Category: iphone

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Why Skype for iPhone May Not Be Used?

Skype Logo 200 pixelsLast week Skype iPhone application was approved by Apple and made available through the iTunes App Store.

This was one of the most anticipated application for the iPhone after Qik for the iPhone and cut/copy & paste.

For those who do not know what Skype is, please allow me to quickly explain. Skype is classified as a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service. It was created in 2003 by the trio, Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn who also created Kazaa, the peer-to-peer file sharing application.

The client application is also called, “Skype”, and it is a free download, you can install onto your mobile phone or computer, enabling you to make station to station calls free of charge over the IP network (ie. Internet).

Continue reading “Why Skype for iPhone May Not Be Used?”

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Review: Poddio on the iPhone

I got a copy of the iPhone application called “Poddio” created by the fellow Canadian, iPhone developer, VeriCorder Technology Inc. in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Poddio is an audio recorder with built in audio editing functions that you can only expects from a desktop application, at least until now.

Poddio Home Screen Poddio Record Screen

Even with the upcoming Voice Recorder application built into iPhone firmware 3.0, it will not make this application obsolete. Actually according to the developer, “firmware 3.0 will allow us to bring enhancements to Poddio that was more difficult to implement before 3.0.”

Continue reading “Review: Poddio on the iPhone”

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iPhone Firmware 3.0 Announcement Summary

iPhone Firmware 3.0

Numerous improvements to the iPhone SDK was announced. This included enablement of peer-to-peer connectivity no prior pairing required so two iPhone can talk to each other without prior setup, Streaming audio and video over HTTP, Data detectors, built in VoIP API, and more. Push notification finally arrives for developers to add to their applications.

The hotly rumored and confirmed by Kevin Rose’s source last week, Cut Copy & Paste was demoed at the event. During the demo, Apple’s Scott Forstall, SVP iPhone Software, also included multiple selection of photos in the Photo app for sending them in an email.

Landscape mode keyboard will now be available in all Apple applications and will be available to developers to enable in their own application.

Finally, no more Jailbreaking to get the ability to delete or forward individual SMS messages. These features are now built into the new Messaging application. Audio files and contact cards can be sent via the new Messaging application.

There is a cross application search feature to search in the Mail, Contacts, Calendar and Notes applications, it is OS X Spotlight feature for the iPhone. If a result is not found among the local application, it will hit the server for possible results.

Finally, you do not have to worry about loosing your Notes stored on your iPhone, the new iPhone software will synchronize the Notes content with the Mac and Windows computer via iTunes.

Auto login for WiFi hotspots is built-in. So will this see the end to Devicescape’s “Easy Wi-Fi” and 3rd party application like “Seremgeti”?

Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) is now available in the new iPhone software but still does not include the other Bluetooth services in the Bluetooth standard.

For the end-users we will have to wait until this Summer. As this new firmware and SDK is only available in beta form to developers in the iPhone Developers Program. The upgrade will be free to iPhone 3G owners. Again iPod Touch users will have to pay USD9.95 for the firmware 3.0 upgrade.

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Review: Finger on the iPhone

Finger IconToday I was sent a review copy of the iPhone application called Finger, developed the Hong Kong company duo Headnix and BeansBox. From the name you will guessed that this application involves your finger, you will be correct.

Finger is an ingenious application that takes advantage of the iPhone’s input methods allowing the user to enter text anywhere on the computer that accepts text input.

There are two components to Finger, an iPhone paid application (@ USD7.99) and a free Desktop background application; for computers running either OS X or Windows (Windows XP or Windows Vista). Since I’m a Mac guy I did not test the Windows Desktop application. The Mac version is a native application so I presume the Windows version is also a native application.

[Update: March 30, 2009]
Headnix today announced a Lite version of Finger for Free. The only difference between the Lite and regular versions is the Lite version’s limit of only allowing input of 5 characters per start. This latest decision of Headnix is definitely a welcome move. It will allow more users to discover the usefulness of Finger before they commit to the USD7.99 price of the regular version. Now that there is a Lite version, I strongly recommend everyone who has a need for entering Japanese or Chinese characters to download Finger Lite on iTunes App Store to see for themselves what this little application can do.

Continue reading “Review: Finger on the iPhone”

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What Will Be In iPhone Firmware 3.0

iPhone 3G imageTomorrow morning (Tuesday, March 17, 10:00 US Pacific Standard Time) Apple will hold a special media event in Cupertino to announce the new iPhone firmware 3.0.

In the past, iPhone firmware upgrades did not garner such fanfare. Especially when considering Apple’s recent trend of not holding special events to announce new products, like the new Mac Mini, iMac, Mac Pro and iPod Shuffle, makes this event tomorrow that much more special. It also shows the significance Apple has placed on this upcoming announcement.

As always there are no definite information on the features that will be announced at the event. Of course, this had not stopped the rumor mill from generating lists of possible features for the yet to release iPhone firmware:

  • Cut, Copy & Paste
  • Enhanced Bluetooth functionalities
  • Improved camera software
  • A feature to allow layout management of application icons within iTunes
  • Multitasking

The less likely features are:

  • Tattering
  • MMS

I personally think that Multitasking may be built into the new firmware, but we will not see it enabled until the next version of the iPhone hardware.

Improvements in the camera software is welcome, but there are already several 3rd party applications, which had done a good job at improving the iPhone camera’s ability to take better photos. One such program is “Darkroom” by Stepcase, which I use almost every day.

Having additional Bluetooth functionalities will also be welcome, particularly the ability to preform file exchange. I really miss the ability to send contact cards to any mobile phone with Bluetooth capability. This had been a feature I used on other mobile phones for years.

What do you think? Please feel free to add your opinions in the comments.

