Instead of simply scaling up the existing iPhone app, the folks from Panelfly put their heads together with the  dev team and brainstormed. With all the talk of the iPad and how it could restore comic books to their former glory, they realized that they needed to revamp the app and make a version specifically for the iPad. This way they could take full advantage of the device’s screen size and provide a new way of purchasing and interacting with the content.

For the full story and more screenshots, check out the story on Gizmodo.

There’s no lack of Apple iPad related news. It’s only been a week since it’s was announced, and there’s no lack of speculation, rumors and news.

• Major Textbook and educational publishing companies have all made deals with the ScrollMotion to develop textbook apps and test-prep / study guide apps for the Apple iPad.  [Source: Wall Street Journal]
  
• Rupert Murdoch says “We don’t like the Amazon model of $9.99… we think it really devalues books and hurts all the retailers of hardcover books.” He prefers Apple’s new pricing flexibility for it’s upcoming iBook store. Expect all the “big six” publishers prices to soon follow suite. [Source: AllThingsDigital]
  
• Apple’s iPad May Gain an Intelligent Bezel in the Future. Today, the US Patent and Trademark Office officially published two major granted patents of Apple’s covering tablets and advanced touch technologies.  [Source: PatentlyApple]
  
• iPad was (maybe) supposed to contain a camera? [Source: Gizmodo]
• iPad apps to cost more than iPhone apps.  [Source: TechRadar]

It’s only been a few days since Steve Jobs came out and announced the details for the much hyped Apple tablet — which we now know has been officially titled the iPad. Rumored for years to be a revolutionary multi-touch tablet PC with an equally revolutionary operating system. Let’s just say, the actual product was far less impressive than the rumors. The overwhelming response amongst fans and the media are disappointment and scepticism. The most common complaints are “This is just an oversized iPod Touch”, no flash support, no camera, no multitasking, no USB ports, some have even called it lazy engineering on part of Apple.

The naysayers are right in many ways — the iPad is running on a modified version of the iPhone OS on a much larger screen.  But let’s be honest, how often do expectations meet reality? Not very often. People just want to be wowed. And I can’t blame them; it’s easier to criticize than to innovate. But let’s not forget, even the original iPod was criticized by some as overpriced and unimpressive when it was announced. The reality is this is still an impressive product with a very large customer appeal. I’ll tell you why — I personally know alot of people who are technologically inept. They hate computers and complicated technology BUT, almost ALL of them eventually purchased either an iPhone or an iPod Touch. Why? It’s user-friendly technology. From launching programs, to purchasing apps, games, music and videos — it’s all simple. People love simple, alot of technology is driven by the desire to simplify everyday actions.

So is the idea of a larger iPod touch really all that ridiculous? Games, movies and applications all look better on a larger screen. Internally the iPad has much more powerful hardware in comparison to the iPhone/iPod Touch — applications and games now have a greater potential on this new device. Apple has dismissed books and e-readers in the past. In 2008 Steve Jobs even went as far as to say “People don’t read anymore” . Amazon and its successful e-reader device The Kindle have forced Steve to eat his words. One of the impressive features of the iPad is the new iBook store and electronic book reading software. Apple has made deals with almost all the major publishers to bring their books to the iPad. Many major newspapers, magazines and even school textbooks are also rumored to be coming the way of the iPad. Like many iPhone users I have tried reading large articles and books the tiny screen.. It’s not easy. The screen is simply too small. Twitter, RSS and iPhone optimized websites make it bearable.. but long form text on such a small device was not meant to be.  The ipad solves this problem.

Now let’s go back and touch on some of those other criticism. We’ll start with the lack of flash support — there are a few reasons it’s missing. The problem is flash is a bit of a resource hog and can be very unstable. Apple doesn’t want to use a technology that will potentially drain your battery and crash your internet browser on their device. Steve Jobs was recently quoted saying “Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy.  Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash, he says. The world is moving to HTML5.” iTunes is also in the business of videos and games (flash’s main uses) — so I’m sure Apple isn’t happy about giving you access to free flash content over selling it to you and turning a profit.

The lack of Multitasking hasn’t really hurt the iPhone and ipod touch sales. So what incentive does Apple have for implementing it? It is also too early to dismiss the possibility of multitasking in future OS updates. Their next OS update for the iPhone, iPod Touch and undoubtedly the iPad (as it runs virtually the same OS) is due out soon (probably March). This will line up pretty nicely with the launch date of the iPad. Perhaps there is a laundry list of new features for the iPad that were not demonstrated during its announcement because the same features are slated to be on the iPhone/iPod Touch update.

The iPad also capable of running the some 133,000 apps available in the iTunes App store. Sure some of the apps look silly on upscaled on such a large screen (alternatively, you can use them within a window) — but some look very good. This backwards compatibility and interface will be familiar and comforting to existing iPhone and iPod touch users, and those who aren’t familiar will be using an interface already adored by many.

I’m not an Apple fanboy, I don’t own stock in the company and the only Apple product I own is an iPhone 3GS — so I have no dog in this fight but I have a hard time seeing the iPad  failing. Will it be as widely adopted and famous as the iPod or iPhone? Doubtful — atleast not as the iPad is now. The iPad still has alot of room to grow, I think as it stands now it will be a great device for media consumers who want a simple UI. I think Apple has some tricks up it’s sleeve. We’ll have to wait until the product launches to see.

Were you pissed off when it was announced the new iPod Nanos have a FM radio feature implemented — meanwhile your expensive iPhone or iPod touch didn’t have this simple feature? We don’t normally report on rumors — however, there is a pretty solid rumor that an iPhone radio.app is being developed in-house by Apple for use on the iPhone and iPod touch. From what we’ve heard, the app will be allowed to operate in the background like iPod.app and will offer the same functionality as the FM radio in the new iPod Nanos.  The source mentioned that this application could also be incorporated into the iPod.app before release.

The holdup on this app is that Apple is trying to integrate the Mobile iTunes Store purchases into the functionality of the program.  For instance, if you like a song you are listening to on the radio (and that station supports tagging and you are in the US), you will be able to push a button and see the song (and all of the information around it) in the iTunes Mobile store.  With another click, you’ll be able to make a purchase.  This is an extension of the Song Tagging feature used in the iPod Nanos.  Perhaps they could even add some Shazam-esque technology to help with those stations that don’t support tagging.

Though it wasn’t specified, the app will likely have the same Live Pause functionality that the Nanos currently enjoy.

Apple’s iPods and iPhones have been able to receive FM radio signals for some time now.  The latest generation of iPhone and iPod touch can even broadcast FM signal, for instance to a car stereo.  The ability of the iPhone and iPod touch to receive FM signals has been used solely in the implementation of the Nike+ ecosystem to this point.

This wouldn’t be the first time Apple awoke sleeping hardware functionality from its mobile products.  Apple sometimes chooses to leave hardware features dormant in their products until they feel the time is right.  For instance, Apple didn’t enable Bluetooth in its 2nd generation iPod touch until 9 months after it was released.  Apple also hasn’t enabled the 802.11N +5GHZ wireless networking (which we also hope to see updated shortly) in its latest iPhone and iPods.

Only time will tell — but this sounds like good news for iPhone and iPod Touch users.

Dexter is the killer 3D iPhone game based on the hit Showtime original series. Dexter Morgan, a charming blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, is leading a double life. While helping the homicide division solve murders, he has a tendency to take the justice system into his own hands: stalking and murdering the guilty.

This game looks like it might be one of the better iPhone games in a while based of screenshots and the trailer. We’ll be reviewing it within the next few days.  But if you’re a huge Dexter fan and want to play it now, go download it via itunes.

Watch the trailer:

Did you miss the Apple “Rock and Roll” event from a few days ago? Well why read about all the new iPod & Itunes news when you can watch the entire keynote event for yourself. Download it via iTunes or stream it directly from Apple’s website right now. Some notable news includes –  iPod Touch third generation: now up to 64GB storage, iPod Classic gets more storage, iPod Shuffle gets more colors and a special edition, the new iPod Nano shoots video and plays radio.

iTunes 9 is out and sports some new features. The store has seen a general redesign as well—the most prominent part being the ever-present menubar at the top, which replaces the awkward breadcrumb system from before.

iTunes LPs: These are effectively like bonus CDs for digital albums.

iTunes Extra: Like iTunes LPs for films, this gives you a downloadable equivalent of DVD extras for films, with interviews, supplemental clips and photo galleries.

Media Sharing: The software’s getting some pretty fantastic new functionality outside the store as well—it’s got media sharing, at least on your local network: You can copy songs, movies, and TV shows to up to 5 authorized computers, or simply stream them. This is pretty huge, and a definite about-face for Apple, which has been slowly stripping out sharing functionality from iTunes from the beginning.

An App Manager: you can rearrange and manage apps from within iTunes for your iPhone and iPod Touch, which was one of those simple feature upgrades people  have been clamoring for for months. Apple’s version of the app manager is better thought out than the concepts we’ve seen before. Apps can be dragged and dropped, either alone or in groups, and selectively synced. Awesome.

Syncing, Genius and Social Networking: A few odds and ends here—iTunes 9 also brings finer sync controls, including options to sync genres or artists instead of just playlists, and more options for video and photo syncing. There are also new “Genius Playlists,” which are just general library mixes that iTunes thinks you’ll like, rather than the old Genius playlists, which were based on a particular artist. Social networking support is nowhere near as deep as rumored—it just gives you shortcuts to spam your friends with links to iTunes store pages over Twitter, et al. Apple’s also thrown in a little treat for Windows users: Playback controls from the Windows 7 task bar.

Gas Buddy

Save money at the pump! Gas Buddy will show you up-to-date gas price listings for all the gas stations in the US and Canada. Even if you’re out of town, just hit the “Find Nearest” button to show you a listing of all the gas stations around you sorted by price and distance. You can now easily find the best bargain for your next fill-up.

Sign up for an account and send gas prices listings from your local gas stations to Gas Buddy for points you can then use to enter raffles for prizes like $250 gas cards. Gas buddy has a great UI and a ton of features. The Gas Buddy is $2.99 in the Apple App Store. This app easily pays for itself. For more information visit http://www.gasbuddy.com

Grocery Gadget

I tried many grocery list apps until I finally found Grocery Gadget Shopping List. What makes this app unique is the ability to sync your list with friends/family. If you have roommates, friends or family you live with– they can download this app and easily sync the household grocery list.

Even if they don’t have this app, they can easily just login to the Grocery Gadget website and update the list. The UI is pretty straightforward and you can sort grocery by categories, enter prices, and use photos for items.  There is a limited free version of this app, the full-featured app is $4.99 in the Apple App Store. This is easily the best shopping-list app I’ve used. For more information visit http://www.grocerygadgets.com

We’ll be suggesting more great apps soon. Do you know a better alternative to some of these apps? Have an app you’d like to suggest? Leave comments in this thread or e-mail us at info@bluebrain.net

Basically, if they release the jailbreak now it would be handing exploit to Apple on a silver platter allowing them to easily and quickly patch it. This is a big problem because jailbreaking the iPhone 3GS requires some special information (ECID code) you need to extract from your phone. You need this information for all future jailbreaking endeavours. Long story short— if you don’t get this information before Apple patches it, you might be unable to EVER jailbreak your iphone 3GS.

Apple is surely coming out with a 3.0.1 firmware release shortly. “They need to fix ultrasn0w.  They need to fix some UI issues.  3.0 is buggy and 3.0.1 is coming.  We’re going to wait and see what 3.0.1 brings before figuring out the release date for our version of the jailbreak.”

For a more detailed explanation read the iPhone Dev Teams blog posting.

Also, a few unexpected features — holding down the home button now enables a new voice control interface that lets you do everything from make calls to control iTunes. Apple is claimng the new finish is alos water- and oil-resistant. This fancy new iPhone will be available June 19th with the 32GB model priced at $299 US, and 16GB model at $199 US.

There is also plenty of good news for ALL iphone users, the new 3.0 software will be available June 17th. And some of the new features include:

• Users will now be able to rent and purchase movies from the phone, along with audiobooks.
• MMS will be available from 29 carriers at launch, with AT&T lagging behind into the summer.
• Tethering over Bluetooth and USB for Macs and PCs is also enabled, with 22 carriers announcing support.
• New and improved Safari does JavaScript 3X faster, and supports QuickTime X-style HTTP streaming of audio and video. There’s also AutoFill for forms, and improved HTML 5 support including audio and video tags.
• Find My iPhone tracks down your phone using MobileMe from any browser. It locates the phone on a map, and also allows you to remote wipe the device, or even play a sound on the phone for locating it around the house — even when it’s on vibrate.
• New dev features have been detailed at length, but they’re still around. Features include in-app purchases (but only for apps that were paid to start out with), Bluetooth and dock connector communication with other devices, including other iPhones. Embedded Google Maps in third party apps, including turn by turn apps. Push notifications of text alerts, number badges and sound alerts.
• Cut and Paste (finally)
• Landscape mode in most apps (Text, E-Mail,Calendar, Notes etc..)
• Tom Tom GPS — and car kit accessory for docking, charging and displaying in portrait or landscape while driving.

Check out the guided tour and features video below: