Oh, Apple. Wasn’t it enough that you subjected us to John Mayer and Coldplay for years? I mean, yeah sure, I guess both of those artists were kind of cool for about 15 minutes, but they weren’t “cool” or “hip” when they played at an Apple keynote, and now instead of making progress with keynote live performances you give us the Foo Fighters?

Don’t get me wrong, I love Dave Grohl. The feisty Nirvana Dave Grohl, who talked shit to Axl Rose and had a wild and unruly nature about him. He was awesome back then. Apple-esque even, in that rebellious sort of way that, even though they’re the biggest tech company in the world, Apple still likes to cast themselves as the rebel going against the mainstream. But having the Foo Fighters play at an Apple event now seems contradictory to Apple’s entire hip and cool image that makes people lust after iPhones and iPads.

Man, oh man. At least now we know why Apple has been on such a legal crusade. They’ve got nothin’. I just finished watching the iPhone 5 unveiling and boy was it a bore fest. It’s as if Apple awoke from a cryogenic sleep and is finally embracing the year 2012. Almost nothing was innovating and the majority of new iPhone 5 features have been implemented in other mobile phones for years. Seriously Apple, is that it?

One of the glaring omissions in Apple’s iPhone 5 keynote was any mention of NFC. The rumor mill had suggested that the iPhone 5 would come with NFC (Near Field Communications) tech for mobile payments, but the rumor ended up getting squashed in the weeks leading up to today’s event.

So why no NFC in the iPhone 5? According to Apple VP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller, Passbook in iOS 6 is enough for what Apple wants to accomplish in the virtual wallet space right now. In a brief interview today, Schiller talked about NFC, and why Apple decided on the new Lightning dock connector.

Apple’s keynote today was long and packed with new products and software. There was a lot of stuff to love, and even somethings that were completely boring. What product are you most excited about that Apple announced today, other than the iPhone 5?

The new iPod Nanos look great, and the iPod Touch is just another reason why digicams are toast. And oh hey, there was that lanyard thing that comes with the iPod Touch that looks really dorky, but I’m sure people might really like it. What are you stoked for? Come chat with us in the forums about all the new stuff you’re excited to play with.

Click here to tell us what you’re most excited about from today’s keynote, over in the Cult of Mac Forums

Apple has made the final GM version of iOS 6 available to registered developers. The release comes after Apple announced that iOS 6 will be made available as a free public download next Wednesday, September 19th.

The Xcode 4.5 GM has also been seeded in the Dev Center. All iOS developers can start downloading the iOS 6 GM and new version of Xcode now. The version of iOS 6 that ships next week will be the exact same as the GM that Apple just released.

Refer to Apple’s website for a rundown of the new features in iOS 6.

Apple just unleashed iTunes 10.7 after its iPhone 5 media event. You can download the new version directly from Apple or under “Check For Updates” in iTunes itself. Don’t get too excited, this isn’t the all-new iTunes Apple just showed off onstage.

According to Apple:

iTunes 10.7 adds support for iOS 6 running on compatible iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models.  This update also adds support for the latest iPod nano and iPod shuffle models.

iOS 6 is set to drop next Wednesday, and the new iPods Apple announced today will ship in October alongside the redesigned version of iTunes we saw today.

Source: Apple

Apple’s new iPod Touch is slimmer, faster, better, yadda yadda yadda. That’s neat and all, but what really matters, and what might just spike its sales into the crazy numbers, is its new camera. It has 5MP, it has auto-focus, it has the iPhone 5’s new panorama feature, and it starts at just $300. Why the hell would anyone buy a regular point and shoot any more?

We’ve already become a culture obsessed with the image. From Kodak brownie cameras to a high-resolution smartphone camera in every pocket, the current internet age has produced a vertical fuck load of image data, all filtering through social networks like Instagram or Facebook, not to mention Flickr and Picasa.

Let’s not overlook one detail in today’s iPhone 5 launch: the Panorama.