Like most "mobile versions" of websites, Google News was simplified for use on devices featuring what Steve Jobs once called "the baby Internet." Sadly, this simplified version also showed up by default on the iPhone, leading to an experience that was, to put it charitably, subpar.

That's all changed now that Google has redesigned the mobile version of Google News for iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre users. The new mobile version is far more feature-rich than the old one and is more consistent in its appearance (i.e., it's almost indistinguishable from the desktop version) compared to the old "mobile-optimized" Google News.

It also includes a handy "Jump to" link which brings up a window that allows you to skip to the news section of your choice, saving your thumbs from severe scroll fatigue.

There's no need to download anything. Simply go to Google News on your iPhone and check out the changes.

[Via MacRumors]

Google is making some big announcements today during their Chrome OS press event. In addition to the official announcement for Chrome OS they also let another little tidbit of information loose:

"Just this year alone in Chrome, there's tons of new stuff coming. Before this year gets over, we'll have 3 more announcements to make. Chrome for Mac will be ready, very close to launch."

That's some pretty good news for those of you out there who are running the developer preview and are looking forward to integrating Chrome into your daily browsing.

There are two arrivals in the App Store of note. First, after a three month wait, the multiservice IM client Trillian is now available in the App Store [iTunes link] for iPhone and iPod touch.

We previously discussed the fact that Trillian was sitting in approval limbo with no word from Apple as to why the app was being delayed. As of today it is available for US$4.99. Cerulean Studios website has more information on features, and we will be reviewing the app soon, but we wanted to let you know that it was available (for iPhone/iPod touch devices running OS 3.0 or later).

Second, the 2.0 update to Google Earth for iPhone [iTunes link] is rolled out now. The major new feature in the app is the ability to overlay your own custom Google maps onto the geographic display in GE; the app also improves POI selection and adds a slew of new languages. Google Earth requires iPhone/iPod touch OS 2.0 or later, and it's free.

[Google Earth hat tip to Ars Technica]

Touch Arcade has the news that the long-awaited Ravensword and a number of other games built on the Unity game engine have been rejected by Apple from the App Store. The problem appears to be a number of API calls in the engine (though not specifically the game themselves, as I understand it) that allow the games to access the iPhone's number and send it back to the developer's servers.

Apple considers these to be private APIs, and they also got games developer Storm8 in trouble earlier this week; their games were pulled from the store in response to a lawsuit alleging that they were collecting data from users without their knowledge.

Chillingo, publishers of Ravensword, contacted us about this story, and they said that while the Unity engine does allow developers to use these calls, they did not use them or collect any user information. We're also told that the problem APIs "have been removed," and Chillingo has resubmitted the game for App Store approval.

As I understand it, this is the same type of issue that came up with Google a while back. It's not the same APIs (Google was using the proximity sensor back then), but now as then, it's Apple's call whether they will allow developers to use these private and undocumented calls. Obviously some apps on the iPhone have to access the address book from time to time, but it's Apple's call whether they can use APIs like that or not. This time, it appears, they said no.

Update: Unity has also contacted us, and they say that the engine was updated to Apple's wishes as soon as they learned of the issue. They also would like to point out that while Storm8 did use the same private API calls, they don't use Unity to run their games. Storm8's update on the issue is here.

I sure thought Google Chrome was already out for Mac, but apparently that was just a developer preview -- they haven't yet done an official release (it's been a tough road to travel, I guess). But the wait is almost over, according to Mashable.

They've spotted a message on a developer list that hints at a beta release as soon as this December, assuming the extensions team gets their BrowserActions ready, the code clears the appointed timelines, and the stars align over the Pegasus constellation in the fifth quadrant. (Can you tell I don't know anything about what it takes to ship a new browser? Or, for that matter, about astrology?)

But I do know something about using browsers, and it'll be nice to finally have an official version of Chrome to run on the Mac. There have been a couple of unofficial attempts at getting the base software running, but especially since I plan to use more and more of Google Wave, being able to run it in the "official" Google browser will be nice.

Here's one holiday treat that Mac and PC users alike can enjoy. Google announced yesterday that during the holiday season, it is sponsoring free Wi-Fi at 47 airports around the United States, as well as on every Virgin America flight. According to CNN, those who choose to take advantage of this will be urged to set Google as their home page, or receive an offer to download Google Chrome. Google has also suggested that those utilizing the free service should donate the money they would have otherwise spent on airport Wi-Fi to a worthy charity.

Full details, including a list of airports, a contest and the charity drive, can be found at FreeHolidayWiFi.com. To connect on a MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, simply make sure your Airport is turned on and look for the available networks at your airport, then launch a web browser to complete the connection.

