Apple has equipped some of its developers with the tools needed to begin authoring iPhone applications that can receive data over the internet, like instant messages, even when they're not running.
Apple has significantly improved upon last year's original iPhone while extending many of the benefits of its newest model to existing users in the form of the iPhone 2.0 software update. AppleInsider's week-long "Inside iPhone 2.0" series will present a detailed analysis and review of the iPhone 3G, the 2.0 software, the App Store, and push messaging. This first segment looks at the iPhone 3G hardware itself, what's new and different, what's bad, and what's missing. A followup segment on hardware will look how the new iPhone 3G compares to other smartphones, and whether it's worth the upgrade for existing iPhone users.
Some early adopters of Apple's second-generation iPhone have witnessed thin cracks appear at the edges of the device that damage the phone's look and threaten to pose a larger threat down the road.
A simple reference in the beta of Apple's latest firmware could hint at a significant remake of the iPod touch. Also, Microsoft has posted the controversial "blind taste test" videos that promote an improved Vista, and a Wyoming county's schools will receive 3,000 MacBooks.
Blackberry maker Research In Motion is reported to be readying Thunder, its answer to Apple's iPhone, for an October release alongside a partnership with Real's Rhapsody music service.
Rogers Wireless said Tuesday it wasn't expecting the opportunity to market the iPhone to its Canadian customers this year, but jumped at Apple's sudden offer with a commitment to purchase at least $150 million worth of the handsets.
All of Apple's US retail outlets are now in a permanent launch mode and will open as much as two hours earlier each day to accommodate the unprecedented demand for the new iPhone. Also, at least some locations are now giving customers rainchecks for the day's iPhone 3G stock.
Taking the matter head-on, Apple is now fully acknowledging the problems it's had with MobileMe in the past two weeks as well as the attempts to fix it — to the point where company chief Steve Jobs is involved.
One developer burning the midnight oil has stumbled upon references to copy and paste in the frameworks of Apple's first beta of iPhone Software 2.1, potentially offering new hope for one of the most requested and conspicuously absent features of the company's mobile software.
Two weeks after it launched on July 11, the iPhone 3G is still hard to find in the US. Many Apple retail stores have no supplies at all, leaving buyers to track down the stores that do have remaining stock and wait in slow moving lines that stretched out for five hours.
AT&T said Wednesday that sales of Apple's iPhone 3G during the first twelve days were nearly double that of last year, this despite shortages that have seen backorders stretch one to three weeks at its retail stores.
AT&T has developed a software trick that will let modern mobile handsets, including Apple Inc's iPhone, recognize voice commands without the need for specialized voice recognition software.
With the iPhone 3G not even ten days old, virtually all of the Apple retail store stores open within the United States are without any examples of the device to sell on July 21st.
The well-known iPhone Dev Team has released one of the first utilities to jailbreak iPhone 3G and let it run unsanctioned apps, albeit one with more than a few catches.
While iPhone 3G itself is hard to buy, those who do own the new handset are reporting a number of common problems that range from crash-prone third-party apps to lag, Bluetooth, and GPS.
After months of confusion and a couple of false starts, AT&T formally announced Friday that iPhone owners in the United States can now access free of charge its nation-leading Wi-Fi network comprised of more than 17,000 hotspots.
Apple promised that iPhone 3G and its iPhone 2.0 software would be more suited to business, but a severe shortage of the device could force companies to wait as long as two weeks before they see their orders, and is forcing many home customers to go without at the same time.
Although it believes Research In Motion's dominance of the enterprise market remains secure for the time being, Needham & Co. downgraded shares of the BlackBerry maker this week, explaining that the same cannot be said for its primary growth driver of the past two years — the consumer market.
Existing iPhone owners moving to Apple's new iPhone 3G should expect an approximate 50 percent reduction in battery life when using the new handset in 3G mode to browse the web and perform other Internet-related functions, a series of tests show.
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Sam Oliver
Prince McLean
Katie Marsal
Aidan Malley
Slash Lane
AppleInsider Staff
