MacRumors

As noted by TechCrunch, Calcalist (Hebrew) reports that Apple is considering purchasing an Israel-based company called Anobit for $400-$500 million.

Anobit is a fabless semiconductor company that specializes in flash storage. According to their website:

Anobit provides flash storage solutions for the Enterprise and Mobile markets. It's MSP™ (Memory Signal Processing) technology significantly improves the endurance, performance and cost of flash storage products and systems. Anobit's products are used by world leading flash manufacturers, consumer electronics vendors and storage system providers.

Calcalist reports that Apple already relies on Anobit's technology in the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air. Apple's interest in the company is related to their ability increase the amount of flash memory storage in a device and improve long term reliability. A Storage-Switzerland article describes the company's MSP technology:

Essentially this means they can detect flash problems in flash cells when they're much older, allowing them to extend the usable life of MLC flash significantly longer than other manufacturers. The net of this ability is Anobit's flash products have much longer endurance than comparable products from other vendors. They claim commercial-grade MLC endurance comparable to that of SLC flash from other manufacturers. Theoretically, this would enable users to replace SLC flash with the more economical MLC products.

A $400-$500 million acquisition price would make Anobit one of Apple's largest acquisitions ever. Prior to that, you have to go back to 1997 when Apple paid $404 million to acquire NeXT, Inc, bringing Steve Jobs back to the company.

Flash memory has been a key component in Apple's products over the past decade. Apple has made strategic bets on Flash storage in the past by pre-purchasing large amounts to ensure a constant supply. Apple's reliance on Flash remains with the ongoing popularity of the iPhone and shift in notebooks to SSD.

Following closely after a previously-rumored launch date of December 8th, Apple has now turned on new iTunes Store music and movie content in 16 Latin American countries. The countries seeing the new iTunes Store content include: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela.

In addition, Brazil appears to have gained the notable distinction of being the first country outside of the United States to offer iTunes Match. We received one report over the weekend from a user in the Netherlands who was able to activate iTunes Match, but that functionality appears to have been a very short-lived glitch.

MacMagazine.com.br has a running commentary [Google translation] documenting the situation as the various components of iTunes music and movie purchases and iTunes Match are going live in Brazil.

As had been rumored for the Brazilian iTunes Store, prices are currently in U.S. dollars, requiring users to fund their accounts with international credit cards. Pricing in local currencies for the Latin American countries is said to be coming at some point in the future, perhaps within six months.

Update: Apple has published a press release announcing the new additions.

Launching with a catalog of over 20 million songs, the iTunes Store in Brazil features local artists including Ivete Sangalo, Marisa Monte and the digital debut of Roberto Carlos’ catalog, available to purchase and download along with a wide range of international artists including the Beatles, Rihanna, Coldplay and thousands more. With most songs priced at 99 cents and most albums at $9.99, the iTunes Store in Brazil is the best way for iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music online.

Apple today released iTunes 10.5.2, an update bringing improvements to iTunes Match and fixes for an audio distortion issue experienced with certain CDs.

About iTunes 10.5.2

iTunes 10.5.2 includes several improvements for iTunes Match and fixes an audio distortion problem when playing or importing certain CDs.

The download is currently available via Apple's downloads page and the dedicated iTunes download page. It should begin rolling out to Software Update shortly. The full download weighs in at 102 MB for Mac, 66.13 MB for 32-bit Windows, and 68.01 MB for 64-bit Windows.

Apple launched iTunes Match in the United States with the release of iTunes 10.5.1 in mid-November.

One popular hobby of those interested in discovering hints of Apple's future iOS devices has been the examination of various configuration files in each beta and public version of iOS for new entries referring to future iOS devices.

While the references provide essentially no information on the new devices themselves, as they simply appear in the form of "iPhone4,1" for what ultimately became the iPhone 4S as one example, they are carefully watched as hints of what devices Apple is likely to be testing with the software and perhaps how many variations of an upcoming device there might be.

With today's release of iOS 5.1 beta 2, Apple has now taken steps to obscure that information, planting numerous fake references within configuration files typically examined for such evidence.

One file in particular, USBDeviceConfiguration.plist, had formerly listed about two dozen different device variants. As discovered by 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman, that list has now ballooned to well over 100 such entries as Apple has seeded it with dozens of new fake references to such future products as "iPad10,1", "iPhone11,3", "iPod11,1", and "AppleTV8,3".

The change is likely to make it more difficult to detect new additions, as the new entries will serve as placeholders until Apple quietly begins using the software on its latest devices under development.

Update: As noted by @chronic, the change does not shut out examination of the evidence entirely, as unaltered listings are still visible in other locations. Apple also apparently began adding the fake references in the first iOS 5.1 beta, but only with beta 2 did they make it into the closely-watched USBDeviceConfiguration.plist file.

As noted by The Next Web, Apple has posted a 360-degree panorama of its new Grand Central Terminal retail store on opening day, showing the large crowds and the new store in the context of the massive terminal building. The panorama supports gyroscope input on compatible iOS devices, allowing users to experience the panorama simply by rotating the device.

