9to5 Staff

Reports are coming in that both iPad 2 and white iPhone 4 will launch in Japan tomorrow, April 27. Even though Apple has yet to make an official announcement regarding the arrival of iPad 2 in Japan, the device will be available for sale beginning Thursday, according to an exclusive report by Nikkei (subscription required) and relayed by CNNGo:

That veritable font of all knowledge, the “Nikkei Shimbun” newspaper, says the shiny lust-bauble will hit Japanese stores in stealth mode, more than a month after the scheduled March 25 launch-date.

And according to a MacRumors report, white iPhone 4 will also launch the same day in Japan, based on the below image listing the April 28 date provided by their reader.

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A reader sent this in. He was apparently able to make iPad-only GarageBand run on an iPhone 4 using a hack that requires a jailbroken device. It involves transferring the GarageBand application with changed metadata to an iPhone 4 via OpenSSH. “Surprisingly, it didn’t crash as much as I expected it to do”, he writes.

It obviously isn’t the perfect solution because as GarageBand for iPad isn’t formatted for a slightly lower iPhone 4 resolution but it works well enough. Check out a couple of screenies after the break.

Thanks, Zecharias!

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Many people have skipped on the opportunity to purchase one of The New York Times subscriptions in order to enjoy unlimited access to articles via smartphones, tablets and the web. I know I haven, but that didn’t stop me from fighting that paywall with a bunch of workaround solutions. Most are clunky, however, like searching for articles on Twitter, and limiting.

As a result, folks generally give up upon hitting the paywall after using up their allotment of twenty articles the newspaper generously gives away each month. But you needn’t despair, for the ultimate hack has been sitting right in front of you all along. Read on…

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It was an update day yesterday for Apple. Having released an updated version of MobileMe Control Panel for Windows that added compatibility with the new MobileMe Calendar backend in Outlook for Windows, Apple also unleashed Snow Leopard Font Update and iPhoto 9.1.2.

The former, available as a standalone installer here, contains fixes for Snow Leopard 10.6.7 that “address issues displaying and printing certain OpenType fonts”, per Apple’s release notes. iPhoto 9.1.2 comes with a new card theme and a bunch of fixes highlighted right after the break.

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Outlook users on Windows who have problems syncing their calendars with the new MobileMe Calendar web app will want to grab an updated MobileMe Control Panel for Windows, released yesterday. Version 1.6.6 of this tool provides compatibility with the new MobileMe calendar back-end in Outlook (Microsoft Outlook 2003,  2007 or 2010 (32-bit)  required for calendar sync). “This update fixes issues and improves reliability for the new MobileMe Calendar in Outlook”, Apple wrote in release notes.

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Apple ended its most recent quarter with nearly $66 billion in cash, increasing its war chest by an astounding $6.1 billion in just three months. Their cash pile is worth more than the combined market capitalization of Nokia, Research In Motion and Motorola Mobility – or half of Google’s enterprise value – explains Asymco’s Horace Dediu:

The funds are big enough to place Apple’s CFO office in the top 100 largest fund managers in the world and larger than any hedge fund manager. If Apple had no revenues, the current cash would sustain operations (SG&A and R&D) for over seven years, or until the middle of 2018.

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The latest survey from a respected research firm has Android as the #1 smartphone platform in the US for the month of March. Nielsen reported this morning that Android tops the charts as the country’s leading smartphone platform with a 27.9 percent market share measured by units, followed by the iOS platform which grabbed 27 percent market share. Research In Motion’s BlackBerry came in third with 22 percent of the market.

Just six months ago iOS led the pack with 27.9 percent of the smartphone market, followed by RIM (27.4 percent) and Android (22.7 percent). Some 31.1 percent respondents planned on buying an Android phone in March versus a 30 percent inclination towards iPhones. That’s also an increase for Android from a 25.5 percent preference and a drop for the iPhone from 32.7 percent, both six months ago. And now, the good news…

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That precious white iPhone 4 which was just a pipedream? As of today, that’s over. If a small Belgian retailer called Van Roey is to be believed, first batch of the mythical device could be shipping to retailers in Europe as we speak. This particular retailer snapped up the above image as a photographic evidence of them having received and stocking the sought-after unit. They are apparently selling both the 16GB and 32GB white iPhone 4 model via their web store and shipping them within the Benelux region.

Anyone from Belgium who can confirm this finding? Meet us in comments.

via Mac Forums and Engadget.

More pictures below:

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TweetDeck, a popular cross-platform Twitter client based on Adobe AIR technology, has received a complete overhaul to address a number of user complaints. The app’s rebuilt from the ground up and packs in a number of new features, including all major Twitter capabilities such as old and new style retweets, favorites, sending updates, direct messages and searching.

TweetDeck’s column-based dashboard is now more flexible as you can create columns consisting of multiple sources like Facebook feeds, Twitter timelines, direct messages and more. Go past the break to learn more about new features.

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YouTube finally goes Hollywood as Google inks deals with big movie studios to let users rent the latest releases the same day as they appear on iTunes. That’s the gist of an exclusive report by The Wrap which cites insiders claiming that Google has managed to cut new content deals with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warn Brothers and Universal.

Others like Fox, Paramount and Walt Disney, of which Steve Jobs is the largest individual shareholder, apparently declined to join the initiative at this stage. The on-demand service will launch “imminently”, the publication noted, as early as this week or next. An industry executive explains:

We think it will start with video on-demand, but broaden to include sell-through over time. We are pretty excited because we are happy to see new entrants come in transactionally rather than a subscription model.

YouTube, which has been operating the YouTube Store since last year, offers rentals for two to four bucks a pop, handling payments via Google Checkout. These price points match iTunes rentals, with the exception of inexpensive 99-cent TV shows on Apple’s service. YouTube’s selection is, however, no match for iTunes and is currently limited to library titles, independent releases and older documentaries.

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Apple’s and Google’s practice of collecting geographical location data on their smartphone users has prompted lawmakers to quiz both companies over the privacy implications. Senator Al Franken and Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan have each summoned Apple and Google to appear before a Senate judiciary hearing on mobile privacy scheduled for May 10. Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan said in a statement:

I want to know whether consumers have been informed of what is being tracked and stored by Apple and Google and whether those tracking and storage features can be disabled.

And here’s from Senator Franken:

Recent advances in mobile technology have allowed Americans to stay connected like never before and put an astonishing number of resources at our fingertips. But the same technology that has given us smartphones, tablets, and cell phones has also allowed these devices to gather extremely sensitive information about users, including detailed records of their daily movements and location. This hearing is the first step in making certain that federal laws protecting consumers’ privacy-particularly when it comes to mobile devices-keep pace with advances in technology.

Other privacy watchdogs will speak at the May 10 hearing, including privacy expert Ashkan Soltani, top brass from the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice and Justin Brookman, Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Project on Consumer Privacy. Meanwhile, CNET has learned that Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 also tracks users’ location and phones home.

Both Democratic Senator Franken and Republican Senator Ed Markey last week issued public letters to Steve Jobs and Google seeking clarification to a number of questions related to the collection of location data on iPhone and Android users without their consent. But things have already gone too far and possible probes from the governments of South Korea, France, Germany and Italy are the least of Apple’s worries. Read on…

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Along with all of the redesigned  Mac Pro and upcoming iMac refresh news we’ve been hearing, MacRumors claims some reliable knowledge pertaining to the design of the upcoming MacBook Pro refresh that will allegedly sport a brand new case:

MacRumors has heard reliable confirmation that the next revision of Apple’s MacBook Pro line will utilize a new case design for the first time in several years.

MR pointed out a February iLounge piece that asserted that 2011 will see the “all new design” described as “a big milestone” for the MacBook Pro family. iLounge reported that this new design was under development at the time at Quanta Computers, a contract manufacturer.

Unfortunately, that’s where the information ends.  MacRumors, like iLounge, has just heard there is going to be a change but nothing more on specifics or timeframe.

we have no specifics on what the next MacBook Pro might look like, though many have previously speculated that Apple will take cues from the MacBook Air line.

The current unibody design that uses a series of machine processing stages to craft the notebook case from a single piece of aluminum is two and a half years old and was reported first by 9to5mac.

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If jailbreaking is your thing, you’ll be delighted to learn about a simple hack that lets you run purchased iPad apps on your iPhone 4. Plus, folks waiting to free their iPhone 4 from the clutches of their carrier can sigh a collective breathe of relief as Dev-team goes live with an updated Ultrasn0w tool that supports iOS 4.3.2 carrier unlock.

Ultrasn0w 1.2.2, which does not include any new baseband support, will unlock your iPhone 4 or 3GS running the latest iOS 4.3.2 firmware, allowing you to take your device to any 3G GSM carrier. It requires a jailbroken device with 06.15.00 baseband so you’ll probably want to use a tethered jailbreak for iOS 4.3.2. Upon downloading and installing the Ultrasn0w 1.2.2 tool from Cydia, you need to reboot your device using the normal “slide to power off” prior to running the unlock (detailed guide).

But how about running iPad apps on your iPhone 4? Read on…

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President Barack Obama salutes as he walks to Marine One following a town hall meeting in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, April 6, 2011. Official White House photo by Pete Souza.

It’s a well-publicized fact that President Obama is the most tech-savvy president this country has ever had. He’s been pictured using a Mac during the campaign and signing iPads left and right. Obama dined recently with Steve Jobs and other tech executives and now we learn he owns an iPad 2. This is official and naysayers can head over to The White House channel on Flickr and check out the official photo themselves.

We couldn’t figure out whether he has a gray polyurethane Smart Cover or a beige leather one. Either way, he’s carrying the device with the cover open, which kinda defeats the Smart Cover purpose in the first place, not to mention national security repercussions if someone photographed the contents of his home screen.

As always, it’s very nice and rewarding seeing the most powerful man on the planet using Apple products. He’s eloquent about it, too. In case you haven’t seen him fielding a question from a Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos about whether or not he had an iPad or his own computer, don’t miss out the video below the fold.

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A reader tipped us that Apple may have cut older versions of iTunes that are compatible with G3 Macs out of the iTunes Store. The iTunes Store used to work fine on iTunes 8.2.1, our tipster writes, but as of recently the store would refuse to open. Even though the jukebox software continues to operate normally on these machines, clicking the iTunes Store in the lefthand column puts up a warning to upgrade to iTunes 10, as seen in the above image. Our tipster explains:

Trying to go to the store’s home page, or searching the store, simply brings this page up again, although the ‘My Account’ page (accessed by clicking your email address in the top right) works fine.

While both iTunes 9 and 10 work on G4-powered Macs, they marked the end of the road for owners of decade old G3 Macs. iTunes 8.2.1, which can still be downloaded from Apple’s site, is the last version that supports G3 processors. “Looks like I’ll be using Amazon MP3 in the near future”, our tipster wrote. Of course, this could also be some kind of a temporary glitch. Is there anyone out there with a G3 Mac and iTunes 8.x who can corroborate this finding?

Thanks, Alex W.!

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Timothy Cook, Apple’s chief of operations and a temporary Steve Jobs replacement, called iPad “the mother of all backlogs” in a recent conference call with Wall Street analysts. He was defending sales of just 4.69 million iPads during fiscal 2011 second quarter, which is below the 6-7 million consensus and the 7.33 million units shipped during the December quarter, even though the new iPad 2 was only on sale during the quarter’s last two weeks. Low iPad numbers are blamed on supply and production issues amid the iPad 2 manufacturing ramp up. How’s Apple going to fix those problems?

According to their 10-Q filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company will spend an astounding $11 billion dollars on components in the March quarter, a notable increase over the $7.9 billion in purchase commitments from the December quarter. What’s Apple going to buy with all that cash?

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As I’m sure you know, the iPhone location harvesting issue kinda blew up last week. The latest development in this ongoing story includes a possible investigation by the South Korea government which suspects that the collection of longitude and latitude data without users’ consent could breach the country’s privacy laws, reports Bloomberg:

The Korea Communications Commission asked Apple how often information is collected and saved, and whether users have a choice over whether it is saved or deleted, the commission said in an e-mailed statement today. Apple must explain why such data is saved on devices and if it’s stored on the company’s servers.

French, German and Italian privacy regulators are also keen to investigate the issue, the publication reported. Nobody knows why exactly iOS is amassing location information, but disabling iOS location services does nothing to stop your iPhone or 3G iPad from tracking your location . Although the researchers who discovered this stress that neither iOS nor iTunes appear to upload this database to Apple’s servers, the issue is threatening to snowball into a privacy nightmare while earning Apple bad press.

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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen isn’t sparing anyone to promote his autobiography, Idea Man. After describing his uneasy business relationship with Bill Gates that at times was on the verge of break up due to high tension, he then praised Apple’s “unbelievable” success and noted Steve Jobs’ hat trick (the iPod, iPhone and iPad).

It didn’t take him long to change his mind, however, and lash out at both Apple and Google. The Silicon Valley billionaire says Jobs is “monomaniacal” – that is, obsessed with a single subject or idea. Allen, 58, the owner of a 414-foot megayacht called Octopus, also says Google’s “don’t be evil” moto is a bunch of you-know-what, reveals a report by The Guardian which cited the original story published by The Sunday Times. Check out the Allen’s comment on Google right after the break.

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With activation of a new line of service, AT&T Wireless offers the refurbished 1st-generation Apple iPad 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G (pictured), model no. MC349LL/A, for $329 with free shipping. (Search for “refurb Apple iPad” , then click “Shop More Products;” it should be towards the bottom of the page.) That’s $150 under our mention from last week and the lowest total price we’ve seen for this model. (It’s a current low by $150.) Sales tax is added where applicable. This 0.5″-thick tablet weighs 1.5 lbs. and features an Apple A4 1GHz processor, 9.7″ 1024×768 LCD touchscreen display, 802.11a/n wireless, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, accelerometer, compass, up to 10 hours of battery life, and more. A 90-day warranty applies, although it’s unclear who supports it.

Also available is the refurbished 1st-generation Apple iPad 32GB Wi-Fi + 3G, model no. MC496LL/A, for $429 with free shipping, a price low by $130.

Good Technology, a company behind a BlackBerry-like enterprise messaging server, is out with their latest data report on mobile devices in the workplace, gathered from thousands of customers, including 40 of the Fortune 100. The full report (available here) shows the explosion of iPads, iPhones and Android handsets in the workplace in the period between December 2010 through March 2011.

John Herrema, senior vice president of corporate strategy with Good Technology, said in a statement that the arrival of Verizon iPhone and release of iPad 2 helped Apple make strong enterprise gains. There’s also that cheap iPhone, he added:

AT&T’s price drop on the iPhone 3GS to $49 also had a strong impact on overall iPhone activations.

While noting Android Android activations “will overtake iOS” in the course of 2011, Herrema noted that Apple’s gadgets were killing in the first among Good’s enterprise customers and their end users. More interesting findings and nice charts below the fold.

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Contradicting yesterday’s report by Reuters that Apple’s cloud music service is a go – but without the necessary support from record labels – Peter Kafka reported today on the Wall Street Journal’s MediaMemo blog that at least two out of four major record labels have signed on the dotted line. The rumored service will let you keep your music in the cloud and stream it to any authorized device.

A source told the author that iTunes boss Eddy Cue, who appeared alongside Rupert Murdoch at The Daily introduction last February, is said to be on a tour today in New York in order to seal the remaining deals. Take it from an industry executive:

They’ve been very aggressive and thoughtful about it. It feels like they want to go pretty soon.

The story contradicts all the previous reports which implied Apple couldn’t come to terms with labels over the royalties. A previous piece by The Music Void speculated Apple would slap a $20 a year price tag on the locker service. Read on…

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