Apple today held their It’s Only Rock & Roll event & announced some new features & products as expected.

-iTunes 9 <-download link
-iPod classic 160GB model returns
-iPod touch 64GB model debuts
-iPod shuffle new colours & special edition & camera
-iPod nano with camera 
-iPhone OS 3.1

A pleasant return as Steve Jobs, Apple CEO delivers his 1st keynote in quite a while. Here’s a rundown of what happened.

Steve takes the stage.

I’m very happy to be here today with you all. As some of you know about 5 months ago I had a liver transplant, so I now have the liver of a mid-20’s person who died in a car crash. I wouldn’t be here without such generosity. I hope all of us can be as generous and become organ donors.
“I’d like to thank everyone in the community for the support, and Tim Cook and the exec team at Apple. Thank you.

He announces that Apple has sold 30 million iPhones to date & then announces iPhone OS 3.1 (available today). A new feature in 3.1 is now the Genius feature extends to Apps as well. Also that 30 000 ringtones from the 4 major labels will be available for $1.29 USD.

iTunes 9 is then introduced. (Oh iTunes 8 we barely got to know you…)

A new feature that iTunes 9 brings is Genius Mixes.

Imagine a genius DJ that plays endless mixes of songs from your library that go great together. You just click on one of the mixes, and start playing it — and it will go on and on and on. It’s like a great radio station

They also announced improved syncing features

but the killer feature for iPod touch & iPhone owners, Application Management

& there’s even more. Another new feature announced was Home Sharing.

The iTunes Store also gets a nice revamp

and a summary of what iTunes 9 brings to the table

Phil Schiller then takes the stage & begins to talk about iPods.

he compares the iPod touch to having a portable computer in your pocket, which is unlike…

(Apple taking a little stab at Dell)

He then goes on to compare the iPod touch to Sony’s PSP & Nintendo’s DS

Some games are then demoed by their developers, some notable titles include:
Assassin’s Creed II & Madden (available today).

New prices for the iPod touch

Apple then announces the return of the 160GB iPod classic

Now on to the shuffle

& the new special edition

Ahh yes the infamous ‘One More Thing’

Looks like the rumors of an iPod with a camera are true

You can with one click send a recorded video to YouTube. The new nano also now includes an FM radio.

Summary of the new iPod nano

& in typical Apple fashion all the new goodies are available today.

the new iPod family

& thats about it. Good to see that Steve’s back & that the iPod line is alive & well & thriving.

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Apple’s worldwide single-carrier exclusivity model for each nation is seen as fleeting, as a new report suggests the iPhone could be available for carriers other than AT&T in the U.S. within a year.

In his latest note to investors, Gene Munster, senior research analyst with Piper Jaffray, takes on 14 “unanswered questions” that surround Apple. They address the company’s financial guidance, the iPhone, iTunes, iPods and Apple retail stores. One prediction suggests Apple would add new iPhone carriers in the U.S. with the debut of a new product in the summer of 2010.

“For various reasons the company moved from an exclusive relationship with French wireless carrier Orange to a multi-carrier model,” Munster said. “In France, the company now enjoys dramatically higher market share (in the 40 percent range vs. about 15 percent in ROW) than in countries with exclusive carrier agreements (such as AT&T in the U.S. where the iPhone has market share in the mid-teens). We believe Apple is seeing the increased unit sell-through more than offset the slightly (~10 percent) deteriorated economics per unit involved in non-exclusive agreements.”

This as the iPhone 3GS has had an outstanding launch, with Apple having trouble keeping the device in stock. The Piper Jaffray report states that the new iteration of the iPhone “seems to have exceeded Apple’s internal expectations.” Additionally, Munster does not believe Apple will offer another model below the $99 iPhone 3G with a cheap, mass-market device. Noting that $10 basic phone models dominate markets like India, he said Apple would likely pass on that segment of the market.

The Piper Jaffray analyst is not alone in believing the iPhone could jump ship next year, as others believe Apple is looking to Verizon as a possible alternative. Even Denny Strigle, Verizon’s president, has been complimentary of the iPhone this year, as his company is rumored to be fast-trackingits new 4G network for launch by early 2010. AT&T, meanwhile, is said to be continuing its negotiations with Apple, in an attempt to keep the iPhone exclusive through 2011. While customers have been extremely satisfied with Apple’s phone and have embraced it, many U.S. customers have been disappointed with the AT&T network.

In his report, Munster also believes that Apple is dissatisfied with the current status of video content offered in iTunes. Specifically, he said the video store is lacking HBO and is often tied to limited movie availability periods.

“We believe Apple is unhappy with the current status of video on the iTunes Store and is working to change it,” Munster said. “These changes, however, will take time, in the form of lengthy negotiations, in order to bring the rights for TV and movies up to speed in a digital world.”

Munster believes that Apple will eventually offer a monthly subscription offer for TV shows on iTunes. At a cost of $30 to $40 a month, he said the company could offer unlimited access to content from network and cable providers. If the Cupertino, Calif., company were to offer a subscription model, he believes it would replace a consumer’s cable bill.

“While timing on the launch of such a new product is very uncertain given the negotiations that would need to take place, Apple may work to launch it simultaneously with a new version of Apple TV, or an undated Apple TV software within the next year,” he said. “Moreover, we believe Apple has wisely avoided a subscription music model, as music listeners prefer to listen to their own music, and listen to it frequently. Movie watchers, on the other hand, prefer to rent, and typically only want to see a movie once or twice. Likewise, TV viewers are not accustomed to purchasing TV shows on an a-la-carte basis, and a subscription TV service would likely be more appealing.”

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Apple is exploring a new system that would automatically allow a portable device such as an iPhone or iPod to be safely disconnected from a host computer with a simple touch, according to a newly revealed patent filing.

Another patent made public Thursday shows that Apple is interested in a system that reads text messages and broadcasts them audibly on a separate device.

Touch and go

Currently, a USB device or similar attached to a computer like an iPod or thumb drive must be “ejected” before it can be physically disconnected. This is to ensure that no communication between the computer and the device is taking place when it is disconnected. If a device is unexpectedly unplugged, it can result in corrupted data.

Apple’s possible solution for this problem would generate a signal when the device is touched by the user, or even if an impending touch is detected. The signal would trigger the host to initiate operations to disengage the device.

“These features allow a user to disconnect from the host system more quickly and also prevents data corruption due to failure of the user to follow proper procedures,” the filing reads.

The patent covers USB devices, SD cards, mobile phones, media players, game consoles computer peripherals, biometric sensors, headsets and more.

Text message to speech

While this patent filing centers around multimedia data transfer, the most interesting part of the summary deals specifically with text messages.

“The reading of text messages can be troublesome due to, in part, the small size of the typical display screen or the inability to control ambient light conditions,” the patent states. “This is particularly troublesome to those users having impaired vision where reading a text message, of any reasonable size, for example, is difficult.”

Filed for on March 27, 2009, this patent, revealed Thursday, describes the transmission of vocalized multimedia data to a “receiver unit by way of the voice channel without the use of a backend server.” Essentially, it would directly transmit the audible interpretation of a text message to an independent receiver.

(via AppleInsider.com)

&

Apple has officially patetented the dell’iPhone box which is the box that you get when you buy a new iPhone. The actual document was released today. Click HERE to see for yourself. It is said that it took 17 designers including the Steve Jobs and Jonathon Ive to complete.

(via TheiPhoneSpot.net)

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Once believed to have blown its first chance at the iPhone, Verizon is now claimed to be in discussions with Apple for its own version of the iPhone in 2010.

Pointing only to anonymous people familiar with the negotiations as its sources, USA Today explains that Verizon reportedly entered serious talks before Steve Jobs’ hiatus and has been continuing those talks even with Jobs temporarily sidelined for medical reasons.

Other than a 2010 target release window, little else is divulged by the apparent insiders.

Although not explicitly stated, the newspaper infers that the phone would be a CDMA device compatible with Verizon’s existing network and therefore using EVDO for its 3G Internet access. Such a move would give the phone broad coverage but directly contradicts Apple COO Tim Cook’s own dismissal of CDMA last week: when discussing iPhone expansion plans, the executive justified the absence of a CDMA model by arguing that a single, GSM phone model is easier to produce than building a separate version for a relatively small batch of customers. Cook also sharply criticized CDMA by asserting that ithas no future, as most CDMA carriers plan to phase out the calling technology in favor of the same 4G standard that will be used on GSM networks.

More likely is a direct leap to a 4G. Verizon chief executive Ivan Seidenberg recently explained that a deal is more likely for a phone with the advanced networking technology as it would let Apple continue making one phone but still service North American carriers that are for now off limits. Verizon plans to officially launch its commercial 4G network in early 2010 and would therefore have at least some of its network ready for an iPhone by the time AT&T’s exclusivity term ends, which is likely for the same year.

However determined Verizon may be to land an iPhone of its own, AT&T may topple those ambitions through its own discussions. Separate rumors have the incumbent iPhone carrier pushing Apple to extend its US exclusivity until 2011 — enough to stall any Verizon deal until AT&T’s own 4G network is ready.

Any successful deal, no matter the network type, would likely be a serious blow to AT&T, which credited much of its ability to weather the ongoing economic crisis to iPhone sales and the resulting spike in data revenue. Aside from reducing incentives to launch massive, special upgrades to the network, a Verizon model would let those dissatisfied with AT&T’ s 3G coverage or its customer service defect to Verizon without giving up Apple’s handset.

(via AppleInsider.com)

on a side note

Apple has announced the lucky winner of the contest:

“The one billionth app, Bump created by Bump Technologies, was downloaded by Connor Mulcahey, age 13, of Weston, CT. As the grand prize winner of Apple’s one billion app countdown contest, Connor will receive a $10,000 iTunes gift card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule and a MacBook Pro.”

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The Wall Street Journal reports that Steve Jobs is actively involved in running Apple from home and that he is expected back in June.

People inside the company, business partners and others who are familiar with the situation say life at the Cupertino, Calif., company remains much the same as it did before. Those at other corporations who deal with the company also say their interactions with Apple haven’t changed. Mr. Cook, who had already been handling most of Apple’s day-to-day operations, has kept tight control over the company, say business partners and those inside Apple.

The WSJ also suggests that Jobs is working on a new device smaller than the MacBook Air and bigger then the iPhone.

Apple co-founder Mr. Jobs, who is considered the company’s creative leader, is also involved in the development of future projects, they say. People privy to the company’s strategy say Apple is working on new iPhone models and a portable device that is smaller than its current laptop computers but bigger than the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling is quoted as saying “Steve continues to look forward to returning to Apple at the end of June.”

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After leaving its once-touted background push data feature by the wayside, Apple is now reportedly mulling an option that would let iPhone apps run background processes and give the phone true multitasking.

The hint of a change in strategy was given to Mac Rumors, which now hears from unspecified sources that Apple is considering the switch away from its original approach and may let programs operate as “user selectable background processes.”

Why such a move would occur isn’t known. When the iPhone maker first unveiled background push notification at the Worldwide Developers Conference in 2008, the company famously chastised Microsoft and most other smartphone OS developers for challenging users with difficult solutions to quitting or switching between apps and suggested that then-current phones couldn’t handle the task. Even so, the solution precludes background use of third-party apps that need always-on access, like radio or VoIP calling software.

At the June event, Apple said it considered background push notification an ideal compromise that would close apps but keep them “listening” for data through an Internet channel; an instant messaging app could signal that it has received new messages without having to stay open and chew up system time.

However, the company has since remained almost entirely silent on the matter. Where early iPhone 2.1 beta firmware included background notifications, the fourth developer test version pulled the feature altogether without any commentary on Apple’s part beyond an alleged reply e-mail from CEO Steve Jobs, who stated that company wanted to get background push “100% right the first time.” The official 2.1 and 2.2 releases have similarly passed on the feature while adding others.

While no additional evidence has come up to support theories that the delay is being used to implement true background processes, speculation has surfaced that Apple may have to wait until its next major iPhone revision to implement the necessary code. With a 412MHz ARM processor and only 128MB of temporary memory, the first- and second-generation iPhone lines may struggle to support more than one or two background apps before becoming unusable. If the feature requires a new ARM processor or additional memory to be useful, Apple could either restrict the number of background processes on older models or else disable the feature entirely for these devices.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based firm may nonetheless be under pressure to add the support in spite of cutting off legacy support. In addition to existing competitors that already had background support but have only recently launched direct iPhone alternatives, Palm’s new Pre smartphone will have authentic multitasking in an iPhone-like interface by letting users shuffle or toss “cards” that represent active software.

[via AppleInsider]

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Once thought to be building Flash for the iPhone mostly on its own, Adobe has mentioned at the World Economic Forum that it’s not only continuing work on the animation plug-in but has teamed up with Apple to make it a reality.

In an interview with Bloomberg at the Davos, Switzerland event, Adobe chief Shantanu Narayen describes development as a complicated two-way process rather than maintaining the previous image of a one-sided effort that would depend on App Store approval before it could launch.

“It’s a hard technical challenge, and that’s part of the reason Apple and Adobe are collaborating,” he says. “The ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver.”

What hurdles Adobe has to overcome aren’t mentioned by the executive, though the company’s long porting process has underscored the difficulty involved. Narayen had said that he was “pleased with progress” as far back as June of last year — just three months after the iPhone SDK made native third-party apps an option on the touchscreen device.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has maintained since nearly a year ago that the real obstacle is the nature of Flash itself. While desktop Flash is too resource-heavy for the small processor and low memory of smartphones like the iPhone, Jobs has warned that Flash Lite is too feature-limited and doesn’t do many of the things users expect Flash to do — such as playing video on the web or showing complex animations on websites.

Most Flash Lite implementations actually depend on an app that runs entirely outside of the web browser and are often based on older versions of Flash that limit their performance and feature set; Jobs has argued for a “product in the middle” that does more.

Whether or not the collaborative process involves working on that app is very much a mystery, but it may be necessary for Flash to appear in Apple’s preferred form, as third-party iPhone apps aren’t allowed to serve as plugins based on the iPhone SDK’s guidelines.

And in the meantime, the cellphone maker has publicly advocated HTML 5 as a replacement and is collaborating with fellow browser developers Mozilla and Opera to perform many of the same functions of Flash but in a more universal and less resource-hungry standard.

(via AppleInsider.com)

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Apple last week was awarded a monstrous 358-page patent covering the touch screen, graphical user interface, and methods that combine to define the iPhone user experience.

Dating back to September of 2007 and granted last Tuesday, U.S. Patent No. 7479949 lists many inventors; notably, Apple co-founder and chief executive Steve Jobs, iPhone software director Scott Forstall, and FingerWorks co-founder Wayne Westerman.  (FingerWorks was responsible for gadgets with an opaque surface that could respond to gesture controls before being acquired by Apple to aid its multi-touch efforts several years ago.)

The filing is essentially a summary and overview of all the technologies that come together in the iPhone.  In the patent, Apple claims coverage for the device itself, the way gestures like pinches and zooms are detected, and the software the device runs.  Also mentioned are many other different details and aspects of the multi-touch user interface, such as a finger swipe, a two-thumb twist, and a method of determining which object was intended when a touch seems to cover both.

Apple interim chief executive Tim Cook recently promised to aggressively pursue any company or person who “rips off” Apple’s intellectual property, and this patent affords the Cupertino-based iPhone maker the footing it would need to mount any such defense.

In detail

In setting a tone for the filing, Apple described how portable phones received more and more pushbuttons to control new features, but the inability to adapt the input methods to match the application running is a problem.  Thus, a touchscreen device is a better choice; however, gestures can be difficult to interpret or translate into the commands the user actually wants the device to perform.

“Accordingly, there is a need for touch-screen-display electronic devices with more transparent and intuitive user interfaces,” the filing reads.  These improved devices can take input and interpret it as “precise, intended commands that are easy to use, configure, and/or adapt.  Such interfaces increase the effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction with portable multifunction devices.”

Future features?

There are also some interesting aspects of the filing that may hint at future plans for the iPhone and iPod, such as “a blogging application” and “a digital video camera application” — both of which have been mentioned in previous coverage of the patent. Similarly, voice-activated dialing could someday be a feature, as the document refers to audio circuitry that “converts the electrical signal [from human sound waves] to audio data and transmits the audio data to the peripherals interface for processing.”

Apple mentions a touchpad for activating or deactivating functions.  The patent describes it as a “touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visual output.  The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the touch screen or an extension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.”

Interestingly, this is a feature Palm is already touting about its upcoming Pre handset.  According to Palm’s press release: “[The Pre has a] gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation.”  The gesture area is separate from the touch screen.

Final Observations

Along with covering the iPhone, the patent filing is notable for referencing 40 other existing patents, and for naming Jobs first among its inventors. Its granted status was first reported Monday by WorldOfApple.

(via AppleInsider.com)

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