Unlimited data with AT&T might have been fun while it lasted, but those days are over.  There is no more unlimited data plan with AT&T.  New plans are creatively named to make you feel as if you are getting more value, but the reality is you are paying more for less.

Who didn’t see this coming?

See the full story at http://gizmodo.com/5553418/att-just-killed-unlimited-wireless-data-and-screwed-everybody-in-the-process

A San Mateo County judge on Thursday refused to consider a request by media organizations to learn the justification police used to search a Gizmodo editor’s home for information about the sale of a possible prototype iPhone.

Judge Stephen Hall rejected the group’s request for a hearing on Thursday, instead assigning it to the judge who granted the search warrant last month and who is expected to hear arguments next week.

Prosecutors also said the sealed affidavit is “not a public record, and thus is not subject to requests under any public records act.”

Full story at http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20004389-37.html

According to speculation by BroadPoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall, AT&T was able to secure another exclusivity extension by offering a pay-as-you-go plan for the iPad 3G.

Full story at http://www.ismashphone.com/2010/05/deal-with-the-devil-att-keeps-the-iphone-for-one-more-year.html

The Spirit jailbreak for iPhone 3.1.3, iPod touch 3.1.3, and iPad 3.2 was released today, and uses a userland exploit that Apple can easily patch, so take advantage of this jailbreak while you have the chance!

As with all jailbreaks, there are some specific instructions to follow and you should carefully read the developer’s website to ensure that you have all of the necessary information before beginning.  From the SpiritJB.com website:

• Spirit is an untethered jailbreak for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch on the latest firmwares.
• Spirit is not a carrier unlock.
• If you currently are using a tethered jailbreak, you have to restore to use Spirit. Do not upgrade if you use an unlock on an iPhone 3G or 3GS. (You can, however, restore to 3.1.2 if you have SHSH blobs for that version.)

Remember! Back up your SHSH First!!

Download the Spirit Jailbreak 3.1.3 here

More details regarding the price-plan Apple intends to use upon the launch of its iAd platform came out today in a Wall Street Journal article, indicating the company will charge upwards of a $1 million for certain ad-buys.

To be among a select group of advertisers at launch, however, could cost $10 million or more, the article suggests.  Ad executives say they’re used to paying between $100,000 and $200,000 for similar mobile deals, but Apple is certainly putting a premium price on it’s so-called premium mobile advertising opportunities.

Apple is planning to charge advertisers a penny each time a consumer sees a banner ad, ad executives say.  When a user taps on the banner and the ad pops up, Apple will charge $2.  Under large ad buys, such as the $1 million package, costs would rack up to reach the $1 million mark with the various views and taps combined.

Read on at http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/apple-to-charge-a-premium-for-premium-mobile-advertising-6270/

The maker of the iPhone and iPad, Apple Inc, has decided to acquire mobile-application developer Siri so as to get the technology that will allow Apple customers to do Web searches from their phones by talking to them.

The San Jose-based company makes a voice-recognition and search program and earlier this year the company had expressed its willingness to offer the program, which it describes as a virtual personal assistant, to Apple to use it in iPhone this year.

Shawn Carolan, a managing director at Siri investor Menlo Ventures said that the acquisition agreement has been signed but the deal has not closed yet and added, “The offer from Apple had to be very compelling for the executive team and the board to accept.”

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has increased Apple acquisitions in recent months in order to lay hands on more and more advanced technologies to add better features in the company’s gadgets. The Cupertino-based company is facing stiff competition from Research In Motion’s BlackBerry and devices using Google’s software in smartphones.

“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not comment on our purpose or plans,” said Apple’s spokesman Steve Dowling.

Read more on http://www.timesnewsline.com/news/Apple-Buys-Siri–A-Personal-Assistant-App-For-iPhone-1272548644/

There are tons of rumours surrounding the iPhone 4G and Verizon iPhone (or CDMA iPhone) and when, where, and how they are supposed to be released. Some respected blogs have released what could almost be considered ’statements’ claiming that the iPhone 4G and Verizon iPhone will be released on the same day, at the WWDC, on June 7, June 8, etc. While we love the speculation and appreciate the anticipation, we prefer to maintain grounded and make our guesses at least based on some sort of factual evidence.

We see a variety of factors that will influence this year’s release of the new iPhone, as well as if and when there will be a release of a CDMA version of the popular iPhone, and finally whether it would be locked to any particular network, such as Verizon.  These factors include Sprint, Verizon, and their various device release dates and subscriber activity.

We all know that not only Steve Jobs doesn’t want to play second to anyone, he doesn’t want there to BE any second.  One cluster of incidents that point to June 7 release date for the iPhone 4G is the following:  Last month, it was reported through various sources that the iPhone 4G would be released on or around June 22, 2010.  However, recent dissatisfaction with the AT&T network has caused some industry shakeup, and when combined with the release of new Android models and Verizon’s device decisions, it’s a worthy assumption that Apple would release the iPhone 4G before the new HTC Evo 4G, which is scheduled to be released on June 13, 2010.

With regards to the CDMA, or Verizon iPhone 4G, there have been rumours for some time and from a variety of sources, but nothing so far that can be confirmed, which is typical for Apple.  However, with the recent stampede of customers to Verizon upon the release of the Verizon HTC Incredible, it’s safe to say that Apple has at least been eyeballing the CDMA market, in which Verizon is the undisputed king.  However, the iPhone does have one of the most loyal and powerful consumer bases in the device world, and it’s always a possibility for Apple to release an unbranded CDMA device which they could control and distribute internally.  On the other hand, an unbranded GSM device would be much more marketable and convenient, and we haven’t seen that happen yet either, so it’s hard to make assumptions in that arena.