The panorama is accessible by visiting Apple's Grand Central retail store page and tapping on the "View More Photos" link on the featured store photo. The panorama is the final image in the gallery, and can be navigated by gyroscope on newer iPhone and iPad devices and by clicking/tapping and dragging on other devices.

The gyroscope-supported panorama is a new inclusion for Apple on its site, adding a new immersive experience for site visitors right from the mobile Safari browser.

Mobile Safari was updated to support gyroscope input late last year with iOS 4.2, and developers quickly began taking advantage of the new capabilities once they became publicly known. Occipital was among the first developers to integrate the functionality, using it in its popular 360 Panorama app to allow users to view panoramic photographs in the same way Apple has now done with its Grand Central panorama.

Apple has released iOS 5.1 Beta 2 to developers, with a build number of 9B5127c. The biggest change is the addition of a much-requested feature related to the management of photos in the Photo Stream:

NEW: Photos taken using iOS 5.1 can be deleted from Photo Stream on your device and will be removed automatically from Photo Stream on your other iOS 5.1 devices. Older photos can be manually deleted from your iOS 5.1 devices.

New versions of Xcode 4.3 and Apple TV software were also released. iOS 5.1 Beta 1 was seeded two weeks ago on November 28.

Market research firm Strategy Analytics today reported on the release of its new research report covering "connected TV players" such as the current Apple TV and Roku boxes. According to the report, Apple is predicted to reach sales of four million Apple TV units for 2011, leading the way in a rapidly-growing market with a 32% share.

“Apple is leading this nascent market, which it still considers a ‘hobby’.” says Jia Wu, Senior Analyst at the Connected Home Devices (CHD) service. “As Apple prepares for its expected launch of smart TVs in 2012, rival platforms must accelerate their development plans to keep Apple from running away with the connected TV business, as it has done in smartphones and digital music.”

The report also notes that Apple TV users tend to spend more money on TV shows and movies than users of other set-top connected TV players, with 30% of Apple TV owners reported have rented content compared to 20% of owners of other devices.

Overall, Strategy Analytics estimates that the market for connected TV players has doubled this year, reaching almost 12 million units on the momentum of considerably lower pricing compared to previous years. The current Apple TV debuted in September 2010 priced at just $99, substantially cheaper than the $229 price tag on the original hard drive-based Apple TV.

Apple has long considered the Apple TV to be a "hobby", but rumors are increasingly pointing to the debut of a connected television set from Apple as soon as late next year. Such a device would presumably integrate many of the aspects of the current Apple TV box such as iTunes Store access and streaming from iOS devices directly into the television set. Apple is also said to have been working on revolutionary Siri-powered voice input for interacting with the television.

Last week, we noted that Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs had become Amazon's top-selling book of 2011, a feat all the more notable due to the fact that the book was not released until late October.

But that ranking only encompassed print sales, and with digital books now representing a majority of book sales at Amazon, rankings including Kindle e-book sales need to be included in order to generate a more complete picture of overall book sales.

Amazon has done just that today, releasing its list of best-selling books of 2011, and Isaacson's Steve Jobs once again topped the list.

“After the year of recommending books to our customers, it’s always fun to see what books really resonated with them,” said Chris Schluep, Senior Editor of Books, Amazon.com. “We chose ‘Steve Jobs’ as one of the Top 10 best books of the year, and even though it was published in October, the sales have been phenomenal in both formats. And we’re really excited that Kindle Direct Publishing authors have taken two of the top spots this year for book sales overall.”

The top 10 best-selling books overall are:

1. “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
2. “Bossypants” by Tina Fey
3. “A Stolen Life” by Jaycee Dugard
4. “The Mill River Recluse” by Darcie Chan
5. “In the Garden of the Beasts” by Erik Larson
6. “A Dance with Dragons” by George R.R. Martin
7. “The Paris Wife” by Paula McLain
8. “The Litigators” by John Grisham
9. “The Abbey” by Chris Culver
10. “Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle)” by Christopher Paolini

Amazon's list includes all books that were published as first editions in 2011 and includes only paid sales. Highlighting the growing influence of digital books and their impact on publishing, Amazon notes that both The Mill River Recluse (#4) and The Abbey (#9) are independently-published books made available only via Kindle e-book.

The Coalition for a Secure Driver's License today announced that U.S. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has sent a letter to Apple requesting the removal of a free app that allows users to easily create digital fake IDs from the App Store.

The "License" application by DriversEd.com for Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad allows users to electronically insert any digital photo and the biographic information of their choosing into a template for a driver's license of a state of their choosing. The "License" application contains templates for driver's licenses for all 50 states, many of which are of designs that will be valid for the next several years. The user is then able to send the high quality digital image of the completed template to an email account. From the email attachment, the image can then be printed and laminated, creating a high quality counterfeit driver's license difficult to discern from one that's genuine.

Casey reportedly noted in his letter that the ease with which the app allows counterfeit licenses to be produced poses significant risks related to identity theft, underage alcohol and tobacco purchases, and national security.

