The iPhones Exclusivity with AT&T expires in 2010.  This could mean  if Apple dose not accept the extension that AT&T will want, that the iPhone could be opened up to other carriers.  This would be a great deal for Apple to deny the deal because it would help them in sales of their iPhones on other carriers!  4.3 Million iPhone Subscritpions have been added to  AT&T over the past and 40% of those people were new to AT&T just to get their hands on the iPhone!  Let me know what you think about this by commenting!

The build was released today to certain devs for the new OS X that was used to fix bug fixes with the Bluetooth not working correctly and problems with Safari 4 beta.  This lets us know as the public that the release of the new OS will be released to us all very soon!

Apparently  the new iPod Shuffle from Apple only costs $21.77 to produce.  The majority of the price goes towards  the 4GB memory and the controller chip.  It does not strike me that the the prices are that low to construct the device because of its size but it does surprise me that the exact price was released because in my opinion I think people will want to go and search for other MP3 players for a lower price.

     Microsoft apparently has finally come to realization that the Zune is no competition to Apples iPod Touch.  So they are supposedly stepping up there game to put a new "Zune HD" on the market(Pictures Below).  Not much is know about the device as of right now only speculations that it may only be able to playback pictures, music, and videos and not games.  If the device is able to offer 3rd party applications it might just stand a chance agaisnt Apples iPod Touch.  Stay tuned for more updates on the "Zune HD."

According to a report by Commercial Times, an Apple netbook can be expected in Q3 of this year. Yes, the rumors have returned. The info comes from Wintek, the supposed company that will provide the touch panels for the device. The whole device will be made by Quanta Computers. The Question to be asked is, can the rumors be believed?  The Commercial Times also let us know about the iPhone but they have been wrong before, and what does the term Netbook entail.  In any case I imagine this would be awkward to type on. Let me know what you think below in the comments if this is realistic design. Do you think it will happen or not.

So we all know that apple recently launched a few new devices such as the new mac mini. These devices were supposedly going to be revealed on March 24th. Since Apple has already unveiled these products, what are they planning for March 24th? Is it a new device, hardware, software, or are they going to introduce something completely different? No one really knows what Apple is planning for March 24th and all of the rumors seem to make no sense. So, what do you think apple is planning? Leave a comment and tell us. We would love to hear from you guys. I am very curious about what they are planning and I hope it's something big. However, if it turns out to be as boring as Macworld 2009, then this is probably the only thing on this site that you will hear about it. For now, we just wait until March 24th to see what Apple is cooking up.

Apple recently announced Safari 4 public beta for Mac and Windows. With its new Nitro engine, Safari 4 runs JavaScript 4.2 times faster than Safari 3. And it features many innovative new features that make browsing more intuitive and enjoyable, including Top Sites, Full History Search, Cover Flow, Tabs on Top, and still others. Safari 4 beta is available for immediate download for the Mac and PC. I have used safari 4 and I am actually using it right now as I type this and it is very similar to google chrome but it is definitely faster. I personally love the cover flow history feature and the top sites. Although it is a great browser, I would wish that the tabs were on the bottom instead of at the top. If you have safari 3, then you know what these tabs look like. They have moved them the the top of the page and it does feel a little awkward but you do get used to it. You can get the beta here: http://www.apple.com/safari/. I would recommend it if you want a faster google chrome type of browser. I personally stick with my good old buddy FireFox.

-Shayan Khan

It turns out that Apple's video-playing, music-downloading, motion-sensing handset is just too, well, backward for the Japanese market.

In fact, the iPhone is such a flop in the Land of the Rising Sun that it's being given away free with a 2-year contract, Wired News reports.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that carrier charges are a lot cheaper in Japan than they are in the U.S., and Apple hasn't learned to compete.

Few Japanese want to pay $60 per month to use a phone that can't shoot video

, receive TV signals or text-message photos.

"The pricing has been completely out of whack with market reality," one expert on the Japanese cell-phone market tells Wired News. "I think they [Apple and its partners overseas] are in the process of adjusting to local conditions."

Skype and Mozilla have joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation in fighting against Apple's statement that jailbreaking the iPhone constitutes copyright infringement by circumnavigating protection measures. Skype and Mozilla filed comments with the US Copyright Office arguing that it should loosen the Digital Millenium Copyright Act's restrictions on jailbreaking iPhones, reports The Register. Naturally, Skype and Mozilla have a vested interest in their products being able to be free loaded onto devices, and a vested interest against a manufacturer (or carrier) preventing people from installing the software. Apple is the main target here, but the decision would have ramifications across the mobile industry (and possibly other industries).

Apple is opposed to the exemption because "it will destroy the technological protection of Apple's key copyrighted computer programs in the iPhone device itself and of copyrighted content owned by Apple that plays on the iPhone, resulting in copyright infringement, potential damage to the device and other potential harmful physical effects, adverse effects on the functioning of the device, and breach of contract".

