MacRumors

Google today announced that it will acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, giving the Android developer a significant new hardware arm to help drive the platform forward. The deal brings $40 in cash for Motorola Mobility's shares, a 63% premium over Friday's closing price.

Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

While Google will be able to make a direct move into the hardware business with Motorola Mobility, the company claims that Android will remain an "open platform" and that it will continue to support all vendors offering Android products.

Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google, said, “We expect that this combination will enable us to break new ground for the Android ecosystem. However, our vision for Android is unchanged and Google remains firmly committed to Android as an open platform and a vibrant open source community. We will continue to work with all of our valued Android partners to develop and distribute innovative Android-powered devices.”

In a blog post regarding the deal, Google CEO Larry Page reveals that Google felt compelled to make the acquisition in order to address the patent threats facing the company with a number of companies having recently cooperated to acquire large patent pools that could threaten Android.

We recently explained how companies including Microsoft and Apple are banding together in anti-competitive patent attacks on Android. The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to “protect competition and innovation in the open source software community” and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction. Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.

Google plans to run Motorola Mobility as a separate business and expects the transaction to close by the end of the year or early next year after appropriate approvals from Motorola Mobility shareholders and regulatory authorities.

Update: In a conference call discussing the acquisition, Google revealed that it will be acquiring 17,000 patents and an additional 7,500 filed patent applications in the deal, substantially strengthening its position in the mobile patent arms race.

Digitimes offers some updated estimates for iPhone production for the second half of 2011. According to them, Apple has increased the orders for their iPhone line by about 12-13% from 50 million units to 56 million units. The iPhone 5 in particular will reportedly account for 25.5-26 million units in the second half of 2011.

More specifically, iPhone 5 orders for the 3rd quarter (July, Aug, Sept) have been decreased from 7 million units to 5.5-6 million units while the 4th quarter (Oct, Nov, Dec) orders have been raised from 14 million units to more then 20 million units. Meanwhile, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 unit shipments will decline correspondingly from over 20 million in the 3rd quarter to 8 million in the 4th quarter.

As always, it's very hard to verify these projection numbers from Digitimes. They have previously offered up some unbelievable MacBook Air numbers. The iPhone numbers are likely closer to reality, as Apple's iPhone sales have been accelerating. Apple sold 20.34 million iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 units during their 3rd fiscal quarter (Apr, May, June). Note that Apple's financial results follow a fiscal yearly quarter system while Digitimes frequently refers to calendar quarters.

Based on these numbers, Apple's production for calendar Q3 and Q4 of all iPhones will be roughly 25.5 million and 28 million units, respectively. Looking at the history sales graph, these times of the year do represent major jumps in sales for Apple.

Some questions arise though, if these are accurate. 8 million units of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS in the 4th quarter must account for some ongoing sales of those units, since the iPhone 5 is believed to be launching in October. Continuing production and sales of the older models could have to do with a reduced pricing model or simply a slow worldwide roll out. Apple frequently launches their new devices in the U.S. first with other countries to follow.

One of the most requested features for Apple's MacBook Pro line has been for the integration of some sort of built-in 3G cellular data to allow for anywhere wireless connectivity. MacBook Pro users presently need to purchase a separate Mi-Fi or 3G USB Modem in order to keep their machines connected to the internet when not near a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Apple has developed prototypes of the MacBook Pro with integrated 3G data, as evidenced by this eBay sale showing a never-released MacBook Pro prototype.

This particular machine dates back to 2007 and is a 15" MacBook Pro Santa Rosa laptop with a 3G antenna, 3G hardware and SIM card slot built in. The machine was purchased "for parts" from Craigslist by the seller who describes the unit:

Upon removing the top case it was immediately clear this was no normal Macbook Pro: the circuit boards inside were bright red as opposed to the normal blue! Further inspection found multiple differences from the stock version, most notably a feature never seen in a Macbook laptop of any kind: what appears to be a fully integrated cellular modem and SIM slot. There is an extendable cellular antenna located at the right top side of the display assembly (The antenna is marked with "Tyco Proto / #006" when slid out), and a standard size SIM card slot located underneath the memory cover on the bottom of the machine. The SIM card board is connected to the logic board via a connector not found on production machines. The solder footprint for it is still present on the production boards and not populated, which is interesting. This would seem to suggest that it was a last minute decision to remove the cellular functionality before going into mass production. The optical drive is marked as a "Sample for Evaluation". Rather than a normal EMC Number the specifications lapel simply says "XXXX", and the serial number does not show up in Apple's online database.

