If you have been following AfterDawn over the past two weeks, you have undoubtedly read about "antennagate," Apple's ongoing iPhone 4 situation.

The iPhone 4, due to flawed hardware engineering, drops phone calls when held in the left hand, as your hand covers the antenna.

Yesterday, CEO Steve Jobs announced the company would be providing free cases to iPhone 4 buyers, as the bumpers would eliminate the antenna issues.

Jobs says the number of dropped calls per dials is tiny, but so far the problem has been a PR disaster for Apple.

Whoopi Goldberg, of the popular TV show "The View," went on a rant yesterday about the iPhone and its dropped calls, saying it made her so angry that she threw the phone out of her car, "murdering" it.

Watch the video here:

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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who left the company as an executive in the 80s while fighting cancer, has pledged $7 billion of his $13.5 billion fortune to philanthropy after he dies.

The decision follows the footsteps of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who have both pledged billions to philanthropy.

Allen and Gates founded Microsoft in 1975, and the company was long the largest tech company in the world, only recently overtaken by Apple in terms of market cap.

Over the last twenty years, through his Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the billionaire has handed out $1 billion in grants.

"Today I also want to announce that my philanthropic efforts will continue after my lifetime," said Allen. "I've planned for many years now that the majority of my estate will be left to philanthropy to continue the work of the Foundation and to fund nonprofit scientific research."

There was no word on how the money would be directed after his death.

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During his Q&A session yesterday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs revived the iPhone on Verizon rumors for the United States.

When asked about how the Apple headquarters in Cupertino has such good cell and data reception, Jobs said: "We've got strong signal here. We have AT&T and Verizon cell sites on campus."

While the comment could be innocent given the fact that Verizon is the most popular carrier in the United States, the flames of Verizon iPhone rumors over the years have been rekindled thanks to the comment.

Apple could be in development of a Verizon iPhone, and needs the cell site, no one outside of Apple knows.

Last month, Bloomberg cited sources that claimed Apple will make a Verizon iPhone 4 available starting in January. That rumor is of course still unconfirmed.

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Although hardware saw a nice jump for the month, NPD has reported that June U.S. video game industry sales continued the long term downtrend, with overall sales falling 6 percent year-on-year (YoY), to $1.1 billion USD.

Hardware sales saw a nice five percent pop, to $401.7 million, and accessories saw a similar jump to $169.6 million.

Software dragged the entire industry down, falling 15 percent YoY to $531.3 million.

On the hardware side, the DS series led the way, at 510,700 units sold. The Xbox 360 saw a nice boost, moving to 451,700 units sold, beating out the Wii, which sold 422,500 units for the period.

Following behind were the Sony consoles, with the PS3 at 304,800 and the dying PSP handheld at 121,000.

On the software side, Red Dead Redemption continues to be a blockbuster, selling almost a million more units in June.

Full figures via GameSpot:

OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Games: $1.1 billion (-6%)
Hardware: $401.7 million (+5%%)
Software: $531.3 million (-15%%)
Accessories: $169.6 million (+6%)

HARDWARE SALES
DS: 510,700
Xbox 360: 451,700
Wii: 422,500
PlayStation 3: 304,800
PSP: 121,000

TOP 10 GAMES (by SKU)
Title / Platform / Publisher / Release Date / Units sold
1. Red Dead Redemption / 360 / Take-Two Interactive/ May-10 / 582,900
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 / Wii / Nintendo / May-10 / 548,400
3. Red Dead Redemption / PS3 / Take-Two Interactive/ May-10 / 380,300
4. New Super Mario Bros. / Wii / Nintendo / Nov-09 / 200,900
5. Just Dance / Wii / Ubisoft / Nov-09 / 174,800
6. Wii Fit Plus (with Balance Board) / Wii / Nintendo / Oct-09 /
7.Toy Story 3 / DS / Disney Interactive Studios / Jun-10
8. UFC 2010: Undisputed / 360 / THQ / May-10
9. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 / Wii / Warner Bros. / Jun-10
10. UFC 2010: Undisputed / PS3 / THQ / May-10

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According to Google CFO Patrick Pichetter, the search giant had to spend about $100 million to defend itself from Viacom's $1 billion copyright lawsuit against video giant YouTube.

It is important to note that the case did not even make it to trial so the expected attorney's fees would likely have been much higher.

Last month, a judge threw out the case, saying Google was protected under the DMCA's "safe harbor" provision.

Viacom has promised an appeal, but their chances of a victory seem slim, at best.

"Safe Harbor" protects sites such as YouTube from being sued for copyright infringement, as long as they are actively taking down infringing material when asked by content holders. In his judgement, the judge pointed to a day when Viacom gave Google a takedown notice with 100,000 URLs, and the site took down all the videos within 24 hours.

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According to Verizon, the wireless carrier has sold out of their first batch of Motorola Droid X smartphones, with would-be buyers needing to wait for at least a week for the next shipment.

The site says anyone who orders now will not receive their phone until the 25th.

Additionally, brick-and-mortar sites seem to be in low stock, as well, with most retail stores called saying they are out of stock.

Most stores were given 50 of the device, which sold out before noon on launch day.

The device has a 4.3-inch, 16:9 multitouch display with 854x480 resolution, a 1GHz OMAP processor, 512MB RAM, HDMI-out, DLNA support, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Hotspot tethering.

Furthermore, the phone has an 8MP camera with 720p HD video recording, three mics, 8GB on-board memory and a 16GB microSD card and a 1570mAh battery. Included with the phone will be video apps from Blockbuster, V CAST video, NFL Mobile, Skype, and Backup Assistant.

The phone costs $200 with contract.

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Google has confirmed today that the Android Market has hit 70,000 apps available, well on its way to 100,000 before the end of the year.

Google's Senior VP of Product Management Jonathan Rosenberg confirmed the number during the search giant's Q2 earnings call this week.

Furthermore, Android search grew by 300 percent in the first half of 2010, with strong growth expected to continue in the second half. Overall revenue jumped by 24 percent year-on-year and profit increased by 19 percent, as well.

AndroLib, the Android data collection service recently said over 1 billion apps have been downloaded from the Android Market.

Google says there are 160,000 Android-based devices being activated daily.

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Google has announced that HTC has shipped the last batch of Nexus One superphones, meaning the phone has reached the end of its lifespan once Google sells the remaining stock.

"Once we sell these devices, the Nexus One will no longer be available online from Google," adds the search giant.

Due to lack of interest, the company will move sales from online to some brick-and-mortar retailers. A few of these locations are Vodafone stores in Western Europe, I Wireless in the U.S. and KT store in Korea.

Developers would still be able to access the phone through a "partner," although it is unclear who.

The Google Nexus One is one of the few phones to officially receive the Android 2.2 Froyo update.

Google offered the device for $530 unlocked or $180 with contract through T-Mobile.

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