iPhone 4 News

The Original iPhone Film Festival Set To Announce Grand Prize Winner At Macworld Expo Featured Event

The Original iPhone Film Festival will announce the Grand Prize winning film at the Macworld|iWorld Expo in San Francisco on January 26th, 2012. OIFF Founders Corey Rogers & Matt Dessner will be joined by Macworld Magazine Editorial Director Jason Snell on the Macworld LIVE! stage at 3p PST to discuss iPhone filmmaking and showcase some of the short iPhone films from its inaugural competition. The session will be live streamed on both macworld.com and ustream.tv

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CounterPath,Vidtel Extend Cloud Video Conferencing to iPhone

The high upfront cost of video conferencing can be a significant hurdle to small to medium-size businesses (SMBs) looking to invest in video conferencing infrastructure, and so they often have to make do with consumer-grade services such as Google Hangouts or Skype. To help bridge the gap between these services and expensive telepresence solutions, CounterPath and Vidtel announced they are providing an affordable mobile video conferencing alternative via interoperability between their products.

CounterPath’s Bria is a carrier-grade application that enables unified voice and video calling, messaging, and presence management across multiple platforms and endpoints. Vidtel’s MeetMe is a cloud-based service that enables any-to-any video conferencing between room-based systems, executive desktop video systems, PCs/Macs, smartphones and tablets using any combination of SIP, H.323 and other technologies. With Bria installed on PCs or Apple’s iPhone, MeetMe can be accessed over the Internet via a wired Ethernet connection, WiFi or while connected over 3G/4G/LTE or WiMax mobile networks.

Interoperability between CounterPath’s Bria softphone for PCs and mobile devices and Vidtel’s MeetMe service offers users a cross-platform, multi-standards based alternative to other services, offering multi-endpoint video conferencing that interoperates with the installed base of room-based systems and executive desktop products, as well as with all versions of Bria for Macs and PCs and the recently updated Bria mobile for iPhones, which now includes video. Bria for Macs and PCs can be purchased from the CounterPath online store and the Mac App Store, while Bria mobile is available through the iTunes App Store.

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New iPhone App Helps Minnesota Fans Go ‘Wild’

The Minnesota Wild and AT&T* are proud to announce their new Minnesota Wild App for iPhone is now available on the App Store, delivering an interactive experience that fans can enjoy while rooting on their favorite team — from their seat at the Xcel Energy Center, at home or on the go.

Using the arena’s Wi-Fi, the Minnesota Wild App enhances the fan experience during games at Xcel Energy Center with a number of unique features, including:

Food Ordering: Hungry fans can use this interactive feature to locate vendors throughout the Xcel Energy Center and even place food orders from their seats and be notified by text when their order is ready to be picked up. Xcel Energy Center is the first venue in the Twin Cities market to use this technology.

Live In-Stadium Instant Replays: Minnesota Wild fans attending a game at the Xcel Energy Center can access instant replays not shown on TV or the center-hung scoreboard.

Fan Zone: This feature provides integrated social networking that lets users inside the arena join groups, post updates and more.

Arena Guide: This venue map helps fans find what amenities are near their seats.

Additional features that are available to fans inside or outside the arena include:

Team Information and News: Sports fans at home and at the Xcel Energy Center can stay on top of their team with a player roster, stats and news right at their fingertips.

Access to Social Networking Sites: Easy access to the Minnesota Wild on Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare.

Events Calendar: Fans inside and outside the arena have access to a calendar of sponsored events at the arena.

MyWildNet: Games, arena information, replays and more can be accessed via the app.

“The Minnesota Wild App allows Wild fans to follow their team at an unprecedented level,” said Jim Ibister, Vice President, Facility Administration/General Manager, Saint Paul RiverCentre. “Whether at Xcel Energy Center or at home, fans can stay connected with latest Wild news and statistics at the touch of a fingertip.”

The Minnesota Wild App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone or at www.itunes.com/appstore .

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3 Free iPhone Apps You’ll Be Glad You Have

When friends look at all the apps I have on my iPhone (about 260 at last count) they openly wonder why I have them all. I often wonder that myself. The answer is simple: I’m lazy.

I have them because I research and actually use an app before I talk about it my columns, then I get busy with something else and forget to purge the app. Often, however, I find the app is actually useful and I’ll keep it intending to play with it some more, but the opportunity to do so seldom comes. So, they accumulate.

I do have a core group of apps that I use a lot, depending on the device. On my iPhone that core group includes many of the apps that came with my iPhone even though I own arguably better alternatives. They are: iMessage/SMS, Photos, Safari, Maps, Music, Calendar, and Contacts. The other core apps include Camera+ , Instagram, and eWeather HD. Everything else I could probably live without, but there is another group of apps that I don’t use nearly as often, but am glad I have. They are those that are sometimes fun, often useful, and free. Here’s three such apps that I believe should sit on your iPhone and collect virtual dust until you need them, but you may be surprised how often you’ll dust them off.

Glympse: With iOS 5 and iCloud, Apple gave us Find My Friends, an interesting app that lets you and your friends and family keep track of each other. Apple wisely chose not to make this a built-in feature, given how rightfully touchy people can be about their privacy. Even if you have the app you don’t have to let people know your whereabouts. But there are times when you do want people to easily locate you. Maybe you’re meeting friends and you want them to know where you are waiting. If those in your group allow it you can see where they are, and they can see where you are. No one has to waste time searching for each other.

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Will the iPhone 5 work on T-Mobile?

Talking at CES 2012, Neville Ray, CTO of T-Mobile USA, says that an AWS-compatible iPhone might be coming soon. According to him, the current lack of T-Mobile support goes back to the fact that the various iterations of the iPhone radio chip have never supported the AWS band that T-Mobile USA uses. He believes that with the current and next generation radio chipsets all supporting AWS, Apple will likely include support for the band, making it possible for the next iPhone — the iPhone 5 — to operate on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network.

A little background research reveals that there has been an iPhone that included a radio chipset that supported AWS, but it was not capable of connecting to networks on AWS due to additional hardware factors. The Verizon iPhone 4 uses Qualcomm’s MDM6600 (part of the Gobi 3000 series), which Qualcomm has declared does support the AWS band for HSPA+. In fact, the Qualcomm MDM6600 is a tri-mode cellular radio chip, supporting GSM+EDGE, HSPA+, and CDMA2000 1X with EV-DO. However, the rest of the radio structure only supported CDMA2000 on the Cellular and PCS bands used by Verizon.

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iPhone 5 may be slimmer than previous models, analyst says

Apple Inc. may use new touch-panel technology for an iPhone 5 with a thinner body than previous models and might introduce the product in the quarter ending in June, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty said.

The Cupertino, California-based company’s is also considering new casing materials for the iPhone, its best- selling product, according to Huberty, who has an “overweight” rating on Apple.

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CES 2012: Boost Revs Design For iPhone Battery Cases

The last time BYTE visited the subject of iPhone 4 battery cases, we discovered that three of the offerings reviewed were the identical case being offered under different brand names. One of those brands was Boost Case, the company that claims to have originally created the design that was eventually shared across other brands.

At a pre-CES press-only reception at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Boost Case announced the release of its newest battery extender; a patent-pending modular design that the company’s creative director James Requa says will separate Boost from the rest of the pack.

As can be seen in the embedded video below, Boost’s new design involves a two-piece case. One piece is a case that stays on the iPhone 4 or 4s all the time, forming a protective barrier for the device. The other piece includes a 1900 milliampere (mA) battery can be optionally snapped onto the first piece. The idea is that once the battery module is depleted, the user can either remove it from the iPhone to reduce the overall dimensions and weight of the device or he or she can swap in an additional (and previously charged) battery module. The implication is that a user can carry spare battery modules to make sure that their iPhone 4/4s stays powered through the day.

Requa claims that the 1900 mA will afford users about twice the usage they’d normally get out of an “unboosted” iPhone. But Requa was also careful to explain how mileage will vary. It largely depends on how hard the user pushes their iPhone in average daily usage.

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Angry iPhone users bring antitrust class action against Apple

Four American iPhone users have launched a class action suit against Apple over its exclusive deals with carriers in the country and the way it runs the App Store.

Apple partnered with US carrier AT&T when it first brought the Jesus-mobe to stores in 2007, in a five-year exclusivity agreement that tied users to an AT&T SIM card with no option to use another network.

The four plaintiffs* in the case are arguing that the restrictive partnership violates the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, because it didn’t give customers the “absolute legal right to modify their phones to use the network of their carrier of choice”.

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China Telecom to Get the iPhone?

China Telecom may soon become the second Chinese mobile carrier to offer the iPhone.

Both Apple and China Unicom, currently the country’s only carrier to offer the U.S. company’s smartphones, are scheduled to start selling the iPhone 4S in China on Friday, a move likely to further drive Apple’s growth in what has become a key market for the company.

Analysts expect that the version of the iPhone 4S due this week won’t work on China Telecom’s network. Just like AT&T and Verizon Wireless in the U.S., China Unicom and China Telecom use different wireless technologies. That means phones made for one usually don’t work on the other’s network.

But an Apple-made mobile phone that does use the same technology as China Telecom’s network has been approved by the national telecom regulator’s China Radio Management agency, which certifies radio-signal-emitting devices for use in the country, according to an agency website (in Chinese).

While the website only identifies the phone by a model number, A1387, it says the phone is compatible with “CDMA-2000,” the third-generation mobile technology used by China Telecom. An employee reached by phone at the agency on Monday confirmed that the device had been approved.

The approval doesn’t mean sales of the device are imminent. Mobile phones must also get other certifications, including a network access license, before being sold in China.

But it is a signpost. If Apple is indeed taking the phone through the usual regulatory steps, the process could be finished in a matter of weeks. Its completion would open the door to China Telecom partnering with Apple to offer the phone.

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New iPhone App Puts Happiness In The Palm Of Your Hand

Pittsford, New York – In an age of hyper digital inter-connectivity, mobile phones manage their owners’ lives by keeping them organized, plugged in, entertained and informed. However, for as tethered as everyone is to these modern mechanical marvels, are they doing anything to help anyone live a measurably happier life?

Cloud Nine – Combining iPhone Technology With Positive Psychology:
That’s precisely the question that prompted an Emotional Intelligence expert and a former tech CEO to create Cloud Nine. Now, smartphones can also act as centers for balance and well-being by combining iPhone technology and research of positive psychology in one simple happiness fostering iPhone app. Cloud Nine tracks 12 different elements related to well-being, including measurements of achievement, gratitude, kindness, exercise, sleep, mood and meditation. Plus, the app automatically and privately charts complex correlations between these traits and offers touch button tools such as a gratitude log and techniques to dispute pessimism and manage exercise – all in a user friendly package that takes little time to use.

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