When Apple next announces their financial results, they should have close to $70 billion in the bank, which according to Asymco will be enough to buy all their manufacturing competitors with the exception of Samsung. That includes HTC, Nokia, RIM, LG, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson. (Google and Microsoft aren’t manufacturers, they’re platform vendors.)

The more remarkable thing is that as market values of phone vendors continue to decline, Apple's cash will continue to grow dramatically. Indeed, a time may soon come when Apple's cash will be worth more than the entire phone industry.

I’ll say it again — North Carolina isn’t a data center, it’s a money bin.

[Asymco]

Apple will soon have enough cash to buy almost all their competitors is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Having second thoughts about iTunes 10.5 beat and wondering how to downgrade back to 10.3 on Windows? If you decided to take the plunge and try out the beta of iOS 5, you must also have upgraded your iTunes software to 10.5 beta. We have already covered how to downgrade your iPhone from iOS 5 to iOS 4.3.3 but what if you want to downgrade iTunes too? Well below is a guide to help you do just that.

A word of warning; before you start. This worked for me and should work for you too however there is always an element of risk, especially if you have a lot of content stored in iTunes. If you still want to go ahead and try it, read on after the break!

• Download the latest full build of iTunes here

• While that's downloading, take an optional step to ensure your media is safe. Locate your iTunes folder which should be in C:\My Documents\My Music or C:\Users(your username)\Music in Windows 7. Copy the folder to another location just in case.
• Open Control Panel, Programs and Features and uninstall the following entries:-

1. Apple Application Support
2. Apple Mobile Device Support
3. Apple Software Update
4. iTunes

• Once all of them have been uninstalled, install and run CC Cleaner which will remove any registry entries associated with uninstalled programs. You can download it from here.

• Now reboot your Windows PC

• Once you are logged back in, go back to the location of your iTunes folder (Not the backup you made earlier) and find the file named iTunes Library.itl and rename it to iTunes Library.itl.old

• Open the folder Previous iTunes Libraries and find the file with the latest date prior to upgrading to iTunes 10.5 beta. In my case it was iTunes Library 2011-06-10.itl

• Copy the file and paste it into the root of the iTunes folder. When it has finished copying, rename it to iTunes Library.itl

• Install the downloaded version of iTunes from step 1

• That’s it, you should be done!

Now when fire up iTunes, you should have all of your media visible. If not, don’t panic! You can import all you media back in again by locating it in your iTunes folder. Hopefully this worked for you as well as it did for me. When you are happy that everything is working, you can delete the backup you made of the iTunes folder.

If any of our readers take the plunge and try this out, let us know how you get on in the comments. If you know of an easier method, again please let us know!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward…)

Daily Tip: How to downgrade from iTunes 10.5 beta on a Windows PC is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Wikibot — A Wikipedia Articles Reader brings a beautiful UI, tabbed browsing, and customization to reading Wikipedia on your iPhone and iPad. Additionally, you can save articles to read offline.

• Browse Wikipedia articles in 36 languages!
• Tabbed browsing allows you to have multiple articles open at the same time
• Use the read-it-later queue to make a list of articles to read
• Caches articles for offline access
• Easily switch between different languages of the same article
• Personalize your reading experience by customizing the font, brightness, and color
• Create bookmarks and arrange them in folders
• View a visual browsing history complete with images
• Gallery mode lets you swipe between the images in an article
• Search within articles
• Full screen viewing for best reading experience

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think! Screenshots after the break.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Wikibot — A Wikipedia Articles Reader for iPhone and iPad now available is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

According to a poster Hacker News, the Nitro JavaScript engine brought to iOS 4.3′s Safari browser, is now available to embedded UIWebViews and home screen WebClips in iOS 5. Apple originally claimed the Nitro engine, ported from desktop Safari, would make iOS Safari 2x faster, but due to restrictions on code interpretation (Nitro uses JIT, or Just-in-Time compilation), it was only available in the Safari sandbox. This effectively made web pages embed in apps and saved to the home screen feel twice as slow. No longer, according to this thread:

Q: Did they fix the bug from 4.3 where home screen web apps don’t use Nitro?

A: This is probably breaking my NDA to say this, but yes, they did. Web.app now has the “dynamic-codesigning” entitlement, which enables Nitro.

In other words, embed webpages and home screen web apps just became first class citizens, and should have the speed to prove it.

[Hacker News via CNET]

iOS 5 Features: Nitro Javascript engine comes to UIWebView, WebClips is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• Zombie Ball: Zombies have invaded a quiet suburban neighborhood and the only thing that can stop them is a giant metal ball, the latest invention from the crazy professor's garage! [$1.99 - iTunes link]

• Speech2Tweet: Tweet just by talking! [$1.99 - iTunes link]

• HitIt: Hit the creatures back in their hole when they come out, use a mallet or other things provided in the game. [$0.99 - iTunes link]

• iWatermark: Put a watermark on your photos! [Free - iTunes link]

• Milo: Local Shopping Search the shelves of local stores both at home and on-the-go. [Free - iTunes link]

Any other big apps or game releases or updates today? If you pick any of these up, let us know what you think!

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

New and updated iPhone and iPad apps for Friday, June 17 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

WeightMeter boasts of being most helpful and time saving iPhone weight tracking app available. It will even remind you to track your weight with notifications.

