MacRumors

Bloomberg reports that Apple is considering licensing its AirPlay technology to consumer electronics companies for integration into their products to enable users to stream video content directly to devices such as televisions. Such implementations would bypass the need for a separate set-top box like the Apple TV for streaming video from iOS devices to TVs.

Under the plan, Apple would license its AirPlay software to consumer-electronics makers that could use it in devices for streaming movies, TV shows and other video content, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the plans havent been made public. Apple now only licenses AirPlay for streaming audio. Devices that could be used for video may be available this year, one of the people said.

An expanded AirPlay would let users stream programming wirelessly from an Apple mobile device to a TV that carries the technology. That may spur wider use of Apples services and devices in consumers living rooms.

Apple has already licensed AirPlay to consumer electronics companies such as Pioneer for the purposes of streaming audio from iOS devices directly to receivers and other home audio equipment, with Bloomberg noting that licensees pay Apple $4 for each AirPlay-enabled component sold.

BridgeCo, Apple's partner for deploying AirPlay on a consumer electronics basis for audio, is also interested in video implementations, and an extension of AirPlay licensing to include video could be a major boon to television manufacturers and customers. At the same time, the move could bolster Apple's efforts to move both its products and its iTunes Store content into consumers' living rooms.

DigiTimes reports that Apple is considering offering to increase the price it is willing to pay for touch panel supplies in order to secure a steady flow of the components for its iOS devices as suppliers struggle to recover from the Japanese earthquake. With Apple said to already be soaking up 60% of the entire touch panel market, the move could significantly increase pressure on smaller competitors trying to lock in their own supplies. In particular, Apple is looking to Taiwan-based suppliers whose importance has increased with a number of Japanese plants going offline or operating with reduced production.

In order to secure sufficient supply of touch panels used in the iPad and iPhone, Apple has talked with Taiwan-based makers, considering some room for them to hike quotes, according to these makers.

With Apple's capacity, It is a reasonable strategy from Apple to allow suppliers to hike quotes, and it will be a great help to the overall supply chain, even just for the short term, but will increase pressure to other vendors for tablet PCs and smartphone, touch panel makers believed.

While a handful of components have been determined to be directly vulnerable to shortages caused by the earthquake and related disasters, Apple's manufacturing partners have been said to have several weeks' worth of supplies already on hand and Apple's supply agreements and market position give it significant leverage for obtaining supplies going forward. But given the complex international nature of the electronics production business and Apple's penchant for maintaining lean manufacturing processes, any disruption in the supply chain could have significant effects.

BGR, which reported on Monday that users should expect bug fixes in the form of iOS 4.3.1 to be released in the next week or two, now reports that it has had a few days of hands-on time with the update, confirming that minor bug fixes to seem to be the primary purpose.

But the report also hints that users may be able to sneak a bit more battery life out of their devices with the new update, potentially addressing widespread battery life issues noted under iOS 4.3.

We reported the changes from iOS 4.3 a few days back, and it really does look as if iOS 4.3.1 will simply fix bugs, hence the version numbering. Battery life seems a tad bit better, though that's not scientific at all.

While evidence for improved battery life seems thin at this point in the absence of explicit testing by BGR or others with access to iOS 4.3.1, many users are no doubt hoping that such changes are indeed included.

Despite much testing documented in the thread in our forums, users have been unable to pin down exactly what might be causing decreased battery life. Some have suggested that the Ping functionality from iTunes is at least partially responsible, but others have claimed that turning off the feature leads to battery life improvement that is only marginal at best.

Apple today announced that Bertrand Serlet, senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering, will be departing the company in order to "focus less on products and more on science", although his specific destination remains unknown. Serlet joined Steve Jobs at NeXT in 1989, and transitioned to Apple in 1997 when NeXT was acquired and Jobs brought back to lead Apple.

"I've worked with Steve for 22 years and have had an incredible time developing products at both NeXT and Apple, but at this point, I want to focus less on products and more on science," said Bertrand Serlet, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering.

Serlet will be replaced by Craig Federighi, currently Apple's vice president of Mac Software Engineering and who has led Mac OS X engineering for the past two years. Federighi is another former NeXT and Apple employee who spent ten years at Ariba before returning to Apple in 2009. Serlet notes that the transition should be seamless given Federighi's role in leading the current Mac OS X team.

"Craig has done a great job managing the Mac OS team for the past two years, Lion is a great release and the transition should be seamless."

Serlet has occasionally appeared at Apple keynote and media events over the years to introduce Mac OS X-related features, and thus well known to longtime Apple followers. Federighi has made a couple of on-stage appearances since his return to Apple, demoing Mac OS X Snow Leopard at WWDC 2009 and showing off some of the features of Apple's forthcoming Mac OS X Lion at last October's "Back to the Mac" event.

Less than two weeks after the release of the Apple TV 4.2 software update, based on iOS 4.3, Apple has issued a minor 4.2.1 update addressing issues with flickering, waking from sleep, and audio output. The highlighted changes are detailed in Apple's support document covering Apple TV software updates.

- TV compatibility: Addresses issues that may cause the screen to flicker or display incorrect color on some older TVs.
- Wake from sleep: Addresses an issue where Apple TV may not wake up from sleep.
- Audio: Addresses an issue where audio may not be heard on some TV models after switching from another input.
- Stability and performance: Apple TV Software Update 4.2.1 includes stability and performance fixes for Apple TV.

While the Apple TV 4.2 software update brought MLB.tv and NBA League Pass video streaming along with other improvements, some users were experiencing flickering issues on televisions that were attempting to convert the Apple TV's 720p output to 1080i format. Apple last week promised that a software update to address the issue would be forthcoming.

A retrospective piece on the history of the iPod published last week brought fresh attention to the idea that Apple may be looking to discontinue the iPod classic, essentially the direct descendant of the original iPod introduced nearly ten years ago. Concerns over the fate of the iPod classic first arose last September when Apple introduced new iPod models for every line except the iPod classic, even as Steve Jobs referred to the revamp as an "all-new" lineup. The iPod classic remains available, but has not been updated since September 2009.

The possibility of new life for the iPod classic received a jumpstart in late January when Toshiba introduced new hard drives topping out at 220 GB in the form factor used by the iPod classic, which currently offers 160 GB of storage space. In the following weeks, supplies of the iPod classic appeared to tighten at a number of retailers, potentially hinting at either an update or discontinuation, although Apple has made no moves since that time.

With the renewed focus on the fate of the iPod classic, one MacRumors reader let us know that he had emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs back in September after the device failed to receive an update alongside the rest of the iPod line, inquiring about the fate of the high-capacity music player. Jobs responded, indicating that the company has "no plans" to discontinue the iPod classic.

Q: Hello, I've heard a LOT of speculation that Apple is looking to kill the iPod Classic because it wasn't updated on Sept. 1st, and that a lot of people would rather Touch. The iPod Classic is probably the best iPod in the line. PLEASE DON'T KILL IT!!!

A: We have no plans to.

Sent from my iPhone

The claimed email from Jobs does appear to be legitimate, and while Apple's plans may certainly have changed in the six months since the exchange, it does appear that the company has been intending to keep the iPod classic line alive despite the absence of an update in over 18 months.

With the new 220 GB hard drives from Toshiba now available, Apple could conceivably release an updated iPod classic at any time, although the company may wait until its traditional iPod media event in September for the refresh.

As tracked in our Buyer's Guide, the iMac has reached its average update interval, suggesting that we might be able to expect refreshed models to appear some time in the relatively near future. Expectations for revamped iMacs include a move to Sandy Bridge processors and implementation of the new Thunderbolt connectivity standard that debuted in the MacBook Pro last month.

In a series of Tweets (via MacNews.de), CNET's Brian Tong claims to have received word from a reliable source that new iMacs should debut in late April or early May. The updated iMacs are said to feature Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt as expected, but no major cosmetic changes are reported to be included.

- EXCLUSIVE: My Sources: New iMacs en route by ocean to U.S. available end of April or 1st week of May. No major cosmetic changes.

- My sources say New iMacs will feature Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt. No other specifics.

- We'll see if this pans out, but I'm highly confident in my source. If you're looking for a new iMac. WAIT FOR IT!

iMac rumors have been relatively sparse in recent months, although DigiTimes indicated in mid-December that Apple was expected to update both the MacBook Pro and iMac in the first half of 2011 with the iMac featuring a new panel size and price points. Just days before the MacBook Pro update in late February, DigiTimes reiterated its claim that may change the screen size on new iMacs, claiming that the new models could debut alongside or soon after the MacBook Pros.

With Apple's iPad 2 having been on sale in the U.S. for a week and half already and set to launch in 25 new countries on Friday, other companies are continuing to ramp up their efforts as they seek to bring competitive tablets to the market.

Research in Motion today announced that it has partnered with Best Buy to begin taking orders for Wi-Fi models of the BlackBerry PlayBook, a 7-inch tablet primarily targeted at business users and set to launch on April 19th. Pricing for the Wi-Fi PlayBook will match that of the larger iPad 2 at $499 for the 16 GB model, $599 for the 32 GB model, and $699 for the 64 GB model.

"Tablets are becoming a bigger part of our business everyday and the launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook will heighten the level of excitement in this category," said Scott Anderson, head of merchandising for Best Buy Mobile. "RIM has a tremendous history of producing great mobility products for our customers and we are excited to help launch the BlackBerry PlayBook."

Not to be outdone, Samsung today announced new 8.9-inch and 10.1-inch versions of its Galaxy Tab device that will join the existing 7-inch tablet in running Android.

As suggested by an executive earlier this month, Samsung has in fact redesigned the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to respond to Apple's iPad 2, dropping the thickness from 10.9 mm to 8.6 mm, making the Galaxy Tab 0.2 mm thinner than the iPad 2. The reduced thickness apparently forced Samsung to shift the rear-facing camera from an 8-megapixel sensor to a 3-megapixel one, although even the lower-resolution camera exceeds that found in the iPad 2.

The first iteration of Galaxy Tab 10.1 measured in at 246.2 x 170.4 x 10.9 mm and weighed 599g; this new, slimmer version is 256.6 x 172.9 x 8.6 mm and 595g. In the process the slate has gained a new back panel (to match the 8.9-inch version) and lost some megapixels. The 2-megapixel front camera remains, but the rear camera is a 3-megapixel unit with autofocus and an LED flash (down from 8-megapixels on the previous version). Battery life is up to 10hrs, Samsung claims.

The Wi-Fi Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is said to go on sale June 8th and like the PlayBook will offer identical price points to the iPad 2 at $499 for the 16 GB model and $599 for the 32 GB model.

The Wi-Fi Galaxy Tab 8.9 will offer essentially identical specs to the larger model down to the same 1280x800 resolution display (although obviously smaller in size) and will launch in "early summer" at $469/$569 price points for 16 GB and 32 GB models.

Mozilla today announced the official release of Firefox 4, the latest version of the organization's popular Internet browser, for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. With support for over 80 languages, Firefox 4 brings speed enhancements as well as a sleek new user interface, increased customizability, and new security and privacy features.

Firefox 4 is the fastest Firefox yet. With dramatic speed and performance advancements across the board, Firefox is between two and six times faster than previous releases. Major enhancements to the JavaScript engine make everything from startup time to page load speed to graphics and JavaScript performance screaming fast in Firefox.

The latest version of Firefox introduces a sleek new look that lets Web content take center stage. With features like App Tabs and Panorama, Firefox makes it easier and more efficient to navigate the Web. Firefox delivers industry-leading privacy and security features like Do Not Track and Content Security Policy to give users control over their personal data and protect them online.

Firefox 4.0 is of course a free download, with the Mac version requiring a minimum of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

Bloomberg reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been instructed to provide testimony in the form of a deposition regarding an ongoing antitrust case targeting Apple's FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) technology. The deposition, not to exceed two hours, will cover software changes Apple made in 2004 to prevent digital music files from RealNetworks from playing on the iPod.

"The court finds that Jobs has unique, non-repetitive, firsthand knowledge about the issues at the center of the dispute over RealNetworks software," Lloyd wrote.

The class-action suit was filed in January 2005 by a customer complaining about the exclusive nature of Apple's digital music offerings encoded with FairPlay, preventing users from playing music purchased from the iTunes Store on other companies' music players and other music stores' digital offerings from being played on iPods. In particular, Apple's efforts to thwart RealNetworks' reverse engineering of FairPlay with its own "Harmony" technology served as the impetus for the lawsuit.

RealNetworks, a Seattle-based competitor in the digital- music market, announced July 24, 2004, that it would sell music from its online store that could be played on iPods on a technology it called Harmony. Just five days later, Apple announced software updates to its iPod FairPlay software that would render RealNetworks' Harmony product again inoperable on iPods, according to Lloyds order.

By October of that year, when users were forced to update their iTunes applications and iPods, the digital-music files from RealNetworks' online store were no longer interoperable with Apples iPods, Lloyd wrote.

Apple of course no longer sells DRM-encoded music through the iTunes Store, but the lawsuit argues that Apple sought to build monopolies in the digital music and portable music player markets by integrating its products and services while preventing interoperability with competitors' products.

Apple today officially confirmed that it will launch sales of the iPad in 25 new countries on Friday: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

"While competitors are still struggling to catch up with our first iPad, we've changed the game again with iPad 2," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We're experiencing amazing demand for iPad 2 in the US, and customers around the world have told us they can't wait to get their hands on it. We appreciate everyone's patience and we are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone."

As with the U.S. launch, online sales will begin at 1:00 AM Friday in each country, with in-store availability set for 5:00 PM at Apple retail stores and select resellers.

An Apple spokesperson had confirmed yesterday that the UK launch remained on track for Friday amid worries that the company would delay its international launches in the face of short supplies affecting delivery to its U.S. customers.

Apple also announced today that the iPad 2 will launch in Hong Kong, Singapore and other countries in April, with even more countries to follow in the months ahead. Japan had been set to see the iPad 2 debut with the first wave of international launches, but Apple last week delayed the launch there in the wake of the earthquake and associated disasters. Apple has yet to announce a new launch date for the iPad 2 in Japan.

China Times reports (via GadgetsDNA) that the iPhone 5 has entered trial production and is due for production in the 3rd Quarter of this year. Other details from the Chinese newspaper seem to echo previous rumors that the new iPhone 5 will have a metal chassis to improve antenna sensitivity as well as a 4-inch touch screen.

Many of the rumors so far seem to be pointing to an iPhone 4-like frame for the new iPhone 5. Looking back at old rumors, an iPhone 5 parts video that surfaced back in January may have actually been an early look at the iPhone 5 casing (photo above).

That video actually first revealed the new antenna dividers found on the Verizon iPhone, but also included a SIM card slot that does not appear in the Verizon iPhone. It's believed that the iPhone 5 may support both CDMA and GSM networks in one phone. The Verizon iPhone has already been found to use a Qualcomm chip that can support both networks.

Bloomberg reports that Apple has sued Amazon over the use of the term "App Store". Apple filed the complaint on March 18th and is asking for a court order to prevent Amazon from using the "App Store" name.

"Amazon has begun improperly using Apple's App Store mark in connection with Amazon's mobile software developer program," Apple said in the complaint. Amazon also plans to use the name with a mobile software download service, the complaint states.

Amazon is introducing its own marketplace for Android apps and has called it the Amazon Appstore.

Apple originally applied for the "App Store" trademark in 2008 and finally got approval in 2010. Microsoft has been opposed to the mark claiming it is a generic term -- a position that Apple has argued against. Apple claims to have contacted Amazon three times demanding that they change their name, but Amazon has yet to provide a "substantive response". Trademark owners are expected to defend their trademarks against infringement in order to avoid becoming a generic term.

Apple today released Mac OS X 10.6.7, the seventh maintenance update for Snow Leopard, via Software Update. The update offers a number of fixes implemented since the release of Mac OS X 10.6.6 in early January.

The 10.6.7 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes that:

- Improve the reliability of Back to My Mac
- Resolve an issue when transferring files to certain SMB servers
- Address various minor Mac App Store bugs

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4472.
For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

The public release is the same Build 10J869 that was seeded to developers one week ago.

Direct links for the various downloads on Apple's support pages are still going live:

- Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update (475 MB)
- Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update Combo (1.12 GB)

- Mac OS X Server v10.6.7 Update (541.21 MB)
- Mac OS X Server v10.6.7 Update Combo (1.15 GB)

- Security Update 2011-001 (Leopard - Client) (241.35 MB)
- Security Update 2011-001 (Leopard - Server) (473.23 MB)

- Server Admin Tools 10.6.7 (241.32 MB)

Update: Apple appears to also be offering a special build for the new Early 2011 MacBook Pro, specifically addressing FaceTime performance issues, graphics stability, and external display compatibility.

The New York Times reports that Apple is in fact looking to deploy a new Qualcomm chip to bring Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities to the iPhone, although the report stops short of claiming that the technology will appear in the fifth-generation iPhone presumably scheduled for launch in the June-July timeframe.

According to two people with knowledge of the inner workings of a coming iteration of the Apple iPhone - although not necessarily the next one - a chip made by Qualcomm for the phone's processor will also include near-field communication technology, known as N.F.C. This technology enables short-range wireless communications between the phone and an N.F.C reader, and can be used to make mobile payments. It is unclear which version of an iPhone this technology would be built into.

According to one source familiar with the implementation, the NFC technology would be harnessed to allow users to easily make mobile payments tied to their iTunes Store accounts.

Apple's interest in NFC and RFID technologies for mobile applications has been evident for some time based on patent applications and hiring moves, but exactly what the company plans to do with the technology and when it will implement it has remained unclear.

A report from last fall indicated that Apple plans to use it to create wireless "portable remote computing" platforms that could allow users to make their own applications and documents available on other computers. Meanwhile, one analyst claimed in late January that the NFC technology would finally make its appearance in the iPad 2 and iPhone 5, although now that the iPad 2 has been released it is evident that it lacks NFC capabilities.

Reports regarding NFC capabilities have begun to flow in earnest over the past week or so, with one claim that the technology has been pushed back from the iPhone 5 to the iPhone 6 being countered by a second "friend of a friend" report claiming that the iPhone 5 is expected to have the capabilities.

The new report from The New York Times provides little perspective on whether we can in fact expect NFC capabilities to appear in the next iPhone, but it seems clear that Apple is indeed working hard on the technology and seeking to tie it in to the company's massive database of credit card numbers linked to iTunes Store accounts.

Last month, reports indicated that Apple was seeking to open a new retail store in Manhattan's landmark Grand Central Terminal, with one report suggesting that the store could be Apple's largest yet.

But according to a new report from The New York Observer, Apple has backpedaled from those plans in the face of logistical issues and other constraints.

Apple's plans to bring the world's largest iStore to Grand Central always seemed to defy laws of taste, landmarks preservation and possibly even physics.

Apparently, Apple has reached the same conclusion, because an anonymous source close to the M.T.A. has confirmed that the company has backed out of plans to bring computers to commuters in an 16,000-square-foot store on the balconies of Grand Central's main terminal.

The report notes that the cancelation was teased last week by real estate broker Jeffrey Roseman, although the move was confirmed by sources reporting to The New York Observer.