It seems that four years ago, not even Steve Jobs nor other Apple folks realized that Apple shares would be what they are today: up by 1600% since early 2003. In a report by Brett Arends on TheStreet.com, it was revealed that even Steve Jobs wasn't able to take advantage of a potential US$ 4 billion in profit because of Apple stocks.

It was also revealed that this is because he made a decision four years ago to "cut his exposure to apple stock". During 2003, Apple stocks was down 80% from its peak. Arends reports that Jobs and the Apple board agreed that Jobs would disregard around 15 million stock options in return for 10 million actual Apple shares.

Arends writes: "At the time, it looked like he was giving up nothing and getting $75 million in return. And, as he had rescued the company from oblivion, who would argue he didn't deserve it?"

Perhaps what's even more amusing is that during March 2003, company employees were allowed to make exchanges similar to what Jobs did. Apple set up a program that let people swap their seemingly worthless, post-bubble stock options for a smaller number of options at a lower strike price. The reason for this is that the exchange would be beneficial as long as the share price stayed low.

As mentioned, Apple stocks is up 1600% since early 2003.

Now that Apple products are so hot, and its stocks so high, one would think that anyone, especially Jobs would wish to just have that potential 4 Billion dollars back. Would Apple folks wish to have all that stock profit back? Arends says that Apple media relations declined to comment on this.

Apple has revealed that they will require those that purchase the iPhone have an active iTunes Store account in order to setup the the handheld device.

According to a MacWorld report, Apple has released an email to U.S. customers warning them that they should get an iTunes account. The email also included information on the iPhone's features. The email reveals that the iPhone will be able to get contact information from Address Book, Entourage, Outlook, Outlook Express, or Yahoo! Address Book, and grab schedule reminders from iCal, Entourage, or Outlook.

This warning of course, has led some to question why an iTunes registration is required. Some have speculated that perhaps Apple wants to ensure more security for data that can be passed from iTunes to the iPhone.

Other reports have noted concern that this iTunes requirement may cause problems for the first wave of iPhone purchasers as AT&T employees may not be fully aware of the requirement and thus could lead to setup troubles.

Others have also noted that this may just be Apple's way to expand iTunes' user base even further. Of course, its probably likely that those eager and willing to get the latest Apple gadget already have iTunes accounts.

According to a Gizmodo report, an insider source of theirs claims to have had some hands on time with the Apple iPhone. Some of the juicier details on the highly anticipated phone follows.

It was reported that as far as price is concerned that source believes that it's probably only worth half (the source's opinion) of the rumored US$ 500-600 price range.

As far as the software in the phone itself is concerned, it was reported that it has e-mail (AOL, Gmail, Hotmail) and web browsing features worked into it already. It was noted that you can also use your own POP email address. However, it was also expressed that would be constant firmware updates for the iPhone. How often is it exactly? "I'm talking nearly daily," the source says.

We've already reported about the Maps feature and the "secret" feature of Apple's iPhone. This recent batch of features should help contribute pieces to the puzzle. As for those who are patient and cautious enough to wait for official stuff from Apple about the product, relax. All will be revealed on the 29th.

Earlier this week, it was announced by Apple that YouTube videos will be available on Apple TV after a software update that should be available this June. Of course, this mention of YouTube has lead to a surge of interest, so here's more on the software update.

Speaking to iLounge, Apple Vice President of Worldwide Mac Hardware Marketing David Moody said that YouTube will soon be encoding videos in the H.264 format that is preferred by Apple TV.

Moody also adds that because of YouTube's new encoding, all new videos submitted to YouTube after the Apple TV update arrives.

It was said that from the update's launch until Fall, YouTube will be encoding all of their videos into H.264 format until all of them are available on Apple TV.

Moody notes that at the moment they view Apple TV to be much like the iPod in it's early days. The company is supposedly still identifying the strengths of the product and they're still trying to add features that users will enjoy.

This adoption of YouTube is an move to capitalize on Apple TV's two strengths which is being connected to the internet, and having an extendable, upgradable, software platform.

In related news, Moody also revealed that the 160GB Apple TV can soon be acquired by users in retail Apple Store locations. No specific date yet, but pricing is said to be at US$ 399.

It seems that when it comes to all things tech - and to be a bit narrower, all things Apple - the recent talk of the town is the supposed data plan for Apple's much awaited iPhone. Well, Gizmodo's Brian Lam has something to add to all the speculation, and what's nice about it is that it's specific. It concerns the plan's cost, which is about US$ 30.

See? No estimates. A specific, closed US$ 30 price.

Where did that number come from? Lam cites a Cingular business sales rep as an informant. In addition to the pricing, the release date was also a specific:  June 11. (Others feel that June 20 is a more apt release date) He also speculates  this data plan should include either/both EDGE data or/and Wi-Fi. Well, that's the rumor so far.

