News Archive for 09/07/03

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'Naughty' dice app quietly denied by Apple?

07/03, 2:05pm

Naughty Loaded Dice denied

Trichotomy Media is complaining that its Naughty Loaded Dice iPhone app has, possibly, been quietly rejected by Apple. The app has yet to receive an approval or a rejection after a month, and should therefore still be sitting in Apple's queue. The company notes that although the app does focus on bedroom activity, it still stays clear of any profanity or explicit images.

iPhone dominates Japanese smartphone market

07/03, 1:35pm

iPhone tops in Japan

The iPhone is currently the best-selling smartphone in Japan, at least at retail, according to a recent survey. Gathered by research firm BCN, data from 2,300 stores shows the 8GB iPhone 3G as the most popular smartphone, followed by its 16GB sibling. Ranking third in the survey is the NTT DoCoMo Aquos SH-04A, designed by Sharp; RIM's BlackBerry Bold ranks sixth, and a full four slots in the list are occupied by devices from HTC.

CrunchPad Inc. forms, to reveal tablet in July

07/03, 1:30pm

CrunchPad Inc formed

Michael Arrington, the founder of tech blog TechCrunch, made good on his promise to create his own hardware company, with the launch of CrunchPad Inc. Based in Singapore, the firm will employ a total of 14 employees and its first and only product, the CrunchPad Internet tablet, is expected to be revealed at a press event scheduled for the end of July.

Nokia releases Ovi Maps 3.0 for GPS smartphones

07/03, 1:10pm

Nokia outs Ovi Maps 3.0

Nokia has recently announced the release of its latest version of its Ovi Maps software used in more than 40 of its GPS-enabled handsets. Now available for download, Ovi Maps 3.0 has a number of enhancements, including high resolution satellite and terrain maps in both 2D and 3D views, as well as 3D landmarks for more than 200 large cities. The latter allows users to view the virtual landmarks with fly-overs, fly-throughs, in a night view and by rotating and tilting the perspective. There is also a new Walk mode for navigating on foot, while the Drive mode provides speed limit information, location of speed cameras, real-time traffic and lane assistance.

Clarendon Apple Store shooting sees one wounded

07/03, 12:50pm

Apple Store shooting

A shooting incident at the Clarendon Apple Store in Arlington, Virginia has left one wounded, news networks report. The shot was fired shortly after 10AM local time, and the victim has since been sent to a local hospital. Police have formed a perimeter around the area, hunting for a suspect still at large.

Dutch carrier Hi showing Pre ahead of Euro launch

07/03, 12:50pm

Palm Pre due at Dutch Hi

Ahead of a scheduled UK launch event next week, Dutch wireless provider Hi has posted a product page on its website advertising the Palm Pre smartphone. Hi is a sub-brand of KPN, which has ties to Telefonica. As Telefonica runs UK carrier O2, which was reported to be the exclusive carrier of the Pre, the posting implies that Telefonica may have landed a multi-country deal. The product page reveals Hi will sell the Pre only subsidized with a contract.

EMTEC intros tiny Ion-powered G-Box nettop

07/03, 12:35pm

Emtec intros G-Box nettop

EMTEC has recently showed off an upcoming nettop PC flying under the G-Box codename. The small form factor PC will be powered by the NVIDIA Ion platform that mates an Intel Atom CPU with the HD-capable graphics and system combo chipset. Despite this capability, there is a VGA output instead of HDMI, indicating the PC is aimed at a business environment, though a version with the video and sound signal port is expected to launch later on.

Apple considers 'active' packaging for handhelds

07/03, 12:25pm

'Active packagin' patent

Future iPhones and iPods from Apple could come in "active packaging," a recently-published patent application hints. Apple observes that while standard product packaging serves its essential purpose, it is also subject to limitations, such as an inability to showcase electronics in action without completely draining batteries. Similarly, should firmware updates become available, a store's inventory can be left outdated until people decide to take products home.

imeem opening own music store

07/03, 12:20pm

imeem Music Store in Works

imeem is gradually building its own music store that may afford it independence from Apple's iTunes or Amazon MP3, an investigation has found. Normally, those buying permanent copies of music from the site must go through an Amazon or iTunes link and buy it off-site; quietly, however, the company has been adding direct-download MP3 purchases of its own for certain artists, such as Iron and Wine. The payment system is direct and uses either credit cards or PayPal.

T-Mobile UK may "swap" with other carrier

07/03, 11:40am

T-Mo UK Swap Deal Rumor

Rather than allow a buyout of its assets, T-Mobile UK is hoping to strike a deal that would let it "swap" its British business for one in another country, sources have said on Friday. Company insiders have tipped off FT that T-Mobile may sell off its UK operations and that Vodafone Turkey would be the "ideal" candidate for the deal due to its second-place rank and relative subscriber base. No talks have been mentioned so far.

Samsung Link coming to Bell mid-July?

07/03, 11:10am

Samsung Link due at Bell

A leaked image and some scarce information indicates Canadian wireless provider Bell will soon get a new handset from Samsung, so for only known by its Link nickname. A low-quality cropped photo of the handset found in a Thursday MobileSyrup report suggests it will be a vertical QWERTY slider. Some are comparing it to a European Samsung model, the C6620.

Windows 7 to finalize on July 13th

07/03, 10:55am

Windows 7 RTM on July 13th

Multiple leaks today indicate that Microsoft is set to declare Windows 7 complete in just 10 days. The software developer is now expected to produce a Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build of the operating system on July 13th and is likely timing the news for its Worldwide Partner Conference the same day in New Orleans, which would let it hand companies a finished copy. The RTM version will be what ships to PC builders and retail when the software ships on October 22nd.

Mac OS X 10.5.8 update nearing completion

07/03, 10:50am

Mac OS X 10.5.8 soon?

The next update for Mac OS X Leopard is rapidly advancing towards release, reports suggest. Build 9L22 of v10.5.8 is said to have been delivered to developers on Wednesday, following the distribution of 9L20 last Friday. Such turnaround times are typically a sign of imminent release for Apple software, evidence for which may be backed by a shift in testing focus.

NVIDIA denies split with Apple?

07/03, 10:10am

NVIDIA Denies Apple Split

NVIDIA on Friday has purportedly denied recent claims of a conflict with Apple. Insiders believed close to NVIDIA claim that the two are still "just fine" and that the graphics company's chief Jen-Hsun Huang is personally happy with the current situation. Apple is still understood to be ordering chipsets as usual.

Mozilla prepares clean-up patch for Firefox 3.5

07/03, 9:55am

Post-Firefox 3.5 patch

Having just released Firefox 3.5 on Tuesday, Mozilla is already developing a minor troubleshooting update. The company says it expects Firefox 3.5.1 to be released in mid-to-late July, fixing three bugs and "topcrashes," referring to the most common crashes experienced by users. "[The] goal of this release should be a quick turnaround that fixes topcrashes and bugs we almost held ship for," a note states.

Samsung Glyde 2 spotted for Verizon

07/03, 9:45am

Samsung Glyde 2 Leak

A sequel to the year-old Samsung Glyde has been found in a leak posted by a HowardForums user. Known also as the U960, the new phone is considerably sleeker than the outgoing model but adds a significantly expanded screen and a fourth row to the keyboard. Similarly, it also upgrades the software with Samsung's in-house TouchWiz interface and carries an accelerometer to tilt the interface on its side.

Notebook hard drive shortage to last through summer?

07/03, 9:20am

NB HD Shortage in Summer

Demand for notebook hard drives should lead to a shortage of disks throughout much of the summer, integrated circuit producers GMI Technology and Weikeng Industrial warned on Friday. As sales agents for hard drives from Hitachi, Toshiba and Western Digital, they tell DigiTimes that their clients hadn't anticipated demand and didn't adjust until it was too late. Hitachi and Western Digital were fiscally conservative due to the economy and didn't expand until early spring, while Toshiba is simply seeing very high demand for a single-platter 250GB drive.

purplera1n jailbreaks iPhone 3GS

07/03, 9:15am

First iPhone 3GS jailbreak

The first jailbreaking tool for the iPhone 3GS has been released, claims coder George Hotz. Called purplera1n, the hack is described as in beta but launched though an installer file, thus making it friendly to the general public. Due to potential problems, Hotz suggests users backup any important iPhone data before attempting to crack the phone's security.

Hasselblad intros 39MP film-to-digital back

07/03, 8:45am

Hasselblad CFV-39

Hasselblad took steps to drive more of its medium-format camera users to digital today by adding the CFV-39. The digital back adds a 39-megapixel sensor to any of the company's V System film cameras and brings them up to similar features found in the H3DII line. Upgraders can shoot either to CompactFlash or to a Mac or PC using FireWire tethering, and also have the same ISO 50-800 sensitivity as one of Hasselblad's fully integrated digital cameras.

Apple, Linux exempt from Chinese filter

07/03, 8:15am

Macs Exempt from Green Dam

Only Windows PCs may be required to carry China's controversial Green Dam Youth Escort content filtering app, computer makers said on Friday. Although the government officially requires every computer sold in the country to have the software included, any system that can't install Green Dam, including any of Apple's computers or Linux PCs, doesn't have to bundle it. The exemption also applies to any computer that doesn't meet the "technical requirements" for an install, according to one anonymous PC vendor.