Apple

Bloomberg mistakenly publishes Steve Jobs obituary

An electronic gaffe at news outlet Bloomberg mistakenly sent an incomplete obituary for Apple CEO Steve Jobs over the wire on Wednesday afternoon, and a tipster promptly sent the soon-retracted file to gossip blog Gawker.

The lengthy file contains not only a preliminary obituary for the iconic Apple chief, but also a list of suggested contacts for a more extensive story--Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, and early Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki, among others.

The summary of Jobs' accomplishments, per the obituary, is that he "helped make personal computers as easy to use as telephones, changed the … Read more

Report: Orange backs off iPhone 3G throttling

French owners of the iPhone 3G are irate over Orange's practice of capping their 3G download speeds at a rate far slower than what their neighbors can access, but are in for a speed boost.

The carrier has apparently backed off its decision to cap iPhone 3G downloading speeds at 384Kbps, according to a report from France-Info. AppleInsider tracked the furor that arose after French iPhone 3G owners started comparing the speeds of their iPhones with their German neighbors, and discovered that iPhone 3G users on T-Mobile's German network were seeing speeds far greater, up to almost 2Mbps.… Read more

Tests clear iPhone 3G antenna as cause of reception problems

A new series of tests coming out of Sweden appears to absolve the iPhone 3G's antenna from blame over the phone's reception issues.

A Swedish tech publication known as GP conducted a series of tests this week on the antennas of iPhone 3Gs belonging to users reporting reception issues, as a follow-up to an earlier test on an iPhone 3G that was connecting to 3G networks as designed. In both cases, the iPhone 3G antenna was functioning normally and emitting a strong signal, leading GP to conclude that the iPhone's hardware is not the culprit.

The GP … Read more

In U.K., iPhone ad banned over 'all Internet' claim

The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority has banned an ad for the iPhone that promised users access to "all parts of the internet" on their Apple device.

The TV advertisement featured an individual flicking through holiday-related Web pages on an iPhone to a voice-over saying: "You never know which part of the Internet you'll need. The 'do you need sun cream' part? The 'what's the quickest way to the airport' part? The 'what about an ocean view room' part? Or the 'can you really afford this' part? Which is why all the parts of … Read more

Violent comic book doesn't meet Apple's standards

Apple recently took an axe to Murderdrome, an electronic comic book in its App Store that the company deemed too violent.

Murderdrome, created by the United Kingdom-based Infuriouscomics, had been created especially for the iPhone. Apple turned down Infuriouscomics' application to put the comic in the App Store.

"This is due to the part of the SDK that suggests content must not offend anyone in 'Apple's reasonable' opinion," a post on the Infurious blog read. "Here at Infurious, we would love to work with Apple to ensure a content-rating system can be put in place to … Read more

Psystar responds to Apple suit, will countersue

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Mac clone maker Psystar plans to file its answer to Apple's copyright infringement lawsuit Tuesday as well as a countersuit of its own, alleging that Apple engages in anticompetitive business practices.

Miami-based Psystar, owned by Rudy Pedraza, will sue Apple under two federal laws designed to discourage monopolies and cartels, the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act, saying Apple's tying of the Mac OS to Apple-labeled hardware is "an anticompetitive restrain of trade," according to attorney Colby Springer of antitrust specialists Carr & Ferrell. Psystar is requesting that the court find … Read more

'Tetris'-like iPhone app to be pulled

A young software developer has decided to pull his iPhone game from Apple's App Store because it was too similar to the classic arcade game Tetris.

Noah Witherspoon, a college student in Atlanta, created a free game called Tris for Apple's handset platform. But Apple recently contacted Witherspoon to let him know that the Tetris Company, which licenses the eponymous video game, had notified it about copyright and trademark infringement claims against the app.

Witherspoon wrote on his blog that he has chosen not to take the matter to court and will pull the game on Wednesday. "… Read more

Apple to open up for the enterprise?

While on vacation in San Francisco last week, my family and I happened to stop by the Apple Store in Union Square. The buzz within was overwhelming--foreign tourists looking for cheap iPods, college students grabbing MacBooks, and business folks lining up for the 3G iPhones.

All of this activity isn't lost on large organizations. It seems that Apple is sitting pretty, ready for a backdoor entrance into the enterprise market with Macs and iPhones over the next few years.

The market certainly appears headed in this direction, but ironically, Apple may be its own worst enemy. Why? With its … Read more

Apple ready to rumble on September 9?

Several blogs ( see Techmeme) are reporting that Apple will roll out new products on September 9. As previously rumored, starting with missive from Digg's Kevin Rose, Apple may be revamping the iPod Nano and tweaking the iPod Touch with new software, as well delivering iTunes 8.0 with a recommendation engine and selective price cuts.

Per usual with the cone of silence that encapsulates Steve Jobs and the Apple troops surrounding new product announcements, it's uncertain what will actually be unveiled next month.

However, from various sources CNET News is hearing that Apple is gearing up its engine … Read more