Apple has released iOS 4.1 for the iPhone and iPod touch bringing numerous new features including a fix for the iPhone 4 proximity issues.

This update contains improvements, including the following:
● Game Center
- Send and receive friend requests
- Invite friends to multi-player games over the Internet
- Play multi-player games by auto-matching with other players
- View LEaderboards and Achievements
- Discover new games from friends
● High dynamic range (HDR) photos on iPhone 4
● Support for TV show rentals on iTunes
● Ability to upload HD videos to YouTube and MobileMe over Wi-Fi on iPhone 4
● Additional support for AVRCP-supported accessories, including next & previous track control
● FaceTime calling directly from Favorites
● Bug fixes, including
- iPhone 4 proximity sensor performance
- iPhone 3G performance
- Nike+ iPod fixes
- Bluetooth improvements

Products compatible with this software update:
● iPhone 4
● iPhone 3GS
● iPhone 3G
● iPod touch 2G

Game Center requires iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 2G or later.

Celebrity Nerds: Justin Long jailbreaks his iPhone like a PC guy

With his contract to Apple now a thing of the past, we guess Justin Long’s not the smug, overconsuming Mac archetype we’d always assumed. We’ve gotta give credit to a man who sticks it to his former employer by busting out of the walled garden as demonstrated by the Cydia icon’s appearance on Long’s iPhone during a visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live. Then again, jailbreakme made the process so easy even a hollywood actor could do it, so who knows.

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Apple today released updated versions of its iOS operating system, addressing a significant security vulnerability in the way Safari handles PDF files on Apple’s mobile devices. The new versions, which arrive as iOS 4.0.2 for the iPhone and iPod touch and iOS 3.2.2 for the iPad, should also disable the Web-based JailbreakMe service that first exploited the vulnerability.

The grand opening of Apple’s new Shanghai store drew large crowds.

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Phone Disk, an application that mounts your iPhone, iPod, or iPad directly in Finder, is being offered free until September.

Until September 1st 2010, we’re giving away Phone Disk to everyone for free! If you unlock the software before that date, you get free upgrades and can enjoy the full version of the software on that computer with no expiration (just make sure you enter the code before September 1st)! Use the following registration code to unlock the full version Phone Disk: 2H96A-QK7MX-8GEYK1V-ZR6S8

Open, copy and save files directly on device
Preview, open, edit and save images, documents and more directly on the the device. You can even access the device directly through other programs such as a document editing program.

Expands to work with multiple devices
Mount multiple iPhones and iPod Touches simultaneously

Browse the iPhone in Finder
Phone Disk provides seamless integration of iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch file system in OSX’s finder

Clean application
Works with or without jail breaking the device. It’s simple application that runs in your system tray and won’t clutter or slow your computer.

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Jonathan Ive speaks on the design of iPhone 4: Material Matters

As a designer you can’t help but think about weird stuff. I can’t help but imagine that if curious space aliens with no knowledge of human artifacts came to this planet and went through my apartment, they’d initially find little to distinguish one possession from another. But I’d be willing to wager that it is the iPhone 4, amidst the clutter of objects on my desk, that they would pick up and begin inquisitively licking or running their antennae over or what have you.

The new iPhone is currently the standout object on my desk, this thing that looks like a mere black rectangle from across the room but starts to look like something very different at the range it’s meant to be used at. Holding it, you understand at once why Apple has physical stores; while you can watch iPhone commercials or see print campaigns about its features, when you first hold this exquisitely-crafted object you have a different experience entirely, one that cannot be adequately conveyed in two dimensions. Having seen countless photos of the device in advance, I was still surprised by the real thing when I popped it out of the box and touched it.

“A big part of the experience of a physical object has to do with the materials,” says Jonathan Ive. “[At Apple] we experiment with and explore materials, processing them, learning about the inherent properties of the material–and the process of transforming it from raw material to finished product; for example, understanding exactly how the processes of machining it or grinding it affect it. That understanding, that preoccupation with the materials and processes, is [very] essential to the way we work.”

