Vimeo has announced a new HTML5 universal player to finally bring Flash-free embedded videos to iPad and iPhone. How do you use it?

Starting today it is the new default embed code and is available via the embed button on any Vimeo video. Just copy and paste like any other embed code. This new embed code is available for any video, new or old.

They’ve also created a small javascript snippet you can add to your site to enable older, legacy embeds to work with the new player.

Mobile versions of all videos, however, is still a Plus feature.

For much, much more on the new feature, check out the link below.

[Vimeo]

Vimeo adds HTML 5 universal player for iPad, iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Why won’t my iPhone or iPad case work with this cable? is one of the questions we’re being asked a lot lately. A naked iPhone can pretty much fit any sync, charge, or media cable you connect it with at home, at work, or on the go. When you start introducing some types of cases, however, and add in different kinds of cables — all bets are off.

The UBS to Dock cable Apple includes with every iPhone and iPad case is typically razor thin. It just has an incredibly small profile and will generally fit almost any case you throw at it. [Cheap plug: the Apple USB cable with AC adapter is 50% off right now at the TiPb Store]

Other cables, especially when you get into things like car or video connectors can be broader, thicker and fatter. Maybe it’s a lack of forethought, maybe it’s a matter of shielding, maybe it’s both.

If your iPhone or iPad has a skin shield, it’s basically the same as being naked and not a problem. With cases, your mileage will certainly vary.

Many of the very light, thin cases, especially where they have very large cutouts around the dock, aren’t usually a problem either. It’s when you start getting into the thicker, more protective cases that are cut tighter around the dock that there starts to be a problem. Namely, the thicker cables don’t fit.

In an ideal world all cables would be as thin as possible and all cases would have the ports cut as wide as protection allows. In the real world, here are your options:

• If you want to use one of the cases that offers better protection try to get as thin a cable as possible.

• If you want to use thicker car, media, or other cables, get case that’s cut as wide around the dock as possible.

The same rules can apply to some cases when matched with some headsets as well. It’s a mix-and-match game that accessory makers have forced onto iPhone and iPad users.

If you’ve come up with any particularly good matches, let us know in the comments!

Why won’t my iPhone or iPad case work with this cable? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple’s iOS Developer News is letting developers know how to set up Game Center achievements and leaderboard categories:

You can now set up metadata for your Game Center Achievements and Leaderboard Categories in iTunes Connect. Setting up these elements will allow you to test the full capabilities of Game Center for your app in the sandbox environment.

Apple announced Game Center way back in early April but instead of shipping it in June with iOS 4, they said it would be coming “later this year”. The basic idea is to give “Xbox live” style social networking to iOS devices like iPhone and iPad.

For example, Chad challenges me to the latest hot FPS. I get a Game Center notification but since I don’t have the game, it asks me if I want to get it and then automagically handles the download, and since it knows Chad and I are friends, gives me a grenade launcher and sets me after him. Then it shows all our other friends how Georgia sniped me just as I was about to blow him up. Dang.

Though it’s obviously game-centric, there are rumors Apple could extend features to other apps as well.

[iOS Developer News]

Let’s hope “later” comes as soon as possible.

Game Center slowly coming to life? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Yes, it’s really come to the point where a casual reference on Daring Fireball to the next generation iPod touch 4 — with rear and front FaceTime cameras and Retina Display screen coming in a few weeks — gets plastered all over the internet.

if you wait a few weeks to buy the Touch, you’ll get one with a Retina Display and dual cameras.

Apple has introduced the last 3 generations of iPod touch at their special iTunes and iPod-centric music event held each fall.

Gruber’s reference to the new iPod touch came by way of comparison to the Android 1.6 powered, 5-inch screen Dell Streak which at $300 on contract and $550 outright, doesn’t even seem competitive to past iPod touches and iPads, let alone what’s coming next from Apple.

Then again, Apple’s had a hard time meeting demand for iPhone 4 and iPad, some suspect due to constraints on their high quality IPS display panels. Has capacity recently been ramped up, or will things get even tighter with iPod touch wanting its share this holiday season?

[Daring Fireball]

iPod touch 4 with dual cameras, retina display, coming in a few weeks? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

I have just tried out the Frash hack that we have covered yesterday. As you can learn from the version number (i.e. 0.0.2), the hack is still under testing. But it does work as promised and lets you view Flash-based content (e.g. banner) on most websites.

If you want to be an early adopter of Frash, you can now install it on your iPhone via cydia.

Apparently, the hack only works on jailbroken iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. If you haven’t jailbroken the iPhone, check out this guide and use JailbreakMe to jailbreak it first.

If you are ready, here is the procedure to install Frash on iPhone.

Procedures to Install Frash on iPhone

1. Launch cydia

2. Tap “Manage” -> “Sources”. Then tap “Edit”, followed by “Add” to add a new repository source.

3. Enter “http://repo.benm.at” for the cydia/APT URL and tap “Add Source”.

4. Tap “Done” and go to “Search” to search for “Frash”.

5. Tap “Frash” and install it.

6. Once installed, reboot your iPhone.

That’s it. After reboot, you can now run flash in mobile Safari.

How to Use Frash in Mobile Safari

To use Frash, just go to any website with flash content to test out. If there is any flash content in a website, Frash will automatically detect it. You can simply tap on the “Flash” label to play the flash.

As Frash is not official released yet, it may not work with all types of flash content. Sometimes, it may even crash the mobile Safari. If you find the Frash hack impact your Internet browsing experience, simply uninstall it using cydia, followed by rebooting the iPhone to completely remove Frash.

Thanks for @comex, the developer of Frash, to bring Flash to iPhone. Now, this is the best reasons to jailbreak iPhone.

As always, remember to leave us comment and share your experience on the Frash hack.

The Wall Street Journal (and the often informed Yukari Iwatani Kane) are reporting that while it’s unknown how much iPhone 4 antennagate and white iPhone 4 delays played in SVP of mobile hardware, Mark Papermaster’s exit from Apple, there were broader cultural issues at play:

Mr. Papermaster had lost the confidence of Mr. Jobs months ago and hasn’t been part of the decision-making process for some time, these people said. They added that Mr. Papermaster didn’t appear to have the type of creative thinking expected at Apple and wasn’t used to Apple’s corporate culture, where even senior executives are expected to keep on top of the smallest details of their areas of responsibility and often have to handle many tasks directly, as opposed to delegating them.

One of these people also said Mr. Papermaster had difficulty maneuvering Apple’s internal politics.

The WSJ does say it was Steve Jobs, not Papermaster, who decided to go ahead with iPhone 4’s new antenna design.

Papermaster apparently also started his tenure with Apple while Jobs was on leave of absence and might not have been prepared for Jobs’ intense management style when he came back to work.

[WSJ]

Papermaster’s exit from Apple was cultural, not iPhone 4 specific is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Mark Papermaster, whose departure from IBM for Apple led to some high profile legal wrangling, has now left Apple — chronologically following the antennagate saga, though no direct correlation has been reported. Apple spokesman Steve Dowling told the New York Times:

[Papermaster] is leaving the company and Bob Mansfield, senior vice president of Macintosh hardware engineering, is assuming his responsibilities. [...] Mr. Mansfield already oversees several technologies that are part of the iPhone, including the A4 chip, the retina display and touch screens,

Before being removed from Apple.com, Papermaster’s bio read as follows.

Mark Papermaster is Apple’s senior vice president of Devices Hardware Engineering. He leads the iPod and iPhone engineering teams, and reports directly to Apple’s CEO.

Papermaster has 25 years of product and technology experience, and was previously a vice president at IBM responsible for blade development including x86, POWER, storage blades, chassis, network electronics and associated ecosystem. He started his career in application-specific IC development circuit design at IBM’s Microelectronics Division, and had technical and management assignments in quality, CAD tool applications, and microprocessors.

While Papermaster was notably absent from Apple’s recent iPhone 4 press conference, his replacement was up on stage with Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, Mansfield was front and center.

Update: According to Daring Fireball’s source, Papermaster was fired following antennagate:

Inside Apple, he’s “the guy responsible for the antenna” — that’s a quote from a source back on July 23. (Another quote from the same source: “Apparently the antenna guys used to have a big chip on their shoulder. No more.”)

[NYT, Daring Fireball]

Mark Papermaster, head of iPhone hardware, leaves Apple is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

FaceTime accounts are currently tied to iPhone 4 phone numbers but new reports on iOS 4.1 beta 3 show the option to initiate a FaceTime video call via email address as well.

We’ve already seen rumors that FaceTime would be tied into Apple or iTunes IDs, and if Apple does indeed plan to roll out the service to future iPod touch and iPad devices with front-facing cameras but without phone numbers, it’s a logical and necessary step.

Why Apple didn’t use email as the basis for iPhone 4 FaceTime to start with is anyone’s guess but the idea of an Apple supported VoIP system for both video and audio (hit the home button to exit the video but keep the call going), that’s standards based and released as an open standard, is certainly interesting. If every iPod touch 4 and iPad 2 supports it, and other apps and devices running Android, webOS, etc. pick it up, it could be even more interesting.

Until/unless it supports SkypeIn/SkypeOut-like ability to call people on regular old phones it won’t be a threat to traditional telephony, but it could be a strong contender to the future.

I’m already using FaceTime whenever possible. I’d like to use it more. Opening it up to connections based on email is the first step.

Hopefully we’ll learn more at Apple’s traditional fall iPod and iTunes event, where iOS 4.1 is widely expected to debut.

[MacRumors, thanks Tristan!]

iOS 4.1 beta 3 features: FaceTime connections via Email is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple generally holds an iPod and iTunes event, where they announce the new iPod family, every September. However, the rumors are pointing towards a mid-August event this year instead.

The MacMagazine today received information from a reliable source within Apple about a new event to the press that the company was planning to soon. Although the schedule cite the source as somewhere around 14 and 16, we bet our chips on a Monday or Tuesday – that is, 16 or August 17.

We’ve already seen evidence of a new iPod touch with a front facing camera for FaceTime and a new rear camera with flash. In addition to these expectations, the source claims that Apple will deliver information about iOS 4 for the iPad as well as release iLife ‘11.

Apple has never discussed iLife during their fall iPod event, so why would they this year? Perhaps they will introduce a new music application to the suite that integrates with the iPod and iOS 4.

What do you think? Will we actually see an event in just a matter of weeks and what will be discussed? Sound off in the comments below!

[MacRumors]

Apple to host iPod, iTunes, iOS 4 event in August? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

As part of their constant tweaking of all things App Store, Apple has added a section to the on-device (i.e. on iPhone or iPod touch) App Store that’s called “try before you buy”.

Here’s the deal, on the Featured tab, under New, there are series of 4 banners at the top. If you’re in the US, the bottom right one now says Free on App Store. Tap on it and you get a list of New and Noteworthy, Try Before You Buy, and Our Favorites.

Tap on Try Before You Buy and you get a listing of free or lite versions of popular apps you can sort by Featured, Popular, and Release Date.

So, it’s not like the Android Marketplace where you can sample any app and get a refund if you hate it; it’s really just the same content repackaged in a new way. However, the new packaging will probably be helpful to users looking for just those kind of free, sample apps.

Note: I’m not seeing it in the Canadian App Store yet.

[9to5Mac, image via Engadget]

iPhone App Store gains “Try Before You Buy”. Sort of. is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog