Following Steve Jobs' announcement of an iTunes song price cut on The Wall Street Journal Online, Apple has dropped the price of all iTunes Plus songs (those without any digital rights management) from US$ 1.29 to US$ 0.99 for U.S customers. It was also announced that Apple will be beefing up their selection of songs by adding more independent music labels to iTunes Plus.

While Jobs didn't explain why Apple is dropping iTunes Plus songs' prices, rumor has it that this price drop and the addition of new indie labels is Apple's response to Amazon's DRM free music download store.

This move could further solidify iTunes' reputation as the 3rd largest music retailer in the U.S. We'll have to wait and see if Steve Jobs' current actions will generate more consumer interest.

Checking if Steve Jobs and Apple made good in their promise to be clean and green with their products, environmentalist group Greenpeace got themselves an 8GB iPhone, shipped it to their UK research laboratory, dismantled it, and checked if the iPhone is indeed environmentally sound.

The verdict? Greenpeace has determined that there's still hazardous chemicals found in the iPhone.

One of the toxic chemicals found in the iPhone - phthalates - is not banned for use in mobile phones, but has been classified as "toxic to reproduction, category 2" due to their interference to mammalian reproduction. Toxic phthalates are banned from toys in Europe.

Brominated flame retardants were also found in the iPhone. It should be mentioned at this point that Jobs mentioned in his environmental press release that Apple already adhered to the restrictions of using brominated flame retardants.

On a slightly related (and humorous) note, we can also see the iPhone's chemicals in action in Blendtec's Will It Blend site. Did these hazardous chemicals cause the iPhone to go "boom"? Just a little something to think about, of course.


Check out the video of Greenpeace's iPhone laboratory testing after the jump!

 

iPod Touch users who've been wondering why the iPhone can add and edit calendar events and the iPod Touch can't shouldn't worry anymore: a future update would soon resolve that problem, because Apple CEO Steve Jobs supposedly said so. David J. Early brought up fine arguments about sorely missed iPod features in an email message sent to Apple's wonder guy, and received a reply that went:

Nothing can be done about the games. The new iPod touch is a completely different animal inside than the old iPods and the games just don't translate. The inability to edit or add calendar events is a bug that will be fixed in a future software update.

With that said, let's not get too hasty and wait for the next software update notice to pop up from your iTunes suite, because some speculate that the fix may be a week away. The email reply did not address points raised on the iPod disk mode, image syncing, and the storage of notes, however.

Apple gets sued once again, and this time they're getting chewed out over something that was meant to make customers happy. iPhone owner Dongmei Li has filed a lawsuit against Apple, Steve Jobs, as well as AT&T over the iPhone price cut, and the US$ 100 rebate given to early adopters of the iPhone.

As previously reported, Jobs announced the iPhone price drop to US$ 399 in the same media event where he introduced the new iPod products. Some iPhone customers were disgruntled with the sudden price drop, but were appeased by the US$ 100 coupons sent to those who bought the iPhone launch units.

According to Li, she is now a victim of price discrimination as a result of the above business decisions that Apple and Jobs made, because she cannot resell her iPhone for the same value as those who bought it after the price drop.

Li stated that there was no reason behind the price cut, which she said was grounds to underselling.

The lawsuit also covers AT&T, due to accusations of forcing customers to sign two-year service contracts, which have US$ 175 termination fees attached to them. Li then goes on to say that it was unfair simply because those who purchased the iPhone were able to use unlocking applications that freed them from the contracts.

This may seem like a story of another day, another lawsuit, but we do hope that this gets resolved properly, and soon.

 

Here's another Apple for gravity to toy with. If your love for Apple's industry-spurring MessagePad in the past decade or in 2004's D: All Things Digital exposition, then this bit of news might rekindle that flame. CEO and creative spark Steve Jobs once hinted at that same event how they were proud of an unreleased product he simply named "an Apple PDA."

Newton MessagePad. If there's anything new to develop in the days that the Apple iPhone is enjoying much success in Western hemisphere, then it would be Apple's PDA with multi-touch technology. AppleInsider reported that they were clued in about the PDA project inside Apple, and it was said that it experienced a few halts due to development focus on the iPhone.

But now that the iPhone's out and successors are already in development, engineers have returned to the PDA development process, or that's what is believed. Sharing similarities with the iPod Touch and iPhone, the new PDA is said to have an integrated version of Mac OS X Leopard.

Other claimed features include a 720 x 480 liquid crystal display, covering almost the entire surface of an ultra-thin "slate" about 50% larger than the iPhone. And pushing further into multi-touch technology, the PDA would promote drag-and-drop and cope-and-paste mechanics, to spur the features' adoption.

