Steve Jobs's obituary prehumously appears on Bloomberg site

Are they expecting him to die or something? See Gawker.

iPhone girl is freaked out by media hype

It all started when someone here in the UK found a few photos on their brand new iPhone and posted them on MacRumors. Since then the said pics have appeared everywhere and the poor girl is fearful that the few moments of fun could cost her her job (is that right? two 'her's?). Seeing as she's only on £27 a month and shares a dorm with 100 fellow workers, she should make the most of her new found fame. Read the washingtonpost.com story here.

New longer iPod nanos and touch rumours

Designs for new 4th-gen nanos have been leaked online. The new forms shows a curved widescreen on it's side that make the new unit taller and slimmer than it's short and fat sibling; or wider if it's meant to be held sideways. Take the rumours with a pinch of salt though; one of the designs has a mini USB port and not the usual iPod connector. iDealsChina, the origin of the rumour, also claim that the next iPod touch will have GPS.

New iPhone software update might/might not fix 3G connection problems

If you've got a iPhone 3G that keeps on losing it's connection, it's because you're in step from a 3G network to an Edge network or vice versa; You see, the iPhone can't quite switch seamlessly between the two. News reports say that it could be down to a dodgy chip and that this can't be fully fixed by a software update. Some say it's a problem that all mobiles encounter and the whole iPhone story is overblown. You should all download the update anyway. It may have some other bug fixes that you didn't know needed fixing; like the annoying coverflow artwork bug that doesn't check different artists with albums of the same name (e.g. Greatest Hits).

Apple did have something to do with the design of WALL-E's EVE.

Ok WALL-E was made by Pixar. Pixar was set-up by Steve Jobs. Jonathan Ive designs Apple products...so that's why EVE is white and shiny. CNN have reported that Johnny Ive drove "across the San Francisco Bay to Pixar's converted warehouse headquarters to spend a day consulting on the Eve prototype. Pixar's Stanton said that it was a "lovefest" with Ive, but that the notoriously tight-lipped design wizard offered few specific modifications." But that was in 2005 back in the early days of preproduction.

MobileMe users get a 60 day sweetener

Just got this in my mail:

We have already made many improvements to MobileMe, but we still have many more to make. To recognize our users' patience, we are giving every MobileMe subscriber as of today a free 60 day extension. This is in addition to the one month extension most subscribers have already received. We are working very hard to make MobileMe a great service we can all be proud of. We know that MobileMe's launch has not been our finest hour, and we truly appreciate your patience as we turn this around.

MobileMe Team

It's almost like the old days when .Mac was free.

Updated MacBook Air imminent

Mac Rumors have reported that a new Air will sport Intel's new Penryn-class processor and a higher capacity battery. That should speed up the size zero laptop.

Happy 10th Birthday iMac!

Imagine what would have happened if Apple didn't let Steve Jobs back in and this baby remained a sketch on Johnny Ive's sketchpad.
No iPod. Not iTunes. No digital music explosion.
I'd probably be using a Windows PC and still listening to my MiniDisk Walkman.

Fire at Apple's HQ

This raw footage from CBS shows the fire at Cupertino. First report said it was the R&D department affected but it was later confirmed as the Information Systems and Technology dept.

Leaked photos show next metal Macbook.

Engadget's pictures of Apple's new MacBook leaked on Taiwanese site show a a MacBook design that mirrors the curved tapered edges of the MacBook Air. How exciting.
Also AppleInsider has noted that UBS Investment Research recently mentioned a delayed Apple ultra-portable in it's examination of the 'stickiness' of electronic brands. "Analyst Maynard Um echoes analyst reports and leaks that anticipate new Macs (including a revamped MacBook line) and iPods in the second half of 2008 but cites industry checks which point to a "sub-notebook" originally intended for this year but which has allegedly been pushed back to a launch for the first half of 2009."

Be informed with the MobileMe blog

Gone are the days when .Mac users only had a column of lights to check the state of Apple online email, gallery, iDisk, and support service. Now Apple has helpfully set up a Status blog for us to follow. David G's been keeping us informed to date. If you're in the unlucky 1% of MobileMe subscribers who had Mail problems, you'll also be pleased to hear that Apple have set up a dedicated chat line so you can contact a MobileMe Mail specialist for help.

Right wing paper predicts iPhone 'nano' in time for Christmas

A few rumour sites have picked up on this Daily Mail online story. They say "the product will be launched in the UK at up to £150 for pay-as-you-go customers by O2, the mobile phone group owned by Spain's Telefonica. 'This will be a big one,' said an industry source...'The iPhone 3G has been the fastest-selling phone ever in the UK, but it is too expensive to be a realistic proposition in the pay-as-you-go market...However, a cut down version, with the candy bar shape of iPod nano music players, would be a huge hit as a Christmas gift.'...One expert suggested the nano phone would have a touch wheel on the back and display on the front so that numbers would be dialled from behind."
How difficult would that be to use? Who is this 'expert'?

At last - bags for iMacs?!

Bought an iMac and wish you could carry it around like a laptop? No?
Here's a new bag from German company Reinda that makes the iMac "finally mobile!". Yeah, right. They're hand made in Germany..."that is not a scrap chinese!" as it says the company's site (Isn't that where they make iMacs?). Not convinced? Just look at the photo to see how the hulking great mass of Aluminium, glass and silicon is lifted with ease...hang on, it's still sitting on the table!
On the cool hunting site, a friend of author Tim Lu "lugs his iMac all over his house, treating it more like a laptop than a desktop computer". To me this sounds like someone should've bought a MacBook.
The bags are only €90 for the 20" model and €96 for the 24".

After the iPhone, could Apple be left playing catch-up?

OK Apple, put down that iPhone, you can stop working on it now. A few things should be brought to your attention. First, you need to look at your MacBooks...you need an ultra-portable. Jeez, everyone else is making them. No, you haven't got one already. The only thing ultra about the MacBook Air is it's price. Yes it's thin, but for that price, you'd want a bit more than an iSight and one USB Port, headphone jack and a micro-DVI port. The Air should have been given the small footprint (and price) that we all expected. Look, even HP thinks so too. They've gone and made their own MacBook nano.

And at £699, the MacBook isn't exactly entry-level. Instead of making stylish, under-powered laptops for £1199, have a look at what Dell can put together for only £399.

Ditto for the Mac mini. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw an ad for the new Dell Studio Hybrid on the back page of the Metro the other day...there's even a Blu-Ray option!

Doesn't it make the Mac mini look...well, a bit boring?
Yes, I know that none of these PCs have the stupendously simple and spangly OS X, but seeing as companies such as Psystar with their Open Computers and EFiX with their dongle pushing the laws on what you allowed to install Leopard on, the Mac vs Windows vs Linux decision may not come into the equation.
Yes Apple, you may now be Europe's number one PC supplier, but it'll only take an unfavourable court decision to change that.