The casing of the exclusive iPhone 3GS Supreme was created using 271 grams of 22 carat solid gold.

The front bezel houses 136 flawless diamonds totalling a massive 68 carats while the Apple logo on the back is made from a further 53 gems.

The front navigation button is made from a single diamond of more than seven carats.

Designer Stuart Hughes, from Liverpool, Merseyside, took ten months to make the phone after it was commissioned by an anonymous Australian businessman.

Mr Hughes said: “The Iphone is the phone with the most tricks on the market.

“What possibly could we do to trick it up more? Bless it with the finest precious metal and jewels.

“Most of the ten months was spent trying to source the diamond for the navigation button.”

The phone comes in a special 7kg chest made from a single block of granite and Kashmir gold with a Nubuck leather lining.

Gmail updated its look & feel in the browser on Android and iPhone devices today. Some of Google’s other mobile apps, like Calendar, have also gotten the new look. Other than the ‘re-skinning,’ features are unchanged for now.

Google did announce a new mobile news look for these devices, but no word on the Gmail interface.

New licensing regulations to safeguard Internet users who register .za domain names have been released for comment. The .za registration process includes sending a plain text email to Uniform (.za registry) to register your domain. This is a very outdated and tedios process that has not changed in over 10 years. Some of the highlites of the new regulations are -

In addition, registries will be required to substantially automate the registration processes, so that names can be registered online quicker and more easily. This is an important measure which will upgrade .za to operate at a level on par with the leading domains such as .com, .net, .de (Germany) and .uk (United Kingdom).

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“While there may be cases where it is justifiable for a registrar to list itself as the holder of a name which belongs to its client, such practice is unfair and unethical if the domain name holder never consented to such an arrangement.”

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In addition, ZA DNA may be able to force a registrar to delete names belonging to cyber-squatters where the registrar is found to be hosting cyber-squatter names. This will help protect the .za namespace better from being used by Internet thugs to send spam and attack the Internet infrastructure worldwide.

Cross posted from http://www.marcforrest.com/2009/11/18/16-apps-for-your-new-iphone/

I have had a couple of people ask me recently what are the “essential” apps for getting your iPhone up and running. With over 100,000 apps in the app store at the moment, it is almost impossible to give an exact list. So what I wanted to do is give you my list of 16 essential (and cool) apps, which will help you fill up your first screen on your new iPhone.

The first thing you need to do is open a US iTunes account. See my post on 5 iphone tips & tricks on how to do this from a country outside of the US. This is essential to getting the best apps on the market, as many developers do not sell their apps in the South African store. After you have opened a US iTunes account, be sure to get some credit, by buying an iTunes voucher. You shouldn’t need more than $15 to get the show on the road.

(The links on the app names below all open iTunes links)

Shazam – Free
Every time you hear that song on the radio, and you don’t know what it is, use Shazam. Instantly identifies the artist and song title for you.

Layar Reality Browser – Free
If you have acquired a 3Gs, get this app. It allows you to see what is around you, using your GPS position. Going to become very useful in the future as augmented reality starts to get more popular

Skype – Free
Everybody knows about Skype.Free VoIP calls on the go. Simple, effective and easy to use.

Dropbox – Free
Keep your files in sync in the cloud, and access the on your phone. You can upload files on your computers at work or at home, and then access them on your phone.

Evernote – Free
Keep your notes synced and up to date on the go. You can also create Notes and take pictures on your phone and sync them back to your computers.

Facebook – Free
Everyone loves Facebook The latest update is super, and you can pretty much do everything on your iPhone that you can do on the website

PicPosterous – Free
Posterous is a fantastic site that allows you to automagically upload your photos to other services like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr etc. The app allows you to take pictures on the fly and then update them to these services.

Wikipedia – Free
The mobile interface for the ever popular Wikipedia site. Useful if you looking for info on something while on the go

Doodle Jump – $0.99
What would a new iPhone be without a game. The most addictive iPhone game of all time. Just get it. You won’t put it down

Photoshop Mobile – Free
Edit your photos on your phone. Very simple to use and has loads of cool feature. You can also upload your edited photos to the photoshop.com site.

TweetDeck – Free
The best free twitter app. Also recently updated with some nifty features, and it syncs with your desktop Tweetdeck. Tweetie2 ($2.99) is also another great twitter app.

News24 – Free
The ultimate South African news site on your iPhone. You can also view news and storie from other 24.com platforms such as Fin24, Wheels24 and even has a function to view resturants closest to you.

ZATV Guide – Free
Keep up to date with your favorite tv programmes and whats showing today. You can also set your favorite channels for a quick glance

CNN Mobile – $1.99
Best app for international news on the go. The coolest feature of this app is that it offers live streaming for breaking news.

Flickr – Free
You can upload and view photos on your Flickr stream. You can also view your contacts pictures as well as comment on them with the app

Ping! - $0.99
A fantastic little app that allows you to “ping” another iPhone user, much like Blackberry Messenger. The app will send the other Ping! user a push notification to alert them to the message. There is also a free version available, which has limited functionality.

So that’s my list, if anyone else has some suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments below. Who knows, we may just fill up the next screen

Twitter is one of the internet’s hottest startups at the moment and with any internet business you need flashy creative offices to retrain and inspire top talent. Twitter’s new space, which was previously Bebo’s SF office, is right around the corner from their old one.

