Around these parts, we consider a screen protector the most integral accessory for the iPhone. Screen protectors are a great way to prevent the iPhone display from getting scratched when storing the iPhone in a pocket, bag, or anywhere else.

Well starting in May 2010, if you are planning on buying a screen protector or any other type of screen film for your iPhone/iPod/iPad/Mac, the one place that you won’t be able to buy is at an Apple Store.

According to reports, Apple is to ban screen protectors and any other type of screen film from its retail stores and online store beginning May 2010. The change will affect both individually packaged screen protectors and screen protectors that come packaged with cases. At this point you’re probably wondering why is Apple doing this? The answer is only speculation at this time.

One case vendor is speculating that Apple’s actions are the result of a marketing attempt to suggest screen durability for their devices. While this is noble (maybe the new iPhone will have some kind of scratch-proof display), glass and plastic displays have been getting scratched for quite some time.

With Apple Stores dropping screen protector support, we can still purchase screen protectors outside of an Apple Store at the thousands of other available retailers. The only concern is that will case vendors make two separate versions of the same product; one for Apple Stores and one for everyone else?

[iLounge]

Apple To Remove Screen Protectors From Apple Stores is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Tips, Tricks, News, and Tutorials for Canadian iPhone Users

Developer limneos has annouced a new tweak for the iPhone 3GS called “SpringBoard Rotator”. This new tweak allows you to rotate the entire springboard, including your wallpaper, in any direction, just like the iPad. Just as you would turn your iPhone to landscape mode in any application, you can turn your home screen to landscape mode. Scrolling through all your pages works exactly the same, just in landscape mode!

This tweak is the perfect addition to any iPad Theme, including my own “Simple iPad Theme”, that is on Cydia right now. With the release of the iPad UI Theme coming soon, we’ll have little mini iPads before you know it! i should mention that you will need to have a jailbroken iPhone 3GS to get this tweak.

SpringBoard Rotator works with other springboard tweaks, such as Infiniboard, Iconoclasm, Shrink, Five Column Springboard, Five Icon Dock, and more.

According to limneos’s Twitter feed, he will have a beta ready in couple of days, and hopefully release in less than 2 weeks!

Here’s a video of this new tweak in action:

SpringBoard Rotator Brings Another Piece of the iPad to the iPhone is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Tips, Tricks, News, and Tutorials for Canadian iPhone Users

Modmyi is reporting today, that Timothy Cook, the guy who covered for Steve Jobs, while he was on medical leave, received a $5 million dollar bonus to take the reigns of Apple for fiscal 2009. These were definitely some big shoes to fill, but it seems the company was very happy with the way Tim handled himself in the position.

Timothy Cook is currently the COO of Apple computers, and is thought to be Steve Job’s replacement, were Steve to ever leave the company. Tim definitely kept the company going while Steve was away, overseeing the launching of the iPhone 3GS, the new iPod Nano with Video, and Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Timothy Cook on the left, with Steve Jobs, on the right.

Apple had this to say:

A one-time discretionary bonus of 5,000,000 and 75,000 restricted stock units in recognition of his outstanding performance in assuming the day-to-day operations of the company for the period in fiscal 2009 during which Jobs was on medical leave of absence.

This is quite an increase from Tim’s typical salary, which is less then $1 million, plus incentives. Still nothing to laugh at, though! I’m ecstatic if I see more than 4 digits in my bank account!

Cook Gets $5 Million to Fill in for Jobs is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Tips, Tricks, News, and Tutorials for Canadian iPhone Users

If you are looking to get an iPhone 3G/3GS, you may want to consider service from Bell, as they are giving customers some lucrative credits when they buy.

Bell has detailed a promotion for potential iPhone buyers that gives customers an $85 credit. At this time, the promo is available at Best Buy and Future Shop locations and requires the purchase of an iPhone 3G/3GS on a 3-year agreement.

The $85 worth of credits breakdown into a $50 store credit (can be used for hardware or accessories) and a $35 bill credit. The promotion expires on March 31, 2010, so if this is worthy, maybe check it out.

[MobileSyrup]

Buy A Bell iPhone And Get $85 In Credits is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Tips, Tricks, News, and Tutorials for Canadian iPhone Users

It is always very exciting when there is new firmware available for the iPhone, especially when the release brings many new features and enhancements. The current iPhone firmware is 3.1.3, having just recently been updated, and users are now feverishly waiting for a 4.0 release.

As many may be aware, the Apple iPad, scheduled to be released near the end of April 2010, also runs iPhone OS, however the iPad version of iPhone OS is 3.2. While not much is known about what is new or different in firmware 3.2, the point is that the iPad will be running newer firmware than the iPhone.

Traditionally, iPhone and iPod Touch updates have been the same firmware, keeping the updating process very clean and simple for users. When iPhone gets firmware 3.0, iPod Touch gets firmware 3.0. With the iPad running a newer firmware than the iPhone, this brings up an interesting point, especially if users plan on purchasing an iPad, as one device will have a newer firmware than another which will likely enable features on one device that are not present on the other.

To shed some light on this, earlier this week a report by The Loop suggested that Apple will not consolidate the iPad and iPhone operating systems until Fall 2010.

With the expectation of a new iPhone this summer 2010, users are also expecting an accompanying OS 4.0 release. It was widely expected that Apple would use the release of a 4.0 firmware to unify the iPhone and iPad firmware, but that may not be the case until Fall 2010.

iPhone OS 4.0 will include lots of new features, just like you would expect to see from Apple. However, It doesn’t make sense for Apple to unify the two operating systems for 4.0 with the timeline they are working with.

Rather, I expect Apple to release OS 4.1 in September or October. It will not only address issues with the 4.0 release, but also unify the operating systems.

So it may be the case that the iPhone and iPad will run two different firmware versions for the next few months. Until the operating systems are unified, I can only hope that the iPhone does not play catch-up with the iPad, as it is entirely possible for the iPad to receive some amazing features that will be unavailable on the iPhone until a later firmware release. That is, until the operating systems are unified.

[The Loop]

Different Firmware For iPhone & iPad Until Fall 2010? is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Tips, Tricks, News, and Tutorials for Canadian iPhone Users

With the recently updated iPhone SDK beta 4, developers have been feverishly digging deep through the updated software to find any type of hidden files regarding new features. Well, their effort has been well rewarded!

Looking at the image below, developers have found new references to multitasking throughout the SDK, such as the mention of a “multitasking dialog box”. As many know, while the iPhone can multitask (the iPod app can run in the background for example), it cannot multitask in the same fashion as an Android device or Palm Pre.

There are many pros and cons to multitasking like the Palm Pre or like an Android device, but we may soon see the possibility of running many apps at the same time with an iPhone.

At this time, it is unknown if the above dialog box refers to existing multitasking functions found in the iPhone OS or if it is referring to a newer type of multitasking for the iPhone OS or for a group of apps.

[9to5Mac]

Multitasking Support In iPhone OS 4.0? is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Tips, Tricks, News, and Tutorials for Canadian iPhone Users

So far we’ve talked about the L5 remote, Bell PVR TV remote app, and the RedEye Mini. Being able to control all your multimedia devices with one remote is very handy. The latest patents submitted by Apple reveals that they have some sort of super remote in the works.

PatentlyApple.com writes about the following:

Apple has been trying to create the ultimate universal remote in their labs for several years now. In fact, the first of three patent figures in our cover graphic above is from one of their 2007 patents on the same subject. In this report, we’ll show you some of the great things that Apple is dreaming up in respect to Apple TV and a universal remote that is starting to really take shape: A universal remote that may finally have some real meaning beyond just controlling our iTunes content. Where’s the beef? Well here it is – and a whole lot more!

On one hand, Apple’s patent basically relates to portable electronic devices and more particularly to systems and methods for saving and restoring scenes in a multimedia system. What is a scene? A scene includes the states of one or more components in the multimedia system. States of components that could be captured in a scene can include, for example, the states of lights (e.g., whether they are turned on or off and their brightness levels), the states of speakers (e.g., volume level and balance), media that is playing on a media playback application, metadata associated with the media that is playing, or any other suitable states.

Devices in the multimedia system could include consumer electronic devices, such as televisions, set-top boxes, stereo receivers, and computers, and appliances, such as lights, window shades, and fireplaces. In addition, universal remote controls have been designed to interact with a wide variety of devices, so that a single universal remote control could be used to control more than one device. For example, a universal remote control could control both a television and set-top box.

This is very interesting. If Apple is going to create a new universal remote we could also see a new version of Apple TV coming our way (Apple’s so called hobby). What do you think? How soon will we see some sort of remote that controls our entire house, either via the iPhone or iPod Touch?

Apple Universal Remote Coming Soon via iPhone? is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Tips, Tricks, News, and Tutorials for Canadian iPhone Users

Yesterday Apple released beta 4 of the iPhone 3.2 SDK. Initially nothing seemed very different from the previous beta, until today when users located new gesture references.

Deep within the gestures folder of the new SDK, two new types of gesture commands have been found. The gestures are not currently present in the iPhone 3.1 SDK and are labeled 3Tap.plist and LongPress.plist.

In short, 3Tap.plist means a new 3 tap gesture and LongPress.plist simply indicates a long press gesture command. It is likely that these gestures will show up in the next iPhone firmware 3.2, currently at 3.1.3, or may even debut in a 4.0 release.

[9to5Mac]

New Gestures Found In iPhone SDK: Triple Tap & Long Press is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Tips, Tricks, News, and Tutorials for Canadian iPhone Users

If you live or work in Edmonton and are a software developer, whether independent or with a firm, you have a great chance at winning yourself a couple thousand dollars in prizes!

Later this month, the City of Edmonton will be holding a contest that will provide $50,000 in prize winnings to local software developers. The city is looking for methods to improve information flow to Edmonton residents, so if you think you have what it takes, keep an eye out!

The City of Edmonton will be looking to local software developers to improve the way information is made available to residents with a contest to be announced later this month.

Along side the contest, the city is further looking to partner with other municipalities in an effort to design a common platform that software developers can utilize to create applications for sending information to 311 call centers.

So if you live in Edmonton and develop software, keep an eye out for the Apps4Edmonton contest in the next few weeks. Winners have the chance to receive up to $50,000 in prizes and further be showcased at GTEC in Ottawa in October 2010.

[Vancouver Sun]

City Of Edmonton To Award $50,000 In Prizes For iPhone Apps Contest is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Tips, Tricks, News, and Tutorials for Canadian iPhone Users

The 2010 Academy Awards took place yesterday and guess who was spotted on the red carpet by Wayne Sutton? None other than ‘the man’ himself, Steve Jobs. That’s right folks, he was probably there to support Pixar with the nominations Up! received.

Also interesting to note was the first official iPad commercial debuted last night too. Featuring a dizzying array of iPad functions it surely wet the appetites of viewers for the much anticipated April 3rd launch date. I know I want one. Do I need one though? Nope. But I want one.

Here’s the commercial if you missed it (it’s also up on the Apple website):

…and here’s Steve Jobs spotted on the red carpet by Wayne Sutton and his iPhone (he was the only one yelling at Steve for his attention):

Here’s another shot from the AP:

So did your Oscar predictions come true? Christopher Waltz definitely deserved his Oscar for his performance in Inglourious Basterds.

Thanks Philippe for the email!

[9to5Mac for AP images]

The Oscars Featuring Steve Jobs and iPad Commercials is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Tips, Tricks, News, and Tutorials for Canadian iPhone Users