Jun 30

Gresso gussies up iPhone 4 with rare wooden veneer

Posted in: Apple, AppleIphone, expensive, iPhone, luxury, Today's Chili

From the front it looks like any other iPhone 4, but flip it around and a glint might catch your eye — that’s the doing of Russian technology tailor Gresso, who’s embedded Swarovski crystals and an 18-karat golden Apple logo in a sheet of African Blackwood attached to the device. As usual, one wonders why anyone would bother, but honestly we can’t complain — the design is worlds more tasteful than the solid gold and diamond-encrusted contraptions we’re used to seeing. Expect the dainty dillantante to arrive in December at a surprisingly reasonable $3,500, or $3,000 for the male-targeted version at right. Of course, if you’ve got that kind of money to spend, you want one now, right? Good news: the iPhone 3GS gets the same luxurious treatment — and price — in July.

[Thanks, Bob]

Gresso gussies up iPhone 4 with rare wooden veneer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 29

Hulu Plus preview arrives in iTunes App Store, Flash be damned

Posted in: Apple, flash, hulu, ipad, ipod touch, IpodTouch, Today's Chili

The free Hulu Plus app just hit the iTunes App store, kids, with the promise of 720p streaming over WiFi or 3G to iOS devices including the iPad, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and 3rd generation iPod touch. They’re calling it a “limited preview” release that will ultimately require a $10 per month subscription on top of the commercials you’re forced to watch. Oh, and it’s still restricted to US-only viewership. Well, at least the Flash barrier has been removed. Huzzah?

[Thanks, MT H.]

Hulu Plus preview arrives in iTunes App Store, Flash be damned originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 25

The Jimmy Fallon Test: is the iPhone 4 dropping fewer calls?

Posted in: Apple, exclusive, iPhone, Today's Chili

If you watched the most recent episode of The Engadget Show, then you know that Jimmy Fallon had a lot to say about the iPhone — particularly the fact that he’s been fed up with his 3GS’ dropped calls, and was planning a jump to an Android device on Verizon if the iPhone 4 didn’t improve things. You see, he takes a path through Midtown Manhattan where his calls are dropped in two specific locations on a daily basis. In his words: “It cuts out at 27th st. and cuts out again around 47th st., and it’s awful, I can’t take it.” Jimmy told us that he’d test the path with the iPhone 4 and see if things improved, and he’s recounted what happened yesterday in an email:

I did the experiment. I tried to stay on the phone from downtown Manhattan to Midtown with no dropped calls. (usually I get 2 drops)

I got….. (drum roll)

No dropped calls!!! Not one.

I’m a believer.

iPhone 4.

So like us, he’s getting better reception on the new phone (despite the antenna issues). What about you guys? We know that there are definitely noticeable, real signal issues, but how has your connection been? More dropped calls or less? Let us know in the poll below!

View Poll

The Jimmy Fallon Test: is the iPhone 4 dropping fewer calls? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 22

PwnageTool 4.0 hacktivation is go for iOS 4

Posted in: Apple, hack, iPhone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, ipod touch, IpodTouch, jailbreak, Today's Chili

You waited patiently for the Dev-Team to pull together all the developer betas and now it’s time for your reward: PwnageTool 4.0 has been released. The latest hack from team jailbreak works with previously jailbroken iPhone 3GS devices with the old bootrom, all iPhone 3G models, and yes, the second generation iPod touch too. It doesn’t work with the original iPhone and other iPod touch models and, as always, there are plenty of caveats and bold print warnings to heed. But if you manage to weave your way into a jailbroken device (as we did with our iOS 4 iPhone 3G using redsn0w) then the latest copy of ultrasn0w will now unlock all basebands released since 04.26.08, including the updated version found in iOS 4. So get cracking kids, and remember, buckle up, back up, and be safe.

Update: 4.01 has already been released to fix an iBook issue.

PwnageTool 4.0 hacktivation is go for iOS 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 22

New iPhone 3GS 8GB features redesigned box with iOS 4

Posted in: Apple, att, iPhone, Today's Chili

Couldn’t very well have an iPhone for sale showing an outdated version of the operating system, now, could you? Just wouldn’t be civilized.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

New iPhone 3GS 8GB features redesigned box with iOS 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 21

Apple rolls out iBooks app for iPhone, iPod touch

Posted in: Apple, ebooks, ipad, iPhone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, ipod touch, IpodTouch, Today's Chili
It’s not just multitasking apps that are hitting the App Store to coincide with the release of iOS 4.0 — Apple has also just rolled out version 1.1 of its iBooks app, which is now available for the iPhone and iPod touch in addition to the iPad (officially, this time). As previously announced, the app now also supports PDF viewing, and boasts a range of other more minor improvements, including new ways to bookmark (complete with syncing across devices), your choice of white or sepia colored pages, more font options and, of course, “greater stability and better performance.”

