The success of the App Store has been a hot debate topic among iPhone geeks and the likes for a while now. On one hand, it is by far the most successful and easy to use method for purchasing mobile device apps, and it contains over 100,000 applications. However, developers are growing angry with outrageous wait times for approvals and sometimes just plain stupid reasons for rejection of their software. Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, is still defending the process, as seen in a recent interview with BusinessWeek. Keep in mind, this isn’t the first time he spoke out about this.

“We’ve built a store for the most part that people can trust,” he claims. He then goes on to say that, for the most part, you then get what you expect as it all just simply works as it should. I’d have to agree with him on this point. The reasoning for this trust, he adds, is due to Apple’s reviewing of the applications in order “... to make sure they work as the customers expect them to work when they download them.”

Phil also stated that the reason 10% of rejected apps have been denied is simply because “There have been applications submitted for approval that will steal personal data, or which are intended to help the user break the law, or which contain inappropriate content.” The other 90% require technical fixes rather than the issues stated above. As Phil sees it, the App Store approval process is working just fine in the eyes of Apple and they are only doing what’s required of them.

He may be right, and the fact that Apple is making millions off of the store regardless of the cries of us developers is certainly strong enough proof, if you ask me.

Via [BusinessWeek]

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No longer is this attack ad battle between Verizon and AT&T, as Apple has now stepped their foot through the door. With two new ads involving the iPhone and that same unusually perfect hand, Apple points out some of the things that are possible on AT&T’s network. For instance, AT&T subscribers with an iPhone can talk on their phone while at the same time checking an email, dinner reservation, or almost anything else internet related, according to these commercials. And as we saw in AT&T’s last commercial, Verizon apparently doesn’t allow this. The interesting part about Apple’s ads, though, is that they don’t mention Verizon. Instead, they ask at the end, “Can your phone and your network do that?” Clever, Apple, but we all know you are talking about Verizon.

Now that Apple has involved themselves, it’s two against one in this battle. It certainly appears as if the various marketing departments are having a lot of fun with these ads, and I’ve certainly had fun watching them go back and forth. That said, I have comfort in knowing that these battles can only lead to good things for consumers, so I’ll gladly sit back and wait for more to happen.

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Today, we were teased with Apple ‘s Black Friday event (or TGI Friday) with little detail on what exactly is on sale. We weren’t so confident in the last Apple Black Friday sale rumor, but there’s a new one that seems a lot more likely, and it’s from a more reliable source. At least that’s what the BoyGenius Report says.  All of your favorite Apple products will be on sale, just not as much as the last rumor. Darn, I just knew it was too good to be true.

As you can see in the “leaked” image below, deals will include:

• iMac: $1098-$1898
• MacBook Pro: $1098-$2448
• iPod nano: $138-$168
• iPod touch: $178-$358

The image indicates that other accessories will be on sale, too.  The rumor says the sale is for the Apple Online Store only, and only for Black Friday. If you’ve been considering a Mac or iPod, this is about as good of a deal as you’re going to get for some time.

Read [BoyGenius Report]

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Being a cigarette smoker myself, I found this story particularly upsetting. However, apparently, smoking around your Mac (or any computer for that matter) might not be such a good idea anymore. According to The Consumerist, two people have been turned down for AppleCare maintenance because their Macs were used in a residence with a smoker. Both cases were appealed all the way up to Steve Jobs’ level, and they both lost because the tar and other chemicals in cigarette smoke which were found inside the computers were considered a “biohazard.”

If you’ve ever looked inside a computer used by heavy smokers, you’d probably understand why it would be a much harder job for an AppleCare employee to fix up your Mac, but I’d hardly agree that doing so is a biohazard. Not many people are heavy smokers around their computer, and although they may leave some dark resin-like substance, that doesn’t mean it isn’t removable and will cause any harm to the employee’s health, especially if protective gear is worn (although I doubt that is even necessary).

Regardless of my opinion, Apple’s was quite the opposite. The company believed it was within its rights to deny coverage in these two cases, as their wording in their limitations of coverage was loose enough. You can see below in a quote from the document:

The Plan does not cover:

Damage to the Covered Equipment caused by accident, abuse, neglect, misuse (including faulty installation, repair, or maintenance by anyone other than Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider), unauthorized modification, extreme environment (including extreme temperature or humidity), extreme physical or electrical stress or interference, fluctuation or surges of electrical power, lightning, static electricity, fire, acts of God or other external causes.

In case you’re wondering which part of that refers to tobacco smoke, it would be the “other external causes” or possibly even the “extreme environment.” So, if you smoke inside your home, it might be a good idea to at least stay away from your Mac from now on.

Read [The Consumerist]

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It gets better every day. Just a couple days ago, as Verizon responded to AT&T’s lawsuit about their 3G coverage maps, it appeared as if AT&T had nowhere to go. However, that’s certainly not the case. As you can see in the ad below, AT&T isn’t going to give up on this one. It may be true that Verizon has the most expansive 3G network, but AT&T is now claiming they have the fastest 3G network, allow you to talk and surf at the same time, carry the most popular smartphones, and have over 100,000 apps available. Like with the coverage map, Verizon might be out of responses here. Check it out below.

Oh, and there’s also a website entitled the truth about 3G that AT&T has launched in response. I’m sure the advertising departments at both Verizon and AT&T are having a lot of fun with this battle, and I can’t wait to see what the people at Verizon come up with next. This is certainly getting amusing.

Via [The iPhone Blog]

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The rumors just keep rolling in on Apple’s now legendary tablet. Sadly, they don’t always get better. The latest rumor from DigiTimes claims we’ll have to wait even longer to get our hands on that Apple Tablet we all want so badly. But don’t get too sad, the extended wait is said to bring some benefits, like a lower price and an OLED option.

The rumor states that Apple decided to postpone the launch of the tablet to allow time to have a second tablet model with a 9.7 inch OLED screen.  This would be in addition to a 10.6 inch TFT LCD model.  OLED would obviously cost more, but the delay may have an added benefit of lowering the price of said panel.

They go on to state that displays normally account for about 30% of the total cost of a device such as this, and with current 9.7 inch OLED panels going for around $500 that sets the total manufacturing price at $1500-$1700 and a retail price up to $2000.

What!? It was just a few months ago that this rumored Apple Tablet was going to hit the sweet spot between netbooks and laptops in terms of price. I know it’s not in Apple’s moral fiber to produce a machine with less than stellar parts, but come on! Two grand is simply too much for such a device. Of course, the rumor also states that the 10.6 inch LCD model should be a bit less than a grand. That’s a bit more manageable, but I’m not sure I’m convinced overall.

