A new survey of recent iPhone 4S buyers has found that 21% are opting for the 64GB version. The survey also found a significant percentage of them are coming from other operating systems.

So far, a half million iPhone 4S users have taken advantage of the new 4S jailbreak. The jailbreak was a long time coming since the A5 processor was so hard to crack.

Apple has its iWork chief handling the digital textbook project that could well change the way people in college use textbooks. I can’t wait to see what they have in store. It would be great to have digital school books on the iPad and iPhone.

• Apple iPhone sales are booming around the globe and should only get better with other carriers getting the device, Gigaom tells us why the device is doing so well.

• iPhone Dev Team has launched a new Pwnage tool that will work on devices running the 3.1.2 firmware update. The catch is the tool only works on Mac computers.
• Researchers develop an iPhone app that allows a minivan to be driven using the iPhone. The vehicle is a DARPA-spec autonomous vehicle to be precise.
• The Layar augmented reality browser has landed on the iPhone and is ready to play. Augmented reality apps have to be some of the coolest apps for the iPhone around.

If a home-cooked meal is not that easy to find, then an energy beverage might be more the ticket. The Morphie Juice Pack is a rechargeable lithium polymer battery that says it will add up to an additional six hours of talk or surfing time to the iPhone. The pack adds about a centimetre of thickness to the phone while still offering a pass-through USB for syncing and charging.

The Morphie Juice Pack is available through selected retailers in Australia or online.

[via CNET Australia]

Both the auction and YouTube video of the working prototype have been pulled at Apple‘s request. For eBay, the seller told iLounge that “as many people predicted would happen, Apple has contacted eBay to close the listing.” YouTube states that “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Apple, Inc.” Neither of the iPhones had the word “iPhone” written on them. From what was available through photos, each unit was manufactured in China in late 2006. (The iPhone was not officially announced until January 2007.) The working unit runs iPhone OS 03.06.01_G while the launch version which ran version 03.11.02_G.

This seems all too similar to former Apple employee, Mike Evangelist for listing a pre-release first-generation iPod on eBay. This one pulled at the beginning of this year. The iPod was fully functional, the pre-production unit can be synced with the current version of iTunes, but required a special utility for restoring the software. The hardware changes made before the official release preclude this unit from being updated/restored using the standard mechanism. I thought these toys went into Museums? And thinking of eBay, I need a new coffee table, thanks for the reminder iLounge!

[via MacRumors, iLounge]

Jobs, not to be one to speak lightly, pointed out that the iPhone has sold more than RIM phones. Another interesting point? Apple has $25 billion in the bank so the poor economy won’t affect them at least right now.

39% of Apple’s business is from the iPhone. Yeah, that’s crazy! To put this in more specific terms, Apple is now the third largest mobile phone supplier in the entire world. The only two largest are Nokia and Samsung! If anyone doubted the iPhone, it seems this ought to keep them quiet for awhile.

[via CrunchGear]

At the beginning of the week, we found out that the home activation available for the first-generation iPhone would be reinstated, at least in part, for iPhone 3G purchases. And then, we got the details of the new purchasing system Apple has put in place so you can buy the iPhone 3G from your home, input all of your information and simply go to your local Apple retail store to pick it up and have it activated.

We also learned that the iPhone 3G could reach sales of 5 million in Q4, which is exciting news. And an unlocked version of the phone is now available in Hong Kong, though at a significantly higher price than if purchased through a carrier. To continue Apple’s plan for rolling out the iPhone 3G across the world, Russia will be getting the device on October 3rd.

iPhone Firmware version 2.2 entered Beta 1 for developers only this week and while details were a bit sketchy at first, we eventually learned that MobileSafari would be getting a bit of a facelift. App Store rejections letters are also apparently under the NDA developers sign to upload their apps to the store. Whether this was also a stipulation or a recent addendum in response to the frequent posting of these letters on online forums is unknown.

And last but not least we had a comparison of the iPhone 3G and the recently announced T-Mobile G1. Even though I would have loved to pick a clear cut winner, I found the playing field uneven, especially when you consider that Apple is bringing their own hardware and software to the table and the T-Mobile G1 features hardware and software from different makers.

This new estimate has Apple targeting 7.4 million iPhones before the holiday season even begins. Not too shabby, if you ask me. While this is a drop down from the previous estimate that had Apple producing 800,000 iPhones a week, it is still rather impressive.

So what does this all mean? Apple will need to sell 2.6 million iPhone 3Gs by the end of the year if they are to meet their original goal of 10 million phones sold. But the holidays always do wonders for sales so it’s still a very real possibility.

[via IntoMobile]

Gartner analyzed the numbers for smartphone sales and it looks like the iPhone 3G played a big role in bolstering the market. And even though hard economic times make smartphone purchases difficult for many consumers, the devices are rising in popularity.

32.2 million smartphones were sold in Q2 this year, which is up 15.7% from the previous year. However, the third quarter showed great promise as well. This was primarily due to the introduction of the iPhone 3G in July. It boosted sales of smartphones so that 11% of mobile phone sales could be attributed to smartphones.

This is significant. Especially when you factor in the smartphone market growth in America alone. Smartphone sales grew 78.7% this year, which adds up to about 25% of smartphone sales in the world! And it seems like the iPhone 3G takes a large chunk of that pie.
 
[via iPhone Central]

Apple has their sights set high and if their business plans are accurate, we can expect to see the company producing 40 million iPhones next year. And while some analysts think this number is appropriate to keep up with global demand, others aren’t so optimistic.

According to BusinessWeek:

Many analysts expect Apple (AAPL) to sell around 11 million iPhone 3Gs in 2008 and another 25 million in 2009. But perhaps the most optimistic forecast is from Piper Jaffray (PJC) analyst Gene Munster, who expects the company to sell 13 million this year and 45 million next year.

This is interesting because much of these higher sales figures depend on Apple’s ability to quickly solve some of the device’s problems such as the 3G connection issues. Even so, it is safe to say, sales will be big regardless, now that the iPhone will be available across the world.

[via BusinessWeek]

The week started with news that the App Store had accumulated 60 million downloads, equally $30 million sales. Plus, the first monthly sales reports were released to app developers, giving them insight into just how their software was doing. Later on, we learned that Best Buy is all set to sell the iPhone 3G beginning September 7 and HSBC is even considering a 200K iPhone 3G order.

Moving onto software issues and complaints, there was an initial problem at the beginning of the week following the 2.0.1 firmware update, which may have caused GPS issues to develop. We also learned that a building at the Apple Inc headquarters caught fire. Damage was mostly caused by water and smoke and no injuries were reported. And as many iPhone users have been unable to maintain a 3G connection, analysts now believe the problem lies with the Infineon chipset. However, a September software update should provide a fix for the reception problems, even though Infineon denies their chipsets are to blame.

But it wasn’t all bad news this week. In fact, several applications hit the App Store, to bring greater functionality to the iPhone. For instance, a web-based app of Google Translate was launched that brings you translating power on the go. Plus, an e-book reader called Stanza has opened the door to Kindle-like abilities, though you can only download public domain titles at the moment. A program call Qik makes video streaming possible from your iPhone and Simplify Media makes live streaming of your music library a breeze. Box Office has also returned to the App Store, though now it’s called Now Playing.

We offered several application reviews this week, as well. Crossword Light provided a detailed crossword puzzling experience, while Tilt Snake was a fun diversion, reminiscent of the old arcade game, though it could be improved.

Finally, a few iPhone gadgets and gizmos found their way onto iPhoneBuzz this week, notably the iPhone Dock Projector. It remains to be seen if this portable projector offers up a decent picture, but the idea is brilliant. Plus, the Steve Jobs bobble head iPhone dock is just a one in a million eBay offering that Apple diehards will have to have.

Developers got their hands on their first month’s worth of sales reports from the App Store today. Even though you could access your daily stats as of July 31, many developers were still in the dark about the first two week’s worth of sales. 

It seems many developers may have experienced their most sales during that crucial first two-week period when the App Store was fresh off the block and generally less crowded. Even so, sales are still doing good with the 2 Across app, developed by Eliza Block making her about $1800/day in revenue. 

Sales are sky-high at the moment, but it remains to be seen if the App Store has what it takes for continued growth. After all, unless we’re all using apps every single day, revenue is bound to decline a bit.

[via MacRumors]

As expected, the U.S., Japan, Germany and France topped the curve, taking in a cumulative 81% of the first million 3G iPhones sold. But this isn’t really news. 

What is interesting, however, is the dispersal of carriers. And though AT&T tops the list with 600,000 units sold, T-Mobile sold 89,000, Orange sold 77,000 and Softbank Mobile sold 70,000 in the overseas market. 

Even though the iPhone is a U.S. dominated product at the moment, it still has a large resonance overseas. This data reflects only the first three days of sales, so it may be affected by the initial troubles people had registering. 

[via Medialets]

The smugglers are getting paid $30 per iPhone delivered. This is being done by Chinese tourists as well as flight attendants. Once there to add and unlock the Chinese language software costs the buyer about $25.

The handsets themselves range from $400-$600. Which happens to be the same or cheaper than the official 8GB iPhone in Europe.

[via wired]

Furthermore, if you live in, on, or around one of those stores, on November 9th, you might want to not be there for the hours from 6pm-close. Actually, maybe before then, freakin campers, wow, I never thought I’d use that term outside of Halo speak.

Anyways, if you live in the UK, launch day is the 9th, and they are doing the same thing they did here in the US and staying open from 6pm to 10pm just for the launch of the iPhone. Why they couldn’t start selling them when they open I don’t know, maybe its so people don’t skip out on work and school.

Carphone Warehouse hoping to shift 10,000 iPhones on launch day [via techdigest]