MacRumors

Coming several weeks late, Apple has just now officially launched iTunes Match to customers in the United States. The iTunes Match launch is facilitated by the release of iTunes 10.5.1, which now allows users to subscribe to the $25/year service offering cloud-based matching and upload of users' complete iTunes libraries. iTunes 10.5.1 is available via the iTunes download page and should be rolling out to Software Update shortly.

Apple had apparently initially intended iTunes Match to launch by mid-October as part of iTunes 10.5 as seen in a number of developer betas, but the company removed the feature from iTunes 10.5 for the public release, giving it a few more weeks to complete work on the service. Even so, Apple missed its stated launch target of "end of October" and did not provide an updated timeframe for the iTunes Match debut once the target was missed, although the company continued testing with a new developer beta of iTunes 10.5.1 just this past weekend.

iTunes Match is a U.S.-only service for the time being, although the company is reportedly working hard to secure licensing to details to expand availability to other countries. iTunes Store users in a number of countries have been greeted with a "coming soon" tag on iTunes Match promo listings in their country-specific stores, suggesting that Apple is optimistic regarding expansion of the service in the relatively near future.

Update: Demand of iTunes Match subscriptions has overwhelmed Apple's systems, and the company has halted new signups for the time being.

New iTunes Match subscriptions are temporarily unavailable.

Due to overwhelming demand, iTunes Match is not accepting new subscriptions at this time. Please check back in an hour.

Update 2: Despite Apple's notice about overwhelming demand still showing on the iTunes Match subscription page, subscriptions do now appear to be going through.

Update 3: iTunes 10.5.1 is now available in Software Update.

Research firm Gartner today released its quarterly estimates of PC sales in Western Europe for the third quarter of 2011, finding that Apple bucked the trend in a declining market to join the list of top five vendors. Apple's sales in Western Europe were up 19.6% year-over-year, compared to an overall decline of 11.4% for the market. Apple's performance was understandably strongest in mobile PCs, where it registered 28% year-over-year growth.

In addition to the totals for Western Europe, Gartner also breaks out data for the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, with the UK being the only one of those countries where Apple ranked in the top five. The company's 21.8% year-over-year growth there landed it in fourth place with 7.8% of the market, although Samsung's 39% growth left it only slightly behind Apple with 7.3% of the market.

Gartner last month released preliminary numbers for the U.S. and worldwide markets, finding that Apple had taken 12.9% of the U.S. PC market during the third quarter, a substantial jump quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, as well as a continuation of a long-term trend that has seen Apple increasing its share of the U.S. PC market.

While the sheer number of available Android devices has resulted in the platform surpassing Apple's iOS in popularity, Apple's limited portfolio of devices remained popular even as customers looked forward to updated hardware that arrived last month in the form of the iPhone 4S. According to NPD, the iPhone 4 and 3GS continued to hold the top two positions in U.S. smartphone sales during the third quarter, leading a series of Android phones in the rankings.

Led by continued steady sales for Apple’s iPhones, the top five best-selling mobile phone handsets in Q3 were as follows:

1. Apple iPhone 4
2. Apple iPhone 3GS
3. HTC EVO 4G
4. Motorola Droid 3
5. Samsung Intensity II

The ranking follows an identical showing for Apple during the second quarter, despite the iPhone 4 having been introduced in June 2010 and the iPhone 3GS launch dating all the way back to June 2009.

Even with the introduction of the iPhone 4S last month, Apple is continuing to sell the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS as low-end devices, with an 8 GB iPhone 4 being offered for $99 on contract at all three major U.S. iPhone carriers and AT&T offering the 8 GB iPhone 3GS for free on contract.

The Chosunilbo reports (via The Next Web) that Samsung has at the last minute elected not to request an injunction banning the sale of the iPhone 4S in its home country of South Korea. According to the report, the decision appears to have been spurred by public relations considerations, with Samsung preferring not to irk South Korean customers by attempting to have iPhone sales banned there.

Samsung had debated until the last moment whether to file the motion after making similar applications in France, Italy, Australia, and Japan.

The decision was apparently driven by public-relations concerns. A senior Samsung executive said, "We concluded that we should engage in legal battles with Apple only in the global market, but not in order to gain more market share in Korea."

Samsung and Apple are of course engaged in legal battles in a number of other countries, with each company seeking injunctions banning the sale of the other's devices based on claims of intellectual property infringement.

