Steve Jobs' most anticipated next appearance has to be at WWDC next Monday, where he is expected to roll out iPhone OS 4 and the fourth-generation iPhone, as well. Second most anticipated on his list was probably his appearance on Tuesday at the Wall Street Journal's All Things D conference.

Jobs shared his view of the tech world with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher there, and here are a few tidbits:

Asked about one of the highest profile "cases" of late, the lost iPhone which wound up in Gizmodo's hand, Jobs was clear that they would not let the issue slide. In fact, he commented that the story should be made into a movie (hopefully, a TV docudrama). "It's got theft. It's got buying stolen property. It's got extortion. Somebody should make a movie out of this."

We still say Apple should have the engineer who lost the device, Gray Powell, come out with the iPhone in his hand, at least so we know he's still alive. We haven't checked recently, but previously people working in his group told us they had not seen him since the incident.

Regarding the suicides at Foxconn's Chinese plants, where iPads and iPhones are manufactured, Jobs said that " "We look at everything at these companies, and I can tell you a few things that we know: Foxconn is not a sweatshop. It's a factory, but they've got restaurants and movie theaters. They've had some suicides and attempted suicides. They have 400,000 people there. The rate is under what the US rate is, but it's still troubling."

He is correct in terms of his statistics. As Jobs stated the suicide rate at Foxconn has been 13 out of 400,000 for first half of year, which is under the U.S. rate of 11.1 per 100,000 (according to the WHO). While that is true, what's most troubling is that it's happening in such a relatively small region, as others have also noted.

Regarding Adobe and Flash, Jobs said Apple is very careful in what it chooses for its products, and pick technologies in the 'springs' of their lives. "We're trying to make great products for people. We at least have the courage of our convictions ... We're going to take the heat because we want to make the best product in the world for customers ... They are paying us to make those choices. "If we succeed they'll buy them, and if we don't, they won't. So far, I have to say that people seem to be liking iPads. We've sold one every three seconds since we launched it."

Asked about Google, Jobs said what he's said before: "They decided to compete with us. We didn't go into the search business." He's said that before, and he even said it at a company meeting.

In terms of changes to Apple's iPhone SDK terms of service to limit collecting and sending of analytics data from 3rd-party apps, many had speculated that Apple may be trying to limit competition from other ad networks. After all, we all know about Apple's new iPad service. Jobs, on the other hand, blamed it on Flurry, a mobile analytics company that in January noted it had seen some new tablets in their analytics data. In the past, Flurry has revealed such information for next-generation Apple devices, and as Jobs said:

Well we learned this really interesting thing. Some company called Flurry had data on devices that we were using on our campus -- new devices. They were getting this info by getting developers to put software in their apps that sent info back to this company! So we went through the roof. It's violating our privacy policies, and it's pissing us off! So we said we're only going to allow analytics that don't give our device info -- only for the purpose of advertising.

What about AT&T? Jobs was kind, but clear: "I do think they have some issues." He also noted that "They're having trouble,but they have the fastest 3G network and they're improving. I wish they were improving faster." Additionally, he pointed out that AT&T serves up "way more data traffic than anyone else," though that may change after Wednesday's announcement by the carrier.

When asked about other carriers, Jobs said: "You know I can't comment on that." He did add, however, "there might be" an advantage to a multi-carrier U.S. strategy.

Interestingly, Jobs noted that the iPad was really on the table first. "I'll tell you a secret. I actually started on tablet first. I had an idea of a multitouch display that you could type on. About six months later they called me in and showed me this prototype display. This was in the early 2000s. I gave it to one of Apple's early UI folks who got inertia scrolling and other things working."

Speaking of the iPad, when asked about its potential to save newspapers, Jobs said that newspapers are in trouble, and he does not want to "see us descend into a nation of bloggers." He added that in the future, PCs will become the "trucks" of computing, while tablets will become the "cars," streamlined.

As far as the App Store approval process, Jobs would only admit that they make mistakes. A political cartoon app by Mark Fiore was banned at first, until he won a Pulitzer Prize. "We are guilty as charged of making mistakes. Nobody has ever done this before."

Jobs' next appearance is on June 7th at WWDC, where he will give the keynote, announcing both iPhone OS 4 and the next-gen iPhone, as well as ... who knows?

Watch a couple of videos from Steve Jobs' appearance at the All Things D conference, shockingly, in Flash:

Tags: Appearance, Attempted Suicides, Docudrama, Engineer, Extortion, Foxconn, Hand Jobs, Ipads, iPhone, Iphones, Kara Swisher, Movie Theaters, Os 4, Profile Cases, Statistics Jobs, Steve Jobs, Suicide Rate, Sweatshop, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal

WalMart has "rolled back" iPhone prices at its retail operations. It shouldn't come as a surprise, though; Apple is expected to introduce both iPhone OS 4 and a new iPhone at WWDC in early June, and this is typical of this time of the year.

Starting Tuesday, the 16GB iPhone 3GS is being sold for $97 with a two-year AT&T contract. Prior to WalMart's iPhone price cut, the device sold for $197.

WalMart said the price drop was part of a commitment it made earlier this month to offer aggressive discounts on a weekly basis. It's more likely also because of the upcoming fourth-generation iPhone.

It's also possible, as Apple did with the iPhone 3G when it introduced the iPhone 3GS, that the 3GS model will continue to be sold at a discounted $99 price.

Tags: 16gb Iphone, 3g, 3gs, Aggressive Discounts, Amp, Apple, Blogspot, iPhone, Iphone Price, Os 4, Retail Operations, Surprise, Walmart, Wwdc

Fake Steve Jobs, AKA Daniel Lyons, has abandoned iPhone for Android. While not quite so sensationalistic as if real Steve Jobs dropped iPhone, it's still a big story.

Daniel Lyons used to post anonymously as Fake Steve Jobs on a blog, until he was outed. He still posts there but now he's known as Fake Steve. Originally, Lyons wrote for Forbes during his anonymous days, and now he writes for Newsweek.

At any rate, Lyons outlined a number of reasons for his move. In particular, he was blunt, harsh, and to the point. On the positive side of things, it was the introduction of Froyo, Android 2.2 that made his mind up, Lyons said.

He did make one mistake in his missive (maybe). He indicated that Froyo will support tethering, while Apple and AT&T still have not confirmed the feature. While that's true, it's currently believed that iPhone OS 4 will add tethering in the U.S., so let's omit that as a reason, for now.

His other reasons, however, include faster performance in Froyo (though how he can confirm that is beyond us, vs. iPhone OS 4, that is). What is true is that Google is really pushing Apple in terms of technology. In fact, if it hasn't passed the iPhone OS, it will soon enough.

The Android OS is already outselling iPhone OS in the United States. Now it's blowing past Apple in terms of the technology it's delivering.

Yes, Apple still has a larger installed base. I was a little shocked recently when an Apple spokesbot responded to the news of Android's outselling iPhone OS by reciting the old chestnut about Apple's having more phones out there.

I was shocked because it's a familiar line, one that I've heard countless times in my 20-plus years covering technology. But I've only ever heard it from companies that are doomed and in total denial about it.

That's a little hyperbolic. How about Lyons' next statements?

We've seen this movie before. In the 1980s, Apple jumped out to an early lead in personal computers, but then got selfish. Steve Jobs, a notorious control freak, just could not play well with others.

Along came Microsoft, with Windows, which was a knockoff of Apple's operating system. Microsoft partnered with everyone and today has 90 percent market share, while Apple's share lingers in the single digits.

That, in fact, is true. People can deny it, and in fact comments made at the story did try to, but it was the fact that the IBM PC was open that meant that clones could be cheaply and easily made that made Windows what it is. It's not so much Microsoft, as Lyons asserted, but IBM, that really was the open company. However, he is correct that Apple's closed system gave the PC the opening it needed.