Wouldn’t it be easier and more appealing to consumers to have an LED LCD model, for say, $1000?  I wouldn’t be happy paying this much for—based on all of the available rumors—what appears to be an overgrown iPod touch.  But I think I would likely talk myself into the purchase anyway.  Now, about this two grand option; not a chance.  OLED may be amazing, but I’d have to see a much more significant price drop to justify an upgrade like that for a device like this.  And honestly, it would likely happen in a year or so, which is also about the time I’d expect Apple to release a refreshed version anyway.

As much as I don’t want to wait any longer for Apple’s long rumored tablet, I’m convinced enough by this article to accept its timeline.  I don’t find it hard to believe Apple would wait even longer to release a device—even with this much hype—until it’s exactly the way they want it.  I just wish they’d get there quicker.

Via Gizmodo

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Provides: Wired/Wireless music streaming
Developer: Sonos
Minimum Requirements: Mac OS X v10.4 or later, iPhone 3G or 3GS running OS 2.2 or later (optional)
Price: $399 for the ZonePlayer S5, $99 for the ZoneBridge (optional)
Availability: Now

Sonos is a company that has been making a lot of great products lately, and the recently announced and released ZonePlayer S5 wireless music system is no exception. A nice addition to their lineup of speakers and audio streaming devices, this product comes in a simple, one unit form factor. And while Sonos does sell other speaker systems and hardware remotes for their units, this product can also be controlled through a free iPhone application, making it fit in even more perfectly to your lifestyle. This device is meant to simply be placed in a room, quickly set up, and then used to stream the user’s audio from its source to that room (or rooms). The best part? That’s exactly what it does.

Setup

The initial unboxing of the unit reminded me somewhat of opening a new Apple product. It comes in very simplistic packaging and contains straightforward and simple documentation that walks you through exactly how to get it set up and streaming. The steps are as simple as the design (which we’ll get to later), and it only took me about five minutes to get the whole thing running. With what this product is capable of, I was expecting spending quite a bit of time going through various router and file sharing settings, but that’s not at all how it was. It just worked. All that’s required is:

1. Plug in any ZonePlayers or ZoneBridges to the appropriate wall outlets or Ethernet ports.
2. Place the ZonePlayer in the selected room.
3. Install the included software (which runs on Macs or PCs). This was about 80MB in size and took only about 3 minutes on my MacBook Pro.
4. Add a Sonos controller whether it be your iPhone or Sonos Controller.

As I said, getting the whole thing up and running was not stressful at all; the software you install on your computer walks you through it step by step. The ZonePlayer itself can be plugged into your router if you want the music in the room with the router. However, if you want it in a separate room, you will also need to purchase a ZoneBridge ($99.00), which simply plugs into your router instead of the speaker. To get these connected to one another as well as to the computer from which the music will be streaming, all you do is press the button on top of the ZoneBridge and the two buttons on top of the ZonePlayer. It’s literally that easy, and the software walks you right through it. The only downside to the way it connects is that if you decide to unplug the ZonePlayer to move it to a different room, you will have to set it up again through either the iPhone or computer. However, all that requires is pushing the two buttons on top again, so it’s extremely quick and painless.

Mac Application

The Sonos Desktop Controller is installed through the CD that comes with the product. It is responsible for the initial setup and connection with the Sonos ZonePlayer and ZoneBridge as well as interacting with your audio, at first. When you add speakers, you select the “zone” (room) that they are in to differentiate them from other ZonePlayers you may also have. These appear along the left hand side of the software. Next to that are the typical music controls and displays such as the album art, song progress, play/pause/volume, as well as the song metadata. However, below that is where the software is different from players such as iTunes.

In order to play music through this app, you must set up a queue. To do this, you first must point the application to where your music is, which is easily done during the initial setup. After it indexes for a minute or so, the music appears in a drawer type view along the right side. It is organized in a way similar to iTunes and allows you to navigate by album, artist, etc., and even search. Yet I would have to say that this part of the software could be more streamlined. When you find the audio you want, you add it to the queue via a button on the bottom. While at first it appears as if you’ll have to individually drag each song into the queue to play music, that’s not true. You can simply drag “All Tracks” to a queue, put it on shuffle, and enjoy it as if it were coming from iTunes. Much like playlists in iTunes, the queues can be saved for later in case you have different ones for different parties, etc., in your house. If you add music to iTunes, you then must update the index in the application for it to appear, which only takes about a minute.

If you are playing audio from your computer’s hard drive through the Mac application, it must be awake in order for the Sonos to be able to access the audio. If the computer is asleep, you can still stream radio and services such as Pandora via the iPhone application, but it will tell you that the file can’t be found if you try to stream audio from your music library. To resolve this, you can either set your computer to never go asleep or download an application such as Caffeine.

The Sonos ZonePlayer also allows you to stream radio stations over the internet. These radio stations can come from anywhere, but there is also the ability to search for your local stations. I was able to find a lot of stations I know from around my area, so I would assume they have access to quite a bit of radio stations. If you don’t care whether the station is local, you can also simply search through the stations by category (country, rap, etc.) or type (talk, sports, etc.).

Lastly, the Sonos also lets you stream music through various music services if you register the product as being in the U.S. This will give you access to websites such as Pandora, Napster, Rhapsody, and SIRIUS. While some of these cost money, others—like Pandora—are free. For a service such as Pandora, you simply select the service, enter your log-in information, and then enjoy a list of music similar to one of the artists or tracks you entered. It’s a great service to check out if you are into music and looking for new bands, and the Sonos player makes it easy to do so.

iPhone Application

While Sonos does offer their own hardware for controlling their devices, you can also download their App Store application. This free, 6.8MB application is compatible with both the iPhone and iPod Touch provided they’re running iPhone OS 2.2 or later. Much like the Mac app, the initial launch of this application will have you connect to the various pieces of hardware in the same simplistic manner. From there, you simply begin controlling your music seamlessly.

The iPhone also lets the user control the speakers room by room by simply selecting a zone. From there, the interface looks somewhat like the iPod.app that comes with every Apple iPhone or iPod Touch. You control the music and volume along the bottom as expected and get the same album art you would through iTunes. However, the iPhone application not only allows you to stream your iTunes library, but it can connect to radio stations through the Internet as well. Using various tables with categories and stations, it’s very easy to find the station that appeals to what kind of music you like. This part of the application is very similar to the radio options on the Mac app. As with everything involved with this product, everything in the app worked seamlessly as well.

The iPhone application also allows you to set up alarms to wake you up in the morning. These alarms, much like those of the built in Clock.app, give you the ability to change what music plays, when it plays, and how frequently it goes off. It also allows you set the volume on a per alarm basis. Believe me, if you’re a heavy sleeper, putting the ZonePlayer S5 on its highest volume would undoubtedly wake you up. And maybe even your neighbors.

Design

The design of these products fit right in with the design Apple uses and has been stressed a lot in this review: simplicity (see the first image in the review). The ZonePlayer S5 is one large unit that comes with two ethernet ports, a line in, and a power plug in the back. The whole face of the product is a speaker. The only buttons present on the device (which would may Steve Jobs happy) are a mute button and volume control on the top. As I mentioned earlier, these are used when connecting the device and also if you don’t want to open the iPhone or Mac app to adjust volume.

Furthermore, if you are using a ZoneBridge to achieve the wireless aspect, it also uses a minimal amount of space. Smaller than a Mac Mini, it has two ethernet ports and a power outlet on the back. This product only has one button, though, which is only pressed once during setup of it. As I mentioned earlier, this is simply plugged into your router to allow wireless streaming of your audio. Other than that, you can place it out of the way with wherever your router may be.

Overall Thoughts

This product is outstanding. The packaging was as simplistic as the setup and use of the device. The audio that came from it was just as good as any other speakers I’ve used, if not better. And as they say, it really did fill the whole room with high quality music. I don’t have any complaints whatsoever about the hardware, but there were a few things I thought could be added to the software. For instance, it would be nice to see a menu bar element added to control the music to make using various Spaces on Mac OS X easier. However, part of this is also that the F keys for controlling music on Mac keyboards don’t integrate with the software. This means that to play or pause it, you have to go to the app itself and click the button as opposed to simply hitting the keyboard keys as I’ve grown so used to with iTunes. I’m sure there’s a way to get them to map, but I didn’t see any way to do it with the Sonos software.

While that alone wouldn’t stop me from telling someone to not get this product, the price may. Each Sonos ZonePlayer S5 is $399.00 alone, and the ZoneBridge to enable it to be wireless is $99.00. This is certainly worth it for the quality of hardware, but it isn’t exactly a small purchase. That said, it is also much cheaper than other ways of getting audio throughout your house, and it integrates more easily with your existing products (iPhone, Mac) than competing products may. I doubt you could find any other way of wirelessly streaming music throughout your house that is this easy and fun.

Full Story » | Written by Josh Holat for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Recent reports out of TechCrunch are informing us that the Google Phone is no longer a rumor, and will in fact be released within a reasonable amount of time. The initial plan was to release the phone by the holiday season of this year, but we can now expect to see it early in 2010.

While there has recently been an influx of Android phones making their way to the market, this one will actually be branded by Google, and I think it’ll be what we’ve been waiting for with Android. Much like Apple and the iPhone, these will be the first device where the hardware and software are actually designed and branded by Google.

With such great engineers and smart minds over at Google, I’m sure the hardware on this phone will be among the best we’ve seen packaged with Android. Also, since it will have the power of Google behind it, you can bet it’s going to be a big deal when it’s launched. If you ask me, I’d say that Apple should be watching this closely as Google is certainly going to be eyeing them as their main competition. With an open source operating system and choice of carrier, Google has the potential to make a very strategic move against Apple and AT&T here, and I’m sure they will.

This is getting good.

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Not only did Microsoft feel they had to go and copy Apple for their stores themselves, they also felt the need to take a page out of the book of Improv Everywhere. If the colorful shirts, store layout, and concepts involved in their retail store (i.e. Genius Bar type help desks) weren’t enough to show Microsoft’s ability to copy, the actions of their employees may help. The video below, in which Microsoft store employees randomly start clapping and dancing the electric slide to a song other than the actual electric slide, proves this. Go ahead, enjoy:

Shouldn’t you guys be helping somebody instead of trying to act hip? Oh, and the worst part is that some customers actually joined in on the dance. Honestly, I’m glad I wasn’t there, I probably would’ve walked out faster than the time it takes to get a Windows blue screen of death. I’m not sure what the point to all this was—if there even was one—other than to try and make working at a Microsoft Store any fun at all.

Via [CrunchGear]

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Can you boil down the history of Apple to two minutes? Sure you can! This is the era of communicating in 140 characters, so who needs those pesky books, what with their words and pages and weight. Who has the time and physical endurance required to read a book these days? Thankfully, we’ve got YouTube and good folks like applemctom who has given us the History of Apple, told in two minutes.

Tom is the fellow who gave us the History of Mac Games video, and this one is just as good. There’s plenty of nostalgia to be found here. Sure, there’s “1984,” but how can you not love seeing those spinning, candy-like iMacs again? Even “Myst” makes a cameo. But it’s not all good times; remember the Newton? Quadra and Performa? Pippin? Dark days, indeed.

But my yappin’ has already taken as long to read as it would to just watch the video, so have at it.

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

The BoyGeniusReport received a rumor earlier this week that claims to have the details on Apple’s Black Friday plans. The rumor contains a “leaked” image that displays all the deals for the day, which include up to 30% off iPods (excluding the iPhone and iPod shuffle), up to 25% off Macs, and up to 15% off accessories. The sale would only be valid for November 27th, 2009, and as far as I can gather, only in store (not online). And before you start dismissing this as complete BS, note the liberal usages of the phrase “up to.”

Yes, at first I shouted, “Fake!”, but then I thought about it a bit more. It really wouldn’t be that unlikely for Apple to offer this much off of certain products. I seriously doubt that all Macs will be 25% off. If they are, my bank and my fiancée are both going to kill me. All it takes is one product to hit that magic percentage off, but I find it hard to believe Apple would be this misleading. Many products could be sold with percentages off close to the mark without Apple actually experiencing losses, so we’ll see.

This could be real, but I’ll be taking this with a large grain of salt substitute, you know, for a healthy amount of skepticism.

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A new report out of Bloomberg is stating Apple may have been in in negotiations with AdMob about purchasing their company weeks before Google acquired them for $750 million. A purchase of AdMob—which makes their money in the mobile advertisement business—by Apple would have furthered the competition currently going on with Google, a company dominating search advertisements. With the Android and iPhone competing, there’s no wonder that both Apple and Google feel as if having the technology to make advertisement money off of their platforms would be even more beneficial for their companies. After all, AdMob advertisements already appear in a lot of third party applications on the iPhone, so if Apple could integrate this into the SDK somehow, they’d be ready to rake in some cash.

However, this may not be the only reason Apple would want AdMob. For instance, there have been many rumors that the Apple Tablet device (which is rumored itself) would come with an ad supported version to lower the cost. Also, recent patents out of Cupertino describe technologies that could use ads to freeze devices for an amount of time or even tie into an operating system. With a company such as AdMob, these could be even easier to implement. And let’s face it, there’s a lot of money to be made here with the ever-increasing amount of people purchasing smart phones and accessing the Internet on the go. It could certainly get interesting if Apple and Google start competing on another front.

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Apple is trying to make it even easier for people to get involved in the iTunes ecosystem and enjoy the content available on the service. They have now launched a web based sort of iTunes Store that they are calling iTunes Preview. This system allows users who don’t have iTunes installed on their computer to still discover content shared through iTunes links.

While these links would normally either a.) open iTunes on the users computer if it was installed, or b.) have the user install iTunes first if it wasn’t installed, users who don’t have it installed will now be able to view the content in their browser first. To me, this is very valuable as it allows users quick access to the content without having to wait for a download and install of iTunes.

For now, it appears as if online based viewing is strictly for music if you want the details. For instance, clicking a song will give the user a list of all the other songs on the album as well as links to purchase all of them in iTunes. However, clicking on a movie or app simply takes the user to the original page that then redirects them to iTunes as usual. However, some of them do show an icon or other graphic of the media that was trying to be accessed.

If you want to get a glance of what this looks like, scroll to the bottom of Apple’s iTunes page and check it out for yourself.

Product [iTunes]

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In the past, Apple had not been fond of stylus or pen-based input, but it seems that ignorance of the pen is nowhere to be found when it comes to tablets. This July, Apple filed a patent for pen-based input for tablets involving what they call “ink phrases.”

The patent details a different approach to handwriting recognition, from what I can gather.  Instead of breaking down individual strokes, it attempts to recognize entire phrases.  These could be converted into shortcuts, commands, or just plain handwriting recognition.  Honestly, it’s not that interesting.  If you don’t trust me, you can read the patent application for yourself.

What is interesting is that Apple’s former stance on pen-based input is no longer valid when we talk about tablets.  While I’d probably agree that a pen might not be the best way of inputting data into a small screened device like the iPhone, I’m glad they have a different opinion when dealing with larger screens. I think it’s pretty obvious that people would want to take notes on a tablet device as if it were a tablet of paper.  It’s only natural.  It will be very interesting to see Apple’s take on the digital pen.  Though, I suppose I should say that the Apple tablet is still a rumor, I think.

Via Gizmodo

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The idea of tethering coming to the iPhone has been around almost longer than the iPhone itself, and won’t seem to die. In November of 2008, the rumor was it would come at $30 a month with a 5GB cap through AT&T. Yes, that was a whole year ago, and it still hasn’t happened.

Then, in January of 2009, another rumor appeared stating we’d be getting iPhone tethering soon. That was ten or so months ago. All this time, tethering has been available on and off with jailbroken iPhones, which goes to show just how much iPhone users want the feature.

When tethering does come through AT&T, it will certainly come at a price, which may turn some of these users off. That said, notice that even after a year of these rumors, I say “when” instead of “if.” That’s because AT&T’s CEO Ralph de la Vega made the announcement at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Fransisco this month that tethering for the iPhone 3G is coming “soon,” as reported by Appmodo.

While the exact dates of “soon” weren’t defined, I think this time it actually has some truth to it. We’ve waited for more than a year now for AT&T to get their act together and prepare their network, and they’re well aware of our growing impatience. Although I fear that it may harm their network even more, it could cost them more in bad PR if they never even get around to giving the feature a chance. It’s a scary time for AT&T, that’s for sure. For both our sake and theirs (with the probable competition from Verizon), I hope their network begins to improve.

Via [Appmodo]

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This morning, the online Apple store went offline for a short time. When it came back, there were no signs of an Apple tablet, but it seems the Christmas elves had been speaking to Mr. Jobs about gift options. If you’ve thought about buying gifts from Apple this festive season, you’ll be happy to hear of the elegant gift wrapping options, Christmas-styled gift cards and, of course, the personalization options available for several Apple products.

So now you have all you need to get your Christmas shopping started nice and early. Apple makes it simple to send gifts to friends and family outside of the U.S., too. According to the online store, simply navigate to the store of that country (for example, for the U.K., head to store.apple.com/uk) and purchase the gifts using your U.S. credit card. If you decide against gift wrapping, you can write a small free gift message with the package, but rest assured Apple won’t send any pricing information with that product.

With the great range of iPods, the newly updated line of laptop and desktop computers, and more accessories than you could possibly want in one go, the online Apple Store is the place to shop this Christmas. You’ll be guaranteed to gain the “cool” status from your friends and family for buying them an Apple gift.

Stay tuned on Appletell over the coming weeks for tips and tricks on the best holiday gift ideas, the best festive software from the App Store, and the best collection of music to suit your holiday spirit from iTunes.

Full Story » | Written by Ed Parry for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

The day of the Droid came and left with relatively little press coverage compared to what we’ve seen from the iPhone in previous launches. However, that isn’t to say the Droid isn’t receiving its fair share of publicity, and for good reason. While I haven’t personally gotten my hands on one of these devices, I’ve heard many great things not only about Android 2.0 and the hardware, but about Verizon’s great coverage as well. With a large touch screen and nice camera, it’s not really a surprise that small lines formed by customers waiting to get their hands on one of these.

It’s clear that having the Verizon network behind it, Droid is going to offer more competition to the iPhone than the Pre did on Sprint. However, the Droid phone also has the advantage of having Google and their Android project behind it. And with Google comes the ability to send an advertising message to millions upon millions of people around the U.S. Yes, Google is placing Droid text advertisements on their main home page much like they did when Chrome was released. This certainly can’t hurt.

It will definitely be interesting to watch this one play out. Droid being based on an open platform has a ton of potential, but the iPhone already has a huge user base from being on the market for a longer period of time. What do you think will happen?

Image via [Engadget]

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Currently, Apple’s most affordable model of iPhone is the 8GB iPhone 3G, also known as “last year’s model.” But that could change soon. Pat, I’d like to buy a consonant.

The Boy Genius Report has received a number of unconfirmed tips—along with a few, not so blurry, pics—that seem to confirm that Rogers in Canada is draining their 8GB iPhone 3G stock to make way for the new 8GB iPhone 3GS. I think it’s fair to assume this rumor would apply to AT&T and elsewhere too.

This just makes sense. It’s not like Apple to keep an old model around when they can instead force you to buy a new one.  I’m just hoping this works like Wheel Of Fortune, you know, where the consonants are free!  I’d say there’s at least a fair possibility that a new 8GB iPhone 3GS for $99 just like the current 3G model, but that’s completely my own speculation.  I also wouldn’t be surprised to see an extra $49 tacked on.

