The Wall Street Journal has an article about the departure of Mark Papermaster, Apple's senior vice president for mobile devices. Although there is much speculation that Papermaster was forced out as a result of the iPhone 4 antenna debacle, he wasn't part of the iPhone 4 public launch, and others have suggested that Papermaster's tenure at IBM left him ill-prepared for Apple's corporate culture under Steve Jobs. He will be replaced by Bob Mansfield, Apple's senior vice president of computer engineering.

The attentive folks over at Patently Apple have uncovered an application Apple filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for a Smart Bicycle System. Patently Apple compares the potential device to the Nike+iPod kit, geared towards cyclists instead of runners. The bicycle system would monitor all sorts of measurements - speed, distance, elevation and so on - all measured with sensors in an iPhone, the bike, or both. The patent - and Patently Apple's analysis of it - is exquisitely detailed, and worth a look for cycling enthusiasts and Apple fans alike.

The New York Times has run a genuinely helpful "Practical Traveler" column focusing on the smartest ways to use a cell phone when you're travelling internationally, hopefully without paying usurious fees. iPhone owners in the United States are generally locked into AT&T and its GSM network; that means you can keep using your iPhone when you travel abroad, but you'll need to pay AT&T (rather generously) for a temporary international plan. The article offers practical tips, like disabling 3G and roaming to avoid incurring insane data charges, and relying on Wi-Fi instead. (AT&T's international data plan costs $24.99 for just 20 MB, which I might burn through just checking my email on the first day of vacation.) The column highlights other options, too, such as buying an international cell phone from a company like Telestial or Planet Omni, buying a local SIM card (if your phone is unlocked and you only want to make local calls), or relying on VoIP solutions like Skype.

Glenn Fleishman and long-time Windows observer Mary Jo Foley talked to host Todd Bishop of TechFlash, a Northwest tech business and venture capital reporting site, on KIRO-FM's weekly tech segment. We discussed Microsoft's missed opportunities for challenging the iPad, and the Kindle's place in the mobile device ecosystem.

Apple has announced that, on Friday, 30 July 2010, the iPhone 4 will arrive in 17 new countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Customers can purchase the iPhone 4 through Apple's online or retail stores, or from any Apple Authorized Reseller.

Apple is now taking orders for free iPhone 4 cases to reduce antenna problems. Orders can be placed only through the new iPhone 4 Case Program app, which requires your iTunes account password for verification. From there, you select a case (choices include Apple's black bumper and several third-party options), enter your shipping information, submit your order, and wait 3 to 10 weeks (depending on the case) for it to arrive. You can place only one order, so once you've done so, you may as well delete the app.

Ars Technica reports on the growing number of universities experimenting with integrating the iPad into their academic missions. While a couple of campuses will run exploratory pilot programs (not dissimilar to Princeton's Kindle experiment), others are offering iPads to all incoming freshmen, to select honors students, or to select graduate students. Also, at least one university, North Carolina State, has equipped its libraries with a collection of iPads for anyone to use (which is a little odd, given how personal these devices tend to be).

Making iPhones is harder than it looks. After delaying shipment of the white iPhone 4 models until "late July," Apple has now announced further delay. The statement reads, "White models of Apple's new iPhone 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a result they will not be available until later this year. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected."

Apple hoped its recent press conference could heal the bruising the iPhone 4's image has taken from the press. But for further repair there's Antenn-aid, a vinyl Band-Aid sticker sized precisely to cover your iPhone 4's antenna gap. It's mainly a gag, but if you're trying to avoid a bulky rubber bumper, you might give it a shot!

Are you unconvinced by Apple's videos showing other mobile phones being affected by the "death grip" reception problem? Check out further evidence presented by David Chartier at his new Don't Hold It Wrong blog. He cites examples ranging from YouTube videos to user handbooks that show this is an industry-wide problem that's far from secret. (P.S.: Don't let small children read the blog's About page.)