MacRumors

TechCrunch reports that iOS 6 will include system-level integration of Facebook, similar to the integration seen with Twitter in iOS 5. The report comes just days after Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke positively about Facebook at the D10 Conference, closing his thoughts on the relationship between Apple and Facebook with the suggestive phrase "stay tuned".

After much speculation, Facebook integration will indeed be baked into the latest version of iOS, we’ve learned. [...]

To be clear, Twitter will still very much be a part of the new iOS (presumably named “iOS 6″ and codenamed “Sundance“), and that company will be holding sessions at WWDC to chat more about the continued partnership (including the integration into the forthcoming OS X Mountain Lion). But Facebook integration will be very important for iOS — tons of apps use Facebook for sign-ups and authentication (many use Facebook as the only way to do this, to the dismay of some). Apple was undoubtedly watching this activity and realized that it was time to formally bring Facebook on board.

TechCrunch notes that Apple and Facebook are still working out how sharing items to Facebook will be integrated, given the varying levels of permissions on Facebook posts. The report also includes the caveat that Apple has been known to change its mind in the past, but as of right now Facebook integration is reportedly set to be unveiled in iOS 6 at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference later this month.

With Apple's MobileMe service set to shut down at the end of this month as the company completes the transition to iCloud, users of the service are receiving 30-day warning emails reminding them of the impending shutdown.

Those MobileMe users who have yet to move their accounts to iCloud are receiving a message warning them that they need to take action in order for their email to continue functioning and offering instructions on the transition process. Apple is also reminding users that those whose systems don't meet the minimum requirements for the full iCloud service can still migrate their email and calendars to iCloud.

MobileMe users who have already converted to iCloud are receiving a slightly different message reminding them that MobileMe Gallery, iDisk, and iWeb hosting will all be discontinued with the final transition to iCloud. Those users should be sure to download any affected content they wish to keep before MobileMe is shut down.

With Apple reportedly abandoning Google in favor of its own mapping solution for iOS 6, 9to5Google reports that Google will be holding an event on June 6 to show off "The Next Dimension of Google Maps". The event comes just five days before Apple is expected to show off details of iOS 6 at its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.

At this invitation-only press gathering, Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps and Google Earth, will give you a behind-the-scenes look at Google Maps and share our vision. We’ll also demo some of the newest technology and provide a sneak peek at upcoming features that will help people get where they want to go – both physically and virtually. We hope to see you there.

Apple has relied on Google to provide the mapping functionality in iOS since the iPhone's initial launch back in 2007. But as competition between the two companies has ramped up, Apple has been working to strengthen its expertise in mapping with the acquisition of several small companies and has been gradually moving certain location and mapping services in-house. That transition is expected to culminate in iOS 6 with the core mapping application shifting from Google to Apple.

The timing of Google's event naturally leads to speculation that it has been specifically planned to upstage any Apple announcement about mapping in iOS 6 and to show what users will be missing out on with the transition by Apple.

As noted by The Verge, the European Telecommunications Institute (ETSI) today announced it has adopted a standardized design for the next-generation "nano-SIM". The new design is 40% smaller than the current micro-SIM standard.

Today's SIM card designs take up a significant amount of space inside a mobile device. This space is more and more valuable in today's handsets which deliver an ever increasing number of features.

The fourth form factor (4FF) card will be 40% smaller than the current smallest SIM card design, at 12.3mm wide by 8.8mm high, and 0.67mm thick. It can be packaged and distributed in a way that is backwards compatible with existing SIM card designs. The new design will offer the same functionality as all current SIM cards.

The design selection was heavily contested, with a proposal from Apple being opposed by a number of other mobile phone manufacturers despite Apple having the support of many European carriers. As the selection process continued, Apple slightly tweaked its design while the opposing carriers made changes to their own proposal that brought their design much closer to Apple's.

The Verge notes that by the time final selection was made the only difference in external design between the two proposals was a notch included in the side of the card proposed by the coalition of manufacturers opposing Apple. And with the ETSI yet to publish any other details on the approved design beyond overall measurements, it is not yet clear which design won out.

Unfortunately, both Apple's design and the more recent Motorola / RIM compromise design are exactly the same exterior dimensions — the only difference is that the update submitted by Apple's competitors includes an extra notch to enable so-called "push-push" mechanisms in SIM slots that wouldn't necessitate a tray. Until ETSI publishes the specs, we won't know which of the two was chosen.

