Bam! Just 3 days after its release, the 2.0.2 firmware update has been made safe for jailbreak lovers by the always prompt iPhone dev team. Find out more at MobileCrunch >>

T-Mobile is planning to escalate its competition significantly in November with not just its primarily iPhone rival the HTC Dream but also two other devices, a release schedule leak at TmoNews shows. The carrier is now believed to be picking up Moto...

I’ve spoken highly of MotionX Poker and MotionX Dive but there is a new kid on the block that may send MotionX Dice on a run for their money. One common request was the ability to to roll different types of dice. Developer Mach Kobayashi has…

Apple Inc. has agreed a distribution deal with carrier Mobile TeleSystems on the sale of iPhones in Russia...

One of Japan's top cell phone innovators says that for all his country's technological prowess...

The original SoundDock may be the most iconic iPod dock on the market, and now the company is making an official sequel with the SoundDock Series II (I guess we're supposed to ignore the SoundDock Portable). New features include iPhone support and auxiliary in. And it's probably safe to assume that it sounds a tad better as well. The Series II goes on sale this September for $300. The Series I has since been reduced to $230. [Bose via iLounge]

Mobile TeleSystems will carry Apple iPhones in Russia, with sales expected to begin in October, Apple says. Mobile TeleSystems is Russia's largest mobile phone operator. Russian companies have been vying to sell iPhones, which are a status symbol in Moscow.
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At the 2008 Intel Developer Forum, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak took the main stage to talk about his love of engineering and science, the process behind developing the Apple II personal computer, and what its like to be �Employee No. 1� at Apple. Wozniak also spoke of the impact Steve Jobs still has on Apple and its slew of successful products, from the iPod to the iPhone.
- SAN FRANCISCO � If Steve Wozniak had his wish, he would have remained an engineer for life at Hewlett-Packard. Instead, Steve Jobs encouraged Wozniak to leave the safe confines of HP and venture out into a new company Apple where the two would work to bring the Apple II personal computer into...

Mozilla Labs announces the winners of their official Extend Firefox 3 Contest, and they're an impressive crop of new and updated extensions for your favorite browser. I was honored to serve on the judging panel for this year's contest (alongside some huge names in the browser biz), and we rated the entries based on how easy they were to use, and how well they took advantage of new features in Firefox 3. Let's take a look at this year's best new and updated add-on grand prize winners.

Note: There are gadzillions of indispensable and innovative Firefox extensions out there, but this is the Extend Firefox 3 contest. Therefore, you'll notice the winners' entries primarily involve new Firefox 3-specific features, like bookmark tags and web page preview capabilities.

Best New Add-ons

The best new add-on grand prizes are "awarded for entries that make use of new capabilities being introduced in Firefox 3 and that demonstrate excellence in user experience, innovativeness, and use of open standards." Here are your best new add-on contest winners.

Pencil (Install)

The Pencil extension for Firefox adds a full-featured sketching and prototyping tool that lets you design web pages and make diagrams right inside Firefox. Once you install Pencil, from the Tools menu choose "Pencil Sketching" to launch the Pencil editor. There you can literally design software, web pages, or just sketch out diagrams using the menu of prefab shapes and widgets Pencil provides. Drag and drop annotation tools, shapes, lines, text boxes, labels, buttons and more onto the Pencil canvas and save your work as a Pencil document in its tabbed editor.

Tagmarks (Install)

Firefox 3 comes with the blue star icon at the end of the address bar for quick, one-click bookmarking. The Tagmarks extension takes this concept further with more one-click icons that bookmark and assign frequently-used tags to the current URL. Here's more on how Tagmarks works.

HandyTag (Install)

Just can't think of the right tag to describe a new bookmark? Want to get into the habit of tagging your bookmarks but feel kind of lazy about the whole thing? HandyTag suggests applicable tags for a given bookmark, pulled from various sources. With HandyTag installed, when you bookmark a URL, HandyTag adds buttons below the Tags field that present checkboxes for tags that apply—from your current list of tags ("Perso"), the web page's author ("Webmaster"), KGen, and Delicious. Click on any button to see that source's suggested tags for the page, and check off the ones you want to add to your bookmarks.

Runners-Up for Best New Add-on

There were so many great new add-on entries, a runner-up nod also goes to the following new extensions.

Webchunks (Install)
Bookmark and watch pieces of web pages with this Firefox implementation of Internet Explorer 8's WebSlices feature.