Is the question one of who has the right to control what goes on a device after it has been purchased? The New York Times has a piece on the topic, saying that isn't really the issue. "Jennifer S. Granick, a lawyer for the E.F.F., said that Apple could force buyers of the phone to agree to any conditions it wants to write into a user agreement. But those agreements would be governed by contract law, which would force Apple to sue users and prove actual damages?Under copyright law, Apple would have the right to claim statutory damages of up to $2,500 "per act of circumvention". People who jailbreak phones might even be subject to criminal penalties of as long as five years, if they circumvented copyright for a financial gain."

Ok so if you haven’t been up to date with the site lately or you just started following us you know that we recently posted an article about Konami’s latest new Iphone titles, well here is some news about what I think is arguably the best of those titles ( BTW, frogger and silent hill are already in the Appstore so go check them out).Looking through the site, it appears that Metal Gear Solid Touch will be a rail-shooter of sorts based on the storyline of Metal Gear Solid 4 which will also offer up unlockable wallpapers for your device as you play through the game. According to the official site the game will have touch based shooting ( similar to that of Isnipe but much easier to control). Which will allow you to move a reticule around with your finger, zoom in and out by pinching the screen and shooting by tapping. Also it appears through other pictures that I’ve seen that shooting is a time based action. The game will include a "special advance release edition" which will let you download the first half of Metal Gear Solid 4's story in advance, according to the website, and your saved data will automatically be transferred over on the day you decide to get the updated version ( so in lemans terms, you wont have to start over).  The game will also feature "Drebin Points" which you earn by clearing each stage and which can be later used to purchase more than 40 unique wallpapers.  Also for more go check out spike T.V’s gamer trailers on tv tonight im told there will be a trailer (check your local listings to find the channel or if you have DVR like myself just flick through and record it). Here are some in game pictures. Either way if apple is planning on having a $20 dollar premium app section they better do it soon cause this game is coming soon.         

                                              

The first thing I can say from this picture is DANG!!!, look at all those USB ports there’s 5 all together now whether this picture is real or not has yet to be confirmed. From what I have found this picture isn’t official, most definitely a leak. Nothing looks new though from this shot except the new, smaller design, and like I said before 5 USB slots. There's also an Ethernet port, Firewire, Mini DisplayPort and the old style mini DVI Mac display port? Two display ports? That seems odd. In any case, if this is real, it looks quite nice—and you can probably bet it'll run with at least the new Nvidia 9400 graphics chipset found in the newer MacBook and MacBook Pros. In any case I will probably still use it all those slots up in about a month so I mine aswell go get a USB hub now.

I recently found a few apps, G-Map U.S. West and G-Map U.S. East
, of which both allow the iPhone and the iPod Touch (Supposedly) to make turn-by-turn directions via GPS.  Both of theses Apps cost $19.99, and include voiced directions.

  As you may know Apple doesn't want to let any voice directed app in the app store but these must have slipped by because of a recent update adding the Voices.  These apps allow you to search addresses, detours, and types of roads and also it gives you Local Points Of Interest.  So go check out this app while you still can and lets hope this leads to more apps and updates like theses.
Thanks for reading Chris,
And Comment your opinions!

It's enough to make you rub your eyes, blink and squint to make sure you're not hallucinating.

But it's true. Microsoft plans to open its own chain of retail stores. On Thursday the Redmond company announced it had hired former Wal-Mart executive David Porter to make it happen.

Microsoft seems to think it can duplicate Apple's retail success, using a chain of stores to improve the "Microsoft retail purchase experience" and to combat the stereotypes – artfully reinforced by Apple's "I'm a Mac" TV ads – that owning a Windows PC is fraught with difficulties.

Apple now holds the largest revenue of any retail chain in the nation at $4,700 per Sq. Ft.

Microsoft's hardware? Well, it makes the Zune MP3 player. According to the company's December earnings report, Zune revenue fell $100 million, or 54 percent. Uh-oh.

The Xbox 360 finally is showing a profit, but that's mostly from the games, not the console.

And let's not forget all those fine keyboards and mice. But will that be enough to keep the lights on?

A thornier issue comes with the decision over whether to sell PCs built by such Microsoft "partners" as Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Acer. Microsoft needs some PCs in the store to show off the wonderful world of Windows. But will they be for sale?

People certainly will expect it. Can you imagine the reaction of a customer if told, "No, sorry, these PCs are for demo purposes only. You can't buy them here."

But if the Microsoft Store sells PCs, which manufacturer(s) gets the nod? Who gets the best display? Who can guess the reaction of a PC maker that believes Microsoft is favoring a competitor's wares?

And what of netbooks -- those smallish, cheap, underpowered PC laptops that generally run Windows XP, not Vista? Microsoft wouldn't want any of those in the house.

Apple, as the sole legitimate maker of Macs, need not worry about displeasing any hardware "partners" or managing the difficulties of selling cheap PC boxes with hair-thin profit margins.

Which brings us to software. Of course, Windows and Office make tons of money for Microsoft -- but the bulk of those sales are to businesses, not consumers. Besides, most people get Windows with their PC and never bother buying a retail boxed version of Windows.

At best, the Microsoft stores would lose money for years before turning a profit. At best.

Assuming Microsoft doesn't care about that – it's stuck by plenty of other losing ventures for long periods – does its goal of improving the shopping experience for Windows users make sense?

Let's go back to the Apple model again for a minute. The Apple of 2001 launched its retail chain for several reasons the Microsoft of 2009 does not share.

First, Apple believed its products were lost among Windows-oriented offerings in stores at the time. Heck, few retailers even carried Macs. Apple needed a place where people could see and touch its products.

Second, Apple wanted to reach out to disgruntled Windows users. Apple Store staff not only can answer questions and concerns about switching to a Mac from a PC, they can help you do it. Apple often cites statistics indicating that half of the customers at its stores are "new to the platform" – former Windows users.

Third, Apple wanted to show how the Mac was better suited than a Windows PC to serve as a "digital hub," thanks to the integrated iLife apps such as iPhoto and iMovie included on every Mac.

None of which applies to Microsoft.

Microsoft products are everywhere. The company has tremendous visibility. And there are few disaffected Mac users wondering if it makes sense to switch to Windows. Most Mac users have used Windows and actively dislike it.

As for the digital hub, Windows can do it adequately. But the PC experience doesn't equal Apple's well-tuned integration of hardware, apps and operating system.

I'm not sure how much a chain of Microsoft Stores can budge the needle in regard to helping sell more Microsoft products. If it's a defensive move against rivals like Apple and Google, then the money could be better spent elsewhere – such on genuine innovation.

Maybe Microsoft can make a retail strategy work, but it faces nasty odds. And launching such a venture amid one of the worst economic downturns in decades seems particularly ill advised.

Though Microsoft may dream of an Apple Store-style success, in all probability this retail experiment will end like Gateway's – drowned in a sea of red ink.

Distant Shore is an entertaining, very well designed app brought to you by The Blimp Pilots. Distant Shore is made by the same developers as Koi Pond. As you can see from their other apps, they great at taking their time and making the graphics look perfect.

The concept behind Distant Shore is this: You are stranded on an island and must collect bottles, shells and messages. If you manage to find five shells on the shore, you receive a bottle in return. You can use this bottle to write a message and send it to someone for them to read. You can ask for help to get off the island, tell a joke, share a story, ask a question or pretty much anything you can think of. Try to be as creative as possible with your messages and you'll usually get some pretty funny replies!

You can hold up to forty messages and bottles stored in your bag at one time. You have to discard them if you run out of space for a new message or bottle. To get replies, you have to tap on the turtle in front of your hut. By walking along the shore, you will come across several shells that can be exchanged for bottles. Periodically, you'll find a bottle with a message inside that was washed up onto shore. The more messages you send, the more likely it is that you will find a bottled message on the ground.

Interface/Controls
The interface is simple and very organized. There are three on-screen buttons: information, inventory and a button that will send you back to your hut. If you tap on the 'i', you'll see a small menu with options, help, news and an 'about' button that gives details on the game's version, developers and their website. You can also tap on the bag icon and it will show all of your empty bottles and messages that you've found. To walk around, you have to tap on the spot that you'd like to go.

Graphics and Sound
Distant Shore displays some extremely polished 3D graphics. They're undoubtedly the most detailed graphics you'll find in any iPhone app or game. The game offers wonderful ambient sound effects that are certain to relax you.

Originality
Although there are a few other apps available in the app store that are similar, none of them can compete with the graphics, sound, and overall p

olish of Distant Shore. The idea that you are trapped on an island and use bottled messages as your only way of communication is very original and makes this app a lot more fun than you might expect.

I can definitely recommend this app to anyone. You can talk to others all around the world anonymously and have fun doing so.  Personally, I check my messages a couple times a day and I'm very impressed with the polish of this app. It's a very high quality application with a very low price. Go out and buy it

Originality: 4/5
Replay/Re-useability: 4/5
Graphics: 5/5
UI/Controls: 4/5
Overall:  4/5 - Definitely worth checking out
Price: $1 USD

[App Store link] http://tinyurl.com/DShore

For the first time ever, Apple has said publicly that jailbreaking iPhones is illegal. In comments filed with the US copyright office, Apple says that jailbreaking is Copyright infringement, but the bottom line, according to Apple, is that the act of jailbreaking itself constitutes copyright infringement because it "involves infringing uses of the bootloader and OS, the copyrighted works that are protected by the TPMs being circumvented. Basically apple is sick and tired of free apps. If you ask me, it’s sort of a monopoly because you have no choice but to get apps from them. So what do you think? Does apple stinks because they did this or do you think they have a right to do it? Leave a comment below with your answer.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CHECK OUT: www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/apple-says-jailbreaking-illegal

Next month (march 17^th) apple will drop support for certain aging computers including macs running on powerpc g4 processors, and a group of xserve products (xserve is a home server, for the people out there who didn’t know) The news was relayed earlier this week to Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASP) via a support bulletin that was subsequently heard by MacMerc. It included a list of Macs that will be classified as either "vintage" or "obsolete" in all markets come March 17th. On that date a few products(which I will list in a second) that were discontinued 7 or more years ago will be removed off the support “list” without exception so even if you call a service provider or go to an apple store they would not be able to order replacement parts. Here are the list of G4 computers that are now obsolete and not viable for repair.

• PowerBook G4 
• Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio)
• Power Mac G4 (Quicksilver)
• Macintosh Server G4 (Digital Audio)
• Macintosh Server G4 (Quicksilver

Those are the list of obsolete product, next is the “vintage” products list which includes some xserve products like stated above.

• Xserve RAID
• Xserve (Slot Load)
• Xserve (Cluster Node)

Owners of these products may continue to obtain service and parts from Apple Service Providers within the state of California.

People familiar with the latest pre-release distributions of the next-gen OS say the software now includes the CoreLocation framework previously available via the iPhone SDK, which will allow Mac applications to identify the current latitude and longitude of the Macs on which they're running.

Since Macs don't include GPS technology like the iPhone 3G, CoreLocation will utilize a Mac's existing networking hardware to triangulate the system's location in a manner similar to the way the original iPhone was able to use the technology to emulate a true global positioning signal.

Meanwhile, those same people say that developers writing applications for Snow Leopard will also gain access to a new set of Cocoa-based programing interfaces for leveraging the multi-touch features of the latest MacBooks and MacBook Pros within their applications.

Apple does not currently allow 3rd party applications to run in the background.  The Newest iPhone update 2.2.1 was rumored to bring more thing to the the iPhone and iPod Touch other than main bug fixes.  When we say background apps we mean, instead of a application fully shutting down it would stay open but you would be able to access your other applications.  An Update like this would be perfect for apps that include instant messaging.  This would be an awesome this to see in the iPhone 3.0 Rumored Update!

Apple is now calling out on Adobe to see if the dream of flash is going to be a reality on the iPhone, iPhone 3G, or the iPod Touch. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Flash for desktops and notebooks "performs too slow to be useful" on the iPhone because of its resource needs. The mobile Lite version of Flash is used on some Nokia phones(S60) but Jobs said that it "isn't capable enough to be used with the Web." Apple is now asking upon Adobe to create a special flash progam just for the iPhone system. Apple was also questioned by the United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority saying that Apple's ads for the iPhone were "misleading". Apple had recently been running ads saying that the iPhone can access "all parts of the Internet."

Before you read this, I must say, “Wow , sometimes Steve Jobs and the other Apple CEO’s can have a cold heart or shallow pockets, NOT”. So here’s what happened, Andrews parents (don’t ask for a last name cause I don’t have it), went to the Apple Store in Leawood, Kansas to buy a new iThing. So as any of us would do we would head for the iconic glass doors seen in many apple retail stores. Well as it so happens a sudden blast of wind crashed into the glass doors and exploded it all over the couple. After Andrew's parents were coated with glass, store employees rushed over to make sure they were okay and apologized profusely. They left, but discovered on the way home they had actually sustained some cuts from their glass shower. Well Andrew, the son of the couple wrote to Steve Jobs himself and Apple’s VP of retail stores. Well instead of a apologetic and an offer of free stuff they get a call from apple’s claims rep making sure the couple wasn’t going to sue the company ( which I definitely would have done). Well Andrew’s parents said no they weren’t going to sue, and that was the end of it. Still you think apple would at least give them an itunes gift card, Since they chose not to be pricks about the matter. Here’s Andrew’s entire letter: On Sunday December 21st, my parents were shopping in the Leawood, KS Apple Retail Store. After making their purchases they found a design flaw in the elegant stores of Apple. Glass does not hold up well in Midwest winters As they were leaving the store, a gust of wind caught the front glass door, the door slammed all the way around into the front of the building and shattered all over them. After many apologetic conversations with the employees of the store, they left and my father noticed he had sustained a cut on his hand. To make it home, they had to stop at the local grocery store to get bandages. Upon coming home, my mother discovered she had also sustained cuts.

This all seemed like a lot of trouble and trauma for just adding to the number of Apple products in our family (We have the new Macbook, Macbook Air, 2 iPhones, time capsule, Apple TV, airport extreme, countless iPods, etc.).

THE END RESULT: I emailed this information to Steve Jobs himself, as well as Ron Johnson VP of Apple Retail. My family has not heard from either of them. We did however get a call from an Apple Claims representative in Seattle to make sure my parents didn't keel over on the car ride home and probably trying to find out if we were planning any litigation. My parents took the high road on this one out of respect for the company of Apple which they know I greatly admire. I am an Apple shareholder as well as the Vice-President of the Mac Users Society at my University.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Our family LOVES Apple. We have all been to Cupertino and have seen Steve in person. It's just funny that all Apple did to rectify a retail door shattering on my parents was to make sure we weren't suing. It's ironic that people who get horrible service and whine about it walk out of stores with brand new macbook pros and whatever they cry for. Yet people like my family have taken the high road because we respect companies that give 1st class service to customers and deliver innovative products.

I've Attached a Photo of the Damage to the Store. My heart goes out to all the Apple Employees who braved the cold and stayed until the store closed.

Recently, the iphone dev team has released the tethered jailbreak for the ipod touch 2^nd generation. You can visit their website at: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/ To get the tethered jailbreak, go to: http://www.redsn0w.com.  Then click on the read me to learn how its is very complicated and windows users its even harder. REMEMBER THAT THIS IS A TETHERED JAILBREAK AND THE DEV TEAM IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON THE OFFICIAL VERSION! MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JAILBREAK! OTHERWISE, IT WILL NOT WORK! P.S. this only works on macs and I highly advise you to jailbreak with the official version and not this lite version. Stay tuned to the next few days to look for a possible official jailbreak from the dev team.This has been brought to you by ssk6161. To visit me go to: www.youtube.com/ssk6161.
]

Blue Attack! is an incredible shooter that will seriously keep you hooked for hours.  There are some pretty decent shooter games in the app store, but none of them can compete with Blue Attack!.

Blue Attack! may seem pretty complex at first, but after you've given it some time, it'll be pretty simple and insanely addicting. The interface is initially a little confusing, but again, you'll get the hang of it very quickly. Keep reading...

Basically, the concept of the game is to seek and destroy your enemies. You are a ship flying in space trying to locate your next victim and blast them with your guns until they explode into pieces. It's a simple game, but as you progress, it becomes very challenging.

http://i42.tinypic.com/k1ba6s.jpg

There are two modes in Blue Attack! - 'Infinite' and 'Campaign.' In Infinite mode, the object is to destroy enemies repeatedly and test your skills to find out how long you'll last. In Campaign mode, you go through different challenges and fight several types of enemies. You gain resources by killing your enemies which you can use to upgrade your ship.

The most amazing part of this game is the upgrade system. You can spend earned resources on making your ship accelerate/travel faster, speed up your ship, increase shooting speed/accuracy and even buy up to eight wingmen to help battle your enemies. The many different upgrade combinations you can choose from give this game almost infinite replay value.

http://i43.tinypic.com/14b2686.jpg

Controls
You can pick from either touch controls or accelerometer controls. This is a huge plus because you can take advantage of the touch controls if you're playing on a bus or train. If you're at home, the accelerometer controls make the game much more entertaining! The controls are accurate and the ability to choose touch/accelerometer controls is a great feature to have!

Graphics and Sound
Blue Attack! contains beautiful, clean retro graphics. Most of the game consists of neon red, green and blue images.
It has an adrenaline-pumping electronic soundtrack that fits the game perfectly. It'll help you focus on your mission and creates an intense feeling. A minor downside to the game is the few sound effects included, but the developer is currently trying to work on more.

Originality
The game's upgrade system alone boosts the originality very high, because not many games offer this awesome feature. The graphics, music and depth of the game also make this game more original than most games. There is nothing like it available for your iPhone or iPod Touch.

If you've been looking to quench your thirst for a fantastic shooter for the iPhone, this is your best bet. This is without a doubt, the most impressive shooter available on the app store. Overall, it is a very well made game. You can tell the developer really took their time on this game - especially with the upgrade system. He has also promised free updates that will be coming soon.

This exceptional game is definitely worth your money. I don't know what it'll take for you to decide to buy this game, but I can guarantee you will not be let down. I believe Blue Attack! is going to do very well with its sales.

Originality: 4.5/5
Replay Value: 5/5
Graphics: 4.5/5
Controls: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5 - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Price: $2 USD

[App Store link] http://tinyurl.com/BAttack

That’s right Apple recently appointed a new senior vice president of device hardware engineering, his name is Mark Papermaster, for those of you who didn’t know. He will start the job April 24^th. He will be heading up the ipod and iphone engineering team. The interesting thing about this guy though, is the fact that he spent a number of years at IBM. The litigation between IBM and Papermaster has been resolved. (that could’ve turned out bad ha-ha) Papermaster has 25 years of product and technology experience, and was previously a vice president at IBM. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas, and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Vermont in 1988. Papermaster is active with the University of Texas where he is a member of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Council. Hopefully with this guy’s expertise he can bring some crucial new design elements to the table so Apple can truly dominate the market.

Apple has just released the new new 2.2.1 software for the iPod Touch and iPhone.  This update brings only minor bug fixes, stability in Safari, and fixes problems with emails and saving pictures to the camera roll.  Nothing major from Apples just yet, but lets hope.

    It was know today that Best Buy has in stock now January 26th 2009.  You can purchase youe own there anytime for $79.  I really recamend that any Mac user out there go and pick this up as soon as you can.  iLife includes iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand and some special updates.  Apple Stores will start selling them tomorow in case your wondering.

'Emoji' are 461 tiny icons that are normally only available for Japanese iPhones.  Recently, an app called FrostyPlace was discovered and it turns out that it can enable emoji on unjailbroken iPhones or iPods!

Steps to enable emoji on your device:
FrostyPlace (http://tinyurl.com/frostyplace) is a Chinese RSS reader available in the app store for $1. To enable emoji, you must install the app onto your iDevice. Open it up, and simply tap on a few articles. It may take a few minutes of looking around the app before this next step will work, so be sure to open as many articles as possible.

Next,  head into your 'Settings' app and go into 'General.'  Scroll down a bit until you get to 'International'... tap on it.  Hit 'Keyboards' and find Japanese. If you go into the Japanese keyboards you should see three options if you did the last step correctly. There will be three on/off switches for 'Emoji,' 'QWERTY,' and 'Kana.' Just turn on emoji and you're all set!

You can use emoji with most apps that require a keyboard. To find the emoji icons, there should be a little sphere button next to your spacebar on the keyboard. Tap on it, and you should get a keyboard full of smileys, animals, objects, etc. 

Emojis make messaging a lot more fun because they aren't like normal emoticons. They were originally only available for Japanese iPhones, but the app enables these special icons when your device first recognizes an icon (which can be found in the Chinese RSS app).  I recommend that you purchase FrostyPlace ($1) as soon as possible, because Apple may decide to pull it from the app store at any time. Emoji icons are entertaining to use, and it is definitely worth the dollar in order to use them.

Enjoy!!

This tutorial was written by istopmotion (please follow me at www.twitter.com/istopmotion!)

When I read this I thought “well you’d never know we where in a recession at this point”. That’s right apple made 10 billion in the first quarter of the year. Partly because of the fact the company sold the most ipod’s ever. Now I know some out there are thinking “well maybe there better off without Steve” well you’d be wrong because he left only a short while ago and the time between then and now wasn’t enough time for Tim Cook do to anything that would make a drastic sales increase possible. He would need a couple of month’s to see this kind of sales increase. Here is the data I have so far about Apples Revenue this quarter: all together $10.17 billion made and a $1.58 billion profit, fueled by 22.7 million iPods, 4.36 million iPhones (a dip from last quarters sales)  and 2.5 million Macs. That 2.5 million Macs is nine percent growth over last year's quarter. Desktop sales declined by 25 percent versus last year ('cause the iMacs are old whereas they were fresh this time last year) and because, Apple says, people are shifting to portables—hence 71 percent of Macs sold were portables. So Tim Cook is probably in his office right, reenacting doctor evil. Holding a pinkie to his mouth, saying 10 billion dollars. “yeah that’s just how the world goes around”

Have you ever wondered what the inside of the apple design studio might look like, “is it a hub of beautiful technology or is it a dump that not even you would consider living in”. well keep reading and you can see a picture of an unknown segment of the studio itself. Here’s  the story.

     Documentary filmmaker Gary Hustwit has posted a photograph of Jonathan Ive somewhere inside Apple's design studio, a facility rarely exposed to the general public. Heres a quote from Hustwit himself, "I felt like Charlie in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," he added, "except everything was made of shiny aluminum instead of candy.  And there were no oompa loompas." So there you go now you can think if you want to work for apple or not. The only question I need answered is “where’s the bathroom”.

 A new device called the soundclip is literally just a piece of plastic that emulates a person just cupping there hand around the speaker of the iphone/ipod touch but trust me its still worth it. (although I doubt it will work with most cases on the market so basically to use this you have to have a naked ipod ,or one that’s covered in a full body Zagg invisible shield)

For $8 you get this small (dare I say, cool) piece of plastic that fits into your adapter at the bottom of your device it just slips in and when you play anything with sound it supposedly amplifies it, promising a 10decibel increase in volume between 6kH and 20kHz. And when not in use, the SoundClip can actually attach to the phone's charging cord, which isn't a bad idea at all. I think I might buy one because its so cheap and maybe Chris can even do a review.

  Today the App Store released the USTREAM.TV application for free download.  This application will allow you to stream LIVE shows and streams to your iPhone or iPod Touch over a WiFi or 3G connection.  This application now opens up a large variety  of ideas for other developers to make apps like this one.  The app is still a little buggy and has some things that can be fixed, but with those set aside the quality is'nt that bad.  The streams are a bit laggy but nothing to bad.  They have also incorporated the chat rooms into this app so you can sign in and chat away!  Go give this app a try its fun and very helpfull.

                           

Konami, a major all around game developer has recently released statements saying they will be developing games such as Silent hill, dance dance revlolution,(has already been released) and Frogger and oh yeah I forgot the little known game called METAL GEAR SOLID, thats right metal gear solid is coming to the iphone/ipod touch, while the other games mentioned are just promised, metal gear has been confirmed so keep your eyes out in spring. As a result of the recent amount of amazing games being confirmed to be in development for the two devices, I think the iphone/ ipod touch might gain "true gaming system" title instead of just a media player. Either way the two devices are gaining momentum on their path to becoming "the" mobile gaming device. Possibly some reviews may come of these games in the future, but for now we can only wait until they come out.

Jobs hasn’t been to healthy lately with the “hormone imbalance” lately but matters seemed to get more serious in the public eye when jobs announced he was taking a six month leave of absence. Well sadly this could all be related to a reoccurrence of pancreatic cancer. Doctors are trying to reassure the public but Steve Jobs had to leave his company in 2004 to deal with his pancreatic cancer. This is probably just it coming back. Dr. Roderich Schwarz, an oncological surgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, notes that Jobs was attacked by an unusually rare type of tumor known as an islet cell. These are typically easy to remove in surgery, says Schwarz, but recur in half of patients. Hence this supposed new tumor. These tumors can trigger excessive secretions of hormones, which is why Steve Jobs has suffered a weight loss lately. Lets all just hope Steve can come out of this alright

If you have been waiting for the iPod Touch 2g Jailbreak, like most of us, its almost here.  Yesterday Muscle Nerd posted a demo him using the jailbreak.   There are still a lot of bugs in this and i believe that  it wont be realsed for another week or so.  Here is a video on this jailbreak project named, Redsn0w.

GameLab is an application that provides you with an update every month. These updates aren't anything like you'll see in other games in the app store. The free updates you'll receive will almost always mean new games. Yes, new games for free every month.  The idea behind this is that you'll only have to pay for one game, but you'll get several games for the same price. The developers give you a new game in return for your feedback on which game you'd like to see next. That way, the you are always interested in the new games that you choose which are constantly being added to improve the value of GameLab.

GameLab currently offers you three games to entertain yourself with. The games include: Oh Snap!, Lines and Blink.

Oh Snap!
The concept behind Oh Snap is to pop the bubbles before they touch the grass (and pop themselves). You have a set time limit to pop as many bubbles as possible. The more bubbles you manage to pop, the more points you will get. There are several different "power-ups" that will help you reach a higher score. You get a higher score per bubble after you've popped a multiplier bubble. For example, if you tap on a bubble with an 'x2' shown in the middle, every bubble you pop afterwards will have double the value.  If you obtain a sponge from one of the bubbles, you can use that to wipe the area clear. If you tap tokens repeatedly, you'll receive a higher and higher score every time you hit it.  You can also grab some extra health and time from certain bubbles which can help you get through to higher levels.  Oh Snap! is a very simple game, but much more addicting than you might think.

Lines
This game is similar to a 2D Rubik's Cube. The object of the game is to place all the colored squares in the correct spot. You are given a small picture at the bottom of the screen that will show you how the squares should appear when you are finished.  You must slide the squares into the right places before you advance to the next level. This game is a little confusing at first, but you'll figure it out quickly. Although from screenshots, it may look pretty simple, but it's actually somewhat complex. Lines can be very challenging in the last ten or fifteen levels, but very enjoyable.

Blink
Blink is an tough air hockey or pong-like game that you can either play with a friend or with the computer.  If you like air hockey games for your iPhone or iPod, you'll most likely love this game. It has quite a few power-ups that can give you an advantage or a disadvantage against your opponent depending on who snags them. 
The power-ups:
- Show Path: Shows the ball's path of travel
- Speed-Up: Speeds the ball up
- Expand: Makes your paddle wider
- Shrink: Makes your paddle shorter
- Multiball: Shoots up to six balls at once
- Phantom Ball: The ball travel can through walls
- AI Helper: Computer paddle appears and helps
- Invisiball: Makes the ball almost completely invisible
This game is slightly challenging, but very fun. This is the type of game you and a friend might enjoy playing together.

Gamelab has a very creative concept, but the games themselves are not as original (other than Lines) as they could be. The interface and graphics are simple, but they look very polished. Each game has a great soundtrack, but you can listen to your own music if you'd like.

Gamelab is three times the fun packed into one app. If you're looking for a good game to invest in, this would probably be the best choice. You'll get your monthly games, so you won't get tired of this quickly like you would with most other low price games. 
Gamelab is a fantastic choice for the very low price of $2 USD.



Originality: 4/5 (Tough one to rate. I love the concept of the game, so I'm giving it a 4)

Replay Value: 4.5/5

Graphics: 4/5

Controls: 3.5/5

Overall: 4/5 stars, Highly recommended, especially if you like quick, addicting pick up & play games.

Price: Currently $2 USD



Note: Gamelab's name is going to be changed soon. The developers had a problem with the name and they will be swapping it for a new name soon. This review will be edited after the name has been changed.

Apple rumored to be making a 15in Mac book Air, a Chinese blog with a somewhat substantial track record and conflicted one at that, says that apple is most definitely working on a 15in MBA, and that we will hear more about the project in the second half of 09, apple currently is making MBA’s with a 13.3in display, but a display upgrade would not be the only new upgrade. It is said that new computer will be including a new processor here is the quote: "Core architecture will use Intel processors, the latest...from the current ultra-low voltage processor 'Core 2'," the report claims.  “This will make a stunning ultra-portable computer, suitable for the older poor eyesight."

Although the evidence of this new MBA is scarce, a couple  of sets of photos were released  and the set in August turned out to be false but a later set looked a bit more realistic. This Chinese blog states that there will be more information on the subject in the future. Some people who are on the contrary to the statements said that apple would never make such a product because the demand for said product would not be substantial enough. I guess some people cant leave well enough alone. In either case if you look at the apple stores top sales the MBA trail behind other apple computers in 4^th place. 

