Although the mothership gets endless grief for their byzantine app vetting process and for barring some apps, there’s no question the iPhone’s the smartphone to buy for the biggest selection, both in terms of quantity and quality, of mobile software. Still, those issues linger, though the FCC and Verizon seem to be pushing Apple and AT&T in the right direction.

The same lovely fellow who got himself banned from the iPhone App Store for creating more than 900 mostly useless applications, as well as over 100 complaints from competitors about stolen software code, is back in the news. This time around it’s the feds making the accusations and they’ve filed an indictment accusing Khalid Shaikh of using DOS attacks against a company he once headed.

Palm said, “Tit,” and now Apple’s answered with a cursory “tat.” The ongoing war between the two companies over iTunes syncing rumbles on with neither side apparently willing the concede let alone play nicely with the other.

Four years and much snarky criticism after Apple began using handheld point-of-sale (POS) terminals running Windows CE, the company has finally turned a corner and is now in the process of rolling out an iPod touch-based system. Same software, but the new hardware is much more capable and, surprisingly, one heckuva lot less expensive.

The TomTom car kit has at long last hit the Apple store, and presumably other retailers. The big question at this juncture will be, is the car kit worth the $199 price tag being asked?

If you’re a space junky, and we know you’re out there, it’s no longer a question of keeping up with and in touch with National Aeronautics and Space Administration news and happenings — it’s how close you can be and the continuity of the contact. Here’s a free tool for keeping your finger on the pulse when you’re away from a traditional or Wi-Fi internet connection.

When Apple enabled app upgrades at the time it introduced the 3.0 iPhone operating system, they were very clear that paid in-app upgrades would only be possible in paid apps; free apps would remain free.

The usual passel of patches and bug fixes, as well as Apple’s latest volley in the now largely pointless serve and return contest between the company and jailbreakers — whatever. Here’s a quick thumbnail glance at what’s new and hopefully been fixed this time around.

From a theoretical perspective, today’s announcement is good news and establishes a level of network openness that should have been standard from the beginning. Realistically, however, it’s hard to image that letting Skype and Google Voice run roughshod over Ma Bell’s strained-to-the-point-of-buckling 3G network will improve service or reliability.

Before the end of 2009, the San Jose, CA-based imaging software giant will release Flash Pro CS5, allowing developers to create rich, interactive applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch — the same crap that chokes and crashes your computer today. Thereupon, given that 80,000 of the 85,000-plus apps already available on the App Store might charitably be described as “junk,” what chaos will the Flash developer community — millions of coders — reek on on the platform?