If you want to spend a little more, they can also encrust the Apple logo with diamonds or saphires so that your laptop can match your pimp cup.

Those costs, however, will be nothing compared to the bodyguard fees you'll have to pay in order to keep people from shooting, knifing, or stomping your skull in order to nick your blinged-out laptop.

Before getting ripped off, the iMacs were equipped with an application called Flickrbooth, which automatically uploads pictures taken in photobooth to a Flickr account. The company had been using the software for promotion and general office merriment.

However, when the machine got stolen, Flickrbooth turned from office toy to CSI tool. Apparently, the new "owner" of the iMac, we'll call him LonelyCrook, got the urge to show off. He fired up photobook, removed his shirt, and snapped a few pictures.

The next time the victims logged into their Flickr page, they found that the photos of LonelyCrook had been posted to their gallery. Not only did the pictures show the criminal's face, but apparently our dear LonelyCrook also wanted to display his artwork. A close-up picture of a large back tattoo was also taken. Both images were forwarded to police, who will no doubt find them very helpful.

Some of the Flickr tags placed on the photo: "do you know this guy" "stupidest criminal" "idiot" "police" "douche" and "bag".

Details are still emerging, and the news seems to change every few minutes, but here's what we know so far:

Gizmodo and MacWorld are both reporting that their unlocked iPhones are being splashed with "invalid SIM" errors that prevent the phone from activating. Even with clean, original AT&T SIM cards, the process fails. Scores of readers around the web are reporting the same thing.

Users who merely ran a "jailbreak" to put third-party apps on their iPhones are getting off easy. The update merely deletes the applications (though some contend that the apps aren't actually removed, just hidden.)

Those that did play by the rules are getting an update that includes access to the iTunes WiFi store, along with better volumes on the speakerphone and receiver. There are also ten security patches for mail, Safari and the iPhone's bluetooth port.

While discussing the iPhone's embedded YouTube player, which eschews flash for re-formatted h.264 video, a reporter asked whether Apple and Adobe were working to put Flash on the iPhone.

Kovacs' response was "no comment." But this wasn't the normal sort of official "no comment" that you get when asking about a top-secret government project or a CEO that just got indicted for tax fraud. This "no comment" came with a slight smirk and an air of tension that seemed to say "Steve Jobs will have me erased if I tell you anything."

Apple and Adobe have long been buddies. Adobe's creative suite is the heart and soul of Apple's professional line and, back in lean days of the mid-90's, it arguably helped keep the company afloat by being one of the few drivers of new computer sales.

Given how vital Flash is to the web, it would only seem natural that a deal will be in the works now the iPhone has had some time out in the wild.

We sent them a response asking for a bit more info on their service. We wanted to know if it was a third-party application that needed to be installed on the iPhone and, as such, would it be subject to the same issues as other third party applications (such as killing your iPhone at the next update and voiding the warranty.)

Their response was as follows:

We don't know if Apple updates will conflict with the software yet. The question of whether installing the Truphone application on an iPhone would violate a customer's warranty is superfluous at this time since Truphone's service for the iPhone is not launched or in any form available to the public yet.

For those of you that don't speak PR, this loosely translates to "ummm…well…uhhh."

You have to feel a little bad for these guys. Two weeks ago, they would have been hailed as purveyors of the next break through iPhone app. As it is, they're just serving up a new way to potentially break an iPhone.

The $399 standard business version that will have Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Entourage, as well as support for Exchange server and Automator scripts.

For an extra hundred bucks, users can also get a new program called Expression Media that manages and catalogues digital media content.

The basic home/student setup (the business version minus the Exchange and Automater stuff) will run about $150. It's far more than iLife, and certainly far more than OpenOffice, but let's face it, Office isn't going away any time soon. As long as it's the standard in the vast majority of businesses, even Mac users will adopt it in droves.

Though the group didn't go so far as to directly blast Apple, they did claim that the firmware update issues threaten what they consider to be "a major step forward in the iPhone development."

