iPhone News, Current Events, Announcements, and Opinions

The Monday before Macworld Expo opened, we had a chance to sit down with Wil Shipley of Delicious Monster to get a sneak peak at their new app for the iPhone. Described by Shipley as a "widget," the app will interface with Delicious Library 2.1 on the Mac to bring your entire library right to your iPhone.

Sync will occur over Wi-Fi via Bonjour and will include every item from your library. From there you can browse by category, shelf, or even search through your stuff. When it launches, the app will be completely free.

AT&T's push to strengthen and expand their 3G network in the U.S. has caused their EDGE network to suffer, according to a report by Open for Business. The news isn't surprising, given that much of the improvements were made by switching their EDGE transmitters over to 3G.

Those of you going to the Macworld Expo tomorrow might want to update your iPhone applications. Specifically, iMacworld has been updated to version 1.1, adding a finalized list of exhibitors, products and sessions, as well as small banner ads at the bottom, which are a small price to pay for accurate information. Grab the updated version for free by updating your apps or downloading it at the App Store.

With Macworld Expo 2009 kicking off in just a few hours, a few last-minute rumors have popped up. Among the more prominent are Apple deals pointing toward DRM-free music in the iTunes store, over the air downloads, and hopefully a tethering plan for the iPhone with AT&T.

When Apple announced back in December of '08 that CEO Steve Jobs would not be giving his famous yearly Apple keynote, speculation ran wild about why the decision was made. There were several theories as to why, most prominently was regarding his health. In the wake of all the speculation, Steve posted a public email addressing the Apple community, confirming that his health was in fact the cause.

"Jody Sanders", the fool caught trying to pass the Dev Team's work off as his own and sell copies of it for his own profit, is at it again. He is now offering copies of an edited version of QuickPwn for sale at £19.99 per copy, and promises to have Yellowsn0w as well. Needless to say, the Dev Team does not approve.

Adding to the pre-Macworld suspicion, a pink iPhone, complete with logos and trademarks, came up for auction on eBay recently. There were rumors of a third color option of the iPhone prior to the iPhone 3G launch. At the time it was expected to be a product (RED) iPhone, but afterward it turned out to be only the black and white models we have now. Still, this pink iPhone might mean something.

If you live in a northern or temperate climate like I do, then using your iPhone outside in the winter can be a real pain. Since the iPhone's screen is capacitive, you have to operate it with either your bare fingertips or a cumbersome stylus, something that gets old fast in sub-zero weather. To solve this issue, Apple is working on a patent for some gloves that should make using the iPhone a lot more pleasant in the winter.

The Dev Team has updated their blog again with some tips for those of you trying to use yellowsn0w to unlock your iPhone 3G. For starters, you'll need to update to baseband 02.28.00, by updating through iTunes and using QwickPwn to activate, etc. They also write about a known problem with the hack involving SIM cards with the SIM Toolkit application menus. You can read more about it at their blog.

Here's a fun little app. It's called iSteam, and it simulates having your iPhone's glass screen fogged over with steam that you can interact with by rubbing at it with your finger. Sure, it might not be very useful, but for a silly app it's actually very well made and kind of fun. Video after the break.

Developer Secret Exit has released SPiN Lite [App Store], a free version of SPiN, [App Store, $4.99], their 3D shape matching puzzle game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The game is played by spinning 3G shapes around on the screen to match the silhouette shown using the standard 2-fingered rotation gesture. Video after the break.

After Apple's announcement that they would not be attending Macworld after next week's event, there has been a lot of curiosity among the diehard Apple fanboys and girls about what it will mean for the annual event. For those of you who are lucky enough to be going this year, IDG, the company who put on the event along with Macworld, is hosting a town hall meeting on Wednesday, January 7th, where you can voice your opinions and hear what others are saying. We'll be there. Will you?
[via Ars Technica]

Here's a list of some of the apps that are on sale or dropped in price for today. As always, this list was compiled using AppShopper.com. Today's list includes My Stuff, Connect, Total Control, Cram, Linx, Server Status, Lumen, and MetaSquares.

2008 was a big year, with the introduction of the iPhone 3G, and especially the App Store. Now that the year is over, it's time for the 2008 Best App Ever Awards, which features 34 categories, including "Best App Ever" and "Best Free or Ad Supported Game". Each category has 10 apps that were nominated by users, and the top 10 with the most nominations overall are competing for dominance as the "Best App Ever". If you want to participated, heard over the award page and cast your vote. Hurry though. Polling closes on January 6th.

The iPhone Dev Team has officially released their 3G unlock, code-named yellowsn0w, to the Cydia app installer, which if not already available, should be available for download as soon as they get their repository in order. They also explained the message from earlier today. Interestingly, the unlock is not only able to unlock the latest firmware build, but requires it to work.

A word of advice for whatever New Year's Eve party you might be attending: There's a fun new application [App Store, $0] in the App Store that uses the same principal used in the Ocarina app to turn your iPhone into a party noisemaker. However, as neat as it sounds, you probably don't want to be that guy with the stupid noisemaker on his phone. Just a thought.
[via Cult of Mac]

A new tool has been released for your iPhone and iPod Touch that use bookmarklets to add the same kind of functionality you can get with a desktop browser. Safari+ bookmarklets use specialized JavaScript (much like Pastebud, Instapaper and iPastelet) bookmarklets that let you do things like open a link in a new window, translate between languages, speed-scrolling, and more.

Craig Berger, an analyst for Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co, reported earlier today that he believes Apple is getting ready to introduce a new "lower-cost" version of the iPhone. He doesn't think it will be ready in time to be rolled out at Macworld next week, but based on information from "checks" with Apple suppliers, he says it's on it's way eventually.

The iPhone Dev Team is set to release the results of their yellowsn0w project, a soft unlock for the iPhone 3G, on New Year's Day New Year's Eve. Word is going around that it will be available for installation through Cydia. In the meantime, the team has posted a cryptic message to keep our minds occupied.

iLuv has announced a new speaker dock that combines iPhone and iPod Touch compatibility with an HD radio. It's the iHD171 HD Radio with iTunes Tagging, and can tune into any AM/FM HD station or multicast station in addition to being able to play music from the iPhone.