MacRumors

Microsoft today made a series of announcements at E3 revealing a major push into the living room with the Xbox 360 as the focal point. Among the most interesting announcements for Apple users is "SmartGlass", a new wireless technology that is essentially a two-way Airplay-like standard that allows users to push content from their mobile devices to their TVs via the Xbox but also allows mobile devices to act as second screens for content being displayed on TV from an Xbox. Engadget reports:

SmartGlass brings AirPlay-style wireless technology to Xbox and Windows 8 by letting you send video from your tablet or phone to your TV. It then turns that second screen into an information window giving you data of the content you're watching. Plus, it updates the info on your mobile device as the content on the TV changes. The app also enables peripheral controls for games you're playing -- so you can scroll through different plays on your tablet while playing Madden on your big screen, for example.

The SmartGlass companion app will be available this fall on a variety of platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 8 for tablets.

The SmartGlass app will arrive alongside a significant increase in the amount of content accessible through the Xbox 360, with Microsoft making a number of other announcements including a version of Internet Explorer for Xbox, a new Xbox Music streaming service, and access to streaming sports services such as WatchESPN, and live streams from the NBA and NHL. Enhancements to Kinect controls will allow for voice control of Bing searches and Internet Explorer, as well as a new partnership with Nike+ for training games on the Xbox 360.

Apple has of course been working on the Apple TV as its "hobby" focused on the living room, ramping up the device's capabilities to include AirPlay and a number of content services such as Netflix, Major League Baseball, NBA League Pass, and NHL GameCenter Live. The company has been expected to make an even more significant push into the living room with a full-fledged television set integrated with the iTunes Store, iCloud, and other services, although Apple's exact plans and timing remain unknown.

9to5Mac reports that one of the major new features coming in iOS 6 is the addition of Siri to the iPad. Siri is currently supported only on the iPhone 4S, with the new iPad having gained the dictation aspect of Apple and Nuance's voice recognition partnership but not seeing the inclusion of full Siri support at its launch earlier this year.

Siri on the iPad is activated by a quick hold of the home button, just like on the iPhone 4S. The interface slides up from below the display with a clever animation. Siri is built into the iPad as a small window on top of whatever interface the user is currently interacting with. This Siri window with rounded corners sits at the bottom center of the display, as you can see in our mockup above. The Siri iPad interface takes very little space over the iPad interface currently in use, and is designed with the same linen texture as on the iPhone 4S. Siri for iPad also works from the lock screen.

The report speculates that Siri for iPad may be exclusive to the new third-generation models, and it is unclear whether Apple will tout the feature at next week's Worldwide Developers Conference or if it will elect to keep it under wraps until closer to the public launch of the software later this year.

In November 2010, Mac and iOS developers Algoriddim first previewed their djay app for iPad. The beautifully designed app pushed some boundaries of the iPad by taking advantage of new iOS 4.2-specific audio features that allowed them to perform realtime mixing effects and audio analysis.

That app has since received a number of positive reviews and won an Apple Design Award in 2011.

Later this week, Algoriddim is launching a new app called vjay which again offers some impressive real-time mixing and effects, but now applied to video. Algoriddim has provided MacRumors with this exclusive preview of the app:

Similar to how djay works, vjay allows you to mix/fade between two video clips and apply real time effects to the output. Due to the heavy processing required to decode and mix two video streams, the app only works on the iPad 2 or the new iPad.

Video clips can be full music videos, such as those downloaded from the iTunes store, or they can be your own personal video clips. Audio can either be the original video audio or intermingled with songs your own music library. Both video and audio tracks can be swapped out independently at any time.

Regardless of whether or not you have any actual djing skills, vjay is surprisingly fun to play with once you seed it with your own favorite music videos. Just mixing songs back and forth while playing around with effects is strangely enjoyable.

