The iPhone Blog

The iPhone Blog


Facebook for iPhone iOS 4 hits iTunes App Store

Posted: 30 Jun 2010 03:25 PM PDT

Facebook for iOS 4 has been updated to version 1.4. The new additions are as follows:

  • Updated for iOS 4: Fast App Switching along with high resolution icons.
  • Korean and Russian localizations.
  • Other minor bug fixes.

Unlike the last Facebook update, there is no mention of the bugs that have been corrected.

Have you updated yet? If so let us know how it’s working for you!

Facebook for iPhone iOS 4 hits iTunes App Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Motorola Droid X ad punches iPhone 4 in the antenna

Posted: 30 Jun 2010 12:57 PM PDT

Motorola’s full page New York Times ad takes a swift jab into the tenderest regions of iPhone 4 antenna issues.

most importantly, it comes with a double antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like and use it just about anywhere to make crystal clear calls. You have a voice. And you deserve to be heard.

In our minds (and tweets) it played out like the original Karate Kid, with Droid X getting it’s iPhone 4-bloodied nose seen to by the Moto Kai sensei who mercilessly whispers “sweep the leg” “go for the antenna”.

Whether or not iPhone-san can pull out an iOS 4.0.1 crane-kick of a software fix and get its victory-from-the-jaws-of-defeat Hollywood ending remains to be seen…

“Send in a bumper case, yeaaaaaaah!”

[@sarahintampa via Android Central]

Motorola Droid X ad punches iPhone 4 in the antenna is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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LogMeIn Ignition updated for iOS 4

Posted: 30 Jun 2010 12:46 PM PDT

LogMeIn Ignition has just been updated for iPhone and iPad specifically with iOS 4 support.

Normally, this would not necessarily be too exciting, except I just got done testing this release. I am very excited to report that I was able to log in to my remote desktop, then check mail and other apps. Put the iPhone to sleep, come back minutes later and open LogMeIn Ignition and… my desktop was still there!

They’re no doubt using iOS 4 multitasking’s task completion feature (the same one that lets uploads finish in the background). It won’t let you keep the connection open forever — more like 10 minutes — but it’s still fantastic and I can’t recommend this app enough. This is very exciting to see developers adopting iOS 4 so quickly and in a useful manor.

Oh, and here is a tip. If you keep LogMeIn “running” in the background for a while, and want to make sure you don’t get a timeout error when you return to the app, check the setting on the client machine. It needs to be more than iOS 4’s 10 minute task completion limit (the default on mine was 20 min.)

[$29.99- iTunes Link]

LogMeIn Ignition updated for iOS 4 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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


iPhone live tonight, 6pm PT, 9pm ET, 2am BST

Posted: 30 Jun 2010 12:29 PM PDT

Due to crazy summer schedules our newer, later time-slot seems to be sticking around for a while.

And guess what? We have tons to talk about as well. It’s our first show post iPhone 4 release, post iPhone 4 review, and post iPhone 4 antenna, proximity, and other bugs. Like we said, tons

We’ll be taking over the home page 15 minutes or so before the show, and yes:

Well be giving away iPhone 4 accessories… live.

Be here, and be ready to chat.

iPhone live tonight, 6pm PT, 9pm ET, 2am BST is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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


Jonathan Ive discusses iPhone 4 design

Posted: 30 Jun 2010 11:49 AM PDT

Core77 spoke with Apple Senior Vice-President of Design, Jonathan Ive, about iPhone 4’s including the Retina Display, custom stainless steel antenna array, aluminosilicate glass front and back, and even the microSIM tray.

“A big part of the experience of a physical object has to do with the materials. [At Apple] we experiment with and explore materials, processing them, learning about the inherent properties of the material–and the process of transforming it from raw material to finished product; for example, understanding exactly how the processes of machining it or grinding it affect it. That understanding, that preoccupation with the materials and processes, is [very] essential to the way we work.”

Jonathan Ive focuses extensively on the importance of real material in an increasingly virtual world and seems driven by just how far he can push the manufacturing process to achieve his goals. For design aficionados and anyone wanting some insight into the mind behind iPhone 4, check out the link below.

