Category Archives: iPhone

Final Fantasy Tactics: A $16 iPhone Game

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The iPhone version of Final Fantasy Tactics is an enhanced remake of a game that was originally released more than a decade ago. The game was originally released on PSOne, and then later ported on the PSP, which was subtitled The War of the Lions. That being said, the iPhone version will have the animated cut-scenes from that version, as well as new content like additional classes to unlock. This version of the game will cost $16, which is approximately 16 times the price of most iOS games. Realistically, you can probably find this game cheaper, but not for iOS. It is one of the best strategy RPGs of all time, so it is probably worth it.

The iOS version is exactly the same as the PSP version, with the same story and turn-based combat system. If you’ve ever played that version, there’s nothing new to see here. The engine and the play-style is the same as the Playstation version as well. This game still looks wonderful even on the smaller screen of an iPhone.

There is one new feature that wasn’t in the previous versions: the inclusion of touchscreen controls. Navigating the menus is a little annoying, as you have to tap an OK button outside of the menu most of the time. However, when you’re actually playing, it’s brilliant. Being able to rotate the camera with a swipe of your finger is very smooth and quite amazing.

People have said the game is a little laggy. However, they must be using inferior devices, because it runs great on the iPhone 4 (Verizon). Honestly, it felt a little quicker and “snappier” than the PSP version, which is what Ars Technica found out as well.

Final Fantasy Tactics is a legend of a game, and putting a pricetag of sixteen dollars for an iOS version isn’t really too high, even if it is expensive compared to other games. That being said, when you’re comparing games like Angry Birds to Final Fantasy Tactics, the scale isn’t exactly balanced. Besides, this won’t get boring after awhile if you follow the storyline and you get to play with new classes and such.

An HD version is reported to be coming later this month for the iPad. The current versions for iOS, as well as the HD version when it’s available, are available via the App Store.

Source: Ars Technica

iOS 4.3.4 Patches Jailbreak Exploits, For a Second

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On Friday, Apple released a minor update to iOs, version 4.3.4. The update made the PDF exploit no longer available, which allowed users to jailbreak any iDevice (including iPad 2) through a website and PDF file. Some bloggers thought that the latest update would also halt future jailbreaks, something that made absolutely no sense with how things naturally go. Thus, within 12 hours of the update, a jailbreak was released by RedmondPie.

This jailbreak can be in the form of a custom 4.3.4 bundle to be used with PwnageTool, a popular jailbreaking tool, or by simply using the newly updated redsnow tool, another popular method. Both of these are tethered jailbreaks, meaning if the device is restarted, the jailbreak must be reinstalled, which kind of sucks if you’re into jailbreaking. RemondPie’s jailbreak does not work on the iPad 2.

Apple has made their opinion and opposition of jailbreaking clear many times. Steve Jobs believes that it is your device and you can do with it what you will. However, it is important to realize and understand that iOS 4.3.4 fixes a critical security “glitch” and loophole. That being said, a patch was necessary regardless of it being a jailbreak exploit patch.

Source: PC World

VirusBarrier: First-ever iOS Malware Scanner

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French security company Intego is known for its Mac OS X antivirus software. While it’s true that Mac’s are high unlikely to get viruses compared to a PC, it is also important to note that it isn’t impossible to pick up malware if the user is careless. On Tuesday, Intego’s VirusBarrier for iOS was approved by Apple and added to the App Store for $2.99.

iOS prevents programs from accessing the file system or conducting automatic or scheduled scans. This is something that all Mac and Windows antivirus software is capable of and functions on. Thus, VirusBarrier for iOS must be manually started and can only scan file attachments and files on remote servers. This was explained by Peter James, a spokesman for Intego. “Because of the sandbox, you can’t scan the file system,” said James. “Since you don’t see the iOS file system, the only things you can scan are attachments sent by email or files in, say, your Dropbox folder.” This is different from software written for Android, as the security measures and permissions are not so strict. For example, Lookout, an app from San Francisco-based company Lookout, is able to perform scheduled scans of your device.

