A new voice-recognition search tool for the iPhone has problems understanding British accents, leading to some bizarre answers to spoken queries, a newspaper report and users said Wednesday.

A new voice-recognition search tool for the iPhone has problems understanding British accents, leading to some bizarre answers to spoken queries, a newspaper report and users said Wednesday.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - Apple revealed plans Wednesday to open iPhones to computer programs made by outsiders in a move that could quiet complaints that its lock on the devices' workings is over zealous.

'Let me just say it,' Apple's renowned chief executive Steve Jobs said in a posting on the Northern California company's website. 'We want native third party applications on the iPhone.'

Apple intends to have an iPhone software kit in the hands of developers in February, according to Jobs.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 28, 2007 (AFP) - A freshly released Apple software update disables iPhones hacked to let users install custom programs or use Telecommunication carriers other than the authorized one, AT&T.

Renegade software wizards that devised ways to break into iPhone's jealously guarded inner workings and sever an exclusive link to AT&T are trying to work their magic anew on Apple's software upgrade.

PARIS, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - France Telecommunication said on Thursday it had been picked by Apple to launch its iPhone handset in France.

France Telecommunication's chief executive Didier Lombard announced the deal with the US technology giant on the sidelines of a telecommunications conference in Hanoi.

The announcement, which had been widely predicted in the media, contrasted with high profile announcements by Apple of its choice earlier this week in Britain and Germany, attended by the US firm's chief Steve Jobs.

BERLIN, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - US technology giant Apple picked mobile phone operator T-Mobile on Wednesday to launch its iPhone handset in Germany, with deals in more countries expected as the group prepares for the European roll-out of its latest gadget.

Germany and Britain will simultaneously launch the touch-screen iPhone in Europe on November 9, offering Internet access, telephone service and iPod-like music as well as the ability to play videos.

Under an agreement announced on Tuesday, the phone is to be distributed in Britain by O2.

BERLIN, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Mobile telecommunications operator T-Mobile has won an exclusive contract to distribute Apple's iPhone in Germany and will start selling the new touch-screen unit on November 9, both groups said here Wednesday.

Germany and Britain will simultaneously launch the iPhone in Europe, offering Internet, telephone and iPod-like music as well as the ability to play videos.

The phone is to be distributed by O2 in Britain.

BERLIN, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Germany's T-Mobile on Wednesday said it has won the contract to become the sole local distributor of Apple's iPhone and will start selling the new touch-screen phone on November 9.

The mobile operator, which is part of Deutsche Telekom, said it will sell the iPhone for 399 euros (557 dollars).

The long-awaited announcement of the German distribution contract was made by Apple chief Steve Jobs and Rene Obermann, the boss of Deutsche Telekom.

LONDON, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Apple chief Steve Jobs said Tuesday that Britain would be the first European country to get its much vaunted iPhone and they would be launched on November 9.

Jobs told a London press conference that O2, owned by Spain's Telefonica, has won an exclusive contract to distribute the iPhone in Britain.

He said the iPhone would retail in Britain at 269 pounds (387 euros/536 dollars).

LONDON, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) - Apple plans to hold a press conference Tuesday whose subject is a secret -- sparking intense speculation by telephone companies as to who will be named to distribute the iPhone in Europe.

The US computer and consumer electronics company sent invitations to journalists on Thursday with the line, 'mum is no longer the word'. Apple is known for shrouding its announcements in mystery.

LONDON, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) - Apple plans to hold a press conference Tuesday whose subject is a secret -- sparking intense speculation by telephone companies as to who will be named to distribute the iPhone in Europe.

The computer and consumer electronics company sent invitations to journalists on Thursday with the line, 'mum is no longer the word'. Apple is known for shrouding its announcements in mystery.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - A day after cutting the price of its sleek new iPhone, Apple on Thursday apologized to customers who bought the device at a higher price and offered them a 100-dollar credit with the company.

'We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple,' Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Apple on Wednesday cut the price of its hot-selling iPhones and unveiled a slick touch-screen iPod as part of a bold product line overhaul aimed at boosting year-end holiday season sales.

'I think it is a deep and complete line-up,' Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg told AFP after watching Apple chief executive Steve Jobs introduce revamped iPod models and the new iPod Touch.

'A lot of consumers said they don't want a new mobile phone but they want all the other stuff the iPhone has.'

NEW YORK, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - A group of hackers said they will soon sell software allowing Apple's iPhone to be used with any cellphone carrier, skirting AT&T's exclusive deal in the United States.

The consumer frenzy over Apple's sensational phone was, for some, dampened by the fact that AT&T was the device's only service provider in the country.

But a group of anonymous hackers promised on a website, iPhoneSIMfree.com, that they would sell software that can opens the iPhone to other carriers in the next few days. They did not indicate a price.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 1, 2007 (AFP) - Apple is expected to unveil revamped iPods at a special event on Wednesday in San Francisco.

The Internet is buzzing with speculation sparked by enigmatic Apple event invitations bearing an image of a silhouetted iPod-wearing figure dancing above the words 'The beat goes on.'

'It's an iPod refresh,' principle analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley told AFP. 'That is what the buzz is.'

BERLIN, Aug 30, 2007 (AFP) - The chief executives of German auto giant Volkswagen and US technology group Apple met in California recently to discuss a joint venture, a VW spokesman confirmed Thursday.

He declined to say whether the meeting between VW's Martin Winterkorn and Steve Jobs of Apple was about the launch of an iCar, which German business magazine Capital said would follow in the footsteps of hit Apple products such as the iMac computer, iPod MP3 player and the new iPhone handset.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 14, 2007 (AFP) - Apple on Tuesday made the solo works of late Beatles idol John Lennon available at iTunes in a move that could signal the history-making British band's music is headed for the online store.

Sixteen of Lennon's songs from EMI Music are for sale at iTunes as the 'Lennon Legend' and 'Acoustic' collections make their 'worldwide digital debuts,' according to Apple.

'John would have loved the fact that his music will now be available in a format suited to a new generation of listeners,' Lennon's widow Yoko Ono said in a written statement.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 14, 2007 (AFP) - Apple on Tuesday made the solo works of late Beatles idol John Lennon available at iTunes in a move that could signal the history-making British band's music is headed for the online store.

Sixteen of Lennon's songs from EMI Music are for sale at iTunes as the 'Lennon Legend' and 'Acoustic' collections make their 'worldwide digital debuts,' according to Apple.

'John would have loved the fact that his music will now be available in a format suited to a new generation of listeners,' Lennon's widow Yoko Ono said in a written statement.

CUPERTINO, California, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) - Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new line of iMac computers and slick software hoping the glow of iPod MP3 players and iPhones will help shine Apple's core products.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, in his trademark blue jeans and black shirt, demonstrated the offerings to reporters and analysts at the company's headquarters in the Silicon Valley city of Cupertino.

'The iMac has a tremendous amount of momentum,' Jobs said. 'We'd like to make it better.'

SAN FRANCISCO, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - Apple reported that blazing sales of iPods and Macintosh computers sent its profits rocketing to a record high in the recent quarter and that its iPhone is 'off to a great start.'

Apple said Wednesday it had revenue of 5.41 billion dollars and net profit of 818 million in the quarter ending June 30, compared to revenue of 4.37 billion and net profit of 472 milllion in the same quarter a year ago.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2007 (AFP) - A computer security firm said Monday that it had found a way to hack into Apple`s new iPhones, take command of the devices and steal stored information.

Researchers at Independent Security Evaluators (ISE) said they were able to slip past the iPhone`s defenses through Wi-Fi connections, or by tricking users into visiting websites that secretly implant malicious computer code.