Apple explains the difference between GSM and CDMA iPhone calling features.

A report is stating that Apple has released a support document outlining the difference in call features between the GSM model and the CDMA model.

For example, the iPhone on AT&T supports up to 5 simultaneous calls at once while the Verizon iPhone supports only 2. Also, to place a call of hold the GSM iPhone simple taps and holds “Mute” while the CDMA version in incapable of doing it at all and Apple states:

CDMA networks do not offer the ability to place a call on hold.

The GSM iPhone seems to offer way more easy of use and advantages at this point. Check out the full chart and document here.

AT&T CEO does not like the Apple App Store.

Now that AT&T has lost the iPhone exclusivity, it seems that AT&T is being a bit bitter about it being on Verizon. A report states that CEO Randall Stephenson said:

“You purchase an app for one operating system, and if you want it on another device or platform, you have to buy it again.”

“That’s not how our customers expect to experience this environment.”

We’re sure Jobs would not have tolerated this a month ago so hopefully those slow Verizon iPhone 4 sales pick up so he can shove it in his face.

Apple App Store attracting more developers but Android is gaining more apps.

Security services company Lookout has released a new study showing many comparisons between the Apple App Store and the Android Market.

Between August 2010 and February 2011, the App Store brought in nearly 24,000 developers. Android only brought in a little over 4,000. On the contrary, the Android Market had a 127% increase in the number of apps released since August 2010 whereas the App Store has only seen a 44% growth rate. At that growth rate, Android apps should surpass the App Store by the end of 2012.

Is it better to have more apps or developers?

Check out the full chart and source here.

Including the iPad, Apple is the leader in mobile PC sales.

A report states that if the iPad is counted as a PC, then Apple is the largest mobile PC vendor in the world.

DisplaySearch has released some research that shows Q4 2010 mobile PC shipments by vendor, units sold and market share percentage. Apple ranked number one with 10.2 million units and a 17.2% share, HP ranked second with 9.3 million units and a 15.6% share. Finishing the top five was Acer, Dell and Toshiba.

See the full chart statistics here.

Apple previously announced during its 1Q financial call that they had record Mac and iPad sales. Maybe OS X 11 will make the iPad a true PC.

Google announces “One Pass” to rival Apple’s App Store subscriptions.

Google has announced an all inclusive subscription model titled “One Pass”. “One Pass” allows you to purchase a subscription at many lengths, and then have access to that content across multiple types of devices such as a desktop browser or a mobile application.

The process uses web interface and Google Checkout so implementing this functionality isn’t too complicated.

Google is only charging 10% and you get access to consumer data.

This comes perfectly timed as Apple has announced its subscription model which has already comes under fire by Rhapsody. Apple wants developers to offer the same subscription offer that they offer outside the app, in the app as in app-purchase. Although for the consumer this is much less hassle-free, the developer then has to pay 30% of that subscription to Apple, most of which can’t afford that model.

Check out the “One Pass” promo video here.

Verizon iPhone 4 sales off to a slow start.

A report states that the Verizon iPhone 4 isn’t selling as much as everyone thought it would. Although not entirely certain, it’s believed that the pre-order sold 550,000 iPhones. Of the iPhones sold so far, 30% of those came from Android users, 25% from BlackBerry and 14% came from AT&T iPhone users.

The report also tracked 5 days of sales from Apple stores comparing sales of the AT&T iPhone to the Verizon iPhone.

Thursday: Verizon = 909, AT&T = 539
Friday: Verizon = 916, AT&T = 680
Saturday: Verizon = 660, AT&T = 471
Sunday: Verizon = 796, AT&T = 701
Monday: Verizon = 711, AT&T = 618

Apple’s MobileMe to take on FaceBook, Foursquare and Ustream.

A report is stating that MobileMe will be revamped into a all in one social media outlet. It will be able to track current location, show recently listened to iTunes tracks, currently used apps, show uploaded photos and stream video.

It will use a recently awarded patent called iGroups to notify you and your group when your near each other.

Your information will have strict privacy rules allowing you to share as much or as little information as you want.

