A number of major carriers all over the globe have begun receiving a near-final build of Apple’s upcoming iOS 5 software for testing, according to one report. The software is said to be a newer than the beta recently seeded to developers, and includes a number of features that we’re still yet to see in previous betas, including that much-rumored speech-to-text technology.

Facebook issued an update to its iPhone application last night, and while it introduces a number of nice new features, it also removes all code related to the iPad version — meaning you can no longer install the official Facebook app for iPad before its release.

There’s a treat for photography fans this morning, with the launch of the British Journal of Photography‘s official iPad app.

Have you ever wanted to change the default screenshot format in Mac OS X? The default PNG files can end up being huge, especially with higher resolution displays. In this video, I’ll show you how to change the format to anything you’d like, even a PDF.

An Apple-related tidbit from the Carol Bartz-Yahoo saga that perhaps confirms the iPad’s dominance with corner office types. Her 42-word message about getting fired as CEO (over the phone, ouch) this afternoon ends with the “Sent from my iPad” signature.

Netflix has inflicted a recent number of price increases on its customers and now Netflix is inflicting it’s customers with a new restriction. A customer can only have one streaming video feed per account. This change is going to have a serious impact on families that share a Netflix account.

Water cooler alert: a new poll names Steve Jobs as the coolest man in tech, helping propel his fellow U.S. citizens to the position of coolest people on the planet.

Social networking site Badoo.com asked 30,000 people in 15 countries to name the coolest nationality. Big win for the red white and blue: America won the top spot.

It’s already insane how thin an iPad 2 is — even thinner than the iPhone 4 — but come 2012, you’re about to see them get a lot thinner, thanks to some svelte battery packs that should shave up to 30% off the total footprint of the iPad 3.

Remember those sexy 27-inch Thunderbolt displays Apple announced it would sell once they slipped out the first Thunderbolt MacBook? They’re now zooming on their way to stores, featuring FaceTime HD cameras, 2.1 speaker systems, three USB ports, a lone Firewire 800 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port and a second Thunderbolt port for daisy chaining.

Don’t expect this to all run cheap, though. You’ll spend $999 for one, or about the price of a MacBook Air.

Social networking, schnetworking, right? Yeah, I know. I am so overshared I feel like a sexted pic at an 8th grade dance sometimes.

But I could still use good ideas about what apps or games are worth my time. Enter Kinetik: a free app whose goal is to help you share the apps you love for your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and get suggestions from others about what is keeping them distracted during commute time or entertained during meetings.

Hot on the heels of the rumor that Apple is considering the acquisition of TV/movie streaming and subscription service Hulu, it’s now being reported that Google has entered the potential buyer foray with a handsome bid to put the others to rest.

Currently, Amazon, Yahoo, and the Dish Network are eying Hulu for a potential buyout, and there’s always the possibility that Apple could step in at the last minute. As of right now, Google may be the one that gets to take Hulu home.

An article on Macworld today sheds some light on the Towson Hack — a mysterious scam involving stolen iTunes store credit dating back to November of last year.

Macworld highlights a trafficked thread on the Apple support forums that tells story after story of stolen iTunes gift card credit, initially relating to a changed billing address to Towson, Maryland.

Believe it.

Wait, what? You haven’t downloaded Contre Jour yet? Get thee to thine local Store of Apps and grab it, pronto. If you don’t yet own an iPhone or iPod, go out and buy one first, then get Contre Jour.

You could almost smell the desperation from the press release announcing the “first ever” premiere of a network television show on Apple’s iTunes. Fox, which usually keeps its first-run programming off iTunes, has released the pilot episode of “New Girl,” a series receiving lackluster reviews, as a free download on the service.

Fortune Magazine’s Adam Lashinsky will be penning an upcoming book titled, “Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired — and Secretive — Company Really Works.”

The book will be an “expanded” look at Lashinsky’s well-read article of the same name from earlier this year. As one of the Silicon Valley’s premiere reporters, Lashinsky’s new book will be sure to permeate the inner workings of Apple in a new and refreshing way.

I hate cables, especially when traveling, but it always seems like I’m walking around with a whole suitcase full of spare electric umbilicals when I go on a trip. The MacAlly Dualsync nicely consolidates two of the cables I need: an Apple Dock Connector and a microUSB cable, thanks to the ingenuity of a removable, Apple-compliant head.

I’m also pretty fetched by the way the whole thing winds back down to just four and a half inches from a maximum length of about two feet. The price ain’t shabby, either: it’ll cost you just twenty five bucks.

[via iLounge]

And the dog pile’s on. Less than a week after the Department of Justice moved to block AT&T’s proposed merger with T-Mobile, Sprint has sued both carriers to help ensure the deal doesn’t go through.

You would think all of the hype surrounding the much-anticipated iPhone 5 would leave consumers waiting for Apple’s new handset. Well, you’d be wrong. The iPhone 4 remains the top-selling U.S. smartphone at AT&T and Verizon, one analyst says.

Did you see our post the other day about getting yourself a temporary Steve Jobs tattoo and decide to turn yourself into quivering flesh mosaic of intertwined Steve Jobs heads?

That’s nothing. Reader Dan Uricoli Jr. has lived and breathed Apple since he was 19. He was an Apple Corporate employee for three and a half years, and even now, as a professional musician fronting the band Stellar Revival, uses Apple products extensively in his art.

In fact, Dan is such an Apple die-hard that he permanently tattooed Steve Jobs’ iconic portrait on his right arm. Now that’s a card-carrying member of the Cult of Mac.

Bigger isn’t better, smartphone makers are learning at a Berlin trade show of new devices going up against Apple’s iPhone. After striking out with pricing and features, competitors are now turning to larger screens as a way to set themselves apart. One minor problem: consumers hate them.

Okay, my iPhone hasn’t really got wood, but it could have, thanks to JackBacks. JackBacks create real wooden backs for your iPhone 4 made from natural bamboo that are completely customizable, allowing you to choose a design that really sets your iPhone 4 apart.

Smelling the whiff of success wafting from ThinkGeek’s iCade gaming cabinet, gaming giant turned moribund brand Atari is apparently looking to release their own joystick controller for the iPad called the Atari Arcade Duo Powered Joystick.

You don’t hear all that much about Apple’s third founder, Ronald Wayne, and for good reason: he sold his stake in Apple just twelve days after the company was founded. It’d be worth $35 billion today. You might wonder how was apple founded. Wayne would like to tell you in his new autobiography, and… surprise… he doesn’t think he made a mistake at all!

An Australian judge suggests Apple pony up some iPad sales figures to bolster its argument for barring sales of Samsung’s Galaxy 10.1 tablet. Although it is was only a suggestion, the tech giant may have to disclose sales in the UK and U.S. – something Samsung attorneys have demanded.