Verizon To Institute Tiered Data Next Month?

Verizon users have been enjoying unlimited data on their smartphones for quite some time, but we’ve known that it ends this summer. Unfortunately, those of you using the Verizon iPhone may be faced with a tiered pricing structure similar to AT&Ts, if not with your current phone, then definitely when you upgrade.

According to Droid-Life, the rollover is meant to kick in on July 7th, and their data plans will look a little something like this:

Data plans:

If you would like to add tethering on to any of those packages, you can purchase 2GB of data at an additional cost of $20 per month.

Data plans w/ tethering:

AllThingsD contacted Verizon about the change, who said, “we will move to a more usage based model in July. We’ll share more later.”

That’s a corporate confirmation if ever I saw one.

iPhone 5 to be announced in August, major hardware update?

According to BGR Apple will be announcing a much improved and updated iPhone 5 as early as August.

Lots of recent rumors have pointed to Apple releasing a small upgrade form the current iPhone 4; even going so far as to call it the iPhone 4S. Both This is My Next‘s iPhone 5 rumors, and now BGR‘s dispute that. Unless Apple is planning two release (iPhone nano?, someone is going to have to make up their mind and soon.

BGR has also heard that it is possible Apple will hold the iPhone 5 announcement event at the beginning or middle of August with availability to follow as early as the end of August. TiPb has heard similar August rumblings from box box retail sources, but their information is usually hit and miss and hard to source. The major issue with an August timeframe is obviously Apple’s announcement of a fall release of iOS 5. There is no way Apple will release a new iPhone prior to the release of iOS 5 — at least every new iPhone to date has shipped with a new version of iOS.

Could Apple announce iPhone 5 in August and release it alongside iOS 5 in September? Would that make sense?

[BGR]

iPhone 5 To Be A Major Upgrade?

At present, the vast majority of speculators are pegging the next iteration of iPhone to be an iPhone 4S — a primarily under the hood upgrade, bringing more memory, a faster processor, and possibly some minor physical tweaks like a moved flash or slightly larger screen. The thinking is that this will be an incremental upgrade and then the next iPhone after that will be a 4G version with major changes.

However, BGR is reporting that the next iPhone will be significantly different:

BGR has independently confirmed that the next-generation iPhone will not merely be an upgraded iPhone 4 as had been previously rumored. We have been told by a reliable source to expect a radical new case design for the upcoming iPhone.

They’re source doesn’t have any specific details, and is also claiming an August announcement and release, rather than during Apple’s annual September even like many others are thinking.

BGR generally has a solid — but not perfect — record with rumors. This one’s far enough out there that I’m wanting further confirmation before I’ll believe it.

Gameloft announces BackStab for iPhone and iPad, coming this Thursday [video]

Gameloft has announced that BackStab will be arriving for the iPhone and iPad this Thursday. Previously only available on one particular Android device, it will now be available for iPhone and iPad users too. Gameloft announced via twitter that the game would be available on Thursday June 23^rd.

BackStab is set on an 18th century Caribbean island and weaves an epic tale of revenge. Hero Henry Blake has been falsely accused of treason and will go to all means to seek vengeance on his British jailers. With a game play mixing action and adventure, BackStab incorporates an open 3D environment for free roaming, dynamic combat and counter-attacks.

No information is available on pricing; we will let you know as soon as its announced. Take a look at the video after the break. Will you be picking this one up?  Let us know what you think in the comments!

[Gameloft]

Apple releases Final Cut Pro X, Motion, Compressor on Mac App Store

Not strictly iPhone or iPad news, but Apple today released a huge upgrade to their pro video editing tools with Final Cut Pro X, Motion, and Compressor, which will be available for $299, $49, and $49 respectively on the Mac App Store.

“Final Cut Pro X is the biggest advance in Pro video editing since the original Final Cut Pro,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “We have shown it to many of the world’s best Pro editors, and their jaws have dropped.”

“I’m blown away by what Apple has done with Final Cut Pro,” said Angus Wall, Academy Award-winning film editor. “Final Cut Pro X is incredibly modern and fast, but most importantly it lets you focus on telling your story in the most creative way, while it actively manages all of the technical details.”

While they’ll no doubt be used to make a ton of content for our iOS devices, the interesting thing to me is how closely Final Cut Pro has come to resemble iMovie for both Mac and iOS, showing once again how Apple uses innovation on OS X to drive iOS, and iOS to drive OS X.

We saw this with the leaner, meaner QuickTime X on iOS that got ported back to the Mac, along with tons of interface and experience conventions for OS X Lion, and we’re seeing it with iMovie, GarageBand, and things like CoreImage being moved to iPhone and iPad.

We probably won’t see Final Cut Pro X touch for iOS any time soon, but we’ll absolutely see better versions of iMovie for iOS because of it. And vice versa.

Anyone picking up Final Cut Pro X?

[Apple PR, Final Cut Pro]

Phone Drive ( File Sharing) updated with iPad support

Phone Drive (+File Sharing) turns your iPhone, and now iPad, into a portal flash drive. Easily and quickly manage your files even better than ever.

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think! Check out the screenshots after the break.

[$1.99 for iPhone and iPad - iTunes link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

New and updated iPhone and iPad apps for Tuesday, June 20

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

Splashtop Remote Desktop (update and sale): Access your PC programs, games, multimedia content, and files over Wi-Fi and 3G/4G networks. Go everywhere with just your iPad without having to carry your computer! [$1.99 for iPhone - iTunes link] [$2.99 for iPad - iTunes link

Puzz for iPad: A puzzle simulator with more than 100 puzzles in different difficulty levels. [$2.99 for iPad - iTunes link]

Breitling Reno Air Races The Game: Take the plunge and join the Breitling Reno Air Races, flying the most famous racing planes on the planet in the fastest motor sport on earth! [Free for iPhone and iPad - iTunes link]

Snap! ♥: The easiest way to add notes to your photos! Just snap a photo, write as many notes as you want, move them around with your finger and it’ll be saved with the notes overlaid on it. Now with a redesigned UI and Instagram, Flickr, and and Evernote integration! [$0.99 for iPhone - iTunes link]

Melon Truck: Game Play consists of launching melons from a melon truck to baskets that vary in points. There are total of 60 Levels, 6 of which are bonus. Each level must be completed with a minimum score of 1600 in order to proceed to the next locked level. [$0.99 for iPhone - iTunes link]

Any other big apps or game releases or updates today? If you pick any of these up, let us know what you think!

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.