MacRumors

MacStories reports that Apple appears to have canceled support for printing from iOS devices to shared printers attached to Macs and Windows PCs. The last-minute change would appear to put a crimp in the utility of the company's AirPrint service scheduled to be launched on iOS 4.2 in the very near future.

We have been told from a few Mac developers that a few days ago Apple removed all the references to printing via OS X 10.6.5 and PCs both from Readme files and other online documentation posted in the iOS developer center. It seems like all that's now mentioned in the release notes are the aforementioned HP networked printers, as if the shared printing option never existed.

According to one developer who contacted Apple technical support regarding the removal, Apple has indeed canceled AirPrint support through shared printers, and it is unclear if the company even has plans to offer it in the future.

So, here is the reply from Apple Tech Support when contacted:

"Support for AirPrint on Windows and Mac has been cancelled. We will be in contact with you if another opportunity arises in the future."

While some developers have claimed that the feature does indeed work under the iOS 4.2 golden master when used with the Mac OS X 10.6.5 beta version made available to iOS developers for AirPrint testing, claims have arisen that issues with "instabilities and incompatibilities" have forced Apple to remove the functionality.

Mac OS X 10.6.5 and iTunes 10.1, which had been set to bring the AirPrint support to Macs and Windows PCs, have been rumored to see a release tomorrow, with iOS 4.2 claimed to be set to follow on Friday.

MacStories reports that it has received word that Apple will be releasing Mac OS X 10.6.5 and iTunes 10.1 via Software Update tomorrow, with iOS 4.2 set to follow on Friday. The report comes, however, from a "source working close with AT&T", and carrier representatives are frequently sources of incorrect information, so some caution is warranted.

According to our source, 10.6.5 completed the certification stage a few hours ago and iTunes was ready 3 weeks ago - likely after the release of beta 2 to developers.

The golden master version of iOS 4.2 was released to developers early last week, but it appears that a public release has been waiting for Apple to complete work on Mac OS X 10.6.5, which is required to support certain aspects of iOS 4.2's AirPrint functionality. iTunes 10.1 is similarly required to support AirPlay streaming functionality. Consequently, it seems that Mac OS X 10.6.5 and iTunes 10.1 should appear before or at the same time as iOS 4.2.

Apple just yesterday seeded Build 10H574 of Mac OS X 10.6.5 to developers.

Claims from a pair of German sites over the weekend had suggested that an iOS 4.2 launch could come either today or on Friday, but it appears that there will be no such launch today, as Apple's iOS releases typically occur around 10:00-11:00 AM Pacific Time.

Last month, warranty company SquareTrade shared the results of a study of warranty claims showing a higher accidental damage rate for the iPhone 4 than the iPhone 3GS, with the iPhone 4 having a particular propensity for cracked glass due to the fact that glass is used on both the front and back of the device.

SquareTrade today followed up with a broader study of over 50,000 smartphones covered by its warranty program, revealing that the iPhone 4 checks in as the most reliable smartphone when it comes to non-accident malfunctions, but that it also experiences the highest accident rates among the studied devices.

When it comes to non-accident malfunctions, SquareTrade's extrapolation of iPhone 4 data yields a failure rate of 2.1% after 12 months, better than the 2.3% rate for the iPhone 3GS and all other studied smartphone brands.

Apple emerged as the most reliable manufacturer, with Motorola not far behind. We project fewer than 2.5% of iPhone and Motorola owners will report a malfunction in the first 12 months of use, with iPhone 4s leading the pack. HTC came next with a one-year malfunction rate of 3.7%, and BlackBerry's 6.3% was the highest of the four manufacturers examined. All other smart phones taken together fared the worst, with 6.7% reporting a malfunction.

But in looking at accident rates, the iPhone 4 projections suggest that 13.8% of iPhone 4s will suffer an accidental breakage within the first 12 months, topping the list of studied smartphones that includes the iPhone 3GS and its 9.4% accident rate.

As reported in our previous study on the iPhone 4 glass, the early iPhone 4 data shows a much higher accident rate compared to its predecessor. However, when we compare it to the Android manufacturers, it is higher, but not by much. We expect 13.8% of iPhone 4 owners to report an accident within a year, compared to 12.2% for both Motorola and HTC.

The study comes just as Cult of Mac offers its own report corroborating earlier claims that Apple is investigating issues with slide-on cases for the iPhone 4 leading to cracked and broken glass backs on the device as dirt and sand trapped between the phone and case lead to scratches that weaken the glass.

