What could be more amazing than an iPhone surviving a drop of 1,000 feet? Finding it.

Guess what else you can watch on your iPhone or iPad? NCAA tournament basketball games.

The NCAA March Madness app is free to download from iTunes, and it lets you watch any game in progress on any of the networks -- CBS, TBS, TNT, or truTV. So take your iPad or iPhone with you and anywhere you can get a wifi signal, you can keep up with the games. The app also has all the scores, the full tournament schedule, and brackets.

There are some March Madness apps for Android phones, but as far as I can tell, you can't watch games on them.

Apple mobile users may get the next iOS update earlier than expected. Apple said to expect the free iOS 4.3 update to arrive on March 11, but many in the tech sphere think it could come as early as today.

Whenever it arrives, iOS 4.3 brings improvements and a few new features to the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Browsing speeds will be significantly improved thanks to Nitro JavaScript engine for Safari which is generally regarded to already be the fastest among mobile browsers.

Also, AirPlay media streaming features will be expanded to allow streaming from Safari and from other third party apps to an Apple TV.

iPhone users will also get Personal Hotspot functionality which allows devices to access the internet using their iPhone's 3G connection. This does require additional carrier charges, but it can be actvated on the spot.

For iPad users, the update will enable the side switch to be set either as screen-orientation lock or a mute button.

Kyle Walcheske arrived at the Verizon Wireless store on Six Forks Road in North Raleigh at 3:30 a.m., the first customer in line to buy the iconic iPhone that went on sale at Verizon Wireless stores this morning.

For legions of iPhone devotees, the wait began more than three years ago for what Walcheske, a part-time sandwich maker at a local sub shop, calls "a hope and a prayer." Verizon Wireless is now the second mobile phone provider to offer the smartphone, which had long been locked in an exclusive contract between iPhone maker Apple and sole carrier AT&T.

About a dozen iPhone customers braved the wintry chill and snow flurries before the Six Forks store opened at 7 a.m. this morning, 2 hours before its usual opening hours. The scene was played out around the country as iPhone fans made the predawn pilgrimage to be assured they got their phones before the devices sold out.

Verizon's long-anticipated iPhone launch goes full steam Thursday. It will be available at various stores and online.

Apple will be joining Verizon in its iPhone 4 pre-order event for current subscribers.

The countdown timer on Verizon's iPhone page ticks closer to Feb. 3, the day many of its subscribers have been waiting for since the first iPhone appeared.

On Thursday February 3 at 3:00 a.m. current Verizon Wireless customers can place online orders for its iPhone, a week ahead of the Feb. 10 sales launch. Orders will be filled on a first-come, first served basis.

Presumably as hordes assemble outside stores and clamoring online, current subscribers could have their devices in hand already.

Verizon is charging $199.99 for the 16GB model, and $299.99 for the 32GB model, with a new 2 year agreement. iPhone 4 will also be available for purchase at full retail price - $649.99 for the 16GB model, and $749.99 for the 32GB.

A free My Verizon online account is required for ordering. Verizon recommends that customers create a My Verizon account beforehand since supply could be depleted quickly.

Those not yet subscribing to Verizon Wireless must wait until the full launch on Feb. 10.

While initial buzz was that AT&T was allowing smart phone subscribers an unlimited option again, the case seems that the carrier is allowing users who previously had unlimited data plans to switch back. The move is aimed squarely at retaining subscribers as the date for Verizon's iPhone looms.

Could this be the start an interesting competition between two juggernauts?

Verizon Wireless added 872,000 smart phone users last quarter and hopes its February launch of the iPhone on its EVDO network will fuel an even better quarter. 

Simple, but dramatic, Verizon Wireless has posted its first iPhone ad to YouTube. “To our millions of customers, who never stopped believing this day would come…”