So, a month ago, I wrote a post proclaiming iTunes LP to be the first digital album good enough to criticize. I would like to revise that assessment. It is, instead, the first major content misstep in the history of the iTunes Store.

At launch, Apple had six albums available in the format, which basically marries lyrics, album artwork, ad video content to your collection of AAC files. Scratch that, there were five albums and one musical comic book. It seemed like too little, but it was a launch — there were hardly any apps on the App Store when it came out, too. A month later, however, things have scarcely improved. We’ve gone from six offerings in iTunes LP to 13.

So what could be the problem? As it turns out, it’s the business model. According to Gizmodo, an indie record label owner asked Apple what it would take to get some of his albums available in the LP format. Apple’s reported answer? Be a major label. Seriously. Read on.

Apple has just released a new firmware update, version 3.1.2 for the existing iPhone and iPod Touch range, which contains no new features but fixes an important issue with cellular network reception. The new software fixes dropped cell connections until the iPhone is restarted, according to Apple.

However, it looks like the update does contain a new baseband version in order to fix the issue, therefore if you have an unlocked iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS, do not update until there is confirmation from a trusted source, like the iPhone DevTeam. If you’re planning to jailbreak, you should wait as this firmware version is currently incompatible with the latest jailbreak tools. But updates will soon be released to resolve the compatibility problem, according to the iPhone DevTeam.

The complete-ish list of changes, according to Apple’s cryptic update notes, is as documented below:

• Resolves sporadic issue that may cause iPhone to not wake from sleep.
• Resolves intermittent issue that may interrupt cellular network services until restart.
• Fixes bug that could cause occasional crash during video streaming.

Clearly, it indicates no new features, unless there are some hidden ones. ;)

To download the new firmware for your iPhone, select the model below to download it directly from Apple’s server or open iTunes and click iTunes –> Check for Updates in the menu bar.

• iPhone
• iPhone 3G
• iPhone 3GS

A negative review of the Archos 5 Internet tablet by gadget blog T3 may provide an opening for Apple’s rumored tablet. Unlike the Apple tablet, expected to launch in January using the iPhone operating system, the Archos 5 tablet is powered by Google’s Android – a concept that “just doesn’t add up.”

“This is essentially the Archos 5 media tablet with an OS reskin. Think the Toshiba TG01 and its reskin of Windows Mobile,” T3 wrote.

We start off with a trio of Mac-related deals: 80 percent off on iPod touch cases (along with another discount on MP3 accessories) and a bargain on a universal windshield mount for your iPhone or iPod. (While it is not as slick as a Kensington model we profiled earlier or the DIY “Cop Dash Cam”, it is just $4) Our trio of top picks is rounded out by a USB adapter allowing Mac owners to use SATA hard drives.

For details on these and other items (such as the Netgear 5-port Ethernet switch), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the break.

There are no big announcements from Apple today. No new products, nothing special happening. But it’s a special day nonetheless.

Because today, the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg has finally declared Windows a match for OS X.

Many of you will know that Walt’s opinions are widely read, and are likely to sway a lot of people in their computer-purchasing decisions.

In recent years, he has consistently said that Mac OS X is a better choice than Windows, either XP or Vista. But with the imminent release of Windows 7 (on October 22nd), that comes to an end.

The New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) gave the green light to Station Stops, an app with handy time tables, after having it yanked from iTunes for intellectual property claims against the developer.

Station Stops, which costs $2.99, is back in the Apple store this week.
It’s a major victory for the developer/blogger/commuter Chris Schoenfeld, who saw his work pulled from iTunes in August and on the receiving end of a nastygram from MTA lawyers.

The app provides a timetable for the Metro-North Railroad for regularly-scheduled trains departing and arriving from Grand Central Station.
Schoenfeld ran into trouble with the MTA because although they provide schedules to Google Transit, they do not release the data publicly. To build his app, Schoenfeld did it the old way — by entering data manually from the published public schedule.

More on how the MTA saw the light after the jump.

