MacRumors

According to a tweet from the well-connected MG Siegler, Twitter is discontinuing development of Twitter for Mac, though it will still remain available.

Word is that Twitter made the call today: Twitter for Mac is done. They won’t kill it outright, but no further updates. Goodbye, old friend.

The decision is a curious one, considering the recent changes Twitter made to its API agreements that make it more difficult for third parties to create Twitter apps.

Tweetbot recently discontinued its public Alpha program for Tweetbot for Mac because of the changes, and it remains to be seen what will happen to OS X Twitter clients going forward. Twitter for Mac originally launched on the Mac App Store in 2011, after Twitter purchased Tweetie and turned its Mac client into the official Twitter client.

One of the biggest complaints made about Twitter for Mac recently is its lack of support for the MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple is "seeking to create a Pandora-rival custom radio service." Citing "people familiar with the matter", the Journal claims the service would work across Apple's line of products -- including Macs, the iPhone and the iPad -- and possibly even on Windows PC's. Unsurprisingly, it would not work on Android devices.

Apple only recently initiated licensing negotiations with record labels for its putative service, and even if it does complete deals, it could be a matter of months when such a service might launch, according to these people.

The company has in the past contemplated and abandoned other interactive features, including a Spotify-like service that would have let users rent unlimited amounts of music for a fixed monthly fee. But people familiar with the current talks say they appear to be more serious than those previous tentative inquiries.

As on Pandora, the music would be interspersed with ads, in this case carried by Apple's iAd platform, which syndicates ads to iPhone and iPad apps.

The WSJ says Apple is negotiating its own licensing deals with record companies, rather than going by the government-set rates paid by Pandora.

The article does not lay out a timeline for the service, though its claim that Apple is still in negotiations with record companies suggests it won't be arriving at the Apple Media Event already announced for September 12.

Update 8:04 PM: The New York Times has filed its own report on the developments, citing "three people briefed on Apple’s plans". The report offers a similar description of Apple's goals, noting that the service would likely arrive as an app that could interface with a user's iTunes Store account to build upon the current Genius functionality in iTunes.

Apple’s service would likely take the form of a pre-installed app on Apple’s devices like iPhones and iPads and might be able to connect to a user’s iTunes account to judge his or her tastes.

Like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times indicates that a launch for the service "could be months away" and is not likely to be announced at next week's media event.

Audience today announced that it appears "unlikely" Apple will use the company's earSmart noise suppression technology in the upcoming iPhone 5. Audience's technology was reported to a key innovation providing support for Siri on the iPhone 4S, and Apple was reported back in February to have licensed Audience's next-generation technology for future products. But with today's announcement, it appears that Apple has elected not to take advantage of the technology.

Audience sells processors and licenses its processor IP to Apple Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries (collectively, OEM) for inclusion in the OEM's mobile phones pursuant to a Master Development and Supply Agreement (MDSA). Pursuant to a statement of work under the MDSA, amended in March 2012, Audience developed and licensed a new generation of processor IP for use in the OEM's devices. However, the OEM is not obligated to use Audience's processor IP.

Audience now believes that it is unlikely that the OEM will enable Audience's processor IP in its next generation mobile phone. Audience is not aware of any intended changes by this OEM to its use of Audience's processors or processor IP in prior generations of the OEM's mobile phones.

Apple's decision not to use Audience's new IP in the iPhone 5 will impact Audience's financial picture beginning one quarter after the introduction of the iPhone 5, as Audience receives licensing royalties from Apple one quarter after the device's are sold to end users.

Peter Santos, president and chief executive officer, commented, "While we are disappointed by this development, we are confident in the diversification of our business and see sustainable growth in 2012 and beyond. As such we are raising guidance for the third quarter of 2012. Looking ahead, we believe our expansion into adjacent markets such as Smart TVs, automotive, and notebooks, will continue to bring growth in 2013 and beyond."

Audience delivered a standalone voice processing chip for the iPhone 4, but the company's technology was reportedly incorporated directly into the A5 chip used to power the iPhone 4S. The improved Audience technology integrated into the A5 was said to be much better at suppressing background noise, thus allowing Siri to more easily pick out the user's voice.

It is unclear what voice processing technology Apple will be using in the iPhone 5, but it seems that the company has found a better or more cost-effective solution than that offered by Audience.

Update: Audience's stock is down over 40% in after-hours trading following the announcement.

With Apple expected to introduce its "iPad mini" next month, observers are closely watching what other companies are doing in the smaller tablet space, and a media event today Amazon has shown its hand with a new line of Kindle products headlined by a new 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet with 1920x1200 display.

As noted by The Verge, the Android-based Kindle Fire HD includes stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus support, dual Wi-Fi antennas for better performance The Kindle Fire software has also been enhanced with new Whispersync technology for saving and syncing game and audiobook progress, as well as new parental controls, third-party apps such as Facebook and Skype, and an IMDB partnership for displaying cast and production info on movies as they're being shown.

The standard 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD is priced at $299 with 16 GB, but Amazon is also offering a $499 Kindle Fire HD with 4G LTE model that bumps storage to 32 GB. The LTE model comes with a data package costing $49.99 per year that offers 250 MB per month of data, 20 GB of cloud storage, and a $10 Amazon Appstore credit. Both models ship on November 20. Amazon is also introducing a 7-inch 16 GB Kindle Fire HD for $199 that begins shipping on September 14, but details on differences from the 8.9-inch model such as screen resolution are not yet clear.

Amazon has also introduced an updated original Kindle Fire. The Verge notes that the 7-inch Android tablet has been updated with a new processor, more RAM, and increased battery life. The updates also come with a significant price drop to $159, down from the current $199. The new Kindle Fire begins shipping on September 14.

Finally, Amazon offered updates to its more traditional Kindle lineup, dropping the entry-level Kindle price to just $69 while introducing its new Kindle Paperwhite, as detailed by TechCrunch. The Kindle Paperwhite, which will be available October 1 at $119 for the standard model and $179 for the 3G model with free cellular access, includes frontlighting while still boasting an 8-week battery life.

Update 12:58 PM: Amazon's Kindle Fire HD press release clarifies that the resolution on the 7-inch model is 1280x800.

Vanity Fair magazine has published its yearly listing of top media power players, called 'The New Establishment'. Apple CEO Tim Cook is paired with designer Jony Ive in the number 1 spot, up from number 4 in 2011.

In the 18 years that Vanity Fair has been ranking America’s power players, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, was the youngest person ever to top the list. But Zuckerberg relinquishes his two-year perch at the top of Vanity Fair’s annual New Establishment list this year, trading places with former spot No. 4 holders Tim Cook and Jonathan Ive. In the wake of Steve Jobs’s death, Vanity Fair says, the two longtime understudies have upheld the C.E.O.’s vision for Apple, and have even hinted that the best is yet to come for the wildly successful company.

The top five reads like a who's who of tech with Cook, Ive and Zuckerberg being joined by Amazon head Jeff Bezos, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Square and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

'The New Establishment' isn't the only list that Tim Cook finds his company represented on: Apple is also listed as number 8 on Fortune's list of the world's fastest growing companies -- an astonishing feat for a company that will do nearly $150 billion in revenue this year.

The Telegraph reports that Apple is likely to drop the iPhone 3GS from its lineup once the company introduces the iPhone 5 next week, leaving room for the iPhone 4 to slide down to the free-on-contract price point currently occupied by the iPhone 3GS. The report also indicates that Apple may introduce an 8 GB version of the iPhone 4S to occupy a middle price point as the company did last year with the iPhone 4.

The new update will mean that the 8GB version of the iPhone 4 will be the entry-level iPhone, probably given away free on £20 per month contracts, as the 3GS is currently. Sources close to retailers also suggested that an 8GB version of the 4S could be introduced.

According to the report, Apple will be releasing the iPhone 5 with three different capacities, presumably the same 16 GB/32 GB/64 GB lineup seen with the current iPhone 4S.

It would certainly not be a surprise for Apple to discontinue the iPhone 3GS in order to keep its iPhone family at three separate devices with the cheapest being offered for free on contract. Shifting the iPhone 4 into the position currently held by the iPhone 3GS would also give more carriers the ability to offer a free iPhone, as the iPhone 4 is available in both GSM and CDMA versions while the iPhone 3GS is only available as a GSM device.

The iPhone 3GS would likely be most missed by contract-free customers, prevalent in high numbers in many emerging markets. Apple currently sells the unlocked, contract-free iPhone 3GS for $375 in the United States and at somewhat higher prices elsewhere such as 2888 yuan ($455) in China, and it could presumably drop that price even further if it elected to continue offering the device alongside the three other iPhone models.

GigaOM recently spoke with Pat Riordan, CEO of Wisconsin-based regional carrier Cellcom, about his company's decision to begin offering the iPhone this past April, with Riordan noting that the decision was made primarily for the prestige factor rather a specific attempt to increase the carrier's customer base. The move was essentially a defensive one given the popularity of the device with consumers who were starting to look to other carrier options before Cellcom announced the addition.

“Customers were telling us they were simply going to leave us because we didn’t have the iPhone,” Riordan said. “We know [our] sales had been falling between the end of the year and April, and we think not having the iPhone was the reason.”

Riordan doesn’t think that it will suddenly start raking in hundreds of thousands of new customers because of Apple, though it is giving Cellcom’s current customers a lot of reasons to stay: 75 percent of its iPhone sales were upgrades.

Cellcom and Riordan declined to specify exact iPhone sales numbers, which would be relatively small compared to the major carriers, but Riordan notes that simply offering the iPhone has brought more customers into the carrier's stores, even if they end up purchasing something other than the iPhone.

The report notes that Alaska Communications announced sales of 11,000 iPhones to its customer base of 120,000 people during the second quarter of this year, while fellow Alaskan carrier GCI announced sales of 9,200 iPhones out of 141,000 customers, pointing to continued significant interest in the device.

