Verizon CFO Fran Shammo told investors today that Verizon Wireless will be moving to tiered data plans as early as this summer, no longer offering the unlimited data plan Verizon iPhone users have enjoyed since Apple’s smartphone came to the network last month.

Verizon Communications Inc. will stop offering unlimited data plans for Apple Inc.'s iPhone as soon as this summer and switch to a tiered pricing offering that can generate more revenue and hold the heaviest users in check.

Verizon is following in AT&Ts’ footsteps, who removed unlimited data and implemented tiered pricing for the iPhone last year so they could market the iPhone to a broader audience suck up more cash by offering less (a move which wasn’t necessarily met with open arms by AT&T iPhone users).

If you already have an unlimited data account with Verizon you’ll almost certainly be grandfathered and able to keep it going forward. But if you’re new to Verizon after tiered data comes into play, you’ll be out of luck.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

[Bloomberg]

Verizon killing off unlimited data, switching to tiered pricing for iPhone this summer is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Add some color to your iPhone with Incipio Ultra Light Feather Case

The Incipio Ultra Light Feather Case for iPhone 4 (including Verizon iPhone) is for those who want some color and style without any extra bulk. It comes in black, bright purple, pink, forest green, metallic black, metallic white, metallic gray, coral, turquoise, yellow/green, metallic purple, and metallic orange. Phew!

ShopIncipio Ultra Light Feather Case!

Add some color to your iPhone with Incipio Ultra Light Feather Case is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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The FAA has given a thumbs up for a flight charter company to begin using the iPad in place of paper flight charts, making it much easier and more efficient for pilots to keep tabs on their flight charts while on the ground and in the air. Wired reports:

The Federal Aviation Administration is allowing charter company Executive Jet Management to use Apple’s tablet as an approved alternative to paper charts.

Although this only applies to Executive Jet Management for now, the move will no doubt make waves in the aviation space as additional aviation companies adopt the iPad as a paper replacement. The iPad has been popular among pilots since it debuted last year but so far they’ve only been able to use it for reference and other unofficial tasks.

The charter company tested the iPad in 10 aircraft across 250 flights to make sure it wouldn’t interfere with sensitive electronic flight instruments onboard. They deemed the iPad “extremely stable” during testing without a single crash and added that if there ever were a system crash, the app could be up and running “in 4-6 seconds from re-launch to previous state”.

So even though the iPad 2 is about to take off, it looks like the original iPad has secured a solid place in the sky. Any pilots out there excited to hear this? Sound off in the comments below!

[CNN]

FAA approves Apple iPad for pilot flight charts is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Kara Swisher from Boom Town claims Steve Jobs is considering making an appearance at the iPad 2 launch event tomorrow:

According to several sources close to the situation, Apple CEO Steve Jobs–who is on a health-related leave from the company–is definitely considering an appearance at its big iPad 2 event tomorrow.

But the possibility–which would be a big sensation at the San Francisco gathering and has been subject to great speculation–is also just as definitely not confirmed as yet, stressed sources.

If Jobs does appear, it would be brief she says. iPad 2 will no doubt be the star of the show and while Phil Schiller, Tim Cook, Scott Forstall and the other execs will no doubt present it well, it would be great to see Steve Jobs introduce or cap off the event.

[Boom Town]

Steve Jobs considering iPad 2 event appearance? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Evernote, the remember-everything productivity and note taking app that has been rocking the App Store since 2008, received a major overhaul for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad today. The 4.0 update brings a number of additions including a new homescreen with a more efficient snippet view, better note browsing, and more.

If you haven’t used Evernote yet we highly suggest giving it a try. There are so many ways of using Evernote to help get things done and improve your productivity that it would just be silly not to!

Hit the jump for a full rundown with a video of what’s new, and let us know how it’s working for you in the comments!

iTunes Link

What’s New in Version 4.0 Our biggest iPhone and iPod Touch interface update ever

New ways to see your notes – Snippet view: Intelligent note list view shows you more useful content – Image view: Browse all the image contained in your notes – Attachment view: Browse through files attached to your notes

Creating notes is faster and easier – Attach multiple images and recordings to a single note – Record 90 minutes long audio notes – Add text and snapshots to a note while recording – View and modify location data

Find your notes – View notes in specific notebooks – Find notes by tag – New Search screen with quick access to Saved Searches

Major speed improvements and bug fixes.

