Google, the nearly $13.5 billion search engine major, is believed to be a fortnight away from the worldwide launch of its much-awaited Google Phone (Gphone) and has started talks with service providers in India for an exclusive

Filed under: MobileMe

David Pogue, the New York Times tech columnist, posted his review of MobileMe last week and despite its problems he thought the service itself showed promise. It looks like a little of that promise is wearing off. The latest post to David's New York Times blog, titled 'MobileMess,' isn't exactly the kind of press coverage Apple is used to as of late. In his post Pogue dings Apple for marketing MobileMe in the wrong way, and for failing to be up front with MobileMe users during all the 'rough patches.' Apple declined to comment for the story.

Macworld has also taken MobileMe for a spin, and they give it 3.5 mice out of 5. The good include push to the iPhone, the web interface, and lots of storage. The bad points should look familiar by now: push doesn't work for everything and the service isn't reliable.

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So does Google have anything up its sleeve, when it comes to the Android mobile communications platform? It better have. Because expectations keep getting lowered. And Apple keeps raising the ante, at least in getting attention for new mobile applications. According to a Forbes.com dispatch Thursday Google “will probably announce the finalists for its Android developer contest sometime in late July or early August.” It was supposed to be July 21. But bet on the results of this second round of the challenge being August 5, based on the note posted in Googling Google on … July 19. But a few more days is not going to grab the hype cycle back from Apple, which launched its iPhone App Store...

Joel West submits:

As part of the iPhone 3G launch, Apple also switched its Mac.com to me.com, which it now calls “Mobile Me”. Now it’s clear that the switch has been a fiasco. Walt Mossberg trashed it today, as did David Pogue. Apparently Apple is stonewalling as to the extent of the problems.

In particular, losing (or making inaccessible) e-mail is a big deal: people don’t like to be without e-mail, even briefly. I remember one university CIO telling me that any time e-mail went down, he’d get a call to his desk in less than 5 minutes.

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Microsoft will be demonstrating a spherical version of their multitouch-capable Surface system at the company’s Research Faculty Summit 2008 DemoFest, according to their own booth map.  The phrasing suggests that Surface, which is currently a flat table that can respond to multiple points of contact (see our two hands-on demos here and here), has developed into a round display that would be more usable by a larger number of people.

A spherical touchscreen would present a variety of technical challenges no matter the mechanics.  Currently, Surface use a camera to identify points of contact on the glass table-top, changing the image projected from underneath accordingly.  Translating this onto a sphere would likely require multiple cameras and multiple projectors to ensure full coverage.  Resistive or capacitative touchscreens are yet to be used in such large-scale or oddly shaped applications.

It’s unclear whether the “Multi-Touch Spherical Display” is merely a proof-of-concept or a potential product idea.  Currently Surface has found applications in AT&T stores and casinos; a version that could be used from all angles might be useful as an information point in shopping malls and resorts.

[via Electronista]

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If you don't feel like you're getting all you can from the iPhone App Store and other perks of the iPhone and iPod touch 2.0 software, then jailbreaking is for you. We've already shown you how to jailbreak your iPhone 2.0 on a Mac, but yesterday the Windows version of the iPhone jailbreak tool—called Winpwn—hit the streets, so now Windows users have a user-friendly way to jailbreak. Let's take a step-by-step look at how to jailbreak your iPhone or iPod touch using Winpwn.

Warning: Before you dive in, keep in mind that this jailbreak method is very new. I ran into the same show-stopping snag along the way and have not yet been able to use it to jailbreak my iPhone. Others have had success, so your mileage may vary. Nothing I've been able to do so far has harmed my iPhone in any way. It's just not jailbroken.

What You'll Need

Before you get started, make sure you have the following:

• An iPhone or iPod touch running either the 2.0 software
• Winpwn downloaded and installed on your computer
• A Windows machine. If you want to jailbreak on a Mac, check out how to jailbreak your iPhone 2.0 with the PwnageTool.

You'll also need the iPhone or iPod touch 2.0 software update files. You can find the 3G version of iPhone 2.0 here, or grab the 2G software update here .

Winpwn Step by Step

You need to use Winpwn to create a custom version of the iPhone 2.0 software for your device, so the first thing you need to do is create that custom image using the IPSW Builder. To do this, just fire up Winpwn and select the IPSW Builder. Click Browse .ipsw for the iPhone or iPod touch 2.0 software on your computer. Point it toward the iPhone software you downloaded above. Once your iPhone software is recognized, click the IPSW Builder button to get started making your customized image. From the IPSW Builder, tick the Install Cydia checkbox. Don't check YouTube activation fix if you're an official AT&T; customer. Then click the Build .ipsw button. You'll be prompted to save the custom ipsw file. Choose where where you want to save it and click Save (it defaults to the Winpwn install location). The IPSW Builder will take several minutes to create your custom IPSW image.

NOTE: Winpwn had trouble for me at this point, failing several times and crashing once. I'm actually still trying to get past this point, and will update the post if I have any luck. If all worked according to plan, the following steps should go something like this:

Once you've got your new custom image, go back into Winpwn and click on iPwner. You'll be prompted to choose the custom IPSW you created above.

Now you need to put your phone into DFU mode, as demonstrated in the video above.

Once you enter DFU mode, iTunes will open to your iPhone. Now just hold shift and click the restore button, then browse to and choose the custom IPSW file we created with IPSW Builder. iTunes will now install your custom firmware on your iPhone or iPod touch. It may take a while, but when you're done you'll be running your custom iPhone 2.0 software, complete with the Cydia installer.

For more on Cydia, check out the Using Cydia section of Gina's excellent guide to jailbreaking on a Mac with the Pwnage Tool. Also, now that you're jailbroken, you can use your iPhone's internet connection on your laptop and appreciate why we need the iPhone app black market.

If you give it a try and had more luck than I did, let's hear about it in the comments.

The Omni Group's getting things done (GTD) desktop application for the Mac, OmniFocus, has both proponents and detractors...

The Omni Group’s OmniFocus is a complex to-do application for the Mac, and it’s equally complex in iPhone form. While overkill for some, users who like the Getting Things Done workflow philosophy or who already use the desktop version will like OmniFocus on the iPhone.

A new iPhone user's list of things that Apple didn't get quite right with the latest iPhone (3G)

With so many iPhone apps out and about, waiting to be downloaded and played with, how to decide which are worth holding space on your beautiful new 3G iPhone? Start with this list, of course.

Many iPhone users who installed the 2.0 software update are experiencing frustrating lags while opening/closing applications, loading and searching contacts

Someone has bought an iPhone 3G BOX for $650.00.. Thing is there were 34 other bids. Ouch.

They didn't even have iPods back then. Bondi Blue iMacs, dude, and that was the same year the show ended. Seinfeld is still awesome. Anyway, let's take a look at a few classic episodes to see how the plots wind up after they've been trampled upon by the iPhone 3G's unique footprint.

If your iPhone backup in iTunes takes way too long, this is for you. This article shows you how to change a hidden setting in the iTunes preferences that will force it to skip the backup process.

iPodHacker provides a list of the 20 most recent App Store game reviews that Touch Arcade has posted since the App Store launch on the 11th.

Want to develop enviable iPhone or iTouch typing speeds? This post will get you started!