MacRumors

With Reuters becoming the latest publication to report that the next iPhone will include a smaller dock connector, many are continuing to wonder what will happen with legacy accessories that take advantage of the current 30-pin dock connector that has been in use since 2003.

iMore, which was first to report on the smaller dock connector back in February, has now confirmed with its sources that Apple will indeed be offering an adapter to provide backwards compatibility with accessories designed for the 30-pin connector.

While this seems like it should have been filed in the obvious drawer, because of all the questions we've been getting, and posts we've been seeing, iMore reached out to the original sources that gave us the new Dock connector story way back in February just to make doubly sure -- and yes, there will be an adapter for the iPhone 5's smaller Dock connector that will let it work with many of the accessories designed for the old 30-pin Dock connector.

We haven't heard if one will be included in the box along with the iPhone 5, or will only be sold separately, but either way, come October, you'll be able to get a new-to-old Dock adapter from Apple.

The report notes that some accessories may not be compatible with the adapter given their fit, but many accessories will continue to work using the forthcoming adapter.

While Apple is generally not afraid to abandon legacy standards in order to make changes advancing new standards or designs, the company has sometimes offered adapters to help ease the transitions. Perhaps the latest example is Apple's new MagSafe 2 power connector found on the new MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro. Apple offers a separate adapter priced at $9.99 to allow users to use older MagSafe power supplies with the new machines. The company is also including a free adapter with the Apple Thunderbolt Display, which still uses the original MagSafe connector for providing power to portable machines.

Alongside other OS X Mountain Lion announcements at its Worldwide Developers Conference last month, Apple announced an Up-to-Date program allowing any customer purchasing a Mac on or after June 11 to receive a free upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion once the operating system is released to the public. With OS X Mountain Lion being released only via the Mac App Store, the free upgrade is being delivered a redemption code for the store.

While the company has yet to officially announce it and almost certainly will not do so until OS X Mountain Lion itself actually launches, the company's Up-to-Date online application form is already live. Users are required to enter their date and location of purchase for the qualifying Mac, fill out personal contact information, and enter the serial numbers of machines eligible for the free upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion. Once all information has been submitted, Apple generates a reference number for the claim and the actual redemption code is delivered via email.

In our testing, the redemption code arrived as a password-protected PDF attachment within seconds of submitting the online form, with a second email containing a password for opening the PDF arriving at the same time.

Dear Apple Customer,

Thank you for participating in the OS X Mountain Lion Up-To-Date program. The content code that allows you to download and install OS X Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store is in the file attached below. You will receive the password to unlock the attached files in a separate email. Your content code may be redeemed immediately through the Mac App Store and will not expire.

Please follow these steps to redeem your copy of OS X Mountain Lion:

1. Open the Mac App Store application.

2. Select “Redeem” in the Quick Links section of the Mac App Store.

3. Enter your content code.

If you have questions regarding the redemption or installation of your software from the Mac App Store, visit www.apple.com/support/mac/app-store/.

To redeem your content code you need the latest version of the Mac App Store application, an Apple ID, and Internet access (fees may apply). You can create an Apple ID at appleid.apple.com/us.

As a reminder, content codes may not be resold and can only be redeemed by people above the minimum age specified by the terms and conditions of the Mac App Store in your country. Apple is not responsible for lost or stolen content codes. You may review the Terms of Service for the Mac App Store at www.apple.com/legal/itunes/ww/.

Thank you for choosing Apple!

Attempting to redeem the OS X Mountain Lion code in the Mac App Store does not yet provide access to the update, however, as it has yet to go live in the store. Entering the code simply yields an error noting that it is "not recognized as a valid code".

OS X Mountain Lion will be released later this month, with hints suggesting that it could arrive this Wednesday, July 25.

(Thanks, Justin!)

Update 10:12 AM: Apple appears to have taken the Up-to-Date application offline.

Back in January, we reported on ZEVO, an effort by former Apple file system engineer Don Brady to finally bring the Sun-backed ZFS file system to OS X. Brady's company, Ten's Complement, had begun releasing a set of software packages to support the robust file system on OS X, but planned launches for the some of the more advanced packages had begun to slip in recent months.

As noted by TUAW, Brady has now announced that ZEVO has been acquired by GreenBytes a storage appliance hardware company that already uses ZFS in its products. Brady will also be joining GreenBytes as a development engineer.

As to the future of the project, GreenBytes' spokesman Michael Robinson responded to TUAW's inquiry: "ZEVO's ZFS on OS X is safe. Ten's Complement has joined GreenBytes to continue their work and now they have more development support." Robinson says that GreenBytes will have more to share regarding ZEVO's future "down the line."

A blog post from GreenBytes expresses a similar sentiment, although it remains unclear exactly what the company's plans for ZFS on OS X will be, with some ZFS fans having expressed concern that GreenBytes will be refocusing the product for its own internal needs.

GreenBytes has been an enthusiastic supporter of ZFS (including ZFS on OS X) for many years and is absolutely committed to the continued development and support of Don's work on ZEVO (ZFS on OS X) into the foreseeable future.

With the transfer of ZEVO to GreenBytes, Ten's Complement has ceased sales of the Silver Edition software package that had been available, and it remains unclear how and when ZEVO will be redeployed for OS X by GreenBytes.

Reuters seems to confirm circulating rumors and expectations that Apple will be moving from the traditional 30-pin dock connector to a smaller 19-pin version for its next generation iPhone:

The iPhone 5, Apple's next generation iPhone expected to go on sale around October, will come with a 19-pin connector port at the bottom instead of the proprietary 30-pin port "to make room for the earphone moving to the bottom", two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Reuters also seems to confirm that the headphone jack of the new iPhone will move to the bottom of the device, as shown here:

Reuters notes this will represent a big opportunity for accessory manufacturers as customers upgrade their existing accessories to new 19-pin compatible ones. Apple launched the original 30-pin dock connector with the 3rd generation iPod in 2003. Subsequent iPods, iPhones and iPads have shipped with the port and resulted in a large ecosystem of compatible accessories. The first report that Apple would be replacing their dock connector with a miniaturized one came in February 2012 from iMore.

Digitimes seemingly confirms a previous report that the next generation iPhone has already started production in China.

Pegatron has begun production of a new version of the Apple iPhone at its factory in Shanghai, eastern China, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

The newspaper cites "industry sources" for the knowledge.

Earlier this month, Japanese blog Macotakara first reported that the next generation iPhone had already gone into production. These reports do somewhat conflict with a BGR report that the next generation iPhone is still in an engineering verification test. BGR believes that the new iPhone will carry 1GB of RAM as well as both LTE and NFC support. Regardless, it seems there are ongoing signs that the next iPhone is approaching.

The next generation iPhone will likely launch in the September or October -- approximately one year after the launch of the iPhone 4S.

With just over a week left in the month of July that is expected to see the launch OS X Mountain Lion, 9to5Mac reports that Apple has officially distributed the final version of OS X Mountain Lion to members of its AppleCare support team. The company has provided employees with Mac App Store download codes to allow them to install the forthcoming operating system on their main work machines.

AppleCare representatives have been testing OS X Mountain Lion on special Macs and via remote computing for the past few weeks, but today’s news marks that the OS X Mountain Lion Golden Master seed has been supplied to representatives to be installed on their main work Macs.

The OS was supplied today to all AppleCare employees via a Mac App Store redeem code. Employees who have installed the build have confirmed that their seed is build 12A269, the same build provided to developers on July 9th.

Apple has yet to announce an exact launch date for OS X Mountain Lion beyond "July", but it appears that it could be targeting this Wednesday, July 25, with an announcement perhaps coming on the company's earnings conference call the day before. Apple used a similar launch strategy last year for OS X Lion, announcing as part of the introductory remarks for its earnings conference call that the operating system would launch the following day.

Just a little over a week since shipping estimates for new Retina MacBook Pro orders through Apple's online store saw their first improvement from 3-4 weeks to 2-3 weeks, timeframes have again been reduced. As with the previous improvement, the change has first appeared in Apple's Asia-Pacific markets, which have seen shipping estimates drop to 1-2 weeks.

Shipping estimates in Apple's other main distribution regions of the Americas and Europe/Middle East/Africa are holding steady at 2-3 weeks for the time being, but they will almost certainly see similar drops to the 1-2 week timeframe in the very near future.

Shipping estimates for the Retina MacBook Pro peaked at 3-4 weeks roughly 36 hours after the models were unveiled at last month's Worldwide Developers Conference, with estimates remaining at that level until last week's drop to 2-3 weeks. Availability at other online and brick-and-mortar retailers is also improving, in many cases beating Apple's online store estimates for stock models, but the company's online store is the primary source for customized orders.

Update: Estimates in Apple's online stores in the Americas have also moved to 1-2 weeks.

Update 2: Apple's European stores have now also seen improvement to 1-2 weeks.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that he wants other companies to "invent their own stuff", and that Apple shouldn't be "inventor for the world".

Google General Counsel Kent Walker disagrees, and this month wrote a letter to the US Senate Judiciary Committee arguing that commercial inventions that impact "consumer welfare" should be just as important as technical patents.

All Things D's John Paczkowski interprets Walker's argument thusly:

In other words, Google’s view is that just as there are patents that are standard essential, there are also patents that are commercially essential — patents that cover features that are so popular as to have become ubiquitous. The latter are just as ripe for abuse as the former, and withholding them is just as harmful to consumers and the competitive marketplace. Viewed through that lens, multitouch technology or slide-to-unlock might be treated the same way as an industry standard patent on, say, a smartphone radio.

Apple strongly disagrees. Bruce Sewell, Apple's top lawyer, writes a rebuttal letter to the committee, saying in part, that simply because a "proprietary technology becomes quite popular does not transform it into a ‘standard’ subject to the same legal constraints as true standards."

In other words, simply because an Apple technology is extremely popular with consumers, doesn't mean Apple has to license that technology to competitors. Apple owns numerous patents regarding nearly all iOS technologies, a fact that Steve Jobs touted when he launched the first iPhone in 2007.

From Sewell's letter:

The capabilities of an iPhone are categorically different from a conventional phone, and result from Apple’s ability to bring its traditional innovation in computing to the mobile market. Using an iPhone to take photos, manage a home-finance spreadsheet, play video games, or run countless other applications has nothing to do with standardized protocols. Apple spent billions in research and development to create the iPhone, and third party software developers have spent billions more to develop applications that run on it.

Though Tim Cook has said that he hates lawsuits -- once calling them "a pain in the ass" -- he has said he will staunchly defend Apple's inventions from copycats.

Steve Jobs was quoted in his biography as threatening to "go thermonuclear" on Google for what he considered the theft of Apple's intellectual property regarding the Android operating system. He pledged to spend every penny Apple had in the bank, a war chest that has since grown to more than $100 billion, fighting a legal battle with the company.

All Things D has the full text of both letters, as well as a much deeper analysis of the legal aspects of the situation.

As noticed by 9to5Mac, Apple has offered developers a series of best practices to prevent the In-App Purchase vulnerability, as well as promising a full fix in iOS 6. The advisement was sent to developers in an email today.

CNET was issued this statement by Apple:

"We recommend developers follow best practices at developer.apple.com to help ensure they are not vulnerable to fraudulent In-App purchases," Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr told CNET. "This will also be addressed with iOS 6."

Apple issued this note to developers on the iOS Developer webpage, along with a series of suggestions to help verify that in-app purchases are legitimate:

A vulnerability has been discovered in iOS 5.1 and earlier related to validating in-app purchase receipts by connecting to the App Store server directly from an iOS device. An attacker can alter the DNS table to redirect these requests to a server controlled by the attacker. Using a certificate authority controlled by the attacker and installed on the device by the user, the attacker can issue a SSL certificate that fraudulently identifies the attacker’s server as an App Store server. When this fraudulent server is asked to validate an invalid receipt, it responds as if the receipt were valid.

News of the in-app purchase hack broke a week ago, and Apple has made several attempts to prevent users using the hack. It allows users to avoid paying for in-app purchases by using a third-party server as a "man-in-the-middle" attack. Apple now includes the UDID identifier in in-app purchase receipts in an attempt to increase the security of purchases.

While today's big acquisition news has been Google's purchase of Sparrow, another prominent Mac and iOS developer has also been swallowed up by a major Silicon Valley company.

Acrylic Software has announced (via The Next Web) that it has been acquired by Facebook, which is bringing on the Acrylic team for its expertise rather than its current products, which include RSS reader Pulp (iPad, Mac) and secure personal database app Wallet (iOS, Mac).

Facebook is an invaluable service that we all use daily, and a company I believe is one of the most innovative and important around today. After visiting late last year, I discovered that we shared many of the same core product design goals and principles, and it soon became obvious that it was a natural fit. Simply put, there’s an opportunity at Facebook to have a big impact in many people’s lives. More importantly, Facebook is full of extremely talented people who will be able to help realize its full potential in the years to come.

Acrylic's apps are not included in the deal, although the developer plans to continue offering them in their current states.

Alternative email client Sparrow has been acquired by Google. From Sparrow's website:

We're excited to announce that Sparrow has been acquired by Google!

We care a lot about how people communicate, and we did our best to provide you with the most intuitive and pleasurable mailing experience.

Now we're joining the Gmail team to accomplish a bigger vision — one that we think we can better achieve with Google.

We’d like to extend a special thanks to all of our users who have supported us, advised us, given us priceless feedback and allowed us to build a better mail application. While we’ll be working on new things at Google, we will continue to make Sparrow available and provide support for our users.

We had an amazing ride and can't thank you enough.

Full speed ahead!

Dom Leca
CEO
Sparrow

Sparrow originally launched on the Mac, but an iPhone version was released earlier this year. Leca also said that Sparrow's products will continue to be made available with "support and critical updates", but Sparrow does not plan to release new features. There's no word whether Push email support -- promised earlier this year -- will make its way to the iOS app or if that has been pushed aside.

Late last year, Google released an iOS Gmail app which was received poorly by users. Google issued this statement on the acquisition, but wouldn't divulge details of the purchase:

The Sparrow team has always put their users first by focusing on building a seamlessly simple and intuitive interface for their email client. We look forward to bringing them aboard the Gmail team, where they’ll be working on new projects.

Update: The Verge says Sparrow was acquired for "under $25 million" and that there was no bidding war for the company.

As noted by The Next Web, Apple today launched the third-generation iPad in China to small, orderly crowds, avoiding a repeat of the chaotic iPhone 4S launch back in January that forced Apple to temporarily halt in-store sales of the device in the country.

The iPad launch appears to have gone much more smoothly in part due to a reservation system the company deployed to help minimize lines and thwart scalpers seeking to soak up available supplies and resell the devices for significant profits. Prospective customers were required to pre-register for their in-store purchases by noon yesterday, with customers receiving designated appointment times today to come pick up their iPads.

As of now, today, there is no sign of the scalper contingent, which is typically out in full force for Apple product launches in China – the computer giant’s second largest market.

According to staff at the Sanliutin Apple Store, iPad sales will continue to be reservation-only indefinitely. Customers can reserve the new iPad daily from 9am-12pm and will be assigned a pickup time for the following day or later.

Crowds at the Sanlitun store were sparse under the new reservation system, with the store opening two hours early at 8:00 AM but with only ten people in line by 8:30.

Alongside yesterday's massive international expansion of iTunes in the Cloud for movies, U.S. users also received some new content as 20th Century Fox films are now available through the service.

When iTunes in the Cloud for movies launched back in March, Universal and Fox were not included due to agreements the studios had in place with premium TV channel HBO, with sources indicating within days that negotiations were underway to lift those restrictions.

Universal's films began appearing in iTunes in the Cloud in early April, but it has taken until now for 20th Century Fox's offerings to also be included.

Back in March, the Hickory Daily Record noted that Apple had filed for building permits related to a "tactical data center" to be located at the site of the company's existing data center in Maiden, North Carolina. Our research at the time indicated that the facility was a relatively small building of roughly 20,000 square feet, but it was unclear exactly what it was to be used for.

The Hickory Daily Record now follows up with a new report sharing more details on Apple's plans as culled from additional building permits and planning documents filed in recent weeks.

According to Apple’s design plans on file with Catawba County, the new 21,030-square-foot data center, also referred to as a “tactical” data center, will store clusters of servers. Permits filed with the county list the cost of the new 11-room data center at $1,885,129. [..]

The building will have, what appears to be, tight security measures even though it will be located on a site that already has tight security. The building will be equipped with “man trap” security doors at either end that will force a person to be cleared to go through an additional second door to get inside the main building space. The building also will be surrounded with an 8-foot-high chain-link security fence, according to architectural plans.

Apple's plans for the site ultimately include two 500,000 square-foot data center buildings, only one of which has been constructed. Today's report indicates that this new tactical data center, a separate project, will be adjacent to the existing data center without impinging upon space set aside for the second major building.

The architectural site plans show the small data center t-boned to the 500,000-square-foot existing data center. The plans still show the footprint for a larger data center that would run nearly parallel to the existing one and would t-bone the smaller one currently under construction.

Data Center Knowledge takes a closer look at Apple's plans, suggesting that Apple is deploying a modular facility in order to rapidly increase the server capacity at the site, something the company is already doing at its Prineville, Oregon site in advance of more permanent construction.

The building permits for the new Apple tactical MDC don’t name a particular provider. But Apple is currently deploying modular data centers from NxGen Modular at its new data center in Prineville, Oregon. NxGen has developed next-generation modular designs, with pre-fabricated components that can be assembled into a complete data center, complete with power, cooling and mechanical rooms.

Apple has yet to comment on its intentions for the new tactical data center facility in Maiden, but the project comes as Apple is pursuing major expansions of its server capabilities in North Carolina, Oregon, and Nevada to help support iCloud and other ventures.