Iphone Updates

Attention, reckless fanboys with no will power or self control early iPhone adopters. You’ve certainly heard by now that your $100US Apple Store credit is available. Now that you’ve got it, the question is, what will you do with it? We’re guessing that most customers will use the credit towards something that costs more that a hundred bucks (softening the financial blow for Apple – if you could even call it that).

What’s your decision? iPod nano? Slick new keyboard? Maxed out Mac Pro and cinema display? The comments are open.

While we’re on the subject, remember that the deadline for the full $200 claim is 9/19.

So a few of you (read: almost everyone who bought an iPhone and reads this site) had something to say about my post on September 5th where Apple dropped the iPhone price by a third only 2 months after its release. And then you furthermore had something to say along the rollercoaster from “no rebate for you!” to the final solution of a $100 Apple store gift card.

Well the instructions for collecting on this rebate are finally available here. Basically you identify your iPhone by phone number and serial number for the first step.
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The new iPod Classic, now available, comes in two flavors, big, and huge. By that I mean in 80 or 160 gigabyte capacities with long battery lives.

Digital Trends got their hands on the 160GB version and put it through its paces. They seemed to like it.
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September 18th, 2007 at 10AM our own Vincent Nguyen will be reporting from London for Apple’s next stunt. I wonder what Steve is going to pull out of his hat this time. Not only will he be there, but he will be bringing you live coverage, again.

My guess, as well as just about everyone else’s is that it will be a 3G iPhone. Other possible mentions are a 16GB iPhone, as well as future European carriers for the iPhone. I think T-Mobile, Orange, and Vodafone have all been mentioned previously as potential carriers, well see in a few days.

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The iPod Touch isn’t quite out yet. It still won’t be on store shelves until September 28th (I don’t care what Vincent might try to tell you in the video) and Vincent has already gotten ahold of one. Hit the jump for more pictures and a video.

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So the world finally gets a completely open phone, everything, the software, firmware, hardware, everything is completely open. Now with most open source projects, if there is something you don’t like, you go and change it.

Apparently that philosophy doesn’t apply to the OpenMoko, where upon seeing the interface and being displeased with it, people started whining and knocking it. Their first chance to openly change anything and everything they could possibly want with a device and they start by complaining about the user interface.

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The Samsung F700, now known as the Croix, thanks to a deal with Vodafone is quite the amazing device. It is purported to be targeted as an iPhone competitor, even though the Croix is everything the iPhone isn’t. A great alternative to the iPhone sure, but I don’t know how much of a direct competitor this phone will be. This amazing phone is so great that we don’t even need pricing or availability to give it praise, which is good, because we have neither, just some new info on a great phone.

Here are the specs in case you forgot, up to 7.2Mbps HSDPA, VibeTonz vibrating touchscreen to simulate tactile feedback, a 5MP camera with auto-focus, 2.78-inch touchscreen, QWERTY keypad, microSD card slot, a cam on the front for video conferencing, Bluetooth, and a Flash based user interface. The music formats that work aren’t too different either with the only addition being the two Real formats, the list is as follows though: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, Real MP3, AAC(+), eAAC+, and Real.

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There are several ways to do this, however Giz was kind enough to round up 8 software solutions for you. There is the obvious method, the one that guarantees your ringtones will remain with any future iPhone updates, and that is to just go buy them from the iTunes store.

Past that there are a couple manual methods, and there are a few software methods. Some of them require your iPhone be JailBroken beforehand but there are some that don’t. So without further ado here’s the list:

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For those of you not familiar with the MacSaber app, it tapped into the most recent iteration of the MacBook’s accelerometer, that thing used to determine if the MacBook was being dropped, so it could prepare for impact, anyways it tapped into that and made it so when you swung your MacBook it made Star Wars light saber sounds. Well, this is the same concept, different guy, and different device.

This time the app is being made for the iPhone, using its accelerometer, the thing that tells it when to change the viewing mode from vertical to horizontal. Currently its still in the development stages with a preemptive release out there that just barely works.

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Apple have organised a major press event in Regent Street Apple Store on Tuesday 15th September at 10am. According to the store web page, it will be closed until 4pm, maybe enough time to put iPhones and/or iPod Touch inside the store…

Tags:apple iphone ipod regent streetapple, iphone, ipod, regent, street

Hopefully we’ve just one more day of rumour and speculation before Apple’s plans for the iPhone in the UK are revealed.

The Guardian is just one paper talking as if the deal is already 100% confirmed and out in the open.

It isn’t.

That doesn’t stop them considering just how much O2 may have had to yield to Apple’s demands in order to clinch this year’s hottest gadget.

Last month’s rumours suggested that mobile operators would give up 10% of the iPhone’s revenue. However, O2 may have sacrificed up to 40% of all revenue to Apple.

The Carphone Warehouse re-enters the equation, too, said to be the UK’s sole independent retailer for the iPhone.

(Via The Guardian)

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The iPhone is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the future of mobile Internet devices, according to a new study from ABI Research.

The study predicts an explosion of new devices which can be used for browsing the Web, listening to music, and shooting photo and video — up to 90 million Mobile Internet Devices and five million Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs) will ship by 2012, the report suggests.

Devices will also cater much more to specific market sectors.

“We see, for example, devices catering to Generation Y social networkers. These devices would be highly stylized, they would have Webcams, they would be optimized for texting and [instant messaging], and they would have some phone functionality. They would allow you to be connected all time, enable you to connect via video, text and voice,” said ABI VP, Stan Schatt.

Let’s hope Apple stays at the forefront of these developments.

(Via PC World)

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According to IntoMobile’s sources, Apple may be preparing another software update for the iPhone.

This third update will supposedly contain the functionality to allow the iTunes Music Store to be used over Wi-Fi, as well as booting the firmware up from 1.0.2 to 1.1.1.

A whole “point one” version upgrade could well destroy the many hacks and unlocks which have been implemented over the past couple of months. It will be interesting to see if they can be successfully reinstalled after updating the iPhone’s firmware.

(Via Into Mobile)

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Gizmodo has published detailed instructions for getting SSH working on a iPhone, so that there’s an easier (if you’re a geek) way to get files on and off the device.

I’d suggest it’s not for the fainthearted, though if you’re already familiar with jailbreaking your iPhone, and want command line access to the phone, then go for it.

(Via Gizmodo)

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European iPhone rumours continue to bubble, ahead of a possible official announcement tomorrow.

The latest suggests that Deutsche Telekom may have secured the rights to distribute the iPhone in five European countries: Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Croatia.

If true, this continues to expand the group of European countries analysts believed Apple would initially sell in (UK, Germany, France).

Other speculation last week cited Telefónica’s negotiations for an iPhone deal in Spain.

Could we see nearly every European Union country getting the iPhone at the same time?

Perhaps tomorrow’s announcement holds the key.

(Via CNN Money)

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There has been a lot of talk about the $100 rebate Steve Jobs offered to early adopting iPhone users who were miffed about the recent price cut.

Some are still complaining, despite the fact that they freely chose to buy an iPhone in the first few days of its launch.

Others would’ve preferred cash, though the presence of shareholders meant that was never going to happen.

Some have been reporting that it’s not possible to buy music, ringtones, and videos on iTunes with the rebate. In fact, though it can’t be done directly, it’s possible to buy iTunes gift cards from the Apple Store and purchase media that way.

One generous user even suggested that he’d give his $100 rebate to a PC user wanting to switch to a Mac.

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Glide Mobile has created a Safari-friendly version of Glide Write 2.0, which will therefore run on the iPhone and allow users to view, edit, and collaborate on Microsoft Word documents, plus export them as Word, PDF, or RTF files.

Quite how patient you’ll be working on Word documents in a mobile browser is another matter, but the functionality is there should you want to.

It’s not a native app requiring hacking the iPhone. It simply works via AJAX – the way that iPhone apps are supposed to work at present.

(via Into Mobile)

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The President of Spain’s Telefónica, César Alierta, has said that his company is in talks with Apple about a possible deal to bring the iPhone to Spain, by the middle of 2008.

