The Signal #39: Nokia World and Belkin iPhone Case Giveaway

Now here’s an interesting little factoid gleaned from a new research report from JiWire. It seems that, when it comes to connecting handheld mobile devices, cafe WiFi hostpots across the US serve darn near all of their wireless bits and bytes to the iPhone OS. The iPhone OS (which runs on the iPhone and iPod Touch) accounts for 97.6% of all handheld devices logged onto WiFi hotspots tracked by JiWire – 54.2% use the iPhone and 43.4% are using the iPod Touch.

Taking the iPod Touch out of the equation for a moment, it’s interesting to see just how far ahead of other devices the iPhone stands – more than half of all mobile devices using cafe WiFi are iPhones. The closest competing handset in terms of cafe WiFi hotspot market share is the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N95. In fact, the Sony PSP is the second most used handheld device at these WiFi hotspots.

One way to look at the data is that the iPhone makes web browsing so easy that users are more likely to hop on the information superhighway for a quick stint. It also helps that all iPhone users are given free access to WiFi hotspots at Starbucks and Barnes & Noble stores in the US.

Here’s our take: iPhone users love cafe WiFi hotspots.

[Via: GigaOm]

Rockstar Games’ critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is heading for the iPhone / iPod Touch this fall. In GTA: CW, you play as Huang Lee, a spoiled son of a recently killed Triad boss who travels to Liberty City to deliver a sword that is considered a family heirloom to the new boss, his Uncle Wu Lee. His trip turns disastrous as Huang Lee is robbed of the sword and left for dead. It is now up to Huang Lee to find out who stole the sword and return it to it’s rightful owner.  If you’re a fan of the Grand Theft Auto series, especially the original games where the action took place from a top-down view, you’re going to want to make sure you’ve got this gem on your iPhone at all times!

In addition to that, Rockstar Games also announced it’s upcoming portable music creating application, which features beats from famous hip-hop producer Timbaland, will also be making an appearance on the iPhone.

“The simple, pick-up-and-play nature of Beaterator lends itself so well to the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) platforms,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “We are happy to deliver an application that allows for such unprecedented sharing and ease-of-use.”

Expect both Grand Theft Auto, Chinatown Wars and Beaterator to arrive in the Apple App Store this fall.