Apple has started the free iPhone 4 case or bumper program, if you’re an iPhone 4 owner it’s a simple process to claim a free case or get a refund from a past purchase.

• Download the iPhone 4 Case Program app at the iTunes App Store
• Launch the app on your iPhone and sign in using your iTunes/Apple ID
• Select your free Bumper or Case

To qualify for the free bumper or case, you must apply to the program within 30 days of buying an iPhone 4, until September 30 when the program expires.

The free iPhone 4 bumper and case program is offered in response to the antenna problems that some users have reported experiencing with iPhone 4, which has received a large amount of media attention and subsequently been parodied to death.

You can read more on Apple.com’s iPhone 4 case program information.

The release date of the White iPhone 4 model has been pushed back again, as Apple continues to face difficulties manufacturing the device. The following statement was issued today regarding the matter:

White models of Apple’s new iPhone® 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a result they will not be available until later this year. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.

There is no word on what ‘later this year’ means in terms of a definitive release date, but this is the second production delay that the White iPhone 4 model has encountered. This comes at a time when even black iPhone 4 availability is already strictly constrained due to huge demand for the device.

White iPhone 4 Popularity

Perhaps most interesting about the white iPhone delays is that the inability to get the device seems to be driving up it’s popularity. The following chart is from Google Trends, showing the search volume of ‘White iPhone 4′ vs ‘Black iPhone 4′ – as you can see the device deemed more popular by Apple (the black iPhone) is significantly less searched for than the unavailable white model.

Although it’s unlikely to be Apple’s intention, it would seem the production challenges with the white model are actually driving up the devices desirability. In the past, the Black iPhone has been more popular than the White iPhone, but perhaps that will be changing?

Using Text Substitution, you can easily write any special character or symbol like ™ or ® just by typing something like TM or (r). You can adjust this and set your own, and it’s easy to configure:

* Go to the Apple menu and down to “System Preferences”
* Click the “Language & Text” preference pane
* Click on the “Text” tab
* Adjust text to replace with a symbol or other text, add more text to replace by hitting the + button

For example, I set “OXD” to be replaced with “OS X Daily”, so anytime I type OXD and hit space the text will be replaced.

Now here comes the interesting part, the Text Substitution feature is not enabled by default in many Mac OS X applications and it has to be manually enabled on a per application basis. This is easy enough, but oddly Apple has named it something different once inside the application, it’s called “Text Replacement”, and here’s how to enable it:

* In most cocoa applications, open the “Edit” menu and scroll down to “Substitutions”
* Select “Text Replacement” and a check will appear next to it in the submenu, signifying text replacement is enabled for that application
* Now just type a shortcut that you had set earlier and your text will be replaced with the substitution set within the System Preferences

Text substitution / replacement is a really helpful feature, and I hope Apple allows you to enable it across all applications in future versions of Mac OS X with a simple ‘Enable for all applications’ switch within the Language & Text system prefs.

A report based on patent findings shows the continued interest of an ad supported operating system that may be in the works at Apple. AppleInsider shows several of the patents mockups demonstrating a desktop operating system that looks very much like Mac OS X, except there are advertisement features included in it. Perhaps the most interesting part of the patent filing is the idea that the ads will disable functionality of the OS while you view them:

“The operating system can disable one or more functions while the advertisement is being presented… At the end of the advertisement, the operating system can again enable the function(s). The advertisement can be visual or audible. The presentation of the advertisement(s) can be made as part of an approach where the user obtains a good or service, such as the operating system, for free or at reduced cost.”

The last part about the ads subsidizing the cost of the operating system is fascinating too. Will any of these ‘features’ be mandatory in Mac OS X 10.7? I hope not. I don’t know about anyone else but I’d much rather just pay for an OS than have ads as part of my core desktop experience. Of course, Apple has many patents filed and not every idea that is patented is actually used, so take this information with a grain of salt for now.

Rumors of the iPhone jumping to a US provider outside of AT&T continue to swirl as Apple’s exclusivity contract with AT&T looks to expire this year. First it was iPhone + Verizon and now it’s iPhone + T-Mobile.

The report on CultOfMac says the expansion of iPhone into T-Mobile USA is 80% certain to occur in Q3 this year. The addition of T-Mobile would undoubtedly boost iPhone market share as the device would be available to a potential 33 million customers.

Other than the exclusive contract inked between AT&T and Apple, the other hurdle to bring iPhone to other networks is technology. Verizon is based on CDMA which would require a redesign of the iPhone. Moving the iPhone to T-Mobile would be relatively easy from a technological standpoint since both AT&T and T-Mobile use the same GSM technology which the iPhone is built for. The report notes that T-Mobile already has thousands of iPhone’s on it’s US network, thanks to carrier unlocks.

