Paul Thurrott of Windows Super Site is never one to let a good piece of anti-Apple link bait go by, but this time he’s turned his attention towards Google’s Android, and how Google “dumping” it on the market for free could be a greater anticompetitive act than Microsoft or Apple patent litigation.

Arguably, by “dumping” Android in the market at no cost, Google–which has unlimited cash and can afford to do such a thing–is behaving in an anticompetitive fashion. In fact, one could argue that Google is using its dominance in search advertising to unfairly gain entry into another market by giving that new product, Android, away for free. Does this remind you of any famous antitrust case?

From which, 10 years later, Microsoft is arguably still reeling. Thurrott’s point, and it’s worth noting, is that no one is innocent here.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball raises a similar point.

Google supporters claim that Google only wants to use patents defensively. But what exactly does Google need to defend against, if not actual patents Android actually violates? How is Google's argument here different than simply demanding that Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, et al should simply sit back and let Google do whatever it wants with Android, regardless of the patents they hold? And, let's not forget, give Android away for free.

Which Gruber boils down to hypocrisy, a theme increasingly present in Google coverage.

Which is not to say Google is doing anything different than any other public company seeing to it’s own self-interests (and I’ll repeat — any company sufficiently large is indistinguishable from evil). It’s just that Google feels so smug about it right now, which is ironic given smugness is usually a quality ascribed to Apple.

In Apple’s case, the smugness comes from their sense that they know better than us, that they have better taste, and that we’ll take what they tell us to take. In Google’s case, however, the smugness now seems to come from a feeling that they think we’re too dumb to see the hypocrisy. It’s as if they think they can shout “open” and “free” and not actually be open or free (or be open and free on the backs of manufacturers and developers), and everyone from FOSS faithful to Google fanatics will rally to support them, no questions asked. It’s as if they think they can shout “un-fair” and “anti-competitive” when faced with trademark and patent litigation from authors and rivals, while continuing to file their own trademarks and patents.

But user trust is a currency and a finite one. You can’t spend more than you earn. It’s not our job to blindly support companies; it’s their job to support us.

That’s a lesson Apple’s learned painfully with everything from MobileMe to Steve Jobs’ health to location-gate and antenna-gate. It will be interesting to see how Google learns it and addresses it.

[WinSuperSite, Daring Fireball]

Tap Tap Glee is now available in the App Store. It is basically a themed version of the hugely popular Tap Tap game which involves tapping on buttons in time with music. It is a lot of fun to play and for fans of Glee, this is a must have app.

It’s time to tap and shake to your favorite music from Glee! See EXCLUSIVE behind the scenes footage from Glee: The 3D Concert Movie!

• Over 50 tracks available including three FREE tracks: “Don’t Stop Believin’”, “My Cup” and “Hell To The No”
• Promo Track of the Day: Tap to a NEW promo track every day!
• Connect to Facebook and represent as a GLEEK or JOCK.
• Slushy your friends on their Facebook wall.
• Check out info on your favorite Glee characters in the Yearbook section.
• Try your hand at Glee Trivia for a chance to top the GleeK of the Week leaderboard.
• Additional tracks for purchase include “Bad Romance,” “Poker Face,” “Teenage Dream,” “Baby One More Time,” “Marry You,” “Just The Way You Are,” and “Baby!”

The game is designed for the iPhone and iPod touch but will also run on the iPad; in 2x mode as its not a native iPad app or universal binary. It is available free in the App Store right now. If your a Glee fan, go and get your Glee on! Screenshots after the break.

[iTunes link]

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

A MacRumors forum member going by the handle guigsh posted the above photo(shop?!) in their forums this morning, claiming it was a spy shot of iPhone 5 taken in the office of a French operator. While we’ve seen spy shots of HP webOS devices under similar circumstances in the past, this one doesn’t look much more believable than those [Chinese iClones we've been seeing lately].

A follow-up post from the thread author gives us the following information:

we were able to see it only 2 minutes, pictures forbidden of course, so, we did our best. I just want to share this with the mac community, now trust me or not. Rendez-vous in 1-2 months

No doubt we’ll see tons more leaks, and tons more fakes before Steve Jobs holds up the real deal this fall. In the meantime, this one is making the blog rounds so take it for what it’s worth — a very large grain of salt. I’m personally not convinced in the least.

Your turn. Real, fake, or really fake?

MacRumors Forums

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• Pop Ten: Interesting puzzle game that pop fruits in a cool background. [$0.99 for iPhone - iTunes link]

• Cranky Cat: Rotate Fluffington's steam-powered cogwheel to align orbs of comparable coloration. It's the cat's whiskers! [Free for iPhone and iPad - iTunes link]

• Sleep Tracker: Record, graph, and analyze your sleep patterns, helping you to know where you need improvement. [$0.99 for iPhone and iPad - iTunes link]

• Localmind: Allows you to ask questions of people checked-in at a location, thus giving you the ability to know what’s happening at this very moment at any place you care about. [Free for iPhone and iPad - iTunes link]

• VoiceMan – Real Time Voice Minute Manager with Geotag: Get automated usage alerts and stop exceeding your allowance minutes! The only weapon against mobile minute overage charges. [$3.99 for iPhone - iTunes link]

Any other big apps or game releases or updates today? If you pick any of these up, let us know what you think!

The widely popular iPhone and iPad puzzle game, Cut the Rope, now has a sequel: Cut the Rope: Experiments. Two of the new feature is a rope gun and suction cup.