Expect this to continue on for quite some time. Both sides know that almost no software, particularly for a consumer smartphone, is "un-hackable" and that given enough time and manpower, people will be able to work around just about any lock Apple puts in place.  Furthermore, if Apple is to be believed in this, the company does not go out of its way to disable or sabotage other smartphones.

If this is true, and the iPhone dev team can pinpoint the source of the conflict, perhaps some sort of permanent fix for the issue can be developed which would, if nothing else, prevent any future iphone updates from destroying unlocked phones. I wouldn't hold my breath, though.

Still no sign of the killer update. Apple plans to have it out by the end of the week.

So, to recap: Apple lets people hack away at the iPhone. No angry press release, no statement about how the iPhone was locked down for your own good. 

They just silently let the hackers do their thing. While AT&T freaks out, Apple just stands by, calmly noting that, well, third party applications could maybe run into some trouble with future updates...

Then, boom, the boys and girls in Cupertino make their move. Try to get yourself onto the iTunes WiFi store, and Apple goes all medieval on your unlocked iPhone.

On accident, of course. Whoopsie.

Certainly the Mac is influential. OS X has become the absolute standard by which all other user interfaces are judged. The design style pioneered by the Mac and PowerBook machines of the 1990's ushered in the death of the beige box. Even the Mac's ads are influential; notice how many vendors now do frantic, music backed ads in which the computer is spun and twirled like a runway model?

But "influential" and "competitive" are two different things. In Apple's case, they may not even be able to co-exist.

In order to become competitive with Windows in terms of market share, OS X would have to be offered for standard x86 PCs.  In doing this, Apple would need to make OS X a product for a number of different vendors on a number of different machines. So, Apple would have to tailor OS X to other companies' standards.

Most of what keeps the Mac such an enjoyable experience is that the hardware and software are so dramatically intertwined. The hardware is optimized to do what the software wants, and vice versa. In order to appeal to a larger PC base, this concept would need to be compromised, something that Steve Jobs has long ruled out, and rightfully so.

In order for the Mac to be the Mac, it must remain a high-end "niche" product tailored for Apple's hardware.

The think tank is right; in a market where functionality is compromised for the sake of pricing and compatibility, Apple can't be considered a legitimate contender.

Much to the delight of Mac owners.

Look at the screen below.  I know there's a bit more of a market with Parallels and  Boot Camp, but I'm not so sure the people selling our ads quite understand the whole point of this blog...

The drummer is suing Apple, Walmart, and Real Networks, along with the estate of Ramones guitarist John Cummings and the band's music publishers, according to a Reuters report.

T-shirt sales, apparently, weren't the only thing Richie got cut out of. The suit alleges that Reinhart was never paid royalties by Apple and others for songs that he co-wrote. Among the titles Reinhart claims credit for are "Somebody Put Something In My Drink" and "I'm Not Jesus".

It would first seem strange that Apple would be sued for a royalty issue (which is normally the responsibility of the publisher,) but it is not without precedent. Earlier this year, rapper Eminem sued Apple in a similar dispute, claiming that the company had sold his songs through the publisher without permission.

We know that November 9 will be considered "iPhone day" in the UK, Germany, and possibly France. We also know that T-Mobile has been telling customers in the Netherlands to expect an iPhone release sometime in 2008. On top of all that, we have Steve Jobs' annual Macworld Expo keynote slated for the 14th of January.

Imagine, if you will, Steve Jobs on stage in San Francisco.  After his usual opening spiel about the rise in sales on iTunes and the remarkable success of the iPod, he says that now it's time to talk about the iPhone. For a minute or two, Jobs recaps that successes in the American and UK/German launches. "Now," he declares, "we're going to bring the iPhone to even more people." After rattling off the list of countries and the date for the launch, he pauses for a second and says "but that's not all" and then proceeds to unveil the new 3G equipped iPhone that will be shipping not only to the new carriers, but to all iPhone carriers worldwide.

