Software

Qik for the iPhone was originally designed to arrive with 3G streaming and catapult the iPhone in to the online video world by transforming it in to a portable recorder. While the iPhone 3GS supplemented that functionality and allowed users to upload their videos to YouTube and MobileMe easily and efficiently, Qik had already become the premier Jailbreak App and eventually arrived to the App Store sans 3G streaming. However, a recent update has re-enabled the feature.

While the newly update Qik App gains 3G functionality which will allow users to upload their videos anywhere, it was initially limited to WiFi data uploads and could not instantly stream a user’s recording due to limitations in the iPhone’s SDK. Instant streaming is one of the high points of the Qik App and while it’s limited in Firmware 3.0, hopefully Apple will expands its SDK library soon.

Qik is available from the App Store

Via: iPhone Hacks

ISmashPhone has a comprehensive article up about iPhone Video. It covers what kind of formats the iPhone will read and produce and an explanation for how this came to be; also included is a mini-glossary of key video terms, and a graphic list of video converting tools such as Handbrake, iSquint, and Videora, ConvertTube, and MPEG streamclip. The article also gives links for how to record TV shows and convert them to various file formats, and links for how to convert home videos (recorded on your own camcorder.) Want to find ways to get free video and figure out which video apps you can’t live without on your phone? This article can help.

TomTom has finally released it’s navigation App for the iPhone which leverages the device’s built in GPS and combines it with the company’s award winning navigation Software.

TomTom has made a bold move by challenging the 99 cent market bundled with subscriptions but the asking price may be a little steep for most users. The App first made its appearance on the Australian App Store followed by compatible version for New Zealand, Western Europe, US and Canada. hey cost $79.99 $94.99 $149.99 $99.99 respectively. While the TomTom navigation App has been in development since Apple publicly released the iPhone SDK but was restricted from the App Store due to the developer agreement. However, since the release of Firmware 3.0 and its accompanying SDK, Apple has relented and is allow 3rd party navigation Apps to be sold on the App Store. The TomTom Navigation App comes ahead of the accompanying car mount which brings a built in charger and an external, more powerful GPS.

Via: Arstechnica

A new update is ready for SlingPlayer that will enable 3G streaming for non-US iPhones if Apple approves the App.

If you’ve been following the recent controversy surrounding Apple’s ridiculous App Store rules then you surely know that one of the more popular Apps available, SlingPlayer, is limited to use over an active WiFi connection. However, the App was supposed to use both WiFi and 3G to stream content from a compatible SlingBox until AT&T stepped in and asked Apple not to approve the App as it would consume too much bandwidth. While Apple and AT&T have yet to allow a 3G compatible SlingBox, a version for iPhones outside of the US will be made available that brings the feature.

“The 1.1 update will be capable of showing 16 x 9 video to fill the entire screen of an iPhone or iPod touch. Additionally, the remote control interface has been updated and overall speed and response times have been improved. The added DISH Network support allows the app to connect directly to DISH hardware and pull guide information that can be easily searched within the app.”

Apple has yet to approve the… more...

A massive security flaw has been found in the iPhone which would allow a hacker to “take over every iPhone in the world” security research Charles Miller said.

The flaw exploits how the iPhone handles text messages and once hijacked, that iPhone could hijack other iPhones within that user’s contact list. The security hole was found by Charles Miller, a well known iPhone security researcher and another unnamed researcher. While they are the only ones who know about this at the time, the pair contacted Apple over a month ago but the Cupertino based company never responded. It will make its debut at the Blackhat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas tomorrow. If you receive a text message containing a single square character, immediately turn off your iPhone and deactivate it until a public fix is revealed.

“This is serious. The only thing you can do to prevent it is turn off your phone,” said cybersecurity researcher Charles Miller. “Someone could pretty quickly take over every iPhone in the world with this.”

Via: Everything iCafe

When Apple released the iPhone SDK, it’s intentions were to protect developers by wrapping each App in it’s FairPlay DRM scheme which would crack down on piracy. However, it’s now easier than ever to download pirated Apps for free and one developer speaks out.

The developer of the game The Little Tank That Could reveals how much piracy has affected him.

“After the first release of my iPhone game ‘the little tank that could’, I was very excited. I thought the game was fun to play, and could possibly do very well on the appstore. That turned out not to be the case. For the first 5 days on the store, it sold 20, 10, 5, 2 and 8 copies. A total of 45 copies sold. That was disheartening. To my astonishment, I found out that ‘the little tank that could’, which sold a total of 45 copies in 5 days, actually had 1114 different players contacting the leader board server.”

That comes down 96% of download were pirated thus costing the developer $2,138 in the first 5 days the App went on sale.

Via: iPhone World

In a somewhat ironic move, AVG announced it would be developing an Antivirus App for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The move to bring AVG to the iPhone was announced by the company’s CEO, JR Smith, in a recent interview:

“We can’t add a layer of protection on to the iPhone today, so that’s a lot of the conversation that we’re having with Apple.”

It would be somewhat ironic to develop an Antivirus App for the iPhone since background processes are forbidden by third party developers and that there have been no known viruses for the iPhone’s variant of OS X.

Via: iPhone World