As always, with the help of Twitter followers and Luke, we've created a list of the Top 3 News and Weather apps. What we found particularly difficult was collecting apps that would actually do everything we needed from a news and weather application. I continued to go to different apps for more relevant and specialized content. Tell us what you think in the comments below and enjoy.

• USA Today - [Link to Site]
  • Winner: Best All-Around News/Weather App
  • The 678kb USA Today app is powerful and fast. Flipping through the different panels of Headlines, Scores, Weather, Pictures, and Snapshots is a breeze. The application is set to update each time you start up the program and can be manually updated on the bottom of the screen. Weather is conveniently located in the banner with degrees Fahrenheit and basic weather logos. This program does headline news really really well with an elaborate array of: Top News, Life, Money, Sports, etc. By clicking the Weather tab, you'll get a 5-day weather forecast.
  • Dislikes: Weather is by default, set to New York City. Doesn't allow for background news updates. Refresh interval isn't customizable. News articles are little snippets of what a New York Times article would be.
    
• Google Finance - [Link to Site]
  • Winner: Best Financial News Source
  • Unlike it's iPhone counterpart, the Droid doesn't have companies like E*Trade developing stock and market apps. Fortunately, the Google/Android team has created the Finance app. The application is a bare-bones streaming quote checker for the market. Check anything you want and it will stream the latest quote. In a simple, 3-tab design, the Finance application can have your Google portfolio synced and you'll see all your favorites in one easy to access tab. The "news" tab has a basic collection of overall market sentiment and news. Want to know what is happening today in the market and where your stocks are? Then Finance is for you. Finance comes with a little widget for the home screen that can load your personal portfolio write to your desktop.
    
  • Dislikes: It's too simple. The streaming isn't true streaming, just a periodic update from time to time with the most recent quote. Refresh intervals for the widget need to be quicker. A more graphical user interface could definitely make this application shine.
    
• Weatherbug - [Link to Site]
  • Winner: Best Weather App
  • The Weatherbug application used to be an ad-ware filled mess of spam for Windows computers. Now you can get it for your Android phones! All kidding aside, the Weatherbug application is the most convenient, simple, and easy to use weather app for the Droid. Personally, I use it because it displays a temperature in the notification panel of my Droid. Even on restart of my phone, the Weatherbug application starts up and displays an accurate temperature to my location. I don't need a fully featured weather application--just the barebones; current temp and high for the day. By sliding down the notification panel, I can see the current temperature again, but also see today's high and basic prediction (e.g., "Partly Sunny").
  • Dislikes: The actual application is buggy (no pun intended). The ads can be cumbersome in the free version. The user interface seems a tad slow and outdated.
    

What we still want to see:

• New York Times - [Link to Site]
  • Unfortunately, there isn't a New York Times application like the iPhone. The iPhone version is incredibly powerful and the user interface is truly intuitive. We'd love to see NYT wise up and develop for the Android.
• NPR - [Link to Site]
  • This was previously mentioned in our Top 5 Android Apps article, and we have yet to see the application in the Android Market. Recent reports and news has suggested that NPR is fast on its way to having on for the store. Also, the goal is to make the Android app more feature-filled than its iPhone counterpart. We'll see!

Please comment below or Twitter us if you have any other apps that we should take a look at or left out!

In a singular blog post, the tech news sources went crazy. The Google Mobile Blog, which covers most of Google's progress on mobile platforms, released a post on their "dogfood diet." The blog publicly announced a new device that would test the mobile gadgetry of Google and use the Android platform.

The new gadget will be tested by Google employees and in the meantime, the consumer will wait and see what they have up their sleeve. But like any device that is given to testers, those beta users snap shots, give feedback, and give us the insider information. What follows is a complete breakdown of the impending Google phone and what that means for soon to be competitors (i.e, the Droid and iPhone).

For starters, we'll look at the original blog post that lit the fire:

At Google, we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements in a process we call dogfooding (from "eating your own dogfood"). Well this holiday season, we are taking dogfooding to a new level.

We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.

Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet.

TechCrunch.com was one of the first to break the news. The site says that the impending Google Phone will be Google-branded and sport an entirely Google-designed interface with Android 2.1. Along with being an advanced Google phone, the Android device will sport 1GHz Snapdragon processor that has already been tweeted as being surprisingly fast and snappy.

