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The name of the product is appropriate. Joby's latest Gorillamobile flexible tripod is designed to bend around anything, making your iPhone into a hands-free device instantly. With 24 individual 360 degree leg joints, flexible could be an understatement.

The legs can be straightened to form a normal miniature tripod. What the leg joints make possible are a wide range of positions that are capable of attaching your iPhone to a bike handlebar or a signpost. Just wrap the legs around it and Gorillamobile will hold in place with rubber pads.

Apple is scooping up new talent left and right these days. After purchasing PA Semi to help them design their own microprocessors, Apple has bought the mapping outfit Placebase. Could this signal a further divide between Google and Apple?

Google provided the data and helped develop the Maps iPhone application from the very beginning. Now Jaron Waldman, founder and former CEO of Placebase, is a member of the Apple Geo Team.

So much for the Apple touch pad / HD video movie / Cocktail music media / netbook killer / iPad tablet running Snow Leopard. The latest "scoop" from an "insider" points to a device more focused on movies, music and email than actual computing. iPhone OS anyone?

According to a "tip" from a "reliable source" the new Apple device is scheduled to be announced in January and will hit store shelves a few months later. Retail price? Could be too expensive for a glorified iPod Touch.

If you're taking your iPhone overseas you may have read horror stories of people returning home to thousands of dollars in wireless bills. There are several ways to reduce your charges when traveling abroad if you absolutely must have your iPhone.

First and foremost, be sure not to run up hidden data charges when traveling abroad. Select Settings -> General -> Network -> Data Roaming -> OFF. This will make sure that bandwidth is not being used by your iPhone without your permission.

Looks like mSpot has beaten Netflix to the punch. mSpot Mobile Movies will stream movie rentals to your iPhone or any of 30 compatible mobile devices. The movies are delivered over Wi-Fi or 3G connections on demand.

To test your mobile device for compatibility, mSpot sends a text message with a link to the service (iPhone users can enter the URL directly into Safari). Movie Club members can purchase credits that expire at the end of the month if unused. A more expensive option is a one-time rental of $4.99. The movie can be watched for 24-48 hours depending on the film.

Updating to iPhone firmware 3.1 using iTunes will also update your baseband from 04.26.08 to 05.11.07. To unlock your iPhone for use on a different GSM carrier with ultrasn0w this modem firmware must be downgraded to the older version.

Unfortunately, downgrading the baseband using the tools below requires a jailbroken iPhone 3G. The solution will not work on an iPhone 3GS or an original iPhone.

The App Store has only been online for five quarters, yet it continues to impress with a staggering number of offerings and purchases. Apple has announced there are now 85,000 iPhone and iPod Touch applications available via iTunes.

50 million people own a compatible Apple device and 125,000 software developers are participating in the Apple iPhone Developer Program. 1.5 billion individual downloads were clocked on the App Store within the first year of its operation.

There are several things included in the iPhone 3.0 MMS release that users may not be aware of until they start flexing the application. The key here is that you can send much more than photos. Information from your Contacts can be sent via MMS by touching the Share Contact button when viewing entry details.

Similarly, touching the share button in Voice Memos will give the option to send via MMS or email. The iPhone 3GS will send video using MMS, although it will severely degrade the size and quality. This helps to insure the video will play on smaller and older phones.

Some iPhone applications have preferences to set an accelerometer lock under Settings. When rotation is disabled, the orientation of the app stays fixed in one direction no matter which way the iPhone is turned.

Most commonly used apps such as Safari, Messaging, Mail and iPod do not have this feature available in the preferences. In contrast, orientation can be temporarily fixed when viewing photos on the iPhone Camera Roll or Photo Library.

Some iPhone applications have preferences to set an accelerometer lock, which keeps the orientation of the app in one direction no matter which way the iPhone turns. Unfortunately, most commonly used apps do not have this feature.

Rotation can be switched off when viewing photos on the iPhone Camera Roll or Photo Library. When viewing a photo, hold down with one finger on the photo as if you're trying to copy the image.