Under fire for covering up incidents of exploding iPhones and iPods, Apple asserts these were caused by “external forces”.

In a statement to the AFP, Apple says ” To date, there are no confirmed battery overheating incidents for iPhone 3GS and the number of reports we are investigating is in the single digits… The iPhones with broken glass that we have analysed to date show that in all cases the glass cracked due to an external force that was applied to the iPhone.”
In non-marketese layman-friendly terms, Apple is characterizing these incidents as isolated, most likely caused by user carelessness. What’s interesting …read more

In attempt to get more people to their website BillShrink recently came out with this well-made digital flyer that compares the so-called “new generation” smartphones:
Here’s that table in real-text form:

iPhone 3GS (AT&T)
Palm Pre (Sprint)
Android G1 (T-Mobile)

Storage Capacity
16GB
8GB
1GB (Expandable SD Slot)

Talk Time (hours)
5
5
5

Standby Time (hours)
300
300
130

Camera Megapixels
3.0
With Video Recording & Editing
3.0
3.0
With Video Recording

WiFi?
Yes
Yes
Yes

GPS
Yes
Turn By Turn (& Digital Compass)
Yes
Turn by Turn
Yes
Turn By Turn (& Digital Compass)

Voice Commands?
Yes
No
Yes

App Store
iTunes App Store
Palm App Catalog
Android Market

Price (With Contract)
$199
$199
$149

Price (Without Contract)
$599
$550
$399

Service Plans
Unlimited:
$99.99 – Voice
$30.00 – Data
$20.00 – Messaging
Unlimited Voice, Data, & Messaging:
$99.99
Unlimited:
$99.99 – Voice & Messaging
$24.99 – Data

Total Costs (+Tax Over 24 Months)
$3,600
$2,400
$3,149