World of Apple

Apple today has released the next build of Mac OS X 10.6.3 to registered developers.

The latest build labelled 10D558 and weighing in at 710.5MB has been delivered in close proximity to the last build and the attached notes remain unchanged. Sources continue to insist to World of Apple that a release is imminent.

Seed notes below.

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Apple has in the last week doubled the download limit for App Store downloads when using a carriers 3G network.

Previously Apps downloaded from the App Store would have to be downloaded using WiFi if over 10MB, this limit is now 20MB and is said to not only apply to Apps but podcasts and videos too.

Following a complaint filed by Kodak last month against Apple and Research in Motion (RIM) the U.S. International Trade Commission has announced that it will investigate the iPhone and Blackberry makers.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Eastman Kodak Company of Rochester, NY, on January 14, 2010. The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain mobile telephones and wireless communication devices featuring digital cameras and components thereof that infringe a patent asserted by Kodak. The complainant requests that the USITC issue an exclusion order and cease and desist orders.

Kodak alleges that the iPhone and Blackberry use technologies that infringe patents and has asked the ITC to ban the imports of units in the United State.

The USITC will offer a “final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time.”

A Reuters report on Wednesday details the issues Apple’s suppliers and manufacturers have with guarding the secrets that they hold. The piece particularly focusses on the Foxconn manufacturing plant in China.

Tipped by a worker outside the Longhua complex that a nearby Foxconn plant was manufacturing parts for Apple too, our correspondent hopped in a taxi for a visit to the facility in Guanlan, which makes products for a range of companies.

As he stood on the public road taking photos of the front gate and security checkpoint, a guard shouted. The reporter continued snapping photos before jumping into a waiting taxi. The guard blocked the vehicle and ordered the driver to stop, threatening to strip him of his taxi license.

The correspondent got out and insisted he was within his rights as he was on the main road. The guard grabbed his arm. A second guard ran over, and with a crowd of Foxconn workers watching, they tried dragging him into the factory.

The reporter asked to be let go. When that didn’t happen, he jerked himself free and started walking off. The older guard kicked him in the leg, while the second threatened to hit him again if he moved. A few minutes later, a Foxconn security car came along but the reporter refused to board it. He called the police instead.

After the authorities arrived and mediated, the guards apologized and the matter was settled. The reporter left without filing a complaint, though the police gave him the option of doing so.

“You’re free to do what you want,” the policeman explained, “But this is Foxconn and they have a special status here. Please understand.”

The article also revealed that Apple often carries out spot checks of manufacturers to ensure security is tight, adding that several suppliers have been warned about losing their contracts if leaks continue.

Apple is also said to use a lot of custom parts, request tight lead times whilst supplying different manufacturers with different parts of a product to limit how much they can discover about the device.

Apple has begun a MacBook Repair Extension Program for Hard Drive Issues to repair or refund owners of black or white MacBooks sold between approximately May 2006 and December 2007 who have suffered faulty hard drive issues.

Symptoms are described as a flashing question mark on the screen at which point Apple will “examine the hard drive to confirm if it is eligible for a replacement, free of charge, under this program.”

More specifically the issue that seems to effect MacBooks with Seagate hard drives is said to only prevail on 13-inch MacBooks with a processor speed of 1.83GHz, 2GHz, or 2.16GHz and one of the following hard drive capacities 60GB, 80GB, 100GB, 120GB, or 160GB.

iPhone 3GS | Image courtesy of Apple

Apple has been officially awarded the “IPHONE” trademark in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under number 3,746,840 covering International Classes 9, 28 and 38.

Of interest from the award which covers both the name and logo is that the trademark includes classes 9, 28 and 38. The most interesting of the three being class 28 which covers “Handheld unit for playing electronic games.”

View the full patent certificate here, awarded on February 9, 2010.

An issue that has plagued early 2009 Nahalem-based Mac Pros has been purportedly rectified with a small update from Apple. The issue would cause a 20 percent performance drop when audio was played in Mac OS X, and playing music in iTunes causes temperatures to sore in the Mac Pros.

Apple issued an update yesterday with an aim to fix the issue is available through software update. The 1.6MB download is described by Apple to “reduces processor utilization during audio activities, such as playing or recording music.”

The iTunes Store is quickly approaching the download of the 10 billionth song and will mark the moment by giving away a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

Since the store opened in April 2003 it has reached multiple milestones, iTunes reached its first billion songs downloaded in February 2006 and 3 billion songs in July of 2007.

Apple website read, “iTunes changed the way you buy music, making songs and albums available for download, day or night. Seven years later, we’re about to celebrate our biggest milestone for music, yet — 10 billion songs downloaded”.

Apple TV Interface | Image courtesy of Apple

Apple today released a software update for the Apple TV but has yet to reveal any details of the update. Apple TV 3.0.2 is said by users who have updated to make no noticeable changes.

Until Apple releases a related support article smart speculation suggests that the update simply brings compatibility with Aperture 3 which was released yesterday.

Apple TV 3.0 was released in October last year bringing major UI changes and iTunes LP playback capabilities.

2009 Aluminum Keyboard Firmware Update 1.0

This firmware update improves battery performance of the 2009 Aluminum Apple Wireless Keyboard when used in combination with other Bluetooth devices (example. Magic Mouse, Bluetooth headsets).

Both IDC and comScore recently released reports on smartphone market share for the last quarter of 2009.

According to comScore Apple’s share grew to 25.3% up from 24.1% in the previous quarter in the U.S. At the same time Research in Motions’s share fell to 41.6% from 42.6%.

IDC also reported that in the worldwide market Apple gained significantly to reach a 16% share during 4Q09 with unit shipments of 8.7 million. IDC also offered market share information for the whole of 2009 showing Apple in a dominant third place behind Nokia and RIM. During 2009 Apple’s market share almost doubled from 9.1% to 14.4%.