iPhone Rebates & Power Of The People

from GigaOM by Om Malik

The $200-price cut announced by Apple (AAPL) yesterday turned into a bit of a PR disaster for the company. The cuts penalized the fanboys (including yours truly) for being early adopters, and prompted iPhone owners to express their outrage across the web and beyond. In an interview in USA Today, Steve Jobs remarked:

That’s technology. If they bought it this morning, they should go back to where they bought it and talk to them. If they bought it a month ago, well, that’s what happens in technology.

Now there’s a way to annoy the people who have stuck by the company through thick and thin. Today, realizing that Apple’s goodwill was at risk, Jobs announced a $100 credit to all early iPhone buyers, promising to do the right thing.

Is it really the right thing? Not in the classic sense, because unlike the 14-day-returnees, you aren’t getting cash back. It’s a sop, really — albeit an admittedly good-natured one — since the $100 you get back is only good for another Apple product.

Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple’s website next week. Stay tuned.

I wonder if Steve Jobs’ open letter, and the $100 credit, would have happened in another time when social media tools weren’t as prevalent as they are today. Regardless, the good thing is, Apple listened.

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The 2008 iPhone display? Sharp's next gen multi-touch LCD revealed

from Engadget by Thomas Ricker

Want to see the glass behind the iPhone's multi-touch panel? Well this ain't it, it's better. Sharp -- one of Apple's iPhone panel providers -- just unveiled their newest 3.5-inch, 320 x 480 pixel resolution multi-touch panel which does what its predecessor did in just half the thickness. The new 1-mm depth was achieved by integrating the optical sensor into each pixel while incorporating scanning functionality for fingerprint authentication or barcode and business card scanning. Right, with the appropriate underlying software of course. Sharp expects to adapt the new technology to multi-touch, glass panels as large as 12.1-inches. Sample LCDs will be made available in September before mass production beings in the Spring of 2008. Update: Whoa, reader Tony C just reminded us of this Apple patent application. Sure, the jump from scanning business cards to having your screen become the webcam is pretty big. Still, it's not as crazy as it once sounded, eh?

Gallery: The 2008 iPhone display? Sharp's next gen multi-touch LCD revealed

[Via Impress]

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iPhone Safari does NOT support Flash (of ANY flavor)

Source: http://developer.apple.com/iphone/designingcontent.html

scroll down to near the bottom

Unsupported Technologies

You’ll want to avoid using Flash and Java for iPhone content. You’ll also want to avoid encouraging users from downloading the latest Flash to their iPhone, because neither Flash nor downloads are supported by Safari on iPhone.

Safari on iPhone does not support:

• window.showModalDialog()
• Mouse-over events
• Hover styles
• Tool tips
• Java applets
• Flash
• Plug-in installation
• Custom x.509 certificates

http://picturesandbox.com

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Skype on iPhone. No, seriously.

from GigaOM by Om Malik

OK, this has to be the coolest news this morning. SHAPE Services, a Stuttgart, Germany-based company, well-known for making mobile IM clients, has just announced Skype for iPhone, an iPhone-optimized Web site that allows you to access Skype via the browser on the iPhone. You can try out this for free for a limited time.

It took me less than two minutes to get up and running. Sending messages was as simple as typing SMS messages. I am guessing that, since they ask you for your mobile number when you log in, there is some kind of call-back service built into the app. After all, the company says you don’t need WiFi.

IM+ for Skype works with BlackBerry RIM, Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Palm OS, Symbian and J2ME devices. The application works in any network and doesn’t require WiFi, the company says.

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SoonR Talk workaround enables VoIP on your iPhone

from Engadget by Darren Murph

For those only interested in fielding VoIP calls on an iPhone, we're pretty sure Cisco could hook you up, but if you've been wondering how to utilize Skype on your Apple iPhone, this here workaround spills the beans. Admittedly, this method is far from seamless, but by installing the famed SoonR Talk application on your home PC and logging into the AJAX-enabled SoonR website on your handset, a new way of calling instantly emerges. As with other handsets that support AJAX interfaces, you can reportedly view and call Skype buddies through your iPhone, but you should be aware that SkypeOut credits will be used due to the PSTN leg needed to dial your mobile. Inelegant as it may be, VoIP has now invaded the (non-Cisco) iPhone.

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MIT: The iPhone's Untapped Potential

from textually.org by emily

Core77 picks up on a June MIT Technology Review article describing some of the unrealized potential in the iPhone.

"Turns out that, in addition to having the interface to kill all portable interfaces, it is tricked out with a number of just slightly utilized sensors; specifically an accelerometer, an ambient light meter, and an IR motion sensor.

While Apple has applied these to the admirable goal of rotating your screen and adjusting your brightness for you, some other smart people have already been busy using them for more creative ends. Like learning about human nature."