Samsung is one of Apple's key component suppliers for its mobile devices, but also a primary competitor with its slate of Android-based handsets. As noted in his biography, Steve Jobs believed that Android was a "stolen product" and had vowed to "spend every penny" of Apple's cash horde to destroy the platform. Samsung initially adopted a defensive stance in the disputes, but has recently stepped up its efforts and begun targeting the iPhone using its own portfolio of patents covering 3G wireless technologies.

Meanwhile, developments continue in Samsung's case against Apple in Australia, where Apple was able to avoid Samsung's request to see Apple's contracts with mobile phone carriers in that country by simply testifying that the language Samsung was looking for was not included in the contracts. Samsung had been pursing claims of anti-competitive behavior by suggesting that carriers may have committed to paying premium subsidies for the iPhone.

Samsung did, however, win one concession from Apple, as noted by ITNews, with a Samsung engineer being given two hours with the iPhone 4S source code to examine its 3G implementation. Apple had argued that the specific 3G patents being cited by Samsung were licensed by Qualcomm, Apple's chip supplier, absolving Apple from any separate licensing requirement. But Samsung was apparently allowed access to the iPhone 4S source code in order to explicitly determine how the Qualcomm chip interfaces with the rest of the device's hardware.

After again wiping iTunes Match libraries today, Apple has seeded developers with the 3rd iTunes 10.5.1 Beta. This update includes a number of important stability and performance improvements for iTunes Match.

Apple wiped iTunes Match libraries stored in iCloud earlier today in order to "prepare for the launch of iTunes Match". The Beta 3 Release Notes warn that Apple may again wipe iTunes match data during their ongoing testing:

iTunes 10.5.1 beta 3 includes a number of important stability and performance improvements for iTunes Match, and is a required update for all subscribers to iTunes Match beta.

Backup regularly and do not delete the music you add to iCloud from your computer. Apple may periodically delete all iCloud libraries during the beta period. This will require you to scan, match, and upload songs again

iTunes Match is Apple's $25/year subscription service that will match your existing iTunes library with 256-Kbps versions in the iCloud. iTunes Match had been scheduled for release in late October, but has been pushed back without any clear launch date available. Apple's wording in the most recent emails suggests an imminent launch.

Apple today began notifying users of the company's first-generation iPod nano that it is now offering a replacement program intended to address concerns over overheating batteries.

Dear iPod nano owner,

Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the battery in the iPod nano (1st generation) may overheat and pose a safety risk. Affected iPod nanos were sold between September 2005 and December 2006.

This issue has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect. While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages.

Apple recommends that you stop using your iPod nano (1st gen) and follow the process noted below to order a replacement unit, free of charge.

Under pressure from regulators, Apple agreed to provide replacements for affected units in South Korea in 2009 and in Japan in 2010. With today's announcement, it appears that the replacement program is now in effect on a worldwide basis.

Customers with affected devices can fill out a claim form to confirm eligibility for replacement. Defective devices will be replaced within six weeks and will carry 90-day warranties. Customers who have personalized iPod nano devices will not be able to receive personalization on their replacement devices.

While the redesigned "iPhone 5" form factor failed to surface with last month's update that saw the introduction of the iPhone 4S, reports have suggested that the next-generation iPhone expected to debut next year will indeed carry a significant redesign.

Business Insider now reports that it has received word from a source who has claimed to have had access to an iPhone 5 prototype and offered some details on the device.

We've been told this by an industry source who has been right about future Apple products in the past.

We have not been able to verify what he told us with a second source. So we're still treating these details as rumors. You should probably still read this post with a nice fat dose of salt.

According to the source, Apple did indeed hope to launch the iPhone 5 this year, but was forced to scrap those plans several months before the iPhone 4S was ultimately introduced. Among the iPhone 5 details cited by the source:

- 4-inch screen
- Aluminum back
- Capacitive home button
- "Flatter" form factor
- Much faster than current hardware, but poor battery life
- 10-megapixel rear camera
- Siri prototype known as "Assistant", which had been the rumored name for the feature until its introduction

According to the source, the primary objection regarding the prototype design came from Steve Jobs, who claimed that the larger screen would result in fragmentation of the iOS ecosystem, something the company has worked hard to limit.

Business Insider does not have a particularly solid track record on Apple product rumors, and is also including its own warnings about taking the report with a grain of salt. But the claims are certainly of some interest given the curiosity surrounding what happened with the claimed leaked design that resulted in significant numbers of cases being produced for a device that failed to appear.

As noted by The Next Web, Apple has quietly tweaked the title of marketing chief Phil Schiller, dropping "Product" from his previous title of Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing. As the report notes, however, it is unclear whether his new title of Senior Vice President for Worldwide Marketing reflects a change in responsibilities or if it simply more accurately reflects what he is already doing.

Schiller's biography page had previously listed "Product Marketing, Developer Relations, and Business Marketing" as being under his purview, but the updated page omits mention of any specific programs within Worldwide Marketing that Schiller might be responsible for.

The Next Web suggests that with Ron Johnson having departed Apple as of November 1st to become CEO of department store chain J.C. Penney, Schiller may have taken on some new responsibilities related to retail store marketing. One other possibility relates to Apple's education division, which Tim Cook has reportedly integrated into the company's broader marketing and sales divisions. With Schiller now overseeing marketing for educational initiatives, Apple may feel that the broader "Worldwide Marketing" title is more applicable to his current responsibilities.

Tim Cook has made a few changes to the executive leadership team since he took over as CEO in late August. Johnson's departure as head of retail is obviously one major change, but Apple has yet to name a replacement for Johnson. The other major change so far has been the elevation of Eddy Cue to the senior vice president level as his role as iTunes and App Store chief has expanded recently to include the iBookstore, iCloud, and iAd.

As it has a number of times during developer testing, Apple has just sent out an email to registered developers indicating that it will once again be deleting their iTunes Match libraries. The latest deletion is scheduled for tomorrow, November 12th.

As we prepare for the launch of iTunes Match, we will be deleting all current iCloud libraries on Saturday, November 12th at 10 AM PST.

Please turn off iTunes Match on all of your computers and iOS devices. On your computer, choose Store > Turn off iTunes Match. On your iOS device, tap Settings > Music, then turn off iTunes Match. On your Apple TV, please choose Music > Turn off iTunes Match.

The songs on your computer should not be affected. As always, please backup regularly and do not delete the music you add to iCloud from your computer.

Apple has modified the language from past notices to include a specific time for the deletion (10 AM PST) and reference to the deletion coming as Apple "prepare[s] for the launch of iTunes Match". Consequently, the development may offer some hope that a public debut of the service may now be near.

Apple had initially announced that iTunes Match would debut in the United States by the end of October, but the company missed that target and has not provided an updated timeframe for the launch. The company has since issued a new iTunes beta to continue testing.

Yesterday, Apple released iOS 5.0.1, the first update to the company's latest iOS 5.0 mobile operating system and one designed in large part to address complaints of battery life issues. But even with the update, a number of users are still reporting significant issues with battery life on their iOS devices.

Apple has now provided a statement to AllThingsD indicating that it is continuing to investigate the battery life complaints in an attempt to determine what is causing the problems.

The recent iOS software update addressed many of the battery issues that some customers experienced on their iOS 5 devices,” the company said in a statement. “We continue to investigate a few remaining issues.”

Apple has not committed yet to a near-term iOS update to address any additional issues, but is presumably already working on a follow-up update incorporating fixes for any other problems it discovers.

Following on Apple's proposed standard for smaller SIM cards, a German company has proposed its own standard. Giesecke & Devrient, the company that developed the world's first SIM card, has proposed the so-called "nano-SIM" as a card one-third smaller and 15 percent thinner than the current smallest card, the micro-SIM, that's used in the iPhone 4 and 4S and both generations of 3G iPad.

Apple has expressed a distinct interest in reducing the size of or eliminating SIM cards entirely, moves which would save space to allow Apple to either further shrink its devices or make room for other new or larger components. Late last year, Apple was said to have worked with Gemalto to develop a built-in SIM card which would use a chip to store subscriber information. But while the GSM Association and several carriers appeared to be in support of Apple's idea, other carriers threatened to withhold iPhone subsidies if Apple moved forward with the plan, objections that reportedly led to Apple scrapping the soft-SIM idea, at least for the time being.

With carriers nixing the idea of SIM card-less GSM phones, Apple apparently refocused its efforts on shrinking the size of the card further than the current micro-SIM size. Those efforts led to Apple's proposal for the new SIM card standard, which has been under review by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and has the support of a number of carriers.

According to today's report, G&D has submitted its design to the ETSI, the standards organization behind the three standard sizes of SIM cards (full-size, mini-SIM, and micro-SIM), illustrated above. It is unclear, however, whether the nano-SIM design discussed in today's report is related to Apple's proposed design. Regardless, ETSI reportedly hopes to have the new nano-SIM format standardized by the end of this year, and an adapter will exist to make the new SIM backwards-compatible with older devices.

(Image via Flickr/William Hook)

Google made waves last year for its introduction of Google TV, new software intended to integrate the Internet with television content and revolutionize the TV-watching experience. One of the key hardware launch partners for Google TV was Logitech, which offered its "Revue" set-top box for Google TV at a price of $299.

