Oct 11

Apple Wins Trademark for ‘There’s an App for That’

Posted in: Apple, ios, Miscellaneous, Today's Chili

Apple’s “There’s an app for that” slogan is so catchy that it’s endlessly parroted by the media, so it’s understandable why the company would request a trademark for the phrase. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently complied.

Just last week the U.S. PTO awarded Apple with the “There an app for that” trademark, which the Cupertino company filed for in December 2009. The trademark covers usage of the phrase in relation to retail store services featuring computer software and services.

In other words, the trademark won’t end the cheesy “There’s an app for that” jokes we see in blog posts and articles almost every day. (Glancing at the list below, you’ll see we’re guilty of the crime as well.) But it will prevent competing tech companies from pilfering the phrase for similar products.

Apple in 2009 started using the phrase “There’s an app for that” in TV ads to show off the multitude of apps available for iOS devices through its popular App Store, which opened July 2008. The App Store now serves over 250,000 apps for iPads, iPhones and iPod Touch devices.

From TUAW

See Also:

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com


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Oct 09

Limera1n jailbreaks the iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 4.1, angers dev community and neuters one of our phones (video)

Posted in: Apple, hack, hacked, Hacks, hands-on, ios, ipad, iPhone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, jailbreak, mod, mods, Today's Chili, video

Looking for a jailbreak for your iPod touch or iPhone running iOS 4.1? Your chariot is named limera1n — assuming you’re willing to risk your device on a software developer showdown. The infamous Geohot just upstaged the iPhone Dev Team and Chronic Dev Team by releasing a reportedly buggy beta exploit of his own, which you can find at our download link immediately below. It only works on Windows at the moment, hacks only official releases and iPhone 3GS isn’t supported right now, and it claims to be an unpatchable, untethered release for those of you who appreciate what those terms mean.

As you can imagine, rival developers aren’t terribly happy that Geohot’s back in the limelight. MuscleNerd (of the iPhone Dev Team) claims that limera1n will re-lock iPhones that were unlocked by his team’s ultrasn0w software, and recommends you skip limera1n, but the main reason the iOS hacking community is angry at Geohot is because if more than one exploit is released simultaneously, Apple can fix them both in one fell swoop. By releasing first, Geohot has allegedly forced other teams to decide between the good of iPhone users over the short term (by releasing a different, more stable exploit) or over the long term (by saving their exploit for future use) and so far it looks like both teams have chosen to prolong the fight — the iPhone Dev Team is asking folks to withhold its Shatter exploit, and Chronic Dev Team says it will modify its greenpois0n jailbreak to use Geohot’s hack instead. What a weird, wild world we live in.

Update: How might this work on an iPad, given that beta versions of iOS (like 4.2) aren’t currently supported? Good question. We’ve struck all references to iPad accordingly, until the powers that be figure it out.

Update 2: Video after the break! Also, we’re hearing that some folks have jailbroken their iPads successfully with limera1n, and we personally got it working quickly on a pair of iPhones with iOS 4.1… but one of the two was missing icons upon restart and didn’t regain App Store, Maps, Game Center and Calendar even after a restore. Be careful, now!

Sam Sheffer contributed to this report.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Limera1n jailbreaks the iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 4.1, angers dev community and neuters one of our phones (video)

Limera1n jailbreaks the iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 4.1, angers dev community and neuters one of our phones (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Oct 2010 18:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 09

Yahoo messenger coming to iPhone and Android with cross-platform 3G video calls

Posted in: Android, ios, iPhone, Today's Chili, Yahoo

You’ll be seeing a lot more of the good ol’ Yahoo smiley on front-facing cameraphones soon — the web portal’s VP of Mobile David Katz says that a new Yahoo! Messenger with cross-platform video chat is headed to Android and iPhone. Originally confirmed for the new T-Mobile myTouch, it’s presently been submitted to the iTunes App Store for review. It’ll reportedly work over both 3G and WiFi connections and freely conduct video calls with any other device running Yahoo! Messenger, including webcam-equipped PCs. Look out Qik, Fring and Tango — there’s a new sheriff in town.

