This was a very interesting year, to say the least, for Apple, Steve Jobs and the Cuppertino gang. 2010 was an ambitious year for Apple with highly anticipated new product launches of the iPad and a new installation of the iPhone. But the Year in Review also held some drama with an Apple test product making it out of the walls of the Cuppertino fortress and into civilian hands, as well as, a battle about Flash content on the iPad. Overall, Apple had a crazy year for sales and continue to exert their dominance over the rest of the gadget world year after year. With the holiday season “wrapping” up…(pun intended) I will not be surprised to see the inflated sales numbers after the year. The bottom line is, I know there will be millions of people opening up iPads, iPhones and iPods from under the tree.

The iPod Repair Blog Presents:

2010 Apple Year in Review Top Ten List:

10. Flash on Apple Devices

The uproar of not allowing Adobe Flash prompted Steve Jobs to post an open letter about Flash on the Apple website. It went something like this, “Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.” Said Jobs. He went on to also say, “New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.” I give Jobs credit here, he is moving forward and trying to encourage the creation of new platforms to challenge Adobe Flash which currently accounts for 75% of video and media on the internet.

9. iPad Frame with Hole for Front-Facing Camera

iPad repair specialists, Mission Repair, discovered that a replacement iPad Frame had a space for an iSight webcam/camera inside the device. Based on parts seemingly obtained through unofficial channels, the frame appears to have a very similar area to the MacBook’s existing iSight webcam enclosure. The second Gen iPad will be Face Time compatible but Apple decided to not implement the Face Time capability in the first generation.

8. iPad Delayed Ship Date

The iPad release was one of the most anticipated events of the year but some of the dedicated Apple fans who pre-ordered their iPads experienced some frustration. Apple began taking pre-orders beginning March 12 to have the device shipped directly to your house and have it arrive on your door step by the store launch date of April 3. Apple then announced that customers who placed pre-orders after March 27 had to wait until April 12 for their iPad to ship due to the high demand. Bummer.

7. Nasdaq Stock Rose from $210 a share to Over $300 a share in 2010

Apple enjoyed another great year in the Nasdaq. Apple’s share price rose from $210 in January 2010 to over $300 in December. This is due in large part to the release of two major products this year with the iPad and iPhone 4. Apple also continues to push the envelope when it comes to innovative, user-friendly products.

6. Face Time

Face Time may have been one of the most anticipated upgrades to the iPhone and iPod Touch. The front facing camera allows you to video chat with other iPhone users over a wi-fi connection. Face Time is now available to iPod touch and iMac desktop and laptop users. The second generation of the iPad will also have Face Time capability.

5. iPhone Death Grip Antenna Issues

An issue with the iPhone 4s external Antenna caused dropped calls. This problem, deemed the “death grip”, had iPhone 4 users grumbling. The external antenna on the iPhone 4 had a tendency to drop calls when users held the phone a certain way but to remedy this problem Apple offered users a free bumper case to help alleviate the “death grip”.

4. Multi-Tasking!

The iPhone 4 release also coincided with a new iOS release from Apple. iOS 4 allowed for multi-tasking, something that iPhone users had long awaited. The multi-tasking allowed users to open an App from the SpringBoard and then double click the home button to pull up a menu at the bottom of the screen. You could then switch apps and run more than one app at a time. Prior to multi-tasking, once you switched apps the app you were just running would close. Now you can go back to right where you left off.

3. iPhone Release

The release of the iPhone 4 was similar to the release of the iPad with lines spanning around the block and people camping out for days to be one of the first people to get their hands on the new iPhone. The iPhone 4 featured several revamped features including a new Retina display and a squared off casing with a stainless steel band. The iPhone took some of it’s styling cues from the iPad. Also, the iPhone featured an upgraded A4 processor and a Gorilla Glass backing to make it more durable and scratch resistant.

2. iPad Release

The long awaited iPad release garnered the most hype in 2010 and is one of the hottest products of the year. With the release of the iPad came several imitators such as the Samsung Galaxy and BlackBerry PlayBook. The most impressive number for the iPad this year was 1 million units sold in less than 30 days on the market. 1 million of anything is impressive but 1 million iPads is crazy. For comparison, the iPhone took almost three months to reach the million sales mark. The iPad moved off the shelves so quickly in 2010 Apple had to delay the International release. 300,000 units were sold on the first day.

1. Gizmodo Lost iPhone 4 Scandal

This was by far my favorite Apple headline in 2010. It just got better each day with more information coming out and the lengths that Apple went to to make it known that you don’t mess with Steve Jobs. A quick recap goes something like this: Apple software engineer, Gray Powell was enjoying a few drinks at a local watering hole and left his iPhone 4 test phone at the bar. The iPhone 4 was disguised as a 3Gs. Powell left the phone on a bar stool and the phone was recovered by a patron at the bar. The phone was then sold to Gizmodo.com for a reported $5,000 and photos were leaked out on Gizmodo.com. Apple then contacted Gizmodo editor Jason Chen to get the phone back and they also obtained a search warrant to seize Chen’s computers. Bottom line, Gizmodo ruined the surprise of the iPhone 4 for me but also broke a huge, entertaining story that gave me a weeks worth of great reading material.

