iPhone Atlas

Refurbished iPhone 3GS as low as $49

(Credit: AT&T)

AT&T is selling a refurbished iPhone 3GS for as low as $49 with free shipping and no activation fees when purchased with a $30 per month data service, 2 year contract, and new activation.

The phones are available in either 16GB ($49) or 32GB ($149) capacities and available at these prices while supplies last when ordered from AT&T's Web site.

AT&T will probably run out of these pretty quickly, since these prices are going to be hard to pass up for most people.

(Credit: CNET)

There are a few sales over the Thanksgiving long weekend here in the U.S. with some developers slashing prices on many popular iPhone games. Huge iPhone game developer, Gameloft, is having a 99 cent sale on many of their popular game titles throughout the weekend. EA Games is also in on the action, offering price cuts to several of their big titles. Some games I've talked about here like Madden NFL 10, FIFA 10, and NBA Live are $6.99 for a limited time (usually $9.99) and there are a lot of other great deals. If you've been waiting for the prices to drop on some of the bigger games, now is the time to check out the iTunes App Store--you just might be pleasantly surprised.

This week's apps include a stylish clock app and a new Star Wars game that lets you relive some of the great moments of the original movie.

Choose from many different clock skins

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

PerfectClock (Free for a limited time) lets you display stylish-looking clocks on your iPhone screen that are perfect for when your phone is sitting in an iPhone Docking Station. The app comes with a handful of clocks you can choose from, or you can easily download free clock skins from within the app. Along with the beautiful designs, PerfectClock lets you set alarms, offers a number of different ways to display information on screen (date, month, day of week) and you can disable the auto-lock so the clock stays visible while you're charging it.

PerfectClock also comes with a number of ambient sound loops like rainforest sounds, ocean waves, and more. That way if your iPhone charges on your bed-side table, you can set PerfectClock to play sounds of nature for a set amount of time (and even fade out) while you doze off to sleep. Overall, if you would like to use your iPhone as your main alarm clock and want a few more options, or would just like to check out some of the imaginitive clock designs, you should download this app.

Try to avoid Darth Vader's crosshairs as you fly down the trench

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

Star Wars: Trench Run ($4.99) lets you relive the moments leading up to the destruction of the Death Star from Star Wars IV: A New Hope. You can play arcade mode and choose between a dog fight with Tie fighters on the surface of the Death Star, or Trench Run, where you fly your X-Wing fighter down the trench evading Darth Vader and blowing away gun towers. The mission mode lets you fight your way through the ending moments in sequence on up to firing your rockets in to the exhaust port and blowing up the Death Star. The controls are fairly simple: tilt your iPhone to steer your X-Wing and touch the right side of your screen to fire your weapons. You also can use a Force slow down skill by touching the left side of the screen--a great option when the action gets particularly intense.

Though Star Wars: Trench Run is a fun diversion for a little while, the game doesn't offer much in the way of long-term replay value. Once you've done each of the missions and played the different types of game modes a few times, the action gets kind of repetative. Still, with orginal sound effects and music by John Williams paired with smooth 3D graphics, this game will appeal to Star Wars fans who dreamed of doing the trench run so long ago (myself included).

What's your favorite iPhone app? Have you found any good holiday app deals? Do you have a better clock app to share? What do you think of Star Wars: Trench Run? Let me know in the comments!

Rumors about me are just rumors.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

Almost as soon as the iPhone debuted on AT&T back in 2007, rumors started swirling that the popular touch-screen handset would head to Verizon Wireless as soon as AT&T's exclusivity ended. And since then, as AT&T's network has struggled to keep up with the demands of iPhone users, the rumor has only intensified. Indeed, every day I hear it repeated somewhere, whether it's from a tech/gadget site, a random Facebook friend, or a stranger I meet on the street.

Analysts have also dished the rumor on occasion, and just last week Brian Marshall, an Apple analyst with Broadpoint AmTech in San Francisco, mentioned it in an interview with Bloomberg News. Marshall suggested that Apple pursue Verizon Wireless as a possible carrier after AT&T's exclusivity contract ends next year.

The problem with Marshall's argument, and the rumor itself, is that it relies on a "fact" that has yet to be proven. To date, neither Apple nor AT&T have publicly said when the exclusivity contract will end. Though the summer 2010 is the most common time frame given--it would mark the third anniversary of the original iPhone--the details of the contract have yet to be released. We know that AT&T's exclusivity will end at some point, but we don't know exactly when that will be. Perhaps Marshall was told something in confidence, but I can promise you that I haven't heard anything of the sort.

Like I said back in August, I think that a Verizon iPhone is still possible (remember that Verizon's misfit toy ad is slamming AT&T's network and not the iPhone). Yet, I don't think it will happen until Apple produces a hybrid GSM/CDMA phone or adopts LTE technology (Canada's Telus did something similar with an HSPA device). Otherwise, I think it's unlikely that Apple would produce a CDMA-only version, even for America's largest carrier. I could be wrong, but I'm not going to believe any rumors about a Verizon iPhone until I hear something from Apple and Verizon. And similarly, I'm not going to believe anything about AT&T's exclusivity until I hear it from AT&T.

Until that time I can speak only to the rumor as I've always done. No matter what you heard through the grapevine or from a customer service rep in a Verizon store, we still don't know when, or even if, the iPhone will come to Verizon. Until that changes, I wouldn't take the rumor--and that's exactly what is it--seriously.

On Apple's iPhone discussion boards, people are complaining about a bug in iPhone OS 3.1.2 that causes the iPhone to search for service at random times. According to the 3.1.2, Searching for Service thread on the forums, people are blaming the problem on the iPhone OS because users are seeing the same problem on AT&T in the U.S. and on Rogers Wireless and Telus in Canada.

According to the thread, there is no indication that the iPhone 3GS is affected, since so far the complaints focus on the iPhone 3G. Both new and replacement iPhone 3G units have suffered from the same problem.

The only fix for the problem so far is to reboot the iPhone.

Have you experienced this bug? What model iPhone were you using? Let us know in the comments.

Why spend upward of $100 on a navigation app when CoPilot's on sale for $20?

At $34.99, ALK's CoPilot Live North America is already one of the least-expensive navigation apps in the iTunes App Store. At $19.99, it's an outright steal.

That's the deal ALK is offering this holiday weekend, and you can grab it starting right now.

CoPilot Live offers complete turn-by-turn navigation for the U.S. and Canada. Its features include text-to-speech (meaning it announces street names), address book integration, tap-to-call POI listings, and easy switching between different modes of travel (car, bicycle, walking, and so on).

You'll definitely want to read Dong Ngo's CoPilot Live road test that covers the highlights and letdowns--but keep in mind the app's been updated since then. For example, Ngo dings it for lacking text-to-speech, but it now has that feature.

Still missing, alas, is real-time traffic information, which apparently remains on the coming-soon list. Thankfully, future updates to the app will be free, though any premium services like traffic will cost you.

Even without that option, it's hard to pass up a full-featured navigation app for just $20, especially with competitors like Navigon, iGo My Way, and TomTom still selling in the $70-100 range.

The only missing ingredient is a dashboard or windshield mount for your iPhone. I recommend heading to a Web site like Eforcity or Meritline and picking up an inexpensive gooseneck mount.

This 99-cent app serves up a wealth of free Redbox rental codes.

Good news for fans of Redbox movie-rental kiosks: the new Redbox app (free) lets you browse and reserve movies and find the kiosk nearest you. Cool.

Better news for Redbox fans: the new Red Box Free Rental Promo Codes app (from third-party developer Neese) means you may never have to pay for another movie.

The app aggregates codes from around the Internet and various promo mailings, updating them every 12 hours so you're sure to have the latest and greatest.

When you get to the Redbox checkout screen, just tap "Rent with a Promo Code," then type in any of the codes listed in the app. If one doesn't work, try another.

Red Box Free Rental Promo Codes costs 99 cents, so the first time you nab a free rental, it pays for itself.

I haven't had a chance to put the app to the test just yet (it does require a visit to a kiosk--you can't use the codes when reserving movies), but I'll update the post if I run into any problems. To me it seems like a can't-miss way to score free movie rentals.

While we're on the subject of using your iPhone to save money, be sure to check out "Five iPhone apps that can save you money," "iPhone apps for Black Friday shopping," and eBay's new holiday-deals app.

All this gets me wondering: Could your iPhone actually start paying for itself? I mean, if you can rack up 70 bucks' worth of savings per month by way of various apps, that would cover the cost of AT&T's low-end plan. Hmmm...

eBay is playing virtual Santa this holiday season with a free "Deals" app for the iPhone that leads consumers to the better buys on the auction site.

eBay Deals

(Credit: eBay)

Launched Tuesday, eBay Deals is designed to deliver a stream of the best deals on the site from across hundreds of millions of listings. Like eBay Mobile, the company's regular iPhone app, Deals lets you search, shop, and pay for your items from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

All featured deals spotlight items with no bids, no reserve price, free or fixed-rate shipping, and less than four hours remaining to bid.

You can browse deals across eight categories, including apparel, computers, electronics, and collectibles. If you spot a deal you like, just tap on it, and its listing pops up where you can watch it or bid on it. Not crazy about the current deals? Just shake your iPhone or iPod Touch, and a new set of deals appears.

If you spot a deal that may be better for someone else, you can e-mail it or share it via your Facebook or Twitter account.

Besides browsing eBay's virtual aisles, you can search for your own deals by entering a product name, category, and price range. You can save your customized search results to return to them later.

Starting Friday, eBay will also be unveiling a "12 Days of Deals" feature promoting a new promotion each day until December 8. Friday's deal will offer Samsung's N120 Netbook.

"As the world's leading online marketplace we have insights into how people really want to shop...and they clearly want to shop on their phones," eBay Marketplaces President Lorrie Norrington said in a statement.

Though designed for the mobile crowd, eBay's daily deals can also be found online at the auction site's Deals page.

eBay has been busy lately sprucing up its mobile auction site for the holidays. The vendor recently added social networking to its eBay Mobile app, letting you share a listing through e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter.

Since its launch in 2008, eBay's mobile app has been downloaded more than 5 million times, said the company. With a purchase made every two seconds, the company said, more than $500 million worth of items are likely to be traded through eBay mobile this year.

This Friday, commonly referred to as Black Friday, marks the beginning of the 2009 holiday shopping season in the U.S. Some people love braving the crowds for holiday deals. But if you don't and you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, any of the free apps below will help you shop from wherever you happen to be.

Amazon Mobile

Shopping Amazon for Dachshund themed gifts

The Amazon Mobile app (iTunes link) lets you use your iPhone or iPod Touch to search, shop, compare prices, read reviews, and make purchases on Amazon.com. Existing Amazon customers get complete access to their existing shopping cart, wish list, payment and shipping options, order history, 1-Click settings, and Prime membership benefits.

One experimental feature, Amazon Remembers, lets you snap a photo of a product while you're out, so that you can refer to it later. In addition, the app will try to find the product in Amazon's catalog.

B&N Bookstore

B&N reserve in-store

The B&N Bookstore app (iTunes link) lets you use your iPhone or iPod Touch to search books, DVDs and Blu-ray, CDs, toys and games, home and gift items, video games, and practically anything that B&N sells. Locate retail stores and browse additional store features such as cafes, event schedules, children's story times, author appearances, and free Wi-Fi.

The app also makes interesting use of the iPhone's camera. Take a photo of the front cover on a book, DVD, or CD, and the app will find it for you. Once the item has been found, you can get information about it that includes editorial reviews, customer ratings, and a chance to reserve a copy for pickup at your local store. You can use the Discover section of the app to get ideas for gifts this holiday season.

Best Buy Weekly Deals

Best Buy weekly deals

The Best Buy Weekly Deals app (iTunes link) brings you the latest weekly deals from Best Buy and lets you browse or search its inventory. You can access product ratings, reviews, accessories, and large product images. The app also lets you manage your BestBuy.com shopping cart and complete the purchases on a mobile version of Best Buy's Web site. Like all the other apps we've written about, this one has its own tool (called IdeaGiftr) for finding gifts. This app is definitely worth a look if you want to catch the Black Friday bargain sales at Best Buy this year.

Best Buy - Gamers Club

If you know someone who's an avid gamer, you might consider the Best Buy - Gamers Club app (iTunes link) that offers a lot of what the Best Buy Weekly Deals app offers, but concentrates specifically on gaming.

eBay Mobile

eBay shopping for Apple iPhone

One of our favorite iPhone apps is eBay Mobile (iTunes link), released in 2008 and later seeing some nice improvements.

eBay's app gives you nearly 100 percent of the eBay experience on your iPhone. It's not as feature complete as the Web site, but it works well enough. You can search for items to purchase or bid on, place bids, watch items, and purchase items all from your iPhone. Once the sale or auction is complete, you can even pay for your purchase on your iPhone.

Target mobile app

Target mobile app - no wiener dog would be caught wearing this

Target's iPhone app (iTunes link) lets you search for products at your local store, check their availability, and even find out where the item is located inside of the store. Like the Best Buy app, this one lets you browse the weekly deals available at Target.

Additional features include referrals to other store locations if your store is out of stock on a particular item, plus gift suggestions based on gender, age, price, personality, or occasion.

Toys "R" Us Big Book Favorites

Toys "R" Us shopping deals

The Toys "R" Us Big Book of Favorites iPhone app (iTunes link) helps you to find toys by category and popularity. You can use the app to make a list of your favorites and share the lists you create via e-mail. Product details are readily available including images, descriptions, prices, and customer reviews.

The app includes features that help you to save money on your toy and electronic purchases at Toys "R" Us and includes the usual store location features that we are used to seeing in all apps of this type.

You might want to hide this one from your children, especially if you are keeping your toy shopping list on your iPhone.

Wal-Mart

The Wal-Mart mobile app (iTunes link) is by far the least useful of all the apps and a disappointment coming from a retailer as large as Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart's app is disappointing lacking many basic shopping features that other retailers offer in their apps.

The app's sole focus is on the sale of Wal-Mart's electronics. If you want to see more, the app will refer you to Wal-Mart's full Web site that fortunately is available in a mobile edition. We were surprised to find that this app doesn't begin to touch the surface of the inventory available at Wal-Mart and doesn't offer a way a way to browse Wal-Mart's current weekly sales and specials. However, it does remind you how many days are left before Christmas and helps you locate stores.

Are you armed with your iPhone or iPod Touch and ready for the holiday shopping season? Do you have any other Apple mobile device shopping tips you would like to share? Tell us about them in the comments.

Apple's App Store has been a runaway success, but it's also been mired in controversy due to the application approval process. The company, however, isn't making apologies for its stringent gatekeeping and insists it's acting in the best interest of its customers.

(Credit: Apple)

"We've built a store for the most part that people can trust," Phil Schiller, Apple senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, told BusinessWeek in an interview posted Monday. "You and your family and friends can download applications from the store, and for the most part they do what you'd expect, and they get onto your phone, and you get billed appropriately, and it all just works."

Schiller offered BusinessWeek a breakdown of app rejections. Of the applications sent back to developers, about 90 percent are due to technical issues and simply need code tweaks to make the apps work properly.

About 10 percent are rejected because they try to steal personal data or try to help someone break the law or because they contain content that Apple considers inappropriate, BusinessWeek reported.

About 1 percent are turned away for reasons that fall into gray areas, Schiller told BusinessWeek.

One of Apple's latest run-ins with a developer was over the use of Apple product images in Rogue Amoeba's audio-streaming app called Airfoil Speakers Touch. After three-and-a-half months of back and forth over an update for the already-live app, Apple is apparently going to let the company resubmit the app update with the product images intact as originally submitted. However, the ordeal has apparently soured Rogue Amoeba on future development for the App Store.

"At this time, we have no plans to return to the platform," Rogue Amoeba CEO Paul Kafasis told CNET on Monday. "Apple has corrected one small problem with their review process. But the platform as a whole still has many issues that need to be addressed before we consider it a viable place for our business to commit resources."

The App Store currently has more than 100,000 third-party applications available for download. Apple has reported more than 2 billion downloads since the online store opened in July 2008.