CapMac iPhone SIG

Apple today announced a new milestone had been reached at the App Store – 1.5 billion apps downloaded.

That’s an improvement of 500 million since it hit the 1 billion-download mark on April 24, and it works out to a daily run rate of 6,173,000 million apps downloaded per day.

The store now offers 65,000 applications, up from 35,000 when last counted, for an average of 370 new applications per day.

“The App Store is like nothing the industry has ever seen before in both scale and quality,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up.”

Our iPhone Meetup this Thursday, July 16th at BB Rovers will feature the best Travel Apps, Nancy Gravley’s tips for creating custom ringtones, and more… and it’s all free – please join us.

Google is the next Microsoft.  Begging, borrowing and stealing their way into shareholder’s… wallets.  And when they can’t figure it out themselves, they plant a snitch on Apple’s Board of Directors.

Google has a charming lore. First they offer to digitize books for the sake of humanity – as long as they get to ‘recover costs’ and control who can access them. They’re into ads, clicks, vending user data and perception data.  The humanitarian Big Brother has good intentions.  They’re futurists, benefactors for the ages…  they plant their own alien spawn on Apple’s Board.  Listen to secret deliberations, product and financial forecasts, and even health information on Steve Jobs – all the while developing products and services that invade and perhaps directly compete with Apple.  Can you say ‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST’?   Not that hyper-competitive Good Guy Google would ever lower themselves to corporate thievery… but hey, as we’ve learned from their malleable corporate values – anything for a buck. Or a stock run-up.

In short – Eric Schmidt needs to be shown the door… NOW.  Have security walk him out – and be sure to check his pockets, too.

Despite AT&T’s brag that the roll-out of HSPA 3G [high speed packet access] is underway – things are grim for 2G iPhones being affected by AT&T’s stealthy signal strength downgrade, delivering fewer bars in more places for some owners of Apple’s original Jesus phone.

The previously robust EDGE/2G 850 MHz band that offered superior indoor signal strength is being replaced by AT&T service on the weaker 1900 MHz band. According to company sources, AT&T has been quietly sacrificing 2G signal strength in an effort to speed up the build out of its next generation 3G network, until they migrate to the 4G LTE [long-term evolution] network in 2011.

Apparently the 2G iPhone is not the only handset being affected by the signal drop. Most AT&T BlackBerry and RAZR models are also feeling the pinch of reduced signal strength.

“While not directly telling customers to switch to iPhone 3G, the alternative for many 2G users will be to sit back and enjoy a horrible downgraded level of service at the same old price”. You can always upgrade with an increase in monthly fees adding $10 for data and $5 for text messages. The 3G upgrade will include a new two-year hostage plan that AT&T prefers to call a contract.

iPhone Blog’s Take:  AT&T is a master of bait-n-switch  – hold AT&T accountable for providing the level of service you contracted for. Complain to AT&T when you have problems, and complain to Apple too.  AT&T should put up the bars and service they promised – or pass the baton to someone else who cares.

Today, Apple kicked off their 2009 back-to-school promotion, offering a free 8GB iPod touch to students and educational staffers who purchase a qualifying Mac.

What does the promo offer?

The promotion offers a $229 online rebate that cancels out the price of an 8GB iPod touch. Customers who instead prefer an 8GB iPod nano, 16GB iPod nano, 120GB iPod classic, or 4GB iPod shuffle can elect to receive lesser rebates that will similarly compensate for the costs of those models.

Which Macs qualify?

Apple lists qualifying Mac systems as the MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro. The Mac mini and refurbished Macs do not qualify, nor do refurbished iPods.

Who is eligible?

Any employee of a public or private K-12 institution in the United States is eligible for the offer, as are school board members who are currently serving as elected or appointed members and PTA or PTO executives currently serving as elected or appointed officers.

Faculty and staff of Higher Education institutions; and students attending, or accepted into a Higher Education institution are similarly eligable.

Apple also announced this year that parents purchasing on behalf of their child, who is a student currently attending or accepted into a public or private Higher Education Institution in the United States, can partake in the offer.

When, where, and how do I participate?

In order to qualify for the offer, the iPod and Mac system must be purchased at the same time and appear on the same before September 8. The products must be purchased from the Apple Online Store for Education Individuals, an Apple Retail Store, Apple Telesales, or an Apple Authorized Campus Store located in the 50 United States or the District of Columbia.

“After you receive your Mac and iPod, submit your claim online by October 8, 2009,” Apple says. “Once your claim has been submitted, check your rebate status at any time.”

Full terms of the Apple back-to-school promo is posted online [PDF].

The countdown is on.  As Apple notes on their countdown page:

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.

Enter to win without purchase* | Official Rules**

A new study shows that iPhone use in business has not only made workers happier but has often saved money over competing smartphones.

The key benefit? The iPhones make workers happier and more productive, the research firm said in a report released today.

But that’s not all, added Ted Schadler, author of the 12-page report on the three companies — Kraft Foods Inc., Oracle Corp. and Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. “The companies say that the benefits of iPhone over other mobile devices include a happier, more productive workforce and lower support costs,” Schadler wrote.

The Forrester report cites Amylin Pharmaceutical, Kraft Foods, and Oracle as examples of how iPhones ultimately boosted bottom lines – and yielded happier employees.

Amylin’s senior IT director Todd Stewart describes iPhones as being easier to support than “other mobile platforms” and that iPhone 2.0′s hooks for Exchange calendaring and e-mail meant it only took three days to ready the 3,000-person firm to support iPhones. The relative strength of mobile Safari and the e-mail client has led many to treat their systems more like netbooks than mobile devices.

On a pure cost basis, the iPhones themselves are less expensive to run. Stewart adds that individual ownership of devices, instead of handing them out from a corporate pool, has also trimmed costs by persuading workers they should be more careful with their smartphones.

Kraft, meanwhile, emphasizes that the iPhone was brought in to support a “culture change” at the company and that many of those using iPhones are happier than they were before they switched. It pushes the company at large to use newer technology and has been cutting costs by letting iPhone owners get their own support rather than depend on the company alone for help.

Oracle currently counts 4,000 iPhones among its total mobile base; Kraft is adding 400 phones a month and may top 5,000 by December, while Amylin despite its size still anticipates that as many as 650 of its smartphone-equipped workers — or 75 percent — will use iPhones by the end of the year.

Maybe you’ve seen the new Blackberry ad designed to snipe at Apple’s iPhone:

As Blackberry dreams

That’s not how it really went down when they used a REAL Apple, not one of those wussy ones from Washington state:

Apple smashes Blackberry

More to come at our iPhone SIG meeting this Thursday from 7-9 pm at BB Rovers…

Get the most out of your iPhone with Ted Landau’s in-depth advice!

Join troubleshooting guru Ted Landau as he takes you to the next level of iPhone mastery in this 183-page ebook. You’ll find a compendium of useful information, with a particular focus on helping you work more effectively, avoid problems, and fix any existing problems. His book is available both as an ebook and paperback:  Ted Landau’s ‘Take Control of iPhone’

Ted Landau is tentatively scheduled for our May meeting to discuss his great new book – and discuss forthcoming iPhone developments and announcements, via iChat.

Amidst the hype of the new Shuffle, Apple has not-so-quietly updated their “What’s New” page for iTunes, mentioning a handful of improvements to be seen with the just-released 8.1 update. New features include improved speed with large libraries, Autofill, and a switch to 256-Kbps AAC as the new import default. To quote the page:

Speed improvements
iTunes gets a speed boost. Now when it comes to loading large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, and syncing your devices, iTunes responds faster than before.

Autofill any iPod.
Now the convenience of Autofill works with any iPod. Let iTunes choose what songs fill your pocket and enjoy your music at random.

Import as iTunes Plus
Automatically import music from your CDs as higher quality, 256-Kbps iTunes Plus files. Watch a tutorial to find out how to import music from CDs.

For iPhone and iPod Touch users, the improved speed and reliability for syncing and backing up is most welcome. We’ll cover the changes and improvements at our March 19th  iPhone SIG meeting.

The update is available now via Software Update.