Yeah, this story is thin. iPod nano thin. But Wired (via MacRumors) is claiming that Apple recent Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard update gives netbooks running the software (aka Hackintoshs) a significant boost to battery life (up to 33%).

This has led to some speculation that Apple maybe — just maybe — built in better power management and other optimizations for lower end processors like the Intel Atom.

Of course, that type of speculation is but one tiny little step to yet more rumors of Apple preparing to launch a netbook-like laptop of their own (or perhaps a full own OS X iTablet).

Hope springs eternal… especially when spring is right before WWDC. TiPb’s still leaning towards a larger-screened iPod touch as being more likely, but what do you think?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Mac OS X 10.5.7 Optimized for Intel Atom Netbook/iTablet Class Processor?!

We typically don’t follow every little Apple or AT&T lawsuit that closely because, frankly, there are too many of them and the frivolity of some just harshens our collective mellow. Case in point, according to Apple Insider:

Apple, AT&T and several others have been named in a new patent infringement lawsuit, presumably for their connection to Shazam, a maker of music identification software distributed under the same name for the iPhone and several other mobile devices.

The suit was brought by Tune Hunter, Inc. Assuming their case has merit, why sue Apple and AT&T instead of focusing on the actual Shazam app in question? Tune Hunter claims it’s because the iPhone duo are contributing to the infringement. For our part, we couldn’t help but notice Apple especially is contributing towards having tons of money.

They’re also suing Samsung, Napster, Motorola, Gracenote, LG Electronics, Pantech Wireless, and Verizon.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple, AT&T Sued over… Shazam App Existing?

Our friend George over at WMExperts passed on the news that the long-time Windows Mobile developer SBSH has released their first iPhone app, SafeWallet ($5.99 - iTunes link)

SafeWallet is a secure storage application designed to help you manage all your private information in one secure solution! Use SafeWallet to store all kind of information, such as: credit cards information, online passwords, bank account info, registration codes, ATM PINs, emergency contacts and more

We know some of you savvy users are dual-wielding your iPhone (or iPod touch) with WinPho — or have maybe even replaced it completely — so if you want to bring some SBSH with you, let us know if this version helps restore your childlike sense of wonder…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick App: SBSH SafeWallet for iPhone

If it’s May, it must be pre-WWDC insanity season, and TiPb is expecting lots of leaks, fake leaks, and fake fake leaks. Also, lots of fun fanboi renderings like the videos embedded above and after the break, courtesy of Business Insider.

Not real, no way, but are these anything like the iPhonechromatic or Unibody models you’d like to see Apple release at some point?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Thursday Fun Video: Rainbow/Unibody iPhone Concept Renderings

Ok, not many applications currently in the App Store worthy of our Apps for Less. Although, the ones we did end up finding are not bad deals.

First up we have Terminator Salvation [iTunes Link], if you have not checked out the trailer we post two weeks ago what are you waiting for? This is one of the top games in the App Store and it seems like Gameloft has gotten the hang of programming games for the iPhones hardware. The best thing about this game now is it’s price - it has dropped from $9.99 to $5.99. People complained about the higher price and Gameloft has listened. I feel bad for the early adapters as we always get the short end of the stick in terms of price but that’s to be expected.

Next up we have PCalc [iTunes Link], now on sale for $4.99 An excellent app for anyone who needs a feature-rich calculator that the stock app on the iPhone simply can not match. Features are as follows:

• Switchable button layouts - choose from many different horizontal and vertical layouts to suit your needs.
• Calculator themes - pick your look, all the way from minimalist to striking.
• An RPN mode with one button access to the stack and optional two-line display.
• Hexadecimal, octal and binary modes, complete with a variety of bitwise operators.
• All the extensive unit conversions and constants from the desktop PCalc.
• A simulated paper tape to keep track of your calculations.
• Multiple undo and redo. Just flick the LCD to the right and left to reveal the past and future.
• Stylish, consistent user interface.
• Shake to clear! Two shakes to clear, three shakes to clear all.

If you are a developer and have a great app in the App Store at a great price, we want to hear about it!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apps for Less: Terminator Salvation and PCalc for iPhone

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Join Dieter, Chad, Jeremy, Matt, and Rene for WWDC speculation, iPhone 3.0 Beta 5 thoughts, next-gen iPhone predictions, the SlingMedia Player controversy, Twitterrific 2.0’s release, and more! Listen in!