You heard it here first, folks.

On one hand, Apple is a corporate entity, and stockholders don't want feel-good stories in place of returns on investments. If Apple knows that they can sell the same amount of product while pulling in a higher margin, they have every right to.

However, Apple has always maintained that their high prices are due to higher-quality products with better components. Earlier this year Steve Jobs said that Apple sells its products for the lowest price it possibly can, but eschews the low-end because it doesn't want to make products that it is not proud of. Shouldn't that pride also extend to not charging customers excessively while cutting production costs?

There's also an uneasy feeling of monopolization in this. The iPod nano has become the most popular music player on the market, by a long shot. During last year's holiday buying rush, each of the nano's different colors were amongst the top-ten sellers. Even amongst iPods, the nano has become dominant.

During its antitrust heyday, Microsoft was accused of using its dominant position to offer lower-quality products at an inflated price. If Apple is, in fact, heading down that road, the constant innovation in the iPod line could take a back seat to regurgitated products that simply sell due to their market position.

Let's hope the iPod Nano won't become the next Windows ME.

Orange is remaining even more quiet than German carrier T-Mobile. The company did not announce anything in regards to pricing or service plans. As for the release date, Orange would not yet commit to the November 9 date, just saying that  'Le Jesusphone' would be released some time during the month.

As for the rest of Europe, save a major surprise announcement, there don't appear to be any more rollouts planned this year. There are no reports of Apple working on any further deals, and T-Mobile has said that it won't be bringing the device to other countries until some time in 2008.

The two companies will offer identical 8GB EDGE-equipped iPhones, the same model currently being sold in the US (Apple has begun phasing out the 4GB iPhone).

Like AT&T, T-Mobile will require all iPhone users to sign on to a 2-year contract. O2 is only asking users for an 18 month commitment. Buying an iPhone will immediately set you back 400 euros, but for some reason T-Mobile has not yet revealed what the monthly plans will run. Both O2 and AT&T offer three plans, all of which include unlimited data transfer (a must, given the iPhone's fondness for checking e-mail accounts) and varrying amounts of talk time.

T-Mobile was also rumored to be offering the iPhone in The Netherlands, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, though no word was given on that. A company source reportedly told Dutch media that the iPhone will not be coming to their country until 2008.

Lesson 1: There will be plenty of iPhones

You will not need to wait in line for three days, or pay someone to wait in line for three days, in order to get your iPhone. In San Francisco, people took days off of work and braved a gnarly overnight stay on a dirty sidewalk in hopes of being able to get an iPhone. Two hours after the doors to the Apple store opened, anyone could walk in, slap down $600, and get an iPhone. Apple has long since been planning this release, and there will be enough iPhones for every man, woman, and child willing to shell out the cash.

Lesson 2: You will not get rich from your iPhone

Even we were fooled on this one. All day long on June 29th we were monitoring eBay, expecting to see the  multi-thousand dollar bids that followed the launch of the PS3. However, as was stated above, there were plenty of iPhones for everyone. By midnight pacific time, iPhone resellers were lucky to get the retail price. Anyone looking to make a quick buck reselling one or more iPhones will be in for a rude surprise when they step up to the auction block.

Lesson 3: If you don't want a smartphone, don't buy an iPhone

This one should be a no-brainer now that Apple has introduced the iPod touch, but it's still worth a warning. On iPhone day US, there were many users who thought that they could outsmart Apple by not activating the phone features, only to find out two months later that they paid an extra $300 for a pre-release version of the new iPod. Don't let yourself get caught up in the iPhone hype if you aren't ready and willing to use all of the phone's features, you'll ultimately end up regretting spending your money on it.

Boom. This is when it hits the shelves. You'll want to plan your holiday accordingly.

Jobs is grinning like a supervillain, while Key looks like he's in the middle of a colonoscophy... They must be talking about the revenue deal. 