The report claims that Apple's retail stores are not stocking slide-on cases for the iPhone 4 as the company works to thoroughly evaluate each case design at a secret testing facility. The delay in availability is affecting a number of case manufacturers, many of whom rely on Apple's retail stores as their largest distribution channels.

One high-profile manufacturer affected by the issue is Mophie, which reportedly ordered a production run of over 100,000 for its Juice Pack Air, which offers a combination case and rechargeable external battery. According to Mophie, the case is sold through the company's own site and through AT&T stores, but remains unavailable directly through Apple.

Other manufacturers are disputing that there is even a problem, calling it a perception issue that Apple is carefully trying to guard against, particularly after all the attention the company received over antenna performance issues on the iPhone 4. So until Apple can certify for itself that these third-party slide-on cases are not leading to cracked iPhone 4s, the company is expected to refrain from offering them for sale.

BGR reports that it has received a screenshot of an internal Apple support document outlining a change to the company's policies regarding potential liquid damage to iPods. According to the document, Apple's usage of internal Liquid Contact Indicators (LCIs) to report direct contact with liquids is now to be augmented with additional inspection by repair staff before concluding that an actual liquid damage event, which would not be covered by warranty, has occurred.

AppleCare has changed the way it screens iPods for liquid damage. When an Apple Retail Store or AppleCare Repair Center checks for liquid damage, if the Liquid Contact Indicator (LCI) inside the headphone jack has been activated, the iPod must be inspected for additional signs of liquid damage.

As before, unless a customer admits to accidentally damaging their iPod, final determination about liquid damage must be made by an Apple Retail Store or AppleCare Repair Center.

As the report notes, it is unknown whether the revised policy also applies to the iPhone, although it seems likely that the two product lines would see similar guidelines.

Apple's Liquid Contact Indicators, which change color upon exposure to liquid, have been the subject of some controversy, with some customers, especially those living in areas of high humidity, claiming that the LCIs have activated without the devices being in direct contact with liquid. Apple's revised LCI policy appears designed to address this controversy, asking support staff to look for additional signs of direct liquid contact before making a final determination about whether repair or replacement would be covered under warranty.

Back in June, we pointed to a YouTube video appearing to show a Mac version of Adobe Audition, the company's professional audio editing software. Just a few weeks later, Adobe confirmed its plans to bring Audition to Mac OS X and noted that a public beta would be released in late 2010.

Adobe has followed through on that schedule with today's release of the public beta of Audition for Mac, now available through the Adobe Labs site.

Welcome to the public beta release of Adobe Audition for Mac. Adobe Audition for Mac brings modern audio post-production to the Mac platform. Familiar tools for audio editing, multitrack mixing and recording meet improved performance, greater workflow flexibility, and new features such as native 5.1 surround support and new effects. Plus, the best-of-breed audio sweetening and restoration tools in Audition make it easy to clean up production audio. With essential tools you can rely on for quick-completion projects, Audition for the Mac brings a fresh face to audio post-production.

The free beta will be functional throughout the beta testing period and requires a multi-core Intel processor and Mac OS X 10.5.7 or later. Adobe has also posted a discussion forum for Adobe Audition for Mac to allow beta testers to discuss and provide feedback on the beta software.

Amazon yesterday announced that as of December 1st it will begin offering new revenue sharing terms for magazine and newspaper publishers seeking to bring their content to the Kindle. Under the new terms, Amazon will keep 30% of revenue while passing along the remaining 70% to publishers, with delivery costs for content moved via paid services such as the company's Whispernet cellular data package shared between publishers and Amazon at the same 70-30 level.

Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that magazine and newspaper publishers will soon be eligible to earn a larger share of revenue from each title they sell in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore). For each magazine or newspaper sold, publishers will be able to earn 70 percent of the retail price, net of delivery costs. These new 70-percent royalty terms will become available on December 1, 2010.

In order to be eligible for the program, publishers must comply with a set of requirements ensuring a quality customer experience, including at least a 95% match of content to that offered in the print edition and delivery of the content to Amazon at least three hours before print delivery begins.

Amazon's move to what is quickly becoming the standard revenue sharing model for digital content has been seen as a response to Apple's negotiations with publishers in which it is offering a similar split. For their part, publishers have been in large part holding out in hopes of moving their subscriptions outside of the traditional App Store or In App Purchase delivery streams for Apple's devices, looking to avoid having to give a 30% cut to Apple. With Amazon and Apple now on roughly the same page regarding delivery of magazine and newspaper content to their devices, publishers may finally be willing to come onboard with the stabilized pricing structure.

