Unless you're a fan of their website, you probably don't need the Giant Bomb iPhone app. It's a pretty limited use piece of software. While it does offer easy access to everything on their site, including videos, reviews, previews, and so on, it actually costs $1.99, and we can't really justify a purchase like that. Isn't browsing sites what Safari is for?

But we are thankful that they made the app, because, at the very least, it encouraged them to make the commercial above. It features a few spot-on parodies (the first one overstays its welcome, but stick with it), and even has some nice iPhone-related humor. I don't know about you folks, but I winced when Apple's device went in the drink during the ShamWow parody. The app itself might not be worth the price, but the commercial is definitely worth every penny.

TechCrunch's Michael Arrington is reporting that rumors beginning to float around the blogosphere are stating that Apple is interested in purchasing Twitter for US$700 million in cash. Twitter, in case you've been off of the planet for the last two years, is the magical "social networking" tool that has you answer the question "What am I doing right now?" in 140 characters or less.

Twitter currently has more than 25 million users, and it is rumored that growth has been exploding since Oprah blessed the service with her presence in mid-April. However, despite the size and growth potential of Twitter, there's simply no compelling reason for Apple to spend part of its huge cash reserves to purchase the company.

Google recently tried to purchase Twitter, but was turned down by Twitter's CEO Evan Williams. Today's rumor comes from a "normally reliable source" who told Arrington that "Apple is in late-stage negotiations to buy Twitter and is hoping to announce it at WWDC in June."

Despite the popularity of Twitter, the service hasn't figured out a way to make a profit, and is strictly powered by venture capital at this point. Can any TUAW readers think of a reason why Apple should buy Twitter? Leave us a comment!

Hot on the heels of Fandango, AOL has released Moviefone [App Store link], a free application for the iPhone and iPod touch. Moviefone can find your nearest theaters, movie times, trailers, and in some cases you can buy tickets.

The app is fast, and the trailers are nicely encoded for the iPhone. It has links to your address book, and you can invite friends to join you at the theater easily. It's a clever idea. You can touch a link and call the theater (good luck getting past voice mail) and there is some info on the stars of the movies. Like Fandango, it can display a map to your nearest theater, and that links out to MapQuest to get you directions.

Here in Southern Arizona, the app worked quickly and efficiently. The only caveats I have are the 'buy tickets' function was not available on many of the theaters I tried, and the closest theater to me was listed about the 5th nearest. It also did not understand my zip code (it's a fairly new one) but made an appropriate substitution.

Moviefone also contains a search function so you can search by movie title, and a favorites option so you can save your favorite movie palace to a list.

The app also has a feedback option, so I sent some along with my email address. It will be interesting to see if I get a response. Update: They did respond. I'm impressed. They said the 'buy' feature only works where Movietickets.com is supported. Moviefone is a nice app, and other than my inability to buy a ticket at some theaters, it looks pretty solid. The price is right, and competition is a good thing. It's certainly worth a download and a tryout. If it lets you buy tickets, you're ahead of the game. While you're at it, be sure to get a look at Now Playing, i.TV (which includes TV and DVDs), and Hot Popcorn. See you at the movies.

When I was faced with the decision of buying a MacBook Pro or waiting, I immediately took the leap of faith without knowing if Apple would be releasing a new unit within the next few weeks or not. As it turns out, I was wrong and Apple did release a new MacBook Pro. However, I did not suck it up and go on ... I went searching for some answers as to what you can do if you are in the same situation. In this post, I'm going to tell you what I found out.

When you purchase a new product from Apple (either through the online store, or though a brick-and-mortar store) you have 14 days to return the product. With this 14-day policy, Apple also gives you price protection. From my understanding this covers both pricing decreases as well as new products coming out.

When I took my MacBook Pro to the Apple Store, they immediately looked at my receipt and asked if I wanted a new one. I thought, "This can't be this easy, can it?" There is a caveat with replacing your old machine with a new model: the Apple Store might charge you a "re-stocking" fee. This is a 10% fee based on the initial purchase price. I questioned them about this and they told me that I would be getting an upgraded product. However, I was able to get my re-stocking fee waived after talking with the manager for a little while.

The Bottom Line
If you bought a MacBook/Pro/Air in the past 14 days and want to upgrade to one of the newer models, it definitely wouldn't hurt to call up your local store (or Apple online customer service at 1-800-MY-APPLE) and talk to them about returning. Don't be surprised if they tell you about the restocking fee, they told me the same story until I took it into the store. Unlike most computer companies, Apple does try to make the situation right, and most of the time, you come out on top of the matter.

Additional Resources

• Apple Retail Site
• Apple Return Policy

Worried that you might be spending a lot of time waiting for that shiny new iPhone 3G to be activated? Well, never fear because the nice people at the Apple Store are there to help you. Bloomberg.com interviewed Apple's retail chief, Ron Johnson, about the iPhone retail activation process.

"Apple stores will handle about 30 customers at a time. While the company will make sure the activation process is quick," said Johnson about the activation time.

Johnson then went on to say that Apple will spend as much time as needed to make sure that the customer is happy with their purchase. You can read the full interview on the Bloomberg website.


[via MacRumors]

Given the choice between buying a physical DVD and grabbing a downloadable iTunes version of the same movie, you might choose what's behind door #2 for convenience, iPod playability and speed; that is, if you're willing to wait it out while the DVD-only window ticks away. Up until now it's been about 30-45 days post-DVD release, with a few exceptions, before the iTunes version showed up. With a report from the NY Times yesterday that Warner Brothers was moving to "day-and-date" digital release, simultaneous with the disc ship, we expected to hear something from Apple promptly, and we have.

According to this morning's press release, it's bigger than just Warner Bros. Multiple studios' films -- 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and more -- will now be delivered to iTunes customers at the same time that DVD buyers can snag them in stores. "American Gangster" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" are two of the first movies available on the new ship schedule.

Does day-and-date change your attitude on buying movies from iTunes? Inquiring minds want to know.

The word that there might be as many as 9000 switchers a day got us thinking: maybe all those switchers could use some tips on how to save a few bucks while hopping the fence to white, black and aluminum pastures. Sure, Apple typically doesn't offer much in the way of excitement when it comes to zany blow-out sales on their products, but who says you have to buy your Apple stuff from Apple? There are plenty of resellers who offer some great deals to lure customers away from Apple's shiny stores, and discount watching sites can help you jump on time-sensitive sales. If you take our tips to heart, we guarantee both you and your credit card will sleep better at night with your next (or first) Mac purchase.

Read our recommendations after the jump.

Even the most rabid fan of Apple has to concede that the company doesn't pitch very aggressively to the enterprise customer. The Xserve typically doesn't get any time in the spotlight - not even at WWDC - and Apple doesn't exactly build a super low-end Mac that's ripe for squeezing Dell out of the millions of cubicles it currently inhabits. Seth Weintraub at Computerworld, however, thinks these facts are fading away in the mind of the enterprise customer, and things could be on the verge of a change.

Opening with a bulleted list of the major advantages the Mac now offers to the enterprise in terms of both hardware and software, Seth penned a 5-page article (sadly, Computerworld still practices pageview inflation) that essentially reads as a shopping guide for enterprise customers who might finally be getting curious about Apple's offerings. Seth even delves into some of the politics surrounding these kinds of purchases and how the Mac's eroding perceptions as a "consumer toy" or not being a high-end machine can be defeated when it's time to lay down the plastic.

One of the more interesting observations Seth makes, which is becoming more and more prevalent during what is perhaps Apple's most popular time in history, is that more and more decision-making business users are buying Macs for personal use. Seth comments that these users are beginning to realize that "what works well at home could do well at work." We couldn't have put it better ourselves.

One of the reasons Apple tries so hard to keep upcoming products under-wraps is something called the Osborne Effect. In 1983, Osborne Computer announced the future release of several new machines that would far out-perform their current offerings. Unfortunately, Osborne was counting on sales from their current machines to pay for production of the next-generation products. As soon as people heard something better was in the pipeline, sales dried up, and Osborne eventually went under. The very same thing would happen if info were to get out about a new iPod or Mac; no one is going to buy an Mac now if they know that by waiting a month they can get a much better one.