Given that a Blackberry Personal Plan plan costs around US$ 35 (or so says their site) a price of US$ 30 for the iPhone's data plan does seem appropriate. Given the other prices available, this rumor does seem plausible. Of course, the US$ 599 iPhone price-tag that everyone's expecting does make that extra 30 bucks seem a little steep.

 

Okay, to avoid getting "lost in translation", here's the 10meters.com definition of what CDMA is (weird convoluted jargon, and explanation of why it is important included):

CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access got its start as a military technology, developed by the Allies in WWII. Much like data sent over the Internet, CDMA conversations are "spread" when sent, then reassembled upon arrival. The technology allows multiple calls to be carried over one channel. CDMA is the fastest-growing transmission technology and is basically the multiplexing platform for 3G. It is considered an efficient and secure technology, and it operates at lower power, which conserves batteries. CDMA carriers: Verizon, Sprint PCS. CDMA champion: Qualcomm. Estimated number of users: 67 million.

AT&T uses GSM; all of AT&T's major rivals, Verizon Wireless and Sprint, are both CDMA companies. This means that if you want to use the iPhone, you better be on AT&T and GSM.

A lot have said that the regardless of the "Appleness" of the new iPhone, the experience with the product will ultimately have to depend on the service it's on. So we ask you iPhone eager folks: Are you OK with being on AT&T exclusively? Let us know in the comments.

On a related note, some witty folks are now speculating that you may see a Verizon CDMA zunephone. (But how plausible is that one?)

 

Some of you technically-minded folks may laugh at the title and say that you knew how to do this already, or that there is a Firefox plugin out there that can help you do something similar.

However, the reason that warrant's the posting of Go Squared's little mini tutorial on how do download "any" file using Safari, is that not a lot of people know to maximize the potential of the stuff they've got on their Macs (Yes even if it's on the menu bar. You should hear the horror stories that tech support people run into on a daily basis).

Anyhow, their tutorial focuses on Safari's (Apple's web browser on the Mac) tool called the Activity Window. Access it by going to Â?Window > ActivityÂ? (shortcut: alt + apple + a) and from there you'll be able to see every website that you're viewing.

Double clicking on any one of the listed things that show up on the Activity Window lets you download it. For example, if you were surfing through YouTube, you could look for it on the activity window and download that video really quick.

Now, Other technical folks have noted that saying "ANY file" is quite inaccurate. They say that password protect files in a password protected dir, or files that are not accessible thanks to .htaccess can't be downloaded. But who cares if you can't get them all? For one thing if you're uninitiated enough to find this useful, then you're probably not the type who'd be trying to download password protected files... right?

When it comes to RAM, ever since DDR came out, more isn't always better. What matters is that you have more "banks." If this blogger just lost you with that previous sentence, here, let me explain: Two 512MB DIMM of SDRAM will outperform a single 1GB DIMM since each DIMM can have up to four banks. Having two 512MB DIMMS (8 banks) means better performance than just one 1GB DIMM (4 banks).

How does that factoid relate to Apple? Well, RAM ArsTechnica Reports that RAM reseller Other World Computing did some research and it was revealed that an unmatched 3GB RAM in an Apple MacBook Core Duo and MacBook Core 2 Duo notebook (one 2GB and one 1GB), is for the most part, more beneficial than a matched pair.

Check out Other World Computing's tests by following the Read link below. Let us know what you think. If game performance is all that matters to you, be sure to check out the results of their Halo test. This test just means that sometimes more RAM is better.

It seems that as of Wednesday evening, MacBooks combined to occupy 4 out of the top 5 slots on Amazon's list of top selling computers. Don't believe us? Check out the screencap on the right.

Apple Insider reports that the sales of the slightly dated MacBook got a jolt when Amazon started offering instant discounts and rebates which consequently cut the costs of some models by more then US$ 200.

While Amazon is no longer offering their US$ 100 rebate on previous generation MacBooks (they probably already made enough money from that promo), they do have alternate instant savings offerings that reduce the cost (US$ 1499) by US$ 100.99 to only US$ 1399.

As for the currently generation models, Amazon is offering a US$ 100 mail-in-rebate for each of those models. For example, the news 2.16 GHz black MacBook, sees a price of only US$ 1394 after the rebate. What's amusing is that makes the new MacBook actually cheaper the the previous gen black MacBook.

If you're looking for Mac laptops for design projects or what-not, the recent promotion might be a good thing to take advantage of.

Apple Insider reports that the first pre-release builds of Mac OS X 10.4.10 have made rounds in Cupertino earlier this month, and is being readied for testing.

It is reported that Apple hopes to stabilize the software to the point where it can proceed to seeding copies of the software update to its Apple Developer Connection members by next week.

Apple last updated the Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger in March. At the time, Mac OS X 10.4.9 came with improved camera support, improved DVD playback, and enhanced Bluetooth support. For the latest update, the specific fixes are still unknown. However, most believe that an fix for an "audio-related issue" will be included.

Apple insider believes that this free time that Apple has to work on the current OS X 10.4 Tiger is due to the delay of OS X 10.5 Leopard to October.