Initially, it’s believed that Apple will launch the iPhone in the UK, France, and Germany, but they’re sure to expand into other European countries afterwards.

Weight may be added to Telefónica’s case in Spain if O2 UK get the iPhone deal.

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Samsung has announced that its F700 “mobile hybrid” phone will be launching in Europe in November, boasting both a touchscreen and a slide-out physical keyboard.

Key features of the F700 include the Croix screen interface which is supposed to be “very intuitive” according to a Samsung spokeswoman, the 3.2-inch colour display, MP3 music player, and three megapixel camera.

The company is confident that their phone will outsell the iPhone, which is also expected to launch in selected European countries sometime in the last three months of the year.

(via Korea TImes)

iLuv, who already make a number of accessories for the iPod range, has announced the imminent availability of new accessories for the iPhone.

Exact details of the UK lineup of products aren’t confirmed yet, but they will likely include:

i145 – a sporty, protective case in five colours (white, black, pink, blue, and green.

i207 – a sleek athletic armband with clear protective screen shield and reflective trim.

i636 – a leather battery booster case, with flip design, available in a range of colours.

i635 – a silicone case with contemporary industrial design, also sporting a battery booster.

i707 – in-car FM transmitter which plugs into the cigarette lighter socket

i552 – a range of speaker docks with iPhone compatibility.

Other iPhone accessories are also expected in late 2007.

More details, specifications, and pricing to follow.

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An email sent from Apple UK’s press department to a select group of journalists begins “Mum is no longer the word”, and invites the press to the Apple Store in Regent Street, London.

That’s it — no further information — but the very title surely points to an official announcement about the iPhone’s release date in the UK (and possibly Europe), and which operator, or operators, will get it.

Someone commenting on Engadget’s report of the event claims to work in the aforementioned Apple Store, and reckons that there are about 50 boxes under close guard, though they give no clue as to how big they are, or whether they’re destined for the press event.

Not much to go on, but we’ll keep you posted on the rumours, and bring you information after the event itself.

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Their design work spans the worlds of fashion, art, communications, product, and film. Their clients range from Adidas, L’Oreal Luxe, the French Ministry of Culture, Tsumori Chisato, and EMI. And the principals at design studio/boutique Surface to Air, Paris credit their inordinate design reach in no small part to the integral role the Mac plays in their design process—from editing music videos on Final Cut Pro to designing products with 3D modeling software to creating their own fashion lines with Adobe Creative Suite.

Taking us through the highlights of each of the new iPods, David Pogue (New York Times) anoints them “the best players you can buy.” iPod touch, for example, offers “the iPhone’s spectacular widescreen video playback, wireless Wi-Fi Internet features and its now-famous two-finger touchscreen operating system.” And wireless access to iTunes: “You can browse or search the catalog, listen to 30-second samples, buy songs for $1 each—and download them directly to the iPod.” These iPods, Pogue says, “are nearly impossible to beat; there are other 160-gigabyte multimedia players, for example, but they’re much bigger and more expensive than the iPod classic. And if you do value things like beauty, software elegance and trouble-free computer integration—well, good luck resisting that new Nano.”

That would be the iPod touch, according to Tim Gideon, whose Five (out of five) star review appears on pcmag.com. The iPod touch “is a thing of beauty,” he says. “Factor in the slick interface, elegant Web browser, the beautiful glass display, the seamless integration of the WiFi music store, and the iPod touch is worth the price. No portable media player has ever done this much so easily, or looked so good doing it.”

Dan Frakes (playlistmag.com) likes what he sees. “The screen makes it clear—no pun intended—that the design is a winner.” Awarding iPod nano 4.5 (out of five) stars, he points out that “menu text is clearer and easier to read than it was with the previous model. And even though this is the smallest video-playing screen I’ve used, after watching a 90-minute movie on the nano I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. Picture quality is comparable to that of the iPhone, just smaller.” “Essentially a miniaturized version of the iPod classic available for as little as $149,” iPod nano offers “all the same features and capabilities including video playback and output.”

Right now you have to download content on your computer in order for it to be available on your Apple TV. After the release of the iTunes Wi-Fi store there are rumors floating around of a similar feature popping up in the next Apple TV update.

With the recent advent of movie rentals through iTunes this would be a great new feature. With all of these devices sporting access to the iTunes store Apple is going to have to move the library associations online so people can have access to all of the content they’ve purchased regardless of which device was used.

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Lets get one thing straight, according to an update on Gearlog, Joswiak wanted to make clear that when he said “not hate”, it doesn’t mean “like” or “support” in reference to native software development for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Keep in mind that future software updates may or may not “reset” iPhones and touch resulting in whipping out native third-party apps. Apple doesn’t oppose third-party apps and/or hacks but the company will not support them either. And don’t expect games on the iPod Touch anytime soon.

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InterDigital’s pockets are feeling a considerable amount fatter and its looking more and more like the European release of the iPhone may bring a 3G version of the Jesus-Phone. The deal is for InterDigital to supply Apple with “2G and 3G technologies” for seven years, hopefully by then we’ll have moved well past even 4G let alone even be thinking about 2G and 3G technologies.

Unless Apple is bringing back the old IIe’s with EV-DO Rev. A in 2014. InterDigital will specifically deal with bandwidth allocation, roaming, and power efficiency. There will probably also be some new packet encoding and delivery scheme.

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Four sites have already gone live retailing the iPhone unlocking. Here in the US we have Wireless Imports, then in Australia there is iPhoneWorldwideUnlock which presumably works worldwide, and they are the cheapest too, then there is 1digitalphone from Germany, and iPhone4arab in Saudi Arabia.

The US retailer is charging $99 with the Australian one charging a mere $50. Other than price, the difference will likely come as soon as AT&T’s legal team gets wind of this new update, and then the US retailer will probably be taken to court.

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Plantronics, the purveyors of some of the best communications equipment in the world, has blessed us with another amazing product. This time it’s a stereo Bluetooth capable headset that can also go solo.

The headset supports the A2DP Bluetooth profile and has an attachment that adds a second earbud. There are several buttons on the headset to control both phone functions as well as music player functions, but the best part comes in the form of the slider that serves two purposes, the first is to obviously bring the microphone closer to your mouth, but it also acts as the answer/end call function.

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Over at our fledgling sister blog Google-Phone.com they’ve been obsessing over the search giant’s possible leap into ownership of the 700MHz network spectrum that goes up for grabs next January; so far the key competitors have been the traditional telcos (and they really haven’t liked Google’s push for “open access” clauses to be added to the winner’s contract) but things could get really interesting if, as Business Week reports, Apple is considering throwing its metaphorical hat into the ring.

According to the report, two (unnamed) sources have informed Business Week that Steve Jobs has been discussing taking part in the auction and moving the until-now hardware and software company into a new role as telco.  Of course, just as this would be a step into the relative unknown for Google, similarly analysts are partially sceptical of Apple’s potential strength in this fresh area:

“Even for companies like Google, the economics [of owning a network] are barely intelligible … For Apple, this seems highly implausible” Amol Sarva, CEO of Txtbl

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Are you a geek addict, probably yes if you are interested by the iPhone. I’ve just discovered a new blog that shows only strange and new type of gadgets. Especially for the ones who like funny gadgets like the ones in B5 Network. Some example of recent gadgets:

- Colorized tap water…

- Iron USB key

- Solar mobile phone charger

The blog has been started in January 2007, and you could find some toys, gadgets, art, “weird” things…

I went through some archives in the website and here my preferred ones:
- Starship Size Comparison Chart

- ScubaDoo (type of submarine scooter…)

- It’s a shark!!!

- The mini USB vacuum cleaner

- Inflatable boxing gloves

- The Voice-Controlled remote Control

- The Flying Alarm Clock – catch it if you can!

- DragonFly – The worlds’ first R/C bug

- The Swiss Knive – Card Edition

- USB rechargeable batteries

- The cocktail fountain – forget the punch bowl

- USB Speakers in the palm of your hand

- A Swearing “Swear Box”

- The crossbow for the (not yet) mature

- Toy gun for the big boys

- Sun Visor Theater DVD Player

Tags:b5network gadgetsb5network, gadgets

Plenty of people have been talking about Apple developing and releasing a 3G version of the iPhone, even though Steve Jobs seems more smitten with Wi-Fi than with 3G.

