Apple has sent out invitations for a special media event on September 1st. The invitation which figures an acoustic guitar seems to imply that the focus of the event is still in music, which is what could be expected from the event in which Apple usually presents its new iPod line. The rumors floating around had these past few days have had all been centering around the possibility that Apple might have a new version of its Apple TV to introduce.  It is still possible that this will happen, however the main focus of the event would seem to be the new iPods.

Rumors have been flying around about a new iPad with a 7 inch screen for some time now.  Some people have gone as far as suggesting that this would be a second generation iPad which might be announced as soon as this September, when Apple will probably reveal its new iPod models. Without going into the merits of whether Apple will or will not, should or should not announce a smaller iPad, I will state that a smaller iPad would not be the second generation of the current iPad.  Apple is selling iPads just as fast as they can produced and I see no indication that replacing the current model with...

The rumor that a 7 inch iPad might be in the works for release by early 2011 started circulating today and was quickly picked up by most technology blogs.  It seems that the rumor started from a post on iLounge and spread from there. I’m not really sold on that idea, though. I can think of several activities, such as reading fiction, which I would prefer to do with a slightly smaller and much lighter version of the iPad. I would be reluctant, however, to give up the ease of use and productivity of the current crop of  iPad applications which go way beyond what you have on the iPhone and iPod...

A post on Boy Genius Report has got an immensely blown up picture of what the configuration screen of FaceTime should like on the iPod Touch.  Earlier today the habitual rumors about the presence of a camera on the next generation iPod Touch were circulating and this seems to tie in rather nicely with the configuration screen which is supposedly from the developer seed of iOS 4.1 which shows that FaceTime will use and email to identify the user for the purpose of placing video calls. It is not recent news that Apple has experimented with adding a camera to the iPod Touch in the past.  A couple of...

It seems that several analysts decided to publish new guesses about how Apple’s sales did last quarter. Among these guesses was one which was a presented by more than one analyst and which suggested that Apple may have increased production of iPads to 2 million units a month. Apple is scheduled to introduce the iPad in nine new  countries this month and it would seem only prudent to continue increasing production as there is no sign that demand is slacking off in the countries where the device is already available and it is more likely than not to face high demand in the new markets. Just today...

A lot of people are complaining about reception issues with the iPhone 4, while a lot of other people say they have had no issues at all. I won’t take sides here to say that there are issues or not, but I will presume for the sake of argument that they do in fact exist. How could such a serious issue such as this go undetected to the point where the phone has not only gone into production but actually sold millions of units?  Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that Apple hasn’t sold millions of the iPhone 4.  Their original sales announcement stated that they had sold over 1.7...

It was reported earlier today by Boy Genius Report that they had received a leaked document providing guidance on how Apple Store staff should treat complains about bad reception on the new iPhone 4.   This documents makes it clear that Apple is well aware of the reception issues and that it is sticking by the “it’s-normal with mobiles” position that was first championed by the Steve Jobs in one of the short emails he has been sending users of late. The following is the full set of instructions contained in the document as published by Boy Genius Report: Keep all of the positioning...

Today, rumors have been flying left and right about Verizon starting to carry the iPhone as of January 2011.  This would coincide with the company starting to operate a new technology network supporting much faster data speeds. This portion of the rumor is what actually lends it some credence as it seems rather unlikely that Apple would put the effort into developing a version of the iPhone supporting Verizon’s current technology which has gone into disuse elsewhere in the world and which the company will start to migrate from in the not so distant future. If this rumor should prove to be true,...

A piece on Advertising Age that came to my attention through a post by Daniel Eran Dilger on AppleInsider suggests that iOS 4 will not come to the iPad before November.   This was extrapolated from the fact that Apple seems to be telling advertisers with its new iAd mobile advertising network that the service will not be available on the iPad before November. iAd support is one of the features of the new iOS 4 that are not already available in the iPad’s iPhone OS 3.2.  Several of the features that were introduced on the iPhone with iOS 4 were already available on the iPad’s version of...

The Apple Core blog on ZDNet has just published a post with information from a supposed Apple leak stating that the company is gathering information about all FaceTime calls being placed on the new iPhone 4.   According to the person providing the information and that seems to claim to be an Apple employee the company would be gathering information on who is calling who and from where. I see no purpose for Apple to gather this information, but then I can see no reason for Google to be collecting information from WiFi networks when their Street View cars where filming streets, so… Who knows?...

It would seem that the iPhone 4 is going to get as warm a reception, and perhaps even more so, as the iPad had.  This Tuesday was the first day of pre-orders for the phone and it seems that iPhone 4 users were out in force.  At first it was AT&T that changed its target delivery day, but by the end of the day Apple’s online store seemed to have gone through its inventory of iPhones for delivery on the 24th, the first day of sales. Currently the Apple online store is showing a shipping date of July 2nd. It should be fun to see Apple’s sales numbers once they start to make them...

Some evidendence that has been dug up in Apple’s own documentation seems to suggest that a high resolution display is already planned for the iPad. Considering how far ahead Apple seams to plan everything these days, we shouldn’t read too much into this. It’s now been about three months since the release of the iPad and it is really doubtful that Apple will release a new version before the end of the year.

A rumor has been floating around that Apple might release a retail store application for the iOS devices.  This application would allow users to make appointments for the Genius Bar at the brick and mortar store of the user’s choosing. It’s possible that such an application will allow users to pre-order products for in-store pick up as well.

During his keynote at WWDC10 this Monday Steve Jobs mentioned that Apple was going to sell 10′s of millions of FaceTime enabled devices.  Notice that he did not say phones, but devices.  As I don’t think that Apple is going to release a new model of iPad this year, that could only mean new iPod Touch models, equipped with cameras. It would be too soon to replace the first generation iPad, as Apple is barely keeping up with demand.  Adding a cameras and making the iPod more of a communications device Apple will be able to better differentiate the iPad and the iPod Touch (which is being...

Rumors have been floating around all they that AT&T is considering extending the availability of its current unlimited data plan for the iPad, which is being cancelled and replaced by a new plan limited to 2 GB of traffic.   The plan that is being retired was offered for $29.95 while the new plan will be offered at $25,95.  For this difference of $4 you are taken from unlimited data traffic to a mere 2 GB. Its no wonder the unlimited plan is being cancelled.  I seriously doubt that many people would choose to have the limit with such a small difference in cost. AT&T made a huge mistake in...