Apple’s annual iTunes and iPod Special Music Event has just been made official, and this year’s bash will be called “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it”, with the date confirmed for Wednesday, September 9 at 10am PT/1pm ET at the Yerba Bueana Center for the Arts Theatre in San Francisco, California.

Widely expected to be seen are iTunes 9 with social networking and iPhone app management, 3rd generation iPod touch with camera, and iPod nano and iPod classic with with camera to be in the lineup.

“Cocktail” album packages, the perennial Beatles on iTunes rumors, and of course iPhone OS 3.1 are also in the cards. And MMS on AT&T pretty please?

(Via Engadget)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” iTunes and iPod Music Event is on for September 9!

And they’re all like “Hey, iDiot, you got your grubby hands on a glorious Palm Pre last week at the Bell launch; want to come on PalmCast Live so we can get your thoughts on it and then kick the iTard out of you?”

“Cool,” I tell them. “Bring the rain.”

They go, “it’s 8pm ET at http://www.precentral.net/palmcast-live/, and don’t rely on your single-tasking MobileMe calendar for reminders either.”

“Funny.”

Then they tried to use the internet at the same time as voice and the line went dead.

Anyway, I’ll be joining Dieter and Derek to talk iPhone vs. Palm Pre tonight. Come by and chat!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

So the PreCentral.net PalmCast Live Called…

A robbery victim has taken advantage of his MobileMe service and put it to good use. A Pittsburgh man, who’s name has been withheld, told police he was forced to turn over his wallet, his PIN number and his iPhone at gun point (Pellet Gun as it turns out) by 3 robbers early Sunday morning. Lacking any tech savvy skills or common sense for that matter, the robbers were clueless about one of MobileMe’s very helpful features, “Find My iPhone“.

After calling the police, the man used his computer and MobileMe to track down his iPhone along with the 3 not so smart criminals having a late night snack at a local restaurant.

Police said they will charge Bryant Rather, 22, of West Mifflin, Brent Ray Potter, 22, of Swissvale, and Myron Knox, Jr., 22, of Homewood, with two counts each of access device fraud, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and possessing instruments of crime. Mr. Rather and Mr. Potter will also be charged with robbery.

Moral of the story: crime doesn’t pay.

[Via Post-Gazette]

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MobileMe’s “Find My iPhone” Serving Justice

Attention true believers! Daring Disney dispenses 4 billion big ones to buyout mighty Marvel, its merry mutants, and stupendous superheroes!

Okay, rewind. To make that most tangential of relationships possible (just so we can blog about comics, of course): following Disney’s Pixar acquisition, Steve Jobs — then CEO of Pixar and still CEO of iPhone maker, Apple Inc. — became Disney’s largest shareholder. Now reports are circulating that Disney is buying Marvel Comics — home of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Fantastic Four, Wolverine and the X-Men, and a literal fortunes worth of other character properties, for a cool $4 billion.

While this does mean Disney will likely be better positioned to compete against Warner Bros. and their portfolio of DC characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Watchmen, etc.), other than eventually being able to watch a Disney-produced Marvel film via iTunes, it probably doesn’t mean much for Apple — and certainly doesn’t mean we’ll see adamantium shelled iPhone any time ever.

But, again, it does give us the chance to geek out and project Steve Jobs as the new owner of Marvel. Or as the new Kingpin. Or Doctor Strange, if the 60s fit is better. Or…

Dunno, which Marvel Character is the most Steve Jobs?

[Thanks to our buddy Phil from WMExperts for the tip!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Steve Jobs / Disney - $4 Billion + Marvel = Captain America iPhone?!

Stalwart Apple analyst Gene Munster is back, this time predicting the iPhone will hit multiple US carriers within an year — specifically Verizon — as well as expanded video offerings from iTunes — including a subscription service akin to satellite or cable, and an updated Apple TV to go with it.

Oh, and flying unicorns.

We joke. Slightly. Of course we want all these things too — and more — but we have a feeling that that’s all there is to some of these analyst reports — a bit of logical deduction and some surveys combined with what any of us would want:

“For various reasons the company moved from an exclusive relationship with French wireless carrier Orange to a multi-carrier model,” Munster said. “In France, the company now enjoys dramatically higher market share (in the 40 percent range vs. about 15 percent in ROW) than in countries with exclusive carrier agreements (such as AT&T in the U.S. where the iPhone has market share in the mid-teens). We believe Apple is seeing the increased unit sell-through more than offset the slightly (~10 percent) deteriorated economics per unit involved in non-exclusive agreements.”

So, expect it only when you see it.

[via AppleInsider]

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Analyst Predictions: iPhone on Verizon, Updated Apple TV, Subscription Video, Peace on Earth

Ars Technica brings word that supplies of current generation iPods are running low, with no new deliveries in sight. How convenient, then, that Apple’s annual Music Event, focused on iTunes and the iPod, is just around the corner, presumably on September 9th?

Just over a week to go!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Current Generation iPods Being Discontinued in Preparation for September Music Event and Next Generations?

While the wait for TomTom’s iPhone software to hit the App Store has come and gone, most of you are still eagerly awaiting the arrival of TomTom’s iPhone car kit, first shown off at WWDC back in June. Engadget Mobile is now reporting that your wait may be coming to an end as TomTom’s car kit has received its FCC approval. Included in that link, for your viewing pleasure, is the kit’s manual, some images, and a few test reports.

Since it’s announcement TomTom has kept pretty quite about the kits full capabilities. Well, a quick look in the user manual gets us all of the official details.

Your TomTom car kit for iPhone is designed to provide you with the best possible navigation experience. A built-in GPS receiver enhances your iPhone’s GPS signal, ensuring the most reliable navigation, wherever you are. Using the car kit, you get loud and clear voice instructions, can make hands- free calls, as well as charge your iPhone while you drive. The car kit is a safe and secure dock with the award-winning fold-and-go EasyPort® mount.

Are those the features you’ve been waiting for?

[Via Engadget Mobile]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TomTom’s Car Kit Gets FCC Approval

Last week we linked to an AdMob estimate that the iPhone and iPod touch App Store could represent a $2.5 billion a year economy, which based the estimate off usage stats for their mobile ad network, and a survey of 1000 iPhone, iPod touch, and Google Android users. But not so fast, says Cult of Mac along with developers from Polar Bear Farms, App Cubby, and the Yankee Group.

$2.4 billion divided by the 65,000 apps in the App Store is $37,000 per app, per year. And while some developers earn that, many do not.

They figure it’s closer to $250 million to $500 million, or roughly one fifth to one tenth the size.

AdMob is sticking to their original numbers, however, according to the methodology shared again with GigaOm.

To us, it just seems like they’re all guestimating how big that really, really big pie is — just stupid, or goram ridiculous.

[Thanks Icebike for the tip!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

$2.5 Billion App Store Market Called Into Question?

Exploding iPhones have been a very popular topic as of late, but now an alleged tier 2 iPhone support agent has contacted Gizmodo to further back up Apple’s claims that the exploding iPhones are not the result of faulty batteries but rather simply cases of user abuse.

I’m a Tier 2 iPhone agent for Apple. I’d like to add that roughly one to two calls out of every thousand that I take deal with the battery “overheating”. Generally, this incident can be described as “uncomfortably warm”, and I have not ever received or heard of a coworker receiving a call about someone being injured by the iPhone, including people too stupid to stop using their phones after the screen is broken.

The email later goes on to say Apple gets tens of thousands of calls and zero of them have proven to be safety issues. From the beginning of this debacle we’ve had a feeling that this was simply the media blowing this way out of proportion. We still get this feeling…

Does this alleged tech support email put some of your minds to rest regarding the “exploding” iPhones?

[Via Gizmodo]

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iPhone Support Agent Comments on Exploding iPhones

Facebook 3.0.1 for iPhone [Free - iTunes link], which fixes some of the bugs found in Facebook 3.0 (others are reportedly being fixed on the Facebook backend servers), is now being served piping hot and ready from the iTunes App Store.

(And wow but can Apple approve fast in some cases?!)

[Thanks Cameron for the tip!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Facebook 3.0.1 for iPhone — With Bug Fixes! — Now in the App Store