MacRumors

MacStories reports that it has heard from a "reliable source" that Apple is planning to release iOS 4.3 to the public on February 14th at its typical iOS software update time of 10:00 AM Pacific Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Time.

According to several reports surfaced earlier this week, Apple is targeting a release of the next major iOS update, version 4.3, in two weeks. We just got word from a reliable source that iOS 4.3 should be available on February 14th at 10 AM PST.

A growing list of rumors and speculation have suggested that the iOS 4.3 launch, and possibly an introduction of the next-generation iPad, could occur within the next two weeks. Among the pieces of evidence are AT&T rolling out support for personal hotspot service with modified data plans for tethering as of February 13th and free access to The Daily running out in the middle of that week. iOS 4.3 includes support for personal hotspot functionality and the in-app subscriptions that will be required for The Daily once the free access period ends.

Apple vice president Eddy Cue noted during the introduction of The Daily earlier this week that Apple will make an announcement soon about bringing in-app subscriptions to other publishers. It would obviously be appropriate to make such an announcement right around the time of the iOS 4.3 launch given that those capabilities are included in the update. But it is unclear whether Apple will hold a dedicated media event to show off the new in-app subscriptions (and possibly offer a preview of the second-generation iPad) or simply issue a press release coinciding with the software release.

Apple made several tweaks to the iPad interface for the iOS App Store yesterday, enhancing users' abilities to filter app searches and to determine which apps they have already purchased but may not have installed on their devices.

As noted by MacStories, the new search filters appear as a toolbar at the top of search results pages. The filters allow users to limit their searches by category, release date, customer rating, price, and device compatibility. With the number of iOS applications now exceeding 300,000 and iPad-specific apps pushing past 60,000, users should find the new filters handy for weeding through listings.

The second change, also noted by MacStories, involves a tweak to the way previously-purchased applications are displayed in App Store searches on the iPad. Typically, results have been displayed with a button showing the price of the app, and the user simply taps the button to purchase and install the app. Results for apps already installed on the device have been displayed with an inactive button simply saying "installed".

But what was less than ideal was the handling of apps that had been previously purchased but not currently installed on the user's device. Apple allows such apps to be downloaded free of charge, but search results simply displayed the normal button with the purchase price displayed. Users were required to attempt the purchase the application before discovering that they were entitled to download it free of charge to their devices. With the new tweaks, these search results now display an active "install" button indicating to users that they may install the previously-purchased apps without being charged a second time. The feature applies to the iTunes Store account that the user is signed into on the iPad App Store at the time of searching.

Verizon today announced that yesterday's launch of the iPhone was the fastest-selling debut in the carrier's history, even with the premiere occurring the middle of the night and limited to existing Verizon customers.

"This was an exciting day," said Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer for Verizon Wireless. "In just our first two hours, we had already sold more phones than any first day launch in our history. And, when you consider these initial orders were placed between the hours of 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., it is an incredible success story. It is gratifying to know that our customers responded so enthusiastically to this exclusive offer - designed to reward them for their loyalty."

The press release notes that Verizon halted pre-orders at 8:10 PM Eastern Time yesterday, just over 17 hours after they began. The carrier did not, however, indicate how many pre-orders were taken.

General availability for the Verizon iPhone begins on February 10th, with the device being available through Verizon, Apple, Best Buy, and select Wal-Mart stores. Apple will allow customers to place orders or make reservations one day ahead of that general availability date.

Verizon has started airing a new iPhone ad that seems to specifically target AT&T's reputation for poor voice quality.

It's beautiful. It's intelligent. Even genius. But does your network work? ... ring ... "Yes, I can hear you now." This is America's largest and most reliable network. Built so you can rule the air."

The early reviews seem to agree that Verizon's reception is better than AT&T's for voice calls.

Meanwhile, we've heard that AT&T has started offering some customers free Microcell devices that boost cell phone signals at your house. Several readers have noted that they had received email offers from AT&T for free microcells. It's not clear how widespread the practice is, or the selection criteria.

Both Apple and Verizon's online store show that they have run out of the initial stock of iPhone 4s for existing Verizon customers. The Verizon iPhone went on pre-order a little over 17 hours ago. We don't know what the initial stocks were, so it's hard to determine if it was a reflection of very high demand or poor initial supply.

Verizon does reveal that February 9th at 3am will be the time that non-Verizon customers can finally order the Verizon iPhone. Meanwhile, the iPhone will be available in retail stores starting on February 10th to all comers.

Apple is now allowing Mac developers to create promo codes for apps in the Mac App Store. Per MacStories:

You can now generate promo codes for your Mac apps in iTunes Connect. These promo codes can be redeemed in any Mac App Store worldwide. For each version of your app, you can request up to 50 promo codes.

Promo codes allows developers to give out free copies of their App Store apps for review and giveaway purposes. This feature has long been offered to iOS App Store developers.

Ad Age reports on the results of a recent survey commissioned by Apple and soup company Campbell's claiming that Apple's iAd mobile advertising program results in greater brand recognition among consumers at considerably less cost than traditional television advertising.

Those exposed to one of Campbell's iAds were more than twice as likely to recall it than those who had seen a TV ad. Indeed the five-week study, conducted by Nielsen, showed that consumers shown an iAd remembered the brand "Campbell's" five times more often than TV ad respondents and the ad messaging three times more often.

According to the survey, consumers who viewed the Campbell's iAd were four times more likely to purchase Campbell's products than consumers who viewed Campbell's television commercials.

Apple's interest in the study is obviously geared toward convincing companies to make the significant financial commitment (reported to be $1 million for the first wave of advertisers) to the iAd program. But while the initiative was a significant outlay of cash for Campbell's, it paled in comparison to the $25 million spent on traditional television advertising during a two-month period.

The study was put in place to validate mobile, a relatively new medium for the marketer. While Ms. Gordon would not share budgets for iAd, she said it was a "sizable investment" and Campbell's biggest play in mobile to date. Ms. Gordon says Campbell's is discussing further iAd campaigns and ways to optimize efforts.

By comparison, Campbell's spent $25 million on soup brands in network and cable TV in October and November, according to Kantar Media.

Data on the Campbell's iAd campaign reveal that the ad generated approximately 53 million impressions, with about 1% of users clicking through to explore the interactive content within the ad. In addition to a number of multimedia aspects, the ad also allowed customers to submit their email addresses to Campbell's to receive coupons good on the company's products.

But despite the broad reach of Apple's iOS ecosystem, television represents a significantly larger market with a broader range of demographics, meaning that television advertising will certainly remain a key component of companies' marketing efforts. But early evidence is showing that those companies willing to tap into the mobile advertising market via iAd could see significant benefits in terms of brand visibility and consumer attitudes.

Late last week, sister site AppShopper began tracking the Mac App Store for new apps, updates and price drops. Beyond those raw lists, the Popular view offers a look at the apps with the most activity amongst other AppShopper users. AppShopper has provided the same service for the iTunes App Store, allowing users to compile their own App wishlists to follow sales and app updates. Also tracked are the Top 200 Paid and Free Mac Apps for various categories.

The Mac App Store presently offers only 1638 apps, but is seeing daily new apps as well as constant pricing changes. A few notable price drops in recent days:

- Braid - $9.99 -> $1.99
- Delicious Library 2 - $39.99 -> $29.99
- Dr. Seuss's ABC - $24.99 -> $8.99

Apple launched the Mac App Store on January 6th alongside the Mac OS X 10.6.6 update. The Mac App Store will also be a large component of Mac OS X Lion which is due this summer.

As noted by MacStories, Apple has seeded the golden master version of Xcode 4 to both iOS and Mac OS X developers. The "golden master" designation indicates that this version of the software is intended to be the final version released to the public, barring any last-minute issues.

Xcode 4, which first debuted for developers at WWDC last June, offers a significant update to Apple's development environment for Mac OS X and iOS applications. Most visibly, Xcode 4 features a new single-window interface, but a number of other enhancements are also included.

A public release date for Xcode 4 remains unknown. Major Xcode releases have, however, traditionally accompanied Mac OS X software releases. Xcode 3.0 was released alongside Mac OS X Leopard in October 2007, while the Mac OS X Snow Leopard release in August 2009 saw the release of the tweaked Xcode 3.2 that serves as the current basis for the development environment.

MacStories notes that the release notes for Xcode 4 list Mac OS X Lion as a requirement, although this is almost certainly an error given that no Lion seeds have been made available to developers and the description on the download page indicates that Mac OS X Snow Leopard is required. Mac OS X Lion has been pegged for a release sometime this summer.

Update: The golden master build of Xcode 4 appears to have been pulled from Apple's site, with only the earlier Developer Preview 6 currently available for download.

Update 2: The golden master build is available once again and no longer makes reference to requiring Mac OS X Lion.

With pre-orders for the Verizon iPhone having begun only about nine hours ago, it appears that orders have already begun shipping.

MacRumors reader Brooks Serigne has passed along this screenshot of his order status screen on Verizon's website showing that his order has been shipped. No carrier/tracking information or delivery estimate has yet been provided.

In its Verizon iPhone FAQ, the carrier notes only that pre-orders will arrive "on or before February 10, 2011", but it appears that Verizon already has units packed up and ready to go and is moving them on their way to customers.

Just as pre-orders for the Verizon iPhone begin for the carrier's existing customers, BGR points to a PDF document on Verizon's website revealing a new policy that will see the carrier possibly throttling data speeds for the top 5% of its customers when it comes to data usage. The policy takes effect for customers subscribing to data services beginning today. From the document:

Verizon Wireless strives to provide customers the best experience when using our network, a shared resource among tens of millions of customers. To help achieve this, if you use an extraordinary amount of data and fall within the top 5% of Verizon Wireless data users we may reduce your data throughput speeds periodically for the remainder of your then current and immediately following billing cycle to ensure high quality network performance for other users at locations and times of peak demand. Our proactive management of the Verizon Wireless network is designed to ensure that the remaining 95% of data customers aren't negatively affected by the inordinate data consumption of just a few users.

Verizon is also announcing data "optimization" efforts in which it seeks to increase the efficiency of its network by compressing text, images, and video, perhaps most notably "sizing the video more appropriately for the device". The carrier notes that while most effects of the optimization will be indiscernible, it may "minimally impact the appearance" of content on users' devices. The document links to a page on Verizon's website discussing the optimization techniques, although the page is currently unavailable.

Update: The page on Verizon's site explaining optimization is now live.

A series of reports and rumors are suggesting that Apple is preparing to release iOS 4.3 and its personal hotspot functionality to the public, possibly by February 13th. At the same time, Apple may be taking the opportunity to also offer a preview of the second-generation iPad ahead of a potential early April release.

In his review of the Verizon iPhone, Daring Fireball's John Gruber lays out his argument that iOS 4.3 will appear within the next two weeks to provide support for in-app subscription payments for The Daily before the free two-week trial runs out.

The Daily requires a subscription - either $1 per week, or $40 per year. They're using a new in-app subscription payment system from Apple for this - but these in-app subscription APIs aren't in iOS 4.2. So The Daily launched today, free for a limited time. They announced at the event that this initial free two-week period was brought to us by: Verizon.

Gruber surmises that Apple and Verizon worked out a deal in which Verizon gets a very brief exclusivity period (perhaps in publicity only, given that the Verizon iPhone doesn't launch until February 10th) for the personal hotspot feature while also agreeing to sponsor the free two-week access for The Daily to carry users through until Apple announces and releases iOS 4.3 with in-app subscription and personal hotspot support for existing iPhones.

Lining up with that suggestion, a number of observers have noted that David Pogue's Verizon iPhone review initially included a statement claiming that AT&T's iPhone would receive personal hotspot functionality (via iOS 4.3) on February 13th, the same day that AT&T has announced for increasing data caps on its tethering plans and rolling out hotspot functionality for the HTC Inspire 4G. From Pogue's initial review:

The single new feature in Verizon's iPhone is Personal Hotspot, where the iPhone becomes a Wi-Fi base station. Up to five laptops, iPod Touches or other gadgets can get online, using the phone as a glorified Internet antenna.

That's incredibly convenient. Many other app phones have it - AT&T's iPhone gets it on Feb. 13 - but Apple's execution is especially nice.

The review has since been edited to replace the mention of February 13th with "AT&T says its iPhone will get it soon".

Finally, MacNotes.de reports that it has heard that Apple is planning an event for next week where the second-generation iPad will be shown off. The report speculates that Apple will announce a special iOS 4.3 media event to introduce in-app subscriptions, an announcement Apple vice president Eddy Cue revealed would be coming soon during yesterday's introduction of The Daily. A preview of the second-generation iPad could come as a "one more thing" surprise at the end of that media event.

MacNotes.de had previously reported that Apple is shooting for an iPad release in the United States on the first or second Saturday in April.

Verizon has opened its website for iPhone pre-orders about 10 minutes early. Existing Verizon customers can begin pre-ordering their iPhone 4. Apple's own website is now also accepting preorders.

Early reviews for the Verizon iPhone were released late last night. The general conclusions were that Verizon did provide better reception and voice coverage, but data speeds (when there was coverage) were slower than AT&T. The Verizon iPhone also allows customers to set up a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot to share their phone's internet connection to their laptop or iPad. This does require an additional $20/month fee.

Orders for new Verizon customers will begin on February 10th. Verizon expects there to be high demand and is asking employees to hold of on ordering an iPhone until the initial demand slows down.

Verizon's plans are posted on Apple's site.

Voice
$39.99 - 450 Minutes
$59.99 - 900 Minutes
$69.99 - Unlimited Minutes

Data
$29.99 - Unlimited
$49.99 - Unlimited on iPhone, 2GB on Mobile Hotspot ($35 Activation fee)

Messaging
No Plan - $.20 per text, $.30 per Pic/Video
$5.00 - 250 Messages
$10.00 - 500 Messages
$20.00 - Unlimited Messages

On the evening before the launch of the Verizon iPhone, the embargo for early review units has been lifted. This early set of reviews provides a look at the early verdict on the Verizon iPhone. Reviews and some highlights are listed here.

Macworld
- "With a few minor variations, it looks, feels, and works just like the AT&T iPhone 4"
- iOS 4.2.6
- Good distance on mobile Hotspot
- "if you're using the Internet and your phone rings, your Internet connection immediately drops"

TechCrunch
- "This Verizon version of the iPhone 4 seems to have none of the same antenna issues [as the AT&T model]
- Much better with signal / lack of dropped calls than the AT&T model (in San Francisco)
- "the iPhone 4 can give you a solid 4 hours of hotspot/tethering time"

All Things D
- "the Verizon model did much, much better with voice calls"
- "AT&T's network averaged 46% faster at download speeds and 24% faster at upload speeds."

Engadget
- "Calls were consistently connected and uninterrupted, far more often than our AT&T calls in the same time period in similar locations."
- "data rates on the Verizon iPhone 4 we tested were dramatically slower than those on its AT&T counterpart."

Overall, there seem to be few surprises. Lack of simultaneous voice and data has been known and those in weak AT&T are having much better luck with Verizon, but data speeds are better on AT&T.

Reuters reports that a prototype model of an unreleased iPad was spotted at today's launch of The Daily.

A Reuters eyewitness saw what appeared to be a working model of the next iPad with a front-facing camera at the top edge of the glass screen at a press conference to mark the debut of News Corp's Daily online paper in New York on Wednesday.

The new iPad was identified by the front-facing camera that is widely expected in the next version of the iPad. According to a separate Reuters source, the device's existence was said to be "confirmed" though the final release model could have other features.

The iPad 2 has filled the rumormill over the past few months. It is expected to ship in the first quarter of this year.

AT&T today announced forthcoming changes to its smartphone tethering data plans, increasing the monthly data limit to 4 GB from the current 2 GB cap. The change, set to take effect on February 13th, comes as AT&T rolls out mobile hotspot functionality for the new HTC Inspire 4G handset, although the company has not addressed whether it will support the similar hotspot functionality for the iPhone once iOS 4.3 is released to the public.

In addition, also on February 13th, to bring AT&T's smartphone tethering plan in line with the AT&T Mobile Hotspot offer, AT&T will automatically add the additional 2GB of monthly data usage to smartphone customers already on a tethering plan - at no extra charge. Customers will incur the same $20 monthly fee they're accustomed to paying, only now they'll receive an extra 2GB of data each month.

AT&T currently offers two monthly data plans for iPhone customers: DataPlus with 200 MB of data for $15 and DataPro with 2 GB of data for $25. Tethering is available to DataPro customers for an additional charge of $20 per month, but until now has not offered any additional data capacity, with tethering data coming out of the same 2 GB cap allotted to regular smartphone use. The changes announced today essentially mean that the extra $20 tethering fee will also bring customers an additional 2 GB of data per month to be used between their phone and tethered devices.

Electronics retail chain Best Buy today announced that it will in fact be carrying the Verizon iPhone beginning February 10th, the same day the device launches for general availability at Apple and Verizon stores.

"The iPhone 4 is an important device for Best Buy and we are excited to help Apple and Verizon Wireless bring it to even more consumers," said Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile. "Our customers have come to expect Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores to carry the best selection of mobile phones anywhere, and offering the iPhone 4 on Verizons network is our latest effort to deliver on that promise."

The original press release announcing the Verizon iPhone last month only specifically named Apple and Verizon as retailers carrying the device at launch, although Apple did note that authorized resellers would also be carrying the device.

Apple itself announced its sales schedule only just this morning, following Verizon's lead in allowing existing Verizon customers to begin pre-ordering tomorrow, with general orders and reservations being accepted beginning February 9th for availability on February 10th.

With the conclusion of today's media event to introduce the new iPad news publication The Daily, the application has now gone live in the App Store.

Introducing The Daily - the first digital news publication with original content created every day exclusively for the iPad. Built from scratch by a team of top journalists and designers, The Daily covers the world: breaking news, sports, pop culture, entertainment, apps, games, technology, opinion, celebrity gossip and more.

The Daily has the depth and quality of a magazine but is delivered daily like a newspaper and updated in real-time like the web.

Great stories, photos, video, audio and graphics come alive the more you touch, swipe, tap and explore. The customized sports section allows you to follow your favorite teams' scores, pictures, headlines - and even players' tweets.

Those looking to download The Daily are being met with updated iTunes Store terms and conditions reflecting the addition of "In-App Subscriptions" as debuting in The Daily. After a free two-week period, subscriptions to The Daily will be available at $0.99 per week or $39.99 per year, automatically billed to users' iTunes Store accounts.