Wow, the advertising conditions in the UK are pretty strict! An Apple ad was pulled earlier this year, but now another iPhone 3G ad was pulled from UK TV because it apparently exaggerated the performance speed of the iPhone 3G.
The ad shows the iPhone speeding along between web pages and other applications super fast, but the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received complaints by 17 people that the ad was misleading.
Sure, the phone isn’t really that fast, but hey they have to fit in a bunch of information in just 30 seconds. Actual load time does not bode well for spiffy advertising promos. And what sort of ad would be successful if all it showed was a web site loading? That’s not exciting. Anyway, I thought this was ridiculous. What do you think about it? Oh, and watch the ad in question below:
Click here to view the embedded video.
Looks like the latest iPhone 2.2 SDK has a few surprises built-in. For one, the updated MediaPlayer framework can make it possible to export live video to your TV. I know it sounds crazy, but it is totally possible, and we’ve posted a video to prove it.
MPTVOutWindow class makes it so your iPhone can transmit video straight from itself to a TV connected to it. So, instead of viewing videos on your iPhone screen, you can view them on your much larger TV screen. You will need to buy a video adapter or cable in order to make the proper hook up, however.
It seems you can also use the accelerometer for controller functions, as any screen touches are ignored when video is being sent out. While limited at the moment, this function seems to have potential and it will be interesting to see what developers do with it and whether or not it is expanded in future upgrades.
With every new firmware version there are bound to be a few bugs here and there. No one was prepared for the issues that users are currently reporting in the iPhone firmware 2.2 update. Some of the more serious issues include the loss of the ability to sync with iTunes, loss in both 3G and Edge signal strength, loss of Wi-Fi connectivity and the disappearance of both Apple and third party applications.
Needless to say this is a huge problem that in come cases make this update more harmful than helpful. A number of users are downgrading back to firmware 2.1 in order to resolve the issues. We ourselves have experienced a drop in signal strength. The most reports we have been getting is loss of Wi-Fi connectivity. Users are unable to get a Wi-Fi connection even without network encryption.
Here are some of the reports that users are making:
- “When I upgraded, all my apps non-original apps disappears, except for google! When I tried to re-download and then resync them onto my iphone, only some of them would appear. After talking to support, we tried starting my computer (she said this was happening to some people) and then syncing. This added a couple more, but about 10 were still sitting in my itunes and refusing to sync.”
- “After the os 2.2 update. Safari suddenly disappeared. Syncing etc didn’t work or resolve the issue. I had to do a restore to get things back to normal.”
- “After upgrading to 2.2 the iphone camera app disappeared, and every program that uses the camera stopped working also. Restoring the phone brought it back but then the next Sync made it go away again. Very annoying. How much QA did they do before they released this upgrade? I can understand third party apps breaking but not the base applications.”
- “I also have had a problem with a missing application. My camera application has disappeared and I tried restoring it, and it appeared for about five minutes, let me take one picture, then was suddenly gone again.”
[Via iPhoneAtlas]
It seems Google has confirmed the notion that Google Mobile uses APIs that are undocumented, opening up the ability to use the built-in proximity sensor in the iPhone for verbal searches. This goes against the iPhone SDK, which states developers can only use APIs that Apple published within the kit.
Google was quick to dismiss more serious claims that they were linking to dynamic frameworks, however. So what’s the big deal about undocumented APIs? Well, whenever Apple updates their software, the application code could break.
Plus, this raises questions about applications accepted into the App Store by Apple. If Apple knew Google was using these APIs and let the application through anyway, it could point to a sort of favoritism. However, Google might just end up rewriting the code if Apple ends up enforcing the SDK terms.
It seems like everyday a new retailer is getting their hands on an Apple product. Today, it was announced Mobiles.co.uk now will be selling the iPhone 3G in the UK. This is actually the first time the phone has been sold in the UK by any other retailer than Apple, Carphone Warehouse or O2.
The retailer is offering up the 8GB black model and the 16GB black and white models of the iPhone 3G. The great thing is the price, however. The pricing ranges depending on what O2 plan you purchase. However, with the higher-end monthly plans, you can get the iPhone for free!
In order to get the free phone, you will have to either purchase a £45 a month plan for a free 8GB, or the £75 a month plan, which gets you 3000 mins, 500 texts and either a free 8GB or 16GB iPhone. If O2 is the carrier for you, then this sounds like a great deal.
The iPhone has had a lot of odd applications in the past, but apparently we haven’t seen them all. The newest one to fall into our lap is the Lie Detector application by John Freeman. Now you can get answers on the fly with little notice.
The Lie Detector claims that it can tell when a person is lying but it seems to be more of a guessing game. Your chances of getting the right answer really are 50/50. Upon opening the application you are greeted by a screen that would like to know a little bit about the person in question. After you hit save, the application will ask the person the questions in which it just asked you, to verify what the truth really sounds like.
After which you can then find out if the person is lying. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to how this application is suppose to work because it just does not seem be very accurate. This application is more of a fun novelty than a functional application. If you want to try your hand at it just stop by the App Store today and pick up Lie Detector for $2.99.
The Google voice search application that we reported on a few times has finally reached iPhones everywhere, making the already popular search application all the more useful. Now users can search for locations while driving, product info while shopping or even search for images without ever typing a thing.
Not sure how to spell something? Well that is no longer a problem with the Google mobile application. This app works better than we could have imagined, picking up uncommon words that may not even be in the dictionary. We found that often times a phrase was easier for the application to pick up than a single word.
Google voice search can also tell the difference between say “three” and “their” depending on the context you use it in. Even in a crowded food court with plenty of noise the application was able to pick up just what we were saying almost every time. If you have not already tried this out, stop, put everything down and go download it for yourself. This application will amaze you.
For over a year now the iPhone has torn apart because it lacks the basic MMS functionality that has become and industry standard. There have been a few work around that have worked for some but not others such as Swirly MMS, but they all require you to first jailbreak your iPhone.
Telia is going to offer MMS to Scandinavian iPhone users on their network. A lot of use US iPhone owners are going to become extremely envious of those who finally are able to send picture messages without a problem. Telia subscribers will be able to download the homegrown iPhone application in just a few months.
There is still little information that tells just how Telia was able to achieve MMS functionality in the iPhone, but we predict that eventually it will find a way over to the US. With previous MMS “hacks” it is required to add the MMS feature to your AT&T plan in order for it to work. Last time we checked this did not cost any extra per month.
[Via MacWorld]
