MacRumors

Amongst the emails that Steve Jobs has been responding to, he also responded to an inquiry by a MacRumors reader Siva about future of Blu-ray on the Mac. While Blu-ray has been a long requested feature for Macs, Apple has described Blu-ray licensing as bag of hurt and hasn't made any moves to incorporate the drives into their desktop Macs.

That seems unlikely to change in the near future if Steve Jobs' recent email replies are any guide. Siva emailed Jobs about being disappointed that the recently revised Mac mini didn't include a Blu-ray drive. To this, Steve Jobs replied:

Bluray is looking more and more like one of the high end audio formats that appeared as the successor to the CD - like it will be beaten by Internet downloadable formats.

Siva responded that even though this may be true in the long run, he argued the medium term benefits were substantial, including high density backups and high quality video. He also argued that high-end video formats have had a much higher uptake and points out the lack of DRM was in part what made MP3 take off. Jobs' final response, however, offered little hope:

No, free, instant gratification and convenience (likely in that order) is what made the downloadable formats take off. And the downloadable movie business is rapidly moving to free (Hulu) or rentals (iTunes) so storing purchased movies or TV shows is not an issue.

I think you may be wrong - we may see a fast broad move to streamed free and rental content at sufficient quality (at least 720p) to win almost everyone over.

One of the key features of iPhone 4 is its ability to record high-definition video in 720p. Users have found, however, that getting the HD video off of the device requires connecting it to a computer for download. While Apple offers users simple options for sharing videos directly from the iPhone via email or MMS, or by uploading the videos to MobileMe or YouTube, those mechanisms result in compression of the files, losing significantly quality in the process.

MacDailyNews reports that one of its readers emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs to ask about this issue and express disappointment at the inability to directly upload HD content to the web while on the go. In an email reply, Jobs notes that the ability to upload HD content over the air is coming "in the future".

You can upload them via a Mac or PC today. Over the air in the future.

Sent from my iPhone

While Jobs gives no timeframe for when we might see such a feature, it does give users looking for this capability some hope for the future. HD video uploads via 3G would obviously place a greater strain on carriers' networks and also eat further into customers' data limits. For that reason it might make sense for Apple to either roll out the feature as a Wi-Fi-only at first, and perhaps offering it via 3G further down the road with user-selectable options for varying export quality.

As it has done on a monthly basis for the past several years, AdMob today released a new Mobile Metrics Report for May 2010. The report highlights worldwide trends in mobile requests to its ad network from over 23,000 mobile websites and applications.

This month's report shows continued strength for the iPhone and other iOS devices during the lead-up to the iPhone 4 launch just last week. Google, AdMob's parent company, is making strong inroads with its Android operating system, however, growing rapidly from a negligible share of the mobile ad request market only a year ago to approximately 25% today.

Android's overall strength, however, results from its inclusion on a wide variety of smartphones from a variety of manufacturers. That is in contrast to Apple, which offers essentially only a single iPhone that currently leads the pack by a wide margin with nearly 40% of worldwide ad requests compared to only 6.8% for the second-place Motorola Droid.

AdMob's data also offers an interesting glimpse into the geographic distribution of Apple's "iOS" family of devices. Among the interesting pieces of data included in the report is a note that fewer than half of all iOS devices are located in North America, with 43% residing in the United States and 5% in Canada. When it comes to the iPad specifically, however, the U.S. sees a full 58% of the devices, an unsurprising result given that Apple is still working to roll the device out to its international markets.

In comparing iOS and Android devices, the report shows that Android is rapidly approaching the iPhone's ad request share in the U.S., with 11.2 million unique iPhones registering there during May while 8.5 million Android devices appeared on the company's network. As many have argued, however, Apple's iPod touch and iPad also contribute significantly to the "iOS ecosystem" and, while not true smartphones, should be counted in some way as important players in the mobile web and application market. Adding in iPod touch and iPad data boosts iOS devices to 19.3 million in the U.S., giving iOS a 2-to-1 advantage over Android. Worldwide, the data leans even more strongly in Apple's favor as Android has yet to catch on significantly in most international markets, with iOS devices out-numbering Android devices 3.5-to-1 on a global basis.

With today's release AdMob also noted that its monthly metrics reports will be going on hiatus for at least the next several months as the company looks to rethink the best way of sharing information on the rapidly-growing mobile market with the public.

As noted by Engadget, Apple has been busy posting job listings for engineers to work on design and testing of antennas for the company's iPhone and iPad. While Apple typically posts a number of new job listings each day, the fact that the company has posted a total of eight antenna-related positions over the past two weeks naturally leads to speculation that it is beefing up its staff to investigate and deal with signal issues being experienced by iPhone 4 users.

