Another weekend, another brand new Apple Store opening! This time, it’s Canada’s Quebec City store, which was announced quite a while ago, but is only now cutting the red ribbon (we’re kidding — they don’t actually cut ribbons at these things, but they do give away a lot of t-shirts). The picture above is from TUAW reader Carl, who says he’s excited to be at his first Apple Store opening ever. Good luck, Carl!

The grand opening for the store, in Place Ste. Foy, starts at 9:30am on Saturday morning, though you’ll probably want to get there a little early if you really want to be first through the doors. Make sure you install the Apple Store app before you go, so you can give that a try. And being as it’s in Quebec, the store will even be offering classes and workshops in French. To our brothers in the French Canadian north, bonne chance! Profiter!

Quebec City Apple Store opening this weekend at Place Ste. Foy originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MacStories reports that the iOS 4.2 update scheduled for tomorrow has now been delayed due to a significant bug found in the gold master build. The bug involves WiFi connection issues found by developers currently running iOS 4.2 GM on the iPad. “Basically, even if the iPad manages to successfully connect to a local network, the connection is lost after a few minutes,” MacStories states. “This seems to be the most common problem among users, although some can’t simply use Safari at all.” This bug isn’t confined solely to the iPad, either — our own Chris Rawson noticed the same WiFi connectivity issues while running iOS 4.2 GM on his iPhone 4.

Due to this, Apple has reportedly decided to hold off on releasing iOS 4.2 while the iOS team fixes the WiFi bug. MacStories’ source says developers could expect a new iOS 4.2 GM release as early as tomorrow, but it will be at least another week of testing before iOS 4.2 is released to the public. It may even be another two weeks until it debuts.

Earlier this week, MacStories accurately predicted the release of Mac OS X 10.6.5, though their prediction that iTunes 10.1 was scheduled to be released on the same day didn’t pan out.

UPDATE: Mark Gurman of 9to5 Mac just emailed me to point out that iPhoneHellas is reporting the delay won’t be as long as expected and iOS 4.2 may be launching on Tuesday, November 16th now. Obviously, this story is still developing and the only people who possibly know for sure just how long iOS 4.2 will be delayed are the folks in Cupertino.

Rumor: iOS 4.2 delayed ‘at least a week’ originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Always wanted to work for Apple but not sure about in what capacity? If apps are your thing, this could be your lucky day as MacNN is reporting that Apple Worldwide Developer Relations is now hiring Mac App Store reviewers, or “Mac Application Reviewers” as corporate likes to call them. These positions are based near Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, and while the only main requirement for potential candidates must be a familiarity with OS X, some favor is given to those who are also proficient in written French, German, or Japanese.

While Mac App Store submissions began on November 3 and with the Mac App Store slated to open around January 20, 2011, Apple is looking to hire several “meticulous, analytical, hardworking, and detail-oriented” people with strong customer service skills for these Mac Application Reviewer positions. That’s you, right? So what are you waiting for?

[via MacNN]

Apple hiring Mac App Store reviewers originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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9to5 Mac speculates that the second generation Apple TV is set to launch in Taiwan, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Portugal, and Belgium tomorrow morning. Last night, the night before the second gen Apple TV went on sale in Italy and Switzerland today, anyone who clicked on the original Apple TV link on the country’s Apple Online Store were taken to an error message.

Today, that error message is being replicated in the Apple Online Stores of Taiwan, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Portugal, and Belgium when shoppers click on the same Apple TV link.

While this does seem to signify that the new Apple TV is set for imminent release in seven new countries, it’s unknown if HD movie and TV rentals will appear in those countries’ Apple TV iTunes store. We’ll keep an eye out for official news that Apple TV is ready to launch elsewhere, and let you know when we hear more.

Apple TV ready to launch in Taiwan, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Portugal, and Belgium originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the original Apple-1 computers — that’s right, the wood-encased PCs that Steves Jobs and Wozniak built in the garage all those years ago — is going up for auction at Christie’s in London. There were only about 200 sold back in 1976 (for $666.66, of course) and only a few still left around today, but this one’s going up on the auction block. And it’s got all of the original materials included, apparently, including the original manual (with that old Apple Computer Co. logo) and a letter from Steve Jobs himself, answering questions about which keyboards and monitors to use with the PC.

The sale will go down on November 23rd, and the price is expected to reach £150,000, or about $242k. Honestly, it’d be nice to see this either bought up by Apple themselves (though Jobs must still have even more interesting treasures from back in those days), or by a museum somewhere. But even if it goes to a private collector, whoever picks it up will likely understand how important it is anyway, and they can make sure to preserve this piece of Apple history.

[via MDN]

Apple-1 computer going on auction at Christie’s in London originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iLounge reports that Apple has started to sell iBooks-branded iTunes Store gift cards in Apple Stores. I also saw the same gift cards for sale in my local Target store this morning. The gift cards come in US$25 and US$50 denominations and, like other iTunes gift cards, aren’t limited to purchasing iBooks but can be used to purchase any content in the iTunes Store.

The idea behind the iBooks gift card branding is twofold: to appeal to customers buying iPads for book lovers this holiday season and also to remove any doubt in the minds of purchasers that gift cards could not be used in the iBookstore. That was a common misconception, because the iBookstore is only found on iOS devices and not in the iTunes desktop application. But that should be put to rest with these cards right alongside the usual iTunes gift cards this holiday season.

iBooks gift cards appear in Apple Stores and Target stores originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apparently there is a market for Flash on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, judging by the success that the third party browser Skyfire (US$2.99) had in its first weekend in the App Store. The Skyfire browser enables Flash video playback by converting Flash content to HTML5, which is playable on the iPhone. Using adaptive streaming technology, users can view full Flash pages on their phones, and have up to eight different browser windows open at the same time. While it sold so quickly at first that they couldn’t keep their servers running smoothly, Skyfire ended up selling more than 300,000 copies of the browser in the first weekend alone, grossing over a million dollars. After Apple takes their cut of the sales, that leaves them with somewhere in the neighborhood of $630,000, quickly quieting those who asked how they would make any money with the new browser.

With HTML5 here to stay (for a while, at least) and Flash currently a non-player in the iPhone market, it looks like the Skyfire browser found a rather large piece of its target market during the first weekend alone. After all the animosity between Adobe and Apple, though, it’s hard to think that even a number like this will help them find common ground. You can watch a video of Skyfire in action after the break.

Continue reading Skyfire browser earns $1 million in first weekend

Skyfire browser earns $1 million in first weekend originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Following today’s Ping Twitter integration, many on Twitter started blasting the overly long Ping URLs. Now, MacRumors points out that one of their readers speculates that Apple could use its own iTun.es link shortener to help fit Ping links into Twitter’s character limitation.

The www.itun.es web domain currently forwards to Apple.com. MacRumors did some digging and found out that Apple has been the owner of itun.es since December 2006 when it was registered by MarkMonitor, the brand management firm Apple uses to register all of its domains. MacRumors notes that since Apple has owned the domain for almost four years it is unlikly they bought it specifically for a link shortener purpose, but with today’s Ping Twitter integration it would allow the company to put the domain to good use.

Apple could use ‘iTun.es’ domain as link shortener originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seattle-based iPad developer Ram Arumugam received a phone call from Steve Jobs after expressing frustration over his app’s rejection. “I was very surprised,” he told The Seattle Times. “I was not even sure whether [Steve Jobs] would have time to read the e-mail.”

The story began when Arumugam’s app, Economy for iPad (US$2.99) was rejected for using private APIs. The problem, Arumugam explains on his blog, was with the on-screen keyboard. Specifically, he was having trouble dismissing it after the user had finished with it. Since using private APIs is a no-no, the app was rejected.

Arumugam sent an email to Steve Jobs explaining the situation. Two hours later, his iPhone rang. Arumugam heard, “Ram, this is Steve.” It was Jobs on the other end. After discussing his issue, Ram removed the offending code from his app, re-submitted it and it was accepted. In fact, it’s become the top-selling pad app in the finance category.

Regarding his conversation with Apple’s famous CEO, Arumugam wrote, “…I’ve also read that he is a detail-oriented executive and a hands-on guy who is intimately involved with his company’s work (in a way that few other CEOs are). His phone-call reinforced those notions and went further to suggest that he was also a very conscientious guy who cared about people. The fact that he took the time to read my email, think about the app and then personally call me was amazing.”

That’s a pretty neat story. Thanks to Ram for sharing, and to Steve for reaching out to a frustrated developer.

iPad developer receives phone call from Steve Jobs originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are all sorts of software-driven ways to treat your iPod touch like a phone, from Skype to Line 2 and beyond. Unfortunately, none of them actually adds a real cell to your unit. Enter the Apple Peel 520. An enhanced case, it contains a working phone unit that communicates with your iPod through its dock connector. Unlike the data-only Sprint ZTE Peel case, which is due to launch this Sunday, the no-data Apple Peel 520 allows you to place and receive phone calls and SMS texts directly from your device using standard GSM SIM cards.

Since you bring your own SIM, the plan you use can offer as few or as many bells and whistles as you desire. I picked up a $10 H2O Wireless SIM card over at Best Buy and it worked perfectly with the unit. You insert a SIM, press a reset button for a few seconds and you’ll soon be able to make and receive calls — that is, you’ll be able to do this once you finish the rather protracted one-time set-up process.

Continue reading Hands on: Apple Peel 520 transforms iPod touch into cell phone

Hands on: Apple Peel 520 transforms iPod touch into cell phone originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guys behind Bootlace are working hard to port Android on iPad and iPhone 4 via OpeniBoot. Bootlace currently installs Android on iPhone 3G and 2G only. The video and screenshots below show that iPad and iPhone 4 support will be added soon.


For those who don’t know, OpeniBoot is an open source implementation of iBoot for Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices. It allows booting of unsigned code such as linux kernels on the device. OpeniBoot is critical for the booting and usage of linux on the iPhone as it sets up and initializes many devices ready for the linux kernel to take over. Many iBoot functions are replicated here, however when booting iOS iBoot is chainloaded from the NOR to guarantee iOS will boot without problems even with OpeniBoot installed. Open iBoot currently supports iPhone 3G, iPhone 2G and iPod Touch 1G.

Bootlace, a Cydia app that let you install Android on iPhone 3G and iPhone 2G is also based on OpeniBoot. Bootlace is expected to bring iPad, iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 1G support soon.

OpeniBoot on iPhone 4 & iPad [Screenshots]

Open iBoot on iPad [Video demo]

via [Hexxeh]

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Also checkout:

• How to: Install Android 2.2.1 Froyo on iPhone
• How to: Install Android on iPhone 2G
• Enable FaceTime on iPhone 3GS
• Install Flash on iPhone 4
• Facetime over 3G