While the phone is being built by phone manufacturer, HTC, the phone will be entirely develop and customized by Google. This is without a doubt, going to be more Google than Motorola's attempt with their Droid. The phone's name is still up in the air, with some calling it the Nexus One and other sources touting it as simply the, Google Phone.

TechCrunch says that the phone won't be sold by any carrier, but rather be a SIM-unlocked phone for GSM carriers. This is where TC may have diverged from a reasonable path. Evidence like Verizon and Google's news suggests that if a new, unlocked Google phone is released that it will be both CDMA and GSM unlocked, and ready for essentially any network in the United States and abroad.

The OLED touchscreen is bright and super-high resolution. The phone is thinner than the Apple's iPhone and features a 5 megapixel camera, which is comparable to Motorola's Droid. And from the camera pictures that we see, it looks like the camera is once again inadequate and just seems to take simple shots.

A new voice-to-text feature is supposedly on-board, which would allow for super accurate dictation of emails, texts, etc. Similar to Ford's new Sync technology, your phone could be told to send an email to a person and then you could speak the body of the email.

Here at MarketMatador.com, we speculate that the new Google Phone may be advertised as a data only phone, with a hope that phone companies will quickly offer data only plans that allow voice calls through applications like Skype. Wi-Fi may be the standard method of use for the phone, similar to Apple's iPod Touch.

There's no doubt that this phone will throw a wrench to Apple's future iPhone sales and also the Droid's recent success. Expect the phone in the second quarter of 2010 for an unfriendly, unlocked, unsubsidized price of $550+.

Stay tuned for more information on the Google Phone as we receive it.

I could lay out a pros and cons list, be cliche, and hope that readers enjoy the breakdown. I could focus on Windows 7's major upgrades from Vista and XP. Or perhaps I could look at Macs energy efficient, sleek desktops. They're all appealing directions, but what is captivating me most is the social and business implications of the decision.

Am I the only Mac user that is contemplating switching entirely to Windows 7? The questions just seem all too numerous. Windows 7 has truly surprised me; and I hate to say it as a self-declared "Mac fanboy," but this is truly an amazing operating system.

Talk about the "everything works" stereotype of Macs, I've had plenty of crashes and freezes, it's not perfect! Windows 7 isn't either, but it certainly has moved into the same realm of "everything works." Google Chrome is fully-featured and completely amazing, unlike the Mac counterpart. And many of you will exclaim, "Well, it's in development and will be released for Macs very soon." But therein lies the rub, Macs software is frequently developed second. If you want the latest technology, go with Windows.

I can assure you that I'm not simply going with the age-old wisdom of Microsoft's totalitarian power. My college campus is full of Mac users; in fact, I'd say Macs have a 50-50 foothold on the college crowd. The only thing that stops most college students from buying a Mac is price, but god do they want one. The mystique and blind admiration for Macs is comical. Everyone wants one now, and they're captivated by Macs' unibody designs. Not to take away from them, they're beautiful, but it's what's inside that actually matters to me.

If you want beauty and ease of use, Macs may still have the market. But Windows 7 and the computers that are manufactured with them are powerful and geeky. Like my Droid, it's the power and geekiness that appeals most. Watch out Apple, I see a future where Windows 7 plays a greater role.

Where once I would've considered myself inseparable from the Mac way of life, I'm free. I'm free to choose whatever I want, and what I want most of all is a Quad-Core Windows 7 monster with a slick student discount at Dell ($569!). I feel disgusting even uttering the words, but at least I'll be able to run anything and everything! I'm excited and nervous, but I'm going to try not to look back.

Have you switched to Windows 7 from Mac (or vice versa)? If so, please let us know in the comments below.

Facebook iPhone update: 3.03 with bug fixes coming soon, and 3.1 with push notifications to follow.

From Joe Hewitt on Twitter.

The iPhone doesn't do/have: multitasking, a 5MP camera, open-source development, Google Voice, etc. But here's an early prediction, Apple will soon have a face off with Verizon's new "killer." If the environment and competition warrants it, I foresee Apple and AT&T retracing a number of their preventative methods, which hinder the phone's greater capabilities.

Verizon's Droid is due to come out on October 30th, with some estimates pointing to an early November release date. Either way, the phone its accompanying specs will quickly stunt the iPhone's growth; that is, if Apple and AT&T do nothing.

