MacRumors

MacRumors has learned that Apple is piloting a program to tap into its vast number of retail store employees to help improve the company's new Maps app for iOS 6. Details on the initiative remain unclear, but multiple sources have indicated that participating stores will dedicate 40 hours of staff time per week, distributed among a number of employees, to manually examine Apple's mapping data in their areas and submit corrections and improvements. ifoAppleStore posted a Tweet a short time ago indicating that it too has received information on the effort.

It is unknown exactly what procedures will be used to examine the data, whether it simply be side-by-side comparisons with Google Maps data or if more sophisticated efforts such as in-person verification will be used. One source has indicated that a team of ten employees would be participating in the program at one store, with one of those employees being designated a "subject matter expert" to oversee the team and receiving training on how the team will operate. Changes to maps will reportedly be submitted through a dedicated internal portal on Apple's systems.

Apple's new Maps app for iOS 6 has received significant criticism since its launch, with Apple CEO Tim Cook finding it necessary to publish an open letter late last week to apologize for the app's shortcomings and to suggest alternative mapping solutions while Apple works to improve its own maps.

Apple is reportedly aggressively hiring former Google Maps employees in its efforts to quickly improve its new mapping services, but much of the criticism has related to incorrect point-of-interest locations and other data best verified in the field or by those with intimate knowledge of a given area. Apple's network of nearly 400 retail stores represents nearly 40,000 employees scattered across more than a dozen countries, making it an ideal resource for assisting with mapping improvements.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has started mass production of the iPad mini.

Apple Inc.'s Asian component suppliers have started mass production of a new tablet computer smaller than the current iPad, people with knowledge of the situation said, as the Silicon Valley company tries to stay competitive against rivals such as Google Inc. GOOG -0.63% and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.56% that are offering smaller, less-expensive alternatives to the iPad.

The Wall Street Journal cites two sources who also confirm that the iPad mini will use a 7.85" screen with a lower screen resolution than the 3rd Generation iPad. The iPad Mini has been previously rumored to have a 1024x768 pixel display.

The report comes just after a similar claim from Japanese site Mac Otakara, who specified that the iPad mini had begun production in Foxconn's factories in Brazil. The Wall Street Journal's report seems to provide additional confirmation. Recent reports have suggested that the iPad Mini media event will take place in October.

Even as AuthenTec's board of directors appears to moving toward approval of Apple's $356 million acquisition of the fingerprint sensor chip company, a new report suggests that Apple is also drawing on other expertise to assist with its mobile payments effort. According to The Australian (subscription required), Apple has signed a deal to work with Australian firm Microlatch on similar fingerprint recognition technology for integration with mobile payments via near field communications (NFC).

Word of the deal comes from David Murray, former head of the Commonwealth Bank and a lead investor in Microlatch.

Mr Murray said the company had an agreement with the notoriously secretive Apple to develop fingerprint technology for use in near-field communications applications.

Microlatch has patented fingerprint identification technology that meets banking security standards without the need for central processing or storage; a process Mr Murray described as "self-registering".

Details on Apple's partnership with Microlatch remain unknown, but it is clear that Apple is interested in fingerprint recognition and mobile payment technology. The company has, however, been employing a "go-slow approach" to mobile payments as it examines the potential of the technology and toys with various options for implementing it.

NFC has been a relatively frequent topic for rumors in relation to the iPhone, with some expecting that it might even make it into the 2011 version of the device. Despite numerous rumors about NFC peaking in early 2011, Apple elected not to include it in the iPhone 4S and even decided against bringing NFC to the redesigned iPhone 5 this year.

Visionary is one of the most frequently used words to describe Steve Jobs. Nearly a year after he passed away, historians are still digging up treasures from his life that confirm that assessment.

The Next Web writes of a speech Jobs gave in 1983 at the Center for Design innovation. After that speech, he had a question-and-answer session that covered a wide range of topics, one of which was an incredibly detailed assessment of Jobs' vision for a "computer in a book" that one could learn how to use in 20 minutes.

"Apple’s strategy is really simple. What we want to do is we want to put an incredibly great computer in a book that you can carry around with you and learn how to use in 20 minutes. That’s what we want to do and we want to do it this decade," says Jobs. "And we really want to do it with a radio link in it so you don’t have to hook up to anything and you’re in communication with all of these larger databases and other computers."

The full recording of the speech including the Q&A is available at LifeLibertyTech.com, with the Q&A starting about 21 minutes in.

Walter Isaacson also revealed some tidbits behind the development of the iPad in Steve Jobs' biography.

(Image courtesy Matt Buchanan)

UkrainianiPhone shares several photos (via 9to5Mac) of what its source claims are parts from Apple's forthcoming "iPad mini". The parts include a black rear shell demonstrating cellular capabilities, as well as a white front panel/digitizer assembly. The photo set also includes a purported LCD from the iPad mini, but the part actually appears to be a Kindle Fire display.