Here’s what their source had to say:

“The concept is that you would have you own website that’s dynamic, all based on what you are doing at that moment,” said our source. “Apple thinks of it as having a webserver in your pocket… everything will be dynamically updated to MobileMe.”

A recent rumor also states that you will be able to store your personal media into MobileMe for free.

If Ping is a hint towards Apple’s knowledge of social networking then this might be a bad idea. Hopefully they knock it out of the park.

iPhone users more valuable than Android users.

A report shows a study that the potential revenue brought in from advertising in iPhone apps is more valuable than on Android apps.

They analyzed the the Top 10 apps for two weeks in the categories “Utilities”, “Entertainment” and “Games”. Only apps with 500k+ download and/or 75k daily active users were used. They defined an “Active User” as one who uses the app at least 3 times a week for a minimum of 5 minutes.

The results shown above show the iOS users defeating Android in every category tested. The “Utilities” category has the highest value overall with over 2x the value of “Games”.

According to the study, if you’re a developer, go iOS and a create handy free utility app to bring in some nice advertising revenue. 

Get the chart specifics here.

iPhone 4 data is faster than the Motorola Atrix 4G.

The Motorola Atrix 4G Android phone is coming to AT&T. A recent review made a statement about the data download and upload speeds. Remember the Atrix is a “4G” phone:

In comparison to other handsets we’ve tested on the network in the same spots, the Atrix 4G actually got lower speed rankings on both downstream and upstream tests. In general, we saw an average download speed of around 1.5 Mbps, while uploads were even worse at just about 0.15 Mbps. We did see download speeds spike occasionally into 2.2 Mbps territory, but that wasn’t the norm. During the testing, the phone had four or five bars, and was clearly displaying the HSPA+ icon.

The odd thing is that if you compare the device against the iPhone 4 on AT&T’s network — tested in exactly the same locations — you see much different results. On the iPhone, data speeds were consistently in the 2 or 3 Mbps range for downloads, and hovering around 1 Mbps for uploads.

Let’s not fool ourselves. AT&T rebranded their 3G network as 4G because they were the last network without a “4G” gimmick. These HSPA+ speeds aren’t anywhere near the advertised speed, and add the latency on top of that and it really doesn’t even matter what speed it is. Still though, you would hope that tacking on “4G” onto the name of the phone itself would at least beat a phone that is obviously showing a “3G” symbol at the top.

Unfortunately, the iPhone 5 is hinting at 3G for at least one more year. Let’s take bets now, LTE iPhone 6 anyone?

Shocker: Verizon network still fine 4 days after iPhone release.

A report is stating that in the 4 days the Verizon iPhone has been active, Verizon’s network shows no signs of degradation.

The firm Compuware Gomez did the research and they are assuming there is around 500,000 – 700,000 new iPhone 4 users on Verizon’s network. They ran an experiment with thousands of users to see if the network was still performing well. The users reported their daily experience and page-load times to them and the result is staggering:

We’re just four days in, but our measurements show that real-world data users on Verizon Wireless are experiencing no noticeable performance degradation due to the influx of new iPhone users on the network.

Jetstar to get in flight iPads for $10 a flight.

A report is stating that Jetstar will be offering the option to rent an iPad for $10 per flight starting in April.

The iPad will come pre-loaded with movies, music, books and more. It will become the flights “personal entertainment system” for a very reasonable price.

Jetstar had trials last June with 30 iPads and have proved to be very successfully.

Originally Jetstar attempted to have the iPads before Christmas but they are finishing up licensing deals with Apple.

For $10, count me in (if I didn’t have one).

Apple updates iWeb to version 3.0.3.

A report states that Apple has released iWeb 3.0.3. While there are no new features, it does address some problems.

It states:

This update contains bug fixes and improvements, including the following:

- Addresses an issue when using the iSight Movie widget on certain Macs
- Addresses an issue publishing iWeb sites using FTP
- Improves compatibility with Mac OS X

It’s just above 177 MB and requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or 10.6.3.

Pwnage Tool 4.2 has been released. Untethered jailbreak and unlock for iOS 4.2.1

The iPhone Dev-Team has released Pwnage Tool 4.2 which adds support for creating an untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1

The benefit of using Pwnage Tool is that it keeps your baseband in its previous state allowing you to unlock your iPhone for use on a different carrier like T-Mobile.

