Newest Cydia release tracks, restores your jailbroken apps

Some say the best smartphone is a jailbroken iPhone, but one problem (aside from the obvious, that jailbreaking, although legal, voids your warranty) is the issue of reinstalling all your jailbreak-only apps if you update and re-jailbreak. The latest version of Cydia can help with that problem.

iTunes will restore your non-jailbroken apps when you upgrade to a new version of iOS, or if you restore your iPhone. For jailbroken apps, you have to re-install them manually, at least until now.

Cydia is the "market" that users go to for apps specifically for jailbroken iOS devices. Possibly because of technology Cydia acquired via Rock Your Phone, you can now login with your Facebook or Google account. Once that's done, Cydia will track your purchases, so that you can reapply them after you jailbreak the next version of iOS.

It's a lot better than having to hunt down your old apps again via the repositories involved. Of course, Apple would prefer not just that jailbreaking was harder, but that it couldn't be done. Considering it's the only way to get a useful lock screen (among other things), many hope otherwise.

App Store 10 billion download winner hung up on 'prank' Apple call

The winner of Apple's 10 billionth download promotion hung up on the company when they called, thinking it was a prank. Gail Davis of Orpington, Kent, UK, had downloaded Paper Glider, a free iOS game, on Saturday, and with that, won a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

Davis said:

“I thought it was a prank call. I said, ‘Thank you very much, I’m not interested’ and I hung up.”

The call came Eddy Cue, Apple’s Vice-President in charge of iTunes. Her daughter told Davis it wasn't a prank, and she started to panic, but she needn't have: Apple wasn't going to let one hang-up deter them.

"The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a genuine call. The girls were getting quite tense. They never would have forgiven me. They would have held it against me for all eternity.”

Indeed they would not have.  Gail Davis didn't actually make the download.  It was one of her two daughters, 14 and 17, who was the actual winner.  Fortunately for her, Davis was called again a few hours later by one of Cue's colleagues.

Davis and her husband only have iPod nanos, which cannot run iOS apps. They're thinking of upgrading their devices so they can start downloading. She needs to hurry; as she indicated, her daughters are already trying to figure out what to buy.

Two Promotional Apple iPhone - AT & T and Verizon

After months of fighting between Verizon, Apple and AT&T, the latest ad from Apple shows it's all one big happy family, showing the Verizon iPhone 4 and AT&T iPhone 4 side-by-side with the tagline "Two is Better Than One."

The ad is set to the Blue Danube (or An der schönen blauen Donau), the famous Johann Strauss waltz. It shows two iPhone 4s simultaneously scrolling, surfing, checking iBooks, using FaceTime, and more, all identically, before the AT&T and Verizon logos appear, followed by the tagline "Two is better than one."

Past ad campaigns by Verizon have mocked the AT&T network and the iPhone on it. Now that the popular smartphone is on the Verizon network, any anti-iPhone (and pro-Android) commercials will be a thing of the past.

One difference missing from the commercial, and one thing that Verizon iPhone buyers need to remember, is that voice and data calls cannot be made simultaneously on CDMA network. That means that if, say, you are listening to an Internet radio station, when a call comes in, the station feed will automatically terminate. Once the call ends, you will be reconnected.

Looking at it from the other direction, if you were on a call, you couldn't suddenly go to Yelp at the same time. In this case, you won't disconnect from the voice call; it just won't work.

Watch the video below.

Verizon's off-contract iPhone 4 price $50 more than AT&T

It's been said before that Verizon is the priciest U.S. carrier, and it certainly hasn't done anything to discount that belief with something just noticed in their FAQ. The unsubsidized, full retail price for the Verizon iPhone is $50 more than the same price for the AT&T iPhone.

Here's what the FAQ says re: Verizon iPhone 4 pricing:

$199.99 for the 16GB model, and $299.99 for the 32GB model, with a new 2 year agreement. iPhone 4 will also be available for purchase at full retail price - $649.99 for the 16GB model, and $749.99 for the 32GB model.

For the 16GB model, AT&T charges $599 and for the 32GB model,a $699.

It's unclear why Verizon is charging more for their version of the iPhone 4, but the most obvious thing that comes to mind is the CDMA chipset inside the device. While $50 compared to the full retail price of the device is small, it's still an interesting additional difference between the two iPhone 4s.

Apple retail stores seen carrying universal iPhone 4 bumpers

The Verizon iPhone isn't quite here yet, but a newly designed bumper case, that fits both the AT&T and Verizon versions, is. We noted earlier that some third-party cases, as well as Apple's own bumper cases, would need slight modifications to fit the new Verizon iPhone.

While the Verizon iPhone is mostly unchanged externally from the AT&T iPhone, there were some changes made to the metal band around the exterior, which functions as an antenna for the device. Because of this, the mute button was moved. The new bumper case has a wider opening for the mute switch, and that's the only change.

In addition to moving the mute switch slightly, the Verizon iPhone has 4 antenna gaps, while the AT&T design has only 3. Aside from that, it's pretty much the same device, except, Verizon would claim, that it runs on a more reliable network. Meanwhile, AT&T would claim it runs on a slower network.

For ourselves, speed doesn't count for much if the network is overloaded. The countdown to the Verizon iPhone 4 continues, with pre-orders beginning for existing Verizon customers on Feb. 3. You can see the unboxing video below.

The App Store reaches the 10 billion download milestone

Apple thanked end users 10 billion times on Saturday, as the 10 billionth app from the App Store was downloaded. While we are not sure who the winner is yet (Apple says come back later), we know that the winner gets a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

The winner didn't actually have to download an app, either. There was a non-download entry form as well. The winner was either the downloader of the 10 billionth app, or the person who submitted an entry form immediately after the 9,999,999,999 app was downloaded.

The number of downloads in the App Store have been skyrocketing, along with device use. By the end of September 2009, the App Store was at 2 billion apps downloaded. About a year ago, in January 2010, there were 3 billion downloads. When the "countdown" began, the store was some 250M apps short, and that was just over a week ago.

In February of 2010, Apple had a different 10 billion download mark hit: the 10 billionth song song from iTunes: Johnny Cash's "Guess Things Happen That Way."

Update: The 10 billionth app downloaded was Paper Glider.  It was purchased by Gail Davis of Orpington, Kent, UK.  Davis will receive a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card.

Apple's latest attempt to 'screw' iPhone owners involves pentalobular screws

Apple's iPhone is sealed from end users, with the company not even including a user-replaceable battery. It seems, however, the company is going to still further length to ensure the device is tamper-proof, using custom made screws, and not just that: if you have standard screws and get your iPhone 4 repaired, they replace them.

iFixit is a company famous for their new device teardowns.   The site notes that during repairs, Apple is replacing the iPhone 4's standard Philips #00 screws with new "pentalobular" ones. Worse, to gain access to a tool for that screwhead, you have to prove you are an certified Apple repair technician or company. The tool is also very expensive.

iPhone 4s in the U.S. shipped with the aforementioned Phillips screws, but other countries received the pentalobular screws, and as noted iPhone 4s are receiving them upon repair. As sealed as the iPhone 4's OS is, apparently the device needs to be sealed the same way.

As MJ at iFixit said:

Apple won't sell me the screwdriver I won't need to fix my own phone. And all of this for what: to keep people from modding their phones to make them different colors? Heaven forbid!

We're not sure the word "diabolical" is correct to describe Apple's actions, but at any rate, iFixit's interest in this is not totally altruistic. They have just released a new product called the "iPhone 4 Liberation kit." It includes a special Phillips driver to remove the tamper-resistant screws, Phillips screws like the iPhone 4 was originally shipped with, and a Phillips driver for those.

