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Last week was a tough week for Apple followers as we were bombarded with a slew of stories that sounded dire, but upon further examination maybe weren’t so bad (or maybe they were). Confused yet? You’re not alone. Let’s look at three stories from last week that illustrate this issue. …

Apple released [URL="http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/07/02appleletter.html"]a letter[/URL] this morning explaining its infamous iPhone 4 reception issues. I encourage you to read it and then come back. The letter is so bizarre to me I thought at first it was joke or a hoax like Steve Jobs' [URL="http://venturebeat.com/2010/07/01/steve-jobs-calm-down-email-is-a-hoax-says-apple/"]"Relax, It's a Only a Phone email[/URL]." …

Someone posing as Apple head honcho Steve Jobs on Twitter has managed to fool a major UK newspaper into reporting that the [URL="http://www.apple.com/iphone/"]iPhone 4[/URL] would be recalled after posting a Tweet which said "We may have to recall the new iPhone. This, I did not expect". The Daily Mail website …

A researcher has revealed that people are far more likely to tell lies using email than they would do if they were writing on pen and paper it seems. In two studies, Liuba Belkin reached the conclusion that people lie 50 percent more often in emails. This, of course, is …

That's right, free. And if it's free, it's for me. Software promoter MacHeist is my new best friend, and for the next five days is giving away [url=http://www.macheist.com/]nanoBundle[/url], a package of six Mac OS X applications including the highly-rated Twitterrific, which normally sells for US$15. In all, $154 worth of …

A few days ago I was reporting that people were [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story291008.html"]unable to buy an iPhone 4[/URL] even if they were an existing customer. It gets more complicated. The story now is that O2 and other UK carriers are accepting orders only from people who are existing customers. (Except me, as …

Let me get one thing straight: the [URL="http://www.apple.com/iphone/"]iPhone 4[/URL] is undoubtedly a beautiful device. It's due out in the UK next week - stop giggling - and I would very much like one. The problem is that although ordering started on Tuesday, I've been unable to order one. This is …

Politics makes strange bedfellows, and so does business apparently. In the wake of Google's frontal attack on Apple at I/O recently, and this week's reports that [URL="http://gizmodo.com/5552152/google-hq-throwing-out-windows-in-favor-of-os-x-or-linux"]Google was dropping Windows as an OS [/URL]choice throughout its company, it seems that Apple could be running into the arms of Microsoft for …

Steve Jobs of [URL="http://www.apple.com"]Apple[/URL] has declared that [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Microsoft[/URL] Windows is in terminal decline. No really, that's what he's said at the [URL="http://allthingsd.com/d/"]All Things Digital[/URL] conference in LA. And he's had backing from people like Dreamworks, who now access the Internet through an iPad. OK, we'll take it as read that …

Two years ago Apple introduced MobileMe. At the time I wrote a post called [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story219246.html"]Apple Has No Business Charging for Mobile Me[/URL]. My point was that people didn't want to pay $100 for a cloud service, that by all rights they should be getting for free. Folks pay a premium …

Apple released details of the [URL="http://live.gdgt.com/2010/06/07/live-wwdc-2010-keynote-coverage/"]extraordinary new iPhone 4[/URL] today at its [URL="http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/"]World Wide Developer Conference[/URL]. It's truly an amazing device and I'm sure everyone is going to be talking about the new features ad infinitum, so I wanted to reverse track and cover 5 things Steve Jobs didn't talk …

A number of news sites, today of all days (week after the international launch of the [URL="http://www.apple.com/ipad"]iPad[/URL], expected day of the announcement of a new [URL="http://www.apple.com/iphone"]iPhone[/URL],are asking one thing: has Steve Jobs, or more precisely [URL="http://www.apple.com"]Apple[/URL], finally gotten too big? John Steward famously derided the company on TV, reminding them …

Sometimes you see something and you really, really hope it's a hoax. Take this story on Slashdot, which confirms if true that [URL="http://apple.slashdot.org/story/09/10/23/1456221/Apple-Seeks-Patent-On-Operating-System-Advertising?from=rss"]Apple has applied for a patent to put advertising into its operating systems[/URL]. I really, really don't want adverts when I switch my computer on. Actually that's not …

Plenty of people have done it, gone online pretending to be something they are not. Indeed, plenty of men have gone online into chat rooms, forums, virtual worlds and social networking sites pretending to be women. Usually it is for the attention, sometimes it is for the sexual kicks of …

It has been a long time coming, but Apple has finally announced that iTunes is going DRM-free. As in, all songs on the iTunes site will ditch DRM. That's everything from Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI along with thousands of indie labels. All with their …

[ATTACH=right]14341[/ATTACH]There has been a lot of talk the past couple of days about[URL="http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/08/apple-announces-iad-mobile-advertising-platform/"] Apple's new ad network[/URL]. The way it will work is that ads will live within the closed environment of the App Store apps. This supposedly means that that Apple will fully vet each ad it allows in …

