Around the Web, July 6

MacBook Transformer
OK, it’s all in French, but we thought we’d start the day’s news with a really rather cool YouTube clip, which shows an Apple MacBook making like a Transformer. S’worth a look – and there’s even more news after the break!!

Console gaming: The Future’s Apple?
Digital Spy chimes in with a close look at the low-hanging fruit which is console gaming and the Apple platforms. It states the success of gaming on the iPhone and iPod touch now present Apple with a chance to enter the console gaming market, but warns such a move may not be immediate.
Chris Ulm, co-founder of iPhone games developer Appy Entertainment reckons the Apple TV is the change agent for Apple in the console space, observing: "People often have eight or nine boxes under their TVs to control home entertainment – gaming machines, DVD players, cable boxes – it’s a big mess..Apple might look at this and say that people only need one box that does all those things.”
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Hot iPhone? Blame the heatwave
There’s been a flurry of reports in recent days as heatwave-suffering iPhone 3GS owners complain their devices are running hot, too hot. Apple now says the heat isn’t a technical fault – instead it’s simply a by product of leaving your iPhone in your car. “Don’t leave your iPhone in a car where temperatures can exceed the -20C to 45C range”, the company warns. And if your iPhone does get too hot, just switch it off and let it cool down…
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Social apps for iPhone $100 million VC prize
Oh we love a good statistic, so take a look at Chubby Brain’s latest data which indicates social networks are gathering more VC cash than games developers – 31 per cent of $100 million in tracked investments is going into social apps, with 22 per cent spurring the games market. And one more fact, fact fans, the amount of investment directly correlates to the number of iPhones sold, though we can’t pretend to be overly surprised at that particular factoid.
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iBig in Japan
Lookee-lookee: New data shows the 8GB iPhone 3GS has emerged as Japan’s biggest-selling smartphone, with the 16GB model as the second biggest-selling device. Smartphone sales in the tech-savvy nation have shot up 80 per cent in a year, with a million iPhones sold in Japan since launch in July 08.
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iPhone unlocked
There’s a few around speculating the release of the unsubsidised iPhone 3GS may generate an increase in interest in jailbreaking second user models. Now teen hacker George Hotz has released purplea1n, a jailbreaking tool for iPhones. Set to work with v.3.0 software, the tools currently Windows only, though a Mac version is allegedly “in the works”.
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iPod touch will host a camera?
News just in claims Apple has placed a huge order of camera modules with its manufacturers in Asia. Citing analysts, these reports claim these cameras are destined for inclusion in a future version of the iPod touch, which Apple regularly updates in September (my, is it July already!!!).
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Signing off, more tomorrow.