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The LG GD910 Watch Phone is coming to Orange in Europe.

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)

The LG GD910 Watch Phone won’t be coming to the U.S. any time soon, but it is slated to come out on the Orange network in Europe before the year is over. We …

Here you have it, folks. We knew this was coming, but the first photographic evidence of a Microsoft retail store under construction has just come to us — via the company’s Twitter account — and we have to say, it brought a few tears of joy to our eyes. The first two stores are set to be opened in Scottsdale, Arizona and Mission Viejo, California this fall. Wonder if the inside will look anything like those plans we saw?

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software

First pic of Microsoft retail store’s construction — both Abercrombie & Fitch visibly nervous originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hacking your iPhone to run unofficial, third-party apps may seem unnecessary since Apple hosts its own App Store. But the corporation’s recently enforced prohibitions on some apps, such as the banning of Google Voice, are reviving the incentive for customers to jailbreak their iPhones once again.

Thanks to Cydia, an unauthorized app store open to jailbroken iPhones, consumers can still access some software that Apple won’t allow. Think free text-messaging and cheap international calls thanks to a Google Voice app that Apple banned. Or features that we can’t have yet, such as multimedia messaging and tethering. Here, we round up a list of the most compelling reasons to jailbreak your iPhone.

1. Google Voice

Apple recently rejected and banned Google Voice apps from its App Store. The apps would have augmented the search giant’s new voice service, which enables users to rely on a single phone number to ring all their phones, while also delivering the gift of free text messages, voicemail service and cheap international calls. The move stirred so much controversy that even the Federal Communications Commission is inquiring about the prohibition.

Thankfully in the Cydia store there’s GV Mobile, an unofficial Google Voice app. In light of Apple’s blanket ban of Google Voice apps, GV Mobile is the no. 1 reason to jailbreak your iPhone (if you weren’t one of the lucky few to grab a copy before Apple banned it). Overall the app is really sweet, despite having room to improve in terms of performance (connecting to Google’s server each time you launch the app can be a drag). Your contacts list is nicely integrated into the phone dialer and SMS sender; the overall UI is slick and cool. After a few minutes you’ll be sending free text messages, and maybe even dialing your relatives in Taiwan for once with cheap international VOIP calls. The best part? The app’s free.

2. Unrestricted 3G Privileges

AT&T iPhone owners pay $30 per month for “unlimited” 3G data access. But your access isn’t truly unlimited, thanks to restrictions that Apple imposed on some apps. SlingPlayer, an app that streams television from a Slingbox device, was crippled to work only on a Wi-Fi connection at the request of Apple and AT&T. And the Skype VOIP app only works on Wi-Fi, too, rendering it impractical.

This is where 3G Unrestrictor comes in handy. The $2 app enables jailbroken iPhone users to select any app that they wish to use over 3G, including Skype and SlingPlayer. Also, by default the App Store won’t let you download files larger than 10MB on the 3G network, and 3G Unrestrictor will remove that regulation, too. Free your apps and download away!

3. Tethering

Apple promised the new iPhone 3.0 OS would deliver tethering, but AT&T customers have yet to see that promise fulfilled. AT&T promised tethering would arrive “late summer.” Well, we’re waiting, and it’s not here yet. Some iPhone 3.0 users have figured out a roundabout way to turn on tethering without hacking, but that solution is only temporary.

Guess what? There’s a tethering app in Cydia, too. It’s a $5 app called Tether. The steps on setting up tethering aren’t as simple as Apple’s, but hey, you don’t even have to pay a monthly fee to use the service. The app even includes a feature to set a data cap in case you’re worried about extra charges incurred on your account if AT&T catches you tethering. It’s a little rough around the edges thanks to the network setup taking a few minutes, but we still love it.

4. Overseas Travel

Need to travel? Your iPhone can only go so far thanks to its carrier-tied SIM card, unless you wish to receive bills up the nostril thanks to international roaming costs. Jailbreaking will actually enable you to follow a process to unlock your iPhone to work with other carriers’ SIM cards overseas.

5. Pissing off Apple

Whether you’re a developer who has a beef with Apple, or if you’re a consumer who’s pissed at Apple, or if you’re a kid whose puppy was run over by an employee of Apple, then you may want to exact revenge by jailbreaking your iPhone. That’s because Apple clearly doesn’t like it when users jailbreak their iPhones. The company claims the process is illegal, and goes as far as to say jailbreaking will crash cellphone towers. So far these are empty threats, although buyer beware: Future court decisions, laws or FCC regulations may put teeth into Apple’s claims.

