We were politely asked to keep quiet about this until today, but here’s the truth: XBMC now runs on the Apple A4, period. As in, there’s no reason why you can’t install that shiny new Apple TV 2 version of the media center software on your jailbroken iPad or iPhone 4 too. Find instructions at our more coverage link… then give the hackers and developers a cheer.
“To our millions of customers, who never stopped believing this day would come…” Alright, we guess they earned just this one moment of visual hyperbole.
Looks like the iPad might not have an exclusive on those new “multitasking” gestures unearthed in the latest iOS 4.3 beta, because BGR‘s got some shots up of an purported internal build that seem to indicate Cupertino intends to push them down to the iPhone line as well. Now, there are a couple of obvious red flags here — using “four or five fingers” sounds pretty unreasonable for a 3.5-inch display, though it’d certainly tie in with recent rumors that Apple’s turning sour on the physical Home button and might indicate that the complete redesign we’re hearing about could include a slightly larger display. Of course, it could also indicate that this is really early software with the wrong (read: iPad) wording — but at any rate, we could definitely see the benefit of, say, a two-finger gesture to swipe between apps.
Now, on to part two: 9to5 Mac seems to have unearthed traces in the iOS 4.3 beta of a new feature called “Photo Streams” that seems to be — you guessed it — a way to share continuous streams of photos with friends you approve, presumably through MobileMe (which would fit in nicely with the Find my Friends stuff). Alone, that’s not worth $99 a year — plenty of other services offer similar functionality — but we wouldn’t be surprised if this were bundled in with a bunch of MobileMe refreshes this year.
Update: We just received an interesting tidbit of information on the above pic (and others that BGR has its hands on). According to sources, after the iPhone 4 barroom debacle, Apple made significant changes to how it keeps track of — and identifies to third parties — its devices. Namely, the company began adding clauses to screens on the phones which read “Confidential and Proprietary, if found, please contact…” followed by a 408 number (that’s Cupertino, of course). This prevents any misunderstanding from parties who may come across these devices. So what does it all mean? Well, not much, save that it seems these photos we’re viewing are in fact the real deal… which means gestures may be headed to your iPhone. Intrigue!
We know exactly what Canada’s Rogers is thinking right now: “c’mon, T-Mobile, you guys are leaving money on the table!” Though Rogers and its Fido subsidiary are charging CAD $50 to unlock an iPhone, T-Mobile’s Dutch division is now willing to do it gratis, citing the fact that multiple Dutch carriers now offer the iPhone and they no longer feel the need to keep it SIM-locked. Refreshing attitude, isn’t it? As of January 12th, newly-activated iPhones on T-Mobile Netherlands are unlocked automatically; existing customers can call into customer service to get an unlock now, or wait until February for a do-it-yourself method. Of course, the irony is that when a carrier treats you that well, you don’t really want to leave — but this’ll be a great option for folks that do a lot of roaming and don’t care to go the ultrasn0w route.
It’s been a long time coming, but it’s starting to look like things just might be starting to maybe, possibly line up for the white iPhone 4. We saw some inventory shots from Vodafone Germany ourselves yesterday, and now Mac Rumors has turned up a shot of it own that appears to show both 16GB and 32GB versions of the phone in Best Buy’s inventory system in the US. What’s more, these listings also show a specific in-stock date of February 27th and, for what it’s worth, the model numbers match those that first turned up in Best Buy’s system when it was originally taking pre-orders for the difficult-to-manufacture phone. Of course, we still won’t be fully satisfied until we start seeing some actual boxes with white iPhones in them, but here’s hoping we won’t have to wait too much longer for that to happen — Apple still hasn’t pushed back that “spring 2011” date, after all.
Could it be that Apple and Foxconn engineers have finally found a way to harness and contain the raw, blinding power of the color white? Last we’d heard, the rarest member of the iPhone 4 clan was tracking for a spring ’11 launch — and that’d line up pretty nicely with shots we’ve received from a trusted source today showing new entries in Vodafone Germany’s inventory system for weiß (white) iPhone 4s in both 16 and 32GB flavors. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean Vodafone has any idea when these phones are showing up on their doorstep — maybe they’re just preparing (and hoping) that it materializes before too long — but for what it’s worth, the source says to expect a launch “soon.” If you’ve got a few hundred euro lying around, we suppose it’ll be a good way to bide your time while you wait for an iPhone 5 launch in a few months, right?
Want some help with your newfound choice of iPhone carrier? Let T-Mobile break it down for you in an entirely unbiased and dispassionate fashion. The pink carrier’s latest hit piece commercial highlights the fact that, whether on Verizon or AT&T, the iPhone only has recourse to 3G connectivity, painting the two carriers as a pair of grey suits distinguishable only by the color of their ties. It’s a cute way to promote your own 4G network, sure, but it conveniently disregards the fact that Verizon’s enriching its LTE (Lightning! Thunder! Electric!) network with some true superphones while AT&T is similarly committed to a 2011 LTE rollout. So, really, the only thing under critique here is Apple’s rapidly aging 3G wonder. Skip the break to see the video ad.
Do you want this Game Boy-themed iPhone 4 case? Well, how does it feel to want? Not all that hot from where we’re sitting, that’s for damn sure. Spotted at Incipio’s CES booth, the company put the case together to demo the company’s production capabilities. Sadly, for us, the thing won’t be coming to market at any time in the near future (unless someone in Shenzhen decides to take on the cause, that is). We must say, this is a big improvement over the company’s iPod nano watch bands — and an immense improvement over the guy who shoved an HTC Aria inside his old Game Boy (throwing in a fake iPhone 4 for good measure). Get another look after the break.
So, by now you’ve had a chance to digest the fact that Verizon‘s getting the iPhone, right? A standout from yesterday’s news is of course the iPhone Personal Hotspot feature that those lucky red devils are being treated to. Hopefully the rest of us won’t have to remain envious for to long, though — BGR says its sources have confirmed that that feature is headed to all iPhones once iOS 4.3 lands. The word is the OS version with this shiny treat will be 8F5148B with a baseband version of 04.08.00. Of course, your carrier is likely going to have to be on board, a-la tethering support, but once that dust settles not only will you be able to tether your device, but your friends will be able to join in — and rack up your data usage, too. So sit back, relax, and all will be revealed if and when this bridges the gap between rumor and reality.
There’s no company in the industry that’s better at consistently having confidentiality come off its products in the FCC’s database right on time better than Apple — and indeed, the CDMA version of the iPhone just hit the filing system. Model A1349 (as opposed to the GSM version’s A1332) has the expected test results for CDMA / EV-DO Rev. A on the 850 and 1900MHz bands along with Bluetooth and WiFi without a whiff of GSM support for global roaming — not to say Verizon gave any hint that you might be able to roam outside of CDMA countries anyway.
