Is Fake Steve returning, real Steve ill?

First the good news. Dan Lyons, the man behind Fake Steve Jobs, has suggested that his fictional alter-ego may be ready for a return. Earlier in the summer, Dan left his job at Forbes for Newsweek, and stopped writing as Fake Steve in the process.

However, this week he starts that Newsweek job, and told Mac Soda that Fake Steve is to be a part of that. Which is great, as Fake Steve is very insightful and funny.

Now the bad news. In the same interview, Dan says that Steve Jobs is ill. Speculation over Steve’s health has been a topic of discussion this summer, while Apple has been quiet and respectful of Steve’s privacy.

We expect to see Steve during next week’s press event. We hope he’s doing well. [Read]

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iPhone’s arrival in Russia confirmed

Earlier this week, Russian communications company VimpelCom announced their intention to bring the iPhone to Russia, the first company to do so. The particulars aren’t available yet, but VimpelCom representatives said they hope to be selling the iPhone “…later this year.”

Earlier rumors were pointing to this announcement. Last week, Reuters reported on a rumor about a deal that would bring the iPhone to Russia, identifying Mobile TeleSystems as the carrier. That rumor suggested an October launch. Also, when Steve Jobs spoke with CNBC shortly after the launch of the 3G iPhone, he said that a deal with Russia would likely happen “…later this year.” [Read]

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Steve Jobs: Still Not Dead. Film at 11.

Bloomberg seems to be having an extremely slow news day. Its obituary update for Steve Jobs has turned awry. The obituary, a copy of which was sent to Gawker, contains a list of contacts that could be used for an extended story.

Soon after the obituary was published, Bloomberg issued the following retraction:

Story Referencing Apple Was Sent in Error by Bloomberg News
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) - An incomplete story referencing Apple
Inc. was inadvertently published by Bloomberg News at 4:27 p.m.
New York time today. The item was never meant for publication and
has been retracted.

-Editor: Joe Winski, Cesca Antonelli

It should be noted that many major newspapers/magazines keep a preliminary obituary write-up for prominent public people. However, these reports are normally not published before someone actually dies. We can only guess that whomever published this article no longer has a job. Thanks for the tip, Adam!

[Gawker via CNET]Update: Steve Jobs is still not dead. More as this story develops.

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Silly accessories: The Steve Jobs iPhone dock

This thing is right up there with the iPod sex toy and toilet paper dispenser. The Steve Jobs iPhone Dock features a plastic bobble-head doll of Mr. Jobs, gesturing elegantly (as elegantly as a plastic doll can gesture) towards your docked and charging iPhone. Unlike many cool bobble-head dolls (including those that are life-sized), this thing says, “I’m a fanboy of legendary status.” Expect your friends to treat you accordingly.

Originally intended to be a one-off piece, the scuptor has put four up for sale on Ebay. Impress your geek friends and scare away potential dates with one of your own.

Other Apple-inspired oddities include

• a 60x optical zoom lens for the iPhone camera
• iLidz, which is a hat-based multimedia viewer for the iPhone/iPod touch
• The R2D2 projector (a steal at $2500)

And finally, this list would be incomplete without the KNG iPod DJ Dock. Oh, yeah.

[Via MacUser]

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Steve Jobs discusses App Store with Wall Street Journal

This morning’s Wall Street Journal has a really interesting article (use Google News to view the complete text) about the App Store, complete with quotes from Steve Jobs himself! While the full article is definitely worth a read, here are some of the highlights:

• After the first month, App Store sales are about $30 million US, meaning at least $360 million in revenue for Apple if sales continue at that pace (we discussed the success of the App Store on a micro-level, here)
• Steve on the App Store: “I’ve never seen anything like this in my career for software.”
• Steve on the future of mobile technology: “Phone differentiation used to be about radios and antennas and things like that. We think, going forward, the phone of the future will be differentiated by software.”
• Steve on the ability to disable a program remotely: “Hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull.”

As Steve Sande pointed out in last night’s Talkcast, amid all the criticism aimed at the App Store, we often forget that the store is only one month old. That isn’t to say that those criticisms are invalid or unnecessary, it just brings some perspective to the “bigger picture,” if you will. Now that we are a month in, it is clear that the store, the distribution format, and the platform are real game changers for the mobile industry and for Apple itself. Thanks John! [wsj]

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