Our hearts be still! What you see here is the rendering of partfoundry’s commercial GPS module for the iPhone – encased in a stylish plastic enclosure that should make it a little easier on the eyes. The partfoundry GPS offering has been branded as locoGPS (location and GPS, get it?), and, by the looks of the rendering, has slimmed down on partfoundry’s prototype GPS module.

The $89 locoGPS is still slated for February of next year, just in time for all those third-party developers to make use of the official Apple iPhone SDK and craft the GPS navigational software that partfoundry is betting on.

Hit the vid below to see the partfoundry locoGPS prototype gettings its nav-on with that SiRF STAR III GPS chip.

partfoundry

The thing about the iPhone’s virtual keyboard is that it takes a bit of getting used to. The only way to really get comfortable and effective at typing on the on-screen keyboard is practice. Like they say, “Practice makes perfect.” Actually, we’d have to amend that idiom to reflect that “Perfect practice makes perfect.” After all, if you just keep practicing the wrong things, you’ll just keep making the same mistakes.

Enter TypingWeb.com’s iPhone typing tutor. The web-based typing tutor gives aspiring iPhone typers a training regimen to help train those fumbling fingers type quickly and accurately without the aid of hard-keys. Point your iPhone to TypingWeb.com and sign up for an account. It’s fast, it’s easy, and you’ll be a better iPhone-typer with just a few practice sessions.

We’re already pretty fast on the iPhone’s keyboard – to toot our own horn – but there’s bound to be a lot of you out there that could use a bit of practice on the soft-keyboard.

[Via: TUAW]

Here’s a little update to our previous report (from iPhone Atlas) that iPhones unlocked by France’s Orange may still be locked to carriers within French borders. iLounge has gotten word from Orange spokesperson Louis-Michel Aymard. We’re going to go with the official claim and believe that unlocked iPhones are truly unlocked for use on any network around the world.

Orange clarified the unlocking issue by stating that “Once legally (through Orange Customer Service) unlocked, the iPhone will operate with any SIM card, including foreign ones. But some applications like ‘Visual Voice Mail’ may not work abroad.”

It’s basically what an unlocked iPhones should be – fully functional as a phone and  internet-tablet on any network around the globe, without a functioning Visual Voicemail feature.

Anyone out there have any personal experience with an Orange-unlocked iPhone? We’d love to hear from you, drop us a line.

[Via: iLounge]

With the TomTom GPS iPhone module’s future in serious doubt, it seemed like the beautifully huge multi-touch screen in the iPhone would never see its full glory as a GPS receiver. Lo and behold, partfoundry has taken up the task of bringing a legit iPhone GPS plug-in module to market. We’re hearing that a February 2008 launch in in the cards – just in time for the iPhone SDK. The partfoundry GPS module is set to deliver 16 channels of satellite positioning and will work with any GPS navigational software that you choose.

Of course, this means that partfoundry will be looking to third-party iPhone software developers to bring a workable GPS navigation application to market – but with a healthy dev-community already in place and the SDK slated to come out soon, we’re not worried about that part. What we are worried about is that hideous looking module you see above. A nice sleek cover is a must for anyone outside the geek-chic crowd.

Partfoundry is taking pre-order for $89, so if you just can’t delay that need for gratification, head on over to their site and order yours today.

Check out the video of the partfoundry prototype in action.




partfoundry

We love quoting CEO’s. They’re good at shooting off at the mouth and having to later eat those words. Take, for example, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer’s statement about the iPhone back in April. Mr. Balls-mer said that “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.”

Well, guess what? The Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhone took out the entirety of all Windows Mobile devices’ market share in Q3 2007. With iPhone market-share continuing to grow, Steve Ballmer is likely eating those bitter words. But, we’re sure he doesn’t mind it all that much – those tens of millions of dollars in yearly dessert-salary are a good way to wash that bitter taste off of any palette.

NPD is reporting that the iPhone snatched up a remarkable 27% of the US smartphone market in Q3 2007. The findings are in line with recent reports that the mobile-web was dominated by surfers using the iPhone’s unrivaled Safari browser.

Hey, Microsoft investors, you sure you still want to be feeding this guy all those fatty C-notes? He looks like he’s had more than his fair share.

Here’s a video of Steve Ballmer’s well-fed (those C-notes are fattening, remember?) self

[Via: MacDailyNews]Image courtesy of Roughly Drafted.

