Gamblers put even money on updated iPhone 4 tomorrow
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Opinion, Rampant Speculation, Rumors, Slow News Day
According to the good folks over at Bookmaker.com, who specialize in providing off-beat gambling odds, there’s an even chance that we might see a retooled iPhone tomorrow, among other things.
I’ll admit I am the worst gambler ever, having literally lost the shirt of my back at one point (a sweet Def Leppard Hysteria tour concert-only exclusive) but I would say the tweaked iPhone 4 is the LEAST likely to happen in my view, while a new iPod touch is all but certain. But then, who am I to argue with the folks who put together lines for television shows such as Project Runway and Dancing with the Stars?
Yeah, what HE said
Filed under: Apple Bashing, Apple Fanboyism, Rampant Speculation, Steve Jobs, iPhone
Oh boy, things are really heating up for tomorrow’s big iPhone 4 “event”!
Apparently too cheap to buy a stamp and mail it, New York Senator Chuck Schumer today released an open letter to Steve Jobs (below) about his concern over the iPhone 4 and the discrepancies between what Apple is claiming is to blame for the reception issues, and what the rest of the world is claiming. Read more
Oh, this is going to be GOOD!
Filed under: Glitch, Rampant Speculation, Steve Jobs, iPhone
Apparently our invite got lost in the mail, so we had to make our best guess.
In keeping with Apple’s new pattern of publicly discussing iPhone 4 issues on Fridays, TUAW reports that Apple has announced an impromptu damage control session press conference for this Friday.
Apple is inviting select media representatives to a special press conference that will be held on Friday, July 16. The company provided no information about the conference other than to say it would focus on the iPhone 4.
Now, obviously this could go either way. On the one hand (as those of us experiencing iPhone 4 reception issues may hope) Apple could announce a hardware fix and a billion dollar recall. On the other, there’s the chance that Apple is simply going to announce they finally got a new shipment of orange bumper cases in, and they’re increasing the price from $30 to $40. Either way, it’s going to be a very interesting lesson in public relations, and I really hope they don’t throw poor Phil Schiller out to the wolves. Given how Steve’s been the one sending out all those infamous “don’t hold it that way” e-mails, he really better be the one headlining this event.
Is Apple gunning for Exchange Server with the new iCal beta?
Well, our good friends over at The Cat Convention think so. According to the site, new evidence in the MobileMe beta is pointing towards Apple trying to get CalDAV, its preferred calendaring implementation, not only into the hands of MobileMe users, but Microsoft Outlook users as well.
Since CalDAV is the calendaring format of choice for Apple’s Snow Leopard Server, TCC is hypothesizing that this could be the first step toward Apple pushing its calendar into the enterprise workspace.
As a side note, this is what MY calendar currently looks like.
That’s right, nothing but DVD releases. How sad. But I’m sure some of you busier folks stuck in corporate America using Outlook might be excited by this rumor, so there you go.
What are the odds of an Apple iPhone 4 recall?
Filed under: Apple Bashing, Apple Fanboyism, Opinion, Rampant Speculation
What are the odds of an Apple iPhone 4 recall? Not that good if you ask bookmaker expert Mickey Richardson, CEO of Bookmaker.com. Richardson and his team of experienced odds makers, have put together lines for television shows such as Project Runway, Top Chef, Lost, and Dancing with the Stars, and now they’ve turned their attention to the iPhone and the latest series of reception problem “rumors” as Apple calls them.
So, what are the odds that Apple will fess up to a problem and initiate a recall before July 31st?
[The +/- Indicates the Return on the Wager. The percentage is the likelihood that response will occur. For Example: Betting on the candidate least likely to win would earn the most amount of money, should that happen.]
Any long time Apple fan shouldn’t find these results surprising, and, given Steve Jobs’ change in public stance on the issue from “don’t hold it that way” and “Get a case” to “There is no problem”, it looks like Apple is fully preparing to go the denial route. Still, there could be a chance to make some big money if you have faith in Apple doing the right thing.
Putting the latest Verizon iPhone rumor into perspective
Filed under: Cynicism, Rampant Speculation, Rumors, iPhone
Call me crazy, but I just can’t seem to get too excited about the latest Verizon iPhone rumor…
(headlines via MacRumors)
Sure, eventually someone’s going to be right… but can’t we just wait for an official announcement?
Conspiracy Theorists Unite!! The Black Helicopters Are Circling!!
Filed under: Apple Bashing, Apple Fanboyism, Cynicism, Rampant Speculation, Rumors, iPhone
Additive Tips is reporting that, (according to a “trusted source inside Apple”), Apple is now working with AT&T to check iOS 4 iPhones every 7-14 days or so via through OTA (over-the-air) updates to see if they’re jailbroken, and if so, it will relock them and place the users on a blacklist.
