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More information has surfaced about the Apple media pad, a touch-screen device larger than an iPhone with the functionality of a netbook. Barron's reports on an unnamed "veteran analyst" who claims to have held the prototype device in his own hands.

The source describes a slate-style computer only six weeks away from the final design stages that would be announced in September and hit shelves in November. Manufacturers of key components have already been described in industry publications.

What will they think of next? Soon if you want to accept credit cards at your garage sale there will be an app for that. A project named Square is now in alpha testing and expects to allow iPhone users to process credit card transactions for a fee.

The money transfers directly to the bank account of the merchant and the purchaser receives an email receipt. As seen in the photo from Cool Hunting above, the credit card reader is an accessory that simply plugs into the headphone jack of the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Apple released the iPhone OS 3.0.1 firmware update the other day to fix an SMS security flaw. This has rendered purplera1n useless, and creator Geohot has abandoned the project for now. That being said, redsn0w from the iPhone Dev-Team still works.

There's one thing to look out for when using redsn0w to jailbreak 3.0.1. After updating to the official 3.0.1 through iTunes, running redsn0w will ask for the IPSW file to use for jailbreaking. Select the 3.0 IPSW, not the 3.0.1 version you just installed. For owners of the iPhone 3GS or a newer 3G, you may not already have this file.

The (inaccurate) furor over an impending iPhone Nano just got a shot in the arm. Apple patents described by MacNN have revealed a device that looks remarkably like a smaller version of the iPhone.

The device is approximately the size of the current iPod Nano, only 1/4 inch thick. Although the patent describes a front screen, the biggest change from current designs is a pressure-sensitive tactile control on the back.

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.”