Other free Wi-Fi deals for the holidays include Yahoo donating a year of free Wi-Fi service to Times Square in New York City, and Microsoft's Bing search engine joining forces with JiWire to offer free Wi-Fi at JiWire hotspots that opt into the program -- provided that you run a search using Bing first.

If you're lucky enough to have a Google Wave account, you may be familiar with Waveboard. I started out using Wave via a Fluid SSB, running Wave Growl for Growl notifications and Dock badges. Then I found Waveboard, and it made things smooth enough that I haven't looked at Wave any other way since. So, obviously, I'd been anticipating the iPhone version of Waveboard. It's here, and it's, well, moderately interesting.

The desktop app is essentially a Single Site Browser, like a Fluid app, but it adds handy, Mac-like keyboard shortcuts, Growl notifications, Dock and Menubar notifications, etc. The iPhone app is the same, a webkit browser showing what Google already provides, but there just wasn't as much potential integration to take advantage of on the iPhone. They took advantage of the shake gesture to reload or log out. Websites can be opened in the same browser or sent to Safari. Landscape mode is supported. And you can kind of get push notifications, by using Prowl (which Aron has mentioned before). Setup instructions are available on the Waveboard blog.

That's about it, for now. Google hasn't offered an API, which seriously hampers a developer's ability to do cool things. More features are reportedly in the works, so we'll see if it turns into a truly useful counterpart to its desktop cousin over time.

Waveboard for iPhone is available on the App Store iTunes link for $0.99US. Under a buck, and it might be worth a look for avid Wavers (which I would be, if enough of my clients and cohorts had accounts to make it truly useful).

[via TechCrunch]

Google has released an official developer preview of Google Chrome for the Mac. Rather than digging through nightly development builds, you can download the developer preview of the WebKit-based browser at Google's official webpage.

Chrome sports several features similar to Safari 4 in Snow Leopard, such as sandboxing - each tab runs as its own process, so if one crashes, it doesn't bring down the whole browser. It also sports the "tabs on top" interface present in some builds of the Safari 4 beta released earlier this year. Some people hated tabs on top in Safari, but others eventually got used to it and even missed the feature when it was omitted from the final release of Safari 4; if tabs on top is your thing, then Chrome has you covered.

Chrome supports importing bookmarks, settings, and history from whatever browser you're currently using, so if you're curious to see how it runs on a Mac, go ahead and give it a try. Let us know in the comments if you run into any issues.

[Via Download Squad]

Is AT&T holding back the iPhone's sales potential? That's the conclusion of analysts at Piper Jaffray. In a report issued today, the firm says Apple is likely to go with multiple carriers, as the company is already doing in other world markets like France and the U.K.

To make the point, the report cites iPhone sales in France, where Apple's share of the smartphone market zoomed to 40% from 15% since Orange lost the exclusive there.

What does that mean for AT&T? If Apple finds additional partners, AT&T could lose a hefty chunk of customers who haven't been too thrilled with the way the communications giant has performed with the iPhone. There is still no tethering, MMS took a long time to roll out, and there is a continuing complaint of dropped calls from every corner of the country.

One wonders what is going on inside Verizon. The best-regarded US cell carrier for coverage & network quality is the subject of many rumors about the iPhone being offered, and others rumors of the mythical Apple tablet coming to Verizon. It's all especially interesting as Verizon has been bashing the iPhone in a series of TV ads hyping the upcoming Droid from Motorola and Google. Doesn't seem like Verizon is warming up the relationship.

It will be an interesting next few months as competition increases; partners may or may nor change, and Apple will be looking to increase market share for one of the hottest phones on the market.

[via Business Week]

It's the end of an era for the relationship between Google and Apple -- Google has announced that Dr. Arthur Levinson has resigned from its board of directors, meaning that the last common member between the boards of the two companies has now "chosen a side," so to speak.

I doubt it was that serious, but you never know: the Department of Justice had announced that they were looking into the connections between the two boards, with both former Apple boardmember and Google CEO Eric Schimidt being one link, and Levinson being the other. Not that the DoJ was really breathing down any necks (they'd only requested documents, and there were no signs at all, other than, you know, Google Maps being an original iPhone application, that there was any collusion between the two companies).

But it is possible that between them, they decided to play it safe, and with the two companies getting closer and closer to competition every day (with Google's Android OS and the continuing saga of Chrome going on), this is probably for the better. Levinson and Schmidt, meanwhile, will both still continue to make millions of dollars anyway. So they have that going for them. Which is nice.

