Is Apple making a smaller, CDMA-compatible “world phone” for Verizon, and readying it for Q3, 2010? Maybe. And TiPb’s sure this “report” coming out on Droid Day is purely coincidental, given Google and Verizon’s moment in the sun. AppleInsider, however, claims a new report, with the prerequisite “sources in Taiwan” (SiT) say it’s so:

Qualcomm’s new hybrid CDMA/WCDMA chip offers the potential for a single, global iPhone that users can take to any major carrier, solving the network fractionalization problem. It also solves other issues that had served as roadblocks, including the issue of user confusion that would result from Apple selling separate CDMA and GSM/UMTS versions of the iPhone.

And that it will have a smaller 2.8 inch screen to go with it. (We make fun in the concept picture above, because we had such lingering hopes for a 480p iPhone HD…) With the Android Droid, Windows Mobile HD2, and even the BlackBerry Storm2 going for bigger screens and pixels, however, we’re hoping Apple doesn’t trend completely the other way…

Since it’s only a rumor, however, and a suspiciously timed one at that, we recommend you take it with a full iPhone-sized grain of salt… but let us know what you think!

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

Apple Making Smaller, CDMA-Compatible “World Phone” for Verizon, Launching Q3 2010?

Android Central has posted up their iPhone 3GS vs. (Motorola) Droid vs. (HTC) Droid Eris, and — spoiler alert!!! — the iPhone 3GS is still king of the browser hill:

Bad news for Droid lovers: the iPhone 3GS beat the heck out of the Droid in the above test. Other tests taken after the video weren’t quite as dramatic as what you’re seeing here, but facts is facts: the iPhone 3GS does load and render pages faster than the Droid.

(It’ll also load pages over 3G while you’re talking on the phone, whereas he CDMA Droids’ effective render speed under those conditions is zero. Multitask that!)

And yes, we’ll boast while we can, because we’re sure as the weekend progresses, the Droids’ will beat the pants off TiPb’s flagship device in other areas…

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

iPhone 3GS vs. Droid vs. Droid Eris — Browser Battles!

Speaking of tiny, incremental improvements, Erica Sadun over at TUAW highlight a new addition some developers are seeing when entering iTunes Connect — a submission history:

Appearing near recently reviewed items, this option opens a detail table showing how your application has worked its way through the App Store review process, and on to the shelf. Stormont details this update on his site.

Sadun also states that the amber status bubbles are slightly more verbose now, adding “waiting for review” for the freshest uploads.

If you’re a developer and you’re seeing these, or any other changes in iTunes Connect, let us know, and let us know what you think about them, and what else you’d like to see.

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

iTunes Connect Adds “Submission History” for Developers

It still baffles us how iTunes LP and iTunes Extras content — which was introduced in the seemingly Apple TV-ideal 720p format — wasn’t compatible with the new Apple TV 3.0 software to begin with. But it wasn’t… until now:

With the latest versions of iTunes (9.0.2) and Apple TV software (3.0), you can now use iTunes Extras on your Apple TV. We have updated iTunes Extras that were included with the movie Wall-E so that they can now be viewed on Apple TV in addition to your Mac or PC. It is available for you to download now, free of charge.

So begins an email Apple sent out to iTunes LP and iTunes Extras purchasers today, which follows up with download and update instructions. (And even a knowledge base article — Updating iTunes Extras and iTunes LP content for your Apple TV).

Still, we’re left to wonder — where’s the love for iPhone users, Apple? Could it be you’re prepping a new interface for them for iPhone 3.2? We’ll wait — if it’s worth it!

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

iTunes LP and iTunes Extras Now Apple TV 3.0 Ready — Still No Love for iPhone

Umpteenth verse, same as the first — Macworld turned their iPhone ebook into and app and submitted it to the iTunes App Store. It was rejected. Several times. Finally editor Jason Snell expressed his frustration on Twitter and several high profile blogs picked it up. Apple called him immediately to try and make it right.

Good for Macworld. Bad for all the developers who lack the same megaphone by virtue of their job and connections.

Granted, with 100,000+ apps, the non-sensical and erroneous rejections remain a tiny percentage, but even a tiny percentage of 100,000+ represents many developers’ time, effort, and money. It’s frustrating for them and embarrassing for Apple.

Tim Cook and Phil Schiller claim they’re making improvements, and no doubt they are. From a pure perception point of view, however, this is one issue that needs fixing sooner rather than later.

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

How Macworld Got Their iPhone App Approved or How Having a Big Voice Helps

According to AppleInsider, Near Field Communications reports that Apple has built iPhone prototypes equipped with RFID (Radio-Frequency IDentification).

For those unfamiliar, RFID is either super-convenient, terrifyingly insecure, or both. In a nutshell, it broadcasts a signal that can be read from a short distance to process financial transactions (an easy-pay card), determine identity (some nations’ passports), and more futuristic concepts where devices can auto-discover and connect with each other based on their tags.

The convenient part is you could swipe your iPhone to pay for goods or services rather than carrying around cards. Your iPhone could also keep track of tagged item like keys so you can find them between your sofa cushions.

The terrifying part is when hackers and other bad guys read your financial information from a distance, or “see” what country you’re from when trying to determine targets in less friendly parts of the world. Or, just use them to track you instead of your keys.

The future is not for the timid, however, so let us know — do you want?

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

Apple Building iPhone Prototypes with RFID?

We’ll save you the preamble this time; suffice it to say iPhone+Twitter = peanutbutter cuppy goodness. And now Twitter is rolling out new features to either make it dark chocolatey super good, or just to give us a sugar headache, we’re not sure which (though we’re fairly sure we’ve strained the confectionary metaphor well beyond the point of painful, so moving on…)

Twitter Lists aims to help with discovery — to let more users find more interesting people to read and follow. Basically, if you follow hundreds, thousands, or more, it was nigh-impossible to keep up with a few specific ones, or to organize them in any way (sort of like iPhone apps on the home screen, don’t get us started!). With lists, you can create groups/categories and add the people you’re following to those lists. Family, friends, co-workers, fellow gadget enthusiasts or movie geeks, pretty much any system you can think of. Then, to see what that list is up to, you just go to the handy list view and voila, all their tweets, nice and separate. You can also follow other people’s lists if you find a group you really like.

We’ve set up a few already:

• TiPb Staff, for all our editors, writers, reviewers, and moderators.
• SPE Network, for TiPb sibling sites and their Android, BlackBerry, Nokia, Palm, and Windows Mobile coverage.
• SPE Site Editors, for behind-the-scenese commentary and random thoughts from those who manage the above-mentioned sites.
• SPE Everybody, for the master-list of everyone involved with Smartphone Experts.

We’ll be adding more if/when they make sense, so if you have requests, send them our way!

New-style retweets is more controversial and potentially confusing. As Twitter rolls these out, when someone you follow retweets something, you no longer see them and their retweet, but the original tweeter, (even if you don’t follow them), along with a note saying which of the people you followed retweeted it. Again, it’s supposed to help with discovery, but it’s already driven Justine Batement into curse-riddled outrage, and depending on how it’s implemented on the web and in clients, could jut be a bad of Twitter hurt. (Techcrunch posted the above screenshot of how Tweetie 2.1 will be handling them, pink corners and all).

If you’ve tried them, let us know what you think, either in the comments below, or on Twitter:

@theiphoneblog, @reneritchie (Rene), @backlon (Dieter), @iChadman (Chad), @JFSikora (Jeremy), @jamesus (James), @llofte (Leanna), @JHamilton24 (Josh), @justin_horn (Justin), @msproductions (Matt), @skeetobite (Chris).

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

Follow Friday: iPhone Twitter Lists and “New Style” Retweets Edition

A new, phantom menace emerges today in the iPhone world. Verizon’s massive network has opened their drop-bays, and the DROID invasion has begun. Android Central is providing Generally Grievous-level coverage, while SPE’s own Darth Tyranus, editor-in-chief Dieter Bohn deployed at 5 am to find… no line ups, but hopefully a lot of new gadgets to power his darkside.

Nokia Expert’s Matt Miller is concerned about Verizon’s pricing, as is PreCentral.net’s Keith Newman, at least compared to Sprint, though he seems happy enough with the device itself. Malatesta from WMExperts… is still nonplussed. CrackBerry Kevin of CrackBerry.com? He’s busy with the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Curve 8530 launches. (He loves his berries. A lot.) And TiPb, well you know where to find our coverage so far.

If you get a chance to try out a DROID or DROID Eris this weekend, let us know what you think!

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

The DROID Invasion Has Begun…!

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

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

TiPb Presents: iPhone Live! #74 — blacksn0w Day!