaded to attempt to fix widespread reception/connectivity issues.

The majority of users say there has been no change with the quality of their reception, a small percentage said it has slightly improved and a minority said their reception was worse.

Even if the reception has not got any better for the users one good thing is that Apple have made it possible now to switch automatically between 2G and 3G networks for data and voice control.

So basically the iPhone should jump off 3G when the signal is low or non-existent, and get straight back on it when the signal is better. Before the iPhone 3G wouldn’t do this, instead it stayed on the 3G network even when the strength was too low.

Source: iphoneatlas

Extremely wealthy? How about a $15,000 iPhone 3G cover?

If I gave you $15,000 what would be the first thing on your mind to purchase? Of course, it would be the Noreve iPhone Diamond leather case, wouldn’t it? you would end up with $10 change, bargain.

Seriously, this leather case has 272 brilliant cut diamonds on the front, and each of these diamonds is between 18 and 22 points and of VS quality and G color. You would be carrying around 6.8 Karats in diamonds retailing at $14,990 from Noreve.

So of course this designer Noreve iPhone 3G cover is aimed at the seriously wealthy, allowing them to show off their extreme wealth, with plenty of bling bling.

This little diamond (ahem) cover is made of real leather, you can also chose from a variety of colours, they have also designed the cover so you can use the iPhone controls and use the camera whilst keeping this very expensive cover on. Well you wouldn’t want to lose it would you?

Source: Oh Gizmo via gadgetholic

Steve Jobs: Apple kill switch confirmed

Apple boss Steve Jobs has been speaking to the Wall Street Journal about the AppStore and he had some interesting facts for us. The biggest news is that Jobs has confirmed that there is in fact an application kill switch.

Steve Jobs has said that this has been put in place in case Apple accidentally approves a malicious program for distribution. Jobs hopes that they will never have to pull the kill switch lever.

Jobs did add that Apple would be irresponsible not to have something like this in place. This news comes days after Apple pulled the plug on the $999.99 I Am Rich application, which was the program that just had a glowing red gem on it.

The Apple boss said that pulling the app from the stores was a judgment call; he said that it does not explain how the application made it through their vetting process.

Since the launch of AppStore last month almost 60 million programs for the iPhone has been sold. This represents about $30 million in sales.

Source

Should Apple be aloud to kill your iPhone Apps

Following on from Dan’s post yesterday that Apple has a kill switch for the iPhone; this means that the company is able to wipe out malicious or unauthorized iPhone apps. It does not matter if you have paid for the application and have installed it on your handset.

Apple might have been hoping to keep this little gem secret, but this has now started of a huge debate over secrecy and why Apple feels the need to have this feature. There has already been a huge response to this in a short amount of time; it seems that people have mixed opinions over the iPhone kill switch.

Some say that this is a perfect weapon which will be able to quickly kill potential malware and viruses that are sometimes hidden in legitimate applications. Apple have a tough approval process in place on their AppStore, this has been designed to create a high quality place for us to shop for our iPhone apps.

We have all known this for some time now but what we did not know was Apple has additional hidden tools. This means that if an application is misbehaving badly, then the app can be blacklisted.

The reason that we know this is because Apple has an online location which contains a list of unauthorized applications. This suggests that this is where Apple will store blacklist unauthorized or malicious iPhone applications.

Do you think Apple is right to be able to kill your iPhone app?

iPhone 2.0.1 update stops unlocked handsets working

We reported yesterday that there was a firmware update for the Apple iPhone. 2.0.1 Update was meant to fix some of the iPhones problems and in most cases it did just that.

Now we have learnt that several iPhone 3G owners are experiencing problems, mostly those who have paid to have their handset unlocked by Vodafone. Once iPhone 3G owners have updated to 2.0.1, they then receive a “0xE8000001″ error message. As a result they are not able to re-connect.

Apple already has a discussion on this problem, and it looks as if it is just specific to Vodafone. The problem is happening in many countries like, Italy Spain and Sweden.

If you have been affected by this problem, please let us know if you have managed to solve this problem.

The guys over at Phones Review have reported another problem with 2.0.1 firmware update. It seems that when you update your iPhone with Airplane Mode enabled, owners experience problems. In some cases, the iPhone stops working altogether.

