Nielsen has unveiled the latest figures for the smartphone market. iOS has held steady at about 26% while Android is still 36% of the market in the latest numbers.

A rumor has surfaced that the iPhone 4S will have an integrated SIM card. The same rumor claims that the iPhone 5 will come in the spring of 2012. This is the first time a rumor has pointed to the iPhone 4S and 5 being different devices.

A new group texting app has landed for the iPhone called Disco. The app allows you text multiple people at the same time and comes as a result of Google buying Slide a few years ago.

American Express has announced that it has a new electronic payment system that will work on Android and iOS devices called American Express Serve. The app manages a digital account so you can buy things, pay bills, and make money transfers from your iPhone.

AT&T is offering some information for folks who just purchased the iPhone 3GS before the iPhone 4 was announced. IPhone 3GS buyers that purchased between May 7 and June 7 will get a credit of $50 for the 16GB version or $100 for the 32GB version, but you have to go into the store and ask.

Apple is reportedly considering hosting two WWDC conferences per year. One of them would be for iOS and the other for OS X.

Sister site SlashGear will be live blogging WWDC 2010 when it kicks off later this afternoon. This is the event where Steve will show off the new iPhone according to rumors.

Foxconn has promised to give the workers at its Chinese iPhone factory a raise of up to 66% based on performance. The workers would have to pass a 3-month evaluation to get the raise.

One of the things that has surfaced in the latest beta for the iPhone OS 4.0 was tethering support. CNET figures if you are thinking about an iPad 3G you should hold off since the iPhone just might allow tethering for the device at less cost.

A rumor is circulating that Sam Mendes, best known for directing American Beauty, will be directing new ads for the iPhone4G. The rumor surfaced in Tweets for actors vying for parts in the ads.

PCMag reports that the police now know who it was that found the iPhone HD prototype that was later sold to Gizmodo. However, the police don’t know if the person who found the device is the one who sold it.

AdMob has reported that devices running Android have beat the iPhone OS in mobile traffic numbers. It still amazes me that with one official carrier and one device (or three if you count old models) the iPhone generates the kind of traffic it does.

Tapulous is the company behind the iPhone game TapTap Revenge and others. The company says that it is now making at least $1 million monthly in revenue from the App Store.

The rumors around WWDC 2010 not set to happen until June 28 are already cropping up. The rumors have a new iPhone being unveiled at the show. These rumors start popping up each time an Apple event is coming.

The new iPhone 3Gs will be available in 2 version. It will be sold in US (AT&T), Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and UK from June 19th, with 16GB version priced at $199 and 32GB version priced at $299. By August, the new iPhone will eventually be available in 80 countries. As for the current iPhone users, the iPhone OS 3.0 software will be released on June 17 through the iTunes 8.2 or later.

Apple® today introduced the new iPhone™ 3G S, the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, packed with incredible new features including improved speed and performance—up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G—with longer battery life, a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video recording and hands free voice control. iPhone 3G S includes the new iPhone OS 3.0, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 100 new features such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS*, Spotlight Search, landscape keyboard and more. iPhone 3G S customers get access to more than 50,000 applications from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world where customers have already downloaded over one billion apps. iPhone 3G S offers twice the capacity for the same price with a 16GB model for just $199 and a new 32GB model for just $299.** And beginning today, iPhone 3G is available at the breakthrough price of just $99 for the 8GB model—a huge milestone for the high end smartphone market.