The site highlights a number of features on the rear shell, include a headphone jack at the top left of the device as on the full-size iPad, a plastic strip along the top edge of the part as seen on cellular-capable iPad models, a nano-SIM card slot and tray along the right edge, and a Lightning connector centered along the bottom edge.

The white front panel and digitizer part shows the narrow side bezels that have been rumored for the device, as well as holes for the traditional home button and FaceTime camera.

Apple is reportedly introducing the iPad mini at a media event scheduled for sometime this month, with one recent rumor claiming that Apple will be sending out media invitations on October 10 for an event presumed to take place roughly one week later.

Years before the iPhone 5 scuffing and scratching controversy, Apple CEO Steve Jobs played a role in another scuffing incident at the company's then brand-new Stanford Shopping Center mini retail store. According to Forbes' Connie Guglielmo, who relates the anecdote as part of a series of previously untold stories and recollections of Jobs, he initially refused to step outside the store to greet reporters at the store's 2004 grand opening as he had a "meltdown" over scuffing on the white floor and handprints on other finishes throughout the store.

Jobs was ultimately convinced to step outside, and the curtain was drawn before the small gathering of reporters. When I saw the floor, I immediately turned to Jobs, standing next to me, and asked if he had been involved in every aspect of the design. He said yes. “It was obvious that whoever designed the store had never cleaned a floor in their life,” I told him. He narrowed his eyes at me and stepped inside.

According to an Apple executive who later reported back Guglielmo, Jobs brought in the store design team and had them clean the floor the night after the grand opening, presumably as a means of emphasizing the importance of material selection in the design process.

The article shares nearly a dozen such anecdotes from a variety of sources, offering a bit more insight into how Jobs worked and interacted with others. Another story addresses Jobs' efforts to hide his Porsche from the view of billionaire H. Ross Perot, who was contemplating an investment in NeXT.

[NeXT software engineer Randy] Adams, using some of the cash he’d earned from the sale of his company, bought a Porsche 911 at the same time Jobs did. To avoid car-door dings, they parked near each other–taking up three parking spaces between them. One day Jobs rushed over to Adams’ cubicle and told him they had to move the cars.

“I said, ‘Why?,’ and he said, ‘Randy, we have to hide the Porsches. Ross Perot is coming by and thinking of investing in the company, and we don’t want him to think we have a lot of money.’” They moved the cars around to the back of NeXT’s offices in Palo Alto, Calif. and Perot invested $20 million in the company in 1987 and took a seat on the board.

Other anecdotes come from a variety of sources, including Internet browser pioneer Marc Andreessen, former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki and Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. The article is being included in the October 22 print edition of Forbes.

Making good on its stated intent to file a patent lawsuit against Apple over the iPhone 5, Samsung has filed a request to have the device added to an existing lawsuit underway in U.S. Federal Court, according to FOSS Patents.

The October 1 filing now says that "as soon as [the] iPhone 5 was available for purchase, Samsung began its investigation of the product and within a week "determined that the iPhone 5 practiced its patented technologies".

Samsung tells the court that it would be more efficient to address the iPhone 5 in that second California litigation between the two parties than to file a new one over the same eight Samsung patents only to target the iPhone 5. Samsung says that "[t]he iPhone 5 has the same accused functionality as the previously accused versions of the iPhone, so the proof of infringement of the patents-in-suit by the iPhone 5 is the same as for other Apple devices already accused of infringement in this litigation".

CNET has posted the complete court filing, which claims that the iPhone 5 infringes six utility patents and two other standards essential patents held by Samsung.

Samsung's move to take on the iPhone 5 comes just as the same U.S. court order that the three-month old preliminary injunction barring sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 be lifted. Apple can still win a permanent injunction as the trial plays out, but for now the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 can return to sale in the United States.

Apple today updated its investor relations page to note that it will announce its earnings for the fourth fiscal quarter (third calendar quarter) of 2012, as well as results for the full fiscal year, on Thursday, October 25. The earnings release typically occurs just after 4:30 PM Eastern Time following the close of regular stock trading, and the conference call is scheduled to follow at 5:00 PM Eastern / 2:00 PM Pacific.

MacRumors will provide running coverage of the earnings release and conference call.

The release will provide a look into the strength of iPhone 5 sales in the first weeks of availability. Apple reported weaker than expected results three months ago on lower-than-expected iPhone sales, and the company provided guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 expecting revenue of $34 billion and earnings per diluted share of $7.65.

If Apple meets that guidance, the company will log more than $150 billion in sales for fiscal 2012, more than $40 billion higher than in 2011.

Following the introduction of the new Chomp-styled App Store layout in iOS 6, built upon Apple's acquisition of the app search and discovery platform earlier this year, Apple over the weekend shut down the standalone Chomp service.

Chomp had previously been available as both website and app tools for iOS and Android, but Apple killed off the Android functionality in late April following its acquisition of Chomp. The Chomp website and iOS app remained functional until this weekend, however, when Apple removed the Chomp app from the App Store and redirected the Chomp website to apple.com.

