Seth Weintraub

Breaking the No.1 rule of Apple partnership (no talking about shipping Apple products), Sharp President Takashi Okuda today said the company would be shipping iPhone displays this month.

Japan’s Sharp Corp. said it will start shipping screens destined for a new Apple iPhone that is widely expected to be released in October ahead of the pre-Christmas shopping season.

Reuters might have missed the Sept. 21 launch prediction that just about every news organization leaked last week, but they confirmed our bigger 4-inch (1,136-by-640) display prediction and the news about in-cell panels that make the larger device thinner.

The other two suppliers of panels are LG Display Co Ltd and Japan Display Inc., according to Reuters. Sharp has long touted its IGZO display technology as the next big thing in displays, but there is no mention of the technology in the report.

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Retina MacBook Pros shipping times moved last night from a “1-2 week” delivery window to “5-7 days”. This means Apple is close to catching up to demand. Also, with the additional configuration options Apple added to the base model yesterday, there is no reason to have a high-end and a low-end model on the store.

For instance, the low-end Retina can be configured with 2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, or 2.7GHz processors, 8GB or 16GB of RAM, and 256GB, 512GB, or 768GB of Flash storage. Those top out at the same specs as the high-end rMBP (and are priced the same, as well).

However, if you are an EDU or corporate discount customer, it is CHEAPER to configure the low end than buy the high end. From a reader:

The 2.6 8GB 512GB model is $2539 if you choose the base model and add a processor upgrade and storage upgrade and $2599 if you buy it outright. I called apple pointed it out to them and they refunded me 60$ from the laptop i bought last month!

Some more folks chiming in:

[tweet https://twitter.com/aacduke/status/231095060245131264]

[tweet https://twitter.com/akayedigital/status/231108523608645632]

[tweet https://twitter.com/jsarver101/status/231112879301087232]

[tweet https://twitter.com/dwfaust/status/231141739069583360]

Is this an oversight or will additional options soon be available for the high-end?

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Two new rumors from the folks at iLounge this morning (which follow an earlier report):

1. The 19 or 16 pin connector that has been widely rumored for the new iPhone?  Nope, just 8 pin says editor Jeremy Horwitz. He continues: “One source claims that the new connector will feature other design innovations, potentially including the ability to be connected to docks and cables in either orientation (like MagSafe), but the other source could not confirm this or additional changes we’ve heard about; consequently, we consider other changes “quite possible” but uncertain. Given the possibility of grumbling from users regarding accessory incompatibility, it’s safe to say that Apple will attempt to pitch the new connector as superior to its predecessor in a variety of ways, and the smaller size will only be one of them.” Interesting.
2. There will be a “iOS 6 + Bluetooth 4 Link” which they go on to speculate relates to iPod nano receiving a Bluetooth 4 update. That would allow it to act like Sony’s SmartWatch except implemented better obviously. The feature would enable, say, a future iPod nano to display iMessages received by an iPhone, record voice memos that could be shared via the iPhone, and even initiate phone calls through its own headphones. It could also conceivably let you make iPhone calls from your iPad (or possibly even recent Macs), assuming the iPhone was paired with the computer over Bluetooth.

I have long held that the iPod nano was waiting for a connection to Bluetooth 4.0. This opens up many possibilities for the wrist set. For instance, you could make a call on your iPad or Mac through the iPod nano watch as mentioned. You would no longer need to bring your iOS device to your workouts, so long as you were within Bluetooth range (~33 feet).

Also, Apple has pushed Bluetooth 4.0 pretty hard lately. It features a super low power and the ability to pair quickly (instant vs. BT3 and under taking six seconds), meaning these things will be able to go nearly a week on a charge. It is also much thinner than Bluetooth 2 or 3 devices (if the rumor is true, obviously).

(iWatch Q series pictured.)

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If you are considering updating yourself to aMacBook Pro Retina, your options just grew when selecting a new MacBook Pro with Retina display.

Previously, customers who opted for the base model were locked into a 2.3 GHz Core i7 processor and 256 GB of flash storage, with the only configurable onboard option being a $200 RAM upgrade from 8 GB to 16 GB. Customers looking to boost either the CPU or storage were required to step up to the high-end $2799 model, which offers both a 2.6 GHz i7 processor and 512 GB of storage, with additional upgrades beyond that.

You also have the option of pre-installing iWork applications on your Mac. Earlier today, Apple finally released the Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter that was announced in June.

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[slideshow]

Just 24 hours after Hulu started popping up on Apple TV, we now see Amazon’s Instant Video Store in the App Store for iPad. It looks like a full app capable of not only streaming Prime content for free (with the$79 a yearl Amazon Prime membership, but the first month is free) as well as being able to download content for offline viewing. Also, Season Pass is available for TV shows, and episodes are available the morning after the show airs on TV. The app will also resume where you left off watching from Kindle Fire, PS3, PC, Mac, or hundreds of models of connected TVs and Blu-ray players with Amazon Whispersync.

Interestingly, no iPhone version yet.

I can confirm that Airplay only works for audio in streaming video so you can’t stream to an AppleTV, yet. Also, I am able to stream my purchased movies but offline downloading doesn’t appear to be working at the moment (update: 8 hours later, 1 movie has finished downloading).

Amazon’s Cloud Drive got updated just yesterday as well, but with the proximity to the Hulu announcement, we’re thinking this might be Apple’s move more than Amazon finally building the app. On the other hand, perhaps the $199 Google Nexus 7 is signaling a big shift – that Amazon doesn’t need to build its own hardware and it can just produce software for the variety of tablets out there.

Full App Description below:
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Announced at WWDC, and the only way to get Firewire peripherals working with the new Retina Display MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs (besides a Thunderbolt Display), the new Thunderbolt to Firewire cable is now available at the Apple Store online. (Thanks, SchulMarm!)

The adapter ships in one to three business days and is $29.

(Update: the page appears to be off and on)
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[slideshow]

Samsung’s F700 and other pre-iPhone designs have long been known, but Judge Lucy Koh did not let Samsung enter that information into evidence (those are the breaks) for whatever reason. After pleading with the judge to admit the evidence, Samsung’s lawyer desperately asked, “What’s the point in having a trial?” Koh replied, “Don’t make me sanction you. Please.” Samsung, not happy with that answer, sent the barred slides to AllThingsD and other press outlets saying, “The excluded evidence would have established beyond doubt that Samsung did not copy the iPhone design.”

The action earned Samsung some harsh words from the judge:

Judge Koh was none to pleased with the move herself, calling for an immediate meeting with Quinn.

“Tell Mr. Quinn I’d like to see him today,” Koh said. “I want to know who drafted the press release, who authorized it from the legal team.”

The Verge told an even harsher version of the events:

Koh was “livid” when she found out about the All Things D story and press release, and demanded to know if Quinn was involved. “I want Mr. Quinn’s declaration as to what his role was,” said Koh. “I want to know who authorized it.”

The evidence is below:
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Completing the iCloud/iMessage/App Store trifecta, readers reported that they are not able to make purchases on the App Store. We have been able to confirm that the App Store is working for us, but we are, like many of our readers, unable to make a purchase.

This follows a poor day for Apple in which iCloud email is gone for some and iMessages is (again) being flaky.

Update: FaceTime appears to be down too. There are clearly some big troubles with the Apple ID system.

Update 2: App Store purchasing appears to be back up.

Many reactions on Twitter (below):

[tweet https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/230431147040051200]

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Chrome stable just hit version 21, so you can move back to stable from Canary if you have a Retina MacBook Pro. Other goodies include:

• Chrome now includes the getUserMedia API, which lets you grant web apps access to your camera and microphone without a plug-in. The getUserMedia API is the first step in WebRTC, a new real-time communications standard which aims to allow high-quality video and audio communication on the web.
• The getUserMedia API also allows web apps to create awesome new experiences like Webcam Toyand Magic Xylophone. In Chrome Web Lab, if you’re on the latest version of Chrome, theSketchbots experiment uses getUserMedia to let you take a picture of your face, which is then converted to a line drawing and sent to a robot in the Science Museum in London. The robot then draws out your portrait in a patch of sand, which you can watch live on YouTube and visitors can watch in person at the museum. It’s just about as crazy as it sounds, and twice as cool.
• In addition, today’s Stable channel release includes deeper Google Cloud Print integration,expanded support for gamepads, and support for high-resolution Mac Retina screens. To check it all out, just download Google Chrome.

Get updating!
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Reuters reports that Google will be fined $22.5 million for bypassing Apple Safari browser security settings to track user behavior, allegedly for the purposes of advertising.

Members of the Federal Trade Commission voted to approve a consent decree that will allow Google to settle the agency’s investigation but admit no liability, said one of the sources, who was not authorized to speak on the record.

An official announcement is expected within days, the second source said.

The allegations began in February, when it was discovered that Google and other ad companies were circumventing Apple’s Safari browser security settings to allow access to cookies.

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Image via AP

As first reported by News Corp’s AllthingsD, News Corp’s Daily iPad publication is cutting its staff by a third.

The publisher plans to tell its workers today that it will fire 50 of its 170 employees, according to [colleagues] familiar with the Daily’s plans.

The news follows a report from earlier this month by the New York Observer that claimed The Daily was winding down operations and ultimately shutting down after the Nov. 6 elections. It would appear the iPad-only magazine is in that process.

From Day One, we were highly critical of the News Corp iPad app that aimed to revolutionize newspapers for the digital age—despite the amount of hype built before it launched. From its hay-day, The Daily has been relatively slow to load and present new content, especially considering our fast pace, gimmie-gimmie world. Moreover, its content has not always been hard-hitting.

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[hulu id=w7pqikydrnjifmvyxfuslg width=650 height=350]

We broke the news late last year that Apple was working on a Hulu Plus app for Apple TV. Unfortunately, getting the app to the Apple TV was a political issue, not a technical one.

We’ve gotten word that inside Apple there are Apple TVs running the Hulu Plus app natively. The app is feature complete and ready to roll out to Apple TV users on current builds. In fact, it has been ready for at least a month and development is now on hold.

While there are no technical issues standing in the way of the Hulu Plus release on Apple TV, there appear to be some political ones. At some level at Apple, there appears to be some consideration that the Hulu Plus app could eat into iTunes TV sales on the Apple TV. Where Netflix tends to run older programming, iTunes is the Apple TV’s only outlet for current TV programming….

Today, our Apple TVs are lighting up with some Hulu Plus goodness. If you do not see it, a quick reboot will bring it up. Hulu offers a free one-week trial here. Pictures directly from the screen are below.

Update: Hulu has updated its blog with the news and provided an unnecessary instructional video (Above).

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