Apple and its CEO Steve Jobs are notorious for their tight levels of secrecy surround its new products. I was surprised when Jobs didn’t personally castrate the dude who lost that iPhone prototype in public. Steve is now pissed that third parties are grabbing data on what software and devices are being used.

The problem Steve has with this is that “some company called Flurry” was capturing device information on handsets and software that were in testing on the Apple campus. Good ol’ Steve, never one to mince words said “Some company called Flurry had data on devices that we were using on our campus — new devices. They were getting this info by getting developers to put software in their apps that sent info back to this company! So we went through the roof. It’s violating our privacy policies, and it’s p***ing us off! So we said we’re only going to allow analytics that don’t give our device info — only for the purpose of advertising.”

The iPhone 4G hasn’t even been announced yet and already designer Chris Chan has developed a stylish solid wood dock for the new iPhone. He used the leaked iPhone 4G prototypes for inspiration and dimensions. Hopefully Steve Jobs doesn’t change some details just to spite guys like Chris.

Apparently the iPhone 4G will only be able to charge in landscape mode, but hey it’s wood, it’s stylish and hopefully it will be available soon. Chris hopes to mass-produce the design after the iPhone 4G launches. As you can see, it looks good with a cup of tea.

Gaming on the iPhone or iPod Touch requires a gaming grip that looks like a Tie Fighter. Obviously. PosiMotion announced this one way back in December and now the Helix gaming grip for the iPhone and iPod touch is now available at Best Buy.

The $20 case promises to be ideal for almost any game, letting you use your iPhone or iPod touch in portrait or landscape mode, while making pew pew pew sounds.

Hotel chains have been wanting new alternatives that let patrons check-in, for some time now. That’s why Marriott began testing smartphone check-ins in 2006, and some locations have used RFID, iris scanners, biometric identifiers and other tech to make locked doors easier.

This month, InterContinental Hotels Group announced that they will be trying OpenWays at Chicago’s Holiday Inn Express Houston Downtown Convention Center. It allows iPhone owners to use an app to open room doors. Other smartphone platforms will be supported, and users will also be able to use their phone to order other services, extend their stay or pay for broken items.

Look out Google. Word on the street is that Microsoft Bing will be replacing Google as the default search engine on the iPhone. There’s no confirmation on this, but it does fit what we’ve been hearing about talks between Apple and Microsoft.

Then again some sources are saying that Apple and Microsoft are just talking about adding Bing as a search engine option on the iPhone instead of replacing Google. I’ll guess we will learn one way or the other soon enough.

There aren’t many details yet, but according to the guys over at BGR, some AT&T employees have confirmed that the iPhone 4G will be launched in June. That seems pretty fast since it’s scheduled to be unveiled in early June.

But maybe Apple wants to just get it over with at this point since the cat was let out of the bag awhile ago. If this is true you won’t have to wait long at all.

Elgato has just updated their software to include what they claim will be the world’s first fully-functional HD DVR for all of Apple’s devices. The function called EyeTV HD is designed to record live TV in HD. It will be compatible with your iPhone or iPad as well.

The EyeTV HD just goes into your Mac and your set top box and the video can then be streamed to your iPhone or iPad. It will cost you $200 and includes the HD recorder hardware and software, a remote control and IR channel changer, USB cable, component video cables, stereo audio cables, and a switcher for composite and S-Video input.

Normally when you crack the screen of your iPhone, you have to go to an Apple store and shell out a lot of dough to get your iPhone repaired. You can use a repair kit, but they aren’t easy to use. 10-year olds to the rescue.

This 10 year old managed to do the repair all by himself. That means you can probably do it as well. Brett repaired his dad’s iPhone with a $22 mail-order kit from 3GCrackedGlass.com. The repair was for the glass alone, since the LCD wasn’t damaged.

There really is an app for everything on the App Store for the iPhone. A new Bluetooth headset from Sound ID called the Sound ID 510 has debuted that claims to be the first to use an iPhone app.

The headset looks like your typical Bluetooth device. It has a touch sensitive control for volume rather than buttons you need to press. Battery life is claimed to be up to five hours of talk time and the device ships with the RealComfort ear loops.

Looks like it’s the end of the line for the iPhone 3G. If you’ve been perusing the Apple online store today, you might have noticed that the button to select the 8GB iPhone 3G is gone. It simply disappeared from the Apple store as if abducted by a gadget loving alien.

Normally if an item is out of stock at the Apple store, it’s listed as out of stock, but this time there isn’t any mention of what’s happening to the iPhone 3G. So our guess is that it is history. Kaput. Done.

I used the WildCharge system for my iPhone 3GS for a long time. I liked that I didn’t have to plug the iPhone in each time, but having to remove the case for synchronizing the phone got on my nerves.

A new wireless charging system from Powermat has debuts that is specifically designed for the iPhone 3G/3GS. The handset includes a receiver case for the iPhone 3G/3GS, the power mat, and an AC adapter.

So we saw the white front plate earlier this month and now Chinese site Apple.pro has some shots of what it claims to be the white next-gen iPhone, fully assembled and laying next to the black model we’ve seen many times. You can almost hear the sweet sounds of them singing Ebony and Ivory. Touching.

Mythbusters style, we’re calling this rumor confirmed. Now all you need to do is choose which color you want, back-in-black or Wazz-up white? Choose wisely.

There’s no question that Apple is selling tons of iPads. To the tune of more than 200,000 iPads per week. According to RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky, sales of the device have outpaced those of the Mac in the United States and are now closing in on those of the iPhone 3GS.

200,000 iPads compared to 110,000 Macs. The iPhone does 246,000 per week. These are just analyst estimates, but they are probably in the ballpark. If accurate, this is a heck of a milestone for Apple.

Looks like the first next-gen iPhone cases are starting to surface. Hardmac received the image above from one of its contacts in China, the model name reveals the manufacturer to be Shenzhen Soonleader Electronic Co.

It has all the right curves, including a larger opening for a flash and the spaces for the new side buttons can be seen. This might just be the manufacturer trying to get a jump start, or it could be something more official.

One of the things that many iPhone users have wanted for a long time was the ability to tether their device to a notebook for 3G connectivity. Apple added that feature into OS 3.0, but AT&T blocked tethering on the device.

The first betas of iPhone OS 4 didn’t show any tethering features in the OS. However, a new OS 4 Beta 4 has surfaced that has some tethering features inside.