Apple have for a long time now been boasted as the pioneers of the superphone. Since 2007 we've watched as company after company have tried to recreate the big A's success with ever-so-slightly different variants of what's essentially just an iPhone. Along the way, Apple have taken various legal shots at the intellectual freeloaders, the most recent of which being Samsung for their "infringing [Galaxy] product line".

Well in an unexpected and quite frankly hilarious twist of events, it appears the two companies may have more plagiaristic history between them than we first expected. And no, Apple aren't going after Samsung's Series 9 for taking on the MacBook air, rather the following image surfaces online of a handset Samsung produced back in 2006 which challenges the iPhone's own originality all together.

The cataclysmically awesome and super popular iPad app - Pulse News, is about to get some serious Facebook lovin'! Pulse has been undoubtedly one of the top RSS reader apps to hit mobile devices so far, with it's elegantly simple multi-touch interface putting other news-grabbers to shame.

Well hoping to take this runaway success to the next level, Alphonso Labs are rolling out a socially flavoured update, bringing Facebook streams to the application.

To us, the Apple TV has always come across a crippled product. Whether this is due the lack of content, features or in it's latest rendition, storage, Steveo's self-confessed hobby project has never really captured much attention as 'just another set-top box'. However, another iOS device means another iOS Jailbreak, and this time round Fire Core are bringing web surfing and Last.fm to the big A's second generation little black box.

Judging by their video demos, these big-screen mods look pretty slick, and we'd hope so too as this ain't free software folks! $49 is the asking price for first-gen aTVs, with second generation prices yet to be announced. Read on for the all important show-off vids.

Tomorrow, Apple are holding their 'Back to the Mac' event, turning the spotlight away from iOS and on to OS X.

With all the recent iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch hype, we can't wait to see what Apple has in store for their notebook and desktop lines. As the promo suggests, we can expect to get a glimpse at OS 10.7 (Lion?), a release which after Snow Leopard promises to pack a powerful punch. Also, updated hardware across the MacBook board is pretty much imminent, with the MacBook Air well overdue a revamp.

If your as curious as us, you'll join us back here tomorrow evening for our live commentary and round-ups, on our Twitter page and right here at Gigabyt3.com/Blog, at the following times:

In December, Google introduced Goggles on the Android, allowing users to search the web using the phone's built-in camera. Well today the big G rolled out the same functionality for their Google Mobile iPhone app. To search with Goggles, simply tap the camera icon and take a picture of the item you wish to look up. The app will then scan the photo using it's image recogniton software and return what it thinks are the most accurate results.

When it comes to the iPad's deciding features, nothing is perhaps more frequently overlooked than grip. Sure, the tablet's gorgeous glass and aluminium design gives it the drool-factor, but running the risk of shattering the 9.7-inch wonder-slate is enough to keep most cautious owners constantly on their toes.

Well now, a rather unlikely bunch have risen to the challenge keeping of the Apple of your i safe. Introducing Colorware's Grip for iPad. The U.S. made accessory is constructed out of aircraft grade aluminium to provide maximum security and protection, it is of course fully customizable as far as colour goes. The moulded metal handle does come across a bit unsightly from some angles, but the practicality of having such a good grip on the device more than makes up for any aesthetic discrepancies.

Heads up iOS fans, there's a hot new UI in the house! Infact theres two, neither of which incidentally are likely to come our way anytime soon but hey, it's fun to gawk.

Wireless electronics manufacturer Parrot wowed us back in Janurary when they showed off their enemy-seeking quadricopter at CES. Now, the all-flying, dog-fighting augmented reality copter is available for purchase in selected stores and on-line, for about $300.  

I think most people are over the fact that the iPhone is never going to have a hardware keyboard. Although most users are more than happy with Apple's softkeys, there's always going to be those far-and-few crazycats who just can't get over tactile buttons! Well here's a solution courtesy of Nuu. Mini Key is an iPhone 4 case with a built-in slide-out pysical keyboard.

The Android-esque solution does add a mighty load of bulk, but let's face it, if you really want to fashion your brushed-metal and glossy-glassed iPhone in a plastic keyboard, your probably a bigger fan of function than form.

The Mini Key is expected to go on sale before the end of the year for around €60 / $60. Read on for more pics...

Apple really doesn't like using Adobe products. Something that has become very apparent over the last few months. Today Jobs released an open letter to the company detailing that "Photoshop is the number 2 reason why Macs crash" and that Apple would prefer to use Microsoft Paint to cut their promo images together, instead of risking it with Adobe's world renowned, premier and all around excellent editor. 

Steve Jobs has debuted the new cloud based Apple TV live on-stage at Apple's september music event. The terrifically tiny new design houses an A4 chip... and little else!

Apple have launched announced launched the next major update of their iTunes software: iTunes 10.
Alongside some minor streamlining and UI tweaks, Apple have developed their own built-in social network called Ping.

Ping is 'a social network for music', a place where artists, listeners and friends come together to share their musical interests and tastes. The network resides within the iTunes store on your iPhone, iPod Touch or computer, and allows you to post statuses and other media to your feed, whilst 'following' your friends and favorite artistseses updates.

At a glance, the whole concept sounds completely un-original. Steve said himself "it's sorta like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes" but the more you think about it, and the sheer number of people who download and rate music on iTunes every day, it's even more surprising that they haven't tried something like this before.

Perhaps the most innovative product of the bunch from Apple's September music event is the new iPod Nano. The Nano has undergone a complete re-make, ridding itself of the iconic click-wheel in way of a 240x240 1.54-inch multi-touch display.

The iPod has retained the same music playback and utilities from previous models, but spruced up in true iOS form. You can rotate the homescreen to any orientation using the same gesture you would to flip photos on Apple's multi-touch trackpad, and it'll pump out 24-hours of banging tunes before you need to plug it in.

Prices start at £129/$149 and shipping starts next week.

We don't like buttons? We do like buttons? Apple's obviously undecided.

Apple have just announced their next generation iPod touch. As predicted it's playing catch-up to the latest iPhone. The addition of the coveted 'Retina' display, blazing fast 1GHZ A4 processor, HD video recording and a front-facing camera for FaceTime video chat makes this one killer device. Notably, the Touch uses Apple ID to connect with other devices for FaceTime. This means that not only can it call other iPods, but also the iPhone 4.