Yahoo messenger coming to iPhone and Android with cross-platform 3G video calls originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Oct 2010 17:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 07

PCD’s $99 wireless streaming adapter will beam iOS or older-gen iPod nano content onto your TV

Posted in: Apple, ios, ipad, iPhone, ipod, iPod Nano, ipod touch, IpodTouch, stream, streaming, Today's Chili

In case you’ve got some fundamental issue with Apple’s upcoming AirPlay, or just a fifth-gen iPod nano you’re unwilling to part with, here’s a handy little adapter for you. Produced by Cywee and likely to be sold for around $99 by PCD in the US, this RF streamer plugs straight into your iDevice’s dock connector and then beams video, pictures, games and the like over to its nearby base station, which in turn hooks up to your television by a set of RGB cables. Any app that utilizes Apple’s video output API is a candidate for having its visuals sent over, though resolution is unfortunately capped at 480p and you’ll need line of sight at a distance of no more than 15 feet for everything to work correctly. Just to make sure we’re all appropriately underwhelmed by its current product, Cywee promises an 802.11n WiFi variant that’ll handle 1080p and output via HDMI for next year. Great, we’ll just wait for that one, why don’t we?

Continue reading PCD’s $99 wireless streaming adapter will beam iOS or older-gen iPod nano content onto your TV

PCD’s $99 wireless streaming adapter will beam iOS or older-gen iPod nano content onto your TV originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 06

If You Had to Get a Smartphone Today, Which Would You Buy? [Question]

Posted in: Android, Apple, ios, iPhone, Smartphones, stats, Today's Chili, top

Maybe you just recently bought the phone of your dreams. Maybe you’re due for an upgrade. In any event, the phone you coveted six months ago is probably not the one you’re coveting now. So which would you buy today? More »

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Oct 05

Google Goggles reaches the App Store, only supported on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4

Posted in: Apple, augmented reality, AugmentedReality, Google, ios, iPhone, Software, Today's Chili, video

We can’t exactly figure out why Google wants to give away all of Android’s competitive advantages, but hey, we doubt the legions of iOS users are kvetching. Ten months after the first public build of Goggles hit the Android Market, the same app is now making waves on the iPhone. Rather than being a standalone app, Goggles is being wrapped into a new version of the Google Mobile App; users simply tap on the camera button to search using Goggles. As you’ve come to expect, it’ll analyze the image and highlight any object it recognizes, allowing Retina Display fanboys to touch on said objects to learn more. It’ll be rolling out free of charge to App Stores worldwide today, but since it requires an auto-focusing camera, it’s supported only on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 running iOS 4 or above. The pain of progress, we guess.

[Thanks, Mark]

Continue reading Google Goggles reaches the App Store, only supported on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4

Google Goggles reaches the App Store, only supported on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 05

Android is number one OS among US phone buyers over the last six months

Posted in: Android, BlackBerry, ios, market, market share, marketshare, mobile os, MobileOs, Smartphones, statistics, stats, Today's Chili

BlackBerry OS? Dead! iOS? Dead! Symbian? Never stood a chance. Android’s exponential growth has today been illustrated by Nielsen‘s statisticians who present us with the above chart of recent US smartphone purchases. It shows that over the six months leading up to August 2010, 32 percent of American new phone buyers had grabbed themselves a device with Google’s OS on board, which is comfortably ahead of RIM at 26 percent and Apple at 25 percent. These results corroborate NPD’s figures on the matter — which peg Android at 33 percent of new US purchases — and reiterate the idea that Android is headed to a place whose name starts with D and ends with omination. One more chart showing total market share can be found after the break (hint: BlackBerry still reigns supreme overall).

