Apple Cage Match - iPad Vs iPhone and iPod Touch

Many people consider the iPad a bigger version of the iPhone or iPod Touch, and admittedly there is overlap in functionality. But I don't see Apple purposely making a product that directly competes with their iPhone and iPod cash cows. With that in mind, let's look at where these devices will cross paths and which one has an advantage.

Convenience

Since the iPhone is you know, a phone, it will often never leave your side. It rules as a go to device when you need to get access to something right this second. The iPad's size while svelt, won't exactly fit in your pocket. While more convenient to drag around than say a laptop, the iPad won't replace the iPhone as the go to device when needing to know the population of Kazastan during a conversation, or an replace an iPod when working out at the gym.

Usability

While the iPhone has greatly improved, if not reinvented, the user experience for a smart phone, the screen is only so big. I have tried using the iPhone as a ebook reader and personal video device and I can only stand the eye strain for so long. Even viewing webpages for any extended period of time can become bothersome on an iPhone or iPad Touch. The iPad's 9.7 inch screen, nearly 4 times larger, will allow for much more pleasant extended viewing sessions. The larger screen will also allows us fat fingered types to navigate apps easier and allow developers more screen space to display data.

Cost

Compared to a $99 iPhone or a $199 iPod Touch, the $499 for the 16GB iPad may seem steep. But we must remember the the iPhone price is subsidized by At&T and requires a 2 year contract to get that price. Also the $199 iPod Touch is only an 8GB model, the 32GB will cost you $299. Given Steve Job's statement of the iPad being positioned between the iPhone and the MacBook in Apple's product line up, we should also compare the iPad's price to the $999 cost of an entry level MacBook. While not exactly cheap, $499 for a 16GB iPad isn't unreasonable.

Apps

Since the iPad will run nearly all iPhone and iPod Touch apps, there will not be a lack of applications at launch time. If you already have a large library of apps in iTunes, you will be able to use these on an iPad without repurchasing. The iBook Store and iBook app will be limited to the iPad, and as developers come on board, exclusive iPad only apps will begin to appear. The price premium for an iPad optimized app is still unknown, but I would not be surprised to see an average price of $4.99.

Final Thoughts

Will the iPad cannibalize sales of other Apple products? For those who do not currently own an iPod Touch, or don't/can't get an iPhone, investing instead in an iPad could be a logical move. But since you won't be jogging with your iPad to listen to music, or answering phone calls with it, I don't see sales of iPhones and iPods being affected much. I will be very curious to see the numbers on people who bought an iPad and also own an iPhone or iPod Touch versus those that don't.

Apple iPhone Insurance - Top 3 Loopholes

Apple iPhone insurance is definitely a pretty touchy subject for me. After all, I lost two brand-new iPhones within a two-month period, and guess what, they weren't insured. I couldn't believe it. The main reason I didn't get my act together and insure my precious phones was because I was disgusted with the amount I had to pay through the 'big swinger' high street providers.

Are you having the same issues? Well dont hold off and make the same mistakes I did. Save yourself £1000 and alot of heartbreak and stress. The key is though not to go with the expensive £15 per month option. Follow my three little loopholes below and you will save yourself plenty of cash.

Apple iPhone Insurance - TOP 3 LOOPHOLES

1. Online Insurance companies are the way forward - No overheads = lower premiums. It makes sense right? Carry out a simple Google search for 'Apple iPhone insurance' and you will quickly see that there is a huge amount of companies out there who will save you up to 50% on the high street prices, for exactly the same cover. What really bugs me is the large corporations think they have the market cornered, and most people dont even question the high premiums. Find a good online company, do your research and save yourself up to 50%. Its that easy - why haven't you done it before?

2. Do you have a premium bank account? - Another sneaky loophole to save money on Apple iPhone insurance. Some banks offer their premium bank account holders FREE mobile phone insurance. Lloyds TSB for example offer fantastic cover which wont cost you a penny. The only downside is that not everyone will qualify for this account. Be prepared though to really work for your claim by filling out alot of paperwork. And also check the amount that the bank will pay out, as it usually wont be the total amount for the latest iPhone. Still though, its pretty spectacular cause its free!

