Netflix is one of those companies that appears to "get it".  Not only had they popularized DVD or other media by mail, but they have 10′s of thousands of streaming video content.  They then moved to Xbox which completely made me rethink my cable/satellite service.  The thought of being bale to stream that same content directly to my iPhone brings joy in the amount only measured by a permanently fixed ear to ear smile.  

  The rumor of an iPhone app from Netflix comes way of multichannel.com.  

"The company will soon offer the Watch Instantly video-streaming feature on Apple iPhones and iPod Touch devices and the Nintendo Wii gaming console, according to an industry executive familiar with Netflix’s plans."

The hardware is more than capable of streaming the video as we know, but the inherent problem is that Apple via the evil that is AT&T will limit this app to wifi only.  I know we look forward to quickly purchasing the app should it become available.

[via gdgt via TechCrunch]

  While I was looking at MobileMe today to check some files, I first was greeted with a message telling me the service was down.  I then refreshed and noticed the addition of a button on the side that says "Find My iPhone".  I then clicked the button on the sidebar and it gave me a few options, find my iphone, wipe my iphone, or send a sound or message to the iphone.  I have the 3.0 GM installed through a developer account and so I promptly clicked find my iPhone as I was interested in how well this would work.  After about 20 seconds I was greeted with a message that told me I needed to enable the setting on the iPhone.  After some searching I found the option under mail setting and the MobileMe account.  This is in an obscure place and hopefully will change in the future.  See the photo below:

  After turning on the option I then tried the find my iPhone button again and after 30 seconds it pinpointed the iPhone to my house as shown below.  I live in a fairly obscure area so the photo is not the greatest, but does provide location.

  Now that we have the general location of the iPhone we can send a message or sound to the iPhone.  As the message says "you can play a sound even in silent mode".  I flipped the vibrate switch to on, putting it in silent mode and then sent the sound to the iPhone.  After just 3 seconds I received the message I typed for the iPhone to display.  The iPhone also played the "Sonar" ringtone which was not what I had selected as my ringtone.  

Here is what the iPhone displayed just 3 seconds later:

  After I turned off the message on the iPhone and was pleased at the results, my inbox had received a message showing the event that had taken place.

  It looks like Apple has sorted out all the MobileMe issues of the past and this iPhone location service works as promised.  The real test will be when thousands upon thousands use the service at once on a regular basis.  Only then will we know if the servers have the capacity to handle the traffic and pass-off to AT&T. So far I am thoroughly impressed with the ease of use and response time.

The remote wipe feature we can test another time.  I just wiped the iPhone to install the 3.0GM build and just don’t have the time to restore everything again.  Feel free to try it out and let me know though. 

[MobileMe]

  We thought this update was coming last Friday and yet here it is.  As with all Mac updates it includes numerous fixes with which Apple witholds the the details.  According to the Apple update site the following is included in this update:

General

• Includes latest security fixes.
• Includes additional RAW image support for several third-party cameras.
• Improves performance of video playback and cursor movements for recent Macs with NVIDIA graphics.
  
• Resolves an issue with Dvorak keyboard layout in Mac OS X 10.5.6.
• Improves the reliability and accuracy of Unit Converter, Stocks, Weather and Movies Dashboard widgets.
• Addresses a situation that may cause issues when logging into Gmail.
• Improves reliability when syncing contacts with Yahoo!.
• Expansion Slot Utility for Mac Pro now reports the correct PCIe slot configuration.
• Improves network performance when connected to certain Ethernet switches that have Flow Control enabled.
• Improves stability for network home directories hosted by Mac OS X Server v10.4.
• Improves Finder search results for network volumes that may not support Spotlight searching, such as Mac OS X Server v10.4, Time Capsule, and third-party AFP servers.
• Includes several improvements to Directory Service and Client Management, which are described in the About Mac OS X Server 10.5.7 Update article.
   

iCal

• Improves overall reliability with CalDav.
• Improves reliability when automatically syncing with MobileMe.

Mail

• Addresses reliability and sync issues with Notes.
• Addresses an issue that may cause the BCC field to populate incorrectly when redirecting a message from the Sent mailbox.
  

Parental Controls

• Improves consistency with Parental Controls and application restrictions.
• Addresses an issue in which time limits may not work properly with full-screen games and Fast User Switching.

Printing

• Resolves an issue that may cause certain third-party printers to print to the incorrect paper tray.
• Non-admin user accounts can now be allowed to add and remove printers by enabling Parental Controls and selecting "Can administer printers".
• Includes other printing reliability and stability improvements.

[Apple Update]

  Patent requests from Apple continue to provide clues as to where the company may take its iPhone interface in the coming years, such as a new filing which depicts a version of the handset with a front-facing video camera and a software interface capable of adjusting itself for more precise interaction when the user carrying the phone is in motion.

  The addition of a front-facing camera for video ichat use would just be one more reason to get your hands on the ever changing incredible iphone.  Questions are still circulating concerning a price increase for streaming video usage on the network but the fact that the idea for ichat is in the works is enough to forget about the cost at least until the bill comes in the mail.

[appleinsider]

  We needed something to find all of those apps we have installed and Apple has given us spotlight on the iPhone to do so.  The search features in the 3.0 software not only let you search apps, but allow you to search mail and all other things on the iPhone.  You can also now type in landscape mode in mail and notepad.  Such novel ideas, who would have thought the wait would have been this long for such simple usability from Apple.