Read

If you haven’t seen the pattern before, well, you just haven’t been looking — Apple might not be the first with a feature all of the time, but the company almost always has the last laugh. Remember what happened with copy and paste? It’s almost unimaginable to think that the iPhone didn’t have this feature until almost three years into its existence, but when Apple introduced it, it worked like nothing before it — and by that, I mean it worked, and worked effortlessly. Notifications were arguably the biggest pain point for most iOS users, and Apple, as you know, has addressed them in a big way with Notification Center. How do you access Notification Center? You simply swipe down from the top of the device and a drawer-like panel slides down and displays your notifications. It sounds familiar, yes, but it’s really so much more than what we’ve seen in Android so far. Hit the jump to read on.

How does this differ from Android? Well, for starters, Android populates your status bar at the top of the device with the icon of the app from which you received a notification, and when you run out of screen space, it hides the rest. To see your actual notifications, you pull down the notification pane, and they are listed in there in order from newest to oldest. And you have zero control over those notifications. All you can do is clear them all, or tap them one by one, which brings you into the app that notified you, until they are all clear. You can’t prioritize, choose the sort order, determine what apps you want to actually be in that drawer — nothing.

Beyond Apple’s superior Notification Center UI and the great widget support, initially for weather forecasts and a real-time stock ticker, the company that usually doesn’t give users such fine grain control completely delivers this time. Notification Center lets you chose not only the order in which your notifications are sorted, but also how many notifications from each app you’d like to display (either 1, 5, or 10), and whether or not they appear on the lock screen.

This alone is invaluable — while I get a tiny icon in the status bar in Android letting me know I have a new email, with iOS I can now see a preview of that message along with others. Additionally, I can swipe a particular notification and be directly taken to that individual message or alert right from the lock screen. You can also clear just a specific notification in Notification Center as well, which actually makes my workflow much easier since I rely on calendar events to run my life, and I can leave that calendar notification in the drawer even past the meeting time to remind me of something I need to follow up on.

When you get a notification and are in an app, the top part of the screen will flip down like a number on an old analog alarm clock, displaying your notification. After a few seconds, it will flip back up to reveal the rest of the screen. This also is another place where Android hasn’t innovated, as getting a notification on an Android phone simply displays the icon in the top status bar, but doesn’t give you a preview of that message for all apps, just certain ones. Apple certainly took the drawer concept from Android, but as it has done with countless other features, the company implemented it better than anyone else. Apple didn’t borrow it from Android… Apple stole it, which is why the implementation is as good as it is. If Apple borrowed it, we’d all just have a drawer stuffed full of dirty socks. And notifications.

When Apple finally added cut, copy and paste support to iOS, it made the long and painful wait its customers endured completely worthwhile. Apple’s implementation was so much better than competing platforms, it really wasn’t even in the same league. The UI was fantastic and the operation was both intuitive and precise. This is what we have come to expect from Apple when it corrects its past mistakes and omissions. And yet with the introduction of a completely revamped notification system in iOS 5, the Cupertino-based technology giant took a different approach: it did not lead, it followed. I’ll elaborate…

Apple’s new notification system works thusly: when a new event triggers a notification, one of three things happens. On the lock screen, a notification will appear with an icon representing the associated application positioned to the far left of the notification. The user can either ignore the notification, or slide the icon all the way to the right side of the screen to open the appropriate app. Or, if the device is in use, a banner will display across the top of the display containing the notification. The user can either ignore it or tap it to open the appropriate app. Finally, the old notification UI may be used, causing a pop-up to display at the center of the screen until it is dismissed.

Apple also introduced the iOS Notification Center, a pull-down aggregate of all notifications that is clearly “inspired” by Android. It is an obvious refinement of Google’s notification pane though, and it also allows users to customize the number of notifications each app will display in the Notification Center. It even supports widgets and third-party developers can build their own.

The iOS 5 notification system is, without question, leaps and bounds better than the old iOS notification system. Let’s face it, though — as horrible as iOS notifications have been until now, anything would be better. The system still has plenty of room for improvement however, and unlike Apple’s cut, copy and paste implementation, iOS 5 notifications are not class-leading. Instead, the two-year-old notification UI found in webOS is still iOS’ superior.

WebOS removes the additional layer of complication introduced by the Notification Center, and Android’s notification pane before it. Notifications are represented by a single row of small icons at the bottom of the display. To view a notification after it has been displayed and minimized, the user simply taps the icon. The message then reappears and the user can either open the relevant app by tapping the notification, or dismiss it by swiping the message off the screen to the left or right. The system is incredibly simple, extremely logical and, to quote one Steven P. Jobs, “it just works.”

