The recent theft of about 4000 stinking new 3GS iPhones in Antwerp has been all over the news these past couple of weeks. If anyone still hasn’t heard about it, I’ll reiterate – a bunch of thieves cut through the wall of a warehouse in Antwerp and stole a shipment of officially unlocked iPhones meant for Mobistar which is estimated at more than $3 000 000.

The operator immediately announced that since they have the IMEI (unique serial number) of all of the phones in the shipment, they can block them from their network. Unfortunately, since the iPhones are all factory unlocked, it was just a matter of time until they were shipped out of the country and sold worldwide.

Well, here at TouchMyApps.com we’ll be the first to tell where a large portion of those phones ended up.

But first, a little intro. Many of you may not know that while the 3GS is triumphantly making its way around the world, in the small and forgotten country of Russia it is still not officially available. This makes all of the Apple fans either to stick with the older 3G or take a bit of a risk and buy imported phones.

Therefore it’s no wonder that the thief chose Russia as the first dumping stop of the stolen 3GS phones. Several resellers who hang out at one of the main Russian iPhone sites have reported that they have been getting calls from unknown people, offering them officially unlocked European “Jesus” phones at rock bottom prices in shipments of 100 or more with no possibility of credit or anything like that.

The owner of shack at a local computer market who wishes to remain anonymous, confirmed that a lot of the nearby shops have already started to feature the Belgian phones, though not all of the owners decide to strike a deal with the thieves. The main concern is that Interpol is already on the case, and with serial numbers in hand, will be able to confiscate a large portion of the phones. Another matter – Interpol is likely to demand that the phones’ IMEIs be disabled, making them worthless for Russian networks, and in turn drawing the ire of many customers. At the same time, not everybody tracks the latest news and the resellers who still haven’t heard about the theft often gladly fork over cash in order to stock the phones.

And to anyone who suspects that they may have bought a stolen iPhone – it’s quite easy to check. Just go into Settings -> General -> About and check the Model. If the last two symbols are NF – you have a Mobistar phone in your hands. In this case we would advise to immediately exchange or return the phone for a rebate, or you might end up with a bricked phone by New Years or earlier.

• Field Prowlers POLICE RUSH! – In this all-new exciting car chase game, players assume the role of a police officer sworn to protect and serve by chasing down criminals and arresting them.  Gamers will draw lines on the touch panel with their finger and guide their two patrol cars to hunt down bomber vehicles on the run from the law. To succeed, players will have to capture all the criminals across 30 missions over several distinct stages.

• Frogger – Help guide one of Konami’s most beloved characters safely across the highway while avoiding oncoming traffic and other obstacles.
  

• Metal Gear Solid Touch – The award-winning commercial warfare adventure brings Old Snake to the iPhone though five chapters spanning 20 stages in which familiar enemies attempt to keep Snake from accomplishing his mission.

• Silent Hill: The Escape – Enter the fear-provoking town of Silent Hill where players must solve puzzles, uncover dark secrets and gather clues to avoid grotesque monsters and survive.

• Silent Scope – Players will fight to save the President and the First Family from terrorists by using their marksmanship skills in this fast-paced rail shooter.

• Krazy Kart Racing – Pick one of ten classic Konami heroes and speed across 16 themed racing circuits in this 3D cartoon styled racer.

• DanceDanceRevolution S – In this addictive music rhythm game, choose from up to three gameplay modes with 26 songs and 18 playable characters.

• DanceDanceRevolution S+ – Groove in classic DDR style, but with an added bonus of being able to download new tunes to tap to on the go.

• Power Pros Touch – Experience the crowd cheers, fight songs and over 120 variations of play-by-play baseball commentary as players chose from 25 to 162 game seasons.

All of the titles listed above are available now through November 30th for 99 cents at the App store for the iPhone and iPod touch. For more information and assets, please visit http://www.konami.com/downloads/.

Markus Biernath today released Photo Diary 2.0 for iPhone and iPod Touch users. The app provides all the security of a private diary, along with a lot of fun features. Photo Diary can be used to share photos, location, icons and notes on Twitter or by email for a fully functional sharing experience, while the password protected journal allows users to keep some things private.

Waretown, NJ – Announcing that Markus Biernath, developer of Photo Diary has released version 2.0 for iPhone and iPod Touch users. The versatile app gives users a secure platform for recording private information, as well as for sharing with others via email or Twitter.

Photo Diary has a selection of features, which lends a sense of fun and functionality to the app. There are weather icons to indicate the weather or your mood; a password protected journal for recording confidential notes; Twitter and Twitterpic capabilities and a Google Maps location pinpointer. All of these fun things can used to give others a glimpse of the user’s life.

Developed to be both private and public, Photo Diary provides the best of both worlds, making it fun and functional.

Features:
* Twitter and Twitterpic support
* Weather icons to remember the weather of the day without writing a word
* Automatic saving of the GPS Position of each entry for later reviewing in Google Maps
* Free background color selection with sliders for direct preview
* More than 40 fonts available
* Font size selection directly in the app with direct preview
* Monthly overview with all important information of an entry including a thumbnail of the entry’s picture
* Email function (sending an entry including the text, picture, weather icon and google maps link
* Password protection with numpad entry
* Search function

About Photo Diary
Photo Diary is a fully functional app for iPhone and iPod Touch users.  Its weather icons, photo capabilities and Google Maps support helps to liven up otherwise dull notes that can be shared by email or Twitter. Photo Diary also has a secure, password protected journal for private entries.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone or iPod Touch, requires OS 3.0 or higher

Pricing and Availability:
Photo Diary 2.0 is only $1.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Lifestyle category. Promo codes are available for qualified reviewers. Please specify the website or blog you represent when making your request.

Photo Diary 2.0: http://www.snoopynet.com
Purchase and Download: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftwareid=311967330&mt=8
Demonstration Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP9pSAgJ_6s

Kiev, Ukraine – Ivan Karpan and Evgeniy Lebed today are proud to announce Christmas sale of GlobeMaster and GlobeTipping, their applications for iPhone and iPod Touch. GlobeMaster is an offline world-wide travel guide featuring 1400+ cities in more than 260 countries, including 4100+ photos, tips calculator and advisor, units converter and much more. During Christmas sale its price is $0.99 USD (was $2.99 USD). GlobeTipping features tip calculator and advisor functionality of GlobeMaster as a separate app. During Christmas sale it is free (was $0.99 USD) as well as GlobeConvert.

Perfect for vacationing, itinerary planning, business travel or simply for those who are interested in the world we live in, GlobeMaster offers reliable and important information for travelers, making any trip interesting, safe and enjoyable. The travel guide database is updated with each new version of the application. For fast and more efficient access, all country and city data are divided into convenient categories.

The application contains practical advice based on Wikitravel content, and offers a wealth of information, including such information as national holidays, festivals, carnivals, state structure, traditions and culture of nation, local rules of behavior, national food and drinks, sights, ways of getting in, out and around the country/city, recommendations on how to stay healthy and safe and more. Additionally, travelers can easily and quickly calculate tips using country-specific tipping information for reference and convert often used units of measurement, as well as currencies at up-to-date exchange rates.

Feature Highlights:
* Comfortable and simple User Interface
* 260+ countries and areas
* 1400+ major cities
* Country overview on Google maps and 4100+ photos
* All information is divided into categories for faster and easy access
* Handy Tip Calculator with detailed information on tipping for current country
* Useful Units Converter with currency rates online on-demand update
* Favorites functionality for tip calculator and units converter presets you use most often and more.
* Information about climate and recommendations about the best time to visit
* Ways of getting in, out and around the country/city by all means of transport
* Information about national holidays and major events, such as festivals and local rules of behavior
* Reference information about local communications and emergency contacts
* Advice on how to stay healthy and safe
* Electricity standards, national cuisine, shopping advice
* Recommendations about accommodation and work
* Physical and geometrical units converter to live in preferred co-ordinates

Version 1.1.1 adds Travel Alerts functionality, more cities, optimized database and images, and fixes minor bugs found in the 1.1 release. GlobeMaster now provides updated news about events that potentially raise traveling risks, including natural disasters, terrorist attacks, coups, anniversaries of terrorist events, election-related demonstrations or violence, etc. If something unforeseen and potentially risky happens, users will know about it – even if the local media has not covered it.

Users can add to favorites tips and converter presets they use most, and GlobeMaster can restore presets they need – easily and anytime. And with regard to tipping, it’s always best to tip appropriately in each and every situation. With GlobeMaster, smart travelers can always make a quick calculation of tips adequate for their situation in 200  countries. GlobeMaster offers simple and quick physical and geometrical units converter commonly used by travelers and students, including 11 types of converters, 80  units and 190  currencies with exchange rates updated online and on-the-fly.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone or iPod Touch 3.0 or later

Pricing and Availability:
GlobeMaster during the time of Christmas sale is only $0.99 (USD) and GlobeTipping is free. All apps are available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Travel category. Review copies are available upon request. Complete information about countries, cities, categories and subcategories, units and currencies the application contains can be found on GlobeMaster’s and GlobeTipping’s homepage. GlobeTipping application features tips related functionality and advice as a separate application.

GlobeMaster: http://www.globemaster.us/
Purchase and Download: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/globemaster-offline-travel-guide/id329676064?mt=8
Icon: http://globemaster.us/images/globemaster.png
GlobeTipping: http://www.globemaster.us/globetipping.html
Download GlobeTipping: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/globetipping-tipping-calculator/id334850512?mt=8
Icon: http://globemaster.us/images/globetipping.png

Hong Kong – Gee Logic Software Co., LTD today released Video Poker: Jacks or Better 1.0 for iPhone and iPod touch. Video Poker is a casino card game based on Five-card draw poker first appeared in the mid-70s, and has been popular among casinos throughout the world since. This game is a simulation of video poker machines featured in casinos. It is based on Jacks or Better variant.

There are already a list of features planned and being developed. We’ll keep updating it regularly, and aim to make it the only Video Poker game you’ll ever want to keep on your iPhone / iPod touch. If you’re a Video Poker fan, this will be a perfect companion for your iPhone and iPod touch. If you’re a poker learner and just started playing poker, this will also be a perfect tool for you to learn about poker hand.

Feature Highlights:
* Shuffle Engine (our own proprietary Random Number Generation engine)
* Card Animation

Up coming updates:
* Improved shuffle mechanism (although already very good, we want it to be even better)
* Graphical and UI improvement
* New logo
* Other enhancements

Device Requirements:
iPhone and iPod touch 3.0 or later

Pricing and Availability:
Video Poker: Jacks or Better 1.0 is only $0.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category.

Gee Logic Software: http://www.geelogic.com
Video Poker: Jacks or Better 1.0: http://www.geelogic.com/en/Video_Poker.html
Purchase and Download: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=338069678&mt=8

icomplete.com easily overcomes this issue and will mop up those iphone users who in times of recession have little option but to migrate to a cheaper provider.  icomplete.com charge just £5 a month for visual voicemail!  This is great news as it will stop 02 monopolising on this ‘lock-in’ policy enabling iphone customer’s freedom to choose a cheaper mobile tariff and a cheaper visual voicemail provider in the process!