Appletell

On the heals of the iPhone’s geographic expansion in Europe, the iPhone is making it’s official entrance into Asia.

Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) will bring the iPhone to Singapore, India, Australia and the Philippines later this year (read, iPhone 2 with 3G speeds).

This is probably the only way to curb the massive knockoff problem that is currently going on in Asia. Further, a 2.5G iPhone is of no or little interest to countries and carriers with 3G networks. 

MacRumors has discovered a new preference in the iPhone firmware 2.0 beta. The “Enable 3G” option allows you to turn 3G data speeds on and off - Apple claims that “Using 3G loads data faster, but decreases battery life”. Steve Jobs once said at the iPhone UK launch that the iPhone was not using 3G chips because they sucked up battery life too quickly - this could give users the option of either, when they need it most.

Although the iPhone 2.0 firmware appears to contain this 3G code, owners of current generation iPhones will not be able to take advantage of the 3G speed option without buying a new iPhone with a 3G capabilities embedded. It looks like Apple will be using similar, if not the same firmware for both 3G and 2.5G iPhones. The 3G iPhone is still expected for launch at the WWDC in June, however there is no confirmation of this from Apple themselves.

Via [MacRumors]

Apple US Online Store - reads: “Ships: Currently Unavailable”

iPhones have been in high demand recently and the lack of stock in both US and UK Apple stores is not helping the problem. The iPhone is one of the most sought-after devices of the year and both retail and online stores are having their supplies dry up. Many believe this is due to Apple’s expected announcement of the 3G iPhone next month.

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A White Plains, New York robbery case was open and shut, all thanks to a resourceful college student and Back To My Mac.  An unfortunate student (who happened to work at the local Apple Store) and her roommates returned to their apartment to find it ransacked and burgled.  The stolen items included a Macintosh laptop, which happened to have Back to My Mac installed.  Days later, the victim received a call from a friend, asking her if she was online, she replied no, but seized the opportunity to get her stuff back.  Using a work computer, she went online and logged into the Back to My Mac service, proceeding to open Photo Booth and getting a snapshot of the first perp.  Then, searching through the computer, she found pictures of the other burglar. The victim did not recognize the men, but her roommate recognized them from a recent party.  She then took those pictures to the local police, who made arrest within a day.  Almost all of the $5,000 in tech goodies, including her computer and two plasma TVs were returned.

Have you had any interesting computer experiences? If so, feel free to comment below.

Read [LoHud]

TUAW has received information from an anonymous tipster about future Apple plans. Apparently, .Mac is going to undergo a complete revamp - and will be re-launched at the same time as the iPhone 2.0 launch - which is expected some time in June (most likely in the Worldwide Developers’ Conference). .Mac’s new changes would bring new features to the service for both Mac and Windows users for the first time; some of these features include:

• .Mac push e-mail
• Wireless syncing for calendars, contacts, and email (similar to Microsoft Exchange)
• .Mac syncing on Windows

It makes sense for Apple to integrate .Mac into the iPhone. Wireless syncing of calendars and contacts would make it a big competitor to Microsoft’s Exchange service - which is widely used as the standard for many businesses. .Mac hasn’t been too successful either, this could be Apple’s way of bringing the product to success.

Via [TUAW]

In a recent MacWorld test, the controversial Open Computer was pitted against the likes of the Mac Mini and the lower-end iMac.  In the tests, one thing was clear from the beginning.  The Mac Mini doesn’t really hold a candle to the Open Computer, making it more of an iMac competitor.  Using the Speedmark performance-measuring tool, the base-line Mac Mini scored 28% lower then the opposition.  Although the base-line iMac scored higher then the Open Computer, it didn’t win by much.  There was only an 8% deviation between their scores. 

With very similar specs to an iMac, and at almost $500 less, you may think that an Open Computer would be a worthy investment, but don’t jump too soon.  First off, the Open Computer seems significantly lower quality then anything Apple would put on the market.  The reviewer of the computer from MacWorld reported not only that there was only a box and packing peanuts protecting the computer from the elements during shipping, but that he had to reroute the power cable, as it was getting caught in the cooling fan.  I wouldn’t ever trust a computer with such simple design flaws.  Another aspect of complaints is the software update issue.  Somewhere along the line, someone decided to disable the Software Update application.  Instead, you have to trudge on over to the Psystar website and fetch the updates manually.  Some of the out-of-the box updates needed (shipped systems come with basic OS X 10.5, no updates) include one that enables Time Machine, which for some reason doesn’t work automatically.  Supposedly an update is in the works for an automatic updater, but its not here yet.  The software updater issue is one of the main complaints of users so far. 

Have you had any Open Computer experience?  If so, please detail some of what you like or dislike in your machine in the comments below.

Read [MacWorld]

When the SDK for the iPhone is launched at WWDC, it is going to be exhilarating.  Apple has given developers plenty of time to create useful and outstanding apps, and I expect there will be plenty of them.  For example, at the keynote, developers had already made Spore and an instant messaging client in only a couple weeks.  Also, third party developers that have been using Installer.app have also made extremely awesome and helpful apps in a short amount of time.  What does this all mean?  Excitement.  When this whole deal is officially released, there are going to be hundreds of apps released with it.  The functionality of the iPhone is going to skyrocket and it is going to be even more desired.  But the real question is what apps do you really want to see.

First and foremost for me, and probably many others, is some sort of iChat. This would be great to keep in contact with friends on the go and, not to mention, save me a ton of money on text messaging overage fees.  Another application I would love to see would be for voice recording.  Whenever I am on the go, I always end up thinking of something I want to remember.  It could be so easy just to record it in the phone rather than writing a whole note.  This could also be very useful for business people who need to record a quick interview on their phone for later.  Lastly, and more general, I would love to see some awesome games.  There are a lot of times where I’m bored in the car or on a plane and iPhone games would be perfect to pass the time with.  What do you want to see and/or waste your time with?  Games, productivity, educational?  Let us know in the comments!

Apple has now opened up its iPhone and iPod Touch developer program to areas outside of the United States.  Why does this matter?  Now, developers outside of the States can create official, Apple accepted apps that can be published in the App Store that is to come out with the new iPhone software in June.  All of this news comes from a TUAW reader who says he has been accepted into the program but lives in the UK.

This is great news not only for the developers who will now be able to create apps, but also for everyone who owns an iPod Touch or iPhone.  This creates a potential for hundreds of more apps created by the large population of Apple developers outside of the States.  I’ve said it before, the SDK announcement is going to be huge, and I have a feeling the App Store is going to be filled with hundreds of goodies to waste some time trying out and using.  The usefulness of the iPhone will skyrocket with third party apps, and I can’t wait.  Are you excited?

“Apple and Microsoft are on opposite trajectories in terms of their cash reserves” say recent reports, and we don’t really need those reports to tell us that either.  These differences have recently become more evident then ever, both from the fail of Vista and Apple’s rather large jump in market share.  Now, with recent three-year earning figures released, Apple’s increase compared to Window’s fall has been set in stone.  Three years ago, Apple had a pretty measly monetary reserve of only $5.5 Billion.  In comparison, Microsoft had a monetary reserve of $64 Billion.  Recent earnings reports show that Apple’s earnings have almost quadrupled, to $19.4 Billion.  In great contrast, Microsoft’s reserves to have plummeted to only $26.3 Billion.  Microsoft should be happy that their deal with Yahoo went through the floor, as they would have had to borrow a considerable amount of money.  Speculations show that Microsoft saved over $40 Billion in the short term. 

“The company’s overall decline is attributed to deliberate investment decisions, namely continual stock buybacks and special dividend payments, such as a $32 billion plan announced in 2004. In the most recent quarter, Microsoft bought back more than $1 billion of its own stock, a strategy which is likely meant to enhance the company’s EPS rating.”

Apple’s sharp increase in profits, fueled by Mac and iPod sales, has been enough to surpass even those of Google ($12.1 Billion), IBM ($12 Billion), and Intel ($10.9 Billion).  With Apple’s huge recent sales increases, both from the Mac and iPod, it seems like those numbers can only go up.

Read [MacNN]

If you remember a while back, I wrote about a third party app that allows for handwriting recognition on the iPhone called HWPen. Now, according to recent reports, build number 5A258f of the iPhone 2.0 beta software supports a handwriting recognition interface that currently allows only Chinese character input.  A translated page of the website of the man who is reporting about this, Kenneth, goes into detail about the interface and contains tons of screenshots.

This app works by suggesting four character possibilities on the right hand side of the screen as the user begins to write the symbol.  AppleInsider also points out that a recent patent filing by Apple suggested a next generation multi-touch surface that would allow for this and many more touch operations.  All this handwriting news brings back the good old days of the Newton.  Let’s hope it gets a little better of a reputation if it does appear on the iPhone.  Would you like to see this on the next iPhone software update?