We're conquering the space, that's clear. I am not talking about colonizing other planets, exploring distant galaxies and all that, because there's still a lot to do regarding the 3D space around us. For example, 3D remote controls! Yes, you read it right - Apple is on its way to create a 3D remote, similar to the controller currently available for Nintendo's Wii console!


Yesterday, the US Patent & Trademark Office published an interesting Apple patent generally related to a multi-dimensional 2D/3D remote control, able to employ both absolute and relative positioning detection techniques, for providing an ultimate on-screen position accuracy.

Basically, we're talking about a remote that will have a photosensor, an accelerometer or a gyroscope, providing you with the ability to zoom in on part of an image as you wish, by simply pushing a button!

If you think about the photosensor and accelerometer...you could easily arrive to the iPhone, of course! For now, nothing is official, but probably we may be able to use our iPhones as 3D remotes in the not-so-distant future, and if that happens, probably the iPod touches will also be up to this task...

At last, it seems the patent claims even more devices could qualify as such remotes, due to the fact that input could include a touchscreen (the iPhone and iPod touch, as we just said), as well as some sort of clickwheel, and that leads us to the iPod classic and Nano.

These being said, I guess we should add one more item to the list of expected Apple events for the summer, don't you think?

Don't you think that seeing a list with all the countries where the 3G iPhone will be available, and the carriers chosen in every country, as well as the subscription plans available would be a great idea? Today it's announced here, tomorrow it's confirmed there, but nobody knows exactly when and how. Anyway, what we all know is going a bit beyond mere rumors, and today I have to give the good news for those in Mexico!


The story goes like this - according to a statement from America Movil, currently the largest mobile corporation in Latin America, the iPhone will arrive in Mexico and other countries in the region "later this year." America Movil is a Fortune 500 company with over 152 million wireless subscribers in 16 countries, mainly located throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Unfortunately, America Movil's announcement made Wednesday didn't say anything about iPhone's time of arrival in the area, subscription plans, or if the mobile will also be available unlocked.

These being said, the mystery is still present, but my guess is that, by mid-July, all countries where similar announcements have been made so far, should have the 3G iPhone available. Mark my words, and we'll see 2 months from now if I was right or not!

In the last months, Apple had to face a dark side of its success - cloning. I am not talking about the iPhone, because most successful mobile phones get cloned in record time. Until Apple moved to Intel Core processors, it was extremely hard to clone a Mac computer, but now it's pretty easy to setup a desktop computer using hardware components that you can buy virtually everywhere and make it run Mac OS X Leopard, and that's exactly what has been happening pretty often in the last months...


Before the last incident, a notorious Mac cloning case was that of the US-based company called Psystar, which announced last month its own Mac clone, a desktop computer that comes with Mac OS X Leopard preloaded, and has a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo microprocessor, 2GB of DDR2 667 RAM, an integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics card, 20x DVD+/-R drive, 4 USB ports, and a 250GB 7200RPM drive.

While Psystar Corporation's clone mentioned above is supposed to cost $400, a certain eBay seller, chris555, was offering two similar systems for $549.99, as AppleInsider reported yesterday. The funny part of the entire story is that someone has done something to its entry on eBay, because now all you can see is the "This listing (160236944431) has been removed or is no longer available. Please make sure you entered the right item number. If the listing was removed by eBay, consider it canceled.[..]" message!

It's interesting to see that Apple is suspiciously silent regarding this matter, and the best part for third parties trying to sell such computers is that a 1984 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision held that a software publisher can't require consumers to run an operating system on a specific type of hardware, but...

In the end, I guess everyone could buy Mac OS X Leopard and setup a computer to run it. As long as you're not going to sell it on eBay, the only problem should be the fact that you won't get any customer support from Apple... or am I wrong?

Until the 3G iPhone arrives, there's plenty to do with your "old" iPhone(if you have one, of course), and one of the things you'll find yourself engaged into is updating software and getting information related to your beloved gadget (or "upcoming beloved gadget"). In the following minutes, I'll tell you about no less than 3 iPhone related news - a new iPhone version of a site, an antivirus that has become available to run on this mobile and, finally, a streamlined interface for a notorious web applications suite...


Our first stop, pictured above, is Associated Press' new version of the iPhone portal which contains AP news, as well as material from over 100 media outlets, covering a wide range of topics. The names from the list include notorious publications, such as the San Francisco Chronicle or the Miami Herald.

While the site is also available on other mobile phones with Web browsing capabilities, the iPhone edition is optimized for its display ratio, also featuring distinct navigation buttons. Just go to apnews.com and see for yourselves!

Next, it seems that, according to various reports, a new Beta version of the McAfee virus scanner for the iPhone and iPod touch has become available, under the iVirusScan banner. While McAfee confirmed this to be a genuine project, it seems that iVirusScan is not yet ready for everyone.

"We happen to be first to test AV technology for iPhone. We’re happy that iPhone users are already getting excited about it, as evidenced by your blog and the thousands of people who are trying out the application. Still, we are not ready to announce a new product, our development work is in the early stages," wrote Joris Evers, a McAfee spokesperson.

Anyway, if you feel like trying Beta software on your iPhone, you can give iVirusScan a try, but don't come here and cry something bad happened! Just be sure to backup your data, and no matter what may happen, it should be fine, all right?

At last, you should know that Google Apps got a new generalized iPhone interface, which can be visited at "http://www.google.com/m/a/your-domain.com," where "your-domain.com" should be replaced with your actual account domain. That's it, go there and enjoy it!

Do you have an iPhone? If not, do you want one? I am sure most people would give me an affirmative answer to that one, so let's move one step further. Even those having an iPhone will probably be interested in moving on and grabbing a 3G iPhone, and since you can have one for free, if you're talented enough, why not?


Well, here's the deal - all you have to do is design the next iPhone! Sounds really simple, but I assure you it's not. Anyway, if you're into the field, I am sure you'd be delighted to put your creativity to the test - if you also have enough time to spare, and you agree with the official rules of the contest, which I will quote a bit later.

Did I say "contest"? I sure did, so here you have the details...

The Design The Next iPhone, Win The Next iPhone Contest has just been announced by iLounge, formerly known as iPodlounge. Founded back in 2001, when the first iPods were just hitting the shelves, iLounge grew to become the leading source of iPod news, reviews, and tutorials.

Back to our contest...the most important rules are these:

- The Design the Next iPhone Contest ends on May 25, 2008 at 11:59PM Pacific Time.

- You must submit your name, a valid e-mail address, plus city, state, and country with each entry. No exceptions.

- No purchase is necessary to enter.

- Entries will be judged by iLounge. Do not enter if you can’t stand losing, and don’t disparage the winners.

- Winners will be announced in the Free iPod + iPhone Book 4 on June 1, 2008.

- You may submit as many entries as you want.

- This contest is open to U.S. and international residents.

- Must be 18 years or older to enter.

- By submitting, you agree that all art, photographs, and private information you submit are entirely yours at the time of submission, become the property of iLounge upon submission, and that you have not submitted and will not submit such images to any other contest.

- All taxes are the sole responsibility of the winners.

This is it, and I guess you already have figured out the main prizes...but here you go - there will be 6 prizes, and while the last 3 of them will only receive a $100 iTunes gift card, if you manage to reach one of the first 3 positions, you will receive a 3G iPhone, as soon as it becomes available.

Good luck to all those that are going to enter this contest!