Verizon CFO Fran Shammo revealed today that iPhone 5 is still on track to be a dual-mode CDMA/GSM world phone, and additionally that it will ship at the same time as the AT&T and other GSM versions.

When the next iPhone model launches Verizon will be able to offer it at the same time as AT&T. Verizon’s version will also work in as many countries as AT&T’s iPhone, which has global coverage, Shammo said.

Verizon began selling the Verizon iPhone 4 some 8 months after the AT&T version, and almost 4 years after the first iPhone debuted on AT&T. So for those worried there might be another delay between GSM and CDMA release dates, you can rest a little easier. (Unless Apple obliterates Verizon for leaking this…)

As previously suspected, LTE still looks to be off the table until 2012, and Verizon was happy enough to throw Apple under the bus for that one as well.

“I think it’s a bigger issue for Apple than it is for us,” he said. “Depending on where Apple plays, that’s where we’ll sell.”

Apple has commented in the past that current LTE radios require too many compromises when it comes to battery life.

Lastly, tiered pricing is still on its way to Verizon this summer, so get your unlimited data early if you want to be grandfathered in.

Would a hybrid iPhone 5 on Verizon that could roam internationally be a better draw than an AT&T iPhone 5 that couldn’t do CDMA in the USA?

[Reuters via Electronista, @jonfingas]

iPhone 5 world phone coming to Verizon same day as AT&T is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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There are hundreds of thousands of iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps for just about everything — so how come the one you need, the one you know just has to be there, is so hard to find? Enter TiPb’s new weekly feature where staff and readers alike sort through the App Store and help you find just the right App for That. This week, Bradley asks:

I have a bunch of photos stored on my Mac and I’d like to be able to use my iPad as a wifi photo frame (when I’m not using it of course). I have air video set up which I really love and I suppose this is a photo version of that. The camera sync could be part of the solution but I don’t want to use up storage on my iPad when I just want to display the photo and then move on to the next one.

To see our solution for Bradley, follow along after the break!

DropPics for Dropbox [$1.99 - iTunes link] gives easy access to your photos stored on Dropbox and allows you to view them as a slideshow. This happens over the air, so none of your iPad’s precious hard drive space will be used.

A Dropbox account is required to use DropPics and a free account gives you 2GB of storage. This will hold quite a bit of photos, especially if you resize your photos before copying them over. (The iPad displays photos at 1024×768). This will also help with loading time.

Once you sign up, just copy the desired photos into the Dropbox folder on your computer, browse to the folder in DropPics on your iPad, and start the slideshow!

DropPics also allows you to upload photos into your Dropbox account. Although you may not be taking many photos with your iPad, DropPics is a universal application for iPhone and iPad, so you can add the photos you take with your iPhone and view them on your iPad. Unfortunately, DropPics only allows you to upload one photo at a time.

All in all, this a great solution. Anyone else have any App for That suggestions for Bradley? Let him — and all of us — know in the comments.

Having trouble finding what you need in the app store? Send us an email to news@tipb.com and let us know what you’re looking for, and we’ll do our best to find you just the right App for That!

App for That: How to view photos on your computer as a slideshow on your iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Patently Apple has shone a light on a recent Apple patent that shows how cloud based music and media locker could be integrated into iTunes in robust, dare I say seamless manner.

Apple’s patent and invention is directed to locally storing portions of a media item that is streamed to an electronic device. In particular, Apple’s invention is directed to locally storing an initial portion of a media item from a user’s library, and requesting a stream of the remaining portion of the media item upon starting local playback of the initial portion.

The media items owned or accessible by a user could be stored in a user’s media library. The media library could be stored on any suitable device, including for example on a host device, on a remotely accessed server, in a cloud, or in any other suitable location. The user could store at least some media items of the library on an electronic device so that the user could locally play back the media items. The electronic device could include communications circuitry for remotely connecting to the media library and stream media items to the user’s device.

So you could basically tap a song, the local portion will begin to play, and your iPhone or iPad would start getting ready to stream the rest from the cloud. That gives instant access but also time to buffer, which means less chance for delays when they’re most annoying — during the song or show.

There’s even a setting (see the image above) to let you choose to sync partial music to your device in the iTunes sync settings tab.

So while Apple is getting their record label deals in place, and we’re wondering if iTunes cloud will only serve up iTunes music, I’m going to ask if this type of system is the one you want?

[Patently Apple]

Apple patent gives a glimpse of iTunes Cloud? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

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!

