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Apple has halted production of all 27-inch Core i5 and i7 iMac systems, according to an unnamed source cited by Hardmac. Cupertino is working to resolve several display issues and will not resume assembly of the systems until a "reliable and definitive fix" is found.

In December, complaints of a flickering or flashing display prompted Apple to release a firmware update to correct the problem, but user reports of the issue continued to pile in. Additionally, many iMac owners say their display is plagued with a yellow tinge -- something Cupertino has recognized internally.


The 27-inch iMac has been nothing but a headache for Apple since it launched last October. Other complaints range from high-pitched whines and whistles to DOA systems -- and some were downright smashed. If you intend to buy a 27-inch iMac, it's probably in your best interest to wait until the dust settles.

Just like the iPhone and iPod Touch, Apple's iPad doesn't support Flash, and Adobe isn't thrilled about it. The company offered a statement to Gizmodo, saying that Apple is continuing to impose restrictions on its devices that limit both content publishers and consumers.

"Unlike many other ebook readers using the ePub file format, consumers will not be able to access ePub content with Apple's DRM technology on devices made by other manufacturers. And without Flash support, iPad users will not be able to access the full range of web content, including over 70% of games and 75% of video on the web," Adobe said.


Many popular services online rely on Flash including Hulu, Miniclip, Farmville, ESPN, Kongregate, and JibJab. Apple has its reasons for barring Flash, of course: it's resource intensive, and it opens the door for additional security risks. The tradeoff of excluding Flash is debatable, but it seems Apple won't budge any time soon.

In somewhat related news, Fujitsu says it owns the "iPad" name. The company sold an iPad handset in 2002, filed for a trademark in 2003, and said it is consulting lawyers over the matter. The situation resembles the dispute between Apple and Cisco over the iPhone name a few years ago. The companies negotiated a settlement in that case.

Amid all the buzz over Apple's iPad announcement yesterday, one tidbit that caught our attention but didn't get much talk time on stage was the fact that the company had used its own silicon on the device. Dubbed Apple A4, this system-on-a-chip represents Apple's debut in the world of fabless semiconductor designers and is the fruit of a PA Semi acquisition in 2008.


Apple claims the A4 is great for battery life and early reports based on hands-on time with the iPad say it's pretty fast. Indeed, Apple seems to be off to a good start with its in-house chip development. But the A4 is not all that different from what Nvidia and Qualcomm are putting out for other tablets and smartphones. According to Bright Side of News, it consists of ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor clocked at 1GHz (the same found in Tegra and the Snapdragon), an ARM Mali 50-series graphics chip, and a memory controller.

What this means is that the chip is predominately ARM IP, branded with the Apple name, and that other manufacturers will have very similar hardware options to choose from when they design their own tablets -- or they might as well opt for an x86 part and a full-fledged Windows operating system.

Back in October at the CTIA conference, AT&T announced that it would open up its 3G network to VoIP applications on the iPhone. But it was still up to Apple let to these apps into the App Store. Well, several months have gone by, and it appears that the company is finally taking action with an SDK update that will allow developers to take advantage of this function.

This is a major change from Apple's previous agreement with AT&T which only allowed VoIP communications over a Wi-Fi connection. In a press release issued late yesterday, iCall broke the news and claimed to be first and only VoIP application available for the iPhone platform that allows use over 3G networks -- at least for now. With the restriction lifted, we expect Skype, Truphone and other similar calling apps to get on board soon.

Currently, iPhone voice plans from AT&T start at $39.99 and go up to $199, while unlimited data will set you back an additional $30. In theory, this means you could cut your bill to around $80 a month by sticking to the cheapest voice plan and using iCall's $9.95 Total Access plan for unlimited local calls and cheaper long distance. The possibility of free Skype-to-Skype calling over 3G sounds really tempting as well.

After a period of much anticipation, Apple followed through with the unveiling of its tablet device, simply called "iPad". The device features a 9.7-inch capacitive IPS display, a custom 1GHz Apple A4 chip, 10-hours of battery life with a month of standby, and it weighs 1.5lbs.

Units will ship in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities. There are also 3G-enabled SKUs in the same capacities that comes with two new data plans from AT&T: 250MB for $14.99 and unlimited for $29.99 per month -- contract free. All iPads are unlocked and come with a GSM micro-SIM.


Other details revealed include 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an accelerometer and compass, a 30-pin Dock connector, a speaker and a mic. The iPad can run iPhone apps in a window with their native pixel ratio or they can be run at fullscreen. Apple has also rolled out a new iPhone OS SDK today, allowing developers to make apps specifically for the tablet.


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Apple has posted its first-quarter 2010 financial results, reporting a profit of $3.38 billion ($3.67 per share), which is up from $2.26 billion in the year-ago quarter. Revenue reached $15.68 billion, an increase from $11.88 billion in the previous year, and better than Wall Street's anticipated $11.21 to $12.6 billion on earnings of $2.07 a share.

It's hard to fully comprehend just how much cash that is, but it was reportedly Apple's best quarter ever. Cupertino shipped 3.36 million Macs (up 33% on-year), 8.7 million iPhones (up 100%) and 21 million iPods (down 8%). In a statement, CEO Steve Jobs said it was surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company, and the company's upcoming products are "very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we're really excited about."

Apple is expected to reveal a new tablet device this Wednesday, January 27, among other possible releases, but it has yet to officially announce what will be present. For the next quarter, the company (conservatively) foresees earnings of $2.06 to $2.18 per share and revenue of $11 to $11.4 billion.

It looks like Apple's as-of-late troubled relationship with Google isn't getting any better. Citing "two people familiar with the matter," BusinessWeek reports that the Cupertino based company is shopping around for a search engine alternative to Google on the iPhone, and has supposedly spent "weeks" discussing a deal with none other than long time operating system rival Microsoft.

If true, the deal would give Bing a much-needed market share boost in the mobile sector. Apple would benefit too, as Microsoft would likely offer a higher cut of the mobile advertising profits than the company currently receives from Google to seal the deal. Of course, there is some concern that this could annoy iPhone users who like things just as they are, but the deal doesn't discard the option for them to manually switch search providers.

The magazine also said that Apple is looking at providing a search option itself eventually and that a deal with Microsoft may be "about buying itself time." Not so long ago the company also purchased a mapping software firm, suggesting that the Google Maps iPhone app could be on its way out of the default software bundle.

It's been a long time coming but Apple has finally updated its Boot Camp utility to allow owners of Intel-based Macs to run Windows 7 on their machines. Although this was already possible with some easy workarounds, and somewhat spotty driver compatibility, the newly-released version 3.1 adds native support for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft's latest operating system in its Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate editions.

The software requires an authentic copy of Windows 7 or Windows 7 upgrade, of course, and is only supported on more recent Intel-based Macs -- those produced from 2007 onwards. Users looking to upgrade from Vista will first want to download and install the Boot Camp Utility for Windows 7, which "safely unmounts the read-only Macintosh volume on Microsoft Vista."

The update also addresses issues with the Apple trackpad, turns off the red digital audio port LED on laptop computers when it is not being used, and supports the Apple wireless keyboard and Apple Magic Mouse. It should be noted that some posters on Apple's Boot Camp discussion forum are reporting problems with the new version -- so you might want to wait out and see how widespread the issues really are before proceeding.

It seems that Apple will indeed unveil iPhone OS 4.0 at its January 27 event in San Francisco, and the folks at Boy Genius Report have dug up some dirt on the update.

According to the site's "trusty" tipster, version 4.0 will bring a slew of changes -- some of which offer further evidence of a pending tablet device. Among the new features is support for multitouch gestures OS-wide, several new ways to run applications in the background, as well as many graphical, UI and navigation changes.

The source claims that the iPhone OS 4.0 will only be available for the 3G and 3GS, and it will put them "ahead in the smartphone market because it will make them more like full-fledged computers" -- more than any other phone available. Also, there is talk of a new syncing ability for the Contacts and Calendar applications, but no other details were given.

It's no secret Apple has been tremendously successful with its iPhone and iPod touch App Store -- after all they like to remind us every once in a while. But learning their actual grasp of the market compared to rivals can still be surprising considering they've accomplished this with three generations of just a single device in roughly eighteen months. As it turns out, Apple's store was responsible for almost all mobile app downloads in 2009.

According to a recent study from market research firm Gartner, smartphone users downloaded 2.516 billion apps last year, including both free and paid ones, totaling around $4.2 billion in revenue for those selling them. Apple alone accounted for 2.5 billion downloads, giving it a market share in excess of 99%, and since it takes a 30% commission from all sales, also a fair bit that revenue to boost its bottom line.

Gartner estimates the explosive growth in the mobile app market will continue throughout 2010 with 4.5 billion downloads, good for about $6.2 billion in revenue, rising to 21.6 billion downloads and $29.5 billion revenue by 2013. A majority of those apps will be free. Still, the good news for Apple competitors is that with the emergence of new players the iPhone maker's share of the market could fall to around 66% this year.

