Apple’s Shaghai China store opens Saturday. With the impending opening comes comparisons with the Cupertino, Calif. company’s New York City flagship. Yep, the same glass cylinder, the same hoopla, the same moat. Moat?

Yes, along with a 40-foot high glass cylinder (with possibly the largest glass panes in the world) is a moat filled with water. While Apple Senior Vice President of Retail Ron Johnson wanted to focus on the “stunning architecture,” the site Shanghaiist wanted to talk about that moat. “There is an inexplicably shallow moat of water surrounding the store, tripping up those who don’t watch their step,” a writer comments. We aren’t sure about that architecture feature, ourselves. Could it be a concession to China’s government leaders, perhaps a way to track potential troublemakers; look for the wet socks?

If Apple were interested in marketing their computers to people who live just to print, they’d probably use a slogan like: “Macs: PDF everywhere.” Or something.

Because it’s true. The ability to turn anything that’s printable into a PDF file is built right in to the OS X operating system. And it’s easy to get to from anywhere.

The iPhone 4 videochat feature FaceTime may not be televising the revolution any time soon, but at least one pair of doctors have used it to consult on a patient who risked amputation.

In what may be the first documented iPhone 4 medical video consultation, University of Arizona surgeon David G. Armstrong, connected via FaceTime to give with Los Angeles Surgeon Lee Rogers’ a look at a patient who had undergone foot reconstruction at the University’s Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA). The virtual consult came in handy since Dr. Rogers was attending the American Diabetes Association meeting in Orlando, Florida when he took the “FaceTime” call from Armstrong, who had returned from Orlando to his SALSA clinics a day earlier.

New Apple Friend Bar Gives Customers Someone To Talk At About Mac Products

Another chunk of genius from The Onion, poking fun at those of us who love our Apple products a little too much.

The Apple Friend Bar, it says, is a new service where ordinary Mac fanatics can book appointments with experts who will be happy to just chat about Apple products. All. Day. Long.

My favorite part is when the Friend Bar employee is quoted saying: “Unlike your girlfriend or co-workers, we’re not going to get tired of discussing the wireless networking capabilities of the Snow Leopard operating system.”

Concept designs in general tend to be wishful-thinking affairs, but we can’t help but wish that this smart packaging design by Sverre Wiik Øberg uses the iPod’s own packaging as a charger. The box protects the iPod during shipping, then out pop the prongs to juice your iPod in any wall socket once it arrives.

What a snazzy design. Apple’s been increasingly moving towards minimizing its packaging in the interests of green friendliness over the past fe years. The next obvious step seems to be something just like this: discourage customers from throwing away their packaging to begin with by making it legitimately useful.

For the last few days, numerous iPhone users in major AT&T network hubs have noticed apparent 3G upload throttling. AT&T has just released a statement concerning the problem: its a bug with the Alcatel-Lucent HSUPA hardware, and they are working on it.

“AT&T and Alcatel-Lucent jointly identified a software defect — triggered under certain conditions – that impacted uplink performance for Laptop Connect and smartphone customers using 3G HSUPA-capable wireless devices in markets with Alcatel-Lucent equipment. This impacts less than two percent of our wireless customer base. While Alcatel-Lucent develops the appropriate software fix, we are providing normal 3G uplink speeds and consistent performance for affected customers with HSUPA-capable devices.

In other words, something went kablooey, and until Alcatel-Lucent gets around to fixing the problem, users with HSUPA-capable devices like the iPhone 4 will be limited to regular 3G UMTS upload speeds.

Wonder if you’re affected? If you’re in NYC, Central Jersey, Boston, Orlando, Seattle, South Jersey/Philly, Columbus, Cleveland, West Houston, Phoenix, Northern Colorado, St. Paul/Minnesota, Suffolk County/Long Island, Quad Cities, South Jersey, Denver, Detroit Metro, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Fairfax and Minneapolis… well, could be.

By many people’s estimations, the iPad is missing anywhere from between one and two cameras, and Apple’s curious choice to eschew adding at least one web cam to their tablet when they already had their video-conferencing standard FaceTime in the wings is often cynically described as a move to encourage customers to quickly upgrade to the second-gen unit once it pops out of Cupertino’s manufacturing shops.

Why wait until then, though? This iPad Cam-Case design by Chet Rosales adds a swiveling camera to the enclosure. Of course, without proper support from Apple (and a port of FaceTime to iPad), a case like this would be pretty useless… but we’re hopeful, if not optimistic, that Apple might choose to sell something like this themselves when the camera-equipped, second-gen iPad comes out sometime in the next year. Let’s not leave the early adopters behind.

This gorgeous pinhole camera on Etsy isn’t just elegantly simple in its design, but its made out of an old iPhone box. Load a standard 35mm film reel into its spool and you’ll be able to take simple pinhole snaps with the best of shoebox toting grade schoolers. It even has a built-in advance and rewind reel, enabling you to “shoot a picture, advance to the next frame, use the entire roll of film, rewind it back into the canister and take it to the drug store for processing!” Who needs iPhoto?

When some intrepid young capitalist coats a new gadget in superglue and then rolls it in Swarovski-brand crushed glass then reprices it for a few thousand dollars more , we usually decry the resulting product as a tacky, shameless money grab aimed at Cristal-swilling rappers, bling-encrusted divas, porn star kingpins and the like.

This $299 iPhone 4 case, on the other hand? What can we say? Has Steve ever looked so bedazzlingly fabulous?

Earlier today, Apple made a new job posting on their official site, calling for an iTunes Fraud Prevention Specialist to work in Austin “canceling fraudulent orders” and “researching and resolving fraud escalations from various sources.”

It was a well-timed posting. A couple of days earlier, developer Thuat Nguyen and his dev company “mycompany” was caught hacking into the accounts of 400 iTunes users and funneling money from their accounts into a number of cheesy, crappy, Dragonball-themed e-book apps… a transparent money-funneling move that got Nguyen banned from the Apple dev program.

Since the job posting appeared, though, it seems that Apple has rethought lending any publicity to the fact that they think, internally, they need to do more about iTunes fraud: the job posting has since been pulled. No need to be cagy about this, Apple: credit card fraud happens, it’s not really your fault, and it’s good that you’re hiring more guys to protect us. Don’t worry about it!

After the fashion of their many other great infographics, GigaOm has continued their series of informative high-res JPEGs with iPhone: The Art of the Launch, which puts into perspective just how huge the iPhone has become… and some of the problems that have faced previous launches.

The most interesting part of the infographic to me? The citation of Gizmodo’s Brian Lam back in 2006, ahead of the iPhone launch: “The iPhone Will Be Announced On Monday. I Guarantee it. It isn’t what I expected at all. And I’ve already said too much.” Considering that four years later, the same site would strip a stolen and still unannounced iPhone 4 down to its bolts for its readership, that seems like an awfully coy admission of insider knowledge for Gizmodo to make, in retrospect.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkcLLI6Yv8I

The guys over at repair shop TechRestore have put together this goofily sinuous and retro-styled stop-motion video of an iPhone 4, doing a strip tease down to its very frame. Consider this the technological equivalent of a burlesque dancer slowly undressing herself down to her skeleton in a dust-free clean room. Or don’t, because that’s just plain creepy.

[via 9to5Mac]

Elusive as some albino cryptozoological flora, the white iPhone 4 has been snapped in all its glory by Japanese blog Impress Watch. It looks exactly how you’d expect it to look, but since this is the iPhone 4 many of us wanted to be holding in our hands a couple of weeks ago, Impress Watch’s catalog of unboxing shots can be classified as a bit of late night gadget pornography starring that elfin, ivory love who somehow got away.

YouTube’s mobile website has just gotten a lot more iPhone-friendly, thanks to some hefty HTML5 optimization.

A new spartan, icon-driven dashboard now greets the YouTube visitor coming in through Mobile Safari, offering quick and easy access to subscriptions, playlists, favorites, your videos, search and settings. It’s all a lot more finger friendly.

When it comes to video viewing, you also now have a lot more options, including the ability to play a video in a higher-quality format, vote it up or down, write comments or view related videos.

The biggest change, though, is speed: videos load much quicker than the native YouTube player, as well as gaining higher-definition options for watching on the likes of the iPhone 4’s Retina Display.

If you want to check it out, just point Mobile Safari to youtube.com and check it out.

With the release of iOS 4, Apple has erased many of the advantages competing platforms — most notably Android — had previously enjoyed. But while much noise has been made about the iPhone’s new multitasking trick, news that the iPhone can now use image recognition to create a more accurate augmented-reality experience has been far less trumpeted.

Maybe that’s because it’s not really an ability of the iPhone itself, but rather an API that Apple has made available to app developers with the release of iOS 4.

It works like this: The app uses a particular API to capture live video from the iPhone’s camera, then shunts the feed back to servers that use image-recognition software to figure out what the iPhone is looking at; the server then sends a graphic (or graphics) back to the iPhone that’s overlayed onto what the user is looking at (we’ve got instructions on how to easily demo the new tech later on in this post).

Super Badminton 2010 by Rolocule is the one and only 3D badminton game available in the App Store for iPhone & iPod Touch. Despite no current competition, this game still boasts “hyper-realistic physics,” HD quality graphics, a slick UI and realistic sound effects, all of which go towards keeping Super Badminton at the top of its game.

We start off today with three hardware deals, including Mac minis and MacBook Pros. The first bargain is a Mac mini Intel unit running at 2.26GHz for $499 from the Apple Store. Next is a unibody MacBook Pro starting at $929 for a 2.26GHz version. Lastly, we look at a 17-inch MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i7 2.26GHz processor for $2,749.

Along the way, we also check out a deal on iPod nanos, including an 8GB unit for $99. As usual, all details on these and many more itens are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Police searched an iPod as evidence in a rape case after his accuser recounted that her attacker had recorded the incident.

According to court documents, Kerry LePage of Raleigh, North Carolina was arrested in May for second-degree rape. The woman pressing charges said she remembered that LePage had an iPod in his hand during the attack. The iPod was later found between the mattress and box springs and is being held by police.

This isn’t the first time the iPod’s video recording has landed it in police custody:  an iPod Touch’s large storage capacity and big screen were at the center of a middle-school sexting scandal and some teens were recently apprehended after filming a theft with an iPod.

Via News Observer

Although we’ve heard talk of Apple’s plans to open 25 stores in China over the next two years, here’s proof: workers taking the wraps off a store built in Shaghai.

In April, Apple told investment analysts the company was ‘well pleased’ by its initial steps into the China market. Chief financial officer Tim Cook said iPhone sales were up 200 percent during the first half of 2009. Apple added 800 more distribution points and saw iPhone sales increased 9-fold to 2.1 million units.

This is the iPad version of the quickie, DIY iPhone stand made from office supplies. This one isn’t made from the usual yellow No. 2 pencils but a handful of Faber-Castells —  the fittingly cultish 2001 Grip model with a triangle shape.

The makers over at Geeky Gadgets suggest using pencils with erasers to avoid scratching but note that you should extend the two pencils until there is plenty of wood to rest your device on or wrap a little tape around the metal on each to protect the edge of your iPad.

Would you use one of these to prop up your iPad in a pinch?

Via Geeky Gadgets

As with anything involving art, opinions may vary on who makes the best cover for your Apple mobile device. I’ve always been partial to the output from GelaSkins, myself. To begin with, the selection is vast, with an art style that speaks to just about any kind of taste from the utilitarian to the bizarre and their DIY option has always seemed the perfect way to truly personalize your device.

GelaSkins have now announced a new line of covers specifically for the iPhone 4 that may solve the much-talked-about antenna reception issue and definitely offers a layer of coolness utilizing the custom home screen supported in iOS4.

Preset designs from all of GelaSkins’ online catalogs are now available for the iPhone 4, along with customizable skins through the Do-It-Yourself service.

The new line of GelaSkins for the iPhone 4 cover the front and back of the device, giving it both style and scratch protection. Optional skins also cover the sides of the iPhone 4 with the desired design, with users being able to opt out of the side coverage if they want to showcase the phone’s metal frame.

The DIY GelaSkins design service offers users the option to turn their own artwork into custom covers (not only for iPhone 4 but for any device GelaSkins can be made to cover). And iPhone iOS4 users can now download free, matching wallpapers that continue the image through the iPhone 4’s screen, offering a continuous design as shown in the images included here.

All GelaSkins vinyl protective covers are removable using patented 3M adhesive, which prevents air bubbles from forming and allows for easy application.

Are Wall Street analysts being too aggressive expecting Apple to report 8.5 million iPhones sold during the fiscal third quarter? One believes so, suggesting to investors they wait until the fourth quarter for real gangbuster sales figures. Indeed, Kaufman Brothers’ Shaw Wu cut his third quarter iPhone sales projection by 1.5 million units.

“We are shifting our iPhone assumptions to latter quaters due to the high likelihood that an inventory drawdown and screen supply constraints could impact near-term shipments over the next two quarters,” he wrote in a Tuesday note. We believes “most Street estimates have not factored this in and thus we believe consensus at 8.5 million iPhones for the June quarter may likely prove too aggressive.”

iShred LIVE, a free application from Frontier Design Group, and GuitarConnect, from the venerable peripherals company Griffin Technology look to raise the bar for making Apple’s flagship portable devices essential pieces of gear for musicians of any skill level.

The $30 GuitarConnect cable features a 1/4″ spur that connects easily into guitars, basses, or any instrument with a 1/4″ input, and a stereo 1/8″ mini-plug that connects directly to iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad for use with audio applications such as iShred LIVE. The 6 foot cable provides an additional stereo 1/8″ mini-jack to connect headphones or audio cable for connection to a home stereo, amp, mixer, or other audio source.

iShred LIVE (iTunes Link) is a mobile app with amp modeling and stomp box effects for guitar, bass, and other instruments, letting users play real instruments through their device.

Remember all the talk a few months ago whether the iPad would hurt sales of the iPod touch? That fear was overblown, according to one prominent analyst who Tuesday described the impact as ‘minimal.’

Additionally, despite early talk the iPad was selling better than Macs, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster expects the Cupertino, Calif. firm will sell more computers than Wall Street predicts. Indeed, Mac sales were up 37 percent for the first two months of Apple’s third-quarter, the period when iPads first went on sale.

We have laptops and desktops but what do we call the iPad, which is neither? It’s been suggested we call it a “kneetop” because it rests on our knees. But what about thightop, tummytop, or crotchtop? Vote below, or leave new suggestions in the comments.

[polldaddy poll=3437482]