Apple’s online AppleCare Agreement Support system has been down for maintenance over the weekend. It isn’t clear whether there will be any updates or changes to the system like the recent addition of social media linking in the online Apple Store. The system isn’t available for AppleCare Support employees either.
Apple has now completed the roll-out for social network integration across its online store, allowing shoppers to share every single one of the store’s products on Facebook and Twitter — including third-party items.
We are receiving reports from readers that invitations to join Apple’s AppleSeed Software Customer Seeding Program are hitting people’s in boxes today. This comes as rumors are ramping up about the imminent release of iCloud, Mac OS X 10.7.2, iTunes 10.5, ATV updates and the iPhone 4S/5.
Despite no sign of an announcement from Apple for several weeks, T-Mobile has already begun accepting iPhone 5 reservations in Germany, according to a report from the German newspaper Focus. The carrier has been providing customers with ‘tickets’ that will allow them to redeem the device as soon as it’s available on a first-come-first-served basis.
Happy Labor Day! If you’re stuck for something to do while you’re off work today, why not treat yourself to a new iOS game? Developers have been slashing their prices to celebrate the holiday, and there really are too many games to choose from. Here’s the huge list of reductions from just EA, Gameloft, Namco Bandai, Sega and Capcom.
In typical Apple fashion, the company is keeping the release date for iOS 5 and the accompanying iCloud service a big secret, but the launch of these products could be right around the corner. According to screenshots taken from its internal RetailMe application, Apple has now begun training retail store staff for the upcoming release of its new services.
Best Buy is expecting pre-sales of the iPhone 5 to begin in the first week of October, a leaked internal document from the retail giant reveals. In addition, the document says Apple’s eagerly-awaited handset is coming to the Sprint network.
This caught my attention over coffee and the Sunday paper (I know! Weekend luddite, is what an affectionate — I think — friend calls me) a book entirely devoted to fonts called “Just My Type” by Simon Garfield.
Now here’s something else you don’t see every day: musician and entrepreneur Jean Michel Jarre has introduced the AeroDream One, an 11 foot tall technological marvel that combines an all-purpose iDevice dock and a 10,000W stereo system for the ultimate in colossal home entertainment.
For those who love their iPads but miss the warm, muted sounds of a 78rpm phonograph, feast your eyes on the iVictrola iPad dock. A successor to the iVictrola iPhone dock a few years ago, this acoustic amplifier uses the speaker outputs of your iPad and an antique Magnavox phonograph radio horn to playback anything from Bix Beiderbecke to Lady Gaga – no electricity required.
There has been a plethora of reports about leaked next generation iPhone parts that are allegedly for either an iPhone 4S or 5 model. Now we are seeing an equal number of rumors about iPhone 4S/5 case designs. Most of these new case designs probably started after an alleged next generation iPhone design document leaked earlier this summer. Indications are that case vendors are taking this leak seriously and producing cases based on the information they have received.
MacRumors previously commissioned a set of renderings trying to decide what the next iPhone will look like. Later they analyzed the existing third-party cases to help decide what that device might look like. The results they were left with are a bit puzzling.
I went to the local Apple Store today in Friendswood, Texas at the Baybrook Mall to grab something and I came home with another unofficial Apple accessory from a Mall kiosk.
Global Cell, Inc., a cell phone accessory store sitting just outside the Apple Store, sold me an iPhone 5 rubber case for $19.95 plus tax.
We told you yesterday that Apple had allegedly lost a next gen iPhone prototype in a San Franciscan tequila bar. Through a string of events, it was uncovered that Apple had purportedly tracked the prototype device to an apartment in Bernal Heights and sent a private security team on a recovery mission.
The San Francisco Police originally said that it had no knowledge of such an investigation, and it was believed that Apple’s security team could have posed as police for the purpose of searching the apartment of Sergio Calderón. Now, the SFPD is saying that officers did in fact help Apple in the attempt to recover the mysterious iPhone prototype.
With the news that HP is seriously reevaluating the longevity of the webOS platform, it looks like another mobile OS has fallen by the wayside.
After being largely abandoned by Nokia for Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS, Intel has announced a ‘temporary’ halt on development of Meego. The company will reportedly focus on hardware development for either the Windows Phone OS or Android.
Amazon’s rumored tablet is very real, according to MG Siegler of TechCrunch. The ‘Amazon Kindle’ tablet runs a fully-customized version of the Android OS that “you’ve never seen before.” The device will sell for half the price of the entry-level iPad, and it’s expected to ship in November.
Rumors have been that Apple will introduce enhanced voice recognition features in iOS 5. While such features have remained hidden in the developer betas of iOS 5, some have managed to dig into the software’s SDK and find evidence.
Now, it has been confirmed by an unnamed Apple employee that Nuance-based speech-to-text functionality in iOS 5 is very real, and it’s being tested at Apple right now.
It’s widely believed that Apple will unveil two iPhone models at once at its next event. One model has been dubbed the ‘iPhone 4s’ while the other device is rumored to be the iPhone 5. The 4S will supposedly be a cheaper, re-tooled version of the iPhone 4, while the iPhone 5 will consist of noticeable upgrades, like a faster processor and better camera.
The iPhone 4S is supposedly codenamed the ‘N94’ prototype internally at Apple, and the newly-released iOS 5 beta 7 gives some more details about the mysterious device.
With the last iOS 5 Beta released just a couple days ago to patch up that iTunes Match streaming thing, we won’t see another beta seeded until at least next week… but devs still have something to look forward to playing with this weekend, as Apple has just seeded a new build of OS X Lion 10.7.2 (build 11c48) to developers, as well as the 10th beta of iCloud for Mac.
This one’s nuts. Remember how there were no police reports about the missing iPhone 5 prototype, even though CNet reported that police offices had actually searched a man’s house looking for it? The guy whose home was searched in search of that lost iPhone 5 prototype says the officials weren’t actually police officers… they were Apple employees impersonating them.
The implication is that the officials, who appear to be members of Apple’s security team, were impersonating police, a crime punishable by up to a year in jail in California.
Did Apple really lose an iPhone 5 prototype in a San Francisco tequila joint? It’s starting to look doubtful.
Either way, though, Apple wants to be better safe than sorry. That’s why they are looking for managers for their unreleased products security team.
Apple Stores are no stranger to London City,with the Covent Garden and Regent Street stores already serving the area, but no town can have too many Apple Stores, which is why the proposed Apple Store development at 100 Cheapside would be such a boon for the area.
The only problem? It might not happen, and the reason might surprise you: neighbors claim it would block out too much sun.
Earlier this week, CNet surprised everyone by reporting that Apple had lost yet another iPhone prototype at a San Francisco bar. We were so intrigued that we stopped by to talk to the manager but he didn’t know jack about it.
You know who else has never heard anything about a lost iPhone 5 prototype? The San Francisco Police. Which is weird, because according to CNet’s story, they were called out to investigate.
AT&T expected it would have more time to argue its case for the $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA. However, just one hour after CEO Randall Stephenson expressed confidence the buyout would be approved in early 2012, Justice Department lawyers announced an antitrust lawsuit blocking the deal.
Back in October of last year, Steve Jobs wrote someone asking him why USB 3.0 wasn’t in Macs and said: “We don’t see USB 3 taking off at this time. No support from Intel, for example.”
It’s pretty clear that Steve Jobs was saying this in light of his work with the Thunderbolt standard, which leaves USB 3.0 in the dust. But now that Intel is planning on supporting USB 3.0 come 2012 as part of their Ivy Bridge CPU refresh, will USB 3.0 ports come to Macs to complement Thunderbolt?
If its Friday, it must mean another headline-grabbing patent lawsuit against Apple. Wi-LAN, which has a penchant for patent dustups with high-profile tech companies, is suing Apple over Wi-Fi and other wireless transmission technology.