The Google Plus social network has kicked into high gear, despite a limited number of available invites over the first few weeks. Starting today it’s even easier for iOS users to share with Circles, follow a Stream or do rapid-fire messaging with a Huddle: the iPhone app for Google+ is now in the US store.

The free app supports the Stream, Circles and Huddle features; it’s just now downloading on our iPhones so we’ll check out the detailed options shortly. Enjoy, Plussians!

A few quick notes: the app is truly iPhone-only, and will not install on the iPod touch or iPad. Some users running the iOS 5 beta report crashes, which is unsurprising but worth mentioning. Also, it’s very difficult to search for the app in the App Store (one would think that the world’s largest search company would know that ‘+’ is a common search modifier and tricky to include in a literal search string); the easiest way to find it, short of the direct link, is to browse the list of all the apps published by Google.

Thanks to MediaKat for the tip.

Update: The app was updated within an hour of release. Fastest update we’ve ever seen. From the app’s description it appears to have been an issue on Apple’s end (ouch!):

We discovered an issue with the version of the iPhone Google+ App that was on the App Store. When we launched, the App Store started serving a previous test version of the App which didn’t have the stability and fixes that the latest version had. It started serving the correct version a little later. If you downloaded within the first 1 hour 40 mins, you may have downloaded the older test version.

One of the french blog NoWhereElse nicely showing rumors regarding the iPhone 5. There are lots of rumors going for the next generation iPhone 5. Like the iPhone 5 will definitely get the new A5 processor which is dual core processor, other rumors are NFC chip technology for near field payment, 3D, 4 inch screen, metal back.

Next generation iPhone 5 is rumor to be launch on jun 2011 at WWDC or at  September.

Steve Hemmerstoffer from nowhereelse.fr, showcases 27 of the most popular iPhone 5 rumors to hit the web. He also has added in some percentages that indicate how likely a feature is to actually become reality on next iPhone 5 generation. Read more…

iOS 4.3 Software and features

This update available from today, contains new features and improvements, including the following:

• Personal Hotspot*
- Share iPhone 4 cellular data connection with up to 5 devices (combination of up to 3 Wi-Fi, 3 Bluetooth, and 1 USB)
• iTunes Home Sharing
- Play music, movies and TV shows from a shared iTunes library on a Mac or PC (requires iTunes 10.2)
• New AirPlay features**
- Play videos from the Photos app including the Camera Roll album, iTunes previews, enabled third-party apps
and websites on Apple TV
- Play slideshows from Photos on Apple TV using
transitions available on Apple TV Read more…

Apple has an official Twitter account for the App Store, appropriately named @appstore, which promises “official App Store tweets including featured apps, exclusive offers, and more.”

The first post from the account came only a few hours ago, but there are already 80,000 followers signed up.

One of the questions that people have had with the Mac App Store was the question of “discoverability” of apps on the store that aren’t “featured” or on the “top” lists; hopefully this account will be one more way for Apple to get the word out about new apps that you might not otherwise hear about. If you aren’t a Twitter user, you can always follow the RSS feed for the account. If you’re on Facebook, App Store is there, too.

Nearly two months after a licensing issue arose between the creators of the open-source VLC platform and creators of the VLC iOS application, Apple has removed the application from their App Store.

If that wasn’t enough, Courmont’s response to Apple pulling the VLC app from the App Store comes off as incredibly spiteful: ” At last, Apple has removed VLC media player from its application store.

But this time, the removal of one of the most popular free apps for iPhone and iPad has nothing to do with Apple and the app review team’s rules.

The situation is one of the prominent examples of conflict between the open-source GNU General Public License, which is tied to the VLC player, and the terms detailed in Apple’s own App Store licensing.

In a move that’s sure to make users stand up and say “Hallelujah,” the latest update to the Skype app for iPhone finally adds video calling.

The newest version of the app will allow users to make video Skype to Skype calls from their iPhone via Wi-Fi and 3G, and also call Skype desktop users on both OS X and Windows (and we presume their sorely neglected Linux users), as well as those using Skype on their iPhones and iPads.

Naturally, if you’re on an iPad, you won’t get to send video back — and you have to deal with the iPhone interface since there isn’t a native Skype app for the iPad. But, iPad 2 could change that. If the new hardware is released with a camera, Skype will be ready for it, and hopefully with an iPad-optimized app as well.

So, have fun with video chatting via Skype and let us know what you think of it in the comments!

Thanks for the fast tip, Daniel!

NFC technology comes to the iPhone 4 thanks to the Japanese
carrier SoftBank, which is offering Sony’s FeliCa payment system
for the iPhone 4. The system includes an NFC-enabled “seal” that
affixes to the back of the iPhone 4 and is compatible with the
official Apple bumper case. From the carrier’s press release, the
system functions independent of the iPhone, so you do not have to
install specialized software for the system to work. Three
different vendor systems will be available including those from
WAON, Nanaco and Edy, a bitWallet solution. This NFC solution will
be available for ¥2,980 (US$36) starting February 2011. Of course,
iPhone customers interested in NFC technology may want to wait for
the iPhone 5 to arrive. The next generation iPhone may include an
integrated NFC chip that would let you use your smartphone as an
electronic wallet, a security passkey or even an eTicketing device
for concerts, conferences and more. Such capabilities would boost
the iPhone above the Android-powered Nexus S, which is being used
in an NFC pilot program for local businesses in Portland,
Oregon.

WordPress for iOS has updated to version 2.6, which adds the ability to record video from within the app and upload it to a blog.

Other improvements include an overhaul of locally saved drafts, which brings it more in line with the web version — including the ability to autosave while the post is being written. Also, version 2.6 implements a full media library within the app.

WordPress for iOS 2.6 is a free download from the App Store and available now.

Just made iPhone version of Nepali Calendar. Want to have Nepali Calendar on your iPhone? It is very simple to integrate.
1) Open this link (http://www.ashesh.com.np/calendarlink/calendar.php) on safari browser
2) adjust the view size
3) tap on ‘+’ sign and
4) tap on add to home screen.

This will add Nepali Calendar icon on your iPhone home screen.

Whenever you want to see Nepali Calendar , just tap tap it on your home screen.

Here is the desktop version of Nepali Calendar.

Security firms are warning of a vulnerability in Apple’s iOS for iPhone, iPad and iPod.

Symantec said that it could be exploited by remote attackers to take
complete control of a vulnerable device .

Experts said that the threat, at present, only exists on paper but that Apple need to issue a fix before it becomes a reality.

Apple said that the company was aware of the report and was investigating.

The problem lies in the way Apple’s Mobile Safari handles Adobe Acrobat PDF documents.

As the browser automatically opens PDF files, a hacker could embed malicious code into this file. Read more…