MacRumors

European regulators have accepted a promise by the British media group Penguin and German media conglomerate Bertelsmann to scrap deals on electronic books, also known as "e-books", with Apple which were found to be in breach of European competition policy.

Penguin was not the only company in the firing line. Back in December 2012, the Commission criticized the practices of four large publishers, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Holtzbrinck and Harper Collins, of working with Apple via an "agency model" whereby the publishers set the retail price and the distributor takes a fee (30% in Apple's case).

Under the "wholesale model" in place before Apple entered the market, publishers sell their goods to distributors for fixed prices and allow the distributors decide the final retail prices. The agency model came under fire for causing a rise in retail prices of e-books compared to the wholesale model championed by Amazon and Google. Under Apple's "most favored nation" contract clauses, it was allowed to match lower pricing by other retailers, and with the support of the major publishers effectively forced the entire industry to switch to the agency model, raising antitrust issues in a number of regions.

Joaquín Almunia, the European Commissioner for Competition, said in a press release from this morning:

After our decision of December 2012, the commitments are now legally binding on Apple and all five publishers including Penguin, restoring a competitive environment in the market for e-books.

The development comes after a district judge in the United States, Denise Cote, said that Apple played a "central role" in helping to fix the price of e-books. Court documents show that Apple, along with five other publishers, "conspired to raise, fix, and stabilize the retail price for newly released and bestselling trade e-books in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 ("Sherman Act") and various state laws". Apple has steadfastly claimed that it has done nothing wrong and will appeal the decision.

The European Commission is well-known for imposing large fines on companies who fail to follow practices designed to protect consumers against anti-competitive behavior. In 2009, Intel was handed a record-breaking €1.06 billion ($1.45 billion) fine for the abuse of its dominance in the computer chip market and in 2004, Microsoft was fined €497 million (around $795 million) for offering Windows Media Player standard with its operating systems as well as providing no information about competing network software to interact with Windows desktops and servers.

After two electric shock incidents involving the iPhone in China, Apple has added a special page [Google translation, via The Next Web] to its Chinese website informing consumers about the identification and use of genuine USB power adapters for the iPad and iPhone.

The page includes a message about Apple’s continued dedication to consumer safety and testing. It also includes diagrams for identifying genuine power adapters for products that use the new Lightning connector and those that use the legacy 30-pin connector.

When you need to charge the iPhone or iPad, we recommend that you use the standard USB power adapter and USB cable. These adapters and cables are also available separately from Apple and Apple Authorized Resellers.

Last week, a Chinese man was left in a coma after receiving an electric shock while charging his iPhone 4, an incident which followed the death of a Chinese woman under similar circumstances. Both incidents apparently involved the use of unauthorized third-party adapters.

Algoriddim has launched a sequel to their popular djay iOS app. Djay was originally a Mac application, but has since found wide popularity on the iPhone and iPad. The iOS version has won a 2011 Apple Design Award and has seen millions of downloads.

The new version offers a revamped user interface, drum machine, sampler, and improved scratching/syncing tools and more.

Most notable are features related to offering users direct visual feedback of music. Songs are now actually mapped to "virtual grooves" which reflect the peaks and valleys just like on traditional vinyl. The music waveform is now colored, mapping specific colors to similar sounds, allowing you to visually identify song sections and instruments.

Retaining the simplicity of the traditional DJ turntable look-and-feel, djay 2 adds a stunning new waveform layer, which allows users to touch and interact with their music at an unprecedented level of detail and clarity. HD Waveforms provide users with precise visual cues that highlight similar sounds with similar colors, leveraging the full resolution of the Retina display on iPad and iPhone.

Djay 2 is available in the App Store now with discounted launch pricing of $4.99 for iPad and $0.99 for iPhone. Direct Links: iPad, $4.99, iPhone, $0.99

As Apple's Developer Center outage continues into its seventh day of downtime, Apple has once again updated the site with a newly updated message for developers that outlines how the company plans to restore functionality and provides a status page that reveals which systems are online.

We plan to roll out our updated systems, starting with Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, Apple Developer Forums, Bug Reporter, pre-release developer libraries, and videos first. Next, we will restore software downloads, so that the latest betas of iOS 7, Xcode 5, and OS X Mavericks will once again be available to program members. We'll then bring the remaining systems online. To keep you up to date on our progress, we've created a status page to display the availability of our systems.

At the current point in time, iTunes Connect is the only service that is listed as online, but Apple says that it plans to work on Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles immediately, following that with the developer forums, bug reporting tools, and software libraries. Software downloads, including the latest betas of iOS 7, Xcode 5, and OS X Mavericks will follow.

Apple's Developer Center first went offline last Thursday, and on Sunday, Apple revealed that it had been taken down as a precaution after a security breach. It is unclear who was responsible for the hacking, but a security researcher has suggested that he might be to blame for the outage.

Apple says that it has been "working around the clock" on a complete overhaul of its developer systems since the Developer Center was taken down. Apple has noted that developer memberships and apps set to expire during the outage will be given an extension to account for the significant downtime.

Korean site ETNews.com is reporting [Google translation] that Apple will be discontinuing production of the iPhone 5 in the fall, instead putting all of its efforts towards the iPhone 5S and the rumored entry-level plastic iPhone.

Apple has been presumed to be discontinuing the iPhone 4 and 4S in order to make way for an all-Lightning iPhone lineup, allowing Apple to standardize around its latest connection standard and phase out the older 30-pin connector standard with the possible exception of the iPod classic, which has not been updated in a number of years. The fate of the current iPhone 5 has, however, not been the subject of much discussion as it has remained unclear whether the new lineup of iPhone 5S and plastic iPhone would leave room for Apple to continue offering an iPhone 5 model.

Today's report claims that the in-cell technology used on the iPhone 5’s touchscreen is "not suitable for low-volume production", contributing to Apple's decision to stop production on the phone and focus all of its efforts toward producing parts for newer products. The iPhone 5 and 5S are, however, expected to share nearly identical display technology although leaked photos have a shown a change to the orientation of the flex cable connectors on the display assemblies.

The iPhone 5S is reportedly scheduled to begin production later this month, with both that device and the lower cost iPhone rumored for launch in the September-October timeframe.

(Thanks, Byungjin!)

At a press conference today in San Francisco, Google announced its second generation Nexus 7, which comes with a number of enhancements. The tablet, which is thinner and lighter than the previous version, has an improved screen with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 and a pixel density of 323 PPI.

It is equipped with a Qualcomm 1.5GHz quad-core S4 Pro, 2GB of RAM, a 9 hour battery life, and it comes with NFC and Bluetooth 4.0. The iPad mini, released in late 2012, sports less impressive internals in comparison as it has yet to be updated, including a dual-core A5 processor and 512MB of RAM, along with a screen that is 1024 x 768.

Google has not focused much effort on the camera of the Nexus 7, which is in line with the iPad mini’s 1.2-megapixel front camera and 5-megapixel back camera. The Nexus 7 is also slightly heavier than the mini, with a smaller screen and a smaller profile.

In addition to releasing an updated Nexus 7, Google is also aiming at Apple services on several other fronts, taking on both Game Center and AirPlay.

The company has launched its Google Play Games app, which is designed to be the Android version of Apple’s Game Center. It works hand in hand with Google Play games services, a feature that lets developers build cloud saving, multiplayer gameplay, and achievements into apps.

Chromecast, another feature Google introduced today, is an HDMI accessory that functions similarly to AirPlay, allowing users to mirror content from a tablet, smartphone, or computer. Chromecast works with video, music, and apps like Netflix, and can be used with a number of devices, including iPhones and iPads. Chromecast, which will retail for $35, will be available later today through Best Buy, Amazon, and the Google Play Store.

While Google’s Nexus 7 will be available on July 30 with a $230 price tag, there appears to be no iPad mini upgrade on the horizon. Apple has plans to release a redesigned fifth generation iPad with a thinner design and smaller bezels, but it remains unclear when the company will offer a new iPad mini. A recent report from reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that the company might not release an updated mini until March or April of 2014.

Digitimes reports that the adoption of new touch-sensor systems in both the iPhone 5 and iPad has caused a notable shift in the supply chain of the touch panel market, according to research carried out by the firm DisplaySearch.

Displays with in-cell touch are expected to rise from 7.3% of mobile phone shipments in 2012 to 13.7% in 2013, while shipments of GG DITO (double-sided ITO glass) structure are expected to decline from 10.3% to 0.6%. For tablets, shipments of GF2 sensor structure are expected to rise from 4.7% in 2012 to 28.4% in 2013, while shipments of GG DITO structure decline from 37.2% to 8.1%.

Calvin Hseih, research director at DisplaySearch, notes that Apple has been primarily responsible for this shift, despite the massive number of touchscreen devices already on the market. Apple's shift from a GG type touch-sensor system (glass on glass) to in-cell touch technology and GF2 (whereby the second layer of glass is replaced by an optical film) has rapidly influenced the entire supply chain

Apple switched from GG to in-cell touch technology with the iPhone 5 release back in September 2012 and the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad also feature GF2 technology. Another report by Digitimes reiterates previous rumors that the upcoming fifth-generation iPad, which is slated to be released sometime in Q4 2013, will feature GF2 touch technology.

That technology will allow the new iPad to be thinner and lighter than previous models, with the technology being supplied by TPK and GIS. The fifth-generation iPad has been rumored and shown in leaked parts to be significantly smaller and thinner than the current iPad, taking design cues from the iPad mini.

We've been hearing a lot of rumors about a new plastic iPhone due to arrive later this year, dubbed the "low-cost iPhone" by some, and a video posted by DetroitBORG on YouTube (via AmongTech) shows the new rear shell of the plastic iPhone, which is expected to replace the existing iPhone 4 and 4S models already on sale.

In the video, Mike from DetroitBORG walks through the various features of the new rear shell and speculates on what features the new "low-cost iPhone" will have. While the shell appears to be essentially identical to one that leaked earlier this month, the video offers a good comparison between the shell and several of Apple's other iOS devices, including the iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 5, and the fifth-generation iPod touch. The shell for the lower-cost iPhone is about the same dimensions as the current iPhone 5, though a little thicker.

Previously leaked design drawings from case makers have shown the rear shell measuring 8.5 mm thick, 124.4 mm tall, and 59.2 mm wide, all slightly larger than the iPhone 5 with the thickness difference being the most noticeable. The rear shell shown in the video is white, although it is also rumored that Apple will release the low-cost iPhone in a range of different colors, similar to the fifth-generation iPod touch.

Apple has been reported to be releasing a cheaper iPhone to target the lower end of the market and to expand its market presence in developing countries such as India, where iOS accounted for a mere 1% market share in mobile operating systems in June 2013, according to StatCounter (by contrast, the figure for the United States in June 2013 was 54.9%), as well as to compete with lower-priced Android smartphones, which have exploded in popularity recently.

The "low-cost" iPhone has been rumored to be priced anywhere from $300-$500 unsubsidized, with carrier subsidies likely to bring the cost down to $99 in markets where those subsidies are offered.

Apple was awarded a U.S. patent on Tuesday that appears to covers a way for iPhone users to share content with each other when phone calls are placed on hold.

The patent, number 8,494,123, is for an "on-hold visual menu from a user's communication device" and describes a system that shares a variety of content like pictures, music, videos, upcoming calendar events, and location information to the person that is being put on hold. For example, someone put on hold could look through the other caller's public Photo Stream.

The device determines that the party has been placed on hold and that the user has enabled sharing of personal content with the party. The device then transmits a visual menu to a communications device of the party via a data network, to allow the party to select a type of personal content to receive from the device while the party is on hold. When the device receives a selection from the party's device indicating the type of personal content, it transmits a personal information asset to the party's device according to the type of personal content indicated by the selection. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

Additionally, privacy settings allow certain types of data, such as location or photos, to be limited within a specific group of people (for example, family members) while automatically sharing other content with all users placed on hold. Content can also be personalized to each specific caller.

When an iPhone owner is ready to continue a call, an on screen message, audible tone, or vibration will occur, alerting the on-hold user that the call will be resumed.

As with all Apple patents, there is no guarantee that the on-hold sharing feature will make it into a final product.

During the question and answer portion of today's third quarter earnings call,  Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about iOS in the Car, which was a highlight of the company’s keynote presentation at WWDC. Cook said that it was an important "part of the ecosystem," likening it to the App Store, iTunes, messaging, and Siri.

"Having something in the automobile is very important," he said. "It’s something people want." He went on to say that Apple could "do it in a unique way better than anyone else," and that it was a "key focus" for the company.

iOS in the Car is designed to provide enhanced iOS integration in automobiles, offering hands-free controls that allow drivers to access maps, get directions, and control music by displaying content on the navigation screen of the car.

iOS in the Car seamlessly integrates your iOS device — and the iOS experience — with your in-dash system. If your vehicle is equipped with iOS in the Car, you can connect your iPhone 5 and interact with it using the car’s built-in display and controls or Siri Eyes Free. Now you can easily and safely make phone calls, access your music, send and receive messages, get directions, and more. It’s all designed to let iPhone focus on what you need, so you can focus on the road.

The feature is expected to be integrated into a number of new cars in 2014, from manufacturers like Honda, Acura, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Infiniti, Ferrari, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Kia, Volvo, Opel and Jaguar.

According to settings hidden within iOS 7, iOS in the car may potentially work over AirPlay in addition to USB. iOS in the Car will be officially unveiled later this year alongside the release of iOS 7.

Last year, Apple debuted Siri 'Eyes Free,' which made its first appearance in the Chevy Spark and Sonic cars earlier this year.

During the question and answer portion of Apple's third quarter earnings call, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer suggested that Apple will have a "very busy fall," following it up with a statement that he'd like to "leave it there and go into more detail in October."

Apple is expected to unveil a number of products in the fall months, including the next generation iPhone, the fifth generation iPad, the low-cost iPhone, and refreshed MacBook Pros.

All of the products on the horizon are expected to include impressive new features, including a fingerprint sensor and an upgraded camera for the iPhone 5S, an iPad mini-style redesign for the fifth generation iPad, and Haswell processors for the new MacBook Pros.

The company is also rumored to be working on additional projects such as the iWatch, and according to Tim Cook, Apple's catalyst will always be "new products and new services" in both current product categories and "in new categories."

Apple's iWatch, which has been trademarked in multiple countries, is not expected until 2014 despite the fact that Apple has recently hired a number of new employees to work on the product. "We're working on some stuff that we're really proud of, and we'll announce things when we're ready," said Cook during the call.