Daryl Deino reporting for the Examiner:

We have heard from an inside source who claims the camera version of the iPod Touch 3G will be released this Spring. The source confirms to us that the iPod Touch 3G with camera had actually been planned for release this past September, but had problems passing quality control. […] The iPod Touch 3G with camera will allegedly have the same camera as the updated iPod Nano, which shoots video, but not still pictures.

There was a lot of evidence that Apple had planned to release an iPod touch with a camera when they refreshed their iPod lineup in September. This latest rumor claims that the iPod touch will get a camera, but only a video camera. I can understand why they put a non-still camera in the iPod nano, but why the iPod touch? The only answer I can come up with is: differentiation.

Apple to release iPod Touch with camera this Spring?.

Previously:
9/13/09: Covino & Rich iPod touch Was Real
9/10/09: The New iPod Lineup

These entries have been updated with new information in the last 24 hours.

Roku XR Coming Soon, originally published Oct 23, 2009
TomTom Car Kit Comes to Apple’s Online Store, originally published Oct 23, 2009

I regularly update previously published entries. This entry is a way of letting RSS feed and homepage readers know about the new information. You can find past updates here.

Apple has added a new layer to the App Store approval process. Applications are now being put through a static analysis tool that checks for private API calls.

Gizmodo’s John Herrman gives an informative explanation on the differences between public and private APIs. But, in short, developers aren’t allowed to use private APIs in iPhone applications.

Up until now, Apple hasn’t been enforcing this rule. Now, some applications that had previously been approved are getting flagged for their use of private APIs.

One popular open source framework, Joe Hewitt’s Three20, is a little loose when it comes to private APIs. As a result, developers using the framework (whether they actually make use of private APIs or not) are getting flagged. Some developers have already started working on a branch of the Three20 project that is free of private API calls.

I think it is wise for Apple to use such a tool, but it would help if they used it much earlier in the application approval process, this would allow developers to quickly fix a (hopefully) small oversight in coding which happened to use private APIs.

The only thing we have to worry about now is false positives.

iPhone Apps Have to Be Approved by Robots Now, Too – app store – Gizmodo.

Update 12/17/09: Apple Relaxing Private API Restrictions

Reuters is reporting that Gameloft and others have cut back on the development of Android applications.

Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort:

It is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue.

Rochefort also reveals that they are selling “400 times more games on iPhone than on Android.” That’s pretty strong numbers for the iPhone, and if this is any indication of how well Android is doing, it’s not doing that well.

Gameloft says it, others reining in Android plans | Technology | Reuters.

Magellan has released its RoadMate 2010 North America application for the iPhone and iPod touch.

The application’s most interesting features include:

• OneTouch Favorites Menu
• Spoken Street Name Guidance
• Address Book Integration
• In-app Music Control

Magellan is also planning to release a car kit to compete with TomTom’s. Their Premium Car Kit will have a fully adjustable rotating mount, enhanced GPS signal with its built-in receiver, and a noise-canceling speakerphone with Bluetooth hands-free calling.

Magellan’s RoadMate application is available now for the introductory price of $79.99. Their Car Kit is coming soon but no exact release date or pricing has been announced.

There have been several GPS navigation apps in the App Store but now that there are two big names (Magellan and TomTom) in the game the competition will really start to heat up.

Magellan RoadMate 2010 North America – $79.99
Magellan Premium Car Kit

Update 11/30/09: The Magellan Premium GPS Car Kit has shown up on Amazon. The price is $129.99 and the product page says that it will be released on December 11, 2009.

DigiTimes claims that Apple has postponed the launch of their tablet device. The rumored deadline of early 2010 has supposedly been pushed back to the second half of 2010. The reason given for the release getting pushed back is due to significant changes to the display components. But, this is what makes me question the rumor:

The sources also indicated that in addition to Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry), Quanta Computer and Pegatron Technology are expected to be manufacturing partners for Apple’s two tablet PC models – one of which will have a 10.6-inch TFT LCD panel while the other will have a 9.7-inch OLED panel. However, the sources did not explain how production for the two models would be split between the three makers.

I’ve always taken DigiTimes’ rumors with a grain of salt but when they claim that Apple is going to have two different sized tablets whose display sizes are only one inch apart, I have to throw the whole report out the window.

It’s not crazy to think that Apple has ordered both display sizes but to assume that both of them will make it to market is just dumb.

Apple tablet PC reportedly delayed until 2H10, with OLED model now included.

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

These entries have been updated with new information in the last 24 hours.

Motorola DROID, originally published Oct 29, 2009
Google Officially Demos Chrome OS, originally published Nov 20, 2009
Barnes & Noble ‘nook’, originally published Oct 22, 2009

I regularly update previously published entries. This entry is a way of letting RSS feed and homepage readers know about the new information. You can find past updates here.

Despite Google’s head of Android development, Andy Rubin denying such rumors, Michael Arrington believes that Google will be building their own branded phone that they will sell directly through retailers.

Arrington says that most of his sources have “unconfirmed information” but he believes that the device is coming. His sources say that it will be coming early next year and will be produced by a major phone manufacturer (maybe LG or Samsung) but will only have Google branding.

Either Andy Rubin is a liar or Michael Arrington is totally wrong, I’m currently leaning towards the latter.

But, it is in Arrington’s followup piece where he could be getting a little closer to something I could believe.

But there may be another way Google will argue that they aren’t “competing with customers” by launching their own device – technically, it may not be a phone.

The Google Phone may be a data only, VoIP driven device. And Google may be lining up at least AT&T to provide those data services for the Google Phone, says one person we spoke with today.

The concept is simple, you just pay for a data plan. Your phone number and voicemail would be provided by Google Voice, while your calls and SMS messages would go over IP. You would no longer pay based on how many minutes you need per month, just a low cost data plan and you’re out the door.

I just don’t know if the US carriers would go for it. They are so concerned with their network, I doubt they would be on board with anything that would bring in less profit and more data usage.

Previously:
10/31/09: Google Has No Android Hardware Plans

Update 11/30/09: Gizmodo’s Mark Wilson is citing a “trusted source who’s seen it with their own eyes, the Google Phone ‘is a certainty.’”

Microsoft started work on Internet Explorer 9 three weeks ago. Microsoft’s focus is on supporting new standards like HTML5 and CSS3 alongside the development of a faster JavaScript rendering engine.

The chart above shows different browsers’ JavaScript performance running the SunSpider test. As you can see IE9 is already much faster than IE8 in JavaScript performance. And, I really hope that Microsoft reaches its other goal of making IE9 more standards compliant.

But, since you have to have Silverlight installed to view this video regarding IE 9′s support for standards and interoperability, I’m not going to get my hopes up.

IEBlog : An Early Look At IE9 for Developers.

Dan Provost:

My proposal has nothing to do with running apps in the background, but rather, to improve the way the native out-of-the-box apps run in the foreground. As an iPhone user, my ultimate annoyance is receiving a text message notification while using an app, and not being able to reply to the message without exiting the app. The proposed solution (demonstrated in the video below) has the messaging interface open up in the foreground when “Reply” is tapped, rather than exiting the app.

I thought up a similar idea several months ago. Although my concept was just to slide up the keyboard, text box, and the send button, leaving the message notification in view to maintain context. Dan’s idea seems to be more thought out than mine was.

Running iPhone Apps in the Foreground – The Russians Used a Pencil.