Badges on Favicon (Install)
Adds iPhone-like informational badges to web pages indicating new unread items, like on Gmail or iGoogle, as pictured. (This was one of my favorites.)

Devo (Install)

A Quicksilver/Launchy-like command launcher for Firefox, Devo adds a keyboard shortcut that invokes a launcher panel. Type your keyword—like "google" to launch searches, and access your favorite webapps. Here's a full list of Devo commands, which includes dictionary look-ups, Twitter posting, Flickr and Wikipedia searches, and more. You can add your own actions, too—like searching Lifehacker's archives or opening up a Gmail Quick link. The only thing I don't like about Devo is its default key combination—Shift+X—which gets in the way when you're trying to type an uppercase X.

Close 'N Forget (Install)
Adds a toolbar button that "closes and forgets" the current tab—meaning, deletes the page from your history and its cookies. If configured, Close 'N Forget can remove the whole domain from your history (like, um, any page on fleshbot.com). Great for those pages you'd rather browse stealth, and not come up in the AwesomeBar's ever-helpful suggestion list. Close 'N Forget didn't quite work for me as promised on my Windows installation; hopefully kinks will get ironed out soon.

Callout (Install)
The Callout extension makes the notification services of your computer's operating system available for web pages and Greasemonkey user scripts. This means that, for example, a web page like Gmail can trigger a Growl or Windows taskbar notification that you've got new mail. The Callout extension itself doesn't add notifications; you need to be on a web page or running a user script that utilizes the API Callout provides. (Note: Callout did not work for me in my tests, but the concept is still killer. If you decide to try it out, be prepared for it not to work as advertised.)

Reasy (Install)
The Reasy extension is an RSVP (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation) reader. With Reasy installed, select any text on a web page and Reasy will play it to you, one word at a time, at a speed you configure in the extension options. Here's more on Rapid Serial Visual Presentation at Wikipedia.

Best Updated Add-on

The Extend Firefox 3 contest's Best Updated Add-on grand prizes are "awarded to existing Firefox Add-ons that are updated for Firefox 3, and that show significant improvements in user experience and performance." Here are the winners in the Best Updated Add-on category.

ReadItLater (Install)

When you run across articles and videos online when you're at work that you want to check out later on at home or when you're less busy, add'em to your "to read" list with the Read It Later extension. Described as a "staging area for bookmarks," your Read It Later bookmark list is for stuff you just want to check out one time—but don't have time for at the moment. Read It Later offers features a simple "to read" tag in your bookmarks doesn't: Like the ability to add a link to your RIL list, offline reading, syncing across computers (for access to the "read it later" links you saved at the office at home), and RSS feeds for various reading lists. You can even add all your currently open tabs to your reading list for instant storage when you have to get back to work. Check out our full review of Read It Later's Firefox 3 integration.

TagSifter (Install)
Slice and dice your Firefox 3 bookmark tags with TagSifter, an extension that adds a bookmark tag cloud to your sidebar, related tags, and advanced tag queries for filtering your bookmarks by tag. An essential add-on for heavy bookmark taggers, check out our full rundown of what you can do with TagSifter.

Bookmark Previews (Install)

Get a Cover Flow-like or thumbnail view of your bookmarks with Bookmark Previews, an add-on that grabs screenshots of your favorite web pages and makes them easier to identify. Bookmark previews can even update the screenshot thumbnail it keeps every time you visit a web site, so they're always up to date regardless of redesigns. Check out our full Bookmarks Preview extension review.

Best Music Add-on

Finally, the best music-related Firefox 3 extension was awarded for "the best music-related entry that demonstrate excellence in user experience, innovativeness, and use of open standards." The grand prize winner is:

Fire.fm (Install)

Fire.fm integrates the social music site Last.fm into your Firefox chrome with a toolbar that lets you stream music from Last.fm. Log into Last.fm, enter one of your favorite artists, and just start listening.

We judges had our say about these new and updated extensions for Firefox 3; now it's your turn.

Which is your favorite Extend Firefox 3 Contest winner?
( polls)

What extensions do you want to see for Firefox 3? Put on your thinking caps and fire up some developers in the comments. Thanks to Mozilla Labs for asking us to be involved in the Extend Firefox 3 contest, and congrats to all the developers who entered, especially the grand prize winners.

Okay, raise your hand if you still have a landline. I’m getting very few hands, here. For those that have them up, may I suggest the OpenFrame platform?

