MacRumors

The ongoing battle between Samsung and Apple might get a little more intense come February. BGR reports that Samsung is preparing to launch its own high resolution 11.6" tablet that will carry a 2560 x 1600 resolution screen.

Even though the tablet features a larger display than Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, we’re told that the tablet is “barely larger” due to the fact the slate will have a thinner bezel with a whopping 2560 x 1600 resolution, 11.6-inch screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio.

A resolution of 2560x1600 would beat the 2048x1536 display that the iPad 3 has been rumored to have.

Samsung first introduced a similar 2560x1600 screen back in May at SID Display Week 2011 International Symposium. That screen, however, used the less conventional PenTile technology to achieve its high resolution which has been criticized for some potential drawbacks.

The PenTile display uses a series of local filter operations to convert the underlying image into display intensities, including convolution, thresholding, color curve adjustment, and postprocessing with locally-adaptive filters. In practice, this means the display blurs the red and blue channels by dispersing these color intensities to the nearest subpixel element of the right color, and then also implements subpixel positioning to increase the apparent resolution again. However, subpixel spacing is not constant across the display, making the real apparent resolution complicated to estimate

Apple and Samsung have been in an ongoing legal battle over similarities the Galaxy Tab product line and the iPad.

Apple has been long rumored to be working on a high resolution iPad display that would carry twice vertical and horizontal resolution of the iPad. Apple used a similar technique when it upgraded the iPhone's screen to 960x640 from 480x320. Apple's iPad 3 is expected to carry a resolution of 2048x1536, up from 1024x768 in the current iPad. Rumors have suggested that there have been production holdups on creating these high resolution screens in quantities. The latest reports suggested Apple could also be able to release the iPad 3 as early as February, though other reports have suggested a slightly later release.

Businessweek reports on the movement towards voice-activated TV remotes in the coming year. The move seems triggered by Apple's plans to enter the TV market in the near future. Steve Jobs said that he had finally "cracked it", referring to the TV user interface. Most believe that this revelation relates to Apple's Siri voice recognition system, and the industry is on the move:

Whether the rumors are true that Apple is planning to release a TV set by 2013, Siri-like voice recognition is headed for the living room. Microsoft (MSFT) is already there, via its Xbox 360 game console, and Comcast (CMCSA), Samsung Electronics (SHCAY), LG, and Sharp are working on voice-enabled features for TV sets, set-top boxes, and related products.

Businessweek suggests an voice command as simple as "Record the next episode of Modern Family" as a much needed improvement over the current solution. Jakob Nielsen of Nielsen Norman Group goes on to say "Anything would be better than what we have now."

Upcoming remote devices are said to look more like iPhones than traditional remotes, with possibly a single physical button to activate the microphone. Others are working to simply embed microphones around the living room and eliminating a physical remote altogether. Nuance suggests that 5% of TVs could be voice controlled by Christmas 2012.

We've previously reported about competitors "scrambling" to identify what an Apple television set might look like. The lead up is reminiscent to the large number of tablet plans from competitors in the months leading up to the original iPad launch.

Following our report from earlier today regarding Apple having discontinued the boxed versions of Logic Studio and Express, Logic Pro 9 and MainStage 2 have now appeared for sale in the Mac App Store.

Logic Pro [Mac App Store] is priced at $199.99 and arrives as version 9.1.6 in a 413 MB download.

Logic Pro 9 is a complete set of creative tools for any musician who wants to write, record, edit, and mix music. It comes with a massive collection of instruments, effects, and Apple Loops, making it easy to get amazing sounds and create amazing-sounding songs.

Made for musicians
- Get up and rolling fast with production-ready templates and one-step track setup
- Work fast with easy access to all tools and editing areas using a single-window interface
- Enhance your songs with over 15,000 Apple Loops in a wide range of instruments and genres

MainStage [Mac App Store] arrives as a 303 MB version 2.2 priced at $29.99, making for a low-cost add-on for managing live performances.

MainStage 2 lets you take your Mac to the stage with a full-screen live interface, unmatched hardware control, and a massive collection of plug-ins and sounds.

The ultimate live rig
- Perform live with 120 instrument and effect plug-ins or work with your Audio Units plug-ins
- Import settings from Logic Pro and GarageBand to bring your studio sound to the stage
- Combine instruments and live audio, such as keyboard and vocals, in a single patch
- Seamlessly switch between patches without stopping sound output or cutting off held notes
- Design rich keyboard patches using splits and layers

With the release, Apple now offers 17 different applications in the Mac App Store, including OS X Lion itself as well as iLife, iWork, Aperture, Final Cut Pro and now Logic apps.

Apple today issued a notice to resellers announcing that it has discontinued the boxed versions of its Logic Studio and Logic Express audio software packages effectively immediately, also announcing that the Logic Pro 9 and MainStage 2 components will be moving to the Mac App Store for distribution. It does not appear that Apple will be offering the Soundtrack Pro 3 component of Logic Studio via the Mac App Store.

