written by Michael Rockwell
Apple today released firmware 3.0.1 for the iPhone. This update doesn’t appear to do anything other than fix the recently found SMS vulnerability. Apple has posted a support article regarding this security update.
And, for those of you interested, reports on Twitter are that it doesn’t break the tethering hack. So, unless you are jailbroken, feel free to hit “Check for Update” in iTunes.
Update 10/16/09: iPhone Tethering May be a 2010 Thing
David Chieng referencing a piece in Singapore Straits Times has published the specs for the upcoming CrunchPad.
According to Chieng, Straits Times interviewed the guys from Fusion Garage (the team behind the CrunchPad’s software) and managed to find out the final specs for the device.
Straits Times also claims that the CrunchPad is set to be released in November of this year. This release date could be even more devastating if the Financial Times is correct when claiming that Apple’s tablet will be announced “in time for the Christmas shopping season.”
The only odd part about this report is the price of the device, $399 is a little steep and quite a bit higher than Arrington’s previous claim of “less than $300.” Because of this and the fact that I’ve never heard of Singapore’s Straits Times or David Chieng I’m currently placing this one in the rumors category, but the specs seem right none the less.
dchieng » Blog Archive » CrunchPad Specs Revealed.
Image credit to TechCrunch.com
Previously:
7/5/09: Michael Arrington Forms CrunchPad Inc., Hardware Coming Very Soon
6/3/09: CrunchPad Concept Launch Design
4/14/09: James Kendrick Claims CrunchPad May Not Happen, With No Evidence
4/10/09: TechCrunch Tablet Sees the Light of Day
Update 7/31/09: Here’s the original Straits Times article.
Update 7/31/09: Although Arrington doesn’t have any problem leaking details about other people’s products it seems he gets a little upset when others leak information about his. Arrington posted this on Twitter earlier today:
re crunchpad, obviously i’m completely ripshit mad about all this unauthorized bs press: http://bit.ly/2dVjBQ wtf.
Update 11/17/09: The Current State of the CrunchPad
Update 12/1/09: The CrunchPad’s Bizarre Ending
Update 12/10/09: Fusion Garage Announces the JooJoo Tablet
Apple has upgraded Time Capsule to now include a 2TB option. This new capacity is going for $499 with the previous high end 1TB model now priced at $299.
The previous low end 500GB Time Capsule can now only be found on Apple’s website refurbished for $199.
Pending regulatory approval, Yahoo has finally given up and is now going to use Microsoft’s search technology on their search engine.
In simple terms, Microsoft will now power Yahoo! search while Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.
Although I still think that this deal is the wrong direction for Yahoo I’m not surprised that it happened. If anything this deal means that Microsoft and Yahoo have a better chance at beating Google at search. I don’t believe that beating Google at search should really be both companies focus but based on this decision it is clear to me that they are more interested in increasing advertising revenue than they are in improving their products.
Choice. Value. Innovation. – Announcement.
Update 7/31/09: Bartz and Ballmer on the Yahoo/Microsoft search pact – Big Tech – Fortune Brainstorm Tech
Update 8/4/09: Tom Krazit reporting for CNET:
Yahoo has the right to terminate the deal signed last week, “if the trailing 12-month average of the (revenue per search) in the United States (the “U.S. RPS”) of Yahoo and Microsoft’s combined queries falls below a specified percentage of Google Inc.’s (“Google”) estimated RPS measured on a comparable basis or if the combined Yahoo! and Microsoft query market share in the United States falls below a specified percentage,” according to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Update 9/12/09: Justice Dept. to Review Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Further – NYTimes.com
Update 12/8/09: Nancy Gohring:
Microsoft and Yahoo have finalized the terms of a broad search and advertising agreement intended to help them compete more effectively with Google.
Ben Charny of the Wall Street Journal:
Apple plans to attend the show’s 2010 version, marking the first time in memory the Cupertino, Calif., consumer-electronics giant will be there.
This was stated as fact, but not only has there been zero rumors leading up to this (unless you count the ones from back in January, but most of them seemed to come from speculation) but the only sourcing in Charny’s article was a dinner he had with CEA’s Gary Shapiro and other journalists. It just so happens that another one of the journalists at that dinner was Ryan Block who wrote a piece in Engadget in response to Charny’s saying that Shapiro never said that Apple was going to be attending CES. Instead Shapiro said that if, hypothetically, Apple did want to attend CES “they might be able to come up with a small 2,000 square foot booth.”
Ben Charny has lost a great deal of credibility.
Update 7/30/09: In an attempt to salvage whatever credibility Ben Charny has left, his Wall Street Journal piece has been updated saying:
It is not clear whether Apple will attend the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. This post previously stated that Apple would attend.
Update 7/31/09: Jason Oxman, senior vice president of Industry Affairs for the CEA, has confirmed what we already know. While talking with MacUser, Oxman said:
Apple is a member of the trade association, but they are not signed up as an exhibitor for CES.
Update 8/3/09: Chris Nuttall, who also attended the dinner, has posted a transcript of the conversation.
The Financial Times is claiming that Apple has been collaborating with EMI, Sony, Warner, and Universal to bring a new project, nicknamed “cocktail,” this September.
This new project is focused on convincing more consumers to purchasing whole albums rather than individual tracks. iTunes has been offering exclusive tracks and PDF liner notes with album purchases for a while now but this new initiative will bring even more extras to the table.
Apple wants to make bigger purchases more compelling by creating a new type of interactive album material, including photos, lyric sheets and liner notes that allow users to click through to items that they find most interesting. Consumers would be able to play songs directly from the interactive book without clicking back into Apple’s iTunes software, executives said.
The September launch date coincides with the presumed launch date of the next iPod lineup.
In the same report the Financial Times asserts that Apple is “racing to offer a portable, full-featured, tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas shopping season.” This directly contradicts AppleInsider’s recent report of the device being planned for a launch next year. AppleInsider has restated that their sources have been historically reliable.
Aside from stating a new release time frame, the Financial Times also says that the tablet device will connect to “Apple’s online stores” and that book publishers are optimistic about the tablet becoming an alternative to the Amazon Kindle.
FT.com / Technology – Apple joins forces with record labels.
Previously:
7/25/09: Apple Tablet May Come in Early 2010
7/13/09: Apple May Have a Touchscreen Netbook in Store for the Fall
5/3/09: Is Apple Working on a MacBook mini?
Update 7/29/09: AppleInsider is now under the impression that some of these recent rumors that contradict their own sources may be confusing “tablet computer” with iPod touch. I can see how this might happen. Let’s face it, the iPod touch is a computer. Regardless of whether the tablet is coming this September or early next year evidence is mounting that it is a real product that is coming very soon.
Update 7/29/09: 9 to 5 Mac thinks that the premium App Store section rumor that was originally published by PocketGamer.biz might be for the upcoming tablet not the iPhone as it was originally thought.
Update 8/6/09: Tiernan Ray writing for Barron’s claims that “One veteran analyst” has seen the prototype for the upcoming Apple tablet and that it could be announced in September for a November release.
Update 8/6/09: AppleInsider reports on a research note from Kauffman Bros. which claims Apple has purchased screens from 4 to 12 inches over the past two years that could be used in tablet devices.
In a research note issued Tuesday, Kaufman Bros. revealed that Apple has bought screen sizes of 4, 7, 9, 10 and 12 inches over the last two years. Some of the purchases were allegedly of such a large amount that the firm suspects they were for more than a simple sample, but a more significant small production run. Based on that information, the analysis predicts that Apple will launch at least one — but possibly multiple — new devices in the near future.
Update 8/12/09: guardian.co.uk is reporting that the major labels have been developing their own music file format. This new file format, CMX, will likely compete with Apple’s upcoming Cocktail. Unfortunately the new format is likely to be unsupported by iPod and iPhones and therefore won’t be very successful.
Update 8/13/09: Brian Lam Talks to Insider About Apple Tablet
Update 8/31/09: Apple Makes September 9 Event Official
Update 9/10/09: iTunes 9
Update 9/15/09: iTunes LP and Extras Destined for the Apple TV
Update 9/17/09: Another Report on the Apple Tablet
Update 10/14/09: Build Your Own iTunes LPs
Update 11/27/09: Apple Releases iTunes LP and Extras Developer Documentation
AppleInsider says that not only is the Apple tablet actually coming to market, it will be doing so early next year.
This tablet device is said to have been in development for about four years and has been “reset at least a half-dozen times over the past 24 months.” As many have speculated Steve Jobs was heavily involved with the project even from his hospital bed while on medical leave. Jobs has finally put the project on the right path and has “cemented the device in the company’s 2010 roadmap, where it’s being positioned for a first quarter launch.”
There have been rumors for months that Apple has been in talks with Verizon and AppleInsider believes that Verizon might play “a key role in providing internet access for [Apple's] tablet device.”
AppleInsider also believes that the tablet was originally set to have an Intel Atom processor but after several tries Apple found that they were unhappy with the battery life the Intel chip gave them. There has been a lot of speculation about why Apple purchased the fabless chip designer P.A. Semi. It is now believed that Apple made the purchase so they could build their own system-on-a-chip to power the tablet. The P.A. Semi designed chips would be built around Arm-based designs that have superior power management compared to Intel’s Atom offerings.
The Apple tablet is believed to be very similar to the iPod touch, but with a 9.7-inch screen and may even run Mac OS X (instead of iPhone OS which the iPod touch runs).
This rumor comes just a couple of weeks after InfoTimes posted an article saying that Apple is purchasing 9.7-inch touchscreens for a netbook to be release in October which I speculated to be the mythical tablet, not a netbook.
AppleInsider | Apple’s much-anticipated tablet device coming early next year.
Previously:
7/13/09: Apple May Have a Touchscreen Netbook in Store for the Fall
5/27/09: Verizon Sources Claim iPhone is Coming Soon
5/3/09: Is Apple Working on a MacBook mini?
4/27/09: Apple in Talks with Verizon
Update 7/27/09: The Financial Times is contradicting AppleInsider’s sources and claiming that Apple is “racing” to offer the tablet for this year’s Christmas shopping season. More information on the Financial Times Report in “Apple’s Project ‘Cocktail’ Coming in September.”
Update 8/13/09: Brian Lam Talks to Insider About Apple Tablet
Update 8/24/09: Steve Jobs Has Been Focusing on the Tablet
Update 8/26/09: Fake Apple Tablet Screenshots
Update 9/17/09: Another Report on the Apple Tablet
Update 10/7/09: Apple Tablet Coming in Q1 2010
Update 12/8/09: ‘TabletMac’ Trademark and Apple Tablet Pricing
Update 12/28/09: Apple Tablet May be Announced in January
Update 1/6/10: Apple May Ship Tablet in March
Last night Snow Leopard build 10A421a was pushed out to developers through Software Update. The update seems to contain mostly bug fixes but QuickTime has a new build, 51, and has received the new QuickTime X icon.
At the time of writing this the above changes are all that have been found but as new ones are found I will post them below.
Previously:
7/15/09: Slight Changes in Snow Leopard 10A402
7/2/09: Dock Expose and QuickTime X Screenshots
5/19/09: Mac Magazine Posts Images of Snow Leopard
4/27/09: Apple Potentially Killing Snapz Pro X with QuickTime X
3/27/09: Snow Leopard’s New ‘Marble’ UI Theme
Update 7/25/09: Snow Leopard now sports some new desktop wallpapers, UNEASYsilence has full resolution versions available to download.
Update 7/25/09: There has been some speculation that because of the relatively small list of changes in this latest build, Apple must be getting very close to a GM release.
Update 7/26/09: I’ve heard some chatter about this latest build fixing a Wi-Fi bug many people were having with the previous build. The bug didn’t seem to be too big of a deal, what happened was the OS would report to you that there was no internet connection by placing an exclamation mark over the Wi-Fi indicator. When you checked on the alert it essentially went through a dialog box loop of Nexts and OKs trying to fix the problem. The strange thing about the bug is that the internet access did work properly, the OS just didn’t seem to know that.
Update 8/2/09: Pre-Order Snow Leopard From Amazon
Update 8/4/09: I haven’t seen any signs of this new interface but an AppleInsider reader has sent in the following image claiming that it is the new interface for embedded QuickTime files that will display when a user is using QuickTime X. This new interface is supposedly displayed when accessing local content if you are using the latest build of Snow Leopard with QuickTime X.
