Hasta La Gadget!

We’d been disappointed to find that iOS 4.2 only brought AirPlay video support to built-in Apple apps on the iPhone and iPad, but it looks like that’s changing soon — Apple just posted up the first iOS 4.3 beta, which allows devs to send video from apps or websites to an Apple TV. There’s also a new beta of the Apple TV software for testing it out — it doesn’t have any version notes, so we don’t know if it offers any additional features as well.

There are quite a few new features included in 4.3: personal hotspot is indeed included on the iPhone, although it needs to be enabled on the carrier side to work, and the iPad’s side switch can now be set back to being an orientation lock, which should make a lot of people very happy. The iPad also gains some multitouch multitasking gestures, which are pretty interesting, actually: you can use four or five fingers to pinch to the home screen, swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar, and swipe left or right between apps. We’re also seeing a new FaceTime icon on the iPod touch, which is nice, and 9to5 Mac noticed that the iPad now supports fullscreen iAd banners, which is less nice. Check after the break for a quick video of the iPad gestures.

Update: The Photos app has also gained new AirPlay functionality for photos and videos, and there’s a slightly tweaked camera shutter sound, as well as bigger app icons in the App Store’s Update menu.

[Thanks, Matt and Brian]

Continue reading iOS 4.3 beta arrives for devs, brings AirPlay video support to apps, personal hotspot and customizable iPad side switch (update: video!)

iOS 4.3 beta arrives for devs, brings AirPlay video support to apps, personal hotspot and customizable iPad side switch (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a little over 24 hours since Verizon announced it will be selling the iPhone 4 in February, and the accessories manufacturers are already jumping at the chance to sell their iPhone cases to new Verizon iPhone customers. Just how different will the AT&T iPhone case be from a Verizon iPhone case? That’s yet to be determined. That being said, Case-Mate has announced its line of Verizon iPhone accessories.

Its new line of cases will vary in a range of colors, textures, and materials. They’re not available for sale just yet, but you can sign up to get e-mail updates and arrival notifications when they are.

Some of the cases look familiar, like the Vroom, and the Gelli, but there are many new designs that are sure to tickle your fancy. Personally, I like the Waddler and the Monsta.

You can see the complete list of products after the jump

Now, wait. Don’t just write Dokobots off because you hate Foursquare… this one has robots! While we’ve seen plenty of similar uses for geolocation, Dokobots operates as a sort of global scavenger hunt, with the ability to ‘scan’ the map of your surrounding area for items needed to charge up and repair your little robots. So far, we haven’t gotten up the steam to walk the block and a half to pick up the batteries we need, but there’s also a magnet tool for the super lazy, and other Dokobots will ‘visit’ your location over time, allowing you to record and photograph those moments for posterity. While we can’t say yet if this game has staying power in our app catalog, it’s definitely adorable at first glance. Dokobots is a free application available now in iTunes.

Dokobots game for iOS brings together the inevitable: robots and geolocation originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s time to start penning the epilogue to the story of how Verizon and the iPhone came to be happily betrothed yesterday. We’ve already heard a good deal about how the last suitor failed to live up to expectations, but this report keeps the focus predominantly on the newlyweds and their courtship. The agreement came last year and was brokered by Verizon President Lowell McAdam and Apple COO Tim Cook, with input from CEOs Ivan Seidenberg and Steve Jobs (naturally), and though the commercial aspect only took about a day, the preceding technical hurdle was a six-to-nine months ordeal. That entailed putting Verizon cell towers at Apple HQ to check signal and avoid reliability troubles, as well as having Verizon’s Executive Director of Technology David McCarley work in Cupertino for more than a year. As for the rest of the deal, both parties agreed to share inside knowledge (Verizon’s network plans for Apple’s device plans — wouldn’t you like to know) and Verizon had to agree to a logo-free device. Which, given the sure-to-be mindblowing sales, probably isn’t a hard pill to swallow.

A brief and anecdotal history of the Verizon iPhone 4 deal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now that the country’s two biggest carriers have the country’s biggest smartphone, the question is, who’s next? After years of rumors and speculation, Verizon yesterday announced that it is finally going to offer the iPhone.

So, what about T-Mobile and Sprint. Would they be interested in carrying Apple’s wildly popular handset? In a word, “yes.” T-Mobile USA’s new CEO Philipp Humm told The Seattle Times , “We would be interested in offering the iPhone, but ultimately it is Apple’s decision.” Apple, naturally, didn’t respond to a follow up question.

T-Mobile recently sent out a press invite for an upcoming event. Wishful thinking, perhaps?