Another uncharacteristic oversight is Apple’s placement of the notification banner at the top of the display. While the mechanism is infinitely better than then old disruptive notifications, it’s nowhere near as smart as webOS. When a notification pops up at the bottom of a webOS phone, it acts just like an iOS 5 notification and covers part of the UI. Then, however, it is reduced to an icon that pushes the entire UI up and out of the way. This means even though the notification is occupying screen real estate, the user can continue to perform each and every function he or she could if the notification was not on the screen. It also means the notification is still easily accessible from any screen, whenever the user chooses to interact with it; there is no need for a separate drop-down pane to collect notifications.

In iOS 5, the notification banner hangs over the top of the display, obscuring the status bar and the area beneath it. Unfortunately, the area beneath the status bar is where the iOS UI places buttons that control key functions. So, for example, notifications cover most of the send button in the email app or most of the back button in messaging apps or Twitter apps. If a user tries to sneak a tap on those buttons, it is highly likely he or she will instead tap the notification by accident and leave the current app. This, some might argue, is even worse and more disruptive than a pop-up that needs to be dismissed, as seen with the old iOS notifications.

If the user does not immediately interact with the notification, it disappears into the Notification Center. For active smartphone users, this seemingly great notification hub can often become a cluttered mess until various notifications are acted on or dismissed. Apple does give users the ability to customize the number of notifications each app can display in the Notification Center, which is much appreciated, but it is still nowhere near as elegant as a single row of icons that is always visible and easy to interact with. This is what webOS affords.

There are certain areas where Apple’s system does make advancements in the space, such as the ability to customize notification behavior for individual applications. I also very much like that I can open a new message or relevant app without unlocking the device by interacting with a notification on the lock screen. Uncharacteristically, however, the behavior Apple chose for this interaction is contradictory. Elsewhere in the UI, swiping from side to side on a message gives the user the option to delete that message. On the lock screen, that same swipe gesture opens the relevant app, where logic might dictate that a swipe should dismiss notifications that are not of interest.

I really expected more from Apple. And so much more is possible.

Why can’t I dismiss a notification that appears at the top of the screen? Why can’t I dismiss individual notifications on the lock screen? Why can’t multiple notifications appear at once at the top of the screen with a better UI? Why can’t I mark a new email as read simply by interacting with a notification? Why can’t developers have access to APIs that give their users the capability to perform unique interactions with notifications that perform custom functions? All this and more might be coming down the road, but Apple has had far too long and has innovated in far too many other areas for the company to simply catch up in this crucial area of the UX.

I expected innovation.

Research In Motion has announced a new version of Twitter for BlackBerry that includes a number of noteworthy enhancements. Twitter for BlackBerry version 1.1 is officially out of beta and offers the ability to tweet your location using the “Add location to tweet” option. The app also includes push notifications for @mentions, and will auto-complete #topics as you type them out, along with several other minor enhancements. RIM also said the UI has been tweaked with updated graphics and includes a streamlined layout of the Add Photo and Add Location options. Lastly, the app has added language support for simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Polish, Czech, and Thai. Twitter for BlackBerry is available in BlackBerry App World now. Hit the jump for more info.

Read

Simply put, Apple’s iOS notification system is horrible. Terrible. In fact, in our opinion it’s the worst smartphone notification system on the planet. We’ve written as much in the past on numerous occasions, and we’ll continue to harp on the issue until Apple fixes the problem. Of course many iOS users share our opinion, and some developers have even gone as far as offering up their own solutions. One such developer is Peter Hajas, who built MobileNotifier for iPhone and iPod touch users with jailbroken devices. MobileNotifier is a complete rewrite of Apple’s system, and it certainly represents a far superior solution compared to the current official implementation. Apple is expected by many to unveil a revamped notification system this summer when it reveals features from the next major revision of its mobile platform, iOS 5. The solution is expected to work in a similar fashion to MobileNotifier, though the UI will likely be more elegant and better integrated in the OS. Hit the break for a video demo and a pair of screen shots.