[Core77 via Daring Fireball]

Jonathan Ive discusses iPhone 4 design is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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


iPhone 4 antenna problems clarified (a bit)

Posted: 30 Jun 2010 09:24 AM PDT

iPhone 4 antenna issues clarified

Anandtech has done some testing to try and find out what’s happening with iPhone 4 signal attenuation and related antenna reception problems, and come to two equal yet opposing conclusions:

Holding the iPhone 4 without a case, in your left hand, crossing the black strip can result in a worst case drop of 24 dBm in signal. [...] The fact of the matter is that either the most sensitive region of the antenna should have an insulative coating, or everyone should use a case. For a company that uses style heavily as a selling point, the latter isn’t an option. And the former would require an unprecedented admission of fault on Apple’s part.

And here’s the flip-side:

iPhone 4 performs much better than the 3GS in situations where signal is very low, at -113 dBm (1 bar). Previously, dropping this low all but guaranteed that calls would drop, fail to be placed, and data would no longer be transacted at all. I can honestly say that I’ve never held onto so many calls and data simultaneously on 1 bar at -113 dBm as I have with the iPhone 4, so it’s readily apparent that the new baseband hardware is much more sensitive compared to what was in the 3GS. The difference is that reception is massively better on the iPhone 4 in actual use.

Dieter is struggling with a lot of this while traveling back from the Samsung Galaxy S event in New York yesterday, what with AT&T’s historic iPhone network problems and now this added uncertainty of how iPhone 4 is held has him speechless (in several ways).

We can put a case on it and hope for the best, or hope Apple will quickly push out an iOS 4.0.x update that alleviates it, but the layered and varied uncertainties surrounding what for many is their primary method of connecting and communicating is no doubt becoming untenable for some.

[Anandtech via When Will Apple?]

iPhone 4 antenna problems clarified (a bit) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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How’s Hulu for iPhone and iPad working for you?

Posted: 30 Jun 2010 08:03 AM PDT

How’s Hulu plus for iPhone and iPad working for you? Have you given it a whirl, do you know where you stand yet? Give us your vote in the poll up top and then tell us your impressions so far in the comments.

Ready to give up cable? Ready to kick media executives until they do it better?

If you’re in the US and haven’t grabbed it yet, what are you waiting for?

[Hulu plus on iTunes]

Hulu plus for iPhone and iPad

How’s Hulu for iPhone and iPad working for you? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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


How-to troubleshoot iOS 4 battery life problems

Posted: 30 Jun 2010 04:56 AM PDT

Push Notification 20% Hit on Battery Life?

Simple question – how’s your battery life under iOS 4? We keep wanting better hardware and more features — and better battery life at the same time. How did iOS 4 deliver for you?

If the answer is not too well, we’ve got some steps you can use to try and help. We did this last year for iPhone 3.0, and it’s worth doing again.

Now, if your battery drain is caused simply by use — you’re running background music or navigation like a fiend, for example, your only choice is to get a few more charging cables or battery extenders. If, however, you’re doing roughly the same things you’ve always done and getting substantially less battery life for your troubles, there’s a chance a few troubleshooting steps might just help get your power problems back under control.

Reboot iPhone

If, all of a sudden, your iPhone starts burning through battery and getting hot at the same time, there could be a “rogue process” just churning away in the background. The answer to that is a good old-fashioned power cycle.

Hold down the sleep button until the red “Slide to power off” arrow appears. If your iPhone is frozen or otherwise in dire straights, you can hold down the home button at the same time as the sleep button to force quit all applications and bring up the red arrow. Then just swipe, let the iPhone turn off, wait a few seconds, and hold down the sleep button again to turn your iPhone back on.

Redo Push

Since iPhone 2.0 we’ve seen Push gone wrong really cause a hit to battery life. With 3.0, Push Notification means not only could mail, calendar, and contacts start misbehaving in the background, but your IM, Twitter, games, and all sorts of other apps can as well. In iOS 4 we can even have multiple ActiveSync accounts so push can hit twice as hard.

Apple says Push can cause a 20% drop in battery life, but if you think yours is worse then it should be, the next step is to redo anything that involves Push, including MobileMe, Exchange, and Google Sync accounts, and apps using Push Notification. Now, you might want to try doing one at a time, check your battery life, and if you don’t notice any improvement, try the next one. If you find the culprit quickly, that approach could save you some time. If you just want to get it over with, you might want to do them all at once.

For the accounts, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, choose your MobileMe and/or Exchange accounts, scroll down to the bottom and hit delete. For apps, go to Settings > Notifications and look at the list of any apps using Push Notification. Go back to the Home Screen, hold down the home button until the icons start to jiggle, and delete the Push Notification app.

Then, for accounts, go back to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, hit Add Account…, choose Mobile Me and/or Exchange, and re-enter your settings. For Push Notification apps, either sync them back from iTunes or go to the App Store app and re-download them.

My 3GS was getting warm and draining fast after I added Google Sync. Once I deleted and added it again, everything was great. So don’t skip this step.

Restore as New iPhone

We won’t lie to you — this is the nuclear option. It’s scorched earth. But to be frank, we at TiPb almost always default to this step because it almost always “just works”. We do this every time we get a new firmware and every time we notice something just isn’t right, and we have excellent battery life to prove it.

To restore your iPhone as new and get a fresh, clean start, attach it to your Windows or Mac machine via the USB cable and launch iTunes. A Restore button should be front and center on the screen. Hit it, then wait as iTunes goes through the laborious process of wiping your iPhone and installing the firmware again from scratch.

IMPORTANT: When iTunes asks if you want to restore your data from backup or set up as a new iPhone, choose NEW iPHONE.

Yes, you will lose your settings and any data saved in apps that don’t provide some sort of sync functionality, but it’s possible (even likely) some corruption in those settings or data is contributing to your poor battery life, and with an appliance like the iPhone, this is the only way to get rid of it.

This will also kill your Jailbreak, if you’re jailbroken. But if something in your Jailbreak was killing your battery life, like backgrounder gone awry, trying out your iPhone without the Jailbreak is a good way to establish that.

Once your iPhone is set up as new, you can sync your info and media back over using the iTunes tabs as normal, and/or setup accounts and download apps on the iPhone itself.

Conclusion

iOS 4 should give you around the same battery life as previous versions. Even multitasking on iPhone 3GS shouldn’t be a huge hit given Apple’s implementation. If you’re getting substantially less, there could be a problem with your setup or install.

Rebooting the iPhone, redoing Push-enabled applications, and restoring your iPhone as new are three escalating steps you can try to fix your battery problems.

Let us know how they work for you.

How-to troubleshoot iOS 4 battery life problems is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple now hiring: iPhone and iPad antenna engineers

Posted: 30 Jun 2010 04:32 AM PDT

iPhone 4 hold different

Apple has three job listings for iPhone and iPad antenna engineers, all posted June 23, just following the launch of iPhone 4. Their missions:

Define and implement antenna system architecture to optimize the radiation performance for wireless portable devices.

Whether the timing is coincidental, crucial, or just comedic given the antenna reception issues many users have faced when holding iPhone 4 on the lower left side… we’ll leave for you decide.

[Engadget]

Apple now hiring: iPhone and iPad antenna engineers is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple posts article on how to fix iOS 4 Exchange sync problems

Posted: 29 Jun 2010 08:35 PM PDT

iphone 4 multiple exchange accounts

Apple has posted a knowledge base article support note for users whose Exchange ActiveSync mail, contacts, and calendars are no longer syncing post-iOS 4 update.

Here are the symptoms as described by Apple:

Immediately after updating to iOS 4, some users may notice that Exchange ActiveSync Mail, Contacts, or Calendars do not sync, or sync very slowly. In addition, some Exchange Server administrators may notice their servers running slowly.

And the solution:

To work around this issue, users should install a configuration profile from Apple that increases the amount of time the iOS 4 device will wait for the Exchange Server to respond to its sync requests. For best results, the profile should be installed on as many iOS 4 devices at your company as possible.

To install the profile:

  1. Use Safari on your iOS 4 device to download the configuration profile. It may be easiest to read this article with your iPhone or iPod touch and tap the download link there, but you may also email the attachment to another email account on your iOS 4 device, and tap the attachment to open it.
  2. Tap Install to install the profile, and enter your passcode if prompted.
  3. A warning message will appear because the profile is not signed. Tap Install Now. Tap Done to complete the installation, then power off your device and power it back on.
  4. Wait for your Exchange data to finish syncing.

After installation, the profile will be listed under Settings > General > Profile.

If you’ve been having Exchange sync issues under iOS 4, let us know if this does indeed resolve it for you.

[support.apple.com, thanks Doug!]

Apple posts article on how to fix iOS 4 Exchange sync problems is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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