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With pre-ordered iPhone 4s arriving early and the big tech pundits having received their models a week in advance, the first reviews and benchmarks for iPhone 4 have begun appearing online.

As you would expect, the usual suspects such as Walt Mossberg, David Pogue and Ed Baig all think Apple's new phone is the best thing thing since... the iPhone 3GS, and even the tech sites are joining the love in with both Josh Topolsky of Engadget and Xeni Jardin of Boing Boing scoring the device highly.

Mac Rumors has attempted some benchmarking of the iPhone already but has pointed out that its finding aren't an exact science. Using the GeekBench benchmarking tool on iPhone, however, it appears that the iPhone 4 runs around 31% faster than the iPhone 3GS but likely slower than the iPad which runs the same Apple A4 processor as the iPhone 4. These results are clouded by the lack of iOS4 on the iPad and fuzzy results from the benchmarking tools which are said to have produced a large variance in scores.

Other notable discoveries include the lack of a capacity marking on the back of the new iPhone whereas previous models showed 8GB and 16GB on the rear panel and 512MB of RAM available. For those who really want to delve into the nuts and bolts of the iPhone 4, iFixit has begun its teardown of the new phone and it has been suggested that the screen on the new device comes from a company called Corning who offer durable screens called Gorilla Glass.

Of course, we'll bring you all of the latest iPhone 4 news as we get it and also provide our thoughts on Apple's latest device as soon as possible.

There are some things that we know the iPhone can do, from play games to make calls, however, until this app came along we doubt anyone thought about adding their face to a poster in a movie. But that’s what ModdedMovie offers, and it does a brilliant job of it.

The process of making your movie is easy, simply pick a background, choose the type of poster or billboard you want and then add a photo of someone’s face from the iPhone’s camera. You then simply position the face using pinching and dragging gestures and adjust the color and exposure of the image to make it look as natural as possible. We found that picking images focused on a face rather than a group shot worked well and, where possible, shooting a photo specifically for the app provided the best results.There are a bunch of initial styles to choose from including Car Advertising, Advertising hoardings and billboard advertising and, within each, there is a selection of advertising types. These include Happy Birthday, a wanted poster, movie poster, fashion poster and an I Love You message.

Once you have picked your theme and added an image, the fun really starts. The image is rendered within a movie that shows a street scene with a poster containing your picture in the background. The video clip looks a little like handheld footage so you could easily use the output as part of a “have you seen this?!” prank to play on friends. You can view finished movies from within the app or send them to your iPhone’s Camera Roll for sharing online or syncing to your computer. The output is pretty impressive however does need an iPad or iPhone 3GS in order for it to work. In our initial inspection we did encounter a couple of crashes when rendering or choosing certain themes but we hope these will be ironed out with an update. This is version 1.0 after all.

You might be asking, what on earth would I use this app for, and we thought the same, however once you get to grips with it, ModdedMovie does offer a whole host of possibilities including personalized birthday greetings to friends and loved ones. You could even add the video to your own website if you have one or to a home movie as a dynamic introduction. Regardless, this is an enjoyable app to use and, while slightly pricey at $2.99, does offer a number of possibilities and will be great for kids.

ModdedMovie iPhone application Intro from dudeStock.com on Vimeo.

Ustream has wanted to stream from the iPhone for a long while now. They started out with a jailbroken iPhone version. But that didn't reach that many people. They also released a viewing application for the iPhone. A good start. Next came the iPhone 3GS app that allowed you to record videos with your iPhone 3GS then upload them to Ustream. Getting closer.

Then, last week, Apple decided to let streaming video application loose on the App Store. And now we have the Ustream Live Broadcaster.

The app allows you to stream video to the Ustream site and to the Ustream viewing application at a 320x240 resolution. Here's the cool part -- it works on Wifi or 3G on both the iPhone 3G and 3GS. You can also record the videos locally and upload them later if you choose.

And as you would expect these days there are options to share the videos on Facebook and Twitter. And you can also include your location information with the videos.

I imagine we will see the sending and the viewing applications combined at some point in the future. But for now, you need both.

Overall a pretty good experience for sharing video to multiple people. Have you tried the Ustream broadcaster? How was it?

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Update: 8/16: We've got a winner!!! The winner of the iPhone 3GS is @auntiethesis Congratulations from PressOK and 148Apps!

Update: Bumper Stars is now on sale for only $0.99! Grab it now! (iTunes Link)

PressOK, the makers of BumperStars have partnered with us here at 148Apps to give away a brand new iPhone 3GS to one lucky Twitter follower. The contest runs from today through the end of August 13th.

How to enter the contest

To enter the contest, you just need to follow the Press_OK on Twitter and sent a tweet that includes the hash tag #FreeiPhone3GS. That's it. Here's an example of the tweet you might send:

I want to win a free iPhone 3GS! Follow @Press_OK and retweet! Contest details here: http://bit.ly/WinA3GS #FreeiPhone3GS

Click here to send that Twitter message or edit it to your liking.

You can enter more than once though your followers might not like like it if you go too crazy.

Contest Details

The contest is open from now until 11:59pm Pacific time, August 13th. Only entries before that time will be considered. The winner will be chosen and posted here the following morning.

You must follow Press_OK, the people giving away this huge prize. That's how they will communicate with you on how you can redeem your prize.

You must send the tweet from an account that isn't protected, suspended, or deleted. If we can't find the tweet with this Twitter Search, then it won't count. And there's nothing we can do about that, it's up to Twitter search.

The Tweet that you send has to have the hash tag #FreeiPhone3GS included for us to be able to find it.

You can enter as many times as you wish.

The prize will be delivered via an iPhone Gift Card from the online Apple Store for the price of the iPhone 3GS, $199 here in the US. We'll do our best to accommodate other countries, but you can't buy iPhone gift cards in all countries. In the case where an iPhone gift card can't be purchased, we'll make other arrangements with the winner for the prize.

Don't have a Twitter account? Well just create one to get started.

Have any questions? Put them in the comments to this post and we'll do our best to answer them.

More about Bumper Stars

Bumper Stars has been described as pinball mashed up with pool smashing into a game of Peggle. The goal of the game is to bounce around your helmeted beaver and gather all of the fruit on the screen in 3 shots or less. The games gets more difficult as more fruit and more bumpers get added to each successive level. The game is integrated with Facebook and allows you to see your friends score and challenge them to games. Bumper Stars is currently in the App Store for $2.99.

I know what it's like. The anticipation of getting a shiny new gadget. You stand in line waiting patiently for the assistant to become available, or sit at home wondering what the UPS guys excuse for being late will be this week (my local UPS plant has had three power failures in the last month, apparently). And whilst you can't MMS anyone, and the nearest to tethering you'll achieve is if you get some sticky tape, attach your new phone to the computer screen and pretend, you know you're holding a pretty awesome piece of kit.

Whilst this article isn't really designed for people who've already experienced the wonderful world of apps (I'd recommend they explore our reviews or forum), for a new iPhone or iPod touch user the sheer variety of apps and games available can be intimidating and some gems might be hidden under the surface.

But fear not, new iPhone users, because I, an eccentric British man writing to a 4am deadline, am here to guide you through the perils of the App Store and give you some pointers as to what you might want to buy, what you really should avoid and how this whole apps business works.

Read on for dozens of great apps and more info.