Disney has bought Tapulous outright, according to Techcrunch. The iPhone gaming company was one of the first on the App Store, and has been extremely successful with its Tap Tap Radiation and Tap Tap Revenge music titles.

There's no word yet on how much money was involved in the deal, but Disney has been interested in both gaming and the iDevices for a while, and obviously Tapulous proved that it could meet the Mouse House's needs. Bart Decrem, Tapulous' CEO, will reportedly become a VP at Disney.

Very impressive on Tapulous' part. There are more details coming, according to Techcrunch, so we'll update this post when we see any other news on the deal.

Yesterday, I went to lunch with a dozen or so Apple enthusiasts, all of us with our new iPhone 4's. And, yes, the topic of conversation was (as you would expect) the awfulness of the signal issues. There were various bumpers and other cases at the table, along with empirical testing. It was very clear that while the bumper added some protection against signal degradation in weak signal areas, the iPhone 4 would not perform well when held with the left-hand kung-fu grip of doom, even with the bumper.

With earlier models of the iPhone, it was easy to switch service from one phone to another. Starting with the 3G, you could pop in any AT&T SIM and expect it to work. But the iPhone 4 changed the rules. Its smaller form-factor MicroSIM doesn't fit earlier models, making it more difficult to move your service.

Enter the Micro-SIM adapter. Sold by the MicroSIM Shop, the €5.99 adapter (it is sold from Vienna, Austria) allows you to pop your iPhone 4 or iPad 3G SIM into a plastic shell that lets you use it in the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. It works in the first generation iPhone as well, but requires a jailbreak hacktivation to use the SIM without activating through iTunes. You can also pop that same SIM into many other AT&T phones or into an unlocked third party phone.

Read on for more of TUAW's review.

Read more →

Apple is hiring! Can you guess what kind of talent they're after? Wireless antenna engineers, of course.

On June 23rd, just after the Death Grip was discovered by the public, Apple published three listings for iPhone and iPad antenna engineers who can "define and implement antenna system architecture to optimize the radiation performance for wireless portable devices."

Additionally, Apple is looking for two iPhone OTA Wireless Systems Engineers. All of these positions require several years worth of experience and Master's Degrees. Here's a chance to work for Apple, build something cool and keep us from having to wrap our iPhones in bracelets. Good luck to all applicants.

[Via Engadget and TechCrunch]

If your touch is like a Vulcan Nerve Pinch to the iPhone 4's wireless signal, you've got three choices: hold it differently, spend US $30 on a Bumper, or take a pair of scissors to a Livestrong bracelet.

The iPhone Guru discovered that the bracelets fit perfectly around the body of the iPhone 4. After using a pair of scissors to cut holes for the dock connector, the silent mode toggle, and the headphone jack, the band was slipped onto the phone and ready to go. The iPhone Guru reports that reception is "much improved" with the band in place.

At 10 for $10, they're much cheaper than Apple's Bumpers, and your purchase supports cancer research to boot. Of course, any instance of this type of rubber wristband will probably work. Alternatively, check out these decals on Etsy -- three 3-packs for $9!

Live strong, iPhone 4. Live strong!

Thanks to everyone who sent this in

This just in from the Whopping & Unexpected Surprises Department: in response to the iPhone 4's apparent reception problems, a pair of Maryland residents filed suit in Maryland federal court on Wednesday. They claim that Apple and AT&T knowingly sold phones with a defective antenna design.

The suit focuses on dropped calls and poor data performance, of course. Specifically it says that "Plaintiffs have experienced numerous dropped calls, and as a result, Plaintiffs are left with a device that cannot be used for the normal purpose and in the normal manner in which such devices are intended to be used." The suit also mentions that the couple cannot return their phones (they bought four) without incurring large penalties.

Their backing evidence includes their own experience, of course, but also a list of related stories published on sites like Gizmodo and Boy Genius Report. We don't yet know if "stuff we saw on the web" will hold up in court.

It feels like this lawsuit was inevitable, as many are unhappy after paying for something that they feel cannot reliably perform its main function. We'll follow this story and let you know how it goes. You can read the full legal filing at All Things D.

Those who've wanted Firefox on the iPhone will soon get their wish. Kind of. Mozilla has announced that Firefox Home has been submitted to Apple for review.

Don't let the name "Firefox" fool you, because Home isn't really a web browser. It works in concert with the Firefox sync add-on for the desktop. Once you've got that installed and created an account, you'll launch the iPhone app and re-enter your credentials.

The app will remember what tabs you had open most recently and present their contents to you. You'll also have access to your bookmarks, recent browsing history and web search.

The service syncs 2,000 of your most recently visited items every 24 hours, and new data is synced every time you launch the app. Good luck to the Firefox Home team. We hope to test your solution soon.

[Via CNET]

If you were disappointed that you can't upload full 720p video from your iPhone 4 to YouTube without transferring it to a computer first, then check out the latest update to the free app Pixelpipe.

While there has been some speculation over whether app developers would be able to access the full-resolution videos for sharing, commenters were quick to assure us there was no reason to worry. Pixelpipe claims that it will share your edited mobile masterpiece in all its splendor not only with YouTube but also to Flickr, Facebook, MobileMe, Viddler, Posterous and a bunch of other video-capable sites (as well email and FTP) for videos up to 200MB.

The update to 2.01 is also quick to add iOS 4.0 multitasking for background uploading and should continue to serve as a semi-ubiquitous multi-tool for getting our videos (and pictures) uploaded almost anywhere you want them to go. We mentioned Pixelpipe previously around the time of the 3GS launch last year; it seems to have come a long way since then.

It is worth noting that some users seem to be experiencing some instability with the app that will hopefully get ironed out quickly. If you are having trouble with it, keep your eyes peeled for other developers to follow up with alternatives now that we know 720p uploading is possible.

Update: Reader Aaron notes that SmugShot is also 720p-upload enabled.

Hat tip to Chris Pirillo

Oklahoma State University is the latest school to start setting students up with iPads. Starting this fall, a pilot program will give iPads to 125 students, and the university will monitor both how the device affects their learning and what their textbook costs turn out to be. Additionally, the classes in the pilot program will look at using both apps and Web-based tools on the devices, as is appropriate for the classroom.

What's interesting is that, instead of just handing out iPads to the students, OSU is really interested in how their students will go about using them. The results should be intriguing, not only for the lucky college kids who get to use iPads all semester but also for Apple and for other schools that are formulating plans over how to share and use technology. It certainly seems like having an iPad at college would be helpful in the traditional ways (you could read textbooks or take notes on it), but it's cool that OSU is thinking about new ways to use it as well, such as apps for tests or connections across local Wi-Fi for networked learning.

We'll see how OSU's program works out. The iPad is certainly a new kind of computer, and it sounds like OSU is looking for new ways of using it on campus.

Diacarta is a to-do app like you've never seen. I saw it on the excellent Well-Placed Pixels blog, and the design of the thing is really interesting. Basically, to add items to the to-do list, you just add icons to the image of the clock. Once items have been added, you can see a visual representation of what your day is like. I'm not so much concerned about keeping a strict calendar as I am about just having a list of my various tasks during the day, so for someone like me, Diacarta is a new and interesting way to look at how my tasks line up.

Unfortunately, it's probably a bit more style than substance for serious calendar users; it doesn't sync up with other calendars at all (so you have to put everything into the app yourself), and it won't send notifications or let you know when something you plan is actually happening. That means it's probably not a satisfactory replacement if you already regularly use some kind of calendar.

However, as a simple visual representation of a day full of errands or various tasks, Diacarta looks great and works just as well. If that's something you're interested in, consider ponying up the US$1.99 price.

Ever wonder what's in Steve Jobs' head? If so, then this song is for you. Jonathan Mann is a singer-songwriter who's been doing a song a day since the beginning of last year, and he wrote this little ditty about the crazy, mad genius of one S. Jobs. Mann's a big Apple fan, apparently; he also posted a video that was completely shot and edited on an iPhone 4, and he wrote another song about a charity iPhone app. It's all pretty catchy stuff.

And for those of you following the story of the Korean girl who nabbed a record deal by posting a video of herself playing with a bunch of iPhones, 9to5Mac has posted her first single. Kim Yeo-hee is her name, and the song is ... well, not exactly like the iPhone-driven tune that made her famous. I don't remember her rapping at all in the original video. Good on her for following her dreams, though. Glad to see the iPhone has helped yet another Apple fan achieve a little bit of success.

[via Cult of Mac]