Apple is asking iPhone application developers for keywords to help describe their software. The company sent an update asking for 255 characters made up of keywords separated by commas:

“It is important to enter keywords for all applications as soon as possible so your application can continue to be successfully located on the App Store. Keywords can be updated with the submission of a new binary.”

Now that you have your shiny new iPhone, should you spend another $99/year to subscribe to Apple's MobileMe service? MobileMe has replaced Apple's former .Mac service and now includes many useful features for iPhone users.

Apple is offering a free 60-day trial of the service, which includes 20GB of iDisk storage and 200GB of monthly file transfer bandwith. Here are some iPhone-specific features of MobileMe.

Parts suppliers and manufacturers have already been selected for a rumored Apple media pad, a touch-screen device larger than an iPhone with the functionality of a netbook. The tablet could hit shelves as early as September.

Foxconn, manufacturer of the iPhone and Apple's notebook computers, will make the new device. Wintek is providing a 9.7-inch multi-touch panel, and Dynapack International Technology is supplying the battery.

For those iPhone users with a MobileMe account, Apple has released a free application called iDisk. This utility allows iPhone users running iPhone OS 3.0 and later to view and share the contents of their MobileMe iDisk on the go.

iPhone supported file types are viewable in landscape or portrait, and can be zoomed in using standard pinch gestures. Using the Share button, MobileMe subscribers can send emails with links to large files without even downloading the file. Public folders are also accessible using the iDisk application.

Samsung, the maker of past iPhone processors, has revealed its latest ARM chip. Clocking at an outrageous 1 GHz, this chip only consumes 640mW of power.

The new ARM, nicknamed Hummingbird, uses the same Cortex-A8 architecture featured in the iPhone 3GS. The new chip includes Neon, which speeds up video and audio tasks.

The Hummingbird is the first ARM-based processor design to be built by Samsung using a 45 nanometer assembly process. This keeps energy efficiency at a maximum and lowers the heat emissions of the chip. The Hummingbird only requires one volt of power to operate.

Sometimes waiting for automated phone menus and dialing extensions can be a real drag. Luckily, the Apple iPhone has an easy way to automatically dial extensions when needed.

All you need is the contact you're trying to reach and the relevant phone number and extension you'd like to add to the contact information.

Did you know that when you email a photo from the camera roll on your iPhone, the resolution of the picture is automatically degraded to 800x600? This makes sense if you don't need to send anything at a higher quality resolution.

But what if you need to send the full resolution photo? The original iPhone and iPhone 3G both take photos at 1600x1200 resolution. The iPhone 3GS with its auto-focus camera takes photos at 2048x1536 resolution.

So Palm has fixed iTunes syncing on the Palm Pre, shortly after Apple disabled it in the latest software update. No harm no foul, right? If only it were so simple.

Turns out Palm may be breaking the rules. According to the USB Implementers Forum, when you apply for a USB vendor ID, you sign a form that explicitly states:

Unauthorized use of assigned or unassigned USB Vendor ID Numbers and associated Product ID Numbers are strictly prohibited.

You may have wondered why it's taking so long for the augmented reality application Nearest Tube to hit the App Store. This time the delay isn't really due to an Apple approval issue, it's just the small fact that the developers of augmented reality apps are using unpublished APIs (application programming interfaces).

That's right, Apple hasn't even released these development tools yet. The good news is that intrepid developers are soon to be vindicated by iPhone OS 3.1, which promises to include many new APIs that make augmented reality applications possible.

If you thought your iPhone 3GS was more secure than the original iPhone or the iPhone 3G, think again. iPhone developer and hacker extraordinaire Jonathan Zdziarski says the encryption Apple has implemented on the iPhone 3GS is next to worthless.

With many businesses, higher education institutions, and government agencies starting to use the iPhone, Zdziarski cites poor encryption as cause for concern. In a demonstration to Wired, he pulled live sensitive data from an iPhone 3GS using readily available free software in only two minutes.