If you are an avid smartphone user then you will agree that reaching for a mobile to get the info needed takes less time than logging into your PC. What with a faster network and unlimited data plans that too at lower costs. Mobile applications help you locate music, make reservations in restaurants or for travel and also check bank balances quite securely. All one needs is a mobile phone nowadays. AdSense for Mobile Applications facilitates such applications. Advertisers want to reach potential customers through appropriate mobile content. Also application developers are keen on showing best ads to users. AdSense will help them do just that. AdSense for Mobile Applications has gone through a beta launch already and was tested on a small sample group. This gave favorable results and now testing on a wider scale is to follow. Developers will be able to earn by displaying text and image ads in their iPhone and Android applications through AdSense for Mobile Applications. For the beta launch a site has been created which will give developers more details on AdSense. Also advertisers can learn more about the advantages of advertising in mobile applications. If you are an avid smartphone user then you will agree that reaching for a mobile to get the info needed takes less time than logging into your PC. What with a faster network and unlimited data plans that too at lower costs. Mobile applications help you locate music, make reservations in restaurants or for travel and also check bank balances quite securely. All one needs is a mobile phone nowadays. AdSense for Mobile Applications facilitates such applications. Advertisers want to reach potential customers through appropriate mobile content. Also application developers are keen on showing best ads to users. AdSense will help them do just that. AdSense for Mobile Applications has gone through a beta launch already and was tested on a small sample group. This gave favorable results and now testing on a wider scale is to follow. Developers will be able to earn by displaying text and image ads in their iPhone and Android applications through AdSense for Mobile Applications. For the beta launch a site has been created which will give developers more details on AdSense. Also advertisers can learn more about the advantages of advertising in mobile applications.

This is sure to surprise many. Recently Adobe released a beta version of its Flash player for smartphones. Although the company included Google’s Android, Nokia’s Symbian OS, Windows Mobile and the Palm’s webOS it omitted two major contenders. You guessed right. The two are Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry. It is a known fact that Adobe Flash Player is very important in computers. Now the company has extended the software onto mobile operating systems since smartphones have exploded into mainstream. Adobe sources said that the company was working with Apple but it required more application program interfaces APIs and better cooperation to offer the Adobe Flash capabilities to the iPhone. No mention of BlackBerry here. Also there was information that the beta version will be released to developers at Adobe’s MAX conference in October. The company has ported the current Flash Player 10 to smartphones and has provided partner firms with early versions of the release baring BlackBerry and iPhone.

Not all iPhone apps developed by enthusiasts find a place in the Apple App Store, it seems. The latest rejection is for Manomio whose application emulates videogames available from the Commodore 64 home computer system. It featured a virtual joystick and keyboard, portrait and landscape gaming and a fully-licensed C64 emulator code. Manomio developed the app along with Kiloo which owns the Commodore 64 license but still had to face the axe owing to some SDK clause. The rejection letter received by Manomio cites its inability to post the app in the App Store as it violates the iPhone SDK agreement. It says that interpreted code can not be downloaded and used in an app except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple’s Published APIs and built-in interpreters. This came as some what of a surprise to Manomio as the App Store already has many such apps including the CHIP-8 emulators, programmable calculators and Z-machine interpreter Frotz, to name a few. Not all iPhone apps developed by enthusiasts find a place in the Apple App Store, it seems. The latest rejection is for Manomio whose application emulates videogames available from the Commodore 64 home computer system. It featured a virtual joystick and keyboard, portrait and landscape gaming and a fully-licensed C64 emulator code. Manomio developed the app along with Kiloo which owns the Commodore 64 license but still had to face the axe owing to some SDK clause. The rejection letter received by Manomio cites its inability to post the app in the App Store as it violates the iPhone SDK agreement. It says that interpreted code can not be downloaded and used in an app except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple’s Published APIs and built-in interpreters. This came as some what of a surprise to Manomio as the App Store already has many such apps including the CHIP-8 emulators, programmable calculators and Z-machine interpreter Frotz, to name a few.

Another feather in the cap for the all mighty king of Silicone Valley. Apple is reported to have sold 1,000,000 units this past weekend since launch of the new iPhone 3G S. Analysts last week predicted that the device would sell approximately 500,000 units but clearly the numbers from Apple and AT&T show double of that in sales. Partly in thanks to online pre-ordering, the smartphone features next generation of speed technology combined with a ramped up iPhone 3.0 OS. On Friday, surprisingly the crowds were scant and almost non-existent in some Apple and AT&T stores. With over a 100 new features in the new OS update, regardless of whether customers have a 3G or a 3G S it's definitely going to be a good summer for the Apple Apps Store. Source: CNBC via AP

