If you are sick of getting to your local Apple store just to find out that they are out, you can now check the availability via Apple's website http://www.apple.com/retail/iphone/availability.php you may check availability after 9:00 PM every day to check if the phone will be in stock at your local store tomorrow.
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According to several developers, the iPhone SDK is being opened up to more developers. Originally around 25,000 developers applied to gain access to the SDK, but only around 4,000 were granted access. It seems that more are now being given access.
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Apple is showing nationwide(US) a new add that at first might have Apple detractors grinning until wham the end of the commercial comes. You have to see it to believe it! http://www.apple.com/iphone/gallery/ads/hallway/
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So you own an iPhone. You are watching a movie and want to set the iPhone down. Problem... when the iPhone is set down its screen faces straight up and with the glare is hard to see. A new inexpensive product has just been released which solves this problem. It is a laser cut 2 piece clear acrylic iPhone holder. The iPhone stand is less than $7 and breaks into 2 flat pieces so you can easily take it with you. Below are some pics. Availiable on Amazon.com




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This is the age of communications and cellphone is most common electronic communication device seen today. Cell phones have come through some great advancements of technology. Many manufacturers and vendors are trying to produce cutting edge piece technology. For instance converged devices are focus of motorola cell phone advancements. Whereas different enhanced application like camera and TV over IP are integrated in samsung cell phone . On the other hand nextel cell phones are coming hard after moving over CDMA and with its G4 network.
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Finally fast 3G support coming to iPhone in 2008. One major concern with the 3G support is that the chipsets which support 3G use much more power than the 2.5G chipsets thereby reducing the battery life of the iPhone. Also 3G chipsets are much more expensive than 2.5G chipsets so the $599 iPhone is likely to be back soon. More information coming soon.


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I have a friend who runs a laser engraving company . He is reporting that many of his customers who are trying to order iPhones and iPods are being limited by apple to only 5 devices per day. Bulk orders are seemingly being rejected by apple. This isn’t Apple insider information or a report from a purchasing director at a large retail store, simply an observation. Why else would Apple be limiting the rate at which its products are purchased?
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According to the infamous environmental group Greenpeace, "If Apple really wants to reinvent the phone, it needs to design out ALL hazardous substances and materials from its handsets and peripherals” (Greenpeace). So what Greenpeace is really saying is that they dislike technology. All cellular phones and for that matter nearly every piece of electronic equipment contains some hazardous substances.

From my research, I have found that Apple is one of the good guys. They recycle more computers than nearly any other computer manufacturer. They actively encourage their customers to recycle their computers and handsets. Furthermore, Apple has committed itself to using less of the toxic materiels that Greenpeace has particular problems with including chlorinated plastic polyvinyl chloride and "brominated flame retardants". Presumably this material was added to the iPhone to ensure that when a lithium battery inside of an iPhone fails, that the phone does not burst into flames thereby preventing the possibility of maiming of the user or worse.

If Greenpeace really wants to make a dent on the environment maybe they should open a line of Greenpeace PC and Electronic Recycling stores. Or if that is to much to ask, maybe Greenpeace could get the word out that all electronics contain what they would consider hazardous materials and should be disposed of at a facility capable of properly recycling and disposing/neutralizing such materials.

So Greenpeace, butt out of Apple’s business. They along with Dell are one of the good guys in pioneering the use of environmentally friendly materials and more importantly in pioneering environmentally friendly practices such as PC recycling.




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APPLE has made a bit of an error when the trying to flog its Iphone in France.

According to French newspapers, Jobs' Mob forgot that it is harder to screw over consumers in the EU in the same way it can in the United States.

Although Apple says it has a deal with Orange, negotiations with the French telco are running aground because they do not want the same bizarre lock-ins which have been seen over the pond.

French consumer laws specifically prohibit the dependent sale of a product and a service which means that Orange will have to sell the Iphone with and without subscription. Apple is not happy with that and, since it has refused to let Orange flog a subsidised Iphone as part of a package, there is little reason for anyone to sign up for an Orange deal.

Orange insists that it has got a contract signed and there is a chance that it will be able to flog the Iphone before Christmas. However Apple is not happy about the way that things are going.

France could be the only place in the world where the Iphone has to be sold unlocked and some Apple executives think this is a bad idea.

There is a badly translated version of the French press stories here .

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See ebay auction for details or Contact Us .
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I just love that title!

found it on ( reddit )
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Bloggers and hackers aren't the only ones sticking it to iPhone maker Apple Inc. for its closed minded approach to user-customization of the touch-screen handsets -- Nokia has taken advantage of the situation by launching a print and web campaign dubbed "Open to anything."

"We believe the best devices have no limits. That's why we've left the Nokia Nseries open," the Finland-based handset maker wrote on its new "Open to anything" website. "Open to applications. Open to widgets. Open to anything. So go ahead and load it up. What it does is up to you."

The campaign, which was accompanied by the posting of similarly-worded bills in New York City this past weekend, is an obvious response to the latest iPhone update on Thursday. As Apple had warned, the software patch disabled versions of the Apple handset that had been "unlocked" to operate on wireless carries other than AT&T, while adding a couple of new features like the Wi-Fi iTunes Music Store.

In addition, however, the update wreaked havoc on a number unmodified iPhones and those iPhones which had been only modified to run third-party software applications but had otherwise remained locked to the Apple-approved carrier. Users who reached out to Apple for help in reactivating those phones were turned away (video) in the same manner as those users who had unlocked the devices against Apple's stated policy.

The Cupertino-based firm's harsh stance was met with considerable outrage because, unlike unlocking, users who had installed third-party applications simply to increase the usefulness of their pricey handsets -- in addition to those who had done nothing at all -- were suddenly being informed that they had voided their warranty on the handset as a whole and were on their own in attempting to somehow reactivate those phones.

The matter is complicated by a number of factors, primarily what is now being perceived by some as a poor job on Apple's part to convey its stance on third-party applications to iPhone users earlier in the handset's lifecycle. Recent comments from an Apple executive even made it appear as if the company was taking an indifferent stance to the development and installation such third-party apps. Additionally, Apple's public warning seemed only to target unlockers rather than those installing applications.

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The iPhone V1.1.1 update, which shipped Thursday, is a giant patch, fixing issues with its mail service, Bluetooth and seven bugs in Safari.

By Sharon Gaudin
InformationWeek
September 28, 2007 10:09 AM


Apple came out with an iPhone software update on Thursday that patches 10 security bugs that could enable a hacker to remotely execute malicious code, reveal e-mail credentials or even make a call without the user's consent. In some cases, however, where the user has tinkered with the guts of the iPhone, the software update has rendered the phone unusable.
The update -- iPhone V1.1.1 -- patches one bug in Bluetooth, two in the device's mail service, and seven in its Safari browser. The U.S.-CERT is "strongly encouraging" users to review the advisory and follow best practices in determining what updates should be applied.

The fixes come out amid a lot of brouhaha in the research and hacker communities about software for sale that would enable the smartphone to work on any service provider with a standard GSM SIM card. Just this past Monday, though, Apple warned users that unlocking the programs used to connect the device to cellular networks other than AT&T (NYSE: T)'s causes "irreparable damage." The company also warned that the modifications would probably cause the iPhone to be inoperable when the updates were released.

It's not yet clear what the total affect will be from the fixes on unlocked devices, though reports are surfacing online that the update has disabled at least some unlocked iPhones. It's being reported on Gizmodo that the software update may make unlocked iPhones unusable.

"For those who have "unlocked" their iPhones, there were stories in the press over the last week that a future update would turn the unlocked iPhones into expensive paperweights," wrote Jim Clausing, a handler with the Internet Storm Center, on their daily blog. "It is unclear at present if this update is the one that does it or not (probably not based on the descriptions of the updates included)."


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Using mobile phones for more than 10 years gives a consistent pattern of increased risk for at least two different types of brain tumors. This was the conclusion of a summary that reviewed sixteen other research studies from seven countries – USA, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan.(1)

Cell Phones Are Like Radios

Cell phones are more like radios than traditional telephones in your home. They emit low levels of radiofrequency energy (RF) in the microwave range while being used. They also emit very low levels of RF when in the stand-by mode. Using a cell phone can place the radiation antenna close to the user’s brain and this can lead to the absorption of comparatively large amounts of electromagnetic energy.

There has been an on-going debate about the safety of cell phones for many years. While, not surprisingly, the cell phone industry and various health authorities have assured users that the technology is safe, recent research has suggested otherwise.

Researchers at the Department of Oncology, University Hospital in Sweden reviewed sixteen published studies that looked at cell phone use and the rate of brain cancers. They concluded that:

“For both acoustic neuroma and glioma (two types of brain cancer), overall risk was increased in the whole group, but significantly increased for ipsilateral exposure (tumor on the same side of the brain as cell phone exposure)…These results are certainly of biological relevance, as the highest risk was found for tumors in the most exposed area of the brain, using a latency period that is relevant in carcinogenesis.”

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APPLE'S VOW to void the warranties of Iphones that their owners have unlocked could land it in hot water, writes Phone News .
The US Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act provides protection for consumers that prohibits Apple from voiding an Iphone warranty due to third party modifications or enhancements.

However, if Apple can prove that its written Iphone warranty legally and specifically prohibits unlocking, or that the modification or enhancement of unlocking the Iphone has damaged the device, it might get away with disclaiming warranties on unlocked Iphones.

Cellphone manufacturers generally consider a successfully unlocked cellphone to retain its warranty, although a device that has been unlocked unsuccessfully can be considered to have a voided warranty if it can't be repaired by reflashing the firmware.

Further, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act prohibits Apple from disabling or damaging an Iphone merely because it can detect that it has been unlocked. It does seem to permit Apple to require that an unlocked Iphone be relocked to AT &T's service. However, other laws and regulations seem to prohibit this, too.
There are technical points of law involved here, so don't take our word for it. However, it seems almost certain that someone with a good telecommunications lawyer will seek to establish whether or not Apple can legally void the warranties of unlocked Iphones.

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You heard that the new firmware bricks unlocked iphones ? Get this: Apple just confirmed to me that running any third-party app at all voids the warranty, and you won't be covered if your iPhone bricks for whatever reason. The reasoning is that Apple cannot distinguish between other third party apps and those that have been confirmed to combine with the new firmware to cause iPhone Brick-itus. (Apple specifically named iUnlock and the GUI version, AnySIM.) What I don't get is how is running an app on an OS X iPhone more dangerous than running third party apps on a Macbook running OS X? I don't know, I'm not a genius, I just play one in my diorama. I don't think there's a way to track use of unauthorized apps, so before you go in for service, restore your iPhone to a born again software virgin status. There you go, iPhone rebels playing with AppTapp--we are all bandits and too dirty for warranty.

CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed. Apple plans to release the next iPhone software update, containing many new features including the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store (www.itunes.com), later this week. Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorized unlocking programs on their iPhones. Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty. The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone's warranty.
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Worse yet, will it cost you extra? Its looking like both might be answered with a yes. Maybe not though, depending on how you read the email, does it mean you have to purchase an extra messaging plan or is it referring to the data/messaging plan that already comes with the iPhone service plans?

A gentleman by the name of Jordan apparently received a txt message from AT&T informing him that his messaging package now included text, picture, and instant messages for the same price of $19.99 per month. It also added that no action was required, but that’s got to be wrong since that IM software isn’t going to get on the iPhone on its own.


This whole text message looks kind of fishy though, first the phone number is pretty weird, then the format of the whole text message is messed up. The first line goes from all caps with “AT&T FREE” to just the first character capitalized before it even reaches the colon signifying the end of the heading. Then there is a question mark at the end of “Good News” like as if more features without having to pay more money is ever going to be a bad thing? Anyways, like I said, its kind of fishy.

iPhone to include IM and picture messaging soon? [via BoingBoing]
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Back in 1971, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (founders of Apple Computer Inc.) went into business to build ‘Blue Boxes’. A device that allowed free illegitimate phone calls by faking the signals used by AT&T (Apple’s exclusive network carrier). In the picture, you can see Woz with a ‘Blue Box’.

From Wikipedia:
An early phreaking tool, the blue box is an electronic device that simulates a telephone operator’s dialing console. It functions by replicating the tones used to switch long-distance calls and using them to route the user’s own call, bypassing the normal switching mechanism. The most typical use of a blue box was to place free telephone calls - inversely, the Black Box enabled one to receive calls which were free to the caller. The blue box no longer works in most western nations, as modern switching systems are now digital and no longer use the in-band signaling which the blue box emulates. Instead, signaling occurs on an out-of-band channel which cannot be accessed from the line the caller is using (called Common Channel Interoffice Signaling (CCIS)).

The Apple Founders not only built those devices, but Steve Jobs also sold them to his fellow students at the University of California, Berkeley. Allegedly they demonstrate the product by making prank calls.

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When the iPhone first came out, one of the sought-after features for the device was a Global Positioning System service that could be used with the handset.

Since Apple has yet to provide one, third party outfits seem the way to go. Yesterday, software company Navizon released its Virtual GPS software for the iPhone.

The software, which retails for US$24.99, triangulates signals from Wi-Fi access points and cellular towers to give the user their position. Users can download the program's .zip file directly and add the application to their iPhone via Installer.app , then connect to a Wi-Fi location and create a login.

From here, click the "Locate Me" button to allow the program to find you on the map. For best results, run the "Locate Me" function at least twice in order to have the Wi-Fi scanner become fully operational.

The program is distributed as trial-ware and will remain functional for 15 days before pushing the user to register it.

If you've tried the Virtual GPS program or have two cents to chip in regarding the iPhone and GPS, let us know in the comments.

Thanx to Rick Stenson of Qualnetics for the tip
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