For those of you that haven’t been able to view or read about the recent press conference, let me give you a basic overview of what was covered. Apple is coming forward with the goal of “transparentness” and admittance of the signal-loss issues on the new iPhone 4. They delivered a large amount of data, putting the problem into perspective. The 4 more statistics used are as stated:

• All Smartphones have weakspots – showing videos of 3 competitive smartphones, Apple demonstrated that all Smartphones show signal-loss when “gripped tightly”
• AppleCare Data = 0.55% – Less than half of 1% of AppleCare support calls are related to antenna and signal-loss issues
• AT&T Return Rates = 1/3 of iPhone 3GS – The number of customers whom have returned their iPhones (based on dissatisfaction) is far less than those that had returned their iPhone 3GSs. Theoretically showing that despite the success and praise that the iPhone 3GS has received, it had 3 times as many returns to AT&T stores as the new iPhone 4 has had.
• Dropped Calls = <1 per 100 – Once again comparing to  the highly successful iPhone 3GS, less than 1 out of 100 more calls are dropped on the new iPhone 4. In this statistic Apple admits “we cannot deny that this shows a problem with the antenna”. But also reminds us that the difference between iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 is miniscule.

Apple admits that there is a problem, but repeatedly reminds us that it is no different than other smartphones, and that the data proves that although a problem is apparent, it is only affecting a “small percentage of users”.

Apple then proceeded to explain the actions that it is taking to fix the issue. They repeated that although this is a problem with only a small number of users, they want to satisfy each and every user.

The first action that they have already taken is the updated operating system (iOS 4.0.1) which became available for free download yesterday afternoon. This fixes the algorithm that Apple uses to accurately display signal-strength. Apple admits that this does not fix the problem, but puts the problem into perspective, with a more accurate display of signal-strength.

Furthermore, Apple is offering a free case to every iPhone 4 user. Namely, this includes Apple’s own popular “Bumper Case”, which has been in high-demand, and to-date is the only iPhone 4 case offered in Apple Retail Stores (although I have no data to support it, I have visited 5 different Apple Stores since iPhone 4 launch, one of which being Apple’s own flagship store in New York City on 5th St., and I have only seen black bumpers available). If you have already purchased a bumper case, Apple will be refunding you the full $29 for the price of the bumper. Apple also admits that it does not have enough bumpers available to give one to every iPhone 4 owner, so they will offer a choice of other 3rd-party cases available for you to choose instead (but did not specify which cases those will be). You will be able to sign-up for a free case online at the end of next week.

Not only are they willing to hand out free cases to every owner, but if you find that you are still not satisfied with the iPhone 4 (either before or after you receive a free bumper), you can return the phone to Apple for a full refund (waiving all restocking fees) within 30 days.

Apple repeated that they are here to help every single owner of a new iPhone 4, not just the ones that are experiencing problems.

Today Apple has begun accepting beta testers for its’ upcoming, re-vamped MobileMe Calendar application, accessible via the internet browser. Apple has not released a lot of details about the new version of MobileMe Calendar, but they have given us a few hints to get us excited about.

First of all, the design of the new Calendar is going to mimick the experience that iPad owners are experiencing with their iPad devices. The interface will resemble that of a daily planner in book format.

Apple also hinted at a much stronger integration with CalDAV, which is a universal calendar event file format. This will allow transfers and sharing of your events much easier with friends that don’t have MobileMe. For your friends that do have MobileMe, you will experience more sharing options, like the ability for them to mutually edit an event that you are sharing with them.

Beyond these feature additions, Apple’s new Calendar will also load much faster and be easier to scan for events in other views. Apple says that it is optimized to run in Safari 5, Firefox 3.6, and Internet Explorer 8.

Although Apple hasn’t made any mention of this yet, I believe it is also safe to assume that the whole application will be rebuilt in HTML5, the new internet standard that Apple is fully backing right now. This may explain their comment that the application is optimized by those certain browsers, all of which offer the greatest support for the new HTML5 standard.

For anyone wishing to sign-up for the beta, simply log onto your me.com account and go to the calendar page (mail page comes up as default). On the left-hand side, near the bottom you will see a beta announcement asking if you would like to be invited to the beta. Simply click the link that you would, and the small box will change, informing you that invitations will be handed out over the next couple weeks.