Update 8/16/09: Snow Leopard Disc and Retail Packaging
Update 8/21/09: Snow Leopard Coming August 28
Update 8/24/09: Snow Leopard Officially Coming August 28
Palm managed to re-enable iTunes syncing with the latest update to WebOS but many are questioning exactly how they managed to do it.
If you’ve followed this story from the beginning you would likely know that Palm used Apple’s USB product ID to convince iTunes that it was an iPod, but the Pre still had Palm’s USB Vendor ID to identified itself as a massage storage device made by Palm.
What Apple did was check the USB Vendor ID to make sure it was made by Apple. Palm came back with WebOS 1.1 changing that Vendor ID to Apple’s. But, there will likely be another round of this because the root USB Node as identified by IOUSBDevice is still “Pre.”
The kicker to this whole story is that Palm is in direct violation of the USB licensing agreement. But, Palm has preemptively filed a complaint against Apple accusing them of misusing the USB Vendor ID.
How Palm Re-Enabled iTunes Sync (The Plot Thickens) | PreCentral.net.
Previously:
7/15/09: iTunes 8.2.1 Breaks Palm Pre Syncing
6/17/09: Apple Posts Knowledge Base Article Regarding Pre iTunes Syncing
5/29/09: Palm Pre Syncs Media with iTunes
5/19/09: Palm Pre to Release on June 6 for $199.99
Update 9/9/09: According to forum members over at PreCentral, iTunes 9 breaks media sync on the Palm Pre.
Update 9/26/09: Apple, Palm hear privately from USB-IF on iTunes spat, involvement unlikely (update: the Forum’s not pleased)
Update 9/27/09: Rumor: webOS 1.2.1 Delayed, but Will Fix iTunes Sync | PreCentral.net
Update 9/29/09: webOS 1.2 has been released and it does not fix iTunes syncing. John Gruber of Daring Fireball puts it best:
I hope for Palm’s sake that they’ve given up on this.
It’s not that the feature isn’t great, because it is, the problem is that Apple has taken a firm stand against it. Unless Palm wants to get into a cat and mouse game, advising their users not to update iTunes until Palm releases a fix, they need to give up on the idea.
Update 10/3/09: Palm isn’t giving up on iTunes syncing yet. PreCentral reports that webOS 1.2.1 re-enables the feature.
Update 10/4/09: Craig Hunter on webOS’s iTunes Syncing
Update 10/30/09: iTunes 9.0.2
Update 11/18/09: webOS 1.3.1 Does Not Enable iTunes Syncing
Cult of Mac managed to get their hands on a very large number of iPod touch and iPod nano case images. These images were posted to their website late Wednesday night.
Supposedly the manufacturers of these cases don’t actually have confirmation from Apple of the dimensions of these upcoming iPods but are so certain that they have moved along with production anyway. Cult of Mac says that they learned of the dimensions back in May (which is right around the time iLounge posted the iPod nano dimensions) and have done their own investigating to double check that they were correct.
In addition to the camera the iPod nano is also going to get a slightly wider screen, going from 1.33:1 to 1.5:1, as a result the click wheel will become a little bit smaller and move further down the device.
The case business is very competitive and all of these companies would give anything to have their products ready on the day the new iPods are announced. Unfortunately case manufacturers usually have to wait until Apple announces the product before they can start working on new accessories, not this time.
Exclusive: New Features of iPod Touch, Nano Revealed in Dozens of Cases | Cult of Mac.
Previously:
7/23/09: Wired Touting iPod touch Camera Rumor
7/8/09: More iPod touch and nano Camera Rumors
4/7/09: iPod touch May Gain Camera in Future Hardware Revision
4/5/09: Rumors Say Apple is Ordering 3.2MP and 5MP CMOS Image Sensors
Update 8/14/09: Fake Images of the Upcoming iPod touch
Update 8/31/09: Apple Makes September 9 Event Official
Update 9/10/09: The New iPod Lineup
Update 9/13/09: Covino & Rich iPod touch was Real
Update 10/7/09: MacRumors is reporting that some of the “leaked” iPod touch cases with camera holes have started to appear on store shelves.
Update 11/24/09: iPod touch Camera Rumors Resurface