I have this love/hate relationship with Apple and their iPhone. I remember fondly my first ever memory of using a computer and yes it was an Apple in school way back when I was in 3rd grade. Ever since then I have been awed and mesmerized by Apple. Fast forward to 2007 when they launched the iPod MP3 player and a smartphone in one unit that we have come to know as the iPhone. In one swift move, they changed the fate of the smartphone industry forever. I got it right away and  couldn't get enough of it at the beginning. However, as time passed, I really grew tired of tapping that silly screen all the time. I needed a freaking QWERTY keyboard back in my life meaning, I really needed my old BlackBerry. I was lost and floundering. I just couldn't do it. I know people swear by being able to type fast on that thing, but for me, it just didn't cut it. Either I type really really fast or maybe it's a flaw that I have. Then the syncing was another issue. The constant syncing! I admit that I didn't sync my BlackBerry that often; I was a little lazy but never had to face any dire issues because of it. But with the iPhone, everything always came back to syncing and I just didn't get it how people used to download tons of songs and podcasts and contacts that took for ever! Patience is not one of my virtues, as you can tell. In addition, I was getting tired of AT&T. I think they have dwindled down to Sprint's level but since they have the iPhone exclusivity, AT&T still seems to be able to maintain their status near the top. Regardless, I still hung on to my iPhone and when the iPhone3G launched back in 2008, about a year ago, I upgraded on launch day.  I still had faith and hope that this new device would be better and faster and smarter. But the same issues that plagued me before were there again. Don't get me wrong, the title of this post is my love/hate relationship and there's positives for the iPhone. For one thing, the  measley 2 megapixel camera is better than you can imagine and I captured some of the best moments of my life on it, including my newborn's images. Also, the Apple App Store really started rockin and for someone who had never had time to play games on her phone before, all of the sudden I made time for games and all other fun kinds of apps made their way into my life. Things were going great but then reality sunk in. I need my smartphone for emails and work too! And the iPhone just couldn't cut it. In order to save the meager battery life, I was having to reduce how often I needed emails pushed to me. 15 minutes is long enough but 30 minutes was just killing me! And with no spare battery option, I didn't have time in my day to continuously keep charging the phone. So, after a long battle with the iconic iPhone I decided it was time for us to part ways. This was very recently and I admit when the new iPhone 3G S launched last Friday, I had half a mind to go and buy it. In fact, I almost did but then I stopped myself. Not this time Apple. PS If you are curious to know what phone I'm using now, drop me a note.

What more can the iPhone offer you? There seems to be no end to the apps. Media5 Corporation released a SIP client softphone application which can run on both the iPhone and iPod Touch. Go to the Apple App Store for download. The Media5-Fone allows offices and mobile workers to use their iPhone as an IP-PBX extension. So now you will have your very own IP-PBX system like an office. If you work away from office then you can keep in touch with office, colleagues, clients and other contacts allowing optimum collaboration from all locations and at all times. VoIP Service providers offering calling plans can use the same SIP connectivity extension to service customers who own an iPhone. Organizations can also save costs by enabling their users with high quality phone calls in the presence of a broadband connection. The Media5-Fone is a full-featured SIP client which can work with SIP-based communications systems and infrastructure like Asterisk IP-PBX.

“Forget your passwords, it’s more secure. Your voice is your passport,” is the tag line for yet another interesting app in the Apple App Store. iPhone VOICESAFE stores PIN numbers of your credit or debit cards, passwords for logins and all your other secrets on the iPhone. To initiate the service you will have to record a sentence something known only to you which will serve as a passphrase. Using this, the software generates a voice profile which is unique to your voice. The secrets remain secrets unless the iPhone app recognizes the voice and the passphrase. This ensures that you and only you can access your private info. This mobile safe for personal secrets was developed by Munich-based VOICETRUST specializing in voice authentication technologies. Voice biometrics as a safety solution was developed to prevent identity theft especially in cyber crime.

Smartphone's are a Godsend.....web, e-mail, phone calls, camera, games, music, apps.....nevertheless, the biggest downfall of having and using a smartphone to your little heart's desire, has got to be the short battery life.  Sure you can try and save the juice for when you think you might really need it, but what's the point in buying and having a smartphone?  It's probably a given that smartphone battery life will not drastically improve in the near future, so I say instead of saving battery life....drain it, and find an alternative solution to this dilemma.  And the  iPower 1800 mAh Backup Batttery for the iPhone, iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS is a great answer to this problem.  This little guy gives you a whopping 40 hours of music time, 10 hours of video time and up to 7  hours of talk time.  Very impressive for  something that measures in at 62 x 60 x 12.9 mm, which is most likely on of the smallest 1800 mAh batteries around.  The design, look and feel of the Battery is identical to that of the iPhone.  Beauty meets beauty with a black lacquered finish, clean lines and silver accents.  Included with the BackUp Battery is a retractable USB charge cable.  And what's nice about this Battery is that it connects directly to your iPhone or iPod, no tangled cables or plugs to fuss with.  Simply connect and go.  This is a Li-Polymer battery, far superior than a Li-Ion battery, keeping its charge for up to 12 months and is good for up to 500 charges....So go ahead and get one.......you know you want to.

