iPhone 4 Arrives in 17 More Countries

The iPhone 4 was made available in 17 more countries this Friday, July 30. Buyers lined up for hours in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland to buy the new iPhone 4. It was made available for purchase through Apple’s retail and online stores and Apple® Authorized Resellers.

iOS 4.0.1 Software Update

Earlier this month Apple released a point release to iOS 4. The iOS 4.0.1 Software Update improves the formula to determine how many bars of signal strength to display on iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 3G. The real signal strength remains the same, but the bars on iPhone will indicate it more precisely. This is an issue Apple found dealing with the iPhone 4 antenna issue that some users have reported when holding the iPhone 4 in a certain position. I recommend installing this point release as it's both a stabilization release and a fix to the signal strength indicator. So have you upgraded to the latest iPhone 4.

GolfShot: Golf GPS App

Being an avid golfer, I am always away on golf trips and and playing new courses. Some courses provide a GPS right on your golf cart but many do not. Also most of the time I prefer walking the course so I have no access to a GPS except for the course layout on the back of the scorecard. Many courses are also no longer marking their sprinkler heads or the 150 and 200 yard distances to the middle of the green. So I recently purchased the GolfShot GPS App ($29.99), by Shotzoom Software, for my iPhone and was pleasantly surprised at the features as well as its accuracy. You have to ensure your iPhone is fully charged before going on course and you also have downloaded course information when you have access to wireless to avoid costly 3G and roaming charges when you are out of town.

iTunes 9.2.1 Update

Apple released iTunes 9.2.1 today which provides a number of important bug fixes. Don't wait to apply this update as it is a stability update especially with new devices like iPhone 4 and the iPad being recently added. The update includes: disabling older versions of some incompatible third-party plug-ins, addresses minor issues with dragging and dropping items, addresses a performance issue when first syncing to some devices with iTunes 9.2, addresses an issue upgrading to iOS 4 on an iPhone or iPod touch with encrypted back-ups and addresses other issues that improve stability and performance.

New MobileMe Improvements

If you a MobileMe suscriber, you'll be happy to know that Apple has made a number of improvements, these include: support for MobileMe Mail aliases when composing or replying to messages in the Mail App, finding your device from another iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch in the new Find My iPhone App, opening documents in iDisk in a compatible app on your Mac, support for higher resolution images when viewing individual photos over a Wi-Fi network on iPhone 4, improved syncing of MobileMe Contacts with Microsoft Outlook, a full-screen map view in the Find My iPhone app, a new Calendar Beta, an application switcher when clicking on the cloud icon and access to Help, Account, and Sign Out when clicking your name. So are you a MobileMe subscriber and do you think it's worth the money?

The Open Championship 2010 App

The third golf major of the year, The British Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews, starts thursday this week. You can keep up with all the highlights and scores with the official Open Championship iPhone App which is brought to you by The R&A. The App has been developed and redesigned for 2010 to bring you even closer to the action at St. Andrews, where The Open Championship will celebrate its 150th anniversary. It's a well designed app and a step up from last years app. So are you going to be watching the tournament in the early hours if you don't live in Europe and live on this side of the pond?

MobileMe Calendar Beta

If you already a MobileMe subscriber when you login into the Calendar there is an invitation request in the menu you can send to get access to the MobileMe Calendar Beta. It definitely looks and feels like the iPad Calendar. New features include sharing calendars with family and friends (must be MobileMe members in the beta), publishing calendars for groups or teams and event invitations with RSVPs. So are you a MobileMe subscriber? To find out more about the beta, including system requirements, you can read the FAQ.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa CBC App

The World Cup Soccer in South Africa is now down to the semi-finals and it's been a fantastic display of soccer skills so far. If you in Canada, the Canadian App Store has a cool World Cup Soccer App created by CBC. The  2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ from CBC has a great user interface and provides you with all the action from South Africa. You can follow every game with live scores, play-by-play updates and expert analysis from CBC Sports. There are two versions a free version without video and a $4.99 version with video. The free version is all you need. Let us know what you think of the app.

Vuvuvela 2010 App

With the 2010 World Cup Soccer in full flight in South Africa, the buzzing sound of the fans blowing on their Vuvuzelas is part of being in the action. If you like me watching the matches on TV you can have your own Vuvuzela without even blowing. There are several Vuvuzela Apps in the App Store but the Vuvuzela that to me makes the closest sound to the real thing is the Vuvuzela 2010 App by moblio based in Amsterdam. You can choose several countries and the more you press the screen the more noise it makes. Give it a try, it's such fun Vuvuzelling while watching a match.

iOS 4 Released Today

Apple today released its latest iPhone Operating System called iOS 4. iOS 4 previously called iPhone OS works with the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3Gs and the new iPhone 4. If you own an existing iPhone you should download iOS 4 now as many of the new features work on the older iPhones. For the new multitasking feature you need the iPhone 3Gs or 4, however, one of the new cool features, Folders enables you to organized and easily access your Apps. To create a folder, you simply touch and hold an app until it wiggles, then drag it on top of another app. iOS 4 automatically assigns a name to your folder based on the category of the apps inside it, or you can choose your own name. So have you downloaded the latest iOS 4? Let us know your experience with it.

