MacRumors

The new Mac Pro model, expected later this year, is "something really different" according to a video professional who says he spoke with the Mac Pro product manager.

Writing on the RedUser.net forum, Andrew Baird says he spoke to Mac Pro project manager Douglas Brooks on the phone after emailing CEO Tim Cook with his concerns about the lack of a new professional tower from Apple over the past few years.

Baird told MacRumors that the call didn't include any specific details about when the new machine would be released, nor its specifications -- however, he was assured several times that the new Mac Pro would be worth the wait. Brooks told him that the machine would be released later this year.

For what it's worth - a couple of months ago I received a call from Douglas Brooks, Apples project manager for the new Mac Pro to address my concerns about the new machine. Obviously he didn't tell me anything about the new MP, but asked me what I wanted to see. I told him expandability for extra graphics cards support, and memory expansion were at the top of my list amongst other things. His reply was simple:

"You are going to be really glad that you waited [to buy a new tower]. We are doing something really different here and I think you're going to be very excited when you see what we've been up to. I can't wait to show this off".

That conversation gave me enough confidence to wait for the new machine. I'm looking forward to the announcement. Hopefully the wait will be worth it.

Somewhat corroborating Baird's phone call, Lou Borella -- administrator of the 'We Want a New Macpro' Facebook group -- wrote on the page that he heard the new professional Mac would be "heavily reliant on Thunderbolt" with "no internal expandability", and would have support for dual-GPU's and no FireWire or optical drive.

In mid-2012, after a minor update to the Mac Pro was announced at WWDC, Tim Cook confirmed to a fan that new Mac Pros were coming in 2013, which was later reiterated by an Apple spokesman. It has also been rumored that the new Mac Pro would be the first Apple computer in years to be 'Made in the USA'.

Following a report earlier this week that suggested Apple's iAd staff would be responsible for securing advertising deals to support Apple's upcoming streaming music service, AdAge has confirmed the rumor and released new details on how the upcoming service, dubbed "iRadio," will function.

AdAge claims that iRadio, which Apple plans to offer to users for free, will incorporate both audio ads and standard mobile ads, all of which are highly targeted. Numerous reports on iRadio have suggested that Apple has tried to negotiate lower rates and more flexibility than has been offered to competitors like Pandora, leveraging its advertising reach and its iTunes store.

Selling interstitial audio ads – ones that play between songs – will allow Apple to offer the service free to users as is typical with most streaming music services. One music industry executive familiar with the negotiations between Apple and the major record labels said the terms of iRadio are more favorable for record labels than other streaming services because iRadio is expected to drive more song downloads.

iRadio users will be able to purchase the song they are listening to through iTunes. Syncing with iTunes Match ($24.99 per year) will allow users to own those songs forever, keep them in Apple's cloud-based storage service and access them on any iOS device. However, the service will not allow users to search for and play a specific song on-demand, like with Spotify.

While 70% of current iAd revenue is given to developers who utilize the service, Apple will be able to keep 90% of revenue from audio ads, sharing just 10% with music companies. Presumably, audio iRadio ads will function similarly to those offered by Pandora, playing in between songs.

Apple will also be able to charge higher advertising rates than competitors like Pandora, as Pandora's ads can only be targeted to users based on sex, area code, and listening habits, while Apple can target users based on several other factors, including entertainment tastes that include movie, television, and app preferences.

Last week, it was reported that Apple is considering launching an ad exchange, possibly within iAd, which is in line with the advertising information provided by AdAge. With an ad exchange, Apple could allow advertisers to target Apple users based on a number of data factors that Apple has collected about its customers. Companies like Google and Yahoo currently operate ad exchanges and an Apple exchange could greatly increase the popularity of its iAd program.

According to the latest iRadio rumors, Apple is pushing to complete deals with record labels in order to launch the streaming music service at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which is scheduled to begin on June 10.

Following last month’s iTunes update that included a redesigned Mini-Player and improved songs view, Apple has today released iTunes 11.0.4.

The update fixes a bug that caused iTunes to crash when users switched between wired and wireless syncing and addresses an ongoing issue that caused some users to have to log in to the iTunes store multiple times.

This version of iTunes comes with several new features and improvements, including:

New MiniPlayer. MiniPlayer now includes a beautiful new view that showcases your album artwork. In addition, a progress bar is now built right into MiniPlayer.

Improved Songs View. You can now enjoy your album artwork while in Songs view.

Multi-Disc Albums. Albums with multiple discs now appear as a single album.

This update fixes a problem that may cause iTunes to quit if you switch between wired and wireless syncing and addresses an issue that may require you to log into the iTunes Store repeatedly.

The update weighs in at 187.52MB on the Mac, and is available through the Mac App Store, Software Update, and direct from Apple's Software Download Page. A Windows 64 version is also available.

With the theft of Apple products on the rise, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has called for a summit with representatives from the four major smartphone manufacturers, reports the Huffington Post.

Next week, Schneiderman plans to meet with officials from Apple, Google, Samsung, and Microsoft, where he will present questions on the actions that the companies plan to take to combat device theft.

Schneiderman, along with San Francisco district attorney George Gascón, will question Apple, Google, Samsung and Microsoft officials in New York about why they have not yet developed technology that renders stolen mobile devices inoperable, eliminating the incentive for theft.

"The theft of handheld devices is the fastest-growing street crime, and increasingly, incidents are turning violent," Schneiderman said in a statement Wednesday. "It's time for manufacturers to be as innovative in solving this problem as they have been in designing devices that have reshaped how we live."

Both Schneiderman and San Francisco DA George Gascón have spearheaded efforts to cut down on device crime. Gascón has promoted the idea of a "kill switch" in Apple devices that could be used to permanently disable them in the event of a theft and Schneiderman has followed in his footsteps, sending out inquiry letters on device theft to smartphone manufacturers last month.

While all four major U.S. carriers implemented a shared database to track stolen mobile phones last year, it has proven to be largely ineffective at cutting down on device thefts.

With Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicking off next Monday, June 10 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time with a keynote address, it's time for a roundup of rumors about what we might see at the event.

In announcing the conference back in late April, Apple unsurprisingly revealed that it will be delivering "new versions of iOS and OS X" to developers, undoubtedly referring to iOS 7 and OS X 10.9. And as has become tradition since Apple moved its iPhone launches later in the year starting in 2011, WWDC 2013 is indeed expected to live up to its developer focus with an emphasis on software.

iOS 7

iOS 7 will almost certainly make its consumer debut alongside updated iPhone hardware later this year, but WWDC will offer the first glimpse of the upcoming software and Apple should spend a fair amount of the keynote walking through the changes. Apple will also begin seeding versions of iOS 7 to developers at WWDC, giving them time to help test the operating system itself and to build and update their own apps to take advantage of new features coming in iOS 7.

The big discussion surrounding iOS 7 has been regarding a new "flat design" driven by Jony Ive, who took over control of Apple's software-focused Human Interface team late last year in addition to his longtime role as head of Industrial Design. Prominent rumors for iOS 7 include:

- Image of 'Flat' Redesign From Early iOS 7 Build Reportedly Leaks
- iOS 7 May Include AirDrop Wireless File Sharing Capabilities
- More Details on Jony Ive's Flat iOS 7 Design: Heavier on Black and White
- Apple to Expand Social Network Integration in iOS 7 with Support for Flickr and Vimeo
- Surge in Apple's iOS 7 Usage Revealed in Web Traffic Stats
- Apple Engineers Working Overtime on iOS 7's 'DeForstallization'
- Apple Looking to Boost In-Car Integration of Maps and Siri in iOS 7
- Details on Jony Ive's 'Very, Very Flat' Design for iOS 7
- iOS 7 Running Behind, Rumored to Have Significant Visual Makeover

OS X 10.9

For this year's OS X 10.9, many had been expecting Apple to mirror its 2012 OS X Mountain Lion schedule with developer previews beginning around February ahead of a late summer public launch, but despite a evidence of the next version of its Mac operating system showing up in web blogs late last year, the company has yet to make any public announcements about the update.

Back in April, Daring Fireball's John Gruber reported that with iOS 7 having been running behind schedule, Apple had been pulling engineers from OS X 10.9 in order to assist with the iOS work. The report was later confirmed by AllThingsD and The Loop, although it seems unclear whether the shift had any effect on Apple's internal timeline for OS X 10.9. Details on what to expect in OS X 10.9 have been relatively scarce, but rumors have included:

- OS X 10.9 to Bring Enhancements to Finder, Safari, Multiple Monitor Support, and Multitasking
- Apple Job Posting Hints at Siri for Macs in OS X 10.9
- OS X 10.9 to Include Siri and Maps Integration

"iRadio"

Apple has been rumored to be working on a Pandora-like streaming radio service for quite some time, but difficult negotiations have reportedly slowed the effort considerably. Just weeks ago, it was reported that continued difficulties with record label and publisher negotiations might result in Apple being unable to unveil the service at WWDC, but just this past weekend Apple signed Warner Music in what appears to be a last-minute push to secure deals in time for a WWDC announcement. The service would not, however, launch until later this year alongside iOS 7.

The service, informally dubbed "iRadio", is said to be free to users, relying on advertising support through Apple's iAd team to generate revenue. Apple is reportedly seeking to deploy a service similar to that offered by Pandora but with additional flexibility for users.

Notebook Updates

With Intel having announced a series of new Haswell chips yesterday, Apple's Mac lineups may be ready for updates. Apple's notebook lineup appears to be the primary target for updates at WWDC, with reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo calling the notebook refresh the hardware highlight of WWDC. Leaked model numbers have hinted at notebook updates for WWDC, although the identities of the products associated with those numbers have not yet been confirmed.

Upgrades will primarily be internal with the shift to Haswell, although Kuo believes that the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro may see a slimmer design. Other rumored upgrades include a shift to full HD (2.0-megapixel) FaceTime cameras on the Retina MacBook Pro models and adoption of a dual-microphone system on the MacBook Air to improve sound quality. Kuo believes that Apple will continue to offer the non-Retina MacBook Pro, but handicap the line by continuing to offer Intel's older Ivy Bridge chips in a bid to push consumers to the thinner and more expensive Retina MacBook Pro models. Apple may also be upgrading to faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi in its next-generation machines.

Mac Pro?

Following a disappointing update for the Mac Pro last year, coming approximately two years after the previous update, Apple took the unusual step of confirming that the company would have a redesigned Mac Pro for "later" in 2013. Some rumors had suggested that Apple might launch the new Mac Pro this spring, but the update failed to come to fruition. Apple has even been forced to halt sales of the current Mac Pro in Europe over non-compliance with certain safety requirements.

WWDC represents a reasonable opportunity for Apple to update the Mac Pro given the developer and professional focus for the conference, and stocks of the workstation are said to be running low. Timing may not, however, be in Apple's favor, as at this point the Mac Pro would be expected to adopt Intel's Ivy Bridge E processors, the full line of which is not expected until around September of this year. Still, it is possible that Apple could announce a new Mac Pro at WWDC with availability scheduled for the future.

Live Keynote Coverage

The WWDC 2013 keynote kicks off at 10:00 AM Pacific Time on Monday, June 10, and we will be providing live updates here. We will also be issuing Twitter updates through our @MacRumorsLive account. Separate news stories regarding the event announcements will go out through our @MacRumors account.

Russian newspaper Izvestia reports [Google translation, via AppleInsider] that Apple has filed for a trademark [Google translation] on the term "iWatch" in Russia, supporting rumors that the company is planning to launch a smart watch as soon as later this year.

The Russian trademark filing, made on June 3 through law firm Baker & McKenzie, claims a priority registration date of December 3, 2012 in Jamaica. Apple and other companies frequently file first in Caribbean countries such as Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago where records are not easily searchable online, using those priority dates to help secure protection in other countries at later dates.

According to the filing, Apple has applied for protection on the "iWatch" name in two trademark classes: Class 9, which includes computers and peripherals; and Class 14, which includes various types of jewelry such as watches.

Izvestia reports that Apple faces a bit of competition for the iWatch name in markets around the world, including in the United States where multiple companies have received trademarks on variations of the term in Class 9. Even in Russia, another company's 2011 application for the iWatch trademark in Class 14 was denied due to similarities to an existing "iSwatch" trademark held by Swiss watchmaker Swatch.

While efforts by Apple to protect the "iWatch" name are suggestive of plans to launch such a product, they are by no means definitive. In the lead-up to the iPad launch, we discovered that Apple had been seeking to secure rights to iSlate trademarks and domain names, only to later discover evidence that it was also protecting the iPad name. Both of those efforts were performed with the use of dummy corporations designed to hide Apple's role in securing the names, but it appears that Apple is not resorting to such measures with the iWatch name.

(Thanks to Anastasia Spilnick of PATENTUS for directing us to the actual filing.)

As noted by Macworld, Pioneer has lowered the prices on several of its AirPlay speakers, which have, historically, been offered at a much higher pricing tier than Bluetooth speakers.

The company recently dropped the price of its XW-SMA1 speaker from $299 to $149, while the prices of the XW-SMA3 and XW-SMA4 have similarly been cut in half from $399 to $199. (These changes aren't yet reflected on Pioneer's website, where the latter two speakers are still listed at $399.)

Macworld spoke to a Pioneer representative, who said that the company is aiming to make its AirPlay speakers price competitive with its Bluetooth models, with the hope that lower prices will help consumers to appreciate AirPlay's advantages.

While Bluetooth has been a more affordable option for consumers, AirPlay has a distinct edge, offering a much longer range with the option of utilizing multiple speakers for a complete home audio experience.

Traditionally, AirPlay speakers have been priced higher than Bluetooth speakers due to the cost of licensing the technology from Apple. It is unclear if Pioneer is eating the additional cost or if Apple has made AirPlay licensing more affordable, but with Pioneer lowering the price of its AirPlay speakers, it is likely that other manufacturers may have to follow suit in order to continue to offer competitive pricing.

Apple has begun decorating the Moscone Center ahead of its Worldwide Developers Conference next week. 9to5Mac has posted one image of a banner inside the building featuring the tagline 'Where a whole new world's developing'.

The banner use the same color scheme as the WWDC invitations sent out in April.

MacStories has also shared a picture of workers installing WWDC graphics on the outside of Moscone.

Workers will continue installing graphics throughout the day and readers are encouraged to send their photographs to tips@macrumors.com.

The U.S. International Trade Commission today reached a decision [PDF] in the ongoing Apple vs. Samsung case, ruling that Apple infringed on Samsung Patent No. 7,706,348, titled "Apparatus and method for encoding/decoding transport format combination indicator in CDMA mobile communication system."

The ITC has issued a cease and desist order that prohibits the sale and distribution in the U.S. of older Apple products that infringe on specific claims (75–76 and 82–84) of the '348 patent, which includes AT&T models of the iPhone 4 and 3GS, the iPad 3G and the iPad 2 3G.

Under the modified constructions, the Commission has determined that Samsung has proven that the accused iPhone 4 (AT&T models); iPhone 3GS (AT&T models); iPhone 3 (AT&T models); iPad 3G (AT&T models); and iPad 2 3G (AT&T models) infringe the asserted claims of the '348 patent. The win is the first in the United States for Samsung, after losing a major jury trial in 2012.

During the dispute, Apple unsuccessfully argued that as the '348 patent relates to standard technology that Samsung helped to establish, Samsung has a fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) obligation that requires the company to license the patent on fair terms and prevents it from using the patent for an exclusion order.

The ITC did not agree, however, stating that Samsung's FRAND declarations "do not preclude issuance of the limited exclusion order and cease and desist order." Samsung reportedly demanded a licensing fee of 2.4% per device sold, which Apple found to be unreasonable.

The Commission has further determined that the properly construed claims have not been proven by Apple to be invalid and that Samsung has proven that a domestic industry exists in the United States with respect to the '348 patent.

The ITC's decision is a final ruling, but the ban will not go into effect immediately and could be overridden by the White House in the next 60 days. If the decision is not vetoed, Apple will be able to file an appeal.

Newer versions of Apple's iPad and iPhone, including the fourth generation iPad, the iPad mini, the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5, use different technology that does not infringe on Samsung's patent and these later devices will not be subject to the cease and desist order.

Update: Apple spokesperson Kristen Huguet issued the following statement to AllThingsD.

We are disappointed that the Commission has overturned an earlier ruling and we plan to appeal. Today's decision has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States. Samsung is using a strategy which has been rejected by courts and regulators around the world. They’ve admitted that it’s against the interests of consumers in Europe and elsewhere, yet here in the United States Samsung continues to try to block the sale of Apple products by using patents they agreed to license to anyone for a reasonable fee.

AllThingsD has has also posted the full ITC order banning some of Apple's devices.

After a beta period spanning several weeks, Apple today released the final version of OS X 10.8.4. The update, which can be accessed via the Mac App Store, includes several notable bug fixes including a fix for an issue that caused iMessages to display out of order along with Microsoft Exchange and Calendar compatibility improvements.

- Compatibility improvements when connecting to certain enterprise Wi-Fi networks
- Microsoft Exchange compatibility improvements in Calendar
- A fix for an issue that prevented FaceTime calls to non-U.S. phone numbers
- A fix for an issue that may prevent scheduled sleep after using Boot Camp
- Improves VoiceOver compatibility with text in PDF documents
- Includes Safari 6.0.5, which improves stability for some websites with chat features and games
- A fix for an issue that may cause iMessages to display out of order in Messages
- Resolves an issue in which Calendars Birthdays may appear incorrectly in certain time zones
- A fix for an issue that may prevent the desktop background picture from being preserved after restart
- A fix for an issue that may prevent documents from being saved to a server using SMB
- Addresses an issue that may prevent certain files from opening after copied to a volume named “Home"
- A fix for an issue that may prevent changes to files made over NFS from displaying
- Resolves an issue saving files to an Xsan volume from certain applications
- Improves Active Directory log-in performance, especially for cached accounts or when using a .local domain
- Improves OpenDirectory data replication
- Improves 802.1X compatibility with ActiveDirectory networks
- Improves compatibility when using mobile accounts

The update also includes Safari 6.0.5, which improves stability for websites with chat features and games.

After eight different beta builds, Apple closed its 10.8.4 Beta Testing Program last Friday. During the beta, Apple had asked users to focus on Wi-Fi, Graphics Drivers, and Safari. The public version of OS X 10.8.4 is the same 12E55 build that was seeded to developers on May 24.

- OS X Mountain Lion Update v10.8.4 (342.33 MB)
- OS X Mountain Lion Update v10.8.4 (Combo) (809.98 MB)

Alongside OS X 10.8.4, Apple has also released security updates for OS X Lion and Snow Leopard:

- Security Update 2013-002 (Lion) (57.69 MB)
- Security Update 2013-002 Server (Lion) (105.61 MB)

- Security Update 2013-002 (Snow Leopard) (329.85 MB)
- Security Update 2013-002 Server (Snow Leopard) (404.83 MB)

According to Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt, who spoke to investors at the Bank of America Merill Lynch Global Telecom and Media Conference today (via FierceCable), Time Warner is in talks with Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung over potential streaming video deals that are similar to its existing partnership with Roku.

Time Warner Cable brought its authenticated cable service, TWC TV, to Roku in March. With the app, Time Warner Cable subscribers are able to watch up to 300 live TV channels with any TV connected to a Roku device, without the need for a cable box. Time Warner has a similar deal with Samsung to deliver cable programming to its connected TVs.

"You should assume we're talking to everyone who makes devices like this, whether it's Samsung smart TVs, Apple, Microsoft," Britt said at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Telecom and Media conference. Britt's remarks suggest Time Warner Cable may eventually offer the TWC TV app through the Apple TV set-top and Microsoft's new Xbox One gaming console, which will debut later this year.

Apple recently struck a deal with the CW network to bring content to the Apple TV through a dedicated CW app, and it appears that Apple is open to other deals that could potentially bring the TWC TV to the Apple TV. Presumably, such an app would function similarly to the version offered via Roku, allowing Time Warner Cable subscribers to use the Apple TV to stream live television channels.

Britt's comments confirm a Wall Street Journal report from last year, which suggested that Apple was working on deals to create a set-top box that would allow user to view live cable channels.

Such deals with cable companies are necessary if Apple wants to expand its product lineup with additional TV-centric products like the "iTV," which has been rumored to be in the works since 2011. At the D11 conference last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook reiterated that television continues to be an "area of great interest" for the company.