[Via 9to5 Mac]

Read

Samsung unveiled its new Wave 578 smartphone at Mobile World Congress on Monday, and the entry-level handset is the latest to feature the cell phone maker’s proprietary Bada mobile operating system. Beyond building smartphones that run Google’s Android OS and Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 platform, Samsung also maintains its own operating system called “Bada.” While Samsung has not given Bada much of a presence here in the U.S., devices carrying the OS have been quite popular in other markets. The Wave 578 looks to build on that success by including an NFC chip in the device alongside a 3.2-inch WQVGA touchscreen display, a 3.2-megapixel rear camera, a secondary front-facing camera for video chat, HSPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and push notification support. “With the Samsung Wave 578 handset, we will provide the latest innovation in mobile industry running on bada platform,” Samsung president J. K. Shin said in a statement. “The enhanced connectivity, design and social experiences enabled by this handset, represent Samsung’s commitment to democratizing the smart phone market and providing users around the world with access to rich experiences and content.” The Samsung Wave 578 will begin rolling out in May in Europe and other markets, and it is not expected to launch in the U.S. Hit the break for Samsung’s full press release and Wave 578 specs.

Samsung unveils the Samsung Wave 578 handset to enhance connectivity, design, and social experiences Samsung Wave 578 is equipped with Samsung’s bada platform, NFC connectivity, and lightning-fast Wi-Fi

BARCELONA, February 14, 2011– Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd. a leading mobile phone provider, today announced the Samsung Wave 578 at Mobile World Congress 2011. The new bada handset is equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) connectivity, a sleek, user-friendly design, and runs on bada, Samsung’s own smartphone platform.

“With the Samsung Wave 578 handset, we will provide the latest innovation in mobile industry running on bada platform. The enhanced connectivity, design and social experiences enabled by this handset, represent Samsung’s commitment to democratizing the smart phone market and providing users around the world with access to rich experiences and content,” said JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business.

Connectivity & Speed
Samsung Wave 578 is equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) – a technology that allows users to enjoy many innovative services such as mobile payment at the shops and paying transportation fare, reading tags, getting mobile coupons, etc.

Users can enjoy the fastest connectivity available on the Samsung Wave 578. With Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, and USB 2.0, the device enables fast data rates and easy information sharing.

Sleek Design
With soft rounded edges that support an ergonomic grip and a sleek metallic body, the Samsung Wave 578 is comfortable to hold and fashionable in every social situation. The device does not compromise function for form and offers the best of both worlds with a sleek design and value-added features.

The QuickType by t9 Trace is two to three times faster than standard typing and supports more than 75 languages. It will deliver a more convenient typing experience while reducing input error. The Samsung Wave 578 is also equipped with multi-touch functionality so that users can easily zoom in and out and pinch the screen to browse and view the gallery.

Enhanced Social Experiences
A rich communication suite (RCS) supports a wide variety of social communication on the Samsung Wave 578. Users can share content while chatting on the phone or send messages to several friends at the same time. The experience on the device is further maximized through SNS (social networking service) integration that seamlessly connects contacts across various social outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, so that users can focus on the people who matter most. Push IM enables users to access messages anywhere and anytime on the Samsung Wave 578.

Samsung Apps, an integrated application store accessible from the device and online, allows Wave users to simply and easily download an abundance of applications. Featuring a wealth of games, navigation, social networking, e-book, health and lifestyle applications, Samsung Apps gives users instant access to a wide range of mobile experiences on the Samsung Wave 578 handset.

The Samsung Wave 578 will be available in May of 2011 in France and will be gradually rolled out to European countries, CIS, South East Asia, India, Middle East, and China.

The Samsung Wave 578 will be on display at Hall 8, Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. For multimedia content and more detailed information, please visit www.samsungunpacked.com/press.

Network	HSDPA 3.6Mbps 900/2100 EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
Display	3.2” WQVGA TFT LCD
Camera	Main(Rear): 3.2-Mega Pixel Camera Front: VGA
Video	Codec : MPEG4/H263/H264 Playback : QVGA @ 30fps Recording : QVGA @ 20fps
Audio	Music Player with SoundAlive EQ, Music Recognition 3.5mm Ear Jack, Stereo FM Radio with RDS
Value-added Features	Samsung’s Smartphone Platform ‘bada’ 1.1
	Samsung Apps (*Availability of Samsung Apps differs by country)
	Samsung TouchWiz
	Social Hub - Integrated Contacts, Integrated Calendar, Unified Inbox - Basic: POP3/IMAP Email & IM
	Push IM : Yahoo! Messenger IM : Google™ Talk, Facebook Chat
	Exchange ActiveSync
	QuickType by t9 Trace
Connectivity	Bluetooth® technology v 3.0 USB 2.0 HS Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n NFC (* adoption is according to market situation)
Sensor	Proximity, Accelerator
Memory	100MB + microSD (up to 16GB)
Size	107.9 x 54.9 x 12.5mm, 99.8g
Battery	1200mAh Talk Time : 2G 750 min / 3G 410 min Standby Time : 2G 700 hour / 3G 500 hour

* All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.

