The iDongle won't unlock your iPhone directly, but it does allow you to jailbreak a fresh factory unit or, just as importantly, reboot a jailbroken phone on the go. The good news: as you can see in the video below, it's an incredibly easy hack. The bad news: it's currently only for 3.1.2 iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 2G/3G. There also are only a few dozen of them at the moment, but the developer is in the process of raising money to build up production.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm suddenly feeling miiiiiighty charitable.

[iDongle via Engadget]

Through a slew of music generation apps, like DrumMeister, Bassist, iDrum, NlogSynthesizer, NESynth and iShred, plus photography software including a stop motion app and 5d2 (a remote for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR used for a few of the shots) and, of course, a laptop, PixieTea (and crew) created this 3:39 music video named "ABCD Said" from the ground up. For the skeptics in the house, apparently the story was confirmed by local media. And yes, the vocals were most probably recorded through a standalone mic.

Truly, those of us failing to create captivating media in this day and age are either uncreative or just lazy. The tools are there, and they aren't even all that expensive. [chinaSMACK]

Just in case you need a run-through, Layar—which is also available on Android—is an augmented reality app which lets you discover people and places around you, based on different layers you select. It's only available for the 3GS as it needs a compass to work, and also uses the camera function to display your surroundings on a cool grid. Definitely worth downloading if you haven't already. [Layar via Mobile-Ent]

atlasfugged

The patent was filed in the summer of 2009, but only just published today by the US Patent Office. It's maybe not the most surprising news in the world, given that the iPhone 3GS is already equipped with the technology. There really hasn't been a good reason for the Touch not to have a camera, other than Steve Jobs dithering about how people just don't want one. That's always seemed like poppycock, and I'm glad it looks like Apple's started to agree.

Separately, Apple also filed a patent for LED backlighting, which makes sense given that the iPad will come with exactly that. Whether we'll also be seeing it implemented on the next generation of iPhones and iPod Touches is anyone's guess. [Patently Apple]

If you add in $8.64 for manufacturing the Droid, the final cost is $187.75. Breaking it down, the 16GB microSD card it comes with costs $35, the LCD screen is $17.75 and the extra sheet of material making the touchscreen a capacitive one is another $17.50. If you've been tossing up whether to get a Nexus One, iPhone 3GS or Droid, I doubt the extra couple of dollars in value will sway you much, but it's very interesting to see just where Motorola's spending the money. [iSuppli]

The PowerVR SGX545 (iPhone 3GS had the SGX535) has OpenGL 3.2 and Open CL 1.0 support, runs at 200MHz and can even do "HD" output. It can even support DirectX 10.1. Here's the full support list:

* DirectX10.1 API support
* Enhanced support for DirectX10 Geometry Shaders
* DirectX10 Data assembler support (Vertex, primitive and instance ID generation)
* Render target resource array support
* Full arbitrary non power of two texture support
* Full filtering support for F16 texture types
* Support for all DirectX10 mandated texture formats
* Sampling from unresolved MSAA surfaces
* Support for Gamma on output pixels
* Order dependent coverage based AA (anti-aliased lines)
* Enhanced line rasterisation

There's no guarantee that this is the chip that's going to be in the iPhone 3GSS, or iPhone 4G or iPhone 3GVideo, or whatever, but it's a good next step. [Apple Insider]

My impression is that nobody clearly wins. Each of these phones have their own strengths and weaknesses, but there's still not a definitive one. My favorite is still the iPhone just because the user interface design and the amazing applications—it's not the number, but when you have 126,000 apps, inevitably you are going to have some amazingly good apps in each software category. However, in terms of specs, things are not that clear at all. At the end, it's still a matter of personal preference. [Billshrink—Thanks Ricky]

A user on the German apfeltalk forums ordered an 8GB iPhone 3G, and while the handset was what he was expecting, the packaging suggested it contained an 8GB version of the latest model, the 3GS. As you know, it's only available in 16GB and 32GB options, so either the box info contained a typo, or Apple accidentally got its new packaging mixed up with the old.

