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Last week when it first updated, we related our first impressions of Facebook for iPhone 3.0. Now that's we've spent some more quality time with it over the weekend, we can confirm that the 3.0 update is huge. Sure, it takes up more room on your iPhone or iPod Touch, but that's not what we meant.

The real growth spurt comes from the pile of new and improved features that Facebook has poured into the app. They range from the typical--support for landscape mode, capability to change your profile picture--to the powerful--such as creating photo albums and kicking off a text message or call from the Facebook interface.

That last point echoes a central thesis in a June 2009 Wired article ("The Great Wall of Facebook"): by storing intensely personal data about real people--their likes and dislikes, e-mail addresses, friends, activities, and even phone numbers--Facebook is creating a formidable "second Internet" to rival Google. Indeed, the SMS and phone call triggers on Facebook for iPhone 3.0 (and a similar feature on Facebook for BlackBerry that hooks into your address book) do influence, even facilitate, the way you contact friends in real life. Now you can rely on a Web-based network as a point of entry to your actual social life.

But that feature is just one of many. See the new Facebook for iPhone 3.0 in action in this First Look video. If you have used it, let us know how you like it.

Originally posted at The Download Blog

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who tends to hit the nail on the head per his Apple forecasts, has noted that Apple will probably move to multiple U.S. carriers by 2010. According to Loopinsight, Munster stated that the transition will occur next summer, which is when Apple has introduced new models of the iPhone.

Following last Friday's announcement that the iPhone would become available in China late this year, Apple has confirmed its agreement with China Unicom is not exclusive to the carrier. Per CNNMoney, an Apple spokesperson confirmed that the China Unicom contract is not exclusive. The person declined, however, to detail whether or not Apple is in negotiations with other possible carriers.

There are certain things one expects from a Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game. Sure, there's the obvious: Violence, fast cars, and more violence, but what many GTA laymen don't know, is that GTA fans also expect (since Vice City at least) a rich, compelling story, with likable and (intentionally) unlikable characters. All told in a way only the best video games can.

After spending about two hours with Gameloft's GangStar I can safely say, they got the obvious right. Not so much the other stuff.

Gangstar is a GTA clone for the iPhone and iPod Touch where you play an ex-con named...honestly does it matter what his name is? Seriously, the main character and your sidekick are so similar in appearance I hardly ever know which is talking at any given time.

The game plays very close to GTA. Specifically GTA3. You run around, steal cars, mistakenly--thanks to the default and difficult to control accelerometer controls--run over pedestrians, and shoot and beat innocents to death.

There are also missions you can take by going to certain waypoints designated on your minimap. So far the missions have ranged from chauffeuring your boss around to following and killing groups of gang members.

The main character controls with a virtual analog control stick and you can fight, shoot, and steal vehicles using contextual buttons that pop up when needed. For example, get close enough to a car and the "open door" icon pops. Tap the icon, out goes the driver and in you go in you new ride.

Thankfully the shooting and fighting model is extremely forgiving. When in a scuffle, the cross hair locks on to your target, you tap the icon, and your character will either shoot or punch depending on if you have a weapon equipped. So far, the ease of targeting has trivialized most of the missions, but so far I'm also not complaining.

The driving model thus far seems adequate as long as you're not using the accelerometer and there's a virtual wheel or stick option that is less aneurysm-inducing. There's also hints of depth in the driving model, as I was able to easily reverse into a 180 spin and continue driving forward without missing a beat.

The coolest feature though is the ability to use your own iPhone playlist as your in-car music that plays whenever you enter a vehicle.

I've noticed a couple of bugs here and there, where the car you drove up in sometimes disappears after a cut scene. Maybe crime is just that bad in the GangStar world, however. Where even the criminals are victims of crimes.

I have a hard time recommending GangStar for $7, but this is mostly due to my long-held belief that iPhone games shouldn't cost more than $1. Once you get the hang of the driving, the game is actually kind of fun. Fun, in an "I need a quick distraction for the next 15 minutes" kind of way; however, there are games on the iPhone that better fit that description.

If you're the type of gamer who would like GTA, even if there was no story, then i"d say try it. For everyone else, wait for a lite version. Or, wait for the real deal to arrive.

CrunchGear reports that Apple has sent out invitations to their September 9th Media event. The tag line for the event reads "It's only rock and roll, but we like it," from the Rolling Stones song of the same name. It will be held at 10:00 AM Pacific Time at the Yerba Puena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

Apple's exclusive deal with AT&T to offer the iPhone may end within the year, according to a prediction from financial analyst Gene Munster, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray.

If Munster is correct, opening up the iPhone to other carriers in the U.S. could be a boon for Apple, which would likely see iPhone sales go through the roof. On the flipside, if this prediction were to come true, it would likely mean very bad news for AT&T, which has relied heavily on the iPhone to boost its own wireless sales and revenue.

Munster noted recently in his published research that Apple has been moving away from exclusive deals in other countries, according to AppleInsider. Specifically, in France the company ended an exclusive deal with Orange and opened up the device to multiple carriers. Munster said the change pushed the iPhone's marketshare upward to about 40 percent in France. In the U.S., where the iPhone is exclusively offered through AT&T, the iPhone has a marketshare in the teens.

There are several other countries where Apple has a multi-carrier model. In fact, its most recent deal with China Unicom to bring the iPhone to China is also not exclusive. Apple declined to discuss which carriers it might be in talks with, but analyst firms such as Piper Jaffray expect Apple to sell more than 3 million iPhone units in China next year.

Details of Apple's relationship with AT&T have never been made public. But many people have speculated that the exclusivity contract with AT&T would last at most five years from when the first iPhone hit the market in 2007. This would mean that AT&T would have exclusive rights to the iPhone until around 2012.

There have been reports more recently that AT&T has continued its negotiations with Apple to keep the iPhone exclusive through at least 2011.

Still, rumors have circulated that Verizon Wireless is also talking to Apple about getting the iPhone on its network. Verizon executives have hinted that some kind of Apple device will likely operate on its new 4G wireless network, which is expected to launch commercially next year. But what's been less clear is whether or not a 3G iPhone will operate over Verizon's network.

Verizon Wireless is currently the largest wireless operator in the country. And it has consistently won accolades for solid performance on its network. But because its current 3G wireless network is based on CDMA technology rather than GSM, which is what AT&T and most other carriers around the world use, offering the device on Verizon's network would require an additional radio to be added to the device.

While this is not a trivial task for Apple, the opportunity to offer the iPhone to Verizon's millions of potential new subscribers would likely provide a big incentive to redesign the iPhone's radio technology.

As Apple's iPhones grow in popularity, there are strong indications that opening the device up to other carriers in the U.S., such as Verizon, would greatly boost iPhone sales and market share. The company's latest phone, the iPhone 3GS introduced in June, is likely the company's most popular device. Munster even noted in his report that the new iPhone "seems to have exceeded Apple's internal expectations."

The timing in the U.S. could also be right to end the exclusivity deal with AT&T as Congress, the Department of Justice, and regulators at the Federal Communications Commission look into the fairness of such exclusive deals. Opening the device up to other carriers could help score points with regulators and potentially end some of these investigations.

But ending its exclusive deal with Apple could spell big trouble for AT&T. For one, the iPhone has helped AT&T attract new customers. About 40 percent of AT&T's 10 million iPhone customers switched to AT&T from another carrier, the company has said.

But more importantly, the iPhone has helped AT&T keep existing customers. Since the third quarter of 2007, AT&T's churn rate, or the rate at which it loses customers, has fallen to 1.49 percent from 1.7 percent, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless' churn rate has risen during that time period to 1.37 percent from 1.27 percent.

The iPhone has also helped AT&T bring in more revenue. AT&T claims its iPhone customers spend more each month than its average post-paid wireless customers--about $100 a month. This has helped boost its overall revenue per user by about 4.7 percent to $60.21 per month since the third quarter of 2007.

But the cost to AT&T for these benefits has been high. Since last year, the company has been paying about $400 per iPhone to subsidize the cost of the device in exchange for requiring customers sign up for a two-year service contract. Even though AT&T is guaranteed at least $30 a month in data service fees, the company admits that the subsidy has hurt its short-term profit margins.

What's more, because iPhone users download two to four times as many games, video, and other Web data as other smartphone users, AT&T has had to upgrade its network to keep up with demand.

Even though AT&T has been upgrading its network, customers have complained often about its poor performance. And this has had a negative effect on the company's reputation. When subscribers experience problems with the iPhone, they often blame AT&T rather than Apple for the problem.

Because AT&T is the only carrier in the U.S. to offer the device, iPhone users regardless of whether they are satisfied with AT&T or not have been forced to stay on the network as long as they want to continue using their iPhone.

But if other carriers, such as Verizon, were to offer the iPhone, AT&T could see many of its existing iPhone customers leave. And it would likely cease to see any substantial uptick in new customers due to iPhone sales.

AT&T executives have said they realize that the iPhone exclusivity deal won't last forever. And they say they are prepared for that day. But the truth is the longer the company can keep the iPhone exclusive to its network, the better off it will be.

However, it looks like AT&T's chances of holding onto the iPhone in the U.S. for much longer are getting slimmer and slimmer. Even though Apple has said that it's happy in its relationship with AT&T, it only makes sense for the company to get out of its exclusive deal as soon as it can.

Originally posted at Signal Strength

If you need something to quickly stimulate your brain while waiting for the bus, this simple 99-cent iPhone game could do the job so well that you might miss the bus altogether.

It's called World Wars from AddictingGames. And no, it's not a game that tests your knowledge of World War I and II (thank God!) but rather it's a game that lets you take over the world one region at a time.

The world map of the game is divided in to many regions, each with a specific amount of troops that belong to up to seven factions, including yours. You just need to tap on the region you control and then on an adjacent one controlled by an enemy to attack. The dice then will roll to determine the winner. The amount of troops on the region translates into the amount of dice you have, so generally, the more troop you have, the higher the chance you will win. However, there's also some luck involved in each attack, which makes the outcome unpredictable. Your job is to make sure you win the most rounds of attacks until you take over every region of the map.

The first time I launched the game, I wasn't very impressed but thought I would just try it anyway. After a few tries, now it's become one of my most used apps. It's a great game to kill a few minutes while waiting in line, or for hours when you are on a long flight.

On the downside, the game comes with a single music track on loop, which unfortunately can't be turned off separately from the game's sound. Also, you can only play against the computer, not another player. It would make a much better pastime if multiplayer was supported. We hope this will be added on the next update.

Nonetheless, for just 99 cents, this game offers a lot of fun. But don't take my word for it, try the game free with its Flash version here before getting it on your iPhone.

Rockstar Games, the developers behind the Grand Theft Auto series, announced on Monday that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be coming to Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch this fall.

The developer also announced that Beaterator, an app that allows users to create "world-class beats and songs," will also be made available on the App Store. Like the Chinatown Wars title, Beaterater is slated for availability this fall for an undisclosed price.

Chinatown Wars gives gamers control over Huang Lee, a member of the Triad crime syndicate, who travels to Liberty City to investigate his father's death. iPhone and iPod Touch owners will be able to control Lee as he travels through the streets of Liberty City.

Chinatown Wars is currently available on the Nintendo DS. It's coming to the Sony PlayStation Portable in October. According to Rockstar, it made perfect sense for the handheld title to make its way to Apple's mobile devices.

But since it has been ported from traditional handheld game devices, I asked Rockstar if iPhone owners will see much of a difference between the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP versions and the iPhone version.

Rockstar said there will be some textures that will look low-res, compared to the PSP version, but other than that, the game is exactly the same.

That comes as a surprise, considering that the typical content featured in a Grand Theft Auto game has clashed with Apple's policies against adult-theme material finding its way to into the App Store. Apple denied access to Eucalyptus, an e-book reader application, because it allowed users to find and read the Kama Sutra. Apple even denied access to Ninjawords, a dictionary app, because it contained vulgar words.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars promises a typical GTA experience, complete with the sexual content and vulgar words that have made it such a controversial franchise. Rockstar told me that it had no trouble with Apple's App Store policies and that the game will be made available as is.

Rockstar also said that controlling the on-screen character will be slightly different than what gamers are used to with other handhelds. According to the company, the game will display an on-screen analog stick that users will be able to control with their thumb. The developer wouldn't reveal any more information about the game.

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Originally posted at The Digital Home

The Grabit 3-in-1 is a belt-clip case. It's a battery pack. And it's a kickstand for easy iPhone viewing. (It may also make julienne fries--I'll have to double-check on that.)

Geeks.com has the Grabit 3-in-1 iPhone holster for $19.99, the lowest price I've seen anywhere.

Alas, shipping will run you a fairly ridiculous $9, but you can save a couple bucks by applying coupon code GEEKBERT at checkout.

The Grabit features a swiveling, spring-loaded belt clip that can pop out to hold your iPhone upright on a flat surface. (It should also do well at horizontal positioning for movies and the like.)

The real trick up the Grabit's sleeve is its 1,050-mAh battery pack, which effectively doubles your iPhone's battery life.

The pack doubles as a rubberized, quick-release holster--one simple press of the upper clip and you can pull the iPhone free.

(If you want to see more and better photos, check out this listing on eBay--where the Grabit is selling for $29.98, plus $5 shipping.)

The only real downside I can see is that the Grabit keeps the iPhone facing outward, making it more susceptible to accidental damage. On the other hand, an inward-facing design would eliminate the kickstand advantages.

Also, there's no mention of iPhone 3GS compatibility, though I'm not sure why. Most other iPhone/iPhone 3G-compatible battery packs also support the 3GS. My guess is this one would work, though it's just that: a guess. (If anyone knows for sure, please say so in the comments!)

This isn't the only product of its kind. Case-Mate offers a similar battery extender/belt-clip case, but it sells for $79.99--and doesn't pull kickstand duty.

For about $27 out the door (with shipping and the aforementioned coupon code), this seems like a pretty sweet accessory for iPhone owners. I'm seriously considering getting one myself.

If you're the clumsy sort you have absolutely no shortage of protective cases and coatings to shroud your pricey gadget in, but most are ugly, bulky, and likely ineffective. The iBand from Tech21 isn't particularly attractive nor svelte, but after watching the video below there's little doubt about its effectiveness. It's made of a substance called d3o, which is a fancy orange non-Newtonian substance, starting out stretchy and gushy but, when put under pressure, hardening and protecting its precious contents. We've seen this stuff applied to high-impact applications like motorcycle armor, but we're glad to see gadgetry getting a little attention too. The video is a bit curious as it appears that the d3o is just applied around the edges of the case and yet the enclosed device survives a face-down landing, but it's an impressive demonstration nevertheless. Right now the £15 ($25) iBand is only available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but future gadgets should receive the oobleck treatment soon.

Continue reading Video: Tech21's iBand protective case and its mystical, magical, non-Newtonian goo

Filed under: Cellphones

Video: Tech21's iBand protective case and its mystical, magical, non-Newtonian goo originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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