I just downloaded Firefox 3.5 on both of my computers and am very happy with it. It does feel significantly faster than the previous version but didn’t blow me away quite like Safari 4 did.

When I upgraded only two of my six current extensions were compatible. So, even if you are anxious to get your hands on the latest version make sure your essential extensions are compatible with 3.5 before upgrading.

Firefox web browser | Faster, more secure, & customizable.

Update 6/30/09: Mozilla has already over one million downloads of Firefox. Mozilla has also launched a real time Firefox download tracker so users can watch as downloads occur.

AppleInsider is citing sources “familiar with the company’s thinking” (so take it how you will), saying that Apple will be lowering the price of their iMac line.

If true, this would come just a few months after Apple dropped the prices on their MacBook line as well. It is clear to me that Apple wants to sell more Macs and dropping prices on their mainstream desktop computer would be a logical next step.

The sourcing in this article is a little strange though. “People familiar with the company’s thinking,” what does that even mean? Any guy with a rudimentary understanding of economics would understand that dropping the price of your product will inevitably sell more units.

AppleInsider | Briefly: more affordable iMacs from Apple expected by fall.

Update 8/8/09: Upcoming iMacs to Release with ‘Compelling New Features’

Update 9/16/09: Wedge Partners Claims Apple is Redesigning the iMac and MacBook

Update 9/30/09: Updated iMac and Mac mini Coming in October

Update 10/20/09: Mac mini with OS X Server and Multi-Touch Trackpad for Desktop Macs

Update 10/20/09: Apple Unveils New iMac with 21.5 and 27-inch 16:9 Displays

Sony Corp is considering developing a cellphone-game gear hybrid in a bid to better compete with Apple Inc’s highly popular iPod and iPhone, the Nikkei business daily said on Saturday.

It’s pretty amazing that it has taken them nearly two years before they finally got around to doing this. It’s almost as if they completely forgot what the iPod line did to Sony’s Walkman business.

Then again, I have a strange feeling that if Sony attempted a cell phone that was also a handheld game console it would turn out a little bit too much like the orignal Nokia N-Gage, I’m sure most of you remember that piece of crap.

Sony eyes cellphone/game gear hybrid – Nikkei | Technology | Reuters.

Last night Birdfeed was released to the App Store. I had been following the client for a few months now through Twitter but until last night I really didn’t know anything about it other than that it was an upcoming Twitter client.

I downloaded the app immediately once I heard that it had been released and am glad I did. Although Birdfeed uses chat bubbles, which is one of my least favorite Twitter user interfaces, everything else about it more than makes up for it.

The new client has everything I need in a Twitter client. At first I was worried that it didn’t have trends built in, but I then found it in a slightly hidden yet very intuitive place, the saved searches section.

Other notable features include posting shortened URLs with tr.im integration, loading older tweets using infinite scrolling, navigating reply chains, Favrd and FollowCost integration, and local tweet caching for catching up on tweets while offline.

I haven’t found any bugs in the application, remember it is a 1.0 release. I suggest everyone at least check out the screen captures I’ve posted below, it is well worth a look.

Twitterrific stole my heart from Tweetie but I can definitively (at least for the next month or two) say that this has become my new Twitter client of choice. But, it does amaze me to see consistent improvement among all Twitter clients, it just proves that competition creates better products for the users.

Birdfeed – $4.99

Update 6/30/09: I underestimated just how wonderful the local caching and infinate scrolling is. As soon as you reach the bottom of your list of tweets Birdfeed automatically starts loading more. This automatic loading is a beautiful thing but what is really amazing is that the local caching doesn’t just keep the most recently loaded tweets (options for 20, 50, or 100) it also keeps even older ones. I’m not sure how many Birdfeed is actually capable of caching (I’m sure there is a limit) but I was able to reload over 200 tweets while my device was in airplane mode (it cached user avatars too).

I spent the week or so leading up to the launch of the iPhone 3GS trying to convince my girlfriend to get a white model. I was going to get the black one (the black model suites me much better) and I wanted an easy way for us to tell each others apart. I failed, and we ended up both getting black models. But, luckily hitting the home or lock button to check the wallpaper isn’t to difficult, and in a few days she’ll be getting a Gelaskin in the mail.

But, now that the dust has settled I am quite happy that she didn’t get the white version, not because I prefer the look of the black model but because of this report on Nowhere Else (Google translated) of the white version overheating and discoloration occurring on the back.

Apple has had similar problems in the past, everyone who follows this sort of thing remembers all of the discoloration issues with the white MacBook, I experienced it, and practically every other white MacBook owner did as well.

It’s difficult to say how widespread this discoloration issue is with the iPhone, I haven’t seen any other reports about it. But, at this point I don’t know why anyone would take the chance and buy the white model.

SURCHAUFFE IPHONE 3GS | GEEK WEBZINE HIGH-TECH Nowhere Else.

Update 7/4/09: According to Engadget it turns out the cause of this browning on white iPhones may have to do with leaving it in a hot car.

Update 7/5/09: frenchiPhone (Google Translated) is claiming that the discoloration of white iPhone 3GSs may be caused by some third party cases. The solution is to clean the back with alcohol. I haven’t found anyone talking about what cases actually cause this problem but it is nice to know that if you do experience it the fix isn’t too difficult.

Yesterday Apple updated both the Apple TV and the iPhone’s Remote application. The new Remote app now supports multitouch gestures for controlling the Apple TV.

Navigating menus is much more comfortable, flicking or dragging the finger across the screen will scroll through menus and tapping will select an item.

The controls when playing back content is a little bit more complicated but very intuitive, it didn’t take long for me to be fast forwarding, skipping back, and pausing like a pro. The full list of controls can be seen in the gallery below.

Apple has also posted a list of the new features in the Apple TV update which, other than adding support for the new Remote app, include:

• Flickr Search: Search Flickr photo tags to find recently updated photos of interest. Save searches to quickly find new photos or use as a screen saver for Apple TV.
• New view options: View movies By Genre, By Movie, or Unwatched. View TV Shows and Podcasts By Date, By Show, or Unwatched.
• Updated transport and chapter modes: During video playback, click right or left to fast forward or rewind. Additional clicks increase the speed. Click down to show chapter markers.

AppleInsider | Apple updates Apple TV, Remote app to allow multi-touch control [u].

It turns out that the iPhone is capable of installing network profiles from MobileSafari. Since all of the recent tethering hacks have used a modified network profile to enable tethering, BenM.at has created a pretty easy to use page to enable this feature, and supports practically every iPhone provider out there.

The process is very simple, go to http://help.benm.at/help.php, scroll down to Tethering & Internet Settings, tap on the Mobileconfigs download link, choose your country and then your provider. The network profile installer will launch and allow you to update your iPhone settings which will enable tethering.

To enable tethering just go to Settings, General, Network, tethering should now be an option.

I currently have a first generation iPhone, and since it doesn’t support tethering or MMS I wasn’t able to try this myself. But, Jason Chen of Gizmodo says that they have been testing it for about a day and it has worked fine for them.

I haven’t dug very deep into the MMS enabling features, since they are currently beta and the method to install it is a little complicated. I really wouldn’t advise anyone to enable MMS until they make things a little bit easier.

Gizmodo – Enable Tethering On Your iPhone 3G and 3GS With Only Safari MMS, VV Fix – Iphone tethering.

Update 6/25/09: I dropped by an AT&T store yesterday and installed tethering on one of their demo devices. I wasn’t able to test tethering but I can say that everything else on the phone worked just fine after installing the network profile.

Update 7/14/09: There are some reports that downloading the mobileconfig files (as explained above) still works (@andrewe) with iPhone firmware 3.1 beta 2 but there are also some reports that the IPCC tethering trick no longer works. I can’t confirm whether or not either one of them work because I don’t have access to the beta firmware.

Update 7/31/09: Firmware update 3.0.1 hasn’t broken this tethering hack. We already know that 3.1 will, so 3.0.1 might be the last firmware that will allow you to easily enable free tethering.