Full Story » | Written by Jake Gaecke for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Apple could already be testing next generation iPhones equipped with RFID (radio frequency identification) capabilities if a less than rock solid rumor is to be trusted (as if rumors could be solid in the first place).

9to5Mac admits their source, Einar Rosenberg from Nearfield Communications, isn’t exactly the end all, be all source for inside Apple info, but they have a pretty interesting rumor. Read:

A highly reliable source has informed me that Apple has built some prototypes of the next gen iPhone with an RFID reader built in and they have seen it in action. So its not full NFC but its a start for real service discovery and I’m told that the reaction was very positive that we can expect this in the next gen iPhone.

Cool. Let’s assume this to be true, just for the sake of discussion. What exactly would you do with RFID in your iPhone? A host of things actually, but the most useful for regular users would likely be how it could simplify device discovery and syncing. You could just bring your iPhone within close proximity of your next gen Mac (presumably also equipped with RFID) and syncing could happen wirelessly. Now that’s something I think we’ve all wanted for some time.

Adding to the believability of this rumor is the fact that Apple has a patent for a “Touch Screen RFID Tag Reader.” But hey, that could be for any of the other touch screen devices Apple makes…

Another use could potentially be a form of credit “card” or ever a credit card reader. This also explains the rumor source, since Einar Rosenberg is the CTO at Narian Technologies.  They are all about mobile advertising and payments, two things that could leverage RFID in devices like the iPhone.  I’m sure Apple wouldn’t mind using RFID to accept credit cards with a future version of their already new iPod touch mobile scanners they’ve recently started using in Apple Stores.  And using the iPhone like a credit card wouldn’t be a bad idea either.  I’m never without my iPhone.  Never.  I can think of several times I’ve forgotten my wallet at home but somehow managed to have my iPhone with me.  Now that I think about it, I really wish I could have paid via iPhone the last time I did that, too.

RFID presents a lot of opportunities for devices and accessories to work seamlessly with each other, and I wouldn’t be surprised in the least to see this rumor pan out.

Full Story » | Written by Jake Gaecke for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Fortune Magazine has decided to call the 2000s “the decade of Steve” for his role with Apple, Inc. As they mention, he has overcome being forced to leave his own company, returning back for a salary of $1, a securities-law scandal, two close calls with death, and his “own often unpleasant demeanor” to earn himself the title of CEO of the Decade.

In the last ten years, Apple has stretched out into the areas of media and cell phones. But they didn’t just enter these markets; they changed them. I don’t need to remind you of the huge success the iPod continues to have, and with over 100,000 applications available in the iPhone App Store, it seems obvious their venture into the cell phone market has proven a success, too.

It’s often noted that he’s a showman, a born salesman, a magician who creates a famed reality-distortion field, a tyrannical perfectionist. It’s totally accurate, of course, and the descriptions contribute to his legend.
Fortune Magazine.

In 2000, Apple was worth $5 billion. Not a small number by any means, but just ten years later Apple is now worth around $170 billion, putting themselves just ahead of Internet giant, Google. Thanks to being debt-free, Apple has around $31 billion in cash and investments, which is the highest amount for any technology company.

So, in ten years, Apple has gone from a relatively small computer company—with no Apple Stores, iPod, iTunes, Mac OS X or iPhone—to being a technology leader with a range of great products, while being the most valuable company in Silicon Valley. I think, looking back, it’s no wonder Steve Jobs is Fortune’s “CEO of the Decade.”

Via [AppleInsider]

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Ah, I remember not so long ago when we heard news of the App Store surpassing 2 billion downloads. However, the App Store has now reached another very important milestone: 100,000 available applications. In a marketplace where other companies are struggling to get 1,000 applications available for purchase and download, Apple and the developers with accounts have once again risen to the occasion. 100,000 certainly isn’t a small number, and it undoubtedly has brought much success for Apple and the iPhone OS platform.

In a statement, Apple SVP of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller said, “The App Store, now with over 100,000 applications available, is clearly a major differentiator for millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers around the world. The iPhone SDK created the first great platform for mobile applications and our customers are loving all of the amazing apps our developers are creating.”

While there may be 100,000 apps on the App Store, this isn’t all good. With so many applications available, it’s safe to assume some (if not the majority) of basically crap or useless. This makes it hard sometime to navigate through all the cruft to find the real winners among the crowd. Thankfully, Apple has done pretty well so far adding features to the App Store to help discover some of the best apps, such as the Top Selling (free and paid) and Top Grossing lists.

I’m sure it won’t be long until we see posts reading of 200,000 applications available.

Via [Ars Technica]

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A while back, we wrote about how Apple is transitioning from Windows based EasyPad checkout systems to iPod Touch based mobile checkout systems. While it’s still unclear as to what manufacturer has helped Apple create the product you see below, we do know this is what Apple will be using for their new point of sale solution.

As you can see, the device contains hardware to slide credit and debit cards in the back while still allowing the user to have access to the normal buttons and connecters (via a dongle). It also manages to have a barcode reader in the top of it to allow for easy scanning of products. Furthermore, the device has its own battery with a strength indicator on the back to tell employees when they should recharge. A pen that allows customers to sign their names to their purchases is also included with the unit.

Don’t worry, though; the unit will still be able to go through cash transactions via cash registers throughout the store that can be opened from the application. According to AppleInsider, this will be rolling out to select stores over the next six months.

These systems are great in that they allow Apple to get rid of the regular cash register stations and open up more room for both employees and customers to move about the store. Also, it means that nearly every employee will be able to conduct sales and transactions with customers, so they can hopefully have a more pleasant experience without lines. On top of that, it is also a first-hand experience as to how useful iPod Touches can be to potential customers. That said, there are also some downsides to becoming entirely dependent on systems like this. Since they use WiFi to communicate with the purchase servers, a loss in signal means no transactions can be processed.

It will be fun to watch these in action when (and if) they make it to my local Apple Store.

Via [AppleInsider]

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According to sources for All Things Digital, Apple has been pitching a $30 per month TV subscription service via iTunes in the past weeks. The sources are saying that various TV networks have been approached by Apple about the deal, and if enough support is gained, this could potentially rival the way we’ve accessed our TV through cable for years now. The good news about this information, though, is that Apple apparently hasn’t been tying a service such as this in with the Apple TV hardware, but rather would make it available through iTunes, which has 100 million users already. Furthermore, the sources state a service such as this may be available as early as this coming year.

This idea poses a couple of interesting ideas. For one, it would introduce a new source of revenue to the cable networks who have been eager to do such a thing for a while now. However, it would also potentially conflict with currently existing relationships with cable providers such as Comcast and Time Warner. That said, companies such as Disney have shown a willingness to experiment with things such as this in the past, so it could happen. There still remains the issue of how this would affect actual TV viewers and ratings, then, which would have to also be figured out by Apple and their possible agreements.

Via [All Things Digital]

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One of the strangest things about the Apple Stores, in my opinion, is how they always used Windows based PDAs for customer checkouts not at the register. Sure, Apple didn’t want or really need to make their own system, but it was just a little strange to me. Now that Apple has the iPod Touch—a very mobile device capable of many features—it only seems fitting the company would transfer to this type of platform for checkouts. Instead of using the Windows based EasyPad systems, Apple will now be using iPod touches combined with barcode scanners and credit card readers.

According to a reader of AppleInsider, the Valley Fair Mall Store in Santa Clara is already using these devices and, “These things look really cool, much smaller than the Windows-based ones and faster too. They seem to be running a trial at that store, Palo [Alto] did not have them.”

This transition will certainly make checkouts easier for the Apple Store employees as the old EasyPad systems were large, clunky, and required a stylus to operate. They also have black and white screens and commonly lost wifi signals in the middle of a transaction. I’ll definitely be looking for these new systems next time I’m at my local Apple Store.

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In an agreement with the Chicago Transit Authority, Apple will be supplying $4 million to help fix up a run down triangle of land near their future Halsted Street store. While Apple has given money to areas where they had stores before, this will be the largest to date, as most of the previous ones were simply for fixing sidewalks and other minor tasks. This one will involve constructing a subway entrance building and bus turnaround driveway in order to help make the store more accessible and prominent. Part of the ordinance notes, “Apple will pay all costs of the exterior, interior, and platform refurbishment and desires that all work at these locations be completed not later than September 30, 2010.” This means that the Apple Store may open in late fall 2010.

The signing of this agreement took place on August 19th and entails some interesting details. Since Apple has agreed to pay for the improvements, the CTA will leave the bus turnaround to Apple for 10 years at no cost and will also give Apple the first rights of refusal for naming the station as the advertisements in that station. As you can see in the image, the area of land that Apple will be helping out with will be very important to their store (the red area). However, I’m sure this will also help the public in general, which will be nice for those who live there.

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There have been stories floating around the web claiming that Apple is not going to release anymore products this year. With the new 27” iMac, Magic Mouse, and unibody MacBook being released last week, this shouldn’t really surprise anyone. After all, the holiday season is only a month or so away, and I’m not sure Apple would update the products again that soon. However, of interest in this story is how Apple has called the tech website Gizmodo and stated, “The holiday lineup is set” [our emphasis]. Now, isn’t this basically what no more products in 2009 means?

While I’m fairly certain we won’t see any new products out of Cupertino this year, I do find it interesting that Apple would bother calling tech blogs in order to clarify something so simple. Perhaps Apple will be announcing new products sometime before the end of the year, but won’t actually be releasing them until early next year? It would seem out of the normal time frame from Apple, but it would make sense if they wanted to let people to know to hold off on a certain type type of product their competitors may already be selling. It’s definitely up for speculation.

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Another day, another rumor about the “impending” Apple Tablet. Today, the internet was on fire with talk about a leaked picture of what could be the SIM card tray for the rumored Apple Tablet. And if that wasn’t quite enough to get you to stop yawning, Bill Keller, executive editor at the New York Times, made a not-so-off-the-record speech about the New York Times’ web presence. In that speech, he made reference to an Apple Tablet as if he knows something we don’t know. I’m not convinced.

Yes, you could say I’m one of those fanboys who’s always ready to talk about and spread the latest Apple rumors. But Today is different.  ctually, it isn’t. More rumors about products we’re yet to see. Did I find the picture above interesting enough to talk about it? Sure. But does anyone really care what the SIM card tray of the iPhone 4G or Apple Tablet looks like? No. In fact, I’d be much more interested to find out about a network free Apple Tablet. I just can’t bring myself to sign another contract with the Devil AT&T. I’ll go ahead and speculate that there will be such a Tablet. There’s an iPod touch for the very same reason.

And then there was the video with Bill Keller. Honestly, it’s not worth watching. Here’s what he said.

“I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate, or whatever comes after that.”

He made the minor reference to our beloved/non-existent device without any sort of enthusiasm or secrecy. I really think that he was doing what any of us would do in normal off-the-record conversation, which is talk about these sorts of rumors assuming that they will become truth at some point. It’s possible that he has some inside information, but Today’s revelation was not exactly something we didn’t already know. If Apple isn’t currently making a Tablet or slate device, they’re letting potential revenue just sit in our pockets, and that’s not the way Jobs became the 43rd richest American now is it?

So at the end of the day, I hope that the SIM card tray picture made your day.  And I hope that Keller’s “slip” put a smile on your face.  I’m very sure we’ll see this Apple Tablet at some point, but that day is not Today.  No, you won’t even see a decent leaked image, just a SIM card tray.  Sorry.

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“Time to upgrade…to a Mac” is the theme of the latest Get a Mac ads. Targeting Windows users who hope that the new operating system will solve the problems of the widely-derided Vista, the new commercials suggest that owning a Macintosh might be the real solution to their problems.

As always, John Hodgman plays the long-suffering PC, trying to convince frustrated users that Windows 7 will be different, much to Justin “Mac” Long’s subdued skepticism. Apple also repeatedly mentions that they’re number one in customer satisfaction.

In the first commercial, “Broken Promises,” we travel back in time to find out just how many times Microsoft has assured us that the “new” OS is the game changer:

In “Teeter Tottering,” a Windows user decides to switch to Mac:

“PC News” brings us a news report where people are excited about the latest operating system, which is apparently Snow Leopard:

Hodgman (himself a Mac user) carries this series of commercials rather well as the frustrated PC, allowing Long, as the straight man, to play off his buffoonery with little more that polite silence. Apple has, of course, seen an increase in its user base, something which Apple itself feels is fueled by a dislike of Vista. It’ll be interesting to see if Windows 7 can stop and/or reverse that movement.

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Whether you like or use Twitter, it is certainly clear the service has had some value when it comes to promoting brands. Until recently, Apple has solely had iTunesTrailer, an account with around 1.2 million followers, as part of their social media band wagon. However, Apple has recently created a few more Twitter accounts to help promote various types of media in the iTunes store.

