As you might have seen in the Apple’s big announcement, the 3G iPhone will be released on July 11! This includes Canada, and the price for an 8GB 3G iPhone will be a scant $199, while the 16GB version will only set you back $299! This is only partially surprising: first, the hardware itself is cheaper than the one in the original iPhone. Apple also had the time to cost-reduce its hardware platform and negotiate better prices overall.

Finally, the real money that Apple will make is in the wireless subscriptions, not the hardware itself. Apple wants to compete with Blackberry and to increase the market share! Overall, I think this is a good move - not only benefit us as consumers but it benefits the 3rd party software developers, and phone service carriers.

More details at the Apple’s store

That’s the advantage of the iPhone’s full touch screen display, with the iDial iPhone Retro application which allows you to dial phone numbers via a virtual rotary dial. Needless to say this is much slower than just punching some numbers, but at least it helps get your retro kicks in. You can download the application from http://rep.sosiphone.com

Adding 3G on the iPhone may just be the ticket to make the Apple device a genuine hit in Europe. But here’s another rumor that suggests Apple would do more than just add 3G on iPhone 2.0. Whether the QWERTY iPhone is just one model of an entire line of iPhones Apple has been rumored to be preparing we’re nevertheless astounded that Apple may finally succumb to the tactile temptation. Read the rest of this entry »

This news comes from the controversial Chinese site CNMO.com. As Microsoft makes more profit on Office than it does on its current Vista OS, they want to make the software widely available in many different platform. MacBooks run Microsoft Office and Apple does  not really have a product that can compete with Office. But this remain unofficial as I’d like to hear from Apple and Microsoft.

Source: CNMO.com

In the 2008 Macworld Conference, Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit officially announced that Office 2008 is now available for Mac computers. With improved interface and easy-to-use features, even Office beginners can create great-looking documents very quickly.

As we all know, Mac software are NOT cheap, expensive in my opinion! For Mac Office 2008, $399.95 for full retail and $239.95 for upgrade. A sales tag of $400 is about one third of a MacBook’s price! If you add Adobe CS on top, it might cost more than the laptop itself! If you’re a money saver like me, you can get the Open Office 2 or Apple iWork 08 which is a better deal. I admit that Office 2008 provides additional specific features that beats any other software. Your decision!

With 250,000 unlocked iPhones floating around the market, it’s about time to unlock the iPhone in a new way! I’ve seen most iPhone being unlocked with software hack, but swongled site has reported that iPhone Unlock SIM Card can do the work! First, attach to your SIM card to unlock iPhone then unlocking iPhone v.1.1.2 firmwares. Then I guess you insert your own SIM card back and it is unlocked? I’m skeptical about this $30 SIM card’s ability because it’s just too easy. But if any of you have experience with this method or any other unlock ways, please share your thoughts.

Updated on 01/27/2008
An iPhone user emailed me saying the Turbo SIM actually using a fraction of a real AT&T chip because iPhone only accept AT&T as its official service provider. The SIM card fools the phone to think it’s AT&T. Old trick but it works. He also said the hacked iPhone price dropped to $4500HKD from $5900HKD in Hong Kong.

Source: swongled

Apple posted revenue of $9.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.58 billion or $1.76 per diluted share during the 1st quarter of 2008 (ending December 29th). These results compare to revenue of $7.1 billion and net quarterly profit of $1 billion or $1.14 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.7 percent, up from 31.2 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 45 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Here are the sales records.

• 2,319,000 Macs shipped (44% unit growth and 47% revenue growth)
• 22,121,000 iPods shipped (5% unit growth and 17% revenue growth)
• 2,315,000 iPhone sales

The 2nd quarter expectations, however, fall short of analyst projects.

Sadly Apple TV didn’t get much attention because most of us focused on the lovely iPhone. Steve Jobs is not planning to give up Apple TV as he said in the MacWorld that the new and improved Apple TV software will be available in about two weeks as a free update to existing Apple TV devices.

The entry-level 40GB model had its price dropped to $229, while the 160GB version now costs $329, a $70 price reduction for both.

It’s not an easy job being one of the first to bring digital download to the living room and Steve Jobs admitted it. It’s worth to try to do this because the entertainment market is a GOLD MINE. As Steve stated “Apple TV was designed to be an accessory for iTunes and your computer. It’s not what people wanted. We learned what people really wanted was movies, movies movies. And we weren’t delivering that. So we’re back with Apple TV, take two.”

Improvements:

Streaming is extremely quick. While users of Amazon’s Unbox know that streaming delays can be a pain and frustrated, ruining the experience of a spontaneous rental, Apple TV SD and HD clips were both ready to stream after between 5 to 10 seconds. Very impressive…

Remember to check out the Macworld: iTunes $3.99 movie rental per 24hr period!

Apple are about to announce movie rentals via their iTunes download service for only $3.99 per 24hr period, according to “people familiar” with the company’s media plans. The service includes content from existing partner such as Walt Disney Co., Paramount and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, as well as new additions Warner Bros. and Fox. New and old movie titles will be available for rental with further emphasis placed on the Apple TV as a conduit between Mac and TV. This sounds like a Super Deal for movie fans out there! How many movies can you watch in 24 hour time frame?