“How it works is every 7 to 14 days We (Apple) and AT&T send a message to your iPhone that gathers some data from your iPhone without you knowing and we see what is running, baseband and firmware. We then send a following message. “There are optional updates for your iPhone, Would you like to install them now?” two options “Yes” or “Later”. Those are what would would call “OPTIONAL UPDATES” Now there are things called “MANDATORY UPDATES”. They tend to work the same way, grab data from the iPhones sends it to AT&T and us then back to your iPhone with the message, “Your iPhone (name of iphone) must be updated to the current AT&T standards to run”, your only option is to “Accept” Now you can try to work your way around it until you get the second mandatory message again “You must plug iPhone into iTunes and update” If you don’t do this you will then receive no Signal from the network anymore and your iPhone will potentially lock up with no signs of use until you update your iPhone via iTunes. You all agreed to this terms and condition when you installed iTunes 9.2 and then again once you updated to iOS4. With that being Said go ahead Try to unlock the iPhone it will only last 14 days max…”
If true, this would be such a PR nightmare for both companies that I really can’t imagine anything worse for their public image. Oh wait, yes I can! According to the same source…
“Worst yet is once a person connects to another person on FaceTime it for some reason non of us in the office can figure out, sends us APPLE a message and says those two people are connecting via Facetime and gives out their location to us. So for whatever reason we need that information just blows my mind. As a consumer why would you need to let Apple know that you are connecting with a person via FaceTime, its non of Apple’s business.”
So, there you have it folks! iOS 4 is evil, Apple is evil, and AT&T is evil. (Well, there always is a LITTLE truth in every rumor).
[via TheNextWeb]
I smell a June 24th iPhone 4G launch date
Filed under: Awesomeness, Rampant Speculation, bugs, iPhone
Looks like AT&T may have accidentally spilled the beans on the iPhone 4G launch date by prematurely sending out “replies” to all the anticipated service outage reports it expects to have on June 24th… at least if this text sent to faithful Macenstein reader Frank is any indication:
I thought this might be amusing. Note the dates. The best part is that while I have the Mark the Spot app, I’ve never used it. Perhaps AT&T just knows that I’m going to experience a dropped call on June 24th, 2010.
Steve Jobs is delusional
Filed under: Apple Bashing, Apple Fanboyism, Cynicism, History, Opinion, Rampant Speculation, Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs made a pretty bold claim when he responded to Bryan Webster’s eloquently written question abut the upcoming WWDC:
Wow. Them’s fightin’ words to be sure, and they certainly gave ME a chill when I first read them. I immediately had visions of a super-charged, video game playing Apple TV/DVR, fully open to developers, and an iPhone 4 with video chat and condom dispenser… Truly this WWDC is NOT going to disappoint!
But then I remembered something… history has an odd way of repeating itself. Let’s take a quick look at how the most faithful of faithful Mac addicts have reacted to the past couple WWDC announcements (via Mac Rumors).
Ouch. And we’re their biggest supporters! When you see how angry we Mac users get when Apple announces its latest technology, you wonder why Jobs and company even bother (of course a quick look at Apple’s stock price suggests some theories). And remember, all that anger is largely based on our own self-inflated expectations, based on rumors and wishful thinking. THIS year we actually have the man himself whipping us into a frothing, foaming frenzy of anticipation!
So, will this year’s WWDC disappoint? Yes. Yes it will. But, before you rush off to leave scathing comments on Mac Rumors this year, just remember, so did all the other WWDC’s, and yet ultimately you came to appreciate what Apple had accomplished, and odds are you’ve spoken with your wallets many times over. Do you own a MacBook? An iPod? An iPhone? An Apple TV? An iPad? As someone who owns (a couple of) all of the above, and who is usually underwhelmed by Apple’s keynotes, I can honestly say that an underwhelming Apple event is still 100 times better than the most exciting Microsoft event.
Of course, the only problem is Microsoft is no longer Apple’s competition – it’s Google, and they’ve got quite a lot of creative people over there. As Bryan said, Google is “taking the piss”. (Where the hell did THAT saying come from?) 2010 will be the first WWDC where Apple has really had to respond to the competition, so it should be pretty interesting.
And yes, my expectations are high, and yes, I am ready to be let down, and yes, I am ready to buy whatever Apple announces.
Is it possible Steve Jobs does not hate Flash – he just loves LEGOs?
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Rampant Speculation, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
With all the free advertising Steve’s been giving LEGOs on the iPhone, iPod touch, and now iPad, it makes you wonder just how large a percentage of the Lego company does Steve own?
photo by Rob Lef
