Appletell

Along with the new beta firmware, Apple has also seeded a new version of the iPhone SDK, although the new SDK cannot be used to submit applications to the current App Store. Earlier reports suggested that Firmware 2.0.1 had been spotted in the wild, but a 2.1 upgrade would presumably introduce more than just bug fixes. The new features that will be included in the 2.1 version of the iPhone firmware include the early Push Notification APIs which allow applications to process notifications in the background, a featured Apple promised for September.

Via [GearLive]

I think it’s great that the iPhone WordPress app is open source, but what about the iPhone SDK NDA (nondisclosure agreement, which means you can’t share any information about the SDK with anyone)? It doesn’t seem that the people at WordPress care too much about Apple’s NDA, since they are now sharing the source code of their WordPress iPhone app via their SVN server.

It’s hard to tell whether Apple will be starting legal issues with the people at WordPress, although it is quite clear that they are carelessly violating their NDA. If they do, it means that Apple is still serious about the iPhone SDK NDA, even though the iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store are both now live. However, if Apple decides to allow WordPress to distribute their iPhone app’s source code, it won’t be long before many other iPhone developers follow.

Via [WordPress]

Aurora Feint, the free and popular iPhone game, has been removed from the App Store due to privacy concerns over its community feature, which allowed users to see which of their friends were playing the game at the same time. The concern surrounds the fact that Aurora Feint uploads your entire contacts list, unencrypted, to the developer’s server.

There was no malicious intent involved; having your contacts uploaded was just easier than typing in your friends’ data by hand, according to Danielle Cassley, one of the game’s developers. Casserly claims that they “… weren’t trying to be sneaky about how this worked,” and that a notification message of some sort was “… just overlooked.”

Details after the break.

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Tap Tap Revenge is an incredibly fun game for the iPhone and iPod touch. It’s somewhat of a clone of the popular game Guitar Hero for other consoles, except that you use your finger to hit the notes. The game allows single and multiplayer functionality, the ability to download more tracks to use with the game (although its old functionality of allowing you to use your own songs for the game has been removed due to Apple’s strict rules on App Store apps), and the ability to participate in Tapulous’ tournaments to win cool prizes.

Full review after the break.

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Apple has updated its iLife ‘08 applications and accompanying software. The updates are available for download from Apple’s Web site, and can also be downloaded through the Mac Software Update tool.

The new versions are as follows:

• iWeb 2.0.4
• iLife Support 8.3
• iMovie 7.1.4
• iPhoto 7.1.4

Additional info after the break.

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It seems AT&T has learned its lesson from the release of the first generation iPhone last year, as the company has decided to open its stores at 8:00 a.m. on July 11th, rather than at 6:00 p.m. when the original iPhone was released. AT&T’s early opening is specifically targeted towards customers who wish to purchase Apple’s newest iPhone 3G, which will be released that day.

To gearing up for a busy day and to help ease the stress that July 11th is sure to bring, AT&T will open the doors “...bright and early to sell the iPhone 3G at 8 a.m. instead of last year’s 6 p.m.,” according to AT&T spokesman Cathy Lewandowski. She was also quick to add that all activation will be done in-store this time, which is why such an early opening time has been chosen.

Starting July 11, the iPhone 3G will be available from Apple and AT&T for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model with a mandatory two-year contract with AT&T. Existing AT&T customers may purchase or upgrade to the iPhone 3G for $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB model. Both options require a new two-year service agreement, although AT&T will soon be offering a no-contract-required iPhone 3G option for $599 (8GB) or $699 (16GB).

Via [Memphis Business Journal]

As we reported earlier, Apple released Mac OS X 10.5.4 today, an update which fixes several issues with iCal, AirPort, Safari, and Spaces & Exposé. We’ve now got some additional details, coming to you after the break.

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The new iPhone 3G hasn’t even been released yet, but seven problems with the new iPhone have already been pointed out by many, all of which have been based on demos and published specs of what the iPhone 3G will offer. We may get 3G and GPS, a way to connect to Microsoft Exchange, and the new App Store, but what about all of the other features that are missing from Apple’s device? Outlined after the break are the seven most prominent issues with the upcoming iPhone 3G.

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DisplaySearch, an online market research firm, has reported that Apple’s sales of notebook computers are up 61% from the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008. In that time, Apple has shipped over 1.4 million notebooks, compared to almost 900,000 the previous year, which places Apple just behind Asus in terms of growth from year-to-year, as the Taiwanese company saw a slightly higher 67% growth rate. Most other notebook manufacturers saw growth rates in the 20 - 40% range.

However, the bad news is that Apple is still in seventh place in overall notebook market share at a mere 4.6%, behind leaders HP (20.8%), Dell (15.1%), and Acer (14.7%), but still ahead of Asus (4.3%) and Sony (4.2%). It is believed that Asus is seeing huge increases due to its Eee PC subnotebook, which has been extremely popular amongst those who want tiny computers that are capable of running Windows or Linux. If trends continue as they currently are, Apple’s notebook market share numbers should continue to increase throughout the rest of 2008.

Via [DisplaySearch]

The iPhone is finally making its way to Canada on July 11, 2008 and Canadians aren’t as happy about it as they should be due to voice and data rates from one of the only two carriers that will be offering the new iPhone 3G in Canada, Rogers Communications. On Friday, Rogers announced the details of its voice and data plans for the upcoming iPhone 3G, which struck some would-be customers as unreasonably high and unnecessarily restrictive, especially when compared with those in other countries in which the iPhone 3G will be offered, such as the U.S. and the U.K. Thousands of angry Canadians (10,000 and counting when this was written) have made their feelings about Rogers’ ridiculous rates known on various websites and blogs.

However, the largest protest that has come into effect is a petition (whose original name was unprintable, but has now been renamed to Ruined iPhone). Its stated goal was to gather 10,000 names in the form of a petition by July 11th, which was accompanied by to an open letter to Steve Jobs. By Sunday evening, the petition had already gathered more than 13,000 names, more than its initial goal. The open letter can be found at ruinediphone.com, and is reprinted after the break.

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