Yearning for some iPhone news? Don't worry, we got plenty! Fortunately, it's not only about those iPhone 3G problems a lot of people seem to be facing these days. In fact, we won't talk about problems now at all, since there's something even better to check out - new and interesting features that should arrive for iPhone 3G users, once the version 2.2 of the software is officially released!

Sooo... without any additional comments, here you have the iPhone news of the day - according to a bunch of new photos, the upcoming software version of the iPhone will bring Street Views to the Maps application, but this is only a large part of the entire pie, since there's much more expected from iPhone 2.2. What else?

Well, apart from Street Views, you will also be able to get bus, train and walking directions right from your phone.<-180x150 Small Rectangle - right-> That should be the end of "Excuse me, could you tell me where is..." - at least for iPhone users, of course. If this is a good thing or a bad thing, that depends on who you're asking this. After all, the more smart our gadgets become, the less frequently appears the need to ask for help from other people.

From here to becoming a world full of people walking on the street without saying a word to each other may not be such a short path, but I think that's where we're headed. Anyway, don't worry - there's going to be a "location sharing" feature, too, so you can easily bring all your contacts to your location, if they have the iPhone to guide them, of course!

These being said, I conclude the iPhone news of the day here, but be sure we'll get back to the Street View and the other goodies as soon as version 2.2 of the software will be officially available.

When thinking about cheap MP3 players, most serious gadget freaks I know take Apple out of question from the start. Unfortunately, their reason to do that is that the iPod Shuffle is more about design and less about sound quality and features, so others choices always come in first place, unless you want to have a cheap iPod, and nothing else. Anyway, it doesn't matter if you like it or not, since I am sure there will be a bunch of people to be attracted by the new colors available for Apple's cheap MP3 players, despite the fact this is the only update - the color...

To me, "new colors" is equal to "nothing," but Apple says "iPod shuffle is a badge of musical devotion. Now in new, more brilliant colors." How cool can that be? What I want to say once again is that some of Apple's products may not be that great, but their marketing department surely does the job right! Now, let's get to the real thing about Apple's cheap MP3 players, shall we?

Beyond those "more brilliant colors," the iPod Shuffle remains unchanged - the 1GB model costs $49, while the 2GB version is priced at $69. <-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->Unfortunately, to make room for the new blue, green, pink, and red colors, the orange Shuffle has been taken out. I don't know if sales of that iPod were really weak, but I must confess I would rather get an orange MP3 player, instead of a green or a pink one. What do you think?

Well, boys and girls, this is it - if you're really looking for cheap MP3 players, my advice would be to think well before buying something, because there are a few traps here, as you're going to see right away...

First, you may end up with a nice iPod Shuffle, but without decent features and storage capacity - and this one is not that cheap, either; second, you could grab some cheap no-name MP3 player that may die on you unexpectedly, sometimes when you simply try to update the firmware(I know what I say, I've been there - only that the MP3 player I have in mind when I say this was a gift).

Other than the two possible situations described above, there are plenty of decent choices you could make, with Creative and Sandisk being only the top of the iceberg...

To me, some gadgets are extremely nice to look at, but useless. I am not talking about the iSleep pillow or the smilies for your bike. Today, I got my eyes on a new iPhone clock docking station. Just look at the image below - isn't it just great? Only that I wonder how many docking stations don't have a clock function, and how many of the iPod Touch and iPhone still need a docking station; probably not too many, but let's leave these questions unanswered for now, especially since I don't have an accurate reply to them, and let's take a closer look at OZAKI's creation, shall we?

The iPhone clock docking station we're talking about is built as a portable wooden case with a mirror-coated casing, and the long(and rather boring) name of this gadget is IP858 iMini Timber 3G iPod/iPhone Speaker. The description given by OZAKI is extremely short, only saying that you can "Play the music and charge your iPhone/iPod touch from docking station Back-lighted LCD display for FM radio and alarm clock." Nothing unexpected there, so let's move on...

... withthe technical specifications of this iPod/iPhone clock docking station, as given by OZAKI:

- 2"x2 full-range speaker driver for peak power 4w~6w
- Just 590g weight(excluded the batteries)<-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->
- Carry it by 110mm Wide, 113mm High, 115mm Deep
- FM Frequency: 88MHz~108MHz
- Packing Szie: W205*H173*D140mm

While the IP858 version is built to work with the iPhone & iPod Touch, the IP835 is an "iPod exclusive," for the remaining iPods - after all, there's more to the iPod than just the Touch, right?

Now, one more thing before we part ways. In fact, there's more just one more thing, since I want to give you the list of functions available with the OZAKI IP858 iPhone clock docking station...

- Play the music and charge your iPhone/iPod touch from docking station
- Back-lighted LCD display for FM radio and alarm clock
- Support for iPhone and all iPod nano/touch with dock connector
- Dual Alarm: wake to iPhone, iPod nano/touch FM or buzzers
- Wooden made sound power and stylish mirror coating casing

That's it for today, folks! I am sure that, if you don't have a docking station yet, you will find OZAKI's creation a tempting offer, although pricing hasn't been announced yet...

Lately, I got myself into a lot of virtual fights regarding the issues had by Apple's iPhone. If you look at those over 200 comments of the iPhone 3G problems article, you'll surely notice that a lot of people have real problems, but here and there pops up some Apple fan saying it's all about the user. I don't have anything against Apple or the iPhone, but one of the latest comments got my attention, and I considered talking about it here. First, take a look at the movie below...

...and now let's see what can be said about it. This is no fake, for sure, so let's take this out of the question, shall we? Now, talking about what could be wrong with the iPhone not working properly... that's a good idea!

I won't get into a longer debate, so I'll only give you my five cents here - it is possible that Apple allowed iPhones with different components to hit the market, so some of the iPhone 3G handsets currently available are less capable then the others. <-125x125 Button - right->I don't know anything certain regarding this, of course, but if we look back at those days when Foxconn ramped up production to about 800,000 iPhones per week, there were some concerns regarding the accuracy of the quality assurance process(this production number was a bit beyond Foxconn's nominal capacity, if I recall it well), and strange things as what's happening in the movie here may be the result of accelerating iPhone production.

Other than the above, I am clueless. If you have any better idea, please enlighten me, but until Roy decides to take apart those two iPhones and check what's inside them, nothing can be sure. I guess he won't do that, anyway, since that would surely void the warranty, but what if, by doing this, he would discover that two iPhones, which are supposed to be the same, are different?

First of all, I have to warn you - this article involves talking about alcohol, so if you're below the legal drinking age, close the page now! Thank you very much! Now, let's get to one of the earthly pleasures I enjoy most - drinking beer. No, I am not an alcoholic, I simply enjoy the finest things in life - beer and heavy metal. And Apple(s), of course! Now, think about Apple, beer, and a lawsuit. Today we'll see how it is possible for these to come together...

Fortunately, this is not a lawsuit against Apple, but since it's about an iPhone app, I couldn't leave them out of this equation. The story goes like this - Coors has to face a $12.5 million lawsuit... for allegedly copying a $3 beer-drinking novelty application, and nothing more! So... what about this program? Well, the $3 app allows its users to drink a pint by tilting their iPhone. Unfortunately, it's only a virtual beer, but it's better than nothing, after all!<-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->

Hottrix, a small and funny company that develops beer and popcorn software tricks for the iPhone, amongst other "software gadgets," decided to file a lawsuit alleging that Coors commited copyright infringement by copying the iBeer app(interesting to see that Apple didn't blow up when seeing the "iBeer" name!). Both Hottrix's application and Coors' iPint display the image of a glass of beer on the iPhone's screen, which is emptied when a user tilts the handset about 90 degrees. Both apps arrived in the App Store on the 11th of July, only that iBeer was priced at $3, while iPint was free.

If you want to have a little bit of fun, you can go ahead and read the 12-page lawsuit. This is still far from being over, since Coors says they yet have to review the lawsuit, but be sure I'll get back to this matter. After all, it's about beer and the iPhone!