The Daily Telegraph is reporting that a new Apple patent has recently been published which describes a method in which the iPhone, or another Apple portable, could act as a sort of electronic key. The technique could be used for cars, offices, homes, or lockers and almost anything that could have an electronic receiver mounted to it in place of a metal tumbler-style lock could then use an iPhone as a key.

The patent application itself describes a means by which almost “any suitable electronic device such as a portable media player, personal data assistant or electronic lock” that could open up any number of physical lock types just by communicating wirelessly.

Electronic key fobs already exist for certain models of cars, most notably the Toyota Prius, which not only allow keyless entry but also allow you to start the car without a traditional metal key. If Apple actually implements this patent and allows iPhones and iPods to act as an “iKey,” carrying a ring of metal keys and fobs around in your pocket could eventually seem as passé as a pocketwatch or pager seems today.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

Apple’s recent announcement regarding the iPad’s April 3rd ship date suggests that Apple might not ship the device with the full set of apps that arrive standard on the iPhone. Per Wired, the company may omit several applications such as Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather and Voice Memos.

While Apple had pushed several iPad-optimized versions of the apps through internal testing developers reportedlyhad problems scaling up the iPhone-size interfaces without making sacrifices to the overall look and feel of the apps. Sources close to the story claim Steve Jobs was behind the decision to drop the utilities for the initial iPad launch.

Earlier reports suggested that Apple pulled the apps because they would be converted to widgets. The sources claimed iPhone OS 3.2 will also lack the rumored widgets.

It is still unclear if Apple plans to bring the apps or widgets with a firmware update, such as OS 4.0, sometime later in the year.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available and if you’ve heard anything from your end, please let us know.

You’ve got to love Steve Jobs for one reason alone: he gets to the point.

Per 9 to 5 Mac, Apple CEO Steve Jobs answered a customer question on Friday, his reply making it quite clear that the iPad will not support tethering to the iPhone.

A Swedish Mac user emailed Jobs directly to ask whether or not he could tether a Wi-Fi only iPad to his iPhone to provide an Internet connection. Jobs simply replied, “No.”

On some jailbroken iPhones it is possible to create a Wi-Fi network, allowing other devices to connect and use the 3G data plan. This option isn’t available unless the phone is jailbroken.

Tethering is something that AT&T users have long desired that the company has never delivered on. A possible reason is that AT&T is worried about tethering bringing its network down. The company’s network has been brought down in major cities around the U.S. before, so this may be a likely concern.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

This could be a mistake, but it is interesting fodder for the rumor mill.

According to The Unofficial Apple Weblog, a recently published Best Buy web site displayed a MacBook Pro page with an Intel Core i7 chip logo.

The site has since been updated and the logo removed, though such a notebook is highly anticipated by many users.

Rivals such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell are now offering laptops in various product lines with the Core i5 and i7 processors. These Dell Studio laptops, for example, all sport Core i7 processors. Dell Alienware mobile systems come with both 45-nanometer quad-core Core i7 processors and the newest dual-core 32-nanometer i7-620M chip.

As cool as the App Store can be, sometimes it’s the rejected applications that prove the most interesting.

Last week, the TechCrunch reported that Apple rejected an application that promises to measure and minimize a user’s exposure to cell phone radiation.

The application, which had been developed by Israeli company Tawkon, had spent 18 months in development with the firm looking to sell it for between US$5 and US$10.

“Our message is moderate, we don’t claim to try to stop users from using their phones,” said Tawkon co-founder Gil Friedlander. “We just say to do so responsibly.”

In rejecting the application, Friedlander was told by Apple the information about radiation levels provided by the application may be confusing for users despite an excellent interface. “They are very clear about the fact that they make content decisions about what they want to post or not.” An Apple spokesman reportedly declined to comment about the issue.

According to the company, Tawkon’s RRI patent pending technology alerts the user when radiation levels cross a predefined threshold and provides simple, non-intrusive suggestions to reduce exposure to radiation. The application leverages various smart-phones capabilities including the built-in Bluetooth, motion and proximity sensors, GPS and compass to determine the results.

The technology collects and analyzes your phone’s dynamic SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) levels, network coverage, location, environmental conditions and phone usage at any given moment to help determine those results.

Apple finally announced that it will release the Wi-Fi version of its long-awaited iPad on Saturday, April 3rd (full press release available here) in the U.S. with 3G-capable units arriving in late April. All models of the device will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK come late April.

Users will be able to pre-order both the Wi-Fi and the 3G-capable units from Apple’s online store come March 12th or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.

Prices are slotted at US$499 for the 16GB unit, US$599 for the 32GB unit US$699 for 64GB unit. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available in late April for a suggested retail price of US$629 for 16GB, US$729 for 32GB and US$829 for 64GB.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available and let us know if you plan to snag an iPad at launch or wait a bit…

With the right software, your iPhone can do just about anything.

On Thursday, accessory developer New Potato Technologies released the FLPR, a hardware dongle for the iPhone and iPod touch that allows the handset to function as a universal remote control capable of controlling a variety of device such as televisions, cable and satellite boxes, stereo systems, lights, ceiling fans and almost anything that requires an infrared remote control.

Per iPhone Alley, the dongle corresponds with the free FLPR app from the App Store. Once the FLPR application has been launched, users can navigate through a device’s type, brand and name before tapping “use it” to search through the remote control codes in the 14,000+ item database, which includes all major electronic brands.

The FLPR has a range of about 30 feet, is available from the New Potato Technologies web site and will appear in-store nationwide at Best Buy starting March 28th, 2010 for US$79.99.

The FLPR app requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later to install and run.

Following a brief outage on Thursday, Apple’s developer site came back online offering a restructured developer program for the Mac modeled after the US$99/year iPhone development program according to MacRumors:

“Modeled after the highly successful iPhone Developer Program, we’ve relaunched the Mac Developer Program to offer members technical resources, support, access to pre-release software, developer forums and more, all for just $99 per year. As our developer base continues to grow in leaps and bounds, we’re working hard to ensure we provide our developers with everything they need to create innovative applications for both the iPhone OS and Mac OS X.”

Apple had previously offered assorted tiers at much higher prices (Select and Premier for US$499 and US$3,499 a year, respectively), but also offered hardware discounts and assorted membership perks. The company may be looking to tempt the large number of iPhone developers to easily jump to Mac development. Existing ADC members accounts will continue as is until they expire, at which time members can then join the new $99/year program. Prospective Mac developers can still download the Xcode tools for free, but without access to the pre-release software and technical support.

Let’s face it, GPS stuff is useful and when something is done well, it’s just that much better.

At the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany, GPS outfit TomTom announced a number of new services and features for the upcoming version of its TomTom satellite navigation app for iPhone.

According to Macworld, TomTom 1.3, which includes real-time traffic speed and incident reports, awaits Apple’s approval.

The updates to the TomTom app for iPhone version 1.3 include TomTom HD Traffic for real-time traffic speed and incident reports, and Local Search powered by Google. TomTom has sold around 180,000 downloads of the TomTom for iPhone app.

At an exclusive demonstration, TomTom Product Marketing Manager Mark Huijnen showed off live traffic updates from the streets of Hannover. The HD traffic data is collated from the approximately 40 million strong TomTom device community, as well as Vodafone handsets.

The demonstration presented multiple options to avoid snarl-ups, and real-time updates of journey times. According to TomTom vice president Roy van Keulen, the traffic data updates constantly, and updates are fed to devices every three minutes.

Equally impressive was TomTom’s demonstration of the integration with Google Local Search. Using the TomTom app we were able to quickly find up-to-date info on a local Irish bar.

The 1.3 update to the TomTom app, which has been submitted to Apple for review, will offer these and other soon-to-be-announced enhancements to ensure an optimal, and even more intuitive, navigation experience.

If you have a GPS app of choice for the iPhone, feel free to share it with the class…

Apple’s legendary secrecy around its products continues as Rupert Murdoch revealed that the Wall Street Journal, in developing its iPad edition, has a pre-release model that is checked in on nightly by Apple.

Per the Wall Street Journal, Murdoch confirmed during a speech in New York on Tuesday that his News Corp. publication will be offered on Apple’s forthcoming iPad. According to a report in the Journal, the executive also gave insight into Apple’s secretive practices as the paper has had access to a pre-release iPad.

“In fact, we’ve been allowed to work on one, and it’s under padlock and key. The key is turned by Apple every night,” Murdoch was quoted as saying. “But we will be on that with The Wall Street Journal.”

The Journal and Apple had an iPad-related altercation last month when editor Alan Murray posted to Twitter from the device when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs visited the paper to pitch its e-reader capabilities. That incident reportedly upset Jobs, who was said to be “furious” and allegedly had the editor delete the post. In a subsequent e-mail, Murray would not confirm the incident, but merely said that “Apple’s general paranoia about news coverage is truly extraordinary.”

The Journal stands as one of the high-profile publications developing content for the iPad and last week, the Associated Press revealed that it is also creating an app for the iPad centered around a subscription model.

How much to charge for content on the iPad and other devices remains a point of contention. While reports have suggested that Times executives cannot agree whether to charge $10 per month or closer to $30 per month, the Journal began charging users of its iPhone application late last year. Murdoch has previously said that News Corp. intends to charge for all of its online news sites, noting that “quality journalism is not cheap.”

Murdoch added that he believes the iPad is just the first in a number of devices that many will use to read newspapers on a daily basis. He reportedly said there will be a “half dozen or more” introduced in the next year.

As always, feel free to hurl your two cents in…