Win an iPhone 3G

To celebrate today’s WWDC and our Live Webcast in association with iEverything, we’re running a giveaway over at our sister site MYiTablet. iEverything have been generous enough to provide a $500 Apple Store Gift Certificate for you to buy your own iPhone, as well as a My iPhone Starter Kit(containing an iPhone case, headset, charger, sync cable / car charger and screen protector) worth $300. There’ll also be multiple accessory prizes from myIncipio.com

To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is register at MYiTablet (or SlashGear) and leave a comment in this forum thread telling us what exactly you like or dislike about the iPhone. Winners will be announced in one week, so make sure you get your entry in soon!

More details over at MYiTablet…

New iPhone is coming!!!!

This beautiful concept, inspired by the curves and tapering of the Macbook Air coupled with the touch's back, is even better than the cool Macbook-inspired iPhone 4G we featured at the beginning of the month.

The thing that excites me most about these concepts, however, is not the aesthetic aspect of it. It's the the front camera and the fact that people seem to be excited about getting videoconferencing on the iPhone. Specially about the idea of interacting with desktop videoconferencing software on both the PC and the Mac. This is a must for the videochat feature to be really useful, and personally I think it's one of the reasons it hasn't been done by Apple before.

My hope is that they are working to make it crossplatform, either with Apple releasing iChat for the PC at one point or, ideally, working on the connection with existing PC videoconferencing software like MSN and Skype.

Palm Pre reconnects with iTunes

Palm is delivering an update to the Pre smartphone, allowing it to once again connect to iTunes a week after it was shut out -- escalating its battle with rival Apple. The Pre, released in June, was seen by many as the chief competitor to the hugely popular iPhone. It was also the first non-Apple handset to connect directly to iTunes.

But a month later, Apple closed the loophole saying that the Pre had falsely pretended to be iPods.

Palm's new fix, an update to the Pre's WebOS software, is similar to its old workaround.

When the Pre connects to a computer through a USB cable, it sends out Apple's vendor ID code. Recognizing the Pre as an Apple product, iTunes then allows users to transfer music, photos and videos.

Palm claims Apple should not be allowed to set iTunes to respond only to devices with Apple's USB codes. But the USB Implementers Forum, an industry standards group, states that the vendor ID used by a product must match the ID code of the company producing the product.

Regardless of the rules, Apple does not seem likely to let Palm's the new solution stand.

"As we've said before, newer versions of Apple's iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with unsupported digital media players," said Tom Neumayr, an Apple spokesman.

The iTunes battle is part of a larger rivalry between the two companies. Palm's Chief Executive, Jon Rubinstein, was once was an executive at Apple -- overseeing the development of the iPod.

AT&T Cuts Price of Apple iPhone 3G to 49 $

AT&T said it has cut the price of the refurbished iPhone 3G -- specifically the black 8GB model -- to $49 while supplies last. The Dallas, Texas-based carrier said it also cut the price of a refurbished 16GB iPhone 3G to $99. Both 8GB and 16GB discounted models still requires a two year AT&T service plan. The refurbished iPhones have been previously owned -- returned within the 30-day trial period -- and are either unused or lightly used.

Each phone is tested and loaded with the latest software to meet current factory standards and carries a warranty of 90 days or more.

AT&T initially cut the price of refurbished iPhones to $99 last December.

The second-generation iPhone 3G was release in June 2008, and featured built-in GPS for tracking applications, improved audio, a flush headphone jack, an integrated camera, Wi-Fi connectivity and 3G Internet -- twice as fast as the original iPhone.

The refurbished iPhone 3G is available for $49 with a two-year AT&T contract while supplies last.

Report: RIM and Apple taking the lead in smartphone sales (Q2)

FierceWireless reports that Research firm IDC has released its list of top-selling smartphones in the U.S. during the second quarter. Research In Motion and Apple topped the list, accounting for the top six highest selling U.S. smartphone devices.

RIM's BlackBerry Curve, available in a variety of models and for all of the major U.S. networks, made the number one spot. The iPhone 3GS placed second even though it is only available in two models and with one carrier.

While Apple owned fourth place with its iPhone 3G model, RIM filled out the other top six spots with its Pearl, Bold, and Storm models. T-Mobile's G1, the HTC Touch Pro, and the HTC Touch Diamond placed at the bottom of the top ten list. Perhaps surprisingly, the highly anticipated Palm Pre fell behind top smartphone competitors in eighth place, according to IDC.