6. Pissing off AT&T

Frustrated with AT&T’s brainless customer service, spotty network reception and passive-aggressive totalitarian rule over the App Store? Jailbreaking for any of the reasons above will piss off AT&T, mostly by enabling your applications to use its 3G network without restriction. Or, if you like, you can take your protest a step further and unlock your jailbroken phone, enabling it to work with with T-Mobile or any other GSM-based carrier. It’s not a tea party, it’s an AT&T party!

So what are you waiting for? We won’t tell you how to jailbreak your phone, but you can find the necessary tools and instructions on iPhone Dev-Team’s blog. We also found YouTube user Rizzo893’s video really helpful, too.

Photo: William Hook/Flickr, Jason-Morrison/Flickr, jorgeq/Flickr

Stealth Computer isn’t exactly going for much subtlety with a rugged laptop line called “Warrior,” but subtlety is hardly part of the equation when we’re talking about a convertible tablet that’s protected from repeated drops, shocks, dust, water, and, um, lint. Like most such ruggedized computers, however, all that comes at some expense to performance, although this new 13.3-inch Warrior NW-2000 model is certainly still more than adequate with a 1.06GHz low-voltage Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and a built-in DVD burner, not to mention optional 3G, GPS, and all the usual security measures like a fingerprint scanner and various password protection options. Oh, and a starting price of $4,895.

Filed under: Laptops

Stealth Computer kicks and shoves its Warrior 2000 rugged tablet out the door originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week in the unseasonably entertaining App Store: Another bizarrely amazing music app; free turn-by-turn directions of questionable reliability; a fat man on a tightrope; an interesting take on the classic-est of classics; and a treat for our dear developers.

Pac-Mac Remix: This is an official, sanctioned Pac-Man remake, and accordingly a pretty good one. Purists might be turned off by the 3D graphics, but the gameplay hasn’t really changed; in fact, using finger flicks to change direction is a brilliant way to control Pac-Man. For $6, as is, this is good; for $2—even if that would mean losing the flashy production—it would kill.

Mujik: An instrument-slash-synthesizer made of books, flies, cardboard and whimsy. It takes about five minutes to figure out what the hell is going on with Mujik, but once you do, it’s beautiful, and the musical possibilities are tremendous. This is as good as Brian Eno’s Bloom, if not better—not least because it’s free. (via TUAW)

Tightwire: A fat man on a tightrope wire, in 3D, who you keep alive by tilting your iPhone. The graphics are good, the impact animations forceful and satisfying, and difficulty level high enough to keep this simple concept entertaining for more than a few minutes. One dollar.

Waze: To be honest, crowd-sourced navigation sounds like a pretty terrible idea, but who am I to judge: Waze has been available in Israel for quite a while, and people swear by it there. In the US, its userbase is a little lean, and most the features don’t yet work as well as they’re supposed to—turn-by-turn navigation included. If more people join, I guess, the user-contributed information, like common speed traps, road quirks, and whatever else you can think of, should get much better. Cool, but couldn’t Google just do this by enabling user layers in Maps? Free.

Call of Duty: World at War Companion: Ha ha, that icon got you all excited, didn’t it? Sorry, this isn’t a new Call of Duty game for the iPhone. Actually, no, not sorry, because for anyone who plays COD: WaW (nice acronym), the detailed stats-tracking and player communication features are pretty neat. Free.

iSimulate: Alright kids, step outside—this one’s for the developers. iSimulate lets you display iPhone apps on your computer screen, mainly for the purposes of demo recording, which is tough in the SDK emulator on account of its awkward accelerometer and multitouch implementations. $8.

The Week’s App News on Giz:

• Gross Virtual Girlfriend App Is One-Upped by its Gross Fox News Coverage

• Apple Yanks Sex Offender Locator From App Store to the Relief of Perverts Everywhere

• Giz Explains: How Push Works

• Apple’s Phil Schiller Explains They Don’t Actually Censor Dictionaries

• Now Apple’s Blocking All Ebook App Store Submissions? Update: No

• The Stupidest App Store Incident Yet: Apple Censors a Dictionary

• Third Largest App Store Developer Gets Banned, For Sucking

• Windows Mobile Wants In On the iPhone App Action, Literally

This list is in no way definitive. If you’ve spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory and our original iPhone App Review Marathon. Have a swell weekend everybody.