Steve Jobs has recently stated that Apple will be cracking down on unlocked iPhones. Apparently, the method they have chosen to do so is through firmware updates they plan on releasing for iPhones.

The group of hackers (iPhone Dev Team) who developed the unlocker have responded to this statement through a representative saying that they will be releasing a tool that will restore the unit's nck counter, seczones, and even restore the phone to factory settings.

In the meantime, they told the rest of the community that they shouldn't upgrade their firmware when the update comes out. Instead they ask unlocked iPhone owners to patiently wait for the next version of the crack to avoid breaking their mobiles. In the same statement, they also spoke about how Apple is allegedly misinforming their customers:

Apple now announces that the next firmware update, expected later this week, will possibly break the handset of all of us free users in the World. It speaks of "damage" done to the firmware and "unauthorized access" to our own property, The removal of those firmware problems, which were built in in favor for AT&T, does not cause "damage" as they want to make us believe.

So the battle between the corporations and hackers continue. The community has already been polarized with some siding with Apple and others with the iPhone Dev Team. We'll keep you guys updated on this as more news comes out.

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.

Smashing the various iPhone 3G rumors to bits is the announcement of an iPhone 3G coming in 2008, delivered by Apple's main man himself, Steve Jobs.

"You can expect a 3G iPhone later next year," said Jobs in a press conference aptly named "Mum is no longer the word," held in the Regent Street Apple store in London.

Jobs explained the reason why Apple did not put the iPhone on EDGE in the first place: the 3G chipset technology will just drain out the iPhone's battery life (currently 8 hours). However, future iPhones will indeed run on 3G.

An iPhone model equipped with 2G EDGE technology is already in the works, and will be available in the UK on November 9. That may also mean that the leaked German T Mobile ad may not be just a rumor after all.

A recent announcement by the Steve (that's Mr. Steve Jobs, to most of us mortals) last Wednesday revealed that iPhone owners would now be able to buy songs from iTunes and get a 30 second ringtone thrown into the deal if they pay double the price for their purchases.

However, if you want to get the most bang out of your buck, you can follow these five easy steps in getting yourself your own customizable Ringtone without having to pay the extra charge. You basically just have to rename the .m4a file to a .m4r and that's pretty much it. While this procedure is Mac specific, it should work the same way on a PC.

Anyway, here's the step by step tutorial on how to install your own Ringtones according to our source:

1. Convert the song you want to use as a ringtone to AAC 128kbps. OR if it is already in this format, duplicate it. Then, in iTunes, add an additional word or letter to the title in the duplicate or new AAC (I just put "(ringtone)").
2. Drag the file onto your desktop, and edit the file in another program. I have Sound Studio which is pretty easy to edit an AAC file and add a fade in/fade out, but apparently Audacity and Garageband work as well. There is obviously a size limit on the file, the best guess on Macrumors.com so far is between 3.1 and 3.5mb. However, if the file is too big, it will not show up on your "Sounds" menu on the iPhone. I usually edit the song down to about a 20-30 second clip and save it.
3. Click Apple+I (or right click "Get Info"). Change the file name from .m4a to .m4r in the "Name & Extension" section. When asked if you want to change the extension, select "Use .m4r;". Also change the file name to what you want it to show up as on your phone. For example, by default it will be . I deleted the song track number.
4. Drag the file into iTunes. Since the "Ringtones" feature isnÂ?t completely enabled yet, it won't show up anywhere in your Library, but once you Sync your phone, the ringtone will show up in a list under the "Ringtone" tab. You can manually delete the file from the Home > Music > iTunes > iTunes Music > Ringtones, but this wonÂ?t delete it from iTunes. For that you will have to re-create your iTunes Library which will reset all play counts and dates added. So just deal with the extra files until the feature is completely enabled.
5. After that, plug your phone up and click the "Ringtones" tab. You can choose to "Sync All" or select the ringtones you want. If it shows up in your Ringtones list in iTunes, but doesn't show up on your phone, the problem is that the file size is too large. Edit it down and try again. Otherwise, click "Apply" and enjoy. No more Marimba.

Take note however that with the 7.4.1. iTunes update released by Apple, you won't be able to pull off the above mentioned steps. Also, if you have a previously installed Ringtone with iToner, iPhoneRingToneMaker or other hacks then you will lose them if you upgrade your iTunes. You might want to check out this video courtesy of LoPo21 we included in relation to the tutorial, just take care you don't brick your iPhone by accident.

Check out a video courtesy of LoPo21 detailing the "hacking" process right after the jump!

 

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.