Latest Gear Live Videos
The Apple App Store Turns 1 (on the 10th)

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Software,

Wow, iPhone fans!
July 10th marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of the App Store. It’s because such a part of our digital lives, it’s hard to imagine what it was like without it. Kudos to all the iPhone and iPod touch app developers out there, who aim to make the iPhone a little more fun, useful, and productive. You can check out our section that’s completely dedicated to the App Store and iPhone apps, over at App.Tapper.
The App Store is now home to over 56,000 apps. That’s in one year. Be impressed.
What are some of your favorite apps? Anyone remember the first app they downloaded?
[Thanks, Jason!]
Advertisement
Apple putting cameras in iPod touch, iPod nano?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Portable Audio / Video, Rumors,

It looks like cameras may be coming to the iPod touch and iPod nano lines, if these case designs are any indication. Manufacturers over in Asia are starting to leak case designs for the next refresh of the iPod line-up, which will happen in September more than likely. As you can see, the iPod touch case design includes a hole for a camera that would be at the top-center of the device, right next to the Wi-Fi antenna. On the iPod nano case, which you can see after the break, you’ve got a space for a camera on the top corner.
According to TechCrunch:
One of our sources in Asia say that Apple has placed an order for a massive number of camera modules of the type that they include in the iPhone. These are inexpensive cameras, in the $10 range. And the size of the order, our source says, means they can only be used for one thing - the iPods.
Could Apple be making a play to become to top mobile photo and video recording device manufacturer with the next refresh of the iPod? That just may be the case, and it would be a smart move. With the huge numbers that the iPhone and iPod lines sell, Apple would shoot to the top of services like YouTube and Flickr in terms of which device was used to shoot the media that is uploaded.
As an aside, last year, case designs were leaked that gave away the new form factor of the iPod nano, weeks before it was officially announced by Apple. We can still take this story with a grain of salt, but I think all signs point to “Yes” on this one.
Click to continue reading Apple putting cameras in iPod touch, iPod nano?
Read More | TechCrunch
Video: Dev Team shows off iPhone 3GS unlock demonstration

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks, Videos,
We’ve already told you about the iPhone 3GS unlock that is currently available, but the iPhone Dev Team also has their “official” iPhone 3GS jailbreak and unlock ready, but they aren’t releasing it until Apple releases iPhone OS 3.1. However, they did put out a video showing how it works, which you can watch above. Looks painless.
How many of you are waiting for the Dev Team to release their unlock mechanism before unlocking your iPhone 3GS?
iPhone 3GS Unlocked and Jailbroken

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks, Software,
The iPhone 3GS can finally be unlocked and jailbroken. This past Friday, George Hotz released his Purplera1n iPhone 3GS jailbreak tool. Of course, once the iPhone 3GS was jailbroken, it was only a matter of time before unlocking was possible.
According to George:
“Normally I don’t make tools for the general public, and rather wait for the dev team to do it. But guys, whats up with waiting until 3.1? That isn’t how the game is played. We release, Apple fixes, we find new holes. It isn’t worth waiting because you might have the “last” hole in the iPhone. What last hole…this isn’t golf. I’ll find a new one next week.”
Click to continue reading iPhone 3GS Unlocked and Jailbroken
Read More | On The iPhone
LG Wants Number 2 Phone Manufacturer Spot, Working On Premium Line

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Design, Handhelds,
LG is taking on Apple’s iPhone with a new designer phone as part of their Black Label series in Q4, probably in time for the holidays. CEO Ahn Seung-kwon told Korea’s Yonhap News Agency that the company wants to be in 2nd place in the market by 2012. He also mentioned that their Prada phone line is so successful they are working on another and that they will have their own “extreme premium brand” like the Nokia Vertu.
Read More | Unwired View
Apple Stores Now Fixing Cracked iPhone Screens

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds,

Clumsy iPhone owners rejoice, because Apple Stores across the country are now fixing cracked iPhone screens in-house. This is definitely a change from the past, as the Apple Store would just hand new iPhones to customers who were still under warranty if they had a cracked screen. Depending on which Apple Store locations you visited, you may have just been outright denied help with a cracked screen as well.
Apple stores now have a process by which they can repair cracked iPhone screen. They have a machine that separates broken glass from the rest of the phone, allowing the Apple store technician to install a new screen.
Of course, if you are out of warranty, the service won’t be free. However, for those of you under AppleCare, you can rest a bit easier knowing that Apple can now repair a cracked iPhone screen, so go ahead and throw away that ugly rubber case.
Read More | The Loop
Mili Pro LED Projector for iPhone/iPod touch

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video,
Plug your iPhone/iPod touch into the Mili Pro LED projector and it will increase an image or video on your tiny screen to 5 to 70-inches with a resolution of 640x480 and 10 lumens of brightness. The portable clamshell has a built-in dock and speakers, and VGA and AV ports can be utilized for external sources. The Mili Pro will arrive for all this September.
Read More | Phonesuit
Have An Apple Product? Get AppleCare!

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Hot Deals,
Apple has been on a tear lately, releasing product after product in recent months. The newly designed MacBook Pros, the iPhone 3GS, the redesigned Mac mini, etc. We know a lot of you have been picking up this new Apple hardware, and we thought it would be prudent of us to recommend you get AppleCare for the devices you’ve bought. Here’s the trick though—don’t buy AppleCare from Apple. If you buy it from Amazon, you can get up to 30% off of the price that Apple will charge you for the same 3-year warranty. Even better, when you go to resell your Apple hardware, if you have an AppleCare Protection Plan attached to it, you get a higher resale value. We’ve compiled a list of the different AppleCare Protection Plans available for the entire line of Apple hardware, check it out, and seriously, consider an AppleCare Protection Plan:
UPDATE: We've posted the newest AppleCare Protection Plan links here - the following links are for previous gen devices:
- AppleCare Protection Plan for iPod touch/classic
- AppleCare Protection Plan for iPod nano 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G; iPod shuffle 1G, 2G
- AppleCare Protection Plan for all versions of iPhone
- AppleCare Protection Plan - MacBook
- AppleCare Protection Plan - MacBook Pro
- AppleCare Protection Plan - iMac
- AppleCare Protection Plan - Mac Pro
- AppleCare Protection Plan - Mac Mini
A Find My iPhone Success Story

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Internet,
I’m glad I’ve never experienced the displeasure of losing a wallet or mobile device, but I know it’s something that happens all too often. Apple tried to make it a little easier to recover a stolen iPhone, with the MobileMe service Find My iPhone. In a nutshell, Find My iPhone shows you where your iPhone is physically located on a Google Map, and let’s you ping the phone with messages, even if it is in silent mode, in the hopes that someone will see the message and act on it. Of course, sometimes they will ignore it, thinking they’ve just scored themselves a free iPhone. That’s what happened to Kevin, who actually used Find My iPhone to chase down the thief who had his mobile device, in attempts to get it back on his own, without the help of law enforcement. It’s a fun read, because he could have been killed, depending on who the thief was!
Read More | The Intermittent Kevin
iPhone 3GS full review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Cameras, Smartphones, Features, Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews,

Since Apple announced the iPhone 3GS at WWDC 2009, the buzz has been non-stop. There are obviously those Apple fanboys that are hyping this as the Third Coming, as well as those who are a bit more skeptical as to if the speed boost is truly real, and truly worth it. Oh, and of course, the lead-up to the iPhone 3GS launch hasn’t been without controversy, but AT&T stepped up in a big way to make it easier on iPhone 3G owners who want to upgrade without breaking the bank. So the question remains - is it worth it?
iPhone 3GS: The ‘S’ is for ‘Speed’
Okay, so many of us were speculating that this phone would be called the iPhone video. After all, when video came to the iPod, it was called the iPod video, and video would certainly be the big feature if it was included in the third iPhone, right? Wrong. Video takes a back seat to speed when it comes to the iPhone 3GS. I know, that sounds all sorts of silly, but allow me to explain. Apple has been focused on optimizing and refining OS X, as evidenced by what we are seeing with Snow Leopard. Remember, the iPhone is based on OS X at it’s core, and Apple wouldn’t neglect bringing those refinements to their flagship mobile device.
That said, believe the hype. This phone is very noticeably faster than the iPhone and iPhone 3G—even if you have an iPhone 3G that is already running the faster iPhone 3.0 update. You are able to launch and quit the core apps in a snap. Internet speeds are faster. Launching those games that take a while to load is nowhere near as frustrating. And best of all, despite this being a “little thing,” the little nagging stalls and overall lack of responsiveness are just gone.
Click to continue reading iPhone 3GS full review