New signs the iPhone 4 more than a year later is still hot in the minds of consumers. Last week, we wrote that the iPhone 4 is the top-selling U.S. smartphone despite cheaper Android alternatives. Another analyst tells investors the Apple handset shows ‘unexpected strength’ although the iPhone 5 is on the verge of hitting shelves.
Design proposals and pictures of Apple’s upcoming ‘spaceship campus’ have had us in awe over that jaw-dropping design and sheer magnificence, but as we learned last week, not everyone wants Apple’s spaceship campus to land. Over the weekend, LA Times’ architecture critic took a stab at ‘Apple Campus 2.’
Apple has added a restriction to the Applications folder on your start-up disk that versions of Mac OS X didn’t have before the release of Lion. The new restriction prevents you from moving apps out of the Applications folder, but this tip will show you how to get around that.
We’re all huge fans of the iconic glowing Apple logo that lights up every time we open up our MacBooks, so wouldn’t it be nice to have the Apple logo on the back of our iPhones do the same? Thanks to Andy and Chris at the U.K.-based iPatchiPhone & iPod repair specialists, you can have your iPhone 4 modded to boast a glowing Apple logo every time your screen lights up.
If you’ve plowed years of hard work into maintaining an iWeb blog, you must be concerned about what will happen to your site with the impending death of MobileMe just around the corner. But thanks to this handy conversion tool from RAGE software, you can transfer it all to WordPress within minutes.
Apple has issued a new OS X beta to developers with full iCloud integration. OS X 10.7.2 Build 11C55 is available to developers right now, and iCloud seems to be fully baked into the release for the first time.
Previously, iCloud betas had been available as separate downloads to be used in conjunction with beta OS X Lion developer builds.
Ever since the switch to OS X Lion, there’s been a few little tweaks in the Finder that have annoyed me. Perhaps it’s just that I don’t like change, but either way, I went about looking how to fix these problems. In this video, I’ll show you how to fix little annoyances you may have found with the Finder in OS X Lion.
The Microsoft Explorer Touch mouse invites you to “explore” its unique, touch-sensitive scroll wheel. While the Explorer Touch doesn’t offer multitouch gestures like Apple’s Magic Mouse or Microsoft’s own, flagship Touch Mouse, the Explorer does sport an attractive form factor and quality build.
The Explorer Touch Mouse ($50) gives you a scrolling experience that’s unusual to say the least. It’s pretty cheap, and it’s portable.
U.K. carrier Vodafone has published a product listing that directly references the iPhone 5 coming in 16GB and 32GB capacities. The upcoming device will allegedly be offered in black and white, with no reference made to the rumored 64GB version.
Carriers have been known to let the cat out of the bag before, so there’s a good chance that Vodafone just squashed the hopes for a 64GB iPhone 5.
Apple recently launched the iTunes Match beta test, but overwhelming demand caused Apple to shut the program down. Well it looks like Apple’s ramped up the back end so that it can support more beta testers. They’ve re-opened iTunes Match enrollment to more developers in the U.S.
On Friday Apple posted an announcement on their News and Announcements for Apple Developers RSS feed asking developers to get their apps ready for iCloud backup and restore. The announcement is yet another clue that Apple is getting closer to releasing iCloud and iOS 5 to the public.
Apple Chairman Steve Jobs has always wanted Apple to “change the world.” Of course it has, but only the wealthy, tech-savvy, privileged part of the world. Despite its incredible success, Apple hasn’t changed the world for billions of poor people.
To date, Apple has changed the world only by solving only first-world problems: “My Windows laptop came loaded with crapware and stickers.” “My PC is noisy and ugly.” “I hate audio CDs and CD players.” “My cell phone is counterintuitive.” “I want to surf the web while watching TV, but my netbook sucks.”
These are the kinds of problems Apple has solved for millions of people.
But there are bigger problems out there that Apple is in a unique position to solve.
In fact, a single solution could help solve five real problems, and change the world in five meaningful ways. It could even accelerate Apple’s phenomenal growth.
I challenge incoming CEO Tim Cook to consider the following proposal.
Here’s the latest twist in the story of an early iPad buyer who had his pinky torn so a thief could get his hands on Apple’s must-have device.
Brandon Smith, 22, pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated robbery and second-degree assault, the Denver District Attorney’s Office announced.
The plea isn’t completely out of nowhere: the scales were looking weighted after Smith reportedly thought his theft case would go away if the victim was ‘eliminated.’
Reiterating previous reports that Sprint will be getting the iPhone 5 in the coming weeks, a leaked internal Sprint memo reveals that the carrier is blacking out the first two weeks of October for the “possibility of a major phone launch.”
Sprint employees are not allowed to take vacations between September 30th and October 15th. After all, Sprint will need as many hands on deck as possible to deal with all of its new iPhone customers.
The PowerSkin for iPhone 4 ($80) is a silicone case with a built-in rechargeable 2,000 mAh battery that claims to double your device’s battery life with patented “XPAL Power” battery technology. Like most battery cases, it uses a mini-USB port to charge and sync your iPhone simultaneously, and you can turn the case on and off when necessary. The four-LED battery indicator will let you know how much juice you have remaining at the touch of a button.
The rumor — which is lighting up Twitter like crazy — was caused by an errant tweet from CBS’s “What’s Trending” feed. The tweet said:
“Reports say that Steve Jobs has passed away. Stay tuned for more updates.”
But CBS has now pulled the tweet and kinda apologized:
“Reports of Steve Job’s [sic] death completely unconfirmed.”
So, they don’t know one way or the other.
We’ve called Apple and left messages all over the PR department. The one live person we talked to said they’d get back to us shortly. But there obviously wasn’t a fire drill there, so it’s safe to assume Steve is still alive.
When they aren’t just accidentally losing their prototypes in bars, the security around Apple’s prototypes can be quite impressive. Just listen to what some early-access devs had to go through to check out the original iPad before it was released. The only thing they didn’t have to acquiesce to is wearing explosive collars around their necks.
You might remember a security kerfuffle from a few weeks ago involving DigiNotar issuing compromised security certificates to websites after being hacked, including one for Gmail. Well, Apple’s just fixed that at the root level of OS X Lion and Snow Leopard 10.6.8 with the latest Security Update.
Timing is everything. That could be the message from news Apple’s chief iPad 2 supplier is expected to churn out 20 million of the tablets for the third quarter – just in time for the all-important holiday sales period. Shipments of the iPad 2 for the quarter were already expected to hit 14 million, thus topping the last period’s 9.25 million tablets Apple sold.
When Sprint gets the iPhone 5 next month, expect it to differentiate itself from Verizon and AT&T with a truly unlimited data plan. Better? Unlimited data might not just be a bait-and-switch tactic to get new customers, quickly phased out in favor of 2GB data plans, but a permanent incentive to sign up with Sprint.
Apple’s iPhone again ranks as the most satisfying smartphone by JD Powers’ customer survey. This makes the fifth year the handset has been listed on top, scoring 795 in customer satisfaction. Motorola placed second while legal nemesis Samsung was dead last in customer satisfaction.