Looks like AT&T is making some changes to their ETF Policy as of June 1st, 2010, including raising iPhone (and all smartphone) early termination fees from $175 to $325. After that, every month you keep service with AT&T, the ETF will continue to drop $10 each month.

For basic phones and messaging phones, the ETF will drop a bit, from $175 to $150. After that, every month you keep service with AT&T, the ETF will continue to drop $4 each month.

That’s great for regular phone users, but it’s quite the opposite for our readers. When asked if this had anything to do with iPhone exclusivity, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel had this to say,

“..The idea is, and we think that it’s fair approach, that if you spend less on a device, your early termination fee should be less,” he said. “If you spend more, your early termination fee should be more. … This move, what we did today, is unrelated to any device announcement or future plans…”

Hmmm, sounds kind of sketchy to me. There’s been rumors flying around about the iPhone’s exclusivity running out for a while now.  With the iPhone HD/4th Gen probably right around the corner, if the Verizon iPhone in the Fall rumors hold any truth at all, it would make it pretty expensive to abandon AT&T.  Or could it have something to do with stopping all the unlockers and iPhones that flood eBay after release for people looking to make a profit? Or hey, maybe AT&T’s telling the truth, and it really doesn’t have anything to do with the iPhone.

What are your thoughts?

[via Dallas News, AT&T]

AT&T Changing ETF Policy as of June 1st is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Longtime iPhone app Bump will now not only let you knock contacts between iPhones, but share with Android friends as well.

Our good buddy Phil Nickinson, General Grievous of the Android Central army, got some video at Google I/O, so check it out after the jump and let us know — blissful cross-compatible future or cats and dogs living together?

YouTube link

Bump shares contacts between iPhone, Android is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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FullForce for iPad is jailbreak app that will automatically format iPhone apps to the resolution of the iPad without the distortion of the 2x zoom.  Anyone who owns an iPad knows that all the apps you had for your iPhone will run on the iPad, and you can zoom them in, but they get pretty grainy.  It makes me sad to see grainy apps when the iPad screen is so beautiful. FullForce tries to solve that sadness.

Fullforce works through your settings panel.  You will see a new Extensions section.  FullForce lists all your apps and you can toggle them on or off. There are still compatibility issues with a lot of apps, but for free, you can get some of your iPhone apps formatted for iPad goodness. Some common ones I noticed that format well are Facebook, Beejive, and Reeder. Some I noticed that didn’t were games such as Plants vs Zombies and Doodle Jump.

The developers have a running list of compatible apps and issues going in a shared Google docs spreadsheet you can access and edit through Cydia with a Google login. I liked the fact that it formatted Beejive so nicely. I almost bought the $5.99 iPad version (I bought Beejive back with it was still a whopping $16 or so dollars). But this will work just fine for me.

Anyone else here used FullForce on their iPad? What were your experiences and with which apps? Mine have all been good so far. Let us know about yours in the comments!

YouTube Link

FullForce for iPad – Jailbreak app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Sure, new and notable iPhone games isn't a theme, but with so many new and such a large swathe of notable, who needs a theme? Join us after the break to see what's going on in the iTunes App Store this week!

Genesis – Elements of Design

Control forcefields and bend light to ignite suns and breath life into the universe in this puzzle game. Each level adds additional layers to the musical backing, completing the composition when you win. [£0.59 / €0,79 / $0.99 - iTunes link]

Monster Mayhem

Keep these revolting monsters within the confines of the graveyard at all cost. Use your arsenal against hoards and big bosses including: Frank Stein and Roger Rattlebone. Check your stats and research the enemy in the built-in monster almanac. [£1.19 / €1,59 / $1.99 - iTunes link]

Super 7 – No Monkeys

Combine heptagons with different values so that their sum becomes 7. Be careful not to go over seven or it’s game-over in this simple and addictive game. [£0.59 / €0,79 / $0.99 - iTunes link]

Bloomies

Attract butterflies and bees by cultivating fantastic plants in this fun and cheerful game. Invest gathered nectar to decorate your garden paradise. [£0.59 / €0,79 / $0.99 - iTunes link]

Ninjatown: Trees Of Doom!

Climb to the lofty pinnacles of the Trees of Doom! Flip, fling and fly your little ninja around, collecting power-ups and avoiding flying devils, ascending the global leader-boards as you go. [£1.19 / €1,59 / $1.99 - iTunes link]

Fanta 4 Pinball

The official game of self-confessed pinball fans and giants of German hip-hop: the Fantastic Four. Backed by fresh beats from the band and tilt this Fanta 4 themed pinball madness. [£2.39 / €2,99 / $3.99 - iTunes link]

Your picks?

