Multiple sources are claiming Apple is either going to replace Google as default search with Microsoft’s Bing in iPhone OS 4, or at least integrate Bing into the search picture.

Look, it’s just over a week until WWDC 2010 and the rumors are just going to get crazier, okay? Apple and Google have been on increasingly shaky ground as of late, with some silly comments by Google during their I/O event probably not helping matters. Whether or not this proves to be true, or any of the parties chooses to comment or dispel the rumor like Microsoft did the Visual Studio for iPhone/iPad/Mac rumor from a couple days ago, we’ll just have to wait and see.

And hey, Bing powers Yahoo! which is already a search option, so if that becomes Bing in name as well, and even if it’s default, it’s hard to see Apple eliminating Google as a user-assignable option anyway, so for diehard Googlers it will just be one annoying settings switch away.

Real, fake, really fake, let us know what you think!

[BusinessWeek, TechCrunch. Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Bing coming to iPhone search — more crazy Microsoft rumors! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Earlier today Apple began notifying some international iPad customer who had placed pre-orders that, due to flight delays their iPads may not be delivered on May 28 but instead on May 29. Following up with FedEx, TiPb was first told that a hold on delivery placed by Apple had caused the delay, and then that due to Apple’s desire to have iPads show up on May 28 and no earlier (except in Europe, right?), FedEx lacked the capacity to deliver them all on the 28th. Apparently a flights with iPads are still arriving at local airports and FedEx had an agreement in place with Apple to continue to deliver to residential addresses until 10 or 11pm tonight, and through the day tomorrow. Customers with business addresses not open late or on the weekend may not be so lucky, having to way until Monday to take delivery, or heading over to the FedEx facility to pick it up themselves.

Again, we don’t know the service level agreements in play here, but definitely not a situation Apple or FedEx wants to be in.

If you’re still waiting on your international iPad delivery, or if you’ve gotten any further info from FedEx, let us know in the comments!

More on international iPad delivery delays – maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Barnes & Noble has released BN eReader for iPad as an alternative to Apple’s iBooks and Amazon’s Kindle app. It is an excellent ebook reader and offers many customizations as well as the ability to share books with friends and family.

Reading on BN eReader is a pleasant experience. You can read either in landscape in portrait. In portrait, eReader displays the book as one page. However, in landscape, reading in a two column or one column format depends on what your font settings are (both style and size). If this is not a bug, it is very annoying. I’d much rather see a toggle to turn two columns on or off. You can enhance your reading experience by choosing between one of Barnes & Nobel’s five professionally designed themes, or create your own theme by editing the page, text, highlights, and links colors.

One of the big features BN eReader offers that iBooks does not, is the ability to add notes. Just highlight a block of text by dragging with your finger and select “add note”. After you’ve created the note, you can quickly get back to it at any time. In addition, you can highlight text and look up words in the dictionary.

The other huge feature of BN eReader is the ability to share books with friends and family. Barnes & Noble refers to the technology as LendMe. With supported books, you can access your iPad’s address book and select which contact you wish to share the book with. Upon accepting the offer, your friend will be able to enjoy the eBook for 14 days. If someone lends you a book, BN eReader will add the book to your library and display the message from your friend.

If you have BN eReader on your Mac, PC, iPhone, and Nook, the last page read will sync across all devices. All notes and highlights will also sync to your PC and iPhone (coming soon).

To purchase a book, BN eReader will launch the Barnes & Nobel eBookstore in Safari. After purchasing a book, you much exit safari and reopen BN eReader; you will see your book automatically add to your library and begin to download. The process is simple, but not completely painless. I’d much rather see BN eReader open an in-app browser because switching between apps isn’t very elegant.

Barnes and Noble did an excellent job with their eReader and offers many things that iBooks does not. Having the world’s largest bookstore in your hands is definitely a welcomed addition to the iPad.

Video and screenshots after the break!

Pros

• Excellent alternative to Apple iBooks
• Share books with friends and family with LendMe
• Add notes, highlights, and bookmarks
• Customized the look of your book
• Sync across multiple devices

Cons

• Barnes & Nobel bookstore launches Safari instead of an in-app browser
• Depending on font size and/or style, landscape may display as single to double column

YouTube link

BN eReader for iPad – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

• Our podcast feed
• Download Directly
• Subscribe via iTunes

Steve Jobs keynoting WWDC 2010, White iPhone HD faceplates, more on iChat video, iPhone vs. Android, $97 iPhone 3GS, how do you push, iPhone at work, SSH tutorial, AT&T locks and etf, Chirpy, Bix, Groupon, and LinkedIn. Listen in!

Credits

Thanks to the TiPb iPhone accessory 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

iPhone live! #101: You won’t be disappointed is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

If rumors are to be believed, the next Apple TV is going to adopt the iPhone OS, eschew local drives for cloud storage, and hit a $99 price point.

TiPb’s been wondering out loud about putting the iPhone OS on the Apple TV for a while now, so obviously we’re excited to hear that may be on the table. Sure, figuring out how to translate the current multitouch input methods of the iPad and iPhone to something that works on a 60″ from 10′ away but having Safari and apps and games on the platform will be more than worth the effort.

I typically stream to my current Apple TV and never use the hard drive on the machine, so the idea of streaming from iTunes.com or whatever cloud-solution Apple eventually rolls out is compelling. Obviously it will require some local storage to cache data for a smooth user experience, and users should be able to keep a copy of the things they buy if they so choose (sorry Hollywood).

$99 price? That starts to be mainstream… or would if it could replace DVR boxes and set top boxes. As it is, sitting on top of another box (or several) still makes it a tad complex for average users. Cable and satellite providers won’t be giving up control of their content or experience any time soon, however, so at least cheap mitigates that for now.

And no, it’s reportedly been in the pipeline for a while so it’s not a response to Google TV — though the sudden leak of information about it certainly might be…

UPDATE: Daring Fireball pegs the codename for this next generation Apple TV as K66.

Want one?

[Engadget, Daring Fireball]

Next Apple TV to adopt iPhone OS, cloud storage, $99 price is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apparently “flight delays” have caused some international iPad deliveries to slip from the previously promised May 28 to May 29… or later. While some in Europe received their iPads days early, others are waking up to this notice from Apple:

Your iPad is currently in transit, however, FedEx has informed us that, due to a flight delay, your package will not deliver on May 28th as planned. We are closely tracking your order and working with FedEx to deliver it as soon as possible. FedEx will make every effort to deliver your iPad on Saturday, May 29th.

The iPad 3G I’m waiting on said it departed Shenzhen, China on May 25 only to sit… in Shenzhen, China until May 27 which is certainly a delay of some kind. No idea what Service Level Agreements FedEx has in place with Apple for these deliveries, but it would be interesting to find out what could cause this kind of flounder.

First world problem to be sure, but not one Apple or FedEx likely wanted to deal with today.

Is your iPad delayed? When did you order and what’s your status?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

“Flight delays” causing international iPad deliveries to slip? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple’s iPad launched in 9 more countries today and while many of you snuck them out of the US early, many more are likely waiting in line at the Apple Store or in front of the window for the delivery truck. Once you’ve gotten your hands on Apple’s new tablet, once you’ve turned it on and played around with the browser and photos, you may be wondering what to do next Don’t worry, TiPb’s got your back:

• Get apps and games. Apple has unleashed almost 2000 of them already (seriously, we’ve stopped counting!). You can find them — all of them — on iTunes, either on your Windows or Mac, or right on the iPad App Store. Because of the US release, we had a head start and have covered a ton of iPad apps here already, and there’ll be plenty more to come so keep checking back.

• Get accessories. The TiPb Store has just started offering iPad accessories. If you want to protect that big, beautiful screen or wrap a case over that pristine aluminum shell, be sure to check them out! We’ve done a bunch of reviews for cases, keyboards, stylus, and all sorts of other accessories as well, so if you just want to see what’s available, check those out.

• Get talking. If you just want to talk about your new iPad and all those apps and accessories, or if you need help getting started (or to trouble-shoot bugs), or advice and recommendations, we have two new discussion groups just for you: iPad Device and Help Forum and iPad Apps and Games Forum.

I ordered an iPad 3G, but I can’t stay away from launch-day festivities so I’ll be at the Apple Store in Pointe-Claire, Quebec tomorrow (if anyone wants to say hi). Let us know where you’ll be and what you’re doing with your brand new iPad!

Just get an international iPad? Here’s what you need next! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

From the Forums is a great way to see all of the hot topics in our iPhone and iPad forums. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now!

• International iPad customers still waiting for your device to be delivered? Still waiting? If you’re standing in line, add a picture, if you’re waiting for a delivery, tell us when it arrives, if you just got !

• Since most of you have had your iPad for some time now or even if you’ve just gotten it – are you happy with iPad?

• What are your top 5 iPad applications?

For those of you who do not own a iPad, lets address two popular iPhone threads:

• Will you be purchasing the new iPhone when it is released this June?

• What color next-gen iPhone will you choose? Black or white?

See you in the forums!

Getting your international iPad today? Happy with iPad? Top iPad apps? Not interested in iPad? – From the Forums is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

We get a lot of questions about tweaking Jailbroken iPhones, so here are a few handy tools that are free and don’t require a lot of know-how in order to implement.  All you need is a bit of spare time to change your Jailbroken iPhone from stock to stunning!

Fontswap

First up is FontSwap, which allows you to change the system fonts on your iPhone. It can be found in Rock and Cydia for free.

On the main page of FontSwap you can choose to change fonts on different parts of your phone. There are certain times I have the Lock Clock font set different than the system wide fonts, and that’s okay too. Whatever suits you.

I always get a lot of requests for the font I use.  It’s call Simpsons font and it’s available for free in Cydia and Rock.  FontSwap will come with a few default fonts to choose from, but you can download lots more for free.  Just go into Cydia or Rock and search for fontswap.  You’ll get tons of new fonts you can browse and download.  Once you download them, they’ll automatically go into FontSwap for you to apply.

Chat Bubbles

Another tweak I enjoy using is changing chat bubble colors.  This can be done one of two ways.  You can either make your own chat theme or you can search Rock and Cydia for “sms bubbles” and “sms balloons” and apply them via Winterboard.  There aren’t a lot to choose from but making your own is pretty easy.  DeviantArt and forums like modmyi.com have a ton of users that post up chat bubbles and balloon templates you can use for your own personal use.

iBlank and BlankNull

Our last tweak for today is iBlank.  If you’re jailbroken and anything like me, you want to actually see your background.  I accomplish this with iBlank.  It basically produces blank icons for you that allow you to move them around like you would apps in order to see your backgrounds.

I also installed a free app from Cydia called “BlankNull” as well.  This way, your blank icons become unclickable.  Pretty neat, eh?  I frequently reorder icons in L shapes, just along the bottom, or on a side depending on what part of a picture I want to see.  iBlank makes it really easy.

Have any cool apps you use to tweak out your jailbroken iPhone? Let us know and maybe we’ll include those next time!

How to tweak your Jailbroken iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple is once again offering an educational promotion where qualified collegiate buyers can get their hands on a new iPod touch for free:

Whether it’s for a first year or a current university student, the faster, more powerful Mac is the ultimate computer for school. And now it includes something extra special. When university students buy a qualifying Mac, they’ll get a free 8GB iPod touch. And they’ll save even more with Apple education pricing. This offer is for a limited time and is available only at the Apple Online Store, Apple Retail Stores, and Apple Authorized Campus Stores.

Yeah, the 8GB which is basically a 2nd generation model. But hey, free is free. Anyone taking them up on it?

[Apple online store]

Apple education promo: buy a Mac get a free iPod touch is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog