New iPhone Could End AT&T's U.S. Monopoly

From The Wall Street Journal:

Apple Inc. plans to begin producing this year a new iPhone that could allow U.S. phone carriers other than AT&T Inc. to sell the iconic gadget, said people briefed by the company.

The new iPhone would work on a type of wireless network called CDMA, these people said. CDMA is used by Verizon Wireless, AT&T's main competitor, as well as Sprint Nextel Corp. and a handful of cellular operators in countries including South Korea and Japan. The vast majority of carriers world-wide, including AT&T, use another technology called GSM.

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Line2 Adds a Second Line to Your iPhone

The Line2 mobile application from Toktumi adds a second phone line to your iPhone.
(http://www.line2.com/)

From ABC News:

iPhone App Lets You Place Calls Without Using AT&T Minutes.

Line2 is a mobile app from Toktumi that's a refreshing option for iPhone users who need to maintain a separate personal and a business phone number.

It's also useful — and potentially revolutionary — for iPhone owners who want to cut down on their monthly voice minutes by allowing them to place calls over Wi-Fi as well as over 3G Voice Over IP (VOIP).

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The iPhone-Controlled Mini-Drone That Could Be The Future Of Gaming

Flying saucer: The AR.Drone is controlled by an iPhone. Developed by a French company, it caused a sensation when it received its public debut at a consumer electronics show in Las Vegas

From The Daily Mail:

A mini-drone that can be piloted using an iPhone promises to revolutionise the video game industry after it was unveiled last week.

The flying saucer-like AR.Drone - AR stands for augmented reality - caused a sensation when it received its public debut at a consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.

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Camera Showdown: Nexus One Vs. iPhone 3GS

The Nexus One's 5-megapixel camera also has an LED-powered flash.
(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

From CNET:

Rumors cropped up last week that Apple had put down a big order for LED flashes, something useful for one thing, and one thing only: a digital camera. It doesn't take much to figure that the next iteration of the iPhone is likely to be packing one of these, since many of the latest cell phones--including HTC's recently released Nexus One, now have them included.

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Apple's iPhone Is Most Popular Phone In US - Study

From Apple Insider:

With 4 percent of all mobile device subscribers in the U.S., a new study has found that Apple's iPhone was the single most popular handset model in the country in 2009.

The iPhone edged out Research in Motion's BlackBerry 8300 series, which came in second place with 3.7 percent, according to new data released this week by Nielsen. The rankings measured the top 10 mobile phones in use in the U.S. from January to October 2009.

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Military Could Use iPhones To Track Friends, Enemies in War

From The Gadget Lab:

What if the iPhone could be used in war? True, it’s primarily a consumer product, but it’s versatile and always connected to the internet (assuming you have network reception) — so why not?

That’s the idea behind new iPhone apps being showcased by Raytheon, a military contractor, at the Intelligence Warfighting Summit in Tucson. One app called the One Force Tracker will provide live data tracking the location of friends and foes on real-time maps. The app will also be used to communicate with other units.

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My Comment: This is just another example on the revolution that is occurring in the intelligence community. The key is to know who are foes and who are not .... and provide this information to the men and women in the field. What was science fiction a few years ago .... is rapidly becoming reality today.

Cough Into Your Mobile Phone For Instant Diagnosis

But will it ask you to turn your head to one side as well? Photo: ANDREW CROWLEY

From The Telegraph:

Your mobile phone may soon be able to diagnose respiratory illnesses in seconds when you cough into it.

Software being developed by American and Australian scientists will hopefully allow patients simply to cough into their phone, and it will tell them whether they have cold, flu, pneumonia or other respiratory diseases.

Whether a cough is dry or wet, or “productive” or “non-productive” (referring to the presence of mucus on the lungs), can give a doctor information about what is causing that cough, for example whether it is caused by a bacterial or a viral infection.

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AT&T Customers Speak Out Over Poor Service

From ZDNet:

Following yesterday’s piece on how the iPhone (or, more specifically, iPhone users) are strangling the AT&T network, I’ve been hit by a deluge of emails from customers giving me their side of the story.

It’s not a pretty picture for AT&T. Here’s just a small selection of quotes I received:

“I can’t even get service at my own home.”

“MY iPhone drops calls at least 5 times a day, sometimes 5 times on the same attempted conversation.”

“I live in Boulder but feel like I live in the middle of Montana where I can only get service by hiking the local hill.”