Google TV failed to catch on with consumers, and by July of this year Logitech had slashed pricing on the Revue box to just $99 and taken an accounting charge on the loss related to the below-cost sale price. The lack of consumer interest in Google TV reminded observers of comments made by Steve Jobs just after Google's announcement of its Google TV project.

Subsidized set-top boxes have squashed innovation because no one wants to pay for separate boxes...ask TiVo, Roku, us, Google in a few months. The set-top box needs to be torn up and redesigned to get people things they way they want them. And there's no go-to-market strategy for that. With the iPhone, and now the iPad, we could partner with carriers, but television is very balkanized...everything is local.

Just two weeks ago, Google announced a significant update to the Google TV platform, but Logitech apparently has no interest in being burned twice, as The Verge reports that the company has sworn off any further Google TV work and acknowledged that the original effort was "a big mistake". According to Logitech CEO Guerrino De Luca:

To make the long story short, we thought we had invented [sliced] bread and we just made them. [We made a commitment to] just build a lot because we expected everybody to line up for Christmas and buy these boxes [at] $300 [...] that was a big mistake.

De Luca notes that Logitech "executed a full scale launch with a beta product", a decision that resulted in a $100 million loss for the company when consumer demand failed to meet expectations. De Luca admits that Google TV may yet have success in the market but that any such developments are some time away and will not involve Logitech.

Google is of course only one of the companies seeking to change the way users interact with and experience television. Apple's current Apple TV set-top box primarily serves to integrate iTunes Store content with television sets, but the company is said to be working on a revolutionary new Siri-based interface for an actual television set product that could launch by 2013. And Sony has also acknowledged its efforts in the field, seeing the need to step up and address Apple's success so far with its iTunes ecosystem as well its future television plans.

Much has been made of Steve Jobs' revelation in his authorized biography about having "cracked" how to develop a revolutionary interface for an integrated television set, a disclosure that has led to claims of Apple working to launch a Siri-enabled television set by 2013.

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at how seriously Sony is taking the Apple threat, sharing comments from Sony CEO Howard Stringer about the strategies the company is seeking to employ, beginning with a "platform" spanning all the way from mobile devices to television sets.

Sony has a "four screen" strategy of offering network services on mobile phones, tablet computers, personal computers and TV sets. "I spent the last five years building a platform so I can compete against Steve Jobs," Mr. Stringer said. "It's finished, and it's launching now."

Stringer also claims that Sony has some ideas about a "different kind of TV set" that it has been working on as it seeks to beat Apple to the punch.

Mr. Stringer declined to discuss details of what Sony has on the drawing board, but said, "There's a tremendous amount of R&D going into a different kind of TV set." He added that he has "no doubt" Apple's late leader Steve Jobs also was working on changing the traditional TV set.

"That's what we're all looking for," said Mr. Stringer. "We can't continue selling TV sets [the way we have been]. Every TV set we all make loses money."

Stringer touches on several other topics in his interview, including an admission that Sony failed to realize how difficult it would be to get content providers to sign on to provide 3-D programming, a reluctance that has significantly slowed adoption of the technology. Stringer also briefly mentions the iPhone and his belief that other platforms will match the iOS experience, but that those platforms will need to adopt the seamless experience Apple has championed for its "well organized" devices and ecosystem.

Alongside today's round of international iPhone 4S launches, Apple also began offering unlocked iPhone 4S models for sale in the United States. Orders placed through the company's online store are currently listed with estimated shipping of 1-2 weeks.

Pricing for the unlocked, contract-free iPhone 4S comes in at $649/$749/$849 for the 16/32/64 GB models respectively. The unlocked device is compatible only with supported GSM networks, and Apple offers some advice on which customers might benefit most by purchasing an unlocked iPhone.

The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a contract commitment. You can activate and use it on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T in the United States.* The unlocked iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint.

If you don’t want a multiyear service contract or if you prefer to use a local carrier when traveling abroad, the unlocked iPhone is the best choice. It arrives without a micro-SIM card, so you’ll need an active micro-SIM card from any supported GSM carrier worldwide. To start using it, simply insert the micro-SIM card into the slot on your iPhone and turn it on by pressing and holding the On/Off button for a few seconds. Then follow the onscreen instructions to set up your iPhone.

Apple had previously announced as pre-orders went live in the United States back in early October that unlocked models would become available in November. The company's retail stores, however, began selling off-contract phones immediately after launch, with customers discovering that those devices were also coming through unlocked.