The iPhone 3GS is hot according to AT&T. No, I’m not talking about the overheating issues, but a alleged leaked memo from the iPhone’s exclusive U.S. carrier. In the memo, AT&T reports the iPhone 3GS launch day on June 6 was the best-ever sales day for AT&T retail stores, according to MacDaily News. June 6 was also the second largest traffic day for AT&T stores, and the most upgrade eligibility checks in a single day were performed during the iPhone 3GS launch day. The 3GS debut was so huge, for AT&T retail stores anyway, that sales for the device surpassed launch day sales for the iPhone 3G by noon Central Time.

After the iPhone 3GS initial launch weekend, Apple also reported a successful launch of its latest smart phone reporting that it had sold more than one million iPhone 3GS devices at Apple retail locations. That’s the same number Apple used to describe the iPhone 3G launch weekend last year.

What’s surprising, however, is a growing consensus that the iPhone 3GS debut may have been far bigger than the launch of the iPhone 3G. Last summer, the iPhone 3G debut was lauded as the most successful launch of any tech product in…

Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference is right around the corner (June 8!), and the rumor mill has been buzzing with iPhone rumors. While it is most likely that there will be no new iPhone model announced at WWDC next week, iPhone 3.0 software is supposed to come up at the Keynote (sans Steve Jobs). Thus, here’s a round-up up of some of the rumored 3.0 camera features and potential iPhone camera upgrades:

* Jason D. O’Grady & David Morgenstern here at ZDNet predict video shooting capability, but no definite details on flash or other features. (ZDNet: The Apple Core)
* Mac Rumors seems to have found a screenshot confirming video recording. They also predict an auto-focus camera, but Wired says this is unlikely. (Mac Rumors)
* The new iPhone will feature a video camera on the iPhone’s face and back, allowing video chat on the front end. (PC World)
* Omnivision Technologies supposedly got orders from Apple for 3.2, or maybe even 5-megapixel camera units. (Fast Company)
* Not just iPhones will get camera upgrades, but Apple is installing camera functions in its standard iPods as well. (Apple Insider)

The iPhone Kindle application is a great way to keep reading your Kindle content while out and about when your Kindle is back at home. One big complaint people have had though is the difficult way to purchase Kindle content to read on the iPhone if you do not own a Kindle. You could use the Amazon website, but it was clunky on the iPhone. Amazon announced the launch of an iPhone-optimized Kindle site that makes it much easier to find and purchase Kindle content on the iPhone. Simply tap the Get Books icon in the Kindle for iPhone application to access the new iPhone-optimized store.

The new Kindle store site has a search box and several default ways to filter ebook content, including books by category, NY Times best sellers, Kindle top sellers, new & noteworthy, and recommendations for you. You can also access and change your 1-click settings and manage your account.

I still look forward to more functionality being added to the Kindle for iPhone application, but this is a good start in making content more readily available. It would be great to see the application integrate support for the store in the future as well.

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From what the numbers show, RIM’s buy-one-get-one-free Blackberry promotion was a first quarter smash, sending consumer sales figures skyrocketing past the competition – namely, the iPhone. (Techmeme)

Now what?

Don’t get me wrong. This is a good thing for RIM – and Verizon. Market research firm NPD Group says RIM’s market share jumped 15 percent from the previous quarter up to nearly 50 percent. (Apple and Palm each lost 10 percent share for the quarter). Those new Blackberry owners are now locked into the pricier data plan for a couple of years. With cancellation fees and all, they’re less likely to bail out for the shiny new iPhone or Palm Pre, which is expected to launch soon. And don’t forget that lineup of Motorola Android phones expected out for the holiday season.

RIM has long been a leader in smartphones – they were the first and, in the enterprise, they’ve been mainstream for a long time. Bottom line: they had a headstart in this smartphone game. With the competition about to heat up again and the enterprise market still singing the the economy blues, RIM had to turn to the consumer to gain some ground.

It was probably a good time for them to…

Just over a year after Apple birthed the first iPhone, the long-awaited, next-generation iPhone 3G has arrived bearing a mildly tweaked design and a load of new features. With access to a faster 3G wireless network, Microsoft Exchange server e-mail, and support for a staggering array of third-party software from the iPhone App Store, the new handset is the iPhone we’ve been waiting for. It still lacks some basic features but when compared with what the original model was year ago, this device sets a new benchmark for the cell phone world.

With the iPhone 3G, Apple appears to have fixed some call-quality performance issues we had with the previous model–in our initial tests, the volume is louder with less background buzz than before. The 3G reception could be improved, however. Music and video quality were largely unchanged, but we didn’t have many complaints in that department to begin with.

Price may well remain our largest concern. New AT&T customers and most current AT&T customers can buy the iPhone 3G for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model. If you don’t qualify for that price–check your AT&T account to find out–you’ll pay $399 and $499 respectively. Either way,…