MacRumors

Bloomberg reports that Sprint will indeed begin offering the iPhone next month as had been previously reported by The Wall Street Journal, seeking to set itself apart from AT&T and Verizon by offering unlimited data plans for the device. The carrier is said to be launching the iPhone 5 in mid-October under its new deal with Apple.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) will offer Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone next month with unlimited data service plans to distinguish itself from rivals AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Wireless, according to people familiar with the matter.

Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, plans to begin selling the device in mid-October under a deal with Apple for the next model, the iPhone 5, said the people, who wouldn’t be identified because the plans aren’t public. Becoming the country’s only operator to offer the device with unlimited data service for a flat fee may help Sprint draw customers from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which already carry the phone, they said.

The report also notes that Sprint has postponed the launch of a new rival 4G phone in order to accommodate preparations for the iPhone's debut. Just yesterday, Sprint announced that it will be delaying the launch of the BlackBerry Curve 9350 to October from today's previously-planned launch date. The company did not provide a reason for the delay, but the Curve 9350 may in fact be the device cited by Bloomberg as being delayed for the iPhone preparations, despite the fact that it is not a 4G device.

Unlimited data is a significant selling point for Sprint, which offers a package of unlimited voice and data for $99.99 per month on several existing smartphones. Both AT&T and Verizon offered unlimited data on the iPhone when they launched the device, but both carriers have switched to tiered data plans for new customers. Existing customers who had previously signed up for unlimited data have been allowed to maintain their data plans.

FOSS Patents and Bloomberg report that a German court has upheld an earlier ruling preventing Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in that country following an infringement complaint by Apple.

“The court is of the opinion that Apple’s minimalistic design isn’t the only technical solution to make a tablet computer, other designs are possible,” [Presiding Judge Johanna] Brueckner-Hofmann said. “For the informed customer there remains the predominant overall impression that the device looks” like the design Apple has protected in Europe.

Samsung said it will appeal. The ruling “severely limits consumer choice in Germany” and “restricts design innovation and progress in the industry,” the company said in a statement e- mailed after the ruling was issued.

A preliminary injunction against the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was initially granted one month ago and covered nearly all of the European Union, but the order was quickly suspended in practice for all countries except Germany after questions about the court's jurisdictional authority arose.

FOSS Patents notes that Samsung now has two options to overturn the German ban, either a separate fast-track case in a higher court that would likely take a few months or an automatic continuation of the existing case in the lower court into a full-blown lawsuit that could take up to a year to resolve.

The report also raises questions about whether today's injunction may even extend beyond the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to other Galaxy Tab models from Samsung.

The way the judge reportedly pronounced today's decision, Samsung won't be able to promote or sell any new products in Germany that infringe the successfully-enforced Community design for as long as the injunction is in force. In other words, if Samsung came out (hypothetically speaking) with a Galaxy Tab 9.0, it seems the injunction would apply.

Just last week, Apple was granted a new preliminary injunction barring the promotion and sale of Samsung's new Galaxy Tab 7.7 in Germany. The injunction forced Samsung to immediately pull the product from the expo floor at the IFA show in Berlin last week.

Apple's online stores went down for several hours earlier today, and while the downtime did not bring any new products, it did see a few visible changes for the stores.

One immediately visible change is in the iPad model selection page, where Apple previously listed all 18 iPad 2 models available in the U.S. store. The company has replaced that system with a new, more dynamic process in which users first select a color, followed by a separate step in which they select a storage capacity and whether they wish to have 3G capacity. Users selecting a 3G model then proceed to a third step where they select whether they want an AT&T (GSM) or Verizon (CDMA) model.

The change significantly reduces clutter on the selection page, where the sheer number of model choices led to potentially confusing mass of selection buttons. The new stepwise selection process streamlines the selection page while making it clear to customers the three criteria (color, capacity, connectivity) they need to decide upon.

In another change, Apple has replaced its previous "within 24 hours" shipping estimate status with a new "in stock" indicator on a store-wide basis. The two terms appear to be synonymous, with models offering longer shipping estimates continuing to list their availability in terms of business days until shipping.

Shipping estimates throughout Apple's online store mysteriously ballooned yesterday before returning to normal after a few hours. The issue may have been related to behind-the-scenes changes being made in preparation for today's tweaks to the store.

VR-Zone.com reports on claims from Turkish site DonanimHaber suggesting that Intel will be releasing its high-end Sandy Bridge E processors on November 15th. While not addressed in the reports, server-class Xeon versions of those processors, which would be candidates for inclusion in an updated Mac Pro lineup, are likely to ship at the same time.

The Platform Launch is specified as Weeks 46-47, which covers November 14th to November 27th. However DonanimHaber inisist that the final release date is November 15th.

The three SKUs are Core i7 3820, Core i7 3930K and Core i7 3960X, priced at $294, $583 and $999 respectively. The new flagship, Core i7 3960X, is expected to be 15% faster than the Core i7 990X on average. However, the 3960X is much faster in applications that rely heavily on memory bandwidth (thanks to X79's quad-channel memory) or AVX.

Several rumors had suggested that updated Mac Pro models might arrive in early August, despite that fact that no suitable processors were publicly known to be available for such a refresh. We noted last month that the rumored timeframe had come and gone without a release and reviewed Intel's roadmap that pegged suitable processors for a release during the fourth quarter of this year.

A November 15th launch for the processors certainly fits within that window, and opens the door for Apple to introduce new Mac Pros, which have been eagerly anticipated given that the line was last updated in July 2010. Apple has also been known to receive early access to Intel processors for certain machines, including Mac Pros, and thus it is possible that Apple could even introduce new Mac Pro models ahead of that date and give themselves a headstart on the end-of-year buying season.

Based on the list of Xeon Sandy Bridge E processors set to launch later this year, it seems likely that Apple will target the E5-2620, E5-2650 and E5-2670 for the dual-processor configurations of the Mac Pro, offering options of 12 or 16 cores in those configurations. Single-processor configuration would likely also be made available using other chips.

Apple has launched a new charitable matching program for its employees, with the company offering to match employees' personal charitable contributions up to $10,000 per year. The program is currently limited to full-time U.S. employees, with plans to expand it to other countries over time. The new program was announced today in a company-wide email sent by new Apple CEO Tim Cook and provided to MacRumors.

Team:

I am very happy to announce that we are kicking off a matching gift program for charitable donations. We are all really inspired by the generosity of our co-workers who give back to the community and this program is going to help that individual giving go even farther.

Starting September 15, when you give money to a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, Apple will match your gift dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000 annually. This program will be for full-time employees in the US at first, and we'll expand it to other parts of the world over time.

Thank you all for working so hard to make a difference, both here at Apple and in the lives of others. I am incredibly proud to be part of this team.

If you'd like more information on the program, you can get it on HRWeb, which can be easily accessed through AppleWeb.

Tim

An Apple spokesperson has confirmed to MacRumors that the program is indeed now in place.

Steve Jobs' lack of a public record of philanthropy was highlighted just last week, with U2 singer Bono coming to Jobs' defense and noting that Apple has contributed "tens of millions of dollars" to the (Product)RED campaign against AIDS.

Artist's rendition of iPhone 5 with 3.7" display

Suppliers in the iPhone 5 supply chain in Taiwan have geared up production recently with volume shipments of the new Apple smartphones to begin soon. Production of iPhone 5s at OEM maker Foxconn Electronics has reportedly reached 150,000 units per day, according to industry sources.

Lens maker Largan Precision, touch panel maker TPK Holding, reinforced glass supplier G-Tech Optoelectronics and battery vendors Simplo and Dynapack are all operating at full swing currently, the sources indicated.

iPhone 5 shipments are said to be set to reach 5-6 million for the month of September and over 22 million for the fourth quarter of the year. Interestingly, the report notes that while Pegatron has reportedly been tabbed to handle about 15% of the iPhone 5 production load, the company may not begin deliveries until next year.

The report makes no mention of any distinction between the iPhone 5 and the so-called "iPhone 4S", as some sources have indicated that Apple will introduce both a revamped iPhone 5 as well as a cheaper device codenamed "N94" based on the existing iPhone 4 design. Apple has already had considerable success with its cheaper iPhone models carried over from previous model cycles, as evidenced by the fact that the iPhone 3GS continues to rank as the second-best selling smartphone in the United States, behind the iPhone 4.

Details on the iPhone 5 remain scarce, with conflicting information pointing to either an only slightly larger display of up to around 3.7 inches on a device similar in size to the iPhone 4 or a significantly larger but thinner device with a display likely around 4 inches.

Even as Apple is still in the early stages of the planning process for its new corporate campus in Cupertino, California, it appears that the company has acknowledged that even that mammoth 13,000-employee complex probably won't be sufficient and that it will likely begin planning on a third campus once "Apple Campus 2" is up and running in 2015. News of the company's plans comes from Cupertino mayor Gilbert Wong, who spoke with the San Jose Mercury News (via The Next Web).

And just like a new gadget, the company may not be done upgrading. Wong said Apple executives have told him the company is expanding so fast that it expects to start working on Apple Campus 3 at an unknown location after they finish the second headquarters in 2015. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on plans for a third campus.

Planning for the new "spaceship" campus is continuing to move forward, with Cupertino set to hold a public scoping hearing regarding the project's environmental impact report tonight. Apple is reportedly requesting 13 separate approvals from the city in connection with the project, with Apple hoping to receive final approval by late 2012. That schedule would see construction begin on the new 2.8 million square foot circular main building in 2013, with an opening targeted for 2015. The campus will also include a separate 25,000 square foot fitness center, 1,000 seat auditorium, a parking garage, an energy center, and several ancillary buildings devoted to research and development.