Apple, you have GOT to be kidding me. I mean, look at the photos! Here is what Apple actually thinks:

….Apple’s legal challenge to the seemingly innocuous GreenNYC logo, claiming that the looped green apple would cause “consumer confusion resulting in damage and injury” to Apple, and will “cause dilution of the distinctiveness” of Apple’s trademark….

Consumer confisuon that is resulting in injury for Apple?! This has got to be joke! We are talking about a green-conscious organization that happens to have a logo shaped like an apple. Why the heck would Apple lose profits? Apple is starting to become one of the big, bad corporations that files lawsuits over anything! I mean, who would could confuse the two apples? For the sake of comparing, here are the two logos, courtesy of The New York Times:

I don’t know what person could confuse these two logos, but that surpasses me. Apple is pissing me off right now. (Walks away )

VIA New York Times

Ha, I think not. MySpace is very late to the idea of offering a music site, and if the two other music websites haven’t caught up to iTunes, I don’t think any site will at this point. If MySpace had gone into the game a lot earlier, they would of had a good chance of being a successful music site. I mean iTunes has the majority of music subscribers, it’s just as simple as that. I don’t think anyone will come in their way at this point. The sales of the Apple iPod definitely garnered attention from many people, and if it weren’t for the Apple iPod iTunes could have crashed-and-burned. To me, Apple has some sort of advantage in this market, although I do have to say that they pull off the software part of it extremely well and that also helps promote their sales.

VIA eFlux Media

It was about time. I knew this time would come eventually. And now, that time is here. Apple finally surpassed everyone else in the digital music download services. And looking at the CD trends stated by NPD, it does not look like this trend is going to let up. Here is how Michelle Quinn and Dawn C. Chmielewski from the Los Angeles Times describe it:

NPD Group, based in Port Washington, N.Y., did not release figures on how many albums each company sold. It said it counted every 12 singles sold as one album, and that Apple probably received a boost during the two months by people cashing in iTunes gift cards — which Wal-Mart and other retailers also sell — received during the holiday season.

So it looks Apple might have had a sales boost for certain parts of the year. In my own opinion, Apple would have dominated the market even if they were counted in a more accurate way. Although I am an avid user of iTunes myself, I do have to say that it does have some flaws. First and foremost, from what I recall from reading other forum posts, you can only redownload your lost iTunes songs ONCE. And to do that, again from what I recall, you have to go through a more or less complicated talk with Apple support. Also, some of the songs on movie soundtracks could ONLY be purchased when you buy the whole album. That is another flaw that has irritated me so. I have yet to know why Apple does these kinds of things, and I am interested in knowing. But for know, I am hanging with iTunes, until other competition, like Sony BMG, blows them out of the water (hopefully ).

VIA Los Angeles Times

Apple, this is a shocker from you. My precious Apple is going down like the rest of the corporations that have false advertisements. Originally, I didn’t hear of the lawsuit filed against you in May in 2007. Here is how Jacqui Cheng states the situation:

The plaintiffs, Fred Greaves and Dave Gatley, originally brought the suit against Apple in May of 2007, alleging that Apple’s displays were “grainy” and “sparkly,” and that some customers had observed banding (when the display shows you bands of different shades when it is supposed to display a smooth gradient). Their proof, aside from their own observations, were pages of printed discussion threads from Apple’s support forums. The lawsuit alleged that customers who complained about the displays were allegedly told that they were being too picky or that they were imagining the problems.

Apple, I would have never expected something like this from you. I thought you were different from the rest of the evil corporations.  You have let me down. But enough of my rant.  Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. Apparently, they used dithering to attempt to acheive what the advertisements actually say. Along with their observations (the people who filed the lawsuits), they used forum discussions to support their case. As many lawsuits are, the agreements were undisclosed. This type of deceptive advertising seems pretty low on a corporate standard. I better watch for you Apple.

 VIA Ars Technica

Apple, once again you have lit my fire for the day! Even if this is all speculation, I am pumped! If Apple hears about this, maybe it will have plans to include such a thing! According to AppleInsider:

More specifically, he claims that a 3G version of the iPhone hardware due in a few months will employ two digital cameras situated back-to-back — one on the front side of the unit behind the transparent touch-screen, and a second one on the back of the handset as it exists today

“He” is the Digg social networking site’s founder Kevin Rose. Sure, he claimed the Apple iPhone would have some extra features it didn’t turn out to have, but what does that have to do with being pumped about an idea like this? Along with being obvious, it seems second-nature for 3G video chat to be included with the Apple iPhone.

