To our knowledge this has not happened since Steve Jobs took back the reigns in 1997: Apple has scheduled a press conference for Friday, July 16th, seemingly without a new product to announce.
The safe bet here is that Apple intends to address complaints about potential antenna problems on the new iPhone 4, however the main software “fix” the company intends to provide has already been set loose in the wild with iOS 4.0.1 released just moments ago. This new build of iOS includes a change in the way the device calculates signal strength for display, and also makes the smallest 3 display bars appear larger as you can see below.
Old display on top. Credit: Engadget
Of course, the web is boiling over with guesses about what else Apple plans to do to address the antenna issue, as well as alternate explanations for why Apple would call a press conference like this. Read more
Apple announces new iPod Shuffle, Nano
Apple’s 2010 music event brought a number of welcome updates to most of the models in the iPod lineup. The shuffle has regained the buttons that were removed in the 3rd generation models, the nano became much smaller and gained a clip much like the shuffle has, and the nano also became an iOS device complete with a multitouch screen.
4th Generation Shuffle
Apple’s 4th generation iPod Shuffle returns to a more square form factor and regains the buttons that were completely removed from the 3rd generation.
Storage available for songs is still 2GB, and pricing is still $49.
Genius mixes are now available on the iPod Shuffle as well as multiple playlists.
The VoiceOver assist features are still present, including a new VoiceOver button on the top edge. Read more