I hope you enjoyed the Year in Review and hope you will check back in with the iPod Repair Blog for more entertaining content in 2011!

The hot ticket item this holiday season will undoubtedly be the Apple iPad. It will be interesting to see exactly how bloated and ridiculous the sales figures become. Apple has always done well around the holidays but this could be a bigger than usual year for Steve Jobs.

Let us not forget about the iPhone 4, which could also see a giant bump in sales during the holidays. It was reported by Yahoo! that the iPhone 4 took the top spot in the Top Ten Obsessions of 2010, with the iPad snagging the number three slot.

Regardless of the price point, the Apple iPad will be highly sought after this season and even though the release of Samsung Galaxy Tab is likely to give the iPad

Steve Jobs will give a free case to everyone with an iPhone 4

If you keep up with Apple news, and since you are reading this blog I assume you do, you have no doubt heard of the “death grip” that causes major antenna and reception problems with the iPhone 4. I am feeling a little snarky with this post because I purchased the iPhone 3Gs with the option to upgrade to the iPhone 4. I debated whether I should just make the switch and get the latest iPhone but looking back I am glad I stayed with the 3Gs.

In a press conference at Apple’s Cuppertino campus, Jobs announced that to combat the antenna problems, Apple would provide customers with free cases. This is a great PR move for Apple. Instead of deflecting the problem and blaming AT&T, (not like they didn’t try) Jobs solved the problem by giving away free cases. Now there is a new problem, not enough bumper cases. The highly sought after bumper case is already is shortage and now that Apple is giving them away, they are going to need millions more. Jobs solved this problem by giving customers a choice of cases.

Bottom line, I like the message that the guy in the video is delivering, if you don’t want an iPhone 4 don’t buy one, if you bought one and you don’t like it…bring it back.

Photo credit: macnn.com

It is likely that a new generation of the iPod Touch will be released in the fall

Every fall since 2007, the fellas over at Apple spit out a new iPod Touch. Given this trend, it’s not hard to speculate that yes, the 4th generation iPod touch will be released year at Apples annual iTunes/iPod Special Music Event.

The iPod touch Gen. 4 will get the usual iPhone hardware update and could include an upgraded Retina Display, Apple A4 chipset, 802.11n Wi-Fi, gyroscope, and maybe even that long awaited camera as well as a front-facing one to help make FaceTime more of a reality. If Apple actually decides to do this it could mean a big expansion in the use of FaceTime.

Usually, Apple will increase the storage space and double the pre-existing memory. The Gen. 3 iPod touch is already at 64GB. Could we possibly see 128GB of storage? This is clearly the way Apple is moving in terms of portable music devices, hand-held gaming and possibly photos. With the iPod Gen. 3 a slim as it is, it will be hard to imagine how thin this device will actually be.

If you are a reader of this blog, you know that I can’t stand when things are leaked out early. With the iPhone 4 being leaked early, it will be nice to see a new device that (hopefully) won’t be seen until we are meant to see it. I’d like to be surprised with one Apple Product this year.

iPhone 4 release event, uneventful

So I have been browsing Apple’s site all afternoon and it has been moving terribly slow but from what I saw on the Specs page, the iPhone 4 looks exactly like the photos and videos that were leaked by  those clowns at Gizmodo.

 Honestly, I was very dissapointed that the iPhone 4 was exactly the same device I had already seen 2 months ago when Gray Powell left his phone at the bar. Damn you Gray Powell, Damn you! You completely ruined the surprise…I don’t like spoiler alerts and I don’t like to see iPhone photos leaked 2 months early. Maybe I’m the only one, but with one of the biggest overhauls in iPhone’s short history (completely changing the casing and iPhone OS 4.0 with multi-taksing, front facing camera, etc.), I would have liked to have been surprised. The photos would have been so much better if I didn’t know what the phone was going to look like before it was actually released.

Gizmodo may have gotten the scoop and tons of traffic to their page but at what cost? I don’t feel bad for Apple, but it is such a disappointment to have nothing to look forward to, espcially when it comes to a new iPhone release. The whole electricity of the Steve Jobs keynote comes from not knowing what the device will look like!! Apple needs to do a better job of keeping their new gadgets under wraps. What is the point of a product keynote if your product has already been viewed by the public 2 months in advance. When photos are leaked it completely kills the mystery of the product. Before this incident Apple was known for keeping secrets about it’s new products and building up a buzz. But Gizmodo was the buzz killer.