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Google has ported Google Earth to the iPhone or iPod touch, and it’s such an impressive app that it deserves an Apple ad of its own.

The interface for Google Earth will be familiar instantly to anyone who has used an iPhone for more than a couple of hours. Upon launching the app, you see a photo of the Earth from space. To zoom in, you can either double-tap or use the “reverse-pinch” gesture on the screen. Swiping a finger left, right, up, or down moves the display in the chosen direction, and a two-finger rotation turns the display clockwise or counter-clockwise. There are icons on the display (see screenshot at right) for search, using your current location, changing settings, and realigning the display to North.

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If you think that your iPhone’s ultracompact USB power adapter is the coolest thing around, think again; Apple has announced an exchange program for the teensy wonders, as apparently they have a very infrequent habit of prong-snapping, leading to a risk of fire. Check to see if your adapter has a green dot like the one pictured here; if so it is already up-to-date and does not need replacement.

You can get details on the exchange program from Apple’s site or in the 2nd half of this post. Exchanges begin on October 10, both online and in person at Apple retail stores. Be careful out there. (more…)

Before one week, Twenty08 released a new instant messaging client for the iPhone/iPod touch. MobileChat (iTunes Link) allows you to connect to multiple IM services, including:

• AIM/ICQ/.Mac/MobileMe
• Windows Live/MSN
• Yahoo
• GTalk
• Jabber

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Google has launched a new version of its online Google Translate tool optimized for the iPhone and iPod touch. According to the Google Mobile Blog, the web app is “optimized for speed, supports all of the existing Google Translate language pairs, and uses a client-side data-store on your iPhone to hang on to your past translations so you always have them at hand, even if you can’t use the local data network.”

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Check your email, iPhone developers. Apple has released iPhone OS 2.1 beta 3. The description of changes is typically cryptic:

“iPhone OS 2.1 beta 3 is now available and is to be used for testing only. View the Pre-Installation Advisory for iPhone OS 2.1 beta 3, Readme, and Release Notes before installing the new versions of the iPhone OS and SDK. As a reminder, pre-release software is Confidential Information and is subject to the terms outlined in your Registered iPhone Developer Terms and Conditions with Apple.”

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Pennies is a new iPhone application from the same people who brought you AppZapper and Disco. Pennies is a simple, yet beautifully designed, application to manage your monthly budget right from your iPhone or iPod touch. When you first launch the application you are presented with a “This Month” budget screen where you can set your monthly budget, see how much you’ve spent, see top expenses, and get some statistics.

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If black and white aren’t enough for you, ColorWare is now offering their gadget coloring service for the iPhone 3G. Their iPhone site allows you to customize parts of your phone with 35 different colors on an à la carte basis. Obviously you have to send in your iPhone and the service takes about two weeks.

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USA Today has an interview with AT&T head Randall Stephenson in which he discusses the success of the iPhone for the wireless carrier. He notes that in the original deal back on 2005 they were “betting on Jobs” — and it’s now clear that that bet paid off: “It’s everything we hoped it would be,” according to Stephenson.

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With my girlfriend in the process of refurbishing her kitchen, I found myself in need of (and without) a carpenter’s level yesterday afternoon. But then I remembered Bubble Level, an application for the iPhone and iPod touch.

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Ridax, a company that sells various iPod Dock Connector accessories, has begun taking pre-orders for its iPhone 3G Charge Converter. The small accessory, the design of which is still being finished, will allow iPhone 3G owners to use older iPod and iPhone charging accessories that are currently incompatible with the 3G to charge the device by converting the power stream to suit the iPhone 3G.

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