If you're like me, your first instinct might be to treat the app like another kind of video editing app, stitching your own clips together into some sort of music video, but that seems to miss the point. The actual focus of the app is these sort of "real time" performances and mixing. The app also has the ability to output mixed content in real time via AirPlay to your television.

These real-time performances can also be recorded and saved to your camera roll to save and share. Meanwhile, more advanced users can take advantage of MIDI accessories and a pre-cueing adapter to line up the next song.

vjay will be available for a discounted launch price of $9.99 on June 7th, 2012. Algoriddim has a teaser page accepting email addresses for the launch announcement.

Back in March, we noted that Apple had activated Safari tab syncing through iCloud in OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview 2, with the feature designed to allow users to sync open browser tabs across Macs and presumably iOS devices. Now in a new report from 9to5Mac outlining several OS X Mountain Lion features that will also be making their way to iOS 6, the site unsurprisingly notes that Safari iCloud tab syncing will indeed be coming to iOS as well as OS X.

When the iCloud Tabs button is clicked on an iOS 6 device (or Mac), all the tabs opened on each device are simply shown in a synchronized list. From here, users can quickly pickup individual tabs that they were working on across their Apple devices. The iCloud Tabs button on the iPhone and iPod touch is hidden behind the Bookmarks toolbar.

Another new Mountain Lion feature also being implemented in iOS 6 is Mail VIPs. With this feature, users can designate "VIPs" whose emails will appear with stars next to them in Mail to make them stand out at a glance. The feature will also be iCloud-compatible on compatible accounts, with designated VIP statuses being synced across devices.

One final OS X Mountain Lion feature said to be coming to iOS 6 is "Do Not Disturb" mode for Notification Center. As implemented in Mountain Lion, users can turn on Do Not Disturb mode to hide incoming Notification Center banners and alerts. An essentially identical setting has reportedly been added to the top section of the Settings app in iOS 6, allowing users to easily hide incoming notifications and prevent interruptions.

9to5Mac also details some of the Facebook integration coming in iOS 6, noting that the implementation will be very similar to that seen for Twitter. One of the primary areas of integration will be in the Photos app, where users will be able to easily post photos directly to their Facebook timelines. Facebook will also utilize a similar system to the Tweet Sheets seen in iOS 5, offering a window for users to type in text to accompany items being posted to Facebook.

Matrox has announced a new Thunderbolt docking station for MacBooks and Ultrabooks.

From a single Thunderbolt connection, users can add multiple peripherals including a large DVI or HDMI® display, a full-size keyboard, and a mouse. A gigabit Ethernet port provides connectivity to a wired corporate network, enabling data transfers 18 times faster than Wi-Fi™. One SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, a microphone input, and a speaker/headphone output are also provided. With its solid aluminum construction, yet sleek design, Matrox DS1 is ideal for office, dorm, or home use.

At a proposed price of $249, the Matrox DS-1 comes in cheaper than Belkin's $299 solution that is due this fall. Matrox's unit lacks a couple of ports (additional Thunderbolt, and Firewire) that are found on Belkin's dock. The DS-1 comes with DVI, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, (2) USB 2.0, Audio Output, Audio Input, and Power connectors:

The Matrox does carry a high speed USB 3.0 port that is absent on Belkin's unit. The addition of that port may make the dock more appealing to PC/Ultrabook customers. It's not clear, however, from Matrox's site if the USB 3.0 port is functional on a Mac. (*Update)

In the past, USB 3.0 support on the Mac has required the installation of 3rd party drivers. These drivers are generally provided by the hardware manufacturer.

Apple has been rumored to be including USB 3.0 support in their next generation MacBook Pros which are due this summer. If that does come to pass, the USB 3.0 port on Matrox's dock may work with Apple's own bundled USB 3.0 drivers.

The Matrox DS-1 Thunderbolt docking station will be available worldwide in September for $249.

Update: Matrox has informed us that MacBooks will be able to take advantage of the USB 3.0 port.