Late last month, Japanese blog Mac Otakara sparked particular interest in a set of photos of an assembled front panel from the iPhone 5 by claiming that a square feature near the top of the part was likely to be related to near field communications (NFC) capabilities. That interest was quickly tamped down when The Loop reported later in the week that there would be no NFC in the iPhone 5.

Despite the fact that the square feature is slightly off-center with respect to the device, we've assumed that it must be the earpiece speaker, and consultations with experts at RepairLabs have suggested the same.

Sonny Dickson has now posted a new set of photos of the assembled front panel that shed some additional light on the situation. A couple of the photos show the square bracket having been removed, and one photo in particular contains a partial view of what does indeed appear to be an earpiece speaker.

Apple is expected to introduce the iPhone 5 at next Wednesday's media event.

Bloomberg reports that Apple will not be releasing a new "TV product" this year as difficult negotiations with media companies have slowed Apple's plans. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Apple is working a new set-top box offering access to live and on-demand television content, but a timeframe for a release of the product was not given at that time. Apple has also been said to be working on its own television set, but apparently neither product will be making an appearance in the relatively near future.

Apple is vying with the likes of Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. to make TVs the digital hub of people’s lives in an industry projected to reach $200 billion worldwide by 2017. Whoever wins must first strike deals with media companies or cable providers who have little incentive to cede valuable revenue streams. The result: Apple won’t be releasing a new TV product this year, as analysts had predicted, said a person familiar with the company’s plans.

Negotiations between Apple and the media companies have reportedly stumbled over the software interface for any new television product from Apple, with cable companies wanting to have control over the software. The two sides are also at loggerheads over whether Apple would sell a new set-top box directly to consumers or if the device would be distributed by the cable companies.

The report also offers a rehashing of The Wall Street Journal's details on what the new set-top box would offer:

Since the middle of the last decade, Apple’s engineers have been working on a more advanced product to allow viewers to quickly find shows and movies, blending both live and recorded material, the people said. It would recommend content based on interests and work seamlessly with Apple’s family of other devices. An iPhone or iPad would double as a remote control, the people said.

Apple has reportedly been talking with cable companies since the original Apple TV's debut in 2007, but talks have repeatedly stalled over numerous issues. More recently, Apple is said to have focused on companies willing to offer Apple live content for streaming, with Time Warner Cable apparently being the major cable company most receptive to Apple's proposals.

Apple is furthest along negotiating with Time Warner Cable Inc., said the people familiar with the talks. Yet even if Time Warner Cable agrees to a deal with Apple, it wouldn’t represent a radical change for customers, who would still pay their monthly cable bill.

Apple may be looking to Time Warner Cable to be its first partner in a similar way that AT&T Inc. helped bring the iPhone to market, one person said.

Beyond live content, Apple is also said to be pursuing substantial offerings of on-demand content, but media companies are wary of losing control of their content and the channel bundles offered through cable providers.

A number of photos of the rear shell of the "iPad mini", both alleged actual parts and physical mockups, have been leaking in recent weeks, but a Nowhereelse.fr points to a new set [Google translation] at Chinese site NetEase showing in fairly good detail both the interior and exterior of the shell. The part is alleged to be a legitimate rear shell leaked from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in Shenzhen, China.

The pictures show a number of details of the rear shell, including the opening for Apple's smaller dock connector expected to debut on the iPhone 5 next week, a rear camera hole, and the interior lip where the display and front panel will be attached. The shell appears to be for a Wi-Fi model, as it lacks a cutout for a SIM card and an open section along the top edge for a plastic window covering where the cellular antennas would be.

As with other recently-leaked photos, the rear shell shows relatively little tapering compared to the current full-size iPad, instead carrying a rounded, almost partial bullnose profile along the sides.

While Apple is holding a media event next Wednesday, the company is said to be focusing on the new iPhone for this event and planning a separate media event for October to introduce the iPad mini.

Laurene Powell Jobs, the newest nominee to Stanford University's Board of Trustees, was spotted at the Democratic National Convention sitting next to former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton -- prime seating on a night when Clinton's father, former President Bill Clinton, was giving a major address. Powell Jobs has supported Democratic causes in the past, both financially and by volunteering her time.

Note: Due to the inevitable political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All 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.

Stanford University is adding Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Steve Jobs, to its 33-member Board of Trustees for a five-year term.

Powell Jobs, who earned an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business in 1991, is the founder and chair of Emerson Collective, an organization that supports social entrepreneurs and organizations working in the areas of education, social justice and conservation.

Laurene Powell Jobs, a leader in the education reform movement and vocal advocate for the federal Dream Act, has been elected to the Stanford University Board of Trustees to a five-year term that begins Oct. 1.

Powell Jobs is historically very private with her activities but is passionate about education, serving on the boards of a number of charitable organizations. She serves as the President of the board for College Track, an after-school program outside San Francisco, and also sits on the board of Teach for America.

The story was broken by TechCrunch earlier today.

Powell Jobs earned an MBA in 1991 from Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where she also first met Steve Jobs.