In an oddly prescient lawsuit filed yesterday, a San Diego man claims that Apple and AT&T knowingly oversold the iPhone 3G, and overloaded the network, causing slow data throughput.
We may never know if this morning's outage was in any way related to the claims the man, William J. Gillis, makes in his filing. He is seeking class-action status for the suit. It follows a similar one filed in Alabama which questioned claims that 3G data speeds are twice as fast, as Apple advertised.
Gillis, a local "corporate entertainer" and "world renowned Master Magician" (according to his website), says the iPhone's packaging does not warn buyers that its performance may not meet customers' expectations. That SUV won't actually drive straight up a cliff face, you know.
Newsflash: Every mobile provider oversells the capacity of its network. Witness attending a convention or during a disaster: it's hard to make a call, because everything's jammed with people trying to make calls. It's the cornerstone of the mobile phone industry, and it's probably not going away because of this lawsuit.
Just add this one to the growing pile of work to do for Apple's corporate lawyers.
If you are in the market for a non-iPhone cellphone that has the features/look of an iPhone, then look no further than this iPhone clone. Unlike the Instinct, this cellphone could very well be the real iPhone killer. According to Electronista, the device could be running a hacked version of Windows Mobile, however, it mimics most of the iPhone's features, right down to the music player. Either way, it's still fun to watch, and to see how long Apple takes to sue them.
Apple opened two new Apple Stores last weekend -- one in Ridgeland, Mississippi (that state's first store) and another in sunny Las Vegas (Nevada's fourth and the third in Vegas). As usual, we asked any TUAW operatives who may have attended to share their reports and/or pictures. Reader Dave took some nice shots in Mississippi.
So, did you go, and more importantly, what did you get? Let us know in the comments. Here's hoping you scored a T-shirt!
In related news, there's an interesting map at ifoAppleStore that overlays Apple Store locations with population density in the US. Of course it makes sense to put stores where the most people are, and that's just what Apple has done.
Earlier this week, Russian communications company VimpelComannounced their intention to bring the iPhone to Russia, the first company to do so. The particulars aren't available yet, but VimpelCom representatives said they hope to be selling the iPhone "...later this year."
Earlier rumors were pointing to this announcement. Last week, Reuters reported on a rumor about a deal that would bring the iPhone to Russia, identifying Mobile TeleSystems as the carrier. That rumor suggested an October launch. Also, when Steve Jobs spoke with CNBC shortly after the launch of the 3G iPhone, he said that a deal with Russia would likely happen "...later this year."
Apple Store The Forum Shops will also open at 10:00 AM in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada. You'll find it at The Forum Shops At Caesars, at 3500 Las Vegas Blvd., South. Full travel directions are here. This will be Nevada's fourth store, and the third in Sin City.
If you visit either store over the weekend, please let us know! We'd love to see your pictures and stories.
Bloomberg seems to be having an extremely slow news day. Its obituary update for Steve Jobs has turned awry. The obituary, a copy of which was sent to Gawker, contains a list of contacts that could be used for an extended story.
Soon after the obituary was published, Bloomberg issued the following retraction:
Story Referencing Apple Was Sent in Error by Bloomberg News Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) - An incomplete story referencing Apple Inc. was inadvertently published by Bloomberg News at 4:27 p.m. New York time today. The item was never meant for publication and has been retracted.
-Editor: Joe Winski, Cesca Antonelli
It should be noted that many major newspapers/magazines keep a preliminary obituary write-up for prominent public people. However, these reports are normally not published before someone actually dies. We can only guess that whomever published this article no longer has a job.
The Psystar saga continues. Back in April, Psystar went public with the first commercial Hackintosh clones. For US$554, they'd send you a Core 2 Duo minitower with Mac OS X preinstalled. In June, they released rack-mount servers with Leopard Server preinstalled in both 1U (starting $1599) and 2U (starting $1999) configurations.
Still with us? Good. This week, Psystar seems to be preparing to countersue Apple, citing anticompetitive business practices. Specifically, the suit alleges that Apple's practice of restricting OS X to Apple hardware is "...an anticompetitive restraint of trade."
We think that's a stretch, but this story sure is fun to follow. We'll keep you updated as soon as anything changes. If you want a claim-by-claim breakdown of Apple's suit against Psystar, check out Nilay Patel's full accounting over at Engadget.
Ben Gray, analyst at Forrester Research, says that Mac OS X accounts for 4.5 percent of the business operating system market, 3¾ times their share in January 2007.
Computerworld notes that all this has happened with one thing notably absent: an enterprise strategy. "I haven't seen anything from Apple that seems to show it's attack[ing] the enterprise market," Gray said.
He says the gains in market share are due to two trends: client virtualization (using software like Parallels or VMWare) and the idea that corporate IT departments are more willing to support a broader range of hardware and software.
"In the end, [IT departments] want their employees to be as productive as humanly possible, so they'll approve tools that people are more comfortable with," said Gray.
In related news, Windows' overall share of the corporate market dipped slightly from 95.6 to 94.9 percent for the same time period.
Just as quickly as Open Tech opened up, the Mac clone creator has decided to put itself up for sale. Of course, we're not sure who would buy a company that could be sued at anytime by the Mothership.
Open Tech has information about the sale on their website. For just $50,000 (payable via PayPal, oddly enough), you will receive the following:
Open Tech name
Open Tech website
Trade secrets (as in secrets to ripping off Apple)
Press contacts (are they selling the actual people?)
2 Open Tech machines with the OS of your choice
This information comes on the heels of Mac clone maker Psystar being sued by Apple for copyright infringement among other things. So, if you are looking to buy a company with built-in legal trouble, Open Tech looks like it could be a good scam deal.
A Birmingham, Alabama, woman has sued Apple, claiming its television advertisements about the iPhone 3G being twice as fast as its predecessor are false. She also claims her handset is defective.
The woman, Jessica Smith, is seeking class-action status for her suit.
According to The Birmingham News, Smith's iPhone connects most often to the slower, older EDGE network, and not the 3G network that the advertisements claim.
Apple has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation, but Apple is, as Macworld puts it, "repeatedlysued" over a variety of complaints.
Tonight, Apple released a new "Get a Mac" ad. "Off the Air" shows PC, Mac, and a Mac Genius. Mac tries to win people over on the fact that the Geniuses will transfer your files from your old PC to your new Mac.
A mad PC then announces that his "frustrated" customers don't need to hear about that and that "fear of switching is the foundation of customer loyalty for PCs." PC proceeds to shut off the commercial by pulling a curtain down.
This commercial isn't as funny, in my opinion, as the last set that came out earlier this week. You can watch all of the Get a Mac ads by visiting the Get a Mac website.
Yesterday we posted a tip about using your iPhone on a cruise ship, but what about if you want to use a Mac on a ship or in a hotel and you don't have a MacBook to take along with you?
AppleInsider's Prince McLean is reporting that installations of Macs in hotels and on cruise ships are going strong, with thousands of Apple machines being sold for installation in those locations by Apple's Enterprise Sales Group. Back in June we mentioned the Fontainebleau's plans in Vegas -- they're also installing another 1,400 24" iMacs in rooms at the flagship resort in Miami Beach.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has Mac minis installed on its Freedom Class (3,600 passenger) ships, and is working with Apple on IT infrastructure for its upcoming Oasis Class (5,400 passenger) liners. The deployments planned will have up to 16,150 Ethernet drops per ship, racks full of Xserves, and thousands of client Macs.
Whether it's an in-room email and information kiosk, a public information center, or an intelligent set-top box, the Mac is definitely making inroads into the hospitality and travel industry.
Tonight, Apple posted three new "Get a Mac" ads: Pizza Box, Throne and Calming Teas. In the Pizza Box ad, PC tries to lure college students into buying a PC by advertising as free pizza. PC notes that Mac is the number one selling computer on college campuses.
In Throne, PC notes that he is "still the king" of the OS world and then goes on to banish Mac. In Calming Teas, PC markets a new tea that calms Vista users instead of fixing the many problems with Windows. These Get a Mac ads seem to be geared towards back to school buyers and are amusing to watch (especially the Pizza Box ad).
For the second time in so many months, Apple has offered MobileMe subscribers a free extension of their current subscription. Earlier today, an email was delivered to customers stating that they'd receive a 60-day extension of their MobileMe subscription, in addition to the 30 days offered in July.
"We are working very hard to make MobileMe a great service we can all be proud of," the message reads. "We know that MobileMe's launch has not been our finest hour, and we truly appreciate your patience as we turn this around."
Thanks, Apple! Three months of free service is definitely a decent compensation. And for those of you spooked by the recent MobileMe-themed phishing scam, we assure you that the link in the email is legit. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Join TUAW as we go on a weekend road trip to Apple's campus at 1 Infinite Loop. No, not really, but we can always take a virtual visit to Apple HQ thanks to Google Maps Street View, now that Google has finally completed their street level photography of Infinite Loop.
This allows you to see the buildings in their full grandeur. Unfortunately, you cannot visit the legendary Apple Company Store. To start your virtual road trip, click here.
In an oddly prescient lawsuit filed yesterday, a San Diego man claims that Apple and AT&T knowingly oversold the iPhone 3G, and overloaded the network, causing slow data throughput.
Apple opened two new Apple Stores last weekend -- one in 
Earlier this week, Russian communications company 
Apple plans to open two new retail stores in the US this Saturday, August 30th. One in 
The Psystar saga continues. Back in April, 
Ben Gray, analyst at Forrester Research, says that Mac OS X accounts for 4.5 percent of the business operating system market, 3¾ times their share in January 2007.
Just as quickly as Open Tech 
A Birmingham, Alabama, woman 
Tonight, Apple released a new "Get a Mac" ad. "
Yesterday we posted 
For the 