Start with the iPhone, Work Back to Human Nature

Posted by: Carl Alviani on Tuesday, July 10 2007

MIT Technology Review put a brief article up at the end of June describing some of the unrealized potential in the iPhone. Turns out that, in addition to having the interface to kill all portable interfaces, it is tricked out with a number of just slightly utilized sensors; specifically an accelerometer, an ambient light meter, and an IR motion sensor. While Apple has applied these to the admirable goal of rotating your screen and adjusting your brightness for you, some other smart people have already been busy using them for more creative ends. Like learning about human nature.

Now, take a step back: Accelerometers are motion detectors--they get used to help measure distance walked (pedometers) and the intensity of car crashes (impact meters), among other things. Some creative designers have figured out how to make them fun (Nintendo Wii). It's not a huge stretch to combine this sort of data with light, motion and sound sensing to start getting a picture of what a user is doing all day, moment to moment. Standing, sitting, and walking have recognizable signatures, and from there it's a short computational step to recognizing when a user is cooking, working, hanging out, shopping, etc. It's like a diary, but honest. It's like Twitter, but less irritating.

Now, take another step back: Once again, MIT researchers are way ahead of us. Here's a study group called Reality Mining that's been gathering data in this manner from study participants since 2004, combining it with data on proximity sensing between users, and analyzing the hell out of it. Findings are ongoing, but what's already there is massively intriguing. Social networking in the real world has a statistical signature, and measurable patterns called Eigenbehaviors start emerging. It's still mostly in the realm of statisticians and analysts, but the trajectory points insistently toward a new and powerful tool for designers.

Potential applications are significant for....well, who aren't they significant for? Consumer electronics designers looking for new interface methods; medical and fitness product designers looking for better ways to get information from users to devices; design researchers who want higher quality data from a less-intrusive method: pay attention. Things are changing.

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New details about the iPhone

from Engadget by Ryan Block

Remember the winning Engadget commercial, "The Long Arm of Steve Jobs"? We posted it after the break, but finding someone who's spent some serious time with a pre-launch iPhone and getting them to talk is basically a lot like that. Still, we managed to smuggle out some freshly leaked details from a very trusted inside source who's been fooling around with a unit. Here's what they had to say:

• The keyboard was simply described as "disappointing". Keyboarding with two thumbs often registers multiple key presses (two or three at a time) resulting in a lot of mistakes. The best way to type is with a single finger (as shown in most of Apple's demos), but two thumbs is supposedly very difficult. After trying it for a number of days our source gave up using their thumbs.
• The text auto-correction only works well for simple words, but doesn't work for proper names. We can only assume this bit will get better with time as Apple fills out its predictive text dictionary.
• "It won't replace a BlackBerry. It's not good for text input. It's just not a business product."
• The touchscreen was said to, in general, require somewhat hard presses to register input, and needs some getting used to.
• In addition to its dock, the iPhone comes packaged with a polishing cloth (the thing's supposedly a fingerprint magnet, no surprise) and the usual smallish power adapter.
• The Bluetooth headset will debut in the $120 range, and will come with its own dock for charging both the phone and the headset. The headset will feature a miniature magnetic charging interface á la MagSafe.

Click on for more impressions on the headset, browser, YouTube, and more.

Continue reading New details about the iPhone

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iPhone vs Nokia N95, BlackBerry, Treo and Samsung BlackJack

from Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal

Just ten days ahead of the much-hyped iPhone launch, Apple has released a smartphone matrix comparing the physical dimensions, talk time and battery life of some of the most popular smartphones that are available in the market today.

As per the matrix, Apple iPhone is the thinnest smartphone (half the thickness of N95 or Treo 750) with the largest screensize and Wi-Fi capabilities. [pdf]

While there's no option to swap the drained battery of an iPhone with a full recharged one, the promised eight hours of talktime and 250 hours of standby time should bring enough cheers to those who are planning to queue up outside the Apple stores at 0600 hours June 29, 2007.

In related news, a new report has suggest that 19 million Americans have strong interest in buying the iPhone, 67% of who are subscribers on other carrier networks.

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Will the iPhone be undone by its keyboard?

from Engadget by Ryan Block

For those in the audience enamored with the iPhone -- especially those willing to look past the lack of 3G and requisite 2-year service agreement -- there's really only one x-factor left: the touchscreen keyboard. We've all seen it done, but no one's ever seen it done right -- and Steve seems to think it's going to be off the chain. So why is Dvorak, noted tech pundit, and goader of Mac users and iPhone fans, reporting that he's got insider information that the iPhone's keyboard is complete crap and "people are going to return the phone in droves"? Well, that might have something to do with the fact that he's Dvorak, but we did consult a trusted and well connected source who, as it turns out, has heard the very same thing from multiple iPhone users, and who further noted that an accessory keyboard to go with the device may become necessary if the touchscreen keyboard doesn't cut the mustard. Of course, we can only reserve judgment until we wrap our paws on a real production model, but we hope it all turns out well -- even if only because we're sincerely frightened of an iPhone-incited fanboy riot in the streets.

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