Apple announced today via a press release, that the 3 millionth iPad was sold yesterday. This date marks a mere 80 days since the introduction of the iPad back on April 3rd of this year. Steve Jobs announced that an iPad was being sold every 1.4 seconds during his recent keynote speech at the Apple Developer’s Conference, WWDC.

In the press release, Jobs is again quoted as calling the iPad, “a magical product” that “has become a part of [everyone's] daily lives”. Read the rest of this entry »

The Mac Coach has been busy working on improving every aspect of this site’s performance and content. This site is less than a year old, yet it has been recieving an exceptional amount of feedback and suggestions. Many of these suggestions are things that we have been trying to incorporate from day #1, but these things take time, money, and planning.

Today we are proud to announce that a new face for The Mac Coach is coming. Our new site will launch soon and will bring all of you countless new features, and added functionality. Here is a brief list of what we will be seeing in the coming weeks and months. Read the rest of this entry »

Today Apple announced the newest version of its’ Software Development Kit for iPad. The SDK is version 3.2 and is the third release of the SDK since the iPad announcement about a month ago. The SDK can be downloaded for free for registered developers from Apple’s Developer website.

The SDK includes the iPad simulator, sample code bits, a programming guide, human interface guidelines, and a host of programming tools to help you create iPad-ready applications when the product launches in a few months.

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BussinessWeek conducted a recent survey looking for which companies have the best customer service. Apple ranked 3rd in this lineup making it #1 of all computer manufacturers. The next best computer manufacturer was Dell who placed 23rd.

First place went to L.L. Bean and second place went to USAA, an insurance company. Apple received its’ highest marks for “Quality of Staff” and “Efficiency of Service”. Apple placed 20th in last year’s poll by Business Week, showing that they have made considerable progress over the past year.

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[UPDATED: Mon - Feb 22, 2010 @ 10:00am Mountain time] Apple has made a move recently at making the App store more family friendly. They are looking to remove all “Overtly Sexual Content” as they put it, but no clear definition was given. There are numerous apps in the App Store that are nothing more than pornography deliverers. We have also seen an influx of the number of “Digitial Girlfriends” available via the App Store. However, these days are numbered as Apple has recently sent a letter out to all developers of these apps, warning them that these apps are thus forth, no longer appropriate for the App store.

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Steve Jobs introduced the iPad to us almost a month ago now. One of the expected uses of the iPad was as an eBook reader, and Jobs confirmed this with his elegant demonstration of eBooks via the iBookstore. Since that day, we have heard repeated praise and criticism for the iBookstore. We have also heard rumors of price hikes, and price drops from publishers. Recently more news has developed saying that rules with the iBookstore are extremely restricting to publishers. Luckily, now many of these “rules” turned out to either be misconception or have been adapted to aid the publishers. With the launch of the iPad looming out about a month, many of us are holding our breath. What will happen? Can it take over the current eBook monopoly, Amazon?

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We have heard much controversy over the past month between two dominating tech companies: Adobe, and Apple. Since around 2007 with the introduction of the iPhone, Apple has made a greater stand against  the use of Adobe Flash on its’ products. Apple was very quite about the use of Flash on its’ new iPhone mobile device. They knew that openly derogating the value of Flash would cause a web-wide uproar, which caused Apple to more secretly despise the format. More recently with the introduction of Safari, Apple made repeated comments that the number one cause of Safari crashes were triggered from flash applications. We also heard during the introduction of Snow Leopard that Flash causes unnecessary CPU spikes which reduces battery life. It seems that every day, Apple grows bolder in its’ fight against the mighty Flash and Adobe behemoth.

Most recently, after the introduction of the Apple iPad, Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying many nasty things towards Flash. He also openly said that HTML5 is likely to replace Flash altogether, therefore no action is necessary towards creating Flash experiences on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. With all these means things that Apple has done to our poor friend Adobe, is there anyway that they can kiss and make-up? The answer is: ”Yes, Maybe”.

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This picture, captured from Apple’s site today (click to enlarge), is proof of two models of iPads will exist. Of course that isn’t anything new, Steve Jobs told us yesterday that there will be a wifi model and a wifi + 3G model. But this is the first time we have seen that there may be a difference in physical appearance between the two models. The 3G model is the one on the left, sporting the black translucent strip for the 3G antennae, while the wifi-only model lacks this sporty feature.

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