iTunes Music Store to Debut Across Latin America on December 8th?

The Next Web summarizes several reports from the Brazilian media claiming that Apple is preparing to launch its iTunes Music Store in Brazil and perhaps throughout Latin America on December 8th. While users in many of these countries currently have access to the App Store, they have been unable to purchase music through iTunes.

According to the weekly Brazilian magazine Veja, the launch of iTunes Music Store even has a date, being scheduled for December 8th. While it seems very soon, Apple has been getting ready beyond the scenes and already closed deals with Brazilian music labels, Veja said.

...

Veja followed up on its initial piece today, declaring that the Store will launch all across Latin America on the same date, except in Mexico where it is already available.

The report notes that the iTunes Music Store, like the App Store in these countries, will offer pricing in U.S. dollars rather than local currencies, requiring users to hold international credit cards for paid purchases. According to Veja, local currency pricing should arrive for Latin American countries in about six months. The situation is reminiscent of the one in China, where Apple initially required payment in U.S. currency for the App Store but recently began accepting the local renminbi currency.

Apple appears to be taking significant steps to increase its presence in Brazil and the broader Latin American market, working with manufacturing partner Foxconn to launch iPhone and iPad production in Brazil in order to avoid high import taxes that have so far hampered adoption of Apple's products there.

Apple Releases Safari 5.1.2 with 'White Flash' and PDF Viewing Fixes

Apple today released Safari 5.1.2, bringing several bug fixes and other enhancements. Most notably, it addresses issues with PDF viewing and pages "flashing white".

This update contains various improvements, including fixes that:

- Improve stability
- Address issues that could cause hangs and excessive memory usage
- Address issues that could cause webpages to flash white
- Allow PDFs to be displayed within web content

Apple seeded a version of Safari 5.1.2 to developers for testing earlier this month.

Apple Seeks Ban on Sales of Revised Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N in Germany

Dow Jones Newswires reports that Apple has filed a request for a preliminary injunction that would bar Samsung from selling its new Galaxy Tab 10.1N in Germany. Samsung launched the 10.1N earlier this month as a design-tweaked variant of the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 that is already barred from sale in Germany under an earlier injunction.

Apple has requested a preliminary injunction, and the Duesseldorf regional court has scheduled a hearing on the matter on Dec. 22, a spokesman for the court told Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday.

The move has no effect on sales and distribution of the product, Samsung said in an emailed statement, while Apple repeated earlier comments that it intends to protect its intellectual property.

Samsung slightly tweaked the design of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 hardware to create the 10.1N, resulting in a frame that wraps around slightly onto the front of the device along its two short sides. Apple clearly feels that this design is not sufficient to overcome the ruling that the Galaxy Tab design infringes upon Apple's designs for the iPad, and is thus pursuing the new injunction.


Galaxy Tab 10.1N (top) vs. Galaxy Tab 10.1 (bottom)
Meanwhile, FOSS Patents confirms that Apple's initial injunction awarded against the Galaxy Tab in Germany does in fact cover all three announced sizes of the device: 10.1, 8.9, and 7.7. Apple cites that injunction in a filing in its U.S. case against Samsung, illustrating how the company is using its string of wins over Samsung in international courts to bolster its U.S. case.

Microsoft Reportedly 'Actively Working' on Office for iPad and Mac App Store

The Daily reports that Microsoft is "actively working" on bringing its Microsoft Office suite to the iPad, looking to take on Apple's iWork applications for the popular tablet device. The report also says that Microsoft is working on a updated Office for Mac suite, with the new version said to be targeted for a Mac App Store release sometime next year.

According to sources, the tech giant is actively working on adapting its popular software suite for Apple’s tablet. With the iPad making up over 80 percent of the tablet market and millions of people worldwide using Office, that could mean big bucks for the tech giant based in Redmond, Wash.

In addition to an iPad-ready version, a new edition of Office is expected for OS X Lion sometime next year. The current version of the desktop package, Office 2011, officially supports [Mac OS X] versions up to Snow Leopard. A Lion version, likely available via the Mac App Store, is widely expected.

Microsoft acknowledged just after the iPad's introduction in early 2010 that the company was "looking at" the possibility of bringing Office to the iPad, but by the time the device actually launched a few months later the company was saying that it had "no current plans" for such an offering.

iTether App Offers Internet Tethering On Your iPhone for One Time Fee

Tether.com has somehow gotten App Store approval for their iPhone companion application "iTether". The $14.99 App Store app allows users to share their iPhone's internet connection with their Mac or PC computer over USB.

Tether is an application that allows your Mac and PC to take advantage of your smartphone's data plan, providing you access to the Internet on your laptop anywhere there is cellular coverage from your smartphone.

Tether is easy to install, easy to use, works practically anywhere, and is very cost-effective.

To download the PC software visit:
http://tether.com/i/Tether-iPhone.exe

To download the Mac software visit:
http://tether.com/i/Tether-iPhone.dmg

Tether offers companion applications for the Mac and PC. Mac version shown here:


Running both apps on your iPhone and your Mac allows your Mac to use your iPhone's internet connection over a USB cable (no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth support). Apple has traditionally not allowed such applications to become available on the App Store due to agreements with carriers.

Back in 2008, Apple briefly approved another tethering app called Netshare but quickly pulled it from the App Store. Instead, users have been expected to pay additional fees to U.S. carriers such as AT&T and Verizon who offer tethering as an add-on service for $20/month. The approval of iTether may have been inadvertent by Apple again and could be pulled at any time. It is presently available in the App Store for $14.99. As in the case of Netshare, if Apple does pull the app from the App Store, it should continue to work for those who bought it.

Tether offers a similar app for both BlackBerry and Android platforms and has been reviewed in the NYTimes and Entrepreneur.com.

We should note that excessive unauthorized tethering has previously resulted in warnings from AT&T to users about their usage. In many of these examples, however, the unauthorized use was dramatic and on unlimited plans. Still, it is good to be aware of that possibility. [App Store Link]

[via 9to5Mac]

Update: Tether's website is presently down due to the traffic, which means you can't download the Mac/PC apps and it also appears the iOS app verifies with Tether.com on each run, so it won't work while the main website is down.

Update 2: Tether claims "We were very clear with Apple what our app did. They asked us a bunch of questions and then approved us." So it may not be getting pulled.

Next Generation iPhone (5,1) and iPad Also Referenced in iOS 5.1 Beta

iOS 5.1 Beta seems to be a treasure trove of product ids with the exposure of the iPad 2,4 and the J33 codename for the next generation Apple TV. The latest part number to come from iOS 5.1 is the iPhone 5,1 as noted by both @FilippoBiga and 9to5Mac.

The progression of iPhone product numbers are as follows:

iPhone1,1 - Original iPhone
iPhone1,2 - iPhone 3G
iPhone2,1 - iPhone 3GS
iPhone3,1 - iPhone 4
iPhone4,1 - iPhone 4S

iPhone5,1 clearly represents the next generation iPhone that Apple is working on. Rumors have suggested the next iPhone will carry a 4" screen rather than the usual 3.5" screen found in all previous iPhone models. The new iPhone is also believed to have been prototyped with a tapering design in the past, though the most recent rumors suggest the actual release iPhone will not resemble the mockups.

The iPad3,2 reference has been previously seen though iPad3,3 appears new

A Glimpse of Apple's Shopper-Locating Retail Store Software

Late last week, The New York Times took a look at Apple's retail store software for responding to customer requests for assistance, offering a relatively rare public glimpse of one of the company's internal applications.


The internal app responds to both assistance requests from the iPads that serve as information displays at products on the sales floor and notifications from customers who have placed advance orders for pickup and then signaled their arrival by launching the Apple Store iOS app.

The iPod Touches of Apple employees show these customer requests and give employees the option to respond to them. The app then shows an illustration of the shopping floor and highlights the customer’s location in red.

According to the Apple retail employee who demonstrated the app's capabilities, sixteen customers had used the functionality to pick up orders at the Palo Alto store that day, only a tiny portion of the total customer load for the busy Black Friday shopping day. But Apple has reportedly indicated that it eventually expects a majority of its retail store customers to eventually take advantage of the new services such as in-store pickup and self-checkout using the company's iOS app.

This feature allows shoppers to ask for assistance when they feel comfortable doing so, unlike in other retail stores where customers are hounded by employees eager to make a sale, [retail store employee Diego] Aguirre said.

“It’s more toward customer experience,” Mr. Aguirre said. “We don’t want to feel like we’re hassling our customers to shop. We want them to feel at home.”

Apple has been working hard to build out capacity to meet customer load at its retail stores, which rank among the most profitable retail sales locations in the world. In recent years the company has been putting a significant focus on building larger, more iconic stores and also building out its international retail presence. But with the retail chain's oldest stores now approaching ten years old, the company is also looking to replace or renovate a number of these stores in order to keep up with the company's continued growth in popularity.

Siri0us Brings Voice Dictation to Jailbroken iPhone 4 and 3GS Devices

iDownloadBlog reports on a new package available for jailbroken iPhones that enables Siri-like dictation on previous generation iPhones. The package is called Siri0us and is being distributed via Cydia to jailbroken devices only.

Dictation works great on the iPhone 4, transcribing words into text rather quickly. The technology is actually Naunce-based dictation, but the end result is pretty much the same as Apple’s Siri. As you can see in the video, small ads are displayed in the bar above the mic icon. You will need an internet connection for the microphone to show up.

The package seems to emulate the Siri interface for dictation, but reportedly uses Nuance speech recognition on the backend. This video shows it in action:


There have been a number of attempts to port the entirety of Siri to previous generation devices, but those attempts have been limited by the need for Apple server authentication. This port bypasses Apple's servers and seems to use Nuance for the voice recognition engine. Of course, you won't get Siri's artificial intelligence features or sassy attitude, but you can get some on-the-go dictation.

Updated MacBook Air Line with New 15-Inch Model Coming in 1Q 2012?

Digitimes reports that Apple is set to update its MacBook Air line early next year, with a new 15-inch model appearing alongside refreshed 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch models. The update will reportedly take place during the first quarter of 2012.

Apple reportedly is set to launch its new MacBook Air series notebooks with panel sizes of 11.6-inch, 13.3-inch and 15-inch in the first quarter of 2012 and will directly compete against ultrabooks from PC brand vendors, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

The sources noted that related upstream players have already started pilot production of the MacBook Air models and will add a 15-inch model into the product line to expand its reach in the ultra-thin notebook market.

The report notes that discounts on the current MacBook Air models should extend through the lead-up to the debut of the new models, continuing to drive Apple's already-strong sales of the ultra-thin notebook line.

We first began hearing word of an ultra-thin 15-inch notebook from Apple back in July, with other sources also weighing in on the topic in recent weeks. Digitimes had previously indicated that component production for the notebook had begun with an eye toward a second quarter 2012 launch.

Sources have generally been unsure whether the new 15-inch notebook would be an expansion of the MacBook Air line or if it would appear as a slimmer MacBook Pro model, but this latest report indicates that it will indeed be a MacBook Air product.

Intel's Ivy Bridge platform, which is due for a spring launch in line with the reported MacBook Air revamp timeline, will bring a significant upgrade to the line's performance, particularly with regard to graphics improvements and new OpenCL support.

More Confirmation of Sharp Supplying iPad 3 Displays

The Wall Street Journal offers their own sources that confirm that Apple will be using Sharp as a source of display parts for the upcoming iPad 3.

Apple Inc. is adding Sharp Corp. as a maker of screens used in the next-generation iPad, people familiar with the situation said Thursday, as the U.S. consumer electronics company moves to diversify component suppliers for its products.

According to their source, Apple is also investing in Sharp's panel manufacturing factories in Japan to ensure it can get enough supplies for its iOS devices.


Sharp already supplies iPhone panels and is also said to be supplying panels for the next iPhone which is also due next year.

Sharp has been mentioned a number of times by various rumors as a new source of iPad screens for Apple. A recent analyst report said that production of iPad 3 screens was already underway and included Samsung, LG and Sharp.

Then, just on Wednesday, another analyst reported that Sharp may actually be supplying Apple with specially designed screens for the iPad 3. According to that report, Apple and Sharp have developed a new technology to allow a thinner high resolution display for the next iPad. Finally, Sharp may also be involved in Apple's television set plans, also supplying parts for that project as well.

China Telecom Begins Unofficially Teasing iPhone 4S Launch

Penn-Olson reports that China Telecom has begin posting large iPhone 4S promotional banners in its retail stores, teasing a debut for the device without revealing a launch date.

Telecom sources told Sina Tech that the photos circulating online — like the one here — are indeed actual photos of local China Telecom offices, but that the posters were clearly designed just to “get attention” and don’t indicate Telecom was about to start selling the phone yet, though they will sell it eventually.

The iPhone 4S has yet to officially appear for sale in China, even at Apple's existing carrier partner, China Unicom, which ranks as the second largest mobile carrier in the country.

China Mobile, the world's largest carrier, and China Telecom, the country's #3 carrier, have been working hard to land the iPhone for several years. China Telecom had reportedly geared up for a $234 million marketing push for what was then thought to possibly appear as the iPhone 5, but no official announcement from Apple or China Telecom regarding an expansion of iPhone availability in China has yet been made.

Apple's Black Friday Sale Goes Live Internationally

Australian promotional page
Apple's Black Friday one-day sale has started to go live (AUS) in their international online Apple Stores. The U.S. sale should begin sometime tonight.

As reported, the discounts appear similar to last year, with expected discounts in the U.S. to be $41-$61 off iPad 2s and $101 off MacBook Pros, Airs, and iMacs.

As usual, App Store developers frequently use the holidays to hold sales on their apps. AppShopper tracks these sales for both iOS and Mac App Stores.

Our affiliate partner MacMall has already started their Black Friday sales with discounts across a range of Apple products and accessories. We'll be putting together a round up of all deals on Apple products. Please submit tips for any other good Apple-related deals that are spotted.

Black Friday 2011: A List of Discounts on Apple Products and More

Black Friday kicks off on the day after Thanksgiving and frequently offers customers short term sales on many products. While Apple does participate, their discounts tend to be rather small. Other online retailers can sometimes fill the gap to offer more enticing offers.

Sales Tax

National retailers such as Apple and Best Buy charge local sales tax on all orders. So, the advantage of using other online-only retailers is not getting charged that sales tax in many of the states. Local sales taxes are charged for the following retailers in the following states:

- Amazon: Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, or Washington
- MacMall: North Carolina, Illinois, New York, California, Tennessee, Minnesota, Colorado, and Wisconsin.

So, if you are in one of those states, it may make sense to look elsewhere or simply buy locally anyway if the savings are comparable.

iPad 2s

BestBuy was offering $45 off all iPad 2 models, but it appears to be sold out online. You may have luck at your local stores.

MacMall is offering $25-$45 discounts on iPad 2s as well depending on model. They appear to still be in stock.

Apple's online store will be offering $41-$61 off the iPad 2 depending on model. Stock should be good from Apple.

Discounts on Other Apple Products

Apple's online sales prices will be on their online Apple Store, but their discounts will generally be the worst for most products (iPad 2 exception above), especially when sales tax is included.

Here's a list of prices at MacMall and Amazon across the range of Apple's products.

Current Model	Retail	MacMall	Amazon
11" 1.6GHz 64GB MacBook Air	$999	-$59	-$149 (15%)
11" 1.6GHz 128GB MacBook Air	$1199	-$60 (5%)	-$59
13" 1.7GHz 128GB MacBook Air	$1299	-$101 (8%)	-$60
13" 1.7GHz 256GB MacBook Air	$1599	-$101 (6%)	-$49
13" 2.4GHz MacBook Pro	$1199	-$101	-$149 (12%)
13" 2.8GHz MacBook Pro	$1499	-$101(7%)	-$74
15" 2.2GHz MacBook Pro	$1799	-$89(5%)	-$89
15" 2.4Ghz MacBook Pro	$1999	-$140 (6%)	-$139
17" 2.4GHz MacBook Pro	$2499	-$150	-$199 (8%)
2.3GHz Mac mini	$599	-$30 (5%)	-$5
2.5GHz Mac mini	$799	-$29 (4%)	-$29
21" 2.5GHz iMac	$1199	-$101	-$149 (12%)
21" 2.7GHz iMac	$1499	-$101	-$101
27" 2.7GHz iMac	$1699	-$100	-$100
27" 3.1GHz iMac	$1999	-$104	-$104
8GB iPod Touch (Black)	$199	-$9 (5%)	-$9
8GB iPod Touch (White)	$199	-$9 (5%)	-$9
32GB iPod Touch (Black)	$299	-$24 (8%)	-$24
32GB iPod Touch (White)	$299	-$19 (6%)	-$19
64GB iPod Touch (Black)	$399	-$34	-$35 (9%)
64GB iPod Touch (White)	$399	-$34 (9%)	-$34
Apple TV	$99	-$4	-$9 (9%)

Click on prices to link directly to product.
Best prices are listed in bold. Prices may fluctuate during the day.

Others Discounts of Interest

- $100 iTunes Gift Card - for $80
- Microsoft Office Home and Student - for $69.99 ($50 off)
- Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 - for $49.99 ($50 off)
- For Fry's, they are offering 8GB iPod Touch for $188 and you get a free $50 gift card. In store only (not online).

AppShopper tracks sales for iOS and Mac app stores. Some notable sales:

iOS:
- djay ($19.99 -> $9.99)
- RISK ($2.99 -> $0.99)
- A Charlie Brown Christmas ($6.99 -> $4.99)
- Real Racing ($2.99 -> $0.99)
- Mirrors Edge for iPad ($9.99 ->$1.99)

Mac:
- Grand Theft Auto 3 ($14.99 -> $6.99)
- 1Password ($49.99 -> $24.99)

Several of the vendors listed are affiliate partners with MacRumors and referred sales may benefit the site financially.

Steve Jobs Exhibit on Display at U.S. Patent Office Museum

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last week opened a new exhibit honoring Steve Jobs at its museum in Alexandria, Virginia. Located in the atrium of the office's Madison Building headquarters, the free museum offers interactive exhibits, a portrait gallery and a theater.


The Steve Jobs exhibit consists of 30 giant iPhone-like display panels, most of which display the front pages from over 300 patent and trademark filings that bear Jobs' name as inventor or co-inventor. The remaining panels offer a brief description of the exhibit and photos of Jobs.

“This exhibit commemorates the far-reaching impact of Steve Jobs’ entrepreneurship and innovation on our daily lives,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos. “His patents and trademarks provide a striking example of the importance intellectual property plays in the global marketplace.”

Located in the atrium of the Madison Building, the exhibit features more than 300 of the patents that bear the name of the iconic innovator along with many of the trademarks that have given Apple its instantly recognizable identity around the world. The display gives insight into the visionary commitment Jobs gave to each of the products and designs he influenced during his time with Apple, the company he co-founded at the age of 21 with his friend and fellow computer enthusiast Steve Wozniak.

The Steve Jobs exhibit at the USPTO Museum runs through January 15, 2012.

Thinner iPad 3 Coming with Low-Power Retina Display?

Rumors of a high-resolution 2048x1536 display for the iPad 3 have been circulating for some time now, but the new display's effect on the device's form factor is still up for some debate.

A claim from earlier this month regarding Apple requiring two light bars in order to manage the much higher resolution of the iPad 3 was followed just last week with a report that the device will be 0.7 mm thicker than the iPad 2 in order to accommodate that dual light bar design.


More claims of a 2048x1536 display for the iPad surfaced earlier this week, with that analyst's source indicating that Apple will continue to use in-plane switching (IPS) technology for the new display.

But a new report from Jeffries analyst Peter Misek and shared by Forbes claims that Apple will not be using IPS on the iPad 3, and has in fact invested $500 million to $1 billion in new equipment to allow Sharp to produce the required displays using technology permitting a thinner and lower-power design.

Also, we believe that Apple and Sharp together have a modified IGZO (indium, gallium, zinc) technology to achieve 330 dpi, which is sufficient for an HD display while not using IPS nor having to include dual-bar LED backlighting. In our view, this should lead to several design advantages, namely the device can be thinner, battery life should be longer, and the overall experience for users should be meaningfully improved.

Misek noted in a separate report issued earlier today that Apple and Sharp are also working together on displays for an Apple television set, with a retooled Sharp manufacturing line preparing to begin mass production of those obviously much larger displays in February.

U.S. Non-iPad Tablet Market Led by TouchPad Fire Sales as iPad's Domination Continues

Research firm NPD today released a new study of non-iPad tablet sales in the United States, revealing that sell-through remains extremely small in the face of Apple's dominant market share. According to the report, only 1.2 million non-iPad tablets were sold in the United States during the first ten months of 2011, with HP leading the pack with 17% of that market, or about 200,000 units sold.


HP famously discontinued its TouchPad tablet just weeks after it launched, although the company has been periodically offering stocks of the device at bargain basement prices as low as $99 or as part of bundles with HP computers.

PC manufacturers are dominant in the tablet space, as four of the top five tablet brands already have a strong U.S. consumer PC presence. Only two of the top five brands play in the smartphone market.

“The market is filled with long-time PC and phone brands as well as low-cost entrants,” stated Baker. “With a limited amount of shelf space and challenges in overcoming the iPads first mover strength, not all brands will be successful.”

Apple's sales performance is not included in the study, but it is clear that the total of 1.2 million non-iPad tablets fails to come close to Apple's sales numbers. For the first three quarters of 2011, Apple reported total iPad sales of just over 25 million iPads on a worldwide basis, and while the company does not break out its U.S. iPad sales, that number is almost certainly well above 10 million units, putting Apple in the neighborhood of 90% sales share.

Recent studies have pegged Apple's share of iPad shipments at closer to 65-70%, but those studies measure shipments from manufacturers to distribution channels and not sales to end users. While Apple has repeatedly noted that it is selling every iPad it can make, competitors' devices still appear to be languishing on store shelves amid low interest from consumers.

nancial Times' Mobile Site Broadens Readership to Morning and Evening Hours

The Financial Times' web app has drawn more than 1 million readers since June, growing by 300,000 readers since late September. However, the raw numbers don't tell the whole story.

In its press release about breaking the 1 million mark, the FT staff built an infographic with data from its mobile website. 20 percent of FT page views are from mobile devices, and 15 percent of its digital consumer subscriptions initiate on mobile, showing that the paper is having good luck attracting readers to its pricey business-focused readership.


But most revealing is this chart showing the distribution of readership broken out by time-of-day and whether readers were using a smartphone, tablet, or reading on a desktop. As a financial paper, this data reflects the behavior of a higher-income, white-collar readership.

Smartphone and tablet readership spikes in the morning, then drops as readers use their desktops to keep up with the news during the day, then tablet use rises in the evening as users commute and arrive home.

App Store Updates: iPad Swiping, Chinese Yuan, Kindle Fire Added to Amazon Lawsuit

There have been several bits of App Store-related news over the past day, so here is a roundup of some of the more prominent items:

- iPad Swiping: As noted by MacStories, Apple has improved navigation of the iPad App Store, now allowing users to swipe between pages of featured apps and other listings. Users had previously needed to tap navigation arrows to move between pages, but moving to swipe-based navigation makes for a more natural interface and faster page changes.


- Yuan Now Accepted in China: Penn Olson reports that Apple is now accepting renminbi, the local Chinese currency, for App Store purchases in China. With the new pricing in yuan, Chinese customers will no longer be required to make purchases funded by credit cards in U.S. dollars. Apple has also begun accepting payment via local bank cards, with customers able to top-up their iTunes Store accounts with prepaid amounts from their bank accounts to fund their App Store purchases.


- Kindle Fire Added to 'Amazon Appstore' Lawsuit: Despite the fact that Apple has not yet won a trademark registration on the term "App Store", it sued Amazon back in March over the company's use of the term in its Amazon Appstore for Android. A judge declined to issue a preliminary injunction against Amazon in July, and the full trial is not set to take place until October 2012.

With Amazon having just launched its new Kindle Fire tablet, Apple has expanded its lawsuit to address the fact that Amazon is promoting its "Appstore" in conjunction with the device. As reported by paidContent, Apple has also included new claims of false advertising in the lawsuit.

Apple's revised complaint is intended to show that Amazon has continued to use the "Appstore" term even in the face of Apple's prior claims of trademark infringement, hoping to establish a pattern of willful misrepresentation on Amazon's part leading to customer confusion over the app marketplaces. The courts and trademark examiners have yet to look favorably upon Apple's claims regarding "App Store" being an allowable trademark for the company, but it is clear that Apple is still trying to press its positions.

"VolumeSnap" Feature Returns to Camera+

VolumeSnap has returned to the excellent iOS photography app Camera+.

Last year, developer TapTapTap released an update to its Camera+ application with a small hack -- users could press the volume-up button to take a picture, instead of needing to press a soft-button on the screen.

This was considered an unauthorized hack and Apple banned the app until TapTapTap removed the feature. Apple then borrowed this innovation for iOS 5, and now users can press the Volume Up button to take pictures in the native iPhone camera app.

Camera+ for iPhone is available for $0.99 on the App Store [Direct Link].

Native Gmail App Returns to App Store

As noted by Google, the company's native Gmail app for iOS has returned to the App Store. The app debuted two weeks ago, but was quickly pulled after a bug breaking notifications was discovered as soon as users began installing the app.

Two weeks ago, we introduced our Gmail app for iOS. Unfortunately it contained a bug which broke notifications and displayed an error message, so we removed it from the App Store. We’ve fixed the bug and notifications are now working, and the app is back in the App Store.

Google notes that in addition to the notification bug fix, the company has also improved the handling of image HTML messages and has promised to continue "iterating rapidly" to bring new features to the app.

Siri Protocol Cracked, But Unique iPhone 4S ID Requirement Hampers Distribution

Applidium, the developers who brought the open source video player VLC to the App Store only to have it pulled over licensing issues, have announced that they have reverse engineered the protocol used to allow Siri to communicate with Apple's servers. Citing an example in which they were able to communicate with Siri servers directly from a computer, the developers note that they were able to have the servers recognize and analyze their voice input just as if it had originated from an iPhone 4S.

Today, we managed to crack open Siri’s protocol. As a result, we are able to use Siri’s recognition engine from any device. Yes, that means anyone could now write an Android app that uses the real Siri! Or use Siri on an iPad! And we’re going to share this know-how with you.

Unfortunately for those hoping to make use of Siri in their apps on iOS or other platforms, the protocol is set up to transmit a unique identifier for a given iPhone 4S. The developers at Applidium were able to extract that identifier from one of their devices and use it to authenticate their non-iPhone Siri input, but such code would likely not survive being included in an application packaged for distribution, as Apple's servers would presumably be able to easily identify and blacklist any device identifier generating excessive usage from multiple locations.

The developers do note, however, that the proof of concept demonstration may prove interesting for developers looking to play around with non-iPhone 4S implementations of Siri for their personal use.

Apple's 15" Ultra-Thin Notebook Due in March 2012

MacBook Air
Digitimes is reporting that small numbers of components for a 15" ultra-thin notebook from Apple will start shipping this month with mass shipments of the notebook beginning in March.

Upstream suppliers of Apple have recently started shipping a small volume of components for a 15-inch ultra-thin notebook model from Apple in November and the device could be either MacBook Air or just a thinner MacBook Pro. The new MacBook is expected to appear as early as the second quarter of 2012, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Digitimes is unclear if the parts are intended for a 15" MacBook Air or a thinner 15" MacBook Pro. In July, we reported that Apple was finishing up work on a new ultrathin 15" notebook, and at the end of October, it was rumored that new machine was nearing production.

It seems likely that a thin 15" MacBook would use a SSD rather than HDD, similar to current MacBook Air models, and would forego an optical drive. The MacBook Pro line was refreshed earlier this fall with minor processor, graphics and storage upgrades.

Early Kindle Fire Reviews

Amazon's first color tablet, the Kindle Fire, began shipping today following its September introduction. The Fire, the top-of-the-line Kindle tablet, has reportedly given some potential iPad purchasers second thoughts as the Fire is some $300 cheaper than the least-expensive iPad.

Image via Wired
- NYTimes

- "It is designed almost exclusively for consuming stuff, particularly material you buy from Amazon, like books, newspapers and video. It has no camera, microphone, GPS function, Bluetooth or memory-card slot. There is a serviceable e-mail program, but no built-in calendar or note pad."

- "You feel that $200 price tag with every swipe of your finger. Animations are sluggish and jerky — even the page turns that you’d think would be the pride of the Kindle team. Taps sometimes don’t register. There are no progress or “wait” indicators, so you frequently don’t know if the machine has even registered your touch commands. The momentum of the animations hasn’t been calculated right, so the whole thing feels ornery."

- "The Fire deserves to be a disruptive, gigantic force — it’s a cross between a Kindle and an iPad, a more compact Internet and video viewer at a great price. But at the moment, it needs a lot more polish; if you’re used to an iPad or “real” Android tablet, its software gremlins will drive you nuts."

- Wired

- "Pixel for pixel, the tablet’s 1024×600 display actually delivers quite nice image quality. Swaddled in ultra-protective Gorilla Glass, the display uses in-plane switching (IPS) technology to deliver a bright, appropriately saturated screen image with solid off-axis viewing (meaning you can still see what’s on screen when looking at the display from an exaggerated angle)."

- "As far as performance, all the apps I tested worked fine on Amazon’s hardware — as well they should have, because not only have they been pre-approved by Amazon, they were also designed for Android smartphones, which (theoretically) boast less processing power."

- "Despite all claims from Amazon that its Silk browser technology would bring sublime web-surfing performance to the Fire’s desktop, I found the tablet’s overall web experience to be quite ratty."

- Mashable

- "This is a product I wanted to love. The Kindle Fire’s unveiling was so impressive. Jeff Bezos hitting all the right notes in true Jobsian fashion, telling the tale of a product vision so clear it made my eyes tear up. Instead, now I’m discovering it’s a somewhat flawed gadget — a product that literally does not always know which way is up."

- "This interface is not always optimized for 1024×600 resolution on a 7-inch screen. While the bookshelf and items on it are large, some of the controls are tiny."

- "It is the closest tablet I’ve seen yet to an Apple iPad: a consistent, well-thought out marriage of hardware and services that offer an almost frictionless environment for app purchase and content consumption. This is why the iPad has been so successful and why I think the Kindle Fire, despite its imperfections, is a winner, too."

- The Verge

- "It's been speculated on (and more recently stated as fact by Barnes & Noble) that Amazon used the [BlackBerry] PlayBook reference design as the basis for the design of the Fire, and I wouldn't be surprised if that were true. Don't get me wrong, it's not that the design is necessarily bad — it's just that it's incredibly unoriginal."

- "Unlike the PlayBook, iPad, or pretty much any other tablet on the market, the Fire has no hardware volume controls, meaning that you have to go through a series of taps (especially if the device is sleeping) to just change the volume. The Fire also has no "home" button — simply a small, hard-to-find nub along the bottom used for sleeping and waking the device, and powering up and down."

- "I found magazine reading to be a little cramped on the small display, and zooming and panning around lacks a smoothness that would make the experience more enjoyable."

- Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times

- "Kindle Fire is explicitly a device for enjoying books, periodicals, music, video, and games. But it can also handle the sort of computer-ish tasks that are often necessary distractions when you spend an hour or two in a coffeeshop reading a book. Things like checking email, looking something up on the Web, or telling your Twitter and Facebook friends that this dude who just walked into the coffeeshop has the most awesome mane of heavy metal hair spotted in the wild since Poison concluded their ’86-’87 “Look What The Cat Dragged In” tour."

- "The reader app lacks the lovely little flourishes found in an iPad book reader. Page turns are mechanical, with little thought to transitions or interactions. When you’re reading content that benefits from a little manual panning and zooming (like the contents of a webpage, a PDF, or a hard-formatted digital magazine), the experience is very Android-ish. Effective, yes, but not anything like the instantaneous liquid feedback you get from an iPad."

- "Steve Jobs, in the middle of lambasting 7-inch tablets as an utter disaster, insisted that they could only work if the box included enough sandpaper to grind down the user’s fingertips to half their normal size. Well, that’s just rubbish. All around, the Fire is as good a reader as the iPad. The two different screen sizes are just better in different scenarios."

The Kindle Fire is $199, available now from Amazon.

iPhone 4S to Launch in India on November 25th

As noted by The Next Web, the iPhone 4S appears set to launch in India on November 25th, marking yet another milestone in Apple's fast-moving rollout of the new device. Both Aircel and Airtel appear to be participating in the November 25th launch, with Aircel having already provided public confirmation of the debut.

Aircel first posted a teaser on its official Facebook page announcing that the launch details would be coming soon and then followed that up with an official announcement on Saturday that the chosen date was November 25. Impatient customers will be able to start placing preorders on the carrier’s website from November 18 onwards.

Airtel's participation appears to be unconfirmed at this time, but The Times of India reports that the iPhone 4S will indeed launch on the carrier at 12:01 AM on November 25th.

Aircel and Airtel, both GSM providers, are Apple's two official carrier partners in India.

iPhone still rules smartphone share in US

While the sheer number of available Android devices has resulted in the platform surpassing Apple's iOS in popularity, Apple's limited portfolio of devices remained popular even as customers looked forward to updated hardware that arrived last month in the form of the iPhone 4S. According to NPD, the iPhone 4 and 3GS continued to hold the top two positions in U.S. smartphone sales during the third quarter, leading a series of Android phones in the rankings.

Led by continued steady sales for Apple’s iPhones, the top five best-selling mobile phone handsets in Q3 were as follows:

1. Apple iPhone 4
2. Apple iPhone 3GS
3. HTC EVO 4G
4. Motorola Droid 3
5. Samsung Intensity II

The ranking follows an identical showing for Apple during the second quarter, despite the iPhone 4 having been introduced in June 2010 and the iPhone 3GS launch dating all the way back to June 2009.

Even with the introduction of the iPhone 4S last month, Apple is continuing to sell the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS as low-end devices, with an 8 GB iPhone 4 being offered for $99 on contract at all three major U.S. iPhone carriers and AT&T offering the 8 GB iPhone 3GS for free on contract.

Voice Behind UK Siri Voice "Daniel" Speaks Out

Several years ago, Jon Briggs took a voiceover job for a company called Scansoft. Scansoft later merged with Nuance, which makes the voices that Apple used for Siri.

Briggs tells the UK Telegraph:

“I did a set of recordings with Scansoft five or six years ago, for text-to-speech services,” says Briggs. “Five thousand sentences over three weeks, spoken in a very particular way and only reading flat and even. Then they go away and take all the phonics apart, because I have to be able to read anything you want, even if I’ve never actually recorded all those words.”

The result, Briggs says is “as close to human speech as anything that’s out there. It gets everything right, more or less, apart from the inflection.”

His voice, which is very familiar to United Kingdom iPhone 4S owners, is also used as the voice of GPS for Garmin, TomTom, Jaguar, Land Rover, Audi and Porsche.

For its part, Apple isn't pleased with Briggs' newfound fame. A representative called him after the iPhone 4S was released and asked him not to talk publicly about Siri, saying the company isn't "about one person." Briggs pointed out that he wasn't an Apple employee and he recorded the voices six years ago for a separate company. He hasn't heard from Apple since.

Source Claims Hands-On Experience with iPhone 5 Prototype

While the redesigned "iPhone 5" form factor failed to surface with last month's update that saw the introduction of the iPhone 4S, reports have suggested that the next-generation iPhone expected to debut next year will indeed carry a significant redesign.


Business Insider now reports that it has received word from a source who has claimed to have had access to an iPhone 5 prototype and offered some details on the device.

We've been told this by an industry source who has been right about future Apple products in the past.

We have not been able to verify what he told us with a second source. So we're still treating these details as rumors. You should probably still read this post with a nice fat dose of salt.

According to the source, Apple did indeed hope to launch the iPhone 5 this year, but was forced to scrap those plans several months before the iPhone 4S was ultimately introduced. Among the iPhone 5 details cited by the source:

- 4-inch screen
- Aluminum back
- Capacitive home button
- "Flatter" form factor
- Much faster than current hardware, but poor battery life
- 10-megapixel rear camera
- Siri prototype known as "Assistant", which had been the rumored name for the feature until its introduction

According to the source, the primary objection regarding the prototype design came from Steve Jobs, who claimed that the larger screen would result in fragmentation of the iOS ecosystem, something the company has worked hard to limit.

Business Insider does not have a particularly solid track record on Apple product rumors, and is also including its own warnings about taking the report with a grain of salt. But the claims are certainly of some interest given the curiosity surrounding what happened with the claimed leaked design that resulted in significant numbers of cases being produced for a device that failed to appear.

Smaller SIM Card Standard Could Be Ready Next Year

Following on Apple's proposed standard for smaller SIM cards, a German company has proposed its own standard. Giesecke & Devrient, the company that developed the world's first SIM card, has proposed the so-called "nano-SIM" as a card one-third smaller and 15 percent thinner than the current smallest card, the micro-SIM, that's used in the iPhone 4 and 4S and both generations of 3G iPad.

Apple has expressed a distinct interest in reducing the size of or eliminating SIM cards entirely, moves which would save space to allow Apple to either further shrink its devices or make room for other new or larger components. Late last year, Apple was said to have worked with Gemalto to develop a built-in SIM card which would use a chip to store subscriber information. But while the GSM Association and several carriers appeared to be in support of Apple's idea, other carriers threatened to withhold iPhone subsidies if Apple moved forward with the plan, objections that reportedly led to Apple scrapping the soft-SIM idea, at least for the time being.

With carriers nixing the idea of SIM card-less GSM phones, Apple apparently refocused its efforts on shrinking the size of the card further than the current micro-SIM size. Those efforts led to Apple's proposal for the new SIM card standard, which has been under review by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and has the support of a number of carriers.


According to today's report, G&D has submitted its design to the ETSI, the standards organization behind the three standard sizes of SIM cards (full-size, mini-SIM, and micro-SIM), illustrated above. It is unclear, however, whether the nano-SIM design discussed in today's report is related to Apple's proposed design. Regardless, ETSI reportedly hopes to have the new nano-SIM format standardized by the end of this year, and an adapter will exist to make the new SIM backwards-compatible with older devices.

Apple Begins Offering Unlocked iPhone 4S in U.S. Online Store

Alongside today's round of international iPhone 4S launches, Apple also began offering unlocked iPhone 4S models for sale in the United States. Orders placed through the company's online store are currently listed with estimated shipping of 1-2 weeks.


Pricing for the unlocked, contract-free iPhone 4S comes in at $649/$749/$849 for the 16/32/64 GB models respectively. The unlocked device is compatible only with supported GSM networks, and Apple offers some advice on which customers might benefit most by purchasing an unlocked iPhone.

The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a contract commitment. You can activate and use it on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T in the United States.* The unlocked iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint.

If you don’t want a multiyear service contract or if you prefer to use a local carrier when traveling abroad, the unlocked iPhone is the best choice. It arrives without a micro-SIM card, so you’ll need an active micro-SIM card from any supported GSM carrier worldwide. To start using it, simply insert the micro-SIM card into the slot on your iPhone and turn it on by pressing and holding the On/Off button for a few seconds. Then follow the onscreen instructions to set up your iPhone.

Apple had previously announced as pre-orders went live in the United States back in early October that unlocked models would become available in November. The company's retail stores, however, began selling off-contract phones immediately after launch, with customers discovering that those devices were also coming through unlocked.

Apple Releases iOS 5.0.1 to Address Battery Life Issues [Updated]

Apple has just release iOS 5.0.1 to the public, bringing fixes for battery life issues introduced with iOS 5. The release also brings several other enhancements including multitasking gestures for the original iPad.

This update contains improvements and other bug fixes including:

- Fixes bugs affecting battery life
- Adds Multitasking Gestures for original iPad
- Resolves bugs with Documents in the Cloud
- Improves voice recognition for Australian users using dictation

The build number on the public release is 90A405, an increment of one build over the beta 2 build seeded to developers last Friday.

iOS 5.0.1 is available for iPhone (4S, 4, and 3GS), iPod touch (third- and fourth-generation), and all iPad models. The update is available for download via iTunes, but is not yet showing up as an over-the-air update for direct download to iOS devices.

Update: Several European users are now reporting that iOS 5.0.1 is available as a 44.6 MB over-the-air update on their devices, but it still does not appear to be showing up on devices in the United States.

Apple Releases iAd Producer 2.0 for Developers

Apple yesterday announced the release of version 2.0 of its iAd Producer software that help developers create ads for use in the company's iAd program for mobile devices. The new release brings a number of enhancements to the software first deployed last December.

New tools and animation effects in iAd Producer 2.0 make it even easier to build great iAds. Create sophisticated animations with precise control over object properties like position, opacity, size, color and shadow. Get instant, one-click access to any object or element on a page with the new object list. Make your iAds better and faster with new validation tools that identify optimization opportunities and common errors.

Additional details on the improvements in iAd Producer 2.0 can be found in the release notes. iAd Producer is a free download for registered iOS developers.

Another Hidden iOS 5 Feature: Autocorrect Keyboard Bar

Beyond the Panorama view, it seems Apple left out another small feature in the final version of iOS 5. The bar appears while typing into the field as shown above, giving you a number of autocorrection options. Per 9to5mac, the feature can reportedly be enabled on a non-jailbroken phone with the following procedure :

1. Download iBackupBot
2. Backup your iPhone/iPod in iTunes
3. Open iBackupBot and find the backup, then load it.
4. Find Library/Preferences/com.apple.keyboard.plist and open the file. (if your software isn’t registered you’ll have to press cancel and then it will open)
5. Add in the following code: KeyboardAutocorrectionListsYES
6. Save your modifications, and then restore from backup from within iBackupbot.

Based on comments, it seems a little unstable, so it seems there are reasons that this was never enabled for the final version. Still, it's interesting to see what other features Apple explored.

Apple Researching Integrated Speaker for iPod Nano and Shuffle

Patently Apple reports on a newly-published patent application from Apple describing the integration of a speaker into the clip of the iPod nano or shuffle. Apple's proposed design includes a recessed portion within the device's clip that would house a piezoelectric speaker.


Exploded view of iPod nano or shuffle case with speaker integrated into clip
As part of the invention's description, Apple outlines how a small domed or dimpled cover over the speaker could be designed to produce specific acoustic effects, allowing for sufficient movement of air to create the required sound quality for the device.

In some embodiments, the cavity size may be shaped to create a particular frequency response or to otherwise influence the sound produced by the acoustical element. In some embodiments, the interior surface of the cavity may be modified to increase the size of the cavity, to control the frequency response of the cavity, modify the amount of air displaceable by movement of the diaphragm of the acoustical element, and/or to direct sound waves within the cavity and/or out of the cavity. The shape of the surface may be configured to resonate at a certain desired frequency or frequency range that is desired based on its shape. For example, one or more indentations in the surface may be provided to increase the size of the cavity and/or control the frequency response of the cavity. Generally, the larger the size of the cavity, the lower the frequency that may be resonant within the cavity. In some embodiments, holes may be provided in the surface to adjust the frequency response.

Adding a speaker to the iPod's clip would of course mean that it would need to be electrically connected to the main portion of the device, and Apple also describes how thin, flexible wires or microstrips could be routed alongside or through the hinge block that serves as the mounting point for the clip.

Apple does not propose any specific uses for the external audio features enabled by the addition of a speaker clip, and the extremely thin nature of the speaker housing would limit the sound quality achievable through the system. At a minimum, the speaker could provide clicks and beeps as feedback for user input on the device, although more complex audio could also be generated.

Curiously, the exploded view diagram included in the patent application also shows a fairly large hole in the iPod clip, as seen at the bottom left of the diagram. While Apple does not specify the intended function of that hole, it does line up nicely with previously-leaked front and back photos potentially showing a rear-facing camera hole for the iPod nano's main body. That design has, however, yet to see a public debut.

The patent application, simply entitled "Speaker Clip", was filed in May of 2010 with the lead designer listed as Ben Filson, a longtime Apple design engineer who left the company last year to join Tony Fadell's Nest Labs project. The patent application also lists as inventors Eugene Whang and Matt Rohrbach, two key members of Apple's industrial design team

AT&T Introduces Worldwide VoIP Calling App

AT&T has launched a new app to allow its customers to make inexpensive international calls over Wi-Fi. With the AT&T Call International app, customers can get the "lowest international calling rates" that AT&T offers.

Calls to the UK, for example, cost $0.04/minute for calls to wireline numbers and $0.27/minute for calls to mobile phones. Calls to China are $0.04/minute. The price list for all countries is available here.

Pricing is competitive with other VoIP calling apps like Vonage -- though having a major name like AT&T stand behind the app may make some users more comfortable than making calls with a lesser known name.

Within the United States, calls are placed like a normal cellular call -- no Wi-Fi required, and a nice feature compared to making calls on other VoIP apps -- but outside the U.S. all calls are placed only via Wi-Fi.

The AT&T Call International app is free to download -- call charges are applied to a credit card, not the user's AT&T phone bill, with no monthly fee or minimum charges.

New Case Adds Unlocked SIM Slot to Jailbroken iPhones

Vooma has announced an iPhone case with a backup battery and, more interestingly, an unlocked SIM slot. The case works with a jailbreak-only app that emulates the iPhone's native phone app to allow calls via the external SIM. At its core, the case unlocks any jailbroken iPhone.


TechCrunch's John Biggs tried a pre-release version of the case and came away impressed:

Once it’s set up the Peel PG92 works seamlessly and even uses a similar interface to Apple’s own dialer – although it’s clear that the programmers had to cut a few corners to get the look and feel correct. For example, the dialing screen is actually a bitmapped copy of the original dialer and the letters and numbers are slightly warped. However, all of the major functionality is recreated in the Vooma app.

However, this is clearly a very cool and clever hack and it works without problems on any jailbroken iPhone.

Details are scarce, but it appears that the case fits mini-SIM cards, not the micro-SIM that fits in the iPhone 4 and 4S. Also, the external SIM could be used for voice calls only -- data most likely goes through the SIM card that's installed in the iPhone. Because the external SIM is used via its own app the internal SIM can still be used for voice calls even with the case installed.

The case would be most useful for international travelers who wish to install a prepaid SIM card from a local carrier, without having to unlock their subsidized iPhone from a domestic carrier. Unlocking an iPhone is typically more difficult than a simple jailbreak.

Vooma has a sign-up form on its homepage to get more information on the Peel PG920, but the company has disclosed no details about pricing or availability.