The only possible problem is since the driver to remove the pentalobular screws is not the precise tool required, it could render them useless. On the other hand, as MJ said, you're not going to need them anyway.

It would seem, to me, that you could probably find your own Phillips screwdriver that would similarly remove the pentalobular ones (destroying them as well), without forking over the $10, but it is convenient that there is a kit that provides the screws, too.

Ah, and similar, but differently sized screws are in mid-2009 MacBook Pros and the new MacBook Airs, and iFixit has users covered there, too. Once again, they're not being altruistic.




Apple's Diabolical Plan to Screw your iPhone from iFixit on Vimeo.

The first Verizon iPhone ad: 'It Begins'

And so it begins: the blitz of Verizon iPhone commercials has seen its first "entry."

The ad begins with a clock showing 11:59. The ad moves on to show additional clocks, a person tapping his finger, implying people waiting, but for what? Obviously, the Verizon iPhone.

More clocks, a person kneading their hands together in nervous anticipation, and more clocks. Then more nervous behavior by people, over which you hear:

“To our millions of customers ..."

Tapping feet.

"Who never stopped believing this day would come."

The clock shown earlier at 11:59 now hits 12:00. A girl smiles.

“Thank you.”

iPhone 4 logo.
Verizon logo.
The tagline: “It Begins”.
Cue the launch date: 2.10.11.
"Rule the Air"

Here's hoping the expected Verizon iPhone Super Bowl commercial wows us.

Best Buy planning pro-AT&T iPhone push due to lack of Verizon devices?

Apple doesn't really care if you buy a Verizon or AT&T iPhone, just that you buy an iPhone. While you would assume that AT&T and Verizon care, it appears that Best Buy cares, too: a newly discovered Best Buy playbook document is set to help associates answer questions about the Verizon iPhone, and not in a good way.

Not only does Best Buy diss the Verizon iPhone, it does so in a way that's pretty similar to something seen online recently: in fact, they lifted a BGR post, word for word, including a update sentence at the end. This is the only page visible in the leak, but it's likely they took the entire content of the original BGR post.

No 4G

Verizon’s entire presence at CES last week was focused on one thing and one thing alone: 4G. Its LTE network is now live in 38 markets and a flurry of 4G phones will launch in the coming months. But the iPhone… the smartphone millions of Verizon Wireless subscribers have been dying for… is a 3G device.

We knew Verizon’s iPhone 4 would be a CDMA phone for a number of reasons, but 3G is so 2010. Sprint launched its first 4G phone with minimal WiMAX coverage and it ended up being the fastest-selling phone in the carrier’s history. Now, we won’t see a 4G iPhone from Verizon until 2012. That means while millions of Android phones are surfing Verizon’s 4G airwaves later this year, iPhones will still be puttering along at EVDO speeds.

Post updated to remove a reference to FaceTime over 3G, which will not be available on Verizon’s iPhone 4.

Why would Best Buy push customers away from the Verizon iPhone and toward the AT&T version? The only thing that comes to mind is that Best Buy won't have the Verizon version on-hand when the device launches on Feb. 10. Apple and Verizon had previously said that only Verizon and Apple would have the devices at launch, with partners receiving them later.

However, the Verizon iPhone showed up in Best Buy's inventory system recently, leading some to wonder if in fact Best Buy would have it on hand. This anti-Verizon, or perhaps, pro-AT&T planning seems to point to an answer of "no."

No 'super-high resolution' display for iPad 2: report

Recent reports have pointed to a quadrupling of the iPad 2 pixels, with a 2048 x 1536 resolution promising a "retina" display on its larger 9.7-inch screen. However, Daring Fireball has turned up the "heat" and thrown "cold water" on the idea, based on its sources.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball said on Tuesday that his sources say that not only will the iPad 2 not sport a 2048 x 1536 display, it will keep the exact same resolution, 1024 x 768. Gruber is well-sourced, and he said:

Its display may be improved in other ways — brighter, better power consumption, thinner, perhaps. Maybe it uses the new manufacturing technique Apple introduced with the iPhone 4 display, which brings the LCD closer to the surface of the touchscreen glass — making it look more like pixels on glass rather than pixels under glass. But my sources are pretty sure that it’s not 2048 × 1536 or any other “super high resolution”.

In referring to "super high resolution," Gruber is referring to Engadget's report, which did not list an actual resolution, but instead just said the iPad 2 would have a new "super high resolution" display.

These are the sort of rumors that run prior to a product refresh cycle. Whether or not the iPad 2 has a "super high resolution" display or 2048 x 1536 resolution remains "to be seen."

Hacker pair involved in 2010 iPad 3G AT&T data breach arrested by the FBI

On Tuesday morning, two members of the group Goatse Security, who hacked into AT&T's customer database last year and delivered close to 120,000 e-mail addresses of iPad 3G owners to Gawker, were arrested by the FBI. The pair, Daniel Spitler, 25, and Andrew Auernheimer, 26, used a "brute force" attack and an AT&T security hole to gather the email addresses.

The pair used the fact that iPad 3G's SIM has an ICC-ID, a 19-digit code that AT&T associated with a user's account and email address. AT&T used the ICC-ID to pre-populate a field containing the owner's email address when the user needed to login and check account status. By attempting ICC-IDs until they got a "hit," the pair was able to gather the email addresses.

AT&T was supremely embarrassed by the incident. Among the notables outed when the story first broke were luminaries such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, ABC News' Diane Sawyer, movie titan Harvey Weinstein and New York Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in New Jersey said:

"Hacking is not a competitive sport, and security breaches are not a game. Companies that are hacked can suffer significant losses, and their customers made vulnerable to other crimes, privacy violations and unwanted contact."

Each of the two was each charged with one count of fraud and one count of conspiracy to access a computer without authorization. Each of those charges carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison plus a $250,000 fine.

Although Goatse Security notified AT&T of the breach after harvesting the data, the U.S. Attorney's statement noted that in chats, it was made clear that the group wasn't doing this to be altruistic. Instead, Fishman said,

"Those chats not only demonstrate that Spitler and Auernheimer were responsible for the data breach, but also that they conducted the breach to simultaneously damage AT&T and promote themselves and Goatse Security."

Last year, Auernheimer was arrested on drug charges. Authorities were actually searching his home for evidence related to the AT&T - iPad investigation.  Auernheimer is pictured above in a booking photo from that arrest.

Leaked Vodafone, Best Buy screenshots point to white iPhone 4s, 'soon'

A leaked screenshot from an unnamed source points to a possible white iPhone launch as early as February 27. The information, reportedly from a Best Buy inventory database, shows SKUs and model numbers identical to those Best Buy previously used when it was taking pre-orders for the white iPhone 4 prior to last summer's launch. Those orders were canceled when Apple delayed the white version.

AppleInsider received the screen shot on Monday, one day after Engadget spied a white iPhone 4 in the inventory system of Vodafone Germany. In that case, the only date given for a launch was "soon".

It's possible the screenshot from Best Buy is a computer glitch, since the info may still have been in its database. Or, they two companies could be preparing for the Spring, which is the last "date" Apple publicly gave for the white version.

In October, Apple publicly announced a delay of the white iPhone 4 until the Spring. Some have theorized that, since the iPhone's next annual refresh would be only 3 months or so after a Spring launch of a model, Apple simply delay the white iPhone into extinction.

The delay has been so long that cottage industries have arisen to fill the need for white iPhone 4s. We'll see if it ever emerges, or if we just have to wait for the iPhone 5, soon enough.

Cook channels Jobs: slams Android tablets as 'bizarre'

Tim Cook has shown himself to be a fine substitute for Steve Jobs in terms of day-to-day operations. He also does well at channeling Steve Jobs when it comes to slamming competitive products.

