MobileMe's "Find my iPhone" feature is in the news, AT&T and Apple have reasons to be proud, developers of raunchy apps have reasons to be sad, and love is in the air at the Apple Store, all in this week's edition of iPhone J.D. In The News:
- A few weeks ago, I wrote about two leading Word and Excel document readers on the iPhone, Quickoffice and Documents to Go. iPhone J.D. reader King Tower, an attorney in Richmond, VA, pointed out to me that Documents to Go is on sale right now. The basic version is discounted from $9.99 to $7.99, and the premium version which includes Exchange sync has been discounted from $14.99 to $11.99. Thanks, King, for the heads up. Click here for Documents to Go ($7.99 sale):
Click here for Documents to Go Premium ($11.99 sale): As Ramu Nagappan of Macworld reports, Apple recently updated the MobileMe website so that when viewed on an iPhone, you can do a little more with it. Most notably, you can now access the Find my iPhone feature so if you lose your iPhone, you can find a friend with an iPhone and track down yours using theirs.
- Speaking of which, I always enjoy a good "Find my iPhone" story, and this is one of them. The St. Petersburg Times reports of a mother and daughter whose iPhones were stolen while they were on a ride at Busch Gardens. The daughter told the park security about MobileMe, they brought up the site on a security guard's laptop, and the police were able to track down and arrest the thief. The story is told quite well, so it is worth a read. (Link via Daring Fireball, TUAW.)
- The results from PC World's second 3G wireless performance test are in, and AT&T — which has been talking about recent improvements to its network — is now on top. Indeed, AT&T's numbers are a full 72% better than eight months ago.
Even if AT&T is getting better in your city, it might not work that well in your house. If you have Internet access, a solution could be the AT&T MicroCell, a product I last mentioned in September of 2009 when it was only available in Charlotte, NC. According to Electronista, the product is soon coming to Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, San Diego and Las Vegas.
- Apple COO Tim Cook gave a presentation at a Goldman Sachs investor conference this week. As Philip Michaels of Macworld reports, most of his presentation focused on the upcoming iPad, but he also talked about Macs and the iPhone.
- One of the earliest posts on iPhone J.D. was an interview with iPhone developer Cliff Maier. Tablet Legal, a new site for lawyers interested in the iPad, features a nice interview with Cliff Maier in which he shares his thought on developing apps for the iPad.
- New York attorney Jeff Dupler told me that pursuant to new rules adopted by the S.D.N.Y., starting on April 1, 2010, lawyers will be able to bring iPhones and other smartphones into the courthouse. John Eligon also writes on this story for the New York Times. The federal courthouse in New Orleans used to ban smartphones, but thank goodness they ended that a long time ago. There are countless reasons that it is useful to have an iPhone in court, and I feel for any attorneys who are still restricted by these outdated rules.
- For example, I've been in trial for the past week and I used my iPhone extensively. One of the apps that I used quite a bit was LogMeIn Ignition, an app that I reviewed last December, so that I could access and control my PC at work while I was in court. Nicholas Bonsack of Macworld reports on some upcoming improvements to the service, including a viewer app that you can use to let someone view, but not control, your PC's screen. Click here to get LogMeIn Ignition ($29.99):
- Jenna Wortham of the New York Times reports that Apple has removed thousands of apps from the App Store featuring sexually suggestive material. On Daring Fireball, John Gruber shares his thoughts on why Apple may be doing this.
AppleInsider reports that TomTom owes a good bit of its profit this quarter to its very successful iPhone navigation app. Click here for TomTom U.S. & Canada ($79.99):
. Click here for TomTom U.S.A. ($59.99): - MacRumors reports on on a new BusinessWeek survey that finds Apple ranks third in customer service, behind only L.L. Bean and USAA.
- Apple is running three new ads for the iPhone. If you haven't already seen them on TV, you can see them here on Apple's website. They are called "Family Travel," "On Hold" and "First Steps." These new ads share a new format, an update from 2009's "there's an app for that" series of ads.
- AppleInsider reports that at an Apple stockholder meeting yesterday, Steve Jobs said that the company has a massive war chest of $40 billion and is looking to use it for "big, bold" risks. And if I haven't mentioned it lately, just think how big and bold, not to mention risky, it would be for Apple to spend $40 billion to buy iPhone J.D. Dan Frakes of Macworld has a more comprehensive report on the meeting, at which it sounds like Steve Jobs was quite animated.
- And finally, on Valentine's Day this year, two lovebirds who met while shopping for iPods decided to return to the site that brought them together and get married at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York. The officiant dressed up like, and even quoted from, Steve Jobs and read his speech from his iPhone. It appears that this was not done with permission from the Apple Store, but the employees didn't seem to mind. Entertainment Weekly has the story (and yes, this is the first time that I've ever had a reason to link to EW on iPhone J.D.) and the video is here:
