Intogadget News Daily 11.13.09

Its Friday the 13th today, and for some reason today is a very slow news day, but nevertheless, I have news from across the web that I hope you find interesting.  Feel free to comment after youre done reading, Id love to hear your thoughts.

Good news Palm Pre users, news is popping up that the OS update 1.3. This update will allegedly speed up the phone because it unlocks access to the GPU, but
their is no fix to the latest block by Apple's iTunes. To be honest if you really want to sync music to your Pre reliably I would suggest you go with DoubleTwist. Some noteworthy improvements are:

• Text message forwarding.
• Widescreen video playback on Youtube.
• Full Synchronization with Yahoo Services.
• Unique ringtones for text messages. (Finally)
• and more. Check your phone for the update and download.

Did you find any new features not mentioned in this post, please comment.

If you are like most iPhone users, you are very proud to have the best in mobile technology in your pocket and feel an extra boost of confidence every time you pull out your device. We get it, you’re cool, you can afford to pay $99/month in a jacked up economy. Ok let’s say you’re not one of those customers who can afford the $100 tag for all you can eat iPhone. Well maybe this can help you keep the device you love and finally treat your friends to that latte you’ve been promising for months.

Now technically speaking this is dishonest, and if you do it and are caught, I am not liable for ANYTHING. Just like Jailbreaking your iPhone, you do this at your own risk and there may or may not be consequences. You will sacrifice the ability to receive text messages directly to your number but I’ll tell you how to get around that. With that said, you’ll need: a back up low-end phone, and an iPhone, yeah that’s really it, oh and an internet/WIFI connection.

Step 1: Call AT&T customer service and tell them you no longer want to use your iPhone and would like to switch to another device, they will blah blah blah you but insist. They will ask for the ESN code for your other phone, I used my old Sony Erricsson W810i. At this time take the SIM card out of your iPhone and set it aside. Once they have made the switch ask them to put you on the $39.99 voice plan, and to add the $15 unlimited data for non-smartphones to your plan. Thank them and hang up.

Step 2: Put the SIM card back into your iPhone and reboot the device, twice to be safe but once is just fine. Make sure you are able to access a WIFI access point and connect your iPhone, then go to www.unlockit.co.nz then follow the pictures above.

Download textfree, or textplus, or any other free text messaging app you like to be able to send text messages.

Step 3: Go online to your AT&T account and make sure that the device listed there is the one you switched to, AT&T has a funny habit of changing it back to the iPhone, so make sure it stays a non-smartphone or they may try to get you. That is pretty much it, and you’re welcome.

Dear Blackberry,

Please grow up, I am sick and tired of having other people flash the latest and greatest thing their phone can do in my face and all I have to fall back on is how quickly I can send and receive emails. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Blackberry, I have owned a Blackberry in one form or another since 2001, but frankly, its getting kind of embarrassing and you need to do something. Phone envy is slowly draining my willpower and you haven't given me anything to look forward to.

Let me be clear, I don’t have a problem with my Blackberry, in fact it works great and that’s why I still have it. The battery life is out of this world, the keyboard is unbeatable, my phone doesn’t crash every 3 hours, I have access to over 10,000 apps and themes, we have our own IM client (how cool is that), I can do 3 or more things at once, Email Email Email, my phone is indestructible, my phone does EVERYTHING, the platform is open, there’s a huge following of bloggers and developers who have been working with you for years, so i can find the answer to just about any question I have.

Here’s my issue, every time somebody brags about the cool thing their phone can do, I quickly whip out my Blackberry and say almost verbatim, “I can do that too, ok its loading, wait, after the hourglass, yea I know it’s hard to see look closer, that’s because it’s a smaller screen, okay it doesn’t look exactly like yours but that’s because it’s a beta version.” Then I sadly put my phone, and my self-worth away and play with their device. I am running out of excuses, my defense is all basically paper thin. I’m developing carpal tunnel from demonstrating that I can type 30 words per minute on my blackberry to compensate for its lack of other features.

It’s not only me, others have mentioned this before, that’s why you made the Storm, I know I know, the Storm was an attempt, a humorous one but still you tried. The thing is you can do better, you're better than the Blackberry Flip, honestly who were you aiming for with that?. Here is the problem: we’ve exhausted the form factor, and the OS is 9 years behind. You've used the same form factor since day one; full keyboard, screen, convenience keys, trackball, mute key, ports, that’s fine but everybody else has that, and they’ve managed to be creative along the way. I understand, it’s the old adage “if it aint broke don’t fix it” but there’s a new adage nowadays “look what my phone can do” and typing really fast, is just not that cool anymore.

Here’s what I hope to see in our future, a real browser, a more up to date OS that doesn’t click, being able to play online content such as videos reliably, WIFI in all your models, and a new form factor. I know my requests may seem a bit ambitious but those are them, and if you're worried about losing your corporate customers over these changes, NEWS, they are starting to weight their options too. In closing, I love you and I want you around but you’re starting to embarrass me in public and well, “what would you do?”

Peace and much love,

IntoGadget

Many many people use the iPhone, but to be honest there are a lot of people out there using the device that probably dont know what they are doing. No offense, you might think that you are pretty tech savvy and have figured out most of the things your iPhone can do but this one was asked of me a couple of days ago and I was wondering if there were others who might be having this same issue.

The steps require you to delete your current Gmail account from your Email application and re-add it as an exchange account. They also recommend backing up your phone before doing this process. The guide is pretty simple and its published by Google itself so you're in good hands. Without further delay How to get PUSH Gmail on Iphone.

Apple has an approval process used to screen apps before they are allowed on the App Store. This is all good and fine and many developers have even come to accept this as a quality control measure, ie. approval signifies that their app is up to Apples vaulted standards.

Now this would be the end of the story if Apple’s approval process actually made sense, or there was some type of published guideline that tells developers which apps are acceptable and which are not. Instead Developers have to piece the puzzle together based on what has been accepted or rejected in the past. For example, Apple approved Skype, after rejecting GoogleVoice months before. Okay, there is no excuse for “Baby Shaker” but come on, “Booty Call” is not acceptable? (Booty Call was later resubmitted and accepted as Black Book Caller.) 20 Rejected iPhone apps - Newsweek

The inconsistencies have cause Facebook developer Joe Hewitt to call it quits. Mr. Hewitt is not your average developer, he was the guy who wrote the first Facebook application,without any documentation, 12 hours after the original iPhone launched. Joe then released a library for other app developers who wanted to make iPhone apps that actually resembled native iPhone apps.  He had this to say about the situation:

“My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software develope

The web is still unrestricted and free, and so I am returning to my roots as a web developer. In the long term, I would like to be able to say that I helped to make the web the best mobile platform available, rather than being part of the transition to a world where every developer must go through a middleman to get their software in the hands of users.”

– Joe Hewitt

Don’t panic, Facebook on the iPhone is not going anywhere, but Joe’s departure on the grounds of philosophical differences could be the catalyst for change in Apple’s policies. This issue raises some questions in my mind such as; whose iPhone is it really? How much ownership do we really have over our iPhones? Is it fair for Apple to tell us what we can and cannot do with a device after we've bought it? What do you think?

Read: TechCrunch Facebook: Please Back Developers vs iPhone

Read: Joe Hewitt Innocent Until Proven Guilty