In his letter, Senator Casey stated that, "I believe this application poses a threat to public safety and national security…it can be used in a way that allows criminals to create a new identity, steal someone else's identity, or permit underage youth to purchase alcohol or tobacco illegally. National security systems depend on the trustworthiness of driver's licenses, yet with a counterfeit license created by the app, a terrorist could bypass identity verification by the Transportation Security Administration, or even apply for a passport."

While the app had been available in the App Store for over two years, it appears that Apple has now quickly responded to Casey's letter by removing the app from the App Store. The Coalition for a Secure Driver's License had sent a letter to Apple's Scott Forstall back in April, requesting removal of the application. Apple apparently did not, however, respond to that initial request.

This is not the first time that elected government officials have gotten involved in disputes over App Store applications. Earlier this year, a group of four U.S. senators sent letters to Apple, Google, and Research in Motion requesting removal of several apps that alert users to the locations of sobriety testing checkpoints. Apple took its time responding to the issue, which is considered controversial as some law enforcement agencies support public notification of the locations of such checkpoints. Ultimately, Apple updated its review guidelines to prohibit the use of DUI checkpoint location information except in cases where the information has been made publicly available by law enforcement.

Apple today announced that its Mac App Store has surpassed 100 million downloads in less than one year of availability.

“In just three years the App Store changed how people get mobile apps, and now the Mac App Store is changing the traditional PC software industry,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With more than 100 million downloads in less than a year, the Mac App Store is the largest and fastest growing PC software store in the world.”

The press release also offers promotional comments from representatives of Autodesk, Pixelmator, and algoriddim highlighting the value of the platform for app distribution on the Mac platform.

The Mac App Store's pace pales in comparison to that of the App Store for iOS, which easily surpassed 100 million downloads in less than three months of availability back in 2008. But with a smaller user base, a smaller library of applications, more expensive average pricing, and the fact that the Mac App Store is not an exclusive official distribution platform for OS X, it is unsurprising that the Mac App Store has grown more slowly than its iOS counterpart.

Apple has worked hard to shift Mac application distribution to the Mac App Store, moving most of its own software, including OS X Lion, to the store and in many cases also discontinuing or severely limiting availability of boxed versions of its software. The Mac App Store is also gaining traction with even the largest developers of Mac App Store, and while flagship products such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop are not yet available through the store, Adobe does offer several applications including Photoshop Elements via the store. Microsoft is also said to be "actively working" to bring Office to the Mac App Store.

Update: Apple provided some additional information on the milestone to The Loop, noting that the number does not include purchases of OS X Lion, updates to previously-downloaded apps, or repeat downloads from a single user installing apps on multiple computers.

DigiTimes reports that Apple's next generation iPad will become available in about 3-4 months. The publication's supply chain sources indicate that the next generation iPad parts are starting to ramp up while the iPad 2 production is starting to decline.

OEM production of iPad 2 will remain high at 14-15 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 but decline to 4-5 million units in the first quarter of 2012, paving the way for the launch of the new iPads, the sources noted.

Volume production is expected to start in February and reach 9.5-9.8 million units in the first quarter of 2012.

March or April should come as no surprise to regular Apple followers. While Apple first announced the original iPad in Jan 2010, the company didn't start shipping the first units to customers until April. In 2011, the iPad 2 was announced around the same time of year.

The iPad 3 is widely expected to carry a high resolution "Retina" display.

Japanese blog Mac Otakara (via AppleInsider) reports that Apple held a MFI Conference conference in Shenzhen, China this past week. "MFI" is Apple's Made for iPod / iPhone / iPad certification program for accessory manufacturers.

During the talk, Apple reportedly revealed that they were going to provide a new certification chip for their MFI program to encourage more iOS-compatible accessories. The new chip will allow access to iOS devices over AirPlay, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. While Macotakara does not specify how this differs from the current program, the current program seems to be limited to physical dock accessories and specific AirPlay vendors.

In fact, TouchArcade recently touched on this fact in a recent article on iOS gaming accessories. TouchArcade noted that the reason why all the current gaming accessories such as the ThinkGeek iCade relies on Bluetooth keyboard emulation is due to the restrictions Apple has placed over bluetooth connections. It seems that this restriction will be loosened with the new certification chip, though details are sparse at the moment. TouchArcade suggests this could open the way to low-latency analog control sticks for iOS gaming.

Apple was also promoting the use of the new version of Low Energy Bluetooth 4.0 which was added in the iPhone 4S, noting that it could be used to support new applications in health care and gaming markets. We profiled the possibilities for Bluetooth Low Energy back in July.

Finally, Apple reportedly revealed that they would be adding support for AirPlay over Bluetooth, though it's not entirely clear what advantages this will offer.

Update: We've received some additional clarification on Apple's MFI program and the conference presentation, with the source noting that the new chip does not bring with it any additional capabilities. The chip, which has already been available for some time, is simply an authorization chip to verify compliance with the MFI program. The new chip is said to be faster and smaller and require less power than its predecessor, but does not confer any other functionality for devices.