Apple just release it’s iOS 5.0.1 to fix the power drain issue. This firmware can be downloaded automatically over WIFI saving you the trouble of updating it through itunes with USB cable.

It is 38.9MB in size and it does the following :

- it fixes bugs affecting battery life
- Resolves bugs with Documents in the Cloud
- Improves voice recognition for Austrailan users using dictation

The three Singapore telcos, M1, Starhub and Singtel has already announced their price plans for the new Apple iPhone 4S that goes on sale on 28 OCT 2011.

We have consolidated the various price plans into this chart for your easy reference. So, which telco give you the best deal? Let’s analyse it for you.

If you are on a budget constraint and wants the latest gadget at minimum cost, the M1 plan seems to be the cheapest among the three telcos. At S$36 a month, you get the same amount of local outgoing minutes. Other than the iPhone 4S 16G is $7 more expensive than the two other telcos, the 32GB and 64GB model are relatively cheaper than Singtel and Starhub.

What about the S$56-$59.90 range plans ? For this plan, M1 again is the cheapest in terms of per month subscription.  Data bundle are all 12 GB. SMS doesn’t really matter as you can use Whatsapp or imessaging  on iOS.  Other than it’s pricing of iPhone 4S 32GB which is more expensive than Singtel, both Starhub and Singtel can’t match M1′s pricing.

As for the $98-$99.99 range, M1 again seems to edge out the two competitors. It has unlimited data bundle. So, you can use this plan to replace your broadband if the HSPA speeds are good at your location. With unlimited data, you can make SKYPE calls, download videos without worry. M1 is also generous to provide 700 minutes of outgoing calls. The price for it’s 4S 32GB is also cheapest of all. As for iPhone 4S 64GB, Singtel is $2 cheaper but you pay $2 more monthly for the subscription.

Now, the highest plans. M1 again is cheapest at S$198. Singtel and Starhub both has 2000 minutes and 2000 SMS bundled in. M1 on the other hand gives you unlimited incoming calls. Data is both unlimited on M1 and Starhub but capped at 30GB for Singtel. You don’t have to pay upfront for iPhone 4S 16GB and 32GB models. As for iPhone 4S 64GB model, Singtel is $7 dollars cheaper than M1 at S$115 and Starhub at S$128.

Before you decide on which operator and plan to take. It is important to know some of the perks that are available on the various networks. Among the 3, Singtel and Starhub both has 3G video streaming from their pay tv service. M1 on the other hand lacks out this feature.

Secondly, Singtel so far has the widest coverage and signal shouldn’t be an issue in most parts of the country. The other two operators do have good signals in prominent towns and in city area. 3G signal coverage is not as far reach as Singtel.

Thirdly, you have to consider the network. If you use the data bundle for serving internet, which one gives you a better experience in terms of speed and loading?

Fourthly, if you travel often, you might want to check who are their roaming partners. Certain roaming partners offer better roaming rates if you log into their network when overseas.

So, good luck and enjoy your new iPhone 4S. Any comments, please post them at this link http://forums.ocworkbench.com/showthread.php?p=488156#post488156

Comment at the end of the post.

Apple 4S has gone on sale in various countries yesterday. Our friends at ePrice in Hong Kong managed to get hold of a set through their own means from Australia. They put the shiny brand new iPhone 4S powered by iOS 5.0 against the older iPhone 4 to a test on web browsing speed, application loading time and lastly the speech recognition assistant SIRI using Hong Kong style English. Check out the videos below :

Round 1 : Web browsing

Round 2 : Game loading speed

If you are a non English native speaker, Apple’s iPhone 4S SIRI engine will probably piss you off. Below is a video of a Japanese man testing out the voice recognition engine. It is a total disaster. Check out the video and comment.

Apple on Tuesday unveiled the iPhone 4S, a faster version of its best-selling smartphone.

The phone looks identical to a previous model of the phone, but contains an A5 processor with up to 2x faster processing data and up to 7x faster graphics than previous iPhone. It sports a dual core graphics chip.

The phone also has “fantastic battery life,” allowing people to talk for eight hours on the phone before needing to charge it again, said Phil Schiller, Apple’s vice-president for product marketing.

