Anyone who suffered through the decade or so while U.S. cellular networks figured out how to upgrade their infrastructure from 2G to 3G — which they’re all finally running now — is probably pretty darn excited that people are already talking about rolling out 4G, the next generation of networks that, in theory at least, sounds really really fast.
Sorry folks, put away the candles and the birthday hats: The reality is that when 4G actually arrives, it really won’t be much faster than 3G is today.
What is 4G, anyway? The name refers to the fourth major generation of cellular technology to be developed, but as with 3G it comprises a variety of standards with acronym-heavy names that you probably have zero interest in. The bottom line is that 4G, like 3G before it, should represent a massive leap in performance over the prior generation of mobile radio technology. If historical trends continued, 4G would be 10 to 20 times faster than what we’re working with today, a huge jump that would have a massive impact on how mobile data and entertainment services are consumed.
Well, don’t get your hopes up, folks. Analysts are warning consumers that the first 4G networks won’t be much faster than 3G — and question marks remain on upgrades down the line. While no one knows what the true actual average speeds will be when these networks launch, it’s clear they won’t begin to approach their theoretical maximum speeds, generally quoted in the range of 70 to 100Mbps.
Rather, expect to see speeds well under 10Mbps, and probably closer to 5Mbps… not much better than the 2 to 3.5Mbps you can achieve on a 3G network with good coverage today.
And even though some networks, led by Sprint’s WiMax efforts, are already rolling out 4G pilot projects in a variety of cities, we’ve still got years to go before 4G becomes a reality for most of the country. One network hardware vendor posits that even five years from now, 3G will still be the dominant mobile standard. The bottom line: Don’t get suckered by a hot acronym until the technology is actually proven.
4G? More like 3.25G from the sound of it.

Flirtation Creations Inc, an app development and design consultancy offering exceptional graphic and website design launched a new website to better serve its clients.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb 24, 2010 – Boston, MA. USA – Premier online design company, Flirtation Creations, announced it has recently launched a new website to better serve its clients. The new website, http://www.flirtationcreations.com, features the full spectrum of the companies exceptional services, including app development for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, graphic and website design, and corporate and personal branding. The website was launched to give clients even greater access to and understanding of the company’s services, as well as to showcase its portfolio of past work.
As leading app and web developers in Massachusetts, Flirtation Creations has been offering clients high quality, cost-effective graphic design and website solutions since 2000. The companies commitment to providing exceptional customer service combined with Internet expertise has attracted clients throughout the United States, Europe and Africa.
Flirtation Creations offers clients an expansive selection of app development services, graphic design services including logo design, custom website development and more. By establishing long-term relationships with its clients and offering high-end quality online marketing solutions at medium-level prices, Flirtation Creations excels at meeting the needs and budget of every client.
Along with highlighting the companies breadth of services, Flirtation Creations new website also emphasizes what sets it apart from competitors. This includes the companies commitment to providing no hidden contracts or costs, issuing copyright ownership to clients for all work completed, as well as its ethical, honest business approach.
Additionally, Flirtation Creations new website allows clients to review the companies online portfolio, giving them a taste of the firm’s exceptional quality of design. Through the new website, clients can choose to review examples of the companies app development, as well as past logo and website designs.
“Establishing long-term customer relationships is extremely important to Flirtation Creations, which is why we strive to make sure our clients are comfortable and informed throughout the entire design and development process. With our new website, now even more clients can benefit from the extraordinary customer service and online marketing solutions we offer”, says the company’s CEO.

The latest app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad from Flirtation Creations “Herbs n Spices’ has been approved by apple and is on the App store for purchase and download.

Herbs n Spices has been designed as a quick reference showing what herbs or spices blend with what food category. There are no recipes or long drawn out details about herbs or spices, just a simple list of common everyday kitchen products and how they can be used.
Remember you still have ultimate control over what your taste is and there is no stopping you from experimenting.
Bon Appetit!

In an article from The New York Times, the cost for a company like Apple to develop an ARM-based mobile chip such as the A4 used in its forthcoming iPad tablet is estimated at approximately $1 billion, even without the need to invest in manufacturing facilities for the chips due to agreements with existing chip foundries for production.
At the same time, Apple, Nvidia and Qualcomm are designing their own takes on ARM-based mobile chips that will be made by the contract foundries. Even without the direct investment of a factory, it can cost these companies about $1 billion to create a smartphone chip from scratch.
Chip industry expert Fred Weber notes in the report that Apple’s iPhone was the first “really aspirational device” not based on Intel chips, demonstrating the power and versatility of ARM-based chip designs. The iPhone’s success has consequently driven a surge of interest in the platform from other mobile vendors and even more traditional notebook vendors like HP and Lenovo looking to incorporate the power-saving yet capable chips into their products.
“Apple was the first company to make a really aspirational device that wasn’t based on Intel chips and Microsoft’s Windows,” said Fred Weber, a chip industry veteran. “The iPhone broke some psychological barriers people had about trying new products and helped drive this consumer electronics push.”
Apple acquired chip design firm P.A. Semi in early 2008, reportedly enabling Apple to pursue in-house ARM-based designs for system-on-chip platforms for the iPad and iPhone.

Computerworld points to an Apple job listing posted last week which suggests that Apple is looking to expand the iPhone OS beyond the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad to additional platforms. The position, entitled “Engineering Manager (Platform Bring-Up)”, requires that the employee lead a team of software engineers working with hardware and “custom silicon” teams on new platforms and protoypes.
The Core Platform team within Apple’s Core OS organization is looking for a talented and inspired manager to lead a team focused on bring-up of iPhone OS on new platforms. The team is responsible for low level platform architecture, firmware, core drivers and bring-up of new hardware platforms. The team consists of talented engineers with experience in hardware, firmware, IOKit drivers, security and platform architecture.
The report suggests a number of products, both existing and merely envisioned, that could benefit from an ARM-based architecture and iPhone OS, including Apple TV, MacBook Air, enterprise-class Time Capsule micro-server offerings and others.
Two years down the road, other low ends of the Apple Mac line might get eaten up by the Apple processor/iPhone OS. Mac Mini and Mac Book, I am looking directly at you. Once there is an iPhone OS running the TV and the MacBook Air segments, it isn’t a great leap to expect to see it in low end Macs.
Obviously any such suggested offerings are based purely on speculation, but it seems clear that Apple is interested in leveraging iPhone OS and its hefty investment in ARM architecture for future products.

TechCrunch.com reported on a new restriction that was being applied to Apple’s App Store: no more applications with “overtly sexual content”. At this point, the exact nature of that ban is unclear. But it’s a policy shift that may alarm many developers — even those whose applications have nothing to do with sexy content.
First, a little background: we’ve seen numerous reports about applications that have been pulled from the App Store for featuring sexual content, but there are still plenty of apps that have names like “Magic Boobs”. I reached out to Apple PR to ask if they’d enacted a sweeping policy change that could affect many applications, or if they were only removing a handful of applications with especially explicit content. This morning an Apple spokesperson sent back a response. It doesn’t have any answers:
“Whenever we receive customer complaints about objectionable content we review them. If we find apps that contain inappropriate material we remove them from the App Store and request the developer to make any necessary changes to their apps in order to be distributed by Apple.”
I’ve asked Apple to further clarify their stance — does this only apply to applications that have received complaints? Do they have any plans to specify what exactly makes an application too sexy for the App Store? I’ll be surprised if they get much more specific.
Now, it’s true that many of these “sexy” applications were little more than spam, featuring titillating titles, perhaps a handful of sexy photos, and little else. There were some applications that included more functionality, but it’s safe to say that the average quality of the applications on the App Store has almost certainly improved because of the new ban. But it’s still a disturbing move on Apple’s part.
Most worrying is that “sexy” applications were already blocked at one point until Apple specifically changed its policies to begin letting them in. It was only a little over a year ago that the words “Boobs” and “Booty” in an application’s description weren’t allowed. But Apple made the conscious decision to lift that ban. In effect, Apple sent a message to developers that on a platform where the rules are nebulous and anything innovative is risky, these applications were safe. Now it’s changing its mind.
Since the App Store first launched in July 2008, Apple has gradually loosened restrictions on what kinds of applications it would approve. In December 2008, it started approving “humor” apps like iFart and Pull My Finger, as well as an NC-17 rating for adult applications. And over the last year, it began allowing more and more sexy applications — it even began offering parental controls with the iPhone 3.0 software update to help parents keep what their kids accessed in check.
Now Apple is moving in the other direction, and it’s setting a scary precedent. It’s showing that it’s comfortable throwing out applications that developers have spent their time and money building, without even bothering to give them advance notice. It’s one thing to have an application get denied when it’s first submitted — it’s another thing entirely to have the rug pulled out from under you once your app has thousands of downloads and customers. Is Apple going to start blocking apps like Qik if it builds its own live streaming service? Are iFart’s days numbered? Could Apple simply ban all NC-17 rated applications because too many parents complain?
And then there’s an entirely different issue: censorship. Apple is now one of the world’s largest gatekeepers to content, with a store that encompasses music, video, applications, and soon, books and magazines. And it’s shown before that it’s a totally inconsistent hypocrite when it comes to which content it’s willing to sell. Have exposed breasts in an R rated move? Sell it! Jiggling boobs in a silly iPhone application? Banned. Apple previously blocked an iPhone application that allowed users to access the Kama Sutra. What happens if it gets too many complaints about iTunes making it too easy to purchase books and magazines with sexual content?

Herbs n Spices – the latest app from Flirtation Creations has been submitted to Apple for review and inclusion on the App Store.
Herbs n Spices

Are you an iPhone or iPod Touch user?
Flirtation Creations is giving away 20 Promo Codes for free downloads of our 4 apps:

• DVC iPlanner
• Essential Oils iGuide
• My Emergency
• South Africa Safety World Cup 2010

(Sorry promo codes can only be used on the USA App Store).
To request promo codes please complete the online form at:
http://flirtationcreations.com/iphone-support.htm
Choose "Promo Codes" from the Application drop down list and your device.
In the Message area enter the App/s you would like promo codes for and an email address that we can email the promo codes to.
Promo Codes are limited so enter your request now!

What is a Promo Code?
Apple provides developers with promo codes which allow you to download apps that are normally for-pay (or not released yet) for free. You can redeem them from your iPhone or from iTunes.

Redeeming from iTunes

1. Launch iTunes and click on iTunes Store.
2. Click Redeem on the far right.
3. Enter your code and click the Redeem button.

What is a Promo Code?
Apple provides developers with promo codes which allow you to download apps that are normally for-pay (or not released yet) for free. You can redeem them from your iPhone or from iTunes.
Redeeming from your iPhone (requires OS 3.0)

1. Tap the App Store icon from the Home Screen.
2. Navigate to the New section on the Featured tab.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the list to locate and tap the Redeem button.
4. Enter the promo code and tap the Redeem button in the upper right.
5. Tap done on the Thank You screen, then tap the home button to return to the home screen.
6. After a second, you should see the new app installing.
7. When the app is ready, its name will appear.
8. Tap it to launch your new app.