ComTech Review » iPhone http://comtechreview.com Computers, Communications and Technology Review Wed, 23 May 2012 16:56:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Rhapsody, and Subscription Music, Come to the iPhone http://comtechreview.com/2009/09/10/rhapsody-and-subscription-music-come-to-the-iphone.html http://comtechreview.com/2009/09/10/rhapsody-and-subscription-music-come-to-the-iphone.html#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:57:04 +0000 editor http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/09/rhapsody_and_su.html There was a little bit of iPod news that Steve Jobs neglected to mention at Apple's big music event Sept.9. Subscription music in the form of RealNetworks' Rhapsody has come to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The long-promised Rhapsody app appeared Wednesday night in the iTunes App Store. The app is free, but requires a $14.99 a month Rhapsody To Go subscription. It also requires the iPhone 3.1.1 firmware, a free upgrade for the iPhone but a $4.99 download for the Touch.

Real and Apple has a tangled and often acrimonious history. Several years ago, Real attempted to sell music for download to the iPod, a move shut down by a change in the players' software. And Jobs has made no secret of his disdain for subscription music. Although some premium radio-like services, such as Pandora, have been approved for the iPhone, Rhapsody is the first true subscription service to win Apple approval. For the time being, Rhapsody offers streaming music only, but hopes to provide downloads in a future version.

Like other non-Apple services, Rhapsody has one big disadvantage relative to iTunes. Because the iPhone and Touch allow only one app to be active at a time, you can;t do anything else while playing Rhapsody music. iTunes, however, is allowed to play music in the background of other apps.

]]> There was a little bit of iPod news that Steve Jobs neglected to mention at Apple's big music event Sept.9. Subscription music in the form of RealNetworks' Rhapsody has come to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The long-promised Rhapsody app appeared Wednesday night in the iTunes App Store. The app is free, but requires a $14.99 a month Rhapsody To Go subscription. It also requires the iPhone 3.1.1 firmware, a free upgrade for the iPhone but a $4.99 download for the Touch.

Real and Apple has a tangled and often acrimonious history. Several years ago, Real attempted to sell music for download to the iPod, a move shut down by a change in the players' software. And Jobs has made no secret of his disdain for subscription music. Although some premium radio-like services, such as Pandora, have been approved for the iPhone, Rhapsody is the first true subscription service to win Apple approval. For the time being, Rhapsody offers streaming music only, but hopes to provide downloads in a future version.

Like other non-Apple services, Rhapsody has one big disadvantage relative to iTunes. Because the iPhone and Touch allow only one app to be active at a time, you can;t do anything else while playing Rhapsody music. iTunes, however, is allowed to play music in the background of other apps.

]]> http://comtechreview.com/2009/09/10/rhapsody-and-subscription-music-come-to-the-iphone.html/feed 0 MMS Comes to AT&T iPhones Sept. 25 http://comtechreview.com/2009/09/03/mms-comes-to-att-iphones-sept-25.html http://comtechreview.com/2009/09/03/mms-comes-to-att-iphones-sept-25.html#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:12:09 +0000 editor http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/09/mms_comes_to_at.html AT&T said that multimedia messaging would be available on the iPhone this summer. The company has just admitted the its going to miss the deadline, but only by four days. In a notice on its Web site, AT&T says that a software update enabling MMS will be pushed to iPhones (3G and 3GS models) on Sept. 25. The company had announced earlier that there would be no additional charge (beyond existing messaging fees) for MMS service.

Apple promised both iPhone MMS service and tethering (which lets you use your phone as a modem for a PC on a 3G network)back in January. Most carriers around the world have implemented MMS and many also offering tethering, but AT&T has lagged.

And it looks like we'll have to wait a while longer for tethering. An AT&T spokesman says there is no date yet for the feature, which is available now--at an additional monthly fee--for other devices such as BlackBerrys.

]]> AT&T said that multimedia messaging would be available on the iPhone this summer. The company has just admitted the its going to miss the deadline, but only by four days. In a notice on its Web site, AT&T says that a software update enabling MMS will be pushed to iPhones (3G and 3GS models) on Sept. 25. The company had announced earlier that there would be no additional charge (beyond existing messaging fees) for MMS service.

Apple promised both iPhone MMS service and tethering (which lets you use your phone as a modem for a PC on a 3G network)back in January. Most carriers around the world have implemented MMS and many also offering tethering, but AT&T has lagged.

And it looks like we'll have to wait a while longer for tethering. An AT&T spokesman says there is no date yet for the feature, which is available now--at an additional monthly fee--for other devices such as BlackBerrys.

]]> http://comtechreview.com/2009/09/03/mms-comes-to-att-iphones-sept-25.html/feed 0 Metatools Returns from the Dead with iPhone App http://comtechreview.com/2009/07/29/metatools-returns-from-the-dead-with-iphone-app.html http://comtechreview.com/2009/07/29/metatools-returns-from-the-dead-with-iphone-app.html#comments Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:07:51 +0000 editor http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/07/metatools_retur.html MetaTools, a hot software company back in the early days of desktop computer graphics, has reappeared with Goo, an iPhone version of a once-popular desktop app that allows fun manipulation and distortion of photos.

MetaTools was best known for Kai's Power Tools (KPT), a set of groundbreaking add-ons to Adobe Photoshop created by a brilliant and idiosyncratic developer named Kai Krause. Photoshop pros considered KPT indispensable, but its main features were eventually incorporated into Photoshop itself. Krause also developed Bryce, an early tool for the creation of synthetic landscapes.

Kai eventually retired to a castle in his native Germany and the company, renamed MetaCreations, drifted, like many other independent packaged software makers in the late 1990s, and was sold off in pieces. Former CEO John Wilczak bought back the rights to the MetaTools name and some of the old titles, and now it is back with Goo.

]]> MetaTools, a hot software company back in the early days of desktop computer graphics, has reappeared with Goo, an iPhone version of a once-popular desktop app that allows fun manipulation and distortion of photos.

MetaTools was best known for Kai's Power Tools (KPT), a set of groundbreaking add-ons to Adobe Photoshop created by a brilliant and idiosyncratic developer named Kai Krause. Photoshop pros considered KPT indispensable, but its main features were eventually incorporated into Photoshop itself. Krause also developed Bryce, an early tool for the creation of synthetic landscapes.

Kai eventually retired to a castle in his native Germany and the company, renamed MetaCreations, drifted, like many other independent packaged software makers in the late 1990s, and was sold off in pieces. Former CEO John Wilczak bought back the rights to the MetaTools name and some of the old titles, and now it is back with Goo.

]]> http://comtechreview.com/2009/07/29/metatools-returns-from-the-dead-with-iphone-app.html/feed 0