As iPhone event looms, competitors rush to beat Apple to the punch

Reports of the September 12 iPhone event started circling late last month. And although several publications have confirmed the date, Apple itself has yet to make any kind of announcement.

But the speculation must have been enough to catch the attentions of Apple’s competitors. In the last three weeks, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola and Amazon have all announced press events scheduled for the first week of September

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Conveniently, dozens of iPhone 5 dummies crop up in China

In the final weeks leading up to Apple’s big September 12 announcement and the near-certain September 21 availability of a sixth-generation iPhone, iDB has discovered a number of iPhone 5 dummies on a major Asian online shopping web site.

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FireCore working on major aTV Flash (black) update

FireCore has just announced that it is nearing completion of the next major version of its aTV Flash (black) software, 2.0. The suite adds tons of functionality to jailbroken Apple TVs.

Version 2.0 will bring about many changes, including an all-new menu layout, integrated search, and more. And if you’re interested, the team is currently taking applications for beta testers

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Samsung denies new Sydney store copies Apple

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. However, Samsung wants no talk of its new Sydney, Australia store looking “Apple-esque.” Particularly while the South Korean company is being sued for allegedly imitating Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

Despite the store being located just a block from Apple, using the same Apple minimalism, the same Apple-like packaging and staffed with the same blue-shirted employees, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company “didn’t even come into the equation when we were looking for a location,” Samsung Australia’s vice president of telecommunication, Tyler McGee, tells the Sydney Morning Herald. In the business, we call that a non-denial denial

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Twice as fast, rebuilt Facebook app finally lands in App Store

The wait is over folks! The new Facebook app that was promised to us almost three months ago has arrived in the App Store. It runs faster, launches quicker, and includes a handful of new features.

The client has been completely rebuilt in Objective-C (no longer HTML5) and now has an enhanced photos feed, built-in Messenger support, and several other performance improvements

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ProgressPercent gives you the status of your app downloads

Allow me to introduce you fine folks to ProgressPercent. It’s a new jailbreak tweak that displays a percentage indicator under the icon of the current app you’re downloading, giving you a better idea of its status.

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Chrome updated with new social features and more

Great news for all of you Chrome fans out there, Google has just pushed out a nice little update for its popular third-party browser.

The new release features a handful of changes, including new sharing options, stability improvements, and bug fixes

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Apple pulls ‘Genius’ commercials from its website and YouTube

When you have the marketing history that Apple does, you don’t anticipate many mistakes. The company has a long list of successful TV spots, such as the popular “I’m a Mac” campaign.

But obviously, Apple feels it messed up on its latest string of Mac ‘Genius’ commercials. Because it just pulled the three month-old ads from both its website, and its YouTube channel

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Claimed photo of next-gen iPhone sync cable surfaces

Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen an increase in iPhone 5 part leaks — specifically the dock connector/headphone jack assembly. The components have echoed previous reports that the next-gen iPhone would have a smaller dock connector.

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Show off your Instagram feeds in style with the Instacube

Over the past two years, Instagram has provided a mobile platform for millions of people to share filtered photos of everything from sunsets to cups of coffee. And yes, even food.

And now, the folks over at D2M are trying to provide a way for you to share these photos in a different way, with their Android-based, Instagram feeding photo frame

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Former Googler Mayer wants iPhones for Yahoo

Ironies are everywhere in Silicon Valley. Take new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, for instance. Mayer spent 13 years at Google — Ground Zero for Android — yet now is considering buying every Yahoo employee an iPhone. Seems workers at the search company are a polyglot bunch when it comes to phones with many using BlackBerries, Android handsets and iPhones, of course.

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Skype app updated with new photo sharing feature

Skype users rejoice! The video calling service just updated its iPhone and iPad apps, bringing the mobile client to version 4.1. The update includes a handful of bug fixes and a new photo sharing feature.

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Report: Apple to open Moscow ‘Apple Rus’ in 2013

First came the U.S. Apple Store, then London and Paris. Now the iPhone maker is preparing to open stores in Moscow, according to a Russian newspaper. The move would allow Apple to sell directly to Moscovites, rather than using local distributors.

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UK carrier authorized to offer first LTE service ahead of iPhone launch

This is pretty interesting: Ofcom, the regulator for UK communications, announced today that it has given permission to the carrier Everything Everywhere to begin using its existing 1800 MHz to offer LTE services beginning on September 11.

If that date sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the day before the all-but-confirmed media event where Apple is said to be unveiling it’s next smartphone. The handset is widely expected to be LTE-capable, but will it work outside of the US?

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Samsung to invest $4 billion in iPad, iPhone chip plant

Imagine a symbiotic relationship where each party depends on the other, but they are continually fighting and you’ll have a good picture of Apple and Samsung. The latest episode in the ultimate case of frenemies happened Tuesday as the South Korean chip giant pledged nearly $4 billion to upgrade a plant producing chips for Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

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In wake of staffing mistake, Apple reveals some interesting retail stats

Apple has effectively broken the mold for retail chains with its successful line of Apple Stores. Located on expensive prime real estate, and designed inside and out to be completely unique, nothing about Apple’s stores are average.

That includes performance as well. A report earlier this year found that Apple’s retail stores made roughly 17 times more than the average retailer — including jewelry stores. And today we find out some more interesting stats

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Bloombox Kickstarter project gives iPhone owners flower power

The iPhone has been everywhere — your car, your bike, your backpack — why not your flowerpot? A Kickstarter project is trying to raise the cash needed to build the Bloombox, a sleek combination of iPhone/iPod dock and natural habitat.

“The Bloombox was born out of the combination of my three driving passions and my own need for a dock,” explains the creator, Brennan Conroy. The Kickstarter project has collected more than $3,000 towards its $5,000 goal for making a ceramic mold at Mudshark Studios

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Apple’s iPhone business is worth more than all of Microsoft

In line with today’s news that Apple has surpassed Microsoft’s record for largest market cap, we’ve found another interesting stat involving the two companies that you might find interesting.

In looking at recent sales numbers, Apple’s iPhone business alone is now worth more than all of Microsoft’s products — that’s Windows, Office, Xbox, you name it — put together

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Apple becomes most valuable publicly-traded company of all time

Apple’s stock has taken down several major milestones in the past couple of days. Last Thursday, AAPL closed at an all-time high of $636.34 per share, and it has since surpassed its all-time high of $644.

Today, the stock is trading at a staggering $665. And given the fact that it has 937.41 million shares outstanding, that gives it a market cap of $623.05 billion — the highest ever for a publicly-traded company

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Judge tells jury: Samsung destroyed emails — but so did Apple

If the long-running courtroom battle between Apple and Samsung were a football game, the South Korean company would have received today a favorable call from the ref. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh will tell jurors later this week that both companies destroyed emails, overturning a previous ruling inferring Samsung was solely to blame.

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Pod2g uncovers major SMS security flaw in iOS

Despite the fact that Apple continues to receive praise for the security in iOS, hackers continue to discover vulnerabilities. Just look at all of the exploits that have been used in past jailbreaks.

Today, Pod2g adds another one to that list with his newly discovered SMS flaw. It has to do with the way the iPhone handles SMS, and could open the doors for text message spoofing

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iPhone 5 pre-orders slated to begin September 12

Apple is expected to unveil the next-generation iPhone during a media event on September 12. And apparently, the handset will become available for pre-order the same day.

According to a new report, Apple is planning to start accepting pre-orders for the new iPhone on September 12, with its actual release still slated for the following Friday

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Play more than 100 old school Nintendo games in your iPhone’s browser

Nintendo hasn’t released games for its NES or Game Boy systems in more than 20 years, but that doesn’t mean people have forgotten about them. Emulators for old Nintendo games exist on nearly every platform imaginable — even iOS.

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OS X Pad HD: the most advanced Mac experience on the iPad

We’re a little bit late to the party on this one, but if you haven’t seen this new OS X Pad HD theme for the iPad, you have to check it out. You’ve seen OS X themes before, but you’ve never seen anything like this.

The theme has a fully functional Finder bar with interactive menu options, a customizable dock, and editable folders that look just like real OS X folders. It almost seems more like a software upgrade than a theme

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Again, why you should never buy an iPad in a parking lot

Craigslist is arguably one of the web’s most popular destinations for folks looking to buy stuff at a bargain. A virtual garage sale of sorts, one can find anything from furniture to exercise equipment.

Of course, you can also find electronics on Craigslist — Apple products even. But as we’ve said before, you should always be wary of buying Apple gear in a parking lot. And again, here’s why

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