MacRumors

Following a couple of missed rumored launch dates, a report surfaced over the weekend indicating that Apple will finally be launching its annual Back to School promotion this Wednesday. A new report from 9 to 5 Mac corroborates that claim and adds a new wrinkle -- instead of a free iPod as in years past, Apple will be offering $100 iTunes gift cards to education customers purchasing new Macs.

In year's past, Apple's Back to School promotion offered students their usual educational discount plus a free iPod with any purchase of a Mac. This year, 9to5Mac has been told, will be very different. In fact, Apple will not be offering free iPods during this promotion but will instead offer a $100 iTunes gift card.

Such an offer will likely be a letdown for a number of users who have been holding out on Mac purchases in hopes of picking up a free iPod. The free iPod offer has typically been good for the low-end iPod touch, which usually comes in in the $200-$230 range, meaning that this year's offer would contain considerably less value and be for media rather than hardware.

While Apple's iCloud introduction at WWDC offered a lot of new information, Apple has been quiet as to exactly what this means to the future of MobileMe's web apps such as email and calendar. In fact, it took a Steve Jobs email to find out the fate of Apple's iWeb hosting services.

Today, ThisisMyNext posted a somewhat controversial clarification they received from Apple PR indicating that MobileMe's web apps will no longer be maintained come June 30th, 2012.

Let's be clear about what happens when iCloud goes live -- according to what was described on stage at the event, and what I've confirmed with Apple PR —--the service will effectively replace the current web offerings of MobileMe. That means that when the cutoff date of June 30, 2012 comes around for users, the web-based email client, calendar, contacts app, and other components of the web suite will cease to exist.

But it seems that isn't the entire story. Apple has already started mirroring at least some of the existing MobileMe functionality on iCloud.com as well.

One reader was able to send themselves a Calendar invitation in iOS 5 and found themselves linked to the iCloud.com domain. The invite (pictured below) is visually identical to current MobileMe invitations but carries the iCloud branding and is hosted on the iCloud.com domain:

Following this iCloud link shows an iCloud based error page in the same theme.

So, Apple does appear to be working on the web support interface for iCloud but isn't ready yet to talk about it, and at least some of the functionality appears to be based on the existing MobileMe codebase.

Fifty percent of iPhone owners who have iPhones swapped at the Genius Bar have never plugged them into a computer to backup or sync. That's according to a "little birdie" that former Macworld Associate Editor David Chartier (now at AgileBits) knows. It also suggests iCloud will save a lot of headaches and lost data.

This is a big reason, according to this birdie, for why Apple Store Geniuses are excited about iCloud.

Backupophobes can get away with never touching iTunes after activating an iOS device. But folks obviously need to plug them into some kind of power source to recharge which, combined with a reachable WiFi network, is what triggers iCloud's automatic backup feature. Sure, these customers can manually reinstall apps one by one from the store, but they have no way to recover any of their data or media purchased on the device. That holds true for contacts, too, if users didn't sign up for MobileMe or even Google's free (and, in my experience, terrible) contact sync.

Apple's iCloud, with automated wi-fi sync and instant backup to the cloud will be a welcome feature for those millions who never sync or backup their current iOS devices.

Soon after Apple released the first developer preview version of OS X Lion back in late February, we noted that Apple appeared to have dropped support for Rosetta, the system that allowed Intel-based Macs to run applications written for earlier PowerPC-based systems.

Apple of course made the transition to Intel-based processors five years ago, and Rosetta is an optional install under Snow Leopard, but some users are still hanging onto old PowerPC applications that either have not been updated at all or have updated versions to which the users do not wish to upgrade for one reason or another.

With OS X Lion now on its fourth developer preview version and a public release set for next month, it is clear that Rosetta will not be making an appearance in Apple's next-generation Mac operating system, finally leaving those legacy applications out in the cold.

As Macworld notes today in trying to help a user hoping to hold on to an old PowerPC version on Quicken, users who wish to upgrade to Lion while still retaining compatibility with their old applications will need to get creative.

Broadly, you have a couple of options. One is to create a dual-boot Mac -- one that can boot from two volumes. One volume contains Lion and another runs an older version of the Mac OS. When you need to spend some quality Rosetta time, you boot into the older OS. And yes, this is a pain.

The other option is to simply not update to Lion. Your Mac will continue to work just as well as it does today. How acceptable this is to you depends on how desperate you are for Lion's features and iCloud (some of iCloud's features will require Lion).

Macworld also suggests the possibility of running Quicken for Windows either in Boot Camp or using virtualization software such as Parallels or VMware Fusion. Quicken is a particularly interesting case given Inuit's recent revamp of its product line that has essentially left the Mac platform without a current equal to the Windows version or even earlier Mac versions, a move that has left many longtime Quicken users hoping desperately to keep their old Mac versions going.

And of course one final option is to simply abandon use of the old PowerPC applications and find substitute offerings that will run natively on Intel-based processors. Ideal substitutes may not exist for all software, particularly specialized titles, and thus users will have to weigh the pros and cons of each solution.

After five years of offering Rosetta as a solution to allow users to keep running PowerPC applications on Intel-based machines, it is no surprise that Apple has finally made the move to discontinue support. Apple's decision does mean, however, that some users will finally have to make decisions about how best to move forward with the current architecture.

HP finally appears set to make its splash into the tablet market, announcing late last week that its webOS-based TouchPad will go on sale July 1st and match the iPad's price points of $499.99 for a 16 GB model and $599.99 for a 32 GB model. The pairing of HP and Palm has been seen as one of the most interesting contenders in the tablet market, although none of Apple's other primary competitors have yet made a serious dent in the iPad's dominant market position.

But an iPad competitor (alongside several webOS-based smartphones) may not be HP's only attempt to take Apple head-on, as Billboard reports that the company is also talking to major music labels about developing its own cloud-based music service that could eventually expand to include movies and TV.

While the music industry focuses on Apple, Google and Amazon, Hewlett-Packard is quietly making plans -- again -- for its own locker-based service. Multiple sources at the major labels report that the discussions are heating up.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer and technology company is engaged in conversations with the majors about building a cloud service that would eventually offer music, movies and TV shows. Those discussions began a few months ago.

The report summarizes HP's past efforts at developing its own music service, a history that doesn't necessarily instill confidence in the company's ability to put together a quality product this time around, although a number of industry observers have noted that players such as Amazon and Google (and now HP) may have an easier time negotiating the complex music industry now that Apple has created a template with its own iCloud/iTunes Match service.

Meanwhile, sources are unsure about how quickly HP could come to market, with some saying that nothing would be likely for at least six months. Moreover, sources say that HP has been on the backburner for the majors while they place most of their attention on negotiations with Apple, Google and Amazon. But if HP decides to go forward it wouldn't necessarily be the last to market with a full-blown service, as all three of the aforementioned companies have a way to go to achieve that very goal too.

While HP has long played a leading role in the computer industry, it had not made a significant push into mobile until its acquisition of Palm last year. But with mobile now appearing set to become a focus for the company, cloud-based media services immediately become a more important piece of the puzzle as the company seeks to catch up with iOS, Android, and BlackBerry in the rapidly-growing market.

Fortune reports on a new survey conducted by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference last week in which he surveyed a number of developer attendees to gain an understanding of their development interests. Interestingly, nearly half of the 45 developers surveyed reported that they are also developing for Android, while only a third revealed that they are developing BlackBerry applications.

Only 7% of surveyed developers reported that they are also developing for OS X, indicating that Apple's new Mac App Store and integrated Xcode development tools still have a significant market on the OS X side that remains untapped. A full 93% of iPhone developers unsurprisingly reported also developing for iPad, tapping into the rapidly-growing tablet market as a natural extension of their iPhone and iPod touch businesses.

While the developers unsurprisingly (given their attendance at WWDC) unanimously chose iOS as the platform that is easiest for development and best for monetization, only approximately half of the developers regarded iOS as having the highest growth potential. Even among these dedicated iOS developers, 40% of respondents cited Android as having the highest potential for future growth.

Munster attempts to compare his results to a similar survey of 20 developers conducted at WWDC 2008, but with only a handful of results from that earlier survey providing little detail and the wholesale changes in iOS and the smartphone industry since that time, it is difficult to make comparisons. For example, iOS developer interest in the Mac platform appears to have plummeted from 50% to 7% over the past three years, but it is important to remember the context of 2008 when Apple was just launching the App Store and iOS developers were commonly Mac developers who had begun dabbling in iOS applications. The reverse is now true, with over 400,000 iOS applications available and a number of developers finding that iOS development is a sustainable business on its own.

Apple was careful about managing expectations heading into the WWDC keynote. A week before the keynote, they spelled out exactly what they would talk about (OS X Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud) and also specifically omitted any reference to new hardware. We believe the reason for the candor was the public expectation that the WWDC keynote has always been the launchpad for the new iPhone.

iPhone mockup by blkr

Apple Inc suppliers will begin production of its next-generation iPhone in July this year, with the finished product likely to begin shipping in September, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Right on schedule, we are now hearing from 9to5Mac that the iPhone 5 has reached the final testing stage and should be ready in time for a September launch.

Their source must be based in Verizon as they claim that it's not clear when Verizon will support 3G FaceTime, and reportedly some negotiations about the details of over-the-air updates remain ongoing. Verizon iPhones have strangely been left somewhat behind in software updates, still only able to support iOS 4.2.8 as the highest version. iOS 5 will consolidate the codebase across all iPhone models when it is released this fall.

[Images removed by legal demand]

Final Cut Pro X must be in late testing as even more screenshots from the upcoming release have been leaked to the internet. Twitter user @MortGoldman2 has posted a sequence of screenshots said to be from the upcoming Final Cut Pro X. The series of over 30 shots shows grabs of various tools/views including histogram, color balance, exposure, color grading and more.

Apple demoed Final Cut Pro X back in April at the Final Cut Pro User Group Network SuperMeet held in conjunction with the National Association of Broadcasters' NAB Show 2011 in Las Vegas. At the time, the company announced that Final Cut Pro X would launch via the Mac App Store in June priced at $299

Since last week's unveiling of Apple's new iCloud service and the transitioning of the company's existing MobileMe service into iCloud, many users have been wondering about the fate of some of the MobileMe services that were not mentioned in the transition discussion. In particular, users have been concerned about iWeb, Apple's website creation software included with iLife that can be integrated with site hosting via MobileMe.

One concerned iWeb/MobileMe user emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs to ask about the fate of the offering, and reportedly received confirmation that users will indeed need to find alternative hosting for their sites once MobileMe is officially discontinued. All existing MobileMe users have received free subscription extensions through June 30, 2012, at which time the service will cease to exist and the transition to iCloud will be complete.

Q: Dear Mr. Jobs,

Will I need to find an alternative website builder and someone to host my sites?

I have invested a lot of time and effort and the thought of re-training sucks more than mobileme ever did.

A: Yep.

Sent from my iPhone

As usual, the authenticity can not be confirmed with absolute certainty, but we have examined the email headers and believe them to be legitimate. Replies from Jobs' account are not particularly unusual, and he has in the past acknowledged being personally responsible for at least some, if not all, of the correspondence.

Apple's iWeb software saw its last major update with the release of iLife '09 in January 2009. The application did not receive a major update with the release of iLife '11 late last year, although Apple has continued to bundle it with the new iLife suite. The company has continued to periodically issue minor bug fixes for iWeb, most recently in February of this year.

Since the release of first iOS 5 Beta last week, people have been diligently documenting all the new features Apple has introduced in the upcoming version. Apple claims over 200 new features have been added, but have only spelled out a fraction of those. On our iPhone/iOS Blog we've already covered some of the biggest changes. These include:

• iOS 5 Streams Track/Artist Information to Bluetooth Audio Devices
• Multiple Routes Supported in iOS 5 Google Maps
• iOS 5 Brings Improvements to Weather App
• iOS 5 Includes Airport and Time Capsule Setup Software
• iOS 5 Allows You to Tap Out Custom Vibration Patterns
• Screenshot of iOS 5's New iPad Music App
• Demo of iPad's AirPlay Mirroring in iOS 5

MacRumors forum user hellomoto4 has compiled a longer list with screenshots of many of the new findings, such as:

iCal in landscape mode

Storage space for Apps

The most complete list of changes we've seen, however, is from forum user benna who has compiled 153 changes/features as of this writing. There are some duplicates and only a few screenshots, but it's the most exhaustive list we've seen. Here are some excerpts of some of the more interesting changes:

- You can choose what applications to be included in Notifications Center
- Ability to Set Left or Right for Mono Audio
- You can create additional @me.com email address within the Mail settings
- New Private Browsing option in Safari
- Set custom text tone for each contact.
- You can use your phone while its being synced with iTunes.
- Multitasking Gestures in iPad. Use four or five fingers, swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar, pinch to return to the Home screen, and swipe left or right to switch between apps.
- Camera, use two-finger spread/pinch gesture to zoom in/out accordingly (Thanks @Alan)
- When your alarm goes off you can snooze it from lockscreen or slide to turn off
- Ability to set maximum messages downloaded through email to 1000 instead of 250
- Links can be opened in the background

iOS 5 is presently in developer beta release and will be released to the public in the fall of this year.