MacRumors

Engadget digs up some 2008 court documents that confirm that Apple and AT&T's original exclusivity agreement did, in fact, extend into 2012. From a court order (PDF):

The Agreement, which lasts until 2012, provides that iPhone purchasers who want voice and data services must sign a two-year service contract with ATTM. (Complaint P30.) Although the Agreement itself is not public, some of its provisions have been revealed in the press.

The 5 year timeframe was originally revealed by USA Today back in 2007. A 5 year contract would have maintained AT&T iPhone exclusivity into 2012.

However, at this point, it's not entirely clear if the original contract still stands. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2009 that AT&T's iPhone exclusivity is due to expire this year (2010). Apple and AT&T may have undergone contract revisions and negotiations since that time. Most industry experts seem to believe that AT&T exclusivity comes to an end this year with several whispers that Apple will bring the iPhone to Verizon's network in 2010.

The Wireless Gigabit Alliance, an organization dedicated to creating wireless connectivity standards for consumer electronics using the unlicensed 60GHz spectrum, today announced the publication of its new multi-gigabit wireless standard. The Wireless Gigabit Alliance is working in partnership with the Wi-Fi Alliance, the organization responsible for the development and ratification of Wi-Fi standards used to date, to promote the new Wi-Gig specification.

The new Wi-Gig specification provides data transfer rates up to 7 Gbps, far exceeding the maximum 600 Mbps transfer rate of the current 802.11n standard. Such fast transfer rates could easily manage high-definition video and ultimately eliminate the need for wired connections in media applications.

Device connectivity in the 60 GHz band will complement the current family of Wi-Fi technologies. Targeted primarily for applications that require gigabit speeds, 60 GHz products are expected to be used in a wide range of high-performance devices. A significant portion, if not all, of these devices are expected to also support traditional Wi-Fi networking in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.

However, the range of the new WiGig spec is notably smaller and may not be sufficient to "blanket a home" according to the Wi-Fi Alliance's marketing director as stated in a Los Angeles Times article. As a result, the organization sees Wi-Gig complementing Wi-Fi rather than replacing it. For example, Wi-Gig could be used to replace HDMI cables to connect between nearby devices.

In partnership with the Wi-Fi Alliance, the Wireless Gigabit Alliance also opened an Adopter Program today to provide consumer electronics companies with royalty-free licenses to create products using the new standard. Products incorporating WiGig could hit the market in the next two years.

Speaking of companies on board to use the WiGig standard, Ali Sadri, the WiGig Alliance's Chairman and President, spoke briefly of Apple to the LA Times:

While Sardi pointed to Apple as an innovator in driving new technology uptake, he wouldn't comment on the company's involvement.

Apple did not provide a comment to the LA Times.

The NPD Group published results from the first quarter of 2010 which reveals that Google's Android-based smartphones outsold the iPhone for the first time in the U.S. According to their data, Android-based phones accounted for 28% of smartphone sales while the iPhone accounted for 21%. Meanwhile, RIM remains the market leader at 36%.

NPD attributes the growth to strong promotion as well as broader carrier coverage for Android devices.

"As in the past, carrier distribution and promotion have played a crucial role in determining smartphone market share," said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. "In order to compete with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless has expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to now include all of their smartphones."

The iPhone is currently sold only by AT&T. While AT&T does make up 32% of the smartphone market, they are the only provider that offers the iPhone at this time. Verizon (30%), T-Mobile (17%) and Sprint (15%) make up the bulk of the rest of the market. The numbers may also reflect the late lifecycle of the iPhone 3GS compared to the newer android devices. Apple is also widely expected to revise the iPhone in the next month.

Apple has also been rumored to be expanding iPhone distribution beyond AT&T, though the exact timeframe remains up for debate.

As the iPad becomes available for pre-order in several countries today, more carriers are providing details on 3G data plans specifically for the new device. Apple recently announced that the iPad will be available starting on May 28 in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Last week, Orange UK had announced its pricing, offering daily, weekly, and monthly options for 3G iPad users. Another UK carrier, O2, has now announced its iPad data plan pricing and while a weekly plan is not offered, free Wi-Fi is included in all plans and users will have the option to add data on as needed to avoid overage charges.

Though information is not yet available on its own website, Canada's Rogers iPad data plan plan pricing is shown on the Apple Canada site. Rogers will offer only monthly plans plus the ability to add an iPad to an existing data plan:

Update: Readers have pointed out that the $20 iPad add-on feature was published by Apple in error and will not actually be available. A Rogers Community Manager confirmed that this was a mistake via Twitter and additional information is now available on the company's official blog.

Links to information on iPad 3G data plans can be found on the Apple store site for each respective country where the iPad will be available starting May 28. Not all carriers listed on these pages have provided detailed pricing yet.

- Germany - O2, Vodafone, and T-Mobile
- France - Orange and SFR
- Italy - Vodafone and 3
- Japan - Softbank
- Spain - Orange, Vodafone, and Telefonica
- Switzerland - Swisscom and Orange

Apple has started taking international pre-orders for the iPad. The iPad was originally launched in the U.S. only, but will become available in nine new countries starting May 28th. The list of countries include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Pre-orders are being accepted for both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models.

Customers should check their country's Apple Store for pricing information. Apple plans to expand their international release to nine additional countries in July. The countries to be added in July include Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore.

Macworld.com.au claims that Apple's MacBook Air could see updates as early as this week. They cite a "well-placed source" who identifies the new product number as MC516LL/A K87 BETTER BTR-USA. This source was previously able to pinpoint the recent MacBook Pro updates a week prior to their release.

It seems it's not entirely certain that the product number necessarily represents a new MacBook Air. Macworld Australia speculates it could also represent a new Apple LCD. Either way, several thousand of these items are presently on their way to Australia which indicates a major product launch.

According to our Buyer's Guide, a revised MacBook Air is overdue for release. It was last updated in June 2009 and was not updated alongside the MacBooks and MacBook Pros last month.

Since Steve Jobs has taken it upon himself to answer customer queries, he becomes a frequently cited source for what Apple is working on. According to one reader, Steve Jobs replied to an email asking why there are no printing capabilities on the iPad. Steve Jobs reportedly replied "It will come."

While these email replies can be difficult to authenticate, previous rumors have claimed that Apple is indeed working on printing to make the iPad more appealing to enterprise customers.

Valve Corporation's foray into PC digital games distribution can't be defined as anything less than a success. Steam, the service, has garnered tons of fanfare from users, critics, and publishers alike for its simplistic design and non-obtrusive DRM.

In early March Valve teased, and then revealed, that a Macintosh version of the client would be on its way. Even better, the developer announced several of its games were slated to be ported as well. I've had the beta of the client, which officially hits on May 12th, for a week. The two games currently available in the beta are Portal and Team Fortress 2.

PC users, or Mac owners with Boot Camp, will feel at home with the client. Its simple interface is mostly unchanged in the Mac beta version. Tabs indicating its essential functions line the top of its window, displaying the virtual "Store," your "Library" of games, patch and update "News," and "Community" functionality. Invitations from friends, as well as advertisements for games, still pop up with the speed and appearance of a Growl notification. In fact, the entire program is smooth and fast. It works and, most importantly, without a hitch.

Cross Platform

Steam for Macintosh and Steam for PC are married via "Steam Play." This feature allows you free access to any Mac ports of PC games you've already purchased through the service. Games like Portal and Team Fortress 2 support this option, while several more are sure to come.

And keep in mind that this sort of cross-platform approach is something the Valve crew is seemingly taking seriously. Team Fortress 2 Mac owners like me have been playing with PC owners of the game on their very same servers during this latter end of the beta. I expect more of this in the future.

On a tangential note: the Steam cloud also keeps all of your information in-line between the two versions. Friends, profile and Library data is shared between both. I'm told that Steam for Mac, though, will have a specific Library option that displays what games you can play on the platform. It's currently not in the beta.

The Games So Far

Two Source engine games, Portal and Team Fortress 2, are essentially finished and available for play in the beta. Both games run natively using OpenGL.

Portal and Team Fortress 2 feel and play like their PC counterparts, though they may not look quite the same for all users. I, for example, had to do a bit of software-side tweaking to achieve fluid experiences: my 15" Macbook Pro -- rocking the integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M video card only, 4 Gigs of RAM, and 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo -- couldn't handle either game on its "High" settings. (But do keep in mind that integrated graphics represent the low-end of graphics hardware and those with discrete chipsets should fare much better.)

Team Fortress 2 in particular needed to be brought down to its lowest lows in order to run well. But even at this point, the game retains its characteristic charm -- both in terms of the over-the-top, manic multiplayer action and presentation.

I'm not sure if these two titles are the best indicators of what Valve is doing with their ports, though: they're both old titles. In the near future Valve will be adding in Mac functionality to Left 4 Dead 2 and its predecessor, as well as the Half-Life series and Counter-Strike: Source. These games should give us a better idea of what to expect. As of now, though, I'm left with the impression of promise and the minor satisfaction of playing games that I've played on multiple platforms natively on my Macintosh.

What's Missing and What's Coming

Gamepad support, despite it being listed in the options menus for games, is not something the beta has. I was told by Valve earlier that this support is definitely on their to-do list.

Other developers might have their own to-do lists, too. As of right now, only one other developer, Tripwire Interactive, have pledged support. That developer is releasing Mac versions of Red Orchestra Ostfront 41-45 and Killing Floor.

