Sibling site WMExperts, which -- while Dieter doffs his WinMo cap and rounds his robin reviewing the iPhone -- brings us Phil Nickinson's exception to iPhone OS 2.2's Podcast Download feature.

Okay, it's not cut and paste, lack of MMS, no unified inbox, no Flash, etc. etc. In all fairness, it's an interesting look at some of the things we here at TiPb complain about as well, pointedly the 10MB cap for podcast downloads over the 3G network (you have to switch to WiFi for anything larger, same as the App Store has enforced since iPhone OS 2.0):

It’s this kind of manipulation from Apple that keeps a good many of us from wanting to deal with the company (and frustrates many who do). It’s not that the hardware’s not sexy. It’s not that the software is lacking. It’s that lines are being blurred, or destroyed. Apple makes the hardware, and AT&T provides the service. There’s too much collusion going on. If AT&T wants to set a 5-gigabyte cap on my data, fine. But don’t tell me how to use those gigs. And don’t use Apple as a proxy to do so.

The only problem with the argument? The inclusion of Apple.

Look no further than the very next day on WMExperts, when Dieter posted a rant of his own, asking people to help save GPS on Windows Mobile, which we'll paraphrase thusly:

It’s this kind of manipulation from [Microsoft and the OEMs] that keeps a good many of us from wanting to deal with the company (and frustrates many who do). It’s not that the hardware’s not sexy. It’s not that the software is lacking. It’s that lines are being blurred, or destroyed. [Microsoft and the OEMs] make the [software and hardware], and [Verizon] provides the service. There’s too much collusion going on. If [Verizon] wants to [lock down the GPS that's not fine]. [And] don’t tell me [I have to pay to subscribe to Telenav in order to do it]. And don’t use [Microsoft and the OEMs] as a proxy to do so.

See what we're getting at? Targeting Apple and the iPhone -- which hits the rabbit-eared AT&T 3G towers like Elmer Fudd with a rail gun -- for redirecting high-bandwidth traffic to WiFi, when Verizon is locking out GPS entirely is platform division at the expense of a united front against a common enemy. It's the WinPot calling the iKettle black in a cupboard full of charred cooking ware, and it misses the main culprit: the carrier fire.

Now, while Apple has done more in it's brief 1 1/2 years in the mobile space to break the carrier locks than Microsoft or any other megacorps have done in a decade it's still not enough. Just imagine what could happen if Microsoft put their own, still ginormous weight behind reform. Imagine if Google, rather than taking the carrier-centric, business-as-usual Android licensing route put their "don't be evil" mantra where their handset was? Imagine if RIM, rather than letting carriers rip WiFi from the Blackberry Storm, stood up told the carriers just where exactly they could push their odiferous demands? Imagine if Apple told AT&T to invest a little in infrastructure cause unlimited means unlimited and podcast downloads they are a coming!

Those are the rants I want to see more of, and in more places.

Go get 'em, tigers!

PS: Particularly perplexing with the current 10MB cap on podcasts in iPhone OS 2.2 is that they only apply to direct downloads. Hitting the title, on the other hand, will begin to stream the podcast over 3G (or WiFi) without any such limitations or restrictions. What's up with that? Anyone know if streaming traffic is any different for the 3G network than download traffic?

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• Review: Naked Case Touch-Through Acrylic Case
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• Safari's New Look (Daring Fireball)
• How To: Get Our iPhone Podcasts Over the Air
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We've heard about podcast downloads being added to iPhone OS 2.2 before, but now Macrumors (via Shimanke.com -- check out their screenshots) has more details how the process will work. In response to Chad's fears of overwhelming AT&T's fragile 3G network (aka "rabbit ears"), it looks like cell downloads will be limited to podcasts under 10MB, the same limitation currently imposed on App Store purchases over 3G. Both audio and video podcasts will be available for download, however, and on WiFi there's no limitation.

Could TV Shows and even Movies be next? And with Exchange, MobileMe, and other sync services storming the "clouds", what does this mean for the days of USB tethering to your Mac or PC?

Meanwhile, the App Store looks to have a cosmetic makeover, with categories now sporting the icons of some of their most popular Apps (i.e., Social Networking shows the Facebook icon).

Lastly, still no sign of Push Notification, which Macrumors hears via the whisper-net is still having "major issues". After the disastrous MobileMe rollout, could Apple be waiting to get it right the first time?

But hey, at least we're still getting all those Google Maps improvements!

Hot on the heels of all the iPhone 2.2 firmware Beta 2 goodness from Google, which included Street-View, Transit and Walking Directions, and Location Sharing, comes word on a couple more features for us to rumor over. TUAW says:

A tipster shared with us some screenshots of the new firmware, including what appears to be the ability to download podcasts directly to your iPhone (and presumably your iPod touch)

TUAW says this could explain Apple's rejection of PodCaster, but an explanation still does not a justification make. Still, this would be awesome functionality for those who don't always have a chance to tether and sync for their podcasts. We're guessing it will still be limited to WiFi only, however, like the iTunes store, to limit carrier data load for 50MB+ sound files -- and even them will the (typically much larger) video podcasts be enabled?

MacRumors (via iPhoneHellas), meanwhile, shows off a new alert box that asks users deleting an application to rate it prior to deletion. Valuable metrics, or Just Another Annoying Pop-up?