MacBlender

Is GTA 4 a murder simulator? Probably not, but any game based on Showtime’s Dexter damn well better be. According to a tweet by TV squad, a Dexter game is on its way to the iPhone and will be detailed later tonight at the Dexter Comic-con panel. Will we be able to use the iPhone’s accelerometer to bludgeon victims? Or cut up body parts by drawing them (with multiple fingertips) on the screen? Only time will tell—because Dexter himself surely won’t. [TVSquad]

From: Gizmodo: Apple

Gear Live has word that Apple is beta testing iPhone’s 2.1 firmware and will add more GPS functionality to the phone. Specifically, the core location functions will be able to track what direction you’re moving, and how fast (for turn-by-turn navigation, maybe?). Also worth noting is that iPhone SDK 2.1 is also seeding to beta testers, but cannot be used with the app store. [Gear Live]

From: Gizmodo: Apple

What could be greater than a lightsaber duel between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs? A lightsaber duel where YOU get to control one. We don’t want to spoil the little touches of the game, so hit the jump and see for yourself. We’ve already said too much.

[Current]

From: Gizmodo: Apple

These screens were released today by the developers of Installer.app showing Installer 4, the next version that will work with jailbroken iPhones running firmware 2.0. By the slick looks of it, it looks like they’re getting close. When it’s done, it will be multi-threaded (meaning everything doesn’t come to a halt while your sources are being updated) and support package dependencies as well. As you know, we can’t wait.

[RiP Dev Blog]

From: Gizmodo: Apple

If you were a Boy Scout at one time, you probably had a flashback after reading the words “Pinewood Derby.” For the uninitiated, the derby is a time honored tradition where Cub Scouts race small cars they construct from a block of wood, plastic wheels and some nails. As you can see, this particular car is expertly crafted into an iPhone lookalike.

The car was designed by one of the professional print, web, and environmental designers attending a derby for charity put on by the Columbus Society of Communication Professionals—so it is not a true Pinewood Derby car. To be honest, I don’t think that this would even pass strict Boy Scout regulations. Nonetheless, it is a damn fine looking car and it appears to be up to date with 2.0 software. Unfortunately, we don’t know if this thing is truly state-of-the-art with 3G horsepower under the hood. [Flickr and CSArts via Make]

From: Gizmodo: Apple

These screens were released today by the developers of Installer.app showing Installer 4, the next version that will work with jailbroken iPhones running firmware 2.0. By the slick looks of it, it looks like they’re getting close. When it’s done, it will be multi-threaded (meaning everything doesn’t come to a halt while your sources are being updated) and support package dependencies as well. As you know, we can’t wait.

[RiP Dev Blog]

From: Gizmodo: Apple

While some of us at Giz actually have better reception with the iPhone 3G than before, that’s not the story raging in Apple’s support forums, where few or no bars is the order of the day—and not just in the US, but worldwide, apparently. For AT&T’s part, they’re redeploying a bunch of 850MHz spectrum (which penetrates indoors better) for 3G service through the end of the year, so it should get a little better, at least. In the meantime, how’s your reception? [Apple]

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From: Gizmodo: Apple

While most of the attention has been on iPhone 3G stock at Apple Stores (rightfully so, since Apple is hoarding most of them) anyone not in driving distance of an Apple Store has to get theirs in AT&T land. So here’s the sorta good news, if you’re patient: If you do AT&T’s direct fulfillment deal—pay for it in full, then they call you to pick it up when it arrives—you’ll get your phone in about two weeks, guaranteed. And the bad news:

All the phones are going to the direct fulfillment program, so don’t expect to just walk into a store and buy one. They’re not getting them, and won’t, until the shortage is over:

We hope to begin re-stocking our stores as soon as we can, but first priority goes to those customers who purchased through direct fulfillment.

Our advice? If you’ve gotta have one NOW, take Friday off, drive to an Apple Store before it opens, and make an urban camping trip out of it—bring beef jerky, a fishing pole (to fend off panhandlers) and guitar to sing Kumbaya, which, with any luck, will drive people out of line. [AT&T]

From: Gizmodo: Apple

While Apple’s website updates its Apple Store iPhone 3G stock count every night after 9PM, the guys running the iPhone 3G availability tracker at Top Muffin say the data is actually updated throughout the day. So it hits the feed every 15 minutes, theoretically providing the most up-to-date stock count around. Or you could just, you know, call the store and have a real live person tell you to bring some sunscreen, an umbrella and some s’mores since a wave of diarrhea cut the line down to a mere 7 hours. [Top Muffin via 9to5Mac]

From: Gizmodo: Apple

Walt has rolled out an in-depth review of MobileMe backed by a week of testing in today’s WSJ, and if you’ve been following our coverage it won’t come as too big of a surprise that he’s not a fan. But his problems with the service go well beyond the launch hiccups you’ve read about. So what’s got Mossberg so riled up that he’s thrown down his big badhammer on MobileMe?

His review is behind WSJ’s curtain, so to summarize:

His major gripe with MobileMe is that unlike most Apple products he’s reviewed, it doesn’t “just work.” He cites changes made on computers taking “15 minutes, at best” to sync out to the web interface and iPhones, which is a big no-no for a service touting instant syncing across all of your devices. Other results from his test are equally disappointing:

• Web interface sluggish, and needs to be hard-refreshed to get changes to show up.
• Web-based storage is full of bugs when trying to connect with Windows machines
• Tons of incompatibilities bringing Mac contact groups and calendars into Outlook—things showing up as separate address books and calendars rather than groups or merging into the main calendar.
• Synched contacts loading slowly on iPhone, occasionally loading with no phone numbers and dropping custom ringtones (to play the Rocky theme when Pogue calls?)

In short, MobileMe is still full of substantial bugs and isn’t close to being ready for prime time, if you haven’t been able to tell already. Coming from Mossberg, though, means Apple needs to get serious about fixing this thing. So f you’re on the fence of whether to drop the $100 on a subscription, it’s probably a good idea to wait a bit.

Here’s the report straight from Walt’s iSight.

[WSJ]

From: Gizmodo: Apple