Of course two of the most recent and discussed factors are the Gizmodo iPhone 4G incident and the Apple WWDC, which is scheduled to open on June 7, 2010.  While the public will probably never know the full story, there is no shortage of theories, one of the most popular being that the whole incident was a not-s0-sneaky Apple publicity stunt.  And while we know Apple loves its ‘buzz’ this is one rumour that will probably be never be confirmed, officially at least.  As far as the WWDC, everyone knows that previous iPhone version releases always happened at or at least around the WWDC dates, so it’s a somewhat safe assumption that if they are planning an iPhone 4G or a Verizon iPhone release, it will happen there.

While we understand that this really doesn’t present any definite answers, we would like to remind our readers to be skeptical of any of the numerous release date claims, even on websites that seem credible.  The fact is that at this point, no one outside of the select Apple inner circle really knows exactly when the iPhone 4G will be released, and whether or not there will be a Verizon iPhone and when it would be released.

We have received a number of links from our readers to websites that claim inside knowledge or predict specific dates, etc.  Please continue to send us your links, we will be posting a complete list and calling out all of the bogus claims and their authors in the next few days.

Also, please don’t forget to click the ‘Like’ button at the top of the page.  We usually release exclusive and breaking information to our Facebook fans and friends before posting them on our blog, so if you want the latest and most accurate releases regarding the iPhone 4G, Verizon iPhone, and more, connect with us on our Facebook page or by clicking the ‘Like’ button at the top of any of our blog posts.

A number of popular websites and blogs (see below for list of sources) have begun to report the release date for the Verizon iPhone 4G as being during the week of the WorldWide Developer Conference (WWDC).  Additionally, Apple today announced that it will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) June 7 through June 11 at San Francisco’s Moscone West.  All of these signs point to an imminent release of the iPhone 4G device.

PLEASE NOTE:
AntiCommon.com will be posting a number of exclusive updates containing breaking information regarding the rumored CDMA iPhone device and Apple-branded iPhone Car Connect Kit, the Verizon iPhone 4G release date, and lots more over the next week as we receive authorization from our sources.

If you want the latest updates, click here and become a fan of our Facebook page right now!

We will be releasing all of our iPhone news and device release updates etc on our Facebook page first, so become a fan now to be notified of every update in real time!

Sources:
QuickPwn.com – Verizon iPhone Release Date, new iPhone…
Khabrein.info – Verizon iPhone Release Date and new iPhone…

2003: Apple opens the iTunes Music Store and starts to revolutionize the music-recording industry, one song at a time.

Between the mid-1980s and late 1990s, the media were undergoing a massive conversion from analog to digital. The music industry hated it.

Much to the chagrin of the Recording Industry Association of America, internet users quickly caught on to digital music as a free alternative to paying for albums. In fear of declining album sales, record labels filed lawsuit after lawsuit against online services Napster and MP3.com for hosting digital music, as well as Diamond Multimedia, a Korean company that released an MP3 player called the Rio. Clearly, for the recording industry, change wasn’t easy.

In stepped Steve Jobs. The Apple CEO harbored a vision in 2002 of an online music store hosted by Apple that would be easy to use, complete in selection and reliable in performance. These factors, Jobs thought, would be enough to convince customers to pay for something they could otherwise obtain for free illegally. The store, then, would enable record labels to compete with pirates rather than pursue a futile attempt to destroy them.

But in order for online music to work, Jobs believed his store would have to allow customers to purchase music in a completely different way: a la carte. Convincing labels was hardly easy.

“When we first approached the labels, the online music business was a disaster,” Jobs told Steven Levy, author of The Perfect Thing. “Nobody had ever sold a song for 99 cents. Nobody really ever sold a song. And we walked in, and we said, ‘We want to sell songs a la carte. We want to sell albums, too, but we want to sell songs individually.’ They thought that would be the death of the album.”

Jobs started his talks with the big players first: Warner Music and Universal. Apple flew the firms’ teams up to Cupertino, California. In a boardroom at One Infinite Loop, Jobs proceeded to present his plan.

Jobs first reeled in the labels with one crucial proposal: Apple would sell songs through iTunes, music-player software that was then available only for Macs. After all, how could Apple, whose Mac operating system held only single-digit market share, ruin the record business if the iTunes Store took off?

After a series of long and painful negotiations, the two labels ultimately agreed they would play, but only after Apple agreed to bake in some restrictions (aka digital rights management): iTunes-purchased songs would be limited to being playable on three “authorized” computers, and a playlist could only be burned on a CD seven times.

Labels BMG and EMI soon followed, and later Sony hopped on board. Apple opened the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with 200,000 songs. (Simultaneously, Apple released its third-generation iPod.) In the first week, iTunes Store customers bought more than a million songs. Six months later, Apple convinced the labels to allow iTunes to be shared with Windows users.

Apple announced at its final Macworld show Jan. 6, 2009, that iTunes would cease selling songs encumbered by DRM restrictions. Though a significant step for Apple, Jobs was not present to make the announcement — he was on medical leave. The Wall Street Journal later revealed that Jobs successfully underwent a liver transplant. He resumed his post in June 2009.

The iTunes Store has expanded to include movies, TV shows and the App Store providing third-party software for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad customers. To date, the iTunes Store has served more than 10 billion songs, 200 million TV shows, 2 million films and 3 billion apps.

Sources: The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture and Coolness, by Steven Levy; Wikipedia

Photo: Apple CEO Steve Jobs (June 2007)
Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Read More http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2010/04/0428itunes-music-store-opens/#ixzz0mOdMgIsx

Kyle Conroy put together an aesthetically, if not financially, appealing spreadsheet showing what your worth would be if you had bought Apple stock instead of Apple products… the results are interesting, to say the least…

See the original post at http://www.kyleconroy.com/apple-stock.php