Facebook always seems to be on the forefront of iPhone development. They were one of the first social networking websites to have a good web application specifically designed for iPhone, and now they are one of the first big-name social networking sites to have a decent native application on the iPhone.

The native application looks very similar to the web-based version, but with a few minor "upgrades." You get photo taking/uploading support, iPhone-esqe photo galleries, and Facebook chat. Facebook chat really works wonders, especially if you have been using the web-only client.

The Facebook iPhone/iPod touch application is available right now for free from the AppStore.

Are you tired of being distracted by the internet? Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Google Earth could all be considered "distractions" or "time wasters." So, if you're looking to get some work done without physically un-pluging from the internet then Freedom might be what you need.

Freedom allows you to set a time limit for internet access. For instance, if I need to set aside 30 minutes for a project that doesn't require internet access, I could tell Freedom to block internet access for those 30 minutes, Freedom will then disable WiFi and ethernet access for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes are over your WiFi and ethernet access will be restored.

You can download Freedom for free (donations accepted) from the developers website or from MacUpdate.

Here's a quick tip for Safari users. As you know, tabbed browsing is best thing to happen to the 'net since The Tron Guy. Keyboard jockeys create new tabs by pressing Command-T. But there are a few of you who dislike releasing the mouse, even for a second.

You folks can simply double-click the grey area next to a tab to create a new one. Everybody wins!

[Via Geek&Mild]

MacNN noted in a recent post that AT&T is listing the iPhone as having a 1.4 Mbps connection (down-stream) while other 3G phones such as the Motorola Q have upwards of 3.6 Mbps connections. If you are thinking that this is a typo on AT&T's website, think again, because it was also mentioned in their press release about the iPhone (PDF link).

The mobile phones, of course, have a slower connection compared to the 3G cards that AT&T offers. Some of the 3G cards can connect as fast as 7.2 Mbps down. So while Apple is touting their "3G speeds approaching WiFi speeds" you have to wonder why is AT&T limiting the bandwidth on the iPhone 3G so much.

Update: MacNN updated their post shortly after this posting. MacNN's sources are saying that the 1.4 Mbps speed is "observed" speed over the network.

If you're a .Mac mail user, then you probably know that .Mac's mail system has been down for almost 6 hours. According to the .Mac system status, 100% of users are experiencing the problems. Here's what Apple says:

100% of members might experience slower than normal response when using IMAP mail. Mail can be sent and received using .Mac webmail. Normal service will be restored ASAP.

This comes after .Mac has been rumored to undergo re-branding around the time of WWDC (which is next Monday).


Update (8:38p EST): Apple just updated the system status to report that some may not be able to access the .Mac welcome page. Stay tuned to TUAW for updates on the .Mac outage.

Update (9:37p EST): Apple is telling users that they can access the .Mac mail by using the webmail system; however, most users cannot access the entire .Mac website. We're currently experiencing a "504 Gateway Timeout" error when trying to load both the homepage and webmail. Looks as though the same services are down.

Update (10:40p EST): Some commenters are noting that they are now able to retrieve their .Mac mail. Apple has yet to update the .Mac system status.


Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

A MacRumors tipster has discovered a treat for iPhone users from AT&T. It would seem that AT&T is offering free wireless internet access via an iPhone in Starbucks (we posted about the Starbucks-AT&T deal a little while ago) as well as in Barnes and Nobles and 71,000 other locations.

MacRumors notes that you must enter your mobile iPhone number as a means of verification. A picture of the portal home page is available on MacRumors.

I always pay my iPhone bill with the phone itself. It's simple -- touch settings, then phone then AT&T services. In just a few seconds, I can wave about $70US goodbye. What a world!

There are other options on that screen, like "View my minutes," which I usually check when I pay my bill. As of right now, I'm looking at 1300 roll over minutes. This can only mean one thing:

I rarely use my iPhone as a phone.

I'm not alone. According to a report on International Business Times, 46.5 percent of iPhone owners spend the time they use their iPhones engaged in voice calls (that number is 71.7 percent for BlackBerry owners).

Also, iPhone owners in the US claim to spend 12.1 percent of their iPhone time on the net (compare that to 2.4 percent for all other mobile phones on average), and nearly 12 percent of their time listening to audio (compared to 2.5 percent for others).

In observing my own behavior with the iPhone, I use it most often as an iPod, and then to check email and use the net (Twitter mostly). For me, the iPhone is a computer that just happens to make phone calls, not a phone with some cool features. It appears I'm not the only one with this opinion.

This post is for Apple fans who enjoy obsessing over minutia. The latest Net Applications survey has been conducted and shows differing results for Mac OS X users and iPhone users.

Net Applications measures the percentage of users who visit some 40,000 web sites from a given operating system. In February, the number of Mac users dipped slightly to 7.45% from 7.57% in January, while the number of iPhone users rose to 0.14% from 0.13% in January (beating out the Playstation and Wii).

Windows still accounts for 91.58% of web users, according to the survey. What this means is A.) Most people have windows (we knew that), B.) Some people have Macs (we knew that), C.) iPhone users like to surf the web (we knew that) and D.) People love talking about very small percentages. Awesome.

[Via Macsimum News]

As I've often said right here at TUAW, I have a need for speed. I want my computers, my phones, and especially my Internet access to be as fast as possible. When I'm at home, secure in the knowledge that my Time Warner Business Cable connection is the fastest I can get (until FIOS comes to my hood), things are going well for me and looking good.

But what happens if I have to leave the house and go on the road as I frequently do? How can I possibly maintain my connection to the Internet while mobile and still get the speed I need? Fortunately, there a a few solutions to this problem such as using wireless "hotspots" around town or using a cell phone's data connection as a high speed modem for my Mac Book Pro.

However, for true freedom, a hotspot isn't the answer for me as you can't always find one when you need one or they cost too much money. As an iPhone user, the option to use my cell phone as a high speed modem was also out. So, that left one obvious choice for me: EVDO cards. Now that I had decided an EVDO card was the answer to my needs, several more questions immediately came to mind.

Which card should I get and from which provider? Would the cards work with my laptop of choice: the Apple Mac Book Pro? How much would the cards and data plans cost me? And the most important question of all: what kind of speed would I get?

Karelia has released Sandvox version 1.2.4, with improvements for both Leopard and Tiger users (we've mentioned Sandvox several times). For the uninitiated, it's a WYSIWIG web editor that features iLife integration, .Mac support, beautiful default forms, and drag-and-drop ease. If you like iWeb and Rapidweaver, you'll like Sandvox.

This update includes the following changes:

• Leopard-ready.
• Improved compatibility with iPhoto '08
• Graphical title text size is consistent across all pages within a site.
• Improvements to many designs.
• Numerous bug fixes

Check Sandvox out if you haven't. Sandvox requires Mac OS 10.4 or later, is universal and comes in both pro ($79US) and "regular" ($49US) versions. Version 1.2.4 is a free upgrade for registered users.

Don't feel badly, I can't resist that green mermaid logo either. Since I like to check the mail and surf the web while I drink my usual, I make sure my Mac is secure while on the T-Mobile Hot Spot.

There's a great tip at Mac OS X Hints about locking down your Mac for that very situation. The process involves creating a new 802.1x configuration in Internet Connect, resulting in a secure TTLS setup. It's not too tricky, but will take some clicking around. Good luck, and take your caffeine with confidence.

[Via Lifehacker]

You never know when instant karma is gonna getcha. Take my playaudio application. Yesterday, I was chatting with some developer buddies about maybe putting together an Internet radio application and discussing the fact that the Celestial iPhone framework is essentially QuickTime repackaged. While talking, I decided to try using my existing playaudio app with a URL rather than a local audio file. So I typed the following at the iPhone command line:

playaudio http://steiner.math.nthu.edu.tw/ne01/tjy/music/06.I%20Just%20Called%20To%20Say%20I%20Love%20You.mp3

And...it worked. Just like that, the instrumental-only cover began to play back through my iPhone speakers. Apparently, Apple has merged the concept of "local file" and "URL" a lot more closely than I'd thought. I haven't had any luck connecting to .pls or any other live radio feed but if you'd like to play back Internet-based files, playaudio works just fine.

Apple trumpets the iPhone as bringing the 'real internet' to your pocket. This ain't no watered down Internet, says Apple (though Apple tends to avoid the use of double negatives). It is true that the iPhone version of Safari, dubbed MobileSafari by some, is a fully featured browser (with the exception of plugins, but who uses those anymore? Oh, right.) and can render lots and lots of the web just fine, thank you. Despite this fact, iPhonified websites are booming. Oddly, instead of using the iPhone to browse the 'real internet' users are pointing MobileSafari to more and more iPhone specific websites (which smack of the 'mobile web' to me). What's the deal with that?

Furthermore, I find it odd that many of these iPhone specific apps are not only being embraced by the Mac community, but being created by some heavyweights in the web design arena. Why do I find this odd? I seem to recall that for many years the Mac community bemoaned the practice of designing web apps that only worked in a particular web browser (like, say IE6 for Windows). This painful practice has found new life in the form of iPhone-only apps. Nothing irks me more than browsing to a site only to be greeted with a page that, based on the user agent my browser supplies, keeps me out. Try going to some of these new iPhone webapps in Safari 3 on a Mac or PC and that's just what you'll encounter. Why? These apps will run just fine on my desktop, and yet I am left out of the fun. (Why would anyone want to browse lightweight pages on their computer, you ask? Being a member of the AOL family, one reason springs to mind immediately: dial-up users).

Is this a double standard -- bad if it hurts Mac users, but just fine if it works on Apple's new gizmo? Do Mac users have short memories? I don't have the answers, but I think these are questions worthy of thought. Am I the only one?

If you remember the good old days of OS 9... well, maybe they weren't all that good, but at least it was easy (via the Internet control panel) to set all your helper applications, which would launch whenever you hit a mailto: or ftp: link. Nowadays you've got to dig into Mail.app just to change your default email application, and that's just a pain in the neck. What can solve this sticky situation? MisFox can.

Just revised to a Universal Binary, system preference panel-savvy, version 2-iy version 2, MisFox lets you set your default helpers and file mappings for all sorts of URLs, extensions and protocols. I've used it since way back and there's nothing handier for getting your auto-launching ducks in a row. And free? Such a deal.

Update: For those who asked about setting Google Reader as the default handler for RSS feeds (as indicated in the alluring yet somewhat misleading screenshot above), see here.

Well, this is interesting. Our sister blog Engadget is reporting a deal in France cooked up by Euro telecoms Orange. Apparently if you sign up for three years of DSL service at €60 (~$79) a month you get a MacBook along with Apple tech support (AppleCare? - I don't read French and the original article is from Le Figaro).

So is this the future? One day will we start buying our Macs the way we buy our cell phones? Given how much Uncle Steve hates subscriptions I guess I won't hold my breath.

[Edit: Here's the Inquirer story on the deal]