The eight job listings comprise three separate job titles, with the most relevant being three "Antenna Engineer - iPad/iPhone" positions. The three listings, all posted on June 23rd, are looking for individuals with a high level of qualification including 10+ years of experience in RF technology and a preference for PhD-level training.

Responsibilities: Define and implement antenna system architecture to optimize the radiation performance for wireless portable devices. The candidate should be able to design antennas suitable for wireless handheld devices with excellent radiation performance, including TRP, TIS, SAR, and EMC. Work closely with other RF and antenna design engineers, mechanical and industrial designers, and EMC engineers to integrate the antenna design in our products.

Also posted on June 23rd were two listings for "iPhone OTA Wireless Systems Engineer" to focus on validation of antenna radiation performance. And just one week earlier, the company posted three listings for " RF Systems Validation Engineer iPhone" positions also focused on testing the iPhone's RF systems, noting that "as we add more and more capabilities to the iPhone, testing the radios becomes more and more complex."

It is unclear exactly what role these new hires might play in addressing the current issues, as it typically takes some time for a hiring process to run its course and new employees to arrive and get up to speed. The job listings could suggest, however, that the company is looking to bring on additional hands to work on designs and testing for future models as some of the unit's staff is absorbed in addressing issues with the current model.

UBM TechInisghts recently performed a teardown of the iPhone 4 and discovered that Apple may have originally planned on including a gyroscope in the iPad first. After examining the iPhone 4 motherboard, they found that the iPad also had an empty slot that accommodate a gyroscope chip (see above).

...UBM TechInsights, has found that the iPhone's 3-axis digital gyroscope is likely slated for the next generation iPad as well. TechInsights senior analyst Steve Bitton said there's an almost-perfect spot (4mm x 4mm); the exact size of the MEMS gyro) for it, located right beside the iPad's accelerometer.

For whatever reason, Apple must have abandoned the plans in the final shipping version of the iPad, though it's reasonable to believe that a gyroscope could make it into the next revision.

This differences between gyroscopes and accelerometers is detailed in this (rather dry) video:

The iPod Touch is the other likely device to get a gyroscope in the near future. The iPod Touch is expected to be revised in September. While there have been no rumors about the content of the update, the iPod Touch is likely to receive many of the improvements found in the iPhone 4.

Anandtech has managed to provide a detailed analysis of the iPhone 4's potential antenna signal issue. Their analysis may shed some light on people's experiences with the iPhone 4 and the drop-off in signal when the device is being held in hand.

The issue has generated a lot of press since the iPhone 4 launch due to a variety of user reports on the issue. Apple has maintained that a certain amount of signal loss is normal when mobile phones are held in hand. In a leaked support note, they have also insisted that the iPhone 4 antenna performance is better than that of the iPhone 3GS. Based on Anandtech's analysis, it appears Apple is correct in this statement, though with some caveats.

First, Anandtech managed to hack together a way for the iPhone 4 to report actual signal strength instead of the usual 5 bar signal strength scale. As has been noted by many, this 5 bar scale can be a poor representation of the actual signal strength. As seen above, nearly 40% of the range of possible signal levels is reported as 5 bars. Because of this broad range, there could be a huge difference in actual signal strength despite the same "5 bars" being displayed.

They then ran several tests comparing the signal degradation from holding the iPhone 4 in hand in various positions:

As it turns out, the iPhone 4 does have a significantly greater drop-off in signal strength in all positions as compared to the iPhone 3GS which preceded it. Perhaps the most notable difference is in the "Holding Naturally" position which could theoretically "bottom out" a 4 bar signal or bring the low-end of the 5 bar signals down to 1 bar. Holding the iPhone 4 tightly, of course, accentuates the problem. All phones do exhibit the same behavior, though the iPhone 4's external antenna presumably exaggerates the effect.

However, Anandtech points out that in their testing they found the iPhone 4 antenna is indeed improved over the 3GS -- adding validity to Apple's previous statements. In their testing, Anandtech found that at very low signal strengths (down to -113), the iPhone 4 would hold onto calls far better than the iPhone 3GS.

It's amazing really to experience the difference in sensitivity the iPhone 4 brings compared to the 3GS, and issues from holding the phone aside, reception is absolutely definitely improved. I felt like I was going places no iPhone had ever gone before. There's no doubt in my mind this iPhone gets the best cellular reception yet, even though measured signal is lower than the 3GS.

All in all, the findings may help to explain some seemingly discrepant statements and observations. While the iPhone 4 is likely to perform better at the same signal level as the iPhone 3GS, the signal of the iPhone 4 may be more greatly reduced by attenuation when being held in the same position. This could explain all but the most extreme issues depicted. In the end, Anandtech also suggests using a case may be best move and that with a bumper case, the iPhone 4 has the same attenuation performance as other other smartphones.