• Soonr – Workplace: Securely store, share, access, search, edit and sync files from any device, online or offline. On your iPad, you can edit them using the world's first integrated editor. [Free, with subscription - iTunes link]

• Delivery.com: Place orders for delivery or pickup from local merchants, wherever you are! [Free - iTunes link]

• iBaby Feed Timer: Designed by and for breastfeeding mothers who want to track when and for how long their baby feeds, whether from breast, bottle or expressed milk. Including a useful reminder for which breast to start on each time. [$0.99, on sale - iTunes link]

• IntelliVocab for SAT: This app personalizes the English vocabulary learning for competitive exams like SAT and is built by students of MIT based on the latest research from MIT Computer Science and Web Semantics Lab. [Free - iTunes link]

• Yahoo! Messenger: Now with an iPad optimized layout, voice & video calling for iPad 2, and improved spam management. [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 Thursday, May 19 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Bang on time as per Hugh Hefner's recent tweet, Playboy for iPad is now live. As we thought, it is a web app rather than an App Store app. The site designed specifically for the iPad, contains every single back issue of Playboy. These are not cut down versions of each magazine either; they contain every word and page that appeared in the printed version and every woman ever photographed.

To get access to the content, you have to subscribe and there are various options for this. If you are prepared to sign up for 2 years, it will cost you $100. 1 year is $60. If you only want to commit for a month at a time, the price is $8.

There is a video demo on the home page which shows how the site works on the iPad. It looks to have been implemented really well with easy navigation and page scrolling. This is not just a website!

Are any of our readers planning on subscribing to iPlayboy? Can you see this opening the flood gates to other magazines of this type? Let us know in the comments!

[iPlayboy]

Playboy for iPad goes live, every issue as nature (and Hugh) intended! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

CNET is reporting that Apple has finalized an agreement with EMI Music for their upcoming cloud music service, and as previously suspected, is also on the verge of hammering out deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment.

Apple has signed a cloud-music licensing agreement with EMI Music and is very near to completing deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, multiple music industry sources told CNET.

This would not only let them compete with Amazon’s Cloud Drive and Google’s new Music Beta services, but could give them significant advantages, such as making any content in the iTunes catalog instantly available without requiring time consuming uploads first.

On the negative side, it could also mean users are restricted to iTunes-only content, unlike Google and Amazon which allow users to pretty much upload anything.

Apple is probably going to unveil iOS 5 at WWDC in June, and with this news it seems more and more likely they’ll be letting the world know of their streaming music plans at the event now that the deals are starting to fall into place.

How do you think this will impact Amazon and Google once Apple brings iTunes music streaming to the masses? Sound off in the comments!

[CNET]

Apple completes cloud-music deal with EMI, now one step closer to iTunes Cloud is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Twitter has put up a blog post ostensibly to inform users that, in order to better secure and keep our direct messages (DMs) private, 3rd party apps will now be forced to use the clumsier, web-based OAuth login method rather than the slicker, more native-feeling xAuth most of the use today.

When you first connect an application to Twitter, we'll give you more detailed information about what you're allowing the app to do with your account. These activities may include reading your Tweets, seeing who you follow, updating your profile, posting Tweets on your behalf, or accessing your direct messages. If you're not comfortable with the level of access an application requests, simply say "No, thanks".

So what this boils down to is, when you get a new Twitter app — anything from a full client like Twitterrific or TweetBot down to apps that simply allow you to share content via Twitter, such as games and Instagram — you won’t be able to simply enter your username and password in the fields like you do today. Instead the app will have to call up an embedded browser window (UIWebView) and load up a Twitter.com page which then presents the more complex screen shown above.

That could be just a little extra mental work for games, where maybe the advantages in making sure a developer doesn’t have permission to see anything they don’t need, like you’re DMs, but for proper Twitter clients, which are supposed to read and write DMs, which power users might have multiple accounts to setup and maintain, it quickly becomes a pain in the butt.

Except for Twitter for iPhone, Twitter for iPad, and likely the newly acquired TweetDeck. Since they’re considered 1st party, since Twitter considers your signing up for their service as granting them all applicable permissions, they still get to use the kinder, gentler, xAuth.

So, by way of dramatic parallel, imagine Apple forced every non-Apple App Store app could only be synced via iTunes, and only Apple apps could be downloaded directly on-device. It would be just as annoying and just as seemingly greedy and unfair.

And that’s what rankles about this. It feels greedy and unfair. Greedy and unfair to the 3rd party developers who created the clients that helped make Twitter what it is today, greedy and unfair to users who get a more hostile experience, and ultimately greedy and unfair to Twitter which had such a good reputation among developers and users, until they started clamping down on 3rd parties and introducing things like the #dickbar.

In iOS when an app wants to use location services or send you push notifications, it gives you a simple yes/no popup. If Twitter is really concerned about user privacy and security — even when users are expressly opting for the convenience of a full on Twitter client — do what Apple does, not what web sites had to do years ago.

Or just ask your Twitter’s own Loren Brichter, who created Tweetie which became Twitter for iPhone. He had OAuth’s number years ago on his Atebits blog (see link, below).

Hopefully Twitter finds a better way to handle #dickauth, and a better way to handle their user and developer relations again soon.

[Twitter, Daring Fireball, Atebits]

#dickauth is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Wondering how to take better pictures with your iPhone camera? Ever found yourself taking a picture with your iPhone only to discover the photo came out less than perfect? Sometimes you only have one opportunity to capture a moment, so you want to ensure everything is right and your photo doesn’t come out looking like it was taken with a cheap and flimsy digital camera. The iPhone camera has come a long way since the original iPhone in 2007, currently sporting a 5 megapixel sensor with flash in the iPhone 4, but there are still a few things you can do to make sure you’re getting the best shot possible.

In this tip we’ll go over a few pointers to help you in taking better pictures with your iPhone — find out how after the break!

Ready, steady, go!

I’ve been in situations where I’ve had to quickly whip out my iPhone in order to snap a photo on the go, but sometimes I wasn’t keeping my hand steady enough (hello Mr. Blurrycam). One thing you can do is use a tripod, but not everyone keeps one handy when out and about. Camera+ ($1.99 — iTunes link) helps by including an image stabilizer, monitoring how steady your hand is and taking the photo when you’re making the least amount of movement. However, if you’re using the default Camera app then you’re on your own. As such, keeping your iPhone as steady as you can is a good way to make sure you’re getting the sharpest image possible, especially in low light conditions. Speaking of lighting…

Light is your new best friend

Lighting is a big factor in taking great pictures, and it’s important to understand the basics when using your iPhone camera under certain lighting conditions. Taking photos where there isn’t enough light can heavily impact the overall picture quality, so make sure there’s as much light as possible. Although the camera baked into the iPhone 4 is (in my humble opinion) the best in its class, you’ll still notice some noise in low light conditions.

If you’re in a dark environment, make sure you’re taking advantage of the iPhone 4′s built-in camera flash. For older iPhone models without flash, getting a usable photo in low light may take a little extra work but you’ll be glad you made the effort… Take a look at Darkroom (free — iTunes link) to help you out with this problem. Just like Camera+, it features a ‘Steady Mode’ to help avoid blurry photos in low light conditions.

In addition, you’ll want to make sure your subject is properly lit. For example, the light source should be directed at your subject (not at you) to help draw focus on whatever you’re shooting.

Get up close and personal

The iPhone camera features tap-to-focus in addition to decent macro ability with the iPhone 4, so don’t be afraid to get up close and personal with your subject. This is especially true when shooting portraits or close-ups, where letting your subject consume the majority of the photo really goes a long way.

To zoom, or not to zoom

Most point-and-shoot cameras feature an optical zoom of around 3x-5x, which is great for shooting at a distance. However this unfortunately isn’t so with the iPhone (and all smartphone cameras, for that matter). When Apple released iOS 4 they threw in a digital zoom feature for the Camera app, but I’ve never found myself actually using it due how the pictures usually turn out. When you use the digital zoom feature you’ll be losing a significant amount of quality, so unless it’s absolutely necessary, try to stay away from using digital zoom as much as you can.

Edit, edit, and edit some more!

The iPhone has a number of awesome photo apps in the App Store, some of which we mentioned above, but which ones should you use for editing and refining your photos after you’ve taken them? Using the iPhone touchscreen to manipulate photos can be a rather delightful experience, so here are a few photo editing apps we recommend checking out:

• ColorSplash – ($0.99 — iTunes link) ColorSplash lets you take any regular photo and turn it into a colorful work of art. You start off by selecting your desired photo or taking a picture from within the app, to which ColorSplash strips away the color and turns it into a black and white. You then touch whatever area of the picture you want to fill in with color, creating unique images that really stand out from the crowd.
• PefectPhoto – ($0.99 — iTunes link) This app really shines when it comes to the number of options and effects you can work with. My personal favorite is the Spot Healing feature which lets you fix any blemishes or artifacts in your photo. Have a great shot of you and your best friend but want to get rid of that horrible zit that’s taking all the attention? PerfectPhoto is the editing app for you! You can also crop, align, edit exposure and gamma along with a number of other great editing options. There’s even a few noteworthy effects like Bloom and Vintage, taking your photos to a new and fully personalized level.
• Adobe Photoshop Express – (free — iTunes link) Photoshop Express for iPhone is a gem of a photo editing app, and to top it off it’s completely free! A good example of its editing power is reducing noise and smoothing out your pictures so they’re easier on the eyes. This is another great solution for taking pictures in low light conditions, letting you smooth out those darker photos in your collection and making them much more attractive.

Know of any other iPhone picture-taking pointers or suggestions we might have missed? Also let us know what your favorite photo editing apps are, or apps that can help get around some of the issues we mentioned above in the comments!

Bonus Tip: Clean your lens! Having a dirty camera lens can dramatically lower the quality of your pictures, so take a microfiber cloth and some screen cleaner to your iPhone to help your photos look less washed out. We recommend the iKlenz Cleaner Solution Kit to get the job done. You’ll immediately notice a difference, so give it a try!

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 news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward…)

Daily Tip: How to take better pictures with your iPhone camera is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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