During Apple’s September 12th media event, the Cupertino company announced the iPhone 5 and alongside of it, an all new 5th generation iPod touch 5G and iPod nano. On Tuesday, customers who pre-ordered the new lineup of iPods received word that their new purchases has shipped and will arrive in about a week. Many customers have reported that their iPods are shipping directly from China for the orders that were placed on or around September 14th. They are expected to arrive as early as next Monday.

Last month, the company promised that the new iPod touch 5G and iPod nano would ship in October and has stuck by that promise, beginning the process fairly early this month. Apple’s new iPod touch brings the larger 4 inch screen from the iPhone 5 over to the iPod, and also features the new Lightning connector, a 1.2MP FaceTime camera and a 5 MP iSight camera.

The iPod nano features a larger Multi-Touch screen, Bluetooth connectivity, and even a home button. Apple has not put up the iPod displays in the Apple Store, but will likely begin setting them up as more and more customers receive their devices and the company gets more orders. Currently, Apple Retail Stores are still selling the 4th gen iPod touch and 6th generation iPod nano.

{Via AppleInsider}

Apple’s iPod nano adopted a new form factor in late 2010, stripping the popular music player of its scroll wheel and replaced it with a small multi-touch screen, with apps for music, radio, and podcasts. Although the new design gave the iPod nano a revamp and introduced a better option for browsing music, many users complained that the device still lacked some of the features that it once had, such as a video camera, and video playback. Japanese site, Macotakara now reports that Apple is planning yet another redesign of the iPod nano line.

According to the report, the next gen iPod nano will carry a larger rectangular display and a home button, similar to the one found on all iOS devices. The screen, although larger than the current generation, would still be relatively smaller than other iOS devices, and as a result, would not run iOS apps. Apple will likely create a new OS for the device and add on a skin to resemble iOS. The report also goes on to mention that Apple may bring a “dedicated new iTunes Service” to the device, however, it remains unclear exactly what that would be.

Apple’s iPod nano has gone through many major redesigns since its first generation, with Apple adding a camera and then removing it in the latest generation. Apple’s 8th generation design was rumored to receive a camera, with images of a camera hole in the clip of the Nano, however, Apple likely scrapped those plans for this new design. This new design makes sense for a number of reasons; a redesign would help increase iPod sales which have been in decline for several quarters, the last two generations of iPod nano have had the same design, and this design would help Apple synchronize its product lines and make multi-touch the focal point.

If Apple released this new design later in the year, iPod nano users would see more functionality with a larger screen, a camera, and a tailored iTunes service.

{via MacRumors}

Apple Inc. (AAPL) has long been selling movies and television shows on its iTunes Store. Now, according to a Reuters report, the company is reportedly planning to bring EPIX movie streaming to the Apple TV, and likely the new rumored Apple television set. AAPL has been rumored to be in talks at this point, with no specific dates as to when the service will be available, if it ever does happen.

One of the sources told Reuters that any discussions would apply to its set-top box and also to upcoming devices that stream content. Apple is widely expected to unveil a full-fledged TV product later this year or in early 2013 to drive its next phase of growth and potentially revolutionize the industry.

Sources for the Reuters report suggest that negotiations between Apple and EPIX are still developing and that no deal should be expected in the near future. Bringing EPIX content to Apple TV and future Apple devices would allow the Cupertino company to develop and sell exclusive content, not available on a number of other devices.

Apple may also be waiting out a contract between EPIX and Netflix, which doesn’t end until later this September. Once this contract has ended, Apple will likely go ahead and secure a deal with EPIX.

{via MacRumors}

It’s here again. Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2012) is back and is scheduled for June 11. Apple announced early Wednesday that WWDC 2012 would be held from June 11 through the 15 in San Francisco, as it is every year. Tickets for the conference sold out in under two hours this year, beating out WWDC 2011 tickets sales which sold out in under twelve hours.

“We have a great WWDC planned this year and can’t wait to share the latest news about iOS and OS X Mountain Lion with developers,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The iOS platform has created an entirely new industry with fantastic opportunities for developers across the country and around the world.”

This year’s conference will likely focus on OS X Mountain Lion, which is due for release later this summer, and iOS 6 which will probably appear during the conference in the form of a developer preview. Apple mentioned in their announcement that they would have about 100 technical sessions for developers, with over 1,000 Apple engineers to help attendees of the event.

The time frame for the event isn’t very surprising, when considering the fact that Apple typically holds the conference during this time of the year, in order to announce its product releases chronologically; Mac OS X release, iOS with iPhone, iPod and then the iPad at the beginning of the following year.

WWDC is Apple’s premier event, of which other events eventually derive, such iOS 6 and the Apple’s iDevices following up the announcement a few months later. Developers who currently hold tickets to the event may encounter higher than usual prices on flights and hotel bookings, not only because of the massive increase in flight purchases, but because of the U.S Open golf championship being held in San Francisco, as well as the slew of vacationers who head west during this time of year.

{via MacRumors}

Apple Inc. (AAPL) on Tuesday reported their Q2 2012 earnings results. As always, AAPL is showing record numbers from revenue to profit and is seeing great increase in the sales of their mobile devices. The company reported quarterly revenue of $39.2 billion and quarterly net profit of $11.6 billion. That’s roughly $6.40 per diluted share, which is up almost 94% from the previous year.

Apple sold a whopping 35.1 million iPhones, 11.8 million iPads, 4 million Macs, and 7.7 million iPods in the quarter. This represents an 88 percent growth for iPhone sales a massive 151 percent increase for the iPad, a 7 percent increase for Macs, and unsurprisingly, a 15 percent decline in iPod sales. iPod sales have been steadily declining for the last two years, and decreased by about 21% just last quarter.

Even with this decline, Apple is surpassing its expectations from last quarter, where revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 was projected to be $32.5 billion, with an earnings per diluted share of $8.50. Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke about the earnings, noting that he is pleased with the profit margins and sales:

We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter. The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.

Apple has not been resting on their laurels with meeting their expectations and has continued to go above and beyond their financial projections. Following Apple’s earnings calling, CFO, Peter Oppenheimer even went as far as to say that he expects revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $8.68.

{via Apple}

We all know how well Apple Inc. (AAPL) is doing in recent years. Enjoying unparalleled success in products such as the iPhone and iPad. The sentiment since I have been in the Technology business is that “Ya, Apple has cool items but everyone owns Microsoft, Apple is too expensive”. Perhaps people are putting more stock in the quality of AAPL products than thriftiness these days. A recent survey by CNBC found that 51% of US homes own at least 1 Apple product. Undoubtedly this can be largely attributed to the Apple’s revolutionary music product, the iPod. It could be because of the product that revolutionized smart phones, the iPhone. Starting to see the trend?

I was one of those Windows guys who always trashed Apple and their high priced products and mocked them for what i could do with my Windows machine for less money. Parts of that argument are sound but you can’t deny their progress. I have worked in Corporate IT now for about 6 years and went from being Windows Mobile and Windows OS only to almost solely Apple devices. 2 years ago I owned 6 Windows devices. I now own 7 Apple devices, borderline fanboy huh? Not everyone has to agree with my move and that is fine but I have thoroughly enjoyed my move to Apple devices and apparently so have many other Americans.

Other findings in the survey:

– Income level is a strong indicator of Apple product ownership: 28% of those making under $30k/year own one, while 77% of those making more than $75k/year do.

– 63% of those aged 18-34 and 35-49 own Apple products, while only 50% of the 50-64 group do, and 26% among those 65 and older.

– 61% of households with children own an Apple product, versus 48% in those without kids.

– The average home in the South owns 1.2 Apple products, the smallest in any region. The average household in the country owns 1.6 devices.

CNBC noted that “the poll of 836 Americans was conducted by landline and cellphone from March 19 to 22 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percent.”

The data can be manipulated however you’d like to manipulate it but the fact remains that Apple is doing something right. They are getting their products in front of more and more people each year. Lowering prices to items like the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2 are just another way for Apple to get their last gen devices to people at a discounted rate. Thus aiding in the Apple devices cost too much argument. I leave this article posing the question, how man Apple devices do you have?

On Friday, it was reported by AllThingsD that Ex-Apple executive Jon Rubinstein, who also worked for and left Palm is now leaving his latest position at HP. Jon Rubinstein is best known for his work on the iPod, Apple’s intro to the portable music player market, better known to some as Apple’s “gateway drug”, that has now led to the successful adoption of the Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

After Rubinstein left Apple, he moved over to venture firm, Elevation Partners and eventually made his way to Palm where he replaced Ed Colligan as CEO in 2009. Rubinstein assisted in the transition from Palm’s PalmOS to WebOS. WebOS went on to appear in the Pre, Pixi, and Veer smart phones.

Jon Rubinstein later moved back to an executive position after Palm was acquired by HP and oversaw the mobile division of HP. After numerous failed attempts of HP’s mobile strategies, Rubinstein was given a “product innovation role” to help lessen the blow to the company following Rubinstein’s departure.

Rubinstein has not yet announced what he plans to do next, although it is very likely going to be another excutive role at another tech company. However, if Rubinstein has learned anything, attempting to rush great software on sketchy hardware is not the best way to go, especially from his transition from Apple, who is currently leading the mobile devices market to HP who is at the bottom of the barrel.

{via TUAW}

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), over the past two years has been not only increased its revenue but also its quarterly profits and on Tuesday, the company reported their best quarter ever for the 1st quarter of 2012. AAPL posted a revenue of $46.33 billion and net quarterly profit of $13.06 billion, which equals to $13.87 per diluted share.

This is much improved and higher than the same time last year, where Apple reported $26.7 billion and net quarterly profit of $6 billion, or $6.43 per diluted share.

Q1 2012 gross margin was at 44.7, higher than the 38.5 from last year, and international sales, unsurprisingly accounted for about 58% of the quarter’s revenue. This was a new record for the Cupertino company, in both profit and revenue, with the company increasing drastically higher each year, and is showing no signs of any slow down.

We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.

Apple also shipped 5.2 million Mac computers during the quarter, a unit increase of 26 percent from the previous year. iPhone unit sales reached 37.04 million, up 128 percent from a year ago quarter, and the company sold 15.4 million iPods during the quarter, representing 21 percent unit decline.

Apple has not been experiencing the same heavy iPod sales as they once did, making the popular devices now a small part of the company’s revenue, with majority coming from the iPhone and iPad. Apple’s projected revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 is $32.5 billion and earnings per diluted share of $8.50.

Over the last year, Apple has expanded their number of retail stores, including a new Apple Retail Store in the heart of Manhattan, in Grand Central Station. On Monday, ifoAppleStore reported that Apple is planning to open a new ‘Transparent’ retail store in France and Switzerland.

The new Apple Store, reported to be built in the Aix en Provence is planned to be a major architectural accomplishment for Apple, one that closely resembles Apple’s Upper West Side store. The rendering of the images show a mock-up of the store, with what it would look like on an average day with an almost invisible outer wall, showing the tables and display models of iPhone, iPod touches, and iPads set up inside.

The walls and ceiling are expected to be constructed of a special glass, different from the ones currently used, that allow the interior of the store to be entirely visible from a reasonable distance. The retail store located in the south of France has fair weather and a good share of customers walking through the shopping area.

The tourism office located on the south side of Place du General de Gaulle is going to be taken down, and replaced by the proposed Apple Store, which is expected to be open by open by late 2012 or early 2013. Apple’s Stores usually take anywhere from 6-8 months, with planning, construction, and opening, and it is a rather fast pace for any retail establishment.

Steve Jobs introduced the iPod in 2001, in front a small audience, followed by a major announcement of iTunes, which lead to one of the greatest music revolutions in history. iTunes, paired with millions of iPods, iPhones, and iPads, transformed the distribution, consumption, and creation of music around the world, and made material music such as CD’s almost obsolete.

After Steve’s passing in October, the world continues to realize the true impact that he made on the music industry and the transformation of the technological industry that Apple’s products caused. On Friday, The Recording Academy announced they’ll be honoring Steve Jobs with a Special Merit Grammy Award for revolutionizing the music industry with the highly successful iTunes Music Store.

As former CEO and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs helped create products and technology that transformed the way we consume music, TV, movies, and books. A creative visionary, Jobs’ innovations such as the iPod and its counterpart, the online iTunes store, revolutionized the industry and how music was distributed and purchased. In 2002 Apple Computer Inc. was a recipient of a Technical GRAMMY Award for contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. The company continues to lead the way with new technology and in-demand products such as the iPhone and iPad.

The Recording Academy will be holding a special event on Saturday, February 11th in order to honor numerous visionaries with Lifetime Achievement Awards as well as Technical Grammy Awards. The Academy will also be honoring Jobs with a Trustee Award honoring Steve Jobs the following day.

The impact of Apple’s products under Steve Jobs’ guidance can be seen all around the world, and with the influence that his products had on the music and computing industry, there is no doubt that Steve Jobs is the right person to receive the award.

{via TiPb}

Last month, Apple introduced a replacement program for 1st generation iPod Nano models sold between a certain time period in 2005. Apple shipped customers a box, which would allow the customer to return the defective device to Apple, and would receive a brand new 1st generation device. However, in recent reports from numerous sources, customers who were receiving the serial
numbers for their new devices discovered on Apple’s warranty website that it was registered under a newer sixth generation device.

Today, a number customers reported that they actually recieved a newer 6th generation iPod nano after shipping out the older models a few weeks ago.

Just received our replacement today – Fedex truck pulled up late in the evening. Inside was our replacement for our 1st gen ipod nano that was sent into Apple 1 month ago.

It’s a 6th generation ipod nano, serial number shows that warranty has expired. Not sure if that means that it’s a refurbished model or if it’s a brand new model and they’ve deactivated the warranty. It’s silver.

Apple launched the iPod nano in 2 GB and 4 GB capacities priced at $199/$249 back in September 2005, adding a $149 1 GB model a few months later. The current 6th gen device now sports a 1.5 inch touchscreen, running a stripped down version of iOS, and is available in 8 GB ($129) and 16 GB ($149). Users who recieved 1st gen models as replacements will not be able to exchange. However, any users who have not yet recieved a replacement unit will liekly recieve the newer 6th gen device.

Apple stopped manufacturing the 1st generation devices and most likely ran out of replacement units, and will now be sending out the newer iPod Nano’s with one year warranty instead of the proposed 90 day warranty on 1st generation replacements.

At the recent MFi Technology Summit (Made for iPhone/iPad/iPod) in Shenzen, China, Apple announced a new standard for communicating between Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AirPlay on iOS devices. Speaking to a crowd of 2,000 MFi developers, Apple is looking to expand the availability of MFI accessories, which have not kept track with the growth of iOS devices.

Apple seems to have a plan to expand AirPlay wireless devices market to be 7 times larger by promoting iPod Accessory Protocol (IAP) via Bluetooth implemented in iOS 5. AirPlay wireless devices has only 2% of MFI program licensed yet.

The announced standards, Bluetooth 4.0 and a certification chip, are already in place in the iPhone 4S. Bluetooth 4.0 works well with battery-powered devices as it uses little energy. It is believed that this could potentially expand the AirPlay market by sevenfold using the iPod Accessory Protocol (IAP) that is part of iOS 5. Applications in health care and gaming are seen as potential growth areas.

{via AppleInsider}

So, when can we expect the company to uncrate the iPhone 5?

“October,” the source said, while declining to offer a hard launch date. Other sources said it will be later in the month rather than earlier.”

Apple, in the last few years, released the next gen iPhone in the June/July timeframe but changed it this year as a result of the iPhone 4 heading to Verizon and the release of a White iPhone 4. No further details on the specs of the iPhone 5 were released and all previous rumors on hardware stand firm.

AllThingsD has been well versed with Apple rumors in the past and usually does not report news unless it has been confirmed by a solid source. The publication has also conducted interviews with Steve Jobs every year and usually gets information before other news outlets.

This claim may be correct as it is unlikely that Apple would hold an iPod and an iPhone 5 event in September and may push it to October in order to prepare carriers and stocking of the device in it’s retail stores.

Apple has not yet revealed any plans for an upcoming event. The fifth gen iPhone is expected to feature Apple’s A5 dual-core chip, 8MP camera and thinner design.

{via MacRumors}

Apple (AAPL) reported a growth in sales over last quarter with over 3.95 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, an increase of 14%, 3.34 iPhone units shipped, and 7.54 million iPods during the quarter, a 20% decline overall.

Apple also sold 9.25 million iPads during the quarter, boosting sales and increasing demand for their product. Apple is also expected to add new hardware to their Mac lineup tomorrow, alongside the release of Mac OS X Lion.

“We’re thrilled to deliver our best quarter ever, with revenue up 82 percent and profits up 125 percent,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Right now, we’re very focused and excited about bringing iOS 5 and iCloud to our users this fall.”

Apple’s expected revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011 is expected to be $25 billion and earnings per diluted share of $5.50. So far, Apple’s revenue is being led by the iPhone, followed by iPad sales. iPod sales have decreased sharply, with 50% of iPod sales being from the iPod touch alone.

Apple is still pushing ahead and staying ahead of the game. Let’s wait and see what they have in store for Mac OS X Lion and new hardware tomorrow. Stay tuned, we’ll keep you updated.

iPod touch is Apple’s best selling iPod and is due for a refresh during the annual music event held in September. iPod touch often features technical specifications similar to the iPhone. For instance, when A4 chip was introduced in iPhone 4 it made it to the fourth gen iPod touch too.

If Apple were to announce iPhone 5 in September with dual-core A5 chip it’s certainly possible that the fifth gen iPod touch would also features the same SoC. It’s important to note that references to “iPod 4,2″ have been found in previous versions of iOS 4 so it’s not very clear if this could be the next iPod touch.

Another interesting observation is that the code does not mention “iPod 5,1″ which would have been a solid indicator for the next gen iPod touch however, it’s possible that Apple is planning a modest update as opposed to a major re-design.

References to third gen iPads (iPad 3,1 and iPad 3,2) have also been found in iOS 5.0 which strongly suggests that the Cupertino based company is looking at introducing two versions of the hugely popular tablet – WiFi and world 3G models.

Do you think  Apple will introduce an all-new design for the next gen iPod touch? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

We always assumed it couldn’t be cheap to run a massive online web store the size of iTunes, with the hundreds of thousands of apps, millions of pieces of music and enough video content to keep anyone busy for some time. A new report though claims Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) spends even more on the service than we could every have imagined – a whopping $1.3 billion EACH YEAR!

Using information released by AAPL itself – download figures for apps, music and so on – Asymco came to a figure of $133 million each calendar month which brings us to the gargantuan figure above. It’s an unfathomable amount of money, and an expenditure that ensures Apple doesn’t make much, if any profit on its various iTunes stores.

Since we know something about the average price of songs and apps, and we know the split between developers and Apple (and roughly between music labels and Apple) we can get a rough estimate of the amount Apple retains to run its store.

Way back in the dark ages when Apple first announced its iTunes Music Store, it was devised as a way to sell iPods and not a viable source of income for the company. Many years later it is the same model that has made iPhones, iPads and iPod touches such a strong proposition for potential buyers.

Just as it was the largest store with the most music that won the day after iTunes’ inception, now it’s apps that buy users – and Apple has apps by the bucketload.

We recently reported that Apple is expected to announce its annual Back to School promo in the coming week and now BGR is reporting that this years educational deal could be announced during WWDC.

It has been rumoured that the promotion could be extended to include iPad 2 as well. The rumored details say that everyone who buys a new Mac with their educational discount would receive a free iPod touch or $200 off the cost of an iPad 2.

For the past few years, Apple has kicked off new educational promotions in late May or early June. The promo usually clears out Apple’s stock of older model iPods. However, this year poses a new dilemma for Apple since they do not carry any older models of iPod touches.

The rumors seem to make sense, since the iPad has taken its place among educational instituions and is very popular among college students.

WWDC 2011 is widely expected to include Mac OS X Lion announcements, iOS 5 announcements, as well as the new educational promotion.

Are you excited about iPad 2 discounts? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

AppleInsider reported that according to their sources Apple’s annual back to school promotion will kick off early next week. The school promotion is expected to be one of the topics during the 10th anniversary Apple Store retail meetings on May 22nd.

Apple as early as next week will once again announce its annual back-to-school promotion that has historically offered a free or discounted iOS device to customers purchasing of a new Mac, an event that may prove to be one of the main topics of discussion at the much-hyped employee meetings set to be held at the company’s retail stores this Sunday.

Apple’s Back to School promotion allows customers to receive a free iPod touch with the purchase of a MacBook. This is expected to be a part of the retail meetings which will highlight the store layout and promotional changes in the company.

The Cupertino based company will most likely be giving out the new 4th Generation iPod touch, since they currently do not have stock of any old iPods. This will be different than in the past where Apple gave older models out for free with the purchase of a Mac.

Apple’s back-to-school promotion is a great time for college or University students to purchase their new Mac through Apple’s education channel.

{via AppleInsider}

The general consensus is that Apple Inc. will have shipped between 15 and 20 million iPhones. AAPL sold over 16 million in the quarter ending Christmas 2010. So somewhere approaching 18 million would seem to be a good bet for this next quarterly report – as iPhone sales have certainly not slowed, nor has production been a huge issue.

If you want to get the news straight from the horses mouth then you can tune in for the live stream at 5 pm Eastern (2 pm Pacific) for a live webcast of Apple’s conference call here.

Mac sales are expected to have sold in numbers approaching 4 million units. iPods are set to match their 20 million Christmas quarter figures, and iPads are set to do the same sort of figures as in that quarter also, totalling up at around 7.5 million.

All in all Apple are predicted to double their previous years revenue for this last quarter. Going from $13.5 Billion to $26.74 Billion – which makes the current price of AAPL, at $321.66, seem ridiculously undervalued.

Do you expect Apple to blow analysts predictions out of the water again? Or are we in for a shock fall in Apple revenues? Let us know your thoughts in the comments…

A source for Cult of Mac has revealed that Apple has been testing out wireless syncing with iPods for the past two years, and that Steve Jobs is pushing to get the technology into the next generation of iPods. While syncing a large collection of music over a Wi-Fi network smoothly has proven be difficult task for the Cupertino company, it seems carbon fiber may be the key to quicker wireless syncing.

Trouble with reliability, signal strength, case design and battery life, have all made syncing over Wi-Fi a little troublesome, according to the source, but Apple may have found the answer:

They’ve tried multiple different body designs and materials to get it to work well but it’s been slow going. They have however found many improvements using a carbon fiber design.

Apple has tested prototype carbon fiber versions of its iPod classic and last-generation iPod nano, and while the new material isn’t perfect, it has greatly improved Wi-Fi syncing. While there was no mention of other Apple devices from the source, such as the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, it’s expected these devices would also follow with Wi-Fi syncing capabilities.

Devices such as the iPod classic and iPod nano would need additional hardware to connect to Wi-Fi networks, whereas other devices already have Wi-Fi functionality and integrating the new technology should be as simple as a software update.

To help out with its carbon fiber testing, Apple recently employed an expert in the material called Kevin Kenny. A patent for carbon fiber cases was filed by Apple back in 2009 with Kenny’s name on it, and he recently joined the Cupertino camp after 14 years of building carbon fiber bicycles.

Wi-Fi syncing is a feature many iDevice users have been begging for for some time. It has been made possible using a tool called ‘Wi-Fi Sync’ available to jailbroken devices, which begs the question: if the hackers can do it, why can’t Apple? Well, this news proves Apple can do it – they just want to do it properly before rolling it out.

If these photos are legitimate the fifth gen iPod touch (and presumably iPhone 5) could do away with the current hardware home button in favour of a capacitive solution. With the home button becoming an integral part of the operating system thanks to the way the iOS multitasking works, a hardware button could become troublesome. Replacing a moving button with a software/capacitive one would eliminate any potential issues.

We’re not quite taken with these photos however, and we’re not convinced the iPod touch would be the first Apple hardware to feature a new kind of home button. It wouldn’t be the first time an Apple prototype had been given the fake photo treatment, with the iPod touch itself being the victim in the past.

Still, prototypes must be out there somewhere, and photos do get taken from time to time. We’re just not convinced – but we’re sure someone will put us straight if come the end of 2011 this exact unit is for sale worldwide!

{via MacRumors}

DJ mixing has never been my forte but the Future DJ for iPhone brings a real life DJ software kit to your iPhone. Let me first say that this app is no joke, it does many things that at first I found over my head but as I learned the app seemed more and more useful. A musically challenged person, like myself, can enjoy this app but a musically gifted person can not only enjoy but find this app extremely useful. Future DJ has a ton of features and comes in an excellent package for a magnificent price.

Future DJ brings a full DJ mixing solution to your phone for easy use and portability. The initial layout that you see is fairly simple but can do more and more complex depending on the settings and variables you decide to utilize. I must say that for a person such as myself, with minimal musical background, these features have a bit less appeal but to someone who knows what they are doing they actually make this app worth much more than $2. I had a friend of mine who is much better in all things musical than me take a look and he was very impressed. He mentioned that he didn’t expect to see so many options on software that was on a phone. I will say that the simple layout makes this app fairly easy to use for anyone. You are not greeted by a ton of nobs and switches with abbreviations over them but with a fairly self-explanatory interface.

The interface is very symmetrical so it caters to the fact that you have to know where things are to be able to use this app to its fullest extent. Getting subtle changes right only works if the timing is right so it is very important here. There is a great help section that is easily identifiable and makes things much simpler when you are just getting started. The interface is small and may seem a bit crowded at first but as you learn the controls you will see that the most commonly used controls are a bit bigger thus making them easier to use.

This app has so many features that will become evident to the more complex user but one that should appeal to anyone is the fact that the music for the app resides on your phone. Whatever music you have on your phone is fair game in this application. Meaning you can scratch to “My Humps” or mix it with Lady Gaga. Your musical selection is as large as your musical library and I found this to be amazing. Too many times you are limited by outside factors and this allows me, a Flogging Molly fanatic, a method to mix my favorite tunes that are not main stream. The following controls are found at the initial screen:

Loop EQ FX
Sync
Cue
Pitch/Speed
Song Selction
Play/Pause
Scratching
Mix
Settings

That is just the home screen. The big option that I like that is hidden in the settings menu is the “Enable MotionPlaying” option. It is described as “Place the iPhone/iPod on a turntable and scratch songs”. That sounded pretty crazy to me so I went to a friend who happens to have turntables and we tested it out and I must say I was impressed. It was awesome for a novice like me to be able to throw it together so fast and scratch. Granted it wasn’t the best sounding but it was definitely pretty awesome and my friends were very impressed.

This app was much cooler than I thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong, the name is great and so is the presentation. Turns out that it was very fun for me to play with and even after I was done putting it through the paces I found myself trying to show off my (lack of) mixing skills. For the musically inclined this app provides a portable method of mixing that I haven’t seen before.

Pros

• Very Smooth
• Use your own music
• Very Fun for musicians and non-musicians

Cons

• Small learning curve but not bad at all
• Would be even better on say an iPad 2?

$1.99 (View in iTunes)
Category: Music
Released: Mar 03, 2011
Version: 1.0
1.0
Size: 4.7 MB
Language: English
Seller: XYLIO INFO SRL
© 2011 Xylio Info SRL
Rated 4+
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.1 or later.

The online store in China will sell iPhone 4, iPad, iPods and the Mac products and will also include a wide selection of third-party products. The store will also include free shipping and personalized engraving.

Apple’s COO, Tim Cook said:

We are thrilled to open our newest online store in China. With personalized engraving, configure-to-order options and free shipping on everything, the Apple Store is a great destination for our customers in China.

Apple is committed to expand and explore new ways to enable people to experience and shop for their favorite products and the launch is perfectly timed for the holiday shopping season.

In addition to the online store they also announced that the App Store will be available in Simplified Chinese with featured apps which will appeal to the locals.

As bizarre as it may sound, AppAdvice is reporting via LeFigaro that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is going to give all 33 miners a free iPod by way of a welcome back to the world after weeks underground. A strange turn of events? You betcha!

No word yet as to which iPod Jobs is offering, but hopefully the miners will get a new iPod touch each – FaceTime could well come in handy in their line of work!

The guys over at Net Applications recently released some interesting information about various operating systems, both mobile and desktop, and how they compare to each other with regards to web share. Apple’s iOS platform, with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices combined, rose to 1.18% of all web usage. When you consider mobile browsing in total reached an all-time high of 2.8% that’s impressive stuff.

Why did Apple’s iOS see its highest score to date? The smart money is on the release of the iPad and iPhone 4’s continued high demand drawing in new users to mobile web browsing.

As for the competition, Android handsets accounted for just 0.24% of web use – turns out having more handsets than apps doesn’t automatically get you great results! is it possible Android users use their phones differently?  Maybe they are just too busy scanning QR codes!

The report also measures desktop usage and it’s not great reading for Microsoft. Internet Explorer, the Redmond company’s own internet browser, saw its share fall to 59.65% – still nothing to sniff at. Windows in general also suffered a loss, with a result of 91%. Still remarkably high.