Apple Thoughts - News & Reviews on all things Apple

"Apple (AAPL) called a press conference for 10 a.m. PT on Friday to address the fallout stemming from the iPhone 4 and its antenna reception problems. The company did not reveal any more details about the press conference, which will take place at its Cupertino headquarters."

Rumors abound tonight, with some speculation that Apple could issue a recall for the iPhone 4, with one analyst estimating that this could cost Apple potentially as much as $1.5 billion. Another rumor is that Apple may give away the "bumpers" to improve reception (eliminating the "death grip"). Yet another rumor focuses on a proximity sensor problem that causes calls to be dropped when a cheek touches the end key.

In related news, Apple began seeding iOS 4.1 to developers, with nothing stated in the release notes about any new formulas for calculation of signal strength. It was noted that Apple may simply and quietly fix the problem. Hopefully Friday will see some solutions emerging!

“Right on schedule, today Apple is on its way to reinventing mobile advertising by officially launching its iAd advertising program.”

As promised, Apple has started the promotion of iAds, and examples are starting to appear around the web. As a revenue generator for developers, this seems to be a sound concept, but billing advertisers $2 for each click seems like a decimal point was misplaced somewhere. I wonder where this number came from.

"By now, many of you have your new iPhone 4s. And even more of you have an iPhone equipped with the latest iOS 4 software. So you want to find the apps tailored to run on it, right? Well, now Apple has a section of the App Store for that."

If you want some apps specifically optimized for your iPhone 4 or your 3GS with iOS 4 installed, you can check it out at iTunes [affiliate link]. Keep in mind some may not work on the 3GS.

"iOS 4 (previously iOS 4, iOS 4.0) continues Apple's relentless yearly mobile OS cycle. If 2007 was the mainstreaming of the multitouch user interface, 2008 all about the app store, and 2009 filling in the feature list, then iOS 4 promises to be... well, that's why we're here."

Since iOS 4.0 is due to be released on Monday, here is a pretty thorough walk through of the operating system, outlining all of the enhancements as well as what hasn't changed from the current version. One of my favorite revisions? The Calendar app, where you will be able to select any combination of calendars to display on your iPhone as well as allowing apps access to the calendar functions on the iPhone. Long overdue. What are some of your favorite additions/revisions?

"Developers have had access to iPhone OS iOS 4.0 for a couple months to prepare their apps and help Apple squash bugs. Now, with less than two weeks to go until iOS 4.0 is released to the public on June 21, Apple is allowing developers to submit their updated apps."

Developers have had iOS 4 in hand for months, but now they have official requests to submit their apps for approval, before the official release on June 21st of iOS 4 to the public. Then three short days later, well, you know what happens.