A report from early September had claimed that Apple was finishing up work on Logic Pro X. The report also indicated that Soundtrack Pro would be discontinued as part of the update as it was with Final Cut update to Final Cut Pro X.

Today's notice to resellers specifically refers to "new" Logic Pro 9 and MainStage 2 coming to the Mac App Store, but it seems odd that Apple would simply move those apps to the Mac App Store while discontinuing Logic Express and Soundtrack Pro and without releasing more substantial updates to Logic Pro and MainStage to address the reworked packages.

Update: Logic Pro is priced at $199.99, down from $499; MainStage is $29.99. The Logic Pro pricing is a significant reduction from the current $499 Logic Studio price, echoing steep price drops on Apple's Final Cut Pro software when it moved to the Mac App Store and the discontinuation of Logic Express ($199).

Logic Pro is available for $199.99 on the Mac App Store [Direct Link], and MainStage is $29.99 [Direct Link].

Apple has released the 2011 edition of its annual iTunes Rewind feature in the iTunes Store. The piece offers a look at what the company has judged to be the best music, movies, TV shows, apps, books, and podcasts of 2011.

Some of the notable winners:

Apps:
- iPhone App of the Year: Instagram
- iPhone Game of the Year: Tiny Tower
- iPad App of the Year: Snapseed
- iPad Game of the Year: Dead Space for iPad

Music:
- Song of the Year: Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People
- Artist of the Year: Adele
- Album of the Year: Wasting Light by Foo Fighters

Books:
- Best Novel: The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obeht
- Best Nonfiction: Boomerang by Michael Lewis

It's important to note that these awards are all for the United States iTunes Store. In some cases, Apple gave awards to different items in different countries. For example, Djay was awarded iPad App of the Year honors in the UK, while Tiny Wings won iPhone Game of the Year in the UK and Australia.

Instagram isn't the first photography app to win App of the Year award. In 2010, Hipstamatic took home App of the Year honors. Plants vs. Zombies won the Game of the Year award that year.

MacRumors covered iTunes Rewind in 2010 and 2009, as well.

The next iPad will be introduced in February according to a research note issued by Citi analyst Richard Gardner, obtained by Business Insider.

According to "several sources" the next iPad will launch in February, and it will sport a screen with double the resolution of the current model.

Gardner says, "there do not appear to be any significant technical hurdles remaining" to prevent a launch of a high-resolution iPad, despite rumors to the contrary.

Gardner's note echoes prior reports of a mid-Winter launch for the iPad 3.

Some reports had been suggesting that Apple's display suppliers were struggling with mass production of the higher-resolution 2048x1536 displays for the iPad 3, but reports over the past few weeks have indicated that the production is now moving along at Samsung, LG, and Sharp ahead of final iPad 3 assembly scheduled to begin next month at Foxconn.

One issue that has remains unclear is whether the iPad 3 will be thinner or slightly thicker than the iPad 2. Several sources have claimed that the iPad 3 will need to be slightly thicker due to the adoption of a dual light bar system to handle the significant jump in display resolution. But another report from late last month claimed that Apple will be utilizing a new display technology to support the high-resolution without requiring dual light bars, a development that will allow the iPad 3 to be slightly thinner than the current model.

Three-quarters of the way through Apple's holiday quarter, a slew of analysts have increased their calculations of the company's performance, while expecting record iPhone sales on the back of Apple's most successful iPhone launch ever.

Interestingly, Citi analyst Richard Gardner claims to have specifically heard that Apple just last week made a significant boost to its iPhone orders with suppliers, suggesting significant upside for the current quarter.

Our meetings in Taiwan suggest that Apple raised 4CQ11 iPhone orders to suppliers meaningfully just last week. The new iPhone build plan is meaningfully above the low-30’s million figure that we were hearing previously. Given such a significant order increase at this late stage in the quarter, it seems clear that Apple is headed for a meaningful upside surprise on iPhone shipments this quarter.

Other analyst updates include:

- Maynard Um of UBS raised his estimate of iPhones sold on the quarter to 30 million from 28. Um noted that his team believes the 30 million number is still conservative, especially with an iPhone 4S launch in China pending.

- Shaw Wu of Stern Agee raised his iPhone expectations from 26 million to 28 million, though he believes those numbers could run even higher thanks to high demand from Asia.

- William Power of R.W. Baird raised his iPhone estimate to 31.2 million units.

- Mark Moskowitz of JP Morgan raised his iPhone estimates to 28 million units from 25.3 million.

- Mike Walkley of Canaccord Genuity raised his iPhone estimate to 30.5 million from 29 million units, saying "our November checks indicated strong global iPhone sales with Apple share gains versus Android smartphones in the US and Western Europe".

While the iPhone is expected to be a powerhouse this quarter, Power, Moskowitz and Walkley all cut expectations slightly on the iPad.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, on the most recent Apple earnings call in mid-October weighed in with his own expectations, saying his team was "very confident that we will set an all-time record in the December quarter for iPhone sales."

Several MacRumors readers have reported that Apple has rolled out new Apple TV support for streaming purchased television shows in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Users in those countries have been able to rent movies directly on the Apple TV, but purchased content was required to be downloaded to a computer and then streamed to the Apple TV via Home Sharing. With the new update, purchased TV shows are simply stored in iCloud and streamed directly to the Apple TV on demand.

Apple TV streaming of purchased TV shows came to the United States back in August. That addition was accompanied by a new TV Shows section of the purchased items listings in iTunes, allowing users easy access to download purchased shows to any device.

Besides TV show purchases, Apple had previously offered 99-cent rentals of TV episodes. Apple discontinued that offering in August, noting that customers preferred to purchase their shows and that the new iCloud flexibility offered additional benefit to purchases.

Update: It appears that the new menu option may have been released prematurely, as a number of users are reporting that the TV show option is either not functioning or has disappeared completely.

Apple has launched their annual "12 Days of Christmas" iTunes Store holiday promotion for European customers. The free app download gives way free content each day from December 26th to January 6th.

You and your friends can download a fantastic selection of songs, music videos, apps and books for free. Each download will only be available for 24 hours. Get our special 12 Days of Christmas app to make it even easier to access your gifts while you’re on the go.

As we noted last year, the promotion has traditionally been limited to European and Canadian iTunes Stores. AppleInsider reports Canadian customers should get their own app soon. [App Store].

For those without an iOS device, Apple says to come back to iTunes on December 26th to download gifts from your computer. Though the U.S. customers are excluded from this promotion, App Store developers frequently use the holidays to hold sales on their apps. AppventCalendar is another daily free app promotion that has already started daily app freebies.

Cloud gaming company OnLive has just announced the release of their playable OnLive client for iPad and iPhone (via TouchArcade and OnLiveInformer).

OnLive, Inc., the pioneer of cloud gaming, announced that it is bringing console-class gaming to tablets and phones with the revolutionary OnLive app for tablet and mobile platforms. The latest, top-tier, high-performance games—previously limited to only consoles and computers—will be available for instant play via the free OnLive app on over 500 million mobile devices over Wi-Fi or mobile networks in the US and UK.

OnLive delivers console-quality games to Macs, PCs, TVs (and now mobile devices) by remotely streaming the game from their central servers. The client device need not be fast enough to render high resolution graphics -- instead it simply has to play back what amounts to a video stream of the game, while user controls are sent back to the central server.

OnLive reports that 25 console-class games have been adapted for touch controls including L.A. Noire and LEGO Batman™: The Videogame. Games can be played using the touch interface or using their mobile-compatible Universal OnLive Wireless Controller ($49.99). Games purchased on one OnLive device can also be instantly be played on another device with full save game data intact.

The OnLive app for iPad should be available as a free download at any moment. TechCrunch reports the iPhone support is "coming soon".

The app itself is free, but users will still need to pay for Onlive games which are available per title or through Onlive’s PlayPack Bundle. It seems most top-tier Android devices are officially supported — but as with most Android apps, other (unsupported) devices will probably get in on the fun as well (see official list below). The app currently works for the iPad with support for the iPhone coming later.

LEGO Batman™: The Videogame will be given free to anyone who downloads the OnLive app.

Japanese blog Mac Otakara claims to have information from an Asian supplier that the next iPad will have a screen of the same physical dimensions as current iPads, and will support the Smart Cover but may be thicker.

According to Asian supplier which provides part for next iPad, next iPad has same size of screen, but case may be thicker by unknown reason. Current iPad cases, which covers backside, will not be compatible with thicker next iPad.

Also the source told, front rounding corner will be same with current iPad, then Smart Cover will be good companion with new iPad.

Though the site doesnt specify, the above image may be of prototype case for the iPad 3.

Mac Otakara has occasionally offered accurate information in the past, although several of its claims also failed to come true. Back in August, the site claimed that the iPhone 4S and iPad 3 would debut at a media event in early October with availability set for late October. iPad 3 rumors had been swirling at the time, but were later discounted as reported indicated that Apple will be pushing the iPad 3 with Retina display back to an early 2012 introduction.

Fierce Wireless reports on comments from Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam in which he acknowledges that the carrier is planning on rolling out shared data plans in 2012.

Depending on how the sharing is implemented, the carrier could allow a single customer with multiple devices such as iPhone and a 3G iPad to draw from a single data monthly allotment rather than requiring separate data plans for each device. Shared data could also show up in family plans, where multiple family members could pull data from a single allotment much as they can today with voice minutes.

McAdam said that customers who are dealing with four or five screens--smartphones, tablets and USB modems for laptops and the like--do not want to pay for all of those devices on separate bills, and neither does Verizon. "I think in 2012 we will see it," McAdam said at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. "We have been working on this for a couple of years. Getting to one bill and getting to account-level pricing is our goal."

European carriers have led the way in data allotment sharing with iPhone and iPad plans, and Verizon and AT&T had previously disclosed that they too are working on such offerings but had not offered any timeline for introducing such plans.