Despite rumors that the Google Chrome Web browser for Mac would not ship until 2010, it appears that the golden version of the new browser may be heading to Macs a lot sooner than expected.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that CEO (and former Apple board member) Eric Schmidt and co-founder Sergey Brin had a few things to say about the new browser, including (according to 9to5Mac) that Chrome browser for Mac will ship in "a couple of months."

Apparently, the relatively slow adoption of the beta version of the browser has been due in part to the fact that development of the Mac version has lagged behind work for other platforms. To quote Schmidt, "The fundamental story about Chrome is speed. We were hurt by slowness to bring out a Mac version. People who move to Chrome have trouble moving back because of the speed."

The Mac beta version is available and can be downloaded by those who are willing to use a browser without certain privacy features that is "not appropriate for general consumer use." I've had it on my Macs for about the last week and have been impressed with the speed of page rendering, although not with the current compatibility with some sites.

So, TUAW readers -- is Google Chrome (the browser, not the OS) too little, too late? Or is it a web browser that will make a difference on the Mac platform? Voice your opinions in the comments section below.

Have you noticed the new "Sponsored Link" search results showing up when you search in Google Maps on your iPhone? These new search results are ads. They're easy to pick out, because they use a customized icon instead of the typical push pin icon. While it's not surprising that Google is going to want to find every way possible to monetize its mapping service, it's still a little disconcerting to see these results popping up.

Given this obvious new revenue stream, it makes us wonder whether Apple wants to get in on the lucrative mapping action. Their recent purchase of the mapping service company Placebase certainly suggests the possibility.

Do you mind seeing ads intermingled with your map search results on a mobile device? Why or why not?

Seth at Computerworld has noticed Apple's purchase of Placebase, the former mapping service company that GigaOm was praising last year. Of course, this begs the question: Will Apple be rolling their own maps?

As Gizmodo says, Apple uses the technology they buy (Coverflow, for example). We were unfamiliar with the service, but GigaOm describes some sweet features like PushPin, which provided developers with an API that could layer commercial information, crime data, etc. on a map. For a nice example of PushPin at work, check out PolicyMap.

Now for the baseless assumptions. Google maps appear in a number of Apple products, like the iPhone, iPhoto and iWeb. Perhaps Apple plans to stuff their own solutions into those slots. Or perhaps they're after a certain technology from Placebase and not the whole enchilada.

Note that the purchase went down back in July. Seth has also discovered that PlaceBase's founder and former CEO, Jaron Waldman, is now a part of Apple's "Geo Team," which sounds like the Justice League but with Al Gore in charge.

If you use Gmail, you have something to be excited about today, because you can finally have new email messages pushed directly to your iPhone when they arrive.

For many users, however, their first response is "it's about time!" and others have even gone as far as saying "it's finally here, no thanks to Apple." This new feature, unveiled this morning by Google, has even been called a "workaround" to Apple's alleged refusal to support push email, but in reality this isn't the case.

Push: What is it, and how does it work?

To understand why push services have not been available before, let's first discuss what exactly push is. When a client (be it a mail program, Twitter client, or web browser) needs to notify a user when new content or information is available, it has to periodically connect to the server and check for changes.

This is the way email clients have worked for years: the client checks with the server at a defined interval (usually every 5-15 minutes), downloads any new messages, and notifies the user that new mail has arrived. Many other services, such as RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook, and even the Gmail website work the same way; they just check the server more often, which gives the appearance of real-time notifications.

Other services, such as instant messaging clients, maintain a constant, active connection to the server at all times. When new information is available for the client, the server sends, or "pushes" the information directly to the client as soon as it is available. In corporate environments, mail services such as Microsoft Exchange have paved the way for push email, by having the mail client (usually Outlook, Entourage, or other clients that support Exchange) maintain an active connection to the mail server, which allows the server to notify the client immediately when new mail arrives.

Read on to find out how Gmail push works, and what you need to know to get it set up on your phone.

The Google Voice story grows even murkier today as new details arise about its App Store rejection. When the FCC launched an inquiry into the presence of the Google Voice app on the App Store, Apple, AT&T and Google all provided formal response letters. Portions of Google's letter were kept confidential from the public. Today, after several requests, Google finally released their entire FCC letter to the public.

In it, Google states that Apple did in fact reject the Google Voice app for the iPhone, and that Phil Shiller met and talked to Alan Eustace at Google about the rejection. Google's letter contradicts what Apple has stated, that they never actually rejected the Google Voice app.

Today's news adds another element to the disappointment and confusion over the presence of Google Voice on the iPhone. Apple stated to Engadget that they did not reject Google Voice and that they continue to look into bringing it to the App Store. TUAW has contacted Apple for a further statement about the rejection details. We have not heard anything back yet.

[via Engadget]