If you were around when Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda made American cultural history in 1969 with “Easy Rider,” you may have noticed the announcement about the iBike Rider, an iPhone case and more for motorcycle riders. While quite a stir was made about helmet-mounted GPS, or the handlebar iPhone case and even the iPod bike charger, the iBike Rider is for hog-owners.

The iBike is a weather-proof case for $42 but also offers the option of piping iPhone conversations directly into your helmet for an added $85. The one drawback: the iBike currently ships from France.

[Via Gizmodo and iBike Rider]

Remember when E-Ink was introduced in the late 1990s? Speculation on its uses mostly centered on how the technology would change publishing. Although e-book readers from Sony and Amazon employ e-ink for their displays, we haven’t seen applications for everyday electronics such as hard drives – until now. Western Digital announced its My Book Elite and My Book Studio USB will offer e-ink displays.

The displays – part of a 12-character screen – help label the hard drives’ contents. What is intriguing and turns a ho-hum story of hard drives into a gadget phenom is that the e-ink displays can be read even when the HD’s power is off. This makes the Western Digital hard drives different than the boatload of other storage devices using LEDs that go blank when no juice is flowing.

With all the warnings about your TV’s “ready” light and other so-called ‘electricity vampires,’ E-Ink may have stumbled into a profitable area. But you may want to hurry if you want one of the hard drives. “Everyone is going to want this,” according to CrunchGear.

The E-Ink Western Digital drives come in two flavors: a Firewire and USB My Book Studio ($300 for up to 2T) for Mac users and a $280 USB My Book Elite.

[Via CrunchGear, Gadget Lab and Western Digital]

Mid-week Mac deals come from the Apple Store, that is offering refurbished Mac Pro Xeon 2.93 GHz and 3.2 GHz workstations. Also on tap: more 8GB iPod nanos (the previous version), plus continued sales on iPod and iPhone case, including the ChiTek Metallic Slim Fit Case.

For details on these and more items (such as new App Store freebies), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Earlier this year, we ran several articles about Mobigame‘s excellent iPod game Edge getting a legal smackdown from Tim Langdell, owner of Edge Games. Over time, his claims to the Edge marks have, according to commentators, become increasingly dubious and troll-like, to the point where internet sleuths have clubbed together as ChaosEdge to provide a legal fund for Mobigame and information repository that built on the investigative work of TIG Source.

Recently, EA filed suit against Langdell about an entirely different Edge trademark spat, but, to aid indie devs, EA aims via the suit to obliterate all Langdell’s Edge marks, making the world safe for people to use the word ‘Edge’ in the title of a videogame without someone who had a company that was marginally famous in the 1980s popping up and having a major hissy fit.

Possible upshot? Edge is back in the App Store ($4.99 US/£2.99 UK). Somewhat like what you’d get if Marble Madness was built from cubes, and then a load of other cracking gameplay components were added, Edge is a top game for iPod touch and iPhone. And while we hope it’s around for good this time, we strongly recommend you go and buy it right now, just in case it vanishes again.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNUcD-FXgDI

GymFu has carved itself a niche on Apple handhelds, coming across like an affordable Nike+ for crunches, push-ups, pull-ups or squats. CrunchFu was also an app of the week on this site recently.

A criticism of the suite of apps has been the built-in ‘Fubot’ robot, which counts your reps and barks instructions, sounding like an angry, dispassionate Dalek with a sore throat. As of today, GymFu reports that you can switch out the voice for one of the alternatives from the ‘Sarge and Missy’ voice pack. Of those voices, one sounds like an angry drill instructor and the other resembles a schoolmarm. (Cult of Mac leaves it to you to decide which one is which.)

Initially, GymFu users can grab the voices for the princely sum of ‘nothing at all’ by sending a message to Twitter of Facebook via a GymFu app. “We’d originally intended it as an in-app payment but then we came up with a better idea; why not reward users for tweeting about us from within the app?” says Jof Arnold of GymFu, noting that other companies have tried rewarding uses for inviting friends, but GymFu’s enabling users to write whatever they want. He adds: “There’s nothing quite like getting shouted at in aggressive pseudo-army tones to inspire you to squeeze out some more reps,” and Cult of Mac agrees this is certainly better than being yelled at by a Dalek.

