iPhone 3GS heats up, DOJ takes aim at Google

IDG News Service - The iPhone scored quite a few headlines related to overheating problems with the 3GS this week. Depending on whom you believe, those issues are either real, exaggerated, the fault of users or some combination of the three. Otherwise, as warm weather takes hold above the equator and Bostonians contemplate whether it's time to brush up on our ark-building skills (rain, rain go away), we find this week's IT news offerings cover a broad range.

1. Apple admits iPhone 3GS heat problems, iPhone 3GS tips to prevent overheating, from Apple and AT&T says iPhone 3GS is hot in a good way : Apple offered tips to avoid overheating the iPhone 3GS, but the tip list is written as if to suggest that users are more at fault than the hardware. Meanwhile, a supposed AT&T memo talks about how hot the iPhone has been in terms of sales. Keep reading for yet more iPhone news ...

2. Jailbroken iPhones leave users more vulnerable: Jailbreaking iPhones -- or altering them so that applications not digitally signed by Apple can be installed on them -- may let users feel they have more control over their handsets, but jailbreaking could well give miscreants the upper hand. Jailbreaking removes most of the security protections from iPhones, a security researcher warned this week.

3. DOJ officially opens investigation into Google Book Search: The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed that it has officially opened its investigation into a settlement involving Google Book Search in what will undoubtedly be a closely watched antitrust probe.

4. XHTML 2 language dumped for HTML 5: The World Wide Web Consortium will provide more resources toward development of the HTML 5 specification and will discontinue development of XHTML 2. HTML 5 is out in draft form, with a focus on multimedia for browser-based applications. It could be big competition for browser plug-in technologies such as Adobe Flash.

5. Oracle's European workers facing axe: Although Oracle's European performance was a highlight of its most recent quarterly financial report, the company could be about to lay off as many as 1,000 employees in Europe, according to a French labor union.

6. Mozilla launches Firefox 3.5, starts kill clock for older 3.0 and Review: Firefox 3.5 makes browsing faster, easier and more fun: After months of delays, Mozilla released Firefox 3.5 and more than 2 million users downloaded the updated browser within a few hours of its launch. Early reviews were mostly positive.

7. Microsoft pulls projectile-vomiting IE8 ad from Web: We're puzzling over why it seemed like a good idea to create an online advertisement for Internet Explorer 8 that showed a woman projectile vomiting after borrowing her husband's laptop and seeing his Web browsing history. Microsoft pulled the ad, but not before one Internet wag opined that using IE is enough to induce vomiting. Undoubtedly, that isn't what Microsoft had in mind.