Recently Steve Jobs has had some health ( hormone imbalance) and released a memo concerning this very subject. Here is the memo : “Team,
I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve”

Reasons for Job’s momentary step down are more complex than just feeling unhealthy, he believes that his illness is distracting the company from its core work. I’m sure your all wondering Who is going to takeover for these 6 tedious months well its going to be Tim Cook ( well qualified). But there is a silver lining to this dark cloud. Steve is looking "forward to seeing everyone this summer". I hope his rest goes well and he returns well in June. As some might say as well I think this leave is an extra hint that Job’s will decide to permanently resign to and leave his company to Tim Cook. But I don’t think he will be permanently gone, I think he might “help” in some ways. All we can hope for is that Steve will get better soon. Don’t forget to check back to the website soon for more news on this story.

We have a small contest that includes three promo codes for you guys. Everyone has to comment on this post and tell us why you think you deserve one of the codes and which one you'd like. We will pick three winners with the most original or creative answer and email you to let you know that you've won.  We have one promo code for 2079 and two for the game AutoMangle. Both games are very nice and we highly recommend you check them out if you don't manage to snag a code. The contest will end on Friday, January 16, 2009.

Rules: 

1. You must be a subscriber to -- iTouchiPodz

, AppleUpdater

2. You must post your email address so that we can contact you if you've won. (Your email will not be used unless you have won)

3. Finally, you must be sure to tell us which code you want and why

4. Have fun with the contest! There will be many more contests in the future!

Also, promo codes are only redeemable in the US. This is Apple's rule, not ours. Currently, the only country that can use promo codes is the United States. Sorry for any inconvenience to people who live outside of the US.  

Thanks!

(Brought To You By iStopMotion)

Mac OSX only (sorry PC users): So if you’ve been keeping up with the site lately or you kept up with Macworld you already know about the new features and upgrades that the latest additions of apples office suite iWork 09 is getting. Well now you can pick up a 30 day trial of it before committing yourself to forking over $79. Sounds like a plan to me.

2079 is an original arcade style shooter for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It is one of the most unique accelerometer based games currently available in the app store. The concept is simple: You must shoot down enemies before they manage to hit you. There are several different power-ups that will help you reach a higher score. To activate the power-ups, you have to shoot the blocks labeled with a "?" and then travel over them with your ship to snag them. The power-ups include: double and triple shots, extra life, extra blast and score multipliers to help you achieve the top ranks in the high score list.

Controls - "Tilt to move, shake to blast, shoot to kill."

The controls were specifically designed for the iPhone. They require some time to get the hang of them, but it doesn't take long before you start to really enjoy using them.  The accelerometer controls are completely spot on. Flawed accelerometer controls are problems in some games, but not this one. The developer uses the phrase "Tilt to move, shake to blast, shoot to kill." This sums the game controls up pretty well.  A handy and easy to use calibration option is included in the game.

Graphics and Sound

2079 has some fantastic yet simple artwork and the interface is very polished looking. The game consists of a board that you move around on to the left side of the screen and a joystick movement pad on the right to control which direction you're shooting. Your score is displayed at the top right hand corner in the toolbar along with the amount of lives and blasts you have left.  The graphics are basic and they look decent, but the artwork isn't what makes this game so great. 

The sound effects in 2079 aren't like most shooters. When you shoot, the sound you hear is more like a rapid 'click' noise rather than sounding like firing a weapon. This may not convince you that the sound effects are all that great, but most will find the click sound fits the game perfectly and will probably prefer it over a shooting sound that most shooters have.

Originality

2079 takes the popular shooter style game and changes it dramatically. Instead of scrolling through the air, firing at enemies that come near you, the entire game is played on a game board. This keeps the game simple and gives it the arcade look and retro feel.

Overall

You'll find that 2079 is made to be a fairly simple game to play, yet extremely addictive. You will want to keep playing repeatedly to attempt to beat your previous high score.  The controls are some of the best you can find in any iPhone game. Initially, they may be confusing to you, but you'll learn to use them efficiently very quickly. This game is a great deal for such a low price and is highly recommended.

Originality: 4/5 

Replay Value: 4/5

Graphics: 3.5/5

Controls: 4.5/5

Overall: 4/5 stars

Price: Currently $2 USD.

Link to 2079 in the app store: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=297435856&mt=8

Review written by Josh "istopmotion"

Recent speculations about a iPhone Nano have built up so much that its going to be a reality.  Two chip manufactures in Taiwan, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and United Microelectronics Corporation, are expected to receive chip orders from Apple.  DigiTimes

has stated that the orders are going in around March meaning that the product will probably be available around June.  Other people are speculating that it will will not initially be launched in the U.S. but in China because the device has not been tested by AT&T.

     So the rumors are true, and this product is coming.  The price is not certain yet but we are hoping it will considerably lower than the 3G.
-Chris

Apple recently signed a deal with LG for a $500 million dollars, in trade for flat panels throughout 2013.  As of now LG supplies 70% of Apples computer products.  This deal will secure a better relationship between the two.