World of Apple

DigiTimes is reporting that Apple is considering using Intel’s Moorestown mobile device platform in a future iPhone.

Moorestown was introduced last month at the Intel Developer Forum, although not expected until 2009, Moorestown chips will be based on Intel’s 45-nanometer manufacturing process and therefore promise to be ten times more power-efficent than today’s embedded mobile chips, enabling longer battery life in smaller form factors.

Moorestown will combine the CPU, graphics, video and memory controller onto a single chip. Based on Intel’s “Menlow” MID design due out a year earlier, it will also incorporate wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, 3G and WiMAX.

Apple currently uses the similar Samsung SoC processor which is based on the ARM architecture.

Mulitple sites are reporting that Steve Jobs commented at yesterdays special event that a 3G iPhone is being worked on.

Pocketlint quotes Jobs as saying; “You can expect a 3G iPhone later next year”.

Engadget however writes;

Our phone has a talk time of 8 hours and that’s really important when you want to use your phone for internet and music. 3G needs to get back up to 5+ hours, something we think well see later next year.

On the other hand TheStreet.com writes that a 3G iPhone will hit the market sometime in the 1st Quarter of 2008.

Mac Rumors also notes that during the 2007 Macworld keynote, Steve Jobs spoke about a 3G iPhone that Apple was working on.

Slashgear offers a video on YouTube of Steve Jobs discussing 3G but none of the quoted phrases turn up in the video (after the jump).

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In just 13 hours Apple is set to kick off a press conference at the largest Apple Store in the world, the Regent Street Apple Store.

The 28,000 square foot Apple Store has closed early on Monday evening and will not re-open to the public until 4.00PM on Tuesday afternoon, to allow the press conference to proceed in the theatre area of the store.

Mac Rumors and some photos on Flickr show that Apple has closed the store early this Monday evening and covered the windows in black drape cloths. With signs indicating to the public when the store will re-open.

World of Apple will be covering tomorrow’s event live using our advanced AJAX based web application. The special page which is able to survive massive loads and traffic spikes offers readers a seamless and refresh-free method of following the event.

Join World of Apple at the following local times for live coverage:

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Now lets take a look at the rumour roundup.

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Think Secret writes a quick article noting that Apple is expected to release a firmware update for the iPhone, possibly in the coming hours.

The site notes that the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store will be one of the new features in the software update which will repotedly come as version 1.1 which differs from screenshots we saw late last week.

Sources have disclosed to Think Secret that the update was due last week but bug fixes pushed it back.

Mac Rumors has noted that Apple’s $100 iPhone credit page shows an iPhone with version 1.1.1 of firmware. The current iPhone firmware is 1.0.2.

Apple is expected to release an update to install the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store any day now.

The rumour site also notes that two new options appear to be in the ‘Settings’ menu:

• International Keyboard
• Home button

Think Secret reports on the European iPhone which is looking more than likely to be announced at this coming Tuesday’s Special Event.

The rumour site writes that the iPhone will be on sale in the first half of November to UK consumers and will not be equipped with 3G support. Think Secret targets November 12 as the official shipping date although sources have disclosed to the rumour site that it could ship a week earlier.

Think Secret confirms O2 as the carrier for the iPhone in the UK.

Moving onto Germany the rumour site notes that T-Mobile is most likely to sell the iPhone.

Reuters is also backing this up noting that the deal will also be announced at next weeks Special Event. The iPhone is said to be €399 (around $554) in Germany.

Last week an advert purporting to be from T-Mobile in Germany listed a November 12 shipping date for a 16GB iPhone with 3G.

Finally, Think Secret looks at the French market and writes that Apple will announce that Orange will sell the iPhone and will announce the deal at Apple Expo which kicks off in Paris, on September 25. The iPhone is rumoured to ship in France on November 29.

As with tradition, we will offer a roundup of the rumours before tomorrow’s Special Event.

Take a look at some past roundups, it’s always fun to see how horrible inaccurate some rumours are;

• Special Event: Tuesday August 7th 2007
• WWDC 2007
• NAB Special Event
• Macworld 2007
• WWC 2006
• February 28th 2006 Special Event
• Macworld 2006

Join World of Apple tomorrow for live coverage of Apple’s Special Event which will be start at:

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• 6:00PM - London
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Let’s get going with the rumour roundup…

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Another report has lent itself to the persistent rumours that O2 will receive the lucrative contract for the iPhone in the UK market.

Mobile Today claims that O2 has secured the deal by accepting Apple’s initial proposals and chose not to negotiate details.

Mobile Today also explains that Computer Warehouse has been working with Apple to launch an iPod and iPhone store inside a Carphone Warehouse shop on Oxford Street, London.

The magazine also notes that the introduction of the iPhone to the UK market will be hosted at a special event at O2’s huge London O2 venue in Docklands.

Product (RED) shuffle?

AppleInsider writes that all the hype surrounding next weeks Special Event is focused on the iPod nano and its bigger brother the video. But the rumour site states that reliable sources point towards the release of a Product (RED) iPod shuffle.

Although the addition wouldn’t be an update the site does note that the iPod shuffle is the newest of all the iPods and doesn’t necessarily require any update.

(PRODUCT) RED products such as the (RED) nano help benefit the (RED) charity created by Bobby Shriver and U2 front-man Bono, which encourages big businesses to help fight against AIDS in Africa through donations. In addition to Apple, (RED) has so far gained the support of several other big names that include the Gap, Motorola, American Express, and Converse.

Steve Jobs presents the iPhone at Macworld 2007, his iTunes featured a Ringtones tab

Custom iPhone Ringtones

A relative newcomer to the rumour scene, AlleyInsider states that “a well informed” source has disclosed to them that we will not see any form of Beatles announcement at next weeks event.

The source does on the other hand confirm the existence of a new iPod but also mentions ringtones for iPhone users. The source states that users will be able to make songs they have purchased from the iTunes Store into ringtones, bizarrely Universal songs are reported not to work.

Apple has pointed towards the existence of Ringtones in iTunes before.

HD Content for iTunes Store?

Carl Howe of Blackfriars’ Marketing notes that Akamai, Apple’s long standing internet content partner has announced that it has added high-defintion content to its distribution options.

Howe points towards Apple possibly announcing the content at next weeks Special Event, and uses the Apple TV with high-defintion outputs has his reasoning.

The Financial Times is reporting that Apple has finalised deals with European networks who will carry the iPhone.

In the contracts Apple has written up the company asks for the networks to hand over 10 percent of revenues gained from calls and data on an iPhone.

The credible news site states that the contract was signed by T-Mobile of Germany, Orange of France and O2 in the UK, people familiar with the situation told FT Deutschland, the Financial Times’s sister paper.

The site also reports that the operators will announce the deals at the IFA trade fair held in Berlin which runs from August 31st through September 5th.