News

The second half of 2010 could finally bring a much-anticipated Verizon Wireless iPhone. A new hybrid chip developed by Qualcomm makes it possible to communicate with several different network technologies using only one component.

This means Apple can manufacture one device, the "world mode" iPhone that will work on all of the networks it's currently compatible with as well as Verizon's CDMA network. Previous reports speculated that Apple would wait until at least 2011 for Verizon's launch of LTE technology.

George Hotz (Geohot) has released the newest update of his jailbreaking tool blackra1n, version RC3. In addition, he has made public a true carrier unlock for the latest firmware iPhone OS 3.1.2 and baseband 05.11.07.

Geohot's blackra1n RC3 software jailbreaks any iPhone running 3.1 or later in seconds on both Mac and Windows platforms. A reboot is all that's needed.

The mobile version of Microsoft's Bing search engine has been revamped and now supports touch screen devices such as the iPhone. The touch-optimized interface (m.bing.com) is currently only available to users in the US.

Mobile phones that don't support the touch interface are forwarded to a simpler version of the site. Microsoft has also added additional features to the mobile search engine including a visual search movie finder and a real-time data search. Examples of real-time information available include airline flight delays and NFL scores and stats.

Fans of comic books who have iPhones and live in the US will soon see Marvel titles come to their mobile devices. Three different comic book readers, Comics, iVerse Comics and Panelfly Comics have struck a deal with Marvel to bring its content to their apps.

Over 80 percent of published comics are released by comics giants Marvel or DC. This is the first time one of the two has entered the digital comics market on the iPhone.

The Apple logo on the back of your iPhone now has competition. Next week it will be possible to carry around a mobile device with three corporate logos!

Verizon, Motorola and Google each get their own billboard space on the Droid, scheduled for release next week. In a brazen act of branding, two of these logos (Verizon and Motorola) actually appear on the front AND back of the Droid.