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Another day, another potential problem with MobileMe? Fair enough, some Windows users were made a little hyper-sensitive a while back when Apple included Safari as a pre-selected update alongside Windows iTunes 7.6. An uproar arose, and Apple responded by shifting Safari slightly downward and into its own section.

Now comes word that iTunes 7.7 installed a MobileMe section into Windows Control Panel (similar to the Quicktime section) -- whether you use MobileMe or not.

Sure, we're hard on the BlackBerry here at TiPb, what with its aging operating system (it still has legs, sure, but one suspects they're coming up on the limits of the OS's capabilities), its tic-tac keyboard (although, honestly, I still prefer physical keyboard myself), and its sad little browser. One thing we haven't touched on yet, though, is how RIM (like every other Smartphone company out there) has utterly missed the boat when it comes to 3rd party application developers. You probably know where this is going, but Apple's App Store may just be the biggest deal of all the big deals that have come out in the past two weeks. Lest you think we're totally biased, let us point you to this excellent essay by a (former?) BlackBerry developer: "Galileo and Apples."

The Seidio Slim Rubberized Hard Case for iPhone is available here at the Phone different Store for $29.95.  With so many choices to protect and stylize your iPhone, how does this case measure up?  Read on for the full review!

Depending on your carrier, their terms of service (TOS), and your willingness to break said terms and face possible consequences including death-by-over-billing, you can now tether you newly pwned/jailbroken iPhone 3G to your laptop to share the mobile 3G internet connection anywhere and everywhere you go (your coverage area, of course, may vary).

The process is a little involved, according to Macrumors (via Cre.ations.net):

We told you that today's earnings would be thin on iPhone details and that is definitely the case. Apple's just posted their 3rd quarter results and the results are: dizzang!

Dig the full results (minus the legal speak) after the break. Here's the short version: a record number of Macs were sold, just shy of 2.5 million, which works out to about 41% growth year over year, 43% revenue growth. That's ALottaMacs, friends, and it helped Apple hit a quarterly profit of over a billion dollars on $7.46 billion in revenue -- both significant increases over the same quarter last year. Margins were down a hair, but whatev -- Apple's selling Macs, dig?

We can't wait to see what the financial results are for iPhone sales (they'll come next quarter), but we have a sneaking suspicion that numbers like these mean that the just-dandy sales for iPhones 2 quarters ago have translated into quite a few people getting interested in replacing a PC with a Mac. As Mac-users ourselves, we welcome you folks to the fold. Are you a recent switcher? Was it the Halo effect? Is your new iPhone 3G spotting a shiny halo that has you thinking Mac for your next purchase?

My iPhone 3G, 16gb in the white flavor, has hardware issues. As I reported in our forums, it started with the volume-down button not working, and then the issue seemed to spread to volume up, the ringer switch, and the sleep button. A full restore from iTunes didn't save it -- confirmed hardware. Having no Apple Store nearby, I decided to give Apple's phone support a try. Twenty minutes on hold and a few questions later, they sent me a box. The procedure is very simple, read on for the mini-gallery and return process details.

In the continuing saga of the launch that's more and more like a sputter (though hopefully not a full crash and burn, right Apple?), MobileMe is reporting:

1% of MobileMe members cannot access MobileMe Mail. We apologize for any inconvenience.

TUAW is saying that the problem might be (or getting ready to become), larger?

Personally, I'm having NO PROBLEMS whatsoever. Email, fine. Push, fine. Web access, fine.

How about you?

Is the faulty launch making everyone hyperaware and quick to find (and post) problems? Or is MobileMe really cursed by scaling bugs?

Between the time you click a link and a web page finishes loading on your iPhone, there are many factors that ultimately decide just how fast that process will be, including connection speed (2.5 G EDGE/3G HSDPA/WiFi) CPU speed, and rendering engine. Like desktop Safari, Mobile Safari uses Apple's open source WebKit rendering engine, and it seems like for 2.0, WebKit has gotten its turbo on, especially in handling Javascript. Says Daring Fireball:

Masseym drops our latest Lightning Review, for MLB At Bat ($4.99 at iTunes), which we publish today even though masseym clearly was trying to play this Minnesota boy's heart by using a Twins game in his screenshot. We're publishing Lightning reviews of iPhone apps nearly every day, write your review in our forums and you'll get a chance to win a 25% off coupon to our iPhone accessories Store. Click here for full details!

As an avid baseball fan (ok, just the Mets) living in Texas, I was excited when MLB announced their app. I could see the strike/ball/out counts live and then watch highlight clips from anywhere in the world! What an exciting application.

Friend Book envelopes and extends the iPhone's built-in Contacts app. Divided into three parts, a photo contact viewer and manager, a wireless contact exchanger, and photo dialer, it gives contacts some fabulous new abilities, though sometimes at the expense of quirky new constraints.

Note: I grabbed Friend Book pretty much the instant it was released on the App Store. Since then, it's been taken down to address an issue with contact permissions but should return shortly. If any functionality changes in the re-release, I'll update here.

Read on for the walkthrough, after the break!