When it comes to mobile banking, iPhone users are way ahead of the curve.

While half of iPhone users already check in with their bank from their smart phone, it’ll take another five years until other kinds of cell phone owners do the same, a study said.

The 2009 Mobile-Banking and Smartphone Forecast by San Francisco-based Javelin Strategy & Research found that although half of all current cell phone owners have access to some form of mobile banking, it’s only caught on with iPhone owners. (No doubt the app plays a big part in the revolution — one US bank recently developed one to allow customers to photograph their checks and deposit them via iPhone.)

The firm expects it’ll take until 2014 for 45% of non-iPhone owners to connect with the bank via phone.

iPhones gave AT&T the highest number of mobile bankers, while Verizon Wireless has the lowest penetration for banking on-the-go among major U.S. carriers.

“Just as the iPod changed the music industry and their business models, our data shows that iPhone users are changing the banking industry by leading the way in monitoring and managing finances through mobile devices,” said Mark Schwanhausser,  a Javelin analyst.

There’s a silver Aston Martin Vantage parked around the corner from Apple’s “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” event, which is about to kick off.

It’s in a spot where Steve Jobs has parked his Mercedes in the past, just to the side of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. There are several spots cordoned off with traffic cones, watched over by a guard with an Apple-logo shirt. I asked if it belonged to Jonatahn Ive, Apple’s head designer. He said, “Who?”

The Aston Martin is a Vantage and has a “V 007” license plate. Jonny Ive is known to drive a DB9, a $250,000 supercar imported from his homeland, Britain.

More pictures after the jump.

It’s as if a virtual curtain came down before today’s “It’s Only Rock n’ Roll” event, about which there has been much speculation about what to expect…

For those of us who aren’t in San Francisco, or maybe weren’t VIP enough to be invited, it’ll be interesting to see what appears on the Apple store after the presser…

New leaked photos of iPod cases hint Apple may reveal a new feature: cameras. That appears to be the suggestion from supposed first pictures of iPods Cupertino is expected to announced later today.

The photos from Asian iPod accessories maker Cygnette show an iPod touch case with a lens on the reverse and what Gadget Lab surmises as a “dedicated shutter release” button. The iPod nano images show a taller device.

The veracity of the images are in question with some reports cautioning the pictures could have been Photoshopped combinations of previous iPhone and iPod cases. However, we include the photos and a link to Cygnette for you to decide.

[Via Gadget Lab and Cygnette]

As Mac fans await word from San Francisco today, Apple unveiled across-the-board price cuts on its line of iPod MP3 players. Today’s deals concentrate on the iPod, including an iPod docking cradle, Sony’s wireless S-AIRPLAY dock and other price cuts on iPod gear.

Details on these and other bargains can be found at CoM’s Daily Deals page.

The Pogoplug from CloudEngines looks like a boring power adapter, but it’s a fantastic little gizmo that turns any USB hard drive into your own little cloud server accessible over the Internet.

Just stick a router and USB hard drive into the $99 Pogoplug, plug it into the wall and baboom — instant cloud. Which means I can dump my important files and media onto a drive, and as long as I’m online, I can access those files, anywhere, anytime.

Hit the jump for the full review.

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Are you tired of all the sticky notes on your computer? Why not write your grocery list where you’ll find it: on your mousepad? That’s the concept behind Quirky’s Scratch-N-Roll product. Rather than a colorful image on a pad, the company turns all that wasted mousing space into a horizontal noteboard.

The mousepad lets you doodle with a stylus (it’s attached.) Your notes and drawings are erased by raising a cover sheet. “It’s a wonderfully simple, and actually pretty useful idea,” notes Gadget Lab. All of that space once occupied by a Disney character or design can now hold quick schematics to your improved iTunes.

There may be one snag, though – something which might put Scratch-N-Roll a bit behind the curve: hardly anyone uses a mousepad. The advent of optical mice essentially sounded the death knell for micepads. Indeed, Logitech recently unveiled a mouse that does windows, gliding effortlessly on glass.

[Via Gadget Lab and Quirky.com]

Can’t decide whether you want your iPhone in your car, on your hip or patiently charging until your next foray? Such indecision could be the target market for USBfever’s 3-in-1 in-car/on-belt plus charger device.