Earlier this evening, MacRumors forum member jav6454 related his story of how his iPhone 4 signal issues had resolved. Essentially, while at the Apple Store for a tech support issue related to his iPhone 4, his SIM card was removed for a period of time and then reinserted. He subsequently found that his reception had improved:

I went on my merry way, but realized something now. No matter what position I held my iPhone 4 in, the signal never decreased. I held it the many ways I know the signal issue pops and nothing. No bar loss, no signal loss, no call drop. NOTHING. So there you have it.

I am theorizing that moving the SIM card had something to do with the signal issue, because the only thing I have done to my iPhone 4 differently is take out and reinsert the SIM card. Other than that no other changes to it. No setting change, no software change no nothing. Just reinsertion of the SIM card.

To prove his theory he asked others to try it themselves. As people investigated, some thought that SIM contact with the SIM tray might be causing the issue.

A few people have isolated their SIMs from the tray with electrical tape or even by cutting the SIM on the opposite side. The results have been mixed. A few users have reported full resolution of the signal drops, but at least an equal number have reported no change at all. Here's an example of a positive response:

I just tried this. My sim contacts were under the edge of the tray too. I cut a piece of electrical tape to exactly cover only where the gold contacts of the sim touched the tray. I went back to the exact location in my house where I had 1 signal bar. I now have 3 signal bars. Unreal, I can't believe this did anything. Tested before and after with a bumper on the phone. I'll keep an eye on the performance outside the house tomorrow. I don't want to jump to conclusions that this helped my iPhone reception without more data. Looks promising so far though!

At this point the results are too varied to come to any single conclusion, but we thought it was of enough interest to post and follow along the results. Of interest, if the SIM card is somehow responsible, it would also explain why individuals getting replacement units are unlikely to have seen an improvement, as the SIM card is usually transferred to the replacement phone as well. Alternatively, some are speculating that those that are seeing improvements are simply due to the iPhone's network systems resetting and simply connecting to a different tower or band that maybe be less susceptible to the issue. In fact, at least one user's issue has returned after initially improving.

The full discussion thread is here.

Boy Genius Report claims to have received a copy of Apple's internal training documentation for assisting its AppleCare staff with handling customer complaints regarding iPhone 4 signal issues.

The document instructs AppleCare representatives to work with the customer to diagnose the problem, but that issues appearing when the iPhone 4 is held at the lower left corner or the iPhone 3GS is held at the bottom right side should be addressed by either holding the phone differently or using a case or bumper.

Clearly Apple is taking the position that nothing is wrong with the antenna, although that's not surprising since most companies will never willingly admit their flagship product is potentially suffering from an unfixable flaw. But does anyone else find it interesting, if not troubling, that there is no mention of an impending software fix?

Apple's guidelines also push the "positioning statements" to be used by representatives, claiming that the iPhone 4 has better overall antenna performance than the iPhone 3GS and that almost any mobile phone will experience similar issues. Finally, representatives are instructed not to promise free bumpers to customers experiencing the issue, although a number of users have already reported receiving bumpers from Apple as a means of addressing the signal issues.

Bloomberg briefly reports that multiple sources are claiming that the iPhone will launch on Verizon in January of next year, marking the end of AT&T's exclusivity for the device in the United States.

Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile-phone company, will start selling Apple Inc.'s iPhone next year, ending AT&T Inc.'s exclusive hold on the smartphone in the U.S., two people familiar with the plans said.

The device will be available to customers in January, according to the people, who declined to be named because the information isn't public.

Verizon and Apple representatives either declined to comment on the reports or did not return requests for comment.

Verizon has long been a popular topic for rumors regarding expanded iPhone partnerships in the United States. One recent report had suggested that a Verizon iPhone could make an appearance as soon as November, but most observers have been expecting a 2011 launch on the carrier.

Hulu today introduced its Hulu Plus premium subscription plan for television content, set to offer customers willing to pay $9.99 per month the ability to access an extensive array of both current television shows and older library content. Hulu Plus, offering content in 720p HD, is also set to move beyond the company's existing computer-centric platform to include Apple's full line of iOS devices, iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, with streaming available over Wi-Fi and 3G. Samsung Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players will also be supported at launch, with additional support for Vizio and Sony devices, as well as the PS3 and Xbox 360 gaming platforms, rolling out in the future.

Hulu Plus is not a replacement for Hulu.com. Hulu Plus is a new, revolutionary ad-supported subscription product that is incremental and complementary to the existing Hulu service. For almost all of the current broadcast shows on our service, Hulu Plus offers the full season. Every single episode of the current season will be available, not just a handful of trailing episodes. Now there's never a bad time to jump in on a hot new show like Modern Family (which I recommend highly). From Family Guy to Glee, from The Office to 30 Rock, from Grey's Anatomy to Desperate Housewives, from Parks & Recreation to Parenthood, from House to Saturday Night Live, and dozens of other hits, the best time to jump in on any series is any time, and with any episode, that's right for you.

