MacRumors

Just as he did last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent an email to company employees thanking them for a successful year and letting them know that they will be receiving the entire week of Thanksgiving in the United States off in order to spend more time with their families. The extra holiday days of November 19-21 are being given with pay. 9to5Mac has the full letter.

Team,

Apple is having another incredibly successful year, thanks to all of the hard work by you and your teams. Your focus and dedication to making the best products on earth is what makes Apple such an incredible place.

In a little over six months we’ve launched outstanding new products in each of our major categories, starting with the new iPad this spring. The response was incredible, and continued to show Apple’s unrivaled leadership in this post-PC era. Over the summer we introduced the radically thin and light 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina display, and shipped Mountain Lion, the fastest-selling update to OS X ever. Today, iPhone 5 is taking the world by storm. And in the next few weeks we’ll ship the new iPod touch and completely redesigned iPod nano with innovative designs that our customers are going to love this holiday season.

To recognize the efforts that made this amazing year possible, I’m happy to announce that we’re extending the Thanksgiving holiday once again this year. We will shut down with pay on November 19, 20 and 21 so our teams can spend the whole week with their loved ones.

Retail and some other teams will need to work that week so we can continue to serve our customers, but please check with your manager about taking time off at a later date. Our international teams will also get an extra three days off during this quarter, scheduled at a time that’s best for them. Details will be available on AppleWeb.

Thank you for everything you do for Apple and please enjoy this much deserved break.

As with last year's vacation time, retail store employees will need to stagger their extra days off in order to keep stores open for the public, and international corporate employees will receive their time off at times convenient for them, as they do not necessarily need to coincide with the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

Bloomberg reports that European Union (EU) officials are asking member states to examine Apple's warranty advertising practices, alleging that the practices may be misleading for not adequately addressing two-year guarantees required under EU law. Apple was previously fined $1.2 million in Italy over the issue, but examination of the situation now appears set to spread to other countries in the region.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding wrote to member countries to ask them to check whether Apple retailers failed to advertise buyers’ right to a minimum two-year warranty for products such as the iPhone and the iPad tablet computer.

“Apple prominently advertised that its products come with a one-year manufacturer warranty but failed to clearly indicate the consumers’ automatic and free-of-cost entitlement to a minimum two-year guarantee under EU law,” Reding said to ministers in the letter, which was obtained by Bloomberg News. “These are unacceptable marketing practices.”

As we noted in March, Apple has taken great pains to outline the differences between standard warranty coverage from Apple, EU-required warranties, and Apple's AppleCare extended warranty programs. As we summarized at the time:

- Apple's warranty is good for one year, while EU protection lasts for two years.

- Apple's warranty covers defects that arise at any time during the warranty period. EU protection laws generally require consumers to prove that a given defect was present at the time of product delivery.

- Apple's warranty coverage applies only to Apple products. EU protection laws require sellers to support any products they sell, so the EU coverage would apply to both Apple-branded products and third-party products sold by Apple.

Apple's pages outlining EU-required warranty support appear to sufficiently outline the various warranty programs under which customers may be covered, but questions appear to remain about whether the company is doing enough to make customers aware of the EU warranty policies. The issue is of particular concern with respect to AppleCare purchases, with regulators wanting to make sure customers are adequately informed about exactly what coverages they gain by purchasing the extended warranty coverage compared to standard coverages applicable to all purchases.

Yesterday, Apple released an iPhone 5 carrier settings update intended to address an issue in which cellular data was being used even when the device was connected to Wi-Fi. The issue drew a number of comments from users who had noticed unexpectedly high data usage over the few days they've owned their devices, and many have wondered whether they would be charged for the data consumed due to the issue.

Verizon has now issued a statement to The Loop indicating that consumers will not be charged for this data usage.

“Under certain circumstances, iPhone 5 may use Verizon cellular data while the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network,” Verizon said in a statement provided to The Loop. “Apple has a fix that is being delivered to Verizon customers right on their iPhone 5. Verizon Wireless customers will not be charged for any unwarranted cellular data usage.”

Full details on how to apply the carrier settings update are available in an Apple support document.

Users are reporting that a widespread issue with Apple's App Store is preventing new purchases from being made. When users attempt to make a purchase or redownload a previous purchase, they are asked to agree to updated Terms & Conditions.

When they accept, they are then asked to agree to them again and again. As a result, new purchases and downloads from iTunes in the Cloud cannot be made. The issue appears to be affecting all purchases from the App Store and iTunes store on both iOS and the Mac, as well as the Mac App Store and iTunes Match. It's also affecting the viewing of purchased items on the Apple TV.

We've reached out to Apple for comment, but until the issue is resolved many iOS users will be unable to purchase apps or media content.

Update: Commenters are reporting that the issue is not affecting international accounts. Users have successfully downloaded apps with Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand-based accounts.

Update: The issue appears to be fixed.

Apple has issued a Carrier Update for Verizon iPhone 5 devices this evening to eliminate an issue where Verizon Cellular Data would be used while the iPhone 5 is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

This carrier settings update resolves an issue in which, under certain circumstances, iPhone 5 may use Verizon cellular data while the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network. Follow these instructions to install the update.

1. Tap Settings > General > About.
2. Wait for the following alert to appear: (top right)
3. Tap OK to install the update.
4. Hold the Sleep/Wake button down until you see "slide to power off".
5. Slide to power off.
6. After the device powers off, hold the Sleep/Wake button to turn your phone back on.

Note: To finish the installation of the update, your iPhone 5 must be turned off and then on again. After your iPhone restarts, tap Settings > General > About, then scroll down to Carrier and verify that "Verizon 13.1" is displayed.

The update has to be performed somewhat manually but is delivered over-the-air, per the instructions above. Apple describes the update as an "important new carrier update" but doesn't provide many details on how/when these circumstances might arise.

Mac Otakara posts some photos and a video with hands on a mockup of the rumored iPad Mini. The video isn't particularly revealing, and we've seen video of these mockups before, but provides another frame of reference for the size of such a device. The photo below shows the relative size next to a 15" MacBook Pro.

Apparently, the models are relatively easy to obtain for approximately 13 USD, according to a previous video report.

The iPad Mini mockup shown on the video reveals a new Lightning port on the bottom of the device, while the headphone jack remains on the top of the device.

The 7.85" iPad Mini has been widely rumored to be approaching launch with reports having suggested that Apple may introduce such a device in October. That rumor came from AllThingsD, which is a traditionally reliable source of Apple event rumors. However, there's been a surprising absence of new rumors about the device as we are heading into October.

Following this morning's release of an open letter from Tim Cook apologizing for issues with the new Apple-driven Maps app in iOS 6 and mentioning some alternative map options available to users, Apple has also added a new featured section to the App Store highlighting some of those map alternatives.

A host of alternative apps ranging from free to Magellan's $49.99 "RoadMate USA" are available from such brands as Waze, Mapquest, Garmin, Bing, and MotionX.

Apple's embrace of alternative map options seems to be a sign that the company is taking criticism of its own offering seriously, although directing users to downloads through the App Store is still of benefit to Apple. Cook's letter did, however, also promote web-based alternatives such as Google's and Nokia's maps.

Earlier this month, the WSJ reported that Apple was working on a streaming radio service to rival Pandora. Apple was reportedly in licensing negotiations with record labels, but was months away from launching the service.

Today, the New York Post reports that negotiations with music publisher Sony/ATV have hit a snag over the fee Apple would pay for each song streamed by its customers.

Apple’s plan to have its own music-streaming service built into the iPhone 5 was dramatically dashed when talks between the tech giant and Sony/ATV hit a last-minute snag, The Post has learned.

Sony/ATV, the world’s largest music publisher, and Apple couldn’t agree on a per-song rights fee, sources close to the situation said.

Those rights are usually tenths of a penny per stream, sources said. Sony/ATV was looking for a higher rate.

The Post reports that Apple wants better licensing rates than Pandora because it will direct record sales through the App Store, and Apple's restrictions on playing an artist multiple times would be looser than Pandora's.

Reuters reports that Sharp has publicly stated that it is now producing "adequate volumes" of the display for the iPhone 5, bolstering Apple's efforts to catch up with high demand for the device.

Sharp Corp is making "adequate volumes" of displays it is known to supply for Apple Inc's new iPhone5, a company executive said, indicating that a possible bottleneck in supplies of screens may have eased.

Analysts had blamed a shortfall in supplies of display for leaving Apple with too few iPhones to meet burgeoning demand at its launch this month.

Deutsche Securities analyst Yasuo Nakane estimates that Japan Display and LG Display are capable of producing roughly eight million displays per month each, while Sharp's capacity is pegged at six million displays. With Sharp reportedly having not been ready for the initial batch of iPhone 5 units, over 25% of display production capacity appears to have been offline until just two weeks ago.

Sharp's full production of the iPhone 5 display comes as existing shortages in Apple's first round of launch markets are being compounded by today's expansion to 22 new countries and several more carriers in existing markets.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has published an open letter to customers on the company's website addressing the criticism over the new Apple-powered Maps app in iOS 6. In the letter, Cook apologizes for not meeting expectations and mentions a number of alternative mapping solutions customers may wish to use while Apple is refining its Maps.

To our customers,

At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.

There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.

While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.

Tim Cook
Apple’s CEO

AppShopper also lists a list of both free and paid alternatives to Apple Maps.

Netflix has updated its iOS app to support iOS 6 and to provide support for the iPhone 5's 4" screen. The update also claims to improve the browsing, searching and watching experience.

Support for the iPhone 5's taller screen is particularly useful in video/movie apps such as Netflix as it allows many widescreen movies to be viewed in their native aspect ratio. The Netflix app is a free download from the App Store [Direct Link] but requires a Netflix account.

Many popular apps are being quickly updated to support the iPhone 5's larger screen. Yesterday, Instagram was updated, and several iOS games have also seen updates.

MacGameStore.com has released a new Mac app to facilitate easy purchase and organization of games from the store. The app is similar to Steam, but specifically focused on digital game downloads for the Mac and includes many major titles from big studios like EA and Aspyr.

One particularly useful feature is a "Game Compatibility Checker" that compares the user's Mac to the game's requirements in real time, making life easier for users with slightly older machines. Another is the ability to delete purchased games and redownload them from the cloud at any time, a useful feature for MacBook Air owners with limited storage space.

The Mac Game Store can also act as a repository for all the user's games, even those not purchased through the MGS, organizing them in one place for easy access. The store also gives access to demos for many games, as well as game reviews and ratings, and more.

The app is available free from Mac Game Store's website.

Apple is launching the iPhone 5 in 22 new countries and on a number of regional carriers in the U.S., one week after it went on sale in the U.S. and a number of the larger international markets.

Though the iPhone is sold out at Apple's online store -- it currently lists a 3-4 week wait-time on the U.S. branch -- the iPhone 5 goes on sale tomorrow in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The iPhone 5 is also going on sale at a number of U.S. regional carriers, including Cricket, C Spire, Bluegrass Cellular, Cellcom, GCI, Golden State Cellular, Nex-Tech Wireless, Pioneer Wireless, Appalachian Wireless, MTA Solutions, and nTelos.