Rev2.org

Although the rumor circulates every year, just like the “Internet sales tax” and the “post office to tax email” rumors always do, this time, the iPhone showing up on a carrier other than AT&T may have some truth to it.  Verizon uses CDMA as its backbone for communications – their chipsets made by Qualcomm.  AT&T does not use CDMA and Apple, up to now, has never ordered or had use for the chipset either (they use Infineon’s).

So if Apple were to begin purchasing large numbers of CDMA chipsets from Qualcomm, it would seem obvious that they are probably planning a non-AT&T venture.  Given the exclusivity contract with AT&T that’s due to run out later this year, the rumors can really fly.  TechCrunch has an inside line saying that Apple has indeed ordered several million CDMA chips from Qualcomm.

Further, they say that the orders are for an iPhone run to be out on the market sometime in December or January.

More dirt on this possible iPhone for Verizon launch in January comes from MacRumors, who points to various reports on the matter as well as AT&T’s apparent moves to downplay the negative impact a non-exclusive iPhone on their network might mean.

TechCrunch comments and Gizmodo both also point out that CDMA could also mean a Sprint release of the iPhone.  So it could be both, either, or none.  The rumors, however, sure are beginning to solidify with all of this semi-circumstantial evidence coming together to show a likely non-AT&T iPhone coming soon.

mSpoke, the online recommendation software start-up has been purchased by professional social networking site LinkedIn. LinkedIn will use the acquisition to integrate and add functions to its rapidly expanding network. There are three core mSpoke products – mPower, mTrend and mSense. mPower creates widgets and personalised e-mails to let web publishers filter content according to the preferences of users, which is great for direct e-mail marketing. The mTrend API allows companies to monitor competitors and emerging trends.

For LinkedIn the most valuable component would probably be the mSense tool which analyses content and creates and annotates metadata within systems. This data could be used to help LinkedIn to provide recommendations to users about other relevant people in the LinkedIn networks based upon trends, usage or networking patterns.

LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner has indicated that mSpoke shares an interest in ensuring that content is relevant and called the purchase “a natural fit”. Recently, LinkedIn has started to become more social adding “Likes” and “Dislikes”, follows and ways to discuss content. Also, LinkedIn have added Facebook-like newsfeeds on the homepage and link sharing options similar to twitter to generate more traffic and data to the site. LinkedIn is even integrating with Behance, the creative social networking website.

All of these developments and additions will generate a lot of valuable data which should, when crunched with the mSense suite, make LinkedIn a more useful and intuitive site to use. No figures have been released regarding the purchase price but the benefits should mean great value for LinkedIn.

Recently, location-based games company Booyah released a software update that allows users to check-in products by scanning the product barcode with their smartphone’s camera. These scanned check-ins unlock points and prizes with real-world discounts or web-based rewards. By combining products and locations, Booyah is the first service to recognise product interest at specific retail locations – something which other geo-location based games can’t currently do.

Booyah hopes that its location-based services will help drive customers to retailers, while the product check-ins will generate valuable data and push consumers closer to the point of sale. Booyah already has a large user base for its augmented reality gaming world, a kind of online monopoly where users check in to sites to unlock rewards, collect rent, buy properties and see what MyTown friends are doing. The new update will allow iPod and iPhone owners to scan barcodes from products to reveal coupons and points to be used in the game.

The location-based aspect if MyTown, combined with product scanning places Booyah in a position to generate lots of valuable data which retailers can use and would probably be willing to pay for. Retailers will now be able to analyse trends and examine what consumers prefer on a location-by-location basis. Now, the MyTown API also works across the major markets in the UK, Australia and Canada so Booyah is expecting a hefty expansion of its service.

However it remains to be seen how many consumers will be willing to brandish their iPhones and set about scanning barcodes in the middle of supermarkets and department stores.

A hacker called Comex has created a website called JailBreakMe.com wherein an iPhone user can log in with their browser and jailbreak their phone directly from the site, no special setup required.  The site went online last week after the Library of Congress ruled that jailbreaking devices does not violate copyrights and the new iPhone 4 jailbreak went live today.

Many deep users and hackers jailbreak their devices in order to get around the proprietary operating system and it’s built-in blocks.  This allows them to run unauthorized applications, change core phone settings, and otherwise “tweak” the device to their own liking.  The most common reason to jailbreak an iPhone or iPad, however, is likely to enable the phone to work on a network other than AT&T.

Apple discourages jailbreaking and says that phones that have been altered in this way have voided their warranties.  Hackers point out that phones needing service need only to have their settings return to “default” and the jailbreak is removed (similarly, removing or disconnecting the battery will also do this).  Downloading any new updates to the iOS also resets the phone.

In the past, users generally had to go through convoluted measures using computer connections and software downloads to jailbreak their phones.  Comex created the new jailbreak which can be done purely through the iPhone’s (or iPad’s) browser while two others, wetbaer and chpwn, created the JailBreakMe site.

The site is continually updated with new information as users give feedback.  Currently, the jailbreak does not work on the iPad 3.2.1 and doesn’t likely work on the yet-to-be-released 4.0.2 iOS release.  The jailbreak may also interfere with FaceTime and Multimedia Messaging on the iPhone 4, though Comex says a fix for that is on the way.