About 550 students and staff at Japan’s Aoyama Gakuin University will be getting free iPhones through SoftBank as part of the school’s Mobile & Net Society Education and Training program. Aoyama Gakuin University will use the iPhone’s GPS hardware to help administrators determine if a student is on campus and whether or not they’ve actually been going to class.

[Mainichi Daily via IntoMobile]

Since the iPhone’s launch, it has apparently remained at or near the top of the list of most searched consumer electronics. The iPhone has only been temporarily overtaken by new “it” products like the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.

The list of Top 5 most-searched gadget brands is dominated by Apple, with Finnish phone-giant Nokia grabbing second place with half as many searches. The only other mobile phone maker to break into the Top 5 was Samsung. Still, it should be noted that Nokia was the only dedicated mobile phone vendor to break into the Top 5 list.

[via IntoMobile]

The Apple iPhone was the source of more mobile Web searches in February than all other mobile and wireless devices combined, according to a report from Net Applications.

While phones running the Google Android operating system and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry devices have made some gains, iPhones dominated the marketplace with 66 percent of all searches, according the report. Java ME, which is installed in a number of handsets, including those from Nokia, ranked a deep second, with 9.11 percent of searches.

[via eWeek | image credit]

According to Michael C. Williams, founder and CEO of iTMP Technology, Inc., they wanted to make the fitness tracking experience cool, fun, simple and custom. “We did it by leveraging the iPhone’s technology.”

“There are dozens of fitness apps on the iPhone but none of them, until now, employ heart rate monitors or other sensors.” Williams said from his company’s headquarters in Santa Barbara, California.He added that the iPhone can now double as a heart rate monitor and bike computer, tracking and storing workouts and even sending the data to medical assessment websites.

[via Yahoo! New - Reuters]

Coming in after the Nintendo Wii and your trusted iPod, the 3G iPhone placed third. The Wii was declared the winner proving that there is still that “huge appeal in the concept of sharing time and space with friends and loved ones.” Does this mean that is the iPhone could take the lead if the brilliance of downloadable apps continues? Or is actual physical interaction with humans just so 2001?

The Gadget Helpline is the latest in a series of services offering to explain modern-day technology. While more complex goods are being developed and released, 70 experts are available on the Helpline keeping up with the curve to help everyone and anyone. Available as a member based service, Gadget Helpline is free for 30 days then £2.99 (inc. VAT) each month with calls charged at 5p a minute. Through running the survey, the site listed the following as the gadgets that made Britains the most happy:

1. Nintendo Wii
2. iPod
3. iPhone 3G
4. Xbox 360
5. Blackberry
6. Sky+
7. Mac Book
8. Nintendo DS
9. Tom Tom 930 Satellite Navigation System
10. Sony PRS-505 Reader

[via Telegraph]