MacRumors

Reuters reports on difficulties being faced by NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile carrier with 60 million customers, as it has yet to reach a deal with Apple to offer the iPhone. The major hurdle to a deal has been DoCoMo's insistence on allowing its own services to be preloaded on devices it carries.

It is paying heavily for that obstinacy - with a net 3.2 million users jumping ship to its two domestic rivals over the last 4-1/2 years - but is determined to protect the walled garden of services it has built around its own smartphones.

"We're trying to develop a lifestyle system," NTT DoCoMo CEO Kaoru Kato told Reuters in an interview this week.

The report notes that while DoCoMo pioneered a number of smartphone services, those services have been surpassed in popularity and ease of use by third-party offerings. Combining that reduced consumer reliance on DoCoMo's own services with Apple's equally obstinate position that carriers can not preload apps and services on the iPhone may leave DoCoMo in an increasingly difficult position with its customers.

DoCoMo appears to be banking on iPhone saturation at rival carriers Softbank and KDDI to force Apple to relent as it seeks to drive further sales growth of the popular device, but DoCoMo's list of demands, which also includes carrier branding on handsets themselves, clashes so strongly with Apple's philosophy for the iPhone that an imminent deal appears unlikely.

Little appears to have changed in the stalemate between Apple and DoCoMo, as a November 2011 report highlighted many of the same sticking points. And with the iPhone continuing to lead the Japanese smartphone market even without DoCoMo on board, it appears that Apple may be able to continue negotiating from a position of strength.

Still, Samsung's dramatic rise in most of the rest of the world has enabled it to surpass the iPhone in many markets, and Apple may be feeling some pressure to make its best effort to ensure that a similar scenario does not play out in Japan.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark office has published an Apple patent application that pertains to expanded mapping features, including real-time crowd-sourced traffic information and user-based route ratings and reporting, reports AppleInsider.

Apple's patent, titled "User-Specified Route Rating and Alerts," shares some distinct similarities with Waze, a company that Apple was rumored to be purchasing at one point, though it was ultimately acquired by Google. The patent, which was originally filed in 2011, details a system in which Maps users offer "ratings for routes, streets and/or locations," improving the company's mapping capabilities through user feedback.

A system comprising: one or more processors; and a computer-readable medium including one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes: presenting a map display and a route on a mobile device; determining when the mobile device has reached a destination associated with the route; when the mobile device has reached the destination, displaying a prompt for input rating the route; and receiving user input comprising rating information for the route.

Waze incorporates user feedback as well, using crowd sourced data to determine route details and travel times. Waze users can utiize the app's feedback system to provide the company with reports on traffic accidents, road closures, location accuracy, and more. With a similar system in place, Apple could allow its users to provide feedback and ratings on route choices, which could then be used to optimize travel.

Apple's patent also details a process that would see the company collecting real-time traffic alerts and then distributing it to other Maps users, providing on-the-fly updates to routing information.

A method comprising: presenting a map on a display of a mobile device; receiving a first user input identifying a location on the map; receiving a second user input providing information about an event occurring at the location; and transmitting the event information to a navigation service, where the navigation service is configured to broadcast the event information to other mobile devices.

After a disastrous Maps debut alongside iOS 6 that saw a slew of complaints about inaccuracy and missing information, Apple has worked hard to improve the application. Tim Cook issued an apology and the company went through a restructuring that included the termination of several people involved with the Maps project, including SVP of iOS Software Scott Forstall and Maps manager Richard Williamson.

Apple has since posted a number of job listings in order to add to its Maps teams, and has improved 3D flyover coverage in a number of cities. Both of Apple's upcoming operating system updates for Mac and iOS will include a number of mapping improvements, including a new app in OS X Mavericks.

After introducing iWork for iCloud during its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple began sending beta invites for the service to registered developers on June 13.

Since then, Apple has continued to send out beta invites on a rolling basis to both paid and free developer accounts. It appears the company has sent out a large batch of invites today, inviting a number of new people to participate in the beta.

iWork for iCloud offers in-browser versions of Apple's iWork software suite, including Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. The software can be accessed from both PC and Mac computers as well as a number of mobile devices.

Developers with both free and paid accounts that have received an email from Apple can access the beta by visiting beta.icloud.com. iWork for iCloud is expected to be released to the public later this year.

Update: Some reports today indicated that the iWork for iCloud beta had been extended to non-developers. The Next Web contacted Apple, and the company confirmed that reports of beta access for non-developers were inaccurate.

Apple executives Tim Cook, Eddy Cue, and Craig Federighi spoke to Apple Retail Store leaders about upcoming changes to Apple's iPhone marketing tactics during a summit at San Francisco's Fort Mason on June 27, reports 9to5Mac.

During the meeting, CEO Tim Cook noted 80% of iPhones are sold at third party locations, a figure that he would like to improve in the future with new iPhone promotional tactics.

The iPhone is Apple's central "gateway product" to other devices like iPads and Macs, so it is critical that the Apple smartphone is sold via an Apple Store so new customers are immediately exposed to iPads, Macs and other devices on the showroom floor. Even though 80% of iPhones are not sold at Apple Stores, 50% of all serviced iPhones are troubleshooted, repaired, or replaced at Apple Store Genius Bars. Cook reportedly hinted that he would like those numbers to be more in line.

Apple is planning to boost iPhone sales with various incentive programs, including the recently launched Back to School promotion that includes the iPhone for the first time and an upcoming in-store trade-in program. The company may also extend its price matching policies, which debuted in the U.S. last summer, internationally.

Along with new iPhone discount and sales strategies, Apple also plans to heavily market iOS 7 when it is released in the fall and introduce new retail locations in Europe.

According to store leaders who were at the summit, Apple has an "army of new products" in the works, which may include the upcoming iPhone 5S, a redesigned fifth generation iPad, a low cost iPhone, and a refreshed line of MacBook Pros, among other products.

Tim Bradshaw, a tech reporter with the Financial Times, received this poster from Apple celebrating the upcoming 5-year anniversary of the App Store.

The App Store, which originally launched on July 10, 2008, has seen more than 50 billion app downloads across nearly a million individual apps.

Apple sent a similar promotional item to reporters to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the iTunes Store, though that version included a gift card redeemable for 100 songs hand-picked by the iTunes staff.

Apple has been sued by Boston University over a patent for gallium nitride films that the University alleges is used in the iPhone 5, iPad and MacBook Air, amongst other products. The Boston Herald first reported on the lawsuit.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, is for a patent awarded to a BU professor for which the university owns the rights.

U.S. Patent 5,686,738, titled "Highly Insulating Monocrystalline Gallium Nitride Thin Film" is related to a particular manufacturing process for LEDs and other semiconductor devices.

The lawsuit does not specify what inside Apple's products is alleged to be infringing, just noting Apple products in general. Boston University has sued a number of other companies over the same patent in recent months, including Samsung [PDF].

The initial filing is embedded below.

Moviefone has shared a new movie poster for the Ashton Kutcher's Jobs film. The poster features the tagline "Some see what's possible, others change what's possible."

"Some see what's possible, others change what's possible" are the words sprawled across this exclusive poster for "Jobs," which features a nearly unrecognizable Ashton Kutcher.

Kutcher is utterly transformed into late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in the colorful new poster (below). Sporting Jobs's signature round-framed glasses and beard, the actor certainly looks the role.

Jobs is set for an August 16th wide release.

Update: Open Road Films has also released several new stills from the film showing Kutcher as Jobs and Josh Gad as Steve Wozniak.

Thanks, samcraig!

This past weekend, Nowhereelse.fr shared photos of what could be the rear shell of Apple's rumored low-cost plastic iPhone in the colors green, red and yellow. While the site still acknowledges that the shells could be Chinese copies, certain features are still consistent with previous leaks and claims. Now the site shares [Google translation] a new photo that includes a blue rear plastic shell.

In mid-June, Reuters ran a report that stated that the low-cost iPhone would come in multiple bright colors, with Mac Otakara claiming that one of the colors would be blue. And while we have seen the possible shells for the green, red, yellow and white plastic iPhones we had not seen the blue one until now.

While the photo does not show the full exterior of the blue rear shell, it does show enough of the sides and the inside of the rear shell to imagine what a blue plastic iPhone could look like.

The blue shell is pictured alongside red, yellow, and green ones seen over the weekend, with a white shell also included. The white shell appears very similar to one leaked through a different source back in April.

The lower-cost plastic iPhone is likely to launch later this year in either September or October, presumably alongside Apple's flagship iPhone 5S. The plastic iPhone will offer consumers a more affordable iPhone choice, especially in markets where carrier subsidies are rare.

Yesterday, MacRumors published high-resolution mockups based on the previously leaked rear shell photos and other information, offering a look at the complete device's potential size, shape and texture.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple and Time Warner Cable are close to completing a deal that will bring a TWC app to the Apple TV.

A potential partnership between the two companies was first announced in early June, when Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt told investors that the company was in talks with Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft over streaming video deals that mirror the Time Warner Cable's existing partnership with Roku.

The TWC TV app available on the Roku set-top box allows Time Warner Cable subscribers to watch up to 300 live TV channels with any TV connected to a Roku. An Apple TV app would likely operate in the same way, providing cable access and live television channels to Time Warner subscribers without the need for a cable box.

Apple has been slowly expanding the content available on its Apple TV as rumors of a potential revamped set-top box or Apple-branded television set continue to gain traction. Earlier this month, the company debuted several new Apple TV channels including WatchESPN and HBO GO, both of which offer content on the Apple TV to existing cable subscribers. Apple is also said to be in talks with CW about a potential Apple TV app.

To complete the current negotiations with Time Warner Cable, Apple is said to be hiring Pete Distad, Hulu's former senior vice president of marketing and distribution. While no specific timeline is available for the release of the TWC content, a deal is expected to be announced "within a few months."

According to a tipster who spoke to AppleInsider, Apple may be planning to hire Paul Deneve, who recently left his post as CEO of French luxury label Yves Saint Laurent to "pursue a career in the technology industry."

Deneve, who has worked for a number of luxury labels including Courreges, Nina Ricci, and Lanvin, was previously employed at Apple Europe from 1990 to 1997, where he held several sales and marketing positions.

While no information was given on Deneve's possible role at Apple, his past experience suggests that he could be a potential replacement for former retail head John Browett, who was ousted from Apple in October of 2012.

Apple may want to draw upon Deneve's expertise in the luxury goods sector to help launch new products, including the rumored iWatch. The mere mention of Apple trademarking “iWatch” has driven up the company's stock by 6 percent across the last two days.

Recruiting an established member of the fashion and luxury goods sector could be a move to propel Apple's brand internationally, building upon the success and cachet of the iPhone, which dramatically opened up new demand for the company's products outside the United States.

Both Apple and YSL have declined to comment on the possible hire and no further information is available at this time.

Update: According to Bloomberg reporter Adam Satariano, Apple has confirmed that it has hired Paul Deneve, but not as the SVP of retail. Instead, Deneve will work on "special projects" and will report directly to Tim Cook.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Paul Deneve to Apple,” the Cupertino, California-based company said in a statement yesterday. “He’ll be working on special projects as a vice president reporting directly to Tim Cook.”