Review: Samsung m620 helped by Telus, but no iPhone...

When Sprint unveiled the Samsung UpStage this spring and lowered prices at its direct-download music store, both it and Samsung clearly hoped to take a bite out of the iPod, iTunes, and (unintentionally) the iPhone by dedicating a whole surface of the cellphone to media controls. Apple hasn't lost sleep, but it was clear that music was a much more serious concern for carriers besides AT&T. Now, the Canadian provider Telus has made its own attempt at replicating the buzz surrounding the UpStage with its own version, simply titled the m620. Does the combination of the dual-sided media controls with Telus' music subscriptions and XM radio stations help the device in the light of its main competition?

Hacks automate iPhone 3rd-party apps, terminal...

Enthusiasts have successfully streamlined the processes of both installing third-party programs to the iPhone and command-line access to its inner workings, according to updates from both developer communities. A new beta of the Installer.app utility is now said to completely automate the process of derestricting (or jailbreaking) the iPhone's file system and uploading a software package manager to the Apple device. Once installed, the Mac OS X app allows the iPhone to download and install Books or any of the other unofficial third-party programs already written for the device simply by using either local Wi-Fi or an EDGE connection.

EA finally delivers four Mac gaming titles...

After a few weeks of delays, Electronic Arts on Friday evening finally announced that some of its much-anticipated Mac OS X games will be available later this week, while others are expected to ship later this month. Since EA's public announcement at WWDC, the company was very coy about the delays. Four titles are available now for order: Battlefield 2142, Need for Speed Carbon, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars (trailers of which are available on Apple's website) are the "first games ever" published by EA for Mac OS X, according to release. The games are now available for order via the Apple Store and at Apple's retail stores nationwide later this month: Need for Speed Carbon and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be available on Tuesday, August 21, and Battlefield 2142 and Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars will be available on Tuesday, August 28.