A brand new application that is out on the iPhone via iTunes is called “Mark the Spot“.   We’ve talked about how poor 3g coverage is in the Austin area before.

Now with this new App you can mark exactly where you’re having piss poor coverage and report it to AT&T.

This app is simple but smart — it provides useful data to AT&T while giving customers an outlet for venting about their hatred for AT&T and how they wished the iPhone was on Verizon. Still, it may be too little, too late.

Exactly.  I doubt it will turn things around for them though.

If you remember way back when I had an interesting conversation over chat with an AT&T representative where they prove they really can’t do anything.

Today we present to you, the customer and the agent that would like to hang themselves.

Want Turn by Turn on your iPhone from ATT?

Try paying $9/month! For an application.  Lets see, I pay for the data plan, the 450 minutes phone plan, and then cause SMS is not considered data…(go figure) I pay for unlimited SMS which comes out to about 100 bucks a month.  Now you’re telling me you’re going to sell an application and charge a montly fee of nearly 10 bucks a month?!  Screw you AT&T.

For non 3gs phones only you can now jailbreak your iphone. Check it out http://blog.iphone-dev.org/post/128573459/ultras-now . Ultrasn0w also lets you jump carriers.

Including wetwired’s own Prax. Someone asked “How can we be in a recession if people are standing in line to buy a new iphone?”. I replied.. “your tax dollars at work.”

In just under 2 hours we’ll find out if Apple is releasing a new phone and we’ll find out about when the new iPhone OS is being released.   I’ll update here with information as it comes available.

Prax has been testing the iPhone OS 3 for a couple months and has found that the 3g portion is more reliable and seems to work better than it did before.

Update Highlights:

New 15″ Macbook, 7hrs battery life.
Has SD card slot
$1699 price

Note: Apple store is down right now for updates.

Macbook 13″ is getting a professional upgrade starting at $1199

Software Updates:
New version of OSX Snow Leopard will have exchange support, updated finder
Reduced footprint after installing (6GB) I think part of this is them removing some of the legacy support.
Handwriting recognition for the trackpad. (That’s cool).
Safari 4
Coverflow to browsing history
64bit Leopard – all major apps will run 64bit (so faster right?)
Better Tread orgaization for multi-core CPU’s
Easier to put on a windows network
Wow ($29 upgrade for those on Leopard.  Now that’s nice).

iPhone3G

OS 3
Yay, cut and paste!
undo support (ye old cntl-z style)
Landscape mode for other typing apps (notepad or txt msg for instance)
MMS Support (take pics or video and send them)
ATT ready for MMS at end of Summer. That’s right, they need till then to think about getting it ready…(kinda like how 3g still sucks here in Austin.)
Tethering over USB no wireless hack that drains battery faster…but you can use bluetooth (me thinks ATT is not keen on this one)
“Find my iPhone” you can login to mobile me and it will show you where your phone is (GPS/Cell Technology). You can send a message to your phone if its in silent mode from mobile me login and it will play ie – if its under a counch.
Remote Wipe (you can wipe your personal data off the phone if its lost/stolen)

JUNE 17th OS 3.0 will be out.

Apps
GPS – TomTom navigation for iPhone
Including a iPhone TomTom kit – has a dock, window suction cup, charges iphone while docked
Zipcar (car sharing; kinda interesting, website is timing out right now).
Unlock zipcar from app
Star Defense
Airstrip Technologies (Monitor Patient Data on Devices)

New iPhone 3Gs
Faster! 2x faster than iPhone 3g for loading apps (faster processor on this guy now)
3MP auto-focus camera (its on the back not the front)
Macro Shots – better low-light scenario (it really needed that)
Video Capture
Voice Control (nice to have)
Digital Compass built in – turns maps to where you are standing direction wise.
Improved Battery Life
5hrs talk, 9hrs wifi internet

$199 for 16GB and $299 for the 32GB version

Dropping the cost of the 3g to $99 bucks.  And new iPhone 3Gs out on the 19th.

Wetwired is now iphone friendly to those browsing to the site on the iphone.  We’re using a wordpress plug-in that auto-formats the site to a special theme that has some cool features.  Anyway check it out if you have an iPhone.

So now that you know that apple has let skype develop an application for the iPhone that allows you to chat and receive calls. But..and there is a but here, you wouldn’t expect anything less would you? You can’t make phone calls over 3g.  If you have a wireless connection on your iPhone then you can make and receive skype calls without a hitch.   You think At&T would want you to not use your minutes and only use your data unlimited plan? Think again mon frere’.

From the Skype FAQ:

Can I use Skype over 3G?

Most 3G networks should support Skype presence and chat.  However, Skype calling is not possible via the iPhone. Please note that data usage costs apply for using Skype over 3G mobile networks, so we recommend an unlimited data plan.

That said, if you have wireless and want to call locally or internationally its not a bad deal because you won’t be using your minutes – its around $2/month for US nation wide.

Update: According to commenter (cleve) if you jailbreak and use the beta of  3.0 OS for iPhone you can use skype over 3g.  Check out the video here.  The question of course is will that actually last when they roll out with the non-beta version of customers.  I suspect not.

That’s right sports fans, the wait is over as there is a work around until Sirius / XM comes out with its official app.  Through the magic of a iphone application called Pocket Tunes Radio you may now listen to sirius streaming 128bit stations on your iphone.  If you were like me, you were very disheartened to hear about the nicemac application Starplayr that got dropped while it was still in beta.   At least now we have an immediate solution (note to XM subscribers, this is unfortuantly not a solution for you).

Below is the screenshot from pocket tunes website that explains how to do this:
http://www.normsoft.com/kb/idx/55/292/article/

Update: It works for XM as well.  http://www.normsoft.com/kb/idx/55/291/article/

Is anyone else bothered by the fact that the president is telling a CEO of GM to resign and he does it? Seriously.  I guess this goes with Geitners plan of taking over businesses that they deem “necessary” to the country.  So they’ll throw out the board, fire the CEO and then run it the way the government wants to run it…yeah, into the ground.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/29/news/companies/gm_bailout/index.htm

GM: Changes at the top

The administration officials were far more positive in their tone regarding the prospects for GM than for its smaller rival.

“We are very confident GM can survive and thrive as a company,” one official said, noting the company’s global reach, the strength of its research and development and the power of its various brands.

Nevertheless, significant changes are on the table.

One was the resignation of chief executive Wagoner, a 32-year veteran of the company who has served in the top post since 2000.

“On Friday I was in Washington for a meeting with administration officials. In the course of that meeting, they requested that I ’step aside’ as CEO of GM, and so I have,” Wagoner said in a statement posted to the GM Web site.

Wagoner will be replaced by GM’s chief operating officer, Fritz Henderson. Kent Kresa will serve as interim chairman.

“Having worked closely with Fritz for many years, I know that he is the ideal person to lead the company through the completion of our restructuring efforts. His knowledge of the global industry and the company are exceptional, and he has the intellect, energy, and support among GM’ers worldwide to succeed,” Wagoner said.

Something sounds fishy to me.  I mean I am not a fan of GM to begin with, but I am also not a fan of government control of businesses.

Apparently now you can’t use Miss or Mrs or Mister or Sir in language.   It’s not gender neutral as it offends female MEPs.  Yeah..you heard it.  From the same area that punishes people from defending their own property we get this.

The politically correct rules also mean a ban on Continental titles, such as Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein and Senora and Senorita.

Guidance issued in a new ‘Gender-Neutral Language’ pamphlet instead orders politicians to address female members by their full name only.

Officials have also ordered that ’sportsmen’ be called ‘athletes’, ’statesmen’ be referred to as ‘political leaders’ and even that ’synthetic’ or ‘artificial’ be used instead of ‘man-made’.

The guidance lists banned terms for describing professions, including fireman, air hostess, headmaster, policeman, salesman, manageress, cinema usherette and male nurse.

However MEPs are still allowed to refer to ‘midwives’ as there is no accepted male version of the job description.

The booklet also admits that “no gender-neutral term has been successfully proposed” to replace ‘waiter’ and ‘waitress’, allowing parliamentarians to use these words in a restaurant or café.

It has been circulated by Harold Romer, the parliament’s secretary general, to the 785 MEPs working in Brussels and Strasbourg.

Struan Stevenson, a Scottish Conservative MEP described the guidelines as “political correctness gone mad.”

He said: “We have seen the EU institutions try to ban the bagpipes and dictate the shape of bananas, but now they see determined to tell us which words we are entitled to use in our own language.”

Philip Bradbourn, another Conservative MEP, vowed to ignore the booklet, which he described as a “waste of taxpayers’ money” and called on Mr Romer to reveal its cost.

He added: “I will have no part of it. I will continue to use my own language and expressions, which I have used all my life, and will not be instructed by this institution or anyone else in these matters.”

Seven years ago, an attempt to amend noise laws came close to effectively outlawing bagpipes.

However, a number of bizarre EU rules remain in place, including a directive stating that every pair of rubber boots must be supplied with a user’s manual in 12 languages.

What the hell is an MEP anyway? Member of Europeon Parliment.

Did I tell you how much I love the Scottish?

Apple didn’t approve the StarPlayr. No details on why, but for now those of us wanting SiriusXM over the iPhone will have to wait while whatever details that need to be worked out are cleared by NiceMac.

In the interim, they’re saying the beta app will continue to work and that they will continue to pursue getting the software out there for all of us.

Still… shit. I REALLY wanted that app.

Out.

I’ve uploaded this app onto my phone, and so far it’s pretty nifty.

The tv.com app, released by Viacom, allows one to watch show clips and full episodes from many shows on CBS and Showtime. The app works well on wifi and 3G, but can be spotty on EDGE. I’ve used it a few times tonight, and it shows video pretty well through the streaming player software on the iPhone.

The downside is that not all shows are listed with full episodes yet, but more are coming. The upside, of course, is that the app is free.

You can pick it up here. Enjoy.

Out

I did this for a friend to point out a fact.  I know there are some exceptions, but on the whole if a chick comes up and talks about her guild and how they had a raid last night and killed a bunch of blah blah blah.. (I’m already bored cause I hate wow) needless to say the potential for her to be a rather large, anti-social, or basically unattractive person, grows.  The number of hours per day played is in direct correlation to the chicks hotness factor.

On a scale of 1-10 for hotness of a person 10 being super model hot and 1 being beaten severely with the ugly stick after falling out of the ugly tree vs the average number of hours per week playing WOW (excluding weekends).

My friend of course pointed out that he can name a whole bunch of really hot chicks that play World of Warcraft(WOW).  I then notated that there are some 22 million people playing WOW and most likley we’re looking at 1-2% that are the exceptions to the rule.  Felicia Day, for example, a very good looking actress and WOW player.  Now, we look at number of hours playing a day over the course of the week – lets say average hours that’s 2-3 hours a night which puts her at about a 7 on the hotness scale which is about right – she’s not a drop dead super model, but she’s also not someone you’d kick out of bed at night.  So again, the hotness scale doesn’t lie.  It’s similar to Barney Stinson’s Crazy/Hot scale where as the hotter she is the more crazy you are willing to put up with.

Along the same lines, this same scale can be applied to guys, so it’s not exclusive to women only.

Happiness Factory iPhone Wallpaper

You may have seen the iPhone wallpaper – and if you have been to the coke website you may have come across the ringtones that you can download if you play the games but they aren’t the jingle that is catchy.  I’ve captured the sound and put it into a ringtone here. It’s already in m4r format.  Get it while it’s hot..no telling how long it’ll be up.

Make sure you right click and choose save as…

Below is the sample i’ve placed in the old podcast style format to listen to.

 

 Sample Happiness Ringtone [0:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download