Recently in iphone Category

USAA Federal Savings Bank developed an iPhone app to allow subscribers the ability to deposit checks by taking cell phone photos of the front and back of the check and hitting "send" on their iPhones.

USAA is a bank intended for military personnel and features programs and services for those serving in the U.S. and abroad.  Though it already offers scanning-in options for check depositers, this foray into mobile banking would not only simplify the process but also enable more timely depositing.  In concern for potential fraud, USAA's app will only be open to customers with a minimum credit score and who are also insured by USAA.  The company recommends destroying or voiding the physical check once its digital twin is sent off digitally to the bank.

June is a fun month for Apple lovers.  The company holds its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, thus June is when the company announces some of its sexiest, most high-profile new products.

This year did not disappoint.

The Cupertino-based company announced a new iPhone series, the iPhone 3G S.  It also announced a new operating system that will add or upgrade many features for users of the existing iPhone OS. 

An obscure company known as Tune Hunter has sued some big names in technology, including Apple and AT&T, for patent infringement, claiming that their promotion of the Shazam application violates Tune Hunter's patent for a music identification system. 

Tune Hunter also sued the company that makes Shazam, as well as Samsung, Amazon.com, Napster, Motorola, Verizon and others. 

EAGAN, Minn., April 27, 2009 - A Black's Law Dictionary application for the iPhone and iPod touch is now available from West, part of Thomson Reuters. The app features the most recent 8th edition of the dictionary, edited by Bryan A. Garner.

"The new iPhone application for Black's Law Dictionary is very exciting," says Garner. "The idea that you can have a very full, elaborate, complex and richly textured book like Black's available at your fingertips is fantastic."

"Black's Law Dictionary was a logical choice for our first iPhone application," said Justin Hummel, director, New Product Development, West. "It's a perfect way for any legal professional or law student to take Black's with them wherever they go."

AT&T pays a little over $2 million per year for the right to put its name on the home field of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. 

For that kind of money, the company must expect at least a little positive marketing to come out of it.

That's why I was surprised, perplexed and more than a little annoyed when I found that I couldn't connect to the internet on my iPhone during my visit to the park last night.  I expected that iPhone connectivity would be a breeze at AT&T (which some people even call Telephone Park), especially considering that sales of the device seem to be the main thing providing AT&T a profit these days.

The iPhone has been good to AT&T.  It's brought the carrier millions of new subscribers, and has shored up the carrier's brand by associating it with a sexy piece of mobile hardware.

That's why it's not surprising that AT&T wants to extend its exclusive deal to carry the iPhone - which expires at the end of 2009 - for another two years, according to the Wall Street Journal.  The WSJ, citing people familiar with the issue, says that AT&T's CEO is currently in discussions with Apple to stretch the exclusive arrangement until 2011.

Apple, in its usual fashion, ain't saying squat.  "We have a great relationship with AT&T," an Apple spokeswoman said, which is more than the taciturn tech company will usually divulge outside of carefully scripted press events.

Stephen Shankland at CNN has a good review of Google's new Gmail application for mobile phones, particularly the iPhone and phones using Google's Android platform.

The new Gmail app allows users to access messages while offline, and even to compose a message without an internet connection.  Gmail automatically takes care of sending the message when the connection is restored.

Skype's iPhone application has quickly climbed to the top of the ranks of free applications available for the smartphone since its launch on March 31.  AT&T's refusal to allow the VoIP service to operate over its 3G network, however, has been panned by an open-internet advocacy group, Free Press.