Not really -- if you really are planning to grill up some meat (or mushrooms and pineapples, they're good too) today or this weekend, you'll need a little more heat than your iPhone will give. But it's true, Apple's little handheld can get nice and toasty when it's really working*, and illustrator Chad Covino made a little Fourth of July BBQ-themed sketch about that very subject. We love it -- very nice work!

My iPhone does get hot, but not so hot I can't pick it up -- usually when I'm running 3D for a longer stretch of time or when the phone is doing some serious calculating like audio or photo editing, I start to feel the heat coming off the back. Batteries are to blame for some of the more extreme problems, however, and that's not a huge surprise, given that batteries in any mobile device have their issues. The good news in that case, however, is that the phone is unlikely to actually explode -- the repair guy Wired talks to says that "a little bit of smoke eventually is probably the best bet." Not that a smoking iPhone is a good situation at all, but you can at least be sure that your iPhone is not quite as hot as the fire under your burgers this weekend.

[* Note that the Apple KB article referenced here about temperature warnings/"don't leave the iPhone in the glove compartment" for the iPhone 3G and 3GS is not a new post, nor is the temperature alert screen unique to the 3GS; the KB was simply updated to include the newer device. Jim Dalrymple at The Loop has a solid rundown. FoxNews incorrectly reported that the support article was specific to the 3GS, but then did cite PC World's Melissa Perenson and David Coursey with personal stories of wicked-hot 3GS units. If your 3GS is overheating, check in with Apple support or your local AT&T store. -Ed.]

Our friends at Wired recently asked their readers what their favorite iPhone games were, and their list is a pretty darn good overview of some of the best choices for gamers on the App Store. Some of the picks are already well known -- we posted about Trism way, way back, and of course Galcon has been lauded already. And some of the choices are a little wacky -- Cube Runner is cool, but it's not really much more than a tech demo at this point.

Still, there are a few gems you may not have discovered yet -- JellyCar looks like a lot of fun, and Topple did kind of get hidden underneath the shadow of ngmoco's other big release, Rolando. It's worth a try if you haven't played it yet.

It's notable, as well, that all but the top two choices are pretty simple. As fun as these games are, there's definitely a lot more room for some deeper gameplay on the App Store.

After news of Apple's decision to pull out of Macworld, many tech writers are wondering if Apple isn't considering participation in the Consumer Electronics Show, typically held around the same time as Macworld, in Las Vegas.

Most seem to be asking vague questions about what would happen if Apple decided to attend. Even so, most of the pundit crowd seems to be leaning toward it probably won't happen, but it might. Maybe. Someday. Kind of. If it does happen, they'll claim they called it; If it doesn't they're still right.

As Apple produces more consumer electronics devices (like the iPhone, iPod, and Apple TV), BusinessWeek's Arik Hesseldahl sees a place for Apple at CES. "Could a new re-imagined Stevenote at CES in Las Vegas starting in 2010, become the de-facto headline event at CES and thus push Microsoft's presence out of the limelight? It certainly could."

"It probably won't happen, but it certainly could," he writes. The heat death of the universe probably won't happen tomorrow, too, but it certainly could.

Wired's Brian X. Chen writes that Apple will release a new version of the Mac mini at Macworld Expo early next month.

Chen's unnamed source didn't disclose any details about the Mac mini, but Chen offered plenty of specification speculation.

Based on "trends seen in Apple's latest products," Chen expects the new Mac mini to feature a unibody enclosure with speeds and video specs that closely match the new unibody MacBooks.

This follows another rumor of a budget-priced, small-form-factor iPhone that could be announced at the same time. Nilay Patel, of our sister blog Engadget, notes that this may be a reaction to slowing sales numbers, and an overall reticence by consumers to drop large amounts of money on a new computer system.

We'll see next month: The keynote presentation is scheduled for January 6. Macworld Expo typically announces by now if Steve Jobs will give the presentation, but they've been keeping mum about his involvement so far.

Fun fact: September 16 is the day in 1985 that Steve Jobs left Apple, and also the same day in 1997 that he returned to Apple as then-iCEO.

Jobs first left after CEO John Sculley ousted him from Apple's board of directors after both had tried to be "co-CEOs."

Jobs also filed papers that same day in 1985 founding NeXT, the company that he intended to use as a weapon against Apple. Instead, Apple wound up acquiring NeXT for $400 million in 1996. Parts of the NeXT operating system, NeXTStep, eventually became the underpinnings of Mac OS X.

[Via Wired.]

On your iPhone or your iPod touch, when you press the Home button, there's a nice little animation that takes you back to the home screen.

To create that animation, your iPhone takes a screenshot of whatever it is you're doing, and uses it for the transition. Sounds innocent, right?

Not so much, says data forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski (thank you, clipboard). The screenshot is presumably erased from the iPhone after the application closes, but is any digital file really gone after you delete it? Survey says no.

Forensics experts have mined for these screenshots, successfully recovering evidence against criminals accused of rape, murder, and drug deals. They can also recover data from the iPhone's keyboard and web caches, too.

In his presentation, Zdziarski also demonstrated how to bypass an iPhone's passcode in order to own the device and access personal data. Time-consuming? Sure (it took JZ about an hour and involved a custom firmware build). Impossible? No.

