MacRumors

Apple today released its annual "12 Days of Gifts" app for iOS devices, setting the stage for the actual giveaway of free content from the company's various digital stores from December 26 through January 6. Apple has offered the giveaway for several years in Europe, Canada, and several other countries, and in 2013 U.S. customers will have access for the first time.

From 26 December – 6 January, you can download a gift each day—songs, apps, books, movies, and more—with the 12 Days of Gifts app. Each day's gift will only be available for 24 hours, so download the free app to make sure you don’t miss out. Please note: Not all content is available in all countries.

12 Days of Gifts is a universal app available for free in the App Store. [Direct Link]

Over the past several years, Apple has removed, denied, or otherwise prevented a number of Bitcoin-related apps from being available to users on the App Store. Most recently, the company required the developers behind Gliph -- a secure messaging app that also allowed users to transfer bitcoin from one Gliph user to another -- to remove the bitcoin sending feature from its app.

The company has told a number of developers behind Bitcoin-related apps that their apps contain content -- or facilitate, enable, or encourage an activity -- "that is not legal in all the locations in which the app is available, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines."

Bitcoin is a virtual currency, not issued by any government, that can be transferred electronically from one wallet -- basically a special computer file -- to another. The value of the currency is incredibly volatile, with its USD exchange rate going from under $400 to more than $1200 in the past month. At one point, the price of a single bitcoin moved from $1155 to $576 in a few hours. Bitcoins are currently available for around $900 on the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange.

The concept of a private, virtual currency is a foreign one for governments that can have difficulty staying in the same decade as quickly emerging technologies. Both domestic and international governments are struggling with the currency and how to regulate it. China has banned financial institutions from handling bitcoin transactions, though person-to-person transactions are still allowed.

The U.S. Government has taken a slightly more positive view of bitcoin, however. The U.S. Department of Justice said in a Senate hearing that bitcoins can be "legal means of exchange" and that bitcoin is not "in and of [itself], illegal".

Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said in a research report that bitcoin could eventually become a "major means of payment for commerce" and a "serious competitor to traditional money transfer providers". However, federal anti-money laundering and terrorism financing statutes would appear to conflict with the fast-paced development that has pushed bitcoin growth thus far.

While bitcoin use and ownership is not de jure illegal, it nonetheless exists in a legal gray area that could potentially affect users at some point. Gliph, the app mentioned earlier, did not even transfer bitcoin directly. Instead, it used API calls to attach a bitcoin wallet from a third-party company to the app. This allowed Gliph users to transfer bitcoin to one another, similar to how an app developer might use PayPal's API to facilitate checkout and credit card payments in their apps. However, this is the functionality that Apple had the developers remove before it would allow Gliph back on the App Store.

For the most part, Apple has declined to explain how a bitcoin-transferring or -trading app could be approved, nor in what countries the bitcoin functionality might not be allowed. It merely refers to section 22.1 of the App Store review guidelines which states that it is the "developer's obligation to understand and conform to all local laws". The company appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach, both protecting itself and -- perhaps more importantly to the company -- protecting its users. An Apple spokesperson did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

The Gliph blog has one possible theory for Apple's apparent disinclination towards Bitcoin apps:

Among other possible reasons, we wonder if Apple simply doesn’t want to police useful Bitcoin apps in the App Store because they perceive the legal ambiguity of the currency as more trouble than it is worth. Bitcoin is still in an early-adopter phase and probably the majority of Apple’s customers are unaware the currency exists and not looking for these types of apps anyway. Better to avoid this type of software for now, and take the option to change their mind in the future.

Earlier this year, Apple removed the app for the bitcoin buying and trading platform Coinbase from its store. The story is similar for Blockchain.info, Bitpak, and Bitcoin Express -- all Bitcoin-related apps that were either removed or rejected from the App Store. The Gliph blog has more details on the various apps. Most of them received rejection language similar to section 22.1.

There are still Bitcoin-related apps on the App Store, however most do not provide the ability to purchase, sell or transfer bitcoins. As a result, some exchanges -- including Mt. Gox, one of the largest -- have instead chosen to develop mobile websites for wallet-holders rather than dedicated apps. Google has taken a more hands-off approach, largely allowing Bitcoin apps to remain on its Google Play store.

As bitcoin becomes more widely accepted -- and regulated -- by Governments and large financial institutions alike Apple may become more accepting, but in the meantime, the company seems to have made its position clear.

Gliph is a free download on the App Store, however its bitcoin functionality is limited to viewing bitcoin wallets, with no transfer capabilities. Its secure messaging and cloaked email capabilities remain intact. [Direct Link]

Apple's former SVP of iOS software Scott Forstall has largely remained out of the spotlight since officially leaving Apple at the beginning of the year, but Amir Efrati from new technology site The Information has some news on what Forstall been up to.

According to Efrati, as relayed by Business Insider, Forstall has spent his time advising startups and becoming involved in philanthropical causes focused on education, poverty, and human rights. He also reportedly spent time traveling to various countries like Italy and South Africa, but it is unclear what his next move might entail.

As for what's next, Efrati doesn't have any news, but he says VC firms like Kleiner Perkins and Andreessen Horowitz have stayed in touch, but Apple employees think Forstall's next move will be starting his own company.

Scott Forstall was a key player at Apple until late 2012, when he was ousted following Apple's iOS 6 maps debacle. Forstall originally joined Apple from Steve Jobs' company NeXT, and became famous for designing the Mac's Aqua user interface and later for leading the development of iOS and introducing many of its skeuomorphic elements.

Forstall officially resigned as the SVP of iOS software in October of 2012, reportedly staying on as an advisor to Tim Cook until 2013. Following Forstall's departure, Jony Ive, Bobs Mansfield, Eddy Cue, and Craig Federighi took on additional responsibilities to make up for the loss of Forstall.

Jony Ive now leads Apple's Human Interface teams, while Eddy Cue has taken over Siri and Maps and Craig Federighi leads the both iOS and OS X teams. In May, Tim Cook called the management shakeup "an incredible change" that has gone a long way towards increasing collaboration.

Apple has recently expanded iTunes Match availability to several Nordic countries, according to both reports on Twitter and tip from a MacRumors reader.

iTunes users in Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden now have access to the service, which has a yearly price of 249 kr in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway and €24.99 in Finland. In comparison, iTunes Match is $24.99 in the United States and £21.99 in the U.K.

First introduced in late 2011, iTunes Match allows iTunes users to match their existing iTunes libraries with high quality versions of songs from Apple's iCloud. After matching, content is available in iCloud and can be accessed from any device.

Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have also gained access to purchased music in iTunes in the Cloud, allowing previously acquired music to be downloaded on all devices.

With the introduction of iTunes Match and iTunes in the Cloud for music to additional countries today, only a few countries where Apple sells music are lacking iTunes Match or iTunes in the Cloud functionality. In Romania, Apple sells music but does not offer iTunes in the Cloud or iTunes Match, while customers in Japan can purchase music and download it via iTunes in the Cloud but cannot access iTunes Match.

All other countries where Apple sells music via iTunes now have access to both iTunes in the Cloud for music and iTunes Match. Subscribers in countries where iTunes Match is available can sign up for the service within iTunes. [Direct Link]

Update: Apple has also expanded iTunes in the Cloud support in Bulgaria and Portugal to include movies.

Apple today announced that it will be participating in the "Hour of Code" initiative this Wednesday by offering free workshops in its U.S. stores introducing students to computer programming. Apple is setting aside the 5:00-6:00 PM hour at all of its retail stores for its workshops, and reservations are required.

The broader initiative is sponsored by the non-profit Code.org with the backing of a wide variety of political, corporate, and personal supporters. The goal of the campaign is to introduce 10 million students to computer programming, with the ultimate goal of every student learning a basic level of programming.

Learn about the campaign to get students involved in a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anyone can learn the basics of programming. Visit code.org or attend a special Hour of Code workshop at any U.S. Apple Retail Store on December 11, 5 p.m.

Steve Jobs makes a brief appearance at the 1:47 mark of the promotional video for the event, by way of a 1995 clip from "Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview".

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster today issued a new research report claiming that supplies of the iPhone 5s in Apple's U.S. retail stores have reached "100% availability", showing that his survey of 60 locations revealed full availability of all color/capacity/carrier combinations.

Based on our own check of 120 stores, supplies are just slightly short of 100%, as we were able to find several locations lacking stock of a few combinations. The most frequently out of stock models were T-Mobile devices, which still posted 98.6% availability according to our survey. AT&T and Verizon each saw only two specific model/location combinations out of stock for 99.8% availability, while we found all Sprint models in stock at all surveyed stores.

Late last week, shipping estimates for the iPhone 5s on Apple's online stores improved to 1-3 business days, further signifying that Apple has essentially reached a balance of supply and demand. Only unlocked SIM-free models remain somewhat constrained following their appearance in the U.S. late last month, with new orders being quoted shipping estimates of 5-7 business days.

China Mobile has stated that it will begin taking preorders for the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c this coming Thursday, December 12 on its website and at some of its locations in Shanghai, reports The Wall Street Journal. The move was revealed through a screenshot of a section on the company's website that invited customers to pre-order the iPhone 5s and other smartphones with a "4G is here" slogan, with the information being followed up by a customer service representative.

“Customers can begin to preorder for our new 4G services from Dec. 12 through the company’s website and some dedicated branches in Shanghai. But we will only start providing commercial 4G services after Dec. 18,” the customer services operator said.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal also reported that Apple and China Mobile finally reached a deal that would allow the iPhone to be sold on the world's biggest mobile carrier, with a China Mobile spokesperson later telling Reuters that the two companies were still “negotiating“. Apple and China Mobile have been in talks for several years, and CEO Tim Cook traveled to China to meet with China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua back in July where the two made headway on a potential deal.

News of a finalized deal has been expected since September, as the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c were the first iPhones supporting China Mobile's TD-LTE standard. Apple also received the final license it needed to operate on China Mobile’s wireless standard back in September following the launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.

Apple, along with seven other U.S. technology companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, and Google, have published an open letter urging President Barack Obama and members of Congress to reform government surveillance tactics, reports The Wall Street Journal. The letter, which can be found on a website endorsed by the tech companies, will also appear in full-page ads in the Monday editions of several publications such as The New York Times and the Washington Post.

Dear Mr. President and Members of Congress,

We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer’s revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide. The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual — rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It’s time for a change.

For our part, we are focused on keeping user’s data secure — deploying the latest encryption technology to prevent unauthorized surveillance on our networks and by pushing back on government requests to ensure that they are legal and reasonable in scope.

We urge the US to take the lead and make reforms that ensure that government surveillance efforts are clearly restricted by law, proportionate to the risks, transparent and subject to independent oversight. To see the full set of principles we support, visit ReformGovernmentSurveillance.com

Sincerely,

AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo

The various tech companies have also published a set of principles that they believe governments should follow, including the limitation of government authority to collect users' information, oversight and accountability, transparency about demands, respect for the free flow of information, and the avoidance of conflicts among governments.

Concerns about government use of user data collecting began ramping up in June, when a U.S. government program named PRISM was revealed to be giving the U.S. National Security Agency direct access to user data on corporate servers across a wide spectrum of Internet companies including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple.

In response, Apple published a statement of "Commitment to Customer Privacy" denying its participation in the NSA's program and teamed up with a number of tech companies to request greater NSA surveillance transparency, allowing it to provide customers with regular reports on security related requests. Last month, Apple also published a report outlining statistics on government and law enforcement requests it received from January to the end of June.

Apple and other companies also met with President Obama in August to discuss privacy issues and government surveillance. Recently, Apple and 30 other technology corporations signed a letter urging the U.S. Congress to pass the Surveillance Order Reporting Act of 2013 and the Surveillance Transparency Act of 2013, which would result in increased surveillance disclosures and would give technology companies the right to publish detailed statistics on demands for user data.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the comment thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All MacRumors forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple's U.S. App Store has reached one million live apps, according to data from app discovery platform Appsfire. Our own app discovery site AppShopper lists the same one million milestone, with a total of 1,006,557 apps available for download at the time of writing.

While Apple noted that it had a million apps in its worldwide catalog back in October, this marks the first time that various app platforms have seen the U.S. numbers climb above one million.

Apple has approved a total of approximately 1,439,451 apps since the App Store opened in 2008 and over the course of the year, has been creeping towards the million milestone. Of the 1 million apps available for download, more than half a million are available for Apple's iPad, and over 900,000 are available for the iPhone. The company has now paid out more than $13 billion to App Store developers.

In May of 2013, Apple hit 50 billion worldwide app downloads, which it celebrated with a promotion for a $10,000 gift card for the person who downloaded the 50 billionth app. Currently, those numbers have climbed to 60 billion downloads, putting Apple well on its way towards its 100 billion download milestone.

Apple has removed all product placements on its homepage tonight and has instead replaced them with an image of Nelson Mandela, honoring the late South African president's life a day after he passed at the age of 95.

Apple executives had previously commented on Mandela's death on Twitter, with SVP Phil Schiller tweeting a quote from Mandela. CEO Tim Cook also tweeted a quote, but offered thoughts on the passing of Mandela as well:

Amazing human being. Champion of freedom and human dignity. He set an example for all of the world. RIP Nelson Mandela. We miss you already.

This is one of the few times Apple has honored someone's life on its homepage, with the others being people such as Rosa Parks, board member Jerry York and Steve Jobs.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

In its European Apple Online Stores, Apple has begun offering a 32-inch Sharp "4K" Ultra HD LED monitor. Retailing for £3,499.00 or approximately $5,700, the monitor has been available in the U.K. and other European countries since on or before November 30.

The 32-inch IGZO display, which has a resolution of 3840 x 2160, is not available in the United States and it is not clear why Apple has decided to offer it solely in Europe for the time being.

With its 32-inch class (31.5-inch diagonal) screen size, 3840 x 2160 high definition resolution and energy efficient edge-lit LED backlight, the Sharp PN-K321 monitor is ideal for professional applications where it's essential to view detailed information displayed with precision. This super-high resolution display allows you to view the content of four full HD screens on a single seamless display. It also features IGZO* technology, which supports increased pixel transparency and reduced current leakage, thereby making the monitor more energy efficient.

Sharp's LED display offers a 1.07 billion color palette, an 800:1 contrast ratio, and 350cd/m2 brightness. While it does come with DisplayPort support, it does not come with a Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter and will require users to purchase a third party adapter.

The appearance of the Sharp display in Apple's Online Store comes amid rumors that Apple is preparing its own 4K displays. Earlier this month, new display panels with DisplayPort appeared from AUO, sparking speculation that they could be used by Apple for a future 4K Thunderbolt display.

Dell debuted its own 4K Ultra HD displays earlier this week, offering a 32-inch model for $3,499, and a 24-inch model for $1,399. Dell also has a sub-$1000 28-inch model in the works for 2014, and as Apple and Dell have historically used the same panel supplier, Dell's offerings may provide an early look at what to expect when Apple does release its 4K displays.

Apple's recently refreshed Retina MacBook Pros are able to support a single 4K monitor and the upcoming Mac Pro is able to support up to three 4K displays. The Mac Pro may be on or near December 16, according to a German retailer that began taking pre-orders ahead of the product's launch, but it remains unclear when Apple might debut an updated Thunderbolt Display.

Update: Apple has removed the Sharp display from its online stores.

The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c have only been out for a few months, but attention is already turning to Apple's plans for the next generation of iPhone, likely to appear in late 2014. Rumors have indicated that a larger, perhaps curved, display may be one of the key features of the next iPhone, which is generally being referred to as the "iPhone 6" by the rumor community.

Rumors about the iPhone 6 and a potential successor to the iPhone 5c will undoubtedly escalate in the coming months, so MacRumors has put together a new iPhone 6 roundup to help readers stay on top of the latest reports.

As with our other roundups, the goal of our iPhone 6 roundup is to simply answer the question of "What are you expecting" for Apple's next iPhone at any given time. That opinion is certain to change over time as new rumors are revealed, and our roundup will be updated regularly to reflect the latest rumors.

All of our roundups continue to be accessible through a dedicated index page showing a full list of our available roundups ordered by most recently updated, as well as directly through the "Roundups" tab in the navigation bar on all MacRumors pages.

Following the second victory in its long-running patent lawsuit with Samsung, Apple has filed a motion asking the judge to order Samsung to pay nearly $16 million in legal fees (via Dan Levine).

Apple says that its lawsuit with Samsung is "an exceptional case" and that there was overwhelming evidence that "Samsung deliberately copied every aspect of Apple's revolutionary iPhone product". After juries awarded Apple $930 million in damages, the company argues that it "should not be forced to bear the full expense of prosecuting its claims".

In its filing, Apple says it expects to pay more than $60 million to Morrison & Foerster, its outside counsel, over the course of the case through the end of the retrial. However, that $60 million calculation, and Apple's motion request, are calculated only for "timekeepers who billed more than $100,000 for work on Apple's claims against Samsung". Further, Apple is only requesting reimbursement for one-third of its calculated billings, or $16 million.

By seeking only one-third of its fees from timekeepers who billed more than $100,000, Apple ensures that it is not recovering fees for its unsuccessful claims concerning the unregistered combination iPhone trade dress or for tablet design. First, the only differences between the unregistered iPhone 3G trade dress on which Apple did prevail and the combination iPhone trade dress is that the latter lacks two of the iPhone 3G trade dress elements (a metallic bezel around the flat clear surface and a row of small dots on the display screen) and also covers “neutral (black or white) borders” rather than the black borders covered by the 3G trade dress. Thus, the same work would have been required to address the iPhone 3G trade dress even if the combination trade dress had not been at issue. The only possible additional work required by having the combination trade dress in the case was whatever might have been required to address "neutral (black or white) borders" in addition to "black borders." Apple’s request for only one-third of fees from timekeepers who billed more than $100,000 ensures that any such minimal fees are not included in its request.

A rumor from the beginning of 2012 suggested that Apple had spent in excess of $100 million in legal fees in its first set of claims against HTC. With Apple holding nearly $150 billion in cash, and with so much at stake, even these incredibly large billings are unlikely to slow the flurry of international patent lawsuits.

Separately, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a lawsuit to determine what kinds of software are eligible for patent protection. Oral arguments in the case, Alice Corporation v. CLS Bank should be heard in March with a ruling expected by the end of June.

Earlier today, Apple launched its "iBeacon" initiative in its U.S. retail stores, allowing users of the company's iPhone app to opt in to receiving location-specific notifications and access to other information while browsing in the stores.

Following the announcement of the new system, ISI analyst Brian Marshall headed over to Apple's Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan for a first-hand look, and he came away with a "mixed-to-slightly negative" impression, failing to meet his expectations.

While the system conveniently notified Marshall while he was browsing accessories that he could use the EasyPay self-checkout feature of the iPhone app to automatically charge products up to $200 to his iTunes Store account, Marshall criticized several other aspects of Apple's iBeacon implementation.

We believe iBeacon will become an attractive marketing/sales tool over time, but were somewhat disappointed by the lack of functionality and customer experience on Day 1. Just as the company did with point-of-sale (PoS) purchase systems using iPhone/iPad in the past, AAPL will likely use its own stores to showcase the benefits/possibilities of the new technology going forward.

Among Marshall's specific complaints:

- Multiple identical notifications: When browsing iPhones in the store, a notification popped up offering to check upgrade eligibility. After checking his upgrade and trade-in situation, Marshall returned to browsing iPhones and a few minutes later the same upgrade notification popped up on his iPhone.

- Incomplete coverage: Marshall received no notifications for iPad or Mac products when standing at those stations, although he did receive additional iPhone upgrade eligibility notifications while browsing iPad and Mac.

Marshall also apparently hoped that the system would be used to offer special deals or promotions, but no such notifications were offered. As many customers already know, however, Apple's in-store deals are fairly rare and outside of special events like Black Friday are typically limited to third-party products such as printers.

With Apple's implementation of iBeacon only just now rolling out, there are certainly opportunities for improvements in the future, but some users may find themselves underwhelmed with the initial experience.

In a new research note published today, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White shares data from his "Apple Barometer" for the month of November, with strong increases hinting that Apple will see blockbuster performance for the holiday quarter. White's metric, which tracks performance of Taiwanese suppliers known to be heavily reliant on Apple, has seen record performances for both October and November.

With approximately 97% of the sales now accounted for in our Apple Barometer, we estimate sales in November rose by approximately 19-20% M/M and well above the November average of up 6% over the past eight years. As such, we believe this November will prove to be the strongest in the history of our Apple Barometer. [...]

Given the combination of a record October performance and our expectation of record growth in November, our Apple Barometer is on track to report stronger-than- average seasonality in 4Q:13. If we assume an average MoM sales decline of 10% in December, we estimate our Apple Barometer will grow sales by 28% QoQ in 4Q:13, or more than double the average increase of 13% over the past eight years.

White attributes the strong performance by Apple's supply chain to robust demand for Apple products such as the new iPhone and iPad models, with an iPhone production boost to support a launch on China Mobile in the coming weeks perhaps also contributing.

Investor confidence in Apple is also increasing as the company appears poised for a strong holiday quarter. After falling significantly from late 2012 through the early part of this year, Apple's stock has been rebounding during the second half of 2013, setting a new 52-week high yesterday following a roughly 10% surge over the past two weeks. Like White's reasoning for strong Apple Barometer performance, the recent Apple stock spike has coincided with evidence of strong consumer interest in the company's products for the holiday shopping season, as well as the potential culmination of an iPhone deal with China Mobile, the world's largest carrier.

An image of what might be a MFi (Made for iPhone) controller from computer peripheral manufacturer Razer has been leaked on Twitter by @evleaks, who has been known to provide reliable images in the past.

The enclosure controller, reportedly named the Razer Kazuyo, appears to wrap around the iPhone, adding face buttons, shoulder buttons, and a directional pad on either side of the phone. This layout is similar to other iOS game controllers such as the Logitech Powershell and the MOGA Ace Power, which were both released in last month. Unlike both controllers however, the Razer Kazuyo includes the ability to tilt the iPhone up, allowing for better viewing angles and easier access.
It is not known when exactly the Razer Kazuyo will be released, but it is likely that it will be compatible with a growing list of iOS games upon availability. Currently, games such as Dead Trigger 2, Asphalt 8: Airborne, and Bastion offer controller support, with additional developers pledging to build controller support into their apps now that controller hardware is available to consumers.