Users over on Apple’s support forums are complaining of a bug that has been around since the first generation iPhone and the 1x software. Even on the 3.1.2 software users are randomly getting their iPhones stuck without service while the phone says it is searching for a signal. This bug does not discriminate either, it does not care what cell phone carrier your are with, whether your device is jailbroken or not, or model of iPhone.

Currently the only way to get around this bug is if you reset your device by holding down the power button along with the home button until you see the Apple logo appear on your screen. Once booted back up your service should be restored.

Fortunately, none of us here at TiPb have personally encountered this behavior from any of our current iPhones. Any of our readers find themselves ’searching for service’?

[Via iLounge]

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

iPhone Users Suffering from ‘Searching for Service’ Bug

No this is so NOT the iFlip iPhone, or the bastard child of one drunken iPhone and a white MacBook, but you have to give the knock-off artists credit for persistence in snake-oilery if nothing else…

[Via Gizmodo]

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

Tuesday Fun — No This is NOT the iFlip iPhone

The iPhone, iPod touch, and still rumorware iTablet (among other mobile platforms) are so compelling that publishers like Condé Nast and now Time Inc. and Hearst are racing to get their slowly dying print media content all prepped and ready for an iPod-like digital savior. Says the New York Observer (via MacRumors) says:

The company would make up one of the biggest alliances among rival publishers ever formed in print media, with Time Inc., Condé Nast and Hearst all expected to join, houses that together publish more than 50 magazines, including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Time, People, Sports Illustrated, Esquire and O, The Oprah Magazine.

The difference between this and just shipping e-reader content of Kindle-like devices and apps? They don’t want to “pave the cowpath” (TM Fake Steve), they want to try and come up with an innovative way to make their content available that harnesses the power and connectivity of mobile devices, and in a way delightful enough readers will be willing to pay for it.

"With magazines, the form has to change," [Time exec John Squires] continued. "All I'm saying is that there are ways to design magazines differently for that kind of experience that'll be attractive and will feel different to a consumer."

Good luck with that — and we mean it sincerely. We want to be wowed.

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

Old World Publishers Unite For New Media iPhone, iTablet

In Stock: Plantronics BackBeat 903 Stereo Bluetooth Headset for iPhone 3GS

The Plantronics BackBeat 903 Wireless Headphones [$89.95 - TiPb Store link] feature Altec Lansing sound technology for rich, full-spectrum stereo music and dual-mic AudioIQ noisecanceling technology for exceptional call clarity. The Plantronics BackBeat Headphones let you enhance your music using the bass-boost feature or conveniently hear your surroundings with a quick tap of the OpenMic button.

Adjustable and flexible for all-day wearing comfort, the headphones quickly fold up and slip into your pocket or bag.

Features:

• Altec Lansing sound technology for Hi-Def music
• Dual-Mic Audio IQ Noise Canceling for Clear Calls
• Bass-Boost feature enriches Stereo Sound
• OpenMic button brings in the outside world
• 3-way adjustment for a comfortable, stable fit
• Flexible design quickly folds up for storage

Learn more about the Plantronics BackBeat 903 Wireless Headphones at the TiPb Store!

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

In Stock: Plantronics BackBeat 903 Stereo Bluetooth Headset for iPhone 3GS

Jerry Seinfeld and company were back on TV as a show-within the Curb Your Enthusiasm show (season 7, episode 10 for sticklers), and perpetual neerdowell George Costanza is dealing with the loss of his iToilet for iPhone millions — that’s right, his fictional character struck it fictionally rich making a fictional iPhone app to use GPS to find the closest clean fictional toilet.

Jerry also has a brand new Mac. So, yeah, insert Microsoft advertising jokes below.

[via 9to5Mac]

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

Curb Your Enthusiasm for Seinfeld’s Costanza and his Killer iToilet App

TiPb’s joked before that Apple may well consider “sweet” WebApps the alternative for developers who want to release iPhone apps outside the App Store and its “gatekeeper” model, but others are starting to take that line of thinking seriously.

