MacRumors

Earlier this week, we noted that Bloomberg Television would be airing a profile of Apple CEO Steve Jobs as part of its new Bloomberg Game Changers series. Following the initial airing of the episode last night, the full 48-minute video has now been posted to Bloomberg's site.

Through interviews with friends, former colleagues and business associates, GAME CHANGERS reveals the many layers of the intensely private Steve Jobs - his style of leadership, management and creative process. Interviews include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, former Apple CEO John Scully, journalist turned Venture Capitalist Michael Moritz, Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, former Apple "Mac Evangelist" and Silicon Valley Entrepreneur, Guy Kawasaki and Robert X.Cringely, technology journalist and former Apple employee.

For those who are interested in catching the episode on television, Bloomberg will be re-airing it at 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM Eastern Time tonight.

Autodesk today announced that its AutoCAD for Mac 2D and 3D design software is now available with a 30-day free trial for all users. Officially announced about six weeks ago, the release marks a return to the Mac platform for AutoCAD after a nearly two-decade hiatus.

AutoCAD for Mac has an intuitive interface that will feel familiar to Mac users and takes full advantage of Mac OS X, including graphical browsing of design files with Cover Flow and use of Multi-Touch gestures for pan and zoom on Mac notebooks, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad. With native creation and editing of files in the DWG file format, AutoCAD for Mac also supports easy collaboration with suppliers, customers, clients and partners regardless of platform. AutoCAD for Mac is also integrated with AutoCAD WS, so users can also upload and manage designs in their online workspace directly from the desktop and easily edit and share those designs through a web browser or Apple iOS devices using the free* AutoCAD WS mobile application.

The companion AutoCAD WS application for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch was released in late September and offers users the ability to view and work with AutoCAD DWG files.

AutoCAD for Mac targets professional users and carries a price tag on the order of $4,000, but the 30-day trial should offer many of these users ample opportunity to test drive the application before committing to purchasing the software. Autodesk also offers an educational licensing program which allows free access to AutoCAD for students using the application for personal educational purposes.

Pocket-lint reports that it recently spotted an iPhone 4 user at a New York City press event sporting a white iPhone, which Apple has yet to publicly launch. While a number of users have created their own white iPhone 4s by replacing parts on their black iPhones with white ones from Asian suppliers, this user claims that his device is a legitimate white iPhone 4 secured for him by a friend at Apple.

According to the user, Apple's manufacturing partners are continuing to struggle with color consistency on the white iPhone 4, specifically with the white home button matching the color of the front face plate to Apple's standards.

Well, according to our jacket wearing gent, Apple is having trouble getting its two suppliers in the Far East to match the white used in the manufacturing of the parts. The white home button colour doesn't match the white front face plate colour, it turns out.

Apple being the perfectionist that it is, isn't happy with this and therefore isn't happy to sell it to the general public, supposedly.

Color issues have been proposed in the past as a possible source for the delays, as it is essentially the only difference between white and black versions of the iPhone. Other sources have claimed that Apple is attempting to deal with light from the iPhone's backlight leaking out through the less-opaque white back.

Regardless of the reasons for the multiple delays, Apple has offered no updates on its plans for the white iPhone since its late July announcement that the device would ship "later this year".

A pair of New York newspapers are making news themselves today with their recent iPad app releases, with The New York Times introducing a greatly-expanded application and The New York Post rolling out a new app with subscriptions handled via in-app purchasing.

The original NYTimes Editors' Choice has been reborn as NYTimes for iPad, offering a significant expansion of available content from the very limited selection that was present in the original version. Content from over 25 sections of The New York Times is now available to those who already have or register for a free account, although the paper is planning to begin charging for access early next year.

Introducing the enhanced New York Times app for the iPad free until early 2011. Now with all of the sections, articles, videos and photos you expect from The Times.

The NYTimes iPad app now includes over 25 Times sections, including Arts, Technology, Politics, Science, Style and more. Experience breathtaking new sections for Photos and Video. Read a selection of the latest Times blogs. Share articles, photos and video through Facebook, Twitter and e-mail.

Apple had been reported to be working closely with The New York Times on an iPad application even before the device was publicly unveiled in January, but Steve Jobs was reportedly extremely displeased with the limited content made available in the initial product.

Meanwhile, The New York Post has launched its own iPad app, breaking new ground by offering monthly, biannual, and yearly subscriptions to the paper's content via in-app purchasing after an initial 30-day access period granted with the $1.99 download. As noted by paidContent, the newspaper will then support subscriptions priced at $6.99 per month, $39.99 per six months, or $74.99 per year, roughly half the cost of print delivery subscriptions.

