iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad having problems or just being buggy and unresponsive and curious how to restart or reset it? Strange as it sounds, just like a computer, restarting or resetting can solve a host of problems. We’ll show you how after the break!

Restart your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad

The first thing to try is a simple restart.

1. Hold down the Sleep/Wake button until a red slider appears on the screen.
2. Slide your finger across the slide and the iPhone will turn off.
3. Turn the iPhone back on again by pressing the Sleep / Wake button until the Apple logo appears on screen.

It will take a little bit till your iPhone turns back on this is normal dont worry.

If the problem is still there after a power down or if the power down option failed due to a freeze up, there is another option. You can reset your iPhone. Don't panic, your normal data will not be wiped.

Reset your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad

1. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least 10 seconds.
2. Ignore the red slider that appears on the screen and keep holding both buttons until the Apple logo appears.

That's it, iPhone will restart and hopefully all your problems are cured.

The two methods are slightly different, the first method is a soft reset only and leaves running programs and data in memory. The second method completely powers down your iPhone and also clears any cached data and items stored in memory.

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 restart/reset your iPhone or iPad [Beginner] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Why is RIM running away from BlackBerry in order to try and keep up, never mind compete, with Apple’s iPad, never mind iPhone? Georgia, Chad, Ally and I spoke about this at length on last Sunday’s iPad Live! podcast but given RIM’s financial results and accompanying comments this week, I think it’s appropriate to get some text behind it now as well.

Note: I’m not going to use direct quotes in this piece. I need a translator to understand RIM’s co-CEO’s, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. They don’t speak any language I’m familiar with, not English, French, Klingon, or marketing. There’s no app for translating what they’re saying lately, and certainly no web service (zing! reserved, as you’ll see later). I’ve read what CrackBerry Kevin and Sascha Segan, geniuses both, have managed to extract but I’m still baffled. Or RIM is still baffling. I think it’s the latter.

End of life equations

BlackBerry is the ultimate communications device for those whose hierarchy of needs are founded on communication. While competition from third-party IM apps is growing, for those who need instant, addictive, information exchange and the best tiny keyboard in the business, BlackBerry still has no equal. It also has no future. It grew from a pager and has been bound and gagged and kept from growing further by the increasingly outdated, increasingly restrictive Java2ME-based architecture. Push-wise their technology is fantastic. Hardware-wise their build quality is among the best. OS-wise they’re dead in the water.

Apple faced this with OS 9, bought NeXT, and now we have Mac OS X and iOS. Microsoft faced this with Windows ME and Windows Mobile 6.5, merged NT on the desktop and re-architected on the mobile side, and now we have Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7. Palm faced this with Palm OS and the Treo, went back to the drawing board and came out with webOS and the Pre. Google began making a BlackBerry clone, took one look at iPhone, switched gears, and now we have Android 2.3 Gingerbread (and Chrome OS, perhaps after seeing webOS).

In each of those cases a company whose core technology was at its end of life brought in or rebuilt a new foundation to take them forward another step with their core products. Apple didn’t buy NeXT and launch a gaming console. Microsoft didn’t bring in NT and launch a walkman competitor. Palm didn’t build webOS to get into the printer game (listening HP?), and Google — well, Android was additive for them; their advertising business is doing just fine thanks. RIM has done the first part, they’ve bought QNX but instead of using that to build a 14 million a quarter selling iPhone competitor, to make a better BlackBerry… they’re deploying it on a tablet to take on the 5 million or so a quarter selling iPad. Instead of using it to regroup, retrench, and relaunch, they’re using it to branch out and buy time. And they’re making incredible compromises to do it.

Webapps for that

First, RIM is playing the HTML5 card for developers, the one Palm played with webOS 2 years ago. Now HTML5 is great for webapps and maybe webapps are the future but we’re nowhere near that future yet. RIM’s co-CEO Jim Balsillie suggested Apple’s App Store-class apps are only necessary on iOS because iOS can’t handle the web as well as the PlayBook (a product which does not yet exist for consumers). He said “you don’t need an app for the web”.

