It takes someone like Steve Jobs to make an iPhone, the very device that has literally taken the world by storm. As of today some 21 million devices of various models starting from the iPhone to the iPhone 3G and the 3GS have been sold. Downloads at the Apple Store have crossed the 3 billion mark in just 18 months. Even if these figures are exaggerated by 10% we can safely say that iPhone has sold like no other mobile phone has. Like it or not this makes it the most popular device on the planet. Try as the may Nokia (with Maemo), HTC (with Android) and Samsung (with Bada or TouchWiz UI) are no match for the iPhone.

But now it seems Google with HTC has got the iPhone in the crosshairs with the much touted and hyped about device called as the Nexus One. It is said that the looks alone are enough to make one drool. Both companies have worked hard in an effort to beat the mobile phone the world loves so much. The device is going to have a Snapdragon CPU clocking at a cool 1 GHz, it will boast of Android 2.1 besides having a 5 MP camera. The important specs are:

• 3.7″ capacitive Touch screen with 480 x 800 display.
• 512 MB of ROM and RAM
• 4 GB microSD card (included) and expandable microSD up to 32GB

I think it will be a long time before Nexus will be able to make a serious dent in iPhone’s popularity. Yes, iPhone’s market share will go down but it will take a sometime, ingenuity and good luck for Nexus One or any other mobile phone to beat the iPhone. Simply because people the world will not stop using their devices and Apple will not stop making/selling new models. In my opinion the coming months will see intense competition which is good for the buyers. The unlocked device it is said will cost around $530, whereas a two year contract with T-Mobile will cost something like $200.

Apple has been notoriously rebuffing VOIP applications from its app store but no explanation was available. But now it seems it wasn’t Apple which was refusing VOIP applications instead AT&T did not allow VOIP traffic through its network. Finally AT&T is saying that it will allow VOIP traffic through its 3G network, means go ahead for Skype and Google voice and many more VoIP applications.

This is because FCC  has scrutinized how Apple and AT&T handle VoIP apps for the iPhone , specifically, Apple’s continued rejection of Google’s Google Voice app. In short FCC is pushing for "net neutrality," which prevents carriers from blocking Internet communications, even on wireless networks and AT&T had to yield to mounting pressure.

At the moment this might sound a good news, but the load of new VOIP traffic might strain even less stable AT&T network which is causing many dropped calls and less stable VOIP calls, but our fingers are crossed and we are hopeful that now Google Voice and Skype will prevail on iPhone and users will be able to expand their communication horizons.

Previously we covered that PwnageTool 3.1 is available by Dev Team but it lacked jail breaking of iPhone 3GS and iPod touch, Well the wait is over and now you can jail break your iPhone 3GS or second genderation iPOD touch. In a posting on DEV Team blog, they announced the updated release of PwnageTool 3.1.3 for OSX which “pwns” or jail breaks iPhone 3GS and 2G iPod as long as the device was “pwned” prior to OS 3.1.

However,  Third generation iPod touch is not supported at the moment and if you have already installed 3.1 upgrade on your device you still have to wait more.

See more details on DEV-Team Blog

The breaking news of today is that the most awaited MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) on iPhone finally goes live on AT&T. MMS allows users to send graphics, audio clips, locations, contacts, and video clips via an SMS-like messaging system on their iPhones.It has been found out that MMS is not very popular on other phone devices but iPhone users tend to make more use of multimedia features as compare to others.

 How to get it?

To prepare for the iPhone MMS update, download iTunes 9.0.1 and make sure your iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS is using iPhone 3.1 firmware. If you have iPhone 2G or 1G, it will not be able to get the MMS update. For more details see below

Stepwise procedure:

(1) Download iTunes 9.0.1 if you don’t already have it on your computer.

(2) Connect your iPhone to your computer then open iTunes

(3) When the MMS update is available, you will see a message asking you if you want to install and update to your carrier settings- click Update Settings

(4) iTunes will then inform you that your settings have been updated. CLick OK in the message

(5) Reboot your iPhone by powering it off and then on again. MMS is now enabled.

When is it actually going live?

AT&T has started the service across U.S today in which text messages will be send, beginning at 10 am Eastern. Let’s see how people respond to this new service. Will the heavy traffic of iPhone owners crash the service? For all this and more, we would have to wait and see..Stay tuned to Biggtech!

iPhone 3GS owners will now be able to make 12 seconds long videos and send them to other iPhone 3GS owners as well as to their contacts on FaceBook and Twitter followers. 12mail a new iPhone application, by 12seconds.tv makes this possible. However, a 12seconds.tv account is not required to make use of this application, instead it allows one to link with Twitter or FaceBook. Owners of iPhone 3G and iPhone (the simple one) will not be able to make use of this service. Those without the 3GS can however, take snaps and record voice only. This is basically a phone and application feature and not related to the network itself. Anyways the idea of a video message is indeed impressive and something new, specially since it is a service based on the push technology.

The wireless carrier announced Thursday that it will launch its multimedia messaging service (MMS) for the iPhone on September 25. AT&T said it understood customers are “eager” for an update on the plan’s rollout schedule.

Earlier Apple announced before the the iPhone 3.0 operating system was updated this summer to allow the popular smartphones MMS capability. Although iPhone carriers outside the country began MMS network support immediately, AT&T said it was going to wait.

“We’ve been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches, and that launch date is September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customer,” read a statement on AT&T’s Web site. “We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.”

Well this is an much awaited and interesting update and will certainly help both AT&T and Apple to soothe the disgruntled customers. iPhone lacked MMS capability in the initial release and in the final hardware and software upgrade this functionality was promised.