User .David commented on the forums (translated via Google Translate):

"Seems to be an iPhone 3G (back and no compass, FW) 3.0.1 on it. However, the packaging is clearly designed for an iPhone 3G [S] 8GB. Ordered was a refurbished 3G iPhone 8GB.

Vote: who have a refurbished iPhone 3G in a new packaging of the packaged iPhone 3G [S] 8GB, because the enhancement is clearly new. Which clearly indicates that the sale of the iPhone 3G [S] 8GB immediately imminent."

It's not the craziest rumor we've ever heard, considering the 3G model is now over 18 months old, and Apple will be gearing up to launch a fourth model in June. They can't have three different models on the market at once, after all. As rumored, Apple will be holding an event on the 26th of January, and if this 8GB iPhone 3GS will rear its head anywhere, it'll be there. [Apfeltalk forums via iHackintosh]

For now, it's just a demo of the tech that Epic's put together, which relies on the OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics powah in the 3GS and latest iPod touch. But, the killer point is that Epic is planning "to make this available to licensees at some point in the near future," meaning we could one day see games running Unreal 3 on the iPhone. And since the engine will run on the 3GS only, it seems that tipping point with games we worried about, where iPhone and 3G users don't just get worse graphics, but are actually shut out of entire games, isn't so far away.

Epic tells Anand we're going to see Unreal running on another mobile platform at CES. Which, on a broader scale, shows that mobile gaming is about to get a lot more serious now that mobile chips are powerful enough to deliver legit gaming experience. Could we really be seeing the beginning of the end for dedicated handled gaming consoles, like the DS? It seems, for once, more possible than ever. We just need better controls. [AnandTech]

AT&T's network is generally reviled. Users of the iPhone, in particular, loathe it the kind of deep hatred reserved for people who steal from charities or beat up grandmothers. More specifically still, are people in New York and San Francisco, locations where even AT&T Mobility's CEO admits the network is "performing at levels below our standards." AT&T fares the worst in JD Power's call quality ratings overall.

It's no secret that the iPhone isn't merely the embodiment of AT&T's network woes, but it's also, at least in part, the cause. The 3 percent of people responsible for 40 percent of the traffic on AT&T's network de la Vega is so fond of pointing the finger at are most assuredly iPhone users. AT&T notoriously didn't roll out MMS for the iPhone until this fall, not only months behind international carriers, but behind their own schedule, because they needed "to make sure our network is ready to handle what we expect will be a record volume of MMS traffic." And iPhone tethering still isn't offered by AT&T, even though international carriers do, because it "could exponentially increase traffic on the network." Congestion is a very real problem on AT&T's network, even AT&T admits that.

Yet AT&T crushed our 3G tests all over the place, not just in their backyard of Atlanta. The major consideration is that we didn't use phones to test, but 3G sticks, and we only tested data. While coverage is inherently a part of the test—if we hadn't have gotten a signal in the places we tested, or the signal was shitty, it would've affected their placement in the test, obviously (just look at T-Mobile's results in some spots)—we were mainly testing for speed. The iPhone's problem is that it drops calls, frequently, or simply doesn't connect. It has crappy reception. Other phones we've used on AT&T fare noticeably better. So it's easy, and obvious, to blame the iPhone, and its chipset as some have. (We explain why cell reception isn't perfect across the board here.)

But why isn't there an international outcry about the iPhone having garbage reception, then? It's possible, I suppose, that those networks have so much better coverage, even if the iPhone does have an inferior chipset with poor reception, it doesn't matter. It's just wrapped up in a blanket of coverage so comfy it still works fine. (And we have heard, though can't confirm, that the iPhone 3G at least used an inferior, cheaper Infineon chipset because AT&T wouldn't certify the one Apple actually wanted to use.)

So we have two contradictory piece of information. The iPhone does better internationally, and AT&T does better with other devices. So is it the network, or the phone? Probably a little of both. Help us out, engineers.