Improved battery life 8 hours of 3G talk time, 14 hours of 2G talk time, 6 hours on 3G browsing. The phone is a world phone, supportnig GSM and CDMA networks. So you can roam in any country in the world with iPhone 4S. For data packets, the downlink data rate is also upgraded 14.4Mbps.

The camera feature is improved too with a 8 mega pixel camera that takes photos of resolution of up to 3264×2448. It can shoot 1080p HD video with image stabilization.

Siri is an application that can voice assist th users. Just speak into it and it will launch the app. Apple says Siri will be initially be “beta” in that it will be adding more languages over time. Siri will be built in to iPhone 4S at launch, with support for English, French and German.

Iphone 4S comes in black and white. The pricing are 16GB for $199, 32Gb for $299 and 64GB for $399 with a 2 yrs contract in the US.

The iPhone 4 will be available at S$99 for 8GB in black and white. iPhone 3GS 8GB is free for 2 yrs contract.

Preorder for iPhone 4S can be made from oct 7 and will be available on Oct 14. It will first be launched in US, canada, Australia, UK, france, germany, Japan.

In US, it is available with AT&T and great new partner Verizon, and also Sprint. In Japan, it is available on SoftBank, also for the first time, KDDI.

22 more countries will be added to the list on Oct 28. 70 country with over 100 carriers will be selling iPhone 4S by end of 2011.

At the launch, Apple also unveil the new white colour iPod touch. The iPod touch was 8GB for $229, but now it’s $199. The other models will be priced at Ipod touch $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB. The iPod touch will run iOS 5 and other will also run iMessage and other apps.

Apple share price dipped -12.09 (-3.23%) to $362.51 at 2.44pm EST

Check out the ongoing tweets from various sources at http://www.twitter.com/ocworkbench

Mac OS X Lion With 250 New Features Available in July From Mac App Store

SINGAPORE, Singapore— June 7, 2011—Apple® today announced that Mac OS® X Lion, the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system with more than 250 new features and 3,000 new developer APIs, will be available to customers in July as a download from the Mac® App Store™ for US$29.99. Some of the amazing features in Lion include: new Multi-Touch® gestures; system-wide support for full screen apps; Mission Control, an innovative view of everything running on your Mac; the Mac App Store, the best place to find and explore great software, built right into the OS; Launchpad, a new home for all your apps; and a completely redesigned Mail app.

“The Mac has outpaced the PC industry every quarter for five years running and with OS X Lion we plan to keep extending our lead,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The best version of OS X yet, Lion is packed with innovative features such as new Multi-Touch gestures, system-wide support for full screen apps, and Mission Control for instantly accessing everything running on your Mac.”

New Multi-Touch gestures and fluid animations built into Lion let you interact directly with content on the screen for a more intuitive way to use your Mac. New gestures include momentum scrolling, tapping or pinching your fingers to zoom in on a web page or image, and swiping left or right to turn a page or switch between full screen apps. All Mac notebooks ship with Multi-Touch trackpads and desktop Macs can use Apple’s Magic Trackpad.

Full screen apps take advantage of the entire display and are perfect for reading email, surfing the web or browsing photos, especially on a MacBook Air® or MacBook® Pro. With a single click your app fills the display and you can swipe from one window to another, between full screen apps, or back to your Desktop, Dashboard or Spaces® without ever leaving full screen. iWork® and iLife® apps, as well as Safari®, iTunes®, Mail, FaceTime® and others, all take advantage of Lion’s system-wide support for full screen apps.

Mission Control combines Exposé®, full screen apps, Dashboard and Spaces into one unified experience for a bird’s eye view of every app and window running on your Mac. With a simple swipe, your desktop zooms out to display your open windows grouped by app, thumbnails of your full screen apps and your Dashboard, and allows you to instantly navigate anywhere with a tap.

The Mac App Store is built into Lion and is the best place to discover great new Mac apps, buy them with your iTunes account, download and install them. Apps automatically install directly to Launchpad, and with Lion’s release, the Mac App Store will be able to deliver smaller “delta” app updates and new apps that can take advantage of features like In-App Purchase and Push Notifications.

Launchpad makes it easier than ever to find and launch any app. With a single Multi-Touch gesture, all your Mac apps are displayed in a stunning full screen layout. You can organise apps in any order or into folders and swipe through unlimited pages of apps to find the one you want.