Obviously, the release will garner tons of media attention and eager fans (just look at what happened when Apple opened a retail store in Glasgow.) In the long term, however, one wonders how people back in the old country will take to the quirks of a locked-down, EDGE-equipped device whose price tag will raise the eyebrows of all but the most hardened veterans of high-end smartphones.

Obviously, this won't be some lame iTunes partner announcement. Steve only stomachs the press for important stuff, such as product rollouts. If there was any doubt that this wouldn't be an iPhone release announcement, this should seal it.

For starters, the study noted a five-fold increase in vulnerabilities over the second half last year as well. Most of this can  be traced to the flood of attention that came to Safari after Apple ported the browser and placed it at the center of the iPhone.

Apple remains near the bottom when it comes to deployment of OS patches, taking an average of 43 days to patch vulnerabilities, well behind both Red hat and Microsoft. This too would suggest that Apple's newfound diligence  in fixing Safari may have more to do with avoiding bad press at a crucial time than a new-found commitment to securtiy.

Over the second half of last year, Apple let the lone publicly disclosed Safari flaw sit for 62 days without being patched (though that is countered by the fact that there has yet to be any malware for OS X found in the wild.)

Still, if you're a Mac/Safari user looking for a counterpoint the next time someone rehashes one of Microsoft's "more secure" reports, this will be a nice little salvo.

The terms of the deal are similar to those previously reported for the iPhone. Apple will not only be making money from sales of the iPhone units, but will also pocket a ten percent cut of revenues from land-line and data transfer charges as well.

As for the rest of Europe, O2 still seems to be the UK provider of choice, while Orange has been said to be carrying the phone in France.

A final word will hopefully come tomorrow in London, when Apple is expected to break its silence and announce its final plans on an iPhone rollout.

Given that the company has been all but crowned the iPhone's UK carrier, and given that the network is beefing up just five days before Apple is widely expected to set a date for the iPhone's european launch, Brits only need to connect the dots to become a bit worried.

Reviewers in the 3G-starved US have classified the EDGE connection as "pokey." On a bad day, 3G can remind users of a 56k dial-up connection.

One can only imagine what the reaction to an EDGE iPhone in Europe will be like.

Not sure about London (It's currently 4AM in the UK) but Jobs did promise a global release, and the expected online release date is the same.

Yeah...that's right. If you're not within range of an Apple store, you'll have to wait until the 28th  of September for the privilege of spending $400 on a portable media player/web browser.

Whenever Apple does a keynote, convention, or special event, there is almost always some bit of surprise, even if the main attraction has been expected.

Perhaps the iPhone released in Europe will be a new model that will be offered in the states as a 2nd-generation model. Or perhaps Apple will use the occasion to give concrete dates for both Leopard and Euro-iPhone.

Or, perhaps Apple is making the announcement in London because they also want to give some news which pertains to a certain well-known English rock band...

FT claims that there is a lot of support for the venture amongst movie studios. Nobody was quoted on the record, but one unnamed source estimates that the service could challenge cable companies and their new-fangled "Video on Demand" programs.

More importantly, it could actually make the AppleTV a somewhat relevant device.

The port won't include the famous plastic guitar controller (though I'm sure a peripheral company is already at work on a USB version). Wannabe shredders will instead unleash face-melters via a keyboard control system that promises to be part Joe Satriani and part Mavis Beacon.

It will be interesting to see how well the new iMac keyboard holds up to being waved around Eddie Van Halen style by legions of innebriated partygoers.

Of course, there's a bit more to this story. After the post went up and had some time to sink in, Apple's media relations crew apparently stepped in and requested a few "updates" to the blog. (It's amazing how much more responsive Apple PR is when they want an edit/correction.)

First, Apple wanted to make damn sure people knew that while they may not hunt you down and break your scrolling fingers, Apple does not condone, or support, or even like the idea of 3rd-party iPhone apps.

