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Special post-WWDC 2010 Keynote edition! Apple introduces iPhone 4, rebrands iPhone OS to iOS, shows off Farmville, Netflix, and iMovie for iPhone, and invents FaceTime. Listen in!

Credits

Thanks to the TiPb iPhone accessory store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

Part 2

iPhone live podcast #103 – WWDC 2010 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Chaos Rings is the ultimate RPG thus far on the iPhone. Square Enix has done a fabulous job bringing the console RPG experience we have come to love on to our beloved Apple devices.

Our story begins with several pairings of unlikely partners thrust into a battle they do not wish to fight in a tower competing for rings. Starting the game you are given two choices for characters. Both teams include two people and you are always a party of two. When beginning, you are given a choice of two pairs and both have a similar story but different dialog. Each team has a stronger “fighter” type of character and the other is more of a support/magic character.

As the story evolves, you roam around the world presented to you in tiers. You often have a choice of what tier you would like. This way, you can always go back to an earlier level and gain more experiment for your characters (recommended) or continue on and enjoy the progressively harder battles.

The battle system in Chaos Rings is fun and does not seem to ever get old. Every battle allows you a few different attack options. You can defend, attack solo or as a pair. Defend is obvious, but solo and pair start to get interesting. If you choose solo, each character attacks individually and all attacks and damage are their own. If you decide to attack as a pair, you have a more combined powerful attack, but if attacked, both characters take damage. Of course you have the usual itms to revive fallen comrades, but instead of magic you collect “genes”. Genes are basically spells that you collect randomly after defeating an enemy. After a battle your HPs are restored but not your magic points for genes. You have to exit the level or use an item to restore.

In between battling monsters you have to solve the occasional puzzle. This typically involves collecting crystals or moving blocks in a particular order within a certain number of moves. These puzzles can become frustrating as many are required to progress through a level. However, persistence usually pays off.

Once you make it back to the lobby level, there is a merchant to buy sand sell items. As always this comes in handy to sell stuff you don’t need and buy stuff you do. The good news for a portable game of this nature is that you can save anywhere. Whew, it sure makes life easier.

But how does it look? I would equate it to Final Fantasy VIII on the PlayStation. Better textures and more polygons, but generally, that is the look in feel which is fine by me. The monsters are big and animated and lots of diversity in color and textures.

Should you get this game? If you even remotely like RPGs, this is a 100%’ must-buy, no-brainer. Good story, fantastic gameplay and graphics, it is a dream for any RPG fan. Check the video and screens after the break!

[$12.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Great gameplay
• Good story
• Awesome graphics
• SquareEnix quality we love
• Hidden dungeons

Cons

• Battle system could be deeper
• I can’t wait for the iPad version!

Chaos Rings for iPhone- 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

RadioShack’s corporate Twitter account has just announced that The Shack will be offering up Apple’s latest and greatest device, iPhone 4, on launch day – June 24th.

YES! RadioShack will have #iPhone4 at launch. More info tomorrow.

RadioShack now joins the ranks of Apple, Best Buy, and AT&T stores in selling iPhone 4. Where do you plan on going come June 24th?

Sound off in the comments below!

[Gizmodo]

RadioShack to sell iPhone 4 starting on launch day is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

This is just a heads up to developers who are looking to get their hands dirty with iAds as you can now do so by joining the iAd Network and downloading the development kit Apple has just released.

The iAd Network provides an intuitive environment for you to easily incorporate iAd rich media ads into your applications. You can also monitor performance and track revenue. iPhone Developer Program members can join the iAd Network today.

So developers should not delay, receiving 60 percent of the advertising revenue is not too shabby and should be well worth their time.

iAds dev kit is now available is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

During yesterday’s WWDC 2010 keynote, Steve Jobs announced that iOS 4 will be a FREE update for all devices, and the iPhone and iPod touch version will be released on June 21 (iPad version is still slated for fall). The main features include multitasking, folders, spellcheck, unified inbox with threaded messages, iBooks, Bluetooth keyboard support, and custom wallpaper. (Be sure to check out our iOS 4 preview for more details!)

iOS 4 is available for the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and the 2nd and 3rd-generation iPod touch. On the other hand, the original iPhone 2G and 1st-generation iPod touch will not be able to upgrade to iOS 4, and as with every big software release, some devices will not get all the new features.

Multitasking, custom wallpaper, and Bluetooth keyboard support are only available for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and the 3rd-generation iPod touch.

In the past, iPod touch users had to purchase big software releases for $9.99. Not this year. iOS 4 is a FREE upgrade for iPod touch. This is huge news for our iPod touch wielding readers.

If you use an iPhone 3G or 2nd-generation iPod touch, do any of these missing features entice you to upgrade? If so, do you plan to go big and upgrade to iPhone 4; or do you upgrade to the iPhone 3GS at the new amazingly low price of $99? iPod touch users, are you thrilled to be able to upgrade for free, or do you believe it should’ve been free all along?

Let us know in the comments below!

[Apple iOS 4 page]

iOS 4 device compatibility – can your iPhone and iPod touch be upgraded? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

TiPb is giving away an iPhone 4!

That’s right — iPhone 4 — we’re giving one away, and it could be to you!

We announced this last week, but now that we know its name, know its specs, and have the release date, we’re reminding you again. Here’s the bottom line: you gotta make us a video telling us — no, showing us — why you should be the one who gets the iPhone 4.

Make it funny. Make it scary. Make it silly. Make it out of this world, above and beyond awesome.

We want music, we want songs, we want skits, we want spoofs, we want action and adventure, we want drama and suspense, we want stop-motion animation and Blair Witch close-ups, we want tattoos and jello wrestling — wait a minute, these are Kevin’s notes! Bah! Never mind! — we want the absolute best, most creative, most dazzling video you can make.

We want you to prove you’re the one who deserves a 4th gen iPhone.

Watch the video below, then got to http://www.tipb.com/contest to find out how to enter!

YouTube link

Who wants to win an iPhone 4 from TiPb? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Steve Jobs brought back the “one more thing” bump for FaceTime, Apple’s new iPhone 4 feature that promises no setup, Wi-Fi only, one-on-one video calling. You start a call or choose a contact and you’re video chatting.

We’re curious if you think you’ll be using it? Nokia has had video chat for what seems like a century and half, and the Android-based Evo 3G has it via Qik, but it’s hardly a mainstream phenomena yet. Apple has a history of taking interesting technology and making it usable for the masses, but given the iPhone 4-only, Wi-Fi only restrictions, will the masses embrace it?

Apple has made the protocols behind FaceTime open, so while we hope iChat on Mac gets compatibility ASAP, it’s possible Skype could provide the same functionality, and Nokia, Android, and other platforms could have compatible apps. We could (and should) even — finally — get camera equipped iPads and iPod touches to join in the fun.

Is that enough to make it mainstream?

Let us know what you think about FaceTime. Do you see yourself using? If so, how? And where else do you want to see the FaceTime tech pop up?

Will you be spending some FaceTime with iPhone 4? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

If you’re looking for a nice, fashionable, and well-made skin for your iPad, the Case-Mate Gelli [$36.95] may be the case for you.

The Case-Mate Gelli is made from cutting-edge flexible thermoplastic material that Case-Mate claims to be more resilient than silicone and rubber. It fits very snuggly onto the iPad even after removing it several times. The skin feel great in your hands and adds some traction to your grip. It is also very thin; so it adds additional protection without adding unnecessary bulk. All ports are accessible with the Case-Mate Gelli.

The Case-Mate Gelli comes in two different chic designs: Kaleidoscope and Checkmate. I took a look at the Tomato Kaleidoscope skin and it is very beautiful. The thin, translucent case looks great with the iPad’s aluminum back. The Apple Logo and iPad branding show through the skin perfectly. The noticeability of the circles designed into the Kaleidoscope case is enough to look great, yet not stand out so much that it seems to be screaming “look at me!” The Kaleidoscope case comes in Tomato, Pink, and Aurora (yellow/gold). The Checkmate skin comes in green, blue, and gray.

I have been very happy with the Case-Mate Gelli case and highly recommend it to anyone interested in a skin case for their iPad.

Video and photos after the break!

Pros

• Nice and thin
• Looks and feels great
• Accessibility to all ports
• Come is two styles and three colors for each style

Cons

• Does not work with iPad dock

Case-Mate Gelli Kaleidoscope Case for iPad – accessory review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

The Pulse RSS reader for iPad, featured just yesterday during Steve Jobs’ WWDC 2010 keynote, is reportedly being removed from the iTunes App Store following a copyright complaint from the New York Times/The Boston Globe.

The gist of their demand letter is that Pulse comes pre-loaded with the NYTimes.com RSS feed and features it in screen shots, is a paid app, and thus commercially using their RSS feeds, and that it reframes the NYTimes.com and Boston.com websites, both of which the New York Times Company says is in violation of their copyright.

Pulse was written by two Stanford grad students, whom we’re guessing have far fewer legal resources than the New York Times Company, but are now in a position where they have to answer the copyright violation charge and/or modify their app to no longer violate the copyright.

Now, Pulse wasn’t scraping or stealing RSS content in the traditionally frowned-upon way — they’re an RSS reader like many, many others both on the desktop and on mobile devices. Was the only difference it’s high profile thanks to WWDC and a previous feature in the New York Times itself? If so, what does this mean for other RSS readers?

[Boom Town, image via New York Times]

New York Times has Pulse RSS reader pulled from App Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Apple.com has posted streaming QuickTime video for Steve Jobs’ WWDC 2010 keynote, where he introduced the new iPhone 4.

Update: a higher quality version is now available via iTunes download as well.

[Apple.com, iTunes - thanks @bengillam for the tip!]

Apple posts WWDC 2010 keynote video stream, iTunes download is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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