Facebook just dropped version 3.2 of their iOS app onto iTunes, bringing an interesting new feature to the mix that seems like a direct challenge to the likes of foursquare’s location-based dominance: Places, a feature which lets you “check-in” to your current location and share it with friends.

Other new features in the update include the ability to set privacy of individual status updates, see all the recipients on any inbox messages, and even upload photos and videos in the background taking advantage of iOS4’s nifty multitasking abilities.

Facebook for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad is available free for download, and the 3.2 update should have rolled out to App Store users internationally. Just hit refresh.

It just farts. According to Wired, Phillip Shoemaker — the director of applications technology at Apple, and the honcho responsible for maintaining a puritanical standard of quality in the App Store library — has a side job: selling a series of flatulence, evacuation and micturating simulators on the App Store through his company, Gray Noodle.

One such app is called iWiz. “Simulate the experience of urinating for a long time,” the app description reads. “Convince your friends that you’ll never stop.”

OPlayer, from olimsoft, is an iOS application for both iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad, that claims to boost your device’s media capabilities by allowing playback of a huge list of audio and video file formats.

The list of supported formats is pretty impressive, and will save you a great deal of effort if you often find yourself having to convert movies to watch on your device while you’re on the move. A fairly big video file can take a while to convert and it’s not the most exciting of tasks. But with OPlayer conversion isn’t needed – simply transfer your media to your device.

The full list of supported formats includes MP3, WMA, RM, AAC, WMV, AVI, MKV, RMVB, XVID, MP4, MOV, 3GP and MPG.

You can transfer files to your device using the File Sharing feature within iTunes or you can download them using the built-in browser from your computer, from the internet or from an FTP server. It’s also possible to stream media to your device over Wi-Fi and 3G.

The release of OPlayer, and of CineXPlayer last week, in to the App Store certainly suggests that Apple is relaxing some of its restrictions on app approvals, most likely in a bid to discourage users from jailbreaking their devices. Will this open the doors for other third-party media players?

Get OPlayer for your iPhone & iPod Touch from the App Store here, or get the HD version for your iPad here.

Psst. Wanna cheap iPad without going to Hong Kong? Well, have I got a deal for you — just don’t look too closely. That line probably wouldn’t sell too many fake iPads in China, but knockoffs of Apple’s tablet device have been spotted in that country for as low as $110.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a Beijing market known for selling tourists fakes of well-known brands has turned its attention to the iPad. Labelled “iPads” and carrying the Apple logo, the knock-offs are a Frankenstein Monster-like mix of Cupertino, Calif. design and Google innards.

The robber who ripped off a man’s pinky to steal an iPad is now accused of trying to organize a hit on the victim from jail. On June 29, Brandon Smith sent a letter from jail to a crony to wipe out victim Bill Jordan. Here’s what the letter said:

“YOU GET THIS DONE! AND I GO ON ANYTHING I’ll rob a bank if you want me too. Just do this for your boy and I got you for sure. You know how we do it.”

“That’s the address, so handle it A.S.A.P.” He concludes the letter by saying: “I really need this otherwise it’s a wrap!! If you do this, case is dropped. NO WITNESS.”

Jordan’s son says that detectives and Witness Protection agents were at Jordan’s house 20 minutes after the threatening missive was intercepted. Jordan has considered changing his name and moving out of state.

Jordan, 59, had part of his finger amputated after Brandon Smith wrested a just-purchased iPad from him in the parking lot outside Denver’s Cherry Creek Mall store in April. The Apple bag was looped around Jordan’s hand and the thief jerked hard several times to get it off — so hard that flesh came of Jordan’s left pinky. A surgeon later had to amputate part of the damaged little finger on his dominant hand.

There are many questions still unanswered about the case. A big one: if Smith was arrested in part due to parking lot surveillance video, how did he think killing Jordan would resolve his case?

Via Denver Post

Valve’s Source engine games run fantastically on the Mac already, but the performance hasn’t quite been up to the level of what they’ve come to expect under Windows, mostly due to issues inherent to Snow Leopard’s graphic drivers. We posted last month that Valve was working closely with Apple to remedy that issue, and now the fruits of their labors have been released, courtesy of a new Snow Leopard Graphics Update.

Here’s what the 69MB update fixes:

Addresses frame rate issues occurring in Portal and Team Fortress 2 by Valve, on iMac (Late 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac mini (Early 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early 2009), MacBook (Early 2009 and Mid 2010) and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) or MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) models.

Resolves an issue that could cause Aperture 3, or StarCraft II by Blizzard, to unexpectedly quit or become unresponsive.

Resolves an image corruption issue that may occur when disconnecting and reconnecting external displays while the system is running.

It’s really good to see Apple taking Mac gaming seriously enough to specifically call out new games in their patch notes. Cupertino’s long sent the message that it doesn’t really care about gaming under OS X, but perhaps all that was missing was a passionate advocate like Valve.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nupVEJCC97k&feature=player_embedded

As an Apple blogger, I should be utterly aghast at this advertisement from Free Tax USA of an iPad meeting the pointy end of a sniper bullet, but my real gut reaction is just how viscerally satisfying it looks to shoot an iPad in the face. Someone should make a first person shooter of this for the App Store.

[via Crunchgear]

While the iPod is busy powering bar taps, the iPad gets in on the fun at Yelp powering an iPad controlled keg for the office.  During the 2nd annual Hackathon these serious beer-reseachers knew they had to do something equally productive with Apple’s latest iWonder:

At Yelp, we don’t mess around with our beer. To make sure we never run dry or get a bad pint, the geniuses on this team — John B., Gabe H., Alex D., Julien R., and Jeff M. — built the Kegbot. Controlled by an iPad app, you can tell how much beer is being emptied (and at what rate: cough, John), as well as leave a 5 star review for your brew.

Authorization for pouring your favorite brew comes from a swipe of one’s RFID employee ID badge (after hours, we assume).  Of course there’s also a webpage you can check from your desk to see the status of the KegMate.  I wonder if  Yelp paychecks now include a deduction for beer expenses?

Thanks for Geeky Gadgets for the tip.

Might Google do to television what the Internet giant has already done for publishing – linking to video content and bypassing the content creators? That seems to be the fear of some television executives who are voicing objections to an Android-based set-top box.

Although Google wants to combine web data with TV episodes and online video, content owners are “skeptical that Google can provide a business model that would compensate for potentially cannibalizing TV owners’ existing broadcast business,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

HBO’s CEO says it will begin streaming its premium TV content to iPads within a few months. The service, HBO Go, will be extended to mobile devices in a bid to outmaneuver Netflix, which already offers an iPad app.

In a Bloomberg interview, HBO CEO Reed Hastings said within six months, it will extend its current HBO Go service to mobile devices. Currently, subscribers to the premium TV channel can view original programming on their computers. In July, video rental service Netflix began offering a similar iPad app.