If you like your links hyper, here is that AP story, AT&T's financial sheet [PDF], and the post in which Fake Steve Jobs originally pointed out this disparity. Namaste.

If you hate the gallery format, click here.

All pricing shown is with a new 2-year contract, and some deals may be temporary.

AT&T

iPhone 3GS
The iPhone 3GS is the best overall smartphone you can buy. It's really that simple. Best user interface, best internet, best apps, best media support—the list goes on. Okay, not the best network, but nothing's perfect. $199

BlackBerry Bold 9700
I miss the original BlackBerry Bold's king-sized keyboard, but the Bold 9700 squeezes the best of the BlackBerry for CEOs into an impressively tight form factor—faux leather back included—making it very possibly the best BlackBerry you can buy. $10

Bonus: Nokia e71x
It's free, and an actually good smartphone—my favorite Nokia phone on the planet. Free

Verizon

Droid
It's a terminator. A huge, disgustingly high-res screen, Batman-worthy industrial design, and the full power of Android 2.0 make it the best phone on Verizon—and the fact that it's running on arguably the best network in the US make it the second best smartphone you can buy, period. $150

BlackBerry Tour
Sure, it's notorious for trackball problems and it's missing Wi-Fi, but this is the BlackBerry of choice for email warriors if they're not on AT&T or T-Mobile—and it sure as hell beats anything running Windows Mobile. $50

Bonus: Droid Eris
If you're desperate to save $100 over the Droid, the Droid Eris will run Android 2.0 soon enough, and is smoother, smaller, and friendlier, if a little blander. $100

Sprint

Palm Pre
The Pre offers one of the best user experiences of any smartphone with Palm's webOS, and it's probably the best phone on Sprint, hardware build issues and comparatively dinky App Catalog aside. $80

HTC Hero
The best Android phone not running Android 2.0, HTC's Sense UI makes the sometimes confusing Android interface more digestible and has a few nifty tricks of its own, like integrated social networking. $100

Bonus: There is none. The Pixi's close ($25), but the fact that you can get the Pre for nearly as cheap undercuts a lot of the value, as much as we like the design and form factor.

T-Mobile

Motorola Cliq
Motorola's other Android phone is gussied up with Blur, a custom interface that's bright and friendly, with widgets for keeping track of everything happening on your social network. It's our favorite Android phone on T-Mobile. $100

Unlocked iPhone
No, I'm not kidding. A jailbroken and unlocked iPhone, even without 3G powers, is the second best smartphone you can use on T-Mobile.

Bonus: BlackBerry Bold 9700
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is the first BlackBerry with 3G on T-Mobile, which is reason enough, really, but it's good the reasons listed above, too. $130

The dev says that only the iPhone 3GS and latest iPod touch have the CPU, GPU and OpenGL ES 2.0 support to possibly handle smooth N64 emulation. But the "top-notch" N64 games might not be available "just yet."

Of course, the even bigger hurdle is a reasonable enough control scheme to make the games remotely playable to begin with. I had enough problems with the real N64 controller, so it's tough to imagine the iPhone handling things with any greater success. [All Tech Related via Maxconsole]

The iPhone 3GS display

Let's review what we know: When we first covered China Ontrade's iPhone 3G 2009 parts—back in May 2009—we thought they looked real. Since they didn't have any track record, we treated it as a rumor. Potentially true, but a rumor. The iPhone 3GS announcement was going to happen that summer, so it was logical that factories had already manufactured parts for the assembled iPhone 2009. That is, in fact, what China Ontrade claimed in their site:

This is great honor for China Ontrade (HK) chinaontrade.com to be the 1st started to supply iphone 3gen 2009 parts directly from factory

In June 2009, the actual iPhone 3GS teardown confirmed that China Ontrade's parts were indeed the real McCoy. Somehow, the Chinese wholesaler's ninjas—who sell spare parts for all Apple iPod and iPhone products—got the next generation pieces one month before the product reached the streets.

