
I woke up this morning to an email from Apple — my iPhone 3G S has shipped! A quick look at the tracking information via the UPS website shows that it has been shipped from Shenzhen China to arrive at my home by the 19th at the latest.
Something important to remember, if you did order from Apple and will not be home at the time of the delivery – you must fill out a form via Apple’s web site for them to leave it at your door if that’s what you prefer. If not, you will be waiting until Monday and that would make for a long weekend.
So far we have had no confirmation regarding phones shipping from AT&T. Any AT&T customers receive a shipping notification yet?

[TiPb vs. TiPb time! In the blue corner we have Jeremy who tells us why he IS SO upgrading to the iPhone 3G S. In the red corner, Chad who tells us why he IS NOT upgrading to the iPhone 3G S. Two writers, one issue. Check them both out and tell us who's side you're on!]
There have been a lot of people out there who are very disappointed with the third generation iPhone — iPhone 3G S. They’re saying that it is pretty much the same phone as the current iPhone 3G, or that the upgrades are not enough to warrant purchasing the new iPhone 3G S. I’m here to say, they’re right – the upgrades are not significant enough!
More after the break!
Read the rest of this entry »

[TiPb vs. TiPb time! In the blue corner we have Jeremy who tells us why he IS SO upgrading to the iPhone 3G S. In the red corner, Chad who tells us why he IS NOT upgrading to the iPhone 3G S. Two writers, one issue. Check them both out and tell us who's side you're on!]
There have been a lot of people out there who are very disappointed with the third generation iPhone — iPhone 3G S. They’re saying that it is pretty much the same phone as the current iPhone 3G, or that the upgrades are not enough to warrant purchasing the new iPhone 3G S. I’m here to say, think again – the upgrades are very significant indeed.
More after the break!
Read the rest of this entry »

All signs are pointing to some new iPhone hardware come this Monday at WWDC. Even if the upgrades are all internal and minor such as memory, CPU, and storage bumps – the iPhone is poised to stay on the top of the hill regardless of what Palm, RIM, or HTC may bring to the table.
In a article posted on Wired.com, Roger Entner, an analyst at Nielsen Mobile had the following to say:
“I think the Pre holds up very well compared to the current second-generation iPhone 3G. But the third-gen iPhone will most likely up the ante again…. If you only follow Apple, you will never catch up.”
Whether you like it or not, Apple has a firm hold in the consumer market. Back in July 2007, Apple introduced us to iPhone, that forever changed the smartphone market. In July 2008, Apple launched the App Store and once again altered the mobile landscape. Since then, many companies have tried to follow in Apple’s footsteps, only to fail.
We are curious to see what you, our readers, think about Apple’s competition. Can Apple be overthrown by the likes of RIM, Palm, or HTC? Or does Apple hold a death grip on the rest of the industry? It seems they can do no wrong no matter how small or large they update the iPhones hardware. With WWDC — and a next generation iPhone — only days away, is there anything Apple could do to seriously disappoint?

We are all aware that WWDC is only one week away. If history is any indication of what is to come, that means we should be introduced to the next-generation of Apple’s iPhone and if we follow previous patterns, we should start seeing the iPhone 3G supply starting to run thin on all levels.
AppleInsider is now reporting that Best Buy headquarters has sent out a memo to all of it’s stores saying to expect little to nothing in terms of iPhone 3G supply for the next few weeks. Last year we saw similar shortages but they occurred a few months prior to WWDC, April to be exact.
So, after all the previous rumors covering Austria to Australia, Canada and back what do you readers think? Ready to pick yourself up a new iPhone? Sound off in the comments!

It’s time again for another From the Forums post, today we have a few good poll threads for our forum members to participate in. Not a member you say? Well all you have to do is register right here for free! After you take a care of that, check out the following threads!
Another image, floating around the internet this past week, shows the iPhone 3G plastic back casing next to the rumored 3rd generation’s matte casing . So this thread is pretty basic, Matte or Shine? So far the matte finish has a comfortable lead in the poll. What’s your vote?
Today’s second thread contains a couple images of the rumored next generation iPhone’s auto-focus camera, compass, etc… in action. Again this thread contains a poll – are the images fake or are they legitimate? You be the judge!
Next up we asked the question that pretty much all Apple fans have been asking, will Steve Jobs be attending WWDC in any way, shape, or form? As long Mr. Jobs is healthy and feeling up to it, TiPb sure hopes to see him make an appearance. What are your thoughts?
For our last poll of the day Rene asks who wants a glowing Apple logo on the next generation iPhone?! We are thinking this one will be split pretty much 50/50. At first I was against the thought of this but have since changed my mind. If used properly it could come in handy. What do you think?
See you on the forums!