It is this sort of materials obsession and constant experimentation that led to a decision to use scratch-resistant aluminosilicate glass for the front and back of the phone, as well as developing their own variant of stainless steel to edge the device. When you see the breaks, the three little black reveals that interrupt the band, in photographs, you could be forgiven for assuming you’re seeing three separate strips of metal with gaps in between; but in fact it’s all one piece.

“Those three black splits are co-molded in, and then the band goes through more processes,” Ive points out. “So it’s assembled first, the band, and then the final machining and grinding are performed, so the tolerances are extraordinary…. Whatever people’s feelings are about the actual design of the product is of course subjective. But objectively I can say that the manufacturing tolerances are phenomenal. And we determined this, we designed it from the very beginning to meet those goals.”

The goals have been well-met, and on the subject of phenomenal tolerances, when you see the phone be sure to check out the insanely thin reveal around the hatch for the Micro SIM card on the side; I’ve never seen that kind of tolerance on something I could actually afford to buy. Upon seeing it my first thought was I will never pop that open, because I’m convinced it will never close again. “I assure you, it will,” Ive laughs. “The amount of care that went into that SIM tray is extraordinary. To achieve this kind of build quality is extraordinarily hard work and requires care across so many teams. It demands incredibly close collaboration with experts in certain areas, material sciences and so on.”

That last part reminds me that there must have been a sizeable team behind the iPhone 4, and Ive confirms it, mentioning the importance of collaboration between engineering, manufacturing and design. It is an intense interplay between these fields that can yield mastery of the material, which is where everything starts with this object. “The best design explicitly acknowledges that you cannot disconnect the form from the material–the material informs the form,” says Ive. “It is the polar opposite of working virtually in CAD to create an arbitrary form that you then render as a particular material, annotating a part and saying ‘that’s wood’ and so on. Because when an object’s materials, the materials’ processes and the form are all perfectly aligned, that object has a very real resonance on lots of levels. People recognize that object as authentic and real in a very particular way.”

It is that direct experience, the hands-on, that is the key; like experiencing the iPhone 4 itself, it cannot be done without the physical connection. “It’s very hard to learn about materials academically, by reading about them or watching videos about them; the only way you truly understand a material is by making things with it,” Ive explains, going on to add that years upon years of making his own models with his own hands is what gave him a deep understanding of the materials he’s worked. “And it’s important to develop that appetite to want to make something, to be inquisitive about the material world, to want to truly understand a material on that level.”

This brief tutorial will show you how to add PDF files to iBooks so that you can read them on your iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone.

1. First up – we’re going to make the assumption that you have iBooks installed on your iPad/iPod Touch/iPhone. If you don’t, click here to install it.

2. Now open up iTunes. Select File -> Add to Library….

3. Navigate to the PDF file(s) you want to add to iBooks. You can select more than one file, or select an entire folder. Once you’ve made your selection, click Choose.

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iOS 4 is now ready for public download. This is now a free update to all iOS devices – iPod touch, iPhone and the iPad.

You need iTunes 9.2 now to update and experience the new iOS 4.

This is one of those things that makes you wonder why it hadn’t been done already. Apple’s just unleashed an Apple Store application for its iDevices designed to pretty much give you the online Apple Store experience able to read reviews, locate local brick and mortar Stores, check out new and featured products.

Download for FREE on iTunes App Store!

A look at how much storage space you will need for photos and video taken with the iPhone 4 has been posted by When Will Apple.

Photos:
The iPhone 3GS took photos at 3MP. Each photo took about 1.3MB. The new iPhone 4 takes photos at 5MP which will increase the size to about 2.7MB per photo.

Video:
The iPhone 3GS records 640×480 video at 30 frames per second. Using a compression ration of 40:1, When Will Apple found that 250 mins of iPhone 3GS video recording took 9.66 GB of space.

Using a recording resolution of 960×720 at 30 frames per second, When Will Apple calculates that the iPhone 4 will use 21.73 GB for 250 mins of video.

It’s clear to see that if you plan on taking a lot of video, you should definitely purchase the 32GB iPhone 4.

Hit the link below to see how these numbers were calculated.

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