The ETSI specifically refused to comment on which group's design was chosen, noting only that a collective decision by the industry yielded the final standard.

Update: IDG News Service reports that Apple's design was indeed the winning standard.

Apple has won a battle over the standard for a smaller SIM card, use of which would leave more room for other components in future phone designs. [...]

ETSI isn’t releasing any further details of the vote or the winning specification, only saying that the decision had been made, according to a spokesman at the standards organization. The proposer of the winning specification was identified by card maker Giesecke & Devrient, which had a representative on the committee.

In Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder was quoted as saying that his desires for the future involved the reinvention of three industries: television, textbooks, and photography. With Apple's iBooks Textbooks initiative for the iPad underway and the company reportedly working on television from both hardware and content sides, it has been unclear exactly what Jobs and Apple might have had in the works to address photography. Isaacson's biography did note that Jobs had met with the CEO of Lytro, creators of an innovative new light field camera system, although it is unclear how much direct interest Jobs and Apple had in Lytro's technology.

Earlier this week, iLounge released its comprehensive New iPad Buyers' Guide, an overview of accessories, apps and other information associated with the new iPad. As noted in the announcement about the guide's release, it includes a two-page spread arguing that Apple may be working on a camera product of some sort. According to iLounge, the speculation in the guide is informed by claims from a source, although the information was not considered reliable enough to make concrete assertions at the time.

Take special note of pages 152 and 153—“Making the case for a standalone iSight Camera.” I’ll share more on this topic shortly, but for now, I’ll say that this two-page spread very nearly had a different title. We were tipped that this project is actually happening at Apple right now, but we didn’t feel confident enough in our source to call it a certainty; it’s therefore billed as speculation. Still, there’s enough smoke to make us think there’s a fire.

iLounge now appears to be becoming more confident in its belief that Apple is working on a standalone camera product, with Editor in Chief Jeremy Horwitz issuing a Tweet a short time ago reiterating the claim.

So, as briefly noted on Backstage, Apple appears to be working on a standalone camera - the third of three industries Jobs wanted to change.

While we've assumed that any advances by Apple in photography would most likely come via the iPhone given that many users are abandoning standalone point-and-shoot cameras for increasingly powerful cameras included on their smartphones, iLounge argues that Apple will look to remake the point-and-shoot market with new hardware and software that isn't constrained by the limitations of the iPhone.

As much as iPhones (and iPads) have improved in camera technology over the past two years, Apple’s goal is to keep slimming them down, which limits the light-gathering and zoom capabilities of camera sensors and lenses - image quality compromises. A standalone digital camera could accommodate a bigger sensor and integrated zoom lens, which Apple would select as a “satisfies most needs” option rather than offering detachable lenses. Lytro’s minimalist body for the Light Field Camera shows how simple it could get, but Apple would want a much larger screen.

Apple had a partnership with Kodak in the mid-1990s to produce the QuickTake line of digital cameras, but the product line was discontinued upon Steve Jobs' 1997 return to the company as he sought to streamline Apple's business. The company has of course continued to work on camera technology, in large part with its line of accessory and integrated iSight cameras over the years, but there has been little evidence of an interest in returning to the standalone digital camera business.

It's hard to place much faith in the rumor at this point, and iLounge doesn't expect any Apple camera product to be introduced until after the long-rumored Apple television set makes its debut, but it does make for interesting discussion and we'll keep watching for any other signs of Apple's interest in photography products as time goes on.

Update: iLounge has now published an article outlining the circumstantial evidence for Apple's work on a standalone camera product.

Over the past few days, several leaks have surfaced showing an alleged front panel for the next-generation iPhone and a design schematic for what appears to be the same part.

Japanese blog Mac Otakara has now gotten its hands on one of those front panel parts and posted photos and a video comparing it to the current iPhone design. As has been shown by leaks so far, the next-generation iPhone would be somewhat taller than the current model, with estimates putting the difference in height at roughly 10 mm.

Roughly in line with the design schematic leaked yesterday, Mac Otakara measures the display opening at 10.33 cm (4.07 in) diagonally, allowing a 4-inch display as has been rumored to fit within the opening.

9to5Mac reports that it has more details on the next-generation iPhone, receiving some information from a source with access to a prototype of the device and other data from a build of iOS 6 said to be targeting the forthcoming device. Among the highlights:

- Details in the iOS 6 beta indicate that the next-generation iPhone will run an application processor identified as S5L8950X. That processor initially showed up in iOS 5.1 betas alongside the S5L8945X that arrived in the form of the A5X in the current iPad. But while the assumption had been that the S5L8950X would be released to the public as part of an A6 system-on-a-chip, today's report indicates that it is still internally being referred to as part of the A5 family.

- On the graphics side, Imagination Technologies is once again said to be supplying the chip, which is currently being referred to as SGX543RC*. The identifier seems to be a code name given that it does not correlate with any official variants of the SGX543 platform. Imagination Technologies introduced the multi-core SGX543 design in early 2009, with Apple using the dual-core SGX543MP2 in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S while stepping up to the quad-core SGX543MP4 to drive the Retina display on the current iPad.

- The iOS 6 build is running on a Darwin kernel version of 13.0.0, above the 11.x.x used in OS X Lion and iOS 5 and even the 12.0.0 version seen in OS X Mountain Lion.

- Following up on spy shots of the iOS 6 Maps app that appeared earlier this week, today's report offers another such shot, although the design is said to still be subject to tweaking.

The Verge reports that Intel has formally announced its next batch of Ivy Bridge processors, adding 14 new chips including four 17-watt ultra-low voltage processors that could appear in revamped MacBook Air models and several dual-core mobile chips that could be included in updated Mac mini and 13-inch MacBook Pro machines. Engadget has the full details on the new chips, which also include six new desktop processors.

Intel's announcement comes in line with the previously leaked timeline that saw the first batch of quad-core desktop and mobile processors launch in late April, with the second round focused on dual-core and low-voltage chips coming in early June.

With over 25 new Ivy Bridge chips now available, Apple now appears to have a number of options to upgrade its entire Mac product line. Apple is expected to use Ivy Bridge throughout its Mac lineup with the exception of the Mac Pro, which would take advantage of Sandy Bridge E server chips released in early March should Apple choose to issue an update to that line.

Apple is expected to introduce a redesigned MacBook Pro at next month's Worldwide Developers Conference, and it seems likely that updates to other lines will come either at the same or soon after, as the new Ivy Bridge chips put Apple in a prime position to update its aging Mac lineup.

AllThingsD yesterday announced the release of a new set of video and audio podcasts covering all six of Steve Jobs' on-stage appearances at the D Conference between 2003 and 2010.

[B]y far the largest trove of video of the legendary innovator candidly answering unrehearsed questions and explaining his views on technology and business comes from his six lengthy appearances at our D: All Things Digital conference, from 2003 to 2010. [...] So, as a memorial to a great man and in the spirit of sharing a priceless piece of history, we are making all six of these appearances available on iTunes for free, in high-quality video. We thank Apple for its cooperation in making these videos available for all.

Jobs' five solo appearances check in at between 45 and 95 minutes each.

Update: All Things D tells us that the interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates was omitted by accident. It has since been added to the podcast collection in its entirety.

Cricket Communications today announced that it will begin offering the iPhone on June 22, becoming the first U.S. carrier to offer the device on a prepaid basis with no contract. Service will cost $55 per month and include unlimited voice and SMS, as well as "unlimited" data with a soft monthly cap of 2.3 GB after which speeds will be throttled.

Cricket Communications, Inc., a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless services, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc., announced today that it will be the first pre-paid carrier in the US to offer iPhone to its customers. Beginning on Friday, June 22, Cricket will offer iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 with its $55 per-month, all-inclusive unlimited talk, text and data plan. [...]

"Our customers want the best products available and we are excited to bring iPhone to our pre-paid consumers with an industry leading $55 per-month service plan," said Doug Hutcheson, president and chief executive officer, Leap Wireless International, Inc. "Launching iPhone is a major milestone for us and we are proud to offer iPhone customers attractive nationwide coverage, a robust 3G data network and a value-packed, no-contract plan."

Interestingly, Cricket appears to be offering a partial subsidy on the iPhone hardware, with the iPhone 4 priced at $399.99 and the 16 GB iPhone 4S priced at $499.99. The discounts of $150 off of Apple's standard pricing for unlocked handsets are in place even though customers are not required to sign service contracts.

The iPhone will be offered in Cricket's existing core markets covering over 60 million people. The full list of iPhone markets is included on the carrier's iPhone site.

Cricket has entered into a three-year deal with Apple with a commitment to purchase at least $900 million worth of iPhone hardware over that term. The carrier also intends to carry new iPhone hardware as it becomes available, although company executives were unwilling to directly address whether Cricket would be able to offer new hardware at the same time as other carriers.

Cricket is generally considered one of roughly half a dozen "super-regional" carriers in the United States, with just under 6.2 million customers as of the end of the first quarter. The carrier offers a nationwide network through roaming agreements and its prepaid model offers simple pricing with no activation fees or overage charges.

At this year's All Things D conference, Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook about a range of topics. We offer a transcript of the interview, but didn't include the Q&A session because we were standing in line to ask Cook a question.

A number of questions were asked, including about Apple's product naming strategy and how Cook originally joined Apple -- I asked about his feelings regarding the attention paid to Apple and himself by rumor sites, the media and Apple's extremely passionate customers:

MacRumors: Jordan Golson from MacRumors.

You talk a lot about the emotion of the customers, there's a lot of passion amongst customers. Do you think the sort of attention that's paid to Apple from rumor sites and news sites and everybody is a distraction or a driver? How does that affect you and the company?

Tim Cook: I think it's a privilege to have people that care about the company and care enough to write, care enough to talk, and care enough to send me an email and say "you're out to lunch on this thing" and "you should be looking at this differently".

I think all of that is great, I love it. And do I want something printed on a website that's confidential? No, but I don't think that's what you're asking.

I view our ecosystem as including great sites that care deeply about the company and want to inform customers. I have no problem with people that disagree with things that we're doing. That's our country and I love it. It's great that we have disagreements.

Does that make sense?

Kara Swisher: He loves you.

(Image courtesy Dan Frommer/ReadWriteWeb)

MarketWatch reports that Chinese regulators have cleared for sale a new 3G-capable wireless device from Apple, with the A1430 model number specified in the agency's database indicating that it is the cellular-capable model of the new third-generation iPad.

According to China's Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center, an Apple device with third-generation, high-speed wireless data capabilities has been issued the license needed for the company to begin sales in China.

The device, listed as "model number A1430" is compatible with the 3G standard wide band code division multiple access, or WCDMA. The language used by the regulator suggests the device is the new iPad, which has yet to launch in China. Vendors often begin selling new devices within weeks of network access licenses being granted.

Apple previously obtained certification on the Wi-Fi model of the new iPad, and with the 3G model now receiving the required network access license, Apple may move quickly to launch the device in its second largest market after the United States.

The new iPad is already available in roughly 90 countries around the world, with the company adding the Philippines and Guam just yesterday. Based on information on Apple's site, it appears that the company has also quietly added Honduras and Paraguay to the list of markets for the new iPad over the past few days.

Nicaragua is currently the only Latin American country with official iPad distribution that has yet to begin offering the latest generation of models, but we understand that Apple has just received the necessary certifications there and distributors should begin sales of the new iPad in the near future.

TechCrunch points to a post [Google translation] from Italian blog Fanpage noting that Apple has signaled its intent to purchase Redmatica, a small Italian software firm responsible for audio editing apps such as Keymap Pro and AutoSampler.

Evidence of the acquisition has appeared in the weekly bulletin of AGCM, Italy's antitrust regulatory agency. The announcement, which is in Italian, begins on page 37 of the bulletin (PDF) published on May 28, and the most relevant portion translates into English as follows:

Under the provisions of the contract "Asset Purchase Agreement Relating to the business as an ongoing concern of Redmatica S.r.l." (hereinafter the Agreement) with the present operation, Apple intends to acquire, through a transfer of assets, the business Redmatica.

AGCM determined that the proposed acquisition would not be anticompetitive in nature given the relatively small sizes of the entities in that specific market and an abundance of competitors. Consequently, the agency does not object to the acquisition by Apple.

AllThingsD has posted highlights from Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher's interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook from yesterday. The nearly 17-minute video includes Cook's thoughts on a number of topics, including the impact of the iPad, Steve Jobs' passing, patent litigation, and more. MacRumors was on hand for the session and offers a rough transcript of the entire interview.

Several other video clips from Cook's interview addressing specific topics have also been posted. Other MacRumors coverage of key points from his interview includes:

- Tim Cook at D10: "We're going to double down on secrecy on products."
- Tim Cook at D10: Dodges Questions about TV, Is an Area of "Intense Interest"
- Tim Cook at D10: Hints at Facebook Integration, and Siri Improvements