Apple have released a MobileMe gallery app for the iPhone and iPod touch, that gives subscribers to their cloud storage and backup service easier access to their online galleries. The app – which is a free download from the App Store, but which obviously requires a MobileMe subscription in order to use – supports the usual pinch-zooming and swipe navigation on the iPhone, as well as basic offline browsing functionality.
As promised, Vodafone have become the latest UK carrier to offer the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G. The carrier has begun selling the Apple smartphone today, with the 16GB version of the handset available from free on two-year contracts of £45 ($73) per month upward. Alternatively the 32GB iPhone 3GS is free on two-year contracts of £75 ($122) per month.
ION are better known for their USB-enabled turntables and tape decks, but the company has announced a slightly different type of peripheral at CES 2010 this week. The ION iTYPE is a full-sized QWERTY keyboard designed for use with the iPhone or iPod touch, powered by batteries so you can even take it mobile.
Having broken cover for the first time yesterday, we’ve now got a second in-the-wild sighting of the Sony Ericsson Robyn, believed to be the company’s “mini” version of the XPERIA X10. Over at French site PointGPhone they’ve snapped the Robyn cavorting with an iPhone, and looking seriously dwarfed in the process.
We’ve been more than a little dismissive of Qualcomm’s FLO TV Personal Television, with SlashGear columnist Michael Gartenberg summing up most of our doubts when he asked why you’d want to carry a separate, dedicated device. Now, thanks to a deal with mophie, the FLO TV prospect has just got a whole lot more interesting: iPod touch and iPhone juice pack sleeves that add not only a backup battery but FLO TV live television receiving on the Apple handhelds.
We primarily know Parrot as a purveyor of all things Bluetooth, but now the French company is segueing into remote controlled devices. The Parrot AR.Drone is a quadricopter – i.e. a four-propellor helicopter – that’s packed with WiFi for remote-control from an iPhone or iPod touch, two video cameras (one for auto-pilot, another for streaming birds-eye footage back to the pilot) and various sensors and gyroscopes. Parrot are also releasing an SDK so that developers can create games and other software such as augmented reality (AR).
Multiple video demos after the cut
Of course there are apps out there which allow you to control your Apple computer with your iPhone, but that really isn’t going to do you much good unless you have a Bluetooth equipped Mac in you home theater. If you are like most of us and just want to control your TV and peripherals with one device, then the new L5 Remote may be what you are looking for.
Having pulled ahead of Windows Mobile in US smartphone market share, the iPhone 3G has now been named the most popular single handset in use in the US between January and September 2009. Research firm Nielsen found that the Apple smartphone edged out the BlackBerry 8300 series (at 3.7-percent) with 4-percent of all subscribers; meanwhile a separate Nielsen report found that while RIM’s handsets currently have twice the market penetration of Apple’s (8-percent versus 4-percent), the iPhone has a “psychographic” advantage as the go-to device for users wanting the newest technology.
Apple’s refusal to add a netbook to its range has left many attempting to use the iPhone or iPod touch as a rough equivalent, but ease of text entry continues to frustrate. Happily, where Apple fall short the developer community delivers, with the simply-named iPhone Bluetooth Keyboard Driver. Soon to appear in the Cydia Store, v.1 of the driver allows you to wirelessly connect a Bluetooth keyboard to the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS or iPod touch.
Apple have pulled ahead of Microsoft in terms of smartphone market share, according to a comScore report detailing October’s US mobile traffic. The research firm has been tracking month-by-month usage across multiple platforms, and while RIM still leads the way with roughly 15m devices in use, the iPhone has pulled ahead of Windows Mobile’s roughly 7m devices by around 2m.
SlashGear JP
