Apple is rumored to be in talks with Orange, France’s exclusive iPhone carrier, to cut pricing on iPhone in hopes of stimulating sales in that country. Since it first marched down the Champs Elysées four months ago, iPhone has been greeted with as much acceptance by French consumers as bad Camembert cheese - selling just over 100,000 units in that period. That’s owing to the fact the French iPhone, much like its fat pasty American counterpart, lacks 3G wireless.

Europe enjoys greater 3G buildout than North America’s wireless infrastructure, so its absence in iPhone makes it even less desirable than leftover onion soup. Naturally the French have thumbed their already erect noses at Apple’s wonder device, and said “Merde!” to iPhone. But with the imminent arrival of a 3G model drawing nigh, this won’t be an issue for much longer.

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The Flash drama continues, with more twists and turns than a California highway. It looks as though iPhone may be getting native Flash support after all, if dragged kicking and screaming. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen spoke to reporters during a conference call…

“Well, you really believe that Flash is synonymous with the Internet, and frankly, anybody who wants to browse the Web and experience the Web’s glory really needs Flash support. We were very excited about the announcement from Windows Mobile–adoption of Flash on their devices–and the fact that we’ve shipped 0.5 billion devices now, non-PC devices. So we are also committed to bringing the Flash experience to the iPhone, and we will work with Apple. We’ve evaluated the SDK. We can now start to develop the Flash player ourselves, and we think it benefits our joint customers. So we want to work with Apple to bring that capability to the device.”

Do let’s pretend that Steve Jobs earlier comments were some kind of smokescreen intended to mask Apple’s true motives, while backdoor negotiations with Adobe unfolded. That makes sense, doesn’t it? No, I didn’t think so either.

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It seems like only yesterday Apple’s servers were overwhelmed by the unbridled lust of developers, feverishly downloading the newly released iPhone SDK, going offline and back again like cheap Christmas tree lights. Today Apple is reporting that over 100,000 SDK downloads have been made in a span of just four days. That’s amazing considering that traffic bottleneck prevented downloading to occur for hours at a time, and Apple’s iPhone developer page was broken for nearly two days.

Makes you wonder how much higher that figure would be if everything had gone smoothly out of the gate. 500,000 perhaps?

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Apple and RIM are on a collision course as the two companies go toe to toe vying for enterprise messaging market share. RIM has long held the corporate high ground with its dominant BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology and ubiquitous handsets. But Apple is sending iPhone to business school, adopting Microsoft Exchange support that is certain to give Apple the competitive advantage it needs to challenge RIM’s BlackBerry industrial complex.

This puts Apple in a unique position. Until now the company has narrowly focused its product strategy at consumers, not business. Apple and enterprise go together like Dairy Queen and Lactose intolerance, but iPhone has achieved the kind of sweeping success and brand awareness that makes it marketable to business customers, given the right pedigree of tools.

The combination of iPhone’s consumer appeal and business smarts could produce a perfect storm for Apple. Will it be enough to topple RIM?

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Response to Apple’s release of an iPhone SDK has been overwhelming; literally. Since it became publicly available yesterday, Apple’s developer website has been swamped with user registrations and download requests. I personally have made numerous attempts to download the SDK, all unsuccessfully. If that’s any indication of the frenzied bustle of app development we might expect, I’d say we can expect a torrent of iPhone applications in the coming months. Bring your umbrella.

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Apple has posted the video from its March 6 iPhone Software Roadmap event, available for viewing. Go here.

Months ago Apple made a promise to developers, committing to one day release an SDK and open the iPhone for platform development. Today it made good on its promise, and reaffirmed that old adage “good things come to those who wait”.

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For those of you looking for forward to building apps for iPhone, don’t plan on writing that code on Windows. According to story posted on iPodNN, Apple will be making its upcoming iPhone SDK available for Mac only, with Leopard as required OS. That?s not surprising given that iPhone runs on an embedded flavor of OSX, and it?s not as though Mac software can be written in Microsoft Visual Studio. Apparently Apple will be releasing an enhanced version of Xcode, with built-in tools for iPhone application development.

So there you have it. Buy a Mac mini, fire up Xcode, and start compiling.

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Today is the big day for soon-to-be iPhone developers, anxiously awaiting for an SDK to drop from the mothership. Before that happens, I’d like to clear up some comflicting reports that are spreading through the ether. As you might have guessed, Apple’s distribution portal for native iPhone applications will be iTunes, just as it now for iPod media and games. However, according to my sources that will only apply to commercial (as in BUY NOW) software.

Free and or open source applications won’t by tied to the great orifice that is iTunes. Those applications will have a method for loading on iPhone, provided they adhere to Apple’s development guidelines and are signed with a special digital signature, ala Symbian, for security purposes.

Now, that is what I’ve been told by reliable sources. We’ll find out in just a few hours whether this is fact or fiction. I’m banking on the former.

China’s largest wireless carrier wants to bring iPhone to its customers. According to sources within China Mobile, the company is deeply interested in negotiating a deal with Apple, though no formal talks have yet taken place. I guess the Chinese have given up on trying to clone the iPhone after recent failed attempts.

China represents one of the worlds largest and fastest growing wireless markets. One that could prove very lucrative for Apple, and fill its coffers with lots of Yuan.

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So much for native Flash support in iPhone. In an interview yesterday, Steve Jobs told reporters that Adobe’s mobile Flash player “isn’t good enough” for iPhone, shunning its possible inclusion in the product. He went on to make an oddly elusive and interesting comment, saying “There’s this missing product in the middle,”, hinting that Apple may have said “missing” product in development. What could it be? It won’t be Silverlight, that much is certain.

