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iPhone Live Tonight! at 8pm ET/5pm PT (1am BST) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Another page to be filed in our increasingly full “things analysts say which may or may not be so” drawer says Apple wasn’t sure whether or not the N90 “iPhone HD” prototype would be ready to launch and so had a safer, more iPhone 3GS-like N91 in the wings:

On a side note, Apple initiated the iPhone 4G project at the end of 2008. According to our sources, Apple actually has another product codenamed N91 for the project, which offers less change from previous iPhones compared with the N90. It’s a parallel product to back up the N90 in case there are major delays due to significant modifications in casing, display resolution, digital camera support and so forth.

That resolution being the 960×640 we’ve heard rumored for a while, which is a magic number exactly twice vertical and horizontal to the current 480×320 iPhone and iPod touch resolution at pretty much the same physical size. That means existing apps will look virtually identical while new apps look even sharper — no iPad-style chunky double fuzzies here. Likewise, if Apple wanted to introduce a larger, HTC HD2 or Incredible sized display later, that pixel density would still look great and still mean no work, no fracture for developers.

Other tidbits include:

• No AMOLED as they cost 3x as much and suppliers simply couldn’t produce enough to meet the unit numbers Apple sells.
• Apple A4 based on ARM Cortex A8 as the A9 won’t be ready until the end of the year, after the iPhone launch.
• Probably 512MB of RAM, though Apple has requested tests on both 256 and 512. (Dear Apple, we’d really like 512 please).

Again, we never know how reliable any of this will turn out to be, but with WWDC so close, we’ll find out soon enough.

[Digitimes]

Apple had safer iPhone G4 prototypes incase iPhone HD was delayed? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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At over 5ooMB, Wired’s iPad app arrives in the App Store and yes, the future of magazine reading appears to arrive with it!

Last November we gave a sneek-peek at Wired’s concept for a magazine on a tablet. That demo was in Adobe’s Flash. The new version is 100% Flash free and is beautiful.

Navigating the magazine is a breeze; tap on the screen and you are given overlayed navigation tools. The bottom scrolls through pages and the top has two options- zoom out and a vertical list of articles in the issue.

There is plenty of interactive content too. Videos from the upcoming Toy Story movie and 3D real-time models of Mars and a Lego Lamborghini. With this awesome content and interactivity comes a price; $4.99 an issue. Is it worth it? Let us know in comments! Check screenshots after the break!

[$4.99- iTunes Link]

Wired brings their magazine to the iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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mommy to be is a pregnancy tracking application for the iPhone. It provides detailed weekly information, photos, tips, and a place to store notes.

The home screen of mommy to be displays how many weeks you are into your pregnancy, your baby’s length and size, a meter to visually see how far you’ve progressed, and much more. There is also a new photograph displayed for each week. Although these photographs are very nice, I would prefer to see a picture that shows how the fetus looks at this stage in development. One thing I found strange about mommy to be is that the accomplished number of weeks is correct, but the current week is one week ahead. My suspicion is that since this app was developed in Europe, they count their weeks different than we do in the US.

In addition to the home screen, there are tabs for “You” and “Your Baby”. Here you’ll find detailed information about what to expect with your body and the developmental changes that are happening with your baby. One or both of theses sections will generally also include a cute picture that is related to the topic being discussed.

The tips tab is an excellent section of this app. Each week, mommy to be gives you a different tip related to pregnancy, babies, shopping, or anything that is related to being pregnant. I find this part especially helpful as a first-time mom.

mommy to be is a great pregnancy application that offers a lot of useful information. This app will be good companion for any pregnant woman wanting to track their pregnancy and learn about the process on the way.

Video and screenshots after the break!

Pros

• Excellent information provided in the “You” and “Your Baby” sections
• A new practical hint each week – great for first-time moms!
• Email information from notes and “Today”
• Quickly view information from previous or future weeks

Cons

• Week calculation is one week ahead of traditional counting
• Text size is very small with no setting to make larger
• Weekly photos are not of fetus, but other random baby-related photos

[$4.99 - iTunes link]

mommy to be for iPhone – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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The pace of mobile is increasing and with new Google Android hero handsets dropping at an almost comedic every couple of months, can Apple afford to keep releasing only one new iPhone a year?

The iPhone 2G was a revolution in 2007, entering a market of stale Treo, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry devices, and an almost non-present Nokia in the US. Then came Google’s Android, brief flares of Palm webOS and Windows Phone 7, but mostly Android. Initial devices weren’t perfect but they kept pushing and iterating, releasing new devices on new carriers with new manufactures. They commissioned their own hardware. They got specced out chassises that were previously Windows Mobile. They hit Verizon.

And they never stopped pushing. Diversity, multi-carrier, great hardware, and an ever-improving OS now means that while Apple only gets a huge spotlight rush and hero release once a year, Google is getting them every month or so. And they can use that to counter-program Apple.

The Palm Pre launched on Sprint amid the iPhone 3GS launch and was overwhelmed. The Droid, the Nexus One, the Incredible were all released when the iPhone 3GS had been on the market a while and was approaching the apex and now end of its product cycle. They hit when users, especially geek users, influential techies, were hungry for new, shiny toys.

Of course, they then face having the exhaustive pace of the next new Android, and the next new Android after that… almost instant obsoletion to the iPhone’s more predictable, and reassuring, annual cycle.

Apple will have that luster again in June with iPhone HD/iPhone 4G and iPhone OS 4, and they’ll enjoy owning the market and mindshare for the month or two that follow. But as the year wears on they’ll be victim again to Google (and maybe Microsoft and Palm if they can pull it together and time it right) having the new, shiny toys.

Apple will have iPod touch G4 in September and maybe iPhone OS 4.1, and iPad G2 and maybe iPhone OS 5 beta in March, but if we stick to pure phone goodness, that’s a lot of time for Google to counter program and up the feature and spec sheets. We saw at Google I/O, with the way Android chose to vocally, and crassly go after the iPhone that they fear WWDC and the next iPhone, but that currently only happens every June.

Does Apple need to consider releasing new iPhone hardware more than once a year?

Can Apple afford to keep releasing only 1 new iPhone a year? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

The New York Times is reporting that the Justice Department is taking a look at Apple’s conduct in the digital music space:

people briefed on the inquiries also said investigators had asked in particular about recent allegations that Apple used its dominant market position to persuade music labels to refuse to give the online retailer Amazon.com exclusive access to music about to be released.

This goes back to a story in March about Amazon asking for 24hrs of exclusivity on certain new music tracks in exchange for prominently featuring those tracks on Amazon MP3. Apple reportedly asked labels not to give Amazon that exclusivity, and withdrew their own marketing support for those who made the deal with Amazon.

This is also comes on the heels of rumored DoJ/FTC questions about Apple’s banning of cross-compilers in the iPhone OS 4 SDK.

Whether or not these investigations become serious, they do show the government has increased interest in Apple and their businesses.

Question of the night goes to Seth from 9to5Mac:

Perhaps while they are at it, the DoJ should look into at why four companies, that are often in cahoots, control 95% of the music production in the US?

We’d add the carriers and cable companies to that list.

[New York Times, 9to5Mac]

US Government investigating Apple over iTunes music anti-trust? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

As manufacturer Hon Hai/Foxconn opens their facilities for an unprecedented media tour in the wake of a growing number of worker suicides, Apple has issued the following statement:

“We are saddened and upset by the recent suicides at Foxconn. We are in direct contact with Foxconn senior management and we believe they are taking this matter very seriously. A team from Apple is independently evaluating the steps they are taking to address these tragic events and we will continue our ongoing inspections of the facilities where our products are made."

In addition to Apple, Dell, HP, and others are also looking into conditions at the Shenzhen, China based manufacturer.

Apple has previously posted a supplier responsibility progress report.

[Reuters, Bloomberg]

Apple “saddened and upset” and investigating recent suicides at Foxconn is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Due to a settlement of a class action lawsuit, AT&T has a agreed to unlock all of the phones the company has sold since March 12, 1999 with the exception of — you guessed it — Apple’s iPhone. Unlocking the iPhone would mean you’d be able to take the phone and pop in any other GSM carrier sim card and have a fully functional device to travel with… or just run on T-Mobile EDGE. When push came to shove it appears even the courts can not force the carrier to unlock the jewel of the smartphone world:

“Cingular and AT&T Mobility current and former customers, upon request and where available, codes that unlock AT&T Wireless, Cingular and AT&T Mobility handsets other than (i) the Apple iPhone; or (ii) any handset that AT&T Mobility introduces or has introduced for sale pursuant to a contract with a handset manufacturer that provides for an exclusivity period of ten (10) months or longer ("AT&T Handset").”

I guess this is one of the reasons we still have the good folks in the Dev-Team. Now did any of you really expect anything more?

[BGR]

AT&T now providing unlock codes – except for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Box.net for iPad is a front end to Box.net’s cloud-based service that allows you to manage and share your data from anywhere. Thanks to the app, you can access your content not only through the Box.net website on any computer, but from your mobile devices now as well. 

The iPad version has a very intuitive and easy to use interface.  I recently set up an enterprise unlimited Box account for our business.  As we are in real estate development, we have tons of files to upload.  I was surprised you can even view AutoCad files with a plug-in.  Plug-ins are another area I really enjoyed looking at.  OpenBox is a service Box.net offers which features several plug-ins for 3rd party clients and apps that can work in conjunction with Box.net.   I spoke to a consultant at Box.net that also confirmed desktop syncing is about to come out of beta and hit officially in the next few weeks.  That was one of our biggest concerns as we’d like a cloud backup of all our data.

Also, being a small business, we especially liked the collaboration feature. We can leave notes or tasks for eachother on certain documents and folders.  When I sign in, I see what’s new or what files have been uploaded or change since my last log-in.

Box.net offers the following features (some features vary with account type):

• Sharing with links
• In-folder collaboration
• User permissions
• Integrated file views
• Online workspace
• Tasks
• Uploading files on the go from your iPhone or iPad

Box.net has a few pricing schemes for individuals and business users.  The unlimited business version you’ll have to call for details on as it can vary.  The enterprise unlimited version also comes with your own dedicated account manager for any technical issues.  You can also add an unlimited number of users for a set price per user, per month.  Besides the enterprise plan, the other plans are pretty straight forward:

• Lite – 1GB storage, 25MB file size limit, Free
• Individual – 10GB storage, 1GB file size limit, $9.95/month
• Business – 15GB storage per user, 2GB file size limit, $15/month per user up to 3 users
• Enterprise – Unlimited storage, Unlimited users, Call for pricing

These prices are very reasonable compared to maintaining a server.  Speaking from a business perspective, we’ve had no issues that Box wasn’t able to resolve.  If you use Box on a personal or business level, let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Update: After recording the video, Box.net released an update that allows for the uploading of files. We’ll look at that in the iPhone review soon!

[Free - iTunes Link]

Pros

• Fast file transfers
• More storage for cheaper than competitors
• Mobile apps or site for most platforms
• Excellent collaboration tools
• Easy to set up an implement

Cons

• No native editing within iPhone/iPad apps, view only
• No desktop sync (as of yet, should be available soon)
• Sometimes cuts off Excel files funny

Continue reading for screenshots and a video.

YouTube Link

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

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog