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Detect lies and draw lines: iPhone apps of the week

No iPhone for Verizon? That seems to be the implication in news this week via AppleInsider. According to a Wall Street analyst with RBC Capital Markets, Verizon and Apple have not been able to come to an agreement on bringing the iPhone to Verizon. Apparently, both companies have issues with the deal; Verizon is wary of the iPhone cannibalizing Android's market share, and Apple may not want to settle for a lesser marketing campaign to lighten the impact of iPhone sales.

As you know, I already have an iPhone 4 (and needed one for my job, obviously) so I had no choice but to re-up my contract with AT&T. But what about you? Are you one of the people who decided to wait to buy the iPhone 4 for a chance to get a contract with Verizon? Do you think this really means the end of a deal between the two companies? I'm interested to know what people will do with this information, so please chime-in in the comments!

This week's apps include a fun way to see if your friends are telling the truth and a line-drawing game that has you hurling axes at approaching bad guys.… Read more

Monotype Imaging regears for a Web-font future

For those who make typefaces, there haven't been many changes since the invention of the printing press: hot lead, electronic typesetting, desktop publishing.

But now, more than 15 years after its invention, the World Wide Web is finally becoming the next frontier.

The steadily gaining influence of the medium and a new technology for distributing fonts to browsers has led one of the biggest names in typography to embrace the Web in earnest. On Tuesday, Monotype Imaging will open a catalog of nearly 8,000 of its fonts, with more to come, for use on Web pages.

Monotype Imaging's Web font service drew 15,000 users in beta testing with a smaller set of 2,200 fonts, but now it's launching for mainstream use.

When it comes to typography on the Web, "that world has been stunted," Monotype Imaging Chief Executive Doug Shaw said in an interview. "We look at it as a very important evolution in adapting typefaces to this new world."

Well, not new exactly, but new to the font industry. To date, most Web designers have relied on a strained combination of:

• A few "Web-safe" fonts such as Verdana and Arial that can be expected to be installed on most computers. • Text rendered in graphics formats such as JPEG. • Adobe Systems' Flash Player plug-in that offers polish but that's somewhat isolated from the rest of a Web page.

The arrival of Web fonts is an important milestone in the development of electronic media. The future of reading is text on screens--whether a book on a Kindle, a magazine on an iPad, or a news app on a mobile phone. Bringing that era to browsers is essential to making the Web as polished as other electronic media and as the print publications it's often supplanting.

Making the case for Web fonts Monotype Imaging is betting that businesses will see Web fonts as worth the new expense to their Web budgets. There are several potential reasons. … Read more

Apple may release a FaceTime-capable iPad before Christmas

According to a report by AppleInsider, sources with direct knowledge of Apple's product plans claim that production of a FaceTime-capable iPad could be available in time for the holiday shopping season.

Although Apple has maintained a fairly predictable 12-month release cycle for its mobile devices, the source claims "that as of last month, there was an ambitious push inside Apple to verify the refresh for a possible launch ahead of this year's holiday shopping season.

Typically Apple will release updates to its iPod lineup in September (as we saw last week) and then update its Mac lineup … Read more

Apple's FaceTime on Mac OS X, Windows

A French Web site, Mac4Ever, posted a short article claiming the Cupertino computer crafters are creating software for Mac OS X, presumably an update to iChat, that will allow desktop and notebook users to communicate via FaceTime with compatible iOS devices.

The information is not backed up with sources, but the site has been known to have semi-accurate predictions (SD Cards on last year's iMac release, though incorrect in predicting the release of iLife '11 in August of this year). Translated via Google Translate, the site reports that, "it is rumored that Apple is preparing to leave FaceTime … Read more

iPod Touch to get front-facing camera?

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded:

New iPod Touch getting a camera? Blackberry service off in Saudia Arabia Amazon opens Kindle bookstore in U.K. Amazon offering 1,000 albums for $5 Batman video game sequel title announced

FaceTime camera for next iPod Touch?

Could the iPod Touch be getting the same FaceTime camera as the iPhone 4?

Some new images sent to the blog MacRumors make a case for it at least. On Thursday, MacRumors posted images of what looks like the front assembly, including LCD screen and bezel, of a new version of the iPod Touch sent to it by an iPhone part supplier.

The parts are stamped with markings that lend some authenticity that they are actual Apple parts, though these kinds of images tend to start circulating before any upcoming Apple announcement. Some do end up being accurate, but as … Read more

5 killer apps for jailbroken iPhones

So you decided to jailbreak your iPhone using the fast and easy browser-based method that's been making headlines all week.

Now it's time to stock up on the apps Apple doesn't want you to have, mwa ha ha! (Don't you just love thumbing your nose at authority?)

As a first-time jailbreaker (finally got the aforementioned JailbreakMe to work early this morning), I've been test-tapping some of the most popular apps on my newly liberated iPhone 3GS. And already I'm wondering how I got along without them. Here are my five must-haves.

(Note: the links … Read more

Artist draws cartoon portraits over FaceTime

Greensboro, N.C., artist David Lanham broke his foot and had some free time to spare. If that was me, I would eat chips and play video games all day. Not Lanham. He had a video chat (using FaceTime on the Apple iPhone 4) with a friend and painted the friend's portrait. This led him to offer his services to those who want a similar portrait done, for a fee of $50.

From what we can see on Lanham's Flickr page, the quality of the drawings is excellent. It's no surprise as the man works at Icon Factory, … Read more

Japan tests billboards that know your gender, age

Last year, we told you about billboards in development that could tell male faces from female faces and display ads accordingly. Well, such a system is now up and scanning visages in subway stations around Tokyo.

A consortium of 11 railway companies has launched a one-year pilot project to test the signs, setting up 27 of the "Minority Report"-style displays in commuter stations around the Japanese prefecture. But while billboards in that sci-fi flick (see the video below) could recognize people by name and shout out purchasing suggestions, the Japanese signs employ cameras and face recognition software … Read more