Archives

The Apple store is down internationally, as Apple updates its store to get ready for the US pre-order of the iPad. Starting at 8:30 AM EDT, prospective customers will be able to order the WiFi-only and 3G capable versions of the Apple's hotly anticipated tablet. Today's pre-ordering is open to US customers only. The WiFi-only iPad is slated for arrival in stores and homes on April 3rd, with 3G models arriving later in the month.

Thanks to intrepid iPhone problem-solver and electrical engineer Renaud, tethered jailbreaking may become a thing of the past. The iDongle holds a standard 9-volt (PP3) battery and has its own dock connector to link up to an iPhone 3GS running firmware 3.1, 3.1.1 or 3.1.2.

This "standalone tethered boot" allows the iPhone user to reboot their jailbroken device anywhere, anytime, without a computer. In addition, the iDongle will even jailbreak and/or hacktivate your iPhone if necessary.

As any iPhone user knows, only bundled Apple software like the iPod app will run in the background while your phone is doing other things. Now AppleInsider reports this is all about to change.

Third-party applications will be allowed to run in the background in iPhone OS 4.0, the next step in iPhone firmware development. Although version 3.0 is capable of full multitasking, Apple has limited all but its own apps from staying open while running other software. Right now the Phone, Messages, iPod, Voice Memos, and Mail apps run in the background, along with some others.

iPad pre-ordering begins tomorrow, and those of you who intelligently want to avoid either lines, rumored supply shortages, or both, can finally lay claim to an iPad, or two, or three. Beginning at some time after midnight tonight, Apple will update their online store and allow customers to start placing pre-orders for both the WiFi only and WiFi + 3G versions of the highly touted Apple iPad.

As usual, Apple's been hush-hush on the details, which is a little odd considering the details usually allow buyers to make more informed decisions on whether or not to purchase a product. However, Apple's never conventional when it comes to drumming up buzz for their products, so having bloggers and journalists running rampant trying to dig up details on the launch of one of their products likely suits them just fine.

The iPad Guide has put together a list of

Apple released to developers its latest version of the iPhone SDK yesterday (version 3.2 beta 4), and an article published today by The iPad Guide details clues revealed by developers that show evidence of video conferencing support on the iPad.

A report filed a few weeks ago on The iPad Guide brought to light rumors that Hulu was developing and iPad application or a version of its popular video sharing site specifically for the iPad. In other words, the folks behind the technology at Hulu were at work creating a version of Hulu that didn't require Adobe Flash. In regards to Mobile Safari and Flash support, the capabilities of the iPad and the iPhone are seemingly identical, meaning that a Hulu for the iPad would be expected to work on the iPhone as well.

As The iPad Guide article suggests, "the same limitations presented by the iPad are those that have kept Hulu from the iPhone. Any effort by Hulu to develop an iPad-compatible version of Hulu would, in turn, create a version of Hulu that is also iPhone compatible. So, the proper question might be, if Hulu has a non-Flash version of their website in their wheelhouse, then what has kept them from building it for the iPhone?"

Unlike YouTube, who had to re-encode all of their videos in order to bring them to the iPhone, Hulu already

Apple announced today the Wi-Fi only iPad is scheduled for release in the US on Saturday, April 3. The company is accepting pre-orders for all models (including 3G versions) starting on Friday, March 12. Shipping of 3G models in the US and iPad availability in other countries is planned for late April.

The iBooks app for iPad including Apple’s iBookstore will appear as a free download on the App Store in the US on April 3. Apple has developed 12 new iPad-optimized apps that will be included on the iPad out of the box.

Could it be that Netflix is moving closer towards developing an application that would allow subscribers to watch instantly on the iPhone? A new survey question has been discovered that suggests Netflix is gauging interest in a Wi-Fi movie streaming app.

In the past, Netflix used a similar strategy prior to the release of their Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 applications. Support for instant watching is also on its way to the Wii console this spring. Netflix is performing market research constantly and often circulates up to 20 surveys at a time.

Right now you can't stream movies from your instant queue on Netflix to the iPhone. The minimum requirements listed by Netflix to watch instantly are:

Windows XP with Service Pack 2, Vista or Windows 7
Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher; or Firefox 2 or higher
1.2 GHz processor
512 MB RAM

An Intel-based Mac with OS 10.4.8 or later
Safari 3 or higher; or Firefox 2 or higher
1 GB RAM

Trying to play a movie on the iPhone results in the error, "streaming is not supported for your operating system."

There could be long lines for the iPad launch after all if reports of a delay in production are accurate. Analyst Peter Misek from Canaccord Adams says production problems at Hon Hai Precision mean that Apple could have only 300,000 units ready at launch.

The company was planning to have one million units ready for sale in March, along with another 800,000 available in April. The limited numbers might result in Apple delaying the iPad release date or even limiting initial sales to the US only.