A MacTalk.com.au forum thread reveals that the unreleased “iPhone2,1″ model that has been previously referenced actually includes its own icon within the iPhone 3.0 SDK. The icon, however, appears identical to the iPhone1,2 model which represents the current iPhone 3G.

[via MacRumors]

As 9to5Mac wrote,

We’re not huge fans of Diggnation but Kevin Rose has on again off again luck with his Apple predictions. So, for your amusement:

Since I failed to embed the video here, please check-out here.

[via 9to5Mac]

Mac Rumors cited Boy Genius Report that claims to have heard two most-awaited features: MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) and tethering:

MMS would finally offer iPhone users the ability to send photos by way of SMS, and tethering would allow you to share your iPhone’s internet connection with your laptop computer. An alleged Steve Jobs email even confirmed that Apple had been working on a thethering solution, so it certainly seems feasible. BoyGeniusReport’s record, however, has been spotty, so we can’t be entirely confident of the report.

Mac Rumors also mentioned:

…a better app-managing SpringBoard (with categories?), a solution to “push” notifications (background tasks?), and, yes… even copy and paste..

Will 3.0 OS be available for the iPhone 3G? I hope so.

Don’t forget join our live blogging from the event at http://live.slashgear.com, then stick around here on iPhone Buzz and at our sibling-site SlashGear for commentary afterward.

[BGR via Mac Rumors]

As well as the new iPhone OS, Apple are also promising the debut of a brand new iPhone SDK.  The specific features are still tightly under wraps, but it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see copy & paste, Flash support and maybe even some of the integrated social networking functionality Palm have been showing off on their Pre smartphone.

So join us on Tuesday, March 17th at http://live.slashgear.com/ for all the details as they’re announced, then stick around here on iPhone Buzz and at our sibling-site SlashGear for commentary and opinion afterward.  This could be the first real hint of what the iPhone 3.0 hardware might have to offer.

MPTVOutWindow class makes it so your iPhone can transmit video straight from itself to a TV connected to it. So, instead of viewing videos on your iPhone screen, you can view them on your much larger TV screen. You will need to buy a video adapter or cable in order to make the proper hook up, however.

It seems you can also use the accelerometer for controller functions, as any screen touches are ignored when video is being sent out. While limited at the moment, this function seems to have potential and it will be interesting to see what developers do with it and whether or not it is expanded in future upgrades.

The biggest problem so far has been that the iPhone doesn’t allow you to run more than one app at a time. And with good reason. After all, having a ton of apps open at once would drain battery life even more and slow down processor speed.

But these tools could change that. Your apps won’t stay open and run in the background. Instead, one single connection will remain open and push new information to your apps as needed. New data will be shown on the relevant app’s icon or via a pop-up alert, much like a text message. 

Apps with background awareness should hit the App Store sometime this fall, if all goes well.

[via AppleInsider]

All sorts of applications are being announced. Sega has brought the game “Monkey Balls” it has over 100 levels already. There will be a free application to use eBay with. Also, the people from Loopt are there showing a new location application. The application is similar to Helio’s Buddy Beacon.

TypePad also announced their blogging client. It will work on the fly, and even allows geo tagging of images. Images can be uploaded right from the camera on the iPhone. Also, it will support photo blogging, which is a huge plus for many. The application will be free as well.

The Associated Press is their to show off their mobile news network. The application they will be making available will cache news for you so you can read it while on the go. The fact it caches news means even with no network connection you can stay up to date on all the latest news. You will also be able to send news tips and videos to the AP on the fly with the application. You will be able to view story images and videos right from the client.

Mark Terry, a developer for the British Insurance agency, showed off his application, called Cow Terry. It is a game of virtual instruments, from guitar, to piano. The application was developed by him in his spare time. You can record tracks that you play to, and play them back later.

There is also going to be an application for baseball fans. It gives all sorts of statistics and information. Where the games are being played, the current score, all can be accessed using the application. Even more exciting is that live video highlights will be supported.

Digital Legends Entertainment showed off an application that only took them two weeks to complete. The game is a fighting simulator, that uses multi touch to interact and move your character. The game should be available in September on the App Store.

%@ is the new name of Apple’s online service (was .Mac)

That is because a variable can be changed in a software update from Apple. This localized string from iCal makes it very clear what is going on. Plainly, you can see the service has a new name, and it explicitly says the name is not .Mac. To up the speculation even more, strings in the new iPhone SDK make references to ‘Mobile Me’.

A simple Who Is reveals that Apple owns the domain ‘Me.com’ which is presumably where all the .Mac email addresses would go. There is no need to worry, as all your email from your .Mac account and corresponding email address will be forwarded to the new account.

Apple filed the trademark for the name Mobile Me back in 2006, and it was never known what they would use it for. More rumors over the name change is a sub $50 service, and push email support. It is also rumored the changes could allow over the air syncing of .Mac utilities to the iPhone 2.0.

First, one of the most telling rumors going around is that the AT&T store employees are beginning to be trained on the 3G iPhone. This is no doubt in preparation for WWDC, which will most likely be of historic proportions as far as news coverage.

Not only is the Apple store out of iPhones, but so is AT&T. There is now a shortage of iPhones an all levels, from all channels. The common consensus is Apple is drying the pipes, so that people do not buy one now, and then complain when the new iPhone comes out. This is a smart move, Apple has learned from the price drop fiasco.

Another interesting piece of news that has been floating around that the price of the new iPhone could be much more affordable than the one we know now. Not at direct retail, but thanks to carrier subsidies. This is a very common practice by many carriers on many devices, so that they can get more subscribers to buy higher end devices. They more than make up for the loss over the course of the contract.

In light of the rumors, and since everyone else is making predictions, I have a short wish list if you will of features that I would like to see in the next iPhone. Some may be a little unreasonable I admit, but in today’s world, with so many choices, why would you ever settle?

FM Radio With RDS: FM radio is very easy to pack into a device. It requires a small chip, and very little CPU power. It has made its way into many devices, especially Nokia devices. While FM radio may be a little less high tech than the iPod function, it is still useful, and change is good. While we are at it, why not throw RDS in? RDS is a method used to send song and radio information to radio displays. Many car radios have the function.

GPS: Though it has been almost synonymous with the words “3G iPhone” it still makes the wish list, as until we see the device, it is all but a wish. The current system in the iPhone uses cell site triangulation, which it a pretty good method. Nothing compares to the accuracy of a good old GPS though, and it is something Apple should definitely pack in the new iPhone.

3.2 Mega Pixel Camera: To me, at the very minimum, the new iPhone should have this. If it hopes to be competitive in Europe and Asia, it must have a better camera. 3.2 mega pixel with auto focus is the absolute minimum. Preferably, a 5 mega pixel camera, auto focus, shake control, image stabilization, face detection, xenon flash, and at least ISO 1000 sensitivity. Mega pixels mean nothing without a good lens, I would recommend that Apple at least pack a decent lens in it, even if they keep it at 2 mega pixels. I will admit, that is a little excessive, after all it is a phone, not a camera.

Dimensions: While I prefer a smaller phone, the iPhone has a limit on how small it can get, after all it has to host that enormous touch screen. A thinner iPhone would be nice, but there is quite a few new features to be packed in. With all these features, the iPhone could get a little thicker. Hopefully though, Apple keeps the iPhone the same size, at the very least.

More Open SDK: Don’t get me wrong, I think the SDK is a tremendous step to the overall open factor of the iPhone. However, the SDK will not allow access to the iPhone’s dock, nor the users music or video library. There are tons of sweet applications and peripherals that could be used with these abilities enabled, and Apple really should take a second look.

Jailbreak: Some users will want the SDK, some will want to go Wild Wild West. Though there will be a ton of good applications on the SDK, there will always be a ton that are not going to be on the official Apple ok list. As mentioned the relatively closed nature of the SDK is restrictive and does not allow access to all aspects of the iPhone. Jailbreaking does, there is nothing off limits on the iPhone when it is jailbroken, nothing.

Multi Tasking: The iPhone is a smart phone. All smart phones have true multi tasking. The iPhone has 128MB of RAM, it is thoroughly capable of it. There is no reason that Apple should not give the iPhone its ability. What’s more, if they were smart they would let the SDK have access to the feature.