Lion includes a completely redesigned Mail app with an elegant widescreen layout. The new Conversations feature groups related messages into an easily scrollable timeline, intelligently hiding repeated text so the conversation is easy to follow, and retaining graphics and attachments as they were originally sent. An incredibly powerful new search feature allows you to refine your search and suggests matches by person, subject and label as you type. Mail includes built-in support for Microsoft Exchange 2010.

Additional new features in Lion include:

• Resume, which conveniently brings your apps back exactly how you left them when you restart your Mac or quit and relaunch an app;
• Auto Save, which automatically and continuously saves your documents as you work;
• Versions, which automatically records the history of your document as you create it, and gives you an easy way to browse, revert and even copy and paste from previous versions; and
• AirDrop, which finds nearby Macs and automatically sets up a peer-to-peer wireless connection to make transferring files quick and easy.

Pricing & Availability
Mac OS X Lion will be available in July as an upgrade to Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard® from the Mac App Store for US$29.99. Lion will be the easiest OS X upgrade and at about 4GB, it is the size of an HD movie from the iTunes Store®. Mac OS X Lion Server requires Lion and will be available in July from the Mac App Store for US$49.99.

Lion requires an Intel-based Mac with a Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7 or Xeon processor and 2GB of RAM. The Lion upgrade can be installed on all your authorised personal Macs.

The Mac OS X Lion Up-To-Date upgrade is available at no additional charge via the Mac App Store to all customers who purchased a qualifying new Mac system from Apple or an Apple Authorised Reseller on or after June 6, 2011. Users must request their Up-To-Date upgrade within 30 days of purchase of their Mac computer. Customers who purchase a qualifying Mac between June 6, 2011 and the date when Lion is available in the Mac App Store will have 30 days from Lion’s official release date to make a request.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

CUPERTINO, California—February 24, 2011—Apple® today updated the industry-leading MacBook® Pro family with next generation processors and graphics, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology and a new FaceTime® HD camera. Featuring the very latest dual-core and quad-core Intel Core processors, the entire MacBook Pro line is up to twice as fast as the previous generation.* 

“The new MacBook Pro brings next generation dual and quad Core processors, high performance graphics, Thunderbolt technology and FaceTime HD to the great design loved by our pro customers,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Thunderbolt is a revolutionary new I/O technology that delivers an amazing 10 gigabits per second and can support every important I/O standard which is ideal for the new MacBook Pro.”

Starting at $1,199 the new 13-inch MacBook Pro offers amazing value and performance in a compact design. The highly portable 13-inch MacBook Pro features Intel Core i5 and Core i7 dual-core processors up to 2.7 GHz and Intel HD Graphics 3000. The powerful 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models feature quad-core Core i7 processors up to 2.3 GHz and AMD Radeon HD graphics processors with up to 1GB of video memory for high performance gaming, pro video editing and graphics intensive applications. 

MacBook Pro is the first computer on the market to include the groundbreaking Thunderbolt I/O technology. Developed by Intel with collaboration from Apple, Thunderbolt enables expandability never before possible on a notebook computer. Featuring two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to an amazing 10Gbps each, Thunderbolt delivers PCI Express directly to external high performance peripherals such as RAID arrays, and can support FireWire and USB consumer devices and Gigabit Ethernet networks via adapters. Thunderbolt also supports DisplayPort for high resolution displays and works with existing adapters for HDMI, DVI and VGA displays. Freely available for implementation on systems, cables and devices, Thunderbolt technology is expected to be widely adopted as a new standard for high performance I/O.

The MacBook Pro now includes a built-in FaceTime HD camera with triple the resolution of the previous generation for crisp, widescreen video calls. With Apple’s innovative FaceTime video calling software, the new camera allows high definition video calls between all new MacBook Pro models and supports standard resolution calls with other Intel-based Macs, iPhone® 4 and the current generation iPod touch®. FaceTime is included with all new MacBook Pro models and is available for other Intel-based Macs from the Mac® App Store℠ for 99 cents. The MacBook Pro lineup continues to feature its gorgeous aluminum unibody enclosure, glass Multi-Touch™ trackpad, LED-backlit widescreen display, illuminated full-size keyboard and 7-hour battery.**

As the industry’s greenest notebook lineup, every Mac notebook achieves EPEAT Gold status and meets Energy Star 5.0 requirements, setting the standard for environmentally friendly notebook design.*** Each unibody enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. Mac notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants, are PVC-free and are constructed with recyclable materials.

Every Mac comes with Mac OS® X Snow Leopard®, the world’s most advanced operating system, and iLife®, Apple’s innovative suite of applications for creating and sharing great photos, movies and music. Snow Leopard builds on more than a decade of innovation and includes multiple features for portable computing such as Multi-Touch navigation, advanced wireless networking, easy file sharing, automated data backup and intelligent power management. The new iLife ’11 features iPhoto® with stunning full screen views for browsing, editing and sharing photos; iMovie® with powerful easy-to-use tools to transform home videos into fun theatrical trailers; and GarageBand® with new ways to improve your playing and create great sounding songs.

Pricing & Availability
The new 13-inch MacBook Pro, 15-inch MacBook Pro and 17-inch MacBook Pro are available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is available in two configurations: one with a 2.3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 and 320GB hard drive starting at $1,199; and one with a 2.7 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 and 500GB hard drive starting at $1,499. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is available in two models: one with a 2.0 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6490M and 500GB hard drive starting at $1,799 and one with a 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6750M and 750GB hard drive starting at $2,199. The new 17-inch MacBook Pro features a 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6750M and 750GB hard drive and is priced at $2,499. 

Configure-to-order options include faster quad-core processors up to 2.3 GHz, additional hard drive capacity up to 750GB, solid state storage up to 512GB, more memory up to 8GB DDR3, antiglare and high-resolution display options and AppleCare® Protection Plan. Additional technical specifications and configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at www.apple.com/macbookpro.

*Testing conducted by Apple in February 2011 using preproduction MacBook Pro configurations. For more information visit www.apple.com/macbookpro/features.html.

**The new Wireless Web protocol testing was conducted by Apple in February 2011 using preproduction MacBook Pro configurations. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. For more information visit www.apple.com/macbookpro/features.html.

Apple’s Mac App Store Opens for Business

CUPERTINO, California—January 6, 2011—Apple® today announced that the Mac® App Store℠ is now open for business with more than 1,000 free and paid apps. The Mac App Store brings the revolutionary App Store experience to the Mac, so you can find great new apps, buy them using your iTunes® account, download and install them in just one step. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard® users through Software Update as part of Mac OS® X v10.6.6.

“With more than 1,000 apps, the Mac App Store is off to a great start,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favorite apps.”

The Mac App Store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favorites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews.

Entirely new apps, as well as current Mac favorites, are available from developers such as Autodesk, Ancestry.com and Boinx. iPhoto®, iMovie® and GarageBand® apps from Apple’s popular iLife® ‘11 suite are available individually in the Mac App Store for $14.99 each, and Pages®, Keynote® and Numbers® apps from iWork® are available for $19.99 each. Aperture® 3, Apple’s powerful photo editing and management software, is available for $79.99.

“We’re delighted to bring our professional-grade paint and drawing app, Autodesk SketchBook Pro, to the Mac App Store on its first day of launch,” said Carl Bass, Autodesk’s CEO. “We’ve seen tremendous success on the Mac, iPhone and iPad with multiple apps. We’re excited to offer SketchBook Pro on the Mac App Store so artists can easily create everything from quick sketches to high-quality artwork right on their Macs.”

“By offering the Ancestry.com Family Tree Maker app on the Mac App Store, we’re making it even easier for people to discover and access their family history,” said Tim Sullivan, Ancestry.com’s CEO. “The Mac App Store will drive a new generation of innovation on the Mac platform.”

“We’re thrilled to have our award-winning animation, video production and photography software available on the new Mac App Store,” said Oliver Breidenbach, Boinx Software’s CEO. “The Mac App Store makes it easier than ever for consumers to access all the innovative software designed for the Mac.”

To get the Mac App Store, download the Mac OS X v10.6.6 Software Update or visit apple.com/mac/app-store. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

WebTV is the way to go. Apple’s Steve Jobs unveiled a new Apple TV device, which accesses content from the Internet and plays it on a TV, will sell for $99. It is a quarter the size of the original, which cost $229 yesterday. This 4″ square device allows users to rent TV shows for 99 cents and first-run films for $4.99. Alongside renting TV shows and movies, Apple TV users will be able to stream content from video rental site Netflix Inc. Netflix shares closed 7.5 percent higher on Nasdaq.

In addition, Apple also updated it’s iTunes with the networking feature PING, allowing users to recommend songs to friends in their circle.

M1 Press Release

SINGAPORE, 27 July 2010 – M1 today announced that it will launch iPhone 4 in Singapore on 30 July. Customers can select from a range of available tariff plans, including the Take3 programme that offers iPhone 4 at no upfront cost and the Value plan that offers monthly subscriptions as low as $36.

iPhone 4 features FaceTime, which simplifies video calling, and Apple’s stunning new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in super crisp text, images and video. iPhone 4 also features a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro and up to 40 percent longer talk time – in a beautiful all new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world. iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, which includes over 100 new features. The revolutionary App Store provides access to more than 200,000 apps including the new iMovie app built just for iPhone 4.

“We are excited to bring iPhone 4 to our customers on the most advanced network in Singapore,” said P Subramaniam, Chief Marketing Officer of M1. “We offered revolutionary plans for iPhone 3GS and are extending the same unbeatable value to customers buying iPhone 4.”

M1 will celebrate the iPhone 4 launch at 12:00 AM on 30 July at its flagship store at Paragon for invited customers only. Invited customers can also obtain the iPhone 4 from 9am, 30 July at M1 shops at Plaza Singapura, West Mall, Tampines and Bugis and two exclusive dealer shops at Jurong Point and Ang Mo Kio Hub. To provide an enhanced customer experience, the M1 Shop at Plaza Singapura will be manned by specially-trained staff to provide set-up and after sales care service.
Pricing and tariff plans :

Note : All iPhone plans and prices are inclusive of 7 percent GST. Maximum excess data usage charges capped at $30 on Value and Lite plans.
For further information please visit  www.m1.com.sg/iPhone

Yes, you read the title correct the first working jailbreak tool Redsn0w 0.9.5 to jailbreak iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 1 has been released by iPhone Dev team. However Redsn0w 0.9.5 is targeted at developers of jailbroken apps. It uses the same pwnage2 DFU-mode exploit that we’ve been using since the 2.x days.

After iPhone OS 4.0 announcement and number of iPhone hackers iPhone Dev Team, Geohotz, Comex, ih8sn0w etc has come up with proof video of successfully jailbreaking iPhone OS 4.0 but none of them provided ETA. There were number of guess that this jailbreak tool won’t come out until iPhone OS 4.0 is released.
But it looks iPhone Dev team has something different in their mind. We feel that, they might have one more exploit which can be used if Apple fixes this pwnage2 DFU-mode exploit in final iPhone OS 4.0 release. Till that time here is your chance to jailbreak iPhone 3G
 4.0 with Redsn0w 0.9.5.

By no means users should attempt to install iPhone OS 4.0 considering Redsn0w 0.9.5 jailbreak tool is out. Since you’ll need a properly-registered developer UDID with Apple to get past the activation screen. For similar reasons, there is no Windows version of this beta redsn0w.

Redsn0w 0.9.5 is supports
1. iPhone 3G only (for now)

2. Mac OSX only (for now)

3. iPhone 4.0 beta 1 firmware only (for now)

Download Redsn0w 0.9.5 for Mac OS X.
http://iphwn.org/rs/redsn0w_mac_0.9.5.zip

Source

During a technology conference in Berlin yesterday Neofonie unveiled the final specs and new video showcasing their highly anticipated WePad Android Slate.

The WePad is a Google Android tablet with 11.6 inch touch screen display, 1.66GHz Intel Atom processor, 16GB of flash storage, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1, and 1.3 megapixel camera starting at $611 and will have another model with a 3G-32GB version that will be available for $774 USD. The We-Pad launch date according to the company is August 2010.

Other notable features include memory card reader, two USB sockets, audio output, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, stereo speakers and Flash and Adobe AIR support. Additionally, the WePad will also come touting HDMI out as well as a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator for 1080p video playback.