Forward Concepts’ analyst Will Strauss believes that the WCDMA 3G iPhone will be announced at the same time as Apple tells us which European operators have secured its rights.

“We have … confirmed that Infineon Technologies is producing UMTS baseband chips for at least two cellphone companies, and Infineon is also the only non-captive source for WCDMA/UMTS transceiver chips — and also the biggest producer of GSM/GPRS transceivers, with a third of the world market last year,” he said.

Strauss believes an announcement could come from Apple this week, though we’ve heard that before.

(Via EETimes)

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iPhoneSIMFree has announced that its iPhone unlocking software is now on sale via a number of resellers throughout the US, UK, Australia, Germany, and Saudi Arabia.

The iPhone is unlocked via Wi-Fi, with all features functional except Visual Voicemail (which requires the AT&T network).

Their disclaimer is that Apple’s future updates to the iPhone system software / firmware may render the unlock unusable, though updates to the unlocking software will be free.

“We CANNOT guarantee that this software will work after any future updates for the iPhone. It does currently work on all firmware versions, up to and including, 1.02. We will naturally try to provide our resellers an updated version of our software for each firmware update, it is in our interest, but we do NOT guarantee that we will be able to do so. All updates will be free.”

Apparently, it costs $99 for the unlock, which is a tasty markup for resellers if they sell the licenses they bought in bulk.

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Six Apart has announced that its popular TypePad blogging platform has been optimised for Apple’s iPhone and new iPod Touch.

The mobile version offers the same functionality as the desktop version: creation and editing of posts, managing comments, and configuring settings. In addition, photos taken with the iPhone’s built-in camera can be sent directly to a TypePad blog.

Similar functionality will also work on the iPod Touch, whenever a user is connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi.

“Six Apart has long been an innovator in mobile blogging,” said Michael Sippey, VP Product, Professional Division at Six Apart. “We believe in making it easy to update your blog from wherever you are, and we are excited to be delivering this new capability to iPhone users.”

Depending on whether you like the iPhone’s touchscreen keyboard or not, you’ll either be banging out Twitter-style text posts, or great rambling masterpieces. Maybe photo blogging is a better option.

The service is available at http://i.typepad.com/.

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A little while back we linked to ByteCellar’s Apple //c terminal, and now he’s gone and put a Newton online. You can check out the whole setup in the gallery, but the short story seems to be that he hooked up the eMate 300 to a serial-to-USB terminal, and then ran it through his Mini. Pretty easy, he says, since he’d already done it with the Apple //c, and apparently it’s just an experiment– while he could easily keep it around for IRC, he says the eMate is bound to its eFate as a paperWate.

And if getting the Newton hooked up as a terminal revs your engine, I was surprised to find out that TUAW houses the original Newton serial connector. Very impressive– even in 1993, Sadun was doing stuff with Apple hardware that makes my head spin. Figgles, apparently, is her Newton.

And finally, if you don’t have the knowhow or the patience to hook your Newton up to a serial internet connection, you could always just pull an Ihnatko and fake it. How long has he had that sticker sitting around? If you’re not up for actually stickering your iPhone, Jer Wood’s wallpaper might be more your speed.

So as you may have seen on some other sites, there was a little bit of drama today around the iPhone unlock program written (in part) by our own Erica Sadun. Lots of rumors are flying around, and lots of folks have it almost right. But none of them knows the real story. And since Sadun works for us, we have kind of an inside track on what really happened. So here it is.

First of all, Erica didn’t write the unlock application itself. The iPhone Dev Team did that, and it apparently is a real, no-code-stolen software unlock– put it on your iPhone, run it, and then use any SIM you want. Erica only started to write the barebones of a GUI application for the unlock, and gave that code to the dev team.

Which is where this haRRo person gets involved. He, a Belfast, UK man, is not a member of the dev team, but pretended to be. He apparently took Erica’s code out of the IRC channel, with the intent of selling it as his own application. He even got an offer from an Australian company, $50k AUD, to allow the application he said he’d written.

But he didn’t write it. At all. Because while yes, the code he tried to sell was updated from Erica’s code, it wasn’t by haRRo. He actually contacted another coder to do the job– who we spoke with, and our IM conversation can be seen after the jump.

Update: Post updated below.

Continue reading The real story behind the iPhone unlock GUI drama

Every now and then I check back in with AT&T to see whether they’ve launched a data-only plan that I can use with my iPhone. The word from AT&T is always that plans are phone specific. As far as they’re concerned you must purchase a plan that was designed for a particular phone. Thus, the Blackberry $45/month data-only plan cannot be offered for the iPhone.

What I’m particularly interested in are two data plans: SmartPhone Max ($30/month, unlimited data, 1500 SMS) and MediaNet Unlimited ($20/month, unlimited data, no SMS). AT&T reps say they cannot offer these plans without voice (the cheapest voice plan is $40) and that even if they did, they must be matched to certain phones, like the Nokia 61024.

I’m getting to the point where I’m ready to disable voice and I’d love to be able to do so without canceling my data–at least for a while.

I know that some TUAW readers have succeeded in using their non-iPhone SIMS with existing AT&T accounts in their iPhones. Do any of you have data-only plans? And if so, how much are you paying?

Much like Nigel’s amp that goes to 11, making it “…one louder,” your Mac has a super-quiet mode. Macworld explains how to find it.

First, use your keyboard’s volume keys to turn the volume all the way down (using the menu bar slider won’t work). Next, press the “Mute” key. The speaker graphic will appear on screen and display the familiar “sound waves.” Listen closely (or plug in your headphones) – your Mac is in super-quiet mode.

We’re not sure when you’d want to do this, but now you can.

When Steve first announced the iPhone price cut, the nay-sayers were vocal: “It’s selling so poorly,” they said, “Apple has had to reduce the price significantly.”

By Piper Jaffray’s estimations, Apple and AT&T was selling an average of 9,000 iPhones per day before the price cut, resulting in 594,000 units sold by September 5th.

Combined with the 270,000 phones sold in the previous quarter, customers would have had to buy an additional 136,000 iPhones to reach 1 million units by September 9th – an increase of 200% in sales volume.

Steve was right: They’re selling boatloads of these things, and wanted to quickly sell boatloads more…and that’s what’s happening.

When traveling on the high seas outside the United States, it’s probably best if you power-off your iPhone: Press and hold sleep/wake for about 5 seconds and then slide to power-off. If you must use your iPhone during travel and need access to a data plan, check out this AT&T iPhone world data plan that gives your 20MB for $25/month. Participating countries include Canada, China and Mexico. Overage costs you $0.005/KB and use outside those 29 countries costs $0.0195/KB.

Thanks to Darrel N.

You can use UIctl to unload -w com.apple.CommCenter. This disables both EDGE and phone calls until you load -w it back on and survives power cycling/reboots/locks. You can also pull your SIM, unlock your iPhone and, presumably, use local SIMs.

Hacker par excellence Cleverboy, aka Dudley, has pretty much figured out what makes ringtones ringtones as far as iTunes is concerned. He discovered an atom in the m4a metadata that identifies the file’s role. He downloaded a copy of AtomicParsley, the command-line metadata editor, and after a bit of hacking discovered that setting the “stik” metadata to 14 turned any aac file into a ringtone. He writes, “The file immediately appeared in my ringtone list, and after syncing, it appeared on my phone without one iota of complaint. –NONE”.

The command in question is as follows:

AtomicParsley mmbop.m4a --stik value=14

Awarding iPod nano an Excellent 8.0 rating, Donald Bell (cnet.com) notes that “the shape may have changed, but Apple’s relentless attention to detail remains. The third generation of the iPod Nano provides loads of entertainment for a down-to-earth price.” He calls iPod nano “one of the smallest, thinnest, and most exquisitely designed MP3 players on the market.” Its “2-inch color screen packs a dense, crisp 320×240 video resolution that looks richer and brighter than that of any iPod to date.” And “at less than $200, the Nano offers one of the richest user experiences we’ve seen on an MP3 player.”