Before you open an email attachment on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, you are able to tell VirusBarrier to scan the attachment. Then, the file will be scanned before it is opened or forwarded. “We’ve had enterprise customers say that although they know you can’t do a full system scan of an iPhone, they don’t like the fact that files go through these devices and end up on a Mac or Windows PC,” said James. “They want their users to be able to check that an attachment is safe.” VirusBarrier for iOS is a way for iOS users to prevent their hardware from spreading malware. You can stop the infection before it gets gangrene and you have to start chopping limbs, meaning you can stop the malware before it ruins your device.

VirusBarrier for iOS can scan email attachments in a variety of formats, including Microsoft’s Word, Excel and PowerPoint; PDF documents; JavaScript files; and Windows executables, those files tagged with the .exe extension. It can also scan files in a Dropbox folder, those stored on MobileMe’s iDisk, or files downloaded via the iOS version of Safari.

VirusBarrier for iOS
The scanning engine and signatures in Virus Barrier for iOS are the same used by Intego for their Mac OS X products. That being said, you can be reassured that this application is reliable and worth the $2.99 if that is something that interests you.
VirusBarrier for iOS lets iPhone and iPad users run on-demand scans of email attachments before those files are opened or forwarded. (Graphic: Intego.)

“It’s important that people understand what [VirusBarrier] can and cannot do,” said James, pointing to the malware scanner’s limitations. “Although there is no malware written for iOS today, if attackers do try to exploit the [recent] PDF vulnerability, this is something we can scan for.” The PDF vulnerability James mentions is the still-unpatched one in which iOS that can be exploited through malicious PDF documents. This is one of two bugs used last week to “jailbreak” the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

While it may be true that there is currently no malware for iOS, that doesn’t mean you should ignore this app. Think of it like this: if you receive malware, it may not be coded for your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch; you’ll more than likely not even know it’s there; you’ll go to sync iTunes on your PC or Mac; finally, you’ll wonder why in the hell you just received malware from “iTunes,” even though it started with iOS receiving and basically just holding on and passing this malware.

VirusBarrier for iOS can be downloaded to an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch from Apple’s App Store. It requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Source: Computerworld

Wireless Charging May Come to Future iPhone

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New wireless-charging tech may be in store for future iPhone

A future version of the iPhone may have Apple introducing wireless charging. However, it won’t be the same technology as Palm’s Touchstone charger. This new wireless charging technology will include a near field magnetic resonance charging system, which is currently being introduced by wireless power startup WiTricity.

Induction charging works by inducing a current in a coil of wire from one device to another. When the Palm’s Touchstone charger or those “charging mats” you see on TV is placed somewhere, it works rather simply. There is a large coil of wire inside both devices. When you plug the device into the wall, a current runs through that large coil of wires, creating a small magnetic field around the coil. There are also coils in the smartphone, which receives charging because of the small magnetic field causing currents to flow through its coils as well.

What we are talking about for a future iPhone is a little different. This method is called near field magnetic resonance (NFMR). This method can work over much larger distances. Unlike induction charging, the power source is a relatively low power magnetic resonator. This enables a stronger magnetic field. The device, in this case an iPhone, will use a tunable resonant circuit that “dials in” to the specific frequency of the power source. This in turn increases efficiency as much as 90 percent, while also increasing the size of the usable resonant field. Oh, and another important thing is that this does not create harmful radiant energy, as magnetic energy is not harmful to humans or the environment.

The technology was originally developed between 2005 and 2007 by a team led by MIT physics professor Marin Soljačić. WiTricity was founded in 2007 by Soljačić and others to commercialize the technology. Two years later, WiTricity CEO Eric Giler demonstrated the technology using a modified iPhone during the 2009 TED conference.

The Wall Street Journal had recently reported that Apple had been exploring wireless charging for quite some time. Apple also filed a patent that was published in May of 2011, titled “Wireless Power Utilization in a Local Computing Environment.” Surely, that could be a few different wireless aspects of the phone, though the local computing environment would point more towards a home networking type aspect, such as a charger.