Apple and newspaper publishers have been working to launch subscription content, but the two sides have been at an impasse over revenue sharing and subscriber information. The use of in-app purchasing for subscriptions in The New York Post's new app suggests that that newspaper has at least ceded to Apple's demands that content subscriptions be administered through the App Store itself, where Apple presumably will take its typical 30% cut of revenue.

Just a day after it was announced that AT&T would begin selling the iPad in its retail stores, the carrier has announced an initiative to sell the device directly to business customers. The program will see the carrier offering the three Wi-Fi + 3G iPad models along with data packages specifically targeting business customers.

While Apple has featured the iPad's utility in business settings, the new program from AT&T introduces the device into the carrier's existing business relationships it is using to promote custom mobile solutions.

"iPad is a great fit for our enterprise customers across a wide range of industries who are looking for ways to increase business productivity and offer greater flexibility," said Michael Antieri, President, Advanced Enterprise Mobility Solutions, AT&T Business Solutions. "This new offer further strengthens AT&T's commitment to provide businesses with the tools they need to accelerate mobility-led productivity."

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson noted back in June that he viewed the iPad as a significant opportunity for businesses to "think differently about mobilizing all of the applications that you see in business." At the time, he pointed to strong interest from the carrier's business customers, but it is only now that Apple has opened up the iPad to additional distribution channels like AT&T that the carrier will be able to work directly with its customers to get the iPad into their hands.

Apple today issued a media alert announcing details for next Monday's release of its financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter and third calendar quarter of 2010. The results will be released after the close of Monday's trading at approximately 4:30 PM Eastern / 1:30 PM Pacific. Apple's conference call discussing the results will follow at 2:00 PM Pacific and will be available via a live audio webcast. MacRumors will provide running coverage of the conference call highlights.

Apple's fourth fiscal quarter saw several significant product introductions, particularly in its desktop line with the iMac and Mac Pro receiving updates in late July. The company also moved to revamp nearly its entire iPod lineup in early September. Finally, the quarter also saw significant movement with the iPhone 4 and iPad continuing to roll out to new markets and supply shortages for both devices beginning to ease as the quarter ended.

For the quarter, analysts are predicting net earnings of $4.03 per share on revenue of $18.76 billion, above Apple's guidance of $3.44 profit per share on $18 billion of revenue. Apple's year-ago results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2009 initially included net earnings of $1.82 per share on revenue of $9.87 billion. Those calculations were based, however, on earlier accounting methods that utilized "subscription accounting" for iPhone and Apple TV revenue. Apple adopted revised accounting standards at the beginning of fiscal 2010, and after retrospective application (PDF) of the new standards, the year-ago quarter yielded net earnings of $2.77 per share on revenue of $12.21 billion.

Cult of Mac recently conducted an interview with former Apple CEO John Sculley, who headed up the computer maker from 1983 until 1993 and on whose watch Steve Jobs was ousted from the company he founded. The interview offers an interesting glimpse into Jobs' perspective on Apple and how his principles of aesthetic design, minimalism, and perfectionism have influenced Apple over its entire existence.

Sculley emphasizes Jobs' view of the customer experience, incorporating that perspective into every aspect of product design. But even from their earliest days, Jobs and Apple shied away from focus groups, with Jobs arguing that it was impossible to gain feedback on revolutionary new devices when the potential users couldn't understand the leaps Apple was trying to make.

"Steve said: 'How can I possibly ask somebody what a graphics-based computer ought to be when they have no idea what a graphic based computer is? No one has ever seen one before.' He believed that showing someone a calculator, for example, would not give them any indication as to where the computer was going to go because it was just too big a leap."

Jobs has also insisted on a high level of personal involvement in product development, with Sculley likening the experience to an artist's workshop, where engineers would work on bits of new hardware or software and Jobs as the master craftsman would wander from employee to employee to critique the work that was being done.

"Steve would shift between being highly charismatic and motivating and getting them excited to feel like they are part of something insanely great. And on the other hand he would be almost merciless in terms of rejecting their work until he felt it had reached the level of perfection that was good enough to go into - in this case, the Macintosh.

Jobs' insistence on playing an active role in the day-to-day work of his engineers led to his belief that the Mac team should never exceed 100 people. And while the supporting cast of employees around the engineering team could obviously grow much larger, the core team was meant to be kept tightly focused under Jobs.

Sculley also reflects on his role as Apple CEO, having been recruited from a 25-year career at Pepsi to lead a company in an industry he knew nothing about. Sculley goes as far as to call his hiring a "big mistake", with Apple unwilling to allow the still-young Steve Jobs to have full control over the rapidly-growing company and attempting a forced marriage of sorts in which the outsider Sculley and the design-focused Jobs were obliged to share the governing duties.

A full transcript of the interview is also available, bringing a fresh perspective on Apple and Steve Jobs from a major player during a time of remarkable growth but significant turmoil for the company striving to revolutionize the computing industry.

Apple's revamped MobileMe Calendar web application, which debuted as a beta version in early July, has officially exited the beta stage, with availability now rolling out to all MobileMe customers.

The new MobileMe Calendar is now out of beta and available to all members. We'd like to thank everyone who took part in the beta for helping to make this the best MobileMe Calendar yet.

The announcement highlights several new features of MobileMe Calendar, including push and syncing improvements for iOS devices, calendar sharing and publishing, event invitations with RSVPs, and the overhauled web interface.

Back in June, Apple launched a revamped MobileMe Mail interface, as well as a more general overhaul of the online MobileMe experience.

We've received word that Apple has seeded a new version of Mac OS X 10.6.5, termed Build 10H555, to at least a portion of its Mac developer community for testing. The new release comes two weeks after Build 10H548 was pushed out for testing.

Apple continues to list no documented known issues with the update, and asks developers to focus their testing on 3D Graphics, Printing, QuickTime, Time Machine, and USB Devices.

Mac OS X 10.6.4 was released in mid-June, and the first developer version of Mac OS X 10.6.5 was seeded in mid-August. With two months of developer testing and refinement under its belt and a continued lack of documented issues remaining in recent builds, Mac OS X 10.6.5 may be nearing a public release. Apple's development schedule is unpredictable, however, and it is consequently difficult to say with any degree of certainty when such a release might occur.

Apple of course appears set to begin discussing the Mac OS X 10.7, the company's next major update to its Mac operating system, at a media event scheduled for next Wednesday. A public launch of Mac OS X 10.7 is, however, likely quite some time in the future.

In a pair of press releases issued this morning, Apple announced that the iPad will be available at AT&T and Verizon retail stores beginning October 28th.

The AT&T deal will bring the the three iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models to the company's 2,200 retail store locations in the United States, offering yet another distribution channel for Apple's tablet device and providing AT&T with the opportunity to sell customers on its 3G data service plans.

"We can't wait to showcase the amazing features of iPad Wi-Fi + 3G in our stores across the country just in time for the holidays," said Glenn Lurie, AT&T President of Emerging Devices, Resale and Partnerships, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "With our breakthrough iPad data plans starting at just $14.99 and access to AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots around the country at no extra cost, our customers will have the best of both worlds."

"We look forward to expanding the reach of iPad, allowing even more customers to experience the magic of iPad for themselves," said Tim Cook, Apple's COO. "As we approach the holiday season, we are very happy that customers will now be able to buy iPad Wi-Fi + 3G at AT&T Stores."

Verizon's 2,000 retail stores will offer the three Wi-Fi-only iPad models both as standalone purchases and bundled with the carrier's MiFi 2200 mobile hotspot device to provide service on the go. The bundles will be priced at $629.99/$729.99/$829.99, essentially the same price points as the corresponding iPad models with onboard 3G capabilities. Verizon will offer iPad customers a monthly 1GB data plan priced at $20.

"This is the perfect pairing for holiday travels," said John Stratton, chief operating officer for Verizon Wireless. "iPad together with the nation's largest and most reliable 3G data network allows customers to easily connect on the go wherever they are."

"We're thrilled to be working with Verizon Wireless to get iPad into the hands of even more customers this holiday season," said Tim Cook, Apple's COO. "iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before, and together with Verizon Wireless we're offering an easy way to stay connected wherever you go."

The announcements continue a remarkable expansion in distribution for the iPad, with Best Buy expanding availability nationwide late last month and Target, Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Sam's Club all launching the device over the past few weeks or in the near future.

Research firm Gartner today issued a preliminary report detailing U.S. and worldwide PC shipments for the third quarter of 2010, showing sales growth of Apple's Mac product outpacing that of the industry as a whole and showing Apple surpassing 10% share of the market.

Apple had another strong quarter. Increasing traffic to Apple, associated with the iPad release (iPads are not included in Gartner's PC shipment statistics), as well as iMac and Mac Pro refreshes, contributed to the growth.

According to Gartner's report, Apple placed fourth among U.S. computer shipments with a 10.4% market share on unit growth of 13.7% over the year-ago quarter. The performance fell just short of Acer's third place showing at 10.5% and was up from the previous quarter's 9.8% and from 9.3% in the year-ago quarter.

Overall, Gartner saw only a 2.2% gain in U.S. PC shipments over the year-ago quarter, citing weakness in consumer PC demand fostered in part by the iPad delaying planned PC purchases.

"Media tablet hype around devices such as the iPad has also affected consumer notebook growth by delaying some PC purchases, especially in the U.S. consumer market. Media tablets don't replace primary PCs, but they affect PC purchases in many ways," Ms. Kitagawa said. "At this stage, hype around media tablets has led consumers and the channels to take a 'wait and see' approach to buying a new device."

Despite Apple's strong performance in the U.S., the company was unable to break into the top five computer manufacturers on a worldwide basis, where Asus and Toshiba battled over the fourth and fifth spots at 5.4% and 5.3% shares respectively.

Update: IDC has also released its data for the third quarter, pegging Apple's U.S. sales at just under 2 million and ranking the company third with a 10.6% share, just ahead of Acer at 10.3%. IDC's numbers show Apple with 24.1% year-over-year growth, well ahead of the overall industry's 3.8% growth in the United States.

"Apple's influence on the PC market continues to grow, particularly in the U.S., as the company's iPad has had some negative impact on the mininotebook market. But, the halo effect of the device also helped propel Mac sales and moved the company into the number three position in the U.S. market," said Bob O'Donnell, IDC vice president for Clients and Displays.

A newly-awarded Apple patent addressing parental controls for text-based communication is receiving a considerable amount of attention from the mainstream press today for its ties to the hot-button issue of "sexting", the sending of sexually-explicit messages that is of growing concern to many parents.

Apple's patent, which was filed in January 2008 and first revealed in July 2009 when the application for it was made public, addresses the means by which a filtering system could be used to block messages such as emails and texts containing objectionable material according to user-defined criteria.

The invention, in various embodiments, addresses deficiencies in existing attempts at solutions by providing systems, methods and devices that enable an administrator to control the text-based communications of a user of a text-based communications device through an administrative mode of an intelligent text-based communication control unit or application. The text-based communication control application filters incoming and/or outgoing text-based communications based on administrator-defined criteria.

An entire message identified by the filter could be blocked, or the objectionable content could simply be stripped out while the remainder of the message is allowed to be sent or received.

Apple's focus extends beyond that of simply addressing objectionable content, noting that the feature could be used in an educational enviroment to encourage proper spelling and grammar or usage of certain vocabulary words, or to set quotas for usage of foreign words by a student studying a new language.

Engadget reports that Apple has issued invitations for a special media event to be held next Wednesday, October 20th at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. The invitation for the event, which is to be held at the company's campus in Cupertino, California, carries the tagline "Back to the Mac".

The invitation also contains an image of what appears to be a lion peeking out from behind the Apple logo, hinting at discussion of Mac OS X 10.7. "Lion" has been one of the most commonly-suggested "big cat" names for the next-generation operating system.

As shown in our Buyer's Guide, much of Apple's notebook line with the exception of the entry-level MacBook is due for a refresh, and Apple has refreshed at least a portion of its notebook line each October or November for the last several years. Apple's desktop offerings have all been updated relatively recently, suggesting that the company's media event may focus on notebooks if new hardware is included on the agenda.

TheStreet reports that, during Wal-Mart's annual meeting this morning, executives announced that the retailer will begin carrying the iPhone and iPad in its Sam's Club warehouse club chain, marking yet another significant distribution point for Apple's mobile devices.

A timeframe was not provided for when the devices would hit the warehouse club. Sam's Club said it is attempting to increase the quality in its consumer electronic categories, as well as its fresh food and health and wellness divisions.

Sam's Club is membership-only warehouse chain of approximately 600 stores in the United States, competing against the likes of Costco and BJ's Wholesale Club. The three major warehouse clubs have long offered iPods in their stores at a slight discount from Apple's retail prices, but today's announcement marks the first time one of the chains has landed the iPhone and iPad. Pricing for the devices has yet to be announced.

The news comes just as Wal-Mart is rolling out sales of the iPad in many of its retail stores, following recent retail expansion to all Best Buy Stores, as well as Target and Amazon, as Apple's constrained supplies have begun to ease.

Update: AppleInsider is reporting that Target is also planning to sell the iPhone as part of its partnership with Radio Shack to deploy mobile phone centers in its stores.

In something of a psychological milestone, Apple's stock opened for trading today at just over $300 per share, having risen 25% since late August and 42% since the beginning of the year.

Apple has passed several stock-related milestones so far this year, including blowing past $200 billion in market capitalization back in March and passing Wal-Mart in market capitalization just a few days later. In April, Apple's stock topped $250 for the first time, and by late May Apple had passed Microsoft to become the second-largest U.S. company by market capitalization, trailing only Exxon Mobil.

Since that time, Apple has expanded its lead over Microsoft in market capitalization to nearly $50 billion, although it has been unable to close the gap on Exxon Mobil as the energy giant's stock has also performed well over the last few months.

Apple is due to release its earnings report for the June-September quarter next Monday, with some observers predicting that the company will reach $20 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time in its history and surpass Microsoft in revenue for the first time in 15 years.