Nokia to use Microsoft Zune software for iPhone battle

It seems that Microsoft has to team up with Nokia to try and take the fight to Apple with their iPhone. As we know Nokia is losing the battle when it comes to sales of handsets against the iPhone, the reason behind this is how good the software is on the all in one handset.

One of the greatest features of the iPhone is how you are able to use iTunes to access your music on the phone like an iPod. It is that feature where Nokia does not have an answer for.

Well there might be some hope for the phone maker, as they are getting together with Microsoft to integrate the Zune software on to Nokia phones. This news has come as a bit of a shock, considering Nokia support every operating system except Windows.

Microsoft knows that they are taking a beating from Apple, which is why they have to support more than one platform now.

Many had expected Microsoft to launch their own phone to rival Apple’s iPhone, but it does make sense to partner Nokia who is the largest cell phone provider in the world.

So could Nokia and Zune be enough to kick the iPhone of its throne?

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iPhone 2.0.1 firmware update fixes handset bugs

iPhone users can feel a little better in the knowledge that Apple has released iPhone 2.0.1 firmware update. I know that you wish that the update was version 2.1, but this is better than nothing.

For those of you who popped on to iTunes last night, they would have noticed that there was an update waiting for their handset. There is not much to this update, all iPhone 2.0.1 firmware is about is bug fixes. There is nothing wrong in that though, it shows that Apple have been working hard to solve the issues with the handset software after their last update.

My iPhone did have a few problems like thousands of others, when I used to try and open something it would take about four seconds to do so.

There were reports that some iPhone owners had to return their handsets to Apple stores to be replaced, as their iPhones had stopped working altogether.

iPhone 2.0.1 firmware update is almost 250MB in size, but once you install the software onto your handset you will notice the difference right away. Hey I don’t even get that dreaded keyboard bug anymore.

Nokia N96 UK Release October 1

We have known for a while now that the Nokia N96 was coming, but we did not know the exact UK release date. Well now we do, the handset is due for UK release on October 1.

Nokia have kept the launch of this phone back, as they wanted to make sure that the N96 was up to scratch. Nokia are hoping that this mobile phone will become the next best selling phone since the iPhone from Apple, that’s going to be a tall order.

The advantage that the Nokia N96 has over the iPhone is the fact that it will be available on all the major UK phone networks. From 3, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

Some of the main features of the Nokia N96 are 16GB of external memory, a TV tuner as well as a 5 megapixel camera and 3G speeds.

You have to wonder if the Nokia N96 will be able to topple the iPhone, judging by some of the features of the phone; it does have a very good chance.

For all the Specs on the Nokia N96 visit: Phones Review

Google Mobile App for iPhone and iPod Touch

The rush of Friday June 11th is well and truly over but people are still trying hard to get their hands on the new iPhone 3G, while all this is happening things are still all go with the new App Store.

Today we hear that Google has launched their new Mobile App for iPhone, this application makes it easy to search the web on the move and find your contacts even faster.

The Google Mobile App is currently only for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users in the US, although other countries will also get this application soon on their App Stores.

When you search results will appear right away as your typing. The slick interface will learn what you do over time and will place your frequently clicked results on the first search page.

The main features of the Google Mobile App include search history, My Location and Google Suggest. Will you be using this new powerful application?

Source: Read

Sprint’s Samsung Instinct so popular, you can’t get one

Sprint’s Apple iPhone rival handset the Samsung Instinct, seems to be more popular than they had expected, this has now resulted in shortages of this device. It does seem as if this handset really has hit the spot with cell phone users, well it has to be popular as you can’t even get one at the moment.

In a statement from Sprint, it read “The record pace of Instinct sales has led to temporary shortages of the device at some locations across the United States.” The statement also said Sprint and Samsung are diligently working around the clock to increase inventory in all sales channels. Samsung has increased efforts to deliver new supplies of Instinct on a daily basis, and manufacturing plants are operating at full capacity to keep up with demand.”

Ok so we know that this shortage is a bit of a setback for Sprint, but you have to look on the bright side of things, it does show that Sprint has hit gold with the new Samsung Instinct. This latest touch-screen handset is even being touted as the iPhone killer, but it would have to be something very special to do that. However; it does seem as if there could be some truth in that statement, why else would they completely sell out of this phone.

Sprint has said that, since the Instinct hit store shelves it has become the fastest-selling EVDO handset in Sprint’s history. The Samsung Instinct is up against some great touch-screen phones though; firstly there is the ever popular iPhone, which will become more popular with the release of the 3G version. There is also the HTC Touch Diamond, Palm Centro, as well as the rumored RiM BlackBerry Thunder.

Source

N-Gage and iPhone threatened by Xbox 360 Zune Phone

Microsoft have seen how popular Apple have been with their iPhone and iPod, and how great the N-Gage is. It is believed that Microsoft are working on a new Zune Phone and will come with Xbox 360 branding, and they hope that this new gadget will blow the iPhone and N-Gage out of the water in the mobile gaming stakes.

So why would Microsoft think that the N-Gage and iPhone would be threatened by the Xbox 360 Zune Phone. Well the first thing that this new device will have is a huge widescreen display; this is perfect as the device will be able to run Xbox 360-quality games. Ok so we have to tell you that this is just a concept that T3 Magazine has just designed, but if this Microsoft Zune / X-Box 360 / mobile phone hybrid were to be developed, then it could possibly become the greatest handheld gadget on the market.

The reason that T3 did the concept was to show what a dedicated Zune/Xbox handheld gaming device might look like. If the device were to be developed then you would presume that the handheld would use mobile connectivity, so that you could connect to the Xbox Live community for multiplayer gaming.

I was feeling all happy when I saw this concept, but the thing that always brings me back down to earth is how Microsoft consistently denies plans to make an Xbox-branded handheld. T3 believe that if Microsoft were to create this cool looking handheld, then it will have the familiar X logo and coloured buttons that is on the Xbox. The device will also come complete with a 64GB flash drive, and just to upset Apple, Microsoft will also add a built in mobile phone to the device.

India Mobile Phones: iPhone, Samsung, Nokia and Sony

Growth in India is massive and this is shown in many industries, the recent news of over 1 billion computers being used around the world and this increasing to more than double by 2014 thanks to growth in developing markets proves this. The mobile phone business is also seeing massive growth and in India over 10,000 mobile phones are sold every hour.

According to IDC Research, over 85 million mobile handsets were sold in India in the year up to March 2008, but that is increasing still with a 24.4 percent increase in the last quarter. It’s not just the phones that are increasing; the technology of these devices is also moving at a fast rate with a high-level of connectivity, this includes WCDMA (3G) network and EDGE.

The latest ORG statistical reports show that Samsung has a seven percent mobile phone market share in India and that gives it third place, although they have planned on doubling its business by the end of 2008. They plan to do this by setting up an internal team to look for alternative distribution channels. Sony Ericsson holds second place with 8.1 per cent of the mobile business.

Samsung and Sony Ericsson are small fish in India compared to Nokia who is said to have a massive 59.5 per cent market share. It will take some doing to replace Nokia at the top spot. Nokia may be the world’s largest seller of handsets, but they are planning on expanding the entertainment services to increase revenue. Nokia need to do this because of profit margins being low on phones sold in places like China and India.

The Economic Times in India has said that Apple’s 3G iPhone will be in India on July 11, when you look at Apple’s website it does not have India down for July 11, only saying coming soon. So it looks like the iPhone 2G and 3G phones will take a little longer to get there, but when they do it will really shake up the India mobile phone market.

Could the Apple’s iPhone knock Nokia from the top spot in India?

Google Android on Schedule to threaten Apple iPhone growth

Yesterday we reported that Google Android handsets pushed back to fourth quarter meaning that there were delays (See Here) well despite rumors of these delays in Android the Google project seems to be on track as normal for an end of the year release.

They did say that they will start shipping the first Android-enabled mobile phone later this year, so after reports of the delay which of course published (We tell the news how it is, we heard of the delay so we published), The Wall Street Journal published an article citing unnamed sources that Google Android-based phones may be facing delays and will not make it at the end of the year due to problems by Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile, and that we may not see until 2009. Google did indeed set the 2nd half of 2008 as the release date for the first Android-enabled phones which means we should see it at the end of 2008 which in all means there is no delay at all.

Google is again refuting that Android’s dates have slipped and they say “We remain on schedule to deliver the first Android-based handset in the second half of 2008,” a Google spokesperson wrote in an e-mail to BetaNews today. “We’re very excited to see the momentum continuing to build behind the Android platform among carriers, handset manufacturers, developers and consumers.”

