Category: Apple

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Fennec milestone released for HTC TOUCH PRO – It crashes, crashes and crashes [Windows Mobile]

Fennec takes a whopping 24MB storage space to install. Since, it is available for only HTC TOUCH PRO at the moment, the storage space should not be a big problem. It takes nearly 25-30 secs to start the application, which is unacceptable for any mobile device. Opera Mobile 9.5 takes somewhere between 4-7 seconds, which is the maximum time any mobile application should take.

So, how does it work? Well, first of all, you need to take that keyboard out just to type the URL as currently it does not support any SIP. This alone rules out keyboard-less devices in the market. Regarding its performance, it is seriously bad. It crashed on every desktop website I tried. I tried to open these websites on the HTC TOUCH PRO:

  • ApoTheTech.com
  • Engadget.com
  • EngadgetMobile.com
  • Mozilla.org

Out of all these, only Mozilla.org opened and that too over a long duration. By long duration, I mean nearly 2 minutes over a fairly fast WiFi connection. All the other sites just crash the application and it quits. Here are a couple of screenshots that I took with my HTC TOUCH PRO.

CONCLUSION: Although the release is pre-alpha (milestone), but if it is unable to open any desktop website except Mozilla.org, then why release it even?

If you wish, you can download the CAB file directly from here

Note: You need to copy the CAB file to the device and execute it from there to start the installation

Note to HTC DIAMOND users: You can install the CAB file, but you would not be able to enter any URL since it does not support SIPs (soft input panel) yet. Alternative way to enter text is via connecting it to your desktop and using activesync+pocket controller combo.

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Apple Introduces iLife ’09

Apple® today introduced iLife® ’09, which features major upgrades to iPhoto®, iMovie® and GarageBand®, and includes iDVD® and an updated version of iWeb™. iPhoto ’09 builds on the ability to automatically organize photos into Events by adding Faces and Places as breakthrough new ways to easily organize and manage your photos. iMovie ’09 expands on the revolutionary super fast movie creation introduced in iMovie ’08 by adding the depth users want through powerful easy-to-use new features such as the incredible new Precision Editor, video stabilization, advanced drag and drop, and animated travel maps.

Apple.com/ilife/

Continue reading “Apple Introduces iLife ’09”

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Songs DRM-free on Apple iTunes very soon!

Beginning today, all four major music labels—Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI, along with thousands of independent labels, are now offering their music in iTunes Plus, Apple’s DRM-free format with higher-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings. iTunes customers can also choose to download their favorite songs from the world’s largest music catalog directly onto their iPhone 3G over their 3G network just as they do with Wi-Fi today, for the same price as downloading to their computer

Distributing DRM-free music is the way to go. With DRM-free music, the trouble of copying music to non-DRM compatible hardware is a big plus. There is one more great news. Most of the songs on iTunes are now priced at $0.69 rather than $1.29.

But, wait! What about the songs that are already in not DRM-free? For that, the Apple is charging a modest 30 cents per song or 30% of the album price. This means that you will still end up paying a lot in the end to make your existing music collection DRM-free.

Visit iTunes.com

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$99 iPhone details

The $99 is available via ATT Wireless, which is actually a refurb version of the iPhone 3G 8GB. It comes with a 2-year plan which includes both voice and data. If you are ready to shell-out another $100, you can get the 16GB iPhone 3G again with a 2-year contract.

These prices are effective until Dec. 31, 2008. After that, both prices will be $50 higher. So hurry, if you wanted to get an iPhone.

Should you get a refurb iPhone?

According to AT&T, “Refurbished phones are previously owned devices that have been unused or lightly used and returned during the 30-day trial period. Each refurbished phone is independently quality tested and loaded with the latest software to meet current factory standards. Some refurbished iPhone 3G devices will have minor scratches. Refurbished iPhone 3G devices carry a warranty of 90 days or more.”

In the end, it looks pretty much like a safe deal to me.

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Too Many resolutions = Nightmare for Windows Mobile developers

The year 2008 has been the best year for the Windows Mobile platform. In this year, we saw new handsets, better and innovative designs. We also saw Sony Ericsson finally getting into the Windows Mobile world. We saw Windows Mobile 6.1 too. With every version of Windows Mobile, plethora of new features are added. But, have we ever thought this from a developer perspective. Today, I received a long email from a Windows Mobile developer. I would like to keep his name anonymous to prevent him from getting into any kind of trouble.

The Apple iPhone as-well-as iPod Touch have fixed resolution of 480 x 320. This makes the life easier for the developers as all they need to do is to support two resolutions: 480 x 320 and 320 x 480.

Just look at the number of resolutions supported by the Windows Mobile!

  • 320 x 240
  • 240 x 320
  • 400 x 240
  • 240 x 400
  • 240 x 240
  • 320 x 320
  • 640 x 480
  • 480 x 640
  • 800 x 480
  • 480 x 800

Shocked? Well, the sad story does not ends there. Even making a free application for Windows Mobile can cost you a lot of money. On the other side of the coin, the development kit from Apple is free.

Continue reading “Too Many resolutions = Nightmare for Windows Mobile developers”

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Apple's in-ear headphones available now.

Apple has introduced in-ear headphones for just $79. Well, what does it make it so different from the other headphones in the market. There are three reasons for it: Firstly, it is made by Apple. Secondly, it has built-in woofer and  tweeter. Thirdly, it is Apple (again I know!). It is shocking that is not compatible with the iPhone. It comes with these things in the box:

  • Carrying case
  • Three sets of silicone ear tips (small, medium, large)
  • Two replacement mesh caps

Apple Earphones Link

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Kings Corners for iPhone – fill the gaps of your day with some fun

Kings Corners is now available for the iPhone and iPod touch. Kings Corners combines luck and skill in a fun and fast card game that’s easy to learn, but challenging to master. Gameplay is quick, making Kings Corners the perfect distraction from long lines, waiting rooms, and all the otherwise boring parts of the day that can’t be avoided. But Kings Corners is also highly addictive, and players will soon find out that once they start playing, it’s really tough to stop!

You can go the following link to know more about this exciting game:

http://www.iliumsoft.com/kciphone

Or you can directtly buy it from App Store

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Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac Available Now

Do you run PPC-Mac? If yes, then Parallels Desktop 4.0 has something really nice for you to offer.

  • Built-in iPhone access for starting, stopping and managing your virtual machine from your handheld
  • Clips, a new proprietary screenshot sharing tool that lets you share captures between operating systems with a single click
  • Simultaneous device mounting in both Windows and OS X, so that manual switching of things like USB sticks and other removable storage devices
  • Multi-core processors and up to 8GB of RAM are now supported, with up to 256MB of video RAM possible
  • 64-bit computing support
  • Hypervisor adaptive resource management optimizes performance automatically based on your usage
  • PowerSaver improved battery management with battery status monitor in Windows VM
  • An SDK for developing third-party software compatible with Parallels, which could result in some interesting cross-platform applications

It also offers DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.1 support!. Version 4.0 of Parallel Desktop makes the user experience smoother than ever.

It costs $79.90. Link to the official Parallel Desktop page

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Apple Releases Apple TV 2.2 Update

Apple has released the Apple TV 2.2 update tonight.

Owners of Apple TV can download the new updates from their Apple TV’s by accessing the “Update Software” menu option in their Apple TV’s settings.
Some security issues have been addressed and Apple has also included support for features introduced in iTunes 8.0, including Genius playlists.