Samsung took some time at a developer day event in South Korea to note that it will have sold 5 million Bada-powered Wave phones when 2010 comes to an end. It also projects sales of more than 10 million Wave devices in the first half of 2011 alone. Most of the attention at the event, however, was focused on the host of features Samsung said it will introduce in version 2 of its in-house mobile operating system. Among the more notable additions making their way to Bada 2.0 are third-party multitasking support, push notification support, an updated UI that will include a “smart home-screen,” enhanced security, an integrated ad network, carrier billing support, HTML5, NFC and speech recognition. Needless to say, Bada 2.0 is set to be a huge update that could put Bada on par with most modern smartphone operating systems when it launches in the first half of 2011. Hit the break for a slide containing all of the noted enhancements we can look forward to in Bada 2.0.

Read

Earlier this week, reports emerged surrounding an odd limitation recently discovered on Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 platform. Though interpretations varied, the gist was that Windows Phone 7 handset can only have 15 apps using push notifications at any given time. There was a bit of confusion surrounding the reports, however — does the limitation involve Live Tiles as well as toast notifications? Does it restrict app installations? Is this limitation being misinterpreted? Does it really only apply to simultaneous API calls?

Microsoft cleared the air on Tuesday when WPF Technical Evangelist Jaime Rodriguez published the company’s official response on a Microsoft blog. Rodriguez confirmed that the limitation is real, writing, “Yes, the limit is fifteen third party applications can be concurrently subscribed  to receive push notifications (whether that is a live tile or toast).” He went on to clarify that OEM apps like Outlook and People Hub do not count toward the limit. Rodriguez also stated that the limit does not refer to installed apps, but only to apps that have push notifications or Live Tiles enabled and are subscribed to notification channels.

Rodriguez says Windows Phone 7 was designed this way to accomodate “typical users.” While developers and other power users might have a tendency to install more apps, Microsoft had to take things like battery life, quality of service and bandwidth cost into account. Heavy users can rest assured, however, that the current limitation is not set in stone. Rodriguez states that the “limit will increase as we get right data on how people use push, impact, etc.”

Read

Beezz, an emerging Twitter client for the Windows Phone 7 OS, will soon become the first Twitter app to support push notifications on Microsoft’s new mobile platform. In a major update, Beezz will add two highly anticipated new features: Live Tile support — the app’s home screen icon will display information that updates automatically in the background like a widget — and support for toast notifications, which are visual and audio alerts much like push notifications on Apple’s iPhone (only they’re not intrusive or disruptive). Both features will support Mentions and Direct Messages from users’ Twitter feeds. The current version of Beezz can be downloaded immediately from the Windows Marketplace. The updated version, which has been approved by Microsoft, will become available later today or early tomorrow.

Read

Microsoft is making good progress in its efforts to woo developers to the new Windows Phone 7 platform, but we hope the company is equally devoted to keeping devs on board once they arrive. As the Redmond giant struggles to become a leader once again in the mobile space, developers and the apps they build are integral to Microsoft’s success. But in a blog post last week, developer Nicholas Yu made some troubling comments. Yu found that the number one feature users are requesting of his app — a Google Voice client called GoVoice — is the addition of push notification support. Yu notes in his blog post, however, that he is hesitant to add the functionality.

According to Yu, Microsoft’s analytics and reporting functions do not work so he has no idea how many copies of GoVoice have been sold. More importantly, Yu says that he has not yet been paid by Microsoft and he’s not sure when his first check is coming. Since maintaining a push server has associated costs, Yu cannot justify the expense because he has no idea if his app is making money or not. In other words, problems with Microsoft’s developer program are preventing Yu from improving his app and meeting the demands of Windows Phone 7 users.

And it’s not just Yu. Justin James is another developer who recently voiced similar complaints. James wrote a lengthy post about his negative experience with the Windows Phone 7 developer program. He even claims Microsoft told him there will be no developer payouts until February, 2011.

As we’ve stated before, Microsoft needs to do everything in its power to attract new Windows Phone 7 developers and encourage them to bring the best possible experiences to their apps. By allegedly not providing reporting tools and not paying its developer partners in a timely fashion, Microsoft appears to be doing just the opposite.

Read [Nicholas Yu] Read [Justin James]

In my line of work, cell phones come and go faster than mixed drinks on MTV’s Jersey Shore. They’re here, they’re gone and most of the time they’re quickly forgotten. I can’t even recall all of the mobile devices I’ve handled in the past month, let alone the past year. And though hundreds of handsets have crossed my path in the 1,211 days since June 29th, 2007, only one phone has managed to stay in my pocket day in and day out: Apple’s iPhone.

Say what you will about the device, the company, me, my mother, or anything else… the iPhone might be my go-to handset but I have no allegiance to any manufacturer or OS. In fact my iPhone 3GS was almost replaced last year by Sprint’s Palm Pre. I still love webOS but I need hardware that matches the fit and finish of Palm’s great operating system before a webOS device can fly solo in my pocket. And no, unfortunately, the Pre 2 likely won’t fit the bill.

So I continue to carry and use the iPhone because it just so happens to be the device that comes closest to suiting my needs. I almost always have a second phone on me — an Android phone, the Palm Pre or maybe a BlackBerry — but each is just a companion device that rarely gets any face time. Most common tasks are so much smoother on the iPhone than the competition, it just doesn’t make sense to bother with another device.

The iPhone is not a perfect device by any stretch of the imagination, but for me, right now, its the best we’ve got. It has the best build quality and is comprised of the best materials. It has the best display and the most responsive touchscreen. It has the best oil-resistant glass and countless amazing apps. It has the most fluid interface and the best customer service supporting it.

But for every best, there is also a worst. And because the iPhone’s bests are so great, expectations are high and the worsts become much more pronounced. Here, I go through my compilation of the iPhone’s worst worsts.

First and foremost, the iPhone is the worst smartphone I’ve ever seen when it comes to watching YouTube videos. Forgetting the fact that half the videos I try to watch aren’t compatible with iOS, videos that should work with the iPhone are terrible. Over 3G, the quality is horrendous. I get up to 6Mbps with AT&T, Apple — there’s no need to reduce the quality of the videos I’m trying to stream. Then, over Wi-Fi, the quality is spectacular but videos won’t play. Ever. If there ever comes a time when my iPhone can stream a YouTube video over Wi-Fi without choking every 2 seconds, I might pass out. It’s funny how critical Steve Jobs is of Adobe’s Flash when he’s perfectly content shipping this steaming pile of a YouTube experience.

The iPhone also has the worst auto-correct system ever devised by man. It doesn’t learn from habits, which means I have to reject the same changes repeatedly, forever. I also can’t add words, so the only way to get iOS to remember an unknown word is to add it to the address book. And speaking of the address book, I better not have any contacts prefaced with “Mr.”, such as one of my favorite little Chinese restaurants, Mr. Wok. If I do, I need to be prepared to constantly reject an unwanted change every time I type the word “me”.

It seems crazy that iOS still doesn’t support widgets. Widgets are great for grabbing information at a glance, and Apple’s competitors all make wonderful use of widget systems. But not Apple. I want to see the current weather in an instant. I want to see if I have any upcoming calendar appointments without a single tap. I want to see a small collection of items from my to do list. And so on. It’s a little scary that Apple realized how nifty it would be to show the current date on the Calendar icon but it hasn’t yet extended that functionality elsewhere.

And why doesn’t iOS include an easy way to perform simple functions such as enabling or disabling Bluetooth and Wi-Fi? If I want to save some precious battery life and disable Bluetooth when I’m not using it, it takes five taps. Compare that to Android, where disabling Bluetooth takes a single tap on a widget.

On we go, to one of the more popular gripes in recent months — multitasking. Apple is right that there are downsides to a completely open multitasking policy, but there are better solutions than the currently available workaround. State saving is great but Apple is holding developers back by limiting the number of available background APIs to just a handful. Then, it’s ridiculous that there is no way to close an app without saving its state. The iPhone is easily the worst when it comes to clutter in the app manager, and the solution would be all too simple. How about a long-tap on the home button to close an app, fellas?

While on the topic of easy fixes, I should certainly call out the Mail app. The iPhone’s email client is actually pretty fantastic, especially with the new features introduced in iOS 4. In several ways, however, it really is the worst mobile email client on the planet. It’s 2010 and I still can’t set a custom ringtone for new emails. I still can’t view only unread emails. I still can’t flag emails. I still can’t configure a unique email signature for each different email account. And, at least in my case, I still can’t send emails generated in third-party apps because they just sit in my outbox until I open each one and manually resend it.

