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]

  By now most of us know that the Palm Pre syncs with iTunes, but the real question is how this is accomplished.  Many have stated that they believe Apple and Palm have struck a deal to get this accomplished.  According to John Johansen’s Blog this is not the case.  

"So how has Palm most likely enabled the Pre to sync directly with iTunes? By doing the following:

1. When you select “Media Sync” on the Pre, it will switch its USB interface to use Apple’s Vendor Id and the Product Id for a specific iPod model
2. The Pre exposes a filesystem through Mass Storage Class that mimics the structure of an iPod
3. The Pre responds to Apple’s custom USB command and returns XML info about the device

What can Apple do about this? When two parties implement an open standard, there’s usually some differences. In this case, there’s two implementations of a proprietary standard and it’s almost guaranteed that there will be differences. Apple will analyze the Pre and find out what those are. They will then be able to update iTunes to tell a real iPod apart from the “PrePod”."

While we all knew the Palm Pre has a very nice interface and the usability looks to be on the same level as the iPhone, the way to put media onto said device was the true differentiating factor.  Others have tried to accomplish syncing with iTunes via third party software, but now that the Pre mimics an iPod and syncs directly to iTunes, it makes the Pre a true competitor to the iPhone in ever way.  Competition is always a good thing and hopefully it causes Apple to take note and further innovate themselves while lowering the price to remain competitive.  Only time will tell what the Pre is capable of and what SPrint could do to possibly emerge as a better carrier.  We are betting the Pre really takes off once it moves to Verizon 6 or so months down the road.

[via MacRumors & Engadget]

  The App Twitterfon which was released on 5/15/09 apparently gave away an upcoming feature that the iPhone will soon receive.  Tv shows have long been available to watch on your iPhone or iPod touch via a sync with iTunes.  It appears that now you will be able to download them directly on your iPhone.  While someone was browsing the app, 3 ads appeared which said "iTunes Movies’, ‘iTunes TV’ and ‘iTunes Movie Rentals’. When the app user tapped on one of the ads, they were brought to a familiar interface of which is incomplete.  There is not a whole lot of inforation on the availability of such features, but you can bet 3.0 and WWDC probably will have some part in it.  For more screenshots and information head over to Open Salon.   

  According to Business Insider an analyst for Piper has been saying that they expect no iPhone announcement at WWDC, but rather an influx of news on the upcoming Snow Leopard.  Analyst Gene Munster was quoted as saying:

"No New iPhones [at Apple's World Wide Developers Conference]. As indicated in today’s press release, we believe Apple will focus on the new version of Mac OS X, Snow Leopard at WWDC. While some investors may be expecting Apple to launch redesigned iPhones at WWDC, we do not anticipate the launch in early June. Rather, we expect Apple to host a special event in late June or early July to launch a family of iPhones. We continue to expect multiple models, possibly a high-end iPhone with improved specs from the current version and a low-end version with lower capacity and fewer features along with a reduced pricing plan. Such a model could also be used in Apple’s launch of the iPhone into China as soon as the end of summer ‘09."

We can take this with a grain of salt as analysts are not the most accurate in making assumptions on the moves Apple makes.  There could be some truth to this, but for now we will just have to wait and see.

[The iPhone Blog]

  Most people don’t see this every day, but someone named Jeff submitted this photo over at "The iPhone Blog".  According to him:

"Don’t sit next to a pool in Scottsdale Arizona when it’s 104 degrees or your iphone will melt away! So how to fix it fast? I put the iPhone between 2 cold beers and it worked!"

This has also been verified as real in the Apple knowledge base, but we doubt we’ll every see this here in upstate New York as we’re lucky to get a sunny day during the summer, let alone spring.