iPhone News Break: Patents, podcasts and bluetooth; oh, my!

Hey, all. Since I am semi-snowed into my basement apartment, I figured now was a good time to do a quick recap of the goings-on in the world of iPhones.  Here is a roundup of a few of the more interesting iPhone news stories floating around the ether of the internet.

First off, Apple has approved a new Podcaster-type app for the iPhone. The application reportedly allows users to download podcasts to their iPhone/iPod touch, but the app will not allow users to search for podcasts. Check out the full story here.

Also on the app front, it looks like there is an app called iBluetooth that will give users bluetooth features and file transfer functionality via their iPhones.  A whole slew of iPhone holdouts just lost their excuse for crossing over.

Moving to the hardware side of things, Apple has been awarded a patent for much of it's multitouch user interface.  According to the CNet article, "The patent is extremely long, and covers many of the methods used by the iPhone to display data, such as pinch-to-zoom Web browsing and swipe-to-scroll."  Full story here.

In a quasi-related story, Palm has responded to the earlier implications that Apple might take legal action over some features in the new Palm Pre, saying:

"Palm has a long history of innovation that is reflected in our products and robust patent portfolio, and we have long been recognized for our fundamental patents in the mobile space. If faced with legal action, we are confident that we have the tools necessary to defend ourselves”

-Lynn Fox, spokesperson, Palm.

That's all for now.  Until next time, tap 'em if you got 'em.