Every time I look at computers on a manufacturer’s site, I get a little sick to my stomach when I see how much they want to charge you for RAM and HDD upgrades. Sometimes even a small upgrade can add a $100 or more to the price you pay.

If you tend to buy your rigs with the minimum RAM available and upgrade alter you aren’t alone. OWC has announced that it has new RAM kits put together specifically for the newly updated iMac computers.

You have to live under a rock to not know about the issues that iPhone 4 users are having with the antenna on the new smartphone. Apple has admitted there is an issue and has offered up free cases for users to fix the issue.

Apple is even refunding users that bought the bumper case with their smartphone. Motorola is taking the chance to make fun of the iPhone 4 and its need for a case in its new ad for the Droid X.

Apple has just announced its latest 27″ LED Cinema Display. It features a stunning 2560 x 1440 resolution and 60% more screen real estate compared to its predecessor. It has a built-in iSight video camera, microphone and speakers, a powered USB 2.0 hub and universal MagSafe connector.

This good looking $999 monitor also sports a beautiful 16:9 edge-to-edge glass display on an aluminum stand with an adjustable hinge, so that tilting the display requires almost no effort at all. Let’s not forget the 178 degree viewing angle.

The rumors were right and here it is. The Apple Magic Trackpad is a wireless touch input device that just debuted in Apple’s Store app for iOS 4. The glass-covered device sports an aluminum shell that replicates the multitouch area of Apple’s MacBooks.

The device is powered by a built-in battery, so you’ll need to keep it juiced if you’re going to use it a lot. The Apple Magic Trackpad will retail for $69 and uses no wires thanks to built-in Bluetooth.

I think that anyone who has tried to buy a new Apple product like the iPad or iPhone on launch day and the days and weeks thereafter knows that shortages are common. The main reason for shortages of Apple products like these is that Apple can’t get enough screens.

LG Display builds the screens for many of the Apple products including the iPad and iPhone. LG has stated that it will not be able to meet the demand that Apple has for screens.

Apple has just purchased another mapping company, Canadian 3D mapping startup Poly9 Group. Poly9 makes a browser based 3D globe similar to that of Google Earth. Neither Apple or Poly9 have confirmed the acquisition yet, but a French Canadian News site states that two of the companies employees have now relocated in Silicon Valley and are bound by a non disclosure agreement.

Last year Apple purchased another mapping company called Placebase, which adds layers of data on top of maps. Looks like they are planning a Google Earth of their own.

Consumer Reports stated that it “can’t recommend” the iPhone 4 until the antenna issues are fixed. It’s labs as well as others have verified the issue. Now it looks like Apple is trying to mind-wipe their users of the whole affair.

Apple has apparently deleted threads about the Consumer Reports article from its support forums. Keep in mind, this is nothing new; there’s moderation, plus the company regularly deletes discussion of hardware flaws that it’s not ready to confess to. Plus, Jobs was responsible for deleting R2-D2′s memory of Anakin building 3PO, so the prequels would make sense. Thank God Apple doesn’t own the internet.

Controlling the music and content on your iPod or iPhone is easy to do with the Apple menus. Things can get more difficult if you have to use a system on an accessory that is different though. BMW has announced that it will support the iPod Out feature on iOS4.

The feature will allow BMW to put the actual menus from the iPod touch or the iPhone onto the cars in dash screen. BMW will support the feature on future BMW and Mini models.

There have been a number of lawsuits filed against Apple in the years since the iPhone debuted. Many of the suits were for alleged patent infringement. One of the early suits was against Apple and AT&T over the exclusive deal for the iPhone.

The suit was recently granted class action status, which means anyone who purchased an iPhone all the way back to June 29, 2007 is part of the suit. The core allegation is that consumers who entered into the 2-year agreement were actually in a five-year agreement due to the exclusive deal with AT&T.

The folks at tw.apple.pro say that this photo comes from “deep inside the throat”(Google Translate). So we are guessing they mean a deep throat like source within the company. It’s a 1.2inch x 1.2inch screen which could be the next iPod Shuffle.

The component is marked “Apple,” and there’s no reason to believe it isn’t legit. But just how would you operate a 1-inch touchscreen? What could you really accomplish on a screen so small?

Apple has had its own share of trouble with its popular gadgets bursting into flames. The allegations resulted in an investigation in Europe. The iPhone 4 has had its share of complaints already with poor reception and other things.

A photo of an iPhone 4 has surfaced that reportedly caught fire as the owner was plugging the device in to charge with the Apple USB cable. The power reportedly burnt his hand.

I am sure that there are lots of people out there who are like me and wish their iPad would support Flash video. Steve hates Flash that the chances of that happening officially are nil.

A guy has created a new hack for jailbroken iPads that ports Flash from Android to the iPad. The port works well and allows Flash games and content to run on the iPad using a compatibility layer.

Why is Apple hiring antenna engineers? I thought we were holding it wrong. According to several job postings, Apple is looking for Antenna Engineers, with the job definition including “Define and implement antenna system architecture to optimize the radiation performance for wireless portable devices.”

The postings were made on June 23rd, about the same time that folks started noticing the iPhone 4′s antenna issues. Thing is, they had engineers already that should have caught this.

I mentioned yesterday that JayBird had unveiled a new set of Bluetooth headphones that offer controls for tracks on the headphones. The downside was that those controls won’t work with the iPhone since it doesn’t support that feature.

JayBird has announced that it has a new app called Blutrax that adds that Bluetooth music control feature we all want into the iPhone. The app offers full control for skipping tracks, pause, play and more.

OSU has announced some interesting plans for some students this fall. The new plans include evaluating how well the iPad works in the classroom as an educational tool. The school will offer about 125 students taking five different courses the ability to use an iPad.

The courses are offered on the Stillwater and Tulsa campuses of Oklahoma State University in the School of Media and Strategic Communications and the Spears School of Business. The students will get over $100 off the cost of the iPad.