It turns out that those “unlocked” iPhones from France’s Orange and Germany’s short-lived unlocked iPhone offering from T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) weren’t really all they were cracked up to be. You see, we had cracked them up to be truly unlocked iPhones capable of surfing any network in the world. Truly unlocked iPhones would have been an international iPhone fan-boy’s wet-dream. Alas, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) had an Ace up their sleeve – all those unlocked iPhones are apparently still locked to their country of origin.

With Germany’s T-Mobile having recently resumed sales of exclusive, locked iPhones, France’s Orange is the world’s only source of Apple-sanctioned “unlocked” iPhones. Unfortunately, enterprising iPhone users thinking about buying an unlocked Orange iPhone and using it in another country will find out the hard way that the 749 Euro unlocked iPhone won’t work outside of France. Apple likely acquiesced to France’s telecom regulations by allowing unlocking iPhones to work with any wireless operator – as long as the non-Orange network was within French borders.

Anyone out there actually make a trip to France in hopes of using a fully-operational and firmware-upgradeable iPhone in, say, the US? Our condolences to your wallet. But then again, you should have known better. Apple-unlocked iPhones sounded too good to be true, and it seems it was too good indeed.

[Via: iPhone Atlas]

Land Rover is all about riding the iPhone’s coat-tails – or at least it would seem that way by the look of their Land Rover LRX concept car. What better way to get your product noticed then by associating it with the iPhone? The Land Rover LRX will get some time in the spotlight at the Detroit Auto Show next month, but we got a bit of a head start of Motor City.

We’re not feeling the lines of this concept SUV all that much (a little too Ford-y for us), but we gotta give it up to Land Rover for making the iPhone an integral part of the LRX’s interior design. The iPhone is prominently displayed in the center console, and is used to complement the all the other LCD displays in the car.

We’re sure this car will never see anything close to a production line, but it would be great to see this level of iPhone integration in a future luxo-vehicle. BMW, Audi, Land Rover – anything from one of them would be just fine by us.

Keep reading for a few more pics of the Land Rover LRX.

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The more musically inclined among you will be happy to hear that the new Garageband 4.1.1 was just released yesterday with a cool, little bonus. You can now create your own custom iPhone ringtones for free!

Simply select a 40-second or shorter section of any track created within Garageband and  choose “Share.” The “Send Ringtone to iTunes” option will format the clip and sync it with your iPhone on your next iTunes-sync.

Just make sure your custom-created ringtones are worthy of being heard in public. After all, there’s nothing more annoying than a poorly chosen (read: incredibly obnoxious) ringtone.

What would you do if you’re a famous rap star? You have all that money, you need to show off it a bit. Scrap that, you need to show everyone just how rich and cool your are. People expect that, or not…

Anyway, popular rapper Pharrell Williams decided it’s time to grab a new phone. Last time we saw him using the specially designed Gold BlackBerry 8800 and with the changing times, its taste evolves as well. And guess what, he went for the gold iPhone. Yeah, it’s expensive and he would certainly use a book more than a new gadget, but what the hack – he’s not spending my money.

[Via: Boy Genius Report]

If Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s newest job listing is any indicator, the techies at Cupertino are looking to bring on a new employee to finally bring Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Exchange functionality to the iPhone. Apple is apparently looking for a “motivated, highly-technical Exchange test/sync engineer with excellent problem solving and communication skills,” who will be joining “a dynamic team responsible for qualifying the latest iPhone products…Your focus will be testing Exchange and Outlook functionality with Apple’s innovative new phone.”

Apple has been pushing to break into the enterprise environment with the iPhone, but the lack of support for the Microsoft Exchange email system that hive-minded corporations love so much has kept the iPhone largely a favorite of the consumer crowd. With support for the email syncing capabilities of MS Exchange, however, Apple could successfully make the iPhone a business contender that may give the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) a serious run for its money. As it stands today, the iPhone is only capable of limited MS Exchange support through third-party offerings and supports IMAP email synchronization in certain situations.

A recent survey found that 98% of respondents would be much more likely to pick up an iPhone if it had support for Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft ActiveSync. While ActiveSync is pretty much the arch-rival of Apple’s iTunes-based sync strategy, it might make prudent business sense for Apple to give in and finally support it. After all, Apple’s support for MS software applications like the MS Office suite and even virtualization of Windows has brought Apple to the competitive foreground in recent years.

If Apple does rollout support for Microsoft Exchange email synchronization, you can bet that we’ll be setting up our own MS Exchange servers.

[Via: Apple Insider]