Delivering what they promised at their press conference, Apple has released an app, through which users can apply for an iPhone 4 case at no charge.The app follows 3 simple steps for users to order their case.

1. Download the iPhone 4 Case Program app from the App Store.
2. Launch the app on your iPhone 4 and sign in using your iTunes Store account or Apple ID.
3. Select your Bumper or case.

Users who previously purchased an iPhone 4 case can apply for a full refund on Apple’s site.

The iPhone 4 Case Program app can be found here.

Further details be found on Apple’s site here.

Along with the iTunes 9.2.1 update, Apple released iBooks 1.1.1, bringing audio and video content functionality for iBooks.The update also includes improved PDF support and other minor bug fixes.

The iBooks 1.1.1 update includes:
? Double-tap an image within a book to view it in greater detail
.?? Experience books that include audio and video.?
? Enjoy substantial performance improvements when reading PDFs.
?? Look-up definitions to English words inside books without a specified language.?
? Addresses an issue that may have caused some book downloads to not complete.
?? Includes many stability and performance improvements.

You can find iBooks here.

Apple announced today that the iPad will be available in 9 more countries as of Friday, July 23rd. Customers will be able to purchase all models of iPad through Apple stores and authorized resellers.

iPad will be launching in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore this Friday.

Apple noted that the iPad will be launched in more countries later in the year, and any availability or pricing information will be announced at these later dates.

The press release can be found here.

At Apple?s press conference 16th July, Steve Jobs took the stage to provide information on the user reports of iPhone 4 signal drops and other general iPhone news.

Steve Jobs explained why these dropped calls occur, and making sure to mention that this problem is only of a very small minority, less than 1% .He also explained that the Death Grip is not unique to the iPhone 4, and that it exists with all smart phones, giving demonstrations on the BlackBerry Bold 9700 , HTC Droid Eris, and Samsung Omnia II.

His simple fix to this is providing a free bumper case to all iphone 4 purchasers through September 30th, and furthering the offer if this problem persists after that.Apple’s official bumpers cannot be quickly produced to meet demand so a choice of third party cases will be provided.Of course any unsatisfied customers can return an undamaged iPhone 4 for a full refund.

After this issue was addressed in the press conference, Jobs ended with some more general news about the iPhone 4.Since it?s launch 3 weeks ago, iPhone 4 has sold over 3 million units and is the highest rated smart phone on the market.

At the end of this month the white iPhone 4 will be shipping in limited qualities and become more available in time, also the iPhone 4 will be launching in 17 of the 18 countries announced ( excluding South Korea for government issues).

And in closing, IOS 4.0.1 was released, fixing apple?s algorithm to determine the signal bars to be displayed.Previously, iPhone 4 may have displayed 4-5 bars when in reality a signal may only have a strength of 2-3 bars.

The full press conference can be watched here.

A study has recently taken place to compare the speed and satisfaction of reading on different devices, which included the iPad, Kindle, PC, and a printed book.

The study?s results were taken from a total of 24 users, reading a short story on each device.The 24 users selected were all avid readers and were selected as an example as a target demographic for these devices.All of the users were of at least a high school literacy level.

Speed results:

As expected, the printed book was the fastest beating out both tablets.The iPad measured at 6.2% lower reading speed than the book, and the Kindle measured at 10.7% slower.A very small difference in speed, not one to form a purchasing decision on but a difference nonetheless.The only real significant speed difference was between the book and the Kindle.

Satisfaction Results:

The users were asked to rate satisfaction on a 1-7 scale, 7 being the best,1 being the worst.The iPad, Kindle and printed book each averaged out similarly around 5.6-5.8, but the PC averaged out on the significantly lower score of 3.6.

Users also gave their comments on each device,to name a few:

The printed book was more relaxing than the electronic devices, The PC was uncomfortable because it reminded the user of the workplace, and they disliked the iPad?s weight claiming that it was too heavy.

While not as well received as the printed book, both e-readers were taken to as very useable devices, but clearly from this study of a target demographic, the iPad was seen as the better reading device, and the iphone 4?s new retina display is surely a technology that will be adopted by the new generations of the iPad.

After reports of terribly slow upload speeds from iPhone 4 users, AT&T has pointed the blame towards Alcatel- Lucent, the supplier of 3G wireless equipment.

The software defect affects the upload speeds of devices using the newest version of 3G technology known as High Speed Upload Packet Access or HSUPA for short.HSUPA has been put in place to achieve upload speeds to between 500 kilobits per second and 1.2 megabits per second.The iPhone 4 and some laptop data sticks are currently the only AT&T devices that uses this technology, which is why this problem affects only a small amount of customers.A temporary fix has been put in place to restore regular 3G speeds of 384 kilobits per second maximum until this problem can be resolved.

AT&T and Alcatel-Lucent jointly identified a software defect – triggered under certain conditions – that impacted uplink performance for Laptop Connect and smartphone customers using 3G HSUPA-capable wireless devices in markets with Alcatel-Lucent equipment. This impacts less than two percent of our wireless customer base. While Alcatel-Lucent develops the appropriate software fix, we are providing normal 3G uplink speeds and consistent performance for affected customers with HSUPA-capable devices.

Alcatel – Lucent gear is not use all across AT&T network, which is why this problem only occurs in select regions of the country, such as, New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Salt Lake City, and Seattle

There have been no reports of when this problem will be fixed.

Just a little something I threw together for funzies. Enjoy!