iPod iTunes Zone

Apple has finally scheduled a date for its long-awaited September publicity event, according to reports. The company has issued invitations to select members of the public, pointing to a gathering at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, starting at 10AM on September 9th. The invitation also deliberately mimics the Now Playing screens of iPod nanos and classics, suggesting that the event will concentrate heavily on iPods, as anticipated. New models are rumored to include a fourth-generation Nano, and revised iPod touches, possibly dropped in price to remain competitive with the iPhone 3G. Analysts have also expected Apple to introduce redesigned Pro and basic MacBooks however, as their essential designs have remained unchanged for years.

source: ipodnn.com

Apple is now offering limited compensation in the wake of the difficult MobileMe launch, according to announcement. The company admits that the transition from .Mac was “a lot rockier than we [Apple] had hoped,” and notes that “within the next few weeks,” it will extend select MobileMe subscriptions by 30 days. At present several important MobileMe functions are non-functional, including groups, webmail, and the HomePage website creation utility.

To be eligible for the extension, people must either have had a .Mac subscription as of July 9th, or created a MobileMe account on or before July 15th at 7PM PDT. Apple is reminding these groups to ignore any e-mails suggesting an imminent renewal deadline; extensions will be applied before accounts expire, and even people whose accounts expired between the 9th and the 15th will be given reactivated subscriptions. If a person is in the middle of a MobileMe trial, the trial period will be lengthened.

source: macnn.com

EA games has announced that it is bringing a number of titles to the iPhone. Reporting from the EA press conference at E3, Joystiq notes that EA will utilize the accelerometer in a newly announced Spore title for the iPhone, allowing full creature control. The company will offer full touch-support in Tetris and also make Scrabble WiFi compatible, allowing multi-player scrabble games from the iPhone. Sudoku, Tetris and Scrabble are already available at the iPhone App Store, while Spore Origins (a mini version of the bacteria stage of Spore, complete with a creature creator) is expected in the near future. There are also plans at EA to port popular titles such as Tiger Woods and Need for Speed to the iPhone.

Tetris ($10 at the App Store) offers 15 levels, a magic mode and marathon mode, with touch support, and drag, flick and poke actions, among others. Scrabble offers the classic board game on the iPhone, with zoom and drag-and-drop tiles, for $10. It allows players to work against the computer or utilize Wi-Fi for multi-player games. Sodoku offers 10,000 grids with five difficulty levels. It is available for $8.

source: macnn.com

Over 10 million downloads have been made from the newly-launched iTunes App Store, according to Apple. The company also notes that the amount of software has already increased since the store’s Thursday debut, from approximately 500 apps to over 800. Of these, some 90 percent are said to be less than $10, including 200 free ones like AIM and Remote. The company has not so far identified how many downloads to date have been of free software, or what categories are the most popular.

Reports meanwhile suggest that some developers are deliberately altering the names of applicationsiTune to gain rank at the App Store. By placing a space or a symbol such as a quotation mark in front their title, it is believed that companies can force apps to the front of the alphabetical listings, increasing visibility. One of the worst offenders is said to be Jirbo, whose Jirbo Break and Jirbo Avatar are even listed ahead of titles like 105 Classics and AIM.

source: ipodnn.com

Over 1 million iPhone 3Gs have already been sold, Apple claims. The figure is based on data from all 21 countries in which the 3G launched on Friday, including countries like the US, Canada, Japan and England. The millionth phone is said to have been sold sometime on Sunday. “iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend,” reads a PR statement from Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world.”

The officially tally echoes Friday predictions by RBC analyst Mike Abramsky, who successfully guessed the 1 million total. Falling short of the mark were analysts with Piper Jaffray, who — based on Friday sales at Apple and AT&T stores in New York and Minneapolis — predicted weekend sales of about 425,000. Of 283 people surveyed, 66 percent were buying the 16GB model, a decrease from the 91 percent who bought the original high-capacity model (8GB) during the 2007 launch. 38 percent of those getting a 3G said they were upgrading from an earlier iPhone. Based even on its premature estimates, Piper believes that Apple will sell 4.1 million 3Gs by the end of this quarter.

source: macnn.com

With users finding ways to upgrade their original iPhones to iPhone 2.0, Apple yesterday began touting its iPod touch v2.0 software; although the iTunes Store was off-line, users can purchase the upgrade for their Touch for $9.95. The software update brings push email with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, contact search, multiple calendars, a scientific calculator, improved Mail attachment viewing, better email management (including bcc for emails), and user-selectable accounts for replying to email as well as updated language, dictionary, and keyboard support (English, French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, and Polish).

source: macnn.com

In tandem with the release of iTunes 7.7, Apple has formally launched both its MobileMe online service and the iTunes App Store. The former is a dramatic revision of .Mac, emphasizing content sync between computers, handhelds and the web; push e-mail is also integrated. Existing .Mac subscribers can sign in at me.com with their old usernames and passwords, but some are reporting slow access, likely due to a large influx of visitors. Others are reporting prompts from Apple to install the “OS X Update for MobileMe,” though this has not yet appeared via Software Update.

The App Store is not currently highlighted on the iTunes US storefront, but can be accessed by enabling “Applications” in the General tab under Preferences, and then clicking “Get More Applications” when the appropriate Library view is selected. Available software covers a variety of categories, from social networking apps such as AIM and Twitterific through programs for finance, navigation, news and gaming. Many titles are free, but a number cost anywhere between 99 cents and $20.

source: ipodnn.com

Maverick Software on Thursday announced four new native iPhone applications Comet Cowboy, Yulan Mahjong Solitaire, Snowglobe, and Blip Solitaire all of which will be available at the launch of the App Store later this month. Comet Cowboy allows players to explore space in order to mine comets with their virtual lasso. The game boasts sharp graphics, multiple levels, and an automatic quick-save feature for when a call is received or if the user switches apps. Comet Cowboy will sell for $5.

Yulan Mahjong Solitaire ($5) uses the multi-touch screen’s various functions like pinch-and-squeeze so players can zoom in and out from any of eight tile layouts, matching pairs as they go.

Maverick’s Snowglobe ($1) app allows users to put a virtual snowglobe on the screen that uses the iPhone’s accelerometers to determine which side of the device is down, letting the flakes fall into the proper direction. Users can put custom photos into the globe, or a pre-selected image.

Lastly, Blip Solitaire pits players against themselves in a circular-style solo game of Pong. Blip Solitaire is free from the App Store.

source: macnn.com

The iPhone 3G carries a lower price, but it also costs about half as much to make, according to a report in the EETimes. The report says tests by teardown specialist Portelligent put the bill of materials for the new model as low as $100. That should help offset the 3G’s lower $199 price point. Portelligent estimates that based on materials alone, Apple’s gross profit on the iPhone 3G totals about $99, compared to $229 for the previous version. Apparently, Apple is counting on sales volume to make up the difference and Apple may also be receiving a payut for each carrier activation, although the revenue sharing plan with carriers, as with the original device, is no longer in place.

Portelligent says the cost savings comes from a variety of areas, including a touch screen assembly which, at roughly $30, cost half that of the original iPhone. Additional costs associated with the 3G upgrade were more than offset by savings in memory, improvements in engineering and other areas, according to the EETimes.

The report also says the iPhone 3G uses the HSDPA version of W-CDMA, supporting a minimum of 1.5 Mbits per second, up to a maximum of 7.5Mbits/s. Will Strauss, President of Tempe, Az. based Forward Concepts, told the publication he believes Apple is using an infineon baseband and RF transceiver and a Samsung Applications processor, based on sources he would not name. Strauss says the the new iPhone uses a GPS chip from Infineon with technology licensed from the startup Global Locate, now owned by Broadcom.

“Gen2 iPhone pricing is aggressive enough that it made me think Apple’s really taking the gloves off on this one,” said said David Carey, president of Portelligent. “They are probably not as worried about iPhone hardware profits as they are about getting a piece of the action on service revenues and getting more Macs in homes and offices all around the globe,” he told EETimes. The iPhone 3G is scheduled to go on sale July 11th.

source: macnn.com

Managers at retail locations of Rogers Wireless, one of Canada’s three major cellular companies, are being told not to take vacations during a specific period beginning later this month, a source from within the company claims. The “blackout” stretch is said to extend from June 23rd through July 16th, although no reason for the dates has been given. Apple is widely expected to announce the 3G iPhone on Monday, however, and Rogers has confirmed that it will carry the iPhone “later this year.”

A similar vacation blockage is alleged to have been imposed on AT&T staff in the US, with a slightly different timeframe falling between June 15th and July 12th. This coincides with an anticipated launch period for the 3G iPhone, and the release date of the original device, which debuted on June 29th of last year. AT&T employees were said to have been barred from vacations then as well.

source: macnn.com