While unlocked iPhones have been available for years in other countries, Apple has finally started selling them in America. An unlocked iPhone can be used on AT&T’s network without a 2-year plan, on T-Mobile with the slower Edge network, or taken overseas to use on other carriers. They will not work with CDMA carriers like Verizon. Other GSM carriers may also now be able to offer service to the owners of unlocked iPhones.
You’ll need to pay a premium for these unlocked iPhones with prices starting at $650. Models with a plan from AT&T or Verizon are cheaper as they have been subsidized by the carriers.
1976
Woz: “I’d be happy to give my design of the Apple Computer to HP.”
HP: “No thanks.”
2011
Jobs: “Today we announce the plans for the new Apple Headquarters, built where HP used to be.”
This week Mac and iOS developers gathered in San Francisco for Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. On Monday Steve Jobs and other Apple executives talked about the upcoming releases of Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5, and the new iCloud Service.
Lion will be released in July and sold exclusively as a download in the Mac App Store for $29.99. The new OS will change how the desktop, spaces and applications work with a new Mission Control feature that will make moving between tasks more like iOS. There will also be autosaving, versioning and resuming functions as well as an updated Mail application.
“Now that I’ve dropped it in the snow, I’m thinking it was a bad time to switch to the white iPhone.”
You can protect your Mac from malware by following three simple rules. First, keep your Mac up-to-date. Second, only download from sites you trust. Third, stay informed. This videos shows you how to accomplish each of these steps.
Apple will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference next week. In an unusual move, they have pre-announced the topics for Steve Jobs’ keynote presentation. As expected, he will show Lion, the next version of Mac OS X due out later this year. In addition, a new version of the iPhone and iPad operating system will be discussed. Also, the new iCloud service will be unveiled. The keynote will take place on Monday, June 6 at 10 a.m. in San Francisco.
In a rapid series of events this week, Apple began battling it out against a recent attack of trojan malware. Apple released a security update for Snow Leopard on Tuesday that identified and eradicated the Mac Defender malware. But the next day a new variant of the trojan appeared that looked different enough from the original that it was not detected. Apple responded on Thursday with an update to the security definitions that catches that version as well.
“I hear that Apple is getting into cloud services.”
“Good. Maybe I can finally upgrade my harp with some new apps.”
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the first Apple Store, all of the stores received an upgrade this week. The upgrade consisted of new table displays with iPads next to each product displaying prices and details. Customers can also use the iPads to call over a store employee.
When Lodsys threatened to sue iOS app developers, claiming that they owned the patent on in-app purchases, it sent a chill through the app development community. Apple came to their defense this week firing back at Lodsys saying that they had licensed the patent from them, and that Apple’s license covers developers. Developers reacted enthusiastically to Apple’s support.
“Don’t worry dear, you can come up with another superhero name.”