A couple hours later, a second update went up. Apple just wanted to make it clear that, while they will not be writing any code to purposely disable 3rd-party apps, certain compatibility issues are inevitable.

In other words, feel free to write all the 3rd-party iPhone apps you want, but it's a pretty safe bet that before long an Apple software update will hose your precious iPhone app but good.

This is the same beef that drove NBC to pull away from iTunes and offer its shows to Amazon. It appears as if while News Corp is similarly ticked off, they're not yet ready to walk away.

Or, as financial blog 24WallSt. put it, News Corp is "Mad but not stupid". The iTunes store has served up around 100 million TV show downloads, and is only growing in popularity. News Corp may realize this and not want to make any threats until a viable alternative has established itself.

As a mobile device manufacturer, Apple is in demand. AT&T made unprecedented concessions to get the rights to the iPhone, and carriers in Europe are said to be agreeing to similar deals. If a carrier wants to serve the iPhone, they'll have to come forward on their hands and knees and agree to Apple's terms.

Granted, Apple has never played well with others, but why invests billions in buying the spectrum, and billions more in building the infrastructure to serve it, and what could be even more billions of dollars in the ineviteble growing pains and rollout issues when you have the entire industry on a leash? Emptying the reserves to be come a service provider when one is getting sweetheart deals as a device provider is a risky idea to say the least.

What may make more sense for Apple would be to let someone else, say, Google pony up the cash for the spectrum and then strike an exclusive deal. G-Phone talk aside, Apple would be a logical choice. Despite how badly Google wants to push its various hardware and software projects, the company still draws virtually all of its income from ad revenue.

It would seem to be a perfect match: Apple provides the killer app, Google provides the backbone, reporters guaranteed a steady flow of stories for the next five years.

The Inquirer has this gem about a man who took a Mediterranean cruise with his iPhone turned on. The man never made a single call while he was on the trip, but by the time he got home a $4,800 bill had been accumulated.

The catch is that every so often the iPhone dials up to check for new e-mail. When you're out of the country, a nice little roaming charge gets tagged on to each and every one of these little data transfers. Compound that over the course of a week or two, and you've got a phone bill that looks more like the mortgage payment on a house in San Francisco.

The moral of the story: When traveling abroad, leave the iPhone at home. I know, you'll have to find another way to impress the 70-somethings on the shuffleboard court, but nobody wants to spend more for a one-month phone bill than a boat trip through the Mediterranean.

Brown was quoted as saying: "The BBC Trust made it a condition of approval for the BBC's on-demand services that the iPlayer is available to users of a range of operating systems, and has given a commitment that it will ensure that the BBC meets this demand as soon as possible."

For its part, the BBC has promised a Vista port by the end of the year and said that it is working on a Mac version, though no ETA has been given.

Even though Apple was able to reach the 1-million mark in 74 days, virtually all of them with the $599 price tag, the company decided not to lament on the past success of the iPhone.

The news release was short, even by Apple standards. And Steve Jobs only makes a short note on the milestone, choosing instead to focus on the upcoming holiday rush which also prompted the price cut.

Analysts at iSuppli estimate that the holiday rush will drive Apple to ship more than 4.5mil iPhones to retailers by the end of 2007. By 2011, the firm predicts that Apple will churn out more than 30mil iPhones.

Still no news on the European release, which is still slated to take place by the end of 2007.

The vulnerability lies within the way iTunes handles cover art. If an attacker were to create and launch a specially malformed music file, a crash would be triggered that could potentially allow for a malware installation.

Seeing as how iTunes will ask to install the update when you launch, it shouldn't be too hard to remember to install this update.

Unlike previous open letters, Jobs went so far as to admit that the company actually made a mistake.

"We need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price," he admitted.

Judging by the reaction from most iPhone owners, the response was more than adequate. As anyone who has spent any time in retail can tell you, placating angry customers can be nearly impossible.