GymFu’s apps are available on the App Store, and are currently a buck cheaper than usual at $2.99 each (or £1.19 in Brit-o-land, and €1.59 in the Euro zone).

If you read the crime logs, you’ll know the best place to snag an iPod at a five-finger discount is from a parked car. (Often an unlocked one).

Teen Tyler J. Peglow in Bay City Michigan is charged with picking off iPods from a parking lot. He got caught with four in hand by police who tased him and brought the 18-year-old before a judge.

Peglow, however, also managed to pick his spot poorly: proximity to the courthouse meant that he ended up in front of the judge whose iPod he nicked.

“I told him, ‘You might want to ask another judge to review your status because I think you stole my iPod,’” Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran told local papers.

The teen will go before another judge Oct. 12.

“The lesson here for people is to lock your cars,” Sheeran said. “The overall lesson for people who engage in this activity is that they will be caught eventually. In this case, justice was swift.”

Color me unsurprised, but the Mac vs. PC mentality doesn’t always hold true at home.

The fascinatingly-named 2009 Household Penetration Study from NPD finds that Apple computers are in 12% of US households, up from 9% in 2008.

Ad campaigns aside, the study found that these Mac people don’t mind a little fraternizing with the “enemy:” 85% also have a Windows-based PC at home.

The study also found that Apple owners have more computers (and more laptops) than strictly PC owners, plus they also tend to have more gadget-happy households in general.

We have two new deals on 13-inch MacBooks, including from the Apple Store. Also on tap today is a 1.33GHz Dual Xserve, plus a number of items from the iTunes App Store.

For details on these and other Apple-related products (such as Sony’s S-AIRPLAY iPod Dock), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

What it is: HippoRemote is an incredibly powerful remote control application for iPhone that enables you to control any Mac application from across the room. Though optimized for media apps like Plex Media Server or Boxee, it can do just about anything — including launching Spotlight from the keyboard.

Why it’s cool: Because it finally puts every possible thing you could do on a Mac at your fingertips. It uses Mac OS X’s built-in Screen Sharing features to provide a very responsive multi-touch trackpad that moves around with you. It also offers a keyboard including F-keys and command keys that can be viewed in Portrait or in Landscape. It’s absolutely seamless. It also includes 23 application-specific suites of buttons, so you have video controls for iTunes or Plex movies, but audio controls when you’re just listening to a song. Other apps, most notably Rowmote Pro, offer identical functionality, but this one just feels more accurate — possibly because it uses VNC Screen Sharing instead of a third-party program. I’m actually writing this on my iPhone into my Mac right now, and there’s virtually no lag. Additionally, it’s worked without a hitch. Simply fuss free, and perfect for your living room Mac mini.

Where to get it: HippoRemote sells for $5 in the App Store.

We’ve written about a number of incidents where a waterproof iPhone would come in handy, including accidental pool dunking and a few protective devices. But do you really need a USB hard drive that’ll pass military water-proof and shock-proof tests? That’s seems to be the selling point of A-Data’s SH93.

The SH93 (no price yet) claims to withstand water for 30 minutes at a depth of 1 meter. Additionally, the hard drive, which is available in 250GB, 320 GB, 500GB and 640GB capacity, has passed the military’s drop test. Although the unit has passed the military’s tests, A-Data notes there is no guarantee that the hard drive or data won’t be lost – and urges consumers not to splash water on the drive, just to verify that waterproof claim.

The claims of shock and water protection for hard drives is akin to the car commercials illustrating automobiles climbing mountains, running rings of fire and other hazards unlikely to be encountered while driving to the corner grocer.

As for useful features, the hard drive is equipped with rugged rubber outer protection, a USB cord that can be wrapped around the case and a cold blue LED.

[Via Gadget Lab]

From the start, the Mac mini was seen as the perfect way to serve up video and audio to your home television. Trouble was, with the advent of high-definition pictures, your mini and HD sets had a bit of a failure to communicate. When Apple created the mini, it would interface with the world using the Mini DisplayPort standard – which was great if you had an Apple monitor, but for the rest of the planet, it was a bit like speaking only Klingon.

