Sprint Raises Upload Speed; iPhone Confirmed In the Works For Sprint

In days like what we have when carriers are cutting back on data access like AT&T and Verizon or T-Mobile messing around with what "unlimited" means, Sprint seems to be going the other direction for the moment.  "Unlimited" does appear to be unlimited and now, they're doing even one better.

Starting today, upload speed will reach 1.5Mbps up from 1Mbps.  

This is definitely something to consider going forward for those not happy with the artificial limitations carriers play on our mobile needs i the name of financial games.

More at Phandroid.

Note: Of interest is that there is evidence Apple is working on a Sprint version of the iPhone.  WiMax?  Don't know.  This is confirmed but it's also one of those things Apple do that might never see the light of day. 

iTunes Match Is Music To Labels' Ears But Some Pirates Have Issues With It

It's said that iTunes Match is a great way for music labels and publishers to recoup some money lost from pirated music.  For the monent, let's say that's true.  It also means that some music sharing folks, pirates to some, have issues with Apple's new "one more thing".

They argue that Apple, after matching the music, ends up owning all the data.  One day, music listeners will no longer own any music of their own.  Certainly, I see that things leading into that direction.  

After all, I had thought that with iCloud and iTunes Match, Apple can release a less expensive iPhone with smaller data storage to keep the cost down.  Both of these services would be geared towards this market.  And in this Forbes post, some music execs believe that iTunes Match will eventually head to subscriptions for iOS users and propagate to to other mobile platforms.

I don't know if we're quite there yet or if we ever will be.  Apple has been a staunch defender of music downloads and ownership. I don't see that ever change as long as Steve Jobs or the current crop of executives are still there.

Still, maybe iTunes Match is a bigger deal than I thought if Pirate Bay isn't too happy with it. 

More at Forbes.

FaceTime Over 3G Coming To iOS 5 - But Probably Not All Carriers

If you live in a country, not the US, where carriers are more liberal with their 3G connection and you have an iPhone 4, got some great news for you. FaceTime over 3G is enabled.

Here's a video from 9to5mac that shows it working. I run my iPad and iPod touch off a Clearwire iSpot over WiMax and let me tell you, being able to FaceTime and not be tethered to a WiFi router is awesome.

FaceTime was meant for that kind of use. Unfortunately, that has been been possible in the year since the iPhone 4 came out in the US. See, ATT and Verizon Wireless doesn't allow it.

So, we'll see if the next iPhone comes out for Sprint and T-Mobile and if they're more likely to allow FaceTime over 3G than their bigger US competitors.



Finished watching the video? Awesome, isn't it?

More at 9to5mac.

Apple Untethered iOS Devices At the Right Time

Many folks have been clamoring for Apple to provide wireless sync and other updates via the air or cloud as far back as iPhone 3G.  Until Monday with iCloud, Apple has never talked about it once.  And the timing of it could have not been any better.

First, MobileMe, to summarize Steve Jobs, was a disaster.  And I hope with iCloud, things will change.  We'll know soon enough.

Second, I believe Apple's mobile strategy is near completion.  Sure, we won't be able to stream our music even after Apple has match what's in our music library to what is on the cloud but most people blame dismal state of our cellular Internet than on Apple's unwillingness to do that.  

And lastly, today, Gartner released some pretty bad PC numbers and they attribute it to the iPad.  In fact, they don't mention "post-PC" the way Apple execs do but the writing is there  And they don't give iPad the whole credit but let's face it, the whole tablet market is the iPad.  I don't think I'm going out on a limb here to say that 8 out of 10 people are buying Apple's tablets.

This past point in important.  Consumers are buying iPads instead of laptops or netbooks.  And without a PC at home, there is no way to activate their iOS gears.  We still cannot do it.  However, once iOS 5 is released in the fall, we'll truly enter a post-PC era.

And as PC growth continue to slow or contract in some market, Apple untethering the iPad, iPhone, or the iPod touch could not have come at a better time.  Now, just take your new Apple gear home, charge it up and start using it.

Facebook's Lackadaisical Attitude Towards Privacy Reason It's Not A Part of iOS Like Twitter Is

Apple and Facebook supposedly had a falling out over Ping.  It was probably why Ping launched without the rumored ability for users to tie it into Facebook.  It was over some API stuff but I think I know the deeper reason why Facebook was not a part of Ping. And it's the same reason why Twitter is a part of iOS 5 but not Facebook.  It has nothing to do with personality clashes.

A few months back when Apple announced its subscription plans, publishers were upset.  Most people wrongly thought it was over the 30% cut that Apple wanted from each subscription iOS user bought.  Rather, it was the private user information lockdown that Apple instituted that publishers had no access to.  It was about the publishers' inability to resell or exploit the user information.  While it would be scary for a company like Apple to have such a fast database on its users all to itself, Apple has so far not demonstrated that they will give out that information to others the way Google, Facebook, and publishers have.

I think Facebook isn't a part of iOS and never will be until its policies regarding privacy changes.  Now, you might way that Twitter can turn around and sell our tweets.  Well, our tweets are searching by Bing and Google already.  That information is already public.  Anyone knows that I tweet about mobile tech, green tech, and sometimes politics.  It is not big secret.

In a big way, I'm glad Facebook does not live keep within iPhone and iPad.  And I hope Apple will never allow that to ever happen.

With Lion And iOS 5, Apple Still At Snail's Pace With Social Strategy

We know by now that Apple is allowing Twitter to ride shotgun on the iOS platform and Ping is likely going to get shown the door.  But it's hard to see just what Apple has planned for its social plays.  While I had hoped to hear something more substantive from Apple regarding social networks, it appears Apple will take its time.  After all, Google has throw effort after effort against Facebook and nothing has stick so far.

Here's what we know right now beyond Twitter.  We know that Game Center will gain more social features.  Turn-based support is added as is icons.  I thought I heard support for messaging is added but I can't find that anywhere on Apple's iOS 5 website.

Also, iMessage will bring messaging to iOS users.  This is a big play.  A very big play in fact.  Analysts are talking about Apple killing of SMS plans or RIM but it could be the foundation for something more.  Should Twitter piss Apple off in any way, iMessage may step in someday.  

And while this may not see like it, iOS devices are not PC-free.  Get an iOS capable device like the iPod touch, activate it without first having to go home and hook it up to your home computer, and you're mobile.  

Also, notification enhancements in iOS should also serve as a good foundation for future social network endeavors.  It can display stocks, messages, and even weather information.  I'm sure Apple can easily add more capabilities in future improvements.  

So far, there doesn't seem to be anything that ties all of the separate features with social potentials together.  Could it be iCloud?  Maybe. So far, we know about the six main iCloud apps Steve Jobs introduced on Monday's WWDC keynote event but I walked away thinking there are a few things about it that they were not ready to share with the world just yet.  Regardless, I don't know about you but I'm pretty excited right about now for iOS 6 and iOS 7 to see what social apps and functions Apple come up with.

As for Lion, well, a few podcasts I listened to today mentioned that it stands to gain from missing iOS 5 features.  Well, like Steve Jobs has said when they first showed us Lion months back, they've learned quite a few things from iOS like Mission Control.  So while we won't see notification, iMessage, or deeper Twitter in Lion, we probably will see more iOS features.  

iOS 5 References iPad 3 and Next iPhone

This isn't a rumor but a fact: iOS 5 has references to unreleased iPads and iPhones.  Now, take a deep breath.  We always knew that newer hardware is coming.  It's a fact of life.  Apple will always be upgrading and planning ahead.

Earlier, I mentioned that we can look at iOS 5 API for clues to any mentioned features like voice control or mobile payment.  I did not think hardware could so easily be found.  What does this all mean?

Nothing at the moment.  Steve Jobs has said that 2011 will be year of iPad 2.  And by the time iOS 5 is finally released this fall, the iPhone 4 will be 15-16 months old.  So, safe bet is that we'll see an updated iPhone before iPad 3.  

More at Macrumors.