Apple authorized resellers are taking advantage of the recent flurry of product announcements from the company, offering a series of deals that range from a free iPod shuffle with the purchase of an iPod touch, to $75 - $150 rebates on the brand new MacBook and MacBook Pros.
First off was online retailer Amazon.com which launched this week a new promotion offering shoppers a free 1GB iPod shuffle with each new order of a 32GB iPod touch.
"When you purchase a 32 GB iPod touch, you qualify for a free 1 GB iPod shuffle in green, silver, purple, or blue," the retailer says. "Just add both items to your cart and you will not be charged for the shuffle."
Complete terms and conditions of the offer are available on this product detail page.
Penryn-based MacBooks
Meanwhile, Apple's No. 1 direct reseller Mac Mall on Wednesday began offering considerable savings on both the just-announced Penryn-based MacBook and MacBook Pro.
In addition to rebates of between $75 and $100 off each new 13-inch MacBook, the reseller is throwing in free shipping and two other rebates good for a free copy the Parallels Desktop 3.0 Windows virtualization software and a free Epson Stylus Printer.
The offers reduce the cost of the entry level 2.1GHz white MacBook to just $1019.00 and the high-end 2.4GHz black model to just $1394.00.
Penryn-based MacBook Pros
Mac Mall's offerings on the new MacBook Pros are similar, including $75 rebates across the board, which similarly bundle free shipping and the same two aforementioned rebates good for a free copy the Parallels Desktop 3.0 and an Epson Stylus Printer.
The savings bring the cost of the entry-level 2.4GHz 15-inch MacBook Pro down to $1844.00 and the high-end 2.5GHz 17-inch model down to $2644.00.
MacMall is also offering $150 rebates on most previous-generation MacBook Pros and $50-$100 in rebates off the new MacBook Air.
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Thanks to all the readers who wrote in over the course of the day with word that their pre-orders for Apple's new Time Capsule backup appliance have been prepared for shipment.
"I just checked Apple's web site and my Time Capsule order has changed to 'preparing to ship,'" one reader wrote. "Historically that usually happens the same day products I have ordered from Apple ship."
Said another, "My credit card was charged this afternoon by Apple for my Time Capsule. I assume that means the unit will be shipping today or tomorrow."
Time Capsule was one of four major product introductions at last month's Macworld Expo. Essentially a 802.11n AirPort Extreme router with a built in server-grade hard disk, the device works in conjunction with Apple's Time Machine software to perform complete wireless backups of one or more Leopard-equipped Macs.
Apple is offering Time Capsule in a 500GB configuration for $299 and a 1TB configuration for $499. Readers who've been hesitant to purchase a Time Capsule thus far may want to check out AppleInsider's in-depth review planned for next week.
Wireless bill threatens iPhone exclusivity
The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing today on a new draft law by Rep. Ed Markey that would require every mobile provider to offer subsidy-free wireless customer equipment, effectively breaking the exclusive relationship between Apple and AT&T over the iPhone and allowing all owners of that handset to subscribe to a wireless carrier of their choice.
The bill, titled "Wireless Consumer Protection and Community Broadband Empowerment Act," would establish new rules for wireless carriers that include offering unsubsidized service as well as disclosing rate plans to customers in a "clear, plain, and conspicuous manner."
As part of the draft law, carriers would be obligated to provide more detailed maps of their network coverage areas, and would be forced to allow customers to cancel contracts for any reason without penalty within the first 30 days as well as prorate any fees associated with leaving a contract early.
MacBook Pro Benchmarks
Apple's new line of MacBook Pro notebooks introduced on Tuesday offer marginal performance gains at best when pit against their Fall 2007 predecessors, a series of Geekbench 2 tests conducted by Primate Labs reveal.
"The processor in the new MacBook Pro @ 2.4GHz (T8300) has less L2 cache than processor in the old MacBook Pro @ 2.4GHz (T7700) which explains the slight drop in performance," the software developer said.
"However, when you consider the new MacBook Pro 2.4GHz is the base model, while the old MacBook Pro 2.4GHz was the mid-range model, the small drop in performance comes with a significant reduction in price. Plus, the new Penryn processor uses less energy than the old Merom processor, which means a cooler laptop with increased battery life."
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"Please join us to learn about the iPhone software roadmap, including the iPhone SDK and some exciting new enterprise features," the company wrote in a digital invite distributed by email.
The event is set to take place at 10:00 a.m. sharp Pacific time at the "Town Hall" on Apple's Cupertino campus -- the same venue used for the introduction of the Intel-based Mac mini and iPod Hi-Fi in February of 2006, and the aluminum iMacs this past August.
Per usual, seating for the event will be extremely limited due to the size of the Apple Town Hall, which appears to hold only a couple hundred at best.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs had previously announced plans to unveil the iPhone SDK later this month, but true to recent rumors, delays forced the company to push out the unveiling by a couple of weeks. Earlier information obtained by AppleInsider suggests that Apple had originally intended to present the SDK at an event on Thursday, February 21st.
Developing...
At least superficially, Apple's iPhone recalls the patent through its software database of contacts. Inbound calls to an iPhone from a number associated with a contact display the caller's name. However, the patent also references 1990s-era technologies, including a two-line LCD as well as a separate receiver.
Figa, who created and continues to own the patent, says that he has contacted Apple about licensing the patent. The California company, however, has reportedly declined the request "on the terms offered," though these are not mentioned in the lawsuit.
The complaint demands a jury trial and, if victorious, would seek an injunction against Apple barring it from selling the iPhone and infringing on the patent. It also seeks triple damages for knowing infringement.
Apple has not commented on the suit, which was filed late last week in a Massachusetts district court.
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Instead of reporting the theoretical peak battery life of each system -- a method sometimes criticized for its at times unrealistic conditions -- Apple now bases the figures supplied for all its notebooks on a "wireless productivity" test. The benchmark assumes a user is browsing various websites on Wi-Fi with the screen set to half brightness. In these conditions, the 15-inch MacBook Pro achieves 5 hours of use, while both the 17-inch MacBook Pro and the regular MacBook run for up to 4.5 hours.
This explains why battery life has, at least superficially, gone down despite Penryn's power improvements over the previous generation. Apple press spokesman Anuj Nayar has informed Ars Technica that, if anything, performance has gone up: previous models often expired sooner in the same conditions.
Apple has in the past regularly conducted three different tests to determine how the notebook runs under ideal, moderate, and extreme conditions, Nayar adds. Previous claims always cited the light-duty "highway test," which was allegedly confusing to users. The wireless productivity test splits the balance between this and a DVD playback test, which is often considered one of the hardest tests thanks to its taxing the energy-hungry DVD drive, CPU, and video hardware.
The new metric is not the only undocumented change by the Mac maker, which also notes that its new systems should be more environmentally friendly than old models -- though not as clean as demanded by Greenpeace and other activist groups. Apple describes the "majority" of either system's circuit boards and internal cabling as free of toxic brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and PVC plastic. In his open letter, company chief Steve Jobs said he hoped Apple would completely eliminate both materials from Macs by the end of this year.
The 17-inch MacBook Pro's new LED-backlit option does continue to meet self-imposed goal of moving to mercury-free displays, though the default display uses a mercury-based cold-cathode fluorescent (CCFL) screen.
Other changes known to have been made to the systems are subtle, but worth noting. Buyers of the 13.3-inch MacBook may be disappointed to learn that the new processors, while faster overall, represent a step backwards in terms of their onboard memory cache: the earlier 2GHz and 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo processors carried 4MB of Level 2 cache, while the new models sport only 3MB each.
Also, Apple has for the first time supplied different versions of Bluetooth with its notebooks: the MacBook Pro supports the more recent 2.1 version of the wireless technology, which permits a far simpler pairing process as well as better security and power use. Standard MacBooks continue to use Bluetooth 2.0. No explanation has been given by Apple for the difference.
Prospective buyers of either system might be disappointed to know that the Apple Remote is now a $19 option for both systems rather than a standard, pack-in feature.
Users can download and apply the update by docking their iPhone or iPod touch, selecting it under the device list in iTunes, and then hitting the "Check for update" button.
AppleInsider readers are discussing the 162MB update in this forum thread.
| Related AppleInsider articles:* US iPhone carrier AT and (2) the incidence of 'unlocking' has been much higher than expected," Sacconaghi wrote. The Bernstein analyst was referring to recent reports that Apple has scaled back first calendar quarter iPhone production, and that unlocked versions of the handset may comprise 25 percent or more of the company's total shipments. Should Apple hit its 10 million iPhone sales target, the number of unlocked devices would cause the company to forego between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion in deferred subscriber revenues over two years, he added. Meanwhile, RIM said Monday that it, unlike Apple, has not witnessed a decrease in subscriber growth since the start of the new year, as it had originally projected. Instead, the Blackberry maker now expects fourth-quarter subscriber additions to be approximately 15 - 20 percent higher than the 1.82 million it forecasted in December. "BlackBerry smartphones proved to be a big hit throughout the holiday selling season and we�re pleased to see RIMM�s business momentum continuing in the new year," said co-chief executive Jim Balsillie. "The seasonal slowdown in net subscriber account additions that we expected in the new year did not occur and our focused execution with partners has continued to produce strong results within both enterprise and consumer segments." RIM's ability to maintain its subscriber momentum has been attributed by some to its lower-cost offerings, such as $99 Blackberry Pearl, for which Apple offers no competitive option. Following the introduction of a $499 16GB iPhone earlier this month, BMO Capital Markets analyst Keith Bachman suggested that the Cupertino-based company may be going in the wrong direction when it comes to pricing. "We believe Apple generates more than $200 in gross profit over the life of the phone, compared with approximately $100 for the actual sale of the phone," he wrote in a research report. "Consequently, we believe Apple would be much better off with lower-priced phones, with less profits at the time of sale, and significantly higher revenues/profits over the approximately two-year life of the phone." Still, it's believed that Apple will aim to maintain its current course and the higher average selling price of its iPhone handsets later this spring with the introduction of a 3G model that should also help spur new demand. Reports have suggested that a target introduction is again planned for the June timeframe. |
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Users can download and apply the update by docking their iPhone, selecting it under the device list in iTunes, and then hitting the "Check for update" button.
AppleInsider readers are discussing the 162MB update in this forum thread.
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Periodic threats such as monkeys and parrots add an extra challenge, according to Apple.
The game comprises 100 levels and is available immediately from the iTunes Store for fifth-generation iPods with video, third-generation iPod nanos, and the iPod classic at Apple's standard iTunes price of $5.
The Cupertino-based company also said that there are now over 50 million iTunes Store customers who've combined to purchase over four billion songs, with an astounding 20 million songs sold on Christmas Day 2007 alone.
"We'd like to thank the over 50 million music lovers who have helped the iTunes Store reach this incredible milestone," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "We continue to add great new features like iTunes Movie Rentals to give our customers even more reason to love iTunes."
iTunes had held the title of the No. 3 US music retail since last June, when it cruised by online retailer Amazon.com, snagging over 10 percent of the nation's overall music sales.
Apple's rank as a US music retail has been rising steadily ever since November 2005 when it passed Tower Records, Sam Goody and Borders to crack the Top-10 for the first time.
The part numbers, listed for future MacBook Pros models, were included alongside pricing that matches Apple's current offerings at $1999.00, $2499.00 and $2799.00, respectively, for those part numbers.
Though originally targeted for an introduction during last month's Macworld Expo, the new MacBook Pros saw their release pushed out by approximately 4 weeks as the conference approached.
In addition to Intel's latest Core 2 Duo Penryn mobile processors scaling up to 2.6GHz, the new Apple professional notebooks are also expected to gain an advanced multi-touch trackpad akin to the one which recently made its debut on the MacBook Air.
As such, the new notebooks will also likely include the same Broadcom touch controller chip found in both the MacBook Air and the company's iPhone and iPod touch handhelds, offering the potential for expanded multi-touch capabilities and gestures some time down the line as part of a future software update.
At least one of the inventory systems reflecting the new MacBook Pro part numbers indicates that stock of those models should be on hand by Friday, February 29th, suggesting a formal announcement could come as early as Tuesday. Sources, however, warned that product availability sometimes takes as long as two weeks from when part numbers first turn up in their systems.
In addition to MacBook Pros, Apple this week is also expected to begin shipping the first of its Time Capsule backup appliances (AppleInsider's first look). Available in a 500GB model for $299 and 1TB model for $499, the AirPort Extreme-like device will automatically conduct wireless backups of Macs running the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system.
Update: For the sake of completeness, one source claims the aforementioned part numbers may actually coincide with some form of unexpected update to Apple's 13-inch MacBook line rather than its 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros. Updates will follow if and when any additional information becomes available.
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No justification is given for the delay. However, the progress of the development kit is described as "fluid" and may see Apple release little or no information about the programming environment before the end of February.
"There are, apparently, a lot of moving parts to something this complex," the writer claims.
The report claims authority based on past tips obtained by the magazine staff. The publication successfully leaked news of the SDK just a day before Apple chief executive Steve Jobs revealed official plans to open development to third parties in October.
Despite the delay, rumors have surfaced that the iPhone maker has been eager to spur development as soon as possible and may have released an early SDK to select developers, including a social networking site.
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An unintentional leak (PDF) by Sun Microsystems on its public website has slipped details about Intel's Nehalem processor platform.
Portrayed as a direct successor to Harpertown -- Intel's nickname for the processor platform found in today's Mac Pro, Xserve, and other workstations or servers -- Nehalem is already known to offer a new point-to-point bus design (similar to the HyperTransport found in the PowerMac G5) as well as an on-chip memory controller and hyperthreading, which allows multiple instruction threads on one processor. However, the platform is now known to have three-channel DDR3 memory that should eliminate the bottlenecks for the current dual-channel Harpertown design.
Early benchmarks provided by Sun also suggest that Nehalem will double the floating-point math of the fastest Xeon available today, the 3.2GHz Xeon X5482. Simpler integer math will also jump in speed by more than 40 percent.
Nehalem is due at the end of 2008 and should be accompanied by Dunnington, a six-core Xeon design that replaces the ultra high-end Tigerton platform unused in any current Apple product.
Apple kicks off cellphone, iPod recycling plans
Apple on Monday quietly launched its first mail-in cellphone and iPod recyling program.
While the company has already been offering such a plan for computers and allows in-store iPod recycling, the new plan allows customers to receive either a package or a mailing label to send in as many iPods or cellphones as they like, which are recycled free of charge by the Cupertino-based company.
There are no limits to the age of the iPod, and cellphones can come from any manufacturer, Apple notes.
The move is part of the new environmental policy launched by Apple last year, which company chief Steve Jobs said would bring not just cleaner products but also more aggressive recycling programs.
Apple pressures anti-DRM Hymn Project to pull downloads
Operators of the longstanding Hymn Project revealed late last week that the group has been issued a "cease and desist" notice from Apple, asking them to remove all downloads of the digital rights management (DRM) removal tool from their website.
The team has been one of the most adamant opponents of Apple's FairPlay copy protection scheme for iTunes purchases and has routinely played a cat-and-mouse game with the California company. Hymn has regularly been updated to remove copy protection locks on some iTunes songs and videos, only to find Apple issuing iTunes updates that break Hymn or files modified by the unofficial software.
No specific reason has been given for the shutdown, though proponents of the software believe the release of Requiem, a more aggressive program that allegedly cracked FairPlay altogether, has prompted the Apple legal response.
Australian law could hinder iPhone release
An attempt by Apple to repeat its procedures for past iPhone launches in Australia could face legal roadblocks meant to encourage competition, according to a report by law professors at Queenland University.
While the American company has successfully landed exclusive contracts that make just one carrier the official iPhone host in France, Germany, the US, and the UK, a clause in Australia's Trade Practices Act against forced line bundles may prevent Apple from signing such a contract in the southern country. Whether this is necessary may depend on a review from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission before any deal can be approved.
Queenland researcher Dale Clapperton observes that a non-exclusive deal is unlikely but still desirable. A single-provider iPhone agreement is likened to limiting a car's choice of fuel to one oil company.
"If you fill your car up with fuel from BP the ignition system will detect that and shut down the car," he says.
"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality."
As a result, the Tokyo-based firm said it will focus its efforts on technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content, such as high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies.
Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels immediately, aiming for cessation of the businesses segment by the end of March 2008. The company also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements.
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Beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, Maroon 5 will take a short breather from their worldwide tour with Dashboard Confessional to play an approximate one-hour set of both electric and acoustic material of their latest platinum album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long.
Space for the event is said to be extremely limited, and as such Apple recommends that audience members arrive early to assure entry.
The performance by the Los Angeles natives comes just days after a midnight gig on Thursday in which widely popular alternative rock band Linkin Park played a closed 6-song set at the Soho store.
The performance was recorded for later distribution as exclusive iTunes content.
The part numbers, listed for future MacBook Pros models, were included alongside pricing that matches Apple's current offerings at $1999.00, $2499.00 and $2799.00, respectively, for those part numbers.
Though originally targeted for an introduction during last month's Macworld Expo, the new MacBook Pros saw their release pushed out by approximately 4 weeks as the conference approached.
In addition to Intel's latest Core 2 Duo Penryn mobile processors scaling up to 2.6GHz, the new Apple professional notebooks are also expected to gain an advanced multi-touch trackpad akin to the one which recently made its debut on the MacBook Air.
As such, the new notebooks will also likely include the same Broadcom touch controller chip found in both the MacBook Air and the company's iPhone and iPod touch handhelds, offering the potential for expanded multi-touch capabilities and gestures some time down the line as part of a future software update.
At least one of the inventory systems reflecting the new MacBook Pro part numbers indicates that stock of those models should be on hand by Friday, February 29th, suggesting a formal announcement could come as early as Tuesday. Sources, however, warned that product availability sometimes takes as long as two weeks from when part numbers first turn up in their systems.
In addition to MacBook Pros, Apple this week is also expected to begin shipping the first of its Time Capsule backup appliances (AppleInsider's first look). Available in a 500GB model for $299 and 1TB model for $499, the AirPort Extreme-like device will automatically conduct wireless backups of Macs running the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system.
The numbers are this high in large part due to the relatively quick creation of a hardware-based unlock by the Czech firm Bladox, according to the magazine. In August of last year, the company developed a variant of its Turbo SIM card that turned from handling mobile payments to fooling the iPhone into believing it was running an activated, officially sanctioned SIM card from AT many unlocked iPhones are sold in countries where no official providers exist.
In its latest quarterly results, Apple was comparatively relaxed in its approach to investment firms' concerns about iPhone unlocking. The firm's chief operating officer Tim Cook said during a conference call that the number of unlocked phones was "significant" but could not say how many were operating on unapproved networks, also stating that it was an "expression of strong interest" in the device around the world. Analysts have also noted that Apple may incidentally benefit from the unofficial trade by generating enthusiasm for the products it does sell in these countries.
In fact, most of the help provided to the Cupertino, Calif.-based company in slowing down gray market sales may be from circumstances beyond its control. The international 1.1.1 iPhone firmware update is claimed to have unintentionally broke SIM card hacks but was ironically helped along by the development of strictly software-based workarounds to the problem, which hurt traffic at resellers who depended on hardware solutions for their businesses.
Linkin Park plays private shows at Apple Store Soho (video)
Published: 08:00 AM EST
True to reports, alternative rock band Linkin Park played a private six-song set last night at Apple's Soho retail store in New York City.
The invitation-only, midnight gig was made privy to 200 radio contest winners and was recorded for a future iTunes exclusive release, according to the DailySwarm.
The set list included �Wake,� �Given Up,� �Shadow of the Day,� �My December,� �In Pieces,� and �Bleed It Out.�
Rumors of the band's appearance in conjunction with Apple made headlines earlier this week after AppleInsider discovered that front-man Mike Shinoda had inadvertently tipped-off some of his fans about the collaboration on his blog.
The midnight concert, however, appears to have dashed hopes for a larger Apple media event this month, which had been rumored by several blog sites. With only a handful of business days left in the month, the Cupertino-based company has yet to issue formal invitations to any such gathering, now a telltale sign that no such event will take place.
Meanwhile, Apple's self-imposed released date for the eagerly-awaited iPhone software developers kit (SDK) is rapidly approaching, as are a new line of MacBook Pro notebooks complete with Intel's latest Penryn mobile processors and multi-touch trackpads.
The company has managed a Tuesday product announcement every week since the close of January's Macworld Expo and indications are that this pattern may continue.
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The invitation-only, midnight gig was made privy to 200 radio contest winners and was recorded for a future iTunes exclusive release, according to the DailySwarm.
The set list included �Wake,� �Given Up,� �Shadow of the Day,� �My December,� �In Pieces,� and �Bleed It Out.�
Rumors of the band's appearance in conjunction with Apple made headlines earlier this week after AppleInsider discovered that front-man Mike Shinoda had inadvertently tipped-off some of his fans about the collaboration on his blog.
The midnight concert, however, appears to have dashed hopes for a larger Apple media event this month, which had been rumored by several blog sites. With only a handful of business days left in the month, the Cupertino-based company has yet to issue formal invitations to any such gathering, now a telltale sign that no such event will take place.
Meanwhile, Apple's self-imposed released date for the eagerly-awaited iPhone software developers kit (SDK) is rapidly approaching, as are a new line of MacBook Pro notebooks complete with Intel's latest Penryn mobile processors and multi-touch trackpads.
The company has managed a Tuesday product announcement every week since the close of January's Macworld Expo and indications are that this pattern may continue.
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Compatible with both newer iPod classic and iPod nano devices as well as the older fifth-generation iPod with video, the new game is based on a new story set in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie trilogy's universe.
Players chiefly engage in ship-to-ship combat over the course of 30 missions and are encouraged to use the iPod's click wheel as though it were a boat's steering wheel.
Gamers can also upgrade their ship and bring on well-known characters from the movies as crew members, Apple says.
The game is priced at the same $5 as for all iPod titles and is only the second game based on an outside movie or TV license, the other being an adaptation of ABC's ongoing Lost TV show.
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The fix also improves compatibility between iTunes and a networked Apple TV running the version 2.0 upgrade, Apple says.
Separately, Apple has also begun informing subscribers to its e-mail newsletters that it will offer a selected movie title each week at a 99-cent price, or a third of the price of a back catalog, standard-definition title. The first title is The Hours.
The movie's special pricing takes effect each Thursday and lasts until the following Monday, giving customers the opportunity to finish downloading and playing the movie before the weekend ends.
Apple has regularly offered discounts on music with its free weekly tracks, but until now has not supplied a regular discount on videos.
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The invitation-only, midnight gig was made privy to 200 radio contest winners and was recorded for a future iTunes exclusive release, according to the DailySwarm.
The set list included �Wake,� �Given Up,� �Shadow of the Day,� �My December,� �In Pieces,� and �Bleed It Out.�
Rumors of the band's appearance in conjunction with Apple made headlines earlier this week after AppleInsider discovered that front-man Mike Shinoda had inadvertently tipped-off some of his fans about the collaboration on his blog.
The midnight concert, however, appears to have dashed hopes for a larger Apple media event this month, which had been rumored by several blog sites. With only a handful of business days left in the month, the Cupertino-based company has yet to issue formal invitations to any such gathering, now a telltale sign that no such event will take place.
Meanwhile, Apple's self-imposed released date for the eagerly-awaited iPhone software developers kit (SDK) is rapidly approaching, as are a new line of MacBook Pro notebooks complete with Intel's latest Penryn mobile processors and multi-touch trackpads.
The company has managed a Tuesday product announcement every week since the close of January's Macworld Expo and indications are that this pattern may continue.
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The filing, submitted four times on July 30, 2007 with varying title descriptions, calls for a generic device that tightly integrates yet clearly distinguishes the different types of input without providing excess strain or muscle movement.
"It should therefore appear modeless to the user in the sense that the user should not need to provide explicit mode switch signals such as buttonpresses, arm relocations, or stylus pickups before switching from one input activity to another," Westerman wrote. "Epidemiological studies suggest that repetition and force multiply in causing repetitive strain injuries. Awkward postures, device activation force, wasted motion, and repetition should be minimized to improve ergonomics."
Therefore, the multi-touch creator explained that an ideal implementation of his concept calls for multi-touch surface apparatus which is both compliant and contoured to be comfortable and ergonomic under extended use. It would "provide tactile key or hand position feedback without impeding [a] hand resting on the surface or smooth, accurate sliding across the surface."
The surface would include an electronic system which could provide images of flesh proximity to an array of sensors with such resolution that a variety of hand configurations can be distinguished. This would allow the device to identify different hand parts as they contact the surface so that a variety of hand configurations can be recognized and used to distinguish different kinds of input activity, Westerman said.
Yet another objective of the multi-touch surface would be to reliably extract rotation and scaling, as well as translation degrees of freedom from the motion of two or more hand contacts to aid in navigation and manipulation of two-dimensional electronic documents. Furthermore, it would be capable of reliably extracting tilt and roll degrees of freedom from hand pressure differences to aid in navigation and manipulation of three-dimensional environments.
In its preferred embodiment, Westerman said the surface would be large enough to comfortably accommodate both hands and would be arched to reduce forearm pronation. Text input, pointing, scrolling and some media manipulation functions of the surface would function similarly to that of Apple's existing implementation on the iPhone and iPod touch. In addition, a form of handwriting recognition would be added via a "pen grip detection module."
While in pen grip mode, the module would determine whether the inner gripping fingers of a hand in a pen-gripping mode are actually touching the surface. If so, the module would begin to generate inking events from the path parameters of the inner fingers and append them to the outgoing event queue of the host communication interface.
"These inking events can either cause 'digital ink' to be laved on the display for drawing or signature capture purposes, or they can be intercepted by a handwriting recognition system and interpreted as gestures or language symbols," Westerman explained. "If the inner fingers are lifted, [the module] sends stylus raised events to the host communication interface to instruct the handwriting recognition system of a break between symbols."
"In some applications the user may need to indicate where the 'digital ink' or interpreted symbols are to be inserted on the display by positioning a cursor," Westerman continued. "Though on a multi-touch surface a user could move the cursor by leaving the pen grip configuration and sliding a finger chord, it is preferable to allow cursor positioning without leaving the pen grip configuration. This can be supported by generating cursor positioning events from slides of the palm heels and outer knuckles. Since normal writing motions will also include slides of the palm heels and outer knuckles, palm motions should be ignored until the inner fingers have been lifted for a few hundred milliseconds."
Should the user actually pick up a conductive stylus and attempt to write with it, the tip of the stylus would essentially takes the place of the index fingertip for identification purposes, remaining at or above the vertical level of the knuckles, according to the filing. "Thus the pen grip detector can function in essentially the same way when the user writes with a stylus, except that the index fingertip path sent to the host communication interface will in actuality be caused by the stylus."
In addition to Westerman, the filing is credited to Apple employee John Elias. The concepts presented within the filing are eerily indicative of functions that would be present in a next-generation Apple Newton MessagePad or tablet slate.
Indeed, AppleInsider this past September exclusively reported on Apple's plans for such a device in a report titled: Up next for Apple: the return of the Newton. The project, upon last check, remains very much work-in-progress, as it has been met with the usual assortment of bumps and bruises.
Kicking off with the "American Idol" Top 24 semifinalists this week, customers can purchase music performances for 99 cents per song, and viewers will be able to purchase the full video of Top 12 finalist performances for $1.99, starting March 11. In addition, beginning Monday, fans can pre-order performances of their favorite contestants from the iTunes Store, which will be automatically downloaded the day after the show airs.
"We�ve created a special section on the iTunes Store for �Idol� fans with an incredible array of music and video performances from television�s most popular show," said Eddy Cue, Apple�s vice president of iTunes. "We think �American Idol� viewers are going to love the ability to purchase and download �Idol� performances from iTunes."
iTunes will also provide exclusive direct links from the free streaming performance videos on americanidol.com, the official website of the show and home to MyIdol, the Internet�s largest "American Idol" fan site. Fans will be able to simply click through to iTunes if they want to purchase their favorite performances to own and enjoy on their iPod, iPhone or Apple TV.
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The News Corp.-owned social networking super-site, which maintains over 300 million user accounts, has held talks with all four of the major record labels in recent weeks, the financial paper said.
The service, tentatively dubbed MySpace Music, would reportedly offer both a free ad-supported streaming music model and paid MP3 downloads, which could be played on any digital music player, including Apple's iPod.
In its report, the Journal speculates that MySpace's recent partnership with online video service Hulu, a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp.'s Fox unit, could serve as an example of how the networking site would implement a music service.
However, the paper notes that Universal Music and MySpace are locked in a copyright-infringement lawsuit that would most likely need to be settled before any agreement could be reached on a new service.
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But while the patent was under review, Apple had developed its own similar concept for iTunes Custom Cards. Unlike its past general-purpose gift cards for the iTunes Store, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's then-new cards allowed shoppers to buy a card for a specific artist's album or song, complete with custom artwork.
This apparently direct comparison led to legal pressure from the Driessens, who asked Apple to license the patent once it had been granted -- only to learn after discussions that Apple had simply pulled the iTunes cards from stores in the US, leaving the products on UK shelves alone and the Driessens without the possibility of a licensing deal.
An illustration of the Driessens' patent on gift cards.
To the plaintiffs' surprise, however, Apple appears to have simply resurrected the American version of the concept under a different name more than a year later, in November 2007. Called a Digital Release Album, the card was once again tied to a specific iTunes song or complete record.
An iTunes Digital Release, from 2007 (top); iTunes Custom Cards, from 2005 (bottom).
In releasing these cards, the Driessens say, Apple is simply hoping to skip royalties by implying that customers can claim songs with a notebook computer, iPhone, or iPod using the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at a local Starbucks coffee shop, bypassing the need to return home. Though superficially different, this is just an infringement of the patent under a new name, the lawyers argue.
Starbucks is said to be a complicit partner in the infringement as a willing distributor, selling the cards across the US and holding its "Song of the Day" promotion to encourage purchases of the allegedly infringing iTunes cards.
Apple has not publicly responded to the charges made in the lawsuit, which would bring the complaint to a jury trial and ask for triple the normal damage compensation as well as issue a permanent injunction barring both Apple and Starbucks from selling the offending cards. However, it's notable that Apple's WI-Fi Store sites aren't believed to have referenced the cards, and in current form only spur customers to buy directly from iTunes itself.
Separately this week, Apple was also subject to another suit with seemingly fewer merits, this time manifesting itself in the form of a four-page complaint by John Martin of Rockford, Illinois.
The plaintiff in this second lawsuit accuses the iPhone maker of infringing on a patent for controlling an electronic game system with a finger-release touchscreen serving as the control mechanism. In selling one or more similar products -- which are unnamed in the document but may include the iPhone and iPod touch -- Apple is knowingly drawing on at least some of the patent for its own unlawful gain, Martin's representing law firm says.
As with the Driessen suit, this new case would block Apple from selling any of the alleged infringing products and would look for both royalties as well as "enhanced damages" to compensate for the perceived losses.
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The apparently reluctant concession would follow weeks of steep decline in support for the optical disc standard, which began with Warner Bros.' switch to Blu-ray as its exclusive HD movie format just ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Since then, Best Buy and Netflix have both chosen Blu-ray as their de facto choice for HD movies, relegating HD DVD to second-tier status and threatening to discontinue it entirely in the case of Netflix.
Several independent movie studios have also followed Warner's lead in opting for Blu-ray, with only Paramount and Universal now left as HD DVD supporters.
Just hours later, however, the likelihood of an HD DVD resurgence was dimmed even further by an official announcement by Wal-Mart that it would focus solely on Blu-ray. A statement issued by the big-box retailer on Friday revealed that the company would reorganize shelf space at all its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores within 30 days to promote Blu-ray alone. HD DVD products will exit the company's product channel entirely by June.
Wal-Mart's decision is anticipated to be especially damaging to HD DVD's prospects, as the nationwide chain is often regarded as the single largest video sales outlet in the US and is sometimes cited as a potential obstacle to widespread adoption of online movie downloads through its influence over movie studios' pricing.
And while Toshiba officially remains confident in HD DVD, its frequent partner Microsoft has itself seemingly scaled back its normally vocal endorsement of the beleaguered storage medium, says the Reporter. The Windows developer's technology evangelist for HD DVD, Kevin Collins, has reportedly failed to respond to multiple requests for comments.
Apple has largely kept to the sidelines during the battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD, providing small amounts of support to both camps while declining to build either technology into its Mac range.
Through the new
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