Continue reading Android is number one OS among US phone buyers over the last six months

Android is number one OS among US phone buyers over the last six months originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 05

CineXPlayer adds iPhone and iPod touch to its Xvid party list, still won’t cook your popcorn

Posted in: Apple, hands-on, ios, iPhone, IphoneApp, ipod touch, IpodTouch, Today's Chili

Remember how NXP Software surprised the world with its CineXPlayer iPad app just two months ago? Well, the gang is back to give our iPhone (3GS and 4) and iPod touch (3rd and 4th gen) the same dose of Xvid goodness. Like its older sibling, this $1.99 CineXPlayer utilizes the same method for easily sideloading your AVI files via iTunes (under the iDevice’s Apps tab), and you’ll also find a familiar-looking interface topped with an extra rotation-lock button — much more useful than iOS’ native lock that only lets you watch in portrait mode. Alas, video files other than of Xvid and DivX nature aren’t currently supported, but hopefully it won’t be long before the VLC iPad app gets a smaller variant as well.

Gallery: CineXPlayer for iPhone and iPod touch

CineXPlayer adds iPhone and iPod touch to its Xvid party list, still won’t cook your popcorn originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 04:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 03

Hacker claims third-party iPhone apps can freely transmit UDID, pose serious threat to privacy

Posted in: Apple, AppleIphone, gps, ios, iPhone, privacy, Today's Chili

When Apple addressed a congressional inquiry on privacy in July, the company claimed that it couldn’t actually track a particular iPhone in real time, as its transactions were anonymous and thoroughly randomized. Bucknell University network admin Eric Smith, however, theorizes that third-party application developers and advertisers may not have the same qualms, and could be linking your device to your name (and even your location) whenever they transmit data. Smith, a two-time DefCon wardriving champ, studied 57 top applications in the iTunes App Store to see what they sent out, and discovered that some fired off the iPhone’s UDID and personal details in plaintext (where they can ostensibly be intercepted), including those for Amazon, Chase Bank, Target and Sam’s Club, though a few were secured with SSL. Though UDIDs are routinely used by apps to store personal data and combat piracy, what Smith fears is that a database could be set up linking these UDIDs to GPS coordinates or GeoIP, giving nefarious individuals or organizations knowledge of where you are.

It’s a scary idea, but before you direct hate Apple’s way, it’s important to note that Cupertino’s not necessarily the one to blame. iOS is arguably the best at requiring users to opt-in to apps that perform GPS tracking; transmitting the UDID and account information together publicly is strictly against the rules; and we’d like to think that if users provide their personal information to an application developer in the first place, they’d understand what they’re doing. Of course, not all users monitor those things closely, and plaintext transmission of personal details is obviously a big no-no.

Smith’s piece opens and closes on the idea that Apple’s UDID is like the unique identifier of Intel’s Pentium III processor, which generated privacy concerns around the turn of the century, and we wonder if ths story might play out the same way — following government inquiries, Intel offered a software utility that let individuals manually disable their chip’s unique ID, and removed it from future CPUs.

Hacker claims third-party iPhone apps can freely transmit UDID, pose serious threat to privacy originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Oct 2010 19:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 01

BlindType acquired by Google, Android typists grin uncontrollably

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, Apple, business, Google, GoogleAndroid, industry, ios, ipad, iPhone, keyboard, Software, Today's Chili

The note’s short and sweet, but it confirms that Google‘s buying spree is still on — BlindType was just acquired by the Big G. If you’ll recall, we were wowed back in July by the software’s ability to predict words regardless of how text was inputted, and it seems as if a few bigwigs within Google were as well. It’s unclear what Google’s Android team plans to do with its newfound IP, but you shouldn’t have to strain your imagination too hard to hazard a guess. As for the BlindType team? They’re “excited to join Google, and look forward to the great opportunities for mobile innovation that lie ahead.” Likewise, folks… likewise.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

BlindType acquired by Google, Android typists grin uncontrollably originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 20:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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