9to5 Staff

The Baltimore Sun today found an Apple Patent on a device that would integrate a media player into a wireless headset.  While only shown in one of the images, the display does show up in some of the diagrams and in the application itself. (marked "214" below)

11. The wireless headset of claim 9 wherein said display comprises a video screen.
35. The wireless headset of claim 34 wherein said display comprises a video screen.

The device itself isn’t just a set of headphones, it also incompases a media player and could be considered an "iPod", perhaps a successor to the Shuffle.  Would you buy something like this?  Drawings below:

With at least 202 million websites worldwide powered by the blog publishing application, interest should be high in the newly-released WordPress 2 App for iPhone and iPod touch.

If you’re an existing user of WordPress 1.0 on the iPhone don’t expect the update to be downloaded automatically – it won’t happen – instead this is listed as a brand-new app, and you can have both installed on your device.

Improvements in this release include a better interface, which lets you moderate comments, edit pages and create new posts. This version also makes it easier to connect to self-hosted WordPress installs, though only on WordPress 2.7 or higher. Posts are automatically saved so they won’t be lost if you lose network connectivity.

“Our efforts were focused on creating a better user experience — the beginnings of a user interface overhaul that we’ll continue with the next version, and eliminating the bugs and incompatibilities with some self-hosted WordPress setups that was the source of the majority of the support requests we see in the forum,” the developers explain on their blog.

Amazon hasn’t yet started shipping Apple’s Magic Mouse (to begin today?), yet it has reached the number one spot in every mouse category and is #8 in the broad Electronics category.  Amazon sells the Magic Mouse at a whopping $1 savings and ships for free.

Today’s new EULA for iTunes throws up a pretty obvious clue that an AppleTV 3.0 update is coming up – perhaps in a matter of days.  The neglected hobby of Apple’s isn’t dead yet folks.  Besides iTunesLP, is there any possibility of something useful like Hulu or Netflix showing up on there?  Will it be enough to convince people to update and remove Boxee?  We’ll find out soon enough.

Apple’s latest pre-release Mac OS X 10.6.2 beta (Build 10C535) is now in distribution to developers.

This new build focuses on graphics drivers, trackpad preferences and virtual machine creation. Good news: like the preceeding beta, this new version lists no known issues, reinforcing expectation Apple will ship the new OS imminently.

As previously reported, one serious bug fixed in this release is the one in which guest account problems could see users losing all the data held in their regular accounts. The update also ushers in native support for the new Magic Mouse.

Tweaked components include: AppleBacklight, Battery Menu, Dictionary, Expose, FileSync, Family Controls, Fonts, Front Row, HFS, Inkwell, iPhoto, MobileMe, OpenCL, Parental Controls, QuickTime, Screen Sharing, Spell Checker, Spotlight, Time Machine, and USB.

Via: AI

We all know Apple’s cooking something up – feverish market speculation, high-level meetings with publishers for eBook discussions, increased r&d spend all reinforce the notion the company has something up its sleeve – we all think it’s some form of tablet.

Now this speculation seems set to climb even higher with a source telling Business Insider that Apple engineers have been engaged in frequent trips from Cupertino to China.

“A source tells us a system integration engineer friend of his at Apple has been ramping up his travels back and forth between China lately, broadcasting word of his travels over the Internet,” the report claims.

What makes this even more interesting is that engineers are currently booked to head to China across the Holiday season, meeting with Apple’s manufacturers out there, presumably Foxconn, who we were earlier told has been contracted to produce 300,000 of the still unannounced tablet-type devices (dubbed ‘Slate’ according to the NYT) each and every month.

Meanwhile, fresh news from Australia lends a little more light on Apple’s plans to position its new device as some form of eBook reader on steroids: "It seems they’re trying to preload it with content deals, rather than just create an elegant general-purpose device," Greg Sterling, principal analyst with Sterling Market Research, told NewsFactor.

"If you got some really impressive experience, it would certainly accelerate the transition from print to digital,” he observed, saying Apple’s solution plus those such as Kindle could, “generate enough enthusiasm to advance the transition."

If previous reports are true, Apple intends wooing publishers by offering them a much better deal than Amazon: While the latter firm demands 70 percent of revenues raised through eBooks, Apple wants just 30 percent.

Apple has contracted a new battery supplier, C-Tech, to produce power cells for its iPhones and iPods, the supplier announced today.

The company also makes batteries for HP. It currently produces 500,000 notebook batteries and 2.5 million for handsets and other portable devices every month at its two Chinese plants.

With a view to the rumoured Apple tablet, interesting to reflect: C-Tech hopes to step into the battery pack market for products such as eBook readers and electric vehicles, DigiTimes reports.

Involvement in the Apple ecosystem is powerful good magic for suppliers in the present economic climate, as PC manufacturers hope the WIndows 7 release will generate some interest in their machines, and mobile firms face increasing competition from Cupertino, inclusion in an Apple product can save the day for component suppliers.

Apple’s latest financial filing revealed an extended list of new to the ecoystem suppliers, all of whom hope to benefit from the company’s recession-busting success.

Companies cast asunder from Apple’s supply chain benison frequently ail – take, for example, UK firm Wolfson Microelectronics, which lost its contract with Appple recently and now faces a bleak few months as it builds its business up again.

Stone Design has introduced Twittelator Pro 3.3.1, introducing some new features as well as reinforcing existing ones.

The key new features recently added to Twittelator Pro v3.3.1 include:

– Nearby Tweets of any location
– Option to geocode your tweets with your location
– Change your avatar picture       
– Report as Spammer – blocks and reports the tweeter
– Entire TwitLonger is shown in place by tapping link icon
– Localized to Japanese

The following features will go live at the end of the month, when Twitter switches them on:

– Automatic ReTweeting uses new Twitter RT architecture
– See all your ReTweets (RT’s), RT’s of your Tweets, and RT’s by your friends

Recently featured at the top of the Summer’s Hottest iPhone Apps in an Apple/AT&T full page ad in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today, the client comes from long-time OS X (and previously NeXT) developer, Andrew Stone.

He said: "As the Twitter API evolves, so does Twittelator. Users can geocode their tweets at will, report spammers, or tap and hold any map to find tweets from nearby that location, anywhere in the world. What’s exciting is that Twitter’s new Auto Retweet system is built into this version ready to go when Twitter throws the switch."

Additional features include: multiple accounts, record audio, shoot video, unlimited drafts, offline tweeting, unlimited sub groups of friends, and the ability to upload your photos directly to your own WordPress site when you install the free TweetPress Plug-In, and to claim your own shortened links produced by bit.ly.

This app costs $4.99.

AT&T’s exclusive hold on the iPhone may not last forever, despite Verizon’s launch of the Motorola Droid, yet another product itself being described as some form of Apple product killer (we’ve seen so many pass by before).

Now, Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall expects Apple will reach an iPhone deal with Verizon next year. "While Apple started off with exclusive arrangements in 2007 with the original iPhone launch, the company has since migrated towards multiple carriers per region," the analyst wrote, as reported by MacObserver.

"In our view, diverse carrier support is a key element to driving global penetration of the iPhone. Therefore, we believe the chances are high the iPhone will find its way onto the Verizon network in the second half of 2010."

This follows comment from Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg earlier this week when he said the carrier would be interested in carrying the iPhone, but that, “This is a decision that is exclusively in Apple’s court.”

He also said, “We obviously would be interested at any point in the future they thought it would make sense for them to have us as a partner. And so we will leave it with them on that score.”

We were told last week that Apple is already testing some form of future iPhone-class device on Verizon’s 4G network. “Tests have been taking place for the last couple of months,” the report said.

It looks like Google Music and Myspace-backed Lala.com’s streaming music app might beat Spotify to the US iPhone.  What is Lala?   From TechCrunch:

Lala revolves around the concept of the ‘web song’ — you’re allowed to listen to any song you want totally free exactly once. If you like it, you can then pay 10 cents for the right to stream it as many times as you’d like from then on. This means that you can ‘purchase’ and entire album for around a dollar. You can also use Lala’s Music Mover tool to upload your entire library of MP3s to the cloud free of charge. This is all built on top of a very slick interface, but so far it has come with one downside: because all of the songs are streamed, users didn’t have a way to access them when they weren’t at a computer. Lala’s iPhone app changes that. [it also has a smart caching service that caches the most important/recently added songs.

Interesting concept and a direction which many predicted Apple would head.  It isn’t approved yet and we know anything can happen until then.  Check the video below to see how it works.

Browsing is the #1 thing we do on our smartphones so this is important.  

http://www.viddler.com/simple_on_site/dace7852

Even though the Droid loses, we have to admit: 9.3 centimeters diagonally and 480 by 854 pixels  is a lot of screen area.

While reports tell us the company is now training staff to use iPod touch devices to process orders and payments during the holiday season, fresh reports suggest Apple plans open its first store in France on November 7, as predicted near the location of the world famous Louvre museum in Paris.

The shop – situated at a flagship location – will cover 700 square metres. We first reported Apple’s French national treasure intention in January, and later learned the new shop will extend across two floors, replacing two previous shops, Résonnance and Lalique.

The Louvre location is one of a bevy of new store openings planned as part of Apple’s international retail extension plan. Over half the new shops to open in the current financial year will open outside of the US, the company’s recent financial filing reveals.

The store will be located in the Carrousel du Louvre, prime retail space under the pyramid that dominates Napoleon’s courtyard at the museum’s grand entrance, this location attracts 9 million visitors a year, of which at least 40 percent are tourists.

Apple began this new phase in its international expansion when it opened its all-new store in Aberdeen, Scotland, today.

Image courtesy of MacLife.
 

His voice now reminds us of/makes this seem like an Apple ad…which it sort of is.  Might want to watch this quick, it might not be up for long.

According to some of Macrumors and our own commenters (and as postulated yesterday), the Magic Mouse has begun shipping, thereby meeting Apple’s stated goal of "End of October".  You can of course order one at Amazon and save a buck while helping your friendly neighborhood bloggers.

The mouse itself has gotten good reviews, though many will miss the Exposé buttons from previous Apple mice.  Apple updated its Magic Mouse software yesterday though support for the new mice is built into the upcoming OS 10.6.2 upgrade..

Part of Apple’s 10K released this morning was news that iPhone revenues moved from around 5.68% of Apple’s total sales in 2008 to 18.48% in 2009, a 300% increase.  That translates into a dollar increase from $1.6 billion in 2008 to $6.2 Billion in 2009.

Fortune fired up the old Excel graphing function to create the charts at the right.  Notice the purple iPhone slice of pie is growing at such a fast rate that the other pieces of pie (iPod and Mac) may not be larger in the coming years.

Interestingly, revenues for both Mac and iPod were off slightly even if unit numbers were up on Mac products, most likely due to decreasing margins.

iTunes sales were also up significantly most likely on the strength of the App Store.  Software sales were also up slightly while Peripherl sales were down slightly.

Apple’s stock price is down today 2 points to 193, that’s off 14 points from its all time high from last week.

Google today introduced a new (kind of amazing) Navigation app for Android 2.0.  This application is only avaialble at the moment as a beta for the Droid phone on Verizon but Google is apparently working with Apple on bringing it to the iPhone.

According to CNET it isn’t just the iPhone,

Google isn’t ruling out licensing the software to makers of portable navigation devices used in cars throughout the world, said Gundotra, vice president of engineering at Google for mobile and developers. The process involving Apple is slightly different from the usual App Store submission process, because Maps is a built-in iPhone application, he said.

One has to wonder how valuable a service like this would behave on AT&T’s network.  How will this app react to holes in service?  Will there be any caching of the map (perhaps in the initial routing phase)?

Seems Stephen Fry will get his wish for mobile projection devices for European iPhones on news that display technology developer Microvision has received an initial purchase order from its European distributor for its SHOWWX™ laser-based pico projector to be sold by one of the world’s top mobile phone operators.

The initial quantities of Showwx are expected to be deployed within the next month in Europe and at that time more details are expected to be provided by the carrier.

We suspect this reflects the situation in Europe in which competition between carriers for new iPhone customers will demand better deals at the same price and extended solutions-based approaches to attract new users.

Microvision’s Made for iPod Showwx laser pico projector, based on the PicoP display engine, delivers a colourful, vivid "big screen" viewing experience from a device about the size of a mobile phone.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome our first global mobile phone operator as a SHOWWX launch customer for 2009,” stated Alexander Tokman, Microvision President and CEO.

“Carriers serve as the frontline to mobile subscribers and as a result often influence mobile handset designs to include new features that delight their customers and help achieve a broader subscriber base and higher revenue per user. We believe that interest from one of the three largest carriers in the world in this application and specifically in Microvision’s PicoP laser projection technology is an important first step towards future accessory and embedded opportunities.”

Users of the Showwx can also connect to other portable media players, mobile phones and notebooks to spontaneously share movies, YouTube, photos, presentations and more with their friends, family or business associates.

The Showwx can project images up to 200 inches across, depending on the ambient lighting conditions, without the user ever having to adjust focus.

Apple published its latest 10K financial statement through the SEC late yesterday afternoon, confirming a decline in iPod sales, an apps-driven increase in iTunes revenues, and many more fascinating tidbits from behind Cupertino’s secrecy wall.

The company achieved 54 million iPod sales (down one percent) during its last financial year, accruing $8.091 billion (down 12 percent). As you can see, revenue fell more than unit sales, reflecting lower selling prices, though shored up by the slightly pricier iPod touch devices.

Each iPod sale brought $149 in for Apple, down 11 percent from $167 in 2008 due to lower prices.

iTunes keeps on rolling, with the company confirming “double digit” growth in all regions, boosted, according to the management discussion, by: “Heightened consumer interest in downloading third-party digital content and applications, continued growth in its customer base of iPod and iPhone customers, the expansion of third-party audio and video content available for sale and rent via the iTunes Store, and the continued interest in and growth of the App Store.”

Music-related products and services, which do include Apps and video, bought $4.036 billion into the company’s coffers. That’s up 21 percent ($696 million).

Lots of activity in Apple’s supply line, also, with a host of new suppliers for the company’s expanding product offering and a couple of major payments confirmed to secure strategic component supply.

Apple pre-paid $ 500 million LG Display for LCD displays, that’s in addition to the $500 million it paid Toshiba for flash memory supplies.  That bought the 27-inch iMac’s revolutionary screen.

If you’re concerned Apple may stop innovating, don’t be, R&D spend climbed once again, up 20 percent ($224 million) for a total $1.3 billion. Snow Leopard development apparently cost the company $71 million.

Apple spent $501 million on advertising in 2009, up from $486 million in 2008 and $467 million in 2007. Apple boss Steve Job’s jet plane only cost Apple $4,000 in the financial year, as against $871,000 in ‘08.

Apple Store revenue per store is now $ 25.9 million ($ 29.9 million in 2008), with 16,500 full time equivalent employees. Over half of all stores scheduled to open for business in 2010 will be international.

US sales accounted for 54 percent of Apple’s mix, down from 57 percent in FY08. International sales continue to climb, hitting 46 percent.

Interestingly, there’s 900,678,473 Apple shares out there in the hands of 30,573 shareholders.

Some may be interested to know that $100 invested in company shares in 2004 would now be worth $957, the same cash invested in the Standards and Poors 500 would now be worth, erm, $105.

Apple also names a series of component suppliers and manufacturing vendors whose loss to the Company if they were to encounter financial distress or become insolvent, incur capacity or supply constraints, become unable to obtain credit, or for any other reason could materially adversely affect the Company’s business and financial condition.

These include: 3M Co., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., AKM Semiconductor Inc., Amkor Technology Inc., Analog Devices Inc., Aptina Imaging Corp., ARM Holdings PLC., Atheros Communications Inc., Atmel Corp., AU Optronics Corp., Avago Technologies Ltd.,Broadcom Corp., Cirrus Logic Inc., Corning Inc., Cypress Semiconductor Corp., Dover Corp., Flextronics Inc., Foxconn Technology Co. Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., Imagination Technologies Group PLC., Infineon Technologies AG, Intel Corp., Inventec Appliances Corp., LG Display Co. Ltd., Linear Technology Corp., MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp., Maxim Integrated Products Inc., Mitsumi Electric Co. Ltd., Murata Mfg. Co. Ltd., National Semiconductor Corp., Nichia Corp., NVIDIA Corp., NXP B.V., OmniVision Technologies Inc., Quanta Computer, Inc., Pegatron Corp., Philips Lumileds Lighting Co., Renesas Semiconductor Co. Ltd., RF Micro Devices Inc., ROHM Co. Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Skyworks Solutions Inc., STMicroelectronics NV, Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., Texas Instruments Inc., Toshiba Corp., Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd., and TriQuint Semiconductor Inc.

Expect margins to decline: “The Company expects to experience decreases in its gross margin percentage in future periods, as compared to levels achieved during 2009 and 2008, due largely to the anticipated impact of product transitions, flat or reduced pricing on new and innovative products that have higher cost structures, both expected and potential future cost increases for key components, a stronger U.S. dollar and higher logistical costs.

Thanks to: Setteb.it

The dispute between Apple and Nokia regarding patents claimed by the latter company to have been used without permission within the iPhone seems set to continue for “over a year” analysts say.

In its form 10Q filed last night, Apple responded that it will defend itself against Nokia’s patent lawsuit “vigorously”.

At issue: Nokia claims ownership of ten patented technologies applied within the iPhone, and insists Apple hasn’t paid the relevant royalties for these uses. Patents include those for wireless data transfer, speech coding, security and encryption.

Nokia filed suit against Apple in the United States last week, accusing Apple of hitching a "free ride" on Nokia’s technology investment.

Bill Merritt, the head of mobile licensing firm InterDigital said he’d be surprised if anything gets sorted out quickly in this case, suggesting the patent spat could continue for years.

Analysts estimate Nokia’s demands for compensation range from $200 million to $1 billion. Merritt notes the high selling price of the iPhone would also be considered in assessing how much any royalty payments should be, assuming Nokia prevails in the case.

We like this story – here’s a picture of the Apple tablet – no, not that Apple tablet, but the unreleased tablet that never made the light of day and was internally developed by the company way back c.1990.

We didn’t find this little gem – that honour goes to TechCrunch, but here’s the story:

“The Pen Mac was a fully functional Mac computer (it even played the Mac startup chime) with a pen based touch screen. The screen itself was identical to the Mac Portable, but with the addition of pen touch. And of course the case was a lot smaller than the Mac Portable. The Pen Mac was supposedly not much more than one inch thick. Users could plug in a keyboard and mouse or easier input.”

Seems the man in the picture, Glam CEO Samir Arora, was involved in the product design, but these systems were eventually shelved in favour of the Newton handheld.

Interesting, huh? In the words of a famous song, “History Repeating”.

Though this Pen Mac makes a MacBook look thin (which they are) – see here.