It’s that time again where TiPb selects some of the hottest topics on the forums and spotlights them right here. In order for you to reply to any of the following threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a painless process that will only take a few minutes of your time, so if you haven't already, head on over and register now.

First thread for today revolves around iPhone hardware and how well it’s held up for you. So how is your iPhone hardware? Did you get a device that is pretty much perfect or are you one of the unlucky people who got a lemon? So far the majority of forum members are very happy with their defect-free iPhones. Cast your vote now!

Next up we have forum member, rrrl17, posing an interesting question - what do you think about Apple adding a extra button on iPhone? My personal opinion is if it is not broke, don’t fix it. What are you thoughts on this one?

So you say the ringtones that comes preloaded on iPhone just don’t cut it for you. Well if you are in need of a certain ringtone and can’t seem to find it - check out the following thread started by Live Free, Ringtone Requests. This is the perfect place to get that hard to find ringtone that you’ve been searching for.

Today’s final thread is very straight forward - what is your favorite Twitter application? You have a ton of them to choose from. Anything from Tweetie, Twitterriffic, Twitbit, Tweetdeck, etc… the list goes on and on. What’s your favorite?

See you on the forums!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

From the Forums: iPhone Hardware, Extra Button, Ringtone Requests, Twitter Apps

• Our podcast feed
• Download Directly
• Subscribe via iTunes

Join Dieter and Rene for Apple’s Q3 iPhone results, and Chris, James, and Rene for App Store redux, more third gen iPod touch, and iTablet rumors. Listen in!

Sponsored by the iPhone blog Store

Thanks to the TiPb iPhone accessory store for sponsoring the podcast. Check out the Jabra BT2080 Bluetooth Headset for iPhone, now in stock!

News

• Apple Q3 2009 Conference Call - 5.2 Million iPhones Sold
• iPhone and iPod touch: Now with 45 Million Unit Install Base
• Apple: We Knew Traditional iPod Sales Would Decline, That's Why We Developed iPhone
• Dear Apple: How About that Premium App Store?
• iPhone — 20% Profit Share of Mobile Industry?
• AIM Push Problems - Hacktivated iPhones to Blame?
• Third Generation iPod touch to get Camera… and Microphone?
• No Promo Codes for Apps Rated 17+ — Including Browsers?!
• Developer: Serious Doubts About App Store, Does Apple Care?
• Rumor: Subsidized Apple iTablet Coming to Verizon this Year?
• UPDATED: Amazon Remote Wipes Kindle Copies of 1984, Animal Farm — Redefines Irony
• Microsoft Store to Compete With Apple Store — By Not Selling Anything

Forums

Help and How-To

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Presents iPhone Live! #20 — 5.2 Million Sold!

Apple’s exclusive US iPhone carrier, AT&T has announced their Q2 2009 financials, and when it comes to the iPhone, more is… well, more.

• 2.4 million iPhones activated during the quarter
• (Apple sold 5.2 million, so that obviously doesn’t include international or as-yet unactivated iPhones).
• 1.4 million new customers.
• 3.4 billion (with a b!) in data revenue.

The downside? AT&T had to swallow those iPhone subsidies up front, leading in part to a 15% fall year over year:

“Increased operating expenses in the second quarter of 2009, in part, reflect volume-based acquisition costs associated with the success of the iPhone 3GS launch, which started June 19. AT&T's iPhone customer characteristics are attractive, with (average revenue per user) significantly higher than and churn rates well below the company's postpaid averages; as a result, robust iPhone demand drives strong recurring revenues and substantial long-term value. AT&T iPhone subscribers, both new customers and upgrades, take two-year contracts with data packages. As a result, robust iPhone demand drives strong recurring revenues and substantial long-term value.”

Translation: It cost them a few hundred bucks per user now, but those users are giving them back a hundred bucks a month for the next 24 months. Do. The. Math.

The big picture remains, however, that AT&T needs the iPhone to keep customers, get new customers, and earn big money off those high value customers.

[via Apple Insider]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T Q2 Financials: Sold 2.4 Million iPhones… but Had to Pay for Them Upfront

UPDATE: Apple has released new versions of their pro apps, Final Cut Studio and Logic Studio. Not much for iPhone users, unless you count all the more/better iPhone-friendly movies, music, and other media that’ll get made with these tools… (Right Matt?)

"With 1.4 million users and 50 percent of the market,* Final Cut Pro is the number one professional video editing application," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "The new Final Cut Studio includes more than 100 new features and dramatically expands Apple's ProRes family of codecs so editors can work in the studio with the highest quality video or on location at low bandwidths."

ORIGINAL: The Apple Store is down. Chances are it isn’t anything too related to TiPb, since iTablets, third generation iPod touches, and the like usually necessitate their own special events filled with pomp and circumstance. But Apple being Apple, we never can tell.

Could be an internal system upgrade. Could be a minor memory or processor overhaul to some Mac. Could be a new color or storage bump to an iPod. Could be the fabled iUnicorn tears.

We’ll update soon as it comes back online. In the meantime, speculate away!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Update: Apple Store Back Up with New Final Cut Studio, Logic Studio

No doubt about it, issues with battery life remain a hot topic for iPhone 3.0 and iPhone 3GS users.

Now, if your battery drain is caused simply by use — you never put the iPhone (or iPod touch) down and are always playing games, pushing IMs, watching movies, etc. your only choice is to get a few more charging cables or battery extenders. If, however, you’re doing roughly the same things you’ve always done and getting substantially less battery life for your troubles, there’s a chance a few troubleshooting steps might just help get your power problems back under control.

Reboot iPhone

If, all of a sudden, your iPhone starts burning through battery and getting hot at the same time, there could be a “rogue process” just churning away in the background. The answer to that is a good old-fashioned power cycle.

Hold down the sleep button until the red “Slide to power off” arrow appears. If your iPhone is frozen or otherwise in dire straights, you can hold down the home button at the same time as the sleep button to force quit all applications and bring up the red arrow. Then just swipe, let the iPhone turn off, wait a few seconds, and hold down the sleep button again to turn your iPhone back on.

Redo Push

Since iPhone 2.0 we’ve seen Push gone wrong really cause a hit to battery life. With 3.0, Push Notification means not only could mail, calendar, and contacts start misbehaving in the background, but your IM, Twitter, games, and all sorts of other apps can as well.

Apple says Push can cause a 20% drop in battery life, but if you think yours is worse then it should be, the next step is to redo anything that involves Push, including MobileMe and Exchange accounts, and apps using Push Notification. Now, you might want to try doing one at a time, check your battery life, and if you don’t notice any improvement, try the next one. If you find the culprit quickly, that approach could save you some time. If you just want to get it over with, you might want to do them all at once.

For the accounts, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, choose your MobileMe and/or Exchange accounts, scroll down to the bottom and hit delete. For apps, go to Settings > Notifications and look at the list of any apps using Push Notification. Go back to the Home Screen, hold down the home button until the icons start to jiggle, and delete the Push Notification app.

Then, for accounts, go back to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, hit Add Account…, choose Mobile Me and/or Exchange, and re-enter your settings. For Push Notification apps, either sync them back from iTunes or go to the App Store app and re-download them.

Restore as New iPhone

We won’t lie to you — this is the nuclear option. It’s scorched earth. But to be frank, we at TiPb almost always default to this step because it almost always “just works”. We do this every time we get a new firmware and every time we notice something just isn’t right, and we have excellent battery life to prove it.

To restore your iPhone as new and get a fresh, clean start, attach it to your Windows or Mac via the USB cable and launch iTunes. A Restore button should be front and center on the screen. Hit it, then wait as iTunes goes through the laborious process of wiping your iPhone and installing the firmware again from scratch.

IMPORTANT: When iTunes asks if you want to restore your data from backup or set up as a new iPhone, choose NEW iPHONE.

Yes, you will lose your settings and any data saved in apps that don’t provide some sort of sync functionality, but it’s possible (even likely) some corruption in those settings or data is contributing to your poor battery life, and with an appliance like the iPhone, this is the only way to get rid of it.

This will also kill your Jailbreak, if you’re jailbroken. But if something in your Jailbreak was killing your battery life, like backgrounder gone awry, trying out your iPhone without the Jailbreak is a good way to establish that.

Once your iPhone is set up as new, you can sync your info and media back over using the iTunes tabs as normal, and/or setup accounts and download apps on the iPhone itself.

Conclusion

iPhone 3.0 and iPhone 3GS should have roughly the same battery life for you as iPhone 2.2.1 and the iPhone 3G. If you’re getting something substantially less than that, there could be something wrong with your iPhone 3.0 install or your iPhone 3GS’ system.

Rebooting the iPhone, redoing Push-enabled applications, and restoring your iPhone as new are three escalating steps you can try to fix your battery problems.

Let us know how they work for you.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

How To: Troubleshoot iPhone 3.0 Battery Life Problems

Comics [$0.99 - iTunes link] serves as both an iPhone formatted comic book store and reader. (Think iTunes but for comics). comiXology was kind enough to give us a preview of the app, which will be officially announced tomorrow at the San Diego Comic Con, home of all things good and geeky in the ‘verse.

First, Comics costs $0.99 because it uses in-app purchases to allow you to buy paid content (more comics). Apple says “free apps stay free”, so anything using in-app purchase has to be a paid app. Hence, the minimal price. On to the app.

There are multiple ways to find comics, featured, free, top 25, and browse/search. Lots of information and a few preview images are provided for each, along with a link to buy print versions, which opens a WebView to Amazon.com with an option to move it into Safari.

A good amount of free comics available — I went immediately for Robert Kirkman’s excellent Invincible. You need to set up an account before you can download comics, but it’s fairly quick (it does ask your birthdate, presumably for age-based ratings reasons). Once you’ve set up your account, you can download away. It took me 25 seconds over Rogers 3G to get a comic. Not bad.

A tutorial walks you through the “guided” mode of comics reading, and then away you go. It took me a second to get used to the animated way in which Comics takes you through panels, but it works well. You can turn to landscape when wanted, or disable rotation if it bothers you.

Of course, there’s no Marvel (think Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man) or DC (Batman, Superman) titles to be found, and for that I blame the same kind of slow thinking that long plagued music and still plagues other media to some extent.

It does give the independents a little room to shine, however.

Note: The developers are currently reporting problems with in-app purchases and the iTunes servers behind them, but say they’re working with Apple to resolve them. In the mean time, the free comics are all working just fine.

If you’re a comics fan, and you give Comics a try, let us know how you like it!

Tons of screen caps after the break!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick App: Comics iPhone Comic Store and Reader