Peter-Paul Koch of QuirksBlog thinks so. In a post provocatively titled Apple is not evil. iPhone developers are stupid., Koch states:

In order to release an iPhone application without having to submit it to Apple's insane App Store process, developers could just use Web technologies and create Web apps instead of native apps.

He believes iPhone Safari is a great mobile browser with excellent support even for hardware-accelerated 3D animation via CSS, and that most of his frequently used iPhone apps could be re-released as WebApps right now

Daring Fireball’s John Gruber begs to differ, however:

The argument that you can make iPhone web apps that are "good enough" misses the entire point of iPhone apps — the entire point of the iPhone itself, even — all of the things that drive Twitter users to pay $3, $4, or $5 for apps that do the same things that can be done for free by loading Twitter's web site in MobileSafari. "Good enough" is not good enough on the iPhone.

His best proof is that Apple itself is writing native apps, not WebApps, and that part of the power of the iPhone platform isn’t just the hardware and interface, but the Cocoa Touch frameworks Apple has provided developers as part of the iPhone SDK, and that’s a point well taken — and all too often overlooked.

There’s no arguing, however, that for apps that aren’t allowed into the App Store, like Google Voice, or for developers philosophically opposed to the App Store in general, like Joe Hewitt of Facebook, WebApps are an interesting alternatives — that by the way have a high likelihood of running on Google Android, Palm webOS, and upcoming BlackBerry WebKit-based browsers as well.

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

Are WebApps a “Gatekeeper”-Free Alternative to the iPhone App Store?

Swing by the iTunes App Store, pick a category, and get/go to the Sort by: Release Date listing and it may look like Apple hasn’t added any new iPhone and iPod touch apps since November 19 — only they have, and it’s just the iTunes listings that are broken.

Rewind: We started getting questions from users who thought no new apps were being released, or that Apple had somehow frozen the App Store. Then we got reports from developers saying their apps weren’t showing up in the release date listings even though they’d been approved and put into the store. Finally, we got reports of the release date listings being flat out busted, and that’s what looks to be the case.

What does this mean? For users looking to find new apps in iTunes, good luck with that. Absent sort by release date, you’ll have to hit up third party tracking sites like AppShopper until Apple fixes the App Store proper. For developers who were hoping for the brief spotlight that listing provides for those users, well you’re out some primo free marketing. And for many, that’s going to hurt.

So, to sum up, yes Apple is still posting new apps, but no they’re not updating the release date lists, and yes this sucks for both user discovery and developer exposure.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in -- in all forms!]

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

iTunes App Store “Release Date” Sorting Sorta Broken?

Running Backgrounder on your Jailbroken iPhone and looking for a little UI magic for your task switching? Check out MultiFl0w, free to try and $5 to buy, it’s not free like Kirikae but it’s fun.

If you give it a go, let us know how it works for you.

[MultiFl0w via Gizmodo, thanks Dylan for the tip!]

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

Jailbreak: MultiFl0w Task Manager for Backgrounder-enabled iPhones

We’ve said it over and over again, if you Jailbreak your iPhone, install SSH, don’t change the default SSH password, and get on a network with a bad guy, they can hold you hostage, Rickroll you, steal your data, or turn your iPhone into a bot — and according to Apple, you should have known that before you jailbroke.

Okay, sounds straight out of the EFF counter-complaint but fair enough. We’re big believers in personal responsibility and when and if we Jailbreak, we take personal responsibility for it (and we absolutely, positively, don’t install SSH or change our passwords if we do!). Still Apple’s Natalie Harrison pulls no punches with their comments, via the Loop

"The worm affects only a very specific set of iPhone users who have jail broken their iPhones and hacked it with unauthorized software. As we've said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones, and for good reason. These hacks not only violate the warranty, they will also cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.”

We’re guessing many don’t even know Jailbreak is an option. They place calls, surf the web, play games, and are perfectly content. For power users, absent power features from Apple, Jailbreaking remains compelling. (Just practice safe hacks! And check the TiPb iPhone Jailbreak Forum if you need advice!)

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

Apple Comments on iPhone Jailbreak/SSH Worm: You Shoulda Known Better