When you go into cardiac arrest, you’ve got about ten minutes to live if you don’t receive medical attention, and the average emergency response time is seven minutes after you dial 911. In an effort to get folks help more quickly and leverage the iPhone’s life saving abilities, the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District in California has created the FireDepartment app to enlist the help of the citizenry in fighting the (unfortunate) results of a lifetime of eating tacos. The iPhone app — Android and BlackBerry versions are currently in the works — allows emergency dispatchers to notify users via text of a nearby crisis. For those feeling heroic, the app displays a map with the victim’s location and any nearby automatic electronic defibrillators, and provides “resuscitation reminders” in case you’re the CPR teddy-toting type. For now, the service only works in San Ramon but there are plans to port it for use elsewhere. That means we can look forward to a nation of amateur EMTs, which makes us thankful that mouth-to-mouth is no longer a part of CPR. Check the video after the break to see the app in action.
We’ve been hearing a ton of rumors about what direction Apple’s next set of products will take and when they’ll be available — but now we’ve got some concrete information from reliable sources which should make the path a little clearer. And that includes info on the next iPad, the iPhone 5, the second iteration of the new Apple TV, and a big change coming for all of the company’s mobile products. Want to know the scoop? Read along after the break to get the goods.
Hey, a phone that Apple introduced back in 2009 (that’d be the iPhone 3GS) is now selling — brand new with a two-year voice / data agreement — for $49, both at AT&T and through Apple directly. Of course, you could get the far more capable iPhone 4 for a fair amount more, or you could wait until tomorrow so you’d actually have an option when it comes to carriers. Your call, obviously.
Hey, you — it’s January 3rd. You know, the day you’re supposed to return to work / school / life. And the day you’re supposed to catch a flight you’ve had booked for three months. And probably a day that you’re supposed to accomplish lots of other tasks. Unfortunately for you, you actually believed that your iPhone alarm would fix itself when today rolled around, but based on hordes of complaints seen on Twitter and Facebook, said fix is still hibernating. And thus, you’re still sleeping. Even here at Engadget HQ, we’ve seen iPhone 4 handsets not wake us as promised (on non-recurring alarms), so who knows when Apple will step up to the plate and address the issue. In the meantime, go ahead and set up a recurring alarm while gently crossing your fingers and toes. Or, you know, buy a battery-powered alarm clock off of your grandmother.
We’re not exactly sure of the cause of this fancy new issue affecting Apple’s super cool iPhone line of cellphones, but apparently you’ve got trouble come 1/1/2011. According to an explosive stream of frustration-filled tweets on the Twitter microblogging service, when the clock strikes midnight, one off alarms will cease to sing out. The issue sounds eerily similar to recent Daylight Savings Time trouble we witnessed back in November, although we saw both repeating alarm and single alarm failures.
So how can you fix this potentially life-ruining problem? Well until Apple patches its OS — and it’s currently unclear if this is just iOS 4.2.1 or earlier versions as well — you can simply create a recurring alarm at the time you need to be woken up, and then disable it once your dreams are completely ruined. We’re taking a deeper look into the issue and have contacted Apple — if we get more news, you guys will be the first to know. In the meantime, feel free to commiserate in comments, and… happy new year?
Update:9to5 Mac says that the bug will get fixed all by itself once the calendar hits January 3rd. We haven’t confirmed this, but if it turns out to be the case, that’s pretty good news. In less good news, the issue seems to be affecting iOS 4.1 and 4.0.2 as well.
Update 2: Apple responded to us on the issue, though they didn’t offer any surprises:
We’re aware of an issue related to non repeating alarms set for January 1 or 2. Customers can set recurring alarms for those dates and all alarms will work properly beginning January 3.
Someone must really like you — otherwise, how did you end up with an iPhone this holiday season? Yeah, we know, iPads don’t really fit into stockings. Besides, your parent or significant other got you an arguably better gift in the cheaper (with two-year contract, of course), more compact, and more recently updated iPhone 4. We’ve given you some app suggestions before when the device first launched, but that was six months ago, and in technology time, that’s like seven years. Want a run-down of the best apps, our favorite accessories, and the essential tips and tricks? Just follow along after the break!
A number of iPhone keyboard cases have popped up lately, from the TK-421 flip-out case (which we reviewed) to the BoxWave Keyboard Buddy. We’ve spent the better part of 24 hours using an engineering sample of Nuu’s MiniKey QWERTY slider for iPhone 4 — expect “a few minor changes to be made” before actual launch — that the company was kind enough to send over. So, how’s it stack up?
Word on the street — and by that we mean a Nikkei Business Daily report — is that Toshiba’s dropping a cool 100 billion yen (around $1.2 billion in US currencies) for a new factory in the Ishikawa prefecture, Japan. Its raison d’être? Low-temperature polysilicon LCD panels, primarily for the iPhone (no indication on which version; Apple is said to be investing in a portion of the factory, as well). Construction begins early next year and production is apparently slated to commence in the second half. More than enough time to stockpile unicorn tears for the assembly line.
New Zealanders have been enjoying Epic Games’ visual stunner for a few hours now, as per usual, but the past has caught up with the present, so to speak. Infinity Blade is now available on the US iTunes store for both the iPad and the iPhone. Drop the gun, give the mutants a rest, and pick up the sword — cost of entry is $5.99 and the file size is a whopping 318.3MB. What are you waiting for?
Missed out on Black Friday? Good on you. Now, still in the market for an iPhone 4? If so, you should probably point your vehicle to the nearest Radio Shack, STAT. For the first time since going on sale in June, Apple’s iPhone 4 is legitimately on sale from a retailer that actually exists and won’t sell your personal information to some goon in an offshore paradise you’ve never heard of. (No, Walmart’s $2 savings doesn’t count.) We’re told that the $50-off sale is being done to ramp up awareness surrounding Radio Shack’s (admittedly low-key) wireless business, and if we had to guess, we’d say it’ll probably work to perfection. Ever since the handset began shipping this summer, the going rate was $199 (on contract) for the 16GB model or $299 (also on contract) for the 32GB flavor; this deal hacks $50 from each, and there’s even an 8GB iPhone 3GS for $49 if you’re looking to take things even lower. Better still, The Shack‘s offering a $75 trade-in credit on any functional / non-cracked iPhone 3G as well as $125 for a 3GS in like condition, meaning that you could walk in today, hand over your 3GS, and walk out with an iPhone 4 for $25 (plus activation fees). Naturally, the deal’s only available in brick-and-mortar locations (read: not online), and the fun comes to a close on December 11th. So, who’s in?
