When an Apple engineer left a prototype next-generation iPhone behind at a Silicon-Valley beer garden back in April, he gave tech-blog Gizmodo the scoop of the decade– and robbed Steve Jobs’ keynote at this week’s WWDC conference of much of its suspense. But not all of it. The iPhone 4, which Jobs unveiled on Monday, has features that Gizmodo didn’t uncover, and seeing it in action is far more informative than staring at Gizmodo’s photos of a busted test unit.

Jobs, as usual, didn’t underplay the news: He called the iPhone 4 the most significant upgrade to Apple’s phone since the first iPhone debuted in 2007. That seems fair enough, even though it’s not everything that every gadget fan hoped for, and faces fierce competition from smartphone competitors such as models that run Google’s Android operating systems.

Here, answers to some of the biggest questions about Apple’s fourth-generation smartphone, which hits stores on June 24th.

For iPhone users who have been waiting to know if their device will support flash anytime soon, the answer is finally here- Steve Jobs says NO.

Its not the first time that Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs has attacked Adobe Flash. In his 1,685-word “Thoughts on Flash,” Jobs on yesterday wrote that Flash has too many bugs, drains batteries too quickly and is too oriented to personal computers.

Jobs said that Flash was designed “for PCs using mice, not for touch screens  using fingers” , and this will be one of the reason that will keep Flash out of their devices.

Flash has been around for years and it is widely used in the web. Many websites use Flash to display videos, animation and Internet ads. Apple has been criticised for not adopting Flash over the years but with their 200,000 application on Apps Store, it proves that Flash isn’t something necessary on the iPhone and iPad.

For consumers, this means that they will have to decide if they want to use Flash content or not and if they do, they’ll have to use something else other than the Apple devices.

But here’s a good news- there is a new web standard being developed called HTML5. It will have built-in support for video and audio files. But it may take years for HTML5 to be fully adopted, making Flash obsolete.

“Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind,” Jobs wrote.

Read Steve Jobs’ post over here- Thoughts on Flash

It should be easier now to find a Maybank branch with your iPhone if you live in Malaysia & Singapore.

Maybank is offering a free M2UMap application that shows the locations of its branches and automated teller machines.

Currently in version 2.0, some of the features include:

• Find the Maybank ATMs and Branches closest to where you are
• See the distances to your nearest Maybank ATMs and Branches
• Navigate to an ATM or Branch location using the built-in maps
• Locate the nearest outlets offering Maybank Cards dining tr’eats* (Singapore) and Maybankard Dining Treats (Malaysia).
• Find Maybank Cards dining tr’eats outlets (Singapore) or Maybankard Dining Treats outlets (Malaysia) nearest to the ATM or Branch* you’re at

* This functionality is available only with the dining guide “buUuk” app installed, a free app available in the App Store.

The free map can be downloaded from http://www.maybank2u.com.my/

Two weeks ago, restaurant chain Pizza Hut launched an iPhone application with a bunch of bells and whistles, and apparently users were hungry for it. Downloads of the app for iPhone and iPod Touch have exceeded 100,000 download.

Video after the jump!

via Techcrunch

We wonder when will Pizza Hut Malaysia start to be creative?

When it comes to smartphones, is one user base better than another? A new study from CrowdScience sheds light on the similarities – and more importantly the differences – between Smartphone consumers using the two biggest brands in the Smartphone biz: iPhone and Blackberry.

Perhaps the biggest difference in the two user bases is that the iPhone consumer seems to be more loyal and contented than the Blackberry user. According to the report about 40% of Blackberry users are considering switching to the iPhone when it comes time to buy. Roughly 40% also reported they would either ‘probably’ or ‘definitely’ buy another Blackberry, but consider this: more than 80% of current iPhone users said they would stick with iPhones in the future.

Read more

Apple’s facing new legal action over data speeds on the iPhone 3G. A man from New Jersey says the company isn’t living up to its promise of superfast surfing — and now, he’s demanding action. His lawsuit makes for more than half a dozen network-related complaints filed against Apple in America’s courts.

iPhone 3G Speed Suit

The new suit, naming both Apple and AT&T, accuses the companies of a slew of scary-sounding charges: negligence, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, negligent misrepresentation, and violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. Whew…still with me?

Here’s what it all means: The guy says he can’t stay connected to the 3G network from his iPhone. The service is unreliable, he claims, and Apple misrepresented its “speed, strength, and performance.”

He doesn’t just want money, though: In addition to “compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages,” his lawsuit calls for both Apple and AT&T to modify their public statements about the iPhone’s capabilities within the 3G network.

Apple Under Fire

Apple should be used to this sort of stuff by now. Last summer, Great Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority forced Jobs and crew to pull an iPhone ad from the airwaves, stating that the spot “gave a misleading impression” of the phone’s actual ability. Since then, the U.S. courts have seen enough iPhone-related claims to make anyone feel a sense of déjà vu. Here’s a rap sheet of what’s happened over the past several months:

• February 2009: Two lawsuits say the “speed and infrastructure” of the 3G network aren’t great enough to support the devices. The suits, originating in Florida and Texas, use phrases like “negligent misrepresentation” and “breach of implied warranties.”

• November 2008: A lawsuit from San Jose says Apple misrepresented the speed of the iPhone 3G, going as far as to suggest the device was “rushed to market in a defective state.”

• November 2008: A separate case from New York accuses Apple of overloading the 3G network with more phones than it can handle. It also complains of “hairline cracks” in the iPhone’s casing.

• November 2008: Yet another case claims Apple engaged in false advertising by touting fast data speeds. This lawsuit, filed in San Diego, asks for changes to Apple and AT&T’s marketing tactics.

• August 2008: A suit in Alabama says dropped calls, connection trouble, and slow speeds make the iPhone far less useful than advertised. The case calls for class-action status, suggesting that “perhaps tens of thousands” of iPhone owners should be included.

Ready, Aim…

Seem like a lot? Maybe, but I wouldn’t expect to see Apple panicking here. A company of its magnitude is always going to be a legal dartboard (we just saw another case filed against Apple and 10 Apple Store employees last week), and — regardless of any of the suits’ potential merit — odds are, each just amounts to one more line on the legal team’s to-do list.

Already, Apple has moved to dismiss some of the earlier suits, and that seems like a strategy it could easily employ with the others. In the end, given the company’s seemingly magical ability to generate brand-building buzz from almost anything, I wouldn’t be surprised if it somehow managed to morph all of this into positive publicity.

That’s my two cents, anyway. I’d give you some more specifics, but my 3G connection just went down and I can’t get anywhere.-PC World

Google Inc will allow developers to sell applications for its Android cell phone operating system beginning next week in the United States, as the search giant strives to expand in a smartphone arena dominated by Apple Inc.

Google’s announcement marked an important step in the search giant’s quest to catch up with Apple in the fast-growing market for smartphones.

It signals Google’s commitment to expand into a relatively hot mobile market, even as it pulls back on certain other initiatives such as broadcast radio.

Google said in a blog post on Friday its Android Market will initially carry paid applications from developers in the United States and Britain, with plans to allow developers in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France and Spain to participate later this quarter.

That could present an outlet for developers such as Electronic Arts Inc that have been anxious to expand sales of their mobile phone games to the Android Market, which has been limited to free applications until now.

Smartphones, which allow consumers to browse the Web, send email, play games and listen to music, in addition to making calls, are one of the few bright spots in a slowing technology and consumer electronics market.

While overall unit sales of cell phones declined 12.6 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter, smartphone shipments increased 22.5 percent, according to research firm Gartner.

The T-Mobile G1 phone uses the Android operating system.

The availability of applications that run on a particular smartphone are important to define and distinguish the product, said analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group.

“It’s what’s providing that extra value and getting people into the stores,” he said.

Apple, for instance, enticed a large community of developers to create both paid and free applications for its iPhone.

According to a Google spokeswoman, there are currently 1,000 applications that run on Android smartphones.

Consumers will buy the forthcoming paid Android applications via the Google Checkout payment product.

Shares of Google were down less than 1 percent at $360 in late afternoon trading.-Reuters

Just when you thought there are enough not-so-good looking and overrated phones out there, Dell is expected to announce two iPhone and Blackberry competitors sometime next month. Code-named MePhone (hopefully not the final name), the phones will run on Google Android and Microsoft Windows Mobile respectively.

Following rumors going back as far as July 2007, the Wall Street Journal announced this morning that Dell will introduce in February at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona two new mobile phones, set to go head to head with market leaders Apple and Research In Motion.

One of the phones will be touchscreen-only while the other will feature a slide-out keyboard, similar to the T-Mobile G1. It is not known which of the models will feature Windows Mobile and which will run on Android and other technical specifications are not available yet either. Also, no partnership with any U.S. wireless carries has been announced.

Now, if we are to take this rumor seriously, Dell’s “MePhone” is supposed to go on sale on September 9. WSJ’s report also mentions that the Dell phones’ focus will be on “customization,” but it doesn’t say whether it’s software or hardware customization — so nothing is clear on this front either.

We need to keep in mind is that apparently no final decision has been made regarding the launch of these MePhones. Dell’s mobile devices can be called off at any time before launch, just as it happened last November with the company’s effort to launch a new iPod competitor. -PC World

The BlackBerry Storm 9530, RIM’s first touchscreen smartphone and an obvious nod to the iPhone 3G, carries a combined materials and manufacturing cost of about $203, according to iSuppli’s Teardown Analysis Service—$30 more than what it costs Apple to build each iPhone 3G.

The report said that the Storm’s total per-unit cost includes all parts and manufacturing, but excludes intellectual property (IP), royalties, licensing fees, software, shipping, logistics marketing, and other channel costs. The Storm’s exact $202.89 total consists of $186 for components and other materials, and $16.07 for manufacturing. The total is $27 more expensive than what it costs RIM to manufacture each BlackBerry Bold, for purposes of comparison, according to iSuppli.

That compares with Verizon Wireless’s up-front charge of $249.99 with a $50 rebate, bringing the total to $199.99—the same price that AT&T charges for the iPhone. The report notes that wireless carriers tend to subsidize cell phones, so determining profit margins is tough.- PC Magazine

When James Bossert saw he that his Whack ‘em All iPhone game had 400 new users in one day last week he initially got excited. But that sentiment quickly changed when he saw that only 12 people had paid 99 cents for the game on Apple’s iPhone App Store. Bossert e-mailed the person who claimed to have cracked and distributed it and posted the response on his blog.

“As many iPhone and iPod touch owners have discovered, Apple’s iTunes App Store has many flaws which render it useless to the common user,” the pirate, whose alias is “most_uniQue,” wrote. “Apple has chosen to allow a multitude of ridiculous, worthless, poorly-represented applications through its ‘strict’ screening process, nearly all written by mediocre programmers with a dream of getting rich quick. Many of these programmers game the reviews system, misrepresent their application in the description, and generally try to swindle the honest buyer.”

The pirate then suggested that Apple offer trial versions of the apps and that Bossert offer an ad-supported version of his game.

“Most_uniQue” said he used Crackulous, “one-tap” cracking software developed by Hackulous, to crack the app. After cracking 35 apps, he is retiring, he told Bossert in their surprisingly friendly e-mail exchange.

These pirated apps run only on iPhones that have been jailbroken, or opened up to third-party applications without Apple’s authorization.

According to Bossert, this is not an isolated incident.

“Many developers are upset that the (Apple) digital rights management is broken and nobody has gotten a response from Apple, that I know of,” Bossert, co-founder of Fairlady Media, told CNET News on Tuesday. “The pirates are so far ahead of Apple now that … games are cracked the day or the day after they are released.”

An Apple spokesperson said the company had no comment.

Bossert said he plans to release a free, ad-supported version of Whack ‘em All within a few weeks as a result of the piracy. “I’ll leave the 99 cent version out there and see what happens,” he added.

Pirating of iPhone apps appears to have been going on since at least last July with the pirating of the Super Monkey Ball from SEGA. -CNET