Just so you know Sprint Nextel, for its part, has never publicly stated any intentions to release an Android phone any time in 2008. Now moving on to Google Android to threaten Apple iPhone growth, the announcement of the new Apple iPhone 3G was big news and obviously going to be one of the most popular phones on the market but it seems that Android could threaten the iPhone’s growth potential, Google Android the all new OS for mobile phone is open source that the internet giant is creating. Android which was announced some time back has over 30 partners and has the most potential to become mobile phones what Google is to the internet, Google are obviously wanting to deploy ads placed on mobile phones and generate huge revenues, should Apple be worried? Well it seems so in my eyes.

Google are making great efforts to make an operating system to work on a variety of carriers and handsets which is why there were talks of delays which of course is now old news, we feel that Google could dominate which will of course make the iPhone old news, Google like Apple have a very big wallet, Apple has indeed shown with the Apple iPhone that the cell phone market is highly crack-able despite entrenched players, Apple believe they will set a goal which is of course on goal for selling 10 million iPhone’s by the end of 2008. Google are trying so hard to build an OS across a number of hardware platforms which surely gives them a wider market. The cell phone market in the states has dropped in sales by a staggering 20% last year which is why we feel Google Android will fill this spot, smartphones accounted for 17 percent of all handsets sold in the first quarter of 2008 which is around 7 percent the year before according to NPD’s Mobile Phone Track.

Even if there was a Google Android delay it would not make any difference at all on the grand scale of things, do you think Google Android will threaten Apple iPhone growth?

Sprint’s Samsung Instinct costs just $130 with $100 mail-in rebate

It seems that the whole world has gone touch-screen mad on cell phones; another one to add to that list is the Samsung Instinct. The handset is available right now from Sprint, the original price was set for $200, but if you opt for a 2 year contract you will receive a $100 mail-in rebate. It is no secret that Samsung hope that the Instinct will be the iPhone killer, so they had to adjust their price accordingly. I do think it strange that the price has been reduced, since Apple said that the new 3G iPhone will be cheaper than the original iPhone.

It seems that it is not just Samsung who like the new Instinct; this cell phone is the winner of 5 awards at the CTIA WIRELESS 2008 Conference. The Sprint Samsung Instinct takes touch-screen phones to a new level. The two biggest highlights for the handset are Emails and GPS Navigation. The phone also offers High-speed web browsing as well as a host of entertainment services. You can also Personalize your Instinct with one-touch access to your favorite services.

The phone also uses EV-DO Rev. A, this system is equivalent to AT&T’s 3G speeds, this is great if you love browsing the web as well as checking all your emails while on the move. The only downside which I feel that the Samsung Instinct has, is how you have to activate the phone with an unlimited data plan, this is likely to cost at least $70 per month. It does look as though the age of the very expensive handset is now behind us.

Europe to get Samsung Omnia i900 end of July

When it comes to mobile phones all people keep going on about is the 3G Apple iPhone, but so many of you must now be getting a little bored of all the coverage. Well let us talk about something else in the way of mobile commutations, the Samsung Omnia i900. The awesome looking handset will soon be available in Singapore, but the guys over in Europe have to wait until the last week of July to get their hands on it.

The Samsung Omnia i900 has a touch-screen which is all the rage at the moment, the phone has being getting a lot of interest, some say that they prefer it over the Apple iPhone and I think I am one of them. Unlike the iPhone, you will be able to purchase the new Samsung handset without a contract for around $1098 SGD, which is for the 16GB version.

The guys over at Phones Review have said that the Samsung Omnia “without a doubt a great competitor for the iPhone 3G and has all the features to make you happy beyond belief.” So what is so great about this latest handset from Samsung? Well firstly it has a 3.2-inch WQVGA display screen, the screen is amazing as you can drag and drop as well as sweep and tap. This is done by using the TouchWiz user interface, this system feels great as there is no lag and is very responsive. Like the iPhone, the Omnia will switch from portrait mode to landscape mode when you turn the phone.
Although most people will still prefer what the new 3G Apple iPhone has to offer, you can’t deny that the new Samsung Omnia i900 looks more sexy and sleek.

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