Apple executives hinted Wednesday that the company might legally contest the multitouch technology found within the Palm Pre.

Palm executives say the touch-screen device and the new operating system inside it, WebOS, break new ground in the fiercely competitive smartphone market. The phone's selling points include an emphasis on fast Web browsing and efficient multitasking.

Walmart is officially tight-lipped about the buzz that its shelves could be hosting a US$99 4MB iPhone by the end of the month. But mobile device experts have plenty to say, and it's all good.

Apple has noted that they have reached the 300 million download milestone for the App Store, almost five months after the store went live.

Amazon.com has launched on the Apple App Store an iPhone application that makes it possible to take a picture of a product and then send it to the online retailer, which will try to match it with products in its inventory.

After more than 30 years pitching first Macintosh computers and then iPod media players to consumers, Apple is using the iPhone to attract a new audience: business buyers. Jobs is seeking to recharge a stock that's shed 49% in 2008 and to keep momentum after revenued almost quadrupled in the past 5 years. Apple gets at least 80% of sales from consumers and half its revenue from the US, putting the computer maker at risk if people cut spending amid economic turmoil.

Apple has announced via its Apple Developer Connection website that it has dropped the NDA that has left iPhone developers frustrated since the release of iPhone OS 2.0 this past July. In a note addressed "To Our Developers," Apple finally admitted that the NDA had "created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone's success."