A friendly tipster has sent in word that Apple is not stocking any of their current iMac models. This supposedly comes from Corporate headquarters and gives more fuel to the “OMG!!11!! new iMac is coming out August 7th!!1!!” theory.

Along with the recent supposed new keyboard leak and rumors of new touch screen technology (why else would they delay Leopard?), the new iMacs might actually be worth waiting out for. We’ll see in six days.

[Via Friends with Benefits]

In its ongoing efforts to capitalize off of every aspect of human existence, Apple Inc. finalized its purchase of the popular pancake restaurant chain International House of Pancakes, or IHOP, last Friday.

“The idea is to appeal to the younger, hipper pancake eating generation,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “We also wanted to create a place where our loyal customers feel right at home. And let’s face it, there’s no place more comforting for a hardcore computer geek than in the cozy quarters of an all-night diner.”
(more…)

Here it is, the number one requested wallpaper from this year’s Macworld keynote, enjoy.

How did we get it? Good question, don’t ask.

Click the image for the 1680×1050 version or just hit this link

So 5 days in with my iPhone and I can say I have a real good grasp on reality now. The hype factor has worn off so it’s all about real world usage. In part un of my review I found the iPhone to be the most gorgeous phone with the most gorgeous mobile phone screen I had ever seen. Sure there were some quirks hiding in the user interface but what about the meat and potatoes of the phone - the apps.? Hit the jump and read part deux of my uber iPhone review. (more…)

Yes I am one of the hundreds of thousands that picked up an iPhone this past weekend. I convinced myself not to get a 1st-gen product but by 7 PM Friday, I couldn’t hold out any longer thus my bank account became $600 poorer, $649.49 to be exact. So what do I think about the uber, Jesus, end-all iPhone? I can summarize in one statement; it’s all that and a bag of chips, but you feel kinda gypped because the bag is only half full. Hit the jump for the full review. (more…)

Here is a quick list of cool features of the iPhone that are confirmed to not be in the first version:

• Songs as Ringtones
• Games
• Any flash support
• Instant Messaging
• Picture messages (MMS)
• Video recording
• Voice recognition or voice dialing
• Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Streaming (A2DP)
• One-size-fits-all headset jack (May have to buy an adapter for certain headphones)

Along with this list:

Stuff we already knew it didn’t have
• 3G (EV-DO/HSDPA)
• GPS
• A real keyboard
• Removable battery
• Expandable Storage
• Direct iTunes Music Store Access (Over Wi-Fi or EDGE)

This iPhone thingy is looking better and better everyday. Thats what I would say if I was lying.

[Via Gizmodo]

It seems there really was a 12 mystery app on the iPhone’s home screen. Turns out, it’s YouTube. There’s a little video demo of it up on Apple’s website. All in all, it looks slick and will retain most of the main site’s features like ratings and bookmarking videos. Of course this means there’s a flash player somewhere right? Wrong.

If you recall, when it was announced Apple TV would be getting YouTube, also mentioned was all YouTube videos would be reincoded into the H.264 codec. This not only makes for higher quality videos at smaller files, it also means that source file can be streamed into an external app that supports the H.264 codec. In this case, it would be some variant of Quicktime built into the iPhone I’m sure.

Of course it’s free and it’s nice to know it’ll be ready for the iPhone’s launch on June 29th.

They may be right too. We all know Apple (Steve) likes to control every aspect and the iPhone is no exception. It seems EU carriers in negotiation with Apple to carry the iPhone are frustrated. Many are bemoaning how Apple is incredibly arrogant with their list of unreasonable demands.

“Operators consistently told us, not for attribution, of course, that they had spoken to Apple and found the company ‘unbelievably arrogant’, making demands that ’simply cannot be justified no matter how hot the product is’,” Avi Greengart, a principal analyst at Current Analysis, wrote in an advisory last Monday.

This comes as no shock since Europe’s mobile landscape is far more developed than the U.S. Their infrastructure is already highly developed. Adjusting it just to sell the Jesus phone is more than they’re willing to do. They already have a problem with iTunes being a closed DRM’d system and it also competes with their own mobile music downloads services.

Analysts monitoring the situation say Apple may be forced to sell the iPhone thru their retail stores only unlocked.

[Via VNU]

German magazine Focus claims Apple is secretly developing a navigation system to end all navigation systems for Mercedes Benz. This “iNav” (hey, why not?) will supposedly debut in 2009 Benzies. No source was provided or details aside from the system being a Benzie exclusive for 6 months.

Since this is just a rumor, lets speculate shall we? If Apple were to make an “iNav”, it’s probable they’d team up with a luxury auto maker because only they would have the customer base to spend money on premium system. However, this leads to some interesting questions. Will it interface with iPhone? How will future iPods work with it? Will the core of the mapping system come from Google Maps? Is it going to be some crazy multi-touchscreen? Last but not least, will it tell me why I was so let down by the season finale of Heroes?

[Via Foursprung]

If you were planning to get an iPhone, like a lot of tech people are (I would like to get one, but the price is not very nice), now there is one more hoop to jump through. As if $499 out of your pocket wasn’t enough, Apple now wants you to join their huge digital distribution service, therefore ensuring that one of their products will beget another, as the iPod, video iPod, AppleTV, and upcoming iLife all have wonderful relationships with iTunes.

All this means is that before you can use your iPhone, you must activate it, which is true for most if not all cell-phones. The only difference is that Apple wants you to have an iTunes account. Okay, so this is no big deal, but it is a strange request nonetheless.

Apple puts it another way:

To set up your iPhone, you’ll need an account with Apple’s iTunes Store. If you already have an iTunes account, make sure you know your account name and password. If you don’t have an account, you should set one up now to save time later. To set up an account, launch iTunes, select the iTunes Store, and click the Sign In button in the upper right corner of iTunes. Sign in and you’re ready to go.

While I cannot say for certain whether or not I will be buying an iPhone, this may or may not deter me (vague, huh?). Basically, it would be nice if I could just walk into a store, buy the iPhone for the handsome price of half a grand, activate it with a calling plan, then walk out of the store and call my friend and make fun of them for not having an iPhone. If I have to set up an iTunes account, that is just one more thing between me and my smug sense of self-worth and keeping up with the Jones attitude.