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On June 11th 2008, Apple launched the App Store that would bring applications to both their iPhone and iPod Touch devices, with just 500 applications, 150 of which were free. (*Approximately 100 of which were flashlight apps). In just the first 30 days, Apple reported sales of a whopping $30 million.

The App Store was a huge success and developers everywhere wanted a peice of the cake. Now, months on, the App Store has hit 10,000 applications.

With a whole range of apps from games like Super Monkey Ball, Tetris and Cro-Mag Rally, to helpful utilities like Google’s Mobile App, Apple’s Remote and the eBay app, the App Store is a great place to find that app you need to customise and get the most out of your iPhone.

Why not let us know what your most favorite iPhone app is by leaving us a comment?

* This is just a joke!

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The incredibly talented iPhone-Dev Team have successfully got Linux running on the iPhone. They have used reverse engineering on the iPhone drivers to provide the option of two operating systems when booting the device — using “OpeniBoot” gives users the option of booting to Mac or Linux when they start their iPhones, much like Boot Camp on the Mac.

At present, there is still a lot of work to be done. The Dev Team have managed to get a command line running with input sent to the device over USB, however there is no support for the accelerometer, camera, audio, networking or even the touchscreen just yet.

The iPhone-Dev Team seem to have made the most progress on hacking the iPhone. They have produced excellent jailbreak & unlock software for many firmware versions of both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. With the progress made running Linux, the Dev Team aim to provide the ability of running Google’s Android OS on the iPhone, and they are currently looking for programmers to help with the project.

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The UK advertising standards watchdog has banned an Apple advert for the iPhone 3G because they say people complained the advert was misleading with regards to the speed of the device. Apple’s advert, showing the iPhone 3G load news pages and Google Maps, both taking just fractions of a second to appear, repeatedly claimes the 3G is “really fast.”

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recieved 17 complaints about the advert and said it must not appear again in the same form. It said the advert was likely to lead people to believe that the device actually operated at the speeds shown. The watchdog concluded: “because we understood that it did not, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead.”

Apple UK had said that the advert’s claims were “relative rather that absolute in nature,” implying that speeds of the iPhone 3G were indeed “really fast” compared to those of its predecessor - the iPhone 2G. Apple also put a notice at the bottom of the advertisement that read: “Network performance will vary by location.”

Check out the US version of the advert here.

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The 2.2 firmware update has been available for just two days. Many people love it, with its Google Street View, podcast downloading and other enhancements, it’s an improvement on 2.1. However there are many that hate it, with its short list of bugs and issues.

The good news is for those of you who wish to “jailbreak” the 2.2 firmware, the DevTeam has successfully created QuickPWN for firmware version 2.2. Available for Mac and PC, QuickPWN will allow you to “jailbreak” your iPhone and install third-party applications that may not be available through the App Store for various reasons.

I’m yet to test the jailbreak software myself, however many of the comments on the QuickPWN website lead me to believe the DevTeam has done a great job — I’m yet to read a comment that highlights bugs or issues with jailbreaking the 2.2 firmware. However that doesn’t mean to say they aren’t any.

If you’ve successfully performed a jailbreak on your 2.2 firmware, let us know how it went and how your iPhone is running after the process. Please note: Mactropolis does not recommend you jailbreak your iPhone and you do so at your own risk.

A new iPhone developer training course has been launched in the UK which is to offer developers the opportunity to get involved in this growing market sector. Intrinsic Development, who offers the three-day course, focus on providing delegates with the essential information needed to start using the iPhone Software Development Kit to build applications for the device.

The first UK course starts on December 10th and is the first to cover this subject in the UK. The courses will be held in Reading, Berkshire, and basic course content includes:

• Introduction to Objective C langauge
• Introduction to iPhone tools
• Planning & Organization skills
• Introduction to Cocoa Touch
• Introduction to unique iPhone features and their integration with applications, i.e. location services, accelerometer, etc.
• Lots, lots more

The iPhone SDK was released at the Apple World Wide Developer’s Conference in June of this year and ever since then the iTunes App Store has been flooded with thousands of applications, from games like Super Monkey Ball, to helpful language translators and handy flashlights.

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In its latest consumer electronics spending survey, ChangeWave has some really interesting numbers for us. In the survey, they have come to the conclusion that we’re in for the weakest 90-day outlook in some time (at least since the inception of the survey). Despite the slow-down, Apple is still near the top of the list for those that are looking to drop some coin.

Of those surveyed, 8 percent were in the market for a new laptop. Of those 8 percent, 33 percent noted that they were considering an Apple. This tied Apple with rival Dell. Another 7 percent are ‘likely’ to buy the new aluminum MacBook within the next 90 days, and 6 percent are considering the price-reduced white MacBook. Lower the price and the thing should sell! At least in theory.

In regards to desktops, 6 percent of the folks surveyed are looking for a new desktop purchase. Of those, over 25% of the respondants are looking to Apple for their next desktop.

Looks like Apple is in some pretty good shape despite the recent economic downturn. With MacWorld coming in January, there’s no doubt that Apple will be in the thoughts and minds of consumers when they are making their next purchase.

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A recent study by SquareTrade has found that the iPhone is twice as reliable as a BlackBerry and nearly three times more reliable than a Treo. SquareTrade offer additional warranties for a variety of phones and they did their research over a period of one year, looking at the failure rates of the 15,000 phones they cover with their plans.

Research found the malfunction rate for Treo was 16.2% over one year, the BlackBerry 11.2% and the iPhone just 5.6%. The projected rates after two years are: Treo - 21%, BlackBerry - 14.3% and iPhone - 9.2%. SquareTrade also found that a common problem likely to cause iPhone failure is a screen issue which also came out as a top issue for the others. The least likely problem to effect the iPhone is a battery problem, which accounted to less than 0.5% of the issues.

The most common cause of iPhone death however is user related — accidents that cause the iPhone to be dropped in coffee, engulfed in water, bounced across a sidewalk or just general neglect. I wonder how many have died from attempted jailbreaking and unlocking?

For more information and lots of lovely looking graphs, click here.

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On Friday Kensington issued a correction notice following previous reports that the new MacBooks were not compatible with Kensington locks. Users were claiming that because of the aluminum unibody on the new notebooks, the lock would not fit. One user even claimed he had contacting Kensington regarding the issue and technical support had stated “we are sorry to inform you that the security slot of your late 2008 aluminum MacBook is not compatible with Kensington locks.” Kensington also advised that users can purchase a ‘K-Slot’ adapter that would need to be glued to the unit. Yes, glued!! Who in their right mind would glue something to their shinny new MacBook?

Kensington have now stated that their locks are indeed compatible with the new notebooks and that they have even tested them extensively on the aluminum units. They also added that Apple have followed the company’s specifications when building the unit, which are available to all manufacturers.

Rob Humphrey the director of Kensington also added a bit of advertising — “as always, Kensington recommends consumers protect their investment in the hardware they purchase and the data contained on that hardware. The simplest way to provide protection is with a Kensington MicroSaver Notebook Lock.”

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Piergiorgio Zambrini, better known in the iPhone world as ‘Zibri’, found a bug in the iPhone/iPod Touch earlier this week that causes the devices to crash if a certain video file is loaded. Zibri contacted Apple regarding the issue and even offered to help fix it for free, however Jobs and crew weren’t interested.

To highlight the issue and to allow Apple to work on a fix, Zibri has posted a video on his blog that, if watched on an iPhone/iPod, will cause the device to crash, although it will not cause any damage.

Zibri first announced the bug in an interview with Forbes. Following the interview however, Si Brindley a UK software engineer spoke out and claimed he was the one who had discovered the flaw and that he shared his findings with Zibri via an IRC conversation back in February. Zibri claims he can’t quite recall how he discovered the video exploit although he “can’t remember” Brindley telling him about it. Zibri questionned if it was indeed Brindley who found the flaw, why didn’t he speak out about it? Brindley claims he did not announce the issue because engineers he spoke to at the time reassured him it was not a security issue and that it was a simple glitch. Zibri says the bug is a serious issue and can even effect applications on PCs and Macs as well as the iPhone.

If you’re curious to see how the video crashes the device, take a look here on Zibri’s blog. This video shouldn’t cause any damage to your iPhone/iPod Touch other than crashing it. However Mactropolis takes no responsibility if any damage is caused!

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Despite reported issues regarding the upgrading of RAM in the new MacBooks, vendor Other World Computing are to start shipping 4GB and 6GB RAM kits for the aluminum notebooks.

Apple has stated that the new MacBook will take “up to” 4GB of RAM, therefore the 6GB kit to be released by OWC will push the capacity beyond what normal upgrade options will allow. The new MacBooks feature DDR3 modules whereas prior to their release, MacBooks used DDR2 modules. Many users believe that just this difference is enough to see a significant improvement in performane

The 6GB kit is said to cost $750 and will consist of a 2GB and a 4GB module. The 4GB kit will cost $130 and will consist of two 2GB modules. At present, there is no indication of when OWC will make the kits available.

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