If you are one of the countless people that condemn the iPhone for its inability to emulate the Palm OS, then it may be time for you to take another look at Apple’s wonder device. StyleTap has announced that they plan to bring this capability to the iPhone in the near future, whats more the iPhone runs the Palm OS better than most Palm devices, so this is a very interesting feature to add to the long list of things that the iPhone already excels at.
You will be able to grab the software needed starting in July, when more information is released by StyleTap. When the information comes forward, they will also announce price points, how to get it, and how the software will be marketed. StyleTap also said that they will have members from their team attending WWDC. They will be available for interview, and hopefully a demo.
The question really though is how well does the device’s capacitive touch screen work for the resistive touch driven OS? After all, Palm’s OS was designed for a stylus. Though the smallest parts of the interface may be a little hard to use with your finger, the answer is surprisingly well. Check out the demo video to see the software in action.
[Via SlashPhone]
Gaming on the iPhone is going to be huge, game developers just can not keep their hands off of the iPhone, and for good reason. The device has a ton of horsepower, and has already proven it is more than capable of playing games, as well as perform all sorts of other functions. This is a very complex game, and is very telling of the iPhone’s abilities.
For those of you that have not heard of it, BioShock is a first person shooter that was released last year for the PC and on the Xbox 360. If systems like that are required to play this thing, than the iPhone must have some serious untapped potential. The game has not been ported to any mobile at all, and it will be interesting to see how it interacts with the touch screen.
The iPhone will be receiving the real deal. It will get a full 3D, high resolution, memory hogging monster of a game, and that’s the way we like it. There will also be a 2D lower quality version released for devices that can not handle 3D graphics, which will be pretty much anything not an iPhone.
[Via The iPhone Blog]
If there are any doubts about the legitimacy of the recently leaked 3G iPhone case specifications, they may finally be put to rest. Though the information is not exactly confirmed by anyone, but it is a pretty elaborate hoax to make your own 3G iPhone case mold. The mold design seems to fit the rumored case specifications, so this may just turn out to be the real thing.
As you can see, these mold plates fit the rumored specifications very nicely, and the sensor placement in the mold matches them as well. The mold is clearly form Griffin, who is considered to be very creditable, and the authority when it comes to accessories. The fact that it says Griffin, in itself gives this rumor a whole bunch more credibility.
While it is possible it is a hoax with a little clever Photo Shop work going on, it is a very good amount of work to go through. If the mold turns out to be real, and assuming they are using it now, we could see Griffin iPhone cases as soon as launch day for the new iPhone.
[Via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog]
In a very brief press release, 3 has announced that they will be bringing the iPhone to Hong Kong and Macau, two markets where as of now, the iPhone is not officially available. Of all the countries and territories that 3 has coverage in, Hong Kong and Macau are the only ones that 3 has been rewarded a contract to carry and sell the iPhone in.
“Hong Kong and Macau, 29th May 2008 - Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) Limited today announced that it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Hong Kong and Macau later this year.” -Press Release
That is the whole press release. So there is quite a lack of details at the moment, but it has been assumed by some that this is the 3G iPhone. This would make sense, as there are 3G networks in both locations, and why bring the original iPhone “later this year”, when there will already be an upgrade that makes the device old news.
[Via SlashPhone]
The anticipation is quickly mounting as WWDC draws ever closer. Apple’s yesterday release of the latest firmware for the iPhone, 2.0 beta 6, revealed something interesting about the new iPhone. The icon was also found in the latest version of Leopard, 10.5.3, which was released to Mac owners yesterday. The icon looks very similar to the current iPhone.
Though it looks almost exactly the same as the current iPhone, there are some minor differences. Mainly the bezel, which is narrower and more squared than normal. The device also seems to be slightly taller than the current iPhone iteration. This is the only angle, so we could not see any other dimension comparisons.
It is important to note though, this could mean nothing. The device very well could be a bad rendering, which made its way into the software releases. This sounds to be the most likely explanation, as you would expect Apple to be releasing such an icon with the latest version of iTunes to drop after the release of the 3G iPhone.
[Via Wired]
Yet another update to the iPhone firmware 2.0 and the SDK have leaked out. The new firmware has been dubbed 5a308. This build was released today, along with a fresh build of the SDK. The new SDK is 1221.8MB, so it is a little bigger than the last release, which was the fifth such release. It is not known yet if this is the firmware beta that adds the rumored geo tagging features.
The firmware is fresh off the server, and the details about it are few. What we do know right now is that the new SDK requires developers to register an application ID, suggesting that they are tightening things up in anticipation of the launch, which is rumored to be soon. Application IDs are required for provisioning now, all previous provisioning is now longer valid.
Another interesting thing is you must be running OSX 10.5.3, which was just released this morning. It is odd that Apple would cut off the still large amount of users running Tiger, or 10.4. The new updates release notes were uploaded to Apple’s site earlier, and can be viewed now. Apple also removed six demo applications from the SDK package.
[Via TUAW]
Here we go again guys, this time around a site called allabouthphones.nl has posted pictures of what they say is the 3G iPhone. Now, the device pictured does look very new. It is very thin, too much so to be a modified iPhone of the current type. The white color is one of the colors that have been rumored, so this device could actually be the real deal.
Of course it is not this simple. The device pictured could always be a shell or a new case, would explain why it is so thin. They never picture the device at an angle that would make it easy to tell what is up with this thing. Again, it seems that we are just going to have to wait until June 9th to see what Steve brings. Until then, these pictures will have to do.
[Via allaboutphones.nl]
If the all touch interface on the iPhone is not your style when it comes to games, then the iControlPad may just be for you. The peripheral enables your iPhone to be in a casing that allows for a PSP like feel. It adds physical buttons to the iPhone for the purpose of playing games. The iControlPad will be providing full SDK support, and also source code so developers can get their games to work with the unit.
The peripheral works by connecting to the iPhone’s dock. According to the designer, support for the iControlPad is already built in to most of the game emulators, and they are sending out more units to try to get more universal support. The device will have to get around one problem though, the SDK does not allow unprejudiced access to the dock connector.
The device as of now is in its prototype stage. They promise that the final version of the unit will be “much more sleek and fitting”. You can check out there website here, where they have a status blog and contact information.
