Bad news for iPhone users that enjoy hanging out at the local Starbucks. It seems that the free WiFi for the iPhone courtesy of AT&T, has been disabled. No explanation was given, just working one minute, not working the next. Also, there was no mention when, or if, the WiFi offering would be back. Wow, that was some short lived high speed love from AT&T.
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While the above screen, minus the ‘no circle’, greeted iPhone subscribers in Starbucks locations just two days ago, it is gone now. When signing in now, users must enter a password. As of now, no one has came forward with the password. As such, we must assume only AT&T knows it. I wish I could say the service will be back soon, but unfortunately, only AT&T knows that as well.
The service could have been disabled so AT&T could figure out a better way to secure it. All it took to access it was an AT&T iPhone number, and an iPhone user agent string. A user agent is easy to fake, and I am sure most people have a buddy with an iPhone on AT&T. Realizing this, AT&T could have taken away access for now. All we can do it cross our fingers that this is all temporary.
[Via Gear Diary]
Written by Chase Higgins on May 5th, 2008 with no comments.
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Some iPhone users on AT&T are noticing a pleasant surprise the last few days, free access to AT&T wireless hot spots using their iPhone. This applies to all popular AT&T hot spot areas, such as Starbucks and Barnes & Noble. It seems only iPhone customers are getting the free WiFi love from AT&T, but hey it is still better than AT&T charging everyone.
When you connect to an AT&T wireless hot spot from your iPhone, you will be taken to a special screen only accessible from an iPhone (unless you fake the user agent string). You will then be prompted to enter in your phone number on the page. The number is then validated against AT&T’s records, and if it checks out to be an iPhone, then viola you are now using free AT&T WiFi.
There is of course some things that need to be noted. First off, this is not an iPhone thing, it is an AT&T thing. Meaning that unlocked iPhone in your pocket is not going to be able to do this. However, if you do have the iPhone on another carrier and have your buddies iPhone number on AT&T, then you are in. On that note, if you know a valid AT&T iPhone number, you can fake the user agent on a laptop, and access the WiFi as well, but obviously iPhone Buzz don’t condone “stealing” WiFi.
[Via MacRumors]
Written by Chase Higgins on May 2nd, 2008 with no comments.
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Some solid and substantial information about the 3G iPhone has finally arrived. Kudos to Apple for keeping us in the dark so well. Despite their best efforts however, the new features of the iPhone have been leaked, some of them at least. The most notable, are GPS, and of course the long awaited 3G. The body is going to be receiving some changes too, as this spy shot reveals.
First off, several sources are saying that yeah, that is indeed the new iPhone, the glossy black and all. In addition to the much more smudge friendly casing, the new iPhone gets a little thicker. That is understandable when you consider the 3G radio, Bluethooth, WiFi, GPS, and all the other things crammed into that extraordinarily glossy black casing. The volume rocker keys will now be chrome apparently, as well. The battery still can not be removed from the device by the user.
As far as multimedia, the iPhone will stay virtually the same, as far as is known now. It was not said if the camera gets some upped resolution, but that would certainly be a nice touch. It was also not made clear if it will support the taking of videos. Speaking of touch, the screen resolution will be the same as before. The headphone jack is no longer recessed, it is now flush with the case.
[Via Engadget and image via iPod Observer]
Written by Chase Higgins on April 25th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 3G iPhone and Apple and GPS and iPhone 2.0 and iPhone archive and wifi.
We have been seeing the M8 Mini One by Meizu for quite some time now. It was not too long after the iPhone came out that we started seeing the clones. This one my Meizu though, has arguably been the most successful, well persistent, clone to date.
While Meizu had very little mind of their own when making this device, and it is very apparent when looking at the device. Before totally writing it off though, it is at least worth glancing at the spec sheet, with features such as: Wifi, TV out, capacitive touch screen, quad band GSM, 3 megapixel camera, and Bluetooth 2.0.
The device will be made available in August. While the device will never go on sale here, it is supported, as it has that 4th GSM band. No price has been set. Really though, does anybody that has even heard of Meizu not have an iPhone already though?
[Via VR-Zone]
Written by Chase Higgins on April 22nd, 2008 with no comments.
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Developers NetBlender have just announced their BD Touch software for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Using the official Apple SDK, they’ve come up with an app that links your handset, via WiFi, to your Blu-Ray player; not only can you control it remotely, you could use it to transfer content from the player to your iPhone, direct from the Blu-Ray menu structure. It’ll also let you manage a media library (both of owned and rented titles, together with suggestions for films you may enjoy), view trivia and commentary-style information on the iPhone’s display in-sync with the on-screen playback, and use the iPhone as a controller in discs that offer gaming features.  Â
The second video is even more cool: it shows how BD Touch could enabled Blu-Ray disc makers to put a digital copy of their media onto your iPhone or iPod Touch via WiFi, all with a straightforward interface and no need to get your hands dirty ripping the film with software:
NetBlender are offering their BD Touch SDKs as free downloads for developers to put compatible content onto discs and to create iPhone applications that are compatible with Blu-Ray media, opening up the possibility of films having free iPhone games and other apps, available through Apple’s AppStore, available to coincide with the in-store film release.
Written by Chris Davies on April 11th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on App Store and Media and Software and iPhone SDK and iPhone archive and wifi.
