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

Ars Technica reported yesterday on the approval of Knocking Live Video [App Store, Free], which was notable for the apparent personal intervention of Apple CEO Steve Jobs after the iPhone-to-iPhone video streaming application was initially denied. Jobs' interest in the case appears to have been sparked by an e-mail sent to him by the developer after the application was rejected for relying on...

Consumer Reports today released its most recent survey of more than 50,000 readers that found only 54 percent of respondents were completely or very satisfied with their cell-phone service (regardless of network). In a press release Consumer Reports notes that despite smarter phones, more flexible plans, and faster wireless networks, cell service continues to be among the lower-rated of all the...

Israeli firm fringland, one of the earliest VoIP services for the iPhone and iPod touch, has announced the launch of video calling for the iPhone and iPod touch. The feature is included in the latest version of the company's fring iPhone application [App Store, Free]. Unfortunately, because the iPhone's camera is on the rear of the device, only one-way incoming video calls are possible,...

Adobe today announced that its popular Photoshop.com Mobile iPhone application [App Store, Free] is now available in all countries with an App Store. After spending three weeks as the "Top Free" app in the iTunes Store following its release in the US & Canada, we are glad to be able to offer Photoshop.com Mobile to our global community, and we thank everyone for their patience as we worked to make ...

eBay today announced the release of eBay Deals [App Store, Free], a new iPhone application highlighting the best bargains available on the popular auction site. The new eBay Deals app for iPhone presents a constantly changing view of deals across ebay.com, highlighting must-have products in popular categories, such as apparel and games; all listings in the eBay Deals app have less than four...

Earlier this month, we mentioned Rogue Amoeba's run-in with Apple over the use of "Apple-owned" images in Rogue Amoeba's Airfoil Speakers Touch [App Store, Free] iPhone application. The incident involved an over-three-month App Store review process for an update to the application that was held up due to the inclusion of the Apple-owned images, despite Rogue Amoeba's assertion that the images...

iPhonAsia reports on an article [Google translation] from Chinese web portal Sina.com noting that a number of retailers that had reached agreements with China Unicom to offer the iPhone there have received threatening letters from rival China Mobile warning them that offering the iPhone is not permitted. Many cell phone distributors received formal notification that "Selling iPhones is not...

Virgin Mobile Canada issued a brief announcement yesterday revealing that it will begin offering the iPhone there in the near future. Virgin Mobile Canada will launch iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in Virgin Mobile Retail Stores and online in Canada in the coming months. For more information on iPhone, please visit www.apple.com/iphone.Rogers Wireless had been the exclusive iPhone carrier in Canada...

Earlier this week, an updated version of TomTom's GPS navigation application appeared in the App Store, and among the major changes included with the update was compatibility with the original iPhone and all generations of the iPod touch. The iPod touch, however, does not offer built-in GPS and must thus be paired with an external GPS receiver in order to function. TomTom offers such a car kit...

Google today announced that it has rolled out mobile-formatted Google News pages for iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre users. The feature complements similar existing pages for Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and S60 platforms. This new version provides the same richness and personalization on your phone as Google News provides on desktop. Our new homepage displays more stories, sources, and images...

Version 1.2 of TomTom U.S. & Canada [App Store, $99.99], submitted last week, has gone live in the App Store, bringing text-to-speech, lane guidance and a number of other new features to the popular GPS navigation application. Similar updates for a number of other international versions of the application have also begun appearing. One other important feature of note is the addition of...

AFP reports that China Mobile, the largest mobile phone provider in China, is continuing to work with Apple on bringing the iPhone to the carrier's network. "We really are still in talks with Apple...In our negotiations in the past, we insisted on sticking to our conditions," company chairman Wang Jianzhou told reporters on the sidelines of a regional mobile phone conference in Hong Kong. "We...

Reuters reports that the iPhone has gained final regulatory approval in South Korea, paving the way for a release there in the very near future. Korea Communications Commission said in a statement on Wednesday it would grant Apple's South Korean unit a licence that allows collecting information on locations and provide services such as map, phone locating and related marketing.Exactly when the...

Mobile advertising firm AdMob today announced that it is launching interactive video advertising for the iPhone and iPod touch. The ads, which will be available as either auto-play or click-to-play implementations, will begin appearing in a limited number of top App Store applications. For the first time, mobile video is truly interactive as weve included customizable in-player action buttons...

Apple today posted two new iPhone commercials to its ad gallery and also began airing them on prime-time television. The commercials each continue Apple's recent theme of highlighting six App Store applications in quick succession and each touts that there are now over 100,000 applications available on the App Store. Song - Jamie Oliver's 20 Minute Meals [App Store, $7.99] - Credit Card...

Google today announced that it has issued an update to Google Earth [App Store, Free] the companion iPhone and iPod touch application to the company's desktop application offering virtual globe and other geographic information. Among the biggest changes in Version 2.0 of Google Earth is the ability to view custom maps stored in the "My Maps" section of users' Google Maps accounts. By logging in ...

Turn-by-turn GPS navigation applications for the iPhone have been a significant topic of interest since the release of iPhone OS 3.0 earlier this year enabled their deployment, and yet another of the major standalone GPS device companies has finally jumped on board. Magellan RoadMate 2010 North America [App Store, $79.99 for a limited time] appeared in the App Store over the weekend, bringing...

In yet another example of a high-profile developer team stepping back from Apple's App Store, Rogue Amoeba today announced in a lengthy blog post that it will no longer develop applications for the iPhone following an extended run-in with App Store reviewers over a bug fix update to the company's Airfoil Speakers Touch application. The application allows users to stream any audio content from a...