A survey of 4,000 UK shoppers has declared Apple’s iPhone to be a more important invention than flushing toilets or space travel. The smartphone has also been voted more important than the combustion engine and washing machine. The study, conducted for Tesco Mobile, puts the iPhone in eighth place on a 100 item list (below). The wheel was voted the most important invention in history, ahead of the plane, lightbulb, the world wide web and computers. Lance Batchelor, Chief Executive Officer of Tesco Mobile, said: “It’s amazing to see how much the iPhone is valued, sitting alongside inventions…

Newly-leaked images and video show us the next-generation iPod touch will host a camera. Apple had originally been expected to field a camera in the iPod touch when it upgraded that device in September 2009. The introduction was preceded by a wave of leaked images showing a camera in place. Fast forward to release and the camera wasn’t included in the upgrade, though eagle-eyed users spotted a space on the motherboard where it could have been. Now the latest news from Vietnam tells us to expect the camera to appear in the next iteration of the touch. This follows the brief appearance of two prototype…

Attention US iPhone users — it looks like AT&T and Apple are at last making good on their long-held promise to offer tethering support through the iPhone, but not until the release of iPhone OS 4.0 later this summer. This illustration comes from inside the iPhone OS 4.0 beta that’s circulating at present, though the number given takes you to a recorded message saying “AT&T doesn’t offer tethering at this time”. Tethering — the process of using your iPhone as a 3G modem with your Mac — is really useful when traveling, or as a home back-up Internet connection for when your broadband goes…

Sure, we all like to think we know how to cope in a crisis. We all fondly imagine ourselves the heroes of the moment, the masters of the hour, but how many of us have actually put some time in before crisis cripples us and learned the right things to do when someone needs our help, or even set things up so we can get the help we need? Read on for six iPhone apps we think could maybe save someone’s life. None of these apps are a substitute for proper training, if you really want to be prepared then do take a course, but for a refresher or to boost your skills just a little bit, then tale a look at these. 1. First Aid…

Apple has a host of patents to its name, and rifling through them can offer some fascinating insights into the potential future of technology and the possibilities that are open to the company as it executes its vision for the future convergence culture. We’ve taken a look at some of the most recently published Apple patents and chosen six of the most exciting to tell you all about. 1. iSpecs: an advanced head-mounted display system for the iPhone or iPod This system (above) may even host its own video camera or be able to communicate with the camera that’s already inside the iPod touch or iPhone….

Fresh in from the historical inevitability department comes news of a failed Adobe Flash demo — and an all-new video clip showing what the proprietary multimedia standard can do on an Android phone. Last week’s FlashCamp Seattle saw Flash Platform evangelist Ryan Stewart demo Flash Player 10.1 on a Nexus One phone during his opening keynote. It didn’t go well, wrote blogger, Jeff Croft. Here’s what happened: On his Mac, Ryan pulled up a site called Eco Zoo. It is, seemingly, a pretty intense example of Flash development — full of 3D rendering, rich interactions, and cute little characters….

Next time you sit down for a slap-up meal out keep an eye on the waiter – he (or she) may well take your order with an iPad. This replaces older PDA-based ordering systems, and could mean diners can even take a look at luch full-colour pictures of what they are ordering. It may even help restaurants keep an eye on the stock they have in hand. System developed by 4asoft.com. Perhaps you’ll be paying for your meal using an iPad, too. Square today introduced an iPhone credit card payment system, following last month’s introduction of a similar system for the iPhone. Via: PocketLint. Thumbnail image…

Cool UK gadget retailer, Firebox, has begun selling the SmartSwipe, a handy USB device which reads, encrypts and transmits your personal credit card data directly to the online payment page. Now, there’s a lot of insecurity about these days. We’re told hackers and crackers and spammers and other enemies of the people are all working hard to undermine our security and get their hands on our credit card details. SmartSwipe should help beat them at their game. Shoppers just need to swipe their card and click ‘confirm’ usung the onscreen purchase wizard. Your banking details are then encrypted,…

Forget preconceived ideas that the techi world’s digital destiny is run by the boys, for the boys – it looks like the girls are driving the digital home, with women downloading twice as much mobile content as men. Surprised? Perhaps, but these are the fresh findings found by US mobile ents firm, Myxer (a peddler of ringtones, wallpapers and video clips). Myxer claims its female users downloaded twice as much content in April as its male users. Women accounted for 67% of its content downloads for the month: 4.5 million in total. Men downloaded just 2.2 million items during the month. Myxer admits…

“With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.” That’s Obama talking about gadgets at large recently. Now, he was specifically referring to a citizen’s ability to stay informed and educated, but in or out of context, it seems like an odd thing to say, and to a tech geek, sounds damn near insulting. I dunno about you guys, but I feel pretty empowered every time I pwn a noob. In all seriousness, though, Obama…