The Ivy League brain-trust from Stanford University is trying to tell us something we already know, but with the backing of a formal survey to provide additional credibility. It turns out the iPhone is actually quite “habit forming.”

Nearly one-third of the two-hundred Stanford University undergraduates polled for this survey expressed fears that their iPhone is not only addictive, but that they could already be clinically addicted to their beloved smartphone. Thesurvey, in case you’re wondering, was conducted by a graduate anthropology class in research methods. Read more…

FLAG Solutions, the developers of Thief Buster Antitheft Alarm, has released the app’s latest update. Thief Buster is real anti-theft software, complete with biometric fingercoding, motion detection, proximity sensor and volume blocking. It is the only application available that restarts itself if a would be thief tries to turn it off. The app is a very serious security measure against iPhone theft but still has the fun feel of a James Bond gadget.
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Broken Thumbs Apps has announced the release of Beer Toss 1.0 for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Beer Toss is an addictive, easy to pick up and play game, where the goal is for the player to deliver beers to thirsty patrons by flicking beers from their device’s touch screen. Read more…

Renowned illustrator Kyle T. Webster took a detour in 2009 from illustrating for clients like The New Yorker, Time and The Wall Street Journal. He spent ten months designing and developing an iPhone game with the hopes that it would not only be a fun diversion for those who play it, but that it would also help them improve their powers of short term memory. Read more…

If you’ve been watching TV over the last few days (and who hasn’t, with that USA / Canada hockey game and the tsunami coverage), you may have seen the latest in the series of iPhone ads.

The ad, titled “Family Travel,” features a voice-over by a Mom who gushes that “It’s unbelievable how much better family trips have gotten…” as she demonstrates using the Southwest Airlines app to check in on a flight from Denver to LA Read more…

The end of this week has brought a little flurry of information about the differences between iPhone and Android users. First up, Admob has released the results of a survey that says the iPhone is twice as popular as comparable smartphones in both young and old demographics. Unfortunately, we can only guess as to why (it would be a little more interesting if either age showed a preference for one phone over another) Read more…

Back to the nightmare of explosions on Apple products, in fact, a few days ago in a school in West Newbury, Massachusetts, a girl’s iPod has suddenly exploded.

Fortunately there were no major damage, thanks to the prompt intervention of firefighters and police. It was not made known the model of the iPod, but most likely the cause that triggered the explosion is due to the battery.

Via iSpazio.net [Translated By Google]

Apple’s next update to the blockbuster iPhone handset is expected by one prominent analyst to have a lower total cost of ownership, and to also include new gesture-based functionality.

Katy Huberty with Morgan Stanley maintains that the biggest barrier to greater iPhone adoption is the cost of the hardware, followed by the service plan. The investment in the device has been its biggest issue in both developed markets like the U.S. and emerging ones like China. Read more…

An interesting patent application came to light via PatentlyApple yesterday. The patent, titled “Camera as Input Interface,” was filed by Apple in August 2008 and details a means of controlling an iPhone by swiping a finger across the device’s camera lens. The patent proposes using the iPhone’s camera, which is typically idle when the user is on a call, to control voicemail options such as rewind, fast forward, and pause while the iPhone is at the user’s ear:
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When you gotta go, you gotta know: Where to Wee is an iPhone and iPod touch appication that uses your exact location to recommend the nearest and cleanest restrooms. The App was launched this fall and already has over 60,000 worldwide washrooms in its database, with more being added every day by Where to Wee users. Read more…