Apple could just as easily have said "oh well, that's how the tech business works" (though Jobs did mention that in his letter) and left the early adopters out to dry.  Instead, they did something very rare amongst electronics vendors these days: they actually listened to customer complaints and did something to remedy the situation.

Now, if they could just get Leopard out...

There were a few people with those sort of quasi-hacked crippled iPhones in the audience at the Moscone Center on Tuesday. You could tell by the reactions.

First, he announced the iPod Touch- a touchscreen media player that bore a striking resemblance to the iPhone. There were a few people fidgeting uncomfortably and looking around a bit.

Then, he noted that the iPod Touch would also include internet access and the mobile Safari browser. Amidst the cheers several agonized groans could distinctly be heard.

Then, he noted that the new device would, unlike the iPhone, be available worldwide. Someone shouted profanities in Flemish.

Finally, he revealed the price. An 8GB iPod Touch would cost just $299. Half the price one would pay for the 8GB iPhone. People fell on the floor, some threw their hands in the air and begged Saint Stevie for forgiveness. One person committed ritual suicide by prying open his hacked iPhone and setting himself on fire.

But Mr. Jobs wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot. Now it was time to stick it to the hackers. The hardcore types that had drilled into Jobs' precious Jesusphone and broken it free from its single restricted carrier.

Apple was going to roll out a brand new service: the wi-fi iTunes store. You could now download iTunes songs straight to your iPhone from anywhere with a wi-fi connection. Of course, to get this sweet new feature you'll install the latest update, which may just check to see what SIM card your using and whether your iPhone has somehow been modified. It was reported that upon hearing this, GeoHot started laughing so hard he nearly chased away the two coeds who were washing his 350Z.

But there was one more thing. Jobs had to take care of one more group: the early adopters. You see, as a hipster company, Apple knows that "cool" has a very short shelf life. What was hip last month is now way lame. Horizontal stripes are the new plaid. Pirates are the new Chuck Norris. The Decemberists are the the new Wilco. And being an early adopter is now about as "with it" as growing a rat-tail and shaving MC Hammer lines into the side of your head.

So, Apple stuck it to everyone who paid 600 bucks for the privilege of having an iPhone first. The company was now going to drop the price of an 8GB iPhone to a paltry $400. Boom. That'll teach you to buy a product when it's first released.

With his work done, Jobs wheeled out tape-loop goddess KT Tunstall for obligatory closing performance while reporters scrambled to file stories, fanboys ran to go reserve their new iPods, and anyone who had invested any sort of money in an iPhone slouched back in their chairs and slowly shook their heads with a "what the hell just happened?" look on their face.

Another successful roll-out.

The possibilities are intruiging: listen to a digital radio feed on your iPod and, when you find a track that you like, purchase it from the iTunes store. When you get home, your iPod wirelessly synchs with your Mac and you sit down to listen to the new tunes while checking your e-mail. Perhaps your Mac then synchs up with your spouse's iPhone and the AppleTV in the living room as well...

This also brings up plenty of questions, however. Mainly, who is going to serve this? If you're going to have a service where users can wirelessly connect to a service, you will need some way to link the device to the service, be it a mobile phone protocol (such as 3G) or a wireless networking scheme, such as WiFi.

Will Apple be partnering with a satellite radio provider such as Sirius? Is this going to be a WiFi-based thing where users will need to have a hotspot to connect to? Is this going to be a premium service run through AT&T's EDGE network, and if so, will it also be offered for the iPhone?

Hopefully Mr. Thomson and his insider source are onto something and those questions will be answered tomorrow at San Francisco's Moscone Center.

The newest Zen model will now support files encoded in the AAC format, which is the default encoding system used by Apple for music files.

This means that all of your imported iTunes songs along with any DRM-free iTunes Plus will now work with your Zen. However, DRM-equipped material, such as iTunes store videos and normal purchased tracks, will still be shut out.