As my birthday is now a month away (hint hint), I thought it was high time I started compiling a present list. At number one, my most-wanted item: an iPad. Adverts for the device, which first went live during this year’s Oscars ceremony, proudly show off its 9.7 inch high res screen, which can be used to read iBooks, use iTunes and do some iWork.

Yesterday came the news that, from December, Vogue magazine – fashion’s number one barometer – would make its editions available via iPad. Although Vogue is the first fashion magazine to ‘size zero’ its content onto a tablet device, the publishing world is no stranger to digital distribution – and certainly has no qualms about charging for it.

The Times is already available on iPad, for £9.99 a month – a significant saving on the equivalent cost of buying print editions, and it’s rumoured that all-conquering media mogul Rupert Murdoch has plans to establish a tablet-only newspaper in the near future. Speaking last month, Murdoch said: “I think we’re going to see, around the world, hundreds and hundreds of millions of these devices… we’ll have young people reading newspapers.”

I hate to admit it, but he might have a point. I’m sure loads of teens would take a keener interest in current affairs they were was presented to them on something shiny. In this digital age, it’s no longer enough to just read about Ricky Hatton’s indiscretions. We need to see them, hear them – pretty much experience sensory overload whilst getting the news. With the print sales of newspapers in constant decline, some are hailing the iPad as the publishing world’s saviour. Me? I just think the Scrabble app looks pretty snazzy…

Apple is a brand that needs no introduction. Within the space of a few years, its products have evolved into an everyday essential. We’ve seen iPods, iPhones, iTunes, Macbooks and Apple TV – where will this all end? 

Apple’s latest ‘innovation’ is social media newcomer, Ping. The site promises to be Facebook and Twitter meets iTunes. Essentially it’s a social network all about music and has been made available to 160 million users in 23 countries. An impressive 1 million users signed up within the first 48 hours. 

It’s a seemingly smart move by the consumer-savvy company. Social media is such a dominant force within the music industry. It puts the power of discovery into our own hands. Anyone can be an industry insider as fans can directly communicate with superstars and each other online.  In times gone by, we had to scour the record shops on weekends to find the latest bands, but now it’s all there at the click of a button. 

Today sees the launch of The Pic-Nic Village – another music-themed social networking site set to revolutionise the way we discover music. So it seems as though Apple is onto something quite special. However, Ping isn’t without its critics.

Claims are already surfacing that this is the perfect playground for spammers to take advantage of the iTunes members who have signed up, and our personal data could be at risk. Plus, you have to be signed up to iTunes to even give it a go. It promised to be all-singing and all-dancing but, having had a look, I have to say that I’m yet to be convinced.

Less than an hour to go until Apple faces a room packed full of journalists attempt to salvage its latest backlash against the newly launched iPhone 4.

The technology giant is facing complaints that its new phone, which 1.7 million people snapped up in the first two days of its launch, has appalling aerial signal.

The brand has achieved cult status and its reputation is at the very core. The latest uproar has sparked heated debate as to whether it could be the end of the public love affair with the brand. The fact is that we pay a premium for Apple’s products and expect them to operate on a first-class level.

Some believe Apple is losing its touch but a genuine apology and speedy resolution (most likely a recall) could avert a Toyota style PR crisis.  Whatever’s said this evening needs to be credible and effective without a whiff of scripted PR puffery or Apple’s reputation will be in for a juicing.

In the meantime BP will be breathing a small sigh of relief as it takes the heat of them for a day or two…

The Apple iPad has finally been released and sold over 300,000 units on Monday alone.  Availability outside the US is yet to be announced but the UK public is already clamouring for the latest must-have gadget from the Californian electronics giant. 

The iPad was received with mixed reviews: websites sprung up immediately, discussing the lack of USB support, multitasking and SD slots.  It was interesting to hear tech-savvy people criticise Apple for releasing a product that didn’t meet with their expectations after such a long and hyped build-up. 

Even so, PR activity to combat this appeared limited.  Founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs toured Apple stores in the US, lending their cult status to the campaign, and the product was featured on a number of American TV shows pre-launch.  It looks as though Apple was so confident of huge sales that it thought a big PR push wasn’t required. 

And Apple was probably right.  ‘iPad’ was a trending topic on Twitter long before it was announced.  If you Google the phrase, there are 51 million websites talking about it.   It’s already been blended by Blendtec and smashed up with a Baseball bat on YouTube.  Both videos have racked up over 2 million views.  Stats such as these show how the product has already become a phenomenon.

Yesterday’s Daily Mail reported that ‘hundreds’ of people are having issues with the iPad.  This is just a drop in the ocean compared to the number of those who bought the product. But, it’s remarkable to see how quickly people jump on the bandwagon to voice their criticism. I’ll be watching with interest to see how Apple tackles the negative coverage.

I was really shocked at news that Apple has allowed an application called ‘Baby Shaker’ to be released for sale on its iTunes Store.

The aim of the ‘game’ is to quieten crying babies by shaking your iPod or iPhone until two red crosses appear on the eyes of the baby and the crying stops.

It’s since been removed from sale and Apple has apologised for the mistake.  They also declined to release details on how many times the game had been downloaded by customers.

All applications have to be approved by Apple before going on sale.  The question, therefore, is who approved this game and how did it get through the vetting process?   Whilst competitor offerings, such as the G1, allow for open source development, Apple has always kept a tight control on what can be released using its technology.

Since buying my iPod touch, I’ve been a regular contributer to the 1 billion downloads to date. This serious lapse in judgement has made me question my eagerness to buy apple downloads.

Did you hear about the new Amazon MP3 store opening this week?  It was a rather subdued launch.  I only heard about it briefly on Radio 1 news yesterday – suffice to say, the PR campaign was surprisingly low-key.

I took a look at the Amazon website this morning to find out more, and I have to admit that the ad-banners didn’t really jump out at me.  It makes me wonder why this new offering wasn’t shouted about more in the press.

The main selling point for Amazon is that the tracks on sale are not rights managed. This means that unlike Apple’s iTunes, they can be played on various different formats and are not dependent on a single piece of hardware like the iPod and iTunes.

Also, price is a key differentiator from other businesses that offer downloadable music.  A single track costs from 59p and chart albums costs £3.00.  When compared to iTunes prices, this must be an attractive proposition during the credit crunch.

Amazon has a name that consumers trust, and smaller retailers such as 7Digital should be concerned that they’ll no doubt begin to dominate the 20% market share left to them by Apple.

I doubt very much that Amazon will make even the smallest dent in the dominance of Apple.  Even so, I’m sure that a bigger marketing push in the first place would have helped them kick things off the right way!