3. Are you a home owner? - Another really cool loophole that's available to most people. When you purchase a home, you will almost definitely have home contents cover. What this means is that you will be able to protect your personal belongings (on top of household goods such as flat screen TVs) when you are inside and outside your home. For example, this may include gold watches, engagement rings and yep, you guessed it, mobile phones! An important point to remember is that you dont want to make a claim and break your no claims bonus. But I actually rang up and added 'no claims bonus protection' to my policy for a nominal amount per month. it really was that easy. Again, you may not be covered for the full amount of your mobile phone, and you will also have to fill out quite a bit of paperwork to make a claim.

So there you have it folks, my top three loopholes on how to save money on Apple iPhone insurance.

In all honesty though, my the best loophole is to go with and independent insurance company, mainly because its hassle free, fast and offers the best value for money.

iPhone 2.2 Jailbreak Officially Out!

Recent the development of the group come up with their latest firmware 2.2 and at the same time in their Blog, we get the latest information, so every jailbreaker should be changed and then try to have their own iPhone. and I don't like copying large part from other people's blogs but I feel like it's necessary in this case as I want to make sure you fully understand the methods and the risks you're taking if you decide to go ahead and jailbreak your iPhone. You can also read this post on the Dev Team's blog.

1. GOLDEN RULE: If you have a 3G iPhone and want potential soft unlock in the near future do NOT use QuickPwn, and do not use the official ipsw or the iTunes update process without using PwnageTool.
   
2. Read item 1 again and again.
   
3. At the bottom of this post are the bittorrent files for the latest versions of PwnageTool and QuickPwn.
   
4. These are suitable for the recent 2.2 release.
   
5. Please read all parts of this post before downloading and using these tools.
   
6. The ‘late 2008' MacBook/air/pro line of computers have an issue with DFU mode, it is possible to go from Pwned 2.1 -> 2.2 but going from stock to Pwned does not work, if in any doubt use a different machine.
   
7. Choosing the correct tool is crucial. Be warned!

Baseband 101

The ‘baseband' is the generic name given to the internal components of the iPhone that handle the phone calls and Internet access. This ‘baseband' is a tiny and unique independent computer system that runs inside your iPhone, it is separate to the main system that handles the applications (such as email and google maps) and it talks to the main part of the phone over an internal communications network. Think of it like a cable modem or other peripheral that is attached to your home PC that needs occasional updates. When a software update is released and presented to you within iTunes the baseband is sometimes updated (to fix bugs or add new features). The 2.2 update for the iPhone 3G contains such an update, so running the vanilla updater straight away with iTunes will reprogram and update the baseband. This could be bad for certain people, depending on your ultimate aim.

SIM Free/SP Unlocked/Factory Unlocked iPhone 3G

This applies if you bought your iPhone 3G for $$$$$$$ . This model of iPhone 3G doesn't have an Service Provider lock (aka factory unlocked) and you are able to put any SIM card into the phone and get service. Your phone is already unlocked so you do not need to worry about baseband updates, simply upgrade to 2.2 using iTunes and then use QuickPwn to Pwn and Jailbreak. This will add Cydia and Installer too.

Locked iPhone 3G – Preserve Baseband

This applies if you have a locked iPhone 3G and you wish to update to 2.2 but preserve the iPhone's current baseband software. Preserving the baseband will give you the maximum chance for any upcoming software unlock. To upgrade your phone to 2.2 and preserve the state of the baseband you need to create a custom .ipsw with PwnageTool. This custom .ipsw will not contain the baseband update but of course will still allow all the cool new stuff from 2.2.

There are plenty of tutorials about this process on the web, but PwnageTool contains intuitive graphics and easy to follow prompts that should have you up and running in no time at all.

Locked iPhone 3G

If you are using your iPhone with one carrier and have no interest in the possibility of an iPhone 3G unlock in the near future then just restore or upgrade to 2.2 using iTunes and use QuickPwn to Jailbreak and add Cydia and Installer.

Locked iPhone 2G (1st Generation)

Restore your iPhone 2G with iTunes then run QuickPwn to do the magic, ‘nuff said.

iPod Touch 1G (Original iPod Touch)

Update to 2.2 with iTunes and run QuickPwn.

iPod Touch 2G (New iPod Touch)

Sorry, no support at this time.

Bittorrent Releases

• PwnageTool 2.2 for Mac OS X is here SHA1 Sum – 97ee6096aaa1967498431bf01c36c18d0e877545
  
• QuickPwn 2.2 for Mac OS X is here SHA1 Sum – 254b8af0e19870a4660b7b11e3b6f6ae1d6bc66f
  
• QuickPwn 2.2 for Windows is here SHA1 Sum – ffdbc561224c61ffc2713cb6a6e696b6d429c4ca

I'm gonna be working on a QuickPwn 2.2 Guide and a PwnageTool 2.2 Tutorial and I should post this within hours.

iTunes Plus coming to 3 remaining majors?

Apple is discussing deals with the three major music labels yet to sign on to iTunes Plus to remove the locks on their music as well, alleged sources tell CNET. Two reported contacts describe “preliminary” negotiations that would expand Apple’s deal for music without copy protection beyond EMI and independents to include Sony, Warner and Universal. The talks are said to have been spread over the past several months for at least two labels and aren’t certain to result in a favorable income.

The report claims that the switch would use MP3s as the choice of format to produce truly cross-platform files usable anywhere, though such a switch would be unusual for Apple. Current iTunes Plus files are encoded in unprotected AAC, which itself is a standard and is playable on competing devices such as Microsoft’s Zune lineup and Sony Walkman players.

A change to music free of Digital Rights Management (DRM) on iTunes would represent a dramatic shift away from copy protection in digital music but also a relatively late shift for Apple. Online retailers such as Amazon MP3, Napster, Rhapsody and Walmart have all either launched or converted to DRM-free music stores in the past as they have seen relatively little uptake for protected Windows Media or other non-Apple formats.

Certain cases, such as Universal’s initial ventures with Rhapsody and Walmart, are believed by some to have been deliberate attempts to heat competition with iTunes by giving rivals iPod-ready music as well as to gauge the impact of opening music to competition.

It would also partly dismantle complaints from Norwegian officials and other government bodies accusing Apple of an unfair tie-in between iTunes songs and iPods that prevents competing players and software from working with Apple products.

The 10 Most Expensive iPhone Apps

Apple's (AAPL) iPhone App Store is most popular for its free and cheap apps. As a result, most apps and casual games are available for 99 cents or less.

But there are plenty of expensive apps in the App Store, too, and people do buy them.

The most expensive app in the U.S. App Store today is called iRa Pro: It's a dashboard to access and control live feeds of video surveillance cameras, and it costs $900.

The company that makes it — Lextech Labs, outside of Chicago — won't say how many copies it has sold. But Lextech president and CEO Alex Bratton says it's more than the five people who have reviewed the latest edition on iTunes. He's “pretty happy with the number.”

Why charge so much? Because for the people who are buying the app, it's actually a relatively small cost.

Bratton says his target customers are monitoring security systems for corporations, government organizations, universities, etc., that can run more than half a million dollars. For them, a $900 app is just part of the cost of doing business. Especially when the alternative — getting a custom piece of hardware developed, instead of using off-the-shelf iPhones and iPod touches — costs thousands per gadget.

iRa Pro wasn't always the most expensive iPhone app. About a year ago, a German developer had an app briefly approved by Apple called “I Am Rich.” For $999.99, it did absolutely nothing, and was controversial. After a day or so, Apple pulled it from the App Store — but not before the developer reportedly sold eight copies.

That developer, Armin Heinrich, currently has 12 apps in the App Store, including the similarly utility-free — but just $0.99 — “iShaver.”

Today, no $1,000 apps, but plenty that cost more than $100, ranging from medical references to audio tools.

Best iPhone Games Download – i-Quest

It's a cube elimination game which is simple but has many interesting props. You will have a very nice leisure-time by playing this game.

Game Features: There are four stochastic props which make you be delighted！

·Regroup: Once it works, the cubes on the screen will be randomly regrouped!

·Row Elimination: Once it works, the given row of cubes will be eliminated!

·Cubes of the Same Color Elimination: Once it works, the cubes of the same color will be randomly eliminated!

·Obstacle: Once it works, the screen will be concealed by a white sheet which need be wiped away before proceeding! There are three valuable props which will help you to a great extent!

·Magic Rune：If you use it，the cubes on the screen will become the same color.

·Cupid's Bow：If you use it，the chosen row of cubes will be eliminated.

·Fancy Coin：If you use it, you will get double scores till the game is over.

As the game scores become higher and higher, game speed will become faster and faster! The challenge exists all the time.

The game can be paused and replayed. Continue the game after you leave or answer a phone call. There are four color schemes.