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AT&T Cuts Pricing on 'AT&T Next' Smartphone Upgrade Program, iPhone Now $1/Year Cheaper Than Verizon

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Following a strong backlash after the introduction of its AT&T Next smartphone upgrade program, AT&T has cut pricing on a number of devices in the program, including the iPhone.

Previously, the iPhone cost $32.50 per month under AT&T Next, making it more expensive than comparable plans from Verizon and T-Mobile. Now, however, the 16GB iPhone can be had for $27 per month -- one dollar per year cheaper than under a comparable Verizon plan.

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Through the program, customers end up double paying for their devices through both the new monthly handset payments and the portion of the monthly service charge that has traditionally been collected by the carrier to recoup its upfront handset subsidies. Assuming that $20 of AT&T's monthly service fees go toward recouping the carrier's handset subsidy, a customer looking to upgrade after 12 months would have paid $324 in device payments on a 16 GB iPhone 5 and $240 from monthly service fees, yielding total payments of $564 for the $650 device, although they also have to turn in the device to AT&T.

Verizon's Edge program appears to work in a similar manner, and now, for a similar price. Splitting the $650 iPhone cost over 24 months yields monthly payments of just over $27, and thus a customer looking to upgrade after 12 months would have paid $325 in device payments and $240 from monthly service fees, making for total payments of $565 plus the device trade-in.

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ITC Rules in Favor of Apple, Older Samsung Products Facing Ban

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The U.S. International Trade Commission today ordered an import ban against some Samsung products after finding that the company did infringe on two key Apple patents. The patents include the "Steve Jobs patent" that pertains to touchscreen technology and a patent that detects when a headset is plugged into a device.

Like the import ban that was levied against Apple and later vetoed, Samsung's import ban will take place after a 60-day Presidential review period. It is unlikely that Samsung will get the same presidential intervention, however, as Samsung's patent violations do not involve standard-essential patents. According to AllThingsD, Apple praised the court's decision.

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"With today's decision, the ITC has joined courts around the world in Japan, Korea, Germany, Netherlands and California by standing up for innovation and rejecting Samsung's blatant copying of Apple's products," Apple said. "Protecting real innovation is what the patent system should be about."

This particular Apple vs. Samsung case began back in mid–2011, after Apple asked the ITC to investigate whether the South Korean company had infringed on a number of different patents. In addition to taking their case to the ITC, Samsung and Apple have fought in numerous courtrooms around the world since their dispute began.

The two have a number of other court battles coming in the months ahead, including an upcoming trial in November that will redetermine a portion of the damages that Samsung must pay Apple.

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T-Mobile to End 'No Money Down' Promotion for iPhone 4S and iPhone 5

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T-Mobile will be discontinuing the "No Money Down" promotion that it launched in late July, reports AllThingsD. The promotion, which ends on Saturday, allowed new T-Mobile subscribers to purchase an iPhone with no downpayment, paying for the full cost of the phone with monthly payments of approximately $25.

While the iPhone 4 and other smartphones will still be available with no money down, the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 will revert to T-Mobile’s original pricing terms. For the iPhone 5, customers will need to pay $145.99 upfront and make 24 monthly payments of $21.

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T-Mobile did not give a reason why the two iPhone models were removed from the promotion, but a representative gave AllThingsD the following statement: "As is the nature of promotions, pricing moves are temporary."

Despite the return of the downpayment, T-Mobile's pricing remains the most affordable for an iPhone 5 from the major carriers.

T-Mobile, which introduced its "Un-Carrier" policies aiming to separate device costs from service costs in March, has garnered 1.1 million new customers during the last few months. T-Mobile CEO John Legere said earlier this week that the company is planning on expanding its Apple product offerings beyond the iPhone.

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Size Comparison of a 12.9-Inch iPad with Smaller iPad Models and 13-Inch MacBook Air

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Back in May, Korean site ETNews.com reported that Apple was looking at the possibility of launching a 12.9-inch iPad in early 2014 as a larger sibling to the original 9.7-inch iPad and the 7.9-inch iPad mini. The rumor, which included a claim that the device would be called the "iPad Maxi", was quickly brushed aside as a likely inaccurate claim, but late last month The Wall Street Journal brought fresh attention to the rumor with its own claims about Apple testing an iPad with a display "slightly less than 13 inches diagonally".

With the rumors sparking interest in what Apple might be able to do with a significantly larger iPad display, we commissioned CiccareseDesign to create renderings of what such a device might look like compared to the current iPad mini and iPad models, as well as the rumored fifth-generation iPad, which has been claimed to be adopting some of the iPad mini's styling with narrower side bezels.

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12.9-inch iPad (left) with fourth-generation iPad (right) and iPad mini (bottom)
[Click for larger]

Increasing the diagonal measurement of the iPad's display from 9.7 inches to 12.9 inches while maintaining the same 4:3 aspect ratio yields a substantial increase in display area of about 40%, leading us to believe that Apple will not simply scale up the existing iPad resolution to the larger screen size. Doing so would reduce pixel density from the 132 pixels per inch (ppi) or 264 ppi Retina on the current iPad to approximately 99 ppi (198 ppi Retina), making icons and other interface elements extremely large.

If Apple were, however, to maintain the same 132/264 ppi of the current 9.7-inch iPad, this 12.9-inch iPad could conveniently carry an increased resolution of approximately 1366 x 1024 (2712 x 2048 Retina), matching the "HD" display standard in width and exceeding it in height.

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12.9-inch iPad (left) with rumored fifth-generation iPad (right) and iPad mini (bottom)
[Click for larger]

Speculating that Apple could take this approach with a larger iPad, even though it would necessitate additional work by developers to support the new resolution, we have rendered our 12.9-inch iPad at this higher resolution that maintains the pixel density of the current iPad. Doing so would allow the home screen to display at least one additional row of app icons with some increased spacing, and perhaps even more if spacing were reduced slightly.

Taking things even further, if Apple were to approach the pixel density of the iPad mini's display on this larger iPad, it could offer an even higher resolution of 1600 x 1200 (3200 x 2400 Retina) or 1680 x 1260 (3360 x 2520 Retina) on a display offering twice the area of the iPad mini's display.

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12.9-inch iPad (left) with 13-inch MacBook Air (right)
[Click for larger]

For comparison purposes, we've also rendered this 12.9-inch iPad next to a 13-inch MacBook Air, illustrating how the two devices with nearly identical screen sizes would compare physically. With a higher resolution than the current full-size iPad, the 12.9-inch iPad could be positioned as an even more feasible option to Apple's Mac notebooks for some users.

Apple is expected to launch the fifth-generation iPad within in the September-October timeframe, with an updated iPad mini reportedly carrying a Retina display and following relatively shortly thereafter. The original Korean report suggested that Apple's 12.9-inch iPad could launch early next year, but The Wall Street Journal's more recent report did not include a timeframe and in fact simply noted that Apple has been testing prototypes of the device and that it may ultimately never make it to market.

Related Roundups: iPad, iPad Pro
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now), iPad Pro (Caution)
Related Forum: iPad
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Hands-On with the 'Automatic' Connected Driving Assistant System

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Announced earlier this year, the Automatic Smart Driving Assistant is a Bluetooth 4.0 device that plugs in to your car's OBD-II port. Typically found somewhere under the steering wheel of every vehicle made after 1996 in the USA, the OBD-II port provides all sorts of useful diagnostic information which traditionally is only used by mechanics and for emissions testing.

Over the years, a number of devices have been released for home mechanics to connect to this port -- both to a Mac via USB and to iOS devices via the dock port. However, for the mechanical layman none of them have been that useful, with functionality specifically for figuring out why your "Check Engine" light is on or otherwise tuning/tweaking your engine.

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Automatic changes all that. The Smart Driving Assistant is about the size of two matchbooks, and lives its life constantly connected to your car's OBD-II port. Unboxing the device is uneventful, as all that's really in the box is the Smart Driving Assistant, a small Automatic "A" bumper sticker, and a piece of paper that essentially tells you to download the Automatic app on your iPhone. Setup is simple, and involves creating a simple login to the Automatic service and then pairing your iPhone using the unique security code printed on the bottom of the Smart Driving Assistant.

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From there, it asks you to start your vehicle, and you're on your way. Amusingly enough, to get the setup to actually finish the engine of your car has to start. I drive a 2011 Prius, and the internal combustion engine only fires up when it's actually needed. So, there was a bit of confusion between what the app was asking me to do (simply start my car) and what I needed to do, which amounted to just driving around the block so the gas engine started.

The Automatic app runs in the background and automatically connects to the Smart Driving Assistant whenever you get in your car. Regardless of whether or not you even have the app open, once you start driving, it begins tracking everything you're doing. Data points captured include how long you were driving (both in time and distance), your miles per gallon, how many times you both braked or accelerated too hard, and how many minutes you were driving over 70 miles per hour. Your route is also saved and plotted on a map, and by tracking local gas prices the app computes how much each trip cost you.

All of this data is tallied together for your weekly totals and averages which is displayed at the top of your driving timeline. Additionally, using the information the app collects, it computes a "Drive Score" to grade you on how efficiently it thinks you're driving. In its current implementation this scoring system seems crazy, as right now I'm rocking a 35 out of 100 in my Prius, regardless of the fact that I'm exceeding the EPA estimated MPG of my car. The Automatic blog mentions tweaking this formula, as right now it is not computed on a specific car-by-car basis and instead is just grading you on hard brakes, acceleration, and how often you're driving over 70 MPH.

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Arguably the most useful feature of the Automatic Smart Driving Assistant's current implementation is seamlessly saving the location of where you parked your car. When you turn off your car, the app tags your current GPS location, and a simple tap loads up a full-screen map showing where you are in relation to your car. In my experience, accuracy of this feature has been fantastic, and way more useful than my typical routine of wandering through the parking lot pressing the lock button on my key fob over and over when I can't find my car.

Without a doubt, the geek-factor of the Automatic Smart Driving Assistant is off the charts. Being able to load up an app and see exactly where your car is, exactly how much each trip cost you in gas, and everything else feels futuristic -- particularly with how seamless this all is with the automatic Bluetooth connection and background data collection. It's also by far the most user-friendly OBD-II device I've seen, in that it parses the data the port can deliver in a very easy to understand format even for the least mechanically-minded drivers out there. The system also remains in beta testing, although it is unclear whether any additional features will be added before the official launch.

However, just how useful the Smart Driving Assistant actually is in reducing fuel consumption is debatable. It aims to save gas by reducing the amount of hard braking you do, how much of a lead foot you have, and how much you speed. But, do you really need a $70 gizmo to tell you that? Just simply making an effort to drive more slowly and conservatively, and both gradually accelerating and braking will have the same effect -- all without spending $70.

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Twitter #music App Now Offers New Music Discovery Tools and Personalized Recommendations

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twittermusicTwitter today launched a significant update for its Twitter #music app, adding new music discovery features to allow the service to better compete with other music services like Rdio, Pandora, and Spotify, all of which offer robust content discovery tools.

Users can now listen to an artist's top tracks, listen to similar artists, or listen to artists that a favored artist follows on Twitter. The #music app also includes a function that scans an iPhone's music library in order to make more relevant song and artist suggestions based on past preferences and it takes note of artists that users have tweeted about.

What's New in Version 1.2

We've added a bunch of new ways of discovering music. Listen to artist's top tracks, similar artists, and the artists that your favorite artist follows on Twitter.

We also scan your iPhone's music library now to suggest more relevant artists to you. And we show you the artists that you've Tweeted about so you can always get back to them.

Finally, we've localized #music into all of your favorite languages. If you're one of those good looking people living in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, or Switzerland then we've got you covered!

Twitter #music is an iPhone app that can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

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DOJ Says Publishers Are Again Colluding in Objecting to Proposed Apple Penalty in E-Book Case

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iBooks.pngWith Apple and the U.S. Department of Justice headed back to court today for a hearing on the government's proposed penalties for Apple, GigaOM highlights several developments in the case. Of particular interest is a letter from DOJ attorney Lawrence Buterman arguing that an objection to the proposed penalties by the publishers that were part of the case is direct evidence of why the penalties are needed to protect consumers.

“A necessary component of this Court’s decision finding Apple liable for horizontal price-fixing is that the publishers themselves were engaged in a horizontal price-fixing conspiracy…[There] is reason to believe the Publisher Defendants may be positioning themselves to pick things back up where they left off as soon as their two-year clocks run. Indeed, the very fact that the Publisher Defendants have banded together once again, this time to jointly oppose two provisions in the Proposed Final Judgment that they believe could result in lower ebook prices for consumers, only highlights why it is necessary to ensure that Apple (and hopefully other retailers) can discount ebooks and compete on retail price for as long as possible.”

Apple has called the proposed penalties, which would force the company to allow competitors to bring back direct links to their e-book stores in their App Store apps and nullify existing "agency model" contracts with publishers, "draconian" and "punitive". Apple could also end up being liable for as much as $500 million in damages.

At today's hearing, Apple will also argue for a stay on further court proceedings until its appeal can be heard, proposing that a jury trial be held in October 2014. The DOJ is arguing against a stay and suggesting that an appeal trial should be held beginning in April 2014.

Update: Associated Press reports that Judge Denise Cote has denied Apple's request for a stay of the case pending appeal.

A judge on Friday refused a request by Apple to temporarily suspend her ruling that it violated antitrust laws by conspiring with publishers to raise electronic book prices in 2010.

Judge Denise Cote, ruling from the bench in Manhattan federal court, declined to withdraw the effect of last month's ruling while Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Inc. appeals.

The maker of iPods, iPads and iPhones continues to fight what it calls "false accusations."

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'Blizzard WCS' Launches for iOS, Allows for Mobile Streaming of StarCraft II WCS

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Video game company Blizzard Entertainment has launched Blizzard WCS for iOS, an app made specifically for tracking the progress of the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS). The app allows users the ability to watch live streams of WCS matches as well as archived videos with AirPlay capability, and also features content that spotlights individual players and eSports news.

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The Blizzard WCS app for iPhone, iPod, and iPad is the perfect tool for eSports fans to keep up with all the exciting action of the StarCraft II World Championship Series. This app allows you to view live WCS matches and videos on demand (VODs), check results of prior matches, read eSports news, watch exclusive videos, and more!

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty originally launched on the Mac in 2010, and its expansion, StarCraft II: Heart of The Swarm launched this past March. Blizzard WCS is a universal app that can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

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Cincinnati Bell to Begin Offering iPhone 5 on August 16

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Earlier this week, The Cincinnati Enquirer took a look at the history and future of Cincinnati Bell, the 140-year-old telecommunications company serving the Cincinnati, Ohio area. Included in that report was a mention that the company's wireless division will begin offering the iPhone for the first time later this month.

Cincinnati Bell plans to start carrying Apple’s iPhone 5 this month, which will be the first time the company has offered the popular phone. Why the company’s opted against carrying the iPhone until now vividly illustrates its wireless dilemma: Apple can force carriers to buy a certain number of iPhones, and those carriers must eat the cost of any unsold iPhones. Carriers also typically subsidize the cost of the $600 iPhones, which they sell for about $200.

The landlocked local market’s size is a challenge for Cincinnati Bell, which must pay other carriers when local customers roam outside its service area, and limits its options. Cincinnati Bell, which does offer a 4G network, continues to evaluate whether upgrading to LTE network speeds that optimize the newest smartphones’ performance is worth the investment.

The Cincinnati Enquirer has now confirmed that the carrier will launch the iPhone 5 on August 16, and a source at Cincinnati Bell has informed MacRumors that staff members are now receiving training materials in advance to prepare them to begin selling the device.

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Device pricing does, however, appear to be higher on Cincinnati Bell than with other carriers, an issue that is not limited to the iPhone. According to training materials, the iPhone 5 will typically be priced at $299.99 after a mail-in rebate on a two-year contract, apparently for the 16 GB model that is generally priced at $199 on-contract at other carriers. For the launch weekend of August 17-18, Cincinnati Bell will be offering a trade-in deal worth an additional $100 off of the price of the iPhone 5 on in-store purchases, although details on which devices qualify for the trade-in offer are unclear.

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'Rise Alarm Clock' for iOS Named Apple's Free App of the Week

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rise_alarm_clock_iconRise, an alarm clock app optimized for both the iPhone and iPad, has been named Apple's App of the Week and can now be downloaded for free. The app distinguishes itself from the stock Clock app found on iOS in that it allows for the user to set alarms with dragging gestures and also features the ability to set alarms with individual audio from a device’s library or an iTunes playlist.

The app also features interchangeable themes for its user interface and integration with the "Do Not Disturb" feature in iOS. Previously, the app made Apple's "Featured Apps" list, and was the best seller in the Utilities category in the App Store.

Rise is a delightfully simple and unique alarm clock, for your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. With its refreshing and clever way to set time, Rise is one of the simplest alarm clocks you'll ever use.

Rise is a universal app regularly priced at $1.99 that can be downloaded from the App Store for free until next Thursday. [Direct Link]

Tags: App of the Week, Rise Alarm Clock
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Malicious Apple Store Gift Card Scam Emails Target Users with Malware

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Security researchers from Webroot have revealed a malicious email campaign attempting to trick users into thinking they’ve received a $200 Apple Store Gift Card. But rather than being a simple phishing effort as is common with such emails, the malicious emails contain malware that can be used to compromise targets' Windows-based machines.

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Specifically, when the user clicks on a hyperlink within the email or opens an attachment, a malicious Java-based exploit installs itself onto the computer. The exploit is then used to steal data from the personal computer, opening up the user to the possibility of identity theft and other cyber-crimes.

A currently ongoing malicious spam campaign is attempting to trick users into thinking that they’ve successfully received a legitimate ‘Gift Card’ worth $200. What’s particularly interesting about this campaign is that the cybercriminal(s) behind it are mixing the infection vectors by relying on both a malicious attachment and a link to the same malware found in the malicious emails. Users can become infected by either executing the attachment or by clicking on the client-side exploits serving link found in the emails.

Earlier this year, a phishing effort compromised over 100 sites in attempt to gain access to users’ Apple ID accounts. Last month, researchers from various security firms uncovered a trojan known as Janicab.A that used a special unicode character to initiate email malware attacks. Apple has also regularly dealt with Java-related vulnerabilities by deploying updates for OS X and introduced Gatekeeper in OS X Mountain Lion to better deal with security threats, offering a way for users to restrict installation of apps to those signed by Apple-issued Developer IDs.

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Tim Cook and Other Tech Executives Meet with President Obama to Discuss Government Surveillance

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In June, reports surfaced of a top secret surveillance program named PRISM, which according to leaked presentation slides was claimed to allow the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) direct access to user data on servers across a wide spectrum of Internet companies, including Apple. Now, Politico is reporting that a meeting between President Barack Obama and technology executives including Apple CEO Tim Cook took place earlier this week to discuss the subject of government surveillance. The meeting was reportedly confidential and was the second meeting this week in which top government officials held discussions with representatives from the technology industry to examine mainstream privacy issues.

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President Barack Obama hosted Apple CEO Tim Cook, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Google computer scientist Vint Cerf and other tech executives and civil liberties leaders on Thursday for a closed-door meeting about government surveillance, sources tell POLITICO.

The session, which Obama attended himself, followed a similar gathering earlier this week between top administration officials, tech-industry lobbyists and leading privacy hawks, the sources said. Those earlier, off-the-record discussions centered on the controversy surrounding the NSA as well as commercial privacy issues such as online tracking of consumers.

Earlier this year, a conservative activist and three others sued Apple among other companies and the U.S. government over alleged privacy violations resulting from supposed participation in the NSA’s PRISM intelligence program.

After the lawsuit, Apple issued a “Commitment to Customer Privacy” statement addressing the issue, implying that no agency has had direct access to customer data and that each request for data by law enforcement is strictly evaluated. And last month, Apple signed on to an alliance of dozens of technology companies asking for greater transparency with regard to the NSA's surveillance program.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the comment thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All MacRumors forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tag: Tim Cook
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New Photos of the Black iPad 5 Front Panel and Digitizer Assembly

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Back in April, a pair of photos surfaced showing what was claimed to be a white front panel from Apple's fifth-generation iPad, showing narrower side bezels as had been rumored as part of a redesign inspired by the iPad mini. A brief video that surfaced over this past weekend also appeared to show the next-generation iPad's front panel and digitizer paired with a rear shell.

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Now, a new listing at parts and repair firm Macfixit Australia includes a number of photos of a similar part, which the company's supplier says is a genuine front panel and digitizer for the fifth-generation iPad.

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The part shows the same narrower side bezels seen in previous leaks, as well as a pair of flex cables running along one of the long edges of the panel and ending in connectors in roughly the same location seen on both the current iPad and in the leaked photo from last weekend. The connectors are different from those seen in current and previous full-size iPads, but Apple has been rumored to be making a number of technological changes in order to achieve the smaller form factor expected for the upcoming iPad, revisions which could necessitate a significant change in connector design.

Our supplier claims this is the new iPad 5 Screen/Digitizer:

- The display area is the same as the iPad Retina.

- The edges of the frame are narrower using the same style as the iPad mini.

- The ITO (Indium tin oxide) is the same as the iPad mini.

- There is now 2 connectors instead of 1.

- The connectors have been changed from FFC (Flat Flexible Cable, like the iPad 2/3/4) to FPC (Flexible Printed Circuits, like the iPhone 4/5).

Stamped on the front panel is a part number of 821-1892-02, which matches the format used by Apple on many of its iOS device components.

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Apple is expected to introduce the fifth-generation iPad as soon as next month, with an updated iPad mini rumored to be following fairly soon after.

(Thanks, Martin!)

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad
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Google Play Books Updated with Textbook Support, Book Rental Capabilities

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Google has updated its Google Play Books app, adding support for both rental books and textbooks, which were added today to the Google Play Store.

Textbooks can be rented or purchased via the website, and then accessed in the iOS app itself. Once added to a personal book list on the website, the textbooks will show up in the app, though they will be displayed in the same section as regular books.

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Google first announced its plan to include textbooks in its Google Play Store at its I/O conference earlier this year as part of its Google Play for Education initiative, designed to get Google products into schools. Apple too has been pushing to expand its educational programs and plans to offer a number of new school-friendly iPad options for both students and teachers with the release of iOS 7.

In addition to support for textbooks, the Google Play Books update also brings highlighting and note-taking for scanned pages, a sepia reading mode, and stability and performance improvements.

What's new
Highlighting and note-taking are now supported in scanned pages books.
Added support for rental books.
Added sepia reading mode.
Stability and performance improvements.

Google Play Books can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

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Roku for iOS Updated with iPhone to TV Video Streaming

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rokuRoku has updated its iOS app to version 2.3.0, allowing users to broadcast videos from their iPhones to their Roku players. Previously, the app limited its "Play on Roku" sharing, which works somewhat similarly to Apple's AirPlay, to photos and music.

The app's new video sharing capability only works with video that was captured using the iPhone and saved to the photo library; it does not work with other video content stored on the phone. Shareable videos can be accessed by tapping on the "Play on Roku" button and selecting content from the newly included video menu.

Streaming video works with multiple versions of the Roku, including Roku 3, Roku 2, Roku HD, Roku LT, and the Roku Streaming Stick.

Roku is a free app for the iPhone that can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]

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Apple Board of Directors 'Concerned' About the Speed of Innovation?

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ApplelogoApple's Board of Directors has expressed concern about the company's "pace of innovation" according to a report from Fox Business Network's Charlie Gasparino. The board is normally extremely secretive and, if accurate, this report is unlike anything we've heard from inside the company in recent years.

From what we understand, there is concern at the board level, sources are telling the Fox Business Network, about the pace of innovation over at Apple. What have they had lately? They had the iPad and a few other things, but they don't have anything innovating from what came from Steve Jobs and that concern is basically manifesting into pressure on Tim Cook to innovate, and to do something fast.

We should point out, this is an interesting boardroom drama. It does not mean that Tim Cook is out of a job or that there is a job search out there, we don't know that and I don't believe that is happening. In fact, sources inside Apple are saying that's not the case.

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Apple's iPhone Activation Servers Again Experiencing Outage

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Apple appears to be experiencing another problem with its systems today, as a number of MacRumors readers have reported they are unable to activate their new iPhones. Other reports are showing up on Twitter as the problems continue.

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An AT&T employee has told MacRumors that some Apple Retail Stores are sending customers to AT&T stores, but indicated that those locations are having similar activation issues.

There is no word yet on when users can expect the issue to be fully resolved, but a similar outage occurred two weeks ago.

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Vevo Working on Apple TV App for 24/7 Music Video Channel [Update: Coming This Month]

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NewImageMusic video company Vevo is developing an app for the Apple TV, according to a report from AdAge. The app will show a 24/7 music video channel with ads made specifically for television rather than for streaming Internet video.

Vevo launched Vevo TV this March as an alternative way to watch and discover music videos on its platform. Previously, users had to search for videos. Vevo's "Vintage" program plays songs from the '80s, '90s and '00s.

Vevo TV -- a linear music video channel -- appears better suited for the "lean back" experience of watching television, as opposed to mobile viewing. Vevo had nearly 62 million unique U.S. visitors in May but only 4.2 million watched on mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), according to comScore.

Vevo has an existing iOS app [iPhone, iPad], and, if it launches an Apple TV app, would join other recently launched apps including HBO Go and WatchESPN. Apple is also rumored to be coming close to launching a Time Warner Cable app for the Apple TV.

Apple worked with a number of third-party content providers recently to launch new channels for the Apple TV. HBO used an internal development team to make its app, presumably using an unpublished development kit from Apple.

Historically, the Apple TV has taken a backseat to the iPad and the iPhone with the company referring to the Apple TV as a "hobby project," though Apple is rumored to be exploring new product lines that could eventually include an Apple television set.

At the D11 conference in May, Apple CEO Tim Cook reiterated that television continues to be an "area of great interest" for Apple and that the company has a "grand vision" in place.

Update: According to AllThingsD, the Vevo Apple TV app is slated for release later this month.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: Apple TV and Home Theater
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