The seller was able to repair the machine to get it into working condition. The 3G connector is seen by the operating system, but the actual data connection is not presently functional. The auction is, of course, sold "as is" but for our purposes, the existence of such a machine is the most interesting aspect.

The laptop carries a red motherboard which is typical of Apple prototypes. We've seen this in other prototype machines that have leaked out of Apple before: prototype Mac Pro and prototype iPod touch. The seller also notes that the remnants of the SIM-card connectivity remain on the production motherboards but are not populated. It's not clear at what stage Apple decided not to pursue production of this model.

The integrated SIM card shown above means Apple had used GSM 3G technology rather than CDMA, allowing for use on AT&T and many other international networks. The 3G card itself is identified as a Dynastream ANT2USB stick according to OS X. In the prototype, Apple integrated the 3G antenna as an extendable antenna along the right side of the lid.

Apple has yet to produce such a machine with integrated 3G, but has clearly been working on possibility since as far back as 2007.

Update: "ANT" referenced in the Dyanstream ANT2USB is a low power 2.4GHz wireless protocol closer to Bluetooth than to 3G data, though that doesn't explain away the presence of a SIM slot and large antenna.

Update 2: The auction has been pulled, presumably due to a complaint by Apple.

As we reported, Apple is opening 5 new retail stores on Saturday. The new stores include two U.S. locations and three international ones. We received some early photos from some of the locations:

Due to the time zone differences, the Australian store has already launched to a packed crowd.

Italy's I GIGLI shopping center is actually tweeting live Apple Store opening photos already, as its early Saturday morning in that location at the time of publication:

The remaining locations are in Canada and the U.S. and will start their openings over the next 12 hours.

The City of Cupertino posted more details about Apple's "spaceship" campus that was first revealed in June. The project includes the following:

• An Office, Research and Development Building comprising approximately 2.8 million square feet;
• A 1,000 seat Corporate Auditorium;
• A Corporate Fitness Center;
• Research Facilities comprising approximately 300,000 square feet;
• A Central Plant; and
• Associated Parking.

The new posting also includes Apple's proposal documents (in PDF) that contain the Introduction, Site Plan & Landscaping, Floor Plans and Renderings.

The overview was revealed back in June, but the availability of the PDFs offer a closer look at what Apple is proposing and higher quality renders of Apple's expected new campus. As Steve Jobs described it back in June:

It's a pretty amazing building. It's a little like a spaceship landed. It's got this gorgeous courtyard in the middle... It's a circle. It's curved all the way around. If you build things, this is not the cheapest way to build something. There is not a straight piece of glass in this building. It's all curved. We've used our experience making retail buildings all over the world now, and we know how to make the biggest pieces of glass in the world for architectural use. And, we want to make the glass specifically for this building here. We can make it curve all the way around the building... It's pretty cool.

The City of Cupertino later revealed they were certain to approve Apple's proposal, and that the structure is expected to be completed in 2015.

Apple today released a pair of new beta updates to developers, pushing out OS X Lion 10.7.2 Build 11C37 and a seventh beta version of the iCloud add-on installer.

This pre-release version of OS X Lion 10.7.2 is being provided solely for testing iCloud and updates the public release of OS X Lion and any earlier seed of OS X Lion 10.7.2. If you installed a previous seed of OS X Lion 10.7.2, please run the included reversioner package followed by the OS X Lion 10.7.2 update without restarting your system. You should restart your system after installing the OS X Lion 10.7.2 Update.

Apple has been pushing out OS X 10.7.2 builds to developers for the past several weeks in order to provide compatibility with iCloud, scheduled for release later this year. Apple has yet, however, to begin seeding OS X 10.7.1, which could still appear as a bug fix build released before iCloud goes live.

Late yesterday, a report broke on Japanese site Kodwarisan claiming that Apple will be holding its annual fall media event on September 7th. Apple for the first time is expected to introduce new iPhone hardware at the event.

But sources have now flatly denied to the well-connected Jim Dalrymple of The Loop that any such media event will take place on that date.

Reports began to surface yesterday that Apple would hold a special event on September 7 to launch the new iPhone, but that’s not happening.

According to my sources, Apple will not have an event or launch the next iPhone on September 7. It’s hard to say how that specific date was chosen by the sites that started the rumor, other than it fits into the timeline of previous Apple events.

Dalrymple is known to have solid sources at Apple, and has occasionally appeared to be an unofficial outlet for the debunking of rumor claims.