The $40 gadget includes a goose-neck holder for car trips and a detachable case that also serves as a belt-clip. Finally, the unit includes a charger, complete with LED indicator and a bit of circuitry to prevent an overload.

iPhone users could potentially benefit from any one of these features if they were single-use. For instance, we’ve talked about iPhone holsters, in-dash devices and external battery packs.

[Via iClarified,Macnn and USBfever]

Apple has introduced a new system for controlling the way files are opened in Snow Leopard, and some users are very upset about it.

“Apple has made a huge, dumb mistake,” says Ross Carter, a developer whose application, Pagehand, is affected by the change.

Basically: new iPods and iTunes, no Beatles and no tablet.

In declining order of likelihood, here’s what Apple will show off tomorrow:

Ok, so summer is slipping away and school is starting for another year. Although Apple (finally) puts an end to its back-to-school hardware deals, we have MacBook Pro laptops starting at $999, iMotion’s Max Audio System for iPods and other Apple items in today’s gadget grab-bag.

For details on these and more (like an iSnug iPod Armband), check out CoM’s Daily Deals page.

Noted cogitator Jason Kottke has an interesting thought on the experience of getting fully up to speed with brand-new Apple hardware and software. Basically, things have gotten so good that, barring minor speed improvements, you can’t tell any difference between new and old. He terms it “The Apple Upgrade Problem”:

“Which is where the potential difficulty for Apple comes in. From a superficial perspective, my old MBP and new MBP felt exactly the same…same OS, same desktop wallpaper, same Dock, all my same files in their same folders, etc. Same deal with the iPhone except moreso…the iPhone is almost entirely software and that was nearly identical. And re: Snow Leopard, I haven’t noticed any changes at all aside from the aforementioned absent plug-ins.”

Jason’s on to something interesting here. If you are a frequent Apple upgrader, you get far less of a thrill than if you wait a long time between devices. Consider the negligible differences between last year’s MacBook Pros and this year’s (unless you love battery life, FireWire, and SD cards, there’s not much to discuss). Or between the first video-capable iPod nanos and the current models (styling and form factor tell the whole story). And that’s without mentioning that it’s literally impossible to tell a 16-gig iPhone 3G apart from a 3GS.

So what does this mean?

For most people, very little. Unless you’re buying replacement hardware on an annual or at most biannual basis, you won’t have these kinds of difficulties. I, for one, had an iPod from 2004 that lasted me until I bought a green nano last year — huge leap forward. My PowerBook G4 stuck it out for five-and-a-half years before my beloved unibody MacBook arrived. And I won’t even go into just how much better the iPhone 3GS is than the BlackBerry Pearl it replaced.

For some people, Apple’s current predictability is a major boon. For corporate purchasers for example, the ability to requisition multiple models of a computer and not make it clear in the design who has the nicest or newest machine is a big deal for IT. That way I don’t get jealous when my 2008 unibody MacBook starts to age unfavorably against what I can only presume will be a 2010 unibody MacBook Pro. That’s true on iPhones, too, where executives who adopted a 3G last year don’t look hopelessly out of date around their 3GS-packing peers.

Honestly, the more I think about it, the very few people who are negatively affected by stuff like this are Apple’s most diehard fans — creative professionals who rely on new Mac hardware and software to help them do great work. The same people, it should be noted, who carried Apple through its darkest days. I’m less concerned on the hardware front (Apple always sticks with a design for a few years to avoid costs and focus on bigger leaps forward), but in software, it is a niggling question. And if the Mac isn’t providing creative pros with interesting novelty and inspiration, Apple isn’t executing on the fullness of its mission — where’s the creativity?

Now, it’s clear that Snow Leopard was a deliberate pause in the OS X development cycle to make sure that everything just worked a whole lot better. Other than a few front-stage changes, it was meant to invisibly make your existing Mac more stable and speedy. The question remains just how Apple will evolve OS X next. There are a lot fewer gaps than there used to be — and so much interesting work to be done in mobile and other touch interfaces.

What do you think — is there interesting work to be done on OS X as we know it? Or does Snow Leopard signal an end to innovation in conventional desktop operating systems?

On Monday, reader Abram Siegel’s iDisk showed 2TB of available storage. Yeah, that’s right — terabytes. The default iDisk storage is 20 gigabytes.

Siegel’s iDisk said 2TB when  logged on this morning and is still saying 2TB this evening. “Still showing,” he says. “Very strange.”

Even stranger, a few other people on MacRumors forums have also experienced the mystery 2TB upgrade.

Is it a common glitch, or is Apple upgrading accounts? Anyone else’s iDisk showing 2TB?

The future of digital government rests in building a model much like Apple’s, Tim O’Reilly told BBC News. That means creating “killer apps” and making them accessible, he added.

“The iPhone comes out and Apple turns it into a platform and two years later there is something like 70,000 applications and 3,000 written every week. They have created a framework and infrastructure and that is the right way we should be thinking about government,” said O’Reilly.

A working example of the strategy?

Apps for Democracy, a data hub site for government apps that also sponsored a contest that resulted in 47 web, iPhone and Facebook apps in just a month.

A $10,000 prize was awarded to Victor Shilo for an iPhone and Facebook app combination called 311 that allows users to send complaints and requests — abandoned cars, info on trash pickups, graffiti — to District of Columbia officials.

O’Reilly warned that “going back to politics as usual” was not an option.

“In terms of unlocking information, it’s not a question of fast enough, it’s a matter of strategically enough. The government is so large and there is so much data there that the real question is how much of it is really useful. This is why it is important for the government to think strategically.”

Via BBC

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sait24emvUw

Milan’s first Apple retailer is not in the heart of the fashionable city, as we noted last week,  but that didn’t stop people from turning out in groovy headgear and giving stadium cheers for the first to walk out with the signature inauguration tee after camping out overnight.

Giving a touch of style to the event,  web designer Marco Tognoli came adorned in Apple logos from old iMac G3s, topped by this fanciful conical hat with a real apple on top:

Proving Apple fans will live up to Milan’s reputation for daring fashion to open Apple’s second Italy store. (Hit the jump for more pics).

We start the week with an intriguing goose-neck desktop lamp from iHome. Not only does it shine 60-watts of artificial illumination, it’ll pump up your morning with tunes from your iPod. The light/speaker is also a dock. If you’d like a bit more boom for your buck, check out iLive’s portable boombox. But if you just want to chill on this Labor Day (for Americans) you can always nab some App Store freebies from Apple.

Details on these bargains and many others (like a universal touch screen stylus) can always be found on CoM’s Daily Deals page.

If you have a Google Voice account, you can make free VoIP calls on your iPhone. You’ll need to sign up for an account at Gizmo.com and download the free Fring app for your iPhone, but after that you’re done. You can make free outgoing calls to (up to three minutes) and receive unlimited incoming calls through Google Voice.

Hit the jump for instructions.

Spotify’s iPhone app has just gone live on the iTunes app store. But us poor Yankees are SOL. It’s available in Europe only — for now anyway.

The app is available here for free from Apple’s App Store, but requires a premium Spotify account to work at a cost of about £9.99 (about about $16) a month.

Neither the app nor Spotify is available in the U.S., but plans are afoot to bring the highly-rated service across the pond. It is set to come to the U.S. sometime later this year, or maybe next, pending licensing agreements with the record labels, and advertising deals that support the free service.

Because Spotify’s streaming music service is such a threat to iTunes, it was possible that Apple might somehow disable the iPhone app. Apple has disapproved of apps that replicate core iPhone functions, like Google Voice. While there is no indication yet that Apple cripples threatening apps, it doesn’t approve them. Apple perhaps doesn’t see the Spotify iPhone app as a threat while it is restricted to premium customers.

But Spotify’s app doesn’t seem to have any restrictions, except one imposed on all third-party apps — it can’t run in the background.

Spotify’s streaming music service has taken the world by storm with a music library that rivals iTunes — about 6 million tracks — and an interface to match. It’s dead easy to search, build playlists, and find new artists. It’s basically iTunes in the cloud — but free (with the occasional ad).

Spotify’s iPhone app adds a very important feature: it can cache full playlists to be played offline. You can store up to 3,333 songs — that’s 10 days constant listening — and they will play when the network goes dark. The offline caching service allows tracks to be played anywhere offline: on airplanes, in subways or even when traveling overseas to avoid roaming charges.

Official screenshots of the app and a video of it in action after the jump.

Apple is already setting up shop for Wednesday’s “It’s only rock & roll” press event that will likely see new iPods with cameras and the return of Steve Jobs to the public eye.

Apple has already hung a big banner on the front of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco — the venue of a press event next Wednesday at 10AM. The company last week sent invites to reporters with the line: “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it.”

The banner out front shows a rockin’ iPod chick kicking her feet in the air as she freaks out. The company has also hung a big banner inside the front door with a white Apple logo on a silver background.

There are no other posters visible inside the venue. The center is crawling with security guards.  There are half-a-dozen security guards with Apple-logo shirts at the front, back and sides. Apple will likely have a 24-hour security detail until the event starts on Wednesday.

There’s a TV van already parked to the side on Third Street. The van is likely there to transcode video from the event for distribution via iTunes and Apple’s website, which the company typically does just after the event ends.

The event will likely see the introduction of new versions of the iPod touch and iPod nano with built-in cameras, which has all but been confirmed by dozens of cases for the new devices. There will also likely be a new version of iTunes with built-in hooks to social software like Facebook.

The event will also probably mark the return of Steve Jobs to the public stage. It’s hard to imagine he’d let the event happen without him, even if it’s just a few words at the start. But let’s hope he’s well enough to MC the whole show. He’s been missed in the last year. No one does an Apple event like Jobs.

More pictures after the jump.

Since I mount my iPhone on my windshield for easy access to my music, I thought it would be appropriate to drill a hole in the plastic to let me take pictures and video while driving. It wasn’t difficult to do. If you have a dremel or a drill you can crank this out in 3 minutes. The plastic is durable enough to handle the pressure of the drill and there isn’t any cracking.

I have the Griffin WindowSeat which comes with adapters for ipod touch and the 1st gen iPhone. It’s a great deal/gift for someone who has an aux input in their car.

Hit the jump to see a video showing the DIY dash cam at work.

Assembly 2009 is a gathering for programmers who love to write low-level code. Basically, any cross platform language has a level of abstraction from the hardware that prevents you from running truly optimized code. These folks love to get the most out of any chip.

That’s in abundant evidence in this clip, “3 1/2 Inches is Enough” by Unreal Voodoo. It’s a drama starring two modern laptops and an earnest classic Mac that was rendered entirely in assembly language on a Mac Classic II — presumably running a 68030 16 Mhz processor. It’s beautiful, and it’s got a great beat. Nice.

Unreal Voodoo via BoingBoing

All the icons for folders and apps in Snow Leopard are now drawn in glorious 512 x 512 pixels. It’s a step toward making the operating system resolution independent, and perhaps also to make Snow Leopard a touchscreen friendly OS.

But it’s also obviously done just for the art of it. These icons are real beauties. They are full of great details and little surprises. One icon contains the words to a song, visible only if you blow it up to its full size.

Hit the jump for a gallery of hardcore icon porn.

When I first went to pick up my iPhone 3G, I was scared. I know what my hands are capable of: Horrible, unthinkable acts of clumsiness. I’ve hurt myself. I’ve hurt others. I’ve even hurt my kitties. So why would I want to put this salvific piece of tech gold into harm’s way? I need to protect this treasure, specifically because I don’t have another $600 to spend on a replacement. And I will be needing one soon.

But I don’t put my iPhone in a case. You shouldn’t either.

Twitter user livelovelight just posted this picture of Steve Jobs’ car in a handicapped spot at Apple’s campus. The snap was posted at 2.43 PST — about half an hour ago. Steve’s car is probably still there.

Forty minutes earlier, livelovelight tweated that he’d just missed Jobs: “At apple headquarters. Just missed steve jobs by 2 minutes,” he said.

Jobs is famous for parking in the handicapped spots (check out this hilarious gallery), but perhaps now he’s recovering from a liver transplant he has a genuine handicapped permit. I don’t see it hanging off the mirror though. He must have taken it with him.

And here he is talking to Jonny Ive. This picture was uploaded to Skitch about 33 minutes ago.

If Apple wanted to stand the world on its ear next Wednesday at the It’s Only Rock and Roll But We Like It event in San Francisco, the company would announce it is opening iPhone software development to all comers and is dropping the facade of exclusive distribution through the iTunes App Store.

Heresy, you say? Perhaps in the eyes of some, but read on to learn why those two moves would be best for the company, the platform, for developers and – most of all – consumers.