As noted by The Next Web, Verizon yesterday began airing its first television commercial for the iPad since the carrier began offering the device paired with a MiFi mobile hotspot in its retail stores late last month.

Entitled "Breakaway", the ad touts the pairing of the "magic" of the iPad with Verizon's network.

Introducing iPad on Verizon. All the magic of iPad. All the nationwide power and reliability of Verizon.

Verizon offers only the Wi-Fi models of the iPad, pairing them with the carrier's MiFi 2200 mobile hotspot device to provide service on the go. The bundles are priced at essentially the same price points as the corresponding 3G-capable iPads available for AT&T's network ($629.99/$729.99/$829.99). MiFi data plans for iPad users begin at $20/month for 1 GB of data. The carrier also offers unbundled Wi-Fi iPads at the traditional prices of $499.99/$599.99/$699.99.

9 to 5 Mac reports that Apple appears to have acquired Wi-Gear, a small San Francisco-based company that offered highly-touted Bluetooth headphones for the iPhone and iPod known as iMuffs.

Apple plans to build its own stereo Bluetooth headphones for future iOS devices and MacBooks with technology and expertise from Wi-Gear. As you'll recall, Apple didn't have a great amount of success with its own Bluetooth headset and instead of building in-house for their new product, decided to pick up the small Wi-Gear outfit.

Wi-Gear offered its iMuffs headphones as a standalone product offering basic integrated music controls, as well as a dock connector adapter to provide full control via Bluetooth and compatibility for iPhones and iPods without built-in Bluetooth support.

In support of the acquisition claim, the report notes that the company's co-founder now lists his occupation as "iOS Bluetooth Engineer at Apple Inc." on his LinkedIn profile.

Update: The claim has been refuted by Wi-Gear's CEO.

Apple continues to work on Mac OS X 10.6.5, issuing a new version known as Build 10H574 to developers today. Just this past Friday, Apple pushed out Build 10H571, with the build of increment of three since that time suggesting that Apple's engineers have likely been working through the weekend to prepare for a public release. No details on changes included in the latest build have yet been revealed.

The public release of Mac OS X 10.6.5 is expected to come nearly simultaneously with a release of iOS 4.2, as Mac OS X 10.6.5 is required to support certain aspects of the AirPrint functionality coming in iOS 4.2. The golden master of iOS 4.2 was issued to developers one week ago and is likely simply awaiting finalization of Mac OS X 10.6.5 before release.

Notably, Apple has already seeded its first developer build of Mac OS X 10.6.6 with hints that that version will be required for support of Apple's forthcoming Mac App Store. The early developer seed of Mac OS X 10.6.6 and the small file size (3.7 MB) suggest it will see only minor changes and may follow closely on the heels of Mac OS X 10.6.5.

AppleInsider reports that the next version of Apple's productivity suite, iWork '11, is ready for launch but will likely debut alongside the company's Mac App Store very early in 2011.

People familiar with the matter say development of iWork '11 wrapped up this fall and the software was initially slated for an introduction alongside iLife '11 last month, but was held back at the last minute for undisclosed reasons.

Apple's revised plans currently call for the company to launch the new productivity suite alongside the forthcoming Mac App Store, these same people say. The applications included in the bundle -- Pages, Numbers and Keynote -- will be available for purchase individually when the Mac App Store debuts.

According to the report, Apple is still deciding whether to offer a retail box version of iWork '11 or if it will be available exclusively through the Mac App Store.

Promotional materials for the Mac App Store have shown the three iWork applications, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers, available on an individual basis for $19.99 each, below Apple's current $79 price for the complete retail box suite.

Apple announced at its "Back to the Mac" media event on October 20th that the Mac App Store would launch within 90 days, meaning that the store would have to debut by January 18th, 2011 in order to reach Apple's stated timetable. The company last week began accepting submissions from developers seeking to have their applications included in the Mac App Store.

The Associated Press reports that toy company Hasbro is set to unveil a new device called "My3D" that will allow iPhone and iPod touch users to view 3-D content on their devices.

It promises three-dimensional content that offers a 360-degree experience in gaming, virtual travel experiences and entertainment content. It's aimed at both children and adults.