Pwnage Tool 4.2 supports the following iDevices:

• iPhone 3G
• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4
• iPhone 4 – Verizon
• iPod touch 3G
• iPod touch 4G
• iPad
• Apple TV 2G

You can get the torrent on this site.

Rhapsody will not give in to Apple’s subscription demands.

A report is stating that Rhapsody has sent out a statement claiming that they will not bend over and let Apple take 30% of their subscription costs.

If you didn’t read earlier, Apple is requiring their developers who offer a subscription payment outside of the App Store to offer it within their app as an in-app purchase. Rhapsody charges $10 a month for unlimited music streaming which would result in them paying Apple over $3 a month to the customers who buy it through the app.

Here’s an excerpt of what Rhapsody had to say:

Our philosophy is simple too – an Apple-imposed arrangement that requires us to pay 30 percent of our revenue to Apple, in addition to content fees that we pay to the music labels, publishers and artists, is economically untenable. The bottom line is we would not be able to offer our service through the iTunes store if subjected to Apple’s 30 percent monthly fee vs. a typical 2.5 percent credit card fee.

We will continue to allow consumers to sign up at www.rhapsody.com from a smartphone or any other Internet access point, including the Safari browser on the iPhone and iPad. In the meantime, we will be collaborating with our market peers in determining an appropriate legal and business response to this latest development.

It will be interesting to see how other big players such as Hulu and Netflix respond.

Steve Jobs finally tears down historic Woodside mansion.

A report states that after a very long legal battle, Steve Jobs finally called the wrecking ball over to demolish his historic Woodside mansion.

Witness Greg Moretti stated:

“I just heard a bunch of noise up there and saw it going on.”

“Whatever side of the demolition debate you are on, it’s hard to deny that what we are witnessing here today is the loss of a significant piece of California architectural history.”

After countless attempts, Jobs’ argument that the mansion would costs millions of dollars to renovate finally made it through. Save Our Heritage lawyer Douglas Carstens ended with:

“It’s a very sad day today, and it’s a shame. I hope that people in the future will remember and be able to appreciate these very fine historic houses.”

Check out a picture of it before it was demolished here.

The future MacBook Air may have built in 3G modem.

A report is stating that Apple has begun reaching out to MacBook Air owners with a survey asking several questions about their recent purchase including specifics about 3G modems.

Questions about the 3G include:

• What type of 3G connections do you use for your MacBook Air?
• How often do you use 3G with your MacBook Air?
• In general, what would cause you to use a 3G connection instead of a wireless connection?

The MacBook lineup has been rumored for years to have built-in 3G coming but has not yet happened. Perhaps when the Sandy Bridge Macbook Airs come in June we’ll see 3G built in.

Apple updates iOS App Store Review Guidelines. Explains “cheating”.

A report states that Apple has updated its iOS App Store Guidelines in light of today in-app purchasing, subscriptions announcements and has made it very clear how it feels about developers who “cheat”.

It defines cheating and the end result:

If you attempt to cheat the system (for example, by trying to trick the review process, steal data from users, copy another developer’s work, or manipulate the ratings) your apps will be removed from the store and you will be expelled from the developer program.

Note to developers, don’t cheat. It doesn’t look worth it.

Apple launches subscriptions for the App Store.

Although The Daily had a head start, a report is stating that other apps can now sign up to use Apple’s subscription method through the App Store.

Apple explains that developers set up their subscription length and pricing accordingly, then customers can tap on what they want while Apple keeps its 30%.

There is one little catch that sounds familiar:

“Our philosophy is simple—when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app. We believe that this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunity to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers.”

Sony recently had a sort of “falling out” over this when Apple rejected their eBook Reader app and is pursuing other ways it can distribute their music.

Apple also sent out a memo to app developers that are currently in the App Store that offer subscriptions outside of the app stating that they have till June 30th to comply to the in-app purchasing rule. It will be interesting to see if apps like Hulu Plus, Netflix and Rhapsody cave in to Apple’s request seeing as Apple would take 30% of their usual profits.