TechCrunch reports that iOS 6 will include system-level integration of Facebook, similar to the integration seen with Twitter in iOS 5. The report comes just days after Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke positively about Facebook at the D10 Conference, closing his thoughts on the relationship between Apple and Facebook with the suggestive phrase "stay tuned".

After much speculation, Facebook integration will indeed be baked into the latest version of iOS, we’ve learned. [...]

To be clear, Twitter will still very much be a part of the new iOS (presumably named “iOS 6″ and codenamed “Sundance“), and that company will be holding sessions at WWDC to chat more about the continued partnership (including the integration into the forthcoming OS X Mountain Lion). But Facebook integration will be very important for iOS — tons of apps use Facebook for sign-ups and authentication (many use Facebook as the only way to do this, to the dismay of some). Apple was undoubtedly watching this activity and realized that it was time to formally bring Facebook on board.

TechCrunch notes that Apple and Facebook are still working out how sharing items to Facebook will be integrated, given the varying levels of permissions on Facebook posts. The report also includes the caveat that Apple has been known to change its mind in the past, but as of right now Facebook integration is reportedly set to be unveiled in iOS 6 at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference later this month.

With Apple's MobileMe service set to shut down at the end of this month as the company completes the transition to iCloud, users of the service are receiving 30-day warning emails reminding them of the impending shutdown.

Those MobileMe users who have yet to move their accounts to iCloud are receiving a message warning them that they need to take action in order for their email to continue functioning and offering instructions on the transition process. Apple is also reminding users that those whose systems don't meet the minimum requirements for the full iCloud service can still migrate their email and calendars to iCloud.

MobileMe users who have already converted to iCloud are receiving a slightly different message reminding them that MobileMe Gallery, iDisk, and iWeb hosting will all be discontinued with the final transition to iCloud. Those users should be sure to download any affected content they wish to keep before MobileMe is shut down.

With Apple reportedly abandoning Google in favor of its own mapping solution for iOS 6, 9to5Google reports that Google will be holding an event on June 6 to show off "The Next Dimension of Google Maps". The event comes just five days before Apple is expected to show off details of iOS 6 at its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.

At this invitation-only press gathering, Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps and Google Earth, will give you a behind-the-scenes look at Google Maps and share our vision. We’ll also demo some of the newest technology and provide a sneak peek at upcoming features that will help people get where they want to go – both physically and virtually. We hope to see you there.

Apple has relied on Google to provide the mapping functionality in iOS since the iPhone's initial launch back in 2007. But as competition between the two companies has ramped up, Apple has been working to strengthen its expertise in mapping with the acquisition of several small companies and has been gradually moving certain location and mapping services in-house. That transition is expected to culminate in iOS 6 with the core mapping application shifting from Google to Apple.

The timing of Google's event naturally leads to speculation that it has been specifically planned to upstage any Apple announcement about mapping in iOS 6 and to show what users will be missing out on with the transition by Apple.

As noted by The Verge, the European Telecommunications Institute (ETSI) today announced it has adopted a standardized design for the next-generation "nano-SIM". The new design is 40% smaller than the current micro-SIM standard.

Today's SIM card designs take up a significant amount of space inside a mobile device. This space is more and more valuable in today's handsets which deliver an ever increasing number of features.

The fourth form factor (4FF) card will be 40% smaller than the current smallest SIM card design, at 12.3mm wide by 8.8mm high, and 0.67mm thick. It can be packaged and distributed in a way that is backwards compatible with existing SIM card designs. The new design will offer the same functionality as all current SIM cards.

The design selection was heavily contested, with a proposal from Apple being opposed by a number of other mobile phone manufacturers despite Apple having the support of many European carriers. As the selection process continued, Apple slightly tweaked its design while the opposing carriers made changes to their own proposal that brought their design much closer to Apple's.

The Verge notes that by the time final selection was made the only difference in external design between the two proposals was a notch included in the side of the card proposed by the coalition of manufacturers opposing Apple. And with the ETSI yet to publish any other details on the approved design beyond overall measurements, it is not yet clear which design won out.

Unfortunately, both Apple's design and the more recent Motorola / RIM compromise design are exactly the same exterior dimensions — the only difference is that the update submitted by Apple's competitors includes an extra notch to enable so-called "push-push" mechanisms in SIM slots that wouldn't necessitate a tray. Until ETSI publishes the specs, we won't know which of the two was chosen.

The ETSI specifically refused to comment on which group's design was chosen, noting only that a collective decision by the industry yielded the final standard.

Update: IDG News Service reports that Apple's design was indeed the winning standard.

Apple has won a battle over the standard for a smaller SIM card, use of which would leave more room for other components in future phone designs. [...]

ETSI isn’t releasing any further details of the vote or the winning specification, only saying that the decision had been made, according to a spokesman at the standards organization. The proposer of the winning specification was identified by card maker Giesecke & Devrient, which had a representative on the committee.

In Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder was quoted as saying that his desires for the future involved the reinvention of three industries: television, textbooks, and photography. With Apple's iBooks Textbooks initiative for the iPad underway and the company reportedly working on television from both hardware and content sides, it has been unclear exactly what Jobs and Apple might have had in the works to address photography. Isaacson's biography did note that Jobs had met with the CEO of Lytro, creators of an innovative new light field camera system, although it is unclear how much direct interest Jobs and Apple had in Lytro's technology.

Earlier this week, iLounge released its comprehensive New iPad Buyers' Guide, an overview of accessories, apps and other information associated with the new iPad. As noted in the announcement about the guide's release, it includes a two-page spread arguing that Apple may be working on a camera product of some sort. According to iLounge, the speculation in the guide is informed by claims from a source, although the information was not considered reliable enough to make concrete assertions at the time.

Take special note of pages 152 and 153—“Making the case for a standalone iSight Camera.” I’ll share more on this topic shortly, but for now, I’ll say that this two-page spread very nearly had a different title. We were tipped that this project is actually happening at Apple right now, but we didn’t feel confident enough in our source to call it a certainty; it’s therefore billed as speculation. Still, there’s enough smoke to make us think there’s a fire.

iLounge now appears to be becoming more confident in its belief that Apple is working on a standalone camera product, with Editor in Chief Jeremy Horwitz issuing a Tweet a short time ago reiterating the claim.

So, as briefly noted on Backstage, Apple appears to be working on a standalone camera - the third of three industries Jobs wanted to change.

While we've assumed that any advances by Apple in photography would most likely come via the iPhone given that many users are abandoning standalone point-and-shoot cameras for increasingly powerful cameras included on their smartphones, iLounge argues that Apple will look to remake the point-and-shoot market with new hardware and software that isn't constrained by the limitations of the iPhone.

As much as iPhones (and iPads) have improved in camera technology over the past two years, Apple’s goal is to keep slimming them down, which limits the light-gathering and zoom capabilities of camera sensors and lenses - image quality compromises. A standalone digital camera could accommodate a bigger sensor and integrated zoom lens, which Apple would select as a “satisfies most needs” option rather than offering detachable lenses. Lytro’s minimalist body for the Light Field Camera shows how simple it could get, but Apple would want a much larger screen.

Apple had a partnership with Kodak in the mid-1990s to produce the QuickTake line of digital cameras, but the product line was discontinued upon Steve Jobs' 1997 return to the company as he sought to streamline Apple's business. The company has of course continued to work on camera technology, in large part with its line of accessory and integrated iSight cameras over the years, but there has been little evidence of an interest in returning to the standalone digital camera business.

It's hard to place much faith in the rumor at this point, and iLounge doesn't expect any Apple camera product to be introduced until after the long-rumored Apple television set makes its debut, but it does make for interesting discussion and we'll keep watching for any other signs of Apple's interest in photography products as time goes on.