Keep in mind that Gartner's figures appear to focus on manufacturer-based stores only, and not carrier-based or third-party stores such as Cydia, so the actual percentages may be a fair bit off. It still goes to show Apple's incredible dominance in this space and the huge revenue opportunities for developers going forward.

Confirming its rumored special event on January 27, Apple has invited various media organizations to attend a 10AM gathering at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The invitations read, "Come see our latest creation," and lack any real information -- though, it probably alludes to the company's long-anticipated tablet device.


Of course, the show may focus on or at least feature other products, too. Given the timing, the company may reveal an updated line of Arrandale-based MacBooks, or even iPhone OS 4.0. The latter could take a little wind out of Microsoft's sails as it might unveil Windows Mobile 7 next month at the Mobile World Congress in Spain.

If the tablet is shown, it will be interesting to see whose speculation was accurate. That said, most seem to agree the device will carry a 10-inch multitouch display, and will run a modified version of the iPhone OS.

According to AVI Securities analyst Matt Thornton, Apple's tablet device is now "in full production". Some reportedly expected assembly to begin in late 2009, causing a couple of suppliers to perform worse than anticipated in December. Annual shipments of the tablet could reach 10 million units -- which might explain Apple's increased NAND requirements.

Thornton foresees little cannibalization of the smartphone or netbook markets, and notes that Apple's tablet will mostly target the gap in-between -- sort of where the e-reader sits. "You have limitations on handsets, you have limitations on the netbook and notebook. This is going after that other category that is much more multimedia centric, as opposed to mobile-communications centric or mobile-productivity centric."

Despite all the buzz around Apple's tablet, the company has yet to officially introduce it. We'll just have to see what January 27 brings.

Although 45nm quad-core mobile processors based on the Nehalem architecture have been available since last September, their power and thermal requirements made them unsuitable for most thin and light laptops. However, with Intel's recent launch of the 32nm "Arrandale" derivatives many are expecting Apple to eventually incorporate them into its MacBook lineup -- and if recent leaks are to be believed that may happen as soon as this month.


AppleInsider got its hands on an email promotion sent out to US, UK and Spanish members of the Intel Retail Edge Program -- a training program for Intel sales representatives -- announcing a January prize draw where retail employees can win a MacBook Pro featuring a Core i5 processor inside, even though Apple's entire notebook line is still using Core 2 Duo processors coupled with an Nvidia 9400M chipset.

No specific details were mentioned but naming the Core i5 provides a clue to the likely performance traits of forthcoming MacBook laptops. Only three mobile Core i5 chips are available so far, clocked at 2.26GHz, 2.4GHz and 2.53GHz. If the leak is accurate, the new systems may appear at a rumored media event believed to be scheduled for January 27, where many are hoping to see an Apple tablet of sorts be unveiled as well.

Update: WSJ sources indicate the tablet will be introduced at the event and will ship in March.

Original: According to All Things Digital, the highly rumored Apple event is real, and it's coming later this month. Citing sources in the know, the site reports that Apple will hold a media event later this month to announce a "major new product."

The get-together will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco -- a venue Apple commonly uses -- on Wednesday, January 27. Previous rumors suggested the event would occur on Tuesday the 26, but it seems that was wrong.

As for what's being shown? Well, naturally, that's a secret -- but it seems obvious to expect Apple's ever-elusive tablet PC. Let's hear your hopes, predictions and conspiracies in the comments.

Curtains may be in Psystar's future, following a recent legal victory by Apple. Cupertino has obtained a permanent injunction against the Mac clone builder, making it illegal for them to continue doing business starting the end of this year.

Psystar has two weeks to come into "compliance", and the terms of the injunction make their options very limited. They may be still able to sell clone hardware, but they won't be able to distribute Mac OS X, the Rebel EFI or any mechanism to help people put OS X on unsanctioned systems. As it was such a core part of their business, it is easy to assume they are now destined to fall.

Psystar's fate was easily predicted. Apple is a vigorous defender of their technology. Now it may be time to analyze how attitudes have changed toward hardware that is interoperable with the Mac, as well as Psystar's impact on Apple -- if any. If Psystar crumbles next year, will they have made a positive influence on the Mac community?

Evidence of a major iPhone OS update surfaced yesterday as the folks at Boy Genius Report discovered traces of iPhone OS 4.0 in their server logs. This pairs nicely with the recent rumors of Apple's fourth-generation iPhone, which is supposedly in or entering production and could appear as early as mid-2010.


It's worth noting that the iPhone 3G/OS 2.0 and 3GS/OS 3.0 both arrived during the same period (July 2008 and June 2009). While few details are currently available, it seems fair to expect a major platform update and new device in the coming summer.

BGR also discovered iPhone OS 3.1.3 in the logs, which will probably bring minor bug fixes and tweaks to the present version 3.1.2, and should appear soon. Let's hear about all of the changes you'd like to see in the forthcoming iPhone hardware and software.

According to a rumor published by Bright Side of News (BSN), Apple may have declined to use Intel's forthcoming Calpella mobile platform and Arrandale processor in their default format. Like many of Intel's future CPUs, Arrandale incorporates a graphics core, and this has supposedly caused Apple to refuse the parts. This suggests that Intel would have to provide custom 32nm processors sans GPU in order to receive orders for Cupertino's 2010 Mac refreshes.

While BSN more or less claims it can confirm that Apple has rejected Arrandale, little is known about whether or not a modified processor is on the table. It wouldn't be entirely surprising, as Intel has worked with Apple in the past when the company requested a special-made CPU for its MacBook Air. That said, it's unclear why Apple would require an Arrandale chip without a graphics core. Naturally, being a rumor, nothing is official.

Apple is reportedly eyeing the online music service Lala for acquisition, according to sources close to the situation. Lala lets users listen to any song on the site once free, after which customers can buy the track for $0.10. The catch is that users can only listen to the purchased songs on the Web. Tracks are stored in the "cloud" rather than being downloaded to the user's computer.

Lala offers access to some 8 million songs, including content from EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. This compares to the 11 million songs available through Apple's iTunes service, which operates in 23 countries and is claimed to be the world's largest music retailer.

Details are scant, but sources suspect that Apple may be moving toward the introduction of a subscription model. "The Lala is somewhere between the two, of permanent ownership" and a subscription model note Larry Kenswil, a former Universal Music Group exec.

Apple has quietly upgraded its Mac Pro and Xserve systems a handful of new component options. The single-processor Mac Pro can now be configured with a 3.33GHz quad-core Intel Xeon chip, as opposed to the dual-CPU model that is limited to 2.93GHz.

The Xserve now accepts 4GB memory modules and can recognize up to 24GB of RAM in the single-processor model, and 48GB in the dual-processor system. Both machines can also now be configured with 2TB drives (up from 1TB), expanding the official capacities up to 8TB for the Mac Pro, and 6TB for the Xserve.

None of these upgrades come cheap, of course. The 3.33GHz Xeon adds $1,200 to the default 2.66GHz unit, and $800 to the 2.93GHz chip. Meanwhile, choosing 24GB of RAM increases the price by $2850, 48GB costs $5,850, and Apple is charging $550 for each 2TB HDD. All of these options are available today, but they could add two to four business days to the processing time.

The long-running legal battle between Apple and Psystar has taken yet another unexpected turn today. Not long after being found guilty of copyright and DMCA violations in a summary judgment, the unauthorized Mac clone maker has apparently inked a partial settlement deal that will only be called upon should all of their appeals fail.

The deal calls for Psystar to pay an as-yet unspecified amount in damages to Apple as well as cease pre-installing OS X onto their computers. In return, Apple is said to be dropping all "trademark, trade-dress and state law claims," thus removing the need to go to trial. Interestingly, this may not prevent sales of OS-free machines, onto which Psystar hopes customers will be able to load OS X themselves using their Rebel EFI software tool.

The company submitted a motion to exclude Rebel EFI from any injunction, arguing that it is sold separately from computers and does not contain any infringing code. Of course the tool's sole purpose is to enable the installation of Apple's operating system on non-Apple hardware, so chances of excluding it from any injunction seem slim. Apple has until December 7 to respond to Psystar's arguments in the partial settlement filing.

Scattered reports around the Web indicate that there may be one or more design flaws with Apple's 27" Core i7-powered iMac. Many users claim that their high-end iMac systems have cracked screens out of the box, and some units are completely dead on arrival. Among the affected are editors at Engadget, who recently received a new i7 model that refused to boot -- though, a different i7 iMac was fine.

Customers have piled into the Apple Support forum to complain about their busted machines, but Apple has yet to determine the root of the problem. It would seem most likely that the cracked displays are a result of insufficient packaging, poor handling -- or both. The DOA machines could also stem from improper shipping practices, though it is less probable.


Thankfully, Apple is replacing all cracked or otherwise defective iMacs free of charge. As noted by Engadget, if you plan to give someone an iMac for the holiday, you may want to test the system prior to gifting.

About two weeks ago, the first real worm for the iPhone began making its rounds, infecting vulnerable iPhones around the world. It was a benign attack made many jailbreakers aware of a commonly overlooked (but easily fixable) hole. Another worm for the iPhone has been spotted, and this time it isn't so friendly. It has been recognized as the first dangerous worm for the device.

A blogger for security firm Sophos has issued a writeup about the new worm, indicating among other things it may be attempting to pilfer sensitive information from people's phones. As the worm compromises the phone in its entirety, any information the device has access to could -- in theory -- be transmitted outside. A more noticeable effect will be the loss of battery life, with reports that an infected phone will have a seriously reduced runtime.

Thankfully, Sophos has posted an easy fix: return your firmware to the latest Apple-released official version. While that's not what jailbreakers want to hear, at least it's an option. This also serves as a warning to people who modify their devices; make sure you are taking the extra steps needed to secure yourself.

Apple has scored another victory in its ongoing legal battle against Mac-clone maker, Psystar. In a summary judgment delivered this past Friday, November 13, Judge William Alsup ruled that the Miami-based startup "violated Apple's exclusive reproduction right, distribution right, and right to create derivative works" by bundling OS X with its unauthorized Mac clones.

Furthermore, Alsup ruled that Psystar violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by circumventing Apple's software protections that block its software from being installed on third-party hardware. He also rejected the company's contention of fair use and "first sale" doctrine, rejected claims that Apple had misused its copyright and tossed out claims that Apple's license was unduly restrictive.

The summary judgment pretty much obliterates Psystar's entire line of defense and sets the mood for the upcoming January 2010 trial, with apparently a few more claims still to be challenged in court, including breach of contract, trademark infringement and trademark dilution. A second hearing to determine what sort of relief Apple can ask for is scheduled for December 14.

Apple pushed out an update for Safari today, making version 4.0.4 available to the public across multiple platforms. The update is primarily focused on security, Apple addressing at least six flaws related to Safari, WebKit or related libraries. There were other improvements as well, including a performance boost for JavaScript execution. Updates for third-party plug-in support were included as well.

Most of the security flaws fixed were relatively benign in nature, fixing things like browser crashes -- but at least two separate bugs, both present in the Windows version, could result in code execution and system compromise. The mentioned flaws even affect Windows 7.

Overall, the release isn't very exciting, but because much of the changes are related to security, it's definitely worth getting if you use Safari. Apple pushed out the new version for all the platforms they support, including all newer versions of OS X, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. There is still no native way to run Safari on Linux, sadly.

Nokia continues to hold an overwhelmingly dominant position in the handset arena. In the third quarter of this fiscal year, they pulled in $1.1 billion in profit, which is helping them to maintain a 55% total share in the cellphone market and 37.9% in the smartphone market. While Nokia's number one spot may be safe for the time being, they certainly aren't piling up money as efficiently as Apple.

With a meager 1% total market share, Apple's profits managed to soar above Nokia's, estimated at about $1.6 billion for the same quarter. All of that money is sourced from the iPhone, which has positioned Apple as the most profitable mobile manufacturer in the world right now, Nokia coming in second. Part of Apple's profit is cited as coming from high volume sales and high wholesale prices, along with "tight cost control". Given the figures, it's easy to see that Apple is making a good chunk of change with every iPhone sold.

Though Apple's total market share remains low, they have a strong position in the niche of the smartphone market, where they ended up third in terms of growth -- RIM was first. With Nokia, Apple and RIM having strong success in the smartphone market, competitors like Motorola, Palm, Google, and the Open Handset Alliance are under a lot of pressure.

Apple released the second security update to Mac OS X Snow Leopard today, bringing the operating system up to version 10.6.2. As you might expect, the release contains a number of feature enhancements and dozens of bug fixes, including one for that infamous glitch that was destroying people's personal accounts after they purportedly or not logged in as a guest on their computers. Unfortunately for "Hackintosh" users, it has also been confirmed to drop support for Intel's Atom processors.

Among the general issues addressed in the update are a problem that could cause a system to logout unexpectedly, Spotlight search results not showing Exchange contacts, reliability of VPN connections, VoiceOver performance, video playback and performance issues with the latest iMac models. There are also fixes and improvements for handling fonts, graphics when using DVI to Mini DisplayPort adapters, Mail, MobileMe, AFP networking, printing, and better plug-in reliability in Safari.

You can read the complete Mac OS X 10.6.2 changelog here and grab the necessary update for your system on Apple's support downloads site or using their Software Update utility. The size of the download may vary from 157MB to a whopping 479MB depending on the current state of your system.

Though worms for the iPhone have been identified in the past, they've all been more or less proof of concept with no real threats yet for iPhone owners. That's now changed, after the first known iPhone worm in the wild was discovered. Sophos dissected the worm and has posted ample information about it, including the note that it only affects certain types of jailbroken iPhones.

Essentially, the jailbreak leaves a security hole by not changing the default password when the SSH server is installed. Users who don't correct this can find themselves at the mercy of this worm, which thankfully is relatively benign currently. It does nothing more than slap a new picture up on the background image of the phone -- though, a more malicious worm could be crafted.

Given the cause of this particular security flaw, don't expect any help from Apple or any fix from them either. If you've installed an SSH server on your phone, now's a good time to change the default password if you haven't already.

Apple would no doubt be quick to point out that an unmodded iPhone isn't vulnerable to this particular worm, and likely other sorts of attacks as well. To truly stand on that ground, however, you have to look at the motive behind jailbreaking to begin with. If Apple incorporated functionality that people wanted in the first place, there'd be less motive to jailbreak.

The supposed discoverer of the exploit has been helping people rid themselves of the worm. For those hit by it, this may be just a lesson in better security practices. For everyone else, however, it shows that nothing -- not even your phone -- can be completely safe from malicious attacks.

Update: The latest developer build (10C535) seems to have Atom support, so hackintosh users may be safe after all -- though, things could change by the final build.

According to OS X Daily, Snow Leopard version 10.6.2 will end support for Intel's Atom processor. This is an unfortunate blow to Hackintosh users who run OS X on netbooks, which are largely Atom-based. Those users will have to stick with an older copy of the Mac operating system, such as 10.6.1 (the latest Snow Leopard version) or 10.5.8 (the current Leopard release), as it is assumed that 10.5.9 will also bring the same Atom incompatibilities.

The move would highlight Apple's ongoing attempt to prevent users from running Mac OS X on unpermitted hardware. Mac clone maker Psystar has seen the brunt of Cupertino's struggle, having been engaged in lengthy court battles over the selling of unauthorized systems with Mac OS X. In October, Psystar began selling a $50 software hack that allows users to install Snow Leopard on some Intel-based PCs.

OS X Daily further speculates that 10.6.2 may be an effort to cripple Atom-based Hackintosh systems in anticipation of the long-rumored Apple Tablet. No matter Cupertino's motive, here's a heads up: if you're running OS X on an Atom, it's probably best to avoid 10.6.2 until a workaround is available.

The iPhone may be a record breaker around the world, but there is at least one region where Apple isn't having stunning successes. One of Apple's newest endeavors, the launch of the iPhone in China through China Unicom, has met with relative failure. Since the official launch of the iPhone in China last week, Unicom has managed to snag only a meager 5,000 sales. For a company with over 140 million customers, that's not even a drop in the bucket.

Concerns over the cost of the iPhone and lack of certain functionality (such as Wi-Fi) were cited as potential reasons. China's largest phone company, China Mobile, relies heavily on people who pre-pay for their phones -- a situation that doesn't mesh well with the iPhone, which requires a constant Internet connection. Inclusion of Wi-Fi down the road might help Unicom out.

Current sales may be low, but prospects and hopes are still high. Both Apple and Unicom expect the current situation to change. Some analysts feel that over the course of the next year, China will account for a massive 15 to 20% of all iPhone shipments, totaling around seven million devices. They'd better hope their first week is a fluke, or I don't see that happening.

According to unnamed sources cited by AllThingsD, Apple is trying to secure backing for a monthly TV subscription service -- not unlike your average cable or satellite provider. The supposed service would cost $30 per month, and would be delivered via iTunes. This would make the service accessible to various devices and platforms, rather than binding it to a specific piece of hardware, like Apple TV.

Apple's service would not only rival standard cable networks, but could stifle several video sites' attempts to implement a pay model for premium content -- namely YouTube and Hulu. Apple is said to be in talks with various networks, and if the company is successful, it wants to launch the service by early next year. Industry executives say that if anyone bites first, it will be Disney, as CEO Bob Iger has expressed interest in experimenting with Apple and iTunes in the past.

Would you drop your cable subscription in favor of an Apple-owned, iTunes-distributed TV service?