A comprehensive suite of professional tools, Logic Studio provides everything musicians need to create, produce and perform in the studio and on the stage. Logic Studio features Logic Pro 8—a major upgrade that combines an intuitive new interface with Logic’s renowned sound quality and rock-solid timing—and introduces MainStage, an innovative new live performance application that turns the Mac into a streamlined live rig. In addition, Logic Studio includes SoundTrack Pro 2, Apple’s professional audio post production software; Studio Instruments, made up of 40 pristine quality instruments; Studio Effects, with 80 professional effect plug-ins; a vast Studio Sound Library; and a powerful set of production utilities. Available now, Logic Studio sells for just $499.

Citing “significant speed boosts,” Glenn Fleishman (macworld.com) gives 4.5 stars (out of five) to the recently updated AirPort Extreme Base Station. By upgrading AirPort Extreme with 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet, “Apple has made fast even faster,” Fleishman reports. “Apple has taken a seemingly minor upgrade of the AirPort Extreme Base Station and made it into a major improvement.”

With the Apple Store back up, it seems that it wasn’t merely maintenance this morning, as the store now bears new versions of Apple’s professional music software, Logic Pro 8 (now ‘Logic Studio’). Logic Studio’s new features include:

• A new single-window interface (similar to Apertures)
• Improved editing
• Sountrack Pro 2.0 in the box
• The ability to “…save your key commands, channel strip settings and plug-in settings to your .Mac account for easy backup, sharing, and portability“.

Logic buffs will no doubt want to check out the technical specs of the new version, which can be found here, along with the new features page. Logic Studio will set you back $499US, with upgrades starting at $199US.

Logic Express, the little brother to the studio suite, also received an upgrade to version 8, with the baby brother $199US version taking many of the new features in the Pro version including “…full notation, 24-bit/192kHz resolution, and Quick Swipe comping“. Previous versions of Logic Express can upgrade for $99.

Apple Store Deer Park will open on Satruday, September 15th at 10:00 AM in beautiful Deer Park, IL. The store is located at 20530 N. Rand Road, near American Eagle and Children’s Place. You can get full travel directions here.

As usual, we’re asking any TUAW operatives who visit this weekend to send us stories and photos. Good luck, have fun and we’re hoping you score a T-shirt!

Okay this one is a little shaky because my French is non-existent. But in this post (Google translation) at the French Mac site MacBidouille, they present evidence that the LCD panel in the new 20″ iMacs is not a 24bit color panel as in the previous generation, but an 18bit panel instead. Support for this includes the Kodawarisan take-apart photos which appear to show the panel as a LG PHILIPS LM201WE3. This panel seems to be a TN (twisted nematic) display most of which, according to wikipedia, “…are unable to display the full 16.7 million colors (24-bit truecolor) available from modern graphics cards.” Other discussions online seem to support this conclusion.

Of course, we heard complaints before about color reproduction on Apple LCD displays. If true, this is consistent with the reviews (e.g. Macworld magazine) that have complained about the quality of the 20″ screen versus that of the 24″ iMac. If correct this would be a powerful reason to prefer the 24″ iMac, particularly if color accuracy is very important to you (e.g. for working with photos).

Thanks Gabriel!

When checking the Apple Store (US) this morning, we found that familiar yellow sticky note. It’s probably some sort of maintenance – I don’t imagine there would be an unannounced update just after the iPod event.

Or maybe preparations are being made for that $100 credit iPhone early adopters were promised. In any case, we’ll keep you posted. Has anyone found that online stores outside the US are down as well?

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Just 24 hours after enabling ringtones in the US iTunes store, Apple has added a “Top Ringtones” tracker [iTunes link] to the front page. As of this writing, Nickleback has a lock on the #1 slot [iTunes link].

This demonstrates that someone is buying these (just not very many TUAW readers). I’ll admit that the next time my iPhone rings, everyone around me will be treated to Eddie Van Halen’s solo from Unchained. I hope they like it.