Apple hasn’t let me down YET, but I am definetely keeping my fingers crossed for this one.

VIA AppleInsider

I would have never seen something like this coming from Apple. Now that iPod sales have died down, it appears that they are looking into taking action to keep those sales figures up. They are talking about bundling unlimited iTunes library downloads with the purchase of an iPod. Once again Apple, you have made my day. Just them talking about something like this makes me so excited.

It seems to me that Apple has a lot of projects that they are trying to keep up with. Maybe they are starting to lose their shine in light of all of the criticisms of their products. I mean, first comes the iPhone 2.0, then the new Apple TV, and now this. Apple, watch your back! I would hate to see your products go down the drain . Maybe the Apple-haters out there can finally gloat in the Apple-lover’s faces. Enough of my rant, back to the news.

The only thing keeping me back from a deal like this would be the price tag and the fact of buying a new iPod. I mean how high can Apple go for this type of thing? They aren’t one of those wacko outrageously priced sellers that I too often see in the industry these days, such as HDMI cables. But pushing that aside, buying a new iPod after less than a year’s use seems to be overdoing it a little. But we will keep our eyes peeled for any news on this again.

I really don’t know what’s with me and Apple. I think we are starting to having a relationship with all of these posts. But anyways, Microsoft attempts to kill the iPhone trend with a deal with licensing Adobe’s flash for mobile devices dubbed “Flash Lite.” Microsoft finally has a comeback that looks like it will do something to encourage end-users to buy their Windows Smartphone. I’m sorry I have to betray you Apple, but this looks like it can do some damage to your sales. This deal actually encourages me to get a T-Mobile Dash (if they’re still available in May for the same price) knowing that it could play YouTube content.

Looking at the Adobe Flash lite version comparison chart, Flash lite 3 is inferior to the Flash Player 7 SDK. As long at YouTube could work, I am all for it.

But with all these applications focusing on the iPhone and Windows Mobile OS devices, who is focusing on the BlackBerry? Yeah, I know it isn’t meant for things like this because of it’s “professional” storefront, but can that stop us from having a little bit of fun with it once and a while?

It’s about time something like this happens. Apple looks like they are taking their product, Apple TV, to the next level by adding DVR-like capabilities. It was only a matter of time they incorporated this into their Apple TV. According to the article, it also looks like they are incorporating TV Guides into an iPod-like navigation interface (Who knows what they can come up with?). Way to go Apple! They are definitely heading in the right direction with this. I mean, who has ever wanted to see what to record on their commute to work. Totally me! People definitely have advantages in doing things like this.

Looking at the article, it looks like their custom program guides could add more to the basket of goodies. All in all, I really have high hopes for this product. I just hope they won’t mess it up with advertisements or something like that. You haven’t let us down yet Apple. Don’t make this the first!

VIA AppleInsider
Image: Courtesy of Apple

It’s about time Apple puts their focus on corporate needs. When the iPhone first came out, I knew it wasn’t going to cater to the needs of corporations. They appeared to be aiming towards the general working population. But I am glad to see that Apple knows that it has a wider user base to attract.

Apple’s recognizing of corporate needs is only the first step into the arena. They also have to maneuver their ways through federal restrictions and corporate demands to sell a successful product. Things that could get into Apple’s way include true data encryption, firewall, data protection, secure VPN intranet access, and much more. Sounds like a lot of demands, but if Apple can pull this off, they will be on their way to a much better future.

I highly doubt Apple will be able to attract a large audience if they don’t lighten up about the carrier restrictions in some way without breaking the contract with AT&T, which is as possible as licking my elbow . If only there was a way for this to happen, then I would be happy with my shiny iPhone on my grungy T-Mobile service (with no 3G, I may add). Many corporations have special deals with other cell phone carriers, especially with ones that have fast DSL-like mobile broadband (Verizon). Considering this, it may lessen Apple’s profits from creating an iPhone 2.0.

VIA ComputerWorld