The device, which resembles a pair of binoculars with a slot in which users insert their iPod or iPhone, will be priced at $30. It will be available starting next spring at stores where Apple's iPhones and iPod Touches are available.

According to the report, Apple assisted Hasbro with development of the My3D accessory, which will require specialized apps to support display of the 3-D content. Hasbro has teamed with Dreamworks Animation, as well as a forthcoming 3-D TV network backed by Discovery, Sony, and IMAX, to produce content for the device.

In its review of the new 11-inch MacBook Air published last week, Ars Technica noted that the battery life of the machine takes a substantial hit when browsing sites with Adobe's Flash Player enabled, pointing to the prevalence of CPU-heavy Flash ads in use on the Internet.

Having Flash installed can cut battery runtime considerably - as much as 33 percent in our testing. With a handful of websites loaded in Safari, Flash-based ads kept the CPU running far more than seemed necessary, and the best time I recorded with Flash installed was just 4 hours. After deleting Flash, however, the MacBook Air ran for 6:02 - with the exact same set of websites reloaded in Safari, and with static ads replacing the CPU-sucking Flash versions.

The difference has gained much attention due to the MacBook Air's limited battery capacity, the ongoing dispute between Apple and Adobe over Flash, and Apple's decision to ship the new MacBook Air without Flash Player pre-installed, a change coming to all of the company's Mac products.

Fast Company spoke with Adobe Chief Technology Office Kevin Lynch about the MacBook Air news and the broader dispute over Flash, and Lynch argued that it makes perfect sense that displaying Flash content would utilize more battery power than not displaying it. Lynch also claimed that displaying the same content in Apple-supported HTML5 technology would use as much or more battery power than in Flash.

"It's a false argument to make, of the power usage," Lynch explains. "When you're displaying content, any technology will use more power to display, versus not displaying content. If you used HTML5, for example, to display advertisements, that would use as much or more processing power than what Flash uses."

Lynch said several studies have already confirmed Flash's higher battery life, and also argued that HTML5 had far less reliable playback.

Lynch went on to focus on the "negative campaigning" against Adobe's Flash technology, taking aim at Apple for "inciting" the movement, calling Apple's choice to cut off access to Flash content for its iOS users "hurtful" to Adobe and Flash developers and "counter to [Adobe's] values".

"I just think there's this negative campaigning going on, and, for whatever reason, Apple is really choosing to incite it, and condone it," Lynch says. "I think that's unfortunate. We don't think it's good for the web to have aspects closed off--a blockade of certain types of expression. There's a decade of content out there that you just can't view on Apple's device, and I think that's not only hurtful to Adobe, but hurtful to everyone that created that content."

For its part, Adobe is looking at how to accommodate the growing presence of HTML5 content on the Internet, recently offering a demo of a tool that would allow developers to easily port much of their Flash content to HTML5.

Patently Apple reports on a newly-published patent application from Apple coming out of the European patent office and revealing user interfaces offering scrollable menus and toolbars designed to handle the ever-increasing number of tools and options in many applications while limiting the amount of space required to access those options.

In particular, Apple's patent application describes the use of a small selection window through which a variety of options could be scrolled, rather than offering an entire toolbar with all options remaining visible at all times. The drawings accompanying the patent application depict implementations on both Mac OS X and iOS.

Apple's patent and illustrations introduce us to a new concept of scrollable menus and toolbars that may very well end up in both OS X Lion and a future iteration of iOS. The new menus and toolbars may also be integrated into future iterations of Apple applications such as Aperture and/or suite applications like Pages, Numbers and iMovie.

To begin with, Apple states that their invention provides a novel method for presenting a menu in a graphical user interface. The menu includes several selectable menu items that are assigned in a particular order for scrolling through a selection window based on user input. In some embodiments, each of the menu items is associated with a command. When a menu item is in the selection window, a user could select the menu item in order to perform the command associated with the menu item.

In addition to vertical and horizontal scrolling, Apple proposes other geometric organizations such as arcs and circles of icons that could permit a large number of icons to be displayed in a limited area and scrolled into position for selection.

TiPb posts a video demonstrating the performance of the iPhone 3G under the golden master version of iOS 4.2, revealing what appears to be an improvement over iOS 4.1. While the performance obviously does not match that of the iPhone 4, which offers significantly better hardware than the iPhone 3G, the new software version does seems to make for an improved user experience on the older device.

iPhone 3G's hardware isn't as fast and it's RAM is literally a quarter of iPhone 4's but it did a decent job typing, scrolling, pinching, and zooming its way around iOS 4.2.