Hulu is currently accepting requests for preview invitations to Hulu Plus. The program appears to be rolling out today, although the Hulu Plus application does not yet appear to have been posted to the App Store and it is unclear exactly when preview invitations will begin being distributed. A full, public release date for Hulu Plus is also not yet known.

Update: The free universal Hulu Plus application [App Store] is now available in the App Store. It can be used to request an invite to the preview, and access content once an invitation has been received.

Yesterday, we pointed to mention of "iWork for iPhone" in several of Apple's international online stores, marking the second time that Apple's own site has suggested that a scaled-down version of its iWork for iPad productivity suite might be making its way to the iPhone and iPod touch.

In a pair of posts today, 9 to 5 Mac shares a number of purported shots of Pages running on an iPod touch. While Pages has been unofficially ported from iPad to iPhone, the new screenshots, while blurry, exhibit none of the toolbar formatting issues seen on the tweaked iPad version and appear to offer a customized layout for the iPhone and iPod touch's smaller screen size.

As the first report notes, the iPod touch on which Pages appears to be running currently carries only a 320 x 480 display, suggesting that an iWork for iPhone release may not be limited to the 640 x 960 "Retina" display of iPhone 4.

Meanwhile, WMPoweruser.com points to a new Microsoft job posting looking for a software engineer to work on bringing Office Mobile to Nokia smartphones, with "other leading Smartphone platforms" also being targeted, leading to speculation of Office for iOS devices. A Microsoft project manager noted in early February soon after the iPad's introduction that the company was "looking at" the possibility of an iPad version of Office, but a company executive tempered expectations in mid-April by claiming that the company had "no current plans" to bring Office to the Apple's tablet device. The company has not specifically addressed the possibility of Office for the even smaller iPhone and iPod touch screen size.

Update: 9 to 5 Mac is now posting actual screenshots of Pages for iPhone and iPod touch rather than photos of the screens. According to the new report, Pages and Numbers will be available as universal binaries to support iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. There is no word on whether Keynote will also be making the transition to the smaller screen.

Silicon Alley Insider's Dan Frommer reports that after a spate of corporate acquisitions late last year and earlier this year bringing such firms as Quattro Wireless, Lala Media, Intrinsity, and Siri on board, Apple may not yet be done shopping around for companies to acquire. In fact, Apple may be looking at somewhat larger deals than those undertaken in recent months, expanding deal values out to as much as $1 billion.

Apple's shopping spree isn't over, and the company is looking at all kinds of deals, even up to $1 billion. This is being led by Apple's newish deals guy, former Goldman banker Adrian Perica.

The report appears to be based primarily on gossip coming out of CEO dinner moderated by Frommer last night, and addresses a number of topics beyond Apple that are currently the scuttlebutt of industry insiders. And with Apple's iPad and iPhone 4 out the door, the time seems ripe for the company to increase its focus on some other areas.

Another tidbit of information coming out of the dinner is discussion of Apple's next major move being into television. While Apple has clearly been playing a minor role in television with the Apple TV and its iTunes Store video offerings and there have been rumblings that it is looking to get a television deal done, it seems that Apple may finally be ramping things up. In particular, Apple's renaming of "iPhone OS" to "iOS" is seen as setting the stage for the platform to move away from mobile and into other devices, as has been rumored for Apple TV.

Apple's next big move is going to be TV. Besides the leaks of a supposed new Apple TV device, the company also renamed its iPhone OS "iOS," foreshadowing a future beyond mobile devices. The company's move into advertising -- mobile, so far, but no reason it can't extend into TV somehow -- is another hint.

Possibly lending credence to claims of a significant push into television, a Bloomberg report today also notes that Jobs is set to attend the annual Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho for the first time since 2005. The conference draws many of media's top executives and is a common venue for networking and dealmaking.

Update: Ken Li of the Financial Times tweets that although Jobs is on the invitation list, he is apparently not attending the Allen & Co. media conference.

Valleywag reports that Sacramento, California law firm Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff (KCR) has begun soliciting iPhone 4 customers for their experiences with signal loss when holding the device in a specific manner.

KCR is currently investigating potential problems with the release of iPhone 4.

If you recently purchased the new iPhone and have experienced poor reception quality, dropped calls and weak signals, we would like to hear from you.

The firm is offering telephone, email, and live chat contact options for customers as it presumably begins looking to launch a class action lawsuit against Apple.

KCR gained some fame last year for its class action suit filed late last year against Facebook and social gaming company Zynga over scammy "special offer" ads in Zynga's popular games.

Apple's response to the signal issues and prospect of class action lawsuits is not yet known, with initial comments from CEO Steve Jobs and Apple brushing off the issue being followed by a "stay tuned" comment from Jobs suggesting that some sort of action may be taken.