MacRumors

Bloomberg takes a look at Apple's spate of corporate acquisitions over the past six months, which has seen the company reverse a long-standing policy of making very infrequent deals with its recent purchases of Quattro Wireless, Lala Media, Intrinsity, and Siri. In particular, the report points to the growing rivalry between Apple and Google, stoked in large part on the acquisitions front by Google reportedly swooping in to snatch mobile advertising firm AdMob just as Apple was looking to finalize a deal to do so.

"The pace has really picked up, there seems to be a strategic shift," said Charlie Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Co. in New York. "It looks like there's an acquisition frenzy going on between Google and Apple in the sense that there's an increasing urgency on Apple's part to stay even if not ahead of Google in the phone space and apps space.

One interesting tidbit included in the report is evidence that Apple has sometimes moved very quickly when looking to make an acquisition, even giving targets as little as three hours to agree to a deal.

To avoid publicity and possible rival bids, Apple in some cases has offered a target only a three-hour period in which to accept the terms of a sale, according to one executive with knowledge of the situation.

Apple's increased interest in corporate acquisitions was noted earlier this year, with the company's hiring of its first dedicated mergers and acquisitions specialist last year possibly signaling the priority shift.

"They learned a good lesson with AdMob" because they had to settle for "second-fiddle Quattro," said Brian Marshall, an analyst with Broadpoint AmTech in San Francisco. "They've got the resources. They have the team to do acquisitions now. It's a technology land grab right now."

Apple has traditionally shied away from such acquisitions, preferring to develop its technology in-house with its own culture and only occasionally engaging in purchases of much smaller companies. Even then, Apple has been tight-lipped about its plans for those companies, sometimes pursuing specific technologies or intellectual property and other times primarily looking to acquire talented individuals for its own projects.

One of the early notes on the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G was the observation that several video streaming applications for the iPad such as Netflix and YouTube offer lower-resolution video over 3G than they do over Wi-Fi. Others, such as ABC's popular ABC Player application, refused to stream over 3G at all, restricting viewers to Wi-Fi networks only.

Despite some confusion over the reasons for ABC's lack of 3G capability, with AT&T directing questions to Apple and speculation about digital rights or technical considerations being bandied about, AppAdvice noted over the weekend that Apple requires application looking to use HTTP Live Streaming over 3G networks to offer lower quality stream options that can be used when network conditions limit the amount of available bandwidth. ABC apparently chose not to include such functionality it its iPad application, resulting in the Wi-Fi-only limitation.

Fortunately, Silicon Alley Insider now reports that ABC has already submitted a revised version of its iPad application, offering streaming via 3G, to Apple for inclusion in the App Store.

Good news, iPad 3G owners: ABC's iPad app will support 3G video streaming in a new update to the app, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The app has already been submitted to Apple, and pending approval -- which ABC should get -- it will be available for download.

ABC had previously indicated to Silicon Alley Insider that the application would be Wi-Fi-only due to "a variety of business and technical considerations." It appears, however, that ABC has changed its mind and has resolved any issues it had with allowing 3G streaming to the iPad.

The New York Post reports that Apple may be facing a federal antitrust inquiry over a change made to its iPhone developer agreement last month prohibiting developers from using cross-compilers to create their applications. The move, which effectively bans developers from using Adobe's new Packager for iPhone feature in Flash Professional CS5 for App Store submission, has escalated an ongoing dispute between Apple and Adobe over Flash.

According to a person familiar with the matter, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are locked in negotiations over which of the watchdogs will begin an antitrust inquiry into Apple's new policy of requiring software developers who devise applications for devices such as the iPhone and iPad to use only Apple's programming tools.

Regulators, this person said, are days away from making a decision about which agency will launch the inquiry. It will focus on whether the policy, which took effect last month, kills competition by forcing programmers to choose between developing apps that can run only on Apple gizmos or come up with apps that are platform neutral, and can be used on a variety of operating systems, such as those from rivals Google, Microsoft and Research In Motion.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has become increasingly vocal over his company's views on Flash, arguing that the future of Web content delivery lies in HTML5, CSS and JavaScript and not in Flash. Jobs claims that Flash offers a substandard user experience with reliability and security issues, as well as not being suitable for mobile device platforms for a number of reasons.

With respect to the compiler issue, Jobs' argument rests on the claim that adding a middle layer between the iPhone OS and applications would result in an unsatisfactory user experience and hamper developments due to reliance on those third parties for rolling out new features and other changes. Apple prefers that developers "stand directly on the shoulders" of iPhone OS, as it aims to deliver "the most advanced and innovative platform" to assist them with their app creation.

Update: Reuters is corroborating the claim that an inquiry is under consideration.

Apple today announced that it has reached one million iPads sold in the 28 days since the launch of Wi-Fi models in early April. iPad users have also downloaded over 12 million apps and over 1.5 million eBooks during that time.

"One million iPads in 28 days -- that's less than half of the 74 days it took to achieve this milestone with iPhone," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Demand continues to exceed supply and we're working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more customers."

Apple offered no indication in its press release of sales of Wi-Fi + 3G iPad models, which went on sale in the U.S. last Friday.

Apple previously announced that it had sold 300,000 iPads on the first day of sales of Wi-Fi-only models. Less than a week after that launch, Jobs noted at the company's iPhone OS 4 media event that it had passed 450,000 in iPad sales.

Tracking site Chikita estimated last week that Apple had sold its one millionth iPad even before the 3G-capable models went on sale.

This weekend BumpTop announced that they had been acquired by Google.

More than three years ago, we set out to completely change the way people use their desktops. We're very grateful for all your support over that time -- not just financially but also through all the encouraging messages from people who found BumpTop inspiring, useful, and just downright fun.

Today, we have a big announcement to make: we're excited to announce that we've been acquired by Google!

This puts an end to their Windows and Mac product which was offered as a free download with paid upgrade. We had previously covered the Mac release when it was launched in January.

BumpTop is physics-based 3D desktop environment which allows users new features for organizing their desktops. BumpTop offers users multiple surfaces on which to store files, allowing users to alter the sizes of individual items and take advantage of several organizational features such as piles. BumpTop also supports Multi-Touch gestures in Windows 7 to manipulate files. See this video showing off its features:

The company is still offering the free version to download for the next week. It's not known what plans Google has for the technology.

Apple has also been researching 3d desktop environments with some similar features to BumpTop. Apple has also been heavily investing in multi-touch technologies that are found in the iPhone and iPad.

iLounge posts some preliminary findings between the iPad Wi-fi and iPad 3G models. The 3G model was just released on Friday and includes 3G cellular data capabilities as well as GPS functionality.

Data services over 3G cellular tend to draw more power than on Wi-Fi alone. Apple's official specs show a 10% hit when using 3G vs. Wi-fi. Apple claims 10 hours of continous web usage on Wi-Fi, and 9 hours of usage on 3G with a single charge. iLounge's early tests show that these numbers seem reasonably accurate:

Our prior iPad with Wi-Fi battery tests found that Apple was generally at least a little conservative in its estimates; for instance, we put the Wi-Fi model through a web torture test with repeated 1-minute refreshes of a large, completely loaded page for 10 hours and 21 minutes on 50% brightness over 802.11n. Repeating the exact same test on the Wi-Fi + 3G model with 3G turned on and Wi-Fi turned off, the iPad achieved 8 hours and 38 minutes of continuous reloading and displaying -- 22 minutes shy of Apples estimate.

The iPad 3G was delivered to customers on Friday, about a month after the launch