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AT&T joins Jobs in saying a 3G iPhone will come next year

We heard it from Apple CEO Steve Jobs already, but now AT&T also is saying that the carrier will offer a 3G iPhone. According to Bloomberg News, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said yesterday that a 3G version of Apple's cell phone will be available in 2008. Stephenson didn't elaborate on exactly when we'd see it--though Jobs had said late in 2008--nor did he say exactly what features it would offer. And as for a price (currently the iPhone retails for $399), Stephenson said that would be up to Jobs to dictate.

Many reviewers (… Read more

Apple's iPhone a tougher sell in Europe?

Editor's note: This story initially incorrectly reported the discount that a German iPhone customer could receive by crossing the border and purchasing a unit in France. It's 250 euros.

Apple's learning fairly quickly that Europe is a very different place, especially when it comes to mobile phones.

The iPhone went on sale Wednesday through wireless carrier Orange in France, marking the third European country to carry the phone within its borders. The launch also marked the debut of the third pricing strategy for the iPhone in the three countries: France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

It appears … Read more

Episode 612: Judges gone wild

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Mossberg: Dell looking to become chic

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--Dell. Fashion. Those two words typically aren't used in the same sentence, but the times are changing, says Walt Mossberg.

Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal columnist and dean of gadget reporters worldwide, said during a lunchtime speech at the Dow Jones Consumer Innovations Conference taking place this week that the Round Rock, Texas-based PC maker is concentrating more on industrial design and technological features that can differentiate their products.

It's a bit of a reversal. Dell came to prominence through direct sales and streamlining supply chains, not coming out with innovative products. But Michael Dell … Read more

What if Apple brought universal wifi to San Francisco

While San Francisco's plan for municipal wifi may have stalled after Earthlink decided to abandon the project amidst corporate restructuring, the city's desire for free city-wide wifi was affirmed on November 6 when 62% of voters voiced their support for the original proposal. It's unclear whether the city will ever get their free wifi, but the city has voiced their desire to be able to log in anytime, anywhere and there do seem to be a few ways for this to still happen even without Earthlink on board.

It sounds silly, but San Francisco is Apple country. … Read more

The recording industry should thank Apple

This month's Wired feature on Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris--which was posted online--has received a lot of commentary, most of it damning Morris as representative of a clueless and mortally wounded industry. The following quote, in which Morris talks about the dawn of the MP3 era, has drawn particular interest:

"There's no one in the record company that's a technologist. That's a misconception writers make all the time, that the record industry missed this. They didn't. They just didn't know what to do." He goes on to explain that he … Read more

Zune 80 official battery test results

Our CNET Labs have just published the results of their Zune 80 audio-only battery drains and the numbers are somewhat disappointing. Microsoft rated the Zune 80 for 30 hours of audio playback with the Wi-Fi feature turned off. Lab testing revealed that the Zune 80 is realistically capable of 22 hours of audio playback with the Wi-Fi feature turned off, or 18.5 hours with the Wi-Fi feature enabled.

While 22 hours is certainly better than the 13 hours we got from the first-generation Zune, it's nowhere close to the 45 hours we were able to get from the … Read more

Apple acknowledges some MacBook hard-drive problems

Apple is investigating whether or not faulty Seagate hard drives are to blame for data loss on some MacBooks.

Retrodata, a U.K. data recovery firm, reported earlier this year that certain 2.5-inch Seagate drives used in MacBooks had a manufacturing flaw that causes the drive heads to scratch the surface of the drive and cause major problems. InformationWeek contacted Apple about the problem, and a company representative said, "We've received a few reports that some MacBook consumer notebooks may have hard-drive issues, and we're looking into it." An e-mail to the same representative checking … Read more

Will Apple make China's Meizu face the music?

This should be interesting. Ever since some purported product photos began circulating nearly a year ago, the "M8 MiniOne" media player from China-based Meizu has gained notice--and a measure of notoriety--for a design that looks strikingly similar to the iPhone. And now it's reportedly headed for the U.S. market, making its first appearance at January's annual CES trade show in Las Vegas--which Engadget and others speculate will send Apple's copyright attorneys scurrying to file intellectual property claims as fast as you can say preliminary injunction. In fact, even the wallpaper depicted in the image … Read more