United States

[Editors note: Big Nerd Ranch has sponsored two posts on 9to5mac allowing readers to go to Nerd Camp for free – previous post]

Hello one final time, 9to5Mac readers.

Greetings from the environs of greater Atlanta. I’m writing to you from the airport following an altogether enjoyable week at Big Nerd Ranch. My previous two entries to you offered a glimpse of the overall experience of iOS Bootcamp at Big Nerd Ranch, along with a look at how the class sessions can fulfill the promise of a well-rounded education in iOS. For my final report to you, I’d like to say something about the people and social experience of iOS Bootcamp.
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This photo hit the White house Flickr feed earlier today and we can’t help but wonder what they are looking at.  According to the description, it is an App.  Angry Birds?  iFart?

Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama look at an app on an iPhone in the Outer Oval Office, Saturday, July 16, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Help us out?
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About a month and a half ago, one of our Apple Store sources told us that some Verizon techs had visited that day and upgraded the in-store cell equipment to LTE.  At the time, LTE iPhones seemed like a distant possibility for upcoming iPhones and a Verizon source told us that upgrades to cell boxes were happening somewhat arbitrarily all over the country.  Tim Cook, in a conference call earlier this year, made it sound like LTE was going to have to wait until later builds.

Tim Cook said that these early generation LTE chips would require too many compromises in design.

But yesterday things changed when a report detailled the LTE (specifically Verizon in this case) strings that were pulled from a carrier version of iOS OTA updates.  Could the changing of the iPhone release schedule be timed to allow Apple to get the most modern LTE chips in iPhones aas well as give the networks time to mature?

Fast forward to this today, where Engadget says AT&T is also upgrading its on-premise Apple Store Cells to LTE.

Sure, but it possible that AT&T is just building up its nationwide infrastructure ahead of its LTE rollout, which today it announced (below) was going to start in 5 cities next month and…

By the end of 2011, AT&T plans to offer 4G LTE to customers in at least 15 markets, covering 70 million Americans.

Realistically, does that sound like the type of  mainstream network Apple will aim its iPhone 5 towards?
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A year and a half after the whole “Gizmodo buys a lost iPhone 4” case, the San Mateo District attorney levied a decision in the matter.

The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office has filed misdemeanor charges against two individuals for the misappropriation of an iPhone 4 prototype that was lost by an Apple employee and subsequently recovered in a Redwood City establishment by the defendants on March 25, 2010. Brian Hogan, 22, of Redwood City was charged with one count of misappropriation of lost property, and Sage Wallower, 28, of Emeryville, was charged with misappropriation of lost property, and possession of stolen property. Their arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 9:00 in Redwood City. After a consideration of all of the evidence, it was determined that no charges would be filed against employees of Gizmodo.

Interesting that they use the terms “misappropriation of lost property”. Perhaps the statements about “stolen” were premature and inappropriate.

Gawker/Gizmodo had this to say:

We are pleased that the District Attorney of San Mateo County, Steven Wagstaffe, has decided, upon review of all of the evidence, that no crime was committed by the Gizmodo team in relation to its reporting on the iPhone 4 prototype last year. While we have always believed that we were acting fully within the law, it has inevitably been stressful for the editor concerned, Jason Chen, and we are glad that we can finally put this matter behind us.

We’re interested to hear what Apple has to say on the matter and of course have reached out.

The penalties for violating CA Penal Code 485 PC are defined as up to a year in county jail and a $1,000 fine.

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MacRumors posts some “iPhone 5 renderings” they commissioned from CiccareseDesign to create high quality drawings made as closely as possible to the original leaked case designs we’ve posted on a few..different..occasions.

The final dimensions of the new design are calculated to be: 4.33″ x 2.36″ and .27″ thickness at the top and .21″ at the bottom In comparison, the iPhone 4 dimensions are: 4.5″ x 2.31″ x .37″. So the new design is actually shorter than the existing iPhone 4, but slightly wider and thinner.

They do bear a striking resemblance to the ones the Verge posted in April:

Full Gallery below:

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Bloomberg points at an RBC Daily story which claims that Apple could begin selling iPhone 5 in Russia this November, “almost immediately” after sales begin in the US. The Russian newspaper’s story is sourced from unnamed handset retailers. Bloomberg notes:

Russian cellphone operators are in talks with Apple about speeding up deliveries, as previous iPhone versions were introduced in Russia much later than in the U.S., causing a large volume of unauthorized sales, the newspaper said.

So, the Russians likely won’t be getting their hands on iPhone 5 the same day as their American counterparts. On a brighter note, it took the country three months last time to get iPhone 4 so this would be an improvement (Hope Russian President gets his iPhone unlocked this time) It is interesting that Apple is allegedly prepping to open its first Russian store inside the trade gallery of the reconstructed Hotel Moskva, near Kremlin, in late 2011.

A coincidence?

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Get out your jailbreaker baseball cards and see if you can match some of the guys above. @Jaywalker9988  via iJailbreak
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iPhone 5 knockoff

John Packowski writes for The Wall Street Journal’s blog AllThingsD that, alas, iPhone 5 will be launching in October, not in September as the rumor mill has been buzzing over the past few weeks. This information apparently comes from an unnamed source close to Apple. The blog has been right about many things Apple in the past so it’s worth mentioning here:

So those rumors claiming the iPhone 5 will debut in late September? They’re wrong. Instead, it’s going to be an October surprise — the month in which Apple will be launching its next generation iPhone.

We received solid information last month that AT&T was making big changes to its insurance policy related to iPhones in the first week of October.  Additionally, we broke the news that AT&T was introducing a new throttling policy as of October 1st as well.  The writing appears to be on the wall.  But AllThingsD think it will be a late October surprise:

So when can we expect the company to uncrate the iPhone 5? “October,” the source said, while declining to offer a hard-launch date. Other sources said it will be later in the month, rather than earlier.

Others have reported that AT&T has blacked out employee vacations in the September’s last two weeks, which is usually a sign of a major product launch which may or may not be related to a new phone from Apple. This unconfirmed piece of the puzzle was apparently provided to Gizmodo by an AT&T employee this past Friday who noted that “historically the only time they’ve done this was for an iPhone release”, adding that “we’re looking at the last two weeks of September”.  BGR said that it was the first two weeks of September.  Not so says AllThingsD:

“I don’t know why AT&T’s calling for all hands on deck those weeks, but it’s not for an iPhone launch,” a source familiar with Apple’s plans said.

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Although it seems likely that Apple will soon discontinue its legacy iPhone 3GS, some reports have said that Apple will retain the device as its cost-effective pre-paid option. Others, including us, have reported that Apple is preparing two next-generation iPhones for this fall: one as the successor to the iPhone 4 and one as a cheaper, possibly pre-paid model.

According to several sources in different countries, stock of Apple’s iPhone 3GS is quickly tightening with hardly – or even any – shipments coming through to certain regions. In addition, according to a source at one popular international carrier, the iPhone 3GS has disappeared from the stock database.

We have heard from reliable sources at a major European iPhone carrier that stock of the iPhone 3GS is unusually low, with little stock coming through for the next few weeks. An accurate source at a major U.S. based iPhone reseller also reported to us that stock of the iPhone 3GS is significantly lower than usual. In addition, this source says, similarly to what our European carriers sources reported, that no iPhone 3GS shipments are coming through to several districts in the United States. On top of all of this, an accurate source with a hand in Apple’s global channel shipping operations reports that shipments of the 3GS are rapidly decreasing with a little amount of units remaining in the channel.

Apple gradually tightens its shipments and production of products ahead of its upgrade or discontinuation. This minimizes already-replaced product inventory from the company’s product lineup (which Apple often just moves to “refurbished”). This iPhone 3GS situation is a prime example of this process.

It is also possible that Apple is preparing an upgrade to the iPhone 3GS. Perhaps they will bump the screen or change something internally (A4?). It is also entirely possible that Apple is decreasing iPhone 3GS supplies in anticipation of more people buying the next-generation iPhone.

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Shares of the Taiwanese Android phone maker HTC fell 6.5 percent this morning following the ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC) that the company violated two patents held by Apple. The company’s shares had been pretty much in a free-fall throughout last week as well. The agency’s commissioners still have to support the ruling, but investors are already panicking over fears that the ruling will favor Apple. This, in turn, would open doors to ITC’s ban on imports of HTC’s phones into the United States. In response to the crisis, HTC announced a share buy back program worth up to $760 million in an attempt to stabilize its share price and restore investor confidence, reports Financial Times:

The attempt to prop up HTC’s share price appeared to have little effect as the stock fell below HTC’s minimum purchase price of T$900 to close down 3.9 per cent at T$871. The sell-off highlights investor fears that the legal battle could have wider implications for the competitive balance between Apple and Google Android-based phonemakers like HTC, Samsung and Motorola.

HTC is thought to have recently acquired S3 Graphics for $300 million in a bid to secure a stronger ground in its legal dealings with Apple, which filed its patent infringement complaint against the Taiwanese company back in March 2010. That’s not all HTC’s been doing lately in order to buy its way out of this mess…

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CNET reports that the International Trade Commission has officially ruled that phone maker HTC has violated two of Apple’s patents related to iPhone technologies. This blow to HTC opens the door to a potential ban on imports of HTC products into the United States. Apple initially filed 10 patent violations against HTC, but increased that amount by five earlier this week. HTC obviously does not agree with the ITC ruling and provided the following statement:

HTC will vigorously fight these two remaining patents through an appeal before the ITC commissioners who make the final decision,” said Grace Lei, general counsel for HTC. “This is only one step of many in these legal proceedings.

As we know, Apple and Samsung (and Motorola too) are currently in a similar situation with Apple claiming multiple patent violations against the company. The twist in the Apple and Samsung case is that Samsung is counter-suing by claiming that Apple is violating Samsung’s patents.

There are only a few possibile endings if Apple wins HTC case. Either the two companies settle (with Apple taking home some more of HTC’s money – Microsoft already takes $5/phone and Oracle is looking for some more) or HTC stops selling Android devices. In all likelihood, if the ITC does not agree with HTC’s appeal, the two technology heavy weights will work out some settlement.  Cha Ching!

More on the patents below:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvYX_P_c__8]
While we’re still waiting on our invitation, the Spotify app is now live in the App Store.

Update: We’re in!

Go check it out.  Full press release below:
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We just got word that Spotify will launch tomorrow in the US (as reported last week).  Perhaps something nice to put on your new Mac?

New York, July 13, 2011 – Spotfy, the award-winning digital music service loved by millions of Europeans, will become available tomorrow morning in the United States by invitation and subscription. Spotify is a new way to listen to and manage your music, discover new tracks and share songs and playlists with friends – music whenever you want it, wherever you are.

Be one of the first people in the U.S. to experience Spotify by signing up at www.spotify.com.

Spotify will announce more details at 8:00 AM EST.

You’ll want to hit this link at some point in the morning.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAYLSfeE0wI]

SupermanofSteel reports that as part of their new refresh of their lineups called “52”, DC will do “Day and Date digital” which means the same day that comics are available in the store, they will be on the iPad.  Double good news for digital comics fans.
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image via BGR

As AT&T tries to swallow up the American wing of the German telekom, many have wondered whether Apple would allow T-Mobile to carry the iPhone.  Apple’s answer so far is a no*, but that hasn’t stopped T-Mobile customers from adopting iPhones.  In huge numbers.

In a meeting with T-Mobile spokespeople today ahead of the NYC Pepcom event, I received word that there are actively over a million Apple iPhones currently on T-Mobile’s network.  When asked for a breakdown, the spokesman said the majority were pre-iPhone 4 but that a significant amount of people had “taken the scissors” to their T-Mobile SIM cards.  T-Mobile doesn’t currently offer a Micro-SIM solution for Apple’s iPhone 4 so people who want to use the iPhone 4 must modify their SIMs into MicroSIMs.  Those using iPhone 4s also won’t receive T-Mobile’s 3G or 4G data speeds because of the radio differences between the networks.

*Apple started selling unlocked iPhone 4s in the US for the first time earlier this month.

When asked to elaborate further on Micro-SIMs, the spokesman told me they are in the works but there was no time frame for release.  Why not wait until the deal with AT&T is over to make MicroSIMs?  Perhaps we’ll have a little surprise come September.

When asked specifically about the possibility of a T-Mobile USA iPhone, T-Mobile said they have nothing to announce at this time.
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According to ABCNews (via Fortune) Simon and Shuster will be publishing the Walter Isaacson Authorized Biography of Steve Jobs in early 2012. The title is a curious: iSteve: The Book of Jobs

The Jobs book will be his fourth major biography. In addition to Kissinger: A Biography (1992) he has written Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003) and Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007). His most recent book is American Sketches: Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers, and Heroes of a Hurricane (2009).

The Jobs book was announced in February of last year but now it has a title and release date.  Fortune has a great profile on Isaacson who has a long history of convincing notable people to tell them their story.

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Good ol’ AT&T has got their PR machine in high gear today.  CEO Randall Stephenson told Businessweek that the T-Mobile deal would instantly bring more bandwidth to users in constrained cities:

“This transaction is very instrumental” in improving network service, said Stephenson at the event. “Virtually on the day you close the deal, getting a 30 percent lift in capacity in New York City: that’s a significant improvement in call quality and data throughput.”

Other things that would have helped: Adding capacity at the same rate you were adding customers.

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The New York Times made the announcement today that marks the end of free news on their website. From now on, you will be able to access up to twenty online articles per month free of charge. Reading the news on your smartphone will set you back fifteen bucks a month and five more bucks if you’re accessing their content from a tablet. They also offer a combined $35 per month plan that buys you full access to the New York Times website via the web, as well as smartphone and tablet apps.

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COMPUTERWORLD: Smart investors are paying attention to Apple’s [AAPL] rapidly expanding iOS value chain, taking strategic holdings in Apple’s component supply partners, and this last few days has seen markets whisper one name, Skyworks Solutions [SWKS] — will that company drive LTE support to iPhone and iPad 2.0?

Read more

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been named 2010’s ‘Person of the Year’ even while US President, Barack Obama, speaks up for the wealth of the Apple co-founder.

The Financial Times named Jobs its person of the year, saying the introduction of the iPad marked the moment when the ‘rebound’ in Apple’s fortunes “was complete”.

The iPad is the culmination of an approach that he has seemingly been perfecting for his entire career,” stated the newspaper’s opinion writers.
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Apple has lost one of its leading iTunes execs to UK major, EMI, which has announced that Alex Luke – content lead for Apple’s iTunes – has been appointed to a senior A&R position at EMI Music’s Capitol & Virgin Label Group.

During his seven years at iTunes, Luke has been responsible for the digital platform’s music programming, music content acquisition, and artist and industry relationships.
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