Kanex has introduced a bridge of sorts, an adapter which sits between your Mini DisplayPort output and your high-def television’s HDMI video and audio input. The upshot? The adapter will “turn a DisplayPort video signal into a 1080p signal over HDMI, and will even integrate either digital or analog audio into the mix,” Engadget writes.

The $70 unit grabs power from the USB port, eliminating the need for yet another power brick and associated cables for your HD entertainment setup.

Earlier this year Monoprice.com announced it would offer MacBook owners a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter for $14.25.

Kanex said its adapter works with Unibody MacBooks, MacBook Pros, the MacBook Air and iMac, along with the Mac Mini.

[Via iClarified, Engadget and Kanex]

The latest corporate apple to be taken to court by Apple is Woolworths, an Australian supermarket chain.

They 80-year-old company restyled their “W” to look like an apple, meant to symbolize fresh produce.

Apple’s lawyers are seeing red, just as they did with the Canadian school, and hope to convince IP Australia, the federal agency that governs trademarks down under, to repeal Woolworths’ application, made last August, to trademark its new logo, according to The Age.

We start the week with more discounted MacBook Pro laptops, plus a $15 deal on the business-oriented Automaton for Mac software, completing our top trio with a new round of App Store freebies.

For details on these and other bargains (such as a memory foam notebook sleeve for MacBook Pro laptops), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page coming up right after this jump.

Swedish design firm Ocean Observations has created this interesting mock-up of an Exposé-like feature for the iPhone.

The rare Apple I we noted was going to go on the block about a month ago has sold on eBay for nearly $18,000, a couple of grand over what guesstimates had it valued at $14,000 – $16,000.

And that’s without knowing whether it actually works: in the eBay description, seller Monroe Postman notes:

“I do not know if it is functional and I do not intend to power it up. If a trace on the board were to burn up due to a shorted component, it would radically decrease its value as an historical artifact and as, in my mind, a work of art (signed by the artist!). A few of the chips were missing when I purchased it and they have been replaced with the proper ones, although dated a year or two later, in some cases.”

If the buyer wants to come forward and talk about the purchase, CoM is all ears.

Thanks to eagle-eyed reader Bob who alerted us in the comments.

The best thing about going to the office is having access to the copier in the mail room. Sneak in at the weekend, roll off hundreds of color copies for your secret art project.

But HP has a fantastic home-office alternative: the Photosmart Premium Fax All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Fax, Copier. It does everything the industrial ones do, yet costs less than $200. A snap to set up and prints from the iPhone. It’s the best printer I’ve ever had. Weird, I know, but I really do love this baby.

Hit the jump for the full review.

It’s Friday Sunday and it’s time for our weekly digest of tiny iPhone reviews, courtesy of iPhoneTiny.com, with some extra commentary exclusive to Cult of Mac.

Under review this week: Diorama, Bust-a-Move/Puzzle Bobble, Darkness, Nag-O-Meter Deluxe, Glypha, Rugby Zone, Otakukous and EPSN ScoreCenter. As always, all id.gd links are to the relevant App Store page.

I get all tingly when a manufacturer offers up a gadget with cool features and out-of-the-box design; but then it’s a huge bummer when the gadget’s features don’t live up to expectations. Worse is when those exotic features end up being a hindrance compared with tried-and-tested ones.

And that’s exactly the case with the Jabra BT650s HALO stereo Bluetooth headset.

Full review after the jump.

Have a question? Aardvark Mobile is a great iPhone app that will find a real person to answer it – usually within minutes. It is a wonderfully useful app and has the potential to be an iPhone mainstay for years to come.

Aardvark Mobile is the latest addition to Aardvark: a social question and answer service that emerged from its beta phase earlier this year. Before Aardvark Mobile, users could only communicate with Aardvark through IM or email. The upshot of this was that if you needed a question answered from your iPhone, you had to go through your email or instant messaging app. In most circumstances you were better off finding an answer on your own using Google – even on an iPhone 2G.

But now Aardvark Mobile makes using Aardvark with an iPhone a cinch. So easy in fact, it makes Googling questions from your iPhone seem cumbersome and antiquated.