iPhone Info Blog

Just after hitting 500 million downloads three months ago, Apple announced this morning that they are well on their way to 1 Billion app downloads. To celebrate they decided to launch a promotion were people can enter for the chance to win a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card an iPod touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro - worth over $13,000. The prize will be awarded to the entry (either through an app download or through the non-purchase online entry) sent immediately following the download of the 999,999,999th app.

As of today, nearly one billion apps have been downloaded around the globe. So we just want to say thanks — a billion. Download an app and you’ll automatically get the chance to win a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro. Just go to the iTunes Store, browse the App Store, and download your best app yet.

Apple has also introduced a page for the top 20 paid and free apps featuring Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D and Facebook in the leading positions. So get out there and download some apps! Let the countdown begin!

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The Apple store has now discontinued their Apple Bluetooth Headset. When released in 2007, coupled with the iPhone as a dual-charging accessory, it made for great usability and access. Compared to other bluetooth headsets on the market, it was falling behind - Especially considering it’s price, but that’s nothing unusual with Apple.

This could mean Apple has is planning to introduce a new updated model alongside new iPhones later this year. The new headset will most likely be a stereo bluetooth unit and incorporate A2DP technology, which Apple unrolled with the iPhone 3.0 OS. May I add that the implementation of A2DP within the iPhone works wonderfully and also works well with music-type apps like Pandora.

The rumors speculate that Apple will be unveiling a new iPhone this June, so we will likely see an updated stereo bluetooth headset as well.

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Smarthouse is reporting that Apple may have plans to jump into the OLED (organic light emitting diode) scene by implementing them into the next generation iPhone. We’ve all heard the rumors about Apple launching new OLED notebooks and displays, but will the iPhone sport the new trend first?

It’s also believed that a new iPhone and iPod Touch due later this year will include an OLED screen made by LG who last year scored a multibillion dollar deal to manufacture display screens for Apple.

Apple currently uses LED for the iPhone, MacBooks, and new 24″ Apple Cinema Displays. The move to OLED would allow the displays to require no blacklight and consume much less battery than previous products. It’s no surprise to us that apple would move to the more “organic” and “green” technology for their products.

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The news and rumors are rolling in about next week’s event. Engadget is reporting that the media event Apple is hosting on Tuesday, March 17th, will unveal and demonstrate the new iPhone OS 3.0, which is the next major iPhone operating system upgrade. Apple will also provide updated information on the Apple iPhone Software Developer Kit (SDK) in order to assist developers in creating applications for the new operating system.

We just got the announcement, iPhone OS 3.0 is coming. Set your clocks, mark your calendars. It’s going down March 17th. Apparently, we’ll get a sneak peak at the new OS, as well as a look at a brand new version of the SDK.

BGR is also reporting that the new 3.0 operating system will include support for MMS and tethering via bluetooth and USB.

Below is the text of the invite, courtesy of Gizmodo.

Join us at an invitation-only event to learn about the new SDK and get a sneak peek at the iPhone OS 3.0 software. The event takes place at Apple, Building 4, Town Hall on March 17 at 10:00 a.m.

So do you think these rumors are correct? Anything else you’d like to see come out of this event?

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Weeks ago, we made a post discussing the rumor that Apple has been planning a China release of the iPhone with the Carrier China Unicom. This deal was to bring the iPhone 3G to China, however there was no indication that this deal was close to completed.

According to Reuters, China Unicom’s chairman Chang Xiaobing, confirmed they were in talks with Apple.  ”We are in talks with many handset suppliers, including Apple,” he said.

Apple originally came to China Mobile in hopes of launching the iPhone 3G with their service, however it never panned through.  Their chairman, Wang Jianzhou states they have had multiple negotiations with Apple, but declines on any comments or discussion about the issue.

While China Mobile holds the most subscribers in China, if China Unicom does take this deal the iPhone 3G will be available to over 1.3 million customers.

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Today was a big day for Apple updates. This string of updates is the first major hardware upgrades we’ve seen from Apple in the year 2009 and the prior speculations of updates were spot on. Apple tends too follow a strict release calendar which this Tuesday fell directly on.

Today, apple released new a iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro. Most of these products were quite over do for an update, as the last Mac Pro update was over 18 months ago.  Below are the specs for each new release.

iMac

- $1199. 20-inch 2.66 GHz iMac. 2GB RAM. NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated graphics. 320GB HD. Mini Display Port
- $1499. 24-inch 2.66 GHz iMac. 4GB RAM. NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated graphics. 640GB HD. Mini Display Port
- $1799. 24-inch 2.93 GHz iMac. 4GB RAM. NVIDIA GeForce GT 120. 640GB HD. Mini Display Port
- $2199. 24-inch 3.06 GHz iMac. 4GB RAM. NVIDIA GeForce GT 130. 1TB HD. Mini Display Port

Mac Mini

- $599. 2.0GHz Mac mini. 1GB 1066 MHz DDR SDRAM, GeForce 9400M integrated graphics, 120GB HD, 8x SuperDrive, Mini DisplayPort and mini-DVI, 5 USB Ports, One FireWire 800 Port
- $799. 2.0GHz Mac mini. 2GB 1066 MHz DDR SDRAM, GeForce 9400M integrated graphics, 320GB HD, 8x SuperDrive, Mini DisplayPort and mini-DVI, 5 USB Ports, One FireWire 800 Port

Mac Pro

- $2499. One 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500 Processor. 3GB of RAM. NVIDIA GeForce GT 120. 640GB HD.
- $3299. Two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 Processor. 6GB of RAM. NVIDIA GeForce GT 120. 640GB HD.

The new Mac Pro features the Intel “nehalem” Xeon processors and a next-generation system architecture. The interior has also been updated to allow for easier expansion than the previous version.

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Ubiqkom has posted a video on their blog showing an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard providing input to an iPhone.  They report it works with all apps that use keyboard input and as usual, requires a jailbroken iphone.

This is very similar to the foldable keyboards that people used to use with the Palm units.  Although you won’t see me carrying around my bluetooth keyboard, this would be very neat to try out.

This proves that connectivity is possible between a bluetooth keyboard and iPhone, hopefully Apple can manage to implement this in a future firmware for all the non-jailbroken folks.

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