WiTricity’s techniques and Soljačić’s research are both impressive, but Apple is known to go above and beyond. And as Steve Jobs said in reference to IBM developing the GUI (Graphical-User Interface) system, “good artists copy, but great artists steal.” It is my belief they would take this idea of wireless charging and build on it. Their patent details the use of a desktop or laptop computer as a NFMR source, either with a built-in resonator or using a USB dongle. The computer, used as an NFMR source, could then power or recharge wireless devices. The list would include keyboards, mice, controllers, and — of course — mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads. All that would be required is that the devices be within a meter of the computer, and then it would automatically start receiving power.

It doesn’t have to be in an iPhone soon that this technology unfolds. However, Apple has a history of trying to impress the entire world with its new technologies, and this would certainly do it. NFMR charging would eliminate the need to ever plug a device into the wall again to charger it. There would be no more struggling to find the charger’s end and mess around, sometimes in pitch black, to try and plug the charger into its respective port. And for these reasons, as well as technological improvements, Apple will probably find a way to implement NFMR as soon as they find it stable enough. This is something they won’t want to wait on too long.

Source: Ars Technica

iPhone 5 to be “Lighter and Thinner”

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The iPhone 5, if that is indeed what Apple will name the next-generation iPhone, is expected to be released in September, or close to, of this year. The iPhone 5 will be “thinner and lighter” than the iPhone 4. While Foxconn, the manufacturer of the iPhone, has had difficulty assembling the devices, Apple may try to attempt to move as many as 40 million iPhone 5′s by the end of the year.

The Wall Street Journal’s component supplier sources have confirmed that the iPhone 5 will include an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera as well as baseband processors that will be supplied by Qualcomm. These sources are the same that have suggested that the iPhone 5 will be “thinner and lighter” than the current model, after recent reports that people thought the dimensions would be nearly identical. This does also add to Apple’s goals, as Steve Jobs seems to love to push out things that keep improving in the technological world, not remain “nearly identical.”

Now, Bloomberg and other sources have also said that the iPhone 5 will also look similar to the current iPhone 4. So if this is all true, it will have the same look, but will change in how thick the device is. Perhaps we will see a device that is closer to the iPod Touch 4G, even on the Verizon Wireless network.

Hon Hai (aka Foxconn) chairman Terry Gou complained last month that iPhones and iPads are already difficult to assemble because they are so thin. “We hope to raise the yield rate and volume in the second half which will help improve our gross margin,” Gou said. That doesn’t seem possible if Apple plans to use a new form factor that is “complicated and difficult to assemble,” according to WSJ‘s sources.

So we already know that the hardware and software will be improved, and we have some idea of what the device will have for features, such as the camera. Now, we are down to deciding what the actual iPhone 5 will look and feel like. Well, if the sources add up and if Gou is speaking honestly, then we can bet that the iPhone 5 will have a similar build, yet still be thinner and lighter. This seems to be right on track with what Apple loves to do, and I definitely think there is yet room to follow Moore’s Law and keep making improvements in this field.

Source: Ars Technica

Unlocked iPhone 4 Available in US

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Apple has been offering an unlocked version of the iPhone for quite awhile, but you had to order it from overseas. Now, Apple has started selling an unlocked version of the GSM iPhone 4 here in the United States.

The 16GB iPhone 4 that comes unlocked is available via the Apple Store for $649. The 32GB model is currently $749. They are available in both white and black. They are the same as the AT&T iPhone 4 that many are already accustomed to.

Source: Ars Technica

Tiny Wings

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It seems to be all the uproar lately. Usually, all of the attention was on Angry Birds. Angry Birds has the original version, Rio, and Seasons. It has multiple platforms and is very addicting. However, after some time playing the game, for me at least, it seemed to get a little old.

Then something new came up. This new thing was called Tiny Wings. It’s taking the App Store by storm. It’s only available on the iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad), but it has passed Angry Birds as the top paid app on iTunes.

If you own a device with the Android platform, the alternate version is called Dillo Hills, though it is pretty laggy from my experience on the Droid 2.

I have played Tiny Wings, though. It’s an amazingly developed game that is highly addictive. My advice: it’s worth the $1 price tag.

iPhone Record Recorder

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Many people recognize the fact that music sounds the best when played from a vinyl record. Nothing can match the sounds, and whilst everything is in a digital age, at least it feels like you’re going back when you pull out the old vinyl. Well, obviously record players can’t make phone calls, but the iPhone can. And perhaps you’ve always wanted that old Beatles hit that you have on record as your ringtone, but don’t feel like paying for it. I mean, you already own it, why pay again?

Olivier Meynard is responsible for this new concept. This is technically an iPhone dock next to a “wheel of steel.” You can play your favorite songs through the built-in speakers of the dock, and as it plays it will encode the tracks as MP3s, which are simultaneously uploaded to your handset. And, this dock even charges your iPhone.

Source: Engadget

iOS 4 Recording Locations?

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iPhones and 3G iPads are great. They’re amazing pieces of technology. Something has been figured out. Actually, this was discovered awhile back, but is just now being brought into attention. iPhones and 3G iPads record your GPS location and timestamp at given time intervals and store that information on Apple’s servers.

Obviously, Apple isn’t doing this on an accident. They are regularly backing up this information, so surely they are using it. Two UK researchers found out that they are doing this. Ars Technica was worried about there being security measures. However, the only way someone would get it is to physically hold your device, as it isn’t being transmitted in the air for packet sniffers to take in. But it must also be noted that it is encrypted, meaning that it isn’t password protected for people that know how to get it should they have your device.

While both Engadget and Ars Technica have said they don’t understand what they would use this for; I do. I understand Steve Jobs and his ideas and plans.There are two things I can see this being useful for, actually. Marketing is the first. They will know where people are using these devices. This is really obvious. The second is in case devices go missing. How else can they track it? Remember the Where’s My Droid app? What do you think that’s doing? That’s right, the same thing. The difference is that only happens when you want it to.

As one of the researchers said, there is no evidence that this is even leaving your phone just yet. It is a hidden file, meaning you would have to jailbreak your device to see and/or use it. Even then, you would need the software they used to see it on a map. But really, it’s just something that happens with the GPS locations. It can be used for security, marketing, and I’m sure many other things when the time comes.

Source: Engadget

Apple and Daylight Savings Time Troubles

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Alas, the people behind Apple’s products are human, and as we all know, humans are not quite perfect. Sometimes, these humans are bound to make mistakes. Most of you probably realize by now that we are now in DST (Daylight Savings Time), where we switched the clocks an hour forward. However, quite a few iPhone and iPod touch users are reporting that their Clock app times are behaving strangely, and frankly, this abnormal behavior is resulting in the times being wrong.

Engadget has been keeping a poll on the issue. At the time of me typing this, here are the statistics:

  • 55.7% report things are working correctly (whether they use DST or not)
    • 54% reported working fine and 1.7% chose that it was working, but they don’t use DST where they live
  • 5.9% reported their device being an hour behind or more
  • 2.1% reported that their device was at least an hour ahead
  • 1.6% chose that they don’t live in a DST zone, but their time was still wrong
  • The rest (34.7%) chose either that they didn’t have a iOS device or another option regarding pi day that was completely irrelevant

That being said, these statistics could be effected by people not paying attention. For example, the problem is only being reported on iPhone and iPod Touch devices, yet countless people have commented saying that their iPad or iPad 2 is working fine. So really, statistics are only as true as you believe them to be, but they serve as a general guideline nonetheless.

Yes, there are zones around the United States that do not follow Daylight Savings Time, and some that do. Why? I have not the slightest idea. You would think we either all would or wouldn’t, and just accept the fact that the rotation of the Earth will assimilate different periods of sunlight during different periods of the year. Going back to the initial statement, we are humans. Not everything we do is rational.

A lot of people didn’t notice any issues until this morning, as the time mattered and it was back off to work for most everyone. Another strange user experience happened that was notable and probably happened to countless other users. This users device, an iPhone 3GS, changed to the correct time yesterday, but this morning it went backwards an hour, or to the time we were at before DST. This particular user was late for work because of that, and it sure is an awful way to begin the work week, being an hour late for work.

What are the solutions to fixing the time? Well, people have reported on Engadget’s blog that a variety of different things have worked for them. These solutions include: “restarting the device, changing the Time and Date setting away from Automatic, calling the iPhone with another phone, or turning on and off Airplane Mode.”

Source: Engadget