The iPod Nation

Two Chinese citizens have filed a patent infringement against Apple and two other affiliated companies. The two men have said that they hold a patent for an intelligent audio server that they claim are being used on the Apple iPod and other MP3 players. The two men filed their patent in 1996 and it was finally granted in 2002. It’s a little funny that Apple is being sued in the land of pirated goods and bootlegs, we’ll keep you all updated on this suit against Apple.

-Ray

[Source: ipodnn]

When you see star athletes listening to their iPod right before a match or a game, ever wonder what they are listening to. Well it has been well known that NBA Superstar Lebron James listens to hip hop, or more specifically his good friend Jay-Z, right before the game. But Lebron James is a fan of all genres of music and he stated that he is also a big fan of Barry Manilow. In an interview, a reporter told him that Carmelo Anthony is a fan of Barry Manilow. Lebron James said he was too and tried to prove it to the reporter. But instead he said he had “Brian Manilow”, who Lebron James jokingly said was Barry Manilow’s cousin. In my opinion, I feel Lebron James has great taste in music. Who ever doesn’t Barry Manilow on their iPod probably has a problem.

- Geoff

[Source: AssociatedPress]

The head honcho in charge of the Apple iPod, Tony Fadell, recently stepped down as senior vice president of devices hardware engineering but will still stay on at Apple as an advisor to Steve Jobs. Replacing Fadell will be Mark Papermaster an employee if IBM for 25 years. It’s pretty awkward to have a long time IBM exec at Apple, but it may be a good change.

-Ray

[Source: marketwatch]

A Norwegian developer was able to run Windows Mobile on an iPhone. For whatever reason he thought this was a good idea. The video shows the iPhone turning on and the OS booting but not much else. We’ll see just how real this is in the future, we’re still wondering why anyone would do this.

-Ray

[Source: gizmodo]

Pragmatic Studio will be offering a 4-day training course for would be iPhone app developers. The event will go from November 10-13 at the Inverness Hotel and conference Center in Denver Colorado. The cost for the developers workshop will be $1595 for alumni and for groups of 5 or more $1895 for those who register before October 20th. If you register after it will cost you $2195.
The following topics that will be covered at the event include:

* Xcode and Interface Builder: How to design iPhone interfaces visually in Interface Builder, connect everything in Nib files, and write and build code in Xcode.
* The Libraries: From UI Kit to Core Animation, learn how to use the libraries to build applications that look and function like some of the apps already on your iPhone.
* Table Views: Table views are central to many iPhone applications, such as the contact manager. Learn how to nest tables with navigation controllers and edit on a table view.
* User Input: Every good iPhone application needs to get input from the user. We’ll show you how to design and handle input for an ideal user experience.
* Organization and Navigation: You’ll learn to use Navigation Bars and Tabs to make it easier for users to know where they are and what they can do next.
* Network and Communication: Get connected and share information with devices near and far.
* Persistence: We’ll show you how to use SQLite, the iPhone file system, and preferences to preserve data between application instances.
* Performance and Debugging: You’ll learn the power tools, including Instruments and gdb, to help make your application sing.
* Other Cool Stuff: Learn how to set your application apart from the crowd by adding features that use Core Animation, Core Location, the Accelerometer, and so on.
* And Much More!… practical tips, tricks, and techniques used by the experts to work efficiently and build full-featured iPhone applications

-Ray

[Source: iphonealley]

Apple is already releasing a new 2.2 firmware update and they’re doing a good job at hiding the new features in their beta release. A couple of these new features were discovered by developers however. One is the support for Japanese emoji icons which is a popular feature with phones in Japan where sales of the iPhone has slowed a great deal. Google’s Street View is said to be supported with the new firmware as well with the Google Maps app. One of the major features is one that is requested a lot and one that I’m very much glad to see. It’s the ability to turn off the auto-correction feature while typing on the iPhones touchscreen keyboard. There’s no official word on the release of software 2.2 as of yet.

-Ray

[Source: macrumors]

Two weeks ago we reported that Apple has already begun seeding iPhone Firmware 2.2 beta to developers for testing. It was originally reported that “compatibility testing” was the only change in Firmware 2.2. Apparently, that isn’t the case. It is now being reported that Apple has added some underlying changes to iPhone Firmware 2.2 Beta. The new changes and features includes the following:

- Support for Japanese emoji icons, which is a popular feature for Japanese phones. Most phones in Japan feature emoji icons as their mobile icons. The lack of emoji support has been blamed as part of the reason for slow iPhone adoption in Japan.
- Support for Google Street View for the Google Maps application. Street View allows users to view panoramic street level photographs in select cities within the Google Maps application. The feature was recently demoed on Google’s Android phone.
- Finally, Apple has also addressed one common request within the iPhone’s Keyboard settings, allowing users to disable the iPhone’s auto-correction.

- Geoff

[Source: MacRumors]

The App Store has become a good way for developers to make a name for themselves and to make a good amount of cash but now politics has made its way onto the App Store. With the new Obama iPhone App and all the other political apps out there it seems the App Store is just another place to keep political savvy Americans in the know. Check out the App Store for all the newest political iPhone apps.

-Ray

[Source: topiphonenews]

Big Nerd Ranch Europe is planning to hold a week-long iPhone Bootcamp for developers in Frankfurt, Germany. The bootcamp runs from December 8 - 12, 2008. The iPhone Bootcamp features Mac developer and instructor Alexander von Below. Attendees do not need any previous experience in coding Objective-C, coding for the Mac or coding for the iPhone. They should be familiar with C and object-oriented languages such as Java or C++ however. The class is said to cost $3905 and includes all materials, a luxury room, all meals, a shirt and transportation from the airport. No flat tops required.

-Ray

[Source: macworld]

Democratic candidate Barack Oama’s campaign has released an app for the iPhone for his supporters. It helps connect people together to get involved in the campaign and provides users with up to date on news and other campaign info. The app is free on the App Store and works with both the iPhone and iPod touch. Another feature is that it organizes your contacts in battleground states and measures statistics and compares it to other callers. The app also sends you campaign news through text messages and emails and also provides you with information on local events and gets you directions to them. Technology and new trends have always played a role in presidential elections, we’ll see how this works for the Obama camp.

-Ray

[Source: macrumors]