Mac Otakara reports that it has received information indicating that Apple will be introducing the iPad 3 and "iPhone 4S" sometime early next month, with availability set for "late October". The source offered no information, however, on plans for the iPhone 5, although rumors have suggested that Apple will introduce both a revamped iPhone 5 and tweaked iPhone 4 next month.

According to sources, iPhone 4S which is based on iPhone 4(CDMA) and new iPad will be started produce since 1st week in September and will be shipped in late October.

The "iPhone 4S" name is an unofficial one that has been used in a variety of reports to refer to a new iPhone based largely on and appearing nearly identical to the current iPhone 4, but offering upgraded internal components. What has come to be known as the iPhone 5 is a more thorough redesign which has surfaced in case designs reportedly based on leaked design specs.

There had been some confusion about whether Apple would be releasing an "iPhone 4S" or "iPhone 5" this year, with some suggesting that the confusion stemmed from Apple testing iPhone 5 components within iPhone 4 enclosures for secrecy. But others have claimed that Apple will indeed be introducing both the iPhone 5 and a tweaked iPhone 4 as rumors of a low-cost iPhone have continued to swirl.

Apple has of course traditionally kept its older models around as entry-level options, as evidenced Apple's continued sale of an 8 GB iPhone 3GS model, but the volume of rumors suggest that Apple may be doing a bit more tweaking to its low-end offerings this time around. Such low-cost models are said to be key for penetrating the prepaid markets prevalent in a number of large countries around the world.

Mac Otakara has offered some accurate information in the past, and notably was the first source to pinpoint some of the features of the iPad 2 as case designs began leaking out. A number of potential dates for a media event introducing the iPhone 5 and perhaps the iPad 3 have been suggested, with early reports of a September timeframe being countered early last week with a report from All Things Digital claiming that the device won't be available until October. The latest rumor has, however, claimed a September 7th media event, although an iPhone 5 introduction at that time to be followed with a launch as far off as late October would be outside Apple's usual gap between introduction and availability.

While things have been relatively quiet on the malware front for OS X since a raid on Russian payment processing firm ChronoPay appeared to have taken down MacDefender nearly two months ago, one new trojan horse did pop up earlier this month. As detailed by F-Secure, the trojan known as "OSX.QHost.WB.A" masquerades as a Flash Player installer but actually adds entries to a computer's hosts file to redirect users attempting to visit certain Google sites.

Once installed, the trojan adds entries to the hosts file to hijack users visiting various Google sites (e.g., Google.com.tw, Google.com.tl, et cetera) to the IP address 91.224.160.26, which is located in Netherlands.

The server at the IP address displays a fake webpage designed to appear similar to the legitimate Google site.

Search results on the fake Google pages actually lead to pop-up windows that load external content which was broken at the time of discovery but presumably consisted of advertisements of some sort. While the threat as implemented at the time of discovery was relatively mild, inexperienced users falling for the trojan could find themselves unaware of what had happened to their systems and how to fix the hijacked routing added by the malware.

Consequently, Apple earlier this week made its first significant addition to its "XProtect.plist" file since the spate of MacDefender variants surfaced in June. The XProtect.plist file contains malware definitions to enable users' systems to recognize and warn users of malicious downloads, a feature that debuted with Mac OS X Snow Leopard back in 2009.

The original anti-malware system required manual updates to account for new threats, and as such was updated only rarely by Apple as part of larger software updates. But with an Apple software update issued in response to the MacDefender threat earlier this year, Mac OS X systems are now able to make daily checks for updates to that file to ensure up-to-date protection against malware.

Taiwan Economic News reports that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has indeed begun trial production of Apple's next-generation A6 system-on-a-chip, with the design set to be "publicly unveiled" in the second quarter of 2012 at the earliest. The A6 is expected to power Apple's iOS devices scheduled for release next year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC), the world’s largest semiconductor foundry by market shares now, has allegedly started trial production of the A6 processor in cooperation with Apple Inc., with the production design to be taped out in the first quarter of next year and scheduled to be publicly unveiled in the second quarter at the earliest, according to industry sources.

Accordingly, TSMC has applied its newest 28-nanometer process and 3D stacking technologies to produce the next-generation processor A6, which is based on the ARM architecture and will undergo TSMC’s cutting-edge silicon interposer and bump on trace (BOT) methodologies.

According to the report, TSMC has been capable of and interested in working with Apple on chip production for some time, but has only recently had the production capacity available to open up to a deal.

Today's report essentially repeats a Reuters article from nearly one month ago claiming that TSMC had begun trial production on the new chip as Apple seeks to shift away from Samsung, which has been the manufacturer for Apple's custom ARM-based chip.

Rumors have consistently pointed to a 2012 release for the A6 chip, although the new claim of availability in the "second quarter at the earliest" would appear to force a tight timeline for Apple to push out an iPad based on the new chip in March or April as it has the past two years. Apple has been rumored to be releasing updated or additional iPad models later this year, and while those models would obviously not be running on the A6 chip, they could buy Apple some time to get the A6 up and running in 2012's models.

Kodawarisan offers the first specific date for Apple's fall media event. According to the Japanese site, Apple is planning on holding their usual iPod-announcing event on Wednesday, September 7th.

Apple has traditionally held their Fall media events in the first part of September with the past three events taking place on September 1st, 2010, September 9th, 2009, and September 9th, 2008. Last year's event introduced new iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod shuffle models. This year's event, however, has been widely expected to also incorporate the rumored iPhone 5 announcement. We confirmed with Kodawarisan that the date was not the product of guesswork, but came from a source in the know.

In previous years, Apple has updated the iPhone in the summer during WWDC, leaving the iPod to wait until this September media event. This year, however, without an iPhone upgrade at WWDC, all eyes are on this September event for the launch of the iPhone 5. Apple's suppliers are said to begin shipments of the iPhone 5 in September but AllThingsD has suggested the iPhone 5 won't actually be released until October. It's not clear if that gives Apple room to pre-announce the iPhone 5 in September, or if it means Apple will let September pass by with no mention at all of the next iPhone.

Kodawarisan has been a longtime Apple site that we first referenced back in 2002. We haven't seen many rumors from it in recent years, though notably, in 2009, they did correctly pinpoint the launch date the launch of a new Mac mini.

Update: We originally reported September 8th, but that was in Japanese time. The U.S. date is September 7th, according to Kodawarisan.

After a flurry of new releases this past month, the one Mac that Apple has continued to neglect is the Mac Pro. The last credible date we received was for early August, though CNet's Brian Tong now acknowledges that the information didn't pan out.

For many, an August release would actually have been the surprise, as Intel has yet to ship Mac Pro-suitable Sandy Bridge processors. There had been some hope that Apple would receive these processors early from Intel, but clearly not quite this early.

Still, Apple's Mac Pro is presently the only Mac without the new Thunderbolt port that Apple and Intel introduced earlier this year. Apple's Mac Pro has had relatively infrequent updates over the past few years with the last update taking place over a year ago.

Apple has certainly placed an emphasis on their notebook line, reflecting the ongoing trends towards mobile computing. Apple's notebook sales have steadily become a larger percentage of their total Mac sales.

Our last check with resellers reported no change in Mac Pro stock availability that might have suggested an imminent update.

As for Intel, the Sandy Bridge-E processor that is expected to be used in the Mac Pro had been rumored to be released even as late as 2012, but the latest leaks have pinpointed a Q4 2011 release. Donanimhaber posts the following release timetable from Intel:

The yellow box denotes the Sandy Bridge-E class of processors that we are waiting for with Xeon versions likely shipping at the same time. According to this slide, the Mac Pro suitable processors will first launch in Q4 2011. Apple's new Mac Pro is likely to follow.

In an article from The Wall Street Journal regarding Intel's new $300 million effort to spur innovation on its "Ultrabook" platform, an Intel executive reveals that the chipmaker was driven to reduce power consumption to support such ultra-thin notebook designs by Apple. The motivation came in the form of threat by Apple to switch chip suppliers unless Intel made progress on the issue (via Daring Fireball).

The company in May announced a sharp revision in its product roadmap to lower the average power draw of its chips from a range of 35 watts to 40 watts to just 15 watts.

[Intel Ultrabook director Greg] Welch said Apple informed Intel that it better drastically slash its power consumption or would likely lose Apple’s business. “It was a real wake-up call to us,” he said.

The logical alternative to Intel for Apple would be AMD, which goes head-to-head against Intel in the x86 market. But Apple has also been rumored to have been considering moving to ARM-based processors, with the company also reported to have tested a MacBook Air model built around the ARM-based A5 chip used in the iPad 2. Other recent speculative reports have indicated that Apple could be working toward a merger of iOS and OS X, a process that would likely begin with Mac models like the MacBook Air that are closest to the iOS devices in terms of power and form factor.