The hotel announced (via Redmond Pie) it now offers custom-designed 24-carat gold plated iPads for its guests to use during their stay, to act as a virtual concierge to access services like private dining and housekeeping, noted management to The National:

“Our exclusive Burj Al Arab 24-carat gold iPads further enhance our guests’ experience during their stay,” said general manager Heinrich Morio. “We have also recently introduced iMacs inside all our suites.”

The iPads were made by Gold & Co London, described as “the ultimate in luxury accessories” by chief executive Amjad Ali. The iPads are 64GB models with 4G connectivity and will be available for sale soon in the hotel’s gift shop with a price tag of 37,490 AED, or $10,448 Canadian dollars.

Having visited Dubai before and dined at Al Muntaha (on the 27th floor) for Friday Brunch at the Burj Al Arab, this hotel is the real deal when it comes to the ultimate in hotel luxury. If only guests could keep the gold iPads, but unfortunately that is not the case as they are required to be returned at the end of your stay.

Check out this documentary on the hotel below:

7-Star Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai Now Offers 24k Gold iPads for Guests is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation led by Senators Carl Levin and John McCain found that Apple set up corporate structures that allowed the company to pay little or no corporate tax on a big chunk of its overseas income, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The published reports come hot on the heels of Apple’s release of 17 pages of testimony prior to the U.S. Subcommittee investigation on tax practices.

The report seems to reinforce an earlier New York Times investigation which stated that Apple pioneered its famous “double Irish with a Dutch sandwich” technique to avoid paying taxes.

Apple has devoted a major part of its testimony to defending its use of five subsidiaries based in Ireland: Apple Operations International, Apple Operations, Apple Operations Europe, Apple Sales International and Apple Distribution International.

These subsidiaries are key players because ? as the investigation has found ? Irish tax law only considers companies as residents if they are managed and controlled there. The IRS, meanwhile, only counts corporations as American if they are incorporated here, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Here is what the Apple statement says about AOI, reported by Fortune’s Philip Elmer-Dewitt:

AOI is incorporated in Ireland; thus, under US law, it is not tax resident in the US. AOI is also not tax resident in Ireland because it does not meet the fact-specific residency requirements of Irish law.

The WSJ points to several findings of the lengthy investigation including how AOI doesn’t qualify as a tax resident of any other country under the applicable local laws, or how ASI (Apple Sales International) only paid a 0.05% tax rate in 2011. A third Apple subsidiary, AOE (Apple Operations Europe), maintains that its corporate profits aren’t taxable by any country.

Apple’s Corporate Structures Allow Tax Avoidance, Says U.S. Senate Report is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Biggr. A free terabyte of space

At Flickr, we believe you should share all your images in full resolution, so life’s moments can be relived in their original quality. No limited pixels, no cramped formats, no memories that fall flat. We’re giving your photos room to breathe, and you the space to upload a dizzying number of photos and videos, for free. Just how big is a terabyte? Well, you could take a photo every hour for forty years without filling one.

And yep, you heard us. It’s free.

This means you can now upload as many pictures and HD videos as you please to fill up 1 terabyte of free storage. The new web view of Flickr looks more magazine-like with various column layouts.

This new additional storage will work out great for users of the Flickr iOS app, which was revamped last December and updated in February with faster uploading and automatic saving of images from your Photostream to your camera roll.

Flickr notes there are still paid plans, such as $49.99 per year to go ad-free, or $499.99 per year for an extra terabyte of storage.

Anyone going back to Flickr because of this new redesign and storage announcement?

Flickr Gets Revamped: Now Offers 1 Terabyte of Free Storage is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

If you’re into iPhone concept videos, Ran Avni and Uygar Kaya released a new video this morning showcasing an ‘iPhone 6′ with a whole bevy of features such as an HD display, slimmer design and notification LEDs to name a few:

iPhone 6 concept with full hd retina display, ultra slim design, notification leds, charging animation, front facing stereo speakers, dust-water resistant, touch sensitive volume rocker, wide visible screen, wireless charging, 13 mega-pixel camera and more…

The concept created by Uygar KAYA?, and the video created by Ran Avni.

Check out the video below and tell us what you think–is this too much?

iPhone 6 Concept Envisions HD Display, LED Notifications, Wireless Charging [VIDEO] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Apple has released a 17 page PDF document detailing its stance on tax policies prior to the U.S. Subcommittee hearing set to take place tomorrow, where CEO Tim Cook is set to defend and clarify the company’s tax practices.

Apple clarifies how in its 2012 fiscal year, $6 billion in corporate taxes were paid to Uncle Sam, the most out of any corporation in the USA, accounting for $1 out of every $40 in corporate taxes collected by the U.S. government, or $16 million per day. This number is expected to rise to $7 billion this year.

The company reiterates in its conclusion the company encourages “comprehensive reform” of the US corporate tax system, most likely to include changes to allow the company to repatriate foreign capital without paying a 35 per cent tax rate, which Apple believes would “stimulate economic growth”, since they would be paying more US corporate tax if this number was reduced.

