Apple today put the iPhone 3G on sale and officially launched the App Store with more than 500 downloadable applications.

While the iPhone 3G is an important release, the App Store transforms the device from being a cell phone to being a platform.

For people interested in new media, today marks the day that the iPhone becomes a powerful mobile publishing platform:

• The new iPhone 3G adds 3G networking that is twice as fast, which will make it easier and faster to upload content to the Web;
• Built-in GPS will make it possible to automate location-based new media, like geo-blogging or tagging photos with location; and
• 3rd party apps, like WordPress for iPhone, will make it easy to publish content from your phone to the Web.

Apple is highlighting media and social media apps with the iPhone 3G release:

Raanan Bar-Cohen has announced the imminent release of WordPress For iPhone:

The WordPress for iPhone App is nearly ready to go. It supports WordPress.com blogs as well as self-hosted WordPress.org blogs running version 2.5.1 or newer.

Timing wise, with the launch of Apple’s iTunes App store this morning, we expect to see this showing up very soon.

The new WordPress app is going to make it easier to blog in real-time, letting you post text and images from anywhere you have cell phone coverage.

Apple has updated the software for Apple TV, without fanfare, to version 2.1.

The updates include security improvements, support for using the iPhone or iPod touch as a remote, and support for Mobile Me content.

What would really excite us would be if Apple opened up Apple TV to developers, like it has with the iPhone, or if it supported Hulu – but it looks like that may have to wait for version 3 of the software.

TUAW has a gallery of images for the update.

Audix Microphones has introduced a new mic, the Audix USB12, that is designed to gives you “studio quality sound” at your desktop

The UDSB12 is a low-profile desktop gooseneck microphone, designed for recording voice and acoustic instruments directly into the computer via the USB port.

Features:

• 12 mm modular threaded capsule for accuracy.
• The USB12 is a plug and play microphone supporting 44.1k and 48k sample rates for both PC and Mac platforms.
• Membrane switch for “steady on” or “momentary on”.
• Heavy duty base for stability.
• Double gooseneck for precise positioning.
• Headphone jack for real time monitoring.
• Bass roll-off filter to help reduce unwanted room noise or boominess.

The USB12, which includes a 6′ USB cable, is available in a matte black finish or a white finish for a suggested retail price of $179.

There’s a lot of discussion today about a Wall Street Journal article (subscription) analyzing Google’s struggle to make money off of YouTube.

We already knew that Google is desperate to make money from YouTube. According to the WSJ, though, Google is so desperate to make YouTube profitable that it’s considering running pre- and post-roll ads that most YouTube users hate:

“Google plans to begin accepting “preroll” and “postroll” ads, which will run before and after some YouTube video clips, according to one person familiar with the matter. The plan under consideration, this person says, would give companies that post video clips the option to sell such ads, and share the revenue with Google.

YouTube has long forsworn such ads because consumers don’t like them. But advertisers consider them highly effective.”

4% Vs. 100%

The root of Google’s problem is that the site is based on user-generated media of wildly mixed quality and legality. Google is afraid to sell ads on almost all of its inventory. According to the WSJ, “Google will only sell ads against YouTube clips that have been posted or approved by media companies and other partners – roughly 4% of the total.”

But making money from Internet video from media companies is relatively straightforward – and something that Hulu is already doing more effectively than Google.

Google’s biggest potential with YouTube is figuring out how to make the other 96% of its videos marketable. That’s not going to happen if it’s got a billion-dollar Viacom lawsuit hanging over its head.

An article in the New York Times today looks at how Getty Images plans to build a new business, based on licensing imges from social photo-sharing site Flickr:

Yahoo and Getty Images said Tuesday that they have entered into a partnership under which Getty editors will comb Flickr in search of interesting images. They will then invite photographers to participate in the program and ensure that their images have the proper releases to be licensed legally. Those who are included in the program will get paid at the same rates that Getty pays photographers who are under contract with the company.

Mr. Klein said that Getty charges on average between $500 and $600 for “rights managed” images, which are used by a customer exclusively for a period of time. Photographers get between 30 percent and 40 percent of that. The company charges on average of $250 for non-exclusive use of images and gives photographers a 20 percent cut of that, Mr. Klein said.

Getty’s plan, if it proves successful, could provide a model for others building businesses based on social media: act as filters to identify marketable content, and then handle the licensing.

“We believe that Flickr will be an important addition to the mix that we have,” said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and chief executive of Getty Images. “Because the imagery is not shot for commercial services, there is more authenticity. Advertisers are looking for authenticity.”

Image: Dr. Pat

First reviews of Apple’s iPhone 3G are getting published by Apple’s traditional press partners, and they are, to no surprise, generally favorable:

Walt Mossberg:

“I’ve been testing the iPhone 3G for a couple of weeks, and have found that it mostly keeps its promises. In particular, I found that doing email and surfing the Internet typically was between three and five times as fast using AT&T’s 3G network as it was with the older AT&T network to which the first iPhone was limited.

Bottom line: If you’ve been waiting to buy an iPhone until it dropped in price, or ran on faster cell networks, you might want to take the plunge, if you can live with the higher service costs and the weaker battery life. The same goes for those with existing iPhones who love the device but crave faster cellular data speeds. But if you already own an iPhone, and can usually use Wi-Fi for data, you probably should hold off and get the free software upgrade before deciding whether it’s worth getting the new hardware.”

David Pogue:

“In short, the iPhone is about to become much more than a phone. And here’s the best part: the App Store is also available to the original iPhones and the iPod Touch.

So the iPhone 3G is a nice upgrade. It more than keeps pace with advancing technology, and new buyers will generally be delighted.

But it’s not so much better that it turns all those original iPhones into has-beens. Indeed, the really big deal is the iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store, neither of which requires buying a new iPhone. That twist may come as a refreshing surprise to planned-obsolescence conspiracy theorists – and everyone who stood in line last year”

Ed Baig (USA Today):

“It’s cheaper, faster and a lot friendlier for business. Apple’s blockbuster smartphone already had nifty features such as visual voicemail, a splendid built-in video iPod and the best mobile Web browser I’ve ever used. With GPS newly added to the mix, this handheld marvel has no equal among consumer-oriented smartphones.”

Apple will be releasing the new iPhones starting at 8 am Friday.

Dancing, the latest video from Where The Hell Is Matt‘s Matt Harding, has turned its theme song, Praan, into a Top 20 hit.

The song, arranged by composer Garry Schyman and sung by 17 year-old Palbasha Siddique, is one of the Top MP3 Songs at Amazon.

“It’s up over Madonna and Mariah Carey,” said Siddique in an interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune

“I was waiting for something like this to happen for a long time,” said Siddique, 17, a Bangladesh native who lives in northeast Minneapolis.

Siddique was first contacted to sing on the song just a month ago. Within days of her recording the song, the clip was up on YouTube.

Dancing has been viewed over 4 million times on YouTube.

The Nielsen Company today released figures showing video and TV usage across television, Internet and mobile devices in the US. According to Nielsen, Americans are watching more TV than ever, and Internet video viewing isn’t cutting into time spent watching traditional TV – it’s adding to it.

In other words, the Internet is turning couch potatoes into “mouse potatoes”.

Compared to a year ago:

• Time spent watching TV in the home is up 4%;
• Time spent watching timeshifted TV is up 56%;
• Time spent using the Internet is up 9%;

“Commercial television is alive and well – growing 1% year over year – despite the rapid adoption of other platforms,” said John Burbank, chief marketing officer for The Nielsen Company. “Moreover, timeshifting represents less than 5% of total viewing.”

“Web video is changing the definition of the Internet for those under the age of 24. Those under 24 use the Internet less than older users but spend a greater percent of time viewing video. For instance, children 2-11 spend relatively little time on the Internet – just 4:58 vs 38:47 for adults 35-44. But much more of their time is likely spent watching video than checking email or traditional websites.” Burbank concluded.

Apple & AT&T stores are expected to open at 8am Friday, July 11th to launch the iPhone 3g.

While the company hasn’t released an official press announcement, it doesn’t need to. There are already people waiting in line at some stores, and the launch is likely to be the most heavily hyped tech introduction of the year.