What do you do when you water-damage your MacBook Pro? One owner learned the hard way that a)  you should not water-damage your Pro, and b) do not email Steve Jobs for help about it. Looks like somebody got a dressing down there. To find out what happened, check out the full story after the jump.

Those closely eyeing Apple may have been struck by the losses the Cupertino-based company reaped in Wall Street recently, but Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO and creative spark, has called out to Apple employees via email with a message of encouragement, as well as some words of reassurance to investors of the company. More at the full story.

Event management organization IDG World Expo has confirmed earlier this week that next year's Macworld Conference & Expo will be bannered by no less than Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs.

The latest tally of exhibitors totals 350 companies transcending the fields of design, print, online, photography, broadcast, videography, and music. More details about Steve Jobs and Macworld via the "read more" link below.

An official Apple software development kit (SDK) intended for third-party software developers on the iPhone was confirmed when Apple CEO Steve Jobs' latest blog entry at Apple's site said they planned to have the SDK in developers' hands by February 2008. Jobs said it would take at least that long to strike a compromise between security and freedom. Later, it was revealed that the SDK would permit development for the iPod Touch, too.

Now these are things that other companies have had to face with their own growing homebrew communities, and Apple will be no exception to the rule. Jobs continued:

This is no easy task. Some claim that viruses and malware are not a problem on mobile phonesÂ?this is simply not true. There have been serious viruses on other mobile phones already, including some that silently spread from phone to phone over the cell network. As our phones become more powerful, these malicious programs will become more dangerous. And since the iPhone is the most advanced phone ever, it will be a highly visible target.

Jobs iterated that there will be some form of control that will be implemented, but there will be enough freedom to expand the breadth of applications possible on the iPhone. But that said, some restrictions may arise from striking a balance between protection and open platforms. Apple's wonder guy said, "While [control] makes such a phone less than 'totally open,' we believe it is a step in the right direction."

In a lawsuit filed last April, Apple's head honcho - Steve Jobs - has been issued a subpoena by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to testify against the backdating option grants case of former Apple general counsel, Nancy Heinen.

Jobs is just one of several employees of the company who will testify during the trial. Heinen asked for at least 45 despositions for the case, however, the SEC is limiting the number to 12 per party.

An investigation last April found that Heinen and former Apple Chief Financial Officer, Fred Anderson, backdated more than US$ 20 million in stock options in 2001 for jobs, themselves and other executives. Anderson agreed to pay US$ 3.5 million in fines and disgorgement of profit to avoid any charges pressed by the SEC.

Cupertino, the California-based Apple stated in an internal review that two questionable options were awarded to Jobs, but found no other anomalies in the current management, including Jobs.

 

For those of us who were a little miffed at the sudden price drop of the iPhone a mere two months after its release - a hefty US$ 200 being slashed off its price tag - Steve Jobs has heard our cries, and he's doing something about it. Enter his most recent open letter to the iPhone-wielding public, apologizing as well as listing out the reasons why Apple, as a company, decided that the price cut was indeed a smart move to make.

So why the price cut? Here's Steve to tell you just what with this unedited portion of his open letter:

First, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to 'go for it' this holiday season. iPhone is so far ahead of the competition, and now it will be affordable by even more customers.

It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone 'tent'. We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that this holiday season.

It's not to annoy the customers, that's for sure, but to make the iPhone more accessible and more affordable to the rest of its targeted demographic. Also, with the holiday season right around the corner, wouldn't you want to have the ability to give your loved one the iPhone he or she had been dreaming about?

That' not the entire thing about the open letter, though. Besides the apology and the reasons, Steve also offered something in return for those of us who stood in line for the iPhone:

Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store.

Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple's website next week. Stay tuned.

A US$ 100 store credit for an apple product, both in the retail and online stores? That's quite a steal, especially if you're planning to buy one of Apple's latest gadgets. See, people do listen, and Steve Jobs certainly did.

You can check out the full open letter at the read link below.

In what seems to be an amusing parody to the proverbial Apple god, this image was posted by user donatreides over at Flickr depicting the grave of Steve Jobs in the form of an iPod.

The picture evoked a stream of humorous comments when it was first posted and still continues to illicit much amusement. Though he has been reported with notable health problems over the past few years, this puts into perspective a lighter side of what eventually lies in store for everyone someday.

Even Steve Jobs had a thing or two to say about his life and eventual death someday in his commencement address last June:

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

What more can we say but, "Very well said Steve, now where's that new iPod scheduled for the holiday season?"

Steve Jobs has been known to have a thing against buttons. You can see this in almost all the products that Apple has released under his direction. This minimalist approach to technology has been successful, and has been one of his principles ever since the company released their first computer.

Some of our older readers may remember that the original Macintosh's keyboard had fewer buttons than a normal PC keyboard. This was done because Jobs said that this would force independent programmers to make programs that would use the mouse, which wasn't common to systems during that time. His gamble worked.

Another example of this would be the iPod, which people now praise for its innovative and simple interface. What most don't realize though is that when the product was first released, a lot of people were calling Apple tech support just to figure out how to turn the product on. It took time for people to get used to it, but when they did, they preferred it to the more common buttons prevalent in the electronics industry.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak had the following to say about Jobs' attitude: "When Steve hits on something important to him, for either a personal reason or a design reason, he sticks with it for pretty much his whole life... until someone can absolutely prove him wrong."

What Jobs insisted on some 27 years ago has become a cornerstone in the development of Apple's products. He has become a legend in his own time not because of the complexity of the technology his company developed, but because of how simple it is to use.

We couldn't leave you guys hanging after reporting about the company-wide meeting that Steve Jobs called right before the release of the iPhone. While we couldn't send someone there to check it out, ars technica was cool enough to compile what happened from their various sources.

The entire speech was regarding the iPhone's introduction into the market and Steve Jobs handled it with his usual panache, saying the iPhone will revolutionize the mobile phone industry.

He went on, comparing the iPhone with the original Mac when it came out. He noted that when the latter came out, a lot of people said that it was going to be the industry standard. The iPhone follows the same vein in that sense. Strong words from a man who really believes in his products.

He then continued into the integration of the product in the entire Apple business. Steve said introducing it is the same as putting a third leg on a two legged chair. The first leg is the Mac business, which Steve noted as having the "best Macs" ever in the history of the company.

The second right now is the iPod and iTunes which as everyone knows really took off and dominated the music industry and mobile music market. The third would be the aforementioned iPhone. He also briefly touched on what he was hoping to be the fourth leg of the chair, the Apple TV.

Finally, he addressed a question that befuddled even the Apple fanatics here at QJ, "Why launch at Six PM"? Steve simply said that Apple didn't want people to have to take off from work, so they figured that was a good time to do it. Just when people thought it was over, he dropped the bomb on his employees. It was said that all full time Apple employees in the US and part-time employees with at least a year's tenure will be getting an iPhone at the end of July.

So now all we can really do is wait and see if Steve Jobs has once again struck gold with the iPhone. The next few months are going to really decide whether or not this product will be as successful as most have pegged it to be.

A rare event for Apple has been scheduled today. Accordingly, Steve Jobs has called a company wide meeting at his company's "Town Hall". What could he be announcing to his employees? (*cough iPhone cough*)

Better yet, Could this be another event such as the one that occurred during the iPod launch where Steve offered up $200 iPods to his employees? An iPhone for less sounds good to us.

The exact memorandum from Jobs is really interesting. He calls the iPhone the "most revolutionary and exciting product in Apple's history" which could actually be the case, when you really think about it.

We're launching the most revolutionary and exciting product in Apple's history this Friday. And given Apple's legacy of breakthrough products, that's saying a lot. I'd like to get together and share my thoughts about this amazing moment for our company.

So please join me for a company-wide communications meeting tomorrow, Thursday, at 11:00AM in Town Hall. This meeting will also be broadcast to other Apple campus locations. Please check [redacted] for details.

Steve Jobs also mentioned that the meeting will be broadcast to the other Apple campus locations. We'll probably be getting more information on this as it unfolds so keep checking back for more updates.