In the USA, whether you buy iPhone with or without contract, it is locked onto AT&T’s network. The only way to use it with another cell provider is to use a jailbreak and carrier unlock.

iTunes Smart Playlists are a widely underused feature in iTunes, which is a shame because it’s a powerful way to create custom playlists based on a variety of parameters, including artists, genres, dates, ratings, play counts, and more.

I’m often guilty of only listening to whatever is newest in my iTunes playlist since I’m usually pulling music from various new music blogs. But what about all the music that I was listening to a few months ago? Sure you can select shuffle, but why not take it a step further… create a smart playlist! Go to the File menu and down to “New Smart Playlist” and set your parameters and off you go.

I got the idea for this a while ago after reading a nice article on The Apple Blog which walks us through the process of creating a smart playlist based on music age and skip count, allowing you to build a music playlist based on what you used to listen to and liked. Definitely a nice way to rediscover your older, and still enjoyable music.

The countdown to the Starcraft 2 release date closes in, July 27 is less than a week away and it’ll be available for Mac and PC users. This is really exciting for RTS fans like myself, and I’m especially happy that Blizzard is going for a concurrent release for both Windows and Mac OS platforms. Be sure that you meet the Starcraft 2 system requirements for Mac so that you can enjoy the game, they’re pretty reasonable so most people who bought a Mac over the last couple of years should have no problem running the game.

You can pre-order Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty on Amazon for $60.

Apple is on fire, with record third quarter revenue of $15.7 billion. How does this translate into actual hardware sales? Here’s a breakdown:

• 3.47 million Macs sold, a new sales record and an increase of 33% year over year
• 8.4 million iPhones sold, 61% growth year over year
• 9.41 million iPods sold, a 8% decline year over year
• 3.27 million iPads sold since launch this year

That’s a lot of hardware. Other interesting facts pertain to the near relentless demand of new products, which has caused iPhone 4 availability to be constrained tightly as demand is still through the roof nearly a month after launch. Apple’s COO Tim Cook had the following to say about iPhone 4:

“Let me be very clear on this: We are selling every unit we can make… Demand for iPhone 4 is absolutely stunning.”

This is stating the obvious for anyone actually trying to buy iPhone 4, stores continue to sell out of the device the moment they’re in stock. It’s not just the iPhone that is dealing with tight supply lines though, the iPad is also struggling to find equilibrium as Apple continues to sell every model it makes. Very impressive.

You can see the full report on Apple’s third quarter results press release.

Backing up manually with Time Machine is very easy, here’s how:
* Navigate and click on the Time Machine icon in the menubar
* Select “Back Up Now”

Time Machine will now begin a manual backup of your Mac’s hard drive. You can also just right-click on the time machine drive and select ‘Back Up Now’ to perform the same function, as seen in the screenshot above.

Only perform manual backups with Time Machine

If you want to backup manually only, all you need to do is disable the the automated backup process.
* Open System Preferences and click on “Time Machine”
* Switch Time Machine backups to ‘Off’ to disable automatic backups

Now the scheduled backup feature of Time Machine will be disabled, you can also choose whether to display the menubar icon through this System Preference.

Once automated backups have been disabled, to manually backup your Mac all you have to do is Right-Click on the Time Machine drive in the Finder and then select “Back Up Now” to start the backup process. You will need to do this anytime you want a backup. This can be easy to forget so for that reason I’d recommend just leaving the automatic backup feature on for most users.

These are the Mac system requirements for running Starcraft 2:

Minimum Starcraft 2 System Requirements for Mac

These are the baseline specs that you’ll need to run the game, if you are near the lower end of the settings here you probably won’t have great performance.

• Mac OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.2 or newer
• Intel Processor
• NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT or ATI Radeon X1600 or better
• 12 GB available disk space
• 1 GB RAM (2 GB highly recommended)
• DVD drive
• Broadband Internet connection
• 1024X768 minimum screen display resolution

Recommended Starcraft 2 System Requirements for Mac

In addition to the system specs above like available disk space and an internet connection, to run Starcraft 2 the best on your Mac these are the recommended specifications:

• Intel Core 2 Duo processor
• 4 GB system RAM
• NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT or ATI Radeon HD 4670 or better

Obviously the better and newer your Mac, the better Starcraft II will perform on it.

You can order Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty on Amazon.com.
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