The second largest cellular provider in the United States, AT&T, issued an apology to users of the Apple iPad whose email addresses were leaked last week during a security breach. Hackers were able to discover the email addresses of nearly 114,000 iPad 3G users through a program on AT&T’s website. Among the email addresses uncovered by hackers were those belonging to members of the U.S. military as well as executives at media, technology and finance companies.

New York Times Chief Executive Officer Janet Robinson and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s email addresses were among those discovered by hackers. The group that uncovered the email addresses compiled them into a list to be sold in order to benefit their own publicity. Gawker Media’s Valleywag website was among a handful of places that received the hacked list of emails.

Goatse Security, which helps Web firms with security issues, discovered the gap in security on AT&T’s website. The company found the problem in a matter of an hour and publicized their results in the interest of iPad users’ safety. Dorothy Attwood, AT&T’s chief privacy officer, sent an e-mail on Sunday to the affected iPad accounts expressing the company’s regret and “apologizing for the incident and any inconvenience it may have caused.” The company insured those affected that no other information was obtained by the hackers.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened an inquiry into the matter and has asked groups, such as Gawker Media, who received the hacked email lists to save any documents they received so they could be used in the investigation.

If you’re an avid Apple’s iPhone, iPod, or iPad user you’ll probably be very pleased to hear that Apple has denied Google from blasting your devices with their mobile advertising. This is a breaking news story from June 9, 2010.

As you can imagine, Google is quite upset about this, especially since in late May Google acquired the mobile ad company named AdMob, from Apple Devices for a reported $750 Million. This decision also seems to have AdMob’s founder Omar Hamoui a bit miffed as well. This is also quite easy to understand, since as reported by AdMob, almost 32% of the ads served by that company in April went out to iPhone and iPod devices. That can translate into some serious future advertising revenue losses. Were your devices being bombarded with ads during the month of April?

It seems that there have been many requests made to Apple to clarify on Google’s claim, but none have been forthcoming from the company as yet.
In other breaking news, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs spoke on Monday June 8th that iAd, which is scheduled to launch in July 2010, could own a large share of the mobile advertising market by mid 2010. This is no big surprise as iAd is Apple’s own new mobile advertising platform. Personally this seems to be a well thought out plan by Steve to help boost Apple’s domination and market share even further.

All I can say is “Kudos’ to you once again”, Steve.

What are your thoughts on this new information?

Apple has announced a new version of the iPhone at WWDC. The new phone will be called the iPhone 4. It will offer Facetime, a new feature that enables any other iPhone user to have a face to face conference with each other. A five megapixel camera with LED flash on the rear of the phone will ensure users are able to take stunning pictures. Multitasking will also be coming to the new iPhone. Users will be able to have their email open while checking on their Facebook account.

Other major announcements by Apple include Farmville coming to the iPhone. Users will be able to interact with all of their Facebook friends as well as harvest their farms from their iPhone or iPod touch. Another major announcement was Netflix streaming on the iPod touch/iPhone. The streaming ability will allow anyone with a Netflix account to view any title from Netflix’s watch instantly catalog.

At the All Things Digital interview on Tuesday June 1st, Steve Jobs stepped out on the stage and talked for the first time since the last All Things Digital interview in 2007. However, in this year’s conference, Bill Gates was not present as he was in 2007.

Steve Jobs was asked about the recent spate of suicides that took place at Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer of Apple’s iPhone and iPad and Jobs replied that the company is dismayed about the problem and that it is a troubling idea, not to mention that Foxconn is not a sweatshop, despite the press coverage saying that it is. In addition to this situation, he was also asked what he thought about Apple finally passing Microsoft and he stated it was a “surreal” situation.

They then turned to the Adobe Flash situation and why the harsh words written in the Thoughts about Flash” letter. He replied that Apple only wants to make the best products and Flash is not the best so Apple does not want it on any of his products, even if the people demand it. Many other items were talked about at the D8 conference between the interviewers and Jobs but the biggest statement he iterated upon the entire evening was that Apple wants to make better products, period.

In Apple’s new “What is iPad?” commercial, they claim that it is “more books than you could read in a lifetime.” But now that the iPad has been out for a little while, it’s hard to say whether or not this tablet computer that has taken the world by storm will or will not replace traditional e-readers.

The iPad is all-inclusive. It’s everything you could want in a mobile device (minus a cell phone). It provides full access to the internet, has photo and video capabilities, and even has a book reader that has a virtual page-turning feature. But one of the iPads key features could turn out to be a major drawback in using it as an e-reader. What is it? The bright color display.

One of the reasons e-readers like the Nook by Barnes and Noble and the Kindle by Amazon are so popular is because they provide a screen that is easy on the eyes. These devices are used solely for reading, so they do not need to worry about color display. That, and they’re considerably cheaper than the iPad. The most basic iPad rings in at $499 USD, while the Nook and the Kindle each cost only $259.

Only time will tell, but it seems that serious readers will continue to opt for the simpler e-readers. After all, sometimes less is more.

Finding time to get away from work and out into the wilderness for a weekend hike or on the lake for a day of relaxation and fishing is tricky enough without the added complication of communication breakdown. The Freeloader Pico Solar Charger makes it a breeze and a enviro-friendly one at that.

The Freeloader Pico is a solar charger for small electronic devices. It’s size (105 x 45 x 11.5mm) and light weight (49g) make it easy to stuff in your backpack, tackle box or pocket. It has 75mA premium quality crystalline solar cells, 800mAh enviro-friendly Li-ion battery with an average life span of 2 years and 5v/250mA input voltage.

Included with the package deal for only $39.00 are a master power cable and four adapters. You can connect to any device supplied with a sync cable or USB charger, small pin Nokia, Sony Ericsson and with the mini USB connector you can charge most smart phones, Motorola, Blackberry, Garmin and many other GPS units and PDAs.

A quick 30-minute charge delivery provides 35 hours on mobile phones, 14 hours on iPod and 1.5 hours on GPS units. It’s greatest asset is its ability to charge itself via solar power in 10 hours or via USB in only 3 hours–making it an inexpensive solar charger worthy of trips to areas where an electrical outlet doesn’t exist.

You’ve spent a small fortune to buy yourself an Apple iPad, and now you live in fear of scratching or dinging it, right? Yet after checking out several iPad cases, it seems most are bulky, and they also tend to cover up the device’s sleek beauty. C’mon, showing off the iPad is half the fun! We understand, and after a bit of digging we put together our three best options for protecting and preserving the style of your new toy:

Music Skins: Now these are cool! People love their music, and they love their iPad, why not combine the two? MusicSkins is now selling iPad decal “stickers” that offer basic protection against scratches and dings printed in your favorite band art. It’s also very affordable starting at $20.

Incipio’s Feather Case: This hard case is not only barely there, but lightweight with a cool futuristic look. The Feather offers peace of mind for full body protection without making it look like your iPad is dressed for a trip to Alaska. Prices are higher though, starting at $35.

Fusion of Ideas’ StealthArmor: Probably the most premium option of the bunch, the StealthArmor with heat-bonding adhesive technology looks amazing and super classy, however it also comes with a hefty price tag starting at $45 for the clear edition and up to $75 for their brushed Metal series.

Apple is well known for its iPhones and the new iPad. People are so excited when the release new hardware that some are willing to wait in line for hours (and days) to buy it before anyone else does .

With so much excitement, what would you do if you were Jason Chen, a senior editor at tech magazine Gizmodo, and you happened to come across a yet-to-be-released iPhone? Also, what would you do if you were Apple and Chen wanted to post about your new product before it was fit to be released?

Well, here’s what happened. According to Chen, an Apple engineer lost this piece of equipment at a bar. Chen tried to get it back to him and couldn’t. The police broke into Chen’s home and seized his computer and several flash drives. Chen then posted about everything to include the name of the engineer, information about the phone, and information from California state law about how unpublished information from a journalist cannot be used against him simply due to it being in his or her possession.

The question some may ask is if Chen knew the engineer’s name, what was the holdup in getting the phone back to him? And why is he referring to law that protects him as a journalist if he had no intention of publishing about the phone?

Of this there have been several results. Chen has been dissed pretty hard from people online. The post he published about what happened stopped allowing comments at around the 800 mark. Apple has had its share of negative comments as well. In the end, it is for the courts to decide.

Was this whole thing blown out of proportion? Perhaps. Will it continue to be? Stay tuned.

With the emergence of the iPad, rumors have circulated that the Amazon Kindle will die out. What many devoted Kindle users will tell you is that nothing can replace their Kindle, and here’s why. The biggest complaint about the iPad, when used as an e-reader, is that it is not friendly to the eyes because of the backlit screen. A Kindle screen mimics newspaper print so it is easy to read and can be used in direct sunlight and is not strenuous on the eyes.

The other main criticism of the iPad vs. Kindle is the price. The simplest of the iPad’s will cost you around $500, while the Kindle is half that price. Categorizing the iPad as an e-reader does not make sense, since it has various functions and applications. If one is looking for strictly an e-reader, Kindle is more affordable. However, for those looking for something closer to what a laptop can do, iPad will be a better choice.

picture by gizmodo.com

Rumors are flying about the next generation iPhone that Apple is expected to announce around June 22, 2010. Is this something you should get excited about, or is it just an upgraded 3GS? Here’s what to expect.

1. Faster Processor

The new iPhone is expected to use the new A4 chip,which is the same chip that powers the iPad. This should result in a vastly improved performance, since it runs at 1 GHz compared to the 600 MHz of the current iPhone.

2. Multitasking

One of the biggest gripes about the iPhone may finally be solved. The newest iPhone is expected to support multitasking.

3. Two Cameras

Why would you need two camera? One of the cameras is expected to be front-facing, so you can hold video chats with your friends.

4. Better Resolution

The current models of the iPhone have a screen resolution of 320×480. The new model will probably have 640×960 pixels. This ratio makes sense, since it will allow all existing iPhone applications to be able to smoothly transition.

We’ll have to hold our breaths to see what the new iPhone will have in store for us. Other rumors include the name: will it be the iPhone 4g or the iPhone HD? There is also a possibility it will be available to Verizon customers.