• enter your weight record daily (morning and evening records)
• see the progress on the chart
• choose from week/month/year chart view options
• take a picture to see the difference
• check out photo gallery report
• make notes on your diet program while inputting the weight record
• set the weight and date goal to achieve the best result
• choose measurement system
• enable reminders and the schedule time
• No crash app for tracking the weight
• easy and quick to use tool
• iPhone 4 and iPad compatible HD graphics
• absolutely the fastest app available for tracking your weight
• social media platforms integrated for sharing great news

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think! Trailer and screenshots after the break.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

WeightMeter for iPhone now available is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Air Guitar Move is an accessory that plugs into the dock connector of your iPhone or iPod touch and allows you to play air guitar — for real. You know when that superb guitar solo hits your ears and you can't stop yourself from half closing your eyes, leaning back and pretending it's you pumping out the notes? Well, with this accessory that may soon become a little bit closer to reality.

The unique Air Guitar Move motion sensing guitar pick allows you to strum in the air, and your iPhone becomes a guitar. Imagine how much fun it is to really move instead of just tapping and shaking. Air Guitar Move for iPhone is a rhythm action game (think Guitar Hero) with new game play features specially designed for mobile and allows you to rock to your favorite music.

Air Guitar Move needs funding pledges of $25000 or more to start production. It currently has over $4,300 with 21 days remaining.

Take a look at the video of it in action after the break; unfortunately its a Flash video, not our fault! Then head back here and let us know what you think, is it a hit or a miss?

[Kickstarter]

Air Guitar Move for iPhone and iPod touch hits Kickstarter [video] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Apple has upped the stakes in their look-and-feel “copy cat” lawsuit against Samsung, taking the complaint from 38 to 63 pages, and now accusing Samsung of “products that blatantly imitate the appearance of Apple’s products to capitalize on Apple’s success.” According to FOSS Patents, Apple goes so far as to quote the media to help set up its case:

The copying has been widely observed in the industry and has been mentioned in multiple articles reviewing Samsung products. For example, a writer for Wired wrote that Samsung’s “Vibrant’s industrial design is shockingly similar to the iPhone 3G.” [...] “First Look: Samsung Vibrant Rips Off iPhone 3G Design.” Another Wired writer wrote, “[L]et’s settle one of the biggest arguments surrounding this phone. Yes, the Vibrant closely resembles a certain best-selling smartphone.” [...] “Samsung Vibrant Looks Like an iPhone, Has Battery Life to Match.” [...]

[A] Business Insider review of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 stated that, “[f]rom the front, it looks like an iPad.” [...]

A recent CNET reviewer remarked: “Taking another page from the iPad 2′s school of sexy tablet building, the 10.1 has one of the cleanest designs we’ve seen on a tablet. [...]“

[Fast Company:] “Samsung's Anti-iPad 2 Policy” – “[To] Clone the Heck Out of It”

While the original complaint listed the the Samsung Captivate, Continuum, Vibrant, Galaxy S 4G, Epic 4G, Indulge, Mesmerize, Showcase, Fascinate, Nexus S, Gem, Transform, Intercept, and Acclaim smart phones and the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet, the amended complaint adds Droid Charge, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy S (i9000), Gravity, Infuse 4G, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, Sidekick, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy S II (aka Galaxy S 2), Showcase i500 and Showcase Galaxy S. (For more on those devices, see our sibling site Android Central)

Says Florian Mueller:

In the very near term, Apple will have to decide on whether to request a preliminary injunction. Like I said further above, that’s reasonably likely. If the court appeared to give serious consideration to this measure, it could put enormous pressure on Samsung and greatly increase the likelihood of a near-term settlement in Apple’s favor. But this can also become another epic battle like the one between Apple and Nokia…

Samsung remains the manufacturer of many key components for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

[FOSS Patents]

Apple ups the ante in Samsung “copy cat” lawsuit is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

JOYSTICK-IT is a joystick for your iPad that aims to replace the clumsy on-screen virtual joysticks found in lots of iPad games. If you struggle with on-screen joysticks (I certainly do), this could be another option to consider. The JOYSTICK-IT is made from lightweight solid milled aluminium and certainly looks the part.

All you need to do is load your game of choice and place the JOYSTICK-IT over the virtual joystick and it will stick to the glass. You can then use it in place of the on-screen joystick and hopefully rack up some new high scores and achievements!

The JOYSTICK-IT is available now at a cost of $24.99 for one or as a twin pack at $39.99. As with all of these type of accessories, it would be best to check that it will work correctly with the games you intend to use it with before parting with your money!

Take a look at the video after the break; any of you fancy picking one of these up?

[ThinkGeek]

JOYSTICK-IT brings a physical joystick to your iPad for a better gaming experience [video] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Even though Apple has now filed a motion to intervene, Patrick T. Igoe, Esq., writing for Groklaw, gives his opinion on how developers should deal with a lodsys patent claim made against the iPhone or iPad app (or Android, or other platform).

1. Read the patent, not the blogs. He questions how well the actual patent has been reported to date.
2. Focus on the claims. He’s not convinced Lodsys’ patent covers what they allege it does.
3. Question the claim chart. He thinks Lodsys is cherry-picking.
4. Consider an active defense. He thinks Lodsys’ business model is ripe for disruption, namely:

However, if transaction costs rise through legitimate defenses or declaratory judgment actions, the business model is strained. Lodsys needs developers to think it is cheaper to settle than it is to fight. Developers should consider, however, whether filing a declaratory judgment action in their own district might have the possibility of creating a less costly and more satisfying resolution. With a declaratory judgment action, it is Lodsys that is faced with a dilemma. For a small or medium sized target, it may be more economically sensible for Lodsys to drop the demand for the small licensing fee even if they somehow feel they could win. It may be especially compelling if major weaknesses are identified in the infringement case, as I believe they could be here.

He also stresses you should talk to an attorney. (Of course.)

[Groklaw via @chronic]

How to deal with a Lodsys patent claim against your app is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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