As noted in our forums, existing users of the iOS app have also been shut out, as Apple has discontinued the service effective yesterday.

Chomp has been discontinued as of September 30. Thanks for being a loyal user.

Apple's new Chomp-inspired App Store layout for iOS has drawn a fair amount of criticism, with some users complaining that search and discovery is much more difficult with the new interface showing just a single search result at a time.

While the three major U.S iPhone carriers launched the iPhone 5 on September 21 and prepaid carrier Cricket and a number of regional carriers followed suit on September 28, one U.S. brand has been curiously silent about its plans for the iPhone 5: Sprint's prepaid Virgin Mobile unit. Virgin launched the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 in late June, offering prepaid plans for as low as $30 per month to customers willing to pay full retail price for their iPhones.

But while no official iPhone 5 announcement has been made, MacRumors has confirmed that Apple does indeed have Virgin-specific CDMA iPhone 5 units lined up and ready to go. The full suite of Virgin Mobile USA iPhone 5 model numbers includes:

Black
- MD250LL/A: 16 GB
- MD489LL/A: 32 GB
- MD574LL/A: 64 GB

White
- MD355LL/A: 16 GB
- MD566LL/A: 32 GB
- MD591LL/A: 64 GB

A timeframe for an iPhone 5 launch on Virgin Mobile USA is currently unknown, and it is unclear why the carrier did not introduce the iPhone 5 last week alongside competitor Cricket. Among the sixteen official iPhone carriers in the United States, only Virgin Mobile and regional carrier Alaska Communications have yet to introduce the iPhone 5. When asked about Virgin Mobile's iPhone 5 plans last week, a representative simply told MacRumors that the carrier has "made no announcements about this".

Japanese blog Mac Otakara reports that it has received information from a source indicating that Apple's assembly partner Foxconn has begun production on the forthcoming "iPad mini" at its facilities in Brazil. The report seems to be a follow-up on the site's July report claiming that production would begin ramping in Brazil in September.

According to my source, iPad mini was started production in Brazilian factory. I don't have information if it has been produced in Chinese factory, yet.

Foxconn has been working to ramp up iPhone and iPad production in Brazil, negotiating with government officials there for tax breaks to help tap into the large workforce in the country and to help its partners such as Apple circumvent high import taxes on foreign-made goods in the world's fifth most-populous country.

Mac Otakara's source indicates that the iPad mini units in production in Brazil lack a small hole near the top center of the device's rear shell, which some had speculated was for a microphone. That feature has appeared on cases and design drawings that have leaked over the past few months, as well as in the numerous physical mockups currently circulating.

Apple will reportedly be introducing the iPad mini at a media event scheduled for this month, with a source reporting to Fortune that Apple is rumored to be sending out invitations on October 10. Based on Apple's typical timelines, the media event would take place about one week later.

PocketGamer.biz highlights a recent addition to Apple's iOS developer guidelines revealing that the company is now specifically targeting third-party apps intended to serve as repositories of information on other App Store apps, whether it be in the form of curated app discovery, promotional listings, price drops, or other similar app directory features.

The new guideline was added in a quiet update to Apple's developer documentation alongside the iPhone 5 media event last month.

2.25 Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected.

TechCrunch has more on the situation, with industry experts suggesting that such apps will likely remain in the App Store but that Apple will no longer approve updates for them, allowing them to fade away over time.

Historically, Henschel notes that changes like this one don’t result in apps being taken down right away from the App Store. Instead, he says to expect updates to begin to be refused, resulting in gradual obsolescence as hardware and iOS versions continue to change and software is no longer compatible with new versions. But even without immediate action, the financial impact could be huge, since he says that these marketing strategies represent millions of dollars in revenue to companies like Tapjoy, for instance.

App discovery has long been a challenge for Apple given the sheer number of titles in the App Store, and Apple's acquisition of Chomp earlier this year was seen as a sign of renewed efforts at improving that experience. Apple has implemented some aspects of the Chomp interface in the App Store under iOS 6, but discovery of new apps remains difficult for many users.

Apple has officially shut down its failed social network Ping. Reports in June signaled that Apple's social iTunes network would be removed from the next version of iTunes. Apple has since been advertising the fact that the service would shut down as of last night, September 30th. The Ping menu item no longer appears in the current version of iTunes.

Ping was launched in late 2010 and described as a social network for music, allowing iTunes users to share favorite artists and music. Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged in June that "the customer voted and said 'this isn't something that I want to put a lot of energy into'."

The next major version of iTunes is due in October and will have a major overhaul of its interface. From our earlier coverage:

The updated media application will show albums in a grid interface with song listings unfolding below the album cover art when clicked. Searching is improved, showing inline results as you type and the MiniPlayer has been redesigned to show a miniature version of the album cover art and album and song information and playback controls.

The updated iTunes will also get iCloud integration to show all your media content saved in Apple's cloud storage service and save your position in movies or TV shows automatically so that you can pick up where you left off on another device.