A few members of the Twitter team spent much of the weekend decorating the new digs with a number of Twitter-themed elements like birds and @ symbols. Check out some of the pictures being posted to the web by Twitter employees below.

via TC

Poker apps have already been a big hit for the iPhone and the action looks to heat up even further with the release of World Poker Tour Texas Hold’em for the iPhone and iPod Touch. If you’re a fan of the WPT televised poker broadcasts you’ll be immediately right at home with the World Poker Tour Texas Hold’em app, as it includes the voice of announcer Mike Sexton and familiar avatars of famous players at the poker table.

One cool feature of WPT Texas Hold’em is that it features different gameplay modes that let you play alone against computer opponents or in multi-player mode, just like you’re playing online poker. You get the best of both worlds, playing solo when you want but also jumping into multi-player games on their dedicated poker network,where other mobile users or gamers at desktop PCs can join in on the fun. That’s a pretty unique feature for a poker game, as most existing apps are either one or the other, as far as emphasizing solo play or only providing multi-player action on a network.

As far as the gameplay, it’s pretty straight forward and simple, as you can muck your cards by flicking the touch screen and elect your betsizes by using a sliding virtual wheel. The menus to access various parts of the game are intuitive and easy to use, and audio clips from Mike Sexton make you feel like you’re playing at a WPT final table yourself. You can play various types of tournaments in both solo and multi-player, choosing betwen either No Limit or Pot Limit Texas Hold’em, get the game here.

Since launching Street View cars in South Africa in September this year, Google has heard from people around the country that they’d like us to include even more images of South Africa’s amazing attractions in Street View and put its famous landmarks on the map.

That’s why we’re giving people a sneak preview of our latest groundbreaking invention – the Google Trike. This mechanical masterpiece comprises 3 bicycle wheels, a mounted Street View camera and a specially decorated box containing image-collecting gadgets. It also comes with a very athletic cyclist in customised Google apparel. The Trikes are not only a low-emission means of collating street-level imagery, as we are currently doing with the Street View Toyota Prius cars, but they also help Google collect imagery in places inaccessible by cars.

We can also reveal that we’re polling the South African public to vote for their special spots, such as historic landmarks and popular tourist destinations that the Trikes might visit. Google has teamed up with South African Tourism, with its unrivalled knowledge of South Africa’s tourist treasures, to compile a list of 20 exciting locations around the country, for which the public can vote and choose the top 3 locations that the Trikes will visit first.

Roshene Singh from South African Tourism said, “We have been only too happy to join forces with Google for its Street View initiative in South Africa, to bring our country’s remarkable diversity to the world in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The new Trikes that are arriving shortly will help to showcase even more of South Africa’s unique travel offering, and we look forward to enthusiastic voting from the public”.

Do you want to see one of the World Cup stadiums on Street View? Or perhaps the Apartheid Museum, Kruger National Park or the Valley of the Zulu Kings? You can vote via an online form, which is available in five languages, at www.google.co.za/trike and also from your mobile phones at www.google.co.za/mobile/trike. As we only collect images from public roads, we have been working closely with the relevant organizations to collect images of privately-owned locations.

Stephen Newton, head of Google South Africa, said, “Street View has been a hit for tourism around the world, and now we want to make it even better for showing off South Africa’s history, nature and culture. The Trikes are designed to go down footpaths and tracks to collect images of areas of natural beauty or tourist sites. The Trikes will be here in South Africa for just a short time so in order to pick the very best spots, we’re asking the public to get involved and tell us where they want us to go. We want it to be a really fun, new aspect of the website – depending on what the public vote for, users will be able to virtually tour historical monuments or scenic locations before visiting – or check out which side of a football stadium they need to be on before leaving the house.”

Due to operational factors such as light levels and the weather (and what could be a pretty tired cyclist), the Trikes will only be in South Africa for a limited time during the summer. Images collected by the Trikes will be processed and carefully stitched together, a technological process that can take several months. They will be made available at a later date in Street View on Google Maps.

About Street View in South Africa

Street View is a hugely popular feature of Google Maps which is already available in more than 100 metropolitan areas around the world. We launched Street View driving in South Africa on the 1st of September 2009. The launch of the product is expected in 2010.

In countries where Street View is available, you can access street-level imagery by zooming into the lowest level on Google Maps, or by dragging the orange “Pegman” icon on the left-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street. You can check out a restaurant before arriving, make travel plans, arrange meeting points, get a helping hand with geography homework, or just explore and get to know your town better.

As well as its consumer appeal, South African businesses will also benefit from the Street View technology by embedding Google Maps directly into their site for free, helping them to promote a chain of hotels or increase awareness of a local library or restaurant.

The invisible shield is a uniquely popular and efficient skin for thousands of cell phones and other electronic devices, including your new iPhone. The shield is a practically undetectable protective skin that gives users the ability to maintain the original sleek look of the device, while keeping it scratch proof and damage proof. The Invisible Shield is made of a polyurethane material that is super-thin, and tough. It was originally put into use by the military.

The first purpose of the material was to protect helicopter blades in extreme environments, so as expected, it provides top of the line protection against blemishes and scratches. The sweetest thing about the Invisible Shield is the combination of being extra slim, tremendously tough, and fully transparent. In addition, the skin is specially designed to match the exact shape of every gadget, giving unequaled scratch protection. This makes it the ideal iphone cover.

Invisible Shield Features:

• The shield is super-thin and will not increase bulkyness
• Precisely cut to match thousands of cell phones and electronic devices
• Patented film that is scratch proof
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• Originally developed by the Military
• Provides increased grip to your gadget
• 30 day money back guarantee
• Lifetime replacement guarantee

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