YouTube goes mobile and is confirmed for iPhone, while VoIP ruffles more feathers
It's the Pocket Picks round-up
The week's mobile news began with YouTube finally rolling out a mobile version of its infamous video sharing service, prompting commuters everywhere to mutter, "At last!"
YouTube will even be available on the iPhone (and is at this very minute being recoded in its entirety in QuickTime). It will appear on the iPhone's front end as a specific application, ending speculation about what the mysterious twelfth icon is.
In other iPhone news, the first images of the iPhone dock emerged, looking pristine, white and very Apple. On the software side, Google reveaked its intentions, leaking that there will be more Google apps for the iPhone in the future.
Less welcome was news that the iPhone's Safari web browser may not be all that Apple has promised in its adverts, with Flash and Java not set for inclusion, rendering huge portions of the internet largely unviewable on the device. Still, at least the finished hardware will boast a longer battery life and a tougher screen than was originally thought. There was also a rather suspect rumour doing the rounds about the possibility of Nintendo making games for the iPhone, something that we would love to see but are more than a little sceptical about.
Very much the trend of the minute, VoIP (basically making phone calls cheaply over the Internet) made several appearances on Pocket Picks throughout the week. First up was a rumour that VoIP app Fring is set to get a Windows Mobile release, followed closely by Truphone and Vyke, which are both currently prodding the carrier hornet's nest with a large stick. News too that IM+ for Skype Software, the remote Skype client, is making the jump to Symbian S60 phones.
Meanwhile, one of Pocket Pick's more nomadic wordsmiths travelled stateside to cover the Brew Conference 2007, which has so far included an extended test spin of LG's latest Brew-optimized handsets as well as news that Sky and 3 are both brewing (forgive us) something for the platform.
Mobile games stole some Pocket Picks space this week, too, with news that Katamari Damacy is now available for mobiles in Japan as well as some fresh shots of the new N-Gage platform's live environment. There was some other unseen mobile entertainment at the ready from ROK Comics, a fantastic site specialising in free user-created mobile comics.
Lastly, some less newsworthy mobile nibbles: phone lingerie, bikinis and handcuffs, a Thundercats Symbian theme, a Levis mobile phone, and The Onion's hilarious iPhone ad pastiche.
Click 'Track It!' to catch next week's Pocket Picks update, which is due post-iPhone launch. Yes, you can officially start getting giddy now.