On Tuesday's post-earnings conference call, COO Tim Cook, when asked about competitive tablets, said the following:

Q: What about iPad competitors?

TC: There’s not much out there as you know. There are two kinds of groups today (in the market) — the ones using a Windows-based operating system. They’re big, heavy and expensive. Weak battery life. Need keyboard or stylus. From our point of view, customers aren’t interested in that.

Then you have the Android tablets. The variety shipping today, the OS wasn’t designed for a tablet — but Google said this. So you wind up having the size of a tablet that’s less than reasonable. Or one that’s not even a real tablet experience. It’s a “scaled-up smartphone” – that’s a bizarre product in our view. Those are what is shipping today. If you do a side-by-side with an iPad, some enormous percentage are going to pick the iPad. We have no concern there.

In terms of next generation. There’s nothing shipping yet. So I don’t know. “Today they’re vapor.” However, we’re not sitting still. We have a huge first-mover advantage. And a huge user advantage from iTunes to the App Store. Huge number of apps and an ecosystem. We’re very confident entering into a fight with anyone.

That's the kind of speak that Steve Jobs would be proud of. He once said that a 10-inch screen was the minimal size for a tablet to be effective (which we've pointed out is strange since the iPad is only 9.7-inches in size) and that the 7-inch tablets would be DOA. Clearly, they have not been, although they are not selling at iPad rates.

When speaking about the current Android tablets, Cook is correct in that the Samsung Galaxy Tabs, for example, are using a non-tablet-optimized version of Android: 2.2 (upgradeable to 2.3, we expect).

The ones he calls vapor are the ones that Apple needs to be truly worried about. Examples include the Motorola Xoom, which has a slightly larger screen than the iPad (10.1-inch vs. 9.7-inch) and will run Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), which Google says is tablet-only. It's unclear what the Xoom's exact release date is, but it's definitely Q1, with a 4G version coming in Q2.

Brief looks at Honeycomb have impressed many. It's believed, however, that Honeycomb will not run on the current generation of Android tablets.

Verizon iPhone must-have pain eased (sort of) by $200 credit for recent Verizon phone buyers

Those who weren't paying attention to the multiple warnings about a probable upcoming Verizon iPhone in Q1 2011 may be smacking themselves in the head if they made a hoiday purchase. Well, those recent buyers can still find some solace in this Verizon FAQ, although it still doesn't mean you are getting a that great a deal.

Here are the details from the FAQ:

I just purchased a new smartphone during the holiday season, but if I knew that iPhone 4 was going to be available soon I would have waited. What are my options now?

Current Verizon customers who purchased and activated new smartphones, feature phones or certified pre-owned phones between 11/26/2010, and 01/10/2011, are eligible to receive up to a $200 Visa debit card when they purchase an iPhone 4 at full retail price by 02/28/2011 and return their existing phone. Note: This offer is only available on consumer accounts with five lines or less, who are purchasing iPhone 4 through Verizon Wireless retail stores, telesales, or through verizonwireless.com.

That's a narrow band, but Nov. 26 was in fact, Black Friday, so the start date make sense. Of course, $200 still leaves customers footing a large premium: full retail for Verizon’s iPhone 4 is $649.99 for the 16GB version and $749.99 for the 32GB version. A little math shows that those who purchased Verizon phones during the holidays will still be liable for a $250 premium fee on normal charge eligible upgraders and new buyers pay. In addition, you have to give up your current smartphone.

Since the iPhone 5 is due out in the summer during the iPhone's annual refresh, we've already discussed that upgrading to a Verizon iPhone 4 may not be the best deal anyway. Of course, that doesn't help those who opted in during the above window, either.

In addition, you can probably do better on eBay with that brand-spanking new smartphone. Since the iPhone 5 is only a few months away, it might be better to hang onto your current smartphone and wait until then, then go the eBay route. You can probably get more than $200 there, even with additional 5 months of use (if you are gentle).

Oh, and those AT&T iPhone buyers who opted into the device recently despite the same above mentioned warnings? Sorry, there's not much help for you, and you might end up paying far more than a Verizon buyer because of the AT&T ETF fee.

Newly surfaced iPad 2 case shows locations for possible SD card, mini DisplayPort

via AppleInsider

The only real leaks for the iPad 2's form factor have been in the way of iPad 2 cases, and the latest set have emerged. The new cases show what look to be an opening for a new SD Card slot and another that could be a Mini DisplayPort opening.

The case also has an opening for a rear-facing camera, which is reportedly pretty much a done deal, and the SD card slot has been rumored before. The Mini DisplayPort is new news, but when compared to other possibilities, such as a USB port, it's the only one that comes to mind.

It's also been rumored that Apple would add HDMI to the upcoming iPad 2. Since the Mini DisplayPort jacks that Apple includes on its MacBook and desktop Mac products also support HDMI, it would make sense that Apple would add that rather than a "plain old" HDMI port.

Apple reports records nearly across the board with fiscal Q1 2011 earnings

Apple announced its fiscal Q1 2011 (ended December 25, 2010) earnings on Tuesday, after market close, and the numbers showed records: record profit, record sales, and record revenue. The post earnings conference call with analysts was unusual in one way: a lack of questions about Steve Jobs.

It's possible that analysts were given ground rules on what they could, or could not ask, but it was still rather strange. On the other hand, there were a few somewhat veiled references to the future which implied questioning about Jobs.

At any rate, in terms of actual earnings, Apple's records included record revenue ($26.74 billion), record net quarterly profit ($6 billion, or $6.43 per diluted share).

Those results compare rather nicely year-over-year: in its fiscal Q1 2011, Apple reported revenue of $15.68 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.38 billion, or $3.67 per diluted share. Gross margin was 38.5 percent compared to 40.9 percent in fiscal Q1 2010. International sales accounted for 62 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

More records include the number of Macs sold in the quarter. Apple sold 4.13 million Macs, up 23 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, there were 16.24 million iPhones sold in the quarter, up an astounding 86 percent year-over-year. iPods continue to lag, with a 7 percent drop year-over-year, to 19.45 million.

In case anyone needs confirmation, the iPad is still a solid hit, with a record 7.33 million iPads sold during the quarter. That number beat the Street's consensus by a million units.

Steve Jobs, who is still Apple's CEO, you will recall, despite his medical leave, wrote the following:

“We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales. We are firing on all cylinders and we’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon which customers can’t wait to get their hands on.”

In after-hours trading, Apple stock is up to $340.90. With that price, Apple stock has nearly regained all its losses from last Friday, those related to the announcement of Steve Jobs medical leave. Good numbers overcome bad CEO news, it seems.

Apple stock opens 5 percent lower as market digest Jobs' leave; AAPL quarterly earnings report later today

Apple's stock opened at $327.05 per share on Tuesday morning, down more than 5 percent from its close on Friday. Since then, however, the stock has recovered somewhat, and sits at $335.00, or down about 3.9 percent at the time of this writing.



Although the opening numbers meant that Apple lost some $19 billion in market capitalization as a result of what was probably reaction to the announcement that Steve Jobs was taking his second medical leave of absence since 2009, it was expected by most analysts. They also expect that long term, the company will do fine.

What is being seen on Tuesday morning is the public's reaction to the announcement that Jobs, whom many see as man who saved Apple (and the Marketwatch CEO of the Decade), to boot, is again leaving the company for an extended period of time. This time, some speculate, he may retire.

With COO Tim Cook, however, the company is in good hands. When Jobs left in 2009, Cook held the reins, and the company did not miss a beat.  In fact, analysts continue to be upbeat on Apple stock: Goldman's Bill Shope recommended buying on any price weakness, and repeated his 12-month target price of $430 for the stock.

The company appears to have timed its announcement well. Not only did they announce Jobs' medical leave on a U.S. banking holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, after the close of the market today the company will announce its latest quarterly earnings. There is no doubt that Jobs' health will be a focus of the post-announcement conference call.

14-year-old's game ends up atop Apple's free apps list

A 14-year-old's first attempt at coding a game for the iPhone has landed atop the App Store's top free apps list. Since its launch on Dec. 29, Robert Nay's game, Bubble Ball, has been downloaded 1.5 million times.

The game is graphically simple, but that has nothing to do with its being fun (or not). In Bubble Ball, players try to move a ball across the screen using objects such as a stick or a triangle. The objects are wood or metal, and exhibit differing properties based on their material.

To code the game, the eighth-grader used Corona tools from Ansca Mobile. Corona uses Lua as a programming language, and allows programs to be written once for both iOS and Android devices. Bubble Ball hasn't taken off on Android, but that may change with all this publicity (note that there are two Bubble Balls in the Android Market, but look for the one by Nay Games).

Nay plans to add more levels to the free game and eventually add in-app purchases (to actually make some money). His mother, Kari, helped her son by designing most of the game levels. She also handles things such as submitting the apps to the App Store and Android Market. She said, “I do the grown-up stuff for him."

Watch a trailer below.

Apple stock drops six percent on Frankfurt stock exchange after Jobs' leave announced

Apple stock has a tendency to tank if there is a fear that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will a) retire, b) face health issues, c) and certainly if he takes a medical leave. While Monday's announcement that Steve Jobs was taking another medical leave came on a U.S. stock market holiday, such is not the case in other parts of the world, and in Frankfurt's trading market, Apple stock is down 6.2 percent at the time of this writing.

In 2008, a fake story about a Steve Jobs heart attack sent Apple stock plummeting. In reality, when Jobs took a leave of absence in 2009, Apple did not miss a beat.

Despite that, Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell suggested that investors be prepared themselves for a price drop similar to the one that occurred after the announcement of Jobs’ first medical leave. He said:

“We’ve been here before at the start of 2009, so it’s probably going to be similar to that. Operationally the company coped very well last time, but there’s a certain Jobs premium in the stock, and that will be the concern.”

For some, depending on the drop, it might be a good time to buy Apple stock. Cook has proven he can handle Apple on a day-to-day basis, and thus any ding to the Apple stock shouldn't be long-term.

At the same time, this is bound to bring the issue of Apple and CEO succession to the table, again. Earlier this month, Central Laborers Pension Fund in Jacksonville, IL proposed that Apple be more forthcoming about its CEO succession plans for Jobs.

Steve Jobs takes second medical leave of absence; Cook to handle day-to-day

For the second time since 2009, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence from his duties at Apple. As with the last instance, Apple COO Tim Cook will handle day-to-day operations in Jobs' absence; Jobs will remain as CEO.

The press release does not go into detail as to the reasons for the leave of absence. Steve Jobs is a very private person, and it is unlikely we will hear further, at least officially. Due to the great influence news about Steve Jobs has on the company's stock, Apple has previously been criticized for a lack of openness with regards to his medical condition.

While Apple fared well the last time Tim Cook held the reins, Jobs always has his hands, for better or worse, in just about every important product the company releases. A lengthy leave of absence, or even a retirement, could be bad news for Apple, and also, at least in the short term, for shareholders.

The announcement came on a stock market holiday, Martin Luther King Day. Any effect on the stock won't truly show until Tuesday.

It's unclear if this leave is related to Jobs' past medical issues. In 2004, Jobs contracted pancreatic cancer, which he overcame. In 2009, he took the previously mentioned leave of absence, and eventually had a liver transplant.

The company's press release is brief, and includes Jobs' email to the company:

Apple CEO Steve Jobs today sent the following email to all Apple employees:

Team,

At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.

I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.

Steve