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What should Apple do with all its extra cash?

Much has been made about Apple's cash. The company, which operates with no debt in its financial structure, is one of the most financially sound organizations in tech, with $24.5 billion in cash on hand, even more cash than Microsoft.

But now that it has all that money, what should it do with it?

Some say Apple should simply hold on to the cash and be prepared for what could be a difficult few years, as the economy continues to feel the pressure of a credit crunch, while others think Apple should start spending while the targets are cheap and do what it can to expand its role in the industry.

I can't help but agree with those in the second camp. Why should Apple, one of the most profitable and powerful companies in the industry, sit on its hands while other companies with strong properties and technologies in their own right need to worry about the future? For the first time in recent memory, tech companies can be acquired for a relatively affordable price, and a company in the position that Apple is in needs to capitalize.

So what can it do? Quite a bit. Instead of spending all its time on cell phones, PMPs, and Macs, maybe Apple should try to become the company that offers products that tag along with you throughout the day. Or maybe Apple should get into the video game business and start solidifying its position in that market. Or maybe Apple should start putting real pressure on Microsoft and build an operating system that not even Ballmer & Co. can match.… Read more

Software unlock for iPhone 3G coming soon?

An unlocked iPhone 3G is a little closer to becoming reality, according to the iPhone Dev Team.

Gizmodo picked up on a video produced by the iPhone Dev Team demonstrating that it has gained access to the baseband processor used by Apple in the iPhone 3G. The baseband chip is what controls the connection between the phone and the mobile phone network, meaning that a software download that could let you use your iPhone 3G on a carrier network other than the ones officially designated by Apple could be released soon.

I'm sure you remember the fuss about the original iPhone and those who sought to unlock it … Read more

Street View, more nav options come to iPhone 2.2

Updated at 9:33 a.m. PDT to correct navigation details. Updated at 1:29 p.m. PDT with screenshots.

Google Earth for iPhone isn't the only geographically significant news Monday for Apple phone users. It appears that the second beta version of the iPhone 2.2 firmware is out, and it includes not just Google's Street View, but also navigation instructions to give people step-by-step directions when walking or on the bus.

According to screenshots posted at iPhoneYap.com, the navigational instructions work for driving, walking, and the bus. Given Google's recent Google Maps improvements, I … Read more

Google Earth brings virtual tourism to iPhone

Correction made on October 27 at 9:40 a.m. PDT: See details below.

SAN FRANCISCO--Google already has customized some of its Web sites for display on the iPhone, but now the company also dived headlong onto Apple's highly regarded mobile phone with a full-fledge application, a handheld version of its Google Earth geographical software (download for Windows and Mac).

Google Earth lets people virtually fly around a 3D view of the world made from satellite and aerial imagery mapped onto the planet's mountains and valleys. The iPhone version reproduces this core experience, downloading imagery from Google's … Read more

Apple to oppose anti-gay marriage ballot question

Apple has joined Google in publicly opposing a California ballot initiative that would deny marriage rights to same-sex couples.

The company announced Friday that it would donate $100,000 to the No on Prop 8 campaign, which opposes a measure to ban gay marriage that California voters will consider a week from Tuesday. Google has also spoken out against the ballot measure.

"Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees' same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person's fundamental rights--including the right to marry--should not be affected by their … Read more

Mac Mini: I'm not dead, yet

Apple's Mac Mini might be getting a reprieve after all.

A few days after Gizmodo reported that European retailers believed the Mac Mini was heading for the exits, AppleInsider says the smallest and cheapest Mac hasn't left the building. Apparently a number of casinos in Las Vegas use Mac Minis to help run the ever-present security cameras in that city, and those customers believe that an update is around the corner.

One Las Vegas-based source who runs a collocation service based on the Mac Mini told AppleInsider that there are about 10,000 Mac Minis in use in … Read more

Report: Fake story about Steve Jobs planted by teenager

The fake story submitted to CNN's iReport site that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack was the work of an 18-year-old, according to a report.

Bloomberg is reporting that investigators have determined that the teenager planted the story on CNN's user-generated news site. But they have found no evidence that the suspect attempted to profit from the sharp drop in Apple's stock that occurred after Silicon Alley Insider picked up the CNN posting and published it before verifying whether it was true. The suspect was not named, but the Securities and Exchange Commission has … Read more

Intel 'corrects' executives who slammed iPhone

Updated 4:30pm with additional background on the ongoing saga of Apple and Intel.

Intel issued a "correction" Thursday regarding comments one of its executives made earlier this week slamming the iPhone as incapable of working correctly with the Internet.

It's hard to see this as anything other than an formal apology to Apple and ARM for comments made by Intel's Shane Wall and Pankaj Kedia at the company's Intel Developer Forum in Taipei, as reported by our sister site ZDNet Australia. Among other things, the executives resurrected Intel's lame "ARM chips can't handle the Internet" … Read more

Mr. iPhone goes to Washington?

Members of Congress are apparently agitating for iPhones.

TheHill.com is reporting that the U.S. House of Representatives is testing a deployment of iPhones after receiving requests for the devices, according to the Chief Administrative Office.

Congress is a huge BlackBerry shop, but apparently, legislators and staff members are lobbying for the iPhone as another choice in wireless communications.

The catch is, according to TheHill, they'd have to pay for their iPhones out of their Members' Representational Allowance, the fund that each congressperson is given to hire staff members and offset the expenses of running an office. And … Read more

Apple Netbook-clone spotted on Web?

Apple CEO Steve Jobs danced around the idea of Apple releasing a so-called Netbook on Tuesday, but such a device might already be in the wild.

The New York Times' John Markoff reported Tuesday that anonymous sources at an anonymous Internet search company (wonder which one that is) have spotted the tracks of an Apple device with a screen larger than an iPhone, but smaller than a MacBook, in their visitor logs.

That is by no means proof that Apple plans to release a small MacBook in the Netbook vein, but could be evidence that Apple's plans for this … Read more