By Aidan Malley

Published: 08:00 AM EST

The iPhone has captured a slight advantage over the BlackBerry in Consumer Reports' latest cellphone rankings. Meanwhile, the next version of the FireWire spec calls for speeds to reach 3.2 gigabits per second. And another Delicious Monster is leaving the company to join Apple's iPhone team.

Consumer Reports chooses iPhone over BlackBerry

Apple's first phone is slightly stronger than its closest competitor from Research in Motion, according to Consumer Reports' January 2008 issue.

The publication argues that the iPhone's touchscreen interface, eight-hour-plus calling time, and its mobile mail client are superior to those of the BlackBerry Curve, which nets just over six hours of talk time and is widely touted for its real-time messaging service.

The iPhone is also recommended as the better media phone. Only one BlackBerry is given a nod by the magazine, which chooses the slimmer Pearl for the "compact" category.

FireWire spec to reach 3.2 gigabits per second

The next version of FireWire will offer roughly four times the maximum speed of today's Firewire 800 standard, says the IEEE 1394 Trade Association that controls the format.

S3200 will run at 3.2 gigabits per second instead of 800 megabits, but will still use the same physical port as before, the Association explains. The technology will also have the same power levels and 330-foot range of the current format.

The group plans to ratify the technology in early February and will focus on storage and digital TV set-top boxes for initial releases. Apple is one of the largest proponents of the existing FireWire 800 standard and includes at least one port with multiple Mac systems.

Apple hires Delicious Monster staffer for iPhone work

Lucas Newman of the Mac software firm Delicious Monster is leaving the company to work for Apple as an iPhone engineer in January, according to a blog post by Delicious chief Wil Shipley.

The staffer has contributed to the media catalog tool Delicious Library but also maintains an unofficial iPhone developer kit for hobbyists writing native programs for hacked iPhones.

Shipley notes that virtually every departure from the company in recent years has left due to a position offer from Apple, including user interface designer Mike Matas.

"You'd almost think Apple would start to pay me to train people for them," the Delicious executive says.