Chalk this one up as a highly suspicious piece of information, but Einar Rosenberg, who is in charge of the Near Field Communications group on LinkedIn, a social network no one really uses anymore except those trying to find a higher paying job and to show off which fancy schools or companies they’ve worked for, is saying that a highly reputable source has told him that there are 4th generation iPhone prototypes floating around with a built in RFID reader:
Had to share this news. A highly reliable source has informed me that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has built some prototypes of the next gen iPhone with an RFID reader built in and they have seen it in action. So its not full NFC but its a start for real service discovery and I’m told that the reaction was very positive that we can expect this in the next gen iPhone.
If Apple does it, expect every phone manufacturer and their sister to begin pumping out NFC enabled phones, at least for service discovery and sync.
This just reinforces what we knew based on the two separate patents Apple submitted that had the iPhone enabled to read RFID tags. I’m told that the touch project video and the BT SIG’s specs were all driving forces to push this forward as well as other factors.
Guess I’ll be touching my iPhone to my Mac to link them together to sync iTunes by next year.
This is ballsy, and if it does happen … well then you’re looking at the start of something big. Apple was the one who pushed the rest of the handset makers to start making touch screen devices en masse, so if the 4th generation iPhone due to come out some time in 2010 comes with RFID then you can expect everyone else to follow.
iPhone + RFID + all those devices connected to an iTunes account = wicked awesome.
File this under “so not confirmed,” but it seems AT&T (NYSE: T) has found a way to fight Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s attack of the Droids. Apparently, the carrier will offer its best-selling iPhone 3GS 8GB for $99. For that price, they may have a chance in the upcoming Christmas season. I can already see the commercial – hundred bucks buys you access to hundred thousand apps, beat that Verizon.
As I said, it’s not confirmed but definitely sounds logical. We’ll see…
Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has just announced a milestone of sorts. 100,000 apps are now available in the App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. 15,000 of which are fart apps (kidding).
“The App Store, now with over 100,000 applications available, is clearly a major differentiator for millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers around the world,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The iPhone SDK created the first great platform for mobile applications and our customers are loving all of the amazing apps our developers are creating.”
While many developers complain about a frustrating submission and inclusion process, and others simply complain about the lack of quality overall (crappy free apps)… there’s no disputing that the App Store is the ‘place to be’ for developers looking to make some coin.
In the months and years ahead, I’m REALLY looking forward to see what happens on the whole ‘App Store’ scene. Me thinks the Apple App Store and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Android Market are going to tangle toe-to-toe. With Android’s rapidly growing developer base, not to mention the proliferation of Android devices in the second half of 2009… Apple and Google are no doubt gearing up for a fierce battle in 2010. Can I get a seconder?
If you accidentally updated your iPhone 3G/3GS to the latest iPhone OS 3.1/3.1.2, then you’re also stuck with baseband version 05.11. If you recently bought a factory fresh iPhone 3GS with OS 3.1 or 3.1.2 already loaded, then you’re in the same boat. That used to be a bad thing, because baseband 05.11 couldn’t be unlocked to work with unofficial SIM cards. Today’s release of “blacksn0w” changes all that. The blacksn0w software unlock utility is now available to unlock any iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS running the latest iPhone OS 3.1.2 and baseband 05.11!
Yes, that includes brand new, out-of-the-box, iPhone 3GS’s.
If you’re running an older version of the baseband (04.26), simply jailbreak your iPhone and run Ultrasn0w. You can find your baseband firmware version by navigating to Settings>General>About>Modem Version on your iPhone. We have jailbreak (PwnageTool) directions here and unlock (ultrasn0w) directions here.
For the rest of you in the “baseband 05.11″ boat, keep reading for a step-by-step tutorial to unlock your iPhone…
China is the world’s largest mobile phone market. Even with crappy sales of iPhones, you’d think the sheer size of the Chinese market was enough to move some serious iPhone volume. And, you’d be wrong. The iPhone went live on China Unicom’s network last week, but has reportedly only sold a disappointing 5,000 iPhones to date. China Unicom lacks WiFi support in order to comply with China’s asinine censorship policies, which could be affecting sales – there’s a healthy iPhone grey market in China, where iPhones roam free with WiFi radios in tow.
China Unicom Chairman Chang Xiobing says that his company is satisfied with iPhone sales so far, and expects to see an additional 1 million 3G subscribers signing up every month as the carrier expands their 3G network. For China Unicom’s sake, we hope the boost in 3G subscribers translates to a boost in iPhone subscribers. They’ve got a ton of iPhones to sell.
Despite app discovery services like Chorus for iPhone, the AppStore is a really tough place to eek out a living. That may have prompted one Dutch teen to find a new way to make money from the iPhone – hold them for ransom! That’s what happened yesterday when some T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) iPhone users in the Netherlands found a hacked message on their jailbroken iPhones. The message asked the user to secure their iPhone by paying $4.95 for instructions to remove the message prompt. The hacker didn’t disable the iPhones in any way, but he essentially wanted a ransom for peace of mind (and not seeing an annoying pop-up message at boot). It was an interesting (not ethical, or commendable, but interesting for sure) money-making scheme for all of a day, before the hacker got shut down.
The jailbroken iPhone community comprises no more than a small minority of all iPhone owners out there, but with many millions of iPhones spread around the world, that’s still a sizable community. Seeing as how most of those jailbroken iPhones are still going about their day with the default SSH password, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to make money from jailbroken iPhones.
