According to a report from the New York Post, Apple is planning to launch a new television streaming service by Christmas despite roadblocks with potential content partners. The report cited sources “familiar with the talks” between Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddie Cue and content providers that have “largely balked” at Apple’s attempt to “exert control over all aspects” of negotiations:

“Apple’s negotiating stance can be summed up as “we decide the price, we decide what content,” according to one source familiar with the talks…They want everything for nothing,” said another media executive, echoing similar tense negotiations Apple has had in the past with magazine publishers and music companies.” 

The report said Apple wants content providers to offer their channels through apps accessible on Apple TV as well as other Apple devices. The report’s sources were unsure whether Apple planned to offer several of these apps in cable TV-style packages or as individual apps. Apple also apparently—although unsuccessfully— tried to convince cable companies to ditch their cable boxes for Apple devices in an attempt to “create the interface” and have the cable companies “manage bandwidth across the TV and broadband pipeline.” The New York Post explained:

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In our report earlier this week we found a new Apple accessory part called B82:

We’re also hearing of a mystery accessory that will launch alongside the new iPads and Apple TV. We’re not sure what it is, but it’s called “B82″ internally. The product is likely some accessory, probably ranging from either a cable, cover, or new audio remote. The new Apple TV will include Bluetooth 4.0 capability, so perhaps Apple will ship an improved remote to that takes advantage of that next-generation Bluetooth protocol.

So what do you think B82 is?

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Right before Apple made AirPlay mirroring for Macs official with the Mountain Lion developer preview, we told you about AirParrot, a third-party app that brings the same functionality to Snow Leopard. The same developers just announced the first solid release of another AirPlay app, but this time it is for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S mirroring to your Mac. “Reflection” ($14.99 single license) allows users to easily view their iPhone or iPad’s screen (and audio) on a Mac’s display over AirPlay. We went hands on…

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AT&T is now getting ahold of their throttling plans by laying out the numbers which will get users put into the “reduced data scenario”.  Instead of the sliding scale “top 5% of users” which often was people under 2GB, they now have a hard maximum of 3GB for HSPA users like those with iPhones and 5GB for their new LTE offerings.  Users will receive a warning the first time but won’t get a notice thereafter.

Additionally, we’ve heard that the actual throttling is a lot less severe as pointed out by some Howard Forums users.

The move follows outcry from customers and even some customer lawsuit victories.

There is a new site and FAQ for those interested.

AT&T statement follows:

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Pictured above: An Apple television concept render by Guilherme Schasiepen.

Piper Jaffray’s resident Apple analyst Gene Munster stands out as arguably the most outspoken proponent of an Apple-branded HDTV television set otherwise known as the mythical iTV. With all eyes now on Apple’s iPad 3 unveiling next Wednesday, the pundits are also keeping their fingers crossed for a much-needed Apple TV refresh with 1080p video output and a faster processor, especially now that Apple TVs are increasingly disappearing from shelves.

Piggy-backing on the forthcoming product unveiling hype, Munster shed more light on what he believes a full-blown television set adorned by the shiny Apple logo should be like during yesterday’s interview with Bloomberg Radio’s Tom Keene and Ken Pruitt. Munster is betting Apple will introduce the rumored product some time this year and is expecting fall availability. You will want to buy it, because:

It’s going to live up to some of the building hype. It will be the biggest thing in consumer electronics since the smartphone.

From a design standpoint, the iTV “will look different” than your regular television: “Imagine just a sheet of glass – no edges or bevels.” The analyst re-iterated his previous observations, including strong focus on content consumption (presumably delivered through iTunes/iCloud) and Siri voice control…

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After the iPad 3 event invite didn’t show a button, some were quick to come to the conclusion that there wouldn’t be a button on iPad 3.  We think this is highly unlikely. Among many other reasons, there is one in every leaked iPad 3 part, as shown by these digitizers on Fix-iPhones.com today.

Also we see both black and white colors represented.  We had originally heard that there might only be one color of the base model iPad 3 but a few hours later, we found the new part numbers which indicate both colors would be introduced. Another image below:
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The first Bulls fan seems like he’s got a good grasp on NBA. But will he pony up the $120 for MLB.com?
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We already knew that Apple would officially open the doors to a new flagship retail location on the ground floor and mezzanine of the Hirsch building at the Leidseplein in Amsterdam. The doors officially open to the public on Saturday, but One More Thing photographer Rogier Visser has shared some great photos of the new store from this morning’s press event.

Apple confirmed to One More Thing that the store will hold 300 employees who can serve customers in 14 languages, and it features the world’s longest Genius Bar at 20 meters long with 34 stools. You will even find a Briefing Room and EasyPay self-checkout for accessories through the Apple Store app. The store will open to the public Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Check out the gorgeous glass staircase and the rest of the store in the full gallery below (a few images courtesy of iCreate Magazine and anp-photo):

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The 12 months of 2011 were an exhilarating ride for Apple of Cupertino, Calif. It went through a major leadership transition after the company lost its cofounder Steve Jobs and op-chief Tim Cook took the reigns and appointed several new executives. The iPhone 4S became a huge success and pushed Apple’s market capitalization above the half a trillion-dollar valuation.

Editors at Fortune magazine did not have second thoughts when ranking Apple first on its annual list of World’s Most Admired Companies due to the company’s impending iPad 3 unveiling, off-the-chart sales, and beautiful new retail stores like the upcoming Amsterdam outlet. Seasonal product refreshes and new rumored gizmos (of which an Apple-branded HD TV television set is conceivably everyone’s favorite) helped Apple garner the spot, as well. Mind you, Apple earned this coveted title for five years in a row.

Here’s from the publication’s editors:

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After a long wait and several setbacks, the free Readability app finally landed on iOS devices. Readability is a universal binary that supports both iPhone/iPod touch and has a native iPad interface. According to a blog post announcing the software, the app was born from a collaboration between the Readability team and the talented designers and builders at Teehan+Lax.

It features clean typography from Hoefler & Frere-Jones to turn any web page into a clean view for reading now or later on an iOS devices or desktop with the free Readability browser add-on. Articles seamlessly sync between platforms through an unlimited, searchable archive on the Web.

A paid subscription is still available to those wishing to reach beyond the most recent articles in their Reading List, including the ability to use daily digest of the Reading List on the Amazon Kindle. Early reviews by The Verge and MacStories are positive and it looks like Instapaper maker Marco Arment should worry, indeed (he just updated the Instapaper browser bookmarklet).

Readability for iOS is a free download from the App Store.

The image gallery and release notes are below.

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From 9to5Toys.com:

Go4Computers via eBay Daily Deal has brand new iPod Touch 8GB in White or Black for $169.99 with free shipping (sales Tax in only in Florida). That’s the lowest price we’ve seen on a new, current generation iPod touch.
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Over the past 24 hours, Digitimes has posted a series of reports each a bit more outlandish than the ones previous to it.  They’ve been right on some stuff in the past but lately it doesn’t seem like they are even paying attention anymore.  Our colleagues at other Apple blogs have been posting every one of these so let’s run them down.

Last night/this morning: Apple ‘considering’ a 14-inch MacBook for Asian Market.

Currently, 14-inch panels are the mainstream specification of the Asia notebook market, while consumers in Western countries prefer 15-inch models. In the global market, 14-inch models have an about 20-25% market share, but in Asia, the market share is about 35-40%, an indication of Asia consumers’ fondness for 14-inch models, the sources noted.

So Apple is going to make a .7-inch bigger MacBook (vs. 13.3 is current) specifically for the Asian Market?  Makes no sense.  Apple won’t even make an iPhone for China Mobile’s 600 million subscribers.  We’re not doubting that Apple could change its size matrix, we just don’t think they will do a special size just for Asia.

Within hours, Digitimes said:

Apple is expected to launch new MacBook Pro notebooks with an even thinner and lighter design than existing models in April, at the soonest. When paired with the company’s upcoming Mountain Lion operating system as well as Apple’s MacBook Air models, the product lines are expected to create a significant threat against notebook players’ ultrabooks, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Apple is expected to launch upgraded 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros in April with initial shipments estimated to reach 900,000 units.

Mountain Lion is currently scheduled for “late summer” as when it will be cut loose.  Also, Digitimes among others, said that Intel’s next processors weren’t coming out until June.  So Apple is going to release a new MBP a few months before new processors?

Tonight it got even more abstract:
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