ALK Technologies Ltd today announced the second update for its popular CoPilot Live iPhone GPS navigation app.

This latest update adds new features that further enhance the iPhone navigation experience, including in-app safety camera updates, improved GPS performance and the ability to use the iPhone’s native keyboard throughout the app.

Since launch, CoPilot Live has proved a popular choice for iPhone users becoming the best selling turn-by-turn navigation app and top-grossing app overall in many regions.

New in the latest update:

MacRumors (and various other blogs) now are reporting that AT&T is planning to support Skype, Google Voice, and other voice related software on their network, something they previously hinted they would never do.

A quote from the original article in the Washington Post:

“One source close to the thinking of AT&T executives said the company has been deliberating the decision for weeks and that top executives have said they were close to accepting voice over Internet services on all AT&T

phones, including the iPhone. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because a decision hadn’t been officially announced. Skype currently operates on the iPhone through WiFi access, but not on AT&T’s 3G mobile network.”

Apple had been reported to have rejected Google Voice from being in its App Store, which (as you may have read) caused a firestorm of “he said, she said” to occur in the iPhone universe. Nonetheless, smart move by AT&T to allow the services on their network.

AppleInsider is reporting a rather curious (and interesting) trend; exclusivity starting to end for the iPhone in various parts of the world. Now that includes Canada.

An excerpt from the report:

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Apple’s exclusive carrier contracts for the iPhone in each country continue to fall, as a new report has claimed that two new carriers in Canada will offer the handset.

Citing sources within both companies, The Globe and Mail reported that Bell Canada and Telus Corp. will begin selling the iPhone in November, bringing the previously exclusive contract held by Rogers Communications for more than a year to an end.

“The country’s two largest incumbent telecom companies, under pressure to re-ignite growth as new wireless competitors begin operations this year, are banking on Apple Inc.’s ground-breaking smart phone to help them sign up bigger-spending customers and shift the balance of

power in Canada’s mobile market,” the report said.

The inhibitor for Bell and Telus had previously been incompatibility with the iPhone on their 3G networks. However, both providers have reportedly caught up with Rogers and are prepared to offer Apple’s handset.

Neither carrier would officially confirm the deal, and Apple also refused to comment on the matter. However, the report cited people familiar with the matter who said an announcement was likely to come this week.

The news comes just weeks after both Vodafone and Orange announced they will carry the iPhone in the U.K. in the coming months. Until now, Apple’s smartphone has been exclusive to O2 in Great Britain.
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Personally, we believe choice is a good thing in the long run, and it appears that the bell is close to tolling for AT&T in the US given the recent actions of Apple.

Adobe on Monday announced joining up with many handset operating system makers, including RIM, Nokia and Microsoft among others, to bring Flash Player 10.1 to smartphones. You’ll notice the name you don’t see: Apple.

By early 2010, the newest mobile version of Flash should be available for many smartphone platforms. Not the iPhone.

Here’s more details from AppleInsider, who reports on the reasoning behind the absence:

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Adobe said that the new mobile version of Flash offers accelerated video and graphics capabilities while conserving battery life. The new player offers streaming video in HD and browser-based Web applications.

“With Flash Player moving to new mobile platforms, users will be able to experience virtually all Flash technology based Web content and applications wherever they are,” said David Wadhwani, general manager and

vice president, Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “We are excited about the broad collaboration of close to 50 industry leaders in the Open Screen Project and the ongoing collaboration with 19 out of the top 20 handset manufacturers worldwide. It will be great to see first devices ship with full Flash Player in the first half of next year.”

Of course, the elusive twentieth manufacturer missing from Adobe’s lineup is Apple.

Though the iPhone is not included among the handsets, past reports have suggested that Adobe hopes to bring it to the platform. If that were to happen, though, Flash would have to overcome its various shortcomings on mobile devices as perceived by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
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Here’s to hoping Apple gains its senses and grabs up Flash support, before devs once again revolt.

VoIP company Vonage has announced the launch of Vonage Mobile, offering very low-cost international calling for the iPhone and iPod touch (and BlackBerry too). And its free. Interesting move, indeed.

The iPhone app permits calls to be made via Wi-Fi or cellular connection, (the iPod touch is obviously limited to Wi-Fi calling).

A release excerpt from Vonage:

“With Vonage Mobile you can call around the world from home, a Wi-Fi hotspot, or while traveling around the country. Vonage Mobile is easy to use. There are no access numbers or new phone numbers to give to friends and family. Simply enter an international number or select a

contact from the existing contacts on your iPhone or Blackberry and hit send. Vonage does the rest.

This app will give customers exceptional per-minute rates to any country they want to dial. In the fourth quarter 2009, we will enhance the app to include the popular Vonage World plan that was introduced for home service in August. This enhancement extends the ability to make unlimited calls to over 60 countries for one flat monthly fee to mobile users, giving customers the choice to pick the plan that fits them best.”

We applaud this move, and it should put pressure on AT&T to change their rates too.

It’s hard to believe, but the App Store has recorded over 2 billion downloads as of today. It’s amazing to think about…

The release claims 50 million+ iPhone users, and 85,000+ apps are currently available on the platform, which is pretty mind-boggling in and of itself.

To commemorate the occasion, Apple issued this press release: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/09/28appstore.html

CEO Steve Jobs:

“The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate with users downloading a staggering two billion apps in just over a year, including more than half a billion apps this quarter alone. The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it.”

Truer words never spoken, and the numbers prove it.

UK Wireless provider Orange issued a statement today stating that the carrier will begin offering the iPhone in the UK and related territories.

This effectively ends the exclusivity agreement that O2 has held for awhile now on the iPhone.

Part of the statement is here from the site:

“Orange, which has the largest 3G network covering more people in the UK than any other operator, will sell iPhone in all Orange direct channels including

Orange shops, the Orange webshop and Orange telesales channels, as well as selected high street partners. A pre-registration site for customers to log their interest has been launched at www.Orange.co.uk/iPhone”

It has been rumored for awhile now that Apple would end its exclusivity agreement in the region, and now it appears that is the case. It could be a harbinger of things to come in the US and its agreement with AT&T, if whispers prove to be true.

A new patent application filed this week by Apple suggests the iPhone maker is looking to use the device’s accelerometer to detect possible theft of the hardware.
In a application entitled “Acceleration-Based Theft Detection System for Portable Electronic Devices,” Apple describes a system that would analyze movement via a device’s accelerometer to determine whether a theft is present. If the system were to interpret fast movement as a theft, it would initiate an alarm.

“The drive toward miniaturization of electronics has resulted in computer-based systems that are becoming much more portable,” the application reads. “Current portable electronic devices such as laptop computers, hand-held devices such as cellular telephones and personal media devices, such as the iPod from Apple Computer, Inc., and even devices such as compact disc players, are sufficiently compact and lightweight as to make them easily movable. Unfortunately, such ease of transport also implies ease of theft. While the rightful owner of a portable electronic

device may conveniently transport it almost anywhere, so can a thief. ”

It goes on to say that traditional theft-prevention methods like mechanical locks are bulky and tether the device, eliminating portability and convenience. In the proposed system, the accelerometer would be used to determine whether the device is currently in a likely theft condition.

“Typically, theft or other large-scale movement of the device results in an acceleration signal having characteristics different from other events such as shock, impact, nearby machinery, etc,” the application reads. “The detected acceleration as a function of time is thus analyzed to determine whether it corresponds to such large-scale movement of the device, rather than an innocuous event such as the impact of a book dropped nearby. If so, an alarm is produced in order to alert others to the theft.”

The patent was filed by Apple on May 20, 2009 and is credited to Paul J. Wehrenberg of Palo Alto, Calif.

As part of the iPhone/iPod Touch 3.1 Software update released during Apple’s rock and roll event, Mobile Safari gained anticipated anti-phishing features currently present in its desktop version.

However, security firm Intego is criticizing the feature’s inconsistency as being worse than if the feature hadn’t been included at all.

“We’ve had a number of people test [the anti-phishing feature], and some people get warnings for sites that others can load just fine. We’ve tried isolating locations, iPhone/iPod touch models, and whether they are connecting over a cell network or via

wifi, but all we’ve come up with is that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. This is clearly more dangerous than no protection at all, because if users think they are protected, they are less careful about which links they click.”

The desktop version of Safari uses Google’s Safe Browsing API. It’s unclear what technology the Mobile Safari browser uses and what the exact reason is for the inconsistent results, however Intego as well as other researchers promise to continue to investigate the issue.

We’ll update you as this story develops.

TomTom has postponed the release of its iPhone hardware accessory kit until October, due to unspecified reasons.

TomTom spokesman Kevin Carter confirmed that the company’s iPhone hardware kit will not be available for its previously announced summer release deadline, though no specific reason was given. The accessory is a cradle that will interface with the iPhone and provide enhanced GPS capabilities.

“I can confirm that we have decided to take some extra weeks in order to deliver the highest quality on this innovative product,” Carter said. “So, the car kit will become available for purchase this October on www.tomtom.com.”

Additionally, the official FAQ section on

TomTom’s iPhone page has been updated to reflect the new release date. While the hardware is not necessary to use the software that is currently available in the iPhone App Store, it will amplify the GPS signal for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. In addition, the original iPhone and the iPod touch, both of which do not have a GPS receiver, will be able to use the hardware kit.

The TomTom kit will act as a basic suction cup mount for the dashboard or windshield, and will also support hand-sfree calling and music through the stereo system, as well as charge capabilities through the vehicle’s 12-volt port.