MacRumors

The lack of a true instant messaging client for the iPhone has been an issue for some. Meebo.com is a popular web-based client which offers support for AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, and MSN -- all in one interface.

Unfortunately, the iPhone was unable to use the Meebo interface due to the lack of a "Send" button. iPhone users were unable to otherwise submit their instant messages.

It looks like the Meebo team has responded and made the appropriate changes, so Meebo now works from the iPhone. The "Go" button appears on the iPhone keyboard and submits your messages.

This tip comes from David Pogue's Missing Manual and is appropriately titled "Pogue's Awesome iPhone Period-Typing Shortcut.

One difficulity in typing on the iPhone is adding proper punctuation as the punctuation keys are on an alternate keyboard, requiring you to press the ".?123" to switch to the puncutation keyboard and then click on "ABC" key to return to the Qwerty keyboard. But no more...

So heres what you can do, all in one motion:

1. Touch the ".?123" key, but dont lift your finger as the punctuation layout appears.

2. Slide your finger a half inch onto the period or comma key, and release.

Incredibly, the ABC layout returns automatically. You've typed a period or a comma with one finger touch instead of three. In fact, you can type ANY of the punctuation symbols the same way.

Techonline reports on a chip level teardown of the iPhone, identifying the various componenets it is made up of.

Many of the chips are Apple branded components, making their exact identification more difficult.

One minor annoyance in iPhone's Safari is that the URL bar scrolls off the top of the screen along with the rest of the page when you scroll down a web page. As a result, in order to enter a new url, you are required to scroll all the way back up before being able to enter a new address.

Forum member dharrison9 described a very useful tip to address this issue.

1. You're at the bottom (or anywhere) of a webpage on your iPhone and want to go to the URL field.
2. Tap the top bar with the time and battery life indicator.
3. Boom! You're at the URL entry field!

On iPhone night, I picked up the Skintight from Speck. It cost $29.95 and included in the box were two cases and a belt clip. I slipped on the case as per the instructions and....

It fits ridiculously! Ive tried both the clear and the pink, and theyre both utterly terrible. They pucker at both ends, they dont sit flat, the phone will pop out of the clip if you move at all!

The plastic also feels really cheap. Compared to the DLO JamJacket I had for my 3G iPod, this plastic feels horrendous and like the plastic Id find in a Happy Meal toy.

The pink plastic is cute, though. I like that about it! The case also has a cutout for the camera, something I was worried many cases would have overlooked. The screen is easily accessible and the earpiece, speakers, and microphone arent covered by the case.

Spare yourself, dont buy this case. Im going to find my receipt and return it on Wednesday. This case is terrible. Except for the color pink, its cute. But thats not a reason to get a case.

And in fun iPhone news: iPhone scores me a free Soy Chai at Starbucks today!

After work, I went to Starbucks and I was checking my email on my iPhone. I set it down on the counter to get my wallet, and the Barista asks if its an iPhone. I tell him it is, and he asks if he can see it. I pass it to him, reach for my credit card, and he tells me its on the house because Im letting him play with it.

I asked if I could take a picture for the blog:

Anyone else have any fun I let someone see my iPhone and then... stories? Share em! :)

Scooterdman describes how to stream Google Videos straight to your iPhone.

For example, in the MacRumors Interview video, you simply choose Video iPod/PSP from the Download popup, and the download will start and automatically launch in Apple's Video viewer on the iPhone.

Jason Friend of 37 Signals reveals that TaDaList.com's iPhone version is now live.

Ta-Da List is a web-based to-do list tool. The iPhone version is available at the same web address: TaDaList.com -- simply browse there with your iPhone. Jason provides more screenshots in his blog.

Despite citing 2-4 week delays in iPhone shipments made from the online Apple Store, Apple has notified some customers that their iPhones will ship by July 6th (Friday):

Good news! We're happy to let you know your iPhone will ship by July 6th, 2007. Visit Order Status for the most current information on your order. iPhone orders will ship in the order they were placed. We're working hard to ship your iPhone as soon as possible. Thank you again for shopping on the online Apple Store.

Apple started accepting online orders for iPhones on June 29th at 6pm PT.

Businessweek reports on an iPhone tear down by Portelligent which estimates the component cost of the iPhone at $220.

Portelligent estimates that the cost of the materials used in the iPhone add up to about $200 for the 4-gigabyte version, which sells for $499 and about $220 for the 8-gigabyte version, which sells for $599. Their estimate doesn't include costs of final assembly, but it does give some insight into the gross margin on the device

It seems some guessing was still involved as the cost of the touch-screen ($60) was admittedly an "educated guess". Even the identify of the manufacturer of the screen was based on guesswork:

Carey told BusinessWeek that his analysis found no apparent markings that identified the screen's origin. But Balda's role in the screen has been something of an open secret in the wireless industry since the iPhone was first announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in January.

Regardless, these breakdown costs only indicate raw component costs and do not include assembly, research, development or even boxing/packaging.

JohnMuch.com posted some Javascript benchmarks of the 8GB iPhone compared to his 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM. He ran a number of different online benchmarks including JSSpeed:

iPhone

Try/Catch with errors 378
Layer movement 3078
Random number engine (Did not compute)
Math engine 3474
DOM speed Testing (998/1000)
Array functions 1739
String functions 535
Ajax declaration 1089
Total Duration: 10293 ms

Macbook Pro

Try/Catch with errors 5
Layer movement 33
Random number engine 28
Math engine 43
DOM speed 21
Array functions 10
String functions 11
Ajax declaration 8
Total Duration 159 ms

More benchmark results are available with links to tools to try yourself. [via Ajaxian]

Apple has posted an iPhone Battery Replacement FAQ and policy.

The replacement program costs $79 plus $6.95 in shipping and takes three business days for service. All daya will be cleared from your phone so it is important to sync your iPhone with iTunes prior to service.