Except of course you do. The browser is an app, a generic frame app that’s good for most things but not great for all things. My Mac and Windows PCs can all handle the web well — better than any PlayBook real or imagined — and I like many others still use native apps all the time. (MailPlane does things with Gmail that Gmail.com stuck in a browser just can’t do.) Google, the king of webapps, makes all sorts of native apps because they — being the king — they understand the internet pipes better feed native apps at this point than the browser. (Witness the exception that proves the rule — Chrome OS.)

It’s become a cliche but when Steve Jobs announced sweet, sweet webapps as the original iPhone 2G SDK back in 2007 he was met — rightfully so — with the jeers and condemnation of the developer community. Now it’s 2010 and mobile apps have proven so successful that web browsing is actually down on iOS. People like using apps better than the web on mobile because internet-enabled apps currently work better than the web browser on mobile devices.

Destiny dependent

Second, RIM is using Adobe’s AIR as stop-gap SDK and Flash as a presentation layer. While that’s great news for Flash developers because it allows for the mythical “code once, run anywhere” travesty that’s tortured users for over a decade, it’s the same trap RIM was was in with Java2ME on BlackBerry OS. It’s an intermediary, code-intepreting layer based on outdated, historically poorly performing technology that RIM can’t control. If AIR and Flash languish and fall far behind the curve, as Adobe has let them do in the past, or if Adobe takes AIR and Flash in a direction that’s at conflict with RIM and their users, what can RIM do? They’re once again not masters of their own destiny, something Apple, Microsoft, Palm, and Google decidedly are.

Forgetting phones

Third, QNX and the AIR layers don’t seem to be able to run on phones, which are RIM’s core business. It demands too much processing power and consumes too much battery life to actually power the products RIM sells. In 2010. iOS has been powering iPhones well since 2007. Android, UI challenged as it was, worked fine on the 2008 G1. webOS did wonders with the Pre in 2009. Microsoft, who had their head in the sand (to put it politely) for years still managed to launch a new OS that ran on phones by 2010. That it took one or two years post-iPhone is understandable. That it took three is perplexing. That RIM will take four, maybe five is as flabbergasting as the PlayBook itself.

The BlackBerry inexperience

Fourth, given RIM doesn’t have a native development environment of their own or a next-generation OS that can run on current generation phones, the tablet-style PlayBook might seem like a smart, place-holder play to keep the BlackBerry faithful, well, faithful.

Except the PlayBook is a BlackBerry in name only. As I mentioned at the beginning, BlackBerry, OS-challenged as it is, still leads the industry in enterprise push, messaging, and overall communications. Those are their core strengths and competencies. Say what you want about the BlackBerry OS user experience — and I’ve said plenty, as have lots of BlackBerry lovers — tens of millions of people use it everyday. And the PlayBook is nothing like it. The PlayBook, which RIM can only hope to sell to Enterprise and BlackBerry addicts, has a user experience completely alien to BlackBerry. It’s interactivity is all Apple iPad and its UI metaphors are all taken from Palm’s webOS.

Apple was criticized for not doing something more original with the iPad, of simply scaling up the iPhone. But that’s exactly right and Apple said why at the introduction — there were already tens of millions of users who knew how to use iPhone and would instantly know and feel comfortable using iPad.

How many BlackBerry users will instantly know PlayBook based on their BlackBerry use? BlackBerry users are BlackBerry users — if they’re still BlackBerry users — because they don’t want iPhones or Pres. They want BlackBerrys. If they wanted iOS they’d have already gotten iPads and if they want webOS they’ll wait for a PalmPad.

PlayBooks sound like they’re for play. BlackBerrys are known, trusted, and loved for work. Even the name shows the utter disconnect at the core of this device, and at the core of RIM.

Love is blind

Like Ballmer at Microsoft and Colligan at Palm, Lazaridis and Balsillie at RIM probably thought they were so entrenched, so far advanced, that no upstart like Apple (or Google) could challenge them. By the time they did start responding with their “Apple killer”, the BlackBerry Storm in 2008, the negative reaction should have shown them that what they were doing wasn’t and wouldn’t work, that they needed to think different and leap ahead.

