As you have heard by now, iPhone 4 owners are having reception issues when the phone is held in a certain way. Apple released an official statement which basically told users not to hold their iPhone 4 in this way. Then Steve laughed and went back to counting money.

When Rory Sinclair emailed Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, he was told that he was holding his iPhone 4 wrong. Full exchange below.

We know what happens when a radioactive spider bites you. You become spiderman. But what happens when you get too much cell phone radiation? Nothing good, that’s for sure. And so the people of San Francisco will soon have a new cellphone radiation law to help.

The law requires retailers to post notices on how much radiation is emitted by the cellphones they sell. This is the first law of it’s kind in the United States. The cellphone industry claims that this law could hurt sales and make consumers believe that some phones are safer than others. No one can agree on just how harmful cell radiation is.

The iPad may be a bit of a vampire. While it’s reflection will show up in mirrors, it tends to want to avoid the sun and come out and play at night. Apparently, many users are reporting that their iPads are giving a warning stating “iPad needs to cool down before you can use it”.

According to Apple, the operational temperature of the iPad is 32° to 95° F when on, and the nonoperational temperature is -4° to 113° F. Sounds reasonable. But one user received this warning outside of NYC, where it hasn’t been much hotter than 70° or so.

The debate continues as to whether or not cell phones can harm us, but one state may be ready take the next step in warning consumers about the dangers. If she has her way, a Maine legislator wants to make the state the first to require cell phones to carry warnings that they can cause brain cancer, even though there is no consensus among scientists that they do.

Cell phones carry these warnings in some countries, but right now no U.S. states require them. A similar effort is underway in San Francisco, where Mayor Gavin Newsom would like his city to be the nation’s first to require such warnings. These measures seem premature, given the fact that there is no hard data to support the claims.

Photos: ifixit.com

If you haven’t seen this yet, you’ll want to check it out. The folks over at iFixit.com have taken apart Apple’s new 5th Generation iPod nano with the camera, FM, etc., using some tools that are custom and some that you can find around the house. They have a whole mess of detailed step-by-step coverage and photos that are pretty interesting. See if you can find the typo on the battery warning!

NVIDIA GPUs have been at the center of some notable issues with laptops. The GPU was a weak link in some Apple notebooks when the new Mac models with NVIDIA GPUs debuted. Sony is also having a problem with the GPUs in some of its notebooks.

Sony is warning owners of its Vaio laptops that the GPUs from NVIDIA inside the machines may be faulty. The fault could cause the GPUs to overheat and ultimately fail. Sony says that it is offering free repairs and an extended warranty on certain Vaio models that feature NVIDIA graphics made with faulty die and weak packaging.

Amidst rumors of overheating iPhones since shortly after the iPhone 3GS was launched, Apple has finally released the first acknowledgment that there might really be an issue with the iPhone regarding excessive temperatures. Various sites on the internet have posted reports of problems with the iPhone due to excessive heat such as shortened battery life, shut downs and even discoloration of the device itself. Now Apple has officially issued a warning about operating and storing the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in places with too much heat.

Apple suggests to only operate the iPhone 3G and 3GS in temperatures between 32º to 95º F (0º and 35º C) and to only store the device between temps of -4º to 113º F (-20º and 45º C). Using or storing the iPhone in temperatures beyond this range can cause the device to stop charging (which could explain a shortened battery life), a dimmer display or a weak signal.

Looks like price isn’t the only shock that iPod and iPhone users have to look forward to. Apple is advising iPod and iPhone owners to choose to wear natural fibers rather than synthetic materials, install an air humidifier, and avoid touching their PMP, in the hope that it will prevent static electricity shocks. The advice is part of a warning added to the company’s support site this week, where it blames “extremely dry air” for most static build-up, and denies any particular susceptibility of iPods and iPhones themselves.

The static electricity build-up can apparently be caused by low-humidity environments, using an iPod in a windy environment, and repeated removal and replacement of an iPod into a bag or pocket. Apple also suggests that jogging or exercising can trigger such static, as can wearing materials such as nylon.

The Center for Environmental Health (CEH), a California environmental activist group, has filed a complaint Monday against Apple for the iPhone saying that it is constructed using toxins that are prohibited in California. According to the CEH the iPhone is violating Proposition 65 which requires products that expose any reproductive toxins or carcinogens to have a warning label or it cannot be sold in the state. They are giving Apple 60 days to comply before they launch a law suit.

According to a recent Greenpeace report the parts in question of containing toxins are the plastic earphone wiring cover. The report claims the coating contains phthalate esters which have been linked to birth defects. Greanpeace gave Apple only a 2.7 out of 10 in “greenness” in their report which was less than most other major corporations. “The phthalates found in the headphone cords are classified in Europe as ‘toxic to reproduction’ because of their long-recognized ability to interfere with sexual development,” Greenpeace scientist David Santillo said in the report. Brominated compounds were also found in half the samples tested which could create dioxin when burned, according to the study.

For those who have iPhones unlocked by third party software hacks and were foiled by Apple’s 1.1.1 firmware release, it looks like the game is back on. SimFree version 1.6, from the same company that created the original hack to unlock Apple’s iPhone outside of the exclusive and required AT&T service plan, is a new countermeasure hack that gets around the new firmware update and will once again unlock those iPhones “bricked” by the 1.1.1 update.

According to iphoneSimFree, this new iPhone “jailbreak” will let anyone who has rightly been a little leery to update after Apple’s warning to safely go ahead and apply the 1.1.1 update and SimFree will keep the phone usable, at least until Apple comes out with another update.

Apple released the expected version 1.1.1 update to the iPhone firmware today with fixes for some critical bugs and the additions to support the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. But what makes this release such big news are the less-known things in the update that threaten to brick unauthorized, unlocked iPhones.

Prior to the update Apple put out a warning to those with unlocked iPhones which basically stated that the next firmware update may render these unlocked phones useless, and the result is not covered by the warranty. With the new firmware update iPhone owners were presented on screen with the same message before installing the update:

Yesterday Apple sent out a short and to-the-point message about using software hacks to unlock the iPhone, in which they basically warn not to do it. Apple has a new software update coming out for the iPhone in a couple weeks that among other things will contain the new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store and could very possibly have something that will “take care” of hacked iPhones, intentional or not.

According to the statement issued by Apple, hacks that unlock the iPhone could cause the phone to be irreparably damaged after installing the update that Apple is planning on sending out, and these unlocking hacks are not covered under the iPhone warranty. Press release after the jump:

It looks like some folks have found a way to add custom ringtones to your iPhone by following some steps and using a couple programs called jailbreak and iPhoneInterface. Currently the steps only work for those that are using Intel Mac’s but from the description it probably won’t be long until someone makes an interface to broaden the reach.

The instructions are listed over at HackiPhone and involves a lengthy 23 step process. The steps involve backing up and restoring your iPhone from iTunes and they have a few warnings before you start that …