While some Subcommittee members may have differing views on these tax policy matters, Apple hopes the Subcommittee will see that these recommendations aim to create meaningful change and go well beyond what most US companies propose. As both a pioneer and participant in the American innovation economy, Apple looks forward to working with the Subcommittee on its efforts to encourage comprehensive reform of the US corporate tax system. Apple appreciates the opportunity to appear before the Subcommittee to contribute constructively to this important debate.

The Offshore Profit Shifting and the U.S. Tax Code – Part 2 is set to take place tomorrow at the Dirksen Senate Office Building at 9:30AM EDT in Washington, D.C.

Apple Releases Testimony Prior to U.S. Subcommittee Investigation is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

What’s New in Version 3.3.2
A couple of cool updates for iPhone and iPad:

- Fancy new post type chooser
- App attribution on posts

Click here to download Tumblr for iOS– it’s free.

Tumblr for iOS Updated with New Post Type Chooser is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

The report notes that Apple retail showed a 7% growth in visitors, hitting an all time new revenue record of $57.6 per visitor. The average revenue per Apple store per quarter reached $13 million, making it the highest for a non-holiday quarter. Similarly, the average number of visitors per store hit 250,000 per quarter, compared with 170,000 visitors per store per quarter three years ago.

“Here are some additional metrics:

Employment has steadied at about 110 per store. This is a remarkable increase from less than half this level in 2007.

Hiring remains closely correlated with visits with visitors per employee per quarter holding to slightly more than 2000.

Average visitors per store has steadied to 250,000 per store per quarter (average for trailing 12 months). This is a quantum increase from about 170,000 per store per quarter in the twelve months ending Q1 2010. The reason for this might be the increase in floor space of newer stores and the renovation of older stores. The new store throughput rate might be an upper bound due to fire regulations”.

The analysis also claims that Apple’s profit per visitor also held steady at about $12 per quarter.

Asymco: Apple Has Set A New Record For ‘Revenue Per Store Visitor’ is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

What’s New in Version 1.2
Easier to use for new users
Improved search experience
Prominent new message action
Chat states show when business or TalkTo agent is typing
Numerous bug fixes

Honestly, TalkTo is one of my favourite apps on my iPhone as it allows me to ask businesses questions without calling, saving me time and patience. No more navigating through complex telephone menus to find out the answer to a simple question.

Questions such as the following to the Apple Store at Metrotown in Burnaby, BC:

The service works great to make reservations, check if an item is in stock, or to find out business hours, with answers sent back to you via push notifications within five minutes most of the time. It’s like a free personal assistant running telephone errands for you. Don’t have a U.S. long distance plan? Use TalkTo to message American businesses for free.

How does TalkTo work exactly? The service has agents based worldwide to provide coverage 24/7 for your questions. If you ask specific questions such as “Can I get a table at 8pm”, the service will represent themselves to business as TalkTo working on your behalf. If you ask a generic question such as “When do you close tonight?” then the service will ask without identifying themselves.

Click here to download TalkTo for iPhone–it’s free. The service is also available on the web to message any business in Canada or the USA. Let me know how you use TalkTo in the comments below!

TalkTo Text-to-Business for iPhone Adds Improved Search Interface is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Previous report had also predicted a single-digit percentage growth during the year for MacBook shipments, compared to an average of 30% growth in the past few years.

“As Apple is ready to release its new MacBook products in the near future, sources from the upstream supply chain has revealed that their orders for MacBook devices are estimated to grow 20% sequentially in the second quarter.

Since there are no major upgrades, the sources believe their shipments for MacBooks for 2013 are unlikely to surge.”

The report also notes that new MacBooks are only expected to receive specification upgrades to Intel’s latest Haswell platform and are expected to be unveiled at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June.

MacBook Orders Expected To Grow By 20% During Q2 2013 [DigiTimes] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Fortunately, there is an app for that! Semi-Restore comes to save millions of jailbroken iOS device owners’ neurons from premature death.

With Semi-Restore, jailbroken iDevice users can have a clean install of their current firmware without losing the beloved jailbreak. This doesn’t mean it will completely restore your device, but it is the tool to get close to a clean install without updating your iDevice to the latest firmware.

According to the Semi-Restore website, this only requires up to 10 minutes of your time, but there are certain requirements that need to be fulfilled for a successful semi-restore: you need to have OpenSSH and APT 0.7 Strict (Not the LIB) installed on your iOS device, and an SSH client on your computer.

Semi-Restore is currently in beta, but if you are ready to do a semi-restore as it goes live, you can prepare your device by installing the aforementioned apps from Cydia. Meanwhile, you can watch a video tutorial courtesy of Dom of AppAdvice.

Semi-Restore Keeps Your Jailbreak While Restoring iOS [VIDEO] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource