The upcoming newest iPhone release is shaping up to be one of the best smartphone releases ever.  With a whole slew of top notch features expected to be included with this upcoming release the new edition iPhone will continue to be a best seller.  I am sure many Apple junkies can not wait for the new iPhone OS 4 to be released.

Already one of the most popular devices on the market today the iPhone will look to continue its sales dominance by adding a few upgrades to its hardware.  Expected to be included in the next update are a video chat feature, 5 megapixel camera and now HD video recording.  These additions are sure to make many Unlocked iPhone customers excited about the newest version.  While the camera on the current iPhone is a pretty nice camera compared to its competitors this 5 megapixel camera will make it one of the best smartphone cameras around.  Apple rarely disappoints with their new product launches and this new iPhone release expects to follow Apple’s other popular items like the iPod Touch and iPad.

While the terms of the acquisition are not known Business Insider guesses the deal could be worth $100 to $200 million.  A deal of that magnitude would definitely signal a commitment to this new type of technology for Apple.  The technology that Siri can bring to the table for Apple’s various consumer electronics will certainly enhance the user experience of iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad users.

This recent announcement is one of the more exciting announcements to come from the mobile device world this week.  It certainly does appear that Apple is looking to make a leap into the mobile app department and this acquisition of the start up company Siri will certainly go a long way in making that a successful transition.  With the technology Siri has created Apple will be able to add a lot of cool search features into various apps and make their mobile devices truly GPS user friendly.  It will be very handy if you were able to speak into your iPhone and ask your personal assistant app where the nearest coffee shop was and quickly receive directions to several different options that you can walk to.

Also found within the build were mentions to chat rooms and moderation which the website 9to5mac.com speculates will be used for a new Game Center.  As is always the case just because something is included in the pre-release software is no guarantee that it will be included when the final product is launched.  But since there has been instances of several well connected people eluding to the fact that video chat appeared to be on the horizon this looks like just another bit of evidence that something along the lines of an iChat app is on the way.

With each passing day the iPhone OS 4 is creating more and more buzz.  It looks like there are going to be a lot more updates and upgrades included in this latest OS release for the iPhone than initially expected.  The big buzz generated by the upcoming release of the iPhone OS 4 was the ability for users to multitask and run several apps at the same time.  Now throw in the ability to stage one on one or group video conferences and it sounds like the iPhone OS 4 is set to be one of the best smartphone operating systems on the market today.

The Opera Mini, with more than 50 million users worldwide, enables fast mobile web browsing by compressing data up to 90 percent before sending content to the device.  When the data is compressed it results in significantly improved page loading.  Users of this new app will notice an increase in speed when surfing the web especially on slower networks such as the 2G Edge network.  Also, using the Opera Mini to surf the internet will save customers money as well because of its data compression capabilities.  Smaller of amounts of data will be required to view websites which will come in real handy when users are in areas where they may incur roaming charges.

The Opera Mini browser is currently available in the App Store for free.  Many iPhone users have already downloaded the new web browser and are loving the various features it has.  The speed with which a web page loads is considerably faster and has iPhone users surfing the web like never before.  Another nice feature about the Opera Mini browser is the ease with which you can switch between web pages you are viewing.  A simple swipe at the bottom of the browser page will allow you to switch back and forth between different windows that you may have open.  Also, the Opera Mini makes it quite easy to bookmark your favorite websites which you can then use to quickly surf your most viewed pages.

As for the in-game audio you have your choice of which audio feed you would like to hear, the home team or the away team’s feed.  The audio quality is pretty good, better on 3G than 2G, but comes with a 2-3 minute lag time.  Sometimes you might get a push notification at the end of the game while you are still listening to the 9th inning.  While this is not the cheapest app you will find, users can expect to pay $14.99, we think that it is certainly worth the price for all of the added features this year.

MLB.com’s At Bat 2010 is easily one of my favorite apps.  I really enjoyed last year’s version and the 2010 edition is even better.  If you happen to have a MLB.tv subscription you can even watch live baseball games on your unlocked mobile device.  This is a fantastic app for any baseball enthusiast who is constantly on the go or lives outside of their favorite team’s market.  Having the ability to listen to or watch a game anywhere you are is nice luxury to have.

Earlier today it was announced that voice navigation is set to come to the iPhone in the form of MapQuest 4.0. The free navigation app will be able to provide turn by turn directions in the form of voice prompts that will undoubtedly offer a much safer driving experience for those who require the assistance of a GPS navigation device.
In a post on MapQuest’s official blog the company indicated that version 4 of their app can keep track of the phone’s position as you drive and alert you with voice prompts as you approach upcoming turns. The app also has the ability to inform you of missed turns and gives you the option of rerouting your course as appropriate.
Another nice feature of this new app is the ability to conserve battery life with three different power settings. As we all know when the GPS system is in use the strain on your battery can be immense. On the lowest power saving mode the app prevents the iPhone Unlocked Phone from auto locking and gives continuous voice prompts. The medium power saving mode allows the screen to dim but does not auto lock which continues with the prompts and the highest power saver mode will auto lock the device like normal.
The MapQuest Mobile 4 is available as a free download in the app store and compatible with iPhones running the iPhone OS 3.0 and higher.

All early accounts are very positive when it comes to this new app.  The album art is quite massive and really allows you to enjoy all of the aspects of each album you are listening to.  The user interface is very easy to use and really helps the whole app seem to be very user friendly.  Their new app had most of the aspects you would come to expect from Slacker including artist bios, album reviews, song lyrics, liking/banning songs, etc. except for the offline station caching feature which allows you to listen to your stations without a data connection.  Slacker also confirmed that a Windows Phone 7 port of the application is in the works.  This will make a great addition to the highly anticipated Windows phone set to hit the market this summer.

Slacker is also in the process of creating a station caching version for the iPhone.  With this version you will be able to listen to all of your favorite songs and stations without having a data connection.  This will certainly take the Slacker app to new levels and really allow the app’s users to fully enjoy all of the fantastic features that are commonly associated with Slacker.

 While these phones do not have a contract associated with them these devices are still carrier locked to AT&T so you do not have much freedom with the various plans you can purchase.  This is considerably different than many parts of Europe where you can get the devices without a specific carrier service attached to the device.  It would make much more sense for Apple to sell the iPhone unlocked without a contract agreement like they do over in Europe.

 The only benefit of purchasing the iPhone this way, without a contract agreement, is if you were planning on switching mobile devices before the 2 year contract was up.  Otherwise it would make much more sense for most mobile device consumers to sign up for the contract and get the iPhone at a much cheaper price.  With the contract you can usually get the 3G version for $199 and the 3GS for $299.  This is a significant savings when purchasing a new cell phone.  Esepcially when you are going to have to use AT&T as your service provider anyways.  Purchasing the phone with a contract might actually be cheaper in the long run even if you were to break the contract early if you wanted to purchase a new cell phone.  It might be worthwhile to look at the fine print associated with terminating your cell phone contract early with AT&T.  The price of terminating your contract might be less than the extra money you will have to spend on the iPhone without a contract to have that freedom of switching providers whenever you would like.

As with any device having the chance for several options is usually a good thing and will force each company to produce a better product.  If Apple does in fact allow Opera’s new web browser to pass their application process it will be interesting to see how this browser works on the iPhone compared to the factory installed Safari browser iPhone customers utilize now. 

To me it sounds like this new Opera browser has the chance to be slightly quicker than the Safari browser is right now.  This would be a welcomed experience when I am using my iPhone.  Sometimes it can be quite frustrating when a website will not load quickly enough.  I would be very excited to test out the new Opera web browser to compare it to Safari.  If there is any chance of creating a faster web surfing experience while using my iPhone I am all for it.  But unfortunately it does not sound promising that Apple will actually approve of this new app since they have a track record of vetoing any app that mimics one they currently developed for the iPhone.

While this DropBox program has been available to iPhone users for some time now many Android fans have desperately been trying to get the developers to create an app for their Android phones.  While this app is not quite ready for Android users at the moment it is expected to be released in the next couple of months.  It is just great news for all Android users that DropBox has listened to their suggestions and are going to be releasing an Android app in the very near future.  This will give you a great opportunity to get familiar with the DropBox program and all it can do if you are unaware of DropBox.