Apple has just been awarded a far-reaching patent titled "Touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics." Does this sound enough like an iPhone? The patent may be the first step in a legal battle between Apple and Palm over the Palm Pre. The two companies have already started to exchange harsh words.

Two new Apple patent filings have recently been published that could possibly be incorporated into the next generation iPhone. The first is an audio jack cleaning adaptor for portable electronic devices. Two different methods of cleaning would both essentially force compressed air through a conduit and hollow channels in the plug to displace lint and debris that have accumulated in the jack.

According to Apple, "A consumer could place the adaptor plug in the jack, couple the conduit to the plug, and then apply compressed air through the conduit to clean the jack." Although this sounds perfectly functional, the second patent may actually be more useful on a day-to-day basis.

iPhone owners using iGoogle as of late will find that the site has changed its look. In fact, the iGoogle address formerly devoted to the iPhone now redirects to a standard Google mobile website. Why did Google opt to remove what was arguably the superior interface, and replace it with a site that is more difficult to use and has less features?

The crippling of Bluetooth functionality on the iPhone is another one of life's mysteries. As users are painfully aware, the only thing Bluetooth is capable of doing in firmware 2.2 is connecting to a wireless headset. Fortunately for those with jailbroken devices it appears that all of this is about to change.

The iSpazio Repository will soon host software from the iBluetooth project allowing users to unlock Bluetooth on the iPhone and transfer files using a computer or another Bluetooth-enabled phone. This is only the tip of the iceberg. The Bluesn0w project promises to allow developers full access to Bluetooth on the iPhone.

Much speculation has surrounded the prospect of a smaller, simpler version of the iPhone dubbed the "nano" in recent months. Lately reports have centered on the possibility of an iPhone Nano in development for China, and the existence on some case maker's sites of "nano" size iPhone products.

These rumors were tamped down in October during Apple's quarterly conference call with Steve Jobs, when he laid out Apple's strategy in the mobile phone market. Jobs was quoted saying, "I think that the traditional game in the phone market has been to produce a voice phone in a hundred different varieties, but as software starts to become the differentiating technology of this product category, I think that people are going to find that a hundred variations presented to a software developer is not very enticing."