Looks like Apple has begun the process of refunding Apple Online Store bumper case orders. *MacRumors says:

Existing back-ordered bumper cases have also been processed for refund. We expect the process will continue over the next few days. Apple is also expected to provide a method for in-store purchasers to also receive a refund but has provided no details yet.

As part of their iPhone 4 “antennagate” press conference, Steve Jobs announced Apple would be giving away free cases, including Apple Bumpers, to every iPhone 4 customer as a way to make them happy and alleviate any concerns about reception issues.

Anyone else get their refund notice yet?

[MacRumors]

Here come the Apple bumper case refunds… is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

XGear SHADOW case for iPad is for those who want a tough exterior case for the back of their iPad but want to keep the front completely open for easy access. so, yes, it’s pretty much identical to the XGear Folio case for iPad I looked at earlier… without the front cover.

It’s black, it’s got a futuristic diagonal ridge texture going on, and while — again — it probably wouldn’t stop a bullet it does seem strong enough to repel most bumps, bashes, scratches, and scrapes that come anywhere near your iPad.

While I worried the four small corner tabs wouldn’t be enough to secure it safely and persistently to my iPad, it’s been snug for more than a couple of weeks now and shows no signs of letting go until I make it. The corners also double as mini bumpers to protect the sides of your iPad.

If you want something slick and sleek to keep the unibody aluminum back of your iPad in mint condition, check out the XGear SHADOW case for iPad available from the TiPb iPad Accessory Store.

Pros

• Carbon outer wrap is tough
• Looks good.

Cons

• Not as tight fitting as a skin

TiPb review rating

XGear SHADOW case for iPad review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Gameloft’s NOVA has just received one awesome update; high-res retina display support and the ability to use the gyroscope (looks like Gun Range proved useful after all) for iPhone 4. First let’s talk graphics…

This game looks absolutely amazing. Color. Crispness. It’s all there. No aliasing problems, things just look great. Now for the not so great news, the Gyroscope.

I have been playing with the NOVA update for the last couple of days and for the life of me, I can’t seem to feel comfortable using the gyroscope in conjunction with the traditional controls. Sure, the gyroscope is precise. Sure you can pivot in a circle and the game will rotate with you. But when it comes to playing in a firefight with aliens, it is hard to be using the traditional controls to pan while using the gyroscope to aim. Perhaps I just don’t have the reflexes of my youth, but I found the experience frustrating. Thankfully you can turn the gyroscope controls off.

This was just my experience, how are you liking the update? Let us know in the comments!

Video after the break.

[$4.99- iTunes link]

NOVA gets Retina Display and Gyroscope support is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

While iOS 3 (iPhone 3.0) introduced Spotlight search for on-device information like contacts, songs, and apps, iOS 4 examples Spotlight to search the Web and Wikipedia as well.

From the main home screen, just swipe to move left to Spotlight, or click the home button to toggle to it, and start typing your search. You may see the aforementioned local results start to pop up but you’ll also see a Safari icon saying Search Web and a curiously blank icon saying Search Wikipedia.

Tap those and Spotlight fades, Safari comes up, and you’re off and searching the internet.

Already familiar with this? Then let us know if you’re using it and how it’s working for you. Any advantage to just going straight to Safari or tapping open a Wikipedia app?

For more features, see our complete iOS 4 walkthrough.

iOS 4 features: Search the Web, Wikipedia is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

We often accuse Apple of being too controlling when it comes to the iPhone, but sometimes that control benefit the end user — for example preventing the kind of carrier bloatware being foisted on the iPhone that Wired says is being foisted on the new Android devices from Samsung and HTC. Examples include trial versions of subscription services like MobiTV, GoGo Flight Internet, Where, Nascar, Football, and others.

"It's different from phone to phone and operator to operator," says Keith Nowak, spokesman for HTC. "But in general, the apps are put there to meet the operator's business and revenue needs."

[...] But bloatware isn't a feature in all smartphones. AT&T hasn't piled extraneous software onto Apple's iPhone.

No, AT&T hasn’t piled extraneous software onto Apple’s iPhone because Apple won’t let them. As Wired themselves profiled recently, any attempt by AT&T to dictate anything iPhone related to Apple would be rebuffed and — if needed — “escalated to Steve” who may then “scream at Ralph”.

At the D8 conference Steve Jobs said many companies mistakenly believe the distributors (retailers, carriers, cable providers, etc.) are their customers. Apple believes end users are their customers and in this case they don’t seem to care a wit what the carriers want.

Google’s model, by contrast, is incredibly carrier-centric. Their customers are the carriers. Their prime consideration is to get more and more manufacturers and carriers to make and carry more Android devices. That’s why their open source license is Apache — a license that ironically leaves their source open to carrier control up to and including the ability to close things out. Manufacturers and carriers can do pretty much anything they feel like including adding non-removable bloatware, locking out side-loading, preventing rooting, etc. And yeah, you can hack your way around it but you can also jailbreak an iPhone. That’s fine for power users. For mainstream users, not so much.

(Sadly, the single Android handset Google did control, the Nexus One, is being taken off the market.)

So we iPhone owners can get upset when Apple occasionally messes up and doesn’t approve an app until there’s an outcry, or sticks stock and weather apps on the iPhone we’d rather hide away, but does anyone think the iPhone user experience would be better if Apple were more open and the carrier was given complete control?

[Wired]

True cost of Apple control: no carrier bloatware on iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Hot on the heels of Apple’s 8.4 million iPhones sold in Q3, AT&T announces a record-breaking 3.2 million of those were activated on their network. Their churn levels were lower than ever as well, 1.01 percent postpaid churn and 1.29 percent total churn, and the all-important ARPU (average monthly revenues per subscriber) up 3.4 percent.

On June 24, AT&T began offering iPhone 4, the most powerful iPhone yet. Preorder sales of iPhone 4 were 10 times higher than the first day of preordering for iPhone 3GS a year earlier. For the full second quarter, AT&T iPhone activations totaled 3.2 million, the most quarterly iPhone activations ever. Approximately 27 percent of those activations were for customers who were new to AT&T.

27 percent new to AT&T, going into the 4th year of exclusivity? Yeah, that’s probably why they stick with that “I hate you, don’t leave me” borderline relationship with Apple.

And all this with iPhone 4 demand still exceeding Apple’s supply, and the white iPhone 4 still waiting on a limited, late July launch.

[Business Wire via TechCrunch]

AT&T activates 3.2 million iPhones in Q3 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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AppleInsider is reporting that Jeff Williams, who’s been at Apple for over a decade, has just been promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations and tasked with making sure Apple products meet “the highest quality standards”.

It’s hard not to imagine this as anything other than a response to “antennagate” and other iPhone 4 problems, though there’s another theory afloat:



It’s believed Apple is grooming Williams to take on Cook’s role as chief operation officer in the event that Cook takes over Steve Jobs’ role as the company’s chief executive. Cook has been profiled as the most likely successor to Jobs when Apple’s iconic chief chooses to step down.



Either way, it’s great to have a targeted set of eyes in ops. Congratulations and here’s wishing him every success.

[AppleInsider]

Jeff Williams promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations, taking charge of Apple product quality is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

While iPhone accounts for only 3% of handset market share by unit volume, Finacial Times reveals some Goldman’s numbers that show it’s set to capture a stunning 2X the profit share of Nokia, RIM, and Sony — combined.

And Goldman only showed those numbers by way of saying how enthusiastic they are about iPad doing the same thing to the PC industry. That sounds crazy, but iPad almost equalled Mac sales numbers this quarter and while its margins are less than the Mac’s, they’re higher than the razor-thin netbook and bargain basement PC industry where much of the volume rests.

TiPb’s been saying for a while Apple only cared about market share as much as it meant increased profit share. Looks like that’s working out for them.

[Financial Times via Business Insider Daring Fireball]

iPhone is 3% of handset unit volume, 2x profit of RIM, Nokia, Sony combined. iPad next? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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