“iPhone 3G S is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet and we think people will love the incredible new features including autofocus camera, video recording and the freedom of voice control,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of WorldWide Product Marketing. “And with a breakthrough price of $99, we are thrilled to get iPhone 3G into the hands of even more users who want them.”

iPhone 3G S offers incredible speed and performance, on average up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G, so you can render web pages quicker and launch applications faster. iPhone 3G S takes advantage of the OpenGL ES 2.0 standard for stunning high-quality 3D graphics, making mobile gaming and other graphic intense applications better than ever. iPhone 3G S is not only faster, but with longer battery life you can watch more videos, listen to more music, browse the Internet or keep using your favorite apps even longer. The new iPhone 3G S also supports 7.2 Mbps HSDPA for faster networking speeds.***

iPhone 3G S features a new 3 megapixel autofocus camera that takes amazing pictures and video, making it easier than ever to capture, edit and share those moments instantly with family and friends. The new autofocus camera adjusts focus, exposure, color and contrast for the best possible image and includes an automatic macro focus for extra close up shots. With the new “tap to focus” feature, you simply touch the display to select an object or area of interest and the camera automatically re-adjusts focus and exposure. You can record incredible high-quality video clips and edit them right on your iPhone 3G S by simply trimming the start and stop points. With iPhone 3G S you can send photos and video by email or MMS and post them to MobileMe™ or YouTube with just one tap.

The voice control feature in iPhone 3G S offers hands free operation for both iPhone and iPod® functions. Simply speak the appropriate commands into the built-in microphone or headset microphone to dial by name or number. With voice control you can play your favorite music by artist, album or playlist and activate the Genius feature by saying “play more songs like this.” You can also tell iPhone to pause the music, play the next track, turn on shuffle or ask, “What’s playing right now?”

iPhone 3G S features a new built-in digital compass for instant navigation.**** The Compass app shows you which way you are headed and rotates as you change direction. You can orient yourself to true north or magnetic north, and iPhone’s built-in GPS automatically displays the coordinates of your current location. The new built-in digital compass is also integrated within Maps, so it automatically orients any map to the direction you are facing.

iPhone 3G S provides new accessibility features including VoiceOver, a screen reader that speaks what appears on the iPhone 3G S display, enabling visually impaired users to make calls, read email, browse web pages, play music and run applications. The new universal Zoom function magnifies the entire screen, and the White on Black feature reverses the colors on screen to provide higher contrast for people with low vision. iPhone 3G S also supports Mono Audio which combines left and right audio channels so that they can be heard in both earbuds for those with hearing loss in one ear.

iPhone 3G S includes the new iPhone OS 3.0 software with more than 100 new features including: Cut, Copy and Paste; MMS; Spotlight Search to search across iPhone or within Mail, Contacts, Calendar and iPod; landscape keyboard for Mail, Messages, Notes and Safari®; expanded parental controls for TV shows, movies and apps from the App Store; and the ability to capture and send audio recordings on the go with the new Voice Memo app. iPhone 3.0 software also includes a new Find My iPhone feature that works together with MobileMe so you can locate your lost iPhone on a map, send a message that will appear on the screen or play a sound to help you find it even if your phone is set to silent. If you cannot find your iPhone, you can erase all data and content on your iPhone with the new Remote Wipe feature. New iTunes® features available with iPhone 3.0 software include wirelessly downloading movies, TV and audio programs as well as iTunes U so students can download learning materials on the go.

iPhone 3G S gives users access to the revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world with more than 50,000 applications. The App Store allows developers to reach tens of millions of iPhone and iPod touch® users around the world. To date, customers have downloaded more than one billion apps from the App Store. And with more than 1,000 new APIs available with the iPhone SDK, developers can create even more innovative applications using In-App Purchases, a new Maps API and Push Notifications.

iPhone 3G S also features built-in Nike + iPod support making it an incredible workout companion. Users simply place the optional Nike + iPod sensor ($19) in their Nike + shoe to seamlessly connect with iPhone 3G S to track miles run or sync with the latest generation gym equipment.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone 3G S will be available in the US on June 19 for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and just $299 (US) for the new 32GB model in both Apple and AT&T’s retail and online stores, Best Buy and Wal-Mart stores. iPhone 3G S requires a new two year contract with AT&T for qualifying customers. iPhone OS 3.0 software will be available on June 17 as a free software update via iTunes 8.2 or later for all iPhone customers. iPod touch customers will be able to purchase a software update for $9.95 (US). Beginning June 8, iPhone 3G will be available for just $99 (US) for the 8GB model. New MobileMe features for iPhone require iPhone OS 3.0. MobileMe is available for an annual subscription price of $99 (US).

iPhone 3G S will also be available in more than 80 countries in the coming weeks.

The event is also expected to coincide with Apple releasing the iPhone and iPod touch firmware 3.0. The new firmware will bring several new features to the devices.

[via SlashGear]

Will you allow the iPhone 3G to be used on your pre paid service? No, each new iPhone requires a new, two-year contract. There will be no pre-paid or month-to-moth options.

Basically now there is no doubt, that the iPhone will not be able to be used on pre paid plans. This is unfortunate, as all the pre pay plans can do is give Apple more sales. It does not fit with Apple’s new plan to stop iPhone unlocking, and alas will not be allowed.

Can customers not eligible to receive a discount price, or those who are not willing to sign a contract, still get the iPhone 3G? No – see number one.

Well that is pretty straight forward. It does not answer the question though, if a customer currently on AT&T can get the iPhone 3G at the discount price. I am sure all that will come up in the future as the July 11th release draws nearer.

For people who are not in 3G areas but want the 3G iPhone for its looks, new features etc, will you still charge the extra $10 for data, or can they use the standard iPhone plans? We will provide more plan-specific information closer to the time of availability. But, as of right now, we have said that each new contract requires a voice and data plan. And, the new iPhone data plans are $30 for consumers, $45
for business users.

Well, it seems that AT&T prefers to deliver the typical corporate dance around. In my area, AT&T offers no 3G coverage, at all. There are plenty of areas with the same story, and it is hardly fair for them to pay an extra $10 a month for the same service they were getting with their old iPhone.

How will AT&T be activating the iPhone 3G, and can activation be done at home via iTunes still? All activations will take place in the store. We think this will give customers an opportunity to cover any questions they have before leaving the store.

We all know that this is not the case. Apple and AT&T are severely cracking down on iPhone unlocking, and are requiring all iPhones to go out the door activated. While there could be some truth to what was said here, it is more likely they are just trying to tighten control.

I of course do not speak for everyone. There are tons of questions I did not ask. What are the questions you all have? Please leave a comment, and we will contact AT&T again, and make another post with the answers you all crave.

First we have Zenbe Lists. This application is an enhanced version of a to do list. It can keep track of chores, and calender lists. The application allows for you to make lists where things can be checked off, and you can even sync the events with your contacts.

Next up are two games from Pangea software. The games are Enigmo, and CroMag Rally. CroMag rally is a racing game in which basically you race flintstones style cars. Enigmo is a puzzle game, in which you move around water droplets using your finger.

There are two new medical oriented applications that were shown off. These applications are Modality, which is a medical anatomy application for students. It is linked to Wikipedia and Google to provide more sources. The second is MIMvista, which allows doctors to view and manipulate PET and CT scan images from their iPhone.

Kooaba is one of the most interesting. It uses the relatively new concept of an image driven search. The application will allow you to point the iPhone’s camera at a movie poster, and then it will return information and show times on the movie. Although the posters are usually found in the theater, where that information can be found anyway. It is an awesome proof of concept though.

Ebay 3rd party app for iPhone 3G!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5gDeABgIFk[/youtube]

Modality and MIMvista apps for iPhone 3G

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbByWSyA3xs[/youtube]

The video also of course shows Steve announcing the new 3G iPhone. The device was expected to be unveiled at WWDC yesterday, and true to form Steve announced it at the last minutes of the WWDC keynote. The device will be made available on July 11th, and will be subject to different levels of subsidies. Visit Apple’s website to view the keynote in its entirety.

The device will explode into other countries from there. By the end of 2008, it is expected that the 3G iPhone will be available in 70 countries or more. The countries include Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Australia. These are all big targets for Apple, and in countries like Japan the iPhone will finally be able to be used there thanks to the W-CDMA radio.