Apple

Gadget-lovers keen to get their hands on the latest hot toy only have hours to wait, as Apple's hotly-anticipated iPhone 3G goes on sale after midnight.

Macintosh and iPod sales helped boost Apple Inc.'s fiscal third-quarter earnings 31 percent, beating Wall Street's expectations, but investors pummeled the stock after Apple said profit margins contracted and the company issued soft guidance for the current quarter.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs joked about the speculation on his health, kicking off an Apple event by flashing a message on a screen that "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."

Apple is broadening the ways that third-party software programmers can sell content on the iPhone.

Looking around the library it is more and more apparent that Apple Macintosh computers are becoming eerily common.

Vodafone will launch Apple's "iPhone 3G" in New Zealand shops on Friday.

Sales of the new iPhone appeared to get off to a slow start in Dunedin yesterday although figures could not be verified by the Otago Daily Times.

Within days of buying his iPhone, John Furrier's 13-year-old son, Alec, was sneaking off with the device and downloading games.