Hasta La Gadget!

Whoops. It seems that not even the mighty Ellen DeGeneres is immune to the influence of Apple’s PR reach. A day after running a fake iPhone ad mocking the handset’s usability, the talk show host issued an apology. “A lot of people found it funny,” DeGeneres says in the clip. “You know who didn’t find it funny? Apple.”

DeGeneres spends the remainder of the segment talking about how much she appreciates the company and all of its products–the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, even going so far as to extend her appreciation to IHOP. You know, just in case.

Seems like a harsh reaction to a pretty benign spoof. This looks like a job for Oprah.

[Via Engadget.]

Apple continues to push iPhone OS 4 towards release with a new beta update. The update, available to iPhone developers only, adds a few new features which are worth a look.

First is a screen orientation lock. Unlike the iPad’s dedicated hardware button, the iPhone adds an extra on-screen button to the little dock that pops up when you double-tap the home button. This is the “multi-tasking” dock that also lets you switch between open applications. Right now, the new button lets you lock the screen in portrait mode only.

The iPod buttons have also moved to this control strip, and we presume that they replace the dialog panel which pops up when you double-tap the home button in the current iPhone OS. You also get a button to access the iPod app.

Finally, when the multi-tasking tray is open, you’ll see a button on each app that lets you quit it. This looks a lot like a task manager. I’d be constantly worrying that there were too many applications open, sucking my battery.

It looks a little ugly, but to be fair this is still beta, and Apple is likely still working through the best way to do things. These new buttons are accessed in the same way as the search screen on the current iPhone: Once you have accessed the dock, you swipe to the right to reveal this new panel. At least this part make sense, although the once-simple iPhone OS looks to be getting a lot more complicated.

iPhone OS 4 Beta 3 Available, First Details [Mac Stories via Mac Rumors and 9to5 Mac]

Apple may have pulled iPhone OS 4 beta 3 soon after it went live, but we’re living recklessly — and hey, is that a set of iPod controls and a screen orientation lock hiding out in the app switcher? The control is accessed by swiping to the far left, and it all does pretty much what you’d expect. That’s good news, since we were missing the old pop-up iPod controls pretty badly. We’re hunting around for more new stuff, we’ll let you know if we find anything.

iPhone OS 4 beta 3 brings iPod widgets to the dock originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 May 2010 18:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the launch of the next iPhone only a month or two away and the shape of the 4G iPhone changed from the 3GS (according to Gizmodo), isn’t this a bad time to introduce a high-end iPhone case? MoGo doesn’t think so. It just announced the MoGo Talk XD for the iPhone 3G and 3GS, a case and a Bluetooth headset in one. Get it and you’ll always have a wireless headset close at hand.

The included headset includes a “SoundShape” design that contours to your ear, and delivers more than 15dB of passive noise cancellation. It’s good for 4 hours of talk time on a charge, or 72 hours of standby time. You can pick the set up for $129 at the MoGo Store.

You might not be aware of this but the official Chinese iPhone offered by China Unicom since October 2009 doesn’t include WiFi — part of the reason for a continued Chinese grey market for iPhones sourced from neighboring countries. Now we’re seeing a China-approved 3G / GSM / Bluetooth device from Apple capable of using China’s homegrown WAPI (WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure) protocol. The new device — presumably a 4th generation iPhone — will join Dell’s Mini 3i as one of a few foreign handsets to feature the Chinese national standard for WLAN. See the 26 April approved regulatory filing after the break.

Update: The reference to “A1303” in the chinese language filing means this is likely a WAPI version of the iPhone 3GS, not a 4th gen device.

Continue reading Chinese iPhone approved with WAPI WiFi

Chinese iPhone approved with WAPI WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 May 2010 03:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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