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat, or sent in questions!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
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This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Presents: iPhone Live! Lucky #13

Good news for Mac OS X-based Jailbreakers! After having to resort to using powered USB hubs or patching in older versions of files to work around a bug in 10.5.6 that prevented DFU mode from being recognized, the iPhone Dev-Team dropped a note a Twitter to give 10.5.7 the all-clear:

The new 10.5.7 Leopard update is safe. In fact it’s more jailbreak-friendly than 10.5.6, since the DFU-mode bug is gone.

So no nasty cat-and-mouse-game shenanigans this time around, and even a slight improvement over the previous — unintentional — round.

Only one thing left — figure out what to do with all those now-redundant USB hubs…

(Via Jamesus)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone Dev-Team: Mac OS X 10.5.7 Safe for Jailbreak, Fixes DFU Bug

UPDATE: As of right now, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone is ranked #9 on the Top Paid Apps list on iTunes. A $29.99 app. Imagine if it had 3G?

ORIGINAL: Gizmodo has a source claiming that while AT&T may have legitimate concerns about their networks ability to handle millions of iPhone users trying to stream long-form video over 3G, they also may have far more self-serving, and perhaps anti-competitive reasons to block SlingPlayer’s access:

AT&T’s working on their OWN application code-named i-Verse, one that performs a similar task as SlingPlayer Mobile. AT&T’s “i-Verse” app works with their U-Verse TV solution that can either load DVR’ed shows from your U-Verse recorder into your iPhone at home, or stream shows across the net over their 3G network.

Which makes little sense to us as not everyone has or wants, or even lives in an area where they can get U-verse. Never mind people in countries where AT&T doesn’t exist. (Though, again, we suspect international carriers are in agreement with this type of arrangement, may have their own services in the pipe, and are gleeful that AT&T takes the heat).

As opposed to SlingBox, of course, which anyone can buy and drop into their setup regardless of service.

The whole situation make us think that maybe Jeremy was on to something when he wondered out loud about AT&T exerting too much control over the App Store…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

UPDATED: SlingPlayer 3G Access Blocked by AT&T Due to Competing i-Verse App?

A short time ago we mentioned that Standford’s iPhone Application Programming course was being made available as a video podcast via iTunes U. In addition to two lectures a week, the course offers special Friday sessions, one of which recently featured Atebits‘ Loren Brichter (iTunes link), the developer behind popular iPhone (and now Mac) Twitter client, Tweetie (see our review).

Brichter, though he worked for Apple on the first generation iPhone, had no actual app development experience when he set out to make Tweetie, yet the app has become the most successful iPhone — and mobile — paid Twitter client in terms of both revenue and user base, hitting the #6 position in the App Store at one point. How’d that happen?

At the beginning of the lecture, Brichter shares his App Store daily revenue graph (sans actual dollar amounts) for Tweetie, which he says he made simply because he wasn’t satisfied with any of the existing clients. Focusing on a mix of functionality and simplicity, and an Apple-like experience, Brichter credits luck, quality, and marketing for Tweetie’s success. Part of that marketing, after a small initial sales spike due to friends and family, was the semi-facetious introduction of PEE (”popularity enhancers” like a flashlight and fart sounds) that garnered a lot of media attention and quintupled growth for a while.

Other growth occurred when Apple featured Tweetie on their main page, but the biggest growth-booster — also thanks to Apple — was when Tweetie 1.3 was rejected by the App Store due to the term f**kitlist just happening to be a trend on Twitter’s search results that day. Press jumped on it and users bought it up. (Apple reversed their decision later that same day).

The final two growth spikes occurred after Twitter itself began highlighting Tweetie as part of their sidebar factoid promotion, and after the press surrounding the recent introduction of Tweetie for Mac.

Being part of the Application Development course, Brichter also touches on some of the things he did from a programming standpoint to boost Tweetie’s performance.

Looks behind the app development curtain, especially in academic settings with some back-and-forth questions and answers, are rare enough in the iPhone world that anyone interested should definitely consider checking out the whole session.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Luck, Quality, and Marketing: Tweetie’s Loren Brichter Talks Development and Success on iTunes U