Computerworld has the story.  A lawsuit that has been dragging on since the iPhone 1.1.1 update that bricked a lot of jailbroken iPhones got an interesting twist this week.  The plaintiffs in the case are requesting that Apple reveal the source code of the iPhone 1.1.1 software so they can ascertain whether or not Apple maliciously bricked jailbroken iPhones or whether is was just a by-product of the new software code.

Good luck with that. 

I can't think of anything that Apple would want to give up less than that source code, even if it is two years and iterations old.

Bad news for those Android users who were hoping to get the same level of game access as exists on the iPhone.  It doesn't look like it is happening.  Gameloft and companies like them have started to scale back their Android investments, according to someone who should know, Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefor (Bolds are ours):

"We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like ... many others," Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort said at an investor conference. Rochefort said the company has cut back on investment mostly due to weaknesses of Android's application store. "It is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue," Rochefort said. Games for iPhone generated 13 percent of Gameloft's revenue in the last quarter. "We are selling 400 times more games on iPhone than on Android," Rochefort said.

400 to one isn't a good ratio for Android no matter how big a lead the iPhone has had.

You might be able to find a refurbished iPhone for $49 off...but only if if it is refurbished.  Even chain discounter Walmart only takes $2 off the price of the iPhone and there are never sales.  Apple simply doesn't discount it, ever (we'll see about Black Friday). 

Verizon/Motorola have taken a different approach with their top handset.  Merely a week after launch, the Droid has already lost $80 in value over at Dell who are selling it for $120 with plan.  This follows news that the Palm Pre is selling for $79.99 at Amazon (Pixie is $24.99 - not even enough to qualify for free shipping - zoikes).

Why are Verizon and Motorola so quick to discount the Droid when apparently it has been flying off of shelves?

Sony plans to launch its own music, movies and gaming service, based on its existing PlayStation Network (PSN), which already has 33 million users.

The new store, which enhances Sony’s competitiveness with Apple’s iTunes service and associated digital media products, is also expected to sell eBooks and mobile apps. The store may be called Sony Online Service (SOS?), but the company isn’t yet prepared to commit to a name or launch date.

In addition to selling digital content, the store will allow consumers to use their online accounts to save, upload and share digital content. “Sony will have a one-to-one relationship with customers to offer subscription services, cloud storage of personal content, as well as unique entertainment,” said Howard Stringer, chairman, CEO and president at an investor meeting in Tokyo.

The company plans to have consumers register for the service the moment they pull a TV or music player out of the box, Sony’s Kazuo Hirai told BusinessWeek.

SEGA has announced Super Monkey Ball 2 for the iPhone (video above), with the games development company stressing it has many more games in development for the Apple mobile platform, a platform expected to account for 24 percent of portable game sales by 2014. Read on...

Fresh from MacRumors comes news of Apple’s latest patent filing - a system which will allow (third-party?) remote controls to offer users the same graphical user interface (GUI) as they expect to find on an iPod, iPhone or other Apple device.

The patent was filed in May 2008 and published today. The inventors include William Bull, former iPod User Interface manager at Apple and currently Senior Director of Mobile User Experience at Yahoo as well as former Apple executive Tony Fadell, known as the "father of the iPod".

The patent explains that while various accessories do exist for Apple devices, they tend to be controlled by remotes with different interfaces and features than those offered by Cupertino. This means some features just don’t work.

Here’s an app that’s raising some attention at the moment - Star Wars: Trench Run ($4.99).

Perhaps signal that sales are slowing, Amazon has slashed the price of the Palm Pre to $79.99 with a two-year service plan from Sprint and now include free activation of the phone in the box.

Amazon is also offering the Palm Pixi for just $24.99 (with free activation). In contrast, Sprint currently sells the Pre for $149.99 and the Pixi for $99.99.

Palm shipped an update to the Palm Pre’s webOS (1.3.1) two days ago - this at last dispensed with the company’s hack to get iTunes sync working and added a few bug fixes and features.

However, the Pre has suffered mixed reviews and hasn’t transpired to be the iPhone killer the company had hoped. Facing intensified competition from Apple’s iPhone, the much-hyped Droid and BlackBerry 9700, Pre’s fortunes reflect the increasingly competitive landscape of the smartphone industry.

Who put the iPhone in accessiblity? Dynamic Controls did. The company has integrated an iPhone into its power wheelchair electronics, enabling powered wheelchair users to use them as normal while also gaining access to detailed information and control system access of their chair using the device.

Latest word out of Cisco is that they haven't yet ceded the ultra portable video camera throne to Apple's iPod Nano.  In fact, they have a Wifi update planned for the Flip line.  The new Flips will be able to upload videos to (assuming here) Youtube and Facebook type sites for immediate sharing with friends and family.  Still pictures should also be uploadable as well.  Pocket-Lint is also saying it won't have a touch screen viewfinder and it should be an early 2010 release. 

Details are thin on the ground at the moment, but we've been informed by a Cisco spokesperson that the new model will feature "a large screen that slides to reveal the record and menu buttons underneath" allowing users to see what is going on when they are recording video.

Overall, this leak looks like bad timing for Cisco.  Having a new product outed the week before Black Friday isn't a good strategy.   To celebrate, Amazon has marked down the current Flip models by considerable margins.

And if you are into the Flip, you might want to check out the slightly more expensive but way cooler Casio Exilm EX-G1 camera.  It is waterproof, takes 12 megapixel stills and wide format video.