As you can see, the OpenFrame looks like someone took the menu screen on the iPhone and put it on a digital picture frame. It also comes with some handsets that presumably link up wirelessly with the apparatus.

I’m not certain how well you can read the windows from the attached photo, but it has options like a calendar, plus access to on-line features such as local weather and news. It appears there is a movie function, so I’m guessing this allows you to play video. I also see some other ones including an icon for Sirius satellite radio, and even one for Flickr.

The problem with this device is that landlines are steadily decreasing. There are some people who will not give up on them, and perhaps this device is for them. Let’s hope your grandmother will have an easy time using it.

The OpenFrame made its debut at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. There is no word on the availability of the OpenFrame, but the word is the price will be somewhere along the line of $200 to $300.

Source

[ OpenFrame does what the iPhone did, but for the Land Line copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

It goes without saying that progress is inevitable, and from the days of black-and-white TV, we now have color TV. Same thing goes for the original Naked Case which is now available in a new Colored Naked Case.

The Naked Case is the world’s first touch-through acrylic case for the Apple iPhone 3G. Fully functional and stylish, the new Colored Naked Case offers a clear front for screen access and color options such as black, gray, pink, and white for the back. Case-mate designers have engineered the new cases which offer the same revolutionary features of the Naked Cases, with a few new twists including a new “click-snap” back clasp for easy application, enlarged cutouts for access to controls, smooth edges that contour to the new iPhone 3G, and of course the full touch-through screen access via a clear, electrostatic membrane for protection.

The Colored Naked Case retails for $34.99 each.

Press Release
[ Colored Naked Case now available copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

The Sony PSP has been around for quite a fair number of years already, and has always been playing second fiddle to the more successful Nintendo DS Lite despite looking as though it will crush all competition when it was first announced. I guess this proves yet again that software is king - after all, take a look at the original iPhone when it was released. Despite being inferior in many ways to other high end handsets in the market, the iPhone still did phenomenally well thanks to the user interface and software. Still, the Sony PSP is no slouch when it comes to portable gaming, and it is a very capable portable media player as well, although there are certain quarters who continue to gripe about its size. Sony has a third revision of their PSP, aptly known as the PSP-3000.

The updated PSP-3000 will roll out on October 14th, and will feature a brand new LCD display that is said to come with a wider color gamut as well as anti-reflection technology, allowing you to enjoy a better gaming experience even when you’re out in the bright sun. Interestingly enough, the PSP-3000 will now adopt a microphone just like how the original DS does, so does this mean we will see a quirky use for this feature, or will it be used more for VoIP applications in Wi-Fi areas? At last, in-game multiplayer verbal communication is a possibility with the microphone. Other than those improvements, everything else remains the same as the PSP-2000 (Slim & Lite edition). You can choose to pick up the PSP 4GB Memory Entertainment Pack which retails for $199.99 and comes with the PSP-3000, a 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo and a PLAYSTATION Network Voucher.

Would you be upgrading your PSP if you already have one?

Press Release
[ Sony PSP gets third iteration copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Cyan Worlds on Wednesday evening confirmed plans for an iPhone version of its legendary adventure game Myst. A release date...

Speck on Thursday announced the release of the ToughSkin case for the iPhone 3G. The case costs $34.95.

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Reuters - When Apple Inc rolled out its iPhone in the United States, some fans paid big money to be among the first to get their hands on the device. In Poland, people are getting paid to line up.

This gentleman likes to watch videos while he drives at night. He places his iPhone on his car's dashboard and watches the reflection on the windshield. He wears a headset while he watches, but usually with just one ear bud inserted "so that I can hear the traffic and whatnot." 'It's great ??? I can watch my stuff while I'm driving' (Book of Joe)...

Reports suggest that Apple has struck a deal with Russian cell phone provider MTS to bring the iPhone 3G to the country later this year.

Bharti Airtel, one of two iPhone 3G carriers in India, has announced new details on its iPhone 3G launch Friday. All three variants (8GB black, 16GB black and 16GB white) are expected to be available, with the 8GB model retailing for Rs 31,000 ($716), and the 16GB versions selling for Rs 36,100 ($830). The prices are substantially higher than previ...

T-Mobile is planning to escalate its competition significantly in November with not just its primarily iPhone rival the HTC Dream but also two other devices, a release schedule leak at TmoNews shows. The carrier is now believed to be picking up Motorola's ZINE ZN5 on November 3rd as one of its best camera phones, with a Kodak co-designed five-mega...