FierceUgly.com

Did you know the speaker on the right isn’t a speaker?  It’s actually the microphone.

Apple – iPhone – New features in the iPhone 3.0 Software Update.

Well, here it is June 17th 9:15am CST and no 3.0 software yet.  What’s up with that?  I would have thought it would have been released at 12:01am PST at the very least.  Now I am going to have to sit here all day hitting the check for update button in iTunes.  For goodness sake, let’s get this party started!

Oh. My. God.

Apple has apologised for a “deeply offensive” iPhone application called Baby Shaker, which made a game of quieting crying babies by shaking them.

It removed the $0.99 (£0.59) game from its iTunes Store on Wednesday, two days after it went on sale.

It sparked outrage from children’s groups and brain injury foundations.

The aim of the game was to quiet babies by shaking the iPhone until a pair of thick red Xs appeared over each eye of a baby drawn in black-and-white.

Full story here.

This is way over the line. I’m all for a nice controversial game… if you never played Sock & Awe, the infamous flash game in which you fling shoes at old Dubya, I highly recommend it. Of course Bush supporters were offended, but who cares about them, right? Besides, there are two sides to political issues. Some are for the issue, and some against.

There are no two sides here. I’ve never heard of a group that defends the shaking of infants as a suitable disciplinary technique. It’s universally agreed that shaking the hell out of a crying baby is despicable and damaging.

If the inventor of this app was going for funny, they missed the mark in a major way. Only psychos would find this game amusing, and it’s not likely that sociopaths make up a large part of Apple’s consumer base. This game was sure to offend everyone who came across it. Not a very smart move in regards to public relations.

The game was taken down from the iTunes site a mere two days after making its debut, and public apologies were made, but I have to wonder if irreversible damage has been done. I also wonder how the bloody hell this app got past the approval department. I have a feeling someone’s getting fired, and rightfully so.

How To Play/Listen To Video Podcasts In The Background On An iPhone – Erik Vold’s Blog.

Starting yesterday one of my favorite podcasts, BuzzOutLoud began to include video in their podcast RSS itunes.  I do enjoy watching the video however often when I travel I like to listen while using another app on my iphone.  Unfortunately the iphone does not work like the old iPod Classic where you could select the video as audio only.

I asked google what I should do and came across this wonderful work around on Erik Vold’s site.

7 Step Solution/Tip/Trick/Run Around

1. Open the “iPod” app
2. Play a video podcast in the “podcasts” section of the “iPod” app.
3. Press the home button, which exits the “iPod” app, returning you to the home screen.
4. Turn off the screen.
5. Double press the home button.
6. Press play.
7. Unlock the screen.
8. Now the video’s audio should be playing in the background, and you should be at the home screen where you can select an app.

Tasty Blog Snack – iPhone 3.0 Software!.

And there you have it:

• COPY AND PASTE!!!! You double tap on a piece of text and it will automatically place a bubble above it with the option to cut, copy or paste the current selection. To bring up the paste option, you just have to double tap again. To make a bigger selection of text, double tap and then drag where you’d like the text to end. You can also drag this text around. To undo a paste, just shake your phone!

• You can now send more than one photo by copying and pasting them into the Mail app.
• Use landscape (wide keyboard mode) in applications SMS, notepad, mail etc.
• New message app supports MMS! (Really, it’s about time) Send and received photos through the network.
• Voice memos that you can record edit, share and email directly from the app
• New calendar support! gcal! Subscriptions, .ics format, exchange
• Stock app added news and more details.
• SEARCH IN MAIL!!! finally! ..and other applications: Contacts, notes, calendar, iPod
• New Spotlight home screen that will let you search all of your applications.
• YouTube improvements!! ratings, subscriptions and profiles!
• Notes sync with iTunes, Shake to shuffle, WiFi auto-login, Stereo Bluetooth, parental controls, call log, iTunes account creation, anti-phishing, meeting invitations and more.