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything regarding the rumored official Sirius XM application for the iPhone. (If you are not familiar with the situation be sure to check out TiPb’s complete Sirius XM coverage!) Now a report from SeekingAlpha has pointed us to a App Store app called ReachMD. [iTunes Link]
What makes this application interesting is that it streams, with no subscription needed, Sirius XM’s channel 160 – MedicalRadio – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
So with that being said, TiPb poses this question to all of our readers: if ReachMD is providing their content to Sirius XM for satellite but separately licensing digital streaming rights via an App Store app, does this mean we will start to see other Sirius XM channels pop up in iTunes? Or are you still holding out for a full-fledged subscription based application? Some kind of major content deal between Sirius XM itself and iTunes?
[Via SeekingAlpha]

Even with all of the negative things said about AT&T, people still love Apple’s iPhone. According to a new report from ChangeWave, customers are still leaving their current cell carrier to flock to AT&T’s network just to purchase an iPhone.
According to this report, within the next 6 months 13% of the people polled are looking to bail out on their current carrier and 33% of those people said they will be headed to AT&T for an iPhone. These numbers are the highest since this question was first asked back in 2005. As for AT&T’s competition, namely Verizon, 24% will be going in that direction.
If you’d like to take it one step further you will find out that current AT&T customers are less likely to ditch the Evil Empire compared to 11% ready to leave Verizon. Now for all of you Verizon fans, they did beat out AT&T in terms of the quality of service customers are getting from the carrier. 50% of Verizon customers reported they were “very satisfied” while AT&T was tied with the likes of T-Mobile and Sprint at 31%.
This just emphasizes exactly how important it is that AT&T keep the iPhone out of Verizon customer hands.
[Via AppleInsider via ChangeWave]

In today’s Apps For Less we found a few very worthy deals that you should definitely take advantage of.
First up we have a gem of a game from Gameloft — you might have heard it? — Assassin’s Creed – Altaïr’s Chronicles [iTunes Link]. You should know that it is one to pick up, especially at it’s new low price of $5.99 (down from $9.99!) Not a bad deal at all.
The fate of the Holy Land depends on you… Plunge into this direct prequel to the critically acclaimed game title, Assassin’s Creed™, offering rich gameplay and a well-balanced mix of stealth, chaotic action, and riddle-solving exploration in the midst of fully 3D-rendered historical environments of the Crusades’ Middle East
This next game also comes to us from Gameloft, Siberian Strike. [iTunes Link] You can now pick this one up for $.99! Great deal for an action packed, quality game!
Renewing the retro genre, Siberian Strike offers tons of enemies to destroy in many different ways thanks to the wild array of dangerous weapons at your disposal. Explosive missions make this game one of a kind with gameplay mixing shooting and riveting piloting assignments. Made for shoot’em up fans and casual players thanks to intuitive gameplay that makes it fun and within reach for everyone.
Last but not least we have an application that is actually not a game! The unit conversion app, Convertbot, [iTunes Link] is now on sale for a very limited time for the low price of $.99!
Convert currency, length, mass, time and much more in an exciting new way! Converting numbers will never again be a mundane task. In addition to its innovative interface, our robot is smart enough to convert to and from mixed units. Are you 5 foot 9 inches tall? Other converters require you to convert that to 5.75 ft in your head before being able to enter it. Convertbot allows mixed units like Foot + Inches, Pounds + Ounces, and more!
If you are a developer and are planning on a sale for your application feel free to contact us to be included in the next Apps for Less!

Say you are having a hardware related issue on your iPhone, first place you would think to go is your local Apple store, right? Well not if you’re running iPhone 3.0 Beta it turns out, as MacRumors forums show you will politely get rejected and denied any sort of help.
TiPb has confirmed this is indeed true from speaking with a few Apple employees.
Now where does that leave someone who purchased the beta from a stranger on Graigslist? Not in a good place obviously since to get your issue taken care of or to have your phone replaced you must call a developer-only help line. Now if you are a bit more expierienced with the iPhone you can always try to downgrade back to the 2.2.1 software before going into the Apple Store but say your home button is not working, you are flat out of luck and you are now stuck with a official iPhone paper weight.
So with all that said, TiPb can not stress enough — and we’ve said it many times — do not purchase the 3.0 Beta from anyone.
This late into the beta cycle, in a few short months it will be released to the public anyway.