As with all things digital (and networked), your privacy is largely illusory. Time to go Don Draper on this one and just use Field Notes books, my stack of business cards, and the rotary dial.

[Via Wired.]

Thanks, Kenny!

Wired has published the results of the iPhone reception survey they were running, and clearly Antarctica needs way more coverage. But they also pulled a lot of useful data out of places where people actually live, and it probably doesn't surprise you.

3G performance is slow almost all over, especially in cities where the 3G service is getting overloaded. If you want to have fast speeds, hang out in Germany and the Netherlands -- those folks had the fastest speeds (and it's no coincidence that the 3G network there has three extra development years on its American counterpart). The worst reception is apparently in Australia, as Optus and Virgin users had their iPhones chugging along at just 759 Kbps.

What can we draw from this? Just like those Swedish scientists told us, it's the service, not the phone. But you know what Mark Twain said about statistics, so just in case you want to draw your own conclusions, Wired has kindly made a Google Spreadsheet of all the data available to anyone who wants it. Anyone want to try putting together that heatmap?

Sure, Apple claims the 3G is fast, but with all the problems with 3Gs connecting all over the world, just how fast is it really? The folks at Wired.com have decided to find out, and they need your help. They'd like you to test your iPhone at the TestmyiPhone.com network speed testing site, and then hit up their global ZeeMap to register your speed.

Instructions are over on their website, and they're testing both Edge and 3G upload and download speeds, so you'll have to run three tests total. You'll also have to sign up for a ZeeMap account.

The eventual payoff will be a relatively clear look at iPhone speeds around the world. Wired says that they'll eventually average global data, but there's a lot of things that could be done with data like this -- heatmaps? Speed per carrier? Once they get a good set of figures together, there's probably all kinds of things that can be done.

Wired's Gadget Lab blog has posted a mockup of the rumored MacBook Air. They based their mockups on what inside sources had to tell them. The big points are that this thing is supposedly very, very thin and lacks both an optical drive and an Ethernet port. I can see omitting networking ports and an optical drive if there is a docking station involved, but I would be hard pressed to buy any computer that didn't have a dedicated networking port.

What say you, does this look like something out of Cupertino or something out of the Macworld addled brain of a Photoshop guru with a little too much time on their hands?

One of my favorite things about Macworld is the fact that everyone suddenly feels the need to share their predictions about what Apple will be introducing this time (we at TUAW are not immune to this, and have already shared our predictions. How wrong will I turn out to be? Only time will tell). Wired has listed a few software developments they are thinking will happen at Macworld:

• Leopard 10.5.2 will be released with new features
• iPhone 1.1.3 firmware released
• No updates to iLife/iWork
• New iTunes with movie rentals

The article goes on to talk about Office 2008 (available Jan. 15th), MacHeist, and Core Animation. Check it out, if only to stoke the Macworld fire that is burning in your heart.

A great post over at Wired confirms what everyone alerady knows, Apple rumors are often groundless and pessimistic. Wired lists the 15 worst Apple-related predictions that failed to be realized, from iMac failures to a Sony takeover prediction, to Apple TV's MIA "extra" features.

I have a quibble with one prediction, the ultra portable flash-based Apple PC as called out by Benjamin Reitzes in June 2006. I'd argue (although I don't know if I'd take this one to the mat) that this flash-based computer already exists: it's called the iPhone.

Now that the Apple TV is shipping lots of people have opinions about it (imagine the amount of opinions we'll hear once people get to use it!). Wired's Rob Beschizza has compiled 5 reasons why he thinks the Apple TV will rule, and 5 reasons it'll suck.

This list of 10 things nicely sums up the current zeitgeist about the Apple TV. Most tech types think it'll fail because it doesn't do enough (OMG! NO DVR!), while most analysts seem to think it'll do OK (thanks to that iTunes lock in we all know and love).

It is an interesting product, no doubt, but I'm waiting for Apple TV 2.0. How about you? Have you ordered an Apple TV? If not, why not? Sound off in the comments.

Today Wired reporter Leander Kahney did the unthinkable: he admitted that he loves a multinational corporation that is incapable of every returning that love. Good thing the giant corporation he loves is Apple or I'd be forced to think there was something wrong with him.

Leander points to the elegant way that Apple's Mail.app handles dates in columns that are resized. The date formatting changes so that the date is still readable within the column, just another example of Apple's attention to detail. It is these touches that make people like you and I (and Leander) love this company that does nothing for us other than take our money and manipulate our emotions so well.

Why do you love Apple so (and if you're reading a blog about Apple chances are you like it more than most people do so just fess up to it)?

iPods are, inarguably, a large part of our zeitgeist. It is not shocking, therefore, to find out that a whole vocabulary of slang has sprung up around everyone's favorite MP3 player/lifestyle accessory. Leander Kahney, reporting for Wired, shares with us some of the more memorable iPod vernacular including iPizzle (what the cool kids are calling iPods), podestrian, and iPlode.

Not surprisingly, since I am totally not cool, I have never heard any of these phrases. Anyone out there have their own 'Pod slang? Lay it on us in the comments, brother.

Wired magazine announced their RAVE award winners yesterday, and not only did his Steveness win one (this would be his second) but the Wired editors decided that he deserved a category unto himself. The Steve Jobs award recognizes ' sustained excellence and creative genius.'

Here's hoping I win one next year.

[via Infinite Loop]