MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

MacNN reports on a new patent application published on February 8th, 2007 entitled "Method and apparatus for organizing information in a computer system" which appears to revive an idea known as "Piles" that was patented by Apple in 1994. The new application linked is not actually assigned to Apple, but does share some of the inventors of the original patent. The "Piles" feature...

Looprumors posts a letter from Apple to the FCC asking for confidentiality regarding the FCC documents for the iPhone until June 15, 2007. The documents in question include External Photos, Internal Setup, Test Setup Photos and User Manual. The rumor site speculates that the June 15th date could be the target launch of the iPhone, but, certainly, may simply be an educated guess. When...

Doug Kass of The Street has posted some tidbits he's heard from the trading desks and industry. According to this writeup, "these items have not been confirmed." I am also hearing that Google CEO Eric Schmidt has already begun low-level discussions with several Apple board members regarding his role as a possible temporary replacement to Steve Jobs should the options-backdating issues intensify at ...

Apple has posted a demo (iTunes link) of Vortex, their iPod game, on the iTunes Store. The game was developed by Apple in-house and first released in September. The full game costs...

According to a couple of reports, there are four $79 Apple products coming on Tuesday. Speculation points to Shuffle updates -- possibly in a number of colors... but others claim software...

A flickr image post claims to be an invite to a February 1st Apple Event. The invite reads "Should old acquaintance be forgot..." The image is posted for interest sake and is not necessarily believed to be true....

UBS Research analyst Alex Gauna upgraded Broadcom's stock to "buy" based on beliefs that Apple will expand the use the touch-screen technology (which is based on a Broadcom chip) to other devices: UBS believes Apple may migrate the technology into other offerings, including iPods, notebooks and Apple's forthcoming television product, over time, Gauna wrote. MacRumors Editor note: It seems...

DailyTech is reporting that an email sent to Rogers customers confirms suspicions that the Canadian wireless carrier would be the exclusive provider of Apple's iPhone in Canada. Rogers is currently the only GSM operator in Canada, and therefore a Rogers-exclusive agreement is not unexpected. A launch date and pricing is yet to be determined, however the launch is expected before the European...

While not the SATA update that some may be waiting for, Apple today made a whisper-quiet update to its Xserve RAID offering, adding a build-to-order option allowing the unit to be configured with up to 10.5 TB of storage capacity across 14 drives. Apple also lowered the prices for existing offerings. The new systems are available for configuration at the Apple Store....

An unconfirmed report from AppleRecon claims that Apple will be holding a special event on February 20th to introduce Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), iLife '07, iWork '07 and updated Mac Pros. We have just gotten an anonymous tip from a source that indicates that Apple is planning a special event on February 20 to introduce Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), iLife 07 and iWork 07 as well as updated Mac Pros. Mac...

For the excited masses who are unable to wait for an iPhone, some individuals have been busy... to the ire of Apple Legal. Infoworld reports that two skin makers for the Palm and the Pocket PC were sent cease and desist letters for posting iPhone-skins for their respective platforms. For those who don't own a PDA, this paper cutout of the iPhone can keep you occupied until the June comes, ...

An anonymous tipster is claiming that Apple will release Logic 8 tomorrow during the beginning of NAMM 2007. Logic's last major release came last February with the release of a universal binary version of Logic. That release had been previewed by Apple at NAMM 2006 the month prior. According to Apple's event calendar and NAMM's website, Apple will indeed be making their traditional...

Teck.co.uk claims that Apple is planning on opening up their protected iTunes music and movie content this week. The iPod maker is expected to make two announcements this week - the first will be to allow streaming of protected AAC content via USB; the second will be to licence its Fairplay DRM to the company's Made For iPod licencees. Tech.co.uk offers no background on the rumor, and few other...

Electronista is reporting a vague and unconfirmed claim that the Beatles will come to iTunes on or around Valentines Day. The announcement will involve "Love," as well. Our source says Apple will have a three month exclusive window for both downloads and remasters. The street release schedule for the remasters was not clear. Conflicting information from our source said that they might be released...

Certain websites (including nbc.com and wired) are showing a new Get A Mac ad. The ad involves the PC getting an "add on" upgrade of a webcam from an IT guy, and gets dismayed when he learns that Mac already has built-in iSight webcams. As of this writing, the ad has yet to be revealed on Apple's...

MacRumors founder and Editor-in-Chief Arn is once again scheduled to be interviewed on the CNBC On the Money program. The financial news show (today, 7pm EST, 4pm PST) is already in progress as we report this. In constrast to the previous taped interviews, Arn is to be on the show "live" this time. Arn was first interviewed on CNBC on November 16, discussing the iPhone rumors. This...

Forum member, applemax, had spotted something interesting at an Apple store in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It appears to be a stand for some sort of iPod device: On holiday, I went into an Apple Store (today), and, you know in mobile phone shops, they have those little podiums where the phones are on the top where you can use them, etc...? Well, there was one in the store. The podium...

A few readers have noted that Apple is listed at CES, but the registration reveals Sling Media's address. Sling Media produces the Slingbox, device that allows you to watch your shows from your television over the internet. Of course, some people have drawn bold conclusions from this, but it may simply be Apple demoing Mac support. Slingbox appears to have 5 booths at CES, but only one...