The accounts are as follows:

• iTunesMusic
• iTunesMovies
• iTunesTV
• iTunesPodcasts

While some of the accounts have more followers than others, and some have yet to tweet, they are a great place to go if you are looking for some highlights of recent content in the store. I’ve personally been following iTunesTrailers for a while and have also now added iTunesPodcasts since I am an avid podcast listener. Even though you could just open iTunes and explore for yourself, it’s interesting to see what Apple is promoting and what others may think of it.

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In the slew of Apple product updates released yesterday, the company also quietly introduced a new remote to be used with their new iMacs. According to Apple, this device will allow you to, “Control your Mac, iPod, or iPhone from afar with the sleek aluminum Apple Remote. Play, pause, adjust volume, move forward and back, and access menus while playing music and video.”

This remote, which takes on the aluminum enclosure of many of Apple’s other products, has a small interface change but the same amount of buttons. For some reason, Apple decided to move the Play/Pause button from in the middle of the circle to the bottom right and pushed the Menu button a tad to the left. As far as the reasoning for this goes, I can only assume it’s because some people, such as myself, may have complained about sometimes accidentally hitting the middle button when adjusting volume, etc.

The remote is available for individual purchase at a price of $19.00 through the online Apple Store, and will ship in 2 to 4 weeks. If the configuration of the current Apple Store remains, the Apple Remote will not longer be included with Mac computers, but can be added for the $19.00 fee when ordering.

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It seems that John Gruber could, in fact, be correct with his ideas that Apple will release new iMacs, MacBooks (the white plastic model), Mac Minis, and of course a new Mighty Mouse. Almost as though he knew something, the Apple store has indeed gone down this morning, which leads to either maintenance (yeah, right) or the possibility of new toys from Apple.

While we have been waiting for sometime for an update for the Mac Mini, I am personally looking forward to the release of a new Mighty Mouse, or “Magic Mouse” as John Gruber believes. A multi-touch mouse would be a great addition to any computer set up, and without the tiny trackball to gather dust at an alarming speed, people’s issues with the Mighty Mouse may fall to the sideline.

Either way, check out the rumors that Jake Gaecke wrote up earlier today and stay tuned for the store to return back online. If anything does change, we’ll be sure to let you know.

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It seems that even in this economy, there’s no slowing Apple down. The company announced its quarterly earnings Monday, revealing that its net income rose 47 percent. The earnings, which were driven by record Mac computer and iPhone sales, sent Apple shares surging 7 percent in extended trading to an all-time high.

The Company posted revenue of $9.87 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.67 billion, or $1.82 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. “We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.

And how many is “more Macs?” How about 3.05 million during the quarter, a 17 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. During this time, Apple also sold 7.4 million iPhones, a 7 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Not all Apple products saw their sales go up, however; the 10.2 million iPods sold represents an 8 percent unit decline from a year-ago.

NPR reports that, “Apple weathered the economic meltdown better than other computer companies, giving it a running start when PC sales grew in the quarter. Apple had also updated its Mac operating system and refreshed its Macbook Pro line. Apple sold 3.1 million Macs, a 19 percent rise from the same period a year ago.”

Apple tempered this news by stating the outlook for the current quarter would be well below analysts expectations, but the company’s shares still shot up $13.38, or 7.1 percent, to $203.24 in extended trading.

And there’s even better news for Apple fanboys. Included in the official press release is Jobs’ statement that, “We’ve got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010.”

Some really great new products? Let the Apple rumors begin continue.

Read [Apple.com] and [NPR.org]

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Yes, it seems that Apple plans to refresh or update every product you already own in an attempt to make you lust for a new ones. We’re talking about newMac Minis, iMacs and even a new iMouse! At least, that’s what the latest report from Engadget claims, and it’s all set to go down today.

John Gruber seems to be the source of all of the new Apple hardware fun.  He’s claiming that today Apple will announce a new Mac Minis, iMacs, (low end) plastic MacBooks, and the new Mighty Mouse. The new Mac Minis may even have a model that ships with Mac OS X Server. The new Mighty Mouse, which can no longer be marketed as such, will be rebranded as the “Magic Mouse,” and it will have multitouch support.  Will it revolutionize the way you computer?  Will Apple sell millions of them even if it doesn’t?

I’m most excited to see the new Magic Mouse, even though this name sounds ridiculous to me.  I’m very interested to see how multitouch will be incorporated; hopefully it rids the device of it’s easily broken scroll ball.  I’m also quite intrigued by the new Mac Mini.  Perhaps they’ll finally receive that long overdue new design I’ve been dreaming about, but I’m not holding my breath. And the OS X Server option sounds like a step in the right direction for many users.

I think today is going to be interesting…

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Droid, a new phone emerging in the mobile marketplace through a cooperative effort with Verizon and Motorola, is turning out to cause quite a ruckus as the first true iPhone competitor. At least that’s what the companies are trying to get at through their clever new commercial that flat out attacks the weak points of Apple’s iPhone. The ad, which is 30 seconds in length, starts off with an Apple-esque song and black text that drops down on a white background reading “iDon’t run widgets,” “iDon’t allow open development,” and “iDon’t have a real keyboard,” and such. It then ends with a strange graphic reading “Droid does” with a date of November. Check it out below.

While some of these arguments are weak, they do sum up the complaints of the iPhone thus far. For instance, it doesn’t have a real keyboard or allow open development, but I wouldn’t say those are show-stoppers. For one, the system that Apple has for developing apps, although flawed, has been both extremely successful and interesting to watch. Furthermore, I don’t quite understand how the iPhone doesn’t run widgets, as that’s basically what apps are (unless the ad means background widgets). Either way, they also mention that the iPhone doesn’t run simultaneous apps, which is a valid argument.

With an ad like this, the Droid phone is really going to have to deliver and put its money where its mouth…err, microphone is. The iPhone is dominating the smart phone market at the moment, and that doesn’t appear to be slowing down. That said, TechCrunch has a post claiming this phone is the “real deal,” and is “the first phone that will pose a significant threat to Apple’s iPhone.” I’ll be watching this one closely.

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Along with many other large corporations, Apple has shown some signs of being affected by our current recession, which is likely to continue in the near future. According to Thomson Reuters, Apple is expected to have a 13% year-over-year increase in earnings to $1.42 a share, which is above Apple’s own expectations of between $1.18 to $1.23. However, some people on Wall Street are expecting even more of Apple, as they have a reputation for exceeding estimates, and are anticipating it to be approximately $1.60. Apple’s overall revenue is expected to go up to $9.2 billion, a total rise of 17%.
Analysts believe that sales of Apple’s new generation of iPod touch, which was released in early September, as well as that of the iPhone 3GS were quite strong. Mac OS X Snow Leopard’s sales are also expected to help the company maintain its high gross profit margin since software has been proven to be more profitable than hardware. Still, there are worries that expectations for Apple could be too high this time around due to the effects of the recession. Apple’s shares, which went up a shocking 93% in the past year, have risen since the end of September, but fell 1.3% to $188.05 this past Friday.

