Macgasm

For those of you who were able to successfully install iOS 4 on your iPhone 3G, you have already found that you can’t background wallpapers. We know that multitasking is not present due to memory and processor limitations. But, how can wallpaper be an issue when it takes very little memory to run. Jailbroken iPhone 3G’s can do this, so why not a non-jailbroken broken iPhone 3G.

Cult of Mac’s John Brownlee tells us that a Gizmodo reader named Erica had this same question. She decided to add herself to the list of people who have emailed Steve Jobs with their queries. Below is what transcribed between Erica and Steve Jobs:

“Hey Steve! I just upgraded my iPhone 3G to iOS 4 and was really looking forward to setting a background on my home screen. Guess that’s not happening, but I’d like to know why.

See, I get why you don’t include multitasking. My iPhone gets pretty hot when certain apps run, couldn’t imagine how multitasking would fry my phone.

But the background thing, I don’t see how that would be memory intensive and/or battery draining. It doesn’t seem like that feature needs to be exclusive to the 3GS and 4G.

Jobs’ response:

The icon animation with backgrounds didn’t perform well enough.”

Now this really doesn’t answer the question because jailbroken iPhones are capable of wallpaper.  However, Apple wants to give their customers a device that will perform. Not one that might have issues.

Brownlee further clarifies that wallpaper works on jailbroken broken iPhones:

“Noting that some background wallpaper images can make it hard to see icon text and even icon apps, Apple chose to put a drop shadow for each icon and its label… something Winterboard doesn’t do. Hence the extra overhead.”

So, it’s the drop shadows and not the wallpaper that is causing the issue.  I’m glad that Apple has recognized this to be an issue and has left it out.  This time Apple has chosen function over form.  Usually it’s the other way around.  Have you upgraded your iPhone 3G to iOS 4?  If so, we would like to hear about your experience, be it good or bad.  So drop us a line in the comments section, and let everyone know your iOS upgrade experience.

Photo Credit: Just installed iPhone iOS 4

Article Via Cult of Mac

How do those sneaky little minks over at iFixIt manage to get their hands on the iPhone 4 so quickly? I mean, they’ve managed to get their hands on an iPhone 4, take it apart, write up a tutorial, and post it online before anyone on the planet, outside of the A-List reviewers, has had one delivered.

I wonder if Gizmodo had anything to do with this… I kid, I kid!

Anyway, if you’re interested in seeing the iPhone 4 naked and in all of its glory, you’re gonna wanna check out the pictures below, as well as the tutorial on their site.

There’s nothing like a firesale to get product moving again. Electronic Arts (EA) has decided that they’re going help out new iPhone and iPod Touch users, who might be getting their iPhone 4 in the next couple of days, by offering up 18 titles for $0.99

The games that are on sale,

• FIFA 10
• FIFA World Cup
• Madden NFL 10
• Need for Speed Shift
• Need for Speed Undercover
• SimCity
• Dragon’s Lair
• Jewel Quest Mysteries
• Trivial Pursuit
• NBA Live
• Tiger Woods PGA Tough
• Battleship
• Connect 4
• Surviving High School
• The Game of Life
• Clue
• Yahtzee

I’ve already picked up Dragon’s Lair and Sim City, and I’ll probably also pick up Need for Speed. If you’re looking for some new iPhone games on the cheap, then you’ll want to check out some of these applications.

Huge thanks to Delan for sending this one in!

Leave it to a quick thinking Mac user to suggest recording a nationally televised event with his MacBook and QuickTime. If you ever needed  proof that the lines between online and television have blurred, this might be the embodiment of that proof. Jimmy Kimmel hit a snafu during his taping, and a power outage threatened the filming crew, but the MacBook came through in a time of need, like it always seems to do. Kimmel recorded interviews with Seth Rogan, John Hensen, and Deirks Bentley with an iSight and a Macbook.

Who says webcasting is dead, it just may have been given a shot in the arm from an unexpected source.

A preview video is already up on YouTube. It should make for an interesting show tonight.

One day we’ll have a review model to play with before everyone else. At least that’s what I keep telling myself every time I see the A-Lister reviews. The funny thing about most of these reviews is that 98 percent of what’s being said about the device could have been deduced from watching a video of it in use. But every now and again these “A-Listers” surprise us with an amazing review with insights that few could have assumed. This time around, it’s Joshua Topolsky’s review on Engadget. We don’t usually do the, “hey, check out this article” type posts on the site, but this one is so in depth, we figured you guys should give it a read.

I mean how can you not read something like this, “From the design aesthetic through to the actual build process, Jony Ive and his team have reset what we expect in an iPhone, coming up with something that clearly harkens back to the retro-future Braun designs of Dieter Rams.” Topolsky sure knows how to out-do his other A-List brethern. I’d even go so far as to say that if Apple shipped only one iPhone to a reviewer, Topolsky should be at the top of the list.

Go read the iPhone 4 review. It’s worth it, no matter how lengthy it might be.

Starting tomorrow, Skype is starting a Beta program called SkypeKit. Their info page describes it thusly: “Think of SkypeKit as a ‘headless’ version of Skype–that is, it runs invisibly with no user display.” This is a way for developers to integrate Skype into their applications and devices.

Apparently, SkypeKit works on Linux currently, but Windows and Mac OS X support are on their way. Not only will traditional desktop apps benefit, but newer technology will be seeing Skype integration. In the future, we could be video conferencing directly on our televisions. Pretty cool, no?

What do you think about the move from Skype? Does this effect your opinion of the product? I know that I will be more likely to use Skype if I don’t have to be tied down to my computer. When cell phones, TVs, and maybe even cars have built-in Skype, I’ll jump aboard the Skype bandwagon. If you have a strong opinion about this, let us know on Twitter or in the comments.

Article Via Tech Crunch
Photo Credit: Skype

When I first saw Flight Control HD ($4.99) on the iPad, I thought it would be a hideously boring game. Right, you want me to sit here and land planes? Seriously? Don’t air traffic controllers have the most stressful jobs? How could turning their jobs into a game really be any fun? So, I didn’t touch the game for several weeks. But I kept hearing people say how much they liked the game and challenging others to beat their high score. So, I eventually gave the game a try…and I’ve been hooked on it ever since. When I am playing the game, I have taken to shushing people who try to talk to me while I am playing and telling them I am too busy trying to land all of my planes.

The premise of the game is simple. You have four landing strips for planes and two helipads, all of various colours. As the planes and helicopters enter the screen, you give them a flight path to the correct landing strip or helipad using your finger to trace the path. The goal is to land as many of them as you can without letting any of them crash. Simple enough, right? Until you have 20 planes and 5 helicopters on your screen at the same time and their various flight paths look a lot like a plate of spaghetti. Each round is a slowly building crescendo of stress and excitement as you direct planes with your fingers like a maestro. By the end of the round, your fingers are flying trying to avert one crash after the next until it all comes crashing down in a blaze of glory as two planes finally collide.

I get a real kick out of the feel of the game. The music playing in the background of the game is oddly chipper, jazzy, elevator-type music that will often have you snapping your fingers along in time. As each plane or helicopter is successfully landed, quaint British congratulatory words, like “splendid,” “good show,” and “jolly good,” flash briefly across the screen. Along with the opening picture of a classically attired female flight attendant, you kind of feel like you are a pilot from the 50s jaunting off on your next adventure.

The game also offers a number of neat two-player options. One of these is a split-screen where two players each take half the screen and either work together to land as many planes as possible or compete against each other to land more than your opponent. The other option is to play the game simultaneously on two separate iPads, so that each player has an entire screen.

What’s great about this game?

The game is based on such a simple concept and yet it is incredibly challenging. It’s hugely addictive, especially when someone beats your high score and you just can’t quit until you regain the top. The aesthetics are pleasing and game play is really simple to catch onto.

What could be improved?

To be honest, not much. The one complaint I might have is related to the music. As I’ve already mentioned, I like the theme song of the game. However, when you play a round of the game, after the song plays through once, it doesn’t play again. It would be nice if the song was either looped to play the whole time or if there was a series of songs that played. I can always choose to turn the music off if I decide I don’t like it, but there is no way to keep the game’s music playing if you want it to last beyond the one song. Of course, you can always choose to play your own music out of the iPod app from this game.

Overall, this has been one of my favourite games for the iPad so far. I anticipate many future hours wasted playing it. If you want to give it a try, you can pick up Flight Control HD on the App Store for $4.99. And there is also Flight Control available for the iPhone for $0.99. See if you can beat my current high score of 118 safely landed planes and helicopters on the default map. Although I think I’m going to go play another round right now, so that score may be even higher soon!

With the release of version 1.2, Microsoft has added a considerable number of features to the Bing application for iOS.

What’s New in Version 1.2

Camera scanning of barcodes and cover art.

Connect with Facebook and Twitter accounts to see combined status updates.

Show results from your social network when you search. Share search results on Facebook, Twitter, and through email.

Expanded Shopping section with reviews, ratings, and prices.

Additional clips and trailers in the Movies section.

This is a pretty substantial update. I suppose the barcode scanning is useful for some, but I find the personalized search features to be pretty damn compelling. Having the ability to plug in my Facebook and Twitter accounts to Bing, and then have results from my social networks mixed in with web search results makes me very happy. Any time I can remove complexity from my life is a good thing. I’m glad to see that Microsoft is not only taking web search serious, but also the mobile experience.

Are you interested in trying out Bing for the iPhone? What do you think about Microsoft’s shot at Google? Hit me up on Twitter or comment on this post.

Article Via 9 to 5 Mac