Despite the impressive list of specs, the company lists a battery life of “around” six hours. Meanwhile rival Apple boasts a 10-hour life for its iPad tablet. The WePad also weighs in at 800g with an 11.6-inch display, significantly heavier than the iPad’s 680g.

A list of partners were announced by the company during the press conference. Partners included were Adobe, Siemens, Intel, and various telecom and media partnerships. They have also partnered with Gruner + Jahr, one of Europe’s largest magazine publishers, offering the company’s flagship magazine, Stern, on the platform.

With many of the Telecom and Mobile partners announced leads us to believe that carriers will offer the WePad and more than likely give discounts on the unit with a contract with a data plan. Google was left out of the official partner list which leads us to believe that a true Android Market Place will not be in place. Neofonie is in the process of developing its own WePad Meta-Store, an online store that integrates many 3rd party stores.

Many people are wondering what sets the WePad apart from the industry standard Apple iPad? Well for one factor users who would want to bring in music on their WePad need not depend on any particular software as in the case of the iPad. On the contrary, the Apple device requires Apple software like iTunes to do so. It also has Flash Support which is one of the main factors that sets the WePad apart from their competition, for a full multi-media web browsing experience.

Many Companies such as Notion Ink Adam, MSI and others are currently having problems with the Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and the implementation of Flash. This is setting back many Slates release date by months. Neofonie with their Intel partnership might be a boon to the small Berlin based company with only 180 employees.

Neofonie claims it already has some 20,000 people interested in signing up for a pre-order, even though orders won’t be formally accepted until April 27. Apple’s iPad has not yet gone on sale in Germany, and the WePad is expected to hit pre-orders at least before Apple’s latest gadget.

I know most of us are excited with new iPhone OS. Who doesn’t. In fact, I managed to borrowed a Macbook and got my iPhone “updated” to 4.0 to test out the features.

Although I like the enhancements like multiple inbox, multitasking and folders, there are bound to be software bugs in any software releases.

As the keynote speech used SKYPE to demonstrate, we installed SKYPE over APP Store and found  an error message saying that this application will not run correctly under iPhone OS 4.0. It still runs but if we double press the home button and goes to another application and switch back, it will restart the SKYPE. The same situation happens to FRING. Looks like the applications are not ready for multitasking.

If you use the folders for your applications, you will probably trying hard to find a solution why the phone couldn’t do a backup and sync properly. Just unfolder your applications and everything should be back to normal on your itunes 9.1

After much fanfare, the iPhone OS 4 beta gets out to developers ready to test out the new OS on their iPhone. Unfortunately, it seems that there are some problems with the firmware or the server at the back end.

Forums are filled with posts describing the errors they faced with new OS. One such developer express disgrunt that his multiple attempts to update to 4.0 weren’t successful. The itunes software always return error code 13 (which usually indicates bad USB cable or USB ports).

While some had success updating the firmware using the Mac, the PC users are left in the dark with strange upgrading issues.

Are you facing the same problems ? Post your comments here.

apple iphone is 4 mulitasking video http://bit.ly/9Ukui5

LIVE coverage in real time on iPhone OS 4.0 (highlights from mobilecrunch and engadget)

In about 3 hrs time, Apple will soon unveil the next operating system for the iPhone. OCWorkbench will have a live twitter and facebook update on this next iPhone OS 4.0 on 9 Apr 2010 1am HKT/SGT, catch out real time coverage on twitter and facebook

Before it is unveiled, here are some possible improvements on the new OS.

Multitasking – At present, the third party apps either run or stop. We expect this to be improved on the OS 4 enabling us to surf, read email and twitter at the same time. We also look forward to some sort of a task manager where you can kill tasks.

Bluetooth keyboard support hopefully will be made available just like the iPad. There is much talk about direct printing from your iPhone.

Will Apple dump Google and replace its search engine with Bing. Will iPhone finally get the Opera Mini in OS 4? All these remains to be seen. So stay tuned at 1am HKT/SGT, 2am JPT, 1pm EST.

Stay tuned, follow us on twitter and join our fan page at Facebook now.