Update 8/3/09: According to iPhone Alley firmware 3.1 beta has already enabled MMS, so it is likely that MMS will be enabled for all iPhone 3G and 3GS users with the final 3.1 update.

Update 9/5/09: MMS Coming to the iPhone September 25

Update 9/9/09: iPhone OS 3.1

Update 10/16/09: iPhone Tethering May be a 2010 Thing

Update 11/14/09: AT&T on iPhone Tethering and Verizon Ads

Rob Pegoraro of the Washington Post quotes Greg Jozwiak as saying “we just feel it looks better with the 3GS all together.”

Currently the iPhone 3G S’s product page still uses the space but recently the PR section on Apple’s website has been displaying the name as iPhone 3GS (no spaces).

I have to admit that although it may be easier to search for and not dealing with ugly line wrap issues would seem to make “3GS” more favorable, I personally like the “3G S” spelling better. I think the space keeps it from looking too clunky, it keeps it a little more elegant.

For many I’m sure it doesn’t make much of a difference but for journalists and bloggers who like to pay attention to how products are specifically spelled in regular text (not logos) this is a big deal. And seriously, who really wants to have to go through and change ever instance of “3G S” to “3GS” on their website?

Twitter / Rob Pegoraro: @saschasegan No space, as ….

Update 6/24/09: Although I still would rather see the “3G S” spelling, Apple has officially changed the spelling to “3GS” on the product page, and as a result I have changed every instance of “3G S” on this website to “3GS,” except for this article, of course.

Rapid Repair decided to take their iPhone 3GS apart to see what made it tick. They found an 833MHz ARM processor which has been underclocked to 600MHz and a PowerVR SGX graphics chip from Imagination Technologies.

According to AppleInsider, Apple is saying that it could take some customers up to 2 days before their brand new iPhones are activated.

John Gruber has posted a video on his Flickr page comparing PCalc launch times between the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. To go along with that AppleInsider has posted a handy table showing various tests made comparing app launch times and web page load times.

The launch of the iPhone 3GS seemed to go significantly smoother than last years launch of the iPhone 3G. I would attribute that to the ability to pre-order the device online combined with the fact that they have two of these huge launches under their belt already.

Overall it was very successful, I just wish I would have considered iPhone 3G returns when deciding what time I was going to stop by my AT&T store.

Previously:
6/19/09: Consider This The Post Where I Eat My Words
6/19/09: My iPhone 3GS Plans

Update 6/22/09: Apple Issues iTunes Store Credit for iPhone Activation Issues

Update 6/30/09: If you still haven’t purchased your iPhone 3GS you might want to check out Apple’s online availability page. With it you can make sure that your local Apple store has one in stock before you head out to pick one up.

Update 7/4/09: MacDailyNews – Leaked AT&T memo: Apple iPhone 3GS generated ‘best ever sales day’

That’s right folks, I underestimated the demand for the iPhone 3GS and because of that not only did I go to the AT&T store before 3pm, but I was also unable to get my device today.

But, I have a pretty good explanation for it. I didn’t factor in all of the recent iPhone 3G customers who would want to exchange their device for the new iPhone 3GS.

When I talked to the AT&T representative that I pre-ordered my device from she told me that most of their stock was depleted by people exchanging their 3Gs for the 3GS. It’s possible that this wasn’t the case in other areas but it sure was where I live.

But, as I said in my previous post, no harm done. I’ll be getting a call and an email when a device is available in my local store, which shouldn’t take too long (hopefully).

Previously:
6/19/09: My iPhone 3GS Plans

Update 6/20/09: iPhone 3GS Launch Day Roundup

Update 6/27/09: I did finally receive my iPhone 3GS on June 25, it is fantastic. Although most people have been focusing on the camera as the main feature to upgrade for I personally think that the faster processor and larger amount of memory are the most drastic changes. I don’t really take very many pictures but the ability to load web pages significantly faster is changing my life.