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With Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur scoreless after 120 minutes of regulation play in the English League Cup Final, Sunday, United’s goalkeeping coach Eric Steele turned to his iPod to show goalkeeper Ben Foster videos of Hotspur players taking penalty shots.

In the ensuing penalty kick shootout, United prevailed 4 – 1. Foster told BBC Sport afterward, “We went into the shoot-out as well prepared as possible. We have had things to look at over the last couple of days and before the shoot-out, you can see me looking at an iPod with Eric Steele. It had actual video on it and showed where players put things. Eric brought it when he came to the club. I have never seen anything like it. It is a fantastic tool for us.”

The PR lads and ladies ought to be pullin’ an extra pint for Eric Steele today in Cupertino, eh wot?

Via TUAW

Amid talk of a record drop in PC sales, a new report suggests Apple’s iPhone 3G is undergoing a “recent uptick” in production due to increased consumer demand.

The report by the Wedge Partners research firm points to a trio of factors increasing production of the iPhone 3G: Apps Store advertising, wider promotions by carriers and a drive to offer multi-tiered pricing of data plans.

In the case of advertising, Apple has begun a new campaign pushing its App Store, generating increased demand for the iPhone 3G and the iPod touch.

PC makers will ship 257 million PCs in 2009 with “mature” North American and European markets taking the brunt of the slowdown, according to Gartner.

Desktop PCs will lead the economic-inspired sales drop, falling nearly 32 percent. However, the drop in demand will boost sales of notebook computers, expected to increase 9 percent.

Apple may later this month introduce updated iMacs along with other hardware news, according to rumors circulating in the Mac community Monday.

Although Apple has yet commented, two Mac sites point with various degrees of certainty that Mar. 24 Apple will introduce an updated iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro and various chips.

Sources “did speculate that the Mac mini, iMac and Mac Pro would all be refreshed,” according to the World of Apple site. Those sources were “confirmed to be in reach of such information,” the site said.

Despite the recent introduction of several rivals, Apple’s App Store is “miles ahead of the competition,” according to a study released Monday.

Apple’s store, created in 2008 for iPhone and iPod touch owners, was compared against similar offerings by Google, Microsoft, RIM and others phone developers.

The Apple App Store has succeeded in attracting developers and surpassing the “number, variety and appeal of applications available,” announced the Global Intelligence Group.

Spotted this Marware game grip for iPhone, with a silicon sweat-proof lining and cleverly-designed slits for cables if you want to play while charging or have headphones on so you don’t disturb fellow commuters or co-workers.

Available for the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G, price ranges from  $39.99-$44.99.

While given the thumbs up for games that require a lot of movement (like I Love Katamari) at least one review said the color combo (the only one available) and price didn’t justify the playing ease.

Via Tokyo Mango

Anyone like to start a pool on which big-city police force will be the first to gun down an innocent iPhone user as a result of the hapless victim flaunting his “Bang! Bang!” app in the wrong place, at the wrong time?

With authentic Hollywood sound effects and realistic depictions of firearms “carefully crafted,” all the way down to the “specific look, realistic options, and unique animations” of the real world gun they’re based on, according to the developer, this is not your father’s game of Cops and Robbers.

Two thirds of all mobile web access happens on Apple’s mobile OS, according to February results published by market researchers Net Applications.

iPhone’s closest competitor, Windows Mobile, had just 6.91 percent of the traffic, while Google’s Android and Symbian were both locked in a tie for third at 6.15 percent. Palm and Blackberry bring up the rear at 2.37 and 2.24 percent respectively.

It’s worth noting that Android, which didn’t exist before October, was able to gain the marketshare Symbian took two years to achieve, and that, in the grand scheme of things, Apple’s mobile OS commands just 0.48 percent of all web traffic world wide.

Via Apple Insider

The first thing you see when waking your iPhone is the time, in big, bold, impossible-to-mistake numbers. And yet, a niche that seems to be growing almost as fast as fart apps is that of clocks. A search for clocks in the App Store turns up flip clocks, digital clocks, atomic clocks, analogue clocks even a goldfish clock. So it’s nice to see something a little bit different.

AboutTime (click opens App Store link) displays the approximate time in everyday language – it’s about quarter past four etc. As the developers say it their description ‘how often do you really need to know what the time is to the nearest second’?

At night, the colors change to a much darker palette making it suitable for a bedside clock. But the killer feature may be that when you swipe the screen, the page turns (with a nice animation) to reveal a quote about the nature of time itself from a selection of famous philosophers, authors and more, ranging from Albert Einstein to Britney Spears…

Hit me baby, one more time!

Thanks to DaveH for sending this in!

Image: Nobuyuki Hayashi

The perception of iPhone as a “failure” in Japan is largely the result of what people read in newspapers, according to Nobuyki Hayashi, the Japanese journalist who was cited as a source in the Wired article we posted on late last night, and who put up a lengthy post of his own Friday to clarify the situation.

“The majority of Japanese … haven’t even touched one,” Hayashi wrote, adding, “So as soon as I give lecture, show it to them and let them play with it, they change their mind and become a fan of iPhone.”

Much of the chatter about the issue in the iPhone blogosphere Friday stemmed from Wired writer Brian X. Chen’s headline, which stated unequivocally that Japanese “hate” the iPhone, but as Hayashi points out in his post, Chen relied on quotes from a conversation Hayashi had with writer Lisa Katayama back in late 2007 to make his case.

Obviously, much has changed in the iPhone ecosystem, a well as in the US and Japanese economies since then.

The reality is likely more that the iPhone has been a relative disappointment in Japan. Many believe the device could do much better in Japan if Apple gave SoftBank more control in how they market / advertise the device, and if Apple would enable feature sets dear to the Japanese consumer, such as a built-in TV tuner and the ability to use it as a mobile payment system.

For a detailed look at Hayashi’s position on the iPhone in Japan, see his blog post.

Apple tapped Ernst&Young Friday to be the company’s independent accounting firm, severing ties with KPMG, which had audited the company’s books since fiscal 1997.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple said there were no disagreements with KPMG “on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure or auditing scope or procedure” during the past two fiscal years.

The move, according to an Apple spokesperson quoted for a Reuters article, was a result of a recently adopted board “policy to review the appointment of its independent auditor every five years.”

Apple said the decision to change auditors was made after a competitive process, in which several firms including KPMG were invited to participate.

The regulatory filing said KPMG’s audit reports on Apple’s fiscal 2007 and 2008 financial statements contained no adverse opinions.

Via CNN

The AppStore is filled with useless programs for iPhone and iPod touch. Sometimes, a truly special useless program emerges above the rest. Today, that’s AngryCat. A program that displays a picture of a wet cat, then plays angry cat noises and occasionally has it attack you when you try to touch it.

Now, you might think that this is meant for laughs. You would be wrong. This is a simulator to prepare you for inevitable angry cat attacks!

“Nonscientific studies have shown that 94.3% of all people are completely unprepared for an angry cat incident. For that reason, we created AngryCat – the Angry Cat Simulator.”

More:

“The best thing you can do when confronted with an angry cat is walk away (or, in some cases, bow and crawl backwards away slowly, acknowledging its supremacy).  This application is designed to simulate the effects of what happens when you do NOT do this.  Touching and moving an angry cat is a bad idea!  If you don’t believe us, try the app and see for yourself what can happen.”

Even funnier are the reviews it has garnered so far. Messiarnd gives it five stars and calls the program “hilarious,” while Famous_Original_Pmatt gives it one star and dubs it lame. He expected it to be more than a static picture of an angry cat. I think his expectations are too high.

The debate will rage on.

Apple issued a store-wide prohibition on all AppStore support for Emoji Friday, according to a report at ArsTechnica.

Emoji, the cute graphical images favored by many heavy SMS text users and a standard part of mobile communications in Japan, are “hidden” on iPhones sold outside Japan. However in recent months, third party apps and other hacks have appeared, allowing all iPhone users to access Emoji through the phone’s International keyboard options.

iPhone developer Gary Fung, whose Typing Genius has been a hit among Emoli lovers, told ArsTechnica Friday that existing applications that offer Emoji enabling beyond their base functionality have been ordered to remove Emoji support.

Fung said that Apple has required an immediate update to his Typing Genius program with the Emoji support removed and the same order appears to have gone out to all developers whose App Store marketing text mentions support for the Emoji feature.

For a more detailed description of how Emoji are enabled on the iPhone and some speculation about why — beyond the company being just plain mean — Apple came down on all the Emoji-san, see blogger/developer Erica Sadun’s report at ArsTechnica.

Speaking of iPhone art (see our colleague Nicole Martinelli’s post following this one), iCloseBy.com, developers of several popular Apple iPod Touch and iPhone apps, announced an ‘Emotional Networking’ wireless world art project Friday.

iWallFlower.com is a web site which displays in real time, drawings being made by iPod Touch and iPhone users from around the world. Visitors can view the art as it is being created, and any iPod Touch or iPhone user can download the free iWallFlower App from the Apple iTunes store, and instantly and freely add artwork to the iWallFlower World Art Project

Displayed artwork receives popularity votes, and the most-appreciated drawings will be displayed most often, both on the www.iWallFlower.com site, and wirelessly on iPod touch and iPhones running the app.

Apple apparently looked the other way when the iMafia app for iPhone came through the AppStore gates. The game from PlayMesh allows users to buy additional premium content and packages games from outside developers together with the premium content, making iMafia the first app with an approved in-game microtransaction system, according to a report at Gizmodo.

The system allows developers to monetize free apps without advertising, and companies profit by selling in-game bonus material. Apple retains its usual cut from any apps sold within iMafia, but then PlayMesh will take an additional (still undisclosed) cut from those developers working with them. Is it possible everyone wins in this scenario?

If Apple continues to approve apps with such a revenue and promotion model, it could turn out to be one cure for the “race to the bottom” that some developers have complained about.

According to Play Mesh founder Charles Ju, in the two days this system has been live, iMafia has pushed two other games into the top 100 of overall paid iPhone games. iMafia, which is free, currently ranks seventh among the iPhone’s most popular games.

Image KP Marek

After 16 months, a UK-based mobile carrier reported Thursday selling its 1 millionth iPhone. The milestone, while significant, took twice as long to reach than Nokia.

Nokia’s N95 smartphone, once described by the trade press as “the Swiss Army knife of mobile phones,” reached one million sales just seven months after its November 2007 introduction.

Despite the iPhone being unveiled in 2008 – a year marked by economic slowdown – O2 UK’s CEO said “iPhone sales are continuing to accelerate.”

Things got a little heated in a London marketing firm when an Apple laptop (a PowerBook G4?*) started smoking, then burst  into flames.
“When I got there, much of the smoke has dissipated and nothing much was happening. I picked up the notebook to investigate, and turned it over. Soon after I put it down again, it basically exploded. Flames were flying six feet high in the air, and sparks,” an unnamed IT manager told the Inquirer.

The fire is thought to have started in the battery,  the IT manager said the computer was three-to-four years old.

“We are aware that there was a battery recall several years ago, it is entirely possible that the battery was one of those subject to that recall, but we can’t tell now as the battery is now just slag.”

The pics — melted keyboard, smoke, battery fused like a modern art sculpture  — are worth a gander.

(*The story first identified the flaming computer as a MacBook, then Powerbook).

Via bit-tech

First there was the Diamond Shuffle, at a mere $40K.

Then there was Swiss manufacturer DEOS’s Diamond Earbud covers, which you could have for a paltry $4500.

Comes now, however, the new champion of conspicuous consumption – iPhone division, the Kings Button iPhone mod, in which Austrian jeweler Peter Aloisson will encrust your device in three kinds of 18-carat gold (white, yellow and rose) and 6.6 carats of diamonds, for the “What Financial Crisis?” sum of $2.5 million.

Kind of makes you wistful for I Am Rich, doesn’t it?

Via Gizmodo, via AllTechnoBlog

Engadget, among others, today has been flouting the little piece of filmmaking above as an advertisement for the Blackberry Storm prepared by New York advertising agency Guava, but rejected by RIM as too confrontational.

We’d add, having seen the Blackberry Storm in action, “off the mark” as well.

Apple is apparently refusing to cover the cost of repairs to some MacBook Air notebooks, even though the devices are under warranty, according to a report at Engadget.

Some MacBook Air owners who embraced the device in its original iteration (Rev.A) have found that over time, with normal use, the hinge fitting the screen to the body of the laptop becomes irreparably loose, sometimes even catching and cracking.

Discussion about the problem first hit the Apple Support fourm back in Feb. 2008 and appears to be well documented, though as an official matter Apple says it is not a “known” issue.

The Engadget report relates a case in which “Apple did the repair for free, but only after we escalated the issue to a manager, who let us know how very nice of them that was.” Apple classifies the damage as “accidental,” and thus not covered under the normal warranty. The hinge repair costs around $800.

Let us know in comments below how widespread this problem might be among Cult readers and whether you think you’d have what it takes to get an Apple Repair manager to cover repairs to your broken MacBook Air screen.

In a bid to cloak trade secrets, both Apple and Mac clone-maker Psystar are asking a Calif. court for a protective order. The legal move is designed to prevent disclosures during an upcoming discovery period ahead of a Nov. 9 trial.

In an 18-page proposal before Northern District of California Judge William Alsup, the two companies lay out restrictions on expert testimony, as well as access to software. The data would be marked “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.”

Among the steps both companies propose to prevent either gaining a market upper hand, both Apple and Psystar can object to technical experts who must sign a one-year ban on working for competitors.

Should recording artists receive larger royalties from songs sold in digital format, such as by Apple’s iTunes? That’s the question before a California court as rapper Eminem sues recording companies for a larger portion of the revenue pie.

The lawsuit has taken two years to make it to trial, but already lawyers for the rapper have elicited that recording labels are paying less to sell digital songs.

With digital sales, recording companies, such as Universal, no longer have distribution costs, according to a plaintiff’s witness, a former executive at the recording firm.

You have to wonder if users of Apple’s MobileMe online service have a ‘kick me’ sign. For the second time this year, phishers posing as Apple sent e-mails asking for credit card information of MobileMe subscribers.

The e-mail warns MobileMe users their subscription is about to expire, but their credit card information needs to be updated. The message, which appears to come from Apple, asks e-mail recipients to click on a link.

However, the e-mail from “noreply@me” comes not from Cupertino, Calif. but a computer in the UK, according to Apple Insider. What’s more, the e-mail was composed on Microsoft Outlook Express and sends people to http.apple-billing.me.uk, which the news site described as a “sketchy URL.”