Apple updates iPhone

Apple has unveiled a 2.2 software update for the iPhone, bringing new features such as Google Street View and over-the-air podcast downloads, says Reseller News.

The 246MB download is available on iTunes for iPhone owners. It delivers features that were previously expected, and a couple of small surprises.

SA users can get the update here.

With cellphones becoming a conduit for everything from GPS functions to games and video, the battle to sell them is shifting, and increasing importance is being placed on the applications that can be installed, reports The International Herald Tribune.

"Applications serve three main roles for smartphone vendors," said Neil Mawston, the director of the global wireless practice at Strategy Analytics, in Britain.

"First, they are loyalty-drivers; killer apps help to lock users in to a particular brand or model. Second, they are revenue-drivers; killer apps can drive new users to a particular handset. Third, they are growth-drivers; killer apps controlled by smartphone vendors can open up new revenue streams beyond hardware."

China Mobile is now in talks with Motorola and Sony-Ericsson for the production of handsets that can be used on China's homegrown third-generation wireless standard, states Market Watch.

Motorola and Sony-Ericsson will provide dual-band cellular phones for China's 3G standard, known as Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access, or TD-SCDMA.

Separately, rival telecom Nokia has said it also plans to sell TD-SCDMA products.