MacRumors

As noted by iPhoneinCanada, Apple has submitted revised plans for their so-called "Spaceship" campus proposal. The massive new campus is expected to provide Apple with approximately 2.8 million square feet for up to 13,000 employees. Steve Jobs personally presented the original plans to the City of Cupertino in June. Jobs described it as follows:

It's a pretty amazing building. It's a little like a spaceship landed. It's got this gorgeous courtyard in the middle... It's a circle. It's curved all the way around. If you build things, this is not the cheapest way to build something. There is not a straight piece of glass in this building. It's all curved. We've used our experience making retail buildings all over the world now, and we know how to make the biggest pieces of glass in the world for architectural use. And, we want to make the glass specifically for this building here. We can make it curve all the way around the building... It's pretty cool.

With the exception of the rendering included above, many of the other renderings appear the same as the previous images released. The newly revised documents do include detailed floorplans of how the 4 story building will be laid out. If all goes as planned, the structure could be complete by 2015.

Apple released a version 1.5 update to their iBooks iOS app that provides a number of new features to the ebook application:

iBooks 1.5 adds the following new features as well as some stability and performance improvements:

- Nighttime reading theme makes reading books in the dark easier on the eyes.
- Full-screen layout lets you focus on the words without distraction.
- iBooks now features an improved selection of fonts, including Athelas, Charter, Iowan, and Seravek.
- Beautiful new classic covers for public domain books.
- Support for pop-up footnotes, included in select iBookstore titles.
- A redesigned annotation palette makes it easier to choose a color for your highlighted text.

iBooks is a universal app that supports iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. [App Store]

Earlier today, we highlighted a leaked roadmap from VR-Zone detailing Intel's plans for its mobile Ivy Bridge processors set to debut in April and May of next year.

One detail of the report that bears special attention is the fact that the Ivy Bridge platform, both mobile and desktop, will support up to three independent displays, with one of those displays being an internal one.

While we're talking about graphics, as with the desktop Ivy Bridge processors, the mobile processors also support up to three independent displays, although one of these will be the built in display in the notebook, but hopefully we'll see notebooks with a DisplayPort connector as standard come next year.

The current Sandy Bridge platform is only capable of supporting two independent displays, limiting the MacBook Air to one external display. Similarly, the 13-inch MacBook Pro can only drive two external displays by turning off its internal display.

More powerful machines such as the larger MacBook Pro models can currently drive two external displays in addition to the internal one due to their inclusion of discrete graphics chips paired with the Sandy Bridge platform. But with Ivy Bridge opening the door to direct support for up to three displays via the Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics, even owners of smaller machines like the MacBook Air will have the option of significantly expanding their screen real estate by connecting to two external displays.

CNBC reports on word from a source who claims that Apple has been very pleased with customer usage of the EasyPay self-checkout system for its retail stores. Under the system, customers can use the Apple Store app on their iPhones to scan shelf-stocked items in an Apple retail store and pay for them using their iTunes Store accounts. Customers can simply walk out of the store after the transaction is completed without needing to speak with any store employees.

The report does not offer any specifics on the program's performance, but vaguely suggests that it is at least meeting expectations.

Apple's self checkout revolution may have seemed a bit crazy, but it's apparently working out.

That's what I hear from a source familiar with Apple's retail operation.

...

The intelligence I'm getting is that the benefits of the new system are outweighing any negatives.

The report notes that Apple is also expected to heavily promote the self-checkout feature at its new Grand Central Terminal store set to open on Friday. With the open floor plan and throngs of commuters quickly passing through the store, the feature will likely be a popular one for store visitors.

While some have been skeptical of the usefulness of the self-checkout feature, many customers had expressed frustration at difficulties with getting the attention of store employees to complete simple transactions, and the new self-checkout avoids that situation entirely while freeing those staff members for more specialized consultation and training with other customers. Apple has reportedly noted that it envisions self-checkout and another system in which customers can pickup online orders in-store eventually being the primary ways in which customers make purchases from Apple retail stores.

VR-Zone leaks a roadmap for Intel's next generation mobile processors, called Ivy Bridge. Apple currently uses Intel's mobile Sandy Bridge processors in its MacBook Pro and MacBook Air notebooks.

Ivy Bridge will offer a number of benefits for Apple's notebook lines, opening the door to quad-core processors in the 13-inch MacBook Pro and bringing significantly faster graphics and new OpenCL capabilities to the MacBook Air. Ivy Bridge will also support ultra high resolution displays and Intel has committed to Thunderbolt support alongside USB 3.0 in the platform.

VR-Zone details a wide range of processors with Thermal Design Power (TDP) ranging from 17W to 55W. The TDP tends to be the limiting factor in the size of Apple's notebook designs. Apple presently uses 17W processors in the MacBook Air designs and 35W-45W processors in the MacBook Pro. The new processors will include the improved Intel HD Graphics 4000 integrated graphics chipset.

The 35W-45W (MacBook Pro) processors range from Dual/Quad Core 2.6GHz to 2.9GHz with single core turbo speeds of up to 3.6GHz, while the 17W (MacBook Air) processors range from Dual Core 1.8GHz to 2.0GHz with single core turbo speeds of up to 2.8-3.2GHz.

Apple's choice of processors may depend on how dramatically it redesigns the MacBook Pro next year. Rumors have persisted that Apple is working on ultra-thin models that may represent a complete overhaul of some of the MacBook Pro models, making them more Air-like in design. VR-Zone notes that the TDPs on these processors are programmable, so Apple may be able to reduce their TDPs at the expense of processor speed.

VR-Zone reports that the new mobile platform is expected to launch around May, with some high-end processors possibly launching in April. This gives a rough timeframe of when we should expect updates to Apple's notebooks.

As predicted by Amazon following its release, Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs has become the retailer's best-selling book of 2011. The milestone is a remarkable one given that the book did not debut until late October.

Steve Jobs quickly rose to #13 on the list following its debut, which was moved up in the wake of Jobs' death in early October. By mid-November the title had risen to #2 on the list, setting the stage for its accession to the top spot.

Sony Pictures has acquired the movie rights to the authorized biography, and Aaron Sorkin is "strongly considering" taking on the task of writing the screenplay for the film. One report has indicated that George Clooney and Noah Wyle are in the running to portray Jobs.

Bloomberg reports that the European Commission has launched an antitrust investigation targeting Apple and five e-book publishers. The publishers targeted in the investigation include five of the six major book publishers: Hachette, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, and Macmillan.

PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a January report that European e-book sales have been sluggish, partly due to the small range of non-English titles and fixed price agreements between publishers and stores in 13 countries. EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said last month that he wanted to fight “artificial restrictions imposed by some companies to cross-border trade” and was examining the way e-books are distributed.

Today’s probe “will in particular investigate whether these publishing groups and Apple have engaged in illegal agreements or practices that would have the object or the effect of restricting competition,” the Brussels-based authority said.

Apple has been targeted by a number of investigations and lawsuits related to its remaking of the book industry. With the launch of its iBookstore, Apple reached agreements with major publishers to adopt an "agency model" in which publishers retain control over sales prices and retailers receive a 30% share of that sales price. Previously, retailers had paid set wholesale prices for books and then priced them for sale at their discretion. With Apple driving the shift to an agency model, Amazon and other major retailers quickly followed suit.

Following in the footsteps of DirecTV, Cablevision, and Time Warner, Cox Communications is now offering a free iPad App called Cox TV Connect for iPad that live TV streaming for iPad customers at home.

Cox TV Connect allows you to watch popular shows LIVE, right on your iPad:

- Watch TV on your iPad from anywhere in your house.
- Choose from more than 35 popular channels.
- Yours to enjoy for free as a subscriber to Cox TV Essential and Cox Preferred, Premier or Ultimate Internet service.

Users must be a customer of both Cox TV and Cox internet service in order to be eligible to stream TV to their iPads. [App Store]

Earlier today, we noted that a U.S. judge late last week declined to issue a preliminary injunction barring Samsung from selling several of its Galaxy smartphone and tablet devices in the United States while Apple's case alleging patent and design infringement moved through the courts. From the decision released by Judge Lucy Koh, The Verge noted that it had seen portions of the court order that had been redacted and which revealed that Apple had licensed one specific iOS interface patent to both Nokia and IBM. Samsung had, however, declined to license the invention when offered the option by Apple as part of settlement talks in late 2010.

Reuters now reveals how that redacted portion of the court order came to light, as the initially-posted court order had mistakenly allowed the redacted text to be visible upon copying and pasting.

In her 65-page ruling denying Apple's request for a preliminary injunction against Samsung, Koh attempted to redact nearly two dozen sentences or short fragments. But because of a formatting characteristic in the prior electronic version, the redacted material can be viewed by copying text from the PDF and pasting it into another document.

The publicly-available version of the court order has been corrected and the redacted portions are no longer visible, but Reuters shares a few tidbits of information revealed in the redacted portions.

Perhaps most significantly, Koh cites as part of her rationale Apple's admission that Samsung is more likely to take market share from other Android manufacturers than it is from Apple.

According to the redacted portions, Apple's own studies show that existing customers are unlikely to switch from iPhones to Samsung devices. Instead, the evidence suggests an increase in sales of Samsung smartphones is likely to come at the expense of other smartphones with Android operating systems, Koh wrote.

The admission is not a tremendous surprise given the barriers to switching app ecosystems and surveys of iOS device owners reporting significant loyalty to the platform, but it is interesting to see Apple's formal admission of the relatively low risks Samsung poses to Apple's current user base. Apple would of course argue that Samsung's alleged infringement would prove to be a bigger threat regarding users who are just moving to a smartphone for the first time.

Another interesting revelation from the court order is Samsung's argument that Apple shouldn't be awarded an injunction in part due to the sheer impossibility of Apple being able to keep up with demand for smartphone devices by itself. But Koh acknowledged that such an argument was "dubious" in the face of testimony and evidence presented by Apple claiming that it is indeed capable of meeting demand.

The dispute between Apple and Samsung has been receiving the most attention in the media given the number of cases going on around the world and the numerous day-to-day developments. But the first major decision in the United States may actually come when the International Trade Commission decides whether to rule in favor of Apple's request for a ban on the import of HTC smartphones over patent infringement. A final ruling on that request had been scheduled for tomorrow, but has been delayed until December 14th.

In newly released research notes, a pair of analysts have praise for both Apple and Amazon's tablet efforts. They note that the Kindle Fire appears to be doing extremely well, though it is not challenging the iPad directly. In fact, Fire sales could indirectly encourage iPad purchases in the long run.

Evercore Partners' Robert Cihra writes in a note obtained by Apple 2.0:

While Amazon's Kindle Fire has come out of the gates strong, as expected, we see Apple maintaining its competitive lead, if anything accentuated by what now looks like the only tablet to so far mount any credible iPad challenge apparently needing to do so by selling at cost; not to mention Amazon's success may just vaporize other "for profit" Android tablet OEM roadmaps (e.g., we est Amazon 50% of all Android tablets in CY12). Meanwhile Apple goes on as the only vendor able to cream off the most profitable segment of each market it targets, whether tablet, smartphone or PC.

At the same time, JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz (and the Apple executives that he met with) feel that Apple is not seeing pressure from the Kindle Fire and that they are of the belief that current Fire owners "could gravitate to more feature-rich experiences" later on with the Fire acting as a "gateway drug".

Darrell Etherington, writing for GigaOm:

I think Apple’s optimistic outlook should pan out, however, as long as one thing remains true: tablets continue to encroach upon and replace PCs as primary computing devices for general users. In that case, the Kindle Fire and the iPad likely will enter into a mutually beneficial orbit, with the cheaper device’s drawing in first-time tablet users and the iPad’s acting as a sort of graduation gift for when they opt to use tablets as their main computers.

When the Kindle Fire launched, Apple executives said they welcomed the entry of the Fire to the market for its ability to further fragment the Android ecosystem and its ability to put enormous price pressure on other tablets. The popularity of the Kindle Fire seems to affirm Steve Jobs' belief in an end-to-end software-and-hardware ecosystem -- something that no companies other than Apple and Amazon have been able to effectively assemble.

Smarthouse claims to have received word that Apple will be offering its rumored television set in three different sizes ranging from 32 to 55 inches, with the device being powered by the same "new processor" (presumably the A6) set to appear in the iPad 3.

Sources at a major Japanese company who are involved in manufacturing the TV believe that the 55" model will compete with new Smart TVs from Samsung and LG that will have new processors built in while offering a combination of OLED display, as well as new Super HD TV technology from LG.

Smarthouse has historically been rather unreliable with its Apple rumors, but the claim of three different sizes does match up with previous rumors. Smarthouse had claimed earlier this year that Apple was looking at OLED technology for its 55-inch television, but that claim was later refuted by other sources.

Last week, Piper Jaffray analyst and long-time Apple television set proponent Gene Munster offered his speculation on what Apple's plans might be, also suggesting that the company would be likely to introduce a range of sizes in order to appeal to customers with a broad range of sizes for their television needs.

The latest Smarthouse report doesn't specifically name the A6 system-on-a-chip as the planned brains for the Apple television set, but the claim of it being a "new processor" certainly seems to imply the A6. There has been some uncertainty about the A6 and the iPad 3, with reports indicating that the new iPad will launch in "early 2012" in line with previous years while confusion over whether TSMC or Samsung will produce the A6 has included claims that the chip will not be ready until June 2012.