Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the iOS 6 Maps mess in an open letter to Apple customers on Friday. Even more surprising, Cook suggested unhappy iOS users download map apps from Apple competitors like Bing, MapQuest, Waze and Google.

Apple Maps has been widely ridiculed for featuring inaccurate information, mislabeled landmarks and other mistakes. Apple has said its new service will improve over time, but until then disappointed users are stuck using alternatives like Google's web app.

Steve Jobs, who co-founded Apple Computer in 1976, died one day after Apple announced its new iPhone. He was 56 years old.

The Apple home page replaced its image of the newly announced iPhone 4S with a picture of Jobs and this message:

"Steve Jobs 1955-2011. Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

Apple's board of directors also released a statement:

"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today. Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."

It looks a lot like the iPhone 4, but Tim Cook promised the latest Apple iPhone is "all new inside." The Apple CEO unveiled the iPhone 4S (not the iPhone 5) in Cupertino on Tuesday. The new iPhone features a dual-core A5 processor, 8-megapixel camera, and GSM and CDMA radios.

The iPhone 4S offers 8-hours of talk time (3G), and six hours of web browsing time (3G). It also features image stabilization, facial recognition, 1080p video recording capabilities and the new Siri voice control feature.

The iPhone 4S will be available in the US from AT&T, Verizon and Sprint on October 14th. Pre-orders begin this Friday, October 7th. The 16GB model will cost you $199, the 32GB version is $299 and 64GB version will retail for $399.

Tim Cook is ready to host Apple's big iPhone event tomorrow at 10am PT, 1pm ET, but will the redesigned iPhone 5 and Steve Jobs be making an appearance? Word is Jobs is too sick to attend, and recent evidence points to the iPhone 4S being Apple's next device, not the rumored iPhone 5 with "teardrop" design.

Both the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 have been popping up in random carrier and store inventories. A 16GB Sprint Apple iPhone showed up in a questionable Radio Shack leak, and the German carrier Vodafone added an 8GB iPhone 4 and three iPhone 4S models (16GB / 32GB / 64GB) to their website.

Did you really believe Apple announcing its big iPhone event would put an end to all the next generation iPhone rumors? Sorry, not gonna happen! Prepare your last grains of salt, because here's the latest, and hopefully the last, iPhone 5 gossip!

While speaking at Macworld Asia, China Unicom's Deputy Director Huang Wenlian said the new iPhone 5 would feature HSPA+ 21Mbps data speeds. This comes from a poorly translated PC Watch report, but the image below is quite convincing.

9to5Mac found three next generation iPod Touch SKUs and two iPhone 4S SKUs in Apple's inventory system. The new iPhones are listed as N90A. The new device is believed to be the iPhone 4S since the iPhone 4 is codenamed N90. The new listings could also be for the rumored 8GB iPhone 4 mentioned by Reuters in August.

Those unnamed "sources close to the situation" are at it once again, this time telling John Paczkowski of All Things Digital that new Apple CEO Tim Cook, will be announcing the iPhone 5 on October 4th.

Actually... They told him Apple will be holding a big media event on October 4th, we all just assume it will be to unveil the iPhone 5.

Sorry if I can't get excited about an unconfirmed report about the iPhone 5 possibly being announced, but after so many months of misleading rumors, and such a long wait, I rather skip the press conference and just know an actual release date. Apple fans are hoping that the lag time between the big event and the iPhone 5 launch will be short, but I'm not getting my hopes up just in case. However, it would be kind of crappy on Apple's part to throw Cook to the wolves by forcing him to announce the iPhone 5 won't be ready until 2012. I'm guessing if Apple plans to hold a spectacle for their next generation device, they also plan to release it soon.