Apple rolls out iBooks app for iPhone, iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 06

Yep, the iPhone runs Android 2.2, too

Posted in: Android, Apple, diy, froyo, Google, hack, iPhone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, Today's Chili, video
Sure, we might be seeing some big changes to the iPhone tomorrow, but what if you could see some big changes on your very own iPhone, today? Well, you can if you’re brave enough to try installing Android on your iPhone, which we’ve seen done before, but not with Android 2.2 (otherwise more deliciously known as Froyo). Still not convinced that such a thing is possible? Then head on past the break for the video evidence, and hit up the link below for the complete, not-for-the-faint-of-heart instructions for performing the feat yourself.

P.S. Of course, “runs” isn’t exactly the same as “runs well.” The iPhone in the video apparently got noticeably hot after five minutes of use, and there’s some issues with Android not recognizing little things like WiFi or the phone’s GPU.

Continue reading Yep, the iPhone runs Android 2.2, too

Yep, the iPhone runs Android 2.2, too originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Jun 2010 21:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 04

iWebcamera lets you ditch your webcam for an iPhone

Posted in: Apple, iPhone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, Mac, Today's Chili, Windows

Drahtwerk’s iWebcamera iPhone app was actually released late last week but it, ironically, only worked with a Windows-based PC. The company has now finally rectified that situation with some Mac drivers, however, which will at last let use your iPhone as a webcam for your Mac just like you’ve always wanted. We haven’t yet had a chance to try it out ourselves, but you can grab the app yourself from the App Store right now for $4.99, and snag the Mac drivers from the company’s website linked below.

[Image credit: Brian]

iWebcamera lets you ditch your webcam for an iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 03

New iPhone Data Plans: Is 200MB Enough?

Posted in: att, iPhone, iphone 3g, Today's Chili
popup graph.jpg
AT&T just swapped out its smartphone plans for
new, lower-priced but lower-capacity plans. iPhone and other smartphone owners
have a choice between a 200MB plan for $15/month and a 2GB plan for $25,
instead of their old 5 GB plan for $30.

Since AT&T says the vast majority of phone users fit into these plans, we
decided to check by charting the data usage of six of PCMag.com’s iPhone users
for the past six months.

In our quick survey, we found that 200MB just isn’t enough for a tech-savvy
iPhoner, but 2GB definitely is. None of our users went over 500 MB in a month.
(Apparently, nobody’s streaming Pandora or YouTube on their phones all day.)
But several of our staffers consistently went over 200 MB.  All of the users had either an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS.

Apparently, one of the things we didn’t count on was
how much people use Wi-Fi. Our staffers generally have Wi-Fi networks both at
home and in the office, and that really cuts down on cellular data usage. You
can watch all the YouTube you want without it hitting your bill, if you’re
using Wi-Fi.

The real danger for iPhone users on the new plans, though, comes with the new
tethering feature. It may be tough to hit 2GB using your phone alone. But with
a laptop? No problem. 


Additional insight provided by Sascha Segan.
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May 30

Netflix for iPad hacked and running on iPhone (update: disabled)

Posted in: hack, hacked, ipad, iPhone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, jailbreak, netflix, Today's Chili

How desperate are you to get Netflix running on your iPhone? Desperate enough to jailbreak, grab frameworks from your iPad, and do some plist hacking? If the answer to those questions is “yes,” then the folks at ModMyi have something they’d like to show you. According to the site, a tipster has been able to get the video streaming service up and playing on an iPhone by making what appears to be fairly simple changes to his device; namely, boosting the iPad’s MediaPlayer.framework and altering plist settings once the app was installed on his phone. It’s not all wine and roses, as using Netflix where it’s not supposed to be used causes a massive battery drain (go figure), and there are issues with crashing and 3G playback (two more unsurprising problems). Still, it can be done, and this is just the start — so if you want to get in on the party (and maybe even help out a little bit), hit the read link and see what it’s all about.

Update: Cody tells us the powers that be have already disabled this little gem of a workaround. We have to hand it to you, powers that be — that was mighty quick for a Memorial Day weekend.

[Thanks, Cody]

Netflix for iPad hacked and running on iPhone (update: disabled) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 May 2010 13:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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