Ars Technica Reviews Gelskins for the iPhone

Is it me or are girls obsessed with dressing up their iPods and iPhones? I think the iPhone looks best without any skins or cases whatsoever, but that's just me. I also like my women like that too.

Link to review.

Wired's Latest Article on Apple

Wired has just posted online their latest look at Apple, "How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong." The author, editor Leander Kahne, has a new book coming out in a few weeks, Inside Steve's Brain. The article is worth a read, if not entirely accurate. And check out some commentary around the web.

Video: iPhone Compared Side by Side to Chinese HiPhone

12 Future iPhone Apps from Read Write Web

Is it just me, or are these the most boring dream apps imaginable? Read.

Dial By Photo

Cool video of an app I hope can be ported over to the SDK.

Possible Scenario for "No Background Processes" VoIP Problem With iPhone

In my previous post, I pointed out the problems of using VoIP on the iPhone as a secondary phone at home. The application would be severely limited for incoming calls because of the "no applications running in the background" rule. If someone calls my VoIP, my iPhone won't "ring" unless only the VoIP program running on my iPhone (will it run in sleep mode?). That is not a feasible solution. One possible scenario is that the VoIP software running on a computer in my home sends a text message to my iPhone saying so and so at this number is trying to call, please launch the VoIP app. Although, by the time the text message arrives, the person would probably have hung up. However, the phone number would still be there.

A better solution would involve Apple adding notifications between a home computer and an iPhone. So in this scenario, the VoIP program is running on my computer and notifies iTunes a call is coming in. iTunes, in turn, notifies my iPhone, and my iPhone asks if I want to launch the associated VoIP app. These types of notifications are not possible yet, but something that Apple could easily implement. Notifications could be expanded for email alerts, iChat messages, and even severe weather alerts.

iPhone SDK: Programs Won't Run in the Background

Silicon Alley Insider and others are throwing a little cold water on the iPhone SDK by pointing out a very important limitation of the SDK:

"Only one iPhone application can run at a time, and third-party applications never run in the background. This means that when users switch to another application, answer the phone, or check their email, the application they were using quits. (p. 16)"

That is really bad news. That means my dream VoIP scenario of receiving calls at home won't work because I'd always have to launch the program and keep it open while at home--too much of a bother.

Read. Silicon Alley Insider.
Read. TechCrunch.