In recent iPhone news, hackers have released a web-based jailbreak solution that’s compatible with the iPhone 4.  Taking advantage of a security hole in Safari’s PDF reader, users are able to jailbreak their phone by visiting the appropriate website.  For those with a jailbroken phone, a carrier unlock solution has been released.  Dubbed “ultrasn0w”, the carrier unlock can be downloaded from the Cydia store.

The ability to unlock the carrier restriction on the iPhone 4 means that users can port the device to any network they choose.  Rival GSM based carriers, such as T-Mobile are able to provide service for the phone, and those who are already subscribers to that network can take advantage of their services on the iPhone 4.  Other reasons to unlock the carrier on the iPhone 4 also include the ability to avoid hefty roaming charges when traveling abroad.

In recent news, the Library of Congress has declared it legal to jailbreak your iPhone.  The jailbreak will void your warranty with Apple, however, which is the only drawback to the hack.  For some, who either don’t get AT&T service in their location or who prefer other providers, it’s worth the risk.  The unlock can be done on any phone, including 3G and 3GS running iOS 4+ that’s already jailbroken.

Search engine leader Google has been getting increased competition from Bing as of late, and Microsoft is making yet another move to gain more of the search engine market.  Up to 12.7 percent in June, according to comScore, Bing is making changes to it’s maps feature, including some user created features such as cab fare calculator, random location generator and a sales tax overlay.

The user additions were part of the “King of Bing” contest, the winners of which will be announced August 20.  In addition to the King of Bing contest, Microsoft has gone on to include users into the creation of Bing maps by including data from the OpenStreetMap  (OSM) community.  While users won’t be directly editing the maps in Bing’s database, OSM data is linked into the Windows Azure Content Delivery Network and the user-generated data can be selected as an overlay on Bing maps.

Microsoft is not only getting users involved, which always produces a positive reaction from web communities, but they’re also using the interaction as a chance to make their system more robust.  In the end, Microsoft hopes to be able to edge out the competition with Google maps with the number of features their system provides users.  While it’s a tough battle with Google, the search giant has lost a bit of it’s edge recently, and Bing has been slowly taking some of the market share on search.  It’s possible that in the next round of analysis, Bing could yet again gain and close the gap bit by bit.

In a recent briefing by Motorola, members of the press learned that the device speculated upon by Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha earlier in the summer is in fact in development.  The 10 inch tablet is set to feature Google’s Android OS as well as integration of Verizon’s FiOS TV service.  Motorola already develops set-top boxes that operate FiOS, so transitioning the service to a tablet shouldn’t be a problem.

Designed to compete directly with the Apple iPad, the unnamed tablet sports a unique set of features not found on Apple’s device.  In addition to being able to watch TV through Verizon’s service, the tablet will come equipped with Flash 10.x as well as native hot-spot support for sharing your internet connection.  Like the iPhone 4, the new tablet will have both forward and rear facing cameras for video conferencing, which the iPad lacks.

In all, it seems that Motorola may have a solid package to debut.  No information has been released about processor, memory or any other technical specs.  Also, no release date or pricing information has been released, but sources expect that it may be as early as this Christmas season.

With a flood of Android-based tablets coming to market this year, it’s clear that the next battle ground has been established for the big four: Microsoft, Apple, Google and RIM.  With more and more device manufacturers opting to build for Android, it will be interesting to see who will come out on top.

Amazon has recently announced the release of their newest line of Kindle e-book readers.  Available August 27, the newest version of these devices will be available in two flavors:  with or without 3G.  Both versions will include WiFi access and feature a number of upgrades to the existing design.

If you’ve been following the unfolding story in the e-book world, you’ll note that, among others, Amazon and Barnes & Noble have been in head to head competition for buyer’s e-book dollars.  Set off by looming threat of the iPad and it’s ability to read e-books, both Amazon and B&N have changed the price of their devices as well as released newer versions.

Barnes & Noble was the first to offer their e-book readers in two models.  Like the new Kindles, the Nook can now be had in either a WiFi only or a WiFi/3G combo device.  Each comes with a different price tag an allows users to choose the cheaper WiFi only device for just $139.  Subsequently, Amazon released a revised version of the Kindle DX, but seem to have taken their plan in another direction with the release of the update standard Kindle devices.

In addition to the choice of WiFi/3G or WiFi only, both of the new Kindles will feature larger hard drives, with 4Gb capacity instead of 2Gb, and longer battery life, lasting four weeks with 3G disabled rather than just two on current models.  Also, the screen has been improved with better contrast and page turns have been sped up by 20 percent.  The new models are lighter and smaller and come in a choice of either graphite or the traditional white.

For e-book lovers, it’s a good time.  For e-book companies, it’s war.

RIM announced at a press conference today their answer to competition from Apple and Android phones, the BlackBerry Torch 9800.  The phone is a slider, with a keyboard under the touch screen which slides out vertically, and will come with the latest version of the BlackBerry OS, version 6.  The Torch 9800 is going to have to make up for lost ground on two playing fields: the OS and the touch screen.

If you recall the BlackBerry Storm, you’ll remember that, while it was an exciting concept, the phone didn’t deliver what many hoped it would with it’s touch screen.  In addition to the less than stellar performance of that phone, the current version of the BlackBerry OS feels dated when compared to both iOS 4 and Google’s Android OS.  BlackBerry hopes to tackle both of these with this latest phone.

The Torch 9800 will be available on the AT&T network and can be had for $199 with a 2-year contract.  The BlackBerry Torch 9800 will be available to the public beginning on August 12, 2010.

As far as the smartphone world goes, BlackBerry is still king.  That, however, is a changing fact.  Compared to this time last year, RIM has lost about 14% of the market share they held at that time.  That’s a serious decline.  Most of that was given up to competitor Android, while the launch of the iPhone 4 will also undoubtedly eat in to sales of RIM phones.

This latest phone is a nod from BlackBerry to the rest of the competition, accepting the challenges that it’s facing and moving forward to prove they are by no means out of the picture.  While we definitely would never count them out, they certainly need to make some good moves to retain their position as king of the mountain.

A Japanese user recently tweeted the 20 billionth tweet on microblogging service Twitter.  The site, which was established in 2006, has grown in popularity at a surprising pace over the last year.  To put things into perspetive: 10 billion tweets too four years, 20 billion came seven months after that.

A record breaking 3,283 tweets per second were recorded during the Japan-Denmark game in this year’s World Cup tournament.  Also, about 300,000 users are signing up daily to become twitter members.  With so much growth, it’s not surprising that it’s taken such a short amount of time to double to the service’s messages.

There are a number of factors that are contributing to the growth.  One large factor is the growing popularity in Japan.  Currently about 12% of all tweets are made by Japanese users.  It’s much easier to say more in Japanese on Twitter, with the 140 character message limit, than it is in say, English.  This is attributed as one of the reasons for it’s growing popularity in the country.

Mobile use also accounts for a large percentage of the website’s expansion.  Twitter has become de facto for just about every smartphone in manufacture today.  The growth of the smartphone sector in the cellular industry is one of the largest growing trends in the industry today.  With more people getting their hands on these phones and more phones coming with the ability to Tweet, cellular users are contributing to a significant portion of Twitter’s growth.

There have been a lot of stirrings in the social networking world recently.  With the recent trouble Facebook has been having with security and privacy, Twitter is poised to become a much more popular alternative for social networkers.  While they’re already one of the most popular services online, expect Twitter to continue to grow for a long time to come.

It’s no surprise that a recent report from Neilsen uncovered that Social Networking is quickly becoming the primary place internet users are spending their time.  In a 48% increase over the last year, users are now spending an average of 13+ minutes daily on social networks.  While that may not seem like a lot, email is now in third place among things that people do online, where is was first just a few years ago.

Not only does the report show that people are spending more time on social networks, it also details how they’re accessing the content.  In the study, part of the findings were that the place where people are getting online is constantly shifting.  With the emergence and flourishing of smartphones in the U.S., mobile browsing is quickly becoming one of the most common places that people are likely to access online content.

Surprisingly, it’s not social networking that people are doing on their phones, it’s email.  So, while the large majority of internet users are now getting online to use social networking services like twitter and facebook, the traditional services such as email and search are actually seeing an increase in use on mobile devices.  Just to illustrate how time is divided between the two platforms, social networking on traditional PC’s and laptops takes up about 13 minutes of users everyday online activity, while it takes only six minutes of their average time on their mobile device.  Email on a traditional PC takes up 5 minutes and on mobiles devices is 25 mintes.  Finally, search, which constitutes just 2 minutes of desktop user’s internet time is double on mobile platforms to 4 minutes.

The data shown tells us a lot about internet usage, technology and what people are looking for in their online experience.  Email seems to be flourishing on mobile platforms because it’s very lightweight from a bandwith point of view.  Social networks, with rich multimedia content and larger files to download doesn’t compete as well as email on a mobile platform where load times can stretch into minutes.  Also, search is seeing more usage on mobile platforms because it’s so convenient to be able to search for information about your surroundings on the device.  At home, while there’s definite need for search, it’s not as dynamic an experience and it doesn’t present itself as being as important in a static environment as in one that’s constantly changing.

Constant rapid change and evolution has always been a hallmark of the internet.  As technology continues to advance, as it will for years to come, it’s expected that this picture will continue to change and there’s no way to tell if and when we’ll see a leveling off of these statistics.

Apple had recently posted a number of videos depicting smartphone models from various manufacturers exhibiting similar user-generated grip reception issues.  In what’s been all out war between Apple and Motorola, Apple most recently added a video featuring the Droid X and demonstrating how the signal could be compromised by holding the phone by the bottom in a similar fashion as the iPhone 4.  Apple also added videos of models by RIM, Nokia, HTC, Samsung and their own iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.

Today, those videos have been pulled from their website.  While you can still find them on Apple’s YouTube Channel, the company has removed all videos from the antenna page except one containing footage from inside their reception testing lab.  In total, Apple claims to have spent over $100 million on facilities for testing antenna performance and reception and it seems that, at least on their main site, this is what they would like visitors to see.

While Apple has not made any official statements about the change of material on their site, it’s not out of the question to assume that they may have taken too much heat in the debacle in which they attacked not only Motorola, but RIM, Samsung, HTC and Nokia.  The manufacturers of these phones have issued more than one reply to Apple stating that their claims are false and Motorola themselves have published multiple advertisements taking direct shots at Apple and the associated reception problems with the iPhone 4.

Many analysts have commented that Apple has handled the situation childishly.  This latest change on Apple’s website may be a sign of a change in their attitude toward the whole situation, but that remains to be seen.

The ever popular Sims series of PC games is making it’s way to consoles in the third installment, The Sims 3.  Available in October for PS3, XBox and Wii, The Sims 3 is touted to have all the same features as the PC version with improved controls for console play and a few extra goodies that you won’t find on the PC version.  This will be the first time that the Sims series has appeared on a console and it will be interesting to see if makers Electronic Arts can pull off the transition.

Among other things, the console versions of The Sims 3 will feature “karma powers” as well as a rewards system.  With karma powers, you’re able to alter the outcome of situations by using your karma to get what your character needs.  Among the powers are the ability to cause other characters to have gas and to allow your character to have the “Best Day Ever”.  It may seem strange, but it’s a very innovative way to extend the game play and offer new features to seasoned Sims veterans.

On the PS3 and XBox versions, you’ll be able to trade items over the internet with other players.  On the Wii version, while there isn’t the ability to exchange items, it does get it’s own unique features in the form of unique careers, windsurfing, swimming, unique towns and a 4-person mini game.

EA was most definitely looking for a way to attract new players as well as veterans who have a “been there done that” attitude toward the Sims.  From the initial view we’ve gotten, it looks like they’ve done just that.  The Sims 3 will be available for purchase in time for the holidays, in stores on October 26.

It’s been confirmed on Sprint’s website that their Evo 4G smartphone will get Froyo next Tuesday, August 3.  Froyo is the latest upgrade for the Android OS.  The current Android release is version 2.1.  Froyo is version 2.2.  Excited users have been foaming at the mouth for Froyo, which includes features such as:

• Voice Dialing Over Bluetooth.
• Application Storage on External Memory, giving users more storage room for all their apps.
• Camera 4-way rotation allows the camera icons to rotate with the camera.
• Improved Browser Performance including a faster JavaScript engine and Flash 10x Support improving the user’s ability to view videos and available content associated with web pages.

Most notably, the flash support and the added ability to sore apps on external memory come as some of the most welcome additions with this new upgrade.  Being able to handle flash is one of the strongest selling points for Android phones.  Apple has had their device on the market for almost 3 years and has yet to implement any version of flash on their devices.  Being able to browse the full web on your smartphone is something that could draw customers away from Apple.

While this is announcement encompasses only the Sprint Evo 4G, expect that we should start seeing other providers with Android based phones rolling out the update very soon.  Sprint users will receive a message on their phones starting next Tuesday with instructions on how to upgrade their phones.  Not all users will receive the message on the first day, and all users are expected to have been notified by the middle of August.  For those who cannot wait for the notification, user initiated upgrades can be accessed by going to the System Menu > System Updates > HTC Software Update.