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How-to: Enable Emoji Icon on iPhone Free [Updated]

iPhone Emoji Icon Keyboard

A month ago I wrote a post, Enabling Emoji On iPhone WITHOUT Jailbreaking, about enabling the hidden Emoji icon feature within the iPhone (with firmware 2.2 and later) without jailbreaking the iPhone. Back then the method involved purchasing an iPhone application that cost USD0.99.

If your iPhone (with firmware 2.2 and later) has been jailbroken, you can then use the 3rd party application called “Emoji” available on Cydia to enable the Emoji icon feature.

Now there is a free application called “Spell Number” available in the iTunes App Store that will enable the hidden Emoji icon feature in the iPhone (with firmware 2.2 and later). All you have to do is:

  1. Download the application
  2. Launch the application in your iPhone
  3. Type 9876543.21 91929394.59
  4. Quit the application
  5. follow steps 3 – 7 in my post Enabling Emoji On iPhone WITHOUT Jailbreaking

None of these hacks are relevant if you own an iPhone 3G from SoftBank in Japan, because Apple has enabled the Emoji feature for your iPhones.

You only need to use one of the above methods if you want to enter Emoji icons in text messages you compose, but if you only want to see Emoji icons in message that others send you on your iPhone, there is no need to do any of the above. You just have to upgrade your iPhone to firmware 2.2 or later.

If you do want to enter Emoji icons in text messages you compose on the iPhone, I suggest you use one of these methods as soon as possible, because Apple recently sent notices to developers, with applications in the iTunes App Store, that have this hidden Emoji enabling capability. Asking these developers to remove the feature or their applications will risk being removed from the App Store.

I hope Apple’s latest action is to comply with their policy of not allowing developers to hack the iPhone and that they will enable the Emoji icon input method in an upcoming iPhone firmware upgrade.

I personally see only one reason why Apple may not want to enable this function for all iPhone users. That is because when messages containing Emoji icons are received on devices or applications that do not support the Emoji icon character encoding, these icons will be displayed as little squares. Plus there are approximately 80% or more of the world’s mobile phones do not support the Emoji icon character encoding.

So true to Apple’s believes in a perfect user experience they will not want to enable the feature unless 90% or more of the world’s mobile phones can support it. That’s just the way Apple does things. They rarely pushes feature when the technology is not mature, except in the case when they want to drive a new approved standard.

[Updated: May 1, 2009]
The developer had updated his application to comply with Apple’s requirements to remove the emoji enabling code. Although, what the developer had actually done was changed the code. The new code is now 91929394.59

[Updated: September 5, 2010]
Since iOS 4.x Apple has been cracking down on emoji enabling apps. If you cannot get Spell Number working you can give “Emoji Free!” a try.

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iPhone Officially in China

… Well not quite.

AppleInsider reported that:

…China Unicom has tentatively reached an agreement and could start selling iPhones as early as May…

Since China Unicom’s 3G network is a WCDMA standard unlike China Mobile’s TD-SCDMA standard, the current iPhone 3G sold worldwide will not require modifications to be sold in China.

If this report is true, then I would recommend anyone in Hong Kong considering selling their iPhone (1st generation), to do so as soon as possible. As the used market for iPhone are mainly in China, most if not all iPhone collected in Hong Kong are brought into mainland China and sold at a high margin.

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iPhone 3G Everywhere in Hong Kong

iPhone 3G imageI spent some time speaking to a Premium Reseller in Hong Kong about the iPhone 3G today.

Since the beginning of February Apple Resellers in Hong Kong are allow to sell the iPhone 3G without a carrier contract, and most importantly, like all legitimate iPhone 3G sold in HK, also officially unlocked by Apple. Most of them are selling the models (8GB an 16GB) of the iPhone 3G at Apple HK’s SRP of HKD5400.00 and HKD6200.00 respectively.

Although because of the profit margins Apple is offering it’s resellers, some resellers have insisted on adding a 3rd party case with each iPhone 3G sold, to enable then to sell the iPhone for an additional HKD100.00.

Continue reading “iPhone 3G Everywhere in Hong Kong”

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How-to: Handle iTunes’ iPhone Carrier Update Dialog?

You may have read in forums and elsewhere about the “iPhone Carrier Update” dialog presented by iTunes each time the iPhone is connected to iTunes 7.7 or later. In the past I had suggested that if your iPhone is “carrier unlocked”; not connected to one of the Apple carrier partners in your country, you should not apply this update when Apple’s dialog comes up.

The reason is because the “iPhone Carrier Update” will update settings relating to the “carrier partner(s)” within your iPhone, and if your iPhone was unlocked and your SIM card is not from one of the “carrier partner(s)” the APN settings (data settings) of your iPhone will be overridden, causing you to have to update these settings each time.

You can read other tips to know when owning an iPhone in Hong Kong by checking out my article, What to Know When Buying an iPhone 3G in Hong Kong or the more layman article 10 Things a Layman Should Know About Hong Kong iPhone 3G.

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10 Things a Layman Should Know About Hong Kong iPhone 3G [Updated]

iPhone 3G imageRecently a friend of mine commented that my articles (posts) on the iPhone and its usage in Hong Kong are very helpful, but they are a bit technical for layman user like himself. So, for the sake of helping as many potential iPhone users understand what’s involved before committing to a purchase of an iPhone in Hong Kong, I decided  to summarize some key points here.

  1. All iPhone sold in Hong Kong are “carrier unlocked”. That means you can take the iPhone purchased through legitimate channels1 straight out of the box, place a carrier SIM2 card in the phone and the it will work. Continue reading “10 Things a Layman Should Know About Hong Kong iPhone 3G [Updated]”