Stacks, shared notebooks and a major iPad update coming…

Evernote for iPhone and iPad updated is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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While in previous years Apple has debuted products like iPhone, MacBook Air, and iPad in January and done an iOS preview in March, this year’s iPad 2 launch event is March 2, leading some to believe Apple will eschew a separate event and introduce iOS 5 on the same day. So, just in case Apple goes for the 1-2 combo punch, just in case Scott Forstall takes the stage to “blow away” developers and users with what’s next, we want to be ready.

Apple begs the question — what will 2011 be the year of? We’ll give you our want list, after the break.

Apple ID activation

Right now before you can use a new iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad you (or the store where you bought it) have to tether it to iTunes on Mac or Windows and activate it. How 2007. Android just needs a Gmail address. webOS just needs a Palm profile. Facebook phones (you know they’re coming!) will just need your @facebook.com address. Apple has millions and millions of iTunes IDs, Apple IDs, and MobileMe IDs. Let us use those — or better yet, unify those first and then let us use our unified Apple ID — to activate our iOS devices.

Moreover, just like when you login to MobileMe for the first time on a new Mac, let iOS immediately check the cloud and download our preferences. Let us type in that ID and get our mail, calendar, and contacts accounts, Wi-Fi setups, and all our other Settings synced down to our device.

If we lose our iPhone or simply update to a new one, we should be able to login with our Apple ID and immediately have our phone restored to a personalized, working state. Sure huge media, apps, games, etc. will still require iTunes tether to sync, but give us a basic on-device, online way to start.

(Seeing as how the facial recognition login is still likely a few years off…)

Contact and status aggregation

Once we have the one Apple ID to rule them all, we need a saner way of handling all the other IDs and accounts. Facetiously I’d say just copy webOS’ Syngery. Seriously, however, between email, IM, Twitter and Facebook status, contact information, and all the different online stores with often conflicting data it’s annoying and unworkable to keep them all sandboxed and separate. We’ve been asking for this on iOS for years now as well. (Don’t make Chad bring up those old iChat Mobile patents again!)

If we know a contacts online account, let us enter it. Then pull in their profile information and status, silo it so it stays internally separate, but present it back to us in a unified view.

Facebook is presenting email, IM, SMS, etc. in a unified Facebook message system now and while it’s still a little kludgy it shows how the boundary between different communication forms are breaking down. Apple is great at “hiding the pipes” (the backend data sources that bring information into their apps) and showing the user only a single clean, consistent UI. They’re doing that now with unified inbox in Mail — regardless of which account an individual message is in, we see them all in the unified inbox. It would be great to see Apple expand this not just across email accounts but across protocols.

If I bring up Leanna, let me see her latest emails, Twitter and Facebook status, IM’s, SMS, etc. all as “messages” (hey, let 3rd parties hook in so I can see Foursquare, Instagram, etc. if she offers them and I approve them on my device.) Then thread them and let me reply back to them automagically using the proper protocol.

App state sync

Taking it one step further, right now if we use an app on iPhone and then go and use the same app on iPad — even if it’s a universal binary — there’s no persistency of state. Unless the developer is syncing on their own or with a popular web service like DropBox, there’s no way to get to your latest data from different devices. Apple could provide a consistent method for doing this.

We’ve asked for it before when it comes to games — let Game Center sync our game progress between devices. If we get to a certain level in Infinity Blade on iPhone we want to pick up iPad and keep going from that level. But really, a general app state sync API would be even better. When iOS saves the information locally, push it up to the cloud and the next time the app is launched on any device, check the cloud for the latest state.

App store upgrades

Originally I wanted App Store trials, subscriptions, and upgrades. To be able to download an app or game, try it for a short period of time, then decide to buy it and if the developer offers a really compelling upgrade, pay for it without having to buy a whole new “2″ app would be fantastic for users and developers alike. Over time, with freemium and $0.99 apps with in-app purchases the need to demo has lessened for me. And Apple has already announced subscriptions — to much controversy, so we won’t retread that again here. But upgrades are still needed.

iTunes knows what apps we've bought. We know it knows because when we try to buy a paid app we've already bought, iTunes tells use we've already bought it and that we can download it again for free. Why can't the same system be used to determine, for example, that we've already bought Tweetie 1 and hence we can download Tweetie 2 at an upgrade price. Apple could allow developers to set that upgrade price in iTunes Connect, an extension of how they can set universal sale prices today. We've seen some strange screens pop up that seem to indicate Apple is at least experimenting with the idea, but why not pull the trigger? Again, it's more overhead for Apple but the customer experience boost would be enormous.

File handling

Similarly, it’s still vexing to try and get your documents onto iOS, to make sure you have the latest version, to be able to edit it and seamlessly save it back to the device and cloud. For years we’ve asked for a Mobile Finder app, or more recently a Files app, that would work like a system-wide repository for documents the way Photos works for videos and images.

Most users don’t need file system access the same way they don’t need everything running in the background all the time. What they need is the functionality file access provides in a way that’s robust and usable on mobile devices.

In that way a Files.app would give us access all our documents the same way we go to the Photos app or call up the picture picker in a 3rd party app today. (Yes, pretty much what Apple does in the online-only iDisk app.)

Good on-device handling is only one piece of the puzzle, however. We need to be able to round-trip the documents from our Windows or Mac PC and our Google or other cloud. Right now we can do some of that, sort of, in a painful and convoluted way. Apple is addressing some of this in the new Mac OS X Lion preview with AirDrop — a way to move files between Macs as easily as iOS moves video and print jobs with AirPlay and AirPrint. There are also hints of improved WebDAV-based sharing in OS X Lion Server. But that all still sounds disjointed and overly complex.

Something that combines the Files.app idea with AirDrop, supported on iOS, Mac, and PC, and able to sync with a far more robust, speedy, and reliable iDisk or WebDAV would be grand. While I don’t expect Apple to include support for DropBox, Box.net, Google Docs, etc. letting the user configure them in a WebDAV-like manner would be outstanding.

Open Files.app. Add a sync source if you want one and have one. Let any app, including iWork, Docs to Go, QuickOffice, etc. open, edit, and save back the files. And keep them in sync. (Oh, and add similar cloud sync options to Photos.)

System-wide Voice Control

Apple introduced basic VoiceControl a couple years ago in iOS 3 for iPhone 3GS letting us place calls or play music. Google trounced this with system-wide voice commands in Android starting with the Nexus One last year. Apple needs to take the lead back here. There are lots of rumors that Apple will use their SIRI acquisition to bridge the gap but SIRI isn’t voice control any more than it’s a search engine. It uses voice recognition to tie into popular, existing search engines to provide basic, intelligent services for users. Steve Jobs has called it Artificial Intelligence. SIRI could be a robust extension of voice control and a way to “synergize” multiple sources of online data, but Apple needs to deliver the underpinnings and that’s new, home-grown tech. (Unless Woz didn’t just misspeak and Apple really did secretly buy Nuance…)

It’s much-needed tech, however, so here’s hoping Apple delivers it.

Elegant notifications

Apple’s current badge, sound, and popup notification system — virtually unchanged since 2007 — is so unwieldy that it’s difficult to imagine Apple built it knowing 3rd party apps and push notifications were in the pipeline. Android is less obtrusive, webOS far more elegant, and while Jailbreak has offered several interesting alternatives for iOS it’s time for Apple to pick up the ball on this one.

The status quo is untenable. If you’re on the phone or playing a game and one — or so help you many — popups appear you have to view them immediately or dismiss them forever and you can’t even hang up your call or do any basic screen command while that model dialog remains on screen. It’s like being a prisoner. And if you dismiss it out of annoyance you may not even remember what it was for later, and you have no workable way of finding out.

More than just a better system for staking and packing notifications, we need a better way to interact with them. Like Ally said, BiteSMS for Jailbreak runs rings around the current iOS Messages app. That might not be the model Apple implements, but it should be the spirit.

It’s the last truly gaping, galling deficiency in iOS. It’s the last huge item other mobile OS use to poke fun. It just has to be fixed. Fortunately Apple hired the man who designed the webOS notification system so that’s reassuring.

It took 3 years for copy/paste, 4 years for multitasking — 5 should be notifications.

Theme Store

Georgia said this well; Apple doesn’t need to do themes the way Cydia or BlackBerry does. At least not at first. They could provide their own set of 4-6 themes to start the same way they offer templates in Keynote or Pages. They could sell them in a Theme Store and once the process was hardened, slowly open it up to 3rd parties.

There’s a lot of money to be made in themes. Apple likes money. Users like themes. It’s simple math, even if implementing it is complex.

I don’t think we’ll see it in iOS 5 but hey, we’ll need something to look forward to for iOS 6…

Apps

iWork for iPhone, iMovie for iPad, a real iPhoto or Garageband for either… we might see more Apple apps as well. Photobooth is heavily rumored and seems like a given. Maybe a new Maps using Google new vector tiles and Placebase or other differentiating technology would be great. Even at the amazing pace Apple has updated and released a lot of the iOS apps there’s still so much that could be done with the built-in and App Store apps that we could easily fill another post. (And likely will!) but this is another area to watch come iOS 5.

NFC, maybe in a discreet mobile payments app, could appear but that feels more like a WWDC and iPhone 5 announcement.

Conclusion

Like we said in Imagining iPad 2, while Apple is secretive they’re also cyclical and subject to the laws of physics and economics, which means they’re somewhat predictable. This year’s iOS will fill some gaps, shave off some rough edges, surprise and delight us with a few killer features, and disappoint us with a couple inexplicable misses.

If Apple shows off iOS 5 tomorrow our guess is 2011 will be the year of notifications, cloud, and a lot more. What are your guesses?

Imagining iOS 5 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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We’ve already posted our thoughts on iPad 2 and discussed it over multiple weeks of iPad Live! podcasts but now it’s your turn to lay it on the line! What are we going to see tomorrow at the iPad 2 event? What new features will Apple unveil for iPad 2? Will there be a “one more thing” and what will it be?

Vote in the poll up top and let us know the details in the comments below!

TiPb Asks: What do you expect for iPad 2? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Following up the story of the BBC holding an event at the same time as the iPad 2 launch, The BBC contacted TiPb and told us that they do not have an event planned for March 2. However, they did confirm that Apple has booked a studio within the BBC Television Center for its own press event.

So can expect some interaction between the US and UK at the iPad 2 launch event? Phil Schiller and Stephen Fry on iPad FaceTime perhaps?

No BBC event for iPad 2 — It’s an Apple press event in UK is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• Fight Night Championships: EA Sports lets you go one-on-on with the great ones of boxing and build your own legendary fighter. [$4.99 - iTunes link

• Smurfs' Village: New cliff expansion and Mining Smurf minigame! [Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

• CoverPuppy: Give your puppy his 15 minutes of deserved fame by featuring him on a magazine cover! [$1.99 - iTunes link]

• Bill Cosby: Enjoy Bill Cosby no matter where you are in the world. Featuring photos, audio clips, exclusive video, OBKB, & more. [Free - iTunes link]

• Solitaire Deluxe®: 16 Solitaire games for iPhone and iPad! Klondike, FreeCell, Spider, Pyramid, Tri-Peaks, Chinese Solitaire, Scorpion, Yukon, Golf, Canfield, Kings Corner, Vanishing Cross, Spiderette, Poker, Russian Solitaire and The Harp. [Free - iTunes link]

Any other big apps or game releases or updates today? If you pick any of these up, let us know what you think!

New and updated iPhone and iPad apps for Tuesday, March 1 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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We know that the iPad 2 will be announced on Wednesday, what is still up in air the however is when we will be able to get our hands on one? A couple of stories have emerged over the last twenty four hours, which may point to it being with us by March 9.

Firstly, there are reports that Apple has ceased production of the first iPad and global retailers are no longer able to source them. The retailers that 9to5Mac has spoken to said, they only have what is on their shelves and they could be sold out very soon.

The second bit of information, although a little bit sketchy, is from UK site Quidco, a smart shopping website that advertises various deals that deliver cash back and discounts if you purchase through its site. They had a 4% cash back deal for the iPad that expired at midnight on March 8. All the other offers at the time finished on the last day of the month. This however has now been changed and the only offer available for the iPad, now finishes at the end of the month.

This of course could have been an error by Quidco or Apple could have requested it to be changed; we don't know for sure. My gut feeling is that the iPad 2 will be available within a week of the announcement on Wednesday! What does everyone else think?

[9to5 Mac, Quidco]

Will the iPad 2 be available March 9? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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