[ATTACH=right]14321[/ATTACH][URL="http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/04/08iphoneos.html"]Apple released details of iPhone OS 4.0 [/URL]today, but let owners of older versions of the phone know that they wouldn't be invited to the party. Unfortunately, according to Apple, owners of first and second generation iPhones (and iPod Touches for that matter) don't have the processing power to handle …

With the iPad dominating the news this weekend, what with the [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story272722.html"]first units being delivered[/URL] and then [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story273324.html"]quickly jailbroken[/URL], you might think that there could be little in the tech world to upstage it, at least in terms of media frenzy, for a few days. However, it would appear that …

[ATTACH=right]14127[/ATTACH] [I]We can be Heroes For ever and ever What d'you say ~David Bowie, Heroes [/I] Yesterday afternoon I read with some surprise that [URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032401543.html"]domain registrar Go Daddy was following Google out of China[/URL]. It seems they had had quite enough of the Chinese government's restrictions, and like Google, decided …

Say what you will about Apple, love 'em or hate 'em, you have to admit they have a special magic when it comes to creating gadgets that consumers clamor for. They have a unique mix of design, build-up and marketing that when combined drive popularity and sales in huge numbers. …

Last night during the Oscars, Apple debuted [URL="http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/03/07/apple_posts_surprise_ad_for_ipad_during_the_oscars.html"]its first iPad commercial[/URL]. Steve Jobs was even at the awards ceremony and [URL="http://www.tipb.com/2010/03/07/steve-jobs-oscars-red-carpet/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheIphoneBlog+(The+iPhone+Blog)&utm_content=Google+Reader"]reportedly walked the Red Carpet[/URL]. The iPad is due out the first of next month and many folks have already announced plans to run out and buy one the second …

So the [URL="http://www.apple.com/iPad"]iPad[/URL] is starting to get orders and the numbers are large - OK, there's been a recession, people are bound to start wanting the new toys to cheer them up a little. I can relate to that. That's not the real story, though, if we assume 'story' means …

Two numbers that Apple fans won't forget in a hurry have made the headlines this week: 10 billion and 40 billion. The first refers to the 10 billion songs that have now been downloaded from the iTunes Store. The 10 billionth song was the eerily appropriate "Guess Things Happen That …

I have to admit it - I'm one of the people who uses an [URL="http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/apple_tv?mco=MTAyNTQzMjU"]Apple TV[/URL] occasionally. It's a very nice box and sits under my television. Apple has done uncharacteristically little with it. There is speculation, following Wal-Mart's entry into the television streaming world, that Apple might be prompted …

Apple may be taking orders for the iPad later this week, it transpires. At least so it says on [URL="http://appadvice.com/appnn/2010/02/rumor-the-ipad-to-go-on-presale-next-week/"]this blog here[/URL]. I won't be ordering mine just yet, I confess. There are a number of reasons for this. First I live in the UK. We therefore won't be offered …

In 1987, Thomas Knoll developed a pixel imaging program called Display. It was a simple program to showcase grayscale images on a black-and-white monitor. However, after collaborating with his brother John Knoll, the two began adding features that made it possible to process digital image files. The program eventually caught …

A couple of weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of seeing [URL="http://stevegarfield.com"]Steve Garfield[/URL] speak at [URL="http://podcamp.pbworks.com/PodCampWesternMass"]Pod Camp Western Mass[/URL]. Garfield is the author of [URL="http://offonatangent.blogspot.com/2010/01/where-to-buy-get-seen.html"]Get Seen[/URL], a practical book on the ins and outs of web video production. He has been working with video on the web since well …

Word came out this past weekend that Steve Jobs held a Town Meeting with his employees after the iPad party. Among the topics were Adobe and the Nexus One, which apparently both have Jobs more than a little riled. [URL="http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/01/googles-dont-be-evil-mantra-is-bullshit-adobe-is-lazy-apples-steve-jobs/"]According to a Wired article[/URL], he had this to say about …

Amazon didn't waste a lot of time answering the challenge of the iPad. The [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/technology/04amazon.html"]New York Times is reporting[/URL] this morning that Amazon has acquired Touchco, a touch screen company, and plans to incorporate its engineers into the Kindle division. It doesn't take a PhD in analysis to figure out …

Yes there are 100,000 or so apps for the iPhone, but thanks to Apple policy if it's porn you are after there's not an app for that. The construction of an Adult App Store for Android devices, however, could soon swing this particular market segment towards the iPhone competitor. The …

According to[URL="http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2010/tc20100119_759795.htm"] various reports[/URL], Apple has approached Microsoft about making Bing the default search engine on the iPhone. I'm sure it's all enough to make Steve Ballmer come out from behind his desk and do a happy dance. His little search engine that could is being portrayed as the anti-Google, …

OK, we've all read rumours about what's going to be in the iSlate and what isn't. So, just in case someone like Steve Jobs is listening, here's my wish list of stuff I [B]haven't[/B] seen reported but would like. 1. An FM radio. I want the iSlate to reduce the …

In a [URL="http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/10_04/b4164028483414.htm"]very interesting read[/URL] in BusinessWeek last week, writer Peter Burrows describes what he sees as the start of war between Apple and Google with the big prize being the Mobile Ad market. Burrows further speculates that it's possible this could escalate to the point where Apple will make …

If Apple doesn't release the iSlate at a conference on 26 January then it's going to cause some of the biggest disappointments in the history of the IT industry. Latest strong tip that it's happening comes from an [URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10423353-37.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0"]ex-Apple insider[/URL], albeit one from a while back. I can't help wondering, …

After a swirl of rumors that Apple was in talks to acquire music-streaming service [url=http://www.lala.com/]Lala[/url], the [url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704342404574576544196064138.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection]Wall Street Journal reported[/url] yesterday that the companies had reached a deal. Exact terms were not disclosed. Lala, a four-year-old private company, offers a terrific Web-based [url=http://www.lala.com/#howitworks]music streaming and download service[/url] that lets you …

Apple has long been criticised for the way it handles iPhone App approval. [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4408.html"]Inconsistency[/URL] and [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4276.html"]mind-boggling logic[/URL] are the order of the day, or at least that's the way it appears to an increasing number of iPhone application developers. The application review process has been rigorously defended by Apple, although …

Reports in the UK indicate that [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8378267.stm"]Apple is about to start selling the iPhone through Tesco[/URL]. Given that this is an American site (see the way I spelled 'rumors' up there? I'm getting the hang of this) I should explain that Tesco is like our version of Wal-Mart over here. …

Yes, it is April 1st, the day that you have to read the news with just a little more skepticism than usual as the pranksters roll out their made up stories. Some are so close to the truth that it is hard to actually tell they are gags at all, …

Over the weekend news broke that a worm had started infecting Jailbroken iPhones in Australia. Nobody really took the exploit too seriously as all the 'ikee worm' did was change the phone wallpaper to a picture of 80's pop singer Rick Astley in a kind of warped tribute to the …

Jon Lech Johansen is perhaps best known as DVD Jon, the chap who cracked DVD movie encryption at the tender age of just 15. He may soon have to adopt a new nickname, how about iTunes Jon, as he releases software that takes iTunes out of the iPod music equation. …

Sky, better known for news and sport television broadcasting, has today announced that it is entering the online music business with an ad-free streaming download service. All of the four million songs accessible by users of the service will be available by way of unlimited online streaming as well as …

If you are in the market for a new Apple computer, you might want to wait a few days. It would appear that new super thin iMacs, MacBooks and even a cheaper Mac Mini are on the way real soon. According to [URL="http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/03/apple_ads_hint_at_thinner_imacs_lighter_macbooks_cheaper_mac_minis.html"]AppleInsider[/URL] a raft of advertisements were published ahead …

Occasionally you see something exciting, which is why I'm very pleased to tell you about [URL="http://www.worksnug.com"]WorkSnug[/URL] - a new iPhone app, also coming to Android, I was shown by the founder a day or so ago. It's one of those things that addresses a need you didn't know you had …

Continuing on its charm offensive, the music industry is apparently not satisfied with the $675,000 fine for sharing 30 songs imposed on Joel Tenenbaum or the $1.92 million Jammie Thomas-Rasset was hit with for illegally downloading 24 tunes. Now it is going after the lyrics pirates. The what? Well, exactly. …

As honeymoon periods go, the Apple customer satisfaction one has lasted a remarkably long time. However, you might be forgiven for thinking that honeymoon is now over, given some headlines I have seen online. Forgiven but, I would maintain, as wrong as wrong can be. Google might [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/26689/1231/"]not like Apple[/URL] …

Safari 4.0.3 is out now and available for [URL="http://support.apple.com/downloads/Safari_4_0_3"]download[/URL] from Apple, for both Mac OS X and Windows operating systems. While there are the usual claims of making things more stable when using third party plugins and in particular for handling the HTML 5 video tag, it is with regards …

Bob Monkhouse was once best known for hosting Celebrity Squares and Family Fortunes on British television. Then in 2003 he died at the age of 75 and all went quiet. Until now, when it would appear that Bob is back from beyond the grave and posting jokes to Twitter. It …

Do cats have a taste for porn? Somehow I doubt it, and I doubt that a jury will fall for it either no matter how much one alleged downloader of the most disgusting of pornographic images tries to insist that's what actually happened in his case. When found in possession …

With some [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3427.html"]11.5 million subscribers[/URL] playing it worldwide, there is no denying that World of Warcraft is one popular online game. Nowhere more so than in China, where it has been reported around 5 million of those subscribers are based. It should [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4434.html"]come as no surprise[/URL] that not everyone in …

Seems like a silly question, right? But $80,000 per track is exactly how much Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a single mother from Minneapolis, has been charged. Well, I say charged but actually she was fined this amount for each of 24 songs downloaded via a file-sharing site at the end of a …