Battery Life: The iPhone already gets pretty good battery life, that is in part thanks to not using last years GPS and 3G chips. In 2008 though, the technology has improved quite a bit not surprisingly. This means that the new iPhone should get comparable battery life. I think they can do better though. Some sort of system that can determine when 3G and GPS are needed, and keep them off when they are not.

Web Browser Enhancements: While the iPhone already has an excellent web browser, there are still some things that would be nice to have. Namely, flash support. Work with Adobe Apple, everyone else has seemed to snap to the realization that full browsers need full features. A better JavaScript interpreter would be great, as I find it to sometimes lag down on a web page. Copy and paste in the Safari browser would be a nice improvement, it is a common feature on a ton of devices, so adding it will definitely be welcomed.

For those of you that have not heard of it, BioShock is a first person shooter that was released last year for the PC and on the Xbox 360. If systems like that are required to play this thing, than the iPhone must have some serious untapped potential. The game has not been ported to any mobile at all, and it will be interesting to see how it interacts with the touch screen.

The iPhone will be receiving the real deal. It will get a full 3D, high resolution, memory hogging monster of a game, and that’s the way we like it. There will also be a 2D lower quality version released for devices that can not handle 3D graphics, which will be pretty much anything not an iPhone.

[Via The iPhone Blog]

Though it looks almost exactly the same as the current iPhone, there are some minor differences. Mainly the bezel, which is narrower and more squared than normal. The device also seems to be slightly taller than the current iPhone iteration. This is the only angle, so we could not see any other dimension comparisons.

It is important to note though, this could mean nothing. The device very well could be a bad rendering, which made its way into the software releases. This sounds to be the most likely explanation, as you would expect Apple to be releasing such an icon with the latest version of iTunes to drop after the release of the 3G iPhone.

[Via Wired]

The firmware is fresh off the server, and the details about it are few. What we do know right now is that the new SDK requires developers to register an application ID, suggesting that they are tightening things up in anticipation of the launch, which is rumored to be soon. Application IDs are required for provisioning now, all previous provisioning is now longer valid.

Another interesting thing is you must be running OSX 10.5.3, which was just released this morning. It is odd that Apple would cut off the still large amount of users running Tiger, or 10.4. The new updates release notes were uploaded to Apple’s site earlier, and can be viewed now. Apple also removed six demo applications from the SDK package.

[Via TUAW]

The ongoing flip flopping of the AT&T free WiFi continues. This is the second time the free WiFi has been pulled. AT&T is saying that the listing on their website showing the WiFi access was a human error. This is the 4th human error then apparently. When will the craziness end?

There is some serious iPhone shortages going around the last few days. There are no iPhones left in the U.K. or the online Apple store. The shortage is rumored to be Apple preparing for the 3G iPhone by clearing the shelves of the current stock.

Pictures of what is rumored to be the 3G iPhone surfaced on a phone forum based in China. In th photos, the device is glossy white, as opposed to the rumored glossy black. The device fits the description of the rumored dimensions. It is larger in the middle than at the sides, and the bottom is redesigned to fit the rumored dimensions.

The 5th beta of the iPhone SDK was released this week.  It was not immediately known what improvements there were, but we have a small list now. Some of the new features that were found include the option for push email. It is the smallest SDK yet, weighing in at only 1.08GB. There were some minor changes to certain libraries as well.

We round out the week in review with the news of the Installer application getting an update. The update brings application search to Installer. Although as of now the search function needs a little improvement, it is a good idea and is very useful.

The new SDK weighs in at just under 1GB. This makes it less of a bandwidth headache for the developers. We are waiting for more details to come in now. Check back as we update this post, with all of the latest details about this unexpected update.

[Via TUAW]

Yes, oddly enough the ability is only supported for Chinese. While it is not confirmed the ability actually even exists. According to one source, the new iPhone firmware, build 5A258F, has several Chinese input methods. It is rumored, that one method is this fabled handwriting recognition. If the feature does come to fruition, hopefully it will make it to an English version.

Handwriting recognition for the iPhone presents one major problem. The iPhone, does not use, or support a stylus. This is because the iPhone uses a capacitive touch screen, and not a resistive touch screen, such as is found on Windows Mobile devices. While it would not be a far leap to write on the screen with a finger, it would be a different experience to say the least. Hey, it is a step in the right direction though.

[Via iPhone Alley]