Google and Apple: Honeymoon Over

Maybe the conflict between two giants was brewing in the background the whole time. The partnership between Apple and Google looks to be on edge ever since Google decided to get into the mobile phone business, launching the open source platform Android.

Apple, as we know from countless reports of application bans, rescinded approvals, and the rejection of Google Voice, keeps strict and inconsistent control of their iPhone OS. In fact, previous Google apps appearing in the App Store have had the privilege of using tools hidden from the average developer.

Netflix Working on iPhone Application

Sure we've seen iPhone apps in the App Store that let us change our Netflix queue on the go. These are useful when someone brings up a movie you'd like to see, or you can't remember the details about that DVD you have sitting next to your TV.

How many times have you wanted to actually watch movies on your instant queue? Although the iPhone suffers from a small screen and non-removable battery, there are situations where you'd want to show a clip to a friend or even watch a whole film.

Apple Media Touch Tablet Confirmed

More information has surfaced about the Apple media pad, a touch-screen device larger than an iPhone with the functionality of a netbook. Barron's reports on an unnamed "veteran analyst" who claims to have held the prototype device in his own hands.

apple iphone tablet netbook wireless media pad

The source describes a slate-style computer only six weeks away from the final design stages that would be announced in September and hit shelves in November. Manufacturers of key components have already been described in industry publications.

Square to Process Credit Card Transactions on the iPhone

What will they think of next? Soon if you want to accept credit cards at your garage sale there will be an app for that. A project named Square is now in alpha testing and expects to allow iPhone users to process credit card transactions for a fee.

iPhone Square project

The money transfers directly to the bank account of the merchant and the purchaser receives an email receipt. As seen in the photo from Cool Hunting above, the credit card reader is an accessory that simply plugs into the headphone jack of the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Jailbreak and Unlock iPhone Firmware 3.0.1

Apple released the iPhone OS 3.0.1 firmware update the other day to fix an SMS security flaw. This has rendered purplera1n useless, and creator Geohot has abandoned the project for now. That being said, redsn0w from the iPhone Dev-Team still works.

There's one thing to look out for when using redsn0w to jailbreak 3.0.1. After updating to the official 3.0.1 through iTunes, running redsn0w will ask for the IPSW file to use for jailbreaking. Select the 3.0 IPSW, not the 3.0.1 version you just installed. For owners of the iPhone 3GS or a newer 3G, you may not already have this file.

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