Users reported significant issues with the original iOS 4 release on the iPhone 3G, primarily citing issues with performance, but also battery drains and overheating. Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted in response to a customer email on the issue that a software update was forthcoming, and an informal comparison did suggest that iOS 4.1 brought improved performance to the iPhone 3G.

Those improvements have not, however, satisfied all iPhone 3G owners, as one filed suit against Apple late last month, seeking class action status for claims that iOS 4 essentially makes iPhone 3Gs unusable.

In her complaint, Wofford claims that Apple was aware that iOS 4 would cause degraded performance on older iPhones, and she accused Apple of purposely creating an incentive for customers to purchase newer iPhones.

"Apple has falsely, intentionally and repeatedly represented to owners and consumers of the iPhone 3G that its new operating system for the device, iOS4, was of a nature, quality, and a significant upgrade for the functionality of all iPhone devices, when in fact, the installation and use of the iOS4 on iPhone 3G resulted in the opposite - a device with little more use than that of a paperweight," the complaint read.

Apple seeded the golden master version of iOS 4.2 to developers early last week, and many observers are expecting a public release sometime this week.

French site MacGeneration reports [Google translation] that one of its readers emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs to inquire about the reasons behind last Friday's announcement that the company will discontinue the Xserve rackmount server. Jobs reportedly responded to the email, unsurprisingly noting that poor sales were the reason for the discontinuation.

Hardly anyone was buying them.

Sent from my iPhone

While Apple has not routinely revealed sales figures for the Xserve, the report points to data from research firm Gartner published several years ago showing that Apple was selling on the order of 10,000 units per quarter, a tiny fraction of the company's overall computer sales.

With the discontinuation of the Xserve, Apple has suggested that potential customers consider either the Mac mini, which gained a server option in late 2009, or the Mac Pro, which saw Apple release a server-specific standard configuration on Friday.

Toshiba announced today the introduction of a "new form factor" in high capacity solid-state storage called the "Blade X-gale" series. MacRumors readers will recognize the small SSD sticks as the same product that is used in Apple's new MacBook Air. Toshiba supplies these parts to Apple and is now offering the product to the mass market.

Available now, the new drives are offered in capacities of 64-gigabyte (GB) (1), 128GB and 256GB, with a maximum sequential read speed of 220MB per second (MB/s) (2) and a maximum sequential write speed of 180MB/s. Ideally suited for integration into space-sensitive products, including tablet PCs, laptops, mini-mobile and netbook PCs, Toshiba's latest SSD offering helps these devices achieve a super slim profile.

Toshiba's SSDs come in the same three sizes that Apple presently offers (64GB, 128GB, and 256GB) and even shares the same part numbers indicating that these are the exact same product. This is good news for potential MacBook Air customers as it offers a potential upgrade path for the MacBook Air's SSD drive which only comes in specific combinations from Apple. For example, the 256GB SSD is not available in the 11" MacBook Air. We should note that we haven't yet been able to confirm that the 256GB part will actually fit into the 11" MacBook Air, as the 256GB part is slightly thicker than the 64GB and 128GB parts (3.7mm vs 2.2mm).

Another company has already announced their own replacement SSD part for the MacBook Air, and Toshiba's offerings should guarantee a healthy aftermarket for the part. No pricing has been announced for devices.

MacRumors has received word that Apple today seeded a new version of Mac OS X 10.6.5, termed Build 10H571, to select developers for testing. The release comes as Apple this week wrapped up work on iOS 4.2 with the golden master being seeded to iOS developers on Monday. No details on any changes in the latest build have yet been revealed.

Mac OS X 10.6.5 is required to support the AirPrint functionality being included in iOS 4.2, and thus the two releases are expected to see a public release at roughly the same time, although Apple has so far only indicated that iOS 4.2 will drop sometime in November. But with the golden master of iOS 4.2 already finished, it appears likely the public release will occur sooner rather than later, which suggests that today's Mac OS X 10.6.5 build could be one of the last testing versions or even the final build to be released to the public.

Mac OS X 10.6.5 Build 10H568 was released to developers one week ago. Curiously, Apple just yesterday seeded the first developer build of Mac OS X 10.6.6, despite the fact that 10.6.5 has yet to be released to the public. Details on Mac OS X 10.6.6 suggest that it may be a relatively minor update to support Apple's forthcoming Mac App Store.