Some analysts have claimed that Apple may fall short of the high expectations because of constraints of iPhone supplies, along with other factors. Only time will tell how well Apple will continue to perform for the rest of 2009, although chances are Apple may not perform as well as many people are hoping. Do you think Apple will live up to its profit expectations? Feel free to voice your opinion in the comments.

Read [The Wall Street Journal]

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Apple has pulled Elgato’s EyeTV app for iPhone from the App Store. Why? I like to think it’s because the app was too awesome, but they say the official reason is due to its hidden ability to stream live TV over 3G. Mind you, EyeTV for iPhone doesn’t actually appear to stream live TV over 3G to the casual user. In fact, I was unable to verify this feature myself until…

Sorry, I’m back.  I just had to check “something.”  Like I said, it’s not immediately apparent how to get this to work.  So let me tell you!  When the notification that you aren’t allowed to do this pops up, all you have to do is miss the “OK” button and tap the text above it instead.

The whole business here is actually some leftover testing code that was never removed before submission being submitted to the App Store.  They weren’t trying to circumvent AT&T, but it seems they have done so by accident. Elgato made a Press Release today about all of this silliness, and here it is for your reading pleasure:

Some test code that enabled live TV streaming over the cellular network was accidentally left in the the EyeTV App.  Apple requested that we remove the code since their agreement with AT&T does not allow redirecting TV signals over the cellular network.  The code was removed and a 1.0.1 version of the EyeTV app was submitted.  We expect EyeTV to return to the App Store when the 1.0.1 version is approved.

Honestly, this is quite silly, and here’s why.  The EyeTV app streams prerecorded videos over 3G, so why the big fuss over live TV?  Does it really matter that it happened only a few seconds ago?  The video still has to be converted by your machine.  The process of streaming prerecorded media and live media are very much the same.  As far as I can tell, no more or less data are transmitted with either method.

While AT&T is not directly to blame for the pull from the App Store, I’d like to place all of the blame right on their shoulders.  Once again, AT&T is letting their true colors show.  They might be cool with you making VoIP calls over 3G, but darnit, if you want to watch live TV, you’re SOL. Just to say thanks, I totally won’t be streaming live TV to my iPhone all night. Remember, the “upgrade” will likely make it to the App Store soon. Though, AT&T likely won’t disconnect your iPhone if you don’t upgrade. Just sayin’.

UPDATE:  Looks like the original version of EyeTV is once again available on the App Store.  A change of heart from AT&T?  Probably not, but you might want to grab it ASAP if streaming live TV is your thing.

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At first glance, iTunes LP seems like an interesting new way to revive some of the sales of records. They offer the same songs available as single/album downloads on other stores, but also provide their own visual twist on the content, making them different (and more expensive) than simply purchasing the list of songs. They are, in a way, trying to give the consumer a look and feel lost by not purchasing the physical media from a store with a 21st century digital twist. That said, new restrictions discovered about this type of media may show this isn’t going to be quite as successful as previously thought.

According to Gizmodo, a man running a small music label company outside of Chicago has recently contacted Apple about creating an iTunes LP album. He was told that 1.) iTunes LP albums aren’t being offered to indie labels yet, and 2.) they cost a nice $10,000 to produce and put onto the iTunes Store. This alone is kind of depressing for people looking to create an LP album to potentially boost their sales as they may not even be able to afford that if Apple were to even allow them to have the chance to create one.

The iTunes LP idea could work, Apple, but only with creative indies behind it pushing the limits.

Via [Gizmodo]

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Well, the Apple tablet rumors just never die, do they? The latest source of information (read: rumors) is coming out of the idea that Foxconn, a Taiwanese company that manufactures a lot of products for Apple, has pieces lined up for the development of a device such as this. According to the DigiTime sources, they will have 300,000 to 400,000 of the products made and ready by the first quarter of 2010. They go on to state that the device will have a 10.6 inch display which would obviously be touch screen.

The sources of this rumor also state that this product will focus mainly on the ebook market instead of music, as we have seen with many of Apple’s products. While many of the rumors I’ve seen come out of this supplier turn out to be true in one way or another, pretty much anything about the rumored Apple tablet is being taken as truth now. One side of me really wishes Apple would just release this product so the rumors can stop, while another says I could never see a company such as Apple entering this market. But then again, they are extremely efficient at picking a niche market and then dominating it. We’ll see what happens with this one.

Via [DigiTimes]

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Setting aside the fact that this developer—who calls himself Glyph—got a job offer from Apple, which is awesome in the first place, the manner in which the offer arrived is quite fascinating. This man, who works on a project called Twisted (that Apple apparently uses, to an extent), made sure to take some nice pictures of the iOffer before getting started on his paperwork. As with many of the things that come out of Apple’s headquarters in California, the job offer itself is extremely well put together. The outside is simply an Apple logo which just beckons the receiver to open it.

Opening the folder to the first fold reveals a blank white cover that reads “Welcome to Apple” as well as papers on the left hand side that greet the potential employee with “Ah, Paperwork.” Opening up the second fold shows that the job application is a tri-fold folder with more paperwork, as well as a nice, bold heading that reads “The Offer.” While this isn’t necessarily anything groundbreaking, it is sort of interesting to see what it looks like, if you ask me.

Head on over to his site via the link below to see some more images.

Read [Deciphering Glyph]

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After four long years of being in debates over the infringement of 93 separate songs, Eminem and Apple have officially come to an agreement in court. Although no financial details have been disclosed yet, Eminem and his attorney Richard Busch were searching for $2.5 million in damages through iTunes downloads of the songs, with $466,915 alone coming from his hit song, “Lose Yourself.” Their argument was that Eight Mile Style LLC did not authorize Aftermath Records to strike a deal with Apple through their contract. Despite this, Aftermath is said to have collected at least $4 million in sales from these songs on iTunes.

In terms of what we do know about the outcome of the trial, Eight Mile attorney Richard Busch said, “The case was settled to the satisfaction of all parties.” He also stated that the details were confidential, but a letter has been sent to Apple and Aftermath by Yahoo! News asking for comments. Either way, it’s good to hear they have finally come to an agreement. Look for more details soon.

Via [Yahoo! News]

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