The Fourth of July edition of the XBIZ Tech Watch brings word of an unhappy development with the Apple iPhone, along with a slew of news about cutting-edge gadgets and online applications.
• Bad news: The 3G Apple iPhone won't be available online at first, and consumers will only be able to buy it in-store. In addition, Apple is making up for the reduced base price of $199 by asking customers to pay increased prices for upgrades and AT&T service.
• Flowgram.com lets users share websites, videos and images in an interactive player.
• Fans of Apple's iPhone may want to consider consolidating their social-networking activity around Combo.com.
• Have kids? Love massive multiplayer online role-playing games? KiwiHeroes.com might be for you.
• The minds behind BaseballBoss.com want it to be the ultimate fantasy basball league online.
• Tipit.to will let users tip website operators for the content of their sites.
• For webmasters who are also programming enthusiasts, AppLoop.com promises to help developers make money from their applications.
• Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors continues its push for greener driving by promising to supply Mercedez-Benz with electric batteries. The German car maker says its going to start building electric counterparts to some of their most popular cars, too.
• Avid bloggers may want to consider ScribeFire.com, which promises to let users contribute to their various blogs from the same browser window.
• TripWolf.com is positioning itself as a Yelp.com for travelers – users can share their feelings and tips about various destinations.
• Joining the fray in online opinion websites is Slantly.com, which lets webmasters add rich, easily updated polls to their sites.
• Apple has slashed prices on their MacBook Air.
• This news is only for the true tech geek, but 10 nanometer chips are on the way.
• For the tech and video game enthusiast who likes to wear their passion, here's a T-shirt for the movie "2600: A Video Game Odyssey."
• Who doesn't enjoy "Mario Kart"? For serious "Mario Kart" fans, there's a new steering wheel controller for the Nintendo Wii.
• Ladies and gentlemen, here is the coolest Tic-Tac-Toe game ever.
• This new remote control concept would work with gestures instead of buttons.
• The Netflix home video box may start streaming in videos from the popular movie and TV emporium Hulu.com.
• Openmoko has unveiled yet another competitor to the iPhone: the Neo.