For those of you who don't regularly keep tabs on your Software Update notifications, Apple released its WWAN support update 1.0 via software update, offering improved wireless broadband support for AT&T/Cingular, Sprint, and Verizon networks. The update was actually released in February, but it flew under my radar as, being a Macbook user with no PCMCIA slot, I didn't realize there was a Mac-compatible USB WWAN adapter. So if you've been looking to get your Apple laptop onto wireless broadband, now would be the time. No guarantees that the retail clerk won't run in terror when you tote your scary Apple-logo-carrying laptop into the wireless store, though.

So you can successfully convince Mac-wary retailers that their wireless cards will indeed work with your "weird computer", here's the info you need. The update includes drivers for Novatel EVDO and HSDPA cards--which are chief among those being sold at wireless retail. They've also added support for Novatel's Ovation USB adapter--handy for all us Macbook users who don't have a PCMCIA slot. Just make sure your Mac laptop is an Intel-based one. This update won't work with PowerPC-based Macs.

Does anyone remember the failed ROKR phone? Cingular was the carrier on that deal. No one bought it, I never heard about it once after Job's keynote that year. I think Apple may have signed a deal with Cingular for the iPhone because they were either contractually obligated (from the days of ROKR), or they felt guilty for their last flop. Either way, I agree with most that locking your new buzz-worthy device down to a single carrier was most likely a bad idea. Maybe Apple couldn't have just introduced the iPhone on another carrier for reasons I am not aware of, but it would have been so much better if they had. Did Apple's misdelivery on the ROKR get them in hot water with Cingular? I can't them making this decision unless there was a darn good reason for it that involved obligation. Steve Jobs and crew has to know that Cingular isn't the greatest out there. I hope. I guess now I will be holding my breath until the Cingular-only deal is up, or perhaps I will wait for another device that is similar instead. At least now everyone in the phone business has the bar set much higher to develop their own iPhone clone. If someone were to come out with a full version of Firefox on a mobile device, that would be worth buying.

The dust is just starting to settle around Moscone West in SF, so while everybody is enjoying their post-Stevenote cigarette ("Was it good for you?") here's some details on Apple's new announcements.

First up - the State of iTunes address. To date, 2 billion songs have been sold on iTunes, current rate is over 5 million a day. Over 50 million TV shows and 1.3 million movies have been purchased and downloaded, yow! So to top all of that good news, Apple announced that Paramount will be bringing their stable of movies to the iTunes store. I don't know about you, but I'm totally psyched to buy Wrath of Khan once it's available.

Second, the Apple TV (formerly iTV). It's a set-top box (rather than an actual TV), will cost $299 and is shipping next month. Lots of goodness packed into a teensy box - USB 2.0, 40GB HD, WiFi & ethernet, HDMI and component video, analog and digital (optical) audio out, 802.11b/g/n, and the ability to stream content from up to 5 computers (Mac and PC). Be forewarned, it only outputs a 720p video signal, so it may be time to upgrade your TV as well.

Third, one for the history books, the iPhone. Yes, it's very real, and it looks very cool. Time to finally put all of those iPhone/widescreen iPod/Mac Tablet rumors to rest. Available through Cingular starting in June it will come in two models, 4GB ($499 w/ 2 year contract) and 8 GB ($599 w/ 2 year contract). The four main functionalities are phone, iPod (including video), mail and web browsing. It features quad-band GSM, EDGE, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, a 2 megapixel camera, an accelerometer to switch to landscape mode as you rotate the phone, full touchscreen display, and it runs Mac OS X. It is capable of running full desktop applications, so I expect to see lots of iPhone 'hacks' and neat things that people come up with. It has IMAP and POP3 support, features Safari as its Web browser, Google Maps support and of course Widgets! Battery life is reported to be 5 hours (ouch) but can run up to 16 hours for just audio. Check out the iPhone gallery over at Engadget for more pictures.

Also check out the keynote coverage from Engadget and TUAW!

Reuters is reporting that Cingular is set to announce a new partnership with MySpace today, offering a paid Java-based client on their phones with access to the popular social networking site. An extra $2.99/month will bring photo sharing, email checking, blogging and friend searching to about 90 percent of Cingular's handsets in the coming weeks. Video, strangely, won't be featured at the service's launch (strange because of Cingular's big push into video services as of late), but is said to be on its way some time in 2007.

Given that plenty of other social networking sites like Facebook and Vox offer mobile access and even download clients for free, this venture rubs me the wrong way. On the upside, however, MySpace is where I spend roughly .3 percent of my time (hey I have an account for the same reasons as everyone else: marketing myself), so I'll be happy to hang on to my $2.99, thankyouverymuch.

Big Blue has been eyeing a wireless software company called Vallent Corp., and is working to close a deal for early 2007. Vallent, a software company from Washington that develops network monitoring tools for wireless service providers, has developed software that is capable of monitoring traffic, identifying network bottlenecks, and protect against any service interruptions. Vallent's current high profile customer list currently includes Cingular, Nextel, Lucent and Motorola. IBM says that this deal will give the company key technologies that will increase the amount of consumer and corporate data that is transmitted wirelessly. IBM plans to integrate Vallent's software with IBM's Tivoli Netcool line.