MacRumors iPhone and iPad Blog: Apps, News, and Rumors

AT&T today announced the completion of a project to enhance performance of its much-maligned 3G network in Manhattan and other areas of New York City. As a result of this upgrade, customers in these areas are expected to experience improved 3G wireless voice and data connectivity and performance, especially during peak hours. The network enhancement includes the addition of new layers of...

Blendtec has pulled out all the stops in its latest installment of "Will It Blend?", offering a complete backstory leading up to the inevitable blending of Apple's new iPhone 4. You can probably guess the result. Earlier installments: - Will the iPhone Blend? - Will it Blend? iPhone 3G Edition - Apple's iPad: Will It Blend?...

Primate Labs, the company behind the popular Geekbench benchmarking application for a number of operating systems, has now come to the App Store with the release of Geekbench 2. Compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch, Geekbench 2 utilizes the same benchmarks as those used on other platforms. What's great about Geekbench 2 for iPhone is that it runs the same benchmarks as Geekbench 2 for...

Microsoft has released Windows Live Messenger for the iPhone and iPod touch, bringing an integrated environment for accessing the company' social services. The free application also offers users integrated access to their Hotmail accounts with the ability to read, reply, and compose directly in the application. Chat: Instant message with your Windows Live Messenger and Y! Messenger contacts...

Yesterday, we noted that electronics retail chain RadioShack will be carrying the iPhone 4 at launch in the United States. A few hours later, Engadget reported that Best Buy too will be ready for launch day with at least 45 iPhones per store available for sale. We just got word from one of our trusted sources that Best Buy will indeed have the newfangled phone at launch, and even better, we've...

According to RadioShack's official Twitter account, the electronics chain will be carrying iPhone 4 as of its U.S. launch on June 24th. YES! RadioShack will have #iPhone4 at launch. More info tomorrow.In another tweet several hours ago, the company also revealed that, similar to Apple's own iPhone 4 ordering system, RadioShack will begin taking pre-orders for the new iPhone on Tuesday, June 15th. JU...

Highlighted during yesterday's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, Guitar Hero is now available in the App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. Rock out with these features anytime, anywhere: - Dont just tap... Tap, Strum, Whammy, and Slide with gameplay customized for each song - Show off your personal style by customizing your own full 3D rockstar, and use the Photo Booth to share...

With today's introduction of iPhone 4, Apple now finds itself with existing stock of the 16 GB and 32 GB iPhone 3GS models. Consequently, the company has dropped prices on those discontinued models to $149 for the 16 GB model and $199 for the 32 GB model. Prices are valid with a new two-year agreement with AT&T. Apple's online stores ran dry of the low-end 8 GB iPhone 3G several weeks ago, ...

ReadWriteWeb reports that a Google project manager has confirmed that the company's Google Goggles application currently available only on its Android platform will be coming "soon" to the iPhone. Google Goggles allows mobile users to take pictures of objects and have the content automatically identified for them. When asked about an iPhone version of the app during the Q&A after his...

Mozilla yesterday announced that it is preparing to launch an iPhone application called "Firefox Home" that will offer users the ability to sync their Firefox browsing history, bookmarks, and tabs from their most recent browser session on other platforms. The application also provides "Awesome Bar" compatibility, allowing users to access favorite websites with a minimum of typing. Firefox Home...

AT&T today announced that it is rolling out a large new Wi-Fi hotspot in New York City's busy Times Square, offering users of the company's congested cellular networks a new option for routing traffic in the area. AT&T today announced the launch of an AT&T Wi-Fi "hotzone" in New York City's bustling Times Square, providing coverage for many AT&T customers visiting and residing in New York who...

In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Pac-Man, Google has released a playable Pac-Man game "doodle" on their front page in place of their traditional logo. Written in Javascript, the game is playable on iPhone OS devices (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) using swipe gestures. iPhone and iPod Touch users may need to switch over to "classic" from "mobile" (located at the bottom of the...

App Advice notes that Tweetie 2 has disappeared from the App Store, suggesting that a release of the official Twitter iPhone application may be right around the corner. Twitter last month acquired Tweetie and has been planning to rebrand it as the company's official Twitter application. At the time of its acquisition, the application was updated with an easter egg announcing the forthcoming ...

Reuters reports that British bank Standard Chartered is offering more communication options to its global team of bankers, moving away from BlackBerry as the sole smartphone approved for use by the company to allow bankers to adopt the iPhone as their platform for mobile business tasks. Standard Chartered bankers in Asia told Reuters that the London-based lender was giving its corporate Blackberry ...

A new survey from ChangeWave Research reveals that the firm's business-focused survey base is seeing the highest percentage of dropped calls (4.5%) on AT&T, easily exceeding performance leader Verizon (1.5%), as well as Sprint (2.4%) and T-Mobile (2.8%). Not only is AT&T trailing the other major U.S. carriers, but the poor performance is part of a trend of increasing drop calls against the...

IDG News Service reports that Chinese regulators have approved the required frequency ranges for a new iPhone offering the Chinese version of Wi-Fi, a feature the device has lacked since its launch there last October. Chinese regulators last month approved the frequency ranges used by a new Apple mobile phone with 3G and wireless LAN support, the Web site of China's State Radio Monitoring Center ...

Streaming music service Rhapsody yesterday announced that it has added downloadable playlists to its iPhone application, allowing users to cache songs for playing while not connected to wireless or cellular networks. Here's how it works: say you've built the perfect road-trip playlist (mine includes all of Sheryl Crow's Tuesday Night Music Club, a bunch of Joe Strummer and Clash songs, plus a...

They frequently comes in threes, and after the release of two new iPhone ads earlier this week, it's no surprise that a third one has now been posted to Apple's iPhone ad gallery. The new commercial, entitled 'Family Man', shows how various members of a family can use the iPhone's apps for their individual needs. Highlighted apps include: - Photos (Built-in) - App Store (Built-in) - 20...