Hasta La Gadget!

It’s been a long three weeks since iOS 6 beta 2 arrived to refine Apple’s next mobile OS, so it’s with some relief that beta 3 has just popped up as an over-the-air update. As always, the attention is on mending bugs and bringing the code closer to what an everyday iPad, iPhone or iPod touch owner will see when all is said and done. Those of us regular users pining for Passbook will still have a number of reasons to wait awhile before we can get our own direct taste in the fall — not the least of which is Apple’s recent clampdown on bootleg access.

[Thanks, Jamie]

Update: As MacRumors notes, this update also marks the beginning of the transition to iCloud.com email addresses.

Filed under: Cellphones

iOS 6 beta 3 winds its way to developers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that tall, mostly aluminum 2012 iPhone shell that appeared to have leaked? It’s back. This time, KitGuru has unearthed what it claims is a “test sample” with the glass front panel roughly intact. We’ve seen the darker steel sides, aluminum back and new dock connector before, but the front gives us a much better sense of how the finished product (if real) will turn out. Sitting next to an iPhone 4S, it’s suggested that the new model would stuff in that bigger screen more through a better use of the available area — there’s much less blank space than on the iPhones we’ve known since 2007. While we still don’t know for sure if the design shown here is close to what will go hand-in-hand with iOS 6 in the fall, we’re starting to see enough smoke that there’s bound to be a fire nearby.

Filed under: Cellphones

New 2012 iPhone body reportedly leaks, gives the glass front its time to shine originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 11:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has been chasing NFC patents for years, but it’s just now been granted a US patent for its own approach to a transportation check-in — one of the most common uses of the technology in the real world. The filing describes a theoretical iTravel app that would store reservation and ticket information for just about any vehicle and stop along the way: planes, trains and (rented) automobiles would just have the traveler tap an NFC-equipped device to hop onboard, and the hotel at the end of the line would also take credentials through a gentle bump. Besides the obvious paper-saving measures, iTravel could help skip key parts of the airport security line by providing passport information, a fingerprint or anything else screeners might want to see while we’d otherwise be juggling our suitcases.

It all sounds ideal, but before you start booking that trip to the South Pacific with ambitions of testing an NFC-equipped 2012 iPhone, remember this: the patent was originally filed in 2008. We clearly haven’t seen iTravel manifest itself as-is, and recent murmurs from the Wall Street Journal have suggested that Apple isn’t enthusiastic about the whole NFC-in-commerce idea even today. Still, with Passbook waiting in the wings, the patent can’t help but fuel speculation that Apple is getting more serious about an iPhone with near-field wireless in the future.

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation

Apple nabs patent for NFC-based travel check-in, doesn’t quell NFC iPhone rumors just yet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 11:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has been arguably more generous when it comes to software sneak peeks than it has been with hardware, but while dues-paying developers are given the go-ahead to download operating systems ahead of their release, consumers have had to sit tight until after each iteration hits GM status. Some internet entrepreneurs have taken it upon themselves to game Apple’s system, however, which until recently appeared to have been loosely guarded, with third parties selling beta access for years without intervention. iOS 6 is shaping up to be the end of the line — Apple has reportedly begun targeting businesses selling early access, citing copyright infringement and contacting hosting providers to shut down sales sites. The operations can be quite profitable, with income approaching six figures for iOS 6 alone, so it’s likely that we’ll see businesses open up shop under different domains in an attempt to continue to collect. Still, if you’re running such an operation of you’re own, it may be worth your while to peruse Apple’s non-disclosure agreement in full — a site shut down could be but the beginning of the company’s actions to control OS releases, and prevent third parties from illegally capitalizing on Cupertino’s creations.

Apple reportedly shutting down unauthorized third-party beta sales, restricts iOS 6 to licensed devs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 09:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Word on the street has it that Apple has started to kick off a legal procedure for copyright infringement towards a handful of websites which sell UDID numbers. Just what are UDID numbers? Well, they are necessary to install the iOS 6 beta without the need for a developer account with Apple. In addition, there is also a bunch of other websites in the wild that have been profiled recently, and it was alleged that Apple had already sent in a request for the hosting providers of the sites to take them down. Apple’s point of view is this – the services offered by these websites lean more towards copyright infringement than anything else, so under the whip of Apple’s legal standpoint, there is a very high chance that those sites will start to disappear.

I guess there was one particular loophole that those services took advantage of, where each registered iOS developer are able to generate up to a hundred UDID numbers, and these UDID numbers can be sold over to the general public. Basically, anyone with money are able to try out Apple’s latest mobile OS version without having to hand over a buck shy of a Benjamin for a developer’s account. Apparently, word on the street has it that one of the services have already earned around $75,000 to date, and its owner commented, “We do not believe our service was infringing and our services did not violate their guidelines for iOS 6”.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple updates Emoji collection in iOS 6, features homosexual couple, TomTom licenses maps data to Apple for iOS 6,