I would assume that Apple and Android will have their own ratings system. Apple already puts apps into categories and if the app is too mature in theme, it simply won’t allow the app on the site. In other news, the sales ban that Apple has had on Samsung tablets in Australia has come to an end.

The sales injunction in Australia has been overthrown in appeal. The court went so far to call the original sales ban “clearly wrong.” I wonder if Samsung will sue Apple for lost sales at this point.

I always figured that when that Apple tablet finally hits the market it would be a larger iPhone. Reports are coming in that the tablet does in fact look like a larger iPhone, perhaps we will get the truth at the January 26 Apple event.

A new app is available for the iPhone perfect for your New Year’s Eve festivities tonight. The app estimates your blood alcohol level and is called R-U-Buzzed.

Customs records though, revealed that the prior mentioned shipments are market ‘electric computers’. This is a very vague name, I mean all computers are electric, or need electricity at least. The thing is, ‘electric’ could be referring to the iPhone’s screen. The capacitive screen needs a small electric charge from your finger, or capacitance, to function. This is a speculation on my part though.

It is assumed that the crates collectively could contain as much as 1,760,000 iPhones. It is assumed these are the 3G iPhone, though we can not be sure. The current iPhone supply has dwindled to near nothing, and Apple is in dire need of some more units. It is hard to imaging, that in light of the fact we will see the 3G iPhone soon, that Apple would import that many iPhones just to have them deprecated by the new device.

Another interesting point in the rumor is that Canada has received a few shipments of this mystery device as well. Rogers has said that they will be getting the iPhone this year, but did not specify what model. Considering that Rogers runs an HSPA network up in Canada, the 3G iPhone seems a logical choice for them.

No one knows for certain what is in those crates except Apple, and the its factory partners. This and any article you have read is a best guess. While we are entertaining ideas, I would like to present a new one. The possibility, that this could be the long rumored tablet Mac. We have seen rumors of this device being a WWDC show stopper.

To me, this device would seem much more like a computer than an iPhone, and electric, you bet. Unfortunately for us we will have to wait until June 9th to see what this all means.

[Via Import Genius]

Intel says that the whole mess stemmed from a poor German to English translation of the article, posted in a German language version of ZDNet. It is interesting though, that the original article we saw posted yesterday from the source, is different than the one that has been posted now.

“Intel knows nothing over future products of other manufacturers and can therefore over it also nothing say,” -Mike Cato, Intel Spokesman

Hopefully the quote sounded a lot better in German than the translated version shown here. It is an interesting story, as other sources attending the same event, that heard the German Intel manager speak, did not say he said anything about the iPhone. Others, say they did though. It is a messy rumor, and the only way we are going to know for sure is when WWDC rolls around.

[Via Apple2.0 Fortune Blog]

Developers and others hoping to get in are not fully out of luck, they will just have to wait till after the event to get all the news and video clips they crave. It will not be too painful though, as they are supposed to have details and videos on the Developer site “immediately” after the event concludes. Some clips will be free, and others will require a paid for developer account.

WWDC is to be held June 9th through June 13th, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Apple is expected to unveil the long awaited 3G iPhone there, and if we are lucky, there are rumors of a mystery device showing up. Remember to keep it locked on iPhone Buzz June 9th for all the latest from WWDC, and our live coverage of the event.

[Via MacNN]

It begs the question, what is this mystery device? Well, it is speculated that it could be the long awaited tablet Mac that has been making its way around the rumor mill for quite some time now. Not much is known about this device, but there are a few bits of rumored specifications floating around. These include a 720×480 multi touch screen, and will be about 50% larger than the iPhone.

It seems, that it is entirely possible that Apple will not make a bug deal out of the 3G iPhone launch. To us, it is a big deal, but to most it is just a product update. It happens all the time, phones get upgraded, that is just how it works. So is Apple going to just be chill about the 3G iPhone, and give us an exciting new device? We will know soon enough. iTablet, anyone?

[Via MacRumors]

“We continue to expect Apple to offer a family of iPhones (2-3 separate models) in the first half of 2009, including lower priced ($200-$300) models. Just as the company slowly diversified the iPod lineup and entered lower price points with every new version of the iPod, we expect Apple to launch new models of the iPhone at lower price points in CY09. This expectation, along with the expectation for lower price points, and world wide availability of the phone, is critical to our CY09 iPhone estimate of 45m units” Gene Munster, analyst, Piper Jaffray

“[W]e believe Apple is not hesitant to try business models other than the exclusive models the company has chosen during the iPhone’s first year. It has enabled Apple to maintain tight control on the user experience of the iPhone, but expanded availability will likely become a higher priority, and we believe it will eventually drive Apple to offer the iPhone on multiple carriers in each country” Gene Munster

Munster also addresses Apple’s introduction of the App Store, describing it as a recognition that the iPhone user base was “dissatisfied with the simplified Web 2.0 apps available on the iPhone’s web browser.”  He describes the developing iPhone and iPod ranges as a sign that Apple is looking to “transform the MP3 market into a portable computing market” and that the iPod touch is the first of many WiFi-enabled, internet-friendly PMPs.  For anybody hoping for an Apple Tablet, Gene suggests it may take a few years, but will come as an evolution of the MacBook’s MultiTouch trackpad (which itself will evolve to an embedded color touchscreen):

“Eventually, we expect Apple to change the trackpad to backlit color screens for a more dynamic user interface on the Mac. And ultimately, we expect Apple to develop a full touch-screen MacBook, although not until the technology has fully matured over the next 3-5 years” Gene Munster

Nothing especially new on the iPhone, overall, but the omission of the 3G iPhone from any of Munster’s answers is a curious one.  You can read the full list of questions and answers at Apple Insider.

[via iPhone Investigator - thanks Michelle!]

“The iPhone is the driver with the greatest potential.  We believe the iPhone will replace the iPod as a driver of significant growth for the company” Gene Munster, analyst, PiperJaffray

As for the 3G iPhone itself, Munster anticipates that hitting stores at some point between June and September “with new features”; it’s possible that this is the version the analyst suggests will launch, at some point in 2008, in Canada, Mexico, Australia, Italy and Japan.  He hedges his bets regarding a Chinese launch, citing the stumbling negotiations as key problem.

Gene predicts that these new markets could “effectively double” the iPhone’s potential market each year, pegging total sales during 2009 at 45 million.

[via Electronista]

“[T]he Keyboard Wireless Dock connects to the dock using Wireless USB. It also has a bigger hard drive, some sort of DVD player/burner, inputs for your USB and Firewire devices. The whole keyboard part itself is used as a large multitouch track pad. Since the keys need to be depressed when hit, you can do lighter touches as you move across the whole thing” Design’s creator

Could such a device be on the cards for Macworld on the 15th?  Given Apple’s notoriously tight-lipped attitude to new products, it’ll have to be a case of waiting and seeing. 

Flickr [via SlashGear]

Check out a video of the hacked MacBook in action after the cut

The maker admits that it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing setup, and only the white box shown on screen is actually responsive to pen-input (although if you had a bigger tablet, you could have a full-screen input device), but it works and it has all the pressure-sensitivity that the Wacom usually provides.

Of course, the current rumor is that Apple themselves are preparing a MultiTouch UMPC or tablet of their own, based on the iPod Touch and iPhone, and possibly reviving the Newton name.  However such a device would not be a direct competitor to the Modbook, which, courtesy of its high-sensitivity digitizer pen, is being targeted at artists and design professionals.  It will certainly offer far more accuracy than might be possible with a fingertip.

To hammer that point home, Axiotron are planning to take the Modbook to the MacWorld Expo, where a number of designers, architects, cartoonists and animators will demonstrate its abilities.  Ironically, that’s similar to the exclusive SlashGear footage below, shot at last year’s MacWorld:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_e_Y1oIp8[/youtube]