Unfortunately, a disconcerting amount of users have been complaining that holding the device in their left hand, accounts for a loss of signal. The effect is almost immediately apparent and can quickly be fixed by merely not holding the device in your left hand.

But this is no real fix and Apple will supposedly release iPhone iOS 4.01 tomorrow to fix that bug. Steve Jobs is reported to have declared the problem a “non-issue”. . . oh steve.

rooster

I know, because when I was a Senior Marketing Manager at Apple, I was instructed to do some controlled leaks.

The way it works is that a senior exec will come in and say, “We need to release this specific information. John, do you have a trusted friend at a major outlet? If so, call him/her and have a conversation. Idly mention this information and suggest that if it were published, that would be nice. No e-mails!”

Another source reports that Apple will be making its tablet cross-network compatible:

Computerworld is reporting that a Broadpoint AmTech analyst claims that Apple will introduce the much-rumored Apple tablet with 3G wireless networking functionality with support for multiple network providers, Verizon being a “certainty” amongst them.

3G service in a device like this would mean that the device itself would be internet-centric, meaning web based media would be this devices primary purpose(As if no one already figured that out). It also goes without saying that here in the States, the only network supplier for the iPhone is AT&T, but the exclusivity documents tying iPhone to AT&T are expected to expire sometime in mid-2010.

rooster

* AppleRumors.com reports that Apple “is working on improving the audio/video experience of their iPod andiPhones”. They give the following two examples for possible improvements:

For example, the usage metadata may indicate that a user skips, on average, the first 22 seconds of a particular song so the next time that song is played, the first 22 seconds will automatically be skipped.

&

The System Does not Have Sufficient Power for Playing the Entire Selected Video Segment.
Choose “Adjust Settings” for Lowering Power Consumption or Otherwise Choose “View Video” to View Selected Video for the Remaining Time.

In addition to these possibilities, Apple may also include a feature that makes the more frequently played songs more likely to show up on shuffle than those frequently skipped.

Apple insider also mentions:

Give the iPhone a battery that lasts longer than one day. “Apple has introduced advanced battery technology with its portable Macs,” he writes, “and we expect the company to dramatically improve the iPhone battery life with the next several hardware launches.”

Verizon

* A Silicon Alley insider, Chris Larsen, estimates an Apple / Verizon deal to be about 70%

RFID

* Although the idea of Radio Frequency Identification chip in mobile devices has taken a dive in popularity, sources report that:

Turn the iPhone into a digital wallet. Munster predicts that future iPhones will have built-in RFID technology, allowing them to make retail payments with a single swipe.

Tablet

* Many are expecting the MacTablet (or one of its 10 other names) will be released at a price level equivalent to that of its other hardware, but some boldly disagree by saying it may just be priced “shockingly low”:

I hope that’s Apple’s strategy, because I can’t help but feel that a $1000 tablet–without immediate price cuts–would almost certainly fail. The Kindle crowd wants a cheap ($200) device for reading books. Students need a conventional laptop for school work. And smartphone users wouldn’t swap their handsets for a large, bulky slate–nor would they carry two separate mobile devices.

rooster

Google Chrome: Absolutely Awesome. In my opinion this browser is by far the best. It is unbelievably fast and stable (even in the developer mode), has bookmark sync, and has some great extensions! Download Chrome here!

Extensions I use:

• Adsweep
• Alwitt’s Facebook enhancer
• Chrome Reader
• GetYouTube
• Gmail Checker
• Grooveshark Ad remover
• iMacros for Chrome
• SmoothScroll
• Switch HTTP Proxy.

Google Chrome OS: cool but not quite ready yet and runs really slow in virtualbox on my semi-decent laptop. Try it here.

Google Tasks in Gmail: a really nice little To-do list built right into your Gmail page. To activate this and many other handy add-ones for you gmail account go to settings>labs in Gmail.

Google Wave: Very very cool and fun. Although, I must admit it is frustrating to find only 2 other contacts online at any given point in time. Once Wave becomes more public it will probably be running side by side with Facebook more often.

rooster

Just when I thought that they could not make an mp3 player any smaller – apple does it again. Their new iPod shuffle is a pretty amazing piece of technology (they claim it is the world’s smallest mp3 player).

The new shuffle will use Apple’s “Voice-Over” to speak to you.  It sounds pretty good and is surprisingly non-robotic for a computer. Harboring 4GB of space it will allow you to hold up to 1000 songs.

The only control on the the actual device is “off”, “shuffle” and “Stop”. Other than this all the controls are located on the headphones (proprietary of Apple of course). Hear you can push and hold the center to activate voice-over; push the center twice to get to the next song; use the volume controls; select playlist; etc.

It comes in both silver and black. It also includes a silver clip.

The Battery lasts 10 hours on a full charge.

Cost = $79.00

rooster

1. There wasn’t any interesting news
2. I created something new

My new creation, in cooperation with iPodTouchHacks.com, is my new website StagHacks.com. It is a general hacking site, not just restricted to iPod Touch hacking. I will be covering a whole lot of different topics having to do with basically hacking life. I will be delving into how to hack Soda (Pop) machines, elevators, Windows, Macs (if I ever get one), and of course, Apple products. As of now, it is still in the initial stages. The look is not permanent, and any suggestions would be extremely helpful. I hope to see some comments on the site, and as always, I promise to answer any and every email that I receive.

Hope to see you there

Lone Stag

StagHacks and iPodTouchHacks

Good news, apple may finally allow Adobe to put Flash into the iPhone and the iPod Touch.  Previously, Jobs thought Flash was too much of a resource waster. But now they have decided to work together to make it happen.   Now, it probably will not be a full out Flash 10 but they will cook up something special.

One bad thing for those in the US is that the release is speculated to hit mainly China because it presents a more ideal market. This may be true, but I believe it would would most likely hit the US first.

More to come,

rooster

http://www.ipodtouchhacks.com/uncategorized/rawksnew-writer/

Enjoy and hope all goes well!

-rAwks

rawks_in_ur_socks@yahoo.com