Hasta La Gadget!

According to Danish political blog politiken.dk, all 179 members of the Danish Parliament and an unknown number of additional staffers got 16GB iPhone 3GS phones as their government-issue mobile device. The iPhone had previously been banned from the floor of Parliament after one staffer was busted updating her Facebook status 59 times during a floor debate that ran long.

Even so, like any company or organization that wants their employees to be in constant contact, the Danish Parliament did a review of available smartphones for its staff. They decided that the iPhone was the best device for their needs, and bought tons of them.

Whether the Danish Parliament will prohibit use of those shiny new iPhones during floor debates remains to be seen, and how they’re going to keep members of Parliament from downloading apps and games on the government’s dime is also unknown. One thing a number of Danish news sources noted that we can’t help but wonder about also: why did the Danes go with the iPhone 3GS over the iPhone 4? Maybe they were worried about the iPhone 4’s antenna, or heard rumors about the cracks in the glass?

[via TUAW]

One of the biggest complaints people have about the iPhone is the lack of a physical keyboard. It was one of the reasons people said the iPhone would never sell, and still one of the reasons why some people refuse to buy one.  Lot of people have complained about it, but ThinkGeek decided to do something with the launch of the TK-421 iPhone Case and Flip-Out Keyboard, invented and designed at ThinkGeek.

The TK-421 comes in two flavors, one for the iPhone 4 and one for the 3GS, and both of them keep your iPhone sides and back covered when you use the touch-screen or take calls, but when you want to type on the screen or send an e-mail, simply swivel your iPhone up and over the built-in keyboard hidden in the back of the case. The hinge on the side of the case has a magnetic clasp to keep it in place when open or shut, and pairs with your iPhone using Bluetooth so it can be used with any application.

The case features a rechargeable battery that can recharge via USB, and will start shipping in mid-November for $49.99. ThinkGeek isn’t taking pre-orders, but is taking sign-ups if you want to be notified when the TK-421 goes on sale.

Who knew that credit card processing would be the new hotness for smartphones? The Square mobile payment system has been making waves by letting small businesses receive credit card payment directly on their smartphones. Now, mophie and Intuit are looking to get in on the same action with their Complete Card Solution for iPhone. It’s a $179 package that includes both mophie’s card-swiping phone case and the 3.0 version of Intuit’s GoPayment app. After a quick application users are said to be approved (or, erm, declined) within 15 minutes and can immediately start accepting payments. Full details, including just how much users will be forking over in fees, after the break.

Continue reading Mophie and Intuit partner to create Complete Card Solution for iPhone, try to make Square look square

Mophie and Intuit partner to create Complete Card Solution for iPhone, try to make Square look square originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s the moment that many of you have been waiting for: the Dev-Team’s ultrasn0w carrier unlock for iPhone 4 is out. You’ll find version 1.0-1 of ultrasn0w in Cydia on jailbroken devices. If not, just add the repo666.ultrasn0w.com repository. It works for iPhone 4 baseband 01.59 and 3G/3GS basebands 04.26.08, 05.11.07, 05.12.01 and 05.13.04. If none of this makes sense then you’ve got no reason unlocking your device in the first place, buddy.

Update: No-nonsense video embedded after the break showing how to jailbreak and unlock. Easy peasy. [Thanks, Adam]

Continue reading iPhone 4 unlock available now (update: video!)

iPhone 4 unlock available now (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“An iPhone, an iPhone, my carrier’s reputation for an iPhone.” Grab a cup of coffee and get yourself comfortable, fans of behind-the-scenes industry drama. Wired has published an exhaustive and fascinating expose on the “loveless celebrity marriage” that is Apple and AT&T — all from sources familiar with the matters but who cannot (or will not) be named, of course. In other words, don’t take this as gospel, but frankly, none of this sounds too crazy or outside the realm of what we’ve already surmised ourselves. In brief, the two companies have been contentious towards one another since just after the iPhone was unveiled. For AT&T’s part, the carrier was reportedly taken aback when its requests (delivered by Senior VP Kris Rinne) to restrict YouTube’s bandwidth usage (or make it WiFi-only) while the network infrastructure was built up fell on deaf ears in Cupertino. Word has it Apple also refused to allow its devices to be used in campaigns to combat Verizon’s Map for That ads: “It was [effective] because of AT&T’s network. We would have been letting them use the iPhone to put lipstick on a pig,” remarked one anonymous Apple exec.

What’s most interesting to us here is the ongoing reported discussion to drop AT&T in favor for Verizon. That chapter apparently begins just months after the original’s launch, with an investigative team (including Scott Forstall) ultimately concluding that Qualcomm‘s CDMA (or CDMA / GSM hybrid) chips would require a complete redesign of the device, not to mention a nasty lawsuit with AT&T over its exclusive contract (perhaps a minor issue, knowing Apple). Back then, Verizon wasn’t seen as a guaranteed improvement, and according to one executive privy to such meetings, the carrier switch has been discussed at least a half dozen times, with the general consensus always being that it would “cause as many problems as it solved.” We can’t imagine this is gonna help stem the perpetual VZW iPhone rumor mill.

Hit up the source link for the full tale, which does hit on a fundamental issue of the mobile industry going forward: as smartphone makers continue to push their devices’ capabilities, bandwidth concerns will continue to grow and carriers are likely to take the majority of the blame. If you ask us, David Fincher has just found his ideal follow-up to The Social Network — we’d especially love to see someone film the part where AT&T asks Steve Jobs to ditch the turtleneck and wear a suit when meeting with its board of directors.

Apple discussed Verizon switch ‘at least half a dozen times,’ and other stories about its AT&T relationship originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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