Good news again for iPhone and iPod Touch users. Sirius XM has released its iPhone app at the Apple App Store. You can access sports, talk, comedy, and music channels. Enjoy a cornucopia of channels including Oprah Radio, MLB Home Plate, NFL Radio, NHL Home Ice, Mad Dog Radio, The Foxxhole comedy channel, and NPR. Yes there are some missing favorite channels in the list. There are already grumblings emanating from iPhone and iPod users who seem to miss the missing channels than be happy with ones included. Sirius XM music channels included are E Street Radio, The Grateful Dead Channel, Eminem's Shade 45, Radio Margaritaville, Siriusly Sinatra, and others. You can listen to 120 channels and also purchase a music track from the iTunes Store while listening to the music in the Sirius XM app. The reason behind the prominent omissions seems to be “mobile-performance rights”. Music seems to be in plenty. If you are a music fan, then you will like the ensemble but if you were a sports fan then you will sure miss the major league channels. You can take the seven days free trial. After the trial if you want continued access then you will have to pay only $2.99 per month if you are a current Sirius XM subscriber. If not, you will have to shell out $12.95 a month for access.

iPhone 3G S officially launched today and although it has been a frenzied 2 weeks leading up to the big day, the lines and the crowds were relatively non-existent in most cities across the US. In this picture you can see a consumer walking out of a mall store with device in hand and no crowds behind him. After talking to a few Apple & AT&T Store Managers, the impression that I got was that you will have to wait in line for about an hour if you haven't yet pre-ordered your phone. For pre-orders, it was as simple as walking in and picking up the device. Whether this decrease in fan frenzy can be attributed to a large number of pre-orders or pissed of AT&T customers regarding ineligiblity for upgrade pricing, is not yet clear since analysts predict 500,000 handsets will be sold this weekend alone. It could also be the 'R' word. Last year's launch was indeed iconic for Apple not only because of the major price drop to $199 for the iPhone 3G but also because we didn't know that we were officially in a recession yet. Think back to last summer when you knew that house prices has plummeted and the economy was turning sour but you kept on going despite all those foreclosure signs in your neighborhood popping up more frequently. That's clearly not the case anymore and everyone is pretty much  a penny pincher these days. Regardless of what happens, one thing is clear - the Summer Smartphone Wars have officially begun!

It is perhaps the time of the year when all cellphone makers are upgrading to the next level in touchscreen smartphone battle. Just as Apple lifts the curtain off its upgraded, next-generation iconic device, Nokia has a ready touchcreen rival to take it on. Not far is the Korean giant Samsung, which already boasts of many new high-end smartphones in its kitty. And the latest to join them is US-based Palm which recently showed its strong iPhone contender. Not to be left behind is HTC which has launched its upgraded Touch Diamond 2. All the companies are aiming to grab the growing touchscreen mobile marketshare, the segment created by Apple iPhone, which boasts of high-end multimedia features. Here's a compare meter that evaluates iPhone 3G S, Samsung Pixon, Nokia N97, Palm Pre, HTC Touch Diamond 2 and LG Arena on various yardsticks. Plam Pre: Measuring 59.5mm x 100.5mm x 16.95mm, the Palm's latest entrant, Pre, weighs 135 grams. The phone boasts of 3.1-inch touchscreen with a 24-bit color 320x480 resolution HVGA display. The phone comes with a multi-touch screen as well as physical QWERTY keyboard that slides out. iPhone 3G S: iPhone 3G S offers nothing new in terms of looks. The phone looks exactly same like its predecessors with same dimensions and screen display. Both 16GB and 32GB models will be available in Black and white colour options. Pixon12: Measuring 108x53x13.8mm, Samsung Pixon12 features a 3.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen display. The screen boasts of a contrast ratio of 10,000:1. N97: The sleek handset pairs a 3.5 inch touchscreen with a QWERTY keyboard. The slide-out QWERTY keyboard is a full 3-row. The smartphone transforms from a touch slate to a landscape QWERTY device. The touchscreen has a 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels. HTC Touch Diamond2: The 13.7mm thick Touch Diamond2 has a 3.2-inch high-resolution wide-screen VGA display and packs a new touch sensitive zoom bar for faster zooming. LG Arena: The phone has a 3-inch WVGA screen with around 16M colours with 400 by 240 pixel resolution. Plam Pre: One of Pre's most promising features is its integration with social networking services such as Facebook. The phone is also strong on multi-tasking, the ability to have different applications open at the same time. Pre allows users to zoom in and flip through applications without closing them. It lets text messages and calendar appointments appear as notifications at the bottom of the screen. iPhone 3G S: The new iPhone promises MMS capability allowing users to send each other photographs from the phone. Earlier, users could send text messages or snapshots via email only. The new version also has cut-copy-paste feature. The voice control feature in the iPhone 3G S allows users to dial by saying the name or number. Search features have also been enhanced in iPhone 3.0 with the addition of Spotlight. Pixon12: The phone packs features like GPS, Bluetooth and an FM radio with RDS. Pixon12 offers a fast image saving feature that allows users to capture next shot in less than 2-3 seconds. N97: The phone has a 3.5mm headset jack, microUSB port used for syncing and charging, Haptic feedback and 1500 mAh battery. The N97 introduces the concept of social location So-Lo. Using the GPS receiver and integrated compass, N97 has the capability to always know where it is located and with social networking integrated it can broadcast that position to authorised friends and family. Nokia claims that the N97 will use a browser that supports Flash and Flash video. HTC Touch Diamond2: One of the latest features that Diamond 2 packs is HTC Push Internet. It’s designed to ease slow downloading and rendering of Web pages on a mobile phone. LG Arena: The phone features a new 3D S-class user interface to provide quality audio and video output. Arena is said to be the first phone in the global market to use Dolby Mobile from Dolby Laboratories meant to deliver enhanced sound experience. Plam Pre: Pre has a 3 megapixel camera that can shoot in both horizontal and landscape mode. Pre is designed to let you scroll through your photos by dragging your finger across the screen. iPhone 3G S: With iPhone 3G S, Apple has finally fulfilled a long time wish of its fans by increasing the megapixel count of its iconic device. The new phone now packs an improved 3 megapixel camera with video capturing, auto-focus mechanism and editing capabilities. Pixon12: The phone's USP is its 12 megapixel camera which puts it miles ahead of its competitors. Samsung claims that it is world's first phone with 12 megapixel camera. Pixon packs a Xenon power LED flash and touch autofocus, which lets users decide the focal point with the touch of a finger. Pixon12 also has a 28mm wide angle lens and a Smart Auto feature. Pixon12 records with 720 by 480 resolution at 30 frames per second. N97: The phone packs 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash. HTC Touch Diamond2: Touch Diamond2 has 5 megapixel auto focus camera. LG Arena: Arena packs a 5 megapixel camera with auto focus. The company says the camera is capable of recording DVD resolution videos. Plam Pre: As for storage, Pre packs 8GB memory storage. It offers support for USB mass storage. iPhone 3G S: Apple's latest version of iPhone has a higher 32GB memory capacity. The new model will come in choices of 16GB and 32GBmemory capacity. The iPhone 3G second generation comes in 8 and 16GB model versions. Pixon12: As for memory capacity, Pixon12 comes with 150MB of internal memory and supports up to 16GB of MicroSD cards. N97: Nokia's second touchscreen phone offers a 32GB memory with microSD for adding 16GB more making it a staggering 48GB. HTC Touch Diamond2: The phone packs 512 MB ROM and 288 MB RAM. The phone supports microSD memory card for expansion. LG Arena: The phone has a 8GB of internal memory and a 32GB micro SD slot. Source: Ninja

Yesterday when the iPhone OS 3.0 was released in the afternoon a lot of people had a hard time getting the update done thanks to a traffic jam on Apple's website. For those of you who have been living under a rock, available now for your iPhone, the free iPhone OS 3.0 Software Update offers great new features besides the ones in the previous updates. You can even run the next generation of iPhone apps, like peer-to-peer games among others. The new features seem to be a handful of interesting ones.

Apple has heeded the top request for cut, copy and paste. Go ahead and quickly cut, copy and paste text from application to application. You can select entire blocks of Web text with a tap and also copy and paste images from the Web.

If you are finding it difficult to type then rotate the iPhone to landscape to use a larger keyboard for mail, messages, notes and Safari. MMS messages can be sent including video, audio and contact info. You can tap to take a pic or shoot a video from inside Messages also. MMS support is expected from AT&T soon.

For those on the go here is good news. You can capture a memo, meeting or audio recording. Voice memos works with built-in iPhone mic or with mic on your headset. Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync lets you create meetings and you can subscribe to calendars with CalDAV support. You can buy movies, TV shows, audiobooks and also download stuff like music videos and audiobooks from iTunes Store on your iPhone.3.

Stock Apps, Stereo Bluetooth for connecting Bluetooth stereo headphones, Auto Login, Syncing notes to Mac or PC from your iPhone are other features in the new OS. Parental controls, direct login to iTunes Store, YouTube Login, Shake to shuffle to change music, support for 30 languages and running next gen apps are added goodies.

Last but not the least MobileMe Find My iPhone and Remote Wipe helps you locate your lost iPhone and also protect your privacy by deleting all data before others could lay hands on them.