Update: iLounge has now published an article outlining the circumstantial evidence for Apple's work on a standalone camera product.

Over the past few days, several leaks have surfaced showing an alleged front panel for the next-generation iPhone and a design schematic for what appears to be the same part.

Japanese blog Mac Otakara has now gotten its hands on one of those front panel parts and posted photos and a video comparing it to the current iPhone design. As has been shown by leaks so far, the next-generation iPhone would be somewhat taller than the current model, with estimates putting the difference in height at roughly 10 mm.

Roughly in line with the design schematic leaked yesterday, Mac Otakara measures the display opening at 10.33 cm (4.07 in) diagonally, allowing a 4-inch display as has been rumored to fit within the opening.

9to5Mac reports that it has more details on the next-generation iPhone, receiving some information from a source with access to a prototype of the device and other data from a build of iOS 6 said to be targeting the forthcoming device. Among the highlights:

- Details in the iOS 6 beta indicate that the next-generation iPhone will run an application processor identified as S5L8950X. That processor initially showed up in iOS 5.1 betas alongside the S5L8945X that arrived in the form of the A5X in the current iPad. But while the assumption had been that the S5L8950X would be released to the public as part of an A6 system-on-a-chip, today's report indicates that it is still internally being referred to as part of the A5 family.

- On the graphics side, Imagination Technologies is once again said to be supplying the chip, which is currently being referred to as SGX543RC*. The identifier seems to be a code name given that it does not correlate with any official variants of the SGX543 platform. Imagination Technologies introduced the multi-core SGX543 design in early 2009, with Apple using the dual-core SGX543MP2 in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S while stepping up to the quad-core SGX543MP4 to drive the Retina display on the current iPad.

- The iOS 6 build is running on a Darwin kernel version of 13.0.0, above the 11.x.x used in OS X Lion and iOS 5 and even the 12.0.0 version seen in OS X Mountain Lion.

- Following up on spy shots of the iOS 6 Maps app that appeared earlier this week, today's report offers another such shot, although the design is said to still be subject to tweaking.

The Verge reports that Intel has formally announced its next batch of Ivy Bridge processors, adding 14 new chips including four 17-watt ultra-low voltage processors that could appear in revamped MacBook Air models and several dual-core mobile chips that could be included in updated Mac mini and 13-inch MacBook Pro machines. Engadget has the full details on the new chips, which also include six new desktop processors.

Intel's announcement comes in line with the previously leaked timeline that saw the first batch of quad-core desktop and mobile processors launch in late April, with the second round focused on dual-core and low-voltage chips coming in early June.

With over 25 new Ivy Bridge chips now available, Apple now appears to have a number of options to upgrade its entire Mac product line. Apple is expected to use Ivy Bridge throughout its Mac lineup with the exception of the Mac Pro, which would take advantage of Sandy Bridge E server chips released in early March should Apple choose to issue an update to that line.

Apple is expected to introduce a redesigned MacBook Pro at next month's Worldwide Developers Conference, and it seems likely that updates to other lines will come either at the same or soon after, as the new Ivy Bridge chips put Apple in a prime position to update its aging Mac lineup.

AllThingsD yesterday announced the release of a new set of video and audio podcasts covering all six of Steve Jobs' on-stage appearances at the D Conference between 2003 and 2010.

[B]y far the largest trove of video of the legendary innovator candidly answering unrehearsed questions and explaining his views on technology and business comes from his six lengthy appearances at our D: All Things Digital conference, from 2003 to 2010. [...] So, as a memorial to a great man and in the spirit of sharing a priceless piece of history, we are making all six of these appearances available on iTunes for free, in high-quality video. We thank Apple for its cooperation in making these videos available for all.

Jobs' five solo appearances check in at between 45 and 95 minutes each.

Update: All Things D tells us that the interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates was omitted by accident. It has since been added to the podcast collection in its entirety.