In Hampstead is a National Trust property with amongst many delights - a 300 year old apple orchard. Therefore it was fitting that today, the garden was hosting an Apple festival - with a dose of kiddies things and beekeeping. According to a leaflet handed out as you entered, the orchard next to Fenton House dates back to at 300 years - if not more, and was described in 1756 as “pleasant… well planted with Fruit-Trees, and a Kitchen-Garden all inclos’d with a substantial Brick Wall”. They have some 30 different varieties of apple grown there, and there is an ongoing program to slowly refocus the orchard on classic London varieties. It was basically a chance to wander round, pick up a specialist apple tree (I don’t have a garden though), buy some apples...

Apple has seeded their latest iPhone software to developers, iPhone 2.2 beta 1. As well a receiving 2.2 beta, they have also had the latest version of the iPhone SDK (9M2611). iPhone 2.2 beta 1 contains mainly bug fixes, with no noticeable new features or functions, except for a slight tweak to Mobile Safari, where the google search bar has been moved next to the URl field instead of underneath. Macrumors via Apple iPhone Apps This is a post from Geeky Gadgets. Apple releases iPhone 2.2 beta......

Apple has started selling an unlocked version of the 3G iPhone in Hong Kong, via the Apple Store. “iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation.” The unlocked 3G iPhone is available online from the Hong Kong Apple Store with the 8GB model going for HK$5,500 (about $694) and the 16GB version going for HK$6,200 (about $797). It looks like the terms and conditions limit the delivery of this unlocked 3G iPhone to Hong Kong, no other Apple Store’s online are selling this version yet, and it is not clear whether or not unlocked versions will be available in the US and Europe. If Apple are smart they will offer unlocked 3G...

Though there weren’t a single word mentioned by Steve Jobs regarding a 4 GB version of the latest fourth generation Apple iPod Nano, pictures have now emerged from shops in Europe, check it out! The new iPod Nanos which were announced during the recent Apple ‘Let’s Rock’ Event are already available in a number of high street retail stores across the UK, however none have mentioned anything about a 4 GB version. The ones that are being sold are 8 GB and 16 GB version which is what we expected, but apparently the ones pictured are now available in Europe! The sources claim that the rogue Nanos come in all 9 colours and is priced at the equivalent of $169! [via Gizmodo] Remember: We hand out 'dofollow' links to top five commentators of our blog within our...

Here’s another cool geek accessory from our favourite Etsy seller, beaujangles, the Apple Cufflinks. These geeky Apple Cufflinks are made from solid sterling silver and each one measures 17mm Square. These cool geek cufflinks are bound to compliment any geeks wardrobe, if you fancy a set head on over to Beaujangles shop over at Etsy, he is selling them for $50 a set, but be quick as they are bound to sell out. This is a post from Geeky Gadgets. Geek Accessories - The Apple......

Apple has scrapped the 80GB and 160GB iPod classics, replacing them with a single 120GB edition. With 1.8-inch 240GB hard disks available, why did Apple do this to...

As John Gruber points out, there are some ideas that will never die: the insistence that Apple should license Mac OS to other hardware vendors.It doesn’t matter how well Apple is doing, how remarkably profitable the Mac has become, how remarkably fast Mac sales are growing—the idea that Apple “must” or “should” license Mac OS X to other computer makers will never die.And so, inevitably, here's another article on that subject, this time at the usually sensible Ars Technica.Apple did license the Mac OS in the early nineties and that move (along with numerous other fucking awful management decisions) nearly bankrupted the company. It really cannot be said too often: Apple is a hardware company and this is even more true now than it was twenty years ago. Yes, the OS underpins...

Have Apple created an iPod with a cassette player inside? Very unlikely What you are looking at here is either a hacked up Apple iPod with the innards cut out to allow a cassette to be put inside or a rather cool photoshop experiment. There isn’t much information to be found about this little player, but from what I can find it seems to have originated from about 2 years ago. My personal opinion is that it is photoshopped and will never ever exist. What do you think? Via: GizmoWatch...

Here we go again, more Apple ads released, this time three of them. The theme of the three ads include one featuring PC in the Pizza Box, PC at the Throne and lastly Calming teas (this one is quite hilarious!). In Pizza Box PC is hiding inside a box of pizza to try and attract college kids, in Throne PC is tooting his own horn until Mac points out that an Apple Genius will gladly switch over all your files from your PC to your new Mac for free at an Apple Store, and finally Calming Teas shows us the new line of relaxing teas that PC has created to ward off «Vista Anxiety». Remember: A 'dofollow' link is awarded to top five commentators of our blog in our sidebar each month, so get commenting you lazy bum! Thanks for your support! Click and comment now: Apple releases new...

That'll be the builders working in Victoria Square to create the Belfast Apple Store that's due to open at the end of the month. Expect the glaziers to arrive in a week or so. But will we get a glass staircase?In related news, various folk who've got genius jobs in the Apple store have obviously started their training and been going around the blogosphere removing evidence of their job applications and opinions on Apple products.Given the general lack of queues for iPhone launches in Northern Ireland, it'll be interesting to see how many fan boys and girls queue up outside on the opening day to collect their free T-shirt and goodie...

Apple have a thriving digital ecosystem, populated by partners and consumers alike. In many ways, what Apple have created is their own new media republic. Having recently watched Apple flirt with failure on a massive scale, it’s a brash, rough new republic and not an e-Eutopia just yet… The digital ecosystem — a new media microcosm The strategy is simple; to ensure the user experience is consistent, simply and reliable, you have to control the whole of the experience from inception to completion. And that means cutting your own media formats, as well as your own media deals. When something goes wrong, the customer doesn’t give a shit who’s wrong, so long as someone fixes the problem. In the Microsoft ecosystem, the finger-pointing is a common and oft lamented...

I don't know if any of you have heard of this, but PicLens is simply the sexiest damn browser plugin I've ever seen.   In a nutshell, it takes photo/video sites (think, Facebook, Flickr, Youtube etc) and transforms them into an Apple-esque extravaganza of breathtaking, knee-quivering, three-dimensional beauty.  If you have a multitouch trackpad or one that supports two finger gestures (all Mac laptops do) then you can do some iPhone like navigation, flicking and zooming with just your laptop trackpad.  Those mice that have trackballs on top (like Apple Mighty Mouse) should also work. It's available for Mac and Windows, and will work with most browsers (go for Firefox, sure it's great). Just so it's noted now, I predict Apple will buy this and integrate it into Safari (the browser),...

So I call O2 and ask if I can buy a new iPhone in an Apple Store and get it upgraded and they say yes. I call my Apple Store and they say they can't upgrade my phone - O2 have to do that. I call O2 back and they agree that Apple can't upgrade accounts. I then ask O2 if I could buy a new phone from Apple and move the SIM across and call O2 to get it activated. They said yes but it would be quicker to get an upgrade. I then pointed out that I can't get an upgrade because O2 have no bloody phones. He then conceded that I can in fact buy a new phone from Apple and transfer the SIM. Give me strength!!!...

Apple overstretched itself with the decision to launch the iPhone 3G simultaneously in 22 countries, that much is now certain. The company has, at the same time, remodelled its .Mac online storage service as MobileMe; it has released software updates for iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV; it has opened the App Store to distribute [...]...

For those who are not too familiar and want to find out more about the upcoming iPhone 3G, Apple has released a guided tour video just for you! For those who have been following the latest news about the iPhone 3G, there is really nothing new to know about from this video but it will be a reinforcement about how much you want the iPhone 3G if you’re planning on heading to purchase one on July 11th, not long now! Click on the screenshot below to watch it over at Apple or you can download it for later… Thanks for supporting us atGadgetLite! Latest site news: New comment features installed on our blog, you can now click 'reply' to respond to other commentators' views. Apple releases guided tour video for the iPhone 3G…...

... could have helped Ben Charney of Money CNN not look like a total arse.Just how will Apple meet expectations? Using the patent application as a guide, Apple appears to be making room on the iPhone for flash memory, which means an end to Apple's standoff with Adobe (ADBE) that's kept iPhones from easily viewing a plethora of Internet videos.Apple has said that Adobe's flash media player, which is on hundreds of other phones, doesn't perform up to Apple's standards for the iPhone.Um... Ben? There is a substantial difference between Flash memory—a type of non-volatile storage—and Adobe Flash, the software platform used to deliver online videos.In short, Ben, the iPhone has always used Flash memory (as has the iPod Touch, iPod Nano and that cute little memory stick that you...

The Apple WWDC keynote has just finished (finishing anyway!), with Steve Jobs having done his presentation magic on the stage (I’ll write up the actual presentation later in the week - there’s a tip or two to pick up as ever). A little talk on iPhone 2.0 and a few other items… The new 3G iPhone of course… What’s new from Apple? 3G Support More Countries Enterprise Support 3rd Party Application Support And…. GPS! Following on from the post a few days ago that mentioned the iPhone (It’s the User Experience as much as the Technology!) it is pretty clear these days that Apple is after the business user. They have provided integration with Exchange e-mail, so you can get your corporate e-mail on the run, and they are creating a very compelling...

Free Apple Summer camp workshops, at Apple’s shop in the Birmingham Bull Ring… “Apple Summer Camp happens at all Apple Store locations and each Workshop is three hours. Learn iPhoto in the Photo Workshop, iMovie in the Movie Workshop, GarageBand in the Music Workshop and iWork in the Presentation Workshop. All workshops are recommended for kids ages 8-12. You can sign up for up to two Camp Workshops at one time.” [ Hat-tip: Hugh, so cool that even shopping-centre security-guards don’t hassle him when he take pictures...

Imagine a scene in the not-too distant future… after a frenzied period of leaks, rumours, claims and counter-claims, interspersed with no-comments, denials, and increasingly reliable and suggestive evidence emerging from component and sub-assembly manufacturers, Apple Inc announce the imminent release of The Perfect Gadget. The mainstream press attend press conferences and briefings where Apple proclaim that [...]...

Well, if we're into personal revelations (see the second letter, from Gwyneth Raymond), I too eat the entire apple including the core. Why not? It tastes like the rest of the apple, and if you're out and about it's better than looking for a bin to throw it in. However, to complete my confession: I will choose most other fruits over an apple. The latter is wholesome but dull, like the music of Mary Chapin...

Take a look at this apple. The slice represents the UK's membership of the EU. The slice has a pip, and that pip is our representative on the European Council. Each of the twenty seven EU member states has a similar slice. Even though we are individual slices, we are linked because we are all part of the same apple. Our pip is very important because it represents our country's interests and protects our sovereignty within the apple.The failed Constitution and now the Lisbon Treaty aims to join the 27 segments together to produce one big apple. The problem is this: Our pip would no longer represent our slice - it would become just one of the big apple's pips. In effect our part of the apple would be seedless, the pips make the decisions and the big apple no longer has a say and must obey...

It’s about time! Apple has finally decided to up their game by putting on an extra one gigabyte onto the iPod Shuffle. Apple’s press release today says they will soon be retailing the latest 2GB editions of the Shuffle by later this month while price cuts on the existing 1GB iPod Shuffles will take place immediately. Check out this news hot off the press: CUPERTINO, California—February 19, 2008—Apple® today announced that its iPod® shuffle, the world’s most wearable music player, is now even more affordably priced at $49 and that it is introducing a new 2GB model of the iPod shuffle for $69. The popular iPod shuffle is just half a cubic inch in volume, weighs just half an ounce, features an aluminum design with a built-in clip and comes in five colors—silver, blue,...

1. Despite all I've ever said about Apple computers (and their shockingly woeful power supplies and customer support), I'm now lusting after the new Apple MacBook Air.2. However, it's pointless my lusting after the new Apple MacBook Air since I can't actually afford one.3. I'll be away for most of Wednesday morning attending a job interview. I anticipate intelligence tests followed by questions such as 'where do you see yourself in five years time?'4. I don't know where the hell I'll be in five years time and I'm liable to punch anybody who dares ask me that question.5. Yet should I answer the question well and get the job, I will be able to afford a new Apple MacBook Air.6. If I get the job, I won't have any time to use my new Apple MacBook Air.7. But if I don't get the job, I'll have...

Back in October, after a long thinking out loud essay on Apple’s HD strategy, I said that Apple was going to do one of the following: Avoiding HD optical drives altogether Waiting until Blu-Ray is a clear winner Waiting for a multi-format player Since Apple just launched the Apple TV with HD movie rentals, I’m going for the first option - they’re just going to sit out the HD format war and predict that we’ll download all our films in future anyway. I’m inclined to agree - even Bill Gates said: In terms of movies, I often say that this is the last format battle there will ever be, because everything is going to go online — you’re going to download...

Apple has reached an agreement to standardise pricing across Europe. Price cuts will take place to its iTunes online music service within the next six months. This is mainly as a result of violating EU legislations to provide a standardised pricing with many european countries in which price drops have already taken place. These countries include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain. However, this may not be as simple as it seems. Because: Apple currently must pay some record labels more to distribute their music in the UK than it pays them to distribute the same music elsewhere in Europe. Apple will reconsider its continuing relationship in the UK with any record label that...

In a post today, goodonpaper (via ifoAppleStore) reports that an Apple Store is likely to be filling unit UG5 in Belfast’s Victoria Square shopping / residential / cinema / entertainment complex.Apple’s opening will be after the main Victoria Square opens its doors to the public in March 2008. But the traditional Apple Store glass look will certainly fit the look of Victoria...

The Norfolk Blogger writes pithily and authoritatively on the iPhone: So expect the new Apple product next year to be prefixed with the letter "i" and have an Apple badge on it which will ensure it sells in massive numbers. Yes, I can reveal the next product from Apple is the Apple iDog Turd. Stephen Fry in the Guardian gives the opposite view, anticipating all the points which NB makes: Proud...

The iPhone will be here in less than 24 hours! Just a reminder of a few things you might like to know if you’re planning on queuing at your local CarphoneWarehouse, O2 or Apple shop tomorrow. Take note that: There’s a limit of 2 iPhones per person The iPhones will be available at more than 1,300 Apple, O2, [...]...

The iPhone will be here in less than 24 hours! Just a reminder of a few things you might like to know if you’re planning on queuing at your local CarphoneWarehouse, O2 or Apple shop tomorrow. Take note that: There’s a limit of 2 iPhones per person The iPhones will be available at more than 1,300 Apple, O2, and Carphone Warehouse retail locations Free workshops Saturday morning at Apple locations “Hundreds” of new iPhone specialists hired and trained at O2 £269 (inc VAT) with 18 month contract Three iPhone tariffs available from £35 Free unlimited use of The Cloud WiFi at 7,500 UK locations More on the tariffs and some minor unexpected changes after the break…...

Have a look at what someone (presumably an Apple fan) decided to do with their Apple G4 tower after it failed to be of anymore use at their computer desk. It is definitely more useful now :)[via Appletell]...