Santa Live iPhone App Pulled Due to Even More Controversy

Developer Adam Majewski's Santa Live app has had its share of bad press already: we reported a few weeks ago that Majewski was paying commenters to leave positive feedback about his project. But after the horror of a novelty Christmas song included in the app, Santa Live has been officially pulled from the App Store. More »

iPod Touch Denied Street View, Other Google Maps Upgrades in Firmware 2.2

Our testing has confirmed that iPod Touch users do not get updates to their Google Maps app with firmware 2.2, which, at least on the iPhone, includes the addition of Street View as well as public transit and walking directions. The updated browser interface, podcast downloading and assorted other tweaks are all there, as was the requisite sacrificing of any jailbreak apps. Of course there may be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this, but until that's given, Apple, it's all pitchforks and torches. Or iPods and forums posts, I guess. [MobileCrunch]

iPod Touch v2 Secretly Has Bluetooth, But Will Apple Enable It?

In their teardown of the iPod touch version 2, iFixit found a secret surprise: A Broadcom Bluetooth chipset! Though totally unannounced and not listed on the spec page (Apple says Nike+ doesn't use Bluetooth), the iPod touch's Bluetooth chipset supports 2.1+EDR. We don't know for sure yet if it has A2DP, which would let you use stereo headphones—and be another hardware one-up over the iPhone besides ">the built-in Nike+ functions. We've got our fingers crossed—what else would it be used for? Update: MacRumors notes that Nike+ uses the same 2.4GHz frequency as Bluetooth, so that might be what's going on here. [iFixit] More »

Dealzmodo: Apple Drops iPod Touch Refurb Price To $199

Apple's been slowly dropping the price of refurb 8GB iPod touches on its website, and now it's cheaper than ever at $199. That's $100 off the regular price of $299, not to mention it's a 33% discount. If you've been wanting one of the awesome media players and internet tablets, this is about as good a deal as you're going to find. Also the 16GB version has been dropped to $299, also $100 off the original price. It's not as good a discount percentage-wise, but it's still very tempting to those looking to buy. [Apple Refurb Store]

First iPod touch VoIP Call

The guys at touchmods.net have been busy readying a VoIP app for the iPod touch, and they have just released a video of the first successful call made using their software. Apparently, the app will be made available to the masses on New Year's Day, so we are holding our breath. Check out the video to see what all the fuss is about. (We've put up the second video the team released, mostly because it was more informative, but if you desperately want to see the first, hit the link after the jump). More »

Turn Your iPhone/iTouch Into a 3G Web Device

We haven't tested this ourselves, but Pyrofersprojects came up with an interesting, but ultimately impractical, way to turn your iPhone or iPod touch into a 3G internet-using device. All you need is a 3G smartphone with Windows Mobile 5 or 6, a 3G data account, and the know-how to follow a guide teaching you how to set up internet sharing over Wi-Fi. After that's done, you can use your iPhone/iTouch to go through your other smartphone (which costs probably as much as your iPhone/iTouch), in order to get online. It's pretty gimpy, but at least it's 3G—and the irony of having to use a WM phone with an iPhone isn't lost on us. [pyrofersprojects]