This is what the hacker posted to his website:
“Dear iPhone user,
Your iPhone is not secure. That’s the reason your visiting this page, isn’t it? Well you can pay me $4,95 at my paypal account PureInfinity92@mailinator.com, and I’ll mail you very easy instructions on how to secure your iPhone. You can also contact me at PureInfinity92@gmail.com
If you don’t pay, it’s fine by me. But remember, the way I got access to your iPhone can be used by thousands of others. And they can send text messages from your number (like I did..), use it to call (or record your calls), and actually whatever they want, even use it for their hacking activities! I can assure you, I have no intention of harming you or whatever, but, some hackers do! It’s just my advise to secure your phone (: Have a nice day!”
The good news is that PayPal suspended his account with haste, making sure that the ill-intentioned teen couldn’t make any money from his scam. The hacker then posted a follow-up to his site, apologizing for his scam and offering his instructions to remove the message (and secure jailbroken iPhones) for free.
The lesson here? Change your jailbroken iPhone’s SSH password. Find out how to do that here.
We previously mentioned Gameloft’s Asphalt series when Asphalt 4 made its way to the N-Gage as well as on Verizon’s V-Cast service. Gameloft teased us at this year’s WWDC ‘09 with news they were bringing Asphalt 5 to the iPhone App Store later this year. Gameloft finally delievered as Asphalt 5 is now available for purchase on the iPhone App Store.
Asphalt 5 features over 30 cars from such notable manufactures as Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Audi that are fully customizable and more than 12 different locations you can race in. There are also 8 different racing events to take part in such as Cop Chase, Drift Contest, and Time Attack. When you think you’ve mastered Asphalt 5, take on some of your friends via Bluetooth or players from around the world via Wi-Fi connection.
To celebrate Asphalt 5’s release, Gameloft was gracious enough to send us THREE $10 Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iTunes gift cards so you can purchase Asphalt 5 and have some left over to purchase some of the other titles from Gameloft (might I recommend Earthworm Jim or Dungeon Hunter?) Want to win one of the three $10 iTunes gift cards? Here’s how to enter:
Leaving a comment below (please leave an accurate email address so I may contact you if you win)
Retweeting this article by clicking on the “Retweet” badge located underneath this article
This giveaway will be going on for the next 24 hours, so be sure to get your entry in by Nov. 4th, 2009 at 3:00PM EST. While you’re waiting for the contest to be over, be sure to check out the trailer below of Asphalt 5 to see the game in action! Also, be sure to follow @Gameloft to get up-to-the-minute updates on their future games!
[UPDATE: The contest has officially come to a close. Thanks to all who entered and please be sure to check back often as we have some super sweet stuff to giveaway reeeeeal soon.]
The iPhone AppStore is a wonderful place filled with tens of thousands of really nifty and useful iPhone apps. It’s also cluttered with iPhone apps that make fart noises and calculate tips for your waitress. How is anyone supposed to find their way around this crowded mess? With an iPhone app specifically made to pull app recommendations from your friends, of course. Enter Chorus for iPhone. [iTunes link]
Chorus is a free iPhone app that looks and works a lot like the AppStore you already have on your iPhone. But, instead of spamming you with thousands of useless apps and hundreds of useful apps you really couldn’t care less about, Chorus finds what your network of friends are using and suggests apps that it thinks you might like. The app is powered by envIO Networks’ Social Genome technology, which takes into account how you interact with your friends and infers how much credibility you’re likely to give your friends for various app categories. And, that’s where the app shines.
You don’t have to click through dozens and dozens of app reviews, tediously indicating which apps you like and which apps you think suck. Chorus learns from your interactions with your friends and picks up on your app preferences automatically. The app also features expert app recommendations and reviews from its AppMavens service as well as reviews from bloggers like us – so even if your friends don’t give you good app suggestions, at least you can look to the experts!
We’re going to let the screenshots and demo video show you how the app works in more detail:
Chorus is free, and once its user-base hit critical mass, it’ll revolutionize the way you discover iPhone apps. Give it a download here.
Just a quickie here for all of those awaiting the iPhone 3GS and 3G in Bell’s coverage area. They’ve sent out an email this morning reminding us that the iPhone is indeed arriving on their network November 4th. That’s tomorrow. Yeehaw!
Pricing? Expect the iPhone 3GS 16GB model to come in at $199.00 on a 3-year contract… with the 32GB version dropping at $299.00 on the same 3-year term. If the iPhone 3G is more your style the 8GB will run you $99.00 on a 3-year deal, with the 16GB version coming at $149.00.
China Ontrade, the company that supplied photos of the SIM card tray from the 4th generation iPhone last week, is now bringing out the real meat and potatoes: a photo of the midboard. What is a midboard? It’s literally the board that lays in the middle between the screen of the iPhone and the motherboard, preventing interference, and making sure everything stays screwed into place. The dimensions of the board given by China Ontrade indicate that the size of this new iPhone is going to be exactly the same as the models from the previous generation. What’s fishy about all of this, according to Gizmodo, is that China Ontrade leaked photos of parts from the iPhone 3GS in May, before the 3GS was announced in a month later in June. If that timing remains consistent, then it could signal that a new iPhone is due by the end of the year, or early 2010. That would surely piss off iPhone 3GS customers, but maybe the new iPhone isn’t meant to replace the 3GS, maybe it’s meant to replace the 3G.
China is the world’s largest mobile phone market. Even with crappy sales of iPhones, you’d think the sheer size of the Chinese market was enough to move some serious iPhone volume. And, you’d be wrong. The iPhone 
Despite app discovery services like Chorus for iPhone, the AppStore is a really tough place to eek out a living. That may have prompted one Dutch teen to find a new way to make money from the iPhone – hold them for ransom! That’s what happened yesterday when some T-Mobile (
