Take this with a 7-to-10 inch capacitive grain of salt, but French site M4Ever [Google translate link] is claiming that we might just see iPhone 4.0 beta fairly soon (hey, maybe as soon as the Jan. 27 media event?) Macrumors supplies the clean text:

Several of our sources give us two pieces of information concerning the famous Apple tablet: In late January, in addition to its tablet, Cupertino should have a beta of iPhone OS 4, accompanied by an SDK. Our informants also tell us of a “simulator” specifically adapted for the tablet. Evidently, the major novelty of the SDK therefore concerns the interface, making it easier for developers to adapt to different screen resolutions. The new iPhone could also benefit from a higher pixel density.

Real, fake, really fake? We know we’ll get iPhone 4.0 seeded to developers eventually, and resolution independence (i.e. iPhone HD and iTablet) is something TiPb’s been talking about for a while now. No matter what, if Apple wants App Store level success to continue with next generation devices, they’ll need to get the SDKs into the hands of developers, so while — again — this is just a rumor, it’s going to come true sooner or later. The only real question is… when?

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

Rumorous Maximus: Apple Getting iPhone 4.0 Beta, Resolution Independent SDK Ready for Developers?!

It’s not the previously rumored Tuesday, Jan. 26, but Digital Daily is claming a “source in a position to know” has told them:

Apple (AAPL) is indeed planning a media event later this month at which the company will announce a major new product.

Steve Jobs has “dented the universe” previously with the Apple II, Mac, iPod and iTunes, Pixar, and again with the iPhone. He’s reportedly been working on a new product, often referred to as “the tablet” (or iTablet) with special focus for the last while. Given how tightly integrated Apple is as a company, where Mac development enhances iPhone enriches iPod touch amps up Apple TV goes right back into the Mac, whether or not this new product is an iPhone, and iPhone HD, a new iPod, or the much-rumored iTablet, the services and technologies it brings with it will no doubt be reflected in iPhone 4.0 and whatever 4th generation iPhone comes later.

That’s why TiPb is following these stories with such interest. iTunes LP and iTunes Extras is a side note until it’s the foundation for new media on an iTablet and iPhone. The iTablet OS X is a tangent until iPhone HD uses its pixels to much the same effect.

And that’s why we’ll do our best to cover it for you up to Jan. 27, on that day, and thereafter. (Unless it’s only iLife ‘10, in which case we’ll blog it and move on… )

Meanwhile, let us know what you think Apple will be announcing, and what you want them to announce, if different.

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

Digital Daily Says Apple Media Event Now Set for Wednesday, Jan. 27

The New York Times is reporting that one of the holy grails of digital media, the ability to buy a piece of content like a movie once and watch it on all your devices, from iPhone to iPod to Apple TV to Xbox 360 to PS3 to PC might actually be coming our way via the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE). Currently 5 major studios including Warners, NBC Universal, Sony, Paramount, and Fox (but not Disney) are working on DECE with Microsoft, Cisco, Comcast, Intel and Best Buy, and are set to add Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, Netflix, Tesco, Cox Communications, Liberty Global and others (but not Apple) to the list.

Under the proposed system, proof of digital purchases would be stored online in a so-called rights locker, and consumers would be permitted to play the movies they bought or rented on any DECE-compatible device.

So, for example, business travelers might find that their hotel room television could tap into their personal movie collections. Consumers could buy Blu-ray discs and have digital copies of those films accessible from all of their devices, even their mobile phones. And a PC maker could customize a new laptop for buyers by loading it with all their movies and shows — and eventually even their video games and e-books.

So what’s with Disney and Apple, who coincidentally share Steve Jobs on their Boards of Directors?

Disney is still a holdout. It is advocating a similar plan called KeyChest, which analysts say it may introduce working with Apple. A Disney spokesman said the company would give an early look at its rival technology at C.E.S.

“Buy once play anywhere” should have been the deal all along. So, whoever gives it to us — give it to us!

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

Hollywood Finally Set to Allow “Buy Once, Watch Anywhere’?

According to Silicon Valley Insider and a anonymous tipster, Apple COO Tim Cook may be leaving Apple to take the spot of CEO at General Motors.

“[Interim GM CEO Edward E. Whitacre] wants the candidate to come from a company known for operational excellence, innovation and customer satisfaction and in addition he is looking for someone that has turnaround experience. It also doesn’t hurt that [Tim] has been able to work with Jobs. Whitacre does want to stay on as Chairman. Also, Cook has been the key link to AT&T and should understand the culture that Whitacre, [a former AT&T CEO] built.”

Of course this information is coming from an unknown source and should be taken with a Hummer-sized grain of salt, but it does make sense that GM would be going after Cook as they need all the help they can get. But if you consider how well of a job Cook did stepping in for Steve Jobs during his medical leave and then throw in the fact Cook made a cool 12 million in doing so… we’d have to say he is next in line to take over as CEO of Apple when Steve decides to step down. Would you trade that for GM?

So again, this is all speculation but we will keep you informed if anything else does turn up.

[Via Silicon Valley Insider]

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

Rumor: Apple COO Tim Cook… Departing for CEO Spot at GM?!

When we made our “Dear Santa Jobs: All We Want for iPhone 4.0 is…” holiday post, one of the items we didn’t include but which came up frequently in the comments is a Mobile Finder app (mocked up in the image above). And it’s definitely something we want in iPhone 4.0 as well.

Now we’re sure most of our readers want a full blown Mac OS X Finder or Windows Explorer type file browser — and full, free file system access to go along with it. But let’s keep things real. Given past history, we very much doubt Apple would provide that, at least not any time soon. The iPhone isn’t a Mac in a phone for power users, it’s an iPhone that hopes to redesign how mainstream users engage mobile technology (and it’s sales success to date show that’s a pretty compelling approach). Power users are the ones who Jailbreak to get that kind of system access anyway. But could there be a middle ground? We think so, and we think Apple has already shown how it could work…

Let’s start with the iPhone Photo app. Not only can you sync your pictures to it, you can save pictures to the default directory either via the iPhone’s camera, or via screen capture or tapping and holding to get the “Save Image” popup on the iPhone or iPod touch.

You can also access those images from other apps, including a host of 3rd party App Store photo editing apps, and then save them back or save new version based on them.

Imagine a Finder App that did the same for all types of files the iPhone currently handles — anything that could be played in iPod app (music and movies) or displayed via QuickLook (Office formats like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, iWork docs, PDF files, text and rich text, etc.). Built in functionality already exists to trim short audio and video clips and crop photos, and could be rolled into Mobile Finder. But it could also be used the way Photo app is currently used — as a repository by 3rd parties to open, edit, and save files, especially Office Files.

Instead of the wonky work around already in place, iPhone users could “tap and hold” any document to save it to Mobile Finder, then use any 3rd party App Store app they like, including Documents to Go or QuickOffice (or both!) to open it, make changes, and save it back or save as a new version. Then, from within Mobile Finder, they could also share the docs via Email, and other 3rd party apps could also offer ways to move them back and forth to iDisk, Google Docs, Microsoft Office 2010 Online, or anything else enabled in an iPhone 4.0 SDK.

Adding in something Photo app currently lacks, the ability to move content between folders, would be great. The mobile Mail app already lets us do that with email, do bring that to the party as well.

With what’s essentially a document repository, however, security is a legitimate concern. One of the reasons there are such wonky workarounds for document editing right now is that Apple is very strict about what apps can access. Everything is sandboxed. Allowing only simple documents, parsing out scripts and macros could be the tradeoff to prevent bad guys from writing exploits specifically to target iPhone users via their documents. It would be sufficient to meet most mainstream users’ needs, and that’s what Apple and the iPhone have excelled at. (No pun intended).

Maybe Mobile Finder is too grand a name for such an app; it would confuse the power users used to Mac OS X Finder or Windows Explorer. But the idea itself is something we want for iPhone 4.0.

How about you?

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

iPhone 4.0 Want List: MobileFinder App

From the Forums is a great way to see what all of the current hot topics are on the TiPb forums. Today we would like to go over some of the popular sub-forums for those of you who may not be familiar with our forum setup. Becoming a member is fast and free, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now.

• iPhone Social & Off Topic: If you are new to the forums and would like to introduce yourself or maybe you want to discuss something that’s not iPhone related, this is your place.
• iPhone Help: This is the place to go to post general questions you may have or view countless of other threads that already may contain the answer you are seeking.
• iPhone Apps and Games: This particular forum is a must if you are interested in anything App Store related. Whether you are a developer or a user, be sure to check it out.
• iPhone Jailbreak and Unlock: The title of this one says it all. If you are looking to jailbreak or unlock your device and are unsure of how to go about it, look no further than this forum.
• All iPhone Accessories: You guessed right, all iPhone related accessories should be discussed here.

See you on the forums!

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

From the Forums: Social, iPhone Help, Apps & Games, Jailbreak & Unlock, Accessories

It’s nothing more than a quartet of lines in a Happy New Year Note, but it signals that yet another high profile game designer — in this case Final Fantasy’s Hironobu Sakaguchi — is thinking iPhone in 2010:

Oh, by the way, We are also working on a project for iPhone.
This should be released soon as well.
We will put our efforts together and do our best!
I’m sure you’ll Love it.

Will it be Final Fantasy for iPhone? A version of his “long-awaited new blockbuster”? Something new entirely? Let us know if you have any ideas, but our excitement over another year of iPhone gaming is already going into overdrive.

[Mistwalker via 9to5mac]

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

Final Fantasy Creator Hironobu Sakaguchi “Working on a Project for iPhone”

That’s right TiPb ‘verse, for the first time ever I’m hitting CES with the rest of the Smartphone Experts crew — because for the first time ever, Apple’s not at Macworld, Macworld isn’t in January, and iPhone stuff will be at CES!

If you’re going to be there as well, if you’re an App Store developer, an accessory maker, a fellow blogger, an Apple engineer with a secret HD iPhone or tablet-esque device to leak, or — and especially — a fellow TiPb member, ping me and let me know. I’m looking to fit in as much as is inhumanly possible.

All major iPhone and related stories will of course go up right here, and as you know there are a ton of ways to follow TiPb’s feed.

I’ll also be tweeting everything else meta-style from @reneritchie, including whatever behind the scenes shenanigans and competitive insights I can sneak out. (tag-line, nothing will stay in Vegas!)

Also keep an eye out for our editor-in-chief Dieter Bohn (@backlon), Kevin Michaluk (@crackberrykevin), Matt Miller (@palmsolo), Phil Nickinson (@philnickinson) as they cover everything else for CrackBerry.com, PreCentral.net, NokiaExperts.com, AndroidCentral.com, and WMExperts.com, as well as our Round Robin co-hort, Mickey Papillon (@tcpj_mickey) who might just get us back on the mic again.

See ya there, or we’ll bring it to ya here!

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

TiPb at CES 2010!