Zoom in to see the comparison of the May 2009 and June 2009 parts.

Apple iPhone 4 Generation

Now, China Ontrade is claiming that this iPhone midboard belongs to the next-generation iPhone 4, which in theory is supposed to come out next summer, like all the previous iPhones. If confirmed, this means they have the piece about eight months before the actual iPhone 2010 release. That seems like an awfully long time for any factory to produce parts for a new product. Like every company out there, Apple's products are built just-in-time to avoid stock congestion or last minute changes. They don't have parts ready eight months before release.

Does this mean that a new iPhone 4 may appear in a month too? That seems crazy, and very unlikely. After all, we know that Phil Schiller said that the Apple holiday lineup was set. Some people argue that this means that the holiday lineup is set, but it hasn't been fully announced yet. However, for now we can only speculate about the true meaning of his words, and the fact that Apple called us to tell us an exact quote to publish.

Some may argue that they have important reasons to accelerate the introduction of a new iPhone. One is gaining more strength lately, despite Apple's domination of the cell market: Google's Android. Even while Apple COO Tim Cook dismissed Android—saying that Google phones "are still just trying to catch up with the first iPhone two years ago"—the media mindshare is certainly shifting. Thanks to the latest batch of Android 2.0 cellphones, people are starting to look at Android with different eyes.

For now we can't assume any of this means a new iPhone is around the corner. After all, the 3GS just came out five months ago. The only thing we know is that China Ontrade's claims were true in the past, so it's logical to assume this is an actual iPhone 4 generation part. But this makes little sense given Apple's manufacturing practices and self-imposed yearly-upgrade cycle, so this may all be a publicity ploy. Especially because they claim they will publish actual shots of the product in their web site.

There's one last implication in all this: Maybe this is the real Apple "iTablet" SIM tray, after all. [China On Trade]

In other words, the secret is composition, composition, composition. The one real advantage the iPhone 3GS has in this regard against past iPhones is that you can change the focal point, which lets you alter the shot in subtle ways, which is one of his tips. Also, he suggests trying some different camera apps—he likes Photo fx and CameraKit, though I'm partial to CameraBag.

Here's a couple of other awesome photos he's taken, but you can see way more at his very excellent photo blog, which gives you a view of Japan that maybe you haven't seen. [Sasurau, BoingBoing]

We've known this day would come. The iPhone supports OpenGL ES 1.1. The iPhone 3GS supports 2.0. Plus, the iPhone 3GS has more overall processing power.

In real world terms with Iron Fist Boxing 3, this means you see shadows, sweat and bloom lighting (edit: experts in the audience say it's technically specular mapping) while playing on the 3GS (all of which you'll notice in the lead shot). Plus, you'll notice additional in-game effects like motion blur on the 3GS, too. Still, the 3GS only handles this advanced content at 30fps. The graphic improvements can be turned off so the handheld can reach 60fps.

The good news is that designer Realtech fit both versions of the game into one package, emulating a scalable graphics model we've seen in PC gaming for decades. While dual platforms certainly don't aid development costs, it's good to know that the system can work. [Realtech via ubergizmo]

The hardware capability for FM radio does exists in some models—the current iPod touch and iPhone 3GS have FM transmitters, and the 2nd-gen iPod touch also has a chip that's capable of receiving FM signals, though it uses it for Nike+ stuff (so if there is a radio app, maybe it'll just be for current-gen models).

It'd make sense to add more software parity across the line, but who knows—no date given for when we might actually see this FM radio app. [9to5Mac}

While that obnoxious gem comes at the 2 minute mark in the video below, the product placement begins even before that. Realizing the electrical conduit tunnel is too dark, the dimwitted "PC-like" investigator is handed the iPhone by his cool, like totally hip partner: "There's an app for that!" Yep, it's running a flashlight app. Ugh.

Meanwhile, back in reality, AT&T wants you to use MicroCell routers to fix its own reception flaws.