It does, indeed, sound somewhat like history is repeating itself. However, it's true that Apple still has the greater number of devices. What Apple fans fail to remember is how individualistic people are. The iPhone is like the Model T, and Henry Ford. One form factor for each version.

People love different form factors, and like to switch. That is why Android is succeeding. There is so much to choose from.

In a sense, that could be Android's weakness as well: fragmentation, and customization causing issues with apps. So far, it has not been a big issue, but it could be.

Of course, Lyons does rant a bit later on. They aren't, however, rants that haven't been from others.

Today the battlefield is mobile devices, and just as before, Apple jumped out to an early lead. And just as before, Jobs got selfish. He won't support Flash, or any cross-platform tools—because he wants developers locked into his platform [...]

He's created his own advertising platform, and stacked the deck in his favor by refusing to share user data with other platforms. [...]

He's even censoring content, ruling out material that he deems to be offensive. Not just porn, but anything that's racy or suggestive, or that "ridicules public figures." [...]

What makes this even more insulting is that Jobs tries to dress up his selfishness as a kind of altruism. [...] The truth is, this is about Apple wringing every last dime out of its ecosystem and leaving nothing on the table for anyone else.

As sick as I am of my iPhone's dropped calls, I'm even more sick of Apple treating us all like a bunch of idiots, stonewalling and bullying and feeding us ridiculous explanations for the shortcomings of its products—expecting us to believe, basically, that its flaws are not flaws, but strengths.

Naturally this post drew a lot of harsh criticism for its hyperbole in some areas. In reality, most consumers won't get the points that Lyons makes, which are, in fact, valid. Most will say, the iPhone is great as it is and live with it. The arguments Lyons makes will resonate most with techies with open minds.

Meanwhile, the "phone wars" go on. Just wait until we see some Chrome or Android powered tablets. Then things will really escalate.

Tags: 1980s, Amp, Apple, Blog, Countless Times, Daniel Lyons, Denial, Fake Steve Jobs, Forbes, Froyo, Google, Hasn, iPhone, Missive, Mistake, Newsweek, Os 4, Personal Computers, Post Jobs, Steve Jobs

Just as we finish talking about the original AT&T contract with Apple over the iPhone having a five-year exclusivity arrangement, here comes the latest Verizon iPhone rumor. According to CrunchGear, an advertising firm, Landor Associates, is working on an iPhone campaign for Verizon.

Much as we said yesterday, we really know nothing more. These are all rumors, and even the contract information may not be current.

Additionally, it would be interesting to see background processing introduced in iPhone OS 4, just in time to complaints from folks who didn't know beforehand that CDMA technology does not allow data and voice at the same time.

Once again, all just a rumor. The curtain will be raised at WWDC in June.

Tags: Advertising Firm, Amp, Apple, Background processing, Blogspot, Current, Curtain, Exclusivity, Hd, iPhone, Landor Associates, Os 4, Verizon, Wwdc

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2010 has sold out, just eight days after being officially announced. WWDC 2010, besides focusing on development technologies and the iPhone OS 4 platform, is expected to showcase a new iPhone, as in years past.

This is the third straight year that WWDC has sold out. The event will take place from June 7-11 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs traditionally gives the keynote address. The company has not announced if he will again this year. While showing a lack of humor of late, Apple has sometimes shown a bit of humor at past keynotes (as above).

It's unclear if any reference to the "lost iPhone" will be made, but a great PR move, in our minds, would be if Gray Powell, who lost the device, was there to introduce it.

We have word from someone who works in the same department as Powell that he's actually a QA engineer, not a developer. Additionally, he has not been seen in that department since the event.

Tags: Apple Ceo, Apples, Blogspot, Ceo Jobs, Eight Days, Humor, iPhone, Keynote Address, Keynotes, Moscone Center In San Francisco, Os 4, Qa Engineer, Showcase, Steve Jobs, Worldwide Developer Conference, Worldwide Developers Conference, Wwdc

It's no surprise, and in fact, strange that Apple hasn't made an official announcement of this. In an email from Steve Jobs (yes, he does reply sometimes), a customer was told that the iPhone 2G (the original) is no longer going to be supported by Apple.

The Jobs email reply to a question about the future of the original iPhone is given in his usual terse, right-to-the-point, manner.

“Sorry, no.

Sent from my iPhone”

To be honest, if you haven't swapped out your iPhone 2G for a new one yet, you probably need to get that battery changed anyway (as the iPhone does not have a user-replaceable battery). The iPhone's next revision is due out this summer, along with iPhone OS 4, which will, obviously, thus be unavailable for the iPhone 2G.

Honestly, at this point, the device is nearly 3 years old; most manufacturers would EOL (end of life) the device by now, if not sooner. Since the iPhone is going to be revamped in June or July, it's a perfect time to upgrade, anyway (there are also tons of Android devices that would make a nice upgrade, too).

Tags: 3 Years, Apple, Blogspot, Email, Hasn, iPhone, Os 4, Perfect Time, Steve Jobs, Surprise, User Replaceable Battery

In iPhone OS 4, Google branding has been removed from the search application in the iPhone's Safari browser, as noted in an excellent app-by-app comparison of the current build of the upcoming new OS. While seemingly a small change, it hints at the rumored move away from Google as default search on the iPhone, and to Bing.

Even if Apple did choose to make that change, users could still change the default search engine back to Google.

It is seemingly just another escalation in the "war" between the former BFFs, Apple and Google, as Steve Jobs previously said, while addressing the burgeoning number of Android smartphones, as well as its increasing market share:

“We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake: Google wants to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them.”

Jobs also added, “Don’t be evil is a load of crap” (originally reported as Jobs saying it was "bullsh*t").

Tags: Apple, Bffs, Blogspot, Browser, Change Users, Crap, Default Search Engine, Escalation, Google, Google Search, iPhone, Market Share, Mistake, Os 4, Phone Business, Safari Search, Search Application, Search Business, Smartphones, Steve Jobs

Now that we have cut, copy and paste in the iPhone OS, the current most desired missing feature (at least among developers) is background processing (multi-tasking). While Apple has said push notifications was fine instead of multi-tasking, in reality there are so many things that can only be done with multi-tasking.

For example, using a very common user complaint, it might be nice to be able to listen to Pandora and be able to get a phone call, without dropping Pandora's feed, that is.

Apple, on the other hand, has always used battery life as the reason for no multitasking. The company has said that the current state of battery technology and battery life is such that background processing (multitasking) on the iPhone was a non-starter. This puts severe constraints on what can and cannot be done on an iPhone.

The iPhone 3.x software is a fully preemptive multitasking operating system. So, it is possible, on a jailbroken iPhone with Backgroundr, to work outside the limitations artificially placed on it by Apple, and multi-task. Aside from that, only the apps bundled with the system by Apple can run in the background.

AppleInsider claims that "people with a proven track record" have told them that multi-tasking is coming in iPhone OS 4.0. Of course, if they do that, besides the obvious questions on battery life, Apple also has to figure out a slick way to switch and kill apps.

For that, Apple might have taken a look at some other apps for jailbroken iPhones. ProSwitcher is one such example. It allows you to switch and kill apps running in the background, even allowing you to flick them off the screen like in Palm's webOS.

At any rate, this isn't the first time the addition of background processing to the iPhone OS has been rumored. To this point, users have always been disappointed. This time, who knows?

Tags: Apps, Background Html, Background processing, Battery Life, Battery Technology, Constraints, Copy And Paste, Current State, Flick, iPhone, Multi Tasking, Multitasking, Os 4, Pandora, Phone Call, Point Users, Preemptive Multitasking Operating System, Proven Track Record, Webos, X Software