Finally, my biggest complaint: Apple’s iPhone has the worst notification system known to man. It is, without question, abysmal.

iOS notifications are as disruptive as notifications on a mobile device can possibly be. A box pops up in the middle of the display, interrupts whatever might be taking place at the time, and prevents the user from doing anything else with the device until one of two things happens — the user must either interact with the notification (dismiss it or open the related app) or turn the display off and back on.

Then, when the stars are perfectly aligned, something special happens. The iPhone begins regurgitating an unstoppable stream of successive notifications that render the device inoperable. Calendar alarms, SMS notifications, WhatsApp alerts, banking notifications, new mentions and direct messages from Twitter, missed call alerts, Growl notifications, clock alarms, Words With Friends notifications, to do app alerts, sports scores… all popping, dinging and dancing at once.

I’m sure many users know this scenario all too well — I call it iPuke.

Apple is a company that puts a tremendous amount of time and effort into its user experiences and the results are typically astounding. In the case of iOS notifications, however, the results are downright embarrassing. We know Apple hired the engineer responsible for the webOS notification system away from Palm this past summer, so a complete revamp of the system is expected at some point. But the fact that Apple would release the iOS notification system in its current state is just plain sad.

One of our reliable Apple connections (not Jason Burford) just let us know some pretty fantastic news. It’s been widely assumed that Apple will start to roll out their FaceTime real-time communication protocol to more and more of their mobile devices (and possibly their computers), but until now, we’ve been in the dark on how this will actually work. After all, there are no phone numbers to call on an iPod touch or iPad. Here is how we have been told FaceTime will work on non-iPhone devices:

It’s actually pretty simple… Your Apple ID will be registered with your device/s, and that will allow other Apple devices to start a FaceTime call using your email address. Apple will also reportedly make use of push notifications to deliver these incoming FaceTime connection requests as we have been informed there is a push notification detector tied into the FaceTime frameworks in the new iPhone OS 4.1 beta. We’re not sure how Apple will handle an iPod touch trying to connect to a FaceTime session on an iPhone as it seems Apple would still require you to use the iPhone’s phone number, at least that’s how it seems currently. In all reality though, we’re pretty confident Apple will make a straight forward and unified way of talking to every eventual FaceTime-enabled Apple device or computer, and it might be an Apple ID, or possibly something else down the road.

Palm’s brain drain shows no signs of letting up, as it was revealed today that Rich Dellinger, the man responsible for many of the icons in webOS and the creation of the “non-intrusive banner notification system used in webOS”, has left the company after 3 years and 11 months. Now a senior UI designer at Apple, it appears that Dellinger left Palm immediately after it was announced that HP was purchasing Palm for $1.2 billion. Many are speculating that Dellinger was hired in an effort to help turn Apple’s obnoxiously obtrusive push notification system into something more in line with what is offered by webOS and Android.

[Via PreCentral]

Read

As Apple fans around the world eagerly await WWDC, a new iPhone model and perhaps most importantly iPhone OS 3.0, developers just got the call they’ve been waiting for. During the course of the next seven days, various devs will be testing iPhone OS push notifications in the upcoming version of the AP News app. As you can see in the screen capture above, each app can have Sounds, Alerts and Badge notifications toggled individually. Want an audio alert for new IM messages but only a badge for new @replies in your favorite Twitter app? No problem. We can’t say we’re overly fond of the notifications menu placement within the settings app as opposed to within each individual app, but at least it’s something. Hit the jump for two more screenshots.

Thanks, Clifton!

A developer posted on a Russian iPhone forum yesterday that upon receiving the latest beta iPhone software, version 2.2.1, he discovered the much-awaited presence of push notification support. Woo hoo! He describes OTA syncing of Apple’s notes and calendar apps and the presence of push notifications to indicate that new notes are available. While you may have read this news around the net this morning and gotten pretty excited, anticipating a day when software such as Instant Messengers and social networking apps might actually be useful on the iPhone, we thought it was important to let you know that today is not that day. The site that houses the forum has posted an update to the blog post that brought attention to the push notification claim, and has stated the original posting was indeed a fake. So iPhone owners, don’t do your happy dance just yet. Apple still hasn’t made good on its push notification promise and while it’s certainly possible that the iPhone may get support soon, it’s still looking unlikely for 2.2.1.

Read