Apple has just released iPhone 3.1 SDK Beta to developers:

iPhone SDK 3.1 beta and iPhone OS 3.1 beta are now posted to the iPhone Dev Center. These versions are for development and testing only and should be installed on devices dedicated to iPhone OS 3.1 beta software development. Please read the iPhone OS Pre-Install Advisory and the iPhone SDK 3.1 beta release notes before downloading and installing.

Available now via developer.apple.com, and TiPb once again reminds non-developers to stay clear, avoid potential problems, and wait for the general release.

(Thanks Quickpwn.com and everyone else for the tip!)

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

Apple Releases iPhone 3.1 and SDK Beta to Developers

Your iPhone MobileMe account randomly and spontaneously changing from [username]@me.com to [username]@mac.com? You’re not alone.

Like the missing/mismatched app icon bug, this is another issue that was a problem to some during the betas, and continues to be a problem now that iPhone 3.0 has gone into release.

Unfortunately, once the bug manifests, MobileMe doesn’t allow you to simply edit it back, and since everything changes from .me to .mac (your email address, SMTP server, etc.), it can be more than a little annoying.

The only known way to “fix” it at this point is to delete and re-add your MobileMe account as .me, and then keep your fingers crossed it doesn’t change again.

That, and hope Apple fixes it with iPhone 3.0.x or 3.1.

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

iPhone 3.0 Bugs: .Me Spontaneously Changing to .Mac?

We’ve been talking about the zippiness of the iPhone 3GS — S as in Speed — since it launched, and report after report has confirmed that not only is it fast, it’s faster than we initially thought.

Here’s more of the same. Running OpenGL 1.x like the iPhone 3G (never mind that it can run OpenGL 2.0 which the iPhone 3G can’t), the results are most impressive:

• The CPU performance is Faster by 40-70%
• The fillrate* is 3x to 4x higher
• Texture effects and filters are about 10x faster

These are probably better indicators for now, since game developers likely won’t abandon the 40 million previous generation users (and their money) any time soon. Does make you wonder when it will happen, though, and what the games — and other apps — will eventually look like.

[via Gizmodo via glbenchmark via Extremetech viaUbergizmo -- phew!]

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

We Get It — iPhone 3GS is Faster than Fast Fast!

Last week the first iPhone (and iPod touch) app to feature nudity was live in the iTunes App Store. Technically, however, it was simply a change in the server behind the app — the developer added nude images.

Subsequently, however, the app became unavailable. The developer first reported that their own servers couldn’t keep up with demand for the newly nudified images, but it turns out Apple laid the hammer down on the “soft-core porn” app:

Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography. The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store.

Given that Apple has included new parental controls and App Store restrictions in iPhone 3.0, including a declaration for nude content, and given the eternal argument that nudity is available for age-appropriate viewers via iTunes movies, is there some contradiction still at work? Or is Apple drawing the line artificially close for now while it watches and gauges reaction?

[via CNN]

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

iPhone App Store Just Says No to Nudity — For Now?

The US Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is studying deals like AT&T’s exclusivity for the iPhone, and how that balances business freedoms, technology innovation, consumer competition, and the effects on smaller, rural carriers.

In response to AT&T retail sales and services president, Paul Roth’s assertion that exclusivity provides more innovation, lower cost, and more choice, PC World quotes Senator John Kerry’s response:

“I accept the benefits you articulated but I’m having a difficult time trying to envision why an innovator, given the size of the market and the number of outlets, is not going to innovate to produce a product that is equally competitive [to an exclusive phone] … because it wants to appeal across different providers,”

This exchange followed on the heels of the committee sending a joint letter to the FCC, which according to InformationWeek asked for a determination as to whether “exclusivity agreements are restricting consumer choice”.

We know a lot of you want your iPhone on Verizon already, but should Apple and AT&T be allowed to come to whatever agreements each sees fit, or is there a roll for government to limit that for the good of consumers who’s interests may diverge at times from corporations?

[Thanks to Icebike for the repeated heads up]

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

US Government Looking Into AT&T iPhone Exclusivity

DOOOOOOOOOM! [$9.99 - iTunes link] That’s right, the mother of all Martian first person shooters (FPS) is in the App Store now:

-Advanced graphics engine designed from the ground up to take full advantage of the power found in Apple's mobile devices -Wield an arsenal of heavy-hitting weapons to defeat a variety of hideous monsters and bosses -Innovative controls for fast-paced and accessible first-person action -An all-new chapter of the DOOM saga that new players and long-time DOOM fans can enjoy

How does a golden oldie translate to the newest, greatest mobile platform? If you try it out, and live to tell the tale, let us know what you think!

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

Quick App: DOOM Resurrection for iPhone

Birdfeed [$4.99 - iTunes link] bills itself as “A very nice Twitter client for your iPhone”. That’s pretty much spot on. It doesn’t try to razzle-dazzle, or focus exclusively on one element or another, but what it does do is provide a quick, clean, interface to manage your Twitter account (or accounts).

Highlighted features include the simple design, local caching of already-loaded tweets so you can keep reading when/if offline, SMS-style handling of direct messages (DMs) to help keep the conversation flow, unread @mentions (replies) and DM counters, and time stamps to indicate where you last read up to should new tweets have since been loaded.

To answer the immediate question, no support for iPhone 3.0 push notification yet. Birdfeed’s Twitter account says that feature is likely, but there’s no time-frame yet.

TwitPic and yfrong are available for image posting and tr.im for URL shortening. (Where’s the bit.ly love, and tinyurl for retro chic?) Instapaper is supported, though you have to exit the app and go to the iPhone’s Settings app to find and set it up. This makes sense given Apple’s preference for keeping Settings in Settings, and also because it’s unlikely you’ll have to do it more than once.

Great from a user experience perspective, when you get to the end of currently loaded tweets, Birdfeed automatically starts loading older ones. That’s right, no button tap required. (The default is 20 but you can change that in Settings). To get newer tweets, however, there is the perfunctory big honking — yet tastefully rendered — button at the top of the tweet list.

For users who put capital letters in their Twitter account names, there’s currently a bug those accounts to go missing from the app, but it’s known and a fix is on the way.

All in all, Birdfeed is exactly as presented — a clear, consistent, and enjoyable general purpose Twitter client with some great new ideas in a even greater UI.

More screenshots after the break!

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

Quick App: Birdfeed Twitter Client for iPhone