News

When iPhone 3.0 is released it looks like TV shows, movies and music videos will be available for purchase and viewing directly on the new device. Three mobile ads from Apple were found in the latest version of TwitterFon that linked to "iTunes Movie Rentals," "iTunes Movies" and "iTunes TV."

When touched, the ads led to a video area in Apple's mobile store that was under construction. Screenshots of the portal show various genres and featured items, however video content is not yet available.

Vodafone Australia has officially been notified by its distributor of the iPhone 3G that the 16GB model is an EOL (end of life) product. Only a few weeks' supply is left and the model will be discontinued when these are sold.

Further signs point to the impending release of a next generation iPhone, possibly by July 17th. According to sources who have contacted the company, AT&T is drawing down current iPhone model inventories and has no plans to restock.

If news from Chinese manufacturers means anything, Apple is clearly planning on an iPhone-like device that would fill the gap between the iPod Touch and the MacBook. The latest reports and rumors are interesting, to say the least, and point towards a possible 2010 release of the product.

It sounds like elements of the iPhone OS have already been adapted for a larger touch screen with similar multi-touch capabilities. The new Apple media pad would simultaneously compete with netbooks and portable gaming systems such as the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS.

Developers have found new header files in a directory labeled "compass" under iPhone OS 3.0 beta 5. These files point to Japanese company Asahi Kasei’s azimuth sensor No. AK8973. The reference describes a chip otherwise known as a digital compass, or a magnetometer, that comes bundled with a master clock oscillator.

The confirmation of this additional hardware on the next-generation iPhone is exciting, to say the least. Applications that would take advantage of an azimuth sensor have only begun to develop and make a multitude of new functionality possible.

First quarter mobile phone sales may be off almost nine percent from last year, however the smartphone market continues to heat up. Gartner reports that Apple has doubled its market share from last year, with sales of 3.9 million iPhones in Q1 2009, representing 10.8 percent of global smartphone sales.

Nokia still leads the pack with 41.2 percent, although this is a decrease from last year's 45.1 percent market share. Research In Motion sales also jumped from 13.3 percent market share in Q1 2008 to 19.9 percent during the same period this year, partly due to the popularity of the BlackBerry Storm.