iPhone 2.0 Overview

This blog post will be as much an informatory piece as much as it is predictory and opinionated.  It contains all the information I think FryBlog readers will appreciate and take into account as we all follow the multitude of rumors and theories running around the internet.  I have procrastinated this post for a while, and although people have continually asked for my predictions, I wanted to wait for the right time to reveal them.


AT&T has announced that it will complete a US rollout of its HSUPA 3G service by the end of June. We're guessing that a little bird from Cupertino might have made its way to AT&T, pushing them along. Hmmm, now some of you who have been following the iPhone since its release might find this scenario familiar: do you remember AT&T boosting EDGE speeds last year on the iPhone's launch date?

The new network proposes speeds of 1.4 Mbps down and 800Kbps up, which AT&T claims "will be as speedy as logging onto the high speed Internet service that many consumers enjoy at home".  The only thing I can say is that I pity those who enjoy internet at those speeds...

In the latest build of the iPhone 2.0 software, Apple has added a system wide "Location Service", and you can choose whether you want to let the camera application to add positional data to your photos.  Geotagging on the iPhone is a very plausible new feature, would intergrate with "Maps" and "Camera" very well.  Apple doesn't reveal
whether this will be done by GPS (Another plausible new feature) or by the iPhone's current triangulation methods. What it does mean, though, is that geotagging is about to break big for mobile users with the iPhone.

The iPhone 2's worldwide release is scheduled for June 9, not surprising me, as it is also the scheduled date for Steve Jobs' WWDC keynote.

Rumored New Features-
GPS
2 Cameras (1 on front, 1 on back)
3G (duh)
Skype/AIM
Geotagging
Larger screen
higher resolution
more gestures
much more to be added tomorrow

Firefox 3 Goes Public

The release candidate of Mozilla's popular web browser Firefox has reached the public's hands.  Although there are still several bugs, it works, and gives a great idea of how a finished product would work.  Memory and processor usage has been reduced, and speed has been increased, the perfect balance!  Available in 45 languages, its available to nearly everyone.

WiiWare Launched This Morning

This morning, Nintendo released WiiWare, its competitor to Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade and Sony's Playstation Store.  The program started with six games.

The currently available games will be Enix's Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, Frontier Development's LostWinds, XGen Studios' Defend your Castle, Nnooo's Pop, High Voltage Software's V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack, and Gameloft's TV Show King.  Don;t let the measly amount of start-up games fool you; Nintendo says there are over 100 WiiWare games currently in development, and a new one will supposedly be released every Monday.

Skype a Trojan?

Last weekend users of Skype who were also subscribed to Microsoft's OneCare service were blocked access to the popular voIP client.  Windows Live OneCare thought Skype was infected with the Trojan Win32/Vundo.gen!D.  Skype denies this, and Mcrosoft has since then released a new signature file that does not enclude Skype.

Apple Buys PA Semi

Apple bought processor designer PA Semi, but we don't know what for yet.  Speculation is Apple will use PA Semi's processor designs in an UMPC (ultra-mobile personal computer).

Sony Buys Gracenote

On Monday, Sony announced that it will buy Gracenote, for around $260 million.  Gracenote is known for their music identification technology.  Sony and Gracenote will remain separate, and Gracenote's management and workers shall not change.

PayPal Has a Plan to Cut Down On Phishing

PayPal, the popular electronic payment service, has a plan to stop phishing in its tracks.  According to surveys, many people still use the extremely outdated Internet Explorers 3, 4, and 5.  As these browsers do not have phishing filters, PayPal may prevent users using these browsers to access the PayPal site.  Another browser which does not have a phishing filter is Apple's Safari.

Pystar's Stunning Idea

Pystar, a company little known until yesterday, recently released a computer capable of running Mac OS X, and costs only $399.  The call it the OpenComputer, and it is capable of running Mac OS X Leopard (10.5), Microsoft Windows Vista, and Linux.  Although it is expected to arouse the attention of Apple's lawyers, analysts predict there is little Apple will be able to do.

MacHeist Retail Freeware Bundle

Monday, MacHeist, the popular organization, released a new software bundle called "The MacHeist Retail Bundle Unboxed".

The bundle includes Awaken, Cha-Ching, CoverSutra, DEVONthink Personal, iClip, Overflow, Wallet, WriteRoom, XSlimmer, Enigmo, Bugdom 2, and Nanosaur 2.  More details will be included in FryCast 3.

The Microhooglespace News Corporation?

How exactly do you think all these deals will play out?  

Ok, here goes: Microsoft is trying to buy Yahoo, and every bid Microsoft has made so far has not been enough, as Yahoo still believes that Microsoft undervalues the company.  Microsoft has threatened Yahoo with a 3 week deadline, or to prepare for a proxy fight.

Another surprise is that Yahoo is trying search ads from Google, their biggest competitor, so will there be another partnership?  Microsoft is looking for help to acquire Yahoo from News Corp., the parent company of MySpace.  Yahoo is also thinking of taking AOL in exchange for a large investment from Time Warner

AMP

AMP?

Is it an audio manipulation program? No, not at all.  It is actually a new media player from Adobe.  AMP stands for - you guessed it - Adobe Media Player.  Although their name wasn't the most creative, the features Adobe packed into the application truly are useful and in some cases, original.

The program supports watching videos from online and from your hard drive, and downloading videos.  The installation on a Mac is easy as pie: Using the pre-installed Adobe software, it shows you 1 prompt, and downloads the app into yur Aplications folder on your boot drive.  It supports DRM and HD content, so everyone will be pleased.

Another thing that will certainly please is the wide variety of current and coming material. Content from publishers such as CBS and MTV Networks has already been posted, and material from Comedy Central and Spike will come in the near future.

If you haven't yet decided on a video management and viewing program, I believe AMP is a great program, and you should give it a try.