What on earth is Om Nom?! That's what millions of fans of the widely acclaimed game, Cut the Rope, have been asking about the cute little monster who eats candy like its his job!

That same question has a mad (but not bad) scientist studying the little creature that mysteriously arrived outside his house. Intrigued by Om Nom's insatiable appetite for sweets, the Professor puts him through a series of experiments in this all-new game, a follow-up to one of the most original and fun-filled games on the App Store.

• 75 new experiments (levels) across 3 colorful new settings, with more to come!
• 3 level packs: Getting Started, Shooting the Candy, Sticky Steps
• New musical tracks, sounds and Om Nom animations
• Find hidden photo evidence to help the scientist with his experiments! Complete the professor's photo album and share with your friends on Facebook. Discover a special photo only available in the HD version!
• New animated storyline featuring the professor's intriguing commentary and reactions to Om Nom's behavior – What will he think of YOUR achievements?
• Game Center support for achievements and leaderboards – compare your progress to other rope cutters around the world!

Of all the different types of games out there, puzzle games are my favorite and Cut the Rope is one of my favorite puzzle games. Needless to say, I’m excited about Cut the Rope: Experiments!

Cut the Rope: Experiments is available on the iPhone for $0.99 and on the iPad for $1.99. Screenshots and video after the break.

[iPhone - iTunes link] [iPad - iTunes link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

We’re likely only a month or two away from Apple announcing iPhone 5 but RIM is already launching their 2011 BlackBerry lineup, including the first BlackBerry Bold with a touch screen, and not one but two BlackBerry Torches — an update to the original slider and new, Storm-replacing, touch screen only slab.

They’ve got higher resolution screens, NFC options, voice, search, GPU-enhanced Liquid Graphics fluidity, BBM 6, and BlackBerry OS 7. But are they enough to hold off the coming iPhone 5 onslaught?

Jump over to our sibling site, CrackBerry.com, for complete coverage and join us tomorrow for some round-table discussion, Mobile Nations-style!

[CrackBerry.com]

Sohu.com has a report up saying China Telecom, China’s third largest mobile carrier, will not only be fielding the iPhone this year, but two new iPhones. We’re fairly sure an iPhone 5 is coming this fall, and we’ve heard for a while now an iPhone nano/budget iPhone might be coming with it. (Two new iPhones in one year? I’ll have to call Phil and ask how to deal with that many reviews!)

"According to Sohu.com, China Telecom will offer two types of iPhone that include the iPhone 5 and a 'simplified iPhone 4,'" says White. "Essentially, this potential 'simplified iPhone 4′ would be a more economical version of iPhone to target a broader customer base in developing countries such as China, allowing for an expanded market opportunity."

Apple already owns 66% of mobile profits with one fairly high-end phone. If they get the second, more economical phone (on carriers with plans to keep those costs down), especially for new smartphone adopters and emerging markets, they could push that already astronomical figure even higher.

[Sohu via AllThingsD]

Facebook is the most popular app on the iPhone and we’ve often said Twitter and iOS go together like chocolate and peanut butter. But social networks rise and fall. Remember MySpace, Jaiku, Buzz… Friendster? And hey, how about Google+ now that it’s expanding beyond the techie early adopters, or LinkedIn which seems to always hover neither here nor there.

Which social networks do you use regularly? Let us know in the poll up top and give us the details, including which one(s) you prefer, how often you use them, — and your profile link(s) if you feel especially social about it — in the comments below.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is now finally available in the App Store. If you’re into role playing games, this is one of the most highly anticipated games of the year!

Released as the Final Fantasy series’ first tactical RPG in 1997, Final Fantasy Tactics on Playstation went on to sell over 2.4 million copies worldwide. The game grew in popularity upon its re-release in 2007 as Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions for the PSP with added features such as new movies, scenarios and Jobs.Now, in 2011 the game has finally arrived for the iPhone/iPod touch! You can enjoy the game whose story gave life to the world of Ivalice, and whose high strategy battles bring tactical games to a whole new level.

• The complex tactical game can be effortlessly and intuitively controlled by simply tapping units and menus. Gone is the old method of switching fixed map views – you can now rotate, move and change the size of maps as you please by sliding and pinching.
• Loading times have been improved to get you into the action quicker than ever. What’s more, you can even skip certain cut scenes.
• Graphics have been adapted for optimal performance on iPhone/iPod touch screens.
• Upcoming scheduled updates: Facility to fast-forward battle scenes and skip cut scenes.

The game is designed for the iPhone and iPod touch with support for iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 3rd generation and later devices. For the best experience, play on iPhone 4, iPod touch 4th generation or later devices. An iPad specific version will be released in the fall.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is available on the iPhone for $15.99. Screenshots after the break.

[iTunes link]

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

Google has updated its web app for Gmail with the inclusion of pull down to refresh, new transitions and updated icons to take advantage of the Retina display of the iPhone 4.

• You can now pull down to refresh your message list and conversation on all iOS devices. To refresh, simply touch the message list, drag downwards and release.
• For those of you using Gmail for mobile on an iPhone 4 Retina display, the icons and graphics are now at a higher resolution, making Gmail for mobile sharper.
• When you tap on a conversation, tap back to the inbox, go to the menu or go back, the view will slide left or right. This new transition animation is a quick, small indication that makes the view change feel smoother.

If you do use the Gmail web app for your mail, make sure to take a look at the new features. I personally never use the Web app and have all my mail pushed using Gmail and its Exchange Server functionality.

[The Official Gmail Blog]