MacRumors

Over the weekend, Valve announced the official launch date for Left 4 Dead 2 for Mac as well as acknowledgement of when the original in the series would be coming.

Left 4 Dead 2 will be released for the Mac on Tuesday, October 5th. Existing PC owners will be able to download it for free through Steam. The original Left 4 Dead port for Mac is still seeing some delays, but they hope for it to come by Halloween.

Sorry Left 4 Dead owners, the Mac version is coming but we are running a little late. We hope to have it out in time to celebrate Halloween on the Mac. When released, L4D1 Mac players will receive the same great treatment. All the previous released updates and DLC for free and the ability to play an extensive library of community content. More information on the release date as it nears.

The October 5th was previously teased when Valve announced that a downloadable add-on called The Sacrifice would be available for PC, XBox 360 and Mac on that date.

Left 4 Dead was a popular cooperative first person shooter that was originally released for Windows and Xbox 360.

Set during the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic, the game pits its four protagonists -- dubbed the "Survivors" -- against hordes of the infected. There are four game modes: a single-player mode in which allied characters are controlled by AI; a four-player, co-op campaign mode; an eight-player online versus mode; and a four-player survival mode. In all modes, an artificial intelligence (AI), dubbed the "Director", controls level pacing and item placements, in an attempt to create a dynamic experience and increase replay value.

It seems Apple's strict approval process is not limited to developer's app submissions alone. According to BusinessInsider sources, Adidas has pulled its $10 million dollar ad campaign from iAds due to repeated rejections:

Adidas supposedly pulled its $10+ million ad campaign from the iAd program because Apple CEO Steve Jobs was being too much of a control freak. According to one industry exec, Adidas decided to cancel its iAds after Apple rejected its creative concept for the third time.

BusinessInsider admits they don't know the exact reasons for the rejections ("to be sure, perhaps Adidas had really lame ideas, and Apple was right to reject them.")

Apple has been reported to be taking a much more active involvement in iAd content than most ad networks. This has slowed the uptake of iAds, though Apple is still predicted to match Google's mobile ad marketshare by year's end.

The MacRumors forums have reached half a million members, reaching a new milestone in forum participation. Tens of thousands of users joined MacRumors in recent months, fueled by speculation and discussion surrounding the release of iOS 4, the iPhone 4 launch, the controversy over the iPhone signal strength problem, and Apple's release of new iMacs, Mac Pros, and other products. Just shy of 20000 members joined in June and over 20000 in July, the highest monthly totals in MacRumors history.

MacRumors was founded in February 2000 by Arnold Kim and Blake Patterson. The forums have grown at an increasing rate each year since. Over the past 6 months forum registrations have reached about 500 per day (15000 per month).

A number of factors have contributed to the success and growth of the site, including MacRumors' reputation for careful evaluation and reporting of rumors and speculation and the expansion of our staff to cover more news. Our growth also reflects Apple's growth, with its expansion into new business areas, the rising number of Apple customers, and the attention focused on Apple by the press and the public in general, both in the U.S. and internationally.

Some members register for MacRumors seeking technical help, while others want to discuss the latest news and rumors. Many stay for years, reading and writing posts about both Apple and non-Apple topics as they participate in our ever-changing and ever-growing online community. Some forum members have been along for the entire ride. Of the forum posters who joined in 2000, 43% have been active within the last 2 years. The following members, listed by user name, have been logging in or posting for over 10 years: 63dot, balloons, barefeats, bigjohn, CompUsed, curmi, dsma, Ishan, jeremycrandell, kainjow, Mark Colangelo, mdntcallr, michaelrjohnson, nodttiurp, outZider, stukick, tviolation, and vanguys. Congratulations!

We thank our regular visitors, new forum members, and long-term members for their support over the years. In an online community the users, not just the meeting place, make the site what it is.

Other past and more recent milestones of interest: 1 million posts (August 2004), 5 million posts (February 2008), 200 thousand members (July 2008), 10 million forum posts (May 2010), 1 million forum threads (August 2010)

MacRumors administrators: arn, Doctor Q, Knox, longofest, Mudbug, WildCowboy, xUKHCx
MacRumors moderators: see list

With Microsoft reportedly set to formally introduce a line of Windows Phone 7-based smartphones just ten days from now, the company has gone on the offensive by filing a lawsuit against Motorola over Android-related patents.

Microsoft filed an action today in the International Trade Commission and in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Motorola, Inc. for infringement of nine Microsoft patents by Motorola's Android-based smartphones. The patents at issue relate to a range of functionality embodied in Motorola's Android smartphone devices that are essential to the smartphone user experience, including synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power.

In a blog post discussing the lawsuit, Microsoft corporate vice president and deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez moves to justify the company's actions, in part by referring to "recent actions" taken by Apple, which filed suit against HTC earlier this year over alleged patent infringement by that company's Android handsets.

That Microsoft has important patents in this area should not surprise anyone - we've spent over 30 years developing cutting-edge computer software. As I mentioned in my blog post last March, the key value proposition of smartphones has moved from the radio stack to the software stack, as people buy smartphones because they are fully functional computers that fit in the palm of your hand. With this shift, it is imperative that companies address IP issues related to the software that makes possible this new class of devices. The rules of the road are long-established in the software industry, and fundamental to the industry's growth and economic impact is respect for others' intellectual property rights.

Our action today merely seeks to ensure respect for our intellectual property rights infringed by Android devices; and judging by the recent actions by Apple and Oracle, we are not alone in this respect.

In addition to the federal lawsuit filed against Motorola today, Microsoft also filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the body that oversees import and export of goods and holds the power to bar the importation of products found to be in violation of patents held by others. While ITC disputes rarely progress to that stage, the body's ability wield that power frequently serves as an encouragement for the involved parties to settle their disputes in a relatively timely fashion.

Apple today updated its MobileMe Gallery application [App Store] for the iOS platform, bringing iPad compatibility as well as full support for the higher-resolution Retina displays found in the iPhone 4 and fourth-generation iPod touch. The update also brings support for multi-tasking and the ability for iPhone and iPad users who are not MobileMe members to view friends' photo galleries.

- Universal app with full iPad support
- Supports fast app switching for iOS 4 devices
- Optimized for Retina displays
- View friends' galleries without the need for a MobileMe subscription (iPhone and iPad only)

A June update to the application had delivered the ability for the iPhone 4 to download higher-resolution versions of photos, but today's update extends Retina display optimization to the entire application.

MobileMe Gallery debuted for the iPhone and iPod touch back in January.

Market research firm NPD has released the results of a new survey disputing the common assertion that Apple's iPad is 'cannibalizing' the PC notebook industry. According to the survey, only 13% of iPad customers made their purchase instead of buying a PC. A larger target for the iPad has been e-readers, with 24% of iPad purchasers reporting that they replaced a planned e-reader purchase with the iPad.

The survey also unsurprisingly revealed that iPad purchasers are more likely than the general population to own other Apple products, with 38% of iPad purchasers also owning an iPhone and 48% owning a Mac. The survey has, however, seen a slight dip in Mac ownership from the initial wave, moving from 50% in the first two months of availability to 45% in more recent months, indicating that the iPad's appeal seems to be broadening beyond the core base of Apple fans.

"Early adopters, like iPad owners, follow a traditional pattern of consumer behavior; they purchase products because they want them, not because they need them," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD. "However, as Apple increases iPad distribution and consumer interest peaks, the profile of an iPad owner is much more likely to mirror the overall tech population. When that does happen other tech products with similar usage profiles as the iPad, such as notebooks, netbooks, and e-readers will come under increased pressure from the iPad. Until then, however, most iPad sales are likely to be incremental additional technology devices in the home, rather than a one-for-one replacement of a planned purchase."

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn made headlines earlier this month with his ambiguous claims that the iPad was cannibalizing sales of notebook PCs by "as much as 50%". Dunn and Best Buy quickly back-pedaled, although he and Best Buy president Mike Vitelli have continued to confuse things with their follow-up comments.

NPD's Stephen Baker has also written a blog post highlighting some results from the iPad owner survey such as what users are doing with the iPad (Internet browsing, email, and games), their likes (portability, easy Wi-Fi connections, e-reading, and apps), and their dislikes (lack of USB ports, printing, and multi-tasking).

TechCrunch reports that Apple has settled a lawsuit brought by Sharing Sound, LLC over infringement of a patent essentially describing web-based distribution of digital music. The lawsuit, filed in May, targeted Apple, Microsoft, Napster, Rhapsody, and other companies, with Amazon, Netflix, and additional companies included in a similar suit filed around the same time.

The patent being contested - U.S. Patent Number 6,247,130, titled "Distribution of musical products by a website vendor over the Internet" - would essentially prevent all these companies from using any type of online store environment which allows them to provide song previews, a shopping cart or even a music player.

According to the report, most of the companies targeted in the lawsuits have already moved to settle their disputes, with Apple now joining the list as it seeks to avoid a court battle.

The application for the patent cited in the lawsuit was filed January 2000 and was based on a provisional patent application filed in January 1999. The inventor associated with the patent, Bernhard Fritsch, founded a short-lived digital music service known as MCY.com that launched in early 1999.

DigiTimes reports that Apple has received samples of large-size touch panels that would be used in a new touch-capable iMac. According to the report, Sintek Photronics is utilizing projected capacitance touch technology for the panels.

Projected capacitive touch panels are typically produced by placing touch sensors over the panel, and then a cover glass over the sensors. The conventional method is not only costly and complex, but affects display brightness.

The new iMac is rumored to have a good vertical and horizontal viewing angle, and its projected capacitive touch panel will adopt a one-glass solution, which integrates the touch sensor and cover glass, to reduce thickness and weight.

Rumors of a touchscreen iMac surfaced in January, with claims of a 22-inch model set to debut sometime during 2010. A second rumor made the rounds in June claiming that Apple would be holding a special event to introduce a touch-enabled iMac capable of running both Mac OS X and iOS within the following two months, although that event obviously failed to take place.

A recently-disclosed patent application has also fueled rumors for its discussion of how a desktop computer could use physical hinges and accelerometers to transition between a traditional mouse-driven desktop setup and a more horizontal touch-friendly orientation.

Given the report's claims that Apple is only just now receiving samples of the touch panels that would be used in such a device, it is extremely unlikely that Apple would be able to make a 2010 launch for the new iMac as had been previously rumored. It would indicate, however, that progress is being made toward a potential 2011 release.

The new Apple TV was successfully jailbroken tonight which opens the door to further customization. The process of "jailbreaking" involves gaining full access to the device that allows developers to add new functionality to the device. The iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad have all been successfully jailbroken over time and has allowed individuals to install unauthorized applications to their devices. The original iPhone jailbreak even allowed 3rd party applications to be developed well before Apple launched the App Store. Some successful App Store apps such as Labyrinth and Tap Tap Revenge had their origins in the Jailbreak scene.

This video shows that they have accessed the new Apple TV:

Despite this early step, we're still many steps away from easily installing 3rd party applications to the Apple TV. Apple is also likely to be considering an official App Store for the Apple TV, though they've yet to announce any official plans.

Apple has seeded a new version of Mac OS X 10.6.5 to developers this evening. Build 10H548 comes only two weeks after Build 10H542 which was seeded on September 14th. The seed notes appear relatively sparse with no known issues and the same "focus areas" as in other recent builds:

- 3D Graphics
- iCal
- Mail
- QuickTime
- Time Machine
- USB Devices

Apple's 10.6.4 update was released back in June, 2010. The frequency of developer seeds seemed to have slowed surrounding the iOS 4.1 launch, and appears to be picking back up. A public release date for Mac OS X 10.6.5 remains unknown.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak appeared on CBS's The Big Bang Theory tonight. Woz appeared as himself in the show which made jokes about Steve Jobs and the early Apple II computer. The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom that airs on CBS on Thursday nights.

Here's a rough capture of the scene with Wozniak:

Steve Wozniak, of course, is one of the original co-founders of Apple along with current CEO Steve Jobs.

Silicon Alley Insider reports that Facebook Chief Technology Officer Bret Taylor noted yesterday that he is "very confident" that his company will reach a deal with Apple for collaboration on the music-focused social networking platform built into iTunes 10.

At a dinner with New York media last night, Facebook CTO Bret Taylor said he is "very confident" Facebook and Apple will figure out a way to work together on Ping, Apple's music social network.

Apple and Facebook were reportedly locked in negotiations for at least 18 months before Apple launched Ping earlier this month. Ping debuted with Facebook Connect integration allowing users to find friends via their Facebook accounts, but the feature quickly disappeared. A subsequent report claimed that the two companies had been unable to reach a deal for the usage of Facebook Connect but that Apple had gone ahead and deployed the functionality anyway. After Facebook disabled Ping's access to Facebook Connect, Apple was forced to remove evidence of the functionality from the service entirely.

The two companies have reportedly continued their negotiations, but no agreement has apparently yet been reached.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the shortage of iPhone 4s in China has led to a booming market for scalpers, many of whom are selling their stocks of iPhones outside the company's flagship Sanlitun store in Beijing.

But as of Thursday morning, Apple's flagship store in Beijing's Sanlitun Village mall was sold out of the new smartphone. As a result, scalpers, who bought up iPhone 4s earlier in the week, are now lurking outside the store ready to pounce on anyone who walks out without merchandise.

"Want to buy an iPhone 4?" they say. "Come with us."

Working in groups, the scalpers lead willing customers to an empty stairway in the same mall, where their cohorts keep stacks of iPhone 4s in the original packaging. One scalper was offering the 16-gigabyte version of the device for 5,400 yuan, or about 795 dollars, a 10-percent mark-up over the sticker price.

According to M.I.C. gadget, however, the scalpers are continuing to snap up iPhones as quickly as the Apple store can be restocked, leading to heightened tensions and even a temporary closure of the store today as tempers flared.

According to sources, the real customers and the iPhone 4 scalpers had a fight in the Apple store. A gang of scalpers were cutting the queue and some customers were fed up with the scalpers for buying large quantities of iPhone 4 and resell them outside the store. The police and Apple's own security staff appeared to clean up the mess and due to the chaotic crowd, the store needs to be closed temporarily...

The report claims that the sudden rush of scalpers has been enabled by Apple now allowing customers to purchase unlimited numbers of iPhones at the Sanlitun store, whereas the company had previously limited sales to two-per-customer. And with China Unicom not offering contract-free phones and Apple not taking online orders in China, customers and scalpers alike are flocking to Apple's four retail stores in the country (two in Beijing and two in Shanghai) to compete for the limited supply of contract-free iPhone 4s.

Update: M.I.C. gadget has updated its report to note that all four Apple retail stores in China are now requiring customers to show identification when purchasing iPhones and imposing a limit of one-per-customer. Store employees will also open and activate the new iPhones on the spot, eliminating the ability for scalpers to resell unopened iPhones.

As noted by The Apple Press, Twitter user StealthBravo has confirmed that the new Apple TV can be mounted and restored in iTunes, easing the way for jailbreakers to bring new functionality to the set-top box.

This means that the jailbreak community may soon be able to offer us tools, as they currently do for other iOS devices, to save SHSH blobs, jailbreak the Apple TV, and install 3rd party software. Maybe an app store for Apple TV may come sooner than any of us may have expected after all.

The Apple TV offers a Micro-USB port to allow for service and support connectivity, but the port also offers a means for users to physically connect the device to their computers to employ the techniques required in order to jailbreak the operating system.

With yesterday's discovery that the Apple TV offers 8 GB of internal storage, there appears to be ample space available for the installation of additional software on jailbroken devices.

Market research firm ChangeWave has published the results of a new survey of its professional and early-adopter consumer audience, once again revealing nearly equal preference for the iPhone and Android devices among those planning to purchase a handset within the next three months.

The numbers show a return to the neck-and-neck race between the two platforms that saw the iPhone temporarily grab a 20-percentage-point advantage over Android back in June as customers awaited the launch of the iPhone 4.

Discounting the iPhone 4 blip seen in June, both Apple and Android appear to still be growing at the expense of their competitors, with preference for the iPhone moving from 29% to 38% between March and September while Android saw an increase from 30% from 37%. Interest in Research in Motion's BlackBerry operating system has been halved to 6%, while Windows Mobile has fallen from 5% to 1% and Palm has disappeared from the radar over the same timeframe.

The iPhone continues to top ChangeWave's user satisfaction ratings, with 74% of customers saying that they are "very satisfied" with their handset, a figure that has been relatively stable over the device's entire lifespan. That compares to 65% of Android customers registering as very satisfied, down slightly from some earlier editions of the survey but still much closer to the iPhone than to Palm, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile, which all find themselves in the 24-32% range for user satisfaction.

Hardmac reports that Apple's plans for a thorough overhaul of its Final Cut Studio have "suffered significant setbacks" that will see a release pushed back to 2011 from a rumored goal of a 2010 launch and result in significantly scaled-back changes to the professional-level video production software package.

A few months ago we told you that Apple were hoping to release a new version of their Final Cut Studio suite in 2010. It now seems likely that this target has been missed according to one of our sources. The development of this software suite has suffered significant setbacks and it will be necessary to wait until 2011 to see its release; furthermore, the scope of the project has been reduced.

According to the report, Apple has temporarily abandoned plans to bring a single interface to the Final Cut package as internal development teams have been unable to reach agreement on how the interface should be implemented. The interface overhaul has now been said to be pushed back to the following release of Final Cut, tentatively scheduled for a 2013 release.

Additionally, the report claims that the Final Cut team's progress has been slowed as Apple has reassigned engineers to work on projects for the company's iOS devices.

Concern over the future of Apple's Final Cut offerings arose in February, when it was revealed that Apple had laid off 40 members of the project team. Several months later, a report claimed that Apple was looking to transition Final Cut Pro Pro from a strictly professional product to more of a "prosumer" offering, but Apple CEO Steve Jobs dismissed those concerns, stating that the next release of Final Cut Pro "will be awesome" and that the earlier job layoffs had been in support and not engineering. The following day, Apple issued an official statement similarly noting that the next version of Final Cut Pro will be "awesome".

The latest iPad iOS 4.2 Beta 2 released yesterday appears to include new tethering options in the settings (pic via Paulgrav). According to 9to5Mac, the options only appear on European carriers and do not yet appear on AT&T devices.

As best we can tell, these settings might allow you to tether your iPad 3G's internet connection to another device, such as a laptop. This means you will be able to share your iPad 3G connection with your laptop (via a USB cable). You can similarly share your iPhone's 3G connection in the same manner, though AT&T charges an additional fee to enable this service. Unfortunately for iPhone owners, this still doesn't allow you to share your iPhone's 3G with the iPad.

Several MacRumors readers have forwarded us emails they received earlier today notifying them of a proposed class-action settlement for customers who purchased certain MacBook Pro models or other Dell and HP notebooks and have been experiencing failures of their graphics chips.

A settlement of a class action lawsuit (The NVIDIA GPU Litigation, Case No. 08-cv-04312-JW) relates to the NVIDIA chips inside certain Dell, Hewlett-Packard ("HP"), and Apple notebook computers. The lawsuit claims that NVIDIA sold defective Graphics Processing Units ("GPU") and Media and Communications Processors ("MCP") that affected the performance of some of the notebook computers in which they were incorporated. NVIDIA denies all allegations of wrongdoing and has asserted many defenses. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.

For MacBook Pro customers, only those who have experienced the following issues on the covered machines are eligible for compensation:

- Distorted or scrambled video on the notebook computer screen
- No video on the notebook computer screen even when the notebook computer is on

Users who qualify for compensation may be eligible to receive either free replacement of the faulty chip or reimbursement for repairs previously paid-for by the customer to address the problem.

It is unclear exactly what effect the proposed settlement will have on Apple customers in practice, as Apple itself has already stepped up to cover affected machines. After initially covering the machines for the specific issue for two years from date of purchase, Apple in June 2009 increased the coverage to three years. According to the tech note on the topic, Apple in June 2010 again extended the coverage limits to four years, meaning that customers are covered by Apple until at least May 2011. Similar to the NVIDIA settlement, Apple is offering free repairs or refunds for previously paid-for repairs for affected customers.