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iPhones For The Blind

Blind Man with Touch Interface: courtesy of Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea

From Popular Science:

Quick, get out your iPhone. Unlock it and slide over to that game you've been playing when your boss isn't looking. Now mute it, put the phone to sleep, close your eyes, and try to do that again. Can you do it? Didn't think so.

There's not a simple way to use touchscreens when you can't see what you're doing, which means 10 million blind and low-vision Americans can't use this ubiquitous technology. But what if you could feel it? What if the "slide to unlock" key was an actual slide? Even better, what if you could have a Braille iPhone?

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Hacking Threat 'Exposes Every iPhone In The World' To Takeover By Criminals

'Vulnerable': Hackers could exploit a security flaw in the iPhone within two weeks and then take devices over in minutes, experts warn

From The Daily Mail:

Criminals could take control of every iPhone in the world via text message, owners are being warned.

Hackers could exploit a newly discovered flaw in Apple's handset to control its key functions - stealing data, making calls, surfing the internet and sending texts.

Security experts warn that hackers could soon hijack any of the world's 21million iPhones for identity theft and other crimes.

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How Apple, AT&T Are Closing the Mobile Web

A growing chorus claims that Apple’s questionable approval policy for its iPhone application store raises issues with net neutrality.

From Epicenter/Wired News:

Free Press, a group that advocates the idea of an open internet — that is, one in which consumers have the right to browse the web and run internet applications without restrictions — is the latest of several organizations to call out Apple for its inconsistencies. Free Press alleges that Apple crippled SlingPlayer, a TV-streaming application for iPhone, so that it would only work on a Wi-Fi connection; the initial version worked with a 3G cellular network connection as well as Wi-Fi. The SlingPlayer restriction is inconsistent with Apple’s approval of the Major League Baseball application, which provides live-streaming of sports events on both Wi-Fi and 3G connections, the group said.

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Hands On Review: iPhone OS 3.0 Chock Full Of Changes

From Ars Technica:

iPhone OS 3.0 is out and it runs on all generations of iPhone and iPod touch. Ars reviews the OS and takes a look at what's in store. If you're not planning to buy a shiny new iPhone 3G S, you may find yourself quite satisfied with your 3G iPhone running the new OS.

The one-word summary for iPhone 3.0 should be "subtle." But don't go thinking that subtlety means boring—the changes that come with Apple's latest mobile OS are plentiful and hidden in many corners of the device. Apple previewed iPhone OS 3.0 to the world in March of this year and again in June at WWDC 2009, but there's no greater experience than playing around with the software and discovering all the surprises yourself. We did just that with iPhone OS 3.0 and discovered that while the cool big changes may get all the press, there are also numerous updates to smaller details should be anything but ignored.

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Rumor Round-Up: Everything We’ve Heard About the Next iPhone

From Gadget Lab/Wired News:

This month, the Apple rumor volcano erupted with purported details of the next-generation iPhone. Various blogs claim receiving tips from informed sources about features in the highly anticipated handset, such as a magnetometer (digital compass), a video camera and a speedier processor.

Here, we round up every rumor that’s appeared about Apple’s next iPhone, which many are betting will be announced June 8 at the Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco. We’re also accompanying each rumor with a percentage rating for its probability to be true, as well as our analysis.

When WWDC arrives, we’ll present a report card showing which publications were correct and which were wrong. And of course, we’ll grade ourselves on our predictions, too.

With that said, here’s everything we’ve heard about the next iPhone:

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The iPhone Gold Rush

START-UP From left, Vassilis Samolis, Kostas Eleftheriou
and Bill Rappos formed GreatApps. Petros Vittas

From The New York Times:

IS there a good way to nail down a steady income? In this economy?

Try writing a successful program for the iPhone.

Last August, Ethan Nicholas and his wife, Nicole, were having trouble making their mortgage payments. Medical bills from the birth of their younger son were piling up. After learning that his employer, Sun Microsystems, was suspending employee bonuses for the year, Mr. Nicholas considered looking for a new job and putting their house in Wake Forest, N.C., on the market.

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More News On the iPhone Gold Rush

Will the iPhone 3.0 Fuel a Second Gold Rush? -- New York Times
Inside the iPhone App Gold Rush -- Adweek
Apple's iPhone 3.0 SDK Renews Developer Gold Rush -- Information Week
NY Times op-ed on the hate that dare not text its name: iPhone rejection -- Tuaw