On Sunday we told you that Yahoo! sent in their update to Apple for the Messenger app to allow for 3G video calling — well today the update is live in the iTunes App Store.

Not only will you now be able to better communicate with others Yahoo! Messenger users on iPhones but you will be able to chat with anyone who has a front facing camera on their phones. Even bigger news than that is the ability to video chat between a phone and the computer version of Yahoo! Messenger. This brings a whole new potential to having the iPhone 4 as well as any smartphone with a front facing camera.

Will you be downloading the newest update to this app? Does the potential for phone to computer video chat excite you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

[iTunes link - 9 To 5 Mac]

by Brian Tufo

Yahoo! Messenger app with 3G video chat now live in App Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

With the new Apple TV (2010) — see our review — Apple has done away with syncing and pin codes and everything else that complicated the process and now simply requires everything to use Home Sharing. So how does that work?

The Home Sharing feature in the iTunes 10 Advanced menu lets you easily share your iTunes media libraries among up to five computers in your household and, along with the new Apple TV, spread around the locations where you can view the movies and TV shows they contain. Turn on Home Sharing on each computer, using the same Apple ID for each one. You can then easily copy library contents from one computer to another (just drag and drop in your iTunes source column) so each person can have what they want on the computer they use when they sync their iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. And everyone on the home network can immediately stream the contents from any of the libraries in the computers that are turned on in order to watch and listen. Also, you can extend this ability to your big screen via the new Apple TV. Just turn on Home Sharing in the Apple TV’s Settings menu and enter the same iTunes Account information you used for Home Sharing on the computers. You can then stream the contents of any of the available libraries when you want to watch on that screen.

I’m currently streaming from both a desktop and a laptop to my Apple TV and it’s working terrifically. Content is just there, I hit a button and it starts to stream immediately. Unlike the old Apple TV, where there was incredible lag or even the inability to elegantly fast forward, rewind, or skip through streaming content, this new iOS device handles it like a champ.

If you’ve tried it out yet, let us know what you think. If you need help getting started, check out our new Apple TV Forum.

[Apple iTunes News]

How to use iTunes Home Sharing with Apple TV is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Cut the Rope for iPhone is a simple, yet challenging strategy type game.  Your little frog Om Nom wants candy.  The candy is hanging from random ropes with all kinds of obstacles in the way.  Your job is to find a way to cut the strings in the right order to get the candy into Om Nom’s mouth.  You’ll also need to collect stars on the way down.  The more stars you collect and the quicker you complete a level, the more points and achievements you’ll earn.

[iTunes Link]

Cut the Rope will also tie into Game Center so you can track your achievements and share them with your friends. You also have the option to use Crystal if you choose to. The premise of the game is dead easy, but actually completing levels gets pretty challenging along the way. New enemies pop up, stars start to disappear if you aren’t getting to them quick enough, and then there’s the spiders, who steal your candy if you aren’t quick enough! As of now there are 4 worlds to play through – cardboard box, fabric box, foil box, and gift box.

In order to unlock different boxes, you’ll need to collect a certain amount of stars to gain access to that world. The developers also note after the 4th box that there are more levels coming. Some of the levels you can blaze through but collecting the stars makes it a bit more difficult. I’ve been trying to get all 3 stars within each level, which proves somewhat difficult after you get a good way into the 2nd box.

As you get further into the game, you’ll start to encounter new enemies out to steal Om Nom’s candy. You’ll also have more obstacles and more gestures to learn. Some levels will require cutting ropes simultaneously or in rapid succession to avoid breaking your candy or letting it fall. Overall, the difficulty level is decent and the length of the game is good for the price you’re paying. I haven’t played through all the levels yet, but I’m already eager to see the developer add more.

If you’re in the market for a good strategy type game that requires a little thinking, this may be a good option. It’ll keep you busy for a reasonable amount of time for the price. If you’ve already picked this up, let us know what you think in the comments!

Pros

• Game Center Integration

• Difficulty increases at good rate

• Easy to learn controls and gestures

Cons

• More levels would be nice

Cut the Rope for iPhone – 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

The App Hall of Fame is a brand new iPhone and iPad promotion started by Jeff Scott of 148apps.com that features a selection committee of writers from over 40 web-based and print publications (including our very own Rene Ritchie!).

Discovering the very best apps is an increasingly difficult task. There are so many new applications released that it becomes harder and harder to find the gems in the crowd — especially so once that special new app smell wears off. That's why we're here. The App Hall of Fame exists to archive the very best of the best in mobile apps. The apps inducted into the hall of fame are considered to be the very best in the app store, the cream of the crop, as it were.

Only 12 apps will be inducted into the hall of fame each month. For an application to have a shot at getting into the hall of fame they must be available in the App Store for a minimum of 6 months and thats it. The selection panel will be talking monthly to pick 12 of the greatest apps on the app store each month to honor them with the status of being in the app hall of fame.

For anyone who is a new iOS user or if you have been living under a rock ever since you got your iOS device this hall of fame will be sure to guide you to purchasing the absolute best apps out there today.

The October 2010 inductees are:

• Angry Birds from Rovio
• Flight Control from Firemint
• Doodle Jump from Lima Sky
• Shazam from Shazam Entertainment
• Evernote from Evernote
• Plants vs. Zombies from PopCap Games
• Pandora Radio from Pandora Media
• Simplenote from Codality
• Twitter from Twitter, Inc.
• Instapaper from Marco Arment
• Homerun Battle 3D from Com2uS
• Fieldrunners from Subatomic Studios

[App Hall of Fame]

by Brian Tufo

There’s an App Hall of Fame for that! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Microsoft has launched Windows Phone 7, a bold re-imagining of their mobile platform with innovative “Metro” UI and more manufacturer and carrier partners than you can shake a “customization” at.

Mal, Phil, and Dieter are knocking the coverage out of the park over at our brand-new sibling site, WPCentral, so check out all the phones, all the features, and all the fun and then come on back here and let us know what you think. Is this the next Android-level competitor for the iPhone, or like Zune HD, will it be wonderful technology simply too late to market?

For my part, I still say they should have called it XPhone and debuted an exclusive Halo Edition to put on the shelf across from iPhone 4 at launch…

[WPCentral]

Microsoft launches Windows Phone 7 [the competition] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Apple might create a dual mode CDMA/GSM iPhone 5 based on Qualcomm chipset in 2011 and push LTE 4G support into 2012 and iPhone 6 according to TechCrunch contributor Steve Cheney:

First things first — the iPhone CDMA model due in January won't support LTE. But here's where it gets really interesting: sources tell me that the iPhone refresh in mid-2011 won't support LTE either. Instead, Apple will produce a dual mode iPhone containing 3G flavors of GSM and CDMA, which operates on all carriers worldwide. If this holds true, Apple won't support the LTE standard until some time in 2012.

TiPb, thanks to the Cell Phone Junky, Mickey Papillon, first hinted at Qualcomm supplying CDMA/GSM chipsets to Apple way back at CES 2010. That Apple would stick with 3G HSPA/EVDO through 2011 isn’t a huge surprise since the original iPhone eschewed 3G and remained EDGE only.

One iPhone across every carrier on the planet maintains their huge economies of scale, their iconic, singular iPhone brand, gives LTE time to shake out, and — of course — gives Apple something to offer as an upgrade in 2012.

So are you happy it looks like you’re getting your Verizon iPhone, angry you aren’t getting your super-fast LTE 4G iPhone, or both?

[TechCrunch]

iPhone 5 to use dual CDMA/GSM Qualcomm chip, no LTE 4G until 2012? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

iPads seem to be cropping up in a few Walmart stores a little ahead of schedule. Target and Amazon recently started carrying iPads and it wasn’t long before we started hearing Walmart iPad rumors. It became official when Walmart announced an iPad event. With all these new retailers carrying new iDevices, it seems Apple is ramping themselves up to take advantage of holiday sales. I live in an area where the closest Apple store is over an hour away, so being able to stop into one of our local stores is always a welcome option. Now that we have not only Apple – but Best Buy, Target, Amazon, and Walmart selling iPads, they should be a lot more accessible to many more people.

Walmart employees seem to have gotten overly excited and placed a few iPads on shelves ahead of the official launch. The pic above was sent to TUAW from one of their readers. Anyone else seeing iPads crop up at their local Walmart a little ahead of schedule? If you see some, send your pics our way!

[via TUAW]

iPads starting to crop up in Walmart stores a little early is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

The TiPb forums are naturally a great place to talk, commiserate, celebrate, get help, and offer advice to your fellow iPhone users. 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 easy and free so if you haven't already, head on over and register now!

• If you were not grandfathered into unlimited data on AT&T you are stuck with their 2 GB plan and that may not be enough for a lot of you. That being said, how much data are you going through each month?

• Some iPhone 4 users are frustrated with dropped calls, proximity sensor issues, etc… If you are one of the effected users how close are you to moving to another platform or are you toughing it out and sticking with your iPhone?

• Apple TV has been out now for a few weeks now, what do you think of your purchase so far?

• If you want to discuss the latest jailbreak tool, this is the place to do it - Limera1n jailbreak.

See you in the forums!

Data usage, iPhone 4 frustration, Apple TV, Limera1n jailbreak – 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

Just because Apple has stopped giving away free iPhone cases doesn’t mean TiPb will!

And this time it could be any case of your choice! Just go to the TiPb iPhone store, pick out your favourite case, copy the link to the case, and paste it in our special contest thread on the iPhone Accessory Forum, and tell us why you picked that particular case (or cases if you’re bold!).

Yes it is that simple!

We will choose some of you at random and give you the case of your dreams!

So enter now!

Pick your favorite TiPb Store iPhone Case [Give-away] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Gridlock is an iPhone Jailbreak hack that will allow you to setup app icons on your home screen in a manner that doesn’t interfere with your wallpaper or just let you create an awesome pattern — the choice is yours. It is easy to use, all you have to do is hold down on an icon to make your apps jiggle like you always do and then move them around anywhere you want.

That’s it, no app, no settings, just click and drag your icons anywhere! Best of all it’s just $0.99 in Cydia, thanks Chronic Dev-Team member chpwn!

by Brian

Gridlock for iPhone allows custom icon positioning [Jailbreak] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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