Spotify says hello to 3rd party developers

Spotify the much hyped about the streaming music service held a press conference in New York City to announce its new app platform. The new version of Spotify gives access to its library and community to 3rd party applications. Spotify Platform selected some great launch partners. Some of the early partners Rolling Stone, Last.fm, Pitchfork and Billboard. It should be interesting to see how these partners use the social integration between Spotify and Facebook.

To ensure easy to access in Spotify apps across all platforms the apps are built in HTML5. Don’t get your hopes up that much so fast. Spotify says that the apps for now are available for the desktop. Maybe, just maybe it will make it to the mobile world if these new apps are a hit.
The desktop app has been updated and apps are in there now. Although Spotify says it is open to all developers, they are still going to pull an Apple gate wall approach. They will approve all apps before listing them in the Spotify player.

Siri, Start my car

It was so nice to have the extra days off last week. Let’s get back to the grind. You already know that Siri can operate an internet-connected thermostat through some nice hacking but now one person has taken it one step forward with a practical device.

Developer Brandon Fiquett enabled Siri to talk to his car. Siri can now remotely start its engine. The way it works is his iPhone 4S sends a message to a proxy server he set up. The server sends a message to a cellular-connected Viper Smart Start system in his car. This trick should work with any car that has a viper smart start system.

Siri start my car. I wonder what is next? Siri type this report. It’s only a matter of time before more hacks get released. Siri is akin to Kinect in terms of being embraced by the media, independent developers and hackers.

RIM confirms: New Blackberry 7 phones are dying when it goes to sleep

Are you one of the owners of a BlackBerry Bold 9900 or 9930 phone that wakes to a dead phone even though you know you left it charging the night before?  You are not alone. It seems that phones being left to charge all night does nothing more than kill the battery. RIM confirmed they had an issue and stating that  “limited number of customers have reported an issue where their device does not power on. We are actively working on a software update to resolve this issue.”

It’s always a limited amount of users until everyone starts taking note. Apple said the same thing about iPhone 4S and iOS5 battery issues at first. They also said the same thing about the antenna. Note to companies: If there is an issue don’t downplay because those limited number of customers have an unlimited amount of friends online.  RIM has not given out any stats about how many phones are going bad but it’s only the start. I’m sure we will get more later this week. It’s been said before but it’s not a good year to be RIM or a RIM stock holder.

UFC comes to Xbox live

Xbox means business this holiday season. Every year they have a great update to their system’s interface called the dashboard. This year is no different. Our sources alerted us to a new update that has UFC live events including tomorrow nights fight for free.

UFC fight card is very similar to the ESPN’s College Football Showdown. You pick who you expect to win. As tomorrow night is the first fight we are unsure if there will be a point system.

How to unlock iPhone 4S to work with T-Mobile without Jailbreaking

There is a bug that will let you unlock the iPhone 4S without jailbreaking it.  The bug was discovered by Michael Capozzi. He unlocked his iPhone 4S to use it on T-Mobile. I tested it out and it does work. Keep in mind this is temporary.  You will also have to cut the T-Mobile SIM card to micro-SIM card size for it to fit iPhone 4S’s SIM tray. MuscleNerd of the iPhone Dev team states:  “it’ll just relock again once a new TMSI is required various normal network operations require TMSI refresh. If you are successful at temporarily gaining network access, you’ll lose it as soon as TMSI is refreshed (happens often). The TMSI refresh is a normal, regular action on the network (it’s actually intended to protect you).”  If  you still want to try it here is the video and the steps to do it yourself.

1. Put in your original carrier AT&T SIM card
2. Dial 611 for AT&T customer service hotline.
3. End the call
4. Turn on Airplane Mode
5. Take out your AT&T SIM card
6. Put in your T-Mobile SIM card (It has to be cut to fit your iPhone 4S)
7. Turn off WiFi  and make sure each one is set to Forget this Network.
8. Switch off Airplane Mode and iPhone will search for network. This is followed by the Apple splash screen appearing.
9. You will see an “activation required” on the screen
10. EDGE network will activate automatically
11. Give it 30 Seconds then turn off the phone
12. Turn on iPhone. You will see the same Activation Required screen as before
13. Click on Use Cellular Connection
14. Take out the T-Mobile SIM card
15. You will see the Activation Required again
16. Put back in your T-Mobile SIM card
17. You now have a iPhone 4S that is unlocked

BlackBerry has been going downhill for awhile now. It’s new low being, dethrone as top smart phone in the Enterprise workspace

BlackBerry has been going downhill for some time now. The two headed CEO leadership just keeps saying everything is alright. We are still “King of the World” like they can’t see what everyone else sees. The near death of a once untouchable market leader. The service interruption might have been the last straw that pushed users and businesses over the edge. The timing could not have been better for other phone manufacturers looking to take a bite out of the enterprise space.

The release of iPhone’s are always a big deal for everyone this time around. Many Telecom, IT and just people who are forced to carry a BlackBerry thought long and hard this time around about making the switch. It seem to have worked. According to a report by iPass you might see an iPhone around the office more than you see a BlackBerry. Truth be told I see more and more of them everyday in the office. Most people where I an issued BlackBerry and a person iPhone on their hips gunslinger style. What the Mobile Workforce Report from research firm iPass is saying is that people are now actually being issued iPhones instead of a Blackberry.

The report states 45% of the enterprise workforce carries an iPhone, up from 31.1% last year. BlackBerry market share has only 32% Android’s market share doubled year over year to surpass Symbian. I tend to take Android numbers with a grain of salt since everyone and their mother makes a phone for the platform. Nevertheless they have 21% share of the enterprise smartphone market. So they soon as next year could pass BlackBerry as well since only 2.3% of workers have plans to buy a BlackBerry next year.

The iPass study also shows that found a number of other compelling tidbits: 40% of mobile workers would feel disoriented if they didn’t have a smartphone for a week. I feel that way if missing my iPhone for an hour. The iPass study was based on a survey of more than 2,300 workers around the world. Feel free to read the report at iPass. Note that it is a PDF.

Modern Warfare 3 sold 12.3 million copies for a profit of $738 million in a week?

Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series has once again broken media records. The best part about the 3rd installment is that the records it broke were established by its predecessor.
Last week it sold 6.5 million copies of the game for a profit of $400 million during its launch weekend alone. That was a new a sales record.

It did not stop there for the hot FPS. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is now the fastest-selling video game in history. Even the beloved Grand Theft Auto did not sell this well. In just one week on the market Modern Warfare to sold a ridicules 12.3 million copies. That easily makes it the biggest launch of all time in volume. In terms of cash that one week is estimated to be $738 million in revenue for Activision.

The game was released to every system at $60 a pop. Leading all sales was the Xbox 360 version of the game with over 7 million copies sold. The PS3 sold 4.8 million copies the Wii and the PC had the rest of the sales. Side note: Who would why this game on a non HD, limited control Wii? The 7 million copies sold on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is a new sales record for game on one single system. The record had belonged to Call of Duty: Black Ops that had sold 5.8 million.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a great game that actully lives up to the hype. Its a must buy for anyone.

Review Week: Photogene²

Photogene² for iPhone is nothing like its predecessor except when you compare the quality. That is still there. The app has been completely updated from scratch. As an avid user of the older app, the first thing that stuck me was the speed. Edits seemingly happen in near instant real time.

Photogene² is not also one of the best photo editors in the AppStore but also one great camera. The stabilizer feature will make it hard for you to go back to the iPhone’s stock camera app. If can also just import photos from your library if needed.

Your albums will be neatly separated into alphabetical thumbnail stacks. You can pick the thumbnail size that works best for you. The options are small, medium, and large. I recommend the small size so that you can get a better view of everything you have.

If you take pictures, you can use flash, Shutter, Stabilizer, FaceTime view (front-facing camera). There are filters galore. You will be able to see the preview of any filter before making it permanent. Over all this a great app that should be firmly placed on your home page.

Pro: There are so many photo editing apps out there that it is hard to find one that stands out. One that lacks any issues. A photo editing app that is simple to use, yet has enough features to keep you using it everyday. This app is above and beyond anything else out there.

Con: The only way this app could be better is if it also did video. Than it would not only be the must have iPhone photo editing app but also give video apps a run too. The interface is so nice that it sometimes distracting.

Cost: $4.99

Aye/Nay: This is a Aye. This app is like nothing that I have used before. Its ability to upload your pictures to social networks as well as Flickr is an extra bonus. Photogene² stands above the rest. $5 is worth it.

iTunes Link: Photogene²

A game within MindCraft? Gemception: Gem Collector

Minecraft mods are everywhere. This one however takes the cake. It’s a full Nintendo game completely inside Minecraft.
The creators of this great work are Rezz and Psycho_ewt of Theorycrafting.

Gemception: Gem Collector uses two screens, an NES controller, and tracks a player’s health. Keep in mind this is all done inside Mindcraft.

iTunes Match & iTunes 10.5.1 Beta 3

Apple has released iTunes 10.5.1 to developers. Apple says, “iTunes 10.5.1 beta 3 includes a number of important stability and performance improvements for iTunes Match, and is a required update for all subscribers to iTunes Match beta.”

I am happy that the update is being released but I’m getting tired of having to upload my music each time. iTunes Match libraries are wiped to prepare for each launch of iTunes Match beta or not. It’s been less than two weeks since the release of the last beta; iTunes 10.5.1 beta 2.

Once the service goes live to the public, users who pay US$24.99 per year will have access to all of their music, anywhere, and anytime. It’s worth the price, although they need a search feature ASAP.