That's where I think we're going to get a healthy does of competition. Apple can quickly and easily allow apps to background and therefore multitask--it just takes the flick of a switch and a major press release to developers. All of a sudden, apps like Pandora and NPR, which stream over 3G/EDGE/Wi-Fi, will operate for as long as you want, even while checking your email. No doubt, their will be complaints over battery drain and AT&T's horrid wireless network. But at least the iPhone will have built-in multitasking capabilities.

Soon after that, we could see a firmware update with a major megapixel upgrade to the iPhone. FM capabilities will be a must. Google Voice may soon be approved. And we could see improvements to AT&T's troubled data network.

Maybe the last couple sentences are more of a hope than reality. But without a doubt, competition will force Apple to finally step up. It's time to take advantage of everything the phone is already capable of!

Apple has made it clear that they wont allow applications that test, exceed, or go into the root of Apple's iPhone software.

With the recent block of Google Latitude and Voice, Apple has set a clear precedent of conservative pragmatism that assures the iPhone's destruction. Unless Apple reverses it's closed off course, opens up to the open-source philosophy, and becomes a company for developers, Apple has already lost the smartphone wars.

Google and Verizon's recently minted deal for Android on Verizon Wireless phones creates one of the greatest deals for Google--the phone is now going to be on the most popular national carrier.

Wake up Apple, we don't want a closed device.

One source close to the thinking of AT&T executives said the company has been deliberating the decision for weeks and that top executives have said they were close to accepting voice over Internet services on all AT&T phones, including the iPhone. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because a decision hadn't been officially announced. Skype currently operates on the iPhone through WiFi access, but not on AT&T's 3G mobile network. (SOURCE)

Stay tuned for more details. News like this isn't surprising as the recently inked deal between Google and Verizon may be pressuring Apple and AT&T to think about the ramifications of open source applications.

Update: Looks like AT&T just approved VOIP apps to be on the 3G network. Now the question is how long it takes for apps to update. Hopefully google voice will also be included in the new rules.

It wasn't long before those little iTunes download cards starting showing up on the Starbucks counter, and iTunes was featuring a specially designated iTunes + Starbucks feature. iTunes cards often feature music of the month and the download cards are for a full album. It's saved a vast amount of space and made the search for music an entirely different experience. The larger the selection of iTunes cards, the more Starbucks will seem less like a coffee shop and more like a record store of the past. But that's not the end of the story; it becomes even further intertwined when a third party comes into the mix.

Around the time of the launch of the first generation iPhone, Apple decided upon AT&T to provide wireless service. It was highly publicized that Apple was looking for a company that would allow them to get royalties off monthly cell phone payments on the iPhone. As we all know, Apple priced the iPhone at $599, with no savings by signing on for two years. Without a doubt, Verizon Wireless missed the boat here when they declined the opportunity to work with Apple, citing that they could make a phone of their own, without having to pay third party royalties. And so it evolved that Apple and AT&T teamed up to provide service for the iPhone.

Perspective consumers were dismayed when discovering that the device would be running on AT&T's slower "EDGE" network, known for having notoriously abysmal data service. Add into the equation that 3G technology was already working and delivering close to Wi-Fi speeds. In preparation for the major launch of the original iPhone, AT&T prepared their EDGE network lines and markedly boosted speeds. Without a doubt, these preparations were all tailored for the iPhone.

Eventually, AT&T's CEO (and rumors around the blogosphere) acknowledged the development of Apple's next iPhone: the iPhone 3G. AT&T delivered again, by upgrading the EDGE network to 3G. Apple was now ready to release the iPhone 3G on the network.

Right before the announcement of the new iPhone 3G on June 9th, Starbucks was in hot water with T-Mobile, which initiated a lawsuit as a result of Starbucks' sudden jilting of T-Mobile, in preference for AT&T. Starbucks was preparing to have iPhone/iPod Touch + Starbucks content and music ready for their Wi-Fi consumers. And who does Schultz choose for cafe wireless? None other than AT&T. The new AT&T wireless internet at Starbucks allows 2 hours of free internet when connected to a Starbucks Rewards registered card account. Registration is free, and has made a trip to Starbucks even more appealing.

There have already been a number of rumors about iPhone users receiving unlimited free Wi-Fi service inside every Starbucks. Now more than ever, the probability of the two products working in tandem seems a given. Apple, AT&T, and Starbucks are collaborating so closely these days that one can envision these three companies developing an even closer partnership to serve their niche consumers.