Tag: Rumor »

Thus far video game retailer GameStop has stayed out of the Apple market in general and iOS sales in particular. That appears to be changing, though, as a picture of the store's inventory system shows a new entry for iPod trade-ins. As of right now there are no listed prices for the devices, but it seems that GameStop will soon be set to accept everything from Shuffles to Touches for cash or store credit.

If true, then this will be quite a surprising development seeing as how the chain doesn't currently deal in Apple products. While GameStop once accepted PC games and DVD movies for trades, the company slimmed down its policy a few years ago to only focus on console games. This would indeed be a strange reversal of fortune.

There is some speculation that GameStop may begin selling iPod Touches, marketed as handheld gaming systems, but that seems unlikely. The store derives most of its profits from used game sales and another big chunk from new software. Selling a piece of hardware where all content is delivered digitally and directly to the consumer seems like a bad business move for GameStop, which thrives on being the middle-man between publishers and consumers. The store hates the very idea of digital distribution, so why would it want to take a small cut of hardware sales with no future earnings potential?

The more likely scenario is that the chain is prepping for some sort of holiday promotion which will give customers hard up for cash another opportunity to earn a bit more credit toward the season's hottest games. We're expecting a trial run for the holidays, with performance dictating whether or not the company makes accepting iPods a standing policy.

So far neither GameStop nor Apple has commented on the rumors, so we're forced to wait and wonder. In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Would you trade your iPod in at GameStop, or are you worried that given the chain's questionable pricing of used games that you'd only get ripped off?

[via Kotaku]

It is hard to argue that Google Voice isn't one of the most useful web based creations since the email.  Okay, maybe that is going a bit too far, but you would be hard pressed to find a bigger innovation over the last couple of years.  Integrating the use of free voice mail, call dictation, and even VoIP functionality, Google has once again redefined an area of our lives that never seemed necessary at the time, but now we couldn't live without.

For those of you who have been heavily involved in the iOS development scene, you may remember a little legal brewhaha involving Apple blocking publication of a Google developed Voice app, back in July of last year.  It was a very messy situation that ended up involving the FCC having to step in, and at the end yielding nothing more than upholding Apples right to deny the app publication.

Bitter conflict that require a mediator are usually something that is hard to leave in the past, but TechCrunch has a source close to the situation reporting that not only have the proverbial fences been mended, but Apple has ALREADY approved a working version of the Google Voice app for iPhone.  But if it has already been approved, why is it not already in the App Store, you ask?  The story goes on to say that Google is currently holding up on the release, while they work on optimizing the software to be iOS 4.0 compatible.

If this is actually the case, I have to imagine that this will open the floodgates of applications that have denied in the past taking a second (or third, or fourth...) go at submitting to the App approval board.  This is a fairly unprecedented turn of events that may provide a glimpse into the future of a more open App Store.  I can only hope this is the case, because if that happens, the consumers always benefit.

Update: 4/19: Gizmodo got the good and has spent some time with this found device. They are now convinced that it's real. And so am I. Check the bottom of the article for more details.

Something very odd happened over the weekend. The next iPhone was spotted. Then it was debunked. Then it was confirmed. And now, we're all confused.

Let's get caught up. Fasten your seat belts, this is a wild one.

On Saturday, Engadget posted some photos of what was reported to be a prototype iPhone. The phone was supposedly found on the floor of a San Jose bar, in an iPhone 3G case. The person that found it sent some blurry (why are they always blurry?) photos of it to Engadget hoping to get a little more money out of them for an in person inspection of the device. How they thought that they would be able to get together with Engadget before Apple's army of lawyers found them, I don't know.

Taking a look at the photos, they look about right. All of the buttons are in the right place, check. Home button looks exactly the same. On the bottom, the speaker and microphone look the same. And it looks like a typical Apple dock connector on the bottom.

The phone had, at one time, powered on and worked. It reportedly ran an OS that was decidedly different from the iPhone OS. But now, supposedly the phone no longer powered on. Odd.

After looking at them, most considered these photos (like the one to the right), a fake. A very good fake, probably a Chinese made knock-off, but a fake.

Read on for even more on this -- is it the next iPhone?

Last week, I was lucky enough to receive a Slingbox and an ad-hoc copy of the latest build of the Slingbox iPhone app for review purposes. While I won't be able to release a review of the app until it goes live, I'm thoroughly impressed.

Today, all over the internet there has been "an unconfirmed tip from a source close to Apple’s approval processes" claiming that the app had in fact been denied due to pressure from AT&T. The app is slated to allow use over 3G and WiFi, meaning that it would in fact be a bandwidth burden for AT&T, but considering the app already exists on the BlackBerry and Windows Mobile phones which AT&T sure carries a few of, there's no reason to believe this rumor to be true (even BGR agree's!)