• Our podcast feed
• Download Directly
• Subscribe via iTunes

Rene, Leanna, and Craig discuss MobileMe improvements, BlackBerry and Android at All Things D, Nexus S, PlayStation Phone, AT&T and Verizon exclusivity, aftermarket white iPhones, top 5 Jailbreak themes, international promo codes, Infinity Blade, Latitude, and more. This is iPhone Live!

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

iPhone Live podcast 129: White lies and iPhones is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Curious how to make iOS 4 multitasking on iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad behave the way you want it to? If you’re Jailbroken, you have several options to choose from to help you make multitasking a little less cluttered and a lot more efficient. We’ll show you how after the break!

There’s a couple of things you’ll need to do before we get started. First and foremost, you’ll have to jailbreak your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad if you haven’t alread (a very easy process). We’ve thrown up a few great how-to articles detailing the process using Greenpois0n, Limera1n and PwnageTool to help get you started. Once you’re jailbroken you’ll want to head over to Cydia and install the following packages:

• Backgrounder (free)
• SwitcherMod (free)
• Five Icon Switcher (free)

Backgrounder

Backgrounder is a system-wide extension that allows for full customization of which apps are allowed to continue running in the background after you return to the homescreen. The default way iOS 4 handles multi-tasking is completely reliant on the developer updating their app to support the different APIs Apple has made available. Unfortunately for older apps that haven’t yet updated to support such features, iOS will kill the app when returning to the homescreen. Backgrounder fixes this by allowing all apps to run in the background by default. In addition, the app lets you choose which method of backgrounding to use (iOS native or Backgrounder’s more traditional implementation). You can also use it to filter out apps that you don’t want backgrounded.

Backgrounder will also put a small indicator badge on the bottom-right corner of any app that are backgrounded, making it easy to quickly tell which apps are multitasking. For the best results, we suggest using ‘Auto Detect’ across the board under the Global Settings pane.

SwitcherMod

SwitcherMod is an extension that lets you customize the app switcher in iOS, including letting you bypass the ‘hold to wiggle’ method for closing apps. Instead, when you bring up the app switcher with this option turned on, the close button will automatically appear over each icon, a much quicker and more efficient way of killing backgrounded apps.

In addition, SwitcherMod will let you change the behavior of how the app switcher displays apps that aren’t actually running in the background. Something I personally find annoying about iOS 4 is when I see an app in the app switcher that isn’t actually running in the background. Instead of thinking of the app switcher as a recently-used app launcher, I prefer using it as more of a place to go where I can see all of the apps that are actually open and running, which is a much more natural execution of the concept in general.

Five Icon Switcher

The last tweak you’ll want to grab is Five Icon Switcher, which lets you set the amount of icons shown in the app switcher. You can set up to ten apps, but I prefer setting it to five in order to match the five icons in my dock.

Bonus tip: Users who want more than five apps in their app switcher can download Shrink from cydia ($0.99 cents), which does exactly what the name implies and shrinks down the icons in the app switcher with additional options to shrink icons in your dock and on the Springboard (iPhone Home Screen system) as well. This allows for a cleaner look when there’s more than 4 apps in the app switcher.

Although Apple did a pretty amazing job with their multi-tasking system, we think these mods make it even better. Let us know if you have any questions or even better mods you know of in the comments below!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward…)

Daily Tip: How to customize iPhone and iPad multitasking [Jailbreak] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

iPhone users on AT&T received an email filled with tips on how to manage usage and save money while traveling internationally. With access to email, Visual Voicemail, safari and data using applications, it doesn’t take much to rack up a very expensive bill while abroad. Instead of surprising you with a giant bill, AT&T has decided to give iPhone users some saving money strategies. Here they are:

• If you want to place calls but not use data, turn data roaming “OFF”. This will block email, browsing, Visual Voicemail and downloads, but it will not block SMS or MMS messages. But feel free to use wifi; you can do so without accumulating any data charges.
• If you want to use data but not receive email automatically, turn Fetch New Data “OFF”. This will allow you to have total control of your data usage because nothing will be synced or downloaded in the background without your solicitation.
• If you want to use data and track your usage while abroad, consider purchasing an International Data Package. The 20 MB package is $24.99 per month, the 50 MB package is $59.99 per month, the 100 MB package is $119.99 per month, and the 200 MB package is $199.99 per month. If you decide to purchase an international data package it is recommended to reset the usage tracker to zero so that you can estimate your data usage while abroad.

Any of you plan to travel abroad for the holidays? If so, which of AT&T’s tips are you planning to partake in?

AT&T sends out tips for international traveling is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Dungeon Hunter 2, the heavily anticipated sequel to to Gameloft’s popular Dungeon Hunter, has now been released on the App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. While this release can be played on the iPad, it does not have native iPad support and an iPad version has yet to hit the App Store.

Dungeon Hunter 2 has an all new Co-op multiplayer mode that lets up to 4 players play through local Wifi or bluetooth. This game is also game center compatible!

25 YEARS LATER, RETURN TO GOTHICUS – IN HD

• You are one of the immortal king's sons. Survive a war, escape from prison, and travel across your realm to save everything!
• Enter Gothicus’ dark fantasy atmosphere with high-definition graphics, optimized for iPhone 4.

DUNGEON HUNTER LEVELS UP!

• Enjoy the same addictive hack ‘n slash gameplay with new finely tuned controls and save system.
• An open world 5 times bigger than before with more enemies, more areas, more quests and more hours of enjoyment.
• 3 difficulty levels, all of which can be unlocked by finishing the game once.

DEEP CUSTOMIZATION SYSTEM

• Choose among 3 character classes with 2 specializations each and improve your character with dozens of different skills.
• Hundreds of unique items to collect, including melee and ranged weapons, that will impact your character's look and skills.

This holiday gaming season is turning out to be a good one for Action/RPG fans! Check out more pics and let us know what you think by leaving a comment after the break!!

[$6.99 - iTunes link]

Dungeon Hunter 2 now available 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

VoiceOver is part of Apple’s accessibility features, a gesture-based way to have your iPhone speak what is written on your screen. First available on the Mac, Apple brought it to the iPhone with iOS 3 and improved it again in iOS 4. It doesn’t get the attention of copy/paste or multitasking, but that might simple be because people do not know much about it or how to use it.

For an overview of VoiceOver and the various ways it can be used, stay with us after the break.

What VoiceOver can tell you

VoiceOver can give you the description of all the items on the screen, battery level, status, cell network signals time of day and even let you know if the orientation of your iPhone has changed.

VoiceOver Controls

• Single tap to hear a description of what you have tapped
• Double tap to activate
• Swipe to adjust a slider
• Flick to the left or right to move to the next item on screen.
• Three fingers to scroll

VoiceOver will also deliver contextual information, such as the location of objects on the screen or tell you about adjoining objects. Since you are directly touching the part of the screen you want to have read out loud to you it is much easier to get the information you want faster than with other voice applications.

When you enter text on VoiceOver the letter you press is spoken to you when you touch it and then repeated again when you enter it. This is quite a tedious process but you can have VoiceOver speak the whole word instead. Flicking up and down will move the cursor to the left and right within the text for editing.

VoiceOver will try and predict the word you are typing to make the typing experience less stressful. I find this process very arduous and would rather use a dictation app like Dragon instead.

It uses sound effects to alert you when certain apps are open and can also lower the background music so that you can hear VoiceOver more clearly. When you select something a black rectangle shows on that item.

VoiceOver Adjustments

There are a variety of adjustments you can make to VoiceOver so that it is customized to your needs. You can adjust the speaking rate so it is as slow or quick as you like.

Languages offered

VoiceOver comes in 21 languages: Bahasa Indonesian, Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan), Dutch, English (US), English (UK), English (Australian), Finnish, French (Canada), French (France), German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Spain), Swedish, Thai, Turkish.

Compatible Apps

• iTunes
• Safari
• Maps
• Mail
• A few others as well

If you’re a developer, Apple offers the Accessibility Programming Guide for iOS [developer.apple.com link] to help you add VoiceOver and other accessibility features to your app. If you’re not a developer but you have an app you’d really like to see the feature added to, send them that link!

