Free money management web based service Mint.com has released their own mobile application for Apple iPhone users. The application enables users to monitor and track bank accounts from their handsets.

Similar to its online site, Mint’s iPhone app allows users to view balances, monitor budgets and check their net worth in real-time. In the event that an iPhone is lost or stolen, Mint.com has a feature which disables mobile access to the online account. 

– Your finances while traveling.
– Status on spending versus personalized budgets, and cash flow.
– Your investment performance, distributions and dividends.
–Alerts on bills due, unusually large expenses and deposits.

But because of the sensitive nature of the information, Mint recommends that users password-protect their mobile units. The service is now the top finance offering in the App Store, the company reports.

With the iPhone app, Mint delivers the same simple yet powerful experience you get from their web service — right to your cellphone. During this busy, festive season discover the comfort and joy of having access to your financial information anywhere, anytime.

Until now, neither Apple nor AT&T has sold the iPhone 3G online. Without much hullabaloo, Apple has quietly made the iPhone available online. You can now order an iPhone online from AT&T. The company is allowing customers the option of ordering an iPhone 3G on their store website for home delivery.

An iPhone 3G:

 - Is available in either 8GB or 16GB black/white configurations 

 - 8GB phone is being sold for $199US 

 - 16GB phone is being sold for $299US 

That’s not all. AT&T is also offering to revamp your existing iPhones starting at $149 for an 8GB model.

You can visit the AT&T online store for more information and ordering details.

However, don’t confuse this with activation. This means you only pay for the iPhone over the Internet and have it delivered to your front door. What Apple needs to do now is to pick up this challenge and allow online ordering along with activation.

This could potentially expand the market for the iPhone, as it could open the market for thousands of store-shy customers who are usually avid online users.

So the music industry is rapidly changing. No more lawsuits for kids steeling copyrighted music. The RIAA will now simply notify the users ISP that they are sharing this music. Does this seem like the RIAA is becoming more lenient to people who steal music & movies using the new napster like p2p networks? I see this as the RIAA giving up or throwing in the towel to speak. There are millions of songs being downloaded everyday by people who did not pay for them. Are they just giving up?

I think there must be a change in the way music is created and sold on the internet for this generation. Apple started the iTuens / iPod movement and it’s been very successful ever since.

An interesting iLounge article below:

The Recording Industry Association of America has announced that it is planning to end its tactics of suing individual users who are caught sharing music online. According to the Wall Street journal, the RIAA has opened legal proceedings against roughly 35,000 people since 2003, which has done little to stop the illegal downloading of music over the Internet. Instead of lawsuits, the group has instead made preliminary agreements with major ISPs under which users caught uploading music illegally will receive emails from the service provider asking them to stop, possibly accompanied by a degradation in connection speed. Should the user continue to illegally upload music, the ISP could eventually decide to cut off their access altogether. The ISPs with which the RIAA has already reached agreements have not yet been named.

Well it is now official, the Dev-Team has updated their blog today to let you all know when the iPhone 3G software unlock will be released. Seems as if New Years eve is what they are aiming for.

• The target release date for the unlock is New Year’s Eve 2008.
• This unlock method is available to iPhone 3Gs that have 2.11.07 baseband or earlier, we did warn you.
• The unlock requires a jailbroken 3G iPhone.

It’s Official from the iPhone Dev Team

3G Unlock

We have been working hard on a few other things. The main one being the 3G unlock codenamed “yellowsn0w”. This is now completed and is currently being packaged into a user-friendly application with the simplicity that you see in QuickPwn or BootNeuter.

• * The target release date for the unlock is New Year’s Eve 2008. * This unlock method is available to iPhone 3Gs that have 2.11.07 baseband or earlier, we did warn you. * You can tell what version baseband you have by going to Settings->General->About->Modem Firmware * The unlock requires a jailbroken 3G iPhone. It’ll be installable via Cydia and so it doesn’t matter if you have a Mac or PC. * Please refrain from updating your baseband, regardless of what version you’re at. We’ll have complete directions on New Year’s Eve. * We’ll stream a live demo of the unlock before Christmas (see the update at the end of this post)

DFU Issues in OS X 10.5.6

Lots of users have been experiencing problems with the use of DFU mode after applying yesterday’s 10.5.6 system update.

We believe this behavior is due to a kernel bug not a specific countermeasure by Apple. Possible fixes are (try at your own risk!) -

1. Replace the following plugin kexts from within IOUSBFamily.kext with the ones from 10.5.5 and then rebuild kextcache (if you don’t understand this, then you shouldn’t attempt it!)

/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBHub.kext

/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOUSBCompositeDriver.kext

1. Use a USB hub in-between the DFU device and the Mac and insert/reinsert the iPhone’s USB cable.

2. Use a PwnageTool created .ipsw on Windows! Oh the irony!

Most of us switch to laptops whenever we want to resend large files or check the delivery status of files sent to clients. A website called FileChute from Yellowmug.com makes sending files easy. It helps you to effortlessly upload and send large sized files.

FileChute is powerful because it can send all types of files that usually do not fit in an email like movie files, astronomical size image files etc. Using Filechute, you simply need to drag the file (large or small) to a target on the application and it will upload that file. You can specify if you want to compress the file and provide a short URL. FileChute then automatically creates an email with the URL ready to be sent. The recipient has to click on the URL to download the file, or see it displayed in a browser, depending on the type of file you have sent.

Recently, Yellow Mug added an iPhone version of the application which has made life really simple for iPhone users.

FileChute for iPhone is a companion app to FileChute. It runs on iPhone and iPod Touch with software update 2.1 or later. It lets you browse the files you have sent and resend them right from your cell phone. You can create and choose from multiple accounts, just like you can with FileChute on your Mac. For instance, now you can keep your favorite home movies in your “Friends” account and send that video clip to anyone from anywhere.

There are myriad ways to transfer files, but this application stands out because it makes it so easy. It also saves on time as now you can forward download links via your iPhone rather than emailing a link when you get back to the office.

This app is available for Free. All you need to do is download this app from AppStore

Apple has improved its Google Maps version by introducing many welcome additions. Maps on iPhone 3G combines GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell tower location technology with the Multi-Touch interface to create the best mobile map application ever. Now, you can find your location, get directions, and see traffic — all from your cell phone.

Google Maps on iPhone lets you switch between views of map data, satellite images, hybrid view, or street view. Multi-Touch including Tap to zoom, pan, and change your view on the move makes all the difference.

The most helpful and eye-catching feature of Google Maps is Street Views which Apple has seamlessly implemented into the iPhone. If you’re traveling to a location for the first time, it allows you to see a street-level image of the address or neighborhood you are looking for. You can pan around, go up and down and move forward by just pressing the onscreen arrow laid in your path.

In the past, you just got driving directions on your iPhone, but we all know that driving isn’t always the best way to get from location A to location B. With Google Transit in your iPhone, you can even plot the fastest course by foot.

The most interesting addition here is the transit routes, which gives you the ability to locate the nearest bus or subway line. Maps will tell you when the next bus or metro is leaving, when it is expected to arrive at your destination and also the cost. Now, you can switch between driving, walking, and public transportation with a single tap on your iPhone.

Google Maps has schedules for public transportation systems in more than 100 cities across the world. You can now avail this information on your iPhone. As more transportation agencies share their schedule information, their routes will be available on the iPhone the instant they appear in Google Maps on the web.

You can also email information about a location to your friends in the latest version of Google Maps for iPhone. Simply drop a pin to mark your location, bookmark it, or share it with others via email. This can be a boon when you are planning a get-together with your friends’.