Any other new and notable games this week? Any hidden gems or great finds? Let us know in the comments. Need. More. Games!

New and notable iPhone games for May 21, 2010 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Just like the on-iPad App Store, Apple has begun turning on the on-iPad iBookstore for international iTunes accounts just ahead of the May 28 international iPad launch. Unlike the App Store, however, which includes almost all major titles paid and free, the international iBookstore only seems to include free public domain titles.

No doubt there are more true classics of literature contained in the copyright-free Project Gutenberg library than I could read in a lifetime, but this once again shows just how fragmented and old-fashioned traditional media remains. Apple can’t just do a deal to carry Harry Potter in the iBookstore, for example, as a different publisher owns the rights to that book in the UK as opposed to North America. No doubt some vary by country as well.

Apple still hasn’t been able to roll out TV and Movies to many international iTunes store and iBooks probably won’t be any different. I’d hope that would embarrass big media, getting caught in the horse and buggy while the App Store Ferrari laps them in distribution but I have a feeling they don’t care. They’d rather hold on to the dwindling pennies of the past than embrace the economy of the future.

All other complaints about the App Store aside, it’s delivering content to international users today.

iBookstore goes international, public domain titles only is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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One of the most common topics in the jailbreak forums is always theme editing and customization.  To really be able to truly customize a theme, you need to know how to SSH into your iPhone.  Anyone who is already familiar with web development and using an FTP client should be right at home.  For the most part, FTP clients are also capable of SSH.  If you don’t have a client, don’t worry, there’s plenty of free ones.

And now for the typical disclaimer – if you aren’t comfortable messing with your phone’s file system and the possibility of having to completely restore if something goes wrong, don’t proceed any further. As always, we aren’t responsible for any damage you may do to your phone, so proceed at your own risk.  If this all sounds okay to you, read on iPhone ninja!

1.  Download an FTP client. In the video, I’m using CyberDuck, which is a Mac client for FTP. You can also use Fugu or iPhone Explorer.  If you’re a windows user, iPhone Explorer has a Windows version or you can use something like SmartFTP.

2.  Install OpenSSH and SBSettings to your iPhone.  Most of you probably already have SBSettings, but you’ll need OpenSSH to be able to access your iPhone’s file system.

And don’t forget, at some point, change your iPhone’s root and user passwords!  If you need help with this, jump over to the Forums.  OpenSSH and SBSettings can both be downloaded through Cydia or Rock, your preference.  SBSettings isn’t necessary, but it gives you a very easy way to toggle SSH on and off.  Here’s a ninja tip, whenever you aren’t actively using SSH, turn it off. It not only further protects you from unauthorized access, but SSH is a huge battery hog.  So when you’re not using it, just switch it off.

3.  Alright now that we’ve got that taken care of, you’ll need to do one of the following after SSH is enabled on your iPhone:

• iPhone Explorer users – plug in your phone and launch iPhone Explorer and it should automatically populate your iPhone file system, then skip to step 5
• Most other FTP clients – be on a wifi network and find your iPhone’s IP and jot it down, it’s found under Settings –> Wi-Fi –> click the blue arrow next to the network you are connected to, once you have that, launch your FTP client

Click the blue arrow, like in the image below, IP address is what you’re looking for, write it down.

4.  For FTP users, you’ll need to enter your iPhone’s IP address and make sure the port is set to 22.  Your username is root and the default password is ‘alpine’ (without the quotes).  Then click connect or continue.  If you’re successful, you should now have a list of all your iPhone’s files.  (Note: over wi-fi, you don’t have to have your iPhone plugged in, but I’d recommend it so it doesn’t kill your battery)

5.  You’ll now see a list of files you can navigate through, to get to your themes for editing, simply click Library —> Themes and all the themes you’ve downloaded should be in there.  Next jump down to the video for a walk-through of how to alter/change/add files in existing themes as well as create your own custom themes! And one more ninja tip, go into Settings –> Autolock –> Never. Sometimes when you’re SSH’ing and your screen goes off, your SSH client will give you an error, so turn off auto-lock while you’re customizing.

YouTube Link

Jailbreak how-to: SSH basics and theme editing is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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