Other notable games I've spotted with "Install" options for the Mac beta are: Torchlight, Peggle Nights, Altitude, Bejeweled 2 Deluxe, the Dash games, Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child, the Tales of Monkey Island series, and World of Goo.

While there hasn't been much to ogle over with the Mac beta of Steam, I still can't stop smiling. There's a lot to like with the functionality of Team Fortress 2 and Portal, and a lot to enjoy from Valve's native-support of the platform. Games will continue to hit on the service as it grows and grows, and we'll be direct beneficiaries of its current -- and hopefully future -- dominance as more publishers join the fray. Valve need only to convince publishers that Mac owners are consumers.

Steam for Mac should become publicly available on May 12th.

SmartPhoneMedic has posted a video of the outer shell of the next generation iPhone along with the front screen LCD. SmartPhoneMedic is a repair outfit for iPhones and other smartphones, so has supplier sources that can provide them parts for these devices.

The iPhone parts clearly resemble the leaked iPhone photos posted in April. Apple has since acknowledged that that iPhone was a prototype design, and is widely expected to represent the next generation iPhone. It seems they aren't the only ones who have been able to obtain early parts of the next generation iPhone. Late last week, iSpazio posted photos of the LCD portion of the next generation iPhone.

Apple is expected to announce the new iPhone at WWDC in June. Rumors have suggested that device availability will also be in June. If so, then Apple likely needs to start ramping up production which make make these part leaks far more likely.

With Apple's announcement on Friday regarding availability of the iPad in nine new countries later this month, a number of potential customers expressed dismay at the apparent higher prices in those countries relative to those in the United States. Several of those customers took the time to email Apple CEO Steve Jobs with complaints on the issue, two of whom shared his identical responses with us.

Please educate yourself. UK prices must by law include VAT, which is around 18%. US prices do not include tax.

Value added tax (VAT) is similar to the sales tax that is familiar to most residents of the United States, but is applied uniformly throughout the country for a given type of item and is included in the advertised pricing. Sales tax in the United States is not included in advertised pricing, as it varies significantly by region, even down to the municipality level.

The standard VAT rate in the UK is 17.5%, meaning that the 429 base price for the 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad in the UK is actually only 365 in "pre-tax" pricing. At current exchange rates, this corresponds to approximately $540 in the United States, or an approximately $40 premium for U.K. customers. While the price difference is not insignificant, it is considerably smaller than it might appear at first glance.

Apple has long offered somewhat higher international pricing on his products than it does in the United States, even accounting for difference in taxation practices. These differences are possibly due to increased overhead for distribution and "cost of business" in other countries, as well as the need to account for foreign exchange rates that can fluctuate over time.

Meanwhile, users in Germany have discovered that their iPad prices are higher than in other European countries, even when accounting for tax differences. At least one reader also emailed Jobs about this issue and reported to fscklog that he noted a special copyright tax imposed by the government there.

Blame your government. Germany just added a new copyright levy for computers.

The report notes that iPad prices in Germany are about 15 euros higher than those in France and Italy, with the extra copyright tax being applied due to the iPad's classification as a "PC without burner".

In late March, we noted that U.S. television network CBS appeared to be preparing to launch HTML5-based video content on its CBS.com streaming site as an alternative to its existing Flash-based player.

Today, CBS Interactive executive Anthony Soohoo confirmed to NewTeeVee that by the start of the fall television season CBS will be offering its full CBS.com video content in an iPad-friendly HTML5 format.

Unlike ABC, which built an iPad app to deliver its full-length episodes and promotional clips on the device, CBS decided to focus on delivering video through its website, CBS.com. Since the Apple tablet doesn't support Adobe Flash, CBS has created a video site for the iPad through HTML5 instead. It's still early days, but Soohoo expects CBS to deploy more and more video that is iPad-ready, until it reaches content parity with what's available on the website through a PC.

Soohoo notes that HTML5 still requires some work to improve its features to be on par with Flash, but CBS is committed to HTML5 and iPad development. He also points to some unique features of the iPad such as Multi-Touch that will enable CBS to "doing some interesting advertising programs" on the platform.

AppleInsider yesterday reported that Apple's retail stores in the U.S. are running short of iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models, less than one week since the models launched. The report noted that all ten stores contacted had no 3G models on hand and were directing customers to Apple's "Notify Me" waiting list service. Many of the stores had also run out of Wi-Fi-only iPad models.

Bloomberg follows up up on the story today, reaching out to at least nineteen stores around the country to find a complete lack of availability of 3G models.

"Demand continues to exceed supply," Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple, said yesterday. She declined to comment on iPad supplies at the company's stores. "We're working hard" to provide iPads to additional customers, she said.

Apple announced earlier this week that it had sold over one million iPads in the first 28 days of availability in the United States. The company continues to struggle meeting demand, with shipping estimates in the company's online store currently checking in at 5-7 business days for all models.

Despite the issues with iPad supplies in the U.S., Apple today announced that all models will launch in nine additional countries on May 28th, with nine more countries set to follow in July. Pre-orders for the first batch of international markets begin next Monday.

While a number of indicators have shown that Apple's iPhone OS platform has become a factor in the portable gaming industry, Times Online reports that Nintendo finally appears to have acknowledged the threat it faces from the increasing popularity of the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad and turned its focus to address Apple head-on.

Satoru Iwata, the Nintendo president, is understood to have told his senior executives recently to regard the battle with Sony as a victory already won and to treat Apple, and its iPhone and iPad devices, as the "enemy of the future".

In trying to move away from its background as a platform targeting younger gamers, Nintendo has run up against Apple's devices, which tend to cater to the same demographics as Nintendo's focus.

Two years ago, the company claimed to have permanently altered the demographics of video games by raising the average age and the gender mix of gamers. Unfortunately, the very people it claimed to have converted -- high-school girls and men aged between 30 and 40 -- reported that they would rather have an iPhone than a DS in their pockets or handbags.

While analysts warn that Nintendo should not turn its back on its battle with Sony, the company is reported to be preparing to "unleash the full force of its development and marketing artillery against Apple". It remains unclear, however, exactly what strategy Nintendo is intending to pursue as it seeks to compete with Apple's products that offer a multitude of functions beyond gaming.

With Apple's official announcement of international availability for the iPad, Orange has announced pricing for its data service for 3G-capable iPad owners in the United Kingdom. The plans offer somewhat more flexibility in payment options than AT&T does in the United States, although Orange's monthly plans come in somewhat higher in price than AT&T's and Orange does not offer unlimited data packages.

Orange UK will offer tailored 3G data plans for iPad Wi-Fi + 3G, from 10th May, and will launch a pre-registration site for SIM's at Orange.co.uk/iPad. Pay-as-you-consume, daily, weekly and monthly data plans will be available, providing the freedom to choose a type of plan depending on usage.

Orange will offer a daily access fee with up to 200 MB of data for 2, and a weekly package priced at 7.50 with 1 GB of data. Recurring monthly plans are priced at 15 (3 GB) and 25 (10 GB), with both plans offering "unlimited" data at BT Openzone Wi-Fi hotspots. Orange will also offer "pay-as-you-consume" access priced at 5p/MB.

Orange is also rolling out iPad 3G service plans in France, Spain and Switzerland, with additional markets to come later this year.

Nokia today announced that it has filed a new lawsuit against Apple alleging patent infringement by the company's iPhone and 3G-capable iPad products.

Nokia announced that it has today filed a complaint against Apple with the Federal District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin, alleging that Apple iPhone and iPad 3G products infringe five important Nokia patents.

The patents in question relate to technologies for enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices. These patented innovations are important to Nokia's success as they allow improved product performance and design.

Nokia first filed suit against Apple in October 2009 alleging infringement of its patents by the iPhone, and later increased the scope of its claims to include "virtually all" Apple products. Apple has fought back with lawsuits and International Trade Commission complaints of its own as the two companies continue to fight for position in the competitive mobile phone industry.

Earlier today, Apple announced the launch of the iPad in nine new countries later this month: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. As noted by iLounge, Apple is also rolling out its iBooks iPad application and associated iBookstore in many of these countries at launch.

Apple's country-specific press releases for Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the UK all indicate availability of the iBooks app and the iBookstore on May 28th. Apple has yet to post press releases for France, Germany, and Switzerland, however, and thus iBooks availability for those countries has not yet been confirmed.

The iBookstore was announced as a U.S.-only feature during the iPad's introduction in late January, although evidence soon surfaced that Apple was making plans to extend it internationally. Apple also announced last month that it will be bringing iBooks and the iBookstore to the iPhone and iPod touch with iPhone OS 4 later this year.

Update: Apple has now posted its French press release, which confirms that iBooks and the iBookstore will be appearing there as well.

Research firm IDC today released data on global smartphone ("converged mobile device") sales for the first quarter of 2010, showing Apple maintaining its third-place ranking behind Nokia and Research in Motion on very strong year-over-year growth. The overall picture remains nearly identical to last quarter, with most metrics moving only a tiny amount.

On a year-over-year basis, Apple's shipments grew by 131.6% to 8.8 million, easily outpacing the overall industry growth of 56.7%. That performance now has Apple trailing Research in Motion for second place by only slightly over 3% in industry market share (19.4% vs. 16.1%). Nokia continues lead the pack with 39.3% of the market, more than twice the share of Research in Motion.

The report, which is a follow-up to the company's overall mobile phone report released last week, notes that smartphones represented 18.8% of all mobile phones shipped during the quarter, up from 14.4% in the year-ago quarter.