World News

Java ME tools for iPhone games developers. Private beta registrations now open!

Innaworks, a premier provider of development tools for the mobile game and application industry, today announced the beta program for alcheMo for iPhone.

alcheMo for iPhone is designed for simultaneous Java ME and iPhone development. Initially targeted at game publishers, alcheMo for iPhone is fully automated and designed to instantly port a standard Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) mobile game to iPhone and iPod touch without the need for further manual adjustments. Innaworks will showcase its products in booth 1557 at the CTIA Conference, being held 1-3 April in Las Vegas.
With the addition of alcheMo for iPhone, the alcheMo product family allows you to address iPhone, BREW and Java ME with a single code base. alcheMo for iPhone is an effective method to develop immersive and high-performance native iPhone games in Java while taking advantage of the iPhone’s accelerometer and multi-touch features.

iPhone Pwnage Tool - iPhone firmware 2.0 unlock delayed

iPhone Dev Team did not release the promised iPhone “Pwnage Tool” today despite promising to do otherwise. The expected release of the Mac OS X version of “PwnageTool” has been delayed until sometime next week.

According to iPhone DevTeam, legal enquiries were made to the DevTeam about the validity and legality of the contents of the tools, we would like to stress that no third-party copyrighted software will ever be released by the DevTeam.

Also, initial feedback from Beta testers has indicated that a few small changes and additional features should be developed now.
Another major request from the Beta testers and demo viewers is that the team brings forward the release of the Windows version, with the feedback that has been received the team has decided to expedite the release of the Windows tool for a dual platform release sometime next week, iPod touch support will also be finalized.

Pwnage Tool Application will be released _sometime_ in the next week for Mac OS X 10.4.x, 10.5.x and Windows. The DevTeam would like to thank the users for being patient and wait for the upcoming release.

iPhone 2.0 firmware build updated. Not many changes

Apple has officially changed the build number of iPhone 2.0 beta firmware. Now its version is officially 2.0 instead of previous 1.2. There does not seem to be too many changes though. Cisco VPN settings is tweaked and the root-level mail/ActiveSync settings have been reshuffled.Anyone who is registered for the developer program should be able to download it without any problems.

iPhone Safari will be 100% web standard compliant

You have probably heard that latest version of Webkit passed Acid3 standards compliance test with a score of 100/100. Since Safari browser on Windows, Mac OS and even iPhone is based on Webkit, we can expect future builds to be standard compliant.

Interestingly, recently released update to iPhone SDK had a Webkit update as well. However, it is not the newest version yet. Desktop users have Webkit build 526.1, which means that the iPhone Safari and desktop Safari browsers might be ACID3 compliant in the next few months.
Other Webkit based browsers like the S60 web browser and Android’s web browser are benefiting from this as well.

TeenBuzz - high frequency ringtones for your iPhone

TeenBuzz, a website that offers ultrasonic high frequency ringtones, has added support for iPhone users.

The ringtones are of a particularly high frequency, which helps younger generations avoid detection of mobile phone usage. The theory here is that while younger people can hear the tones, older ones will not so, because of a naturally occurring hearing loss (presbycusis).
The new service works based on subscribing to a PodCast the website offers. Once this is accomplished a download to the ultrasonic ringtones will be given, and they will be automatically added to the ringtones directory.

You can also hear some samples on the website. Make sure your volume is not too high, though!
The new service works based on subscribing to a PodCast the website offers. Once this is accomplished a download to the ultrasonic ringtones will be given, and they will be automatically added to the ringtones directory.

You can also hear some samples on the website. Make sure your volume is not too high, though!

Unity engine to bring 3D games to the iPhone - beta support program now open

Unity Technologies, software development house specializing in games development tools with offices in San Francisco and Denmark, announced plans to support the iPhone with their Unity engine. Unity engine is the core technology that facilitates creation of games for the desktop, web, and now the iPhone.

The Unity engine offers all the features one would expect from a full scale engine, with anything from integrated editor, physics, shaders and terrain mapping support, network gaming support, and more. It is currently being used by Smashing Ideas, Trigger, Freeverse, Shockwave.com, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Flashbang Studios, ThreeMelons and Skyworks Technologies, among others.

The great iPhone battery sucking mystery revealed

The article that you can read below was submitted by iPhone World reader John Lockwood. “I like (too) many others am experiencing a problem with my iPhone which leads to the battery being drained in a couple of hours,” he writes, and suggests the following solution below, which can only be classified as a temporary fix until Apple corrects the situation. Thanks, John!In my case, the case of my boss, and the case of a friend, all of us are having this problem and it is due to a major IMAP fault. The problem started with firmware 1.1.3 and still exists in 1.1.4.

What happens is that the iPhone connects to the IMAP account, gets the message headers for the new messages successfully and then starts to get the two line message summary at which point it gets stuck. Visually on the iPhone what you will see is the initial connecting messages at the bottom of the screen will disappear, but the activity spinning symbol at the top next to the WiFi or EDGE network signal, stays spinning (and spinning and spinning…). Once the iPhone is stuck it will remain so until either :-

a) the battery is completely flat, or
b) your turn it off, or
c) you turn Air Plane mode on, or
d) if you can you disconnect the IMAP session at the mail server end.

I have been doing a lot of investigation in to this and last night was able to arrange access to a mail server when it was reasonable quiet (so I could more easily see the iPhone activity without distractions), and was able to turn on debug level logging of the session.

I have previously been able to see (with no other WiFi devices active) that continuous traffic was coming from the iPhone when this happened.

Create iPhone optimized sites from RSS feeds

If you have a favourite website that has an RSS feed but doesn’t have an iPhone-optimized site version (we do!) while you’d still like to read it on your iPhone via an optimized interface (and while not paying too much for EDGE if you’re on the go), then you can use this following new service, to create your own iPhone optimized feeds that you could add on your iPhone’s homescreen if you have the latest versions of software.

Briskly it converts almost any site’s XML RSS feed into an iPhone-optimized site with the corresponding look, accessible via a unique link. So you can bookmark it for yourself in your Safari browser for easy access. or put it on your iPhone’s home screen, after which it will obviously be accessible to you anytime when you have an internet connection.

Hostel World iPhone optimized budget accommodations site

Hostel World, an online provider of worldwide inexpensive booking accommodations, launched its especially optimized iPhone site version.

Niamh Ni Mhir, Hostelworld’s Chief Marketing Officer, said: “We’re delighted to announce the launch of Hostelworld’s iPhone application. Technology is becoming increasingly significant in the travel sector, therefore we need to be constantly innovating and looking for new ways of reaching our target audience”.

iPhone: Explosion Downloads

iPhone Explosion Downloads allows you to download all your favourite media and really get the most from your iPhone.

As you know the iPhone is a full entertainment system rolled into one, featuring a movie player, music player, digital photo albums and even a gaming platform as well. With an iPhone Explosion membership you will be able to get all the latest movies, TV shows, music, games and more anytime you want.According to its owners, you will receive all the software and tools you need to get started in the next 5 minutes within the member’s area, while the software and tools work with both PC and Macs. Membership gives you access to all the tools you need to download media and transfer it onto your iPhone for a one life-time membership fee of $49.95.