MacRumors

Apple.pro has posted photos comparing parts of the iPhone 5 camera components alongside the iPhone 4 camera components. (via 9to5mac) Notably, the iPhone 5 rear camera does not come with an integrated Flash attached to it. This would suggest that the case photo posted earlier today may be accurate, and that the next generation iPhone's camera flash will be located separately from the camera.

Apple.pro offers this photoshop mockup of the camera and flash in separate locations:

Patently Apple points to a newly published patent application which could show one possible reason Apple is so interested in Nuance's speech recognition technology. Apple is rumored to be in negotiations with Nuance for the use of their speech recognition engine in iOS 5.

The patent application offers a possible solution to two different scenarios where it would be hard for someone to answer a phone in the usual way.

Problem One: Communicating in Noisy Environments
A smartphone user may sometimes have to make or answer a phone call in a noisy environment. Noise could interfere with a phone conversation to a degree that the conversation is no longer intelligible to either conversing party. A user in the noisy environment may try to scream into the phone over the noise, but the screaming and the noise may render the voice signal unintelligible at the other end.
....
Problem Two: Unable to Communicate During a Meeting
In another scenario, it may be inconvenient for a user to talk on a phone. For example, users may be in a meeting and don't want to draw attention to themselves by speaking into the phone. The users may try to whisper into the phone, but the whispering may render the conversation unintelligible. The users may choose to send a text message to the other party, but the other party may be on a landline where texting is unavailable, or may not have a texting plan. It could be frustrating to conduct a telephone conversation when the environment is noisy or the circumstance is inappropriate for a user to speak.

In either scenario, the user is offered the possibility of communicating with the incoming phone call using text-to-speech and speech-to-text capabilities. If receiving a phone call in a loud restaurant or quiet meeting, you might be able to choose the ability to answer using text messaging. The text would later be then turned into speech for the caller to hear, and the caller's verbal responses would likewise be converted back into text.

Now, this is a novel implementation and the likelihood of Apple's implementing it into iOS 5 is probably low. Other perhaps more likely possibilities include the use of voice for search, phone navigation, and dictation for email/sms messages.

GadgetsDNA points to a new Chinese case design found on Alibaba that claims to be for the "iPhone 5G".

1.100% brand new high quality crystal case for iphone 5g .
2. Provides a comfortable grip, added protection against accidental drops .
3. Perfectly fits the iPhone 5g, easy to insert and remove .

What's unusual about the case is that it seems to depict a very thin-bezel design as well as a distinct camera design. (It should be noted that their iPhone 4 "crystal" designs also have little in the way of bezels") The camera flash appears to be on the opposite side of the case rather than adjacent to the camera itself.

While there's been talk of these more dramatic changes, the most recent reports have claimed that the next iPhone will actually only contain minor cosmetic differences over the iPhone 4.

It's possible we could see these design elements in the future if not the next release, as the iPod Touch camera was found in case designs a full release cycle ahead of the ultimate release.

Update: It should be noted that their iPhone 4 "crystal" cases also share the same thin edge, so the camera design alone may be main difference in the new iPhone case design. This would fit with the "minor cosmetic differences" described in the previous report.

Per MacStories, Apple has released a new Mac OS X Lion Developer Preview 3 to its developers this evening as well as Xcode 4.1 Developer Preview 5. Apple last updated Lion for developers in late April. That version contained several UI changes presumably based on feedback from developers.

Apple is expected to discuss lion at WWDC which takes place in early June. Apple has targeted Mac OS X Lion for a summer release. No word yet on what's new in this build of Lion. The build for this latest version is 11A459e.

Update: MacStories reports: "We’re hearing the first changes in Lion DP 3 include a new boot animation, new graphical elements in the Finder’s toolbar, new desktop wallpapers and the Reading List, now enabled in Safari."

Update: Itsalltech.com details (with screenshots) many of the new changes in Lion:

- New options in System Preferences>Mission Control
- There is a new animation when logging into the computer and displaying the desktop (seems buggy at this time)
- New Reminders menu in iCal
- New next desktop button in Dashboard space:
- New options when right-clicking (this appears to be buggy at this time):
- Compatibility to external displays has been improved (especially in Mission Control)
- There is now a Mission Control app
- Finder’s toolbar has been slightly updated:
- Desktop wallpapers have been updated (and new ones have been added);
- Reading List has been enabled in Safari:
- New changes in Mission Control: can add “desktops” right from Mission Control by clicking “+” button, close spaces from Mission Control, Mission Control no longer displaying text “Desktop 1″ etc., when hovering over desktop thumbnails, magnification of thumbnails are seen
- Scrollbars now change color depending on the background (black background=light scrollbar and vice versa):

Update 2: Reading List screenshots.

New Login screen:

New Wallpapers:

MacRumors has received word that Apple today seeded the first developer build of Mac OS X 10.6.8. The build, termed 10K521, comes nearly two months after the public launch of Mac OS X 10.6.7.

No details on changes included in the update have yet been revealed.

Work on Mac OS X 10.6.8 comes as Apple continues to move toward a "summer" release of Mac OS X Lion, which has been in developer previews for some time now and will undoubtedly be a major focus of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference early next month. Consequently, Mac OS X 10.6.8 may be the final maintenance update for Snow Leopard, depending on how long it takes to make it through the refinement process and Apple's final timeframe for launching Lion.

Forbes reports on a new research note from Jeffries & Co. analyst Peter Misek claiming that Apple's next-generation iPhone will be a relatively minor revamp known as the "iPhone 4S" and will debut in September. Misek also claims that Apple will be expanding carrier availability in the U.S. to include Sprint and T-Mobile by the end of the year, with China Mobile also reportedly coming on board.

"According to our industry checks, the device should be called iPhone 4S and include minor cosmetic changes, better cameras, A5 dual-core processor, and HSPA+ support," he writes in a research note.

But he also says that "industry checks indicate Apple will likely announce Sprint, T-Mobile, and China Mobile as new carriers."

The "iPhone 4S" name first gained publicity last month in claims that Apple has been providing select high-level iOS developers with souped-up iPhone 4 devices, with the source citing an unofficial name of "iPhone 4S" for the device.

Misek's report goes on to note that the next-generation iPhone is not likely to bring compatibility with faster LTE 4G networks rolling out in some markets, as the required chipsets from Qualcomm are not yet available in quantity to support the inclusion of the technology.

As for LTE, he says the Qualcomm LTE chipset Apple would have used "is currently not achieving yields sufficient for inclusion in the iPhone 5." He says Apple had hoped to have the LTE chipsets ready, but was planning a version without LTE called iPhone 4S.

The claim regarding a lack of LTE compatibility in the next-generation iPhone fits with earlier reports that the required chipsets won't be available to make their way into handsets until 2012.

Bloomberg reports that Eastman Kodak has achieved a victory with an initial ruling from a U.S. International Trade Commission judge stating that the company has not infringed two Apple patents cited in a lawsuit filed last year. That lawsuit by Apple was initiated in response to a patent lawsuit by Kodak filed several months earlier.

Neither of the two patents in Apple's case before the ITC were being infringed, and one of the patents is invalid, Judge Robert Rogers in Washington said yesterday. The judge's findings are subject to review by the six-member ITC, which has the power to block imports of products that infringe U.S. patents.

A similar initial determination in Kodak's case against Apple and Research in Motion ruled against Kodak in January, but the broader ITC panel decided to reexamine the case, breathing new life into Kodak's efforts to extract as much as $1 billion in licensing fees from Apple and Research in Motion.

Just over two months ago, Adobe released a beta version of Flash Player 10.3, which notably included new privacy controls and integration within System Preferences on the Mac OS X platform. Also included was an automatic update notification system for Mac OS X.

As announced by Adobe yesterday, Flash Player 10.3 has now officially launched and is available for download.

New features in Flash Player 10.3 include:

- Media measurement (desktop only) - Measuring video usage just got easier. Using Adobe SiteCatalyst with Flash Player 10.3, developers can implement video analytics for websites with as little as two lines of code for the first time. Media Measurement for Flash Player allows companies to get real-time, aggregated reporting of how their video content is distributed, what their audience reach is, and how much video is played. Mobile support will be available in an upcoming release.
- Acoustic echo cancellation (desktop only) - With Flash Player 10.3, developers can create real-time online collaboration experiences with high-quality audio for telephony, in-game voice chat, and group conferencing applications. Developers can take advantage of acoustic echo cancellation, noise suppression, voice activity detection, and automatic compensation for various microphone input levels. End users will be able to experience higher quality audio facilitating smoother conversation flow, without using a headset.
- Enhanced privacy protection - Flash Player 10.3 enables local storage clearing within browsers' privacy settings and streamlines the controls of the Flash Player privacy, security and storage settings within the local control panel of desktop OSes.
- Security enhancements including the support of auto-update notification for MacOS - See the Security Bulletin APSB11-12 for more details.

Flash Player 10.3 is available for Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, and Android.

Yesterday, we received word from Rob Gloess of Computer LogicX, the company behind the Mix & Mash and Mix & Mash LITE applications for iOS, that he had received legal documents threatening a patent lawsuit over the use of an "upgrade" button in the lite version of his application linking users to the App Store where they could purchase the full version.

Our app, Mix & Mash, has the common model of a limited free, lite, version and a full version that contains all the features. We were told that the button that users click on to upgrade the app, or rather link to the full version on the app store was in breach of US patent no 7222078, we couldn't believe it, the upgrade button!?!

The patent in question was filed in December 2003 as part of series of continuations on earlier patent applications dating back to 1992. The patent is credited to Dan Abelow, who sold his extensive portfolio of patents to holding firm Lodsys in 2004. Lodsys is indeed the company issuing the threats of a lawsuit regarding the patent in question.

Computer LogiX is not the only App Store developer being hit with threats of a lawsuit, as Cult of Mac notes that James Thomson, the developer behind PCalc, has been hit with a similar notice. While Thomson has not identified the company pursuing the action, the timing and details suggest that Lodsys is also responsible.

"Just got hit by very worrying threat of patent infringement lawsuit for using in-app purchase in PCalc Lite. Legal docs arrived via fedex," Thomson wrote.

"No idea what to do... They seem to be effectively claiming the rights to in-app purchase, but going after me, not Apple."

Thomson has reached out to Apple for guidance, and it remains to be seen how things will play out. According to Thomson, the patent holder is demanding that a license be negotiated within 21 days or a lawsuit will be filed.

At least one other developer is cited in the report as receiving similar notice of patent infringement, and that total will almost certainly grow as awareness of the situation increases, so it appears that the action is a relatively widespread one by Lodsys.

Notably, Lodsys cited the same patent, among others, when it filed suit against a host of major printer companies earlier this year.

TUAW notes that Samsung is ready to demonstrate the industry's first 2560 x 1600 10.1" LCD next week at the SID Display Week 2011 International Symposium.

The prototype demonstration marks the first time this resolution has been available for the tablet market in the popular – 10.1-inch – format, rivaling the highest resolution smartphone displays now on the market. Samsung expects to have commercial availability of this technology for tablet applications later this year.

The screen comes in at a screen density of 300dpi and is expected to become available for tablets later this year.

Such a high resolution display could pave the way for a true Retina display in a future iPad. We all got very excited earlier this year when it seemed that Apple was already prepping artwork for a double-resolution iPad of 2048x1536. At the time, one of the arguments against it was the lack of availability of such high density displays. TUAW points out that this particular display isn't likely to be used in an iPad, but proves that such high density displays are just around the corner.

For what it's worth at least two analysts have predicted that the iPad 3 will indeed get a pixel-doubled Retina display.

Patently Apple reports on an interesting new patent application from Apple describing the use of environmental sensors to generate screen saver content for mobile devices such as the iPod nano. As an example, the device could sense such environmental characteristics as motion, sound, temperature, or even camera input, using that information to provide the users with screen saver content relevant to the setting.

As one example of the technology in practice, Apple describes a screen saver displaying raindrops falling down the screen. By employing the environmental sensing, the device could automatically determine which way is down regardless of the device's orientation, allowing the screen saver to always display the raindrops falling downward.

Apple's figures for the patent application show a device that appears nearly identical to the current iPod nano, a square device with a touch screen displaying up to four icons on a home screen. With the text and images included in the patent application also addressing the possibility of using images taken by an onboard camera to inform screen saver activity, it offers additional evidence that Apple is considering adding a camera to the diminutive iPod nano.

Interestingly, Apple's patent application was filed in November 2009, nearly a year before the sixth-generation iPod nano debuted with the form factor depicted in the drawings.

Fortune reports on an interesting phenomenon being observed in Apple's stock price related to the weekly options market, the trading of rights to purchase stock at a given price at the end of a specified period. According to the report, Apple's stock is consistently seeing suspicious price changes on Fridays as those options are set to expire, activity that makes a significant of traders lose any potential gains as the stock price moves to meet the strike price for that week's options. In many cases, that activity serves to depress the overall stock price, thereby also negatively impacting regular traders as well.

It was 3:48 p.m. on Friday April 29 and traders who had purchased Apple (AAPL) April 29 $350 "calls" -- options that gave them the right to buy Apple shares in blocks of 100 for $350 per share -- were sitting pretty. The stock was trading around $353.50 and those calls were worth more [than] $350 apiece (the difference between the price of the stock and the so-called "strike price" of the option times 100).

Then, in an extraordinary burst of trading -- exacerbated by the rebalancing of the NASDAQ-100 scheduled for the following Monday -- more than 15 million shares changed hands and the stock dropped below the $350 strike price just before the closing bell. Result: The value of those calls disappeared like a puff of smoke.

Fortune went back and charted the daily closing prices for Apple stock over the past eight weeks, comparing the Friday closes to the "max pain" price at which options on both sides of the equation (puts and calls) have the least value in aggregate. Throughout the time period, Apple's stock consistently moved toward the max pain point on each Friday, sometimes over a period of only minutes as trading came to a close for the week.

While the phenomenon is not new and not unique to Apple, the reasons for it are not entirely clear. Some have argued that normal hedging activity is responsible for the drifts in stock price, but scientific studies have shown that such stock price behavior would not be accounted for by simple hedging and is thus indicative of stock price manipulation, which is illegal under U.S. securities law.

Apple is obviously one of the most closely watched stocks these days, and with the second-largest market capitalization in the U.S. markets has the potential to significantly influence trading. And so an apparently consistent manipulation of Apple's stock price makes for an interesting story, even if it is not yet clear who is responsible for the activity and how it is being accomplished.

Media research firm Nielsen yesterday revealed that overall music sales in the United States are up 1.6% year-over-year so far in 2011, driven in large part by a 12.4% surge in digital music sales that appears to coincide with the debut of The Beatles on iTunes last November.

While physical albums saw a decline in year-over-year sales from the same period in 2010, digital album and track purchases went up 16.8 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively. Digital retailers received more than half of all music transactions, propelling a 12.4 percent growth in sales over last year.

Catalog album sales are up 5.4 percent in 2011, thanks in part to a long-awaited 2010 deal allowing digital distribution of The Beatles’ albums for the first time.

As noted by All Things Digital, however, it seems hard to believe that The Beatles are responsible for the continued bump in digital sales still being seen six months after the group's iTunes debut. Regardless, music executives are undoubtedly happy that music sales are at least holding steady after what has been an extended decline in overall sales and a flattening out of digital sales, although it will obviously take some time to determine if this is a true shift in sales momentum or simply a brief respite.