BetaNews analyzes a startling NPD Group research report showing that, in June 2009, Apple earned 91 percent of the market revenue for computers priced over $1,000, up significantly from 66 percent in Q1 2008. This is largely because the average Windows-based PC price is $515, whereas the average Mac price is $1,400, but all the major PC makers also produce premium PCs too, and Apple is clearly eating them for lunch.

Jeff Bezos, founder and chief of Amazon.com, posted a short but succinct apology for removing books from Kindles; Amazon didn't have the right to sell those books, but Bezos acknowledged that the removal was "stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles." For background, see "Double Plus Ungoods: Amazon Unpublishes Orwell," 2009-07-19.

AT&T's CEO admits at a conference that "a day in the future" the firm may not be the only U.S. carrier to offer the iPhone. He also tries to brush off network problems, and claims he's an iPhone abuser when he travels to find problems "with Web surfing, app using, and e-mailing." Because none of his subscribers do those things, of course.

New York Times columnist David Pogue quickly dispenses with the question of why there isn't an iPhone that works with Verizon Wireless. Then he pulls no punches as he lays out five questionable business practices on the part of U.S. cellular carriers. Forward this one to your elected representatives!

Clearwire says that it will provide Mac OS X drivers for its so-called fourth-generation (4G) WiMax wireless network service on 17-Aug-09. So far, Clearwire's multi-Mbps network is available only in Atlanta, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Portland, OR.

Macworld reports on Universal Studios Home Video's forthcoming Blu-ray release of "Fast & Furious" that will enable users to control a special disc feature via an iPhone app, marking the first integration of Blu-ray and the iPhone. While the feature isn't mind-blowing - controlling 360-degree views of cars and viewing their specs - Universal plans in the future to enable users to control playback, access film information, and even chat about the movie via Twitter and Facebook.

Barnes & Noble has opened up the electronic book market a bit with 700,000 titles (500,000 from Google Books) that can be read with eReader software for Mac OS X, Windows, iPhone, and BlackBerry. Best sellers are priced at $9.99. The firm's books can be read on the forthcoming Plastic Logic eReader, but not via the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle models or Kindle software.

PC World reports on a critical security bug discovered within the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine used in Firefox 3.5. The vulnerability can be exploited by an attacker to hijack a machine, though users must first visit a malicious Web site that contains the exploit code. Older versions of Firefox, including version 3.0, are not thought to be at risk.

After our article about Wordnik, a TidBITS reader pointed us to the newest version of the Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM, which brings the electronic version of the massive (500,000 words, 2.5 million quotations) O.E.D. back to the Mac after an absence. It costs US$295 or 169.57 pounds and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

Apple has announced that the iTunes App Store has topped 1.5 billion downloads in its first year of business. Given that the 1 billionth download came on 24-Apr-09, 9 months after the store's launch, the store is clearly picking up steam, with over 500 million downloads in the past three months. The number of available apps also continues to grow (now over 65,000), as does the number of participating developers (now over 100,000). Quantity is good, but here's hoping the App Store does a better job of helping users discern quality in the future.

Microsoft has released Silverlight 3, a major update to its cross-platform multimedia software. The latest version, used for streaming video for Netflix's Watch Instantly service among much else, supports higher quality video and audio, adds loads of developer tools, and enables content to work on your desktop as opposed to only within your Web browser.

As the anniversary of the App Store approaches, outspoken iPhone developer Craig Hockenberry touches on the things Apple has improved with the App Store in the last year and then goes in depth on the significant issues that he and other iPhone developers still face.

In this three-part article in Macworld, Joe Kissell shares some valuable password advice: how to create stronger passwords, how to manage passwords, and how to remember passwords (with or without the help of software).

When TidBITS editor Rich Mogull convinced his old college professor, now a sustainability researcher, to switch to the iPhone he never realized he was helping save the environment. Learn how to "reduce and reuse" the iPhone way.

It's been just one year since Apple launched the phenomenally successful iTunes App Store, and the company is celebrating. Within the iTunes Store, Apple has created a page highlighting some of the company's favorite apps, choosing from the over-50,000 apps currently available. (Link opens in iTunes.)