iPhone Info Blog

After months of beta testing, and a preview and release date set during WWDC last week, the anticipation over 3.0 has continuously been growing. It’s been a long week (Besides the developers who got the GM June 8th) waiting for the 3.0 firmware to drop. June 17th has finally come and the 3.0 firmware is now available for download via iTunes or a direct download.

Some major features included is this release include: Cut, Copy & Paste, Landscape Keyboard, MMS, Spotlight Search, Voice Memos, Improved Calendars, Internet Tethering, and much more!

So plug in your phone, hit that update button, and enjoy the wonderful features of 3.0!

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Dev-team member, Musclenerd, sent out a tweet earlier today about an upcoming live demo of the Yellowsn0w unlock for iPhone 3.0. The live demonstration will showcase their iPhone 3g carrier unlock this Tuesday, and should answer many questions.

The dev-team also state that a final iPhone 3.0 jailbreak that will work with iTunes 8.2 is in the final stages of testing and should be available very soon. Stay tuned on iPIB for a link to the live video stream tomorrow, or follow @MuscleNerd on Twitter for updates.

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Apple today released iTunes 8.2 via Software Update. This update adds support for iPhone 3.0 which is expected to be featured at Apple’s WWDC event next week and released very soon. Registered iPhone developers have had access to iTunes 8.2 since late April, when Apple released a new beta of iPhone software 3.0 which was not compatible with the current iTunes 8.1 release.

iTunes 8.2 now supports iPhone or iPod touch with the iPhone 3.0 Software Update. iTunes 8.2 also includes many accessibility improvements and bug fixes.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

Apple has also released a Quicktime update alongside the 8.2 release, which brings its version to 7.6.2 and adds several security and performance fixes.

It’s great to see Apple is ahead of the ball and preparing for a strong 3.0 release next week. The beta releases have gone smoothly, so I can’t imagine the final release doing any worse. Stay tuned for coverage of the WWDC event, 3.0 software features, and next generation iPhone information during next week!

*iTunes 8.2 is available here or via Software Update

Austin Uncategorized 3.0, iphone 3.0, itunes 8.2, quicktime 7.6.2, updates

A new rumor, as well as complete screenshots, show that Apple may soon allow movie and TV show downloads directly to the iPhone. Apparently, these screen shots were found through mobile ads from Apple pointing to ‘iTunes Movies’, ‘iTunes Movie Rentals’, and ‘iTunes TV’ which were displayed in the iPhone app Twitterfon.

The ads would directly link the user to the mobile iTunes client and show a work-in-progress version, rather than going to an actual website. Viewers can browse genres and feature items just like the current app and mobile store, however tapping the actually videos produces a notice that the content is “not available”.

While we’re not sure if the store will function over WiFi as well as 3G, we can assume that due to network restrictions and large files, Apple will restrict it to WiFi downloads only.

Full screenshots after the break.

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Over the past few days, Apple began high volume testing on the iPhone for the upcoming Push Notification system to be included with 3.0. This new features, gives third party applications the ability to push notifications to the user even if the application is not open. A very simple and easy way to be alerted about important events or notifications without having to open and navigate the app.

Push notifications work by having separate settings for each application which can be enabled or disabled when the application is first opened or through the preferences (Similar to how GPS location-aware applications ask for location permission). After authorizing the notifications on app opening you can customize the type of alert you’d like to receive: sounds, alerts, and/or badges. Sounds provide an audible tone, alerts provide an SMS-like bezel that appears on the homescreen and the badge notifications overlays a number to the corner of the icon.

The push notifications system will – finally – be available this Summer with the iPhone 3.0 release.

More screenshots after the break!

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Beginning today, Apple began calling upon developers in order to test push notifications, scheduled for release in iPhone 3.0 next month. The dispatched emails from Apple contained the following:

As a developer actively working with iPhone OS 3.0 beta, we would like your help in testing the Apple Push Notification service. We have selected a pre-release version of the Associated Press app for iPhone OS 3.0 to create a high-volume test environment for our servers.

The modified and unreleased Associated Press application, including push notifications and available on Beta 5 only, will function for trial testing over the next 7 days. After that, the redemption code and functionality will end. The purpose of this week long period is to give Apple and opportunity to monitor how well the push notification system works and what changes can be made before it goes live in 3.0.

Push notification was originally slated for release last August, however Apple underestimated the little demand from developers to make use of this system. It’s great to see Apple extensively testing new features within the developer program, in order to prepare for the final release. I’m sure we all remember how Apple’s MobileMe launch disaster went last year, we can only hope that the newly implemented push notification system will pan out smoothly.

Full text after the break.

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It appears that Apple is very adamant about developers testing and submitting 3.0 applications. It’s great that Apple is preparing for the 3.0 iPhone OS, which is scheduled for release sometime next month. Perhaps releasing Beta 5 yesterday had to do with this initiative?

Below is Apple’s email sent to all developers:

All apps must be compatible with iPhone OS 3.0
Millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers will move to iPhone OS 3.0 this summer. Beginning today, all submissions to the App Store will be reviewed on the latest beta of iPhone OS 3.0. If your app submission is not compatible with iPhone OS 3.0, it will not be approved.
Existing apps in the App Store should already run on iPhone OS 3.0 without modification, but you should test your existing apps with iPhone OS 3.0 to ensure there are no compatibility issues. After iPhone OS 3.0 becomes available to customers, any app that is incompatible with iPhone OS 3.0 may be removed from the App Store.
Begin testing now
iPhone OS 3.0 beta 5 and iPhone SDK 3.0 beta 5 are now posted to the iPhone Dev Center. Start testing today to ensure your application runs on iPhone OS 3.0. Visit the iPhone Dev Center for additional development information including iPhone SDK Release Notes for iPhone OS 3.0 beta 5 and Getting ready for iPhone OS 3.0.

With the thousands of new APIs bundled within 3.0, it will be great to see how the developers take advantage of these new features.

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In addition to many other features in iPhone 3.0 beta, the ability to delete individual contact info fields is now available. This works for phone numbers, fax numbers, webpages, and other data fields. Start by going to your Contacts, choose a name, and swipe one of the fields to bring up the red delete button that is known throughout all other apps since the 1.x firmware.

Being able to delete single contact info makes it much easier to remove and/or update information on the fly. Hopefully we can see this type of quick deletion in other apps to come.

Austin Uncategorized beta 4, delete, iphone 3.0, swipe to delete

The pre-discovered MobileMe “Find My Phone” feature has seen a minor change in the iPhone 3.0 Beta 4 firmware.  Rather than saying it uses your MobileMe account at me.com, it now reads that is uses a MobileMe web application.

Previous speculations assumed that this service would allow you to track your iPhone or whomever was using it, however the new web application brings us to think it’s becoming much more serious. It looks as though this service will be directly intergrated to the web service provided by Apple. Perhaps a user friendly GUI providing the customer with longitude and latitude coordinate points and a real-time updating map?

MobileMe would obviously have to implement  or rebuild this feature into their current online web service, but perhaps we’ll see a renovated MobileMe service come out of these changes. Over the past year, customers have argued that MobileMe is simply not worth the money for what it provides. Hopefully we’ll see major updates during WWDC 2009 to bring us better syncing options, more photos/video options, and of course the integration of handset tracking with the “Find My Phone” feature.

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Not much longer after the iPhone Beta 4 was released, new findings and tips are coming in just as they did for the previous betas. The Store setting item, which we previously discussed, now holds user information rather than leading to an empty screen, and the camera has seen some changes within creating an MMS.

With the Store implemented settings, it appears that the device may have the ability to switch iTunes accounts on the fly, right on the device. This means you can sign into one iTunes account, download the associated apps, logout, and sign into another to download the respective apps. This has been available previously through iTunes, but will now be available on the handset as well. After signing in, the screen displays a basic HTML document with your account information and the option to make changes. Of course it will feature a better interface once the final 3.0 OS is released.

The camera has also seen some renovations and sporting a new retake button when taking pictures for an MMS message. After the picture is taking, two buttons appear giving you two options: Retake or Use. The purposes of these buttons are pretty self explanatory, but ‘retake’ will allow you to retake the photo, and ‘use’ will insert the photo into the MMS and allow you to add a message.

Be sure to check after the break for more screenshots!

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