Microsoft and Yahoo have agreed to the terms of an online search and advertising deal that will be announced as soon as Wednesday, according to reports.

More specifically, Palm’s biggest cheerleader at financial backer, Elevation Partner, Roger McNamee famously gaffed that:

“You know the beautiful thing: June 29, 2009, is the two-year anniversary of the first shipment of the iPhone,” McNamee said today in an interview in San Francisco. “Not one of those people will still be using an iPhone a month later.”

Well, today is July 29, 2009 — two years later and a month later. Given that Apple sold 5.2 million iPhones last quarter, and AT&T activated 2.5 million of those babies, we’re leaning towards a number somewhat higher than “not one.”

Hey, maybe that’s what he meant? Quite clearly, “millions” means “not one”… right?

(Note: Palm did retract McNamee’s hyperbole with a speed that would make Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer Open-Mic Reaction Team (SBOMRT) envious.)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Palm’s Roger McNamee Wants to Know if You’re Still Using an iPhone?

As Jeremy posted earlier, Apple wiped the iTunes App Store clean of all traces of Google Voice, both the official Google version and third party clients like GV Voice. (Rumor has it at the behest of AT&T)

GV Voice, however, didn’t take their removal lying down. Nope, they (meaning developer Sean Kovacs) picked themselves right up, marched over to Cydia, and promptly made themselves available for Jailbreak.

And, weirdly, it’s getting to the point that we’re wondering if this isn’t “the plan” all along.

Apple provides a closed appliance with strict and nebulously enforced rules for its App Store, placating carriers, and making a device so simple it’s become the first true consumer smartphone success. At the same time, Jailbreak provides a de facto “expert” or “pro” version of the iPhone for those willing (and able) to do the work, at no training or support cost to Apple, and with complete deniability in terms of carrier and media agreements.

Whether we think Apple and/or AT&T are evil, Google is competitive, or whatever, with GV Mobile, Qik, and all the other apps available via Jailbreak, are iPhone users actually getting the best of both worlds…?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

GV Mobile Brings Google Voice to iPhone… via Cydia for Jailbreak

A Canadian buffet of Rogers news today, with Q2 financial results, an update on the current out-of-stock situation at Rogers, Fido, and Apple Canada, and the beginning of an HSPA+ super-fast 3G rollout.

First up, Bloomberg (via MDN) reports that Rogers that ARPU (average revenue per user) was down $1.47 as customers curbed long-distance and travel, while total sales rose 3.1%. As to the iPhone in particular, the introduction of the iPhone 3GS and $99 price point for the iPhone 3G helped Rogers add 148,000 subscribers this quarter.

Second, TUAW reports that Rogers, their subsidiary Fido, and Apple Stores (which just began carrying the iPhone in Canada on June 19) are all in short supply or completely sold out of iPhones. Given that Apple reported 5.2 million sold last quarter amid shortages, and is planning to fill out 80 countries by the end of the year, we can only repeat Dieter’s abject shock at the continuing sales volumes…

Third, and funnest (TM iPod touch),Engadget Mobile says Rogers is ready to rock and roll with HSPA+ at 21Mbps. Zoom. Zoom. The GTA will get initial love, though Rogers says it will expand quickly to other cities. Since the iPhone 3GS only supports up to 7.2Mbps, we’re not likely to benefit directly, though we only get half that currently so who knows…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Rogers Canada Roundup: Q2 Financial Results, Out of Stock, and 21Mbps HSPA+ Testing

The LocalEats restaurant guide app has added mobile coupons for New York eateries, with plans to roll out the feature to other cities as well.

Samsung introduced a new mobile processor core similar to the one in the iPhone 3GS. Nicknamed 'Hummingbird', the chip runs at 1GHz, compared to the 600Mhz chip in the iPhone. Theoretically, such a chip could potentially be used in future iPhone models with only minor changes.

Fortune summarizes numerous reports on the ongoing negotiations between Apple and China Unicom to bring the iPhone to one of the largest cell phone markets in the world. Both Reuters and AFP report information from a China Unicom spokesperson that the companies are still in negotiations, while Shanghai Security News says they have already reached a conclusion and a deal has already been made.

WhoPaste 3.0 brings a number of improvements to the contact import utility, including the ability to generate e-mail-to-SMS addresses from mobile phone numbers.

Camera manufacturer Ricoh has announced the release of the GR Digital III, a successor to the well-received GR Digital II.

First we found out that Sean Kovacs' Google Voice iPhone app GV Mobile was kicked out of the App Store. Then we learned that Google's own official Google Voice app was rejected entirely by Apple six weeks ago. We also learned that Google would be taking the app to the realm of the iPhone's Mobile Safari. Now, perhaps as a sort of weird happy ending to all of this, GV Mobile becomes a free app for jailbreakers via Safari. 

In a blog post, Sean Kovacs, the creator of the app, writes:

Looks like Apple/AT&T pissed off a lot of people…lol
Anyway, I’ll be releasing GV Mobile v1.2 on Cydia for free today or tomorrow, with an update coming in a couple weeks. Why free? People pirate it anyway, so why not. I do appreciate everyone that bought it - you are the ones that fueled this app to be what it is today. That doesn’t mean you have to go get a refund (because that would hurt me, not Apple).
Let’s put some pressure on Google to release the API for Google Voice! Then I can start doing some really cool shit stuff… 

UPDATE: Complain to Apple @ http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

To get the app, you'll need to jailbreak first. Follow this link for a simple guide.