The Rotor

Place two fingers on the iPhone and turn them and you get a dial-like set of options for VoiceOver. This allows you to flick up or down to move through only the text you desire.

The Rotor is especially useful for navigating through a webpage, and options include:

• Lines
• Heading
• Links
• Form Controls
• Tables
• Characters
• Words

Do you ever use VoiceOver and if so how does it work for you? Let me know in the comments below.

[Apple]

How to use VoiceOver 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

If you liked the ClickyTouch UI but were already invested in the Google Analytics ecosystem then good news, the two have come together in Analytix for iPhone and the soon-to-be-released Analytix for iPad.

If you’re a hardcore iOS user, Google Analytic’s website can frustrate with its Flash-rendered graphs. Not so with Analytix. The data is beautifully presented and the charts gorgeously rendered, and it’s all run through the secure API so there’s no 3rd party getting between you and your numbers. Data refreshes in real time and it works in both portrait and landscape mode to give you the view you want the way you want it.

If you give it a try let us know how it works for you!

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Analytix brings ClickyTouch UI to Google Analytics for iPhone, iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Good news for all of you Cut the Rope fans out there as Zepto Lab and Chillingo are getting ready to release an all new holiday gift version in time for Christmas. Many games such as Doodle Jump and Angry Birds have started the trend of releasing holiday game versions. I’m glad to see Cut the Rope is going to follow that trend.

Cut the Rope’s most recent update added UI enhancements and an all new Cosmic Box world. I just beat it yesterday by collecting all 3 stars in every level. I’m personally really looking forward to the Christmas release. Just as the Angry Birds holiday version was a separate app, Cut the Rope is going to follow with that trend. Don’t get upset yet though. They’ll be offering the Holiday Gift version of their app for free!

Anyone else excited to see On Nom wear some reindeer antlers?

Cut the Rope Holiday Gift coming in time for Christmas! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Today it was announced that Howard Stern has inked a new deal with Sirius XM satellite radio that will keep him on air through 2015. This is great news for all of the iPhone toting Stern fans out there as this new deal allows for his show to be on for another five years but it also allows the show to be streamed over your iOS device via the Sirius application, something that was not allowed previously due to Stern’s old contract.

Sirius XM executives would not comment on whether they paid extra to work this arrangement into the new contract and they would give no time frame of when the streaming would start to take place.

[Electronista]

Howard Stern’s new Sirius XM radio deal allows for streaming to iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Exclusive Mike Lavalee/Hellbent, Pamala Durkin, Keru tattooed leather cases for iPhone [Sponsored]

Using a patented process to impregnate leather with bold, distinctive artwork from Mike Lavalee/Hellbent (Overhaulin, Miami Ink, Rides, Monster Garage), Pamela Durkin, and Keru, these next-generation pouch cases offer your iPhone the ultimate in style and protection.

You get the look, feel, and luxury of genuine leather with the brilliant colors and patterns previously only available with fabrics. And thanks to the unique new process, the art is highly resistant to everything from chemicals and cosmetics. Your skulls and flames and flowers and tribal designs are staying put.

Make a statement. Stand out from the crowd. Don’t be another same-old iPhones. Get a Mike Lavalee/Hellbent, Pamela Durkin case for your iPhone — or for that someone special’s iPhone — this holiday season.

Available exclusively from the TiPb iPhone Accessory Store.

Exclusive Mike Lavalee/Hellbent, Pamela Durkin, Keru tattooed leather cases for iPhone [Sponsored] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Yes, we’ve reached supposed case-leak season in the pre-iPad 2 hype cycle and a couple of these bad boys have been spotted sporting what looks like cutouts for rear-facing camera and SD card cut slots.

Apple doesn’t give accessory makers advanced access to hardware like iPad 2, but since some of those case makers have connections to the factories that assemble iPad 2 hardware, who knows what they’ve heard, seen, or even fondled on the down-low?

As always, these cases could be spot on or complete wrong, real, fake or really fake, so check out the picture and let us know what you think. Will we be getting a rear-facing camera and SD card slot on iPad 2?

[iLounge, MacRumors]

iPad 2 cases reveal rear-facing camera, SD card slot? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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