iLounge

AT&T explains 'unlimited data' user throttling, blames users?

So we’re now at a place where a company can say unlimited < 3GB in marketing materials and get away with it? Also, this pretty much makes it obvious that their recent $5 price hike was nothing but a greedy money grab. If only the top 5% of users use over 2GB, who exactly is the extra 1GB benefiting? Less than 5% of their users apparently.

Posted by Tom on February 6, 2012 at 1:40 PM (PDT)

BMW announces iPhone integration in current 3, 5, and X5 cars

Not sure I’ll get any replies this considering it’s now Feb 2012 but I am very dissapointed that I cannot access my messages and calender options on my new Iphone 4s in my brand new X5 35i. My previous phone a Nokia accessed all of my mesaages and calender/office options and the car even read the detail out to me - perfect. Is the lack of “office” compatibility due to the Microsoft/Apple competition. If so I wouyld think that BMW should solve the problem. Any comments from officialdom ??

Posted by Paul Hopwood on February 6, 2012 at 11:27 AM (PDT)

Flos D’E-Light features iPhone/iPad dock, Starck design

NO!

Posted by Goob on February 6, 2012 at 11:19 AM (PDT)

Motorola secures second patent win, forces Apple to halt online iPhone, iPad sales in Germany

So if we follow the train of “logic” from this week’s German court activity the Galaxy 10.1 cannot be sold because it violates patents related to the iPad, but the iPad can’t be sold because it violates Motorola’s patents. Genius.

When do these corporations realize it’s time to put the lawyers away and compete with the consumers instead?

Trying to apply the concept of patent law from hundreds of years ago to macro level *concepts* for semiconductor based technology is an unworkable idea in the long run. I am certainly not being helped as a consumer with a significant percentage of the cost of my technology going to “license” conceptual ideas from whatever company currently has the courts’ favor (since there are usually dozens of companies that could claim “ownership” of the same contested elements), and I can’t imagine these companies are being helped by the system either now that the tech world has become a case of Everyone vs. Everyone.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on February 4, 2012 at 6:37 AM (PDT)

Capcom releases Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

One more reason I don’t miss owning a DS anymore…all the quirky stuff gets ported. At least all the GOOD quirky stuff, like Phoenix Wright and this game…

Posted by Daniel S. on February 3, 2012 at 5:09 PM (PDT)

Camera-laden iPod nano prototype reappears

“...the challenges relating to photography on such a small device remain significant…”

Huh?  The camera module in an iPhone or any other phone is miniscule.  What on earth are the significant challenges?  Looks like based on the MacRumors article the lens is positioned mostly outside the main Nano body, using the depth of the clip as well as the body which would house the sensor etc.

Posted by Tim on February 3, 2012 at 11:59 AM (PDT)

Griffin intros GuitarConnect Pro for iOS devices

I recently did a song/video on my iPhone using the Griffin GuitarConnect Pro and I love it.

The song is called ‘Straight Down The Middle’ by Tom Limbaugh

All of the audio and video was recorded on my IPhone 4s. Griffin has included it in their Blog dated 01/25/12. I’m assuming you don’t allow links in this submission form but you can find it by ‘googling’:

‘hear the GuitarConnect Pro in action’

or type:

‘Tom Limbaugh’ in The Griffin Blog search box.

Thanks!

Tom

Posted by Tom Limbaugh on February 1, 2012 at 8:37 PM (PDT)

Spigen SGP intros Glas.t screen protector for iPhone 4/4S

Ivyskin did something along these lines a long time ago. I’d be weary of a piece of glass sticking to the glass front of the phone - and what about the back? That’s the weaker glass that needs protection. Ivyskin Quattro4 is a great product, recommended over this, even if their customer service sucks!

Posted by dencimm on February 1, 2012 at 6:41 PM (PDT)

Camera-laden iPod nano prototype reappears

The real irony is that it’s probably a better camera than they decided to stick on the 4G touch.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on February 1, 2012 at 3:10 PM (PDT)

Spigen SGP intros Glas.t screen protector for iPhone 4/4S

Any residue if removed?

Posted by Rajiv on February 1, 2012 at 1:52 PM (PDT)

Apple hires Dixons CEO Browett to lead retail

I totally agree with Jon.  It’s pointless asking any member of Dixons staff about products in store unless they are standing next to a computer that they can look up the details on! Customer service pretty poor too! Let’s hope that the Apple Stores remain providing that exceptional level of service that they always have.

Posted by Chris Prosser on February 1, 2012 at 11:12 AM (PDT)

FaceTime missing from UAE iPhone 4 units

I paid $950 for my iPhone in dubai and now that I am back home in the us I was expecting FaceTime to work once I plugged my AT&T sim card but it did not.  I whipped the phone clean back to factory setting but no luck, it looks like apple has disabled FaceTime perminatly on all phones sold in that stinky part of the world.  Apple sticks and so does the middle east.

Posted by Breckstone on February 1, 2012 at 5:10 AM (PDT)

Apple hires Dixons CEO Browett to lead retail

Here’s the thing : Dixons shops in the UK? Horrible places. Badly designed, badly stocked and staffed by seventeen year old kids with little knowledge of the products they sell and even less motivation to provide good service (as oppose to hard-selling astonishingly poor value ‘warranty contracts’ they make commission on). For our American cousins, think Best Buy without the charm and personality. Plus the company has been going down the toilet for about the last 18 months. ‘Rat leaving the sinking ship’ is a pretty viable analogy.

This guy being put in charge of Apple’s retail division? As anyone in the UK, we do NOT think this is a good idea.

Posted by Jon on February 1, 2012 at 3:20 AM (PDT)

Spigen SGP intros Glas.t screen protector for iPhone 4/4S

Maybe the film is pneumophobic?

Posted by camembert on January 31, 2012 at 12:13 PM (PDT)

FishLabs releases Galaxy on Fire 2 HD for iPhone 4S and iPad 2

hi all, how do i empty my cargo hold when its full, i understand i can sell things in the space lounge but it wont leave the space station because my cargo hold is full.  HELP !

Posted by PHIL on January 31, 2012 at 5:17 AM (PDT)

Apple using lottery system to battle iPhone scalpers

hmm… this works in Hong Kong because all adults are required by law to have an HKID and non-locals can present passports or other travel documents.

This clearly isn’t true everywhere, and definately not in the United States.

Posted by ypocaramel on January 31, 2012 at 3:59 AM (PDT)

Gear4 to launch Renew SleepClock for iOS

Why doesn’t somebody just make a simple aluminum iPhone bedside alarm clock dock like the ones available for Android phones?

You’d like your iPhone to be positioned horizontally, cuz hey, that’s the most readable and the best way to project that crazy iPod Nano-like clock simulation.  Which they can make available thru the app store for free, with a number of different faces—with or without weather, a news ticker, etc.

Since the iPhone’s dock connector is on the bottom, they’d have to tweak the usual setup a little.  Probably have to have the thing shaped like a sideways L, with a track along the bottom for the iPhone to slide in until it is docked.  It shouldn’t be much bigger than the iPhone itself.  No bigger than necessary.

And no, it doesn’t need a separate clock.  Or a radio.  Or any of that.  The iPhone is a perfectly adequate clock radio all by itself, it just needs a dock to hold it and charge it up overnight.

Posted by Fanfoot on January 30, 2012 at 7:48 PM (PDT)

Spigen SGP intros Glas.t screen protector for iPhone 4/4S

And they avoid getting bubbles underneath the glass… how?

Posted by Fanfoot on January 30, 2012 at 7:37 PM (PDT)

Siri-powered Apple OLED TV to launch in April/May?

Lets look at the situation in the United States.  Some 79% of Americans get their television from either cable or satellite rather than “Over the Air” (OTA).  Which means that the majority of those people actually change channels using a remote control supplied with the “Set Top Box” (STB) that they got from their cable/satellite provider.  Since this remote can typically also turn the TV on and off and raise and lower its volume (and nothing else), it is generally used INSTEAD of the remote that came with the TV.  Which is then abandoned.

So unless Apple has some solution to this problem—network control of the STB, IR-blasters like the Google TV, or some other magic, its just going to be a layer on top of that STB.  And Siri will not be able to change the channel, or play any of the programs on your DVR.  Or do much of anything other than buy a movie from the iTunes store. 

Can Apple fix this?  Sure, maybe.  They could integrate a Cable Card slot (fun!).  They could integrate their own DVR (they’ll sell millions, just ask TiVo!).  Neither would work with Satellite.  Neither would work with AT&T U-Verse.  Neither would work outside the US.

Still sound like an Apple product?

Posted by Fanfoot on January 30, 2012 at 7:36 PM (PDT)

Siri-powered Apple OLED TV to launch in April/May?

I am firmly on the fence with this one.

On one hand, the HDTV market is pretty saturated. Apple’s greatest successes have come in arenas where they pounced on burgeoning product lines. iPod came fairly early in the MP3 era, before any one company had a strong foothold. The iPhone stepped into a smartphone market where “simple” was just not happening…and touch technology was still glitchy. Then the iPad took a defunct tablet market that had already been deemed a massive failure and breathed new life into it with an “iPhone on steroids”.

But, on the other side of this coin, Apple does make wonderfully designed “showcase” devices. And HDTV’s certainly need to be aesthetically pleasing. And bringing a built-in voice control system like Siri could be just the niche to place them in the race for true living room integration.

I have an Apple TV 2. I like it. I use it. I see a future for the technology. And I would absolutely focus a lot of my attention toward an Apple HDTV with that technology…plus Siri and any new goodies…if/when I am in the market for a new set.

Posted by Mitch on January 27, 2012 at 7:12 PM (PDT)

iOS 4.1 causing in-car USB playback problems?

I have a 4 gig Ipod 2nd Gen. It will not work at all in my 2012 Toyota Camry, even though the manual says it should. When I plug it in via the USB port it doesn’t even register on the display.

Posted by Terri on January 27, 2012 at 5:44 PM (PDT)

Siri-powered Apple OLED TV to launch in April/May?

It will all come down to the pricing. 42” may be on the small side for those who already made the leap to HDTVs, but when over 40% of households haven’t, that’s a nice market to try and tap with the brand awareness of Apple.

Think about it, there’s plasma, LCD, (AM)OLED, Super AMOLED, there’s various generations of those technologies, there’s dozens of vendors, there’s re-branding, etc.. It is very daunting to those who don’t want to immerse themselves in the minutia of another entertainment technology, and that is the perfect place for Apple to step in with the “iPod of HDTVs”.

Priced right, even “only” 42” could do very well.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on January 27, 2012 at 3:08 PM (PDT)

Siri-powered Apple OLED TV to launch in April/May?

A mass availability of OLED TV’s where the others are still showing prototypes at trade shows would give Apple yet another ground floor opportunity - especially if they are reasonably affordable. (not sure how they would manage that one).  Voice commands via Siri or options with an ios device and other integration would be another bonus. One drawback, many of us are now accustomed to a larger screen size - especially for 3D “TV (which the Apple TV may not offer yet.)  The richness and clarity of an OLED TV may compensate for that though.
Looking forward to see if they can come up with yet another “game changer.”

Posted by Patrick Helbig on January 27, 2012 at 5:45 AM (PDT)

Siri-powered Apple OLED TV to launch in April/May?

This seems like a huge blunder waiting to happen. Why does Apple need to make its own TV set? There are too many TV set makers already. And, too many of those sets come in the larger sizes many people buy - 42” is on the small side. Why not instead put this functionality - Siri, home connectivity, perhaps even the facial recognition - into the next-generation Apple TV (the small HDMI-connected box, that is)?

Posted by Farnsworth on January 26, 2012 at 3:06 PM (PDT)

Apple releases iBooks 2

This is a great idea for textbooks, and I want to convince my wife it is too.  She has talked about running for our private school board and now I may have a platform for her.  I have wanted to buy our kids iPads for a long time and perhaps this is a reason she will accept.  I want to buy them so they can watch TV on the iPad instead of wearing out their iPhones like they are but she would rather them not watch any TV at all.  We all watch our TV out of the house now since we got our Sling Adapter from Dish Network about a year ago.  It gives us live and recorded TV anywhere and we use it a lot so when we get home we do other things besides watch TV anymore.  My wife loves that, but I still would like to get the kids iPads.

Posted by Gman on January 26, 2012 at 2:28 PM (PDT)