Month: July 2009

Apple Patents Text Message Filtering

SMS Filtering
This patent explains the different ways the iPhone could filter text based communications in your iPhone. Apple says the main use for this is, to censor objectionable text like swear words in email for children, or to help someone learn a foreign language by forcing someone to send emails in that language.

…control application includes an instructional tool or study aid where the administrator sets one or more modes, such as language, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, punctuation and/or other content of a text-based communication based on, for example, a user’s age or grade level. This can be especially useful, for example, such as when a child’s grades go down. A parent can then institute a condition to improve a child’s grades. For example, the control application may require a user during specified time periods to send messages in a designated foreign language, to include certain designated vocabulary words, or to use proper designated spelling, designated grammar and designated punctuation and like designated language forms based on the user’s defined skill level and/or designated language skill rating. If the text-based communication fails to include the required language or format, the control application may alert the user and/or the administrator/parent of the absence of such text.

Apple Patents Object & Face Recognition

Systems and methods for identifying objects and providing information related to identified objects (# 20090175499)

Object Recognition

This patent filed by Apple shows a technology that would allow the user to point the iPhone’s camera at an object. The software would then recognize what the object is, then provide relevant additional information about it. The methods for recognition would be either image or camera recognition technologies, Barcode scanning, RFID tags or other similar technologies. Different modes could also be set up so that the recognition process would be easier based upon where you are such as a restaurant, museum etc.

Personal computing device control using face detection and recognition (#20090175509)

Facial Recognition

This patent describes the various techniques that Apple might use to the the iPhone the ability to recognize faces of which the camera is pointed at. If these methods are implemented, the facial recognition could add another layer of security to the phone by only allowing use by certain people or deciding whether or not to put the device to sleep.

WiFi Connectivity Problems Caused By iPhone OS 3.0

I for one have experienced connectivity problems with my iPhone 3G over WiFi. My signal is never as strong as it used iphone_os_3to be and even in the house I get no connection where I used to get a connection, all this after the 3.0 update.

Hundreds of people have been complaining of these issues of the iDevice not connecting to WiFi, less signal strength or saying you have a WiFi connection when you don’t.

Apple if fully aware of the problem and will be working to fix it. Some people think that the 3.1 update will fix these issues but some people don’t agree with this so we will have to see. If anyone is using 3.1 Beta do you experience any of the WiFi problems?

Some people have came up with many solutions to try and fix this problem, but they don’t work, some people even tried putting there iDevice in the freezer.

iPod Touch 3.0 Free Upgrade

For all you out there who think it’s unfair that iPod Touch users have to pay $10/£5.99 for an upgrade which iPhone users iPod Touchget for free and the only reason Apple charge is to do with accounting, I’m offering you a free upgrade to 3.0. Just download the restore file from the link below and press Ctrl and Restore and choose the downloaded file.
I hold no responsibility for the file and you use it at your own risk, enjoy 3.0!

Download 3.0 Free Upgrade

iPhone Battery & Heat Problems

Multiple cases of iPhone’s overheating and the battery of the phone quickly depleting have been causing iPhone users Apple iPhone 3G WWDC 2009problems recently. Most believe it’s down to the software, the 3.0 firmware that Apple released a few weeks ago as it only seems now that users are having these problems.

Apple blame the overheating on the hot weather and are blaming people for leaving there iPhone’s in hot places but the battery issues must be in some way connected to the new firmware as I experienced today.

My iPhone 3G which used to run 2.2.1 would run under moderate use each day without getting into the 20% battery area, with heavy usage it would get down quicker and I would have to charge. But today whilst at a friends house I decided to do some live streaming using Qik, however after about 10 minutes I noticed that my iPhone had heated up considerably and the battery had lost maybe 30/40% of it’s charge. Now I know for a fact this isn’t usual as I’ve used Qik before and the phone didn’t have the same problems using 2.2.1.

It seems that there must be something not quite right with the 3.0 firmware which is causing maybe the CPU to be overused, causing the phone to heat up or something in some setting which isn’t coded properly and causing these problems.

I’d be interested to try out the 3.1 Beta to see if it had the same issues, however I’m not currently a developer so can’t try it but if anyone has tried it leave a comment about if you experience the same issues.

3rd Generation iPod Touch Found in Online Logs

The same way that the iPhone 3GS came to light, there’s now online logs of a new 3rd Gen iPod Touch device being usiPod Touched recently. Analytics firm Pinch Media, which spotted the iPhone 3GS online last year, now says’s it’s been seeing the device string (iPod 3,1) for the new iPod multiple times since April of this year.

The usage pattern shows that Apple are testing the new iPod Touch to ensure there are no major flaws before the device goes live, which is presumed to be in September.

Signs of the string iPod 3,1 were first seen in early iPhone 3.0 beta firmware, the hardware ID was shown alongside present and unreleased Apple handhelds, at the time. As with the iPhone 3GS, Apple’s naming scheme seems to show that this will be a substantial update, camera perhaps? The first number of the string always refers to a major generation leap whilst the second refers to less substantial updates. The current iPod Touch is listed as iPod 2,1,

Trying to determine the release date based on this data is difficult as the iPhone 3GS was seen 8 months before its release however there is a lot more things to test in a phone, therefore making it more likely the release will be in September, as the iPod Touch has always been updated in a special music themed event held in September.

ultrasn0w 0.8 Released

ultrasn0w 0.8 has been released today and is now fully working on the 3Gs.Jailbrake

The main 3GS ultrasn0w glitch on hacktivated devices is: need to do Settings->General->Reset->Reset Network settings once.

They have said that stability should be drastically improved for unltrasn0w on the 3GS, for some people however it may take up to 75 seconds after reboot.

To get ultrasn0w 0.8 add http://repo666.ultrasn0w.com/ to your sources.

Future iPhone To Get Micro Projector?

Foxlink, a Taiwan based company, has started to develop micro projects which may be built into a future iPhone, according to a DigiTimes report.Apple iPhone 3G WWDC 2009

International brand vendors, including Nokia, Samsung Electronics and Apple, reportedly all plan to launch handsets with built-in micro projectors by the end of this year, indicated the sources, adding that Foxlink is likely to benefit from the emerging trend due to its strong business relationships with Nokia and Apple.