MacRumors

Apple and Oracle today announced a partnership to bring Oracle's OpenJDK project, and thus a Java SE 7 implementation, to Mac OS X.

Oracle and Apple today announced the OpenJDK project for Mac OS X. Apple will contribute most of the key components, tools and technology required for a Java SE 7 implementation on Mac OS X, including a 32-bit and 64-bit HotSpot-based Java virtual machine, class libraries, a networking stack and the foundation for a new graphical client. OpenJDK will make Apple's Java technology available to open source developers so they can access and contribute to the effort.

Apple also noted that it will continue to support the current Java SE 6 on Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion.

"We are excited to welcome Apple as a significant contributor in the growing OpenJDK community," said Hasan Rizvi, Oracle's senior vice president of Development. "The availability of Java on Mac OS X plays a key role in the cross-platform promise of the Java platform. The Java developer community can rest assured that the leading edge Java environment will continue to be available on Mac OS X in the future. Combined with last month's announcement of IBM joining the OpenJDK, the project now has the backing of three of the biggest names in software."

Apple made waves last month with the revelation that is planning to deprecate its own line of custom-ported Java packages, sparking fears of a complete discontinuation of support for the platform. In an email response to a customer's question, Apple CEO Steve Jobs reportedly noted that Apple's Java version was always a step behind the latest version from Sun/Oracle and that the status quo "may not be the best way to do it."

Contradicting a report from earlier this week that correctly predicted the release of Mac OS X 10.6.5 yesterday and also claimed that iOS 4.2 will be released tomorrow, iPhoneHellas reports [Google translation] that iOS 4.2 will not launch tomorrow and may debut next Tuesday, November 16th.

iPhoneHellas has offered correct information on iOS releases several times in the past, including accurately pinpointing the release of iPhone OS 2.2 ten days ahead of time and iOS 4.0.1 several hours before its launch.

iOS 4.2 will finally unify Apple's iOS devices on iOS 4, bringing such features as multitasking, home screen folders, and Game Center to the iPad for the first time while also delivering AirPrint, AirPlay, and a number of other enhancements to the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

Update: MacStories reports that iOS 4.2 may be seeing delays due to issues with Wi-Fi connectivity on the iPad.

Basically, even if the iPad manages to successfully connect to a local network, the connection is lost after a few minutes. This seems to be the most common problem among users, although some can't simply use Safari at all. The bug has been reported to Apple, and they apparently decided to delay the release of iOS 4.2 to fix the bug.

According to the report, Apple may release a new golden master version of iOS 4.2 as early as Friday, but a public release would come later than the previously-rumored Friday debut.

With today's announcement of integration between Twitter and Apple's social networking service Ping, some observers have noted that the Tweets being generated from Ping are including awkwardly-long URLs.

One MacRumors reader realized that the new integration with Twitter could make a good opportunity for Apple to deploy its own link shortener to help fit its links into the character restrictions imposed by Twitter. The reader let us know that he had discovered that iTun.es forwards to Apple's site and theorized that the domain could be used by Apple for just such a service.

We dug into the situation a bit further and determined that the iTun.es domain is in fact registered to Apple via MarkMonitor, the brand management firm Apple uses to handle all of its domain registrations. The domain was registered to Apple in December 2006, meaning that Apple has not just recently moved to lock down the domain as a link shortener, but the new tie-in with Twitter does provide an excellent opportunity for Apple to roll out a service using the domain.

Since yesterday's release of Mac OS X 10.6.5, users have been testing out the updated version of Snow Leopard to find out what has changed, and we've collected a few notes on what has been found.

- exFAT Support: Apple began including support for the exFAT file system in builds of Mac OS X 10.6.4 shipping on some of the company's latest iMacs and Mac minis with SDXC card slots, but Mac OS X 10.6.5 extends compatibility to all Macs.

- AirPrint: As had been rumored, Apple at the last minute removed support for printing via AirPrint from iOS 4.2 devices to printers shared on Macs running Mac OS X 10.6.5. The feature had been touted by Apple in its initial AirPrint press release and was present in early developer builds of Mac OS X 10.6.5, but was removed for unspecified reasons. Note that the basic AirPrint functionality, including direct printing to compatible HP printers, is included in Mac OS X 10.6.5.

We've heard claims of technical or legal/patent issues being behind the removal of support for shared printers, but have not received confirmation of any single reason for the change. Notably, those developers who installed earlier developer builds of Mac OS X 10.6.5 have retained access to the shared printing feature even with the public release, and one developer has outlined a process by which users can add the capability.

- Flash Player Vulnerabilities Fixed: Apple's attempts to distance itself from Adobe's Flash technology are well-known, and the list of security issues addressed in Mac OS X 10.6.5 is only adding fuel to that fire. Of a massive 134 security issues addressed in the update, 41% of them are directly attributable to Flash, the largest single source of security holes patched in the update. The second largest source of security flaws patched in Mac OS X 10.6.5 is X11, the optional install that allows Macs to run certain windowed Unix applications, with 12% of the total fixes.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs' responses to customer emails are well-known and given great attention as official "from the horse's mouth" statements regarding Apple's products and plans, despite the fact that many of his statements are brief and vague enough to give away little information. According to The Seattle Times, however, Jobs has gone a step further and telephoned a developer who wrote him an email after having his iPad application rejected from the App Store for using a private application programming interface (API).

Frustrated by Apple's rejection of his iPad app, Seattle developer Ram Arumugam e-mailed Chief Executive Steve Jobs. Two hours later, he picked up a phone call and heard: "Ram, this is Steve." Jobs was on the other end.

The two talked about Arumugam's app, called "Economy for iPad," and why it was rejected by Apple.

Arumugam, a former Microsoft employee now heading up a company developing iOS applications, and Jobs discussed the developer's usage of a private API to deal with what Arumugam considered to be a bug in the behavior of the iPad's on-screen keyboard. At the conclusion of the discussion, Arumugam agreed to remove the private API, and Economy for iPad was quickly accepted into the App Store.

Jobs' phone call is not the first time an Apple executive has directly intervened in the App Store review process, as senior vice president Phil Schiller has been known to reply via email and telephone in rare cases related to App Store issues.

Twitter today announced new integration with Apple's "Ping" music-focused social networking service, allowing users to easily share music and convenient previewing and purchasing links.

Starting today Ping, iTunes' new social network for music, and Twitter are making it even easier for people to share music discoveries with their friends by putting Ping activity, song previews and links to purchase and download music from the iTunes Store right in their Tweets on Twitter.com.

The feature allows users to sign into Twitter from Ping, linking their accounts and allowing them to find people they already follow on Twitter who are also on Ping.

Once you've linked the accounts, whenever you Post, Like, Review, or tell your friends why you purchased a song or album on Ping, this activity will also be tweeted to your Twitter followers - complete with playable song previews and links to purchase and download music from iTunes.

Furthermore, those browsing Tweets sent via Ping on Twitter.com can click on the Tweet to see details on the song or album right on the page, complete with song previews in the 23 countries where Apple offers music via the iTunes Store.

Apple and Facebook have reportedly been in discussions about working together in some capacity, despite some early squabbles over Ping's apparently-unauthorized integration with Facebook Connect, a feature that was yanked within hours of Ping's debut in September. The two companies have apparently yet to strike a deal, however, to bring their services together in any form.

iLounge noted yesterday that Apple has begun selling gift cards specifically for its iBookstore, offering convenient $25 and $50 options for gift givers. While existing iTunes Store gift cards can reportedly be used in the iBookstore, the new iBooks-specific cards offer a new option for those looking to focus their gifts on books as opposed to other iTunes Store content.

Based on an Apple Support Discussions thread from earlier in the year, it appears as though users were able to purchase standard iTunes Gift Cards for use in the iBookstore; the new cards remove any ambiguity customers may have had about whether or not an iTunes GC would be usable in the iBookstore, and will likely be popular add-ons to those purchasing iPads as a gift.

The report notes that the new gift cards are available in Apple's retail stores, but we have also seen them in our local Target store.

Update: To clarify since there has been a bit of confusion in our forums, the new iBooks gift cards are the same as the existing iTunes Store gift cards, allowing users to purchase any iTunes Store, App Store, or iBookstore content they desire. But the new option allows gift givers to place an emphasis on giving the gift of books rather than just offering the recipient a iTunes Store gift card. Apple has similarly offered App Store gift cards, which also offer access to all content, for some time.

GigaOM takes a look at so-called "freemium" iPhone apps: applications that are free to download and offer basic functionality but generate revenue through the use of In App Purchase content. According to the report, freemium apps are becoming increasing popular with developers, who are finding it a viable business model, and the number of such apps generating sufficient revenue to rank among the top-grossing App Store titles is increasing.

A look at the top-grossing iPhone apps today finds 34 of the top 100 apps are free, but make their money through in-app purchases of mostly virtual currencies as well as other premium features. Remco van den Elzen, CEO of analytics firm Distimo, said he believes in-app purchases now represent about 30 percent of all iPhone App Store revenue. "We're seeing more developers implement more in app-purchases especially with games," he said. "Freemium Apps are also picking up significantly. A lot of developers realize it's a successful model."

Another analytics firm tracking such data revealed that in January only two freemium iPhone apps ranked in the top 50 grossing apps, a number which rose to 10 by the end of October and stands at over 20 today.

The striking success of freemium iPhone apps comes even as their prevalence in the App Store remains low, with only about 1.34% of iPhone apps using the model during the third quarter of this year.

Interestingly, the freemium business model has yet to catch on with iPad applications, as none of the top 200 grossing iPad apps utilize the strategy on a platform where higher purchase prices for applications are the norm.

As the report notes, iPhone developers are learning how to offer a solid app experience for their free versions while also pushing attractive upgrade options via In App Purchase, finding that the strategy can be more lucrative than offering ads in their applications and attract a more loyal base of customers.

Apple today announced the launch of iTunes Store movie rentals and sales in Japan, offering over 1,000 movies in the initial catalog.

Apple today announced that movies are now available on the iTunes Store in Japan giving customers an incredible way to enjoy movies on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC, or with the new Apple TV on their HD TV. Starting today, there are over 1,000 movies to rent or buy in high definition and standard definition from major international film studios including 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures and top Japanese studios including Asmik Ace Entertainment Inc., Fuji TV, Kadakowa Pictures, Nikkatsu, Shochiku Company Limited and Toei Company Limited.

Customers renting movies through the iTunes Store have up to 30 days to begin watching their rented content and 48 hours to finish once they have begun viewing it.

The company also announced that the new Apple TV began shipping in Japan this week, offering customers there an additional means to access the iTunes Store video content and other offerings.

Apple today released Mac OS X 10.6.5, the fifth maintenance update for Snow Leopard, via Software Update. The update offers a number of fixes implemented since the release of Mac OS X 10.6.4 in mid-June.

The 10.6.5 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes that:

- improve reliability with Microsoft Exchange servers
- address performance of some image-processing operations in iPhoto and Aperture
- address stability and performance of graphics applications and games
- resolve a delay between print jobs
- address a printing issue for some HP printers connected to an AirPort Extreme
- resolve an issue when dragging contacts from Address Book to iCal
- address an issue where dragging an item from a stack causes the Dock to not automatically hide
- resolve an issue with Wikipedia information not displaying correctly in Dictionary
- improve performance of MainStage on certain Mac systems
- resolve spacing issues with OpenType fonts
- improve reliability with some Bluetooth braille displays
- resolve a VoiceOver issue when browsing some web sites with Safari 5

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4250.
For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

The public release is the same Build 10H574 that was seeded to developers on Monday, and multiple users are reporting that AirPrint to printers shared via their computers using the iOS 4.2 golden master is in fact NOT working, as had been rumored.

Mac OS X 10.6.5 is available as both delta and combo updates for systems running Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server:

- Mac OS X v10.6.5 Update (644.48 MB)
- Mac OS X v10.6.5 Update (Combo) (977.21 MB)
- Mac OS X Server v10.6.5 Update (858.02 MB)
- Mac OS X Server v10.6.5 Update Combo (1.12 GB)

Apple has also released Security Update 2010-007 for users on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard:

- Security Update 2010-007 (Leopard-Client) (240.74 MB)
- Security Update 2010-007 (Leopard-Server) (448.10 MB)

In a blog post yesterday, Big Bucket Software revealed that a forthcoming update to its retro iOS game The Incident will allow the iPad to output the game display to a television while also allowing an iPhone or iPod touch to serve as a game controller.

No seriously, this is totally real and totally awesome.

This is a beta of The Incident 1.3 running my TV. Here's how it works:

1. Plug your iPad into the TV
2. Pair your iPad with your iPhone or iPod Touch
3. Sit on your couch and play

And that's it. You never have to get up to touch the iPad. You do everything from the controller. It works great.

There are a couple of interesting aspects to this forthcoming release, with TV output capability being one of the key ones. While other applications have allowed users to connect their iPads to their televisions via 30-pin Dock to VGA or Component cables, The Incident's developers took the extra step of tweaking the artwork and user interface to properly display on the aspect ratio of a widescreen television, which differs from that of the iPad. The extra step offers users a more natural feeling console gaming experience on their televisions.

The second key feature is the iPhone controller mode, which is already available in Version 1.2 of The Incident. The developers have ensured that everything can be controlled by the iPhone, eliminating the need for any input on the iPad and allowing it to serve simply as a game console connected to the television while the user controls everything wirelessly from their couch using the paired iPhone.

When we decided that 1.3 was going to be all about TV output we knew it would have to feel exactly like a console. You should never need to diddle with the iPad for any reason. The controller would have to be able to control every aspect of the game; menus, gameplay, all of it. And in 1.3, it can.

There is no word yet on a release date for the TV-capable update to The Incident, but the developers have been moving very quickly with updates to the game and will likely be pressing forward to have it in the App Store as soon as possible.

The Loop reports that popular ratings and reviews magazine Consumer Reports has released its latest ratings of notebook computers, and Apple's new 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models have topped their respective categories.

The 11-inch MacBook Air scored 67 points out of a possible 100, easily outdistancing the second-place Toshiba Satellite and its 51-point score.

The 11-inch model received a "very good" rating for ergonomics and display, a "good" rating for performance and "fair" ratings for versatility and speakers. Consumer Reports also found the MacBook Air had battery life of 6.25 hours. The Toshiba's battery life came in at 5.5 hours of battery life.

The 13-inch model faced stiffer competition, but still managed to finish on top of its category with a score of 78, two points better than the Toshiba Portege.

The 13-inch MacBook Air scored "very good" for performance, ergonomics, and display. It also scored "good" for speakers, "fair" for versatility and had 7.5 hours of battery life.

Despite some reports of display issues with the new MacBook Air, the notebook does seem to be proving relatively popular, generating significant buzz and demand appearing to force Apple to bump shipping estimates for the entry-level 11-inch model slightly to 1-3 business days.

After yesterday's report that support for using Apple's AirPrint feature in iOS 4.2 to print to shared printers connected to Macs and Windows PCs appears to have been scrapped at the last minute, one MacRumors forum member emailed Steve Jobs to inquire about the fate of the feature. Jobs reportedly replied, noting that AirPrint has not been canceled.

Q: As a release-day purchaser of an iPad, I was elated when you revealed iOS 4.2 would support AirPrint. Now comes reports AirPrint support has been pulled from 4.2. Between announcements/assurances of the white iPhone, and now the pulling of AirPrint, is Apple going to lose credibility and become known for announcing "vaporware"?

A: AirPrint has not been pulled. Don't believe everything you read.

Unfortunately, the exchange sheds little light on the situation, as the initial report did not claim that AirPrint had been entirely pulled, only that printing to shared printers connected to Macs and PCs had been removed at the last minute. Consequently, both the rumor and Jobs' comments can be entirely correct.

Apple has touted that AirPrint will allow users to print directly from iOS devices to compatible printers, with HP leading the way in releasing AirPrint-friendly printers. That aspect of AirPrint has not been rumored for discontinuation, with only printing to other printers accessible via sharing from Macs and PCs being the subject of the claims.

Apple has been rumored to be releasing Mac OS X 10.6.5 and iTunes 10.1 today, with iOS 4.2 set to follow on Friday, although we have yet to see any indication from Apple of today's rumored releases.