Updated MobileMe Now Live

For the past month Apple released a Beta version of it's new MobileMe webmail which has the same look and feel of the Mail App on the iPad. In edition the new webmail was rewritten to make it's response time quicker. Tuesday, Apple officially released the updated MobileMe. For me the response time has been the biggest change although the new interface is a bonus. For you if you have not already subscribed and own several Apple devices including a Windows device you need to subscribe to MobileMe so you can sync your favourites, contacts, mail, calendar items and even your desktop. MobileMe acts like a central server and I think Apple should make the service free to enhance their products. Yes, Steve are you listening to your customers!

iPhone 4 Now Shipping in the US

On June 16, Apple and its carrier partners took pre-orders in the US for more than 600,000 of Apple’s new iPhone 4. It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions. Yesterday, Apple started shipping the iPhone 4 and all is forgiven. Currently, only the black iPhone is available as the white iPhone is going through some manufacturing challenges according a statement released by Apple. So have you ordered or received your iPhone 4? Check out the Apple Store US FAQ or the Apple Store Canada FAQ relating to upgrading to the iPhone 4.

U.S. Open Golf Championship iPhone App

Being an addicted golfer, it is so cool to keep up with the latest scores of the currently played U.S. Open Golf Championship, the second major of the year, with the official U.S. Open iPhone App. The United States Golf Association has created an iPhone app for the 2010 U.S. Open Golf Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California, June 14-20, 2010. I'm rooting for Ernie Els from South Africa. The iPhone App has video, scores, news and course details.

Fox World Cup Ticket to SA iPhone App

With the World Cup Soccer in full swing in South Africa, I have been glued to the TV. I am supporting the host nation being born in South Africa. It's a tremendous achievement for South Africa to be hosting such a huge international event being shown live around the world. To keep with the latest scores, game times and highlights I downloaded the Fox World Cup Soccer Ticket to South Africa iPhone App. It is presented by Audi and is your one-stop guide to the world's greatest stage. You can follow all 32 countries with up to the minute scores, news, standings, photos, videos, schedules, and city information. Let us know what you think of the App?

Apple to Debut iAds on July 1

Apple announced yesterday at the WWDC that its iAd mobile advertising network will be coming to devices running iOS4, the new name for iPhone OS 4. The new iPhone and iPod touch coming out in July will be running iOS4 with the iPad surely to follow later in the year. iAd is not just static ads but interactive high impact ads and developers of Apps will be getting 60 percent of add revenue. That is whole lot more than Google currently pays out. Apple has already signed up a number of big companies with more to follow. So what's your opinion of mobile ads and Apple's iAd platform? Below is the official Apple release.

Apple Releases Safari 5

Apple today released it's latest version of the Safari Browser, version 5. The most talked about features include the support for Microsoft's Bing search engine and support for HTML 5. For us the cool new feature is its new Reader. You can now view web pages in a Word document like format. It's pretty cool and it makes reading web pages a whole lot easier on the eye. So are you a Safari user and have you downloaded the latest version. Let us know your thoughts? Below is the official Apple release.

Apple Presents iPhone 4 Wow

Apple today presented the new iPhone 4 today at the WWDC and it was Wow! Pre-orders start June 15 and it will be available June 24. I am sure you can't wait to get one just like me. Video calling is now a reality and it's the thinnest smartphone in the world.

iPhone 4 features FaceTime, which makes the dream of video calling a reality, and Apple’s stunning new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in super crisp text, image, and video. In addition, iPhone 4 features a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro, and up to 40 percent longer talk time — in a beautiful all-new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world. iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, which includes over 100 new features and 1500 new APIs for developers.

Steve Jobs Thoughts on TV Set Top Boxes

In an interview with AllThingsDigital, Steve Jobs answered a question about the future of television by saying the problem with the lack of innovation in television makes there no viable way to bring new products to the market. He said the reason why additional set top boxes like Apple TV have not been as successful is because the existing market for set top boxes is heavily subsidized by cable operators. Steve further said, set top boxes are free or $10 a month and that pretty much squashes any opportunity for innovation, because nobody's willing to buy a set top box. That's not making sense to me as I paid hundreds of dollars for a PVR with a terrible UI. So what are you thoughts on Apple TV as well as the upcoming Google TV. See the rest of Steve's thoughts on set top boxes below.

Adobe Unveils Digital Viewer Technology

Adobe unveiled a new digital viewer technology today that helps magazine publishers create interactive digital versions of their magazines for the iPad. The technology was developed while helping WIRED magazine create a digital version of their magazine for the iPad. Have you have not seen the latest digital version of WIRED. Let me know what you think? Here is part of the official release from Adobe.

SAN JOSE, Calif., — June 1, 2010 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) has unveiled a new digital viewer technology that enables print publishers to bring stunning digital versions of their magazines to life. This new publishing software was developed with input from Condé Nast’s WIRED magazine, a publication that recently debuted a digital edition for Apple iPad, utilizing the new digital viewer technology. WIRED’s June issue Reader application, now available through the Apple iTunes App Store, is built using Adobe’s digital viewer software.

The iPad is Here Internationally

The iPad finally arrived in the International Apple Online Store. Customers can now also buy the iPad at their favorite Apple Retail Store in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, or the UK and get free Personal Setup. Wow I can't wait to get one but I'm still obsessed about having a camera on my iPad. It means I have to wait for iPad 2.0 and miss all the fun that everyone will have on the iPad for the next six months. I'll just have to keep heading down to the Apple Store to play and get familiar with the iPad and all the new iPad Apps. So are you on the leading edge and have you bought your iPad yet, let me know your thoughts?