iOS Devices

New firmware discoveries in Apple’s latest Mac mini suggest future Mac desktops will house Radeon HD 5000 and GeForce 400 series graphics cards. 

The portion regarding ATI’s future Mac desktop offerings is not very specific, but the NVIDIA side of things is. “GeForce 480” is specifically named and this can be seen in the screenshot below. 

Where these chips will be used is not specified, but makes sense that we will see these powerful GPUs in upcoming iMacs and Mac Pros very soon.

ATI Screenshot after the break:

Mac Forums via Electronista.

New firmware discoveries in Apple’s latest Mac mini suggest future Mac desktops will house Radeon HD 5000 and GeForce 400 graphics cards. 

The portion regarding ATI’s future Mac desktop offerings is not very specific, but the NVIDIA side of things is. “GeForce 400” is specifically named and this can be seen in the screenshot below. 

Where these chips will be used is not specified, but it would makes sense that we will see these upcoming powerful chips in iMacs and Mac Pros very soon. 

ATI Screenshot after the break:

Mac Forums via Electronista.

Interesting discussion from Techcrunch. 

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/63890987001?isVid=1&isUI=1

 iOS friendly

The iPhone is no stranger to the Consumer Reports folks who’ve rated it the best business and personal phone for the last 3 years and counting.  So what are their thoughts on this iPhone antenna non-issue?

Bottom line: There’s no reason, at least yet, to forgo buying an iPhone 4 over its reception concerns. And even if those do materialize, Apple’s Steve Jobs helpfully reminds new iPhone buyers that “you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.”

There.  And you were worried.

RazorianFly has teamed up RFLYGD to create a monthly iPhone 4 wallpaper series. The first wallpaper in the collection, Folzi, caught our attention so we wanted to let you guys know about it. 

Click here to download for iPhone 4.

Next month, the designers will unleash the collection’s second wallpaper, Klarion. Here’s an exclusive preview:

Click here to download for iPhone 4.

Incipio was kind enough to send us along three of their iPhone 4 cases. When Apple releases new products, case manufactures scramble to make the best protection devices, and Incipio is a company we consider to be a “pro” at this. Their cases range from mild protection, to medium protection, to almost Tank/OtterBox Defender like protection.  

In this article we review the Incipio Feather, Incio NGP, and Incipio Silicrylic cases. 

Click here to read our entire review coupled with video. 

<a href="http://www.myincipio.com/product/IPHONE_4_IPH-512/Matte-Black-Ultra-Light-feather

As Computerworld notes, Apple changed the terms of its return policy today in releasing its iPhone 4 memo.  You now have a month (from ship date if purchased online) to return your iPhone 4.   There is no restocking fee. 

That’s a change from the company’s normal policy, which demands a 10% restocking fee for returned iPhones. According to the company’s Web site, Apple typically charges $19.90 for a returned 16GB iPhone 4 model, and $29.90 for a 32GB device.

Computerworld attributes the dropped restocking fee to a defense against some of the forthcoming lawsuits over the iPhone 4 antenna issues.  Some of the people suing are claiming the restocking fee as losses and hope to move the suit to class action status.

Do you think this change in policy will have people going on 30 day ‘iPhone vacations’ and returning them right before the return policy is over?

Our Entry: 99 problems but reception ain’t one?

Winners:

3. “I got 99 problems but reception’s my main one” – Faymus

2. “If you have a Droid, I feel bad for you son. – Our very own Seth Weintraub

1. “I’m not number one on iTunes? What the hell happened?” – PhilHeazy

If you feel you should have won feel free to let us know in the comments…

Image source: MR.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJiL-PAMI80&w=700&h=400]

Does this mean I’ll get better reception?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzn8QhrYIvI&w=700&h=400]

Here’s another example of how the iPhone’s signal changes when you touch “the spot”.  Using the GSM speaker noise to show the signal transmission levels when touching and not touching, it appears that something changes significantly when touched.

It appears that there might be hardware issues with some iPhones because, while I can replicate this issue, others cannot.  

Thanks Josh!

Apple this morning admits it messed up in its latest statement on the iPhone 4 signal problem fiasco — while this morning’s news media focuses on Apple’s future in television and iTunes’ move into the cloud. Exciting stuff.

At the same time a huge host of information has broken out which seemingly confirms Apple’s next adventures will be in television and music in the cloud.

read more

http://www.viddler.com/player/9d35e344/

Futurama poke a little fun at the zombie-like iPhone queues in the latest episode entitled,

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/63890987001?isVid=1&isUI=1

Thought some of you might like a quick look at this video, it shows the Google Voice Desktop App (aka the

I know a few banks have been doing this for awhile but one of my banks, Chase, is now allowing you to take pictures of your checks and submit them through your iPhone.  Huzzah.  (iTunes)

High rollers: Chase only allows $1000/day and $3000 a week.   Still nice for the little stuff.

TechCrunch reports Disney has acquired the very popular iOS app development startup, Tapulous. Tapulous is the group behind the extremely popular Tap Tap Revenge series.

The music game has multiple versions such as Lady Gaga, Nickleback, oh and… Justin Bieber games. With Disney in control we think you’ll soon be seeing some Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers action on an iPhone near you.

The details of the deal are yet to be revealed, and who knows… maybe El Jobso himself had something to do with the deal. Also, Bart Decrem, CEO of Tapulous and the guy above, will now take a seat as a Disney VP. Congratulations, Tapulous!

Apple has announced on their QuickTime website that their financial results conference call for Q3 2010 will take place at 2 PM Pacific time July 20th. Investors and others are encouraged to listen in on the conference call via a QuickTime stream.

Although these conference calls usually include Q & A with Apple executives, ground breaking information is rarely unveiled. We’ll be sure to post a reminder prior to the event along with important updates during the stream.

via Mac Observer.

In case you were curious, the iPhone 4 can fly… with balloons attached to it. The end result with HD aerial footage shot on an iPhone 4 is actually pretty sweet. Enjoy the video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvo2g7RkVSo&w=640&h=385]

As you probably know, iAds are going live in North America today and you should start to see iAds appearing in some apps. Yesterday, Apple announced on their developer website that iAds will begin to make their way internationally in the coming months.

Be sure to drop us a line via the comments or tips@9to5mac.com with any interesting iAds you come across, okay?

(Can you tell which one has a yellow tint?)

We

Apple is set to unveil its second Apple Store in China, and this one’s looking like a charm even under curtains. From the looks of things, this new store has a big glass cylinder above land which houses an escalator and elevator to take you to the actual store. 

It is also reported that Apple’s Ron Johnson has confirmed that China will reach the 25 store mark by the end of 2012.

Invitations to the grand-opening, on July 10, are already being sent and for those who care:

Via M.I.C. Gadget.

Boy Genius Report and their trusty sources claim Apple will be adding a major cloud and wireless component to iTunes and this is described through a threefold:

1. Wireless streaming of iTunes content (tunes and flicks) from Apple’s servers to your devices.

-Your purchased content will be housed at Apple’s server farms and streamed to you. This will stop all those 1.5 GB movies from killing your HD space. 

2. Wireless streaming of content from your computer to your other computers or devices. 

-You can wireless stream content from one computer onto another. This slightly seems a bit like iTunes Home Sharing that we had since last year for music.

3. And finally… Wireless syncing with iTunes. – Remember that wireless iTunes sync app that was rejected?

-Any changes you make to your devices such as notes, calendars, contacts, oh.. and apps will be synced wirelessly to your iOS devices. So what the heck is my $99 a year MobileMe going to be for?

Lastly, BGR is calling on two new camera/camcorder capable devices making their way to Steve’s stage in September. These will most likely be still shooting and video taking iPod nanos and touches.