You know those voice minutes you’ve been coaxed into buying for, like, ever? Now would be an awesome time to bid ‘em adieu. Out of nowhere, Viber has swooped in to crush the dreams of Skype and every other VoIP provider out there, and if these guys can reach critical mass, avid iPhone users will certainly be able to buy a mobile plan with fewer minutes. It works as such: install the free app on your iPhone, provide just your phone number (no “registration” is necessary) and then fire it up. Viber uses your existing contact and favorites list, and you can make Viber or standard voice calls from within the app; naturally, a Viber logo pops up beside any contact who is also a user, making it easy Read More

An iPad for zilch on contract? Yessir… but only if you pack up and move to the Land of the Rising Sun. Softbank Mobile has just announced a new pricing plan that makes Apple’s 16GB iPad WiFi + 3G model totally free with a two-year data agreement in Japan, and for those who recall it being “free” before, this situation is a bit different. You see, there’s no built-in monthly surcharge for this one; rather than paying off your iPad over 24 months, you’re actually getting it for nothing as long as you’re kosher with forking out ¥4,725 ($56) per month for that 3G goodness. The deal starts on December 3rd, and we’ve got a strange, strange feeling that it’ll do quite well if marketed correctly. And by Read More

Want an iPad but can’t countenance the associated outlay of cash up front? Orange is making that pill easier to swallow today with the revelation of its contract-tied pricing for Apple’s tablet in the UK. Pre-orders are about to start today for obtaining the 3G-connected iPad at prices of £199 ($312) for the 16GB version, £249 ($391) for its 32GB sibling, or £349 ($626) for the one equipped with 64GB of storage. This is all subject to you signing up for a two-year plan costing £27 ($42) a month that’ll give you 1GB of anytime data, 1GB of off-peak data (judged by Orange to be between midnight and 4pm), and 3GB of BT Openzone WiFi access for each twelfth of the year. The expectation is that Read More

If you’ve never been to a Sam’s Club, well you’re missing out on a seriously authentic American experience. The sheer quantity of goods should — and most likely will — overwhelm you as you cram the largest box of cereal you’ve ever seen into your shopping cart. Well, the cornucopia of products on offer has apparently been increased by one lately. That’s right, it looks like Sam’s Club is now selling the Apple iPad, according to several tips sent into 9 to 5 Mac. The pricing doesn’t look bad: $488 for a 16GB WiFi-only model and $609 for the 3G model. Hey, you had to Read More

Padgadget has completed a series of follow up tests on the iPad’s Wi-Fi performance after upgrading to the 3.2.1 firmware.

They tested both the iPad Wi-Fi only and the iPad 3G using a series of six tests at different distances and with varying interference.

In order to keep things simple, we focused on speed. The test is a mix of content download as well as raw http performance tests via speedtest.net, repeated 10 times for each test, and averaged out (normalized to a scale going from 0 to 100, 100 representing the best throughput we could measure).
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BigBoss has released an update to SBSettings which makes some important fixes and adds global activator launch settings.

SBSettings is a full BossPrefs replacement which lets you move your important toggles directly into Springboard where they are always available instantly even while other apps are running.

What’s New In This Version:
- Fix: 3.1.0-1 solves theoretical crash of more app that no one reported, but could in some cases.
- Fix: Fixed the iOS4 3g crashing in hidden icons, dock, and folders.
- Fix: Re-added iOS4 rotation sensing (found another way to do it!). Window rotates again.
- Fix: Redid the more-app GUI to use a standardized apple style interface.
- New: Added global activator launch settings for SBSettings window to more app. You can also get to these in settings app.

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We weren’t exactly sure whether Apple was going to approve third-party video calling apps using the front camera on the iPhone 4, but good news: the answer is “yes.” Fring just slid in a new version of its longstanding iPhone app today featuring support for video calling, which is pretty awesome in and of itself — but the real news is that it works just fine over 3G, as you can see in our quick test above between Chicago and London. This opens the door for services that could have potentially broader implications than FaceTime itself, since Apple’s service is limited to WiFi and currently only works between iPhone 4s. Just make sure you’re wearing clothes when you call, alright?

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