LIVE

12:39am At the iPhone OS4 preview press conference, everyone seems changing dongles to ensure updates can go online in realtime.

12:40am iPhones, iPads everywhere.

12:49am Pictures not allowed inside due to space constraints.

12:52am 8 more minutes to go.

1:00am Press Event started

1:04: We’ve got something to share today that we’re very excited about. That’s iPhone OS 4. But before that: something we just shipped recently: the iPad.

1:06 3,500 iPad apps in the App Store

1:06: They sold 350,000 iPads on launch day, and 450,000 total so far

1:07  250,000 iBooks on day one. 600,000 iBooks downloaded since. 3.5 million apps downloaded so far

1:11 We’ve sold over 50m iPhones to date, and if you add the touch, over 85m iPhones and iPod touches. If you’re a dev, that’s a plum market to go after.”

1:12 “So today we are giving a dev preview of iPhone OS 4. We’ve been working on this for a while, it’s pretty great — we’re going to ship this summer and release a dev preview today.”

1:14 iphone 4 adds thousands of new APIs. Over 2000 “Accelerate” APIs alone, providing hardware acceleration to developers

1:15 Finally Multitasking!!

1:16 It’s really easy to implement multitasking in a way that kills battery life. It’s also really easy to do it in a way that reduces performance. If you don’t do it just right, your phone will feel sluggish and battery life will go down”

1:17 He just showed home screen with wallpaper

1:18  It’s really easy to implement multitasking in a way that kills battery life. It’s also really easy to do it in a way that reduces performance. If you don’t do it just right, your phone will feel sluggish and battery life will go down”

1:19 Double click the home button to bring up all running apps

1:19 All the apps running are shown at the bottom, and you can scroll through them

1:19 Scott Forstall explains how they do multitasking but conserve battery life.

1:20 We looked at the 10s of thousands of services that the iPhone apps need, and we’ve distilled those services that developers need in the background
. Seven services (APIs) will be able to function i nthe background. The first of these is Background Audio; forstall goes on to discuss Pandora, and its popularity.

“With iphone OS 4, Pandora can continue to play in the background, and you can use the pop up iPod controls to control it.”

1:22 Tim Westergren of Pandora has taken the stage, and is discussing the implications of the iPhone

1:23 “With the launch of the iPhone, our growth rate doubled almost over night. When Scott offered to bring us here today, we jumped at the chance.”

“Our growth rate doubled over night. We add 30,000 new listeners a day on the iPhone.”

1:24 Multi tasking works because Apple picked 7 APIs to allow to run in the background, chosen because they’re the most popular uses

1:25 Next API: Voice over IP in the background! The problem is: Up until now, if you close the app, the call ends. With iphone os 4, that all changes. You can switch, and the call continues.”

1:26 “Until today, navigating away from the Skype app meant I went offline. With iPhone OS 4, when I leave the app, I can still receive calls.”

1:27 Demo Hey Aaron are you there?” “Yeah you want to go to dinner tonight?” “Yeah, let me go into other apps to find a restaurant.” And… it’s multitasking

1:28 Next API: Background Location service

1:29 Demo He’s listening to music while getting turn by turn directions

1:30 “We’ve figured out a great way to allow these apps to work without draining the battery: Cell towers”

1:31 “With these location apps, we take privacy very, very seriously” “We’re taking security several steps further with iPhone os 4″

1:31 “We take privacy very seriously. We’re taking it further in iPhone OS 4. We’re adding an indicator on the status bar to see if something is asking for your location. Next we’re asking fine grain settings you can enable or disable per application. And if any of them have asked for your location in 24 hours, we’ll show you.”

1:32 Next big update: Push notifications. Apple pushed 10 BILLION notifications since launching them 9 months ago. New addition to push: Local notifications. No server necessary. This is for things like TV Guides; things that need pop up alarms

1:33 Next Change : Task Completion -  uploading to flickr. If the app is in the middle of uploading something, saving, etc, it can continue to do so

1:34 “Fast app switching”. “This is what allows apps to be store its state and put in the background, so it’s not using any cpu at all”

1:35 End of Multitasking updates

1:35 Now about Folders – Users can now put folders on homescreens.. Just like android widgets, you can hold a app , it will “move” drag one app onto another, folder is created. The folder will be named by the category of the application and can be renamed.

1:38am Wall Paper of the home screen can be changed. You used to be able to see 180 apps on your phone, now it’s over 2000.” using Drag and drop UI and intelligent naming.

1:39 You can now have enhanced mailbox. One mailbox for all your accounts. a Unified mailbox for multiple email addresses.

1:40 You can also now open attachments in third-party apps in mail.

1:41 we’re adding iBooks for iPhone OS 4 with same interface and same store

1:42 “We think customers will really enjoy this. It’s a delightful ebook reader. You can buy your books once and read them anywhere.” Even Steve doesn’t seem that excited about this.

1:43 iBook store, buy once read anywhere, Sync pages and bookmarks between devices. Oh, and free copy of Winnie the Pooh

1:44 Enterprise features Starting with even better data protection

1:45 mobile device management, wireless application distribution

1:46 Fourth: “As steve mentioned, multiple exchange accounts, along with Exchange 2010 and SSL VPN”

1:46 Tentpole 6: Game Center  This is a dev preview for OS 4. Gaming is extremely popular on the iPhone and iPod touch. We have 50,000 games. Let’s compare that to the competition… the PSP and DS… we blow them out of the water.” “We want to make gaming even better on the iPhone — so we added a social gaming network.”

1:47 Wow. So Apple’s got their Xbox Live. This is kind of huge. Achievements, leaderboards, match making.

1:48 Apple is announcing their advertising platform! So our seventh tent pole is called… iAd. It’s mobile advertising. Now, what’s this about?”

1:48 Developers [of free apps] need to find a way to start making their money. A lot of developers turn to advertising – and we think these current advertisements really suck.” “If you look at advertisements on a phone, it’s not like on a desktop. On a desktop, its about search. On mobile, search hasnt happened. People aren’t searching on their phones. People are spending their time in apps”

1:50 The average user spends 30 minutes a day in apps. If we put an add up every 3 minutes, that’s 10 ads per day.Throughout the iPhone community, that’s 1 billion ad impressions per day. We’ve all seen interactive ads on the web. We want to deliver interaction – but also emotion.

1:51 “You know the ads on the web — they’re eye catching and interactive, but they don’t deliver emotion. What we want to do with iAds is deliver interaction and emotion.” “We have figured out how to do interactive and video content without ever taking you out of the app”

1:52 Apple will sell and host the ads, and give 60% of ad revenue to developers

1:54 While showing the ad: “Oh, by the way, all of this is done in HTML 5.” (no Flash required)

1:57  Now Steve is showing an Air Jordan ad with an embedded video. This is kind of cool — the ad has a “history of the Air Jordan” app/ad.

1:59 Animation are interactive, and crazy smooth.

2:00 Summary  ”These are just 7 of the thousands of new features”

2:01 Multitasking, folders, enhanced mail, iBooks, enterprise, Game Kit, and iAd. And these are just seven of the 100 new user features. Now we are releasing a dev preview today.

2:02 They’re releasing it for iPhone 3gs and iPod touch 3rd gen this summer – those devices will do everything. iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2nd gen will not get multitasking. And, we’re bringing OS 4 to the iPad this Fall. There is no mentioning of iPad multitasking.

Q&A

Susan from IBC: I’m wondering that, given multitasking will increase data usage, how will AT&T compensate?

Jobs: I’m not sure that’s an accurate assumption. Remember: Data usage requires attention. We’re not multiplying the # of minutes users will give to their phone.

“The wireless app distribution. You described that as an enterprise feature, but I wonder if that opens a door for downloading apps without the app store”

Jobs: No. Forstall: Apps must still be signed via Apple.

“Given the huge demand in the US of ipad, will that impact international launch?”

Jobs: No. We said it’ll be near the end of April, and it’ll be near the end of april.

“Will the social gaming network supplant the openfeint, NGmcoo plus+ networks already available?”

Forstall: The problem was that thereare so many networks. When you play a game, you want your friends to be on that network. Jobs: There’s no money to be gained by having your own social gaming network.

Jobs: There’s no money to be gained by having your own social gaming network.

Apple just sent out invitations for press to get a sneak peak at their next generation iPhone OS, 4.0. We can’t wait for April 8th.

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