Updated at 6:30 a.m. PST with additional details and at 7:30 a.m. with comments from Apple.

Apple doubled the capacity of the iPhone and the iPod Touch on Tuesday for an additional $100.

The iPhone once again comes in two capacities: 8GB for $399 and now ...

The Applie iPhone now comes in two sizes, 8GB for $399 and 16GB for $499. The new version is available immediately.

There’s an interesting article on ITWire about. It reminds us that one of the main reasons Apple went to give AT&T an iPhone exclusive and, yes, the reason why we have to go through all the jailbreak hassle for the iPhone, is visual voicemail. Apple has to make sure all iPhone features will be working when the customers want it and the best way to ensure that is to have the full support of the wireless provider. Of course, there’s also this little thing called revenue sharing. Apple gets a cut out of every customer’s wireless bill on his iPhone.

But ITWire is questioning whether Apple truly needs to get into these exclusive deals with the wireless companies. The iPhone is pretty much easy recall now for most people. There is reason to believe that many more people will buy the iPhone if it is not unlocked. One of the most often cited reasons why some individuals stay away from the iPhone is its exclusive deal with AT&T. So why shouldn’t Apple offer the iPhone unlocked in some future date, say 2009?

Via

This is a post from Cell Phones Etc. ...

Friday afternoon I wandered down to the local Apple store, trying to decide on an iPod model. I walked out with an 8 GB iPod Touch and I’ve been playing with it ever since. It’s pretty much the coolest thing since sliced bread, and when Apple upgrades the iPhone to 3G, I’ll stand in line to get one. If you don’t know, the Touch is the non-phone version of the iPhone, and it comes in 8GB or 16GB models. It is an iPod, so it plays music, movies, and podcasts, but it also does much more. With bui

Do you think your Apple iPhone would still work after being run over by a semi truck? Well, apparently Mike Beauchamp’s is. A couple of days ago he was at a gas station and had his iPhone out. As he was leaving, the iPhone had been left on top of the trunk of his car, and it fell on the road. But, as he was about to go retrieve the handset from the road, a semi truck ran over it.

It squashed the iPhone pretty good, as you can imagine. However, after picking up the phone, he realized it still worked to make calls and even the touchscreen worked. Of course, there was extensive damage to the handset and some pixels on the screen were damaged, but overall the phone worked fine. Well, he’s now in talks with an Apple PR person to possibly get a promo out of the iPhone. I guess that may be the one positive to having your phone run over.

source

Apple has come out with a fix for the iPhone v1.1.3 SMS out of order messages problem. They say the fix is simple: just turn on automatic date / time updates, because the problem is when your iPhone’s time and AT&T’s time don’t match.

Yes, this seems like an easy fix, but I’m not sure why this setting wouldn’t be the default to begin with? Anyway, you can now go back to your scheduled SMS time. Hopefully now you can read things in order though.

source

Apparently the Apple iPhone SDK key has been leaked on the ‘net. The Apple iPhone SDK key is the access key to allow 3rd party apps to work on the iPhone. No word yet on how the SDK got leaked out from Apple, or when they’ll be changing the key code to something else.

BGR has more: “The Apple iPhone SDK key is the digital signature that allows iTunes to verify the validity of a given application. As we already know, Apple has said that they will need to electronically verify and sanction any 3rd party application destined for the iPhone. If developers can figure out how to include this newly leaked key in their homebrew apps, however, we could see 3rd party software installation without the need for Apple’s blessing.”

source

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast is sponsored by Kensington. In this week’s Wired Gadget Lab podcast, Dylan Tweney, Daniel Dumas, and Jose Fermoso discuss the Jobsfest known as Macworld 2008, and exchange their first impressions of the super-thin MacBook Air notebook. In addition, they’ll quickly go over Apple’s other new offerings and upgrades, such as the Vudu-killing Apple TV set-top box, and review some of the latest tested gadgets, including the Jura Capresso Impressa Espresso machine,

Apple iPhone Download Site Review blog is about to show you reviews of the most popular iphone download sites on the internet. It will explain to you all the details to help you understand and decide which download

All roads lead back to this year’s MacWorld, many were disappointed with the announcements as there were no widespread product revisions/announcements and by all counts, the MacBook Air is seen as “bad fruit.” Apple stocks are down temporarily but the long term outlook is good and it’s possible some new MacBook Pros are due soon. The MacBook Air is not a laptop the majority are going to buy and it fills a niche that didn’t need filled in the first place. It’s probable that Steve Jobs though

There’s now an Apple iPhone / iPod Touch SNES emulator out there! Ok, I know you are all jumping for joy now, seeing as you can relive the glory days of your youth. The screen will apparently be split between a virtual controller and the actual game. So maybe a little small, but still workable for the dedicated gamers.

EngadgetMobile has more on the iPhone / iPod Touch emulator: “Right now, the project is still in the beta / testing phase, but you can be assured that in the very near future, your sweaty hands will be smudging all over a virtual controller during heart-pounding games of F-Zero, Killer Instinct, and Super Metroid.”

The SNES emulator is still in beta right now, but if you give the developers a nice tip I’m sure they’ll let you in on the trial version.

source

Man gets $85,000 cell phone bill for modem use. “Piotr Staniaszek had been using his cell phone as a modem for his computer, thinking he was covered under his $10-a-month unlimited mobile browser plan from Canadian telco Bell Mobility. He actually caught the bill at $65,000. When he called to complain, he was told that it had hit $85,000 for the use since the bill was mailed.” 10 worst tech products of 2007 “Apple TV: Apple’s foray into the living room seemed like a no-brainer, and this HD

SingTel is negotiating with Apple over distributing iPhone in Thailand and in other countries in the region. SingTel is the owner of Optus, a mobile operator in Australia.

The details are a little complicated but suppose Apple deals with a regional operator for several countries. Optus spokeswoman Melissa Clare said they were in line for a talk with Apple. Apple’s European deal involves different companies for each European country. For example, in the UK, O2 gets the iPhone exclusivity while in France it’s Orange and in Germany it’s T-Mobile.

China Mobile’s and iPhone’s talk has already went through, which leaves China iPhon-less in the forseeable future. Rogers, Canada’s only GSM operator, remains mum about iPhone.

Via

This is a post from Cell Phones Etc. entitled:
SingTel Bringing iPhine Closer to Australians | Add your Comments

Apple released the first patches for 2008 to the QuickTime media player as well as the iPhone and iPod Touch on January 15.

The updates to QuickTime 7.4 for Windows and Mac users are designed to prevent a system from being hijacked when malicious movie files are opened.

Apple Downloads lists the updates ...

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Thailand's Advanced Info Service (ADVA.BK) (AIS) are in talks about selling the U.S. firm's popular iPhone in Thailand, a senior official of the Thai firm said on Monday.

We were a little too busy getting over-awed by Apple’s new ultraportable laptop that we forgot what we really wanted out of MacWorld 2008: the official announcement of iPhone Canada, complete with price and date. Apple, needless to say, disappointed us.

Come to think of it, the rumors were too loud to be fake. And even if they were just rumors, Steve Jobs might have heard about it. Surely, a hi-tech population like Canada wouldn’t fail to catch the attention of someone always looking for new markets to dominate.

So, what’s the deal, Steve. When are you going to announce the iPhone?

This is a post from Cell Phones Etc. entitled:
Where is iPhone Canada? | Add your Comments

The Apple iPhone Download Site Reviews Squidoo lense is about to show you is reviews of the most popular sites out there. Don't waste your money on bad sites, check the reviews of the best iPhone Download Sites on the net.

OK, so you’ve got your pretty little Apple iPhone now, but the speaker is just not loud enough for you. Apparently a lot of iPhone users are having the same problem with the speaker being too quiet, so a few “modders” took matters into their own hands. The old fashioned way - by jabbing it.

All you have to do is poke the speaker with needles until you puncture the thin plastic layer around the speaker. According to the people that have actually tried this, it raises the speaker volume by around 40%.

Now, we must warn you though, by doing this little trick…you may VOID your warranty. If you’ve got the guts to do this though, you may be happily surprised by raised volume on your iPhone.

source

Kindle, iPhone and iPod Touch...oh my! Posted by Chris Harris on January 18, 2008 Head on over to Library Journal's latest netConnect supplement for my review of the Amazon Kindle and Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. Let me just add that the iPod Touch is now quite a bit more powerful than is noted in the review. This week, Apple released a new suite of applications for the Touch, giving it all of the powers of the iPhone (but without the Phone part). As long as you are near wifi, however, yo

Well, there’s been talk of the Corporate Apple iPhone coming to AT&T for a while now. But BGR just scored a tip that it’s going to be available January 21st! With the new business centric AT&T iPhone, you should be able to take advantage of company discounts, etc.  