You may be asking yourself why Adobe Flash support is important? Because nearly all forms of web based video from YouTube, Vimeo, Qik, and Brightcove, to name a few, are delivered or streamed in this format. Without it, such video content cannot be viewed directly. Apple developed a workaround for its YouTube anemic iPhone in the form of a homescreen client app that effectivetly siphons and converts Flash content into a digestible format, but users want a full on web video experience.

Will we ever see true native Flash support brought to iPhone, even if kicking and screaming? Read it and weep.

Put down your pint of Guinness and drop your Blarney stone. Apple struck a deal with O2 Ireland to bring iPhone to the land of shamrocks and bar fights. That confirmation comes straight from the horses mouth, depending on which end is speaking, in the form of an official announcement on O2’s website which lists iPhone’s availability on March 14. So there you have it.

Now how about making a nice pot of corned beef and cabbage for wee little Kent?

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Mark your calendars for March 6, 10:00 am PST. Apple will be holding a special event for members of the media, outlining the company’s iPhone development roadmap, as well a possible SDK release for developers. Apple began sending out invitations to the press early this morning, except for me of course. Steve Jobs has never forgiven me for photoshopping his head on Napoleon’s bust. And I was so looking forward to the free crab cake.

Stay tuned.

Remember those long hot summer days, back in your childhood, when the musical sounds of an ice cream truck pulling into your neighborhood sent you bolting out the door and running into the street, painting the sidewalk with your saliva along the way? Well prepare to feed your inner child another tasty treat. Tiny Code, the site behind Installer.app repositories (yes, THAT installer.app) has apparently leaked information regarding Apple’s upcoming iPhone SDK, claiming that it was working with Apple to develop said SDK, no less.

The site, which went down soon after exposing its alliance with Apple, now redirects to Apple’s developer website. Huh, you say? Yeah, that was my reaction as well. But let’s be honest here; the iPhone jailbreaking /hacking community has been so creative in implementing application development and integration, is it any wonder Apple may have to chosen to use this as a base for its own framework? Makes sense to me. As the saying goes… “Always dance with the one who brung you.”

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Alright, you Aussies. Drop your didgeridoos and Kangaroos and get down from your gum trees, because iPhone is coming to your bush. What’s that you ask? Is Kent a few Kangaroos loose in the top paddock? Nope, and I haven’t been smoking any strange Aboriginal tobacco either.

T-Mobile says it will begin rolling out iPhones to customers sometime in the first half of this year, give or take. Abso-bloody-lutely they will, so start saving your zacks now. Now stop questioning my sanity unless you want to start a barney. Got it? Ta!

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As expected, Apple has finally rolled out its long rumored 16GB iPhone, doubling the memory found in the present 8GB model, and bringing feature parity between iPhone and its carrier castrated cousin the iPod Touch. Aside from the much needed memory boost no additional features have been integrated, such as 3G wireless, which is rather disappointing given the new product’s higher price tag.

The new iPhone goes on sale today and will retail for $499. The 16GB model takes its place alongside the 8GB model (which remains at $399), and will not replace it, according to Apple. You can found out more after the jump.

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As expected, Jobsy took center stage at San Francisco’s Mascone Center, pouring glasses of Kool-Aid to a thirsty yet doe eyed audience. MacWorld, for those of you unfamiliar, is Apple’s annual conference and keynote that is part State of the Union address, part infomercial, and part Renaissance Festival (minus the period costumes and jousting) all rolled into one. Jobs gave his usual PT Barnum performance with product announcements and demos to wow the crowd. This is MacWorld after all, so iPhone took a backseat to a major new product added the portable line, MacBook Air. More on that later.

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iPhone may soon come to the land of the rising sun. Word on the street is that NTT DoCoMo head honcho, Masao Nakamura, has been seen in public holding hands with a certain American wearing faded denim jeans and black mock turtleneck sweater. He confirms today that his company is actively engaged in talks with Apple, but shrugged off questions concerning terms or product release dates.

I’ll lay you odds that Apple won’t swindle the same lucrative revenue sharing margins out of NTT that they’ve managed to extract from other wireless carriers, like our very own AT&T. And unless this agreement concerns the upcoming 3G model, iPhone has zero chance of success in Japan, which is a much more tech savvy market that doesn’t look kindly on non-HSDPA phones.

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Agonizing abdominal pains are being felt across the globe today as the world laughs hysterically at Windows Mobile. According to a report posted by Net Applications, iPhone accounts for .09% of the overall browser market, leaving Windows Mobile choking on Apple’s dust with .06%. Not a bad record for a device that’s only been on the market for less than two consecutive sales quarters, and Windows Mobile is how many years old now? Oh the humiliation.

Cheer up, Windows fanboys. At least you beat out the T-Mobile Sidekick. And that’s something to be proud of, right? Bwahahaha!

ReadVia CrunchGear

Germans. You think you’re all so smart with your pickled cabbage, exotic sausages, fine Pilsners and now UNLOCKED iPhones? For just a few hundred Euros, you can waltz over to a computer, dock your iPhone, pay an unlocked premium fee through iTunes, and enjoy the privilege of using your iPhone on any wireless carrier you choose.

Well that’s all well and good, but just remember we Americans still poses the worlds most egomaniacal corporate CEO, Steve Jobs. Top that!

Readvia Boy Genius