I’ve always thought Android and Windows Mobile suffered because the CEOs of Google and Microsoft didn’t care about them. They’re just another screen that needs to be owned. Steve Jobs loves the iPhone. Jon Rubenstein went to Palm to make the Pre. Lazaridis and Balsillie obviously love the BlackBerry (maybe even more than Kevin). But the love that can launch and platform can also blind a company to the platform’s decline. Founders have a tough time recognizing when change is needed. Witness the BlackBerry Torch.

It’s taken RIM over three years to recognize the trouble they’re in and since they wasted so much time they’ve now become desperate not to waste any more. That’s why Balsillie is firing away at Apple and that’s why Lazardis came off so poorly when interviewed by Mossberg and Swisher at the Dive into Mobile conference. Unable to show off anything but the PlayBook prototype, unable to concede the failure of the Torch and risk the Osborn effect on existing BlackBerry OS devices, and unable to tell a story about smartphones that can’t be told until next year at the earliest, he’d have been better off not doing the interview at all.

Why is RIM running away from BlackBerry to battle Apple?

RIM doesn’t have Windows and Office, or online advertising to keep them afloat while they (re)invent their smartphones. They’re like Apple when Jobs came back or Palm when Rubenstein came in, only it’s not then it’s now and the space is accelerating faster and the climate is more competitive than ever before.

That’s why RIM has to make so many compromises, playing the HTML5 card, getting in bed with Adobe, going with a tablet instead of a phone, and creating an alien experience, and why they’ve had to run away from the Blackberry to battle Apple — because today’s BlackBerry has proven can’t battle Apple and tomorrow’s BlackBerry is still way more than a day way.

They waited too long and now they’ve bet on the PlayBook to to keep them going until chips and batteries let them re-enter the smartphone game. It’s a huge gamble and not one that’s guaranteed to pay off .

Why is RIM running away from BlackBerry to battle Apple? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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SBSwitcher is a new mod in the Cydia Store that allows you to relocate all SBSettings toggles to the iOS 4 app switcher dock. Just scroll to the left to reveal all your toggles! The tweak is very useful, especially when you’re in system apps (like Cydia) that don’t allow you to use SBSettings from the status bar. Additional features include the ability to call up the app switcher from the lockscreen, letting you manipulate toggles or get into a running app without even unlocking your iPhone!

One small caveat is that you don’t have the ability to respring from the app switcher without going into SBSettings from the status bar. An easy way to side-step this is by setting Activator to respring by using one of the available options, making it easier to respring on command without the need of getting into SBSettings whatsoever.

SBSwitcher is available in the Cydia Store for $2.99. Unfortunately for now, the mod doesn’t work with the iPad. Check out the full feature list and screenshots after the break, and let us know what you think in the comments!

• Set SBSwitcher to default to the Now Playing section of the app switcher.
• Exit the app switcher by pressing the home button instead of exiting the app itself when hitting home.
• Hide the volume slider (iOS 4.2.1 only).
• Easily turn on/off your WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth radios from the app switcher.
• Quickly get back into an app or manipulate an SBSettings toggle right from the lockscreen — no need to unlock!

Put SBSettings toggles in the iPhone app switcher with SBSwitcher [Jailbreak] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

The TiPb forums are naturally a great place to talk, commiserate, celebrate, get help, and offer advice to your fellow iPhone users. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is easy and free so if you haven't already, head on over and register now!

• Developers have really begun to take advantage of Apple’s Game Center service for their games so why not get as many friends as you can in our Game Center ID Tracker thread?

• Thinking about converting your iPhone 4 to the mythical white device? Take a look at how other forum members iPhones have turned out here.

• So many of you have tried it, including myself, and have failed. Trying another device out only to come running back to the iPhone 4. So be honest here, how many of you have tried leaving only to make a complete circle back to the iPhone?

• Why not let your inner fan boy or fan girl out in the following thread – 10 things iOS does better than Android.

See you in the forums!

Game Center ID, White iPhone 4 conversion, iPhone 4, iOS vs Android – From the Forums is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

FX Photo Studio for iPhone, a photography app dedicated to photo filters, recieved an update today that includes 10 new photo effects and the ability to share your presets.

• Presets sharing feature
• 10 new photo effects
• Flower camera selection option added (for iphone4)
• Tumblr sharing
• Filter previews with higher quality
• Optimized crop tool
• Preview autorotation option

With 181 photo filters and the ability to overlap them, FX Photo Studio is the app for adding effects to your photos. The good folks at MacPhun LLC have given us a few promo codes to hand out to you, our awesome readers. All you need to do is let us know how many photos you have sitting in your Camera Roll waiting to be edited with FX Photo Studio. The contest begins now and ends Tuesday, December 21 at 4:00p EST.

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think!

[$2.99 - iTunes link]

FX Photo Studio update brings new effects, preset sharing [give-away] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Skyfire has released a demo video (see below) showing off the iPad version of their Flash transcoding browser. Already available for the iPhone with fairly positive reviews; some of the features in the iPad version are the ability to view full screen Flash video as well as embedded Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader integration.

The iPad version will be a totally separate app, which basically means you will have to pay again if you already paid for the iPhone version. No information on pricing, but expect to pay slightly more than the $2.99 that the iPhone version currently costs.

Hopefully Skyfire will have ironed out its previous server overload issues, prior to the launch of the iPad version. Do you use Skyfire? Are you excited by the iPad version? Let us know in the comments!

[Skyfire]

Skyfire for iPad coming very soon is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

The good people over at App of the Day took some time to put the App Store into some nice easy-to-read graphs and their findings were pretty amazing actually. According to their findings 33 percent of all apps currently available are free of charge. Something not so shocking is the fact that iPhone apps account for 85 percent of available apps while the iPad hits in at 7 percent while the rest is accounted for with universal binaries. The average price of apps is sitting at $2.43 with an overall average app rating of 3 stars.

Check out their awesome graphic by clicking the picture above and let us know your thoughts on their findings in the comments below.

[ FastCompany via IntoMobile ]

iPhone and iPad App Store at a glance is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Another interesting Apple patent has made its way out of Cupertino, this one explaining a process in which Apple would use new “knitting technology” to create a flexible material for use in iPads and other products. The material could be made from not only metal fibers but glass fibers or other types of materials as well.

This could potentially give products a bit more physical flexibility as well. Seeing as this material probably would not be as durable as aluminum, I don’t know if I can see Apple using this as the sole material to build future devices. I do see this as being useful for things such as insulation. Perhaps using some of this material could insulate vulnerable parts and protect from interference (antennagate anyone?).

Seeing as a knitting process would also allow Apple to control the texture and thickness of fibers, this type of technology could be used in products such as headphones as well. Anyone else have any theories on what Apple plans on using this new material process for?

PatentlyApple

Future iPads to use light, flexible “knitted” material? [Patent watch] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Apple has started their 12 days of Christmas early, notifying European subscribers that they can right now pick up Kylie Minogue – A Christmas Gift, which consists of 3 free songs.

A few days ago, Apple UK launched the 12 days of iTunes Christmas app, that gave you 1 free song/film/app from the iTunes Store everyday from December 26th for 12 days.

Interestingly, the Official 12 days of iTunes website doesn’t show this special promo, and “A Christmas Gift – EP” can’t be found on iTunes, so this seems to be a app/email exclusive.

Anyone in the US upset they’re not getting this (yet)?

[ Kylie Gift | 12 days App , thanks Andy!]

12 Days of iTunes Christmas starts early with Kylie Minogue is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

If Word Lens is to be believed, we now live in the future where you simply point your iPhone camera at something and it translates it for you replacing the Spanish text, for example, with English right before your gobsmacked eyes.

It currently only supports 2 demo modes (backwards and erase) and two language packs (English to Spanish and Spanish to English) available as in-app purchases, currently on 50% off sale for $4.99. They admit it’s not perfect; it can’t handle handwriting or stylized fonts, and gives more gist than precise translation, but again — camera based translation, future, gobsmacked. Even if it’s only a tech demo, even if it only works for comedic effect, it’s awesome.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

[Free with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Word Lens for iPhone provides instant translation — via camera! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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