BGR has more on the new corporate AT&T iPhone: “There’s said to be special iPhone data plans of $25 or higher that the business customer must subscribe to. Additionally, there will be no equipment discounts (obviously), and there’s a special activation process you’ll have to run through before going to iTunes and activating. This should be available for current and new corporate and business account holders!”

source

Apple recently announced updates to the iPhone. One of those updates was for the popular Maps application. The iPhone Maps application adds some new features, one of which allows you to locate another user automatically. Scary!

Mobiledia has more on the iPhone Maps update: “The new Maps application update adds features such as the ability to find a user’s location automatically. With just the tap of a button, the iPhone can triangulate the position using nearby Wi-Fi base stations or cellular towers. Customers can use this as a starting or ending point for directions or to find local points of interest. The new hybrid map view combines map view and satellite view so they can see major street names overlaid on satellite imagery.”

source

At this years MacWorld, Apple announced iTunes Movie Rentals. With Apple’s new iTunes Movie Rentals, movie fans can rent movies on their computer, transfer them to their iPhone, and watch them anywhere. Users can also navigate forward or backward through their movies by chapters, select alternate language tracks and view subtitles.

The news of Apple iTunes Movie Rentals may be the start of a boom in the online movie rental business. Of course, Netflix and a few others have already pioneered the online movie rental business, but Apple will give the industry a huge boost. 

source

A lot of Apple iPhone users are pretty upset over some recent problems with v1.1.3 firmware. Apparently quite a number of users have experienced problems with SMS text messaging conversations being out of order. When Apple first announced updates to it’s SMS text messaging, users were pretty excited, but this news really put a damper on their hopes.

You would think that Apple would have made sure to test and re-test the new iPhone and iPod Touch v1.1.3 firmware before release. Anyway, I’m sure they’re onto the SMS texting problem, and we’ll have an update soon.

source

Is it just me or is Steve Jobs going wacko? Aparently, it’s not just me. We’re still in MacWorld hangover time and Steve Jobs’ Keynote has only begun to sink in, and one of these messages from the Keynote is causing a sinking sensation in my stomach.

Apple upgrades the iPod Touch, putting Google Maps with location support (using triangulation via WiFi), which will cost users an extra $19.99 to get. The other updates, which will come with the next firmware upgrade, are notes, weather and stocks.

The iPod touch software upgrade also includes new features such as Web Clips, a customizable home screen and beginning today, the ability to watch iTunes(R) Movie Rentals. New iPod touch products shipping from the factory will include the software upgrade and existing iPod touch customers can get the software upgrade for $19.99 by purchasing and downloading it from iTunes (http://www.itunes.com)

Why a fee for this upgrade when the iPhone upgrade doesn’t cost a cent? My guess? Apple would rather get revenue sharing with the iPod Touch they just haven’t figured out how.

Via

This is a post from Cell Phones Etc. ...

Apple Users Can Now Enjoy iPhone-Like "Visual Voicemail" on Their Computer with Any Mobile Phone and with Virtually Any Service Provider to Access Mobile Communications on the Desktop, Handset, or Web

Apple iPhone

More Photos- View Specs

Apple today announced a free software update for the iPhone, allowing users to find their location using the Maps application; text message multiple people in one message; create Web Clips for websites; customize their home screen; and watch movies rented from the iTunes Movie Rentals.

With its multi-touch user interface and software, users can add new features to their iPhone through software updates. Existing iPhone customers will automatically get the update for free when they sync their iPhone with iTunes.

Maps, one of the most popular applications on the iPhone, has a new interface and adds features such as the ability to find a user's location automatically. With just the tap of a button, the iPhone can triangulate the position using nearby Wi-Fi base stations or cellular towers. Customers can use this as a starting or ending point for directions or to find local points of interest. The new ...

Apple iPhone and iPod Touch firmware 1.1.3 is available for download. The 1.1.3 firmware upgrade can be purchased now for $19.99. The new upgrade for your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch seems to be worth it, if you’ve got the extra cash; below is a list of features you will get with the upgrade:

“Maps: New hybrid view, same as Google Maps. Satellite imagery and street mapping available on a single view.

Maps: Location triangulation. Uses nearby WiFi access points and GSM towers (on the iPhone, anyway) to roughly guesstimate your current location.

Web Clips: Web bookmarks can now be saved as home screen icons, including zoom and location information.

Home screen: Icons on the home screen can now be rearranged.

Home screen: Up to 9 home screens can now be created and “flicked” between.

SMS: A single text message can now be sent to multiple recipients; groups can be recalled for future use.

iTunes: Movie rentals are now supported.

iTunes: Support for lyrics.”

source

It's now been a year since Apple first unveiled its iPhone and today the company announced a series of updates to the super-hyped device. Though 3G-capability remains on the horizon (it will come this year, however) now has the capability to do a couple things its should have done ...

It can fit inside a Manila envelope, and it’s light enough at 3.0 pounds that you can probably mail it too without the mail man asking too many questions. Steve Jobs provoked more than just oohs and ahhs at MacWorld 2008 with his revelation of the newest MacBook model.

The MacBook Air is the thinnest notebook on the market, measuring 0.76 inches at its thickest point and a phenomenal .16 inches at its thinnest. It sports the same 13.3-inch-size screen as the regular MacBook, but standard RAM has improved to 2GB. ‘MBA’ is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, upgradeable to 1.8GHz. Apple opted for the iPod’s 1.8-inch 80GB hard-disk drive, but you also get the option for an SSD with 64GB of storage. Other innovations include a backlit keyboard, which complements the backlit screen. Perhaps just as amazing as the thinness of the MacBook Air is its trackpad, which supports multi-gesture control, resembling the Apple iPhone screen.

And what does this computing phenom cost, do you ask? Only $1799. Not bad at all.
Via

This is a post from Cell Phones Etc. entitled:
...

At Macworld Expo 2008 today, Steve Jobs announced a new update for the iPhone, which is available today to users. The home screen can now be customized, Google maps shows current location, and new features have been added to SMS and video playback.

Steve Jobs Keynote for MacWorld 2008 included several bits of good news for iPhone owners and people who are thinking of getting an iPhone soon. With the latest software update, firmware 1.1.3, the iPhone will be able to send SMS to several addresses at the same time. This is quite common in other phones but the iPhone was sadly lacking this until now. What else? Google Maps will now support your own current location. It’s not GPS but a Google triangulation using other cellphones which apparently works really well in densely populated areas. Other new features include the ability to customize your home screen (just like you would a computer screen), Webclips, language, subtitle and chapters on videos and lyric support on audio. An SDK for programmers will be released in February, so expect more exciting news coming on the iPhone software front soon.

Steve Jobs also announced some milestones for the iPhone. Officially, the iPhone sells 20,000 units every day, which totals 4 million units in customer hands to date. The iPhone also took the #2 spot on the smartphone market behind RIM with a 19.5% marketshare share, outselling Nokia, ...

Today Apple announced that it will add several new functions to the iPhone with the latest firmware update. The Google Maps application now includes the ability to find your current location and provides the hybrid satellite/map view. The GPS ...
(follow link to read)

There has been no shortage of wild rumors heading up the the MacWorld expo, or any Mac event for that matter. Just for fun though, here’s one final rumor before the big event today.

Introducing, the Apple Newton iPhone

Originally the said “Newton” was a single screen device designed to be held with both hands like a PSP, basically a big iPhone held in landscape mode.

(more…)

This is a post from Cell Phones Etc. entitled:
Apple Newton Phone: One Last Wild MacWorld Rumor | Add your Comments

China Mobile Ends Talks With Apple on IPhone Handsets

Created from a material which was developed to protect military helicopter blades during high speeds, ZAGG have now introduced a patent-pending protection of invisibleSHIELD for Apple’s iPhone. It claims to be the only full-body protection solution of its kind, ultra-tough and ultra-thin the film is apparently guaranteed to keep structure and design of your mobile phone fully intact without the need of bulkier electronic devices and is already available for the iPod. It boasts it’s resil

Reported in the Mail on Sunday is that Apple is silencing UK iPhone partners and demanding they do not reveal any sales figures concerning the iPhone. The news paper hinted at the sales of Apple’s £269 iPhone was disappointing. Apparently, according to insiders in the industry Apple told O2 and Carphone Warehouse not to divulge the true sales statistics to investors. However, in his Macworld 08 keynote speech, Steve Jobs is expected to announce the quantity of iPhones to be sold outside the

Apple will not be selling it’s iPhone to Chinese consumers. China Mobile, China’s largest network and the biggest mobile network in the world in subscriber base, found Apple’s demand too costly. Apple is unique among cell phone manufacturers in that it demands a share of the subscriber revenue from the woreless distributor. According to the report, Apple wanted a 20% to 30% cut.

Appe has not commented on the development while China Mobile wasn’t much more talkative. China Mobile is known to have a subscriber base of 350 million. If Apple wants to sell iPhones in China it has to be for a lower price than what Americans and Europeans are paying.

Via

This is a post from Cell Phones Etc. entitled:
Apple iPhone Won’t Sell in China | Add your Comments

Online magazine Wired have published quiet an epic post concerning the development of the Apple iPhone on just how Apple had to use new tactics to prevent mobile phone manufacturers from making a big name for themselves in America. So there you have it, if you ever fancied finding out why Europeans giggle a bit at America and their mobile phones then this Wired expose will juggle things into proper perspective for you; So when you have a few spare moments with nothing better to do why not che

Vic Gundotra, a vice president of engineering at Google, shows off the new user interface of Google Web apps for the iPhone being unveiled at Macworld on Monday.

(Credit: Google)

(This post has been updated to reflect Google's announcement on Monday.)

On Christmas Day thousands of people opened up

...

Mobile World is a complete mobile phones blog with all the latest mobile phone reviews, mobile phone industry news... The mobile review will update daily. Visit to see the news technology of the mobile.

The Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas was not immune to manufacturers trying to ride the Apple bandwagon, often at the risk of violating the iPhone-maker’s intellectual property rights. Endgadget spotted this phone (presumably from China) bearing the name Apple Pie. Not quite an infringement on Apple’s trademark, but still a reminder that would keep Apple on it toes - clones are out there in force.

Unfortunately, Endgadget took a photo but forgot the specs.

Via

This is a post from Cell Phones Etc. entitled:
The Apple Pie at CES | Add your Comments

(Credit: Phil Lu / Genoco.com)

Hot on the heels of the mysterious ordering patent that surfaced late last month, multimedia designer Phil Lu has put together some gorgeous mockup shots of what an ordering system for retail stores would look like using Apple's iPhone. According to Gizmodo, the shots ...

Wired Magazine’s Fred Vogelstein wrote an article that really caught my attention - The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry. It’s a lengthy article (4 pages), but it includes little known details about what was actually going on over at Apple during the time leading up to the official launch of the iPhone at Macworld just one year ago. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, I can tell you that. But in the end, all of the hard work paid off and Apple had managed to do something tha

Samsung SPH-M800

More Photos- View Specs

Samsung today unveiled the SGH-F490, a multimedia phone with a 3.2-inch, 16:9 wide full-touch screen and intuitive user interface for the European market. To support Internet browsing, the F490 embedded Google Search and optimized full browser for Web pages in both vertical and horizontal views.

"The Samsung F490 is the solution for consumers who want to use Internet wherever and whenever they want," said Geesung Choi, president, telecom business, Samsung. "F490 is not only a powerful multimedia device but also a stylish fashion item with sleek and charming design. We are proud to introduce this new innovative multimedia handset to global consumers."

From listening to music to snapping photos and video with the embedded 5-megapixel camera, the F490 offers the latest audio and video functions such as the combination ...

Perhaps the iPhone’s most distinctive and best loved feature, multi-touch technology has fascinated technology fans for over a year now. But while the world is waiting for Apple to put multi-touch on a Mac, lowly Elantech from Taiwan, has made the technology work on a laptop trackpad.

Elantech calls it “Multi-fingers Smartpad.” They used it on an Asus laptop and has been wowing visitors at their CES booth (those who deigned to drop by anyway).

You can resize, rotate pictures using two fingers just like the iPhone. Pretty cool, especially if the trackpad could be bigger.

Permalink + Comments

From BlackBerry here is the 8100 Pearl, a slim, stylish, small quad-band mobile phone with a Qwerty keyboard and the 8100 Pearl is the first BlackBerry that features a microSD slot and 1.3 megapixel camera with flash and 5x zoom. The BlackBerry 8100 Pearl has a 65k colour screen with a trackball navigation and tech that adjusts keypad and screen brightness.The 8100 Pearl also has an MP3 player and Push Email and there is also a stereo hands-free kit and enhanced connectivity via Bluetooth and

FlyTunes Inc. today demonstrated its new digital music service for the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and other portable media players and cell phones. The FlyTunes service offers users a personalized satellite radio-like experience, with thousands of channels of digita...

[Continue reading PRESS RELEASE: FlyTunes to offer digital music service for Apple iPhone]

Apple iPhone is one of the hottest tech products around but it is no good if it is broken and this is why you need to protect your iPhone with a solid, protective case which is why I picked up the OtterBox Apple iPhone case. The hard plastic case with its molded curves are designed to fit around your iPhone perfectly.

Step by step comparison between the iPhone and the Centro

At CES 2008, Lagotek will present its "HIP Modes" Sideshow home control gadget working on iPhone and iPod touch made possible by Ikanos Consulting Go Gadgets technology. It enables the use of iPhone and iPod touch for home control over WiFi and GPRS/EDGE.