iphone

Apple's new battery ratings for the iPhone certainly look impressive, but is 8 hours of talk time really top of the line as cell phones go? In a press release announcing the new figures, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that "the iPhone's battery life is longer than any other smart phone and even longer than most MP3 players." That's a broad claim, particularly since that 8 hours is just a promise. In our experience, the rated battery life of a device and the actual battery life can vary, something that Apple acknowledges in the fine … Read more

You don't need an iPhone to try out iPhone apps. Since the application platform is just a browser, you can see right now how some of the apps that people are building will look on your phone.

We've covered Digg and OneTrip already, but to see even more iPhone apps all together on one page, check out iPhoneApplicationList. For best results you should use Safari, although I've also had good luck previewing iPhone apps in Firefox.

Since the apps are just Web pages, no doubt there will be many, many iPhone app directories springing up soon.

Via: … Read more

Is Apple looking to compete with Garmin or Alpine down the road?

German magazine Focus has reported that Apple is developing something that would combine maintenance, entertainment, communication and navigation for cars into one device and that Mercedes will be the first to feature it.

A dashboard system for Mercedes from Apple, or an iPhone integration system for the Mercedes, seems like a logical probability given the fact that the two partnered on the first iPod integration kit for cars in 2006.

Appled refused to comment directly on either possibility.

"We have not announced plans yet," said Tom … Read more

According to Apple, you can ditch your fears over the rumor that the iPhone has 45 minutes of talk time. The company announced Monday that the much-anticipated handset will ship with much better battery life than was expected when it was first announced in January. The iPhone will finally be released, as you probably already know, on Friday June 29.

The numbers from Apple? The company had initially anticipated that the iPhone battery would allow five hours of talk time (though rumors around the blogosphere suggested it was actually much less than that), but now Apple is boasting that it'… Read more

The iPhoneWebDev group has posted an interesting page that begins to lay out some basic standards for developing iPhone applications. Though these specifications will likely change rapidly after the device actually ships, there are some excellent guidelines applicable to current touchscreen interfaces that should also hold true for the iPhone, as well as some keen observations based on current, publicly available information.

For instance, the page points out that the interface for some already-developed Web-based, iPhone-targeted applications (like this shopping list organizer) use buttons that are too small to be readily touchable: "Touchscreen buttons should be minimum 1/2 … Read more

Raven Zachary, an Open Source Industry Analyst with The 451 Group has announced plans for "iPhone Developers Camp," a conference to be held July 6-8, 2007 at an as-yet unspecified venue in the Bay Area, California. The gathering's stated intent is to "develop web-based applications and optimize web sites for iPhone." This is a non-commercial event, organized by volunteers, with attendance free to all. The goal is to launch a series of iPhone-optimized Web sites and "applications" to the public by the end of the event.

An announcement reads: … Read more

Apple says it has boosted the iPhone's battery life significantly beyond the figures specified when the device was announced. The iPhone will now deliver up to 8 hours of talk-time (instead of 5 has originally announced) and 250 hours of standby time. It is not yet clear whether this improvement is due to increased battery capacity or reduced power usage.

The iPhone will also now deliver -- on average -- 6 hours of Internet use (instead of 5), 7 hours of video playback (instead of 5) or 24 hours of audio playback (instead of 16).

Apple simultaneously announced that … Read more

The same developer who designed an interface to Digg for the iPhone, David Cann, has now created a Web-based instant messaging client that is designed for the iPhone with regard to pixel size, but obviously cannot be guaranteed compatible as it has not been tested with the device.

The developer says:

"Use your mouse to flick (drag and release) your buddy list up and down like you're supposed to on the iPhone. Click a buddy to start a conversation. You can open multiple conversations... flick left/right to change conversations."

So far, limitations include no groups, no … Read more

Every day, Apple appears to add more iPhone tidbits to its Web site. Last week, we dissected the new iPhone commercials and tutorials, but this week, we're bringing you some simple iPhone eye candy. As we inch toward the release date on June 29, Apple releases more images that detail the handset's various functions. So to save you the trouble of looking for them on your own, we've assembled the shots here in our iPhone slide show.