More regional U.S. wireless carriers have announced this week the availability of the iPhone. nTelos Wireless in Virginia, Appalachian Wireless in Kentucky, Cellcom in Wisconsin and Alaska Communications have announced they are getting the iPhone. Looks like April 20 is the start date for all of those networks.
The annoying Flashback trojan, a rare piece of malware that can infect Macs, became a little more dangerous for a short time this week when it appeared as part of a Java exploit. Formerly the trojan only appeared in obviously untrustworthy downloads on sketchy web sites. This exploit allowed Macs to become infected be simply visiting a malicious web site — though no web sites were mentioned in any of the reports. Apple responded immediately this week with a Java patch you can get by simply running Software Update. Another trojan surfaced last week that relied on the user having an older version of Microsoft Word and downloading a suspicious file. As always, of the easiest and most effective ways to protect yourself against malware is to keep your Mac and all of your software updated. Check out MacMost’s Mac Virus and Malware Information Center.
“I got a new iPad. That means my husband gets my old iPad 2. Our oldest child then gets his old iPad 1. And it trickles down eventually to our goldfish who gets an original iPod shuffle.”
Recently, Apple’s standard one year warranty has come under scrutiny as the European Union requires two years. In the U.S. you get a one year warranty which you can extend to three years with the purchase of AppleCare, which also gives other benefits in addition to extending the warranty. You can read about AppleCare at Apple’s site. On the one hand, making AppleCare a separate purchase keeps the price of Apple hardware lower for those who don’t want AppleCare. On the other hand, some feel that Apple’s warranties should be longer than one year.
What do you think? How does Apple’s standard warranty compare to warranties you get on other products you have purchased? How does their AppleCare program compare to other extended warranties?
The controversy over antenna issues that plagued the iPhone 4 drew to a close this week as Apple offers $15 to those affected by the issue. You are only eligible for the money if you are in the U.S. and did not take advantage of Apple’s offer for a free case back in 2010. Those eligible were contacted via email.
Apple released a minor iTunes update with bug fixes this week. You can get the update via Software Update on your Mac.
U.S. Congress continues to take an interest in iPhone privacy issues. They have asked for information from dozens of app developers about what information about users they gather and how the use that information. Apple itself has begun to refuse apps that use the iPhone’s universal device identifier (UDID) as a method of identifying the iPhone as a unique device across multiple apps.
“Let’s see… 400 small packages all the same size that originated in China, one each going to every house on my route. Must be a new Apple gadget today.”
One of the hottest rumors of the last year has been that Apple is working on a television product. While it already has the set-top box known as Apple TV, a television would be a screen with similar functionality or an even more advanced user interface and remote control.
Do you think Apple should create such a product? And if so, what features would you like it to have?
Apple sold about 3 million new iPads last weekend. The usual lines formed outside Apple stores and shipping times for the new iPad slipped back several weeks as initial inventory sold out. In addition, the new iPhoto app reported sold a million copies in the app store.
On Monday Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a change to Apple’s finances as it will begin to offer stock dividends later this year. In addition, Apple will buy back $10 billion in stock over the next three years. This is in response to the nearly $100 billion in cash that Apple currently has on the books as a result of profits.
There was an interesting development this week in Apple’s ongoing Chinese labor controversies. One of the key counterpoints to Apple’s use of Chinese factories came from an episode of This American Life, a radio program that aired in January. That episode told the story of a man who visited the factories to find underage workers, injuries and poisonings. But it turns out that much of those details were fabricated and the producers of the show have issued a retraction.
“So what are you going to name your baby, Mr. Smith?”
“We’re inspired by how Apple names things. We are just going to call him ‘new Smith’.”
Yesterday Apple announced both a stock dividend plan and a stock buyback. A dividend of $2.65 per share will start with a quarter later this year. In addition, Apple plans to buy back $10 billion of its own stock over the next three years. Currently Apple has about $100 billion in cash. Do you think this is the right move for Apple? What else do you think Apple should be doing with its excess stockpile of cash?