The rumor mill however continues to feed that little nagging devil on our shoulder telling us to wait just a few more weeks to see what will be announced. The issue is, there is a good chance that the thing we are expecting to get replaced is left alone, and we will have waited all that time for nothing. And when it comes to the holidays, when gifts are expected on very specific dates, waiting often isn't an option at all.

Lucky for those of you considering the last minute purchase of an Apple product for the holidays, Gizmodo has a quick roundup of purchase safety dates after which you can buy from Apple safe in the knowledge that if Unkie Steve does replace your product at Macworld, you'll be able to exchange it for a new model.

Dedicated services like Vongo and Movielink are already doing the movie download thing, but now AOL, a major player vying for digital distribution market share (and our parent company, by the way) added this most sought-after of services to their video portal. Ranging in price from $9.99-$19.99, a decent selection of movies both old and new are available, but of course: you need a Windows XP machine and IE6 - not even Firefox is allowed to purchase (bad AOL! Bad!).

Now that an actual internet portal has stepped foot on video download ground, how much longer will it take for Apple to debut an iTunes iMovie Store? The CEO of Lions Gate Studios even dropped a hint that it's on its way, so here's hoping the rumors prove their substance sooner than later.

Thanks Jon

How many times have you found yourself out and about somewhere when 'the iTMS itch' strikes? You know, that catchy song playing over the mall speakers, or a kid's headphones at the airport blaring loud enough for you to jam along. But how are you supposed to scratch that itch if your computer and iTMS account are sitting at home?

Fortunately, 22Moo, an Australian hardware and software company, hopes to lend you a hand with the PodBuffet, an iTunes Kiosk they're developing that is powered by a Mac mini with a 15" touch-screen LCD and a "customised application for timed access to iTunes". Their press release doesn't reveal much more information, so we're assuming they're working out a method for allowing those itchin' for a fixin' to purchase music and load up their iPod on the go, without having to deal with any of that library-linking silliness. 22Moo's site isn't very forthcoming either, so here's hoping these kiosks don't join the ranks of countless other vaporware.

[via MacMinute]

AMD, the #2 CPU maker in the world, has announced a purchase of ATI, a leading graphics card manufacturer, for $5.4 billion. IMG has more details on the buyout and the business end of things, but we're more interested in finding out what exactly this means for the Mac market. ATI currently supplies the graphics hardware in a good portion of Apple's machines, including the MacBook Pro I'm typing this on and my wife's iMac, so here's hoping ATI makes enough money from working with Apple to keep AMD - an arch rival to Intel - happy. Stay tuned for more details as they develop.

It sounds like confusion has arisen over how FlickrExport's licensing terms work; specifically, how many licenses one needs to purchase, and for which machines. To help simplify things, Fraser has adopted terms like The Omni Group uses, which I personally applaud: a user can purchase one license and use it on two machines; for example, a desktop and a notebook (though both licenses can't be in use simultaneously). On the other hand, a business can't purchase ten licenses for twenty employees, even if no more than ten copies of FlickrExport are in use at any given time.

Read up on Fraser's blog post for an update and a more in-depth explanation of the simplified terms, and if you're one of the confused users who doesn't need an extra license or two that you purchased, Fraser will be personally contacting you to offer a refund.

Two hip-hop radio stations, Power 106 in LA and HOT 97 in NYC, have signed on the dotted line with the iTMS to offer an integrated, customized version of the store right in their own websites. The radio stations can design the store any way they see fit, and feature any artists, recent releases and playlists they want. From some quick browsing, I was able to find the iTMS integration at HOT 97's site, but not at Power 106's.

hypebot, the blog where we found this, was quick to point out the vast potential this kind of partnership with the iTMS has for any kind of niche markets, businesses and organizations you can think of: "From skateboard sites selling radical tunes to a museum's site selling period music that matches their exhibitions, this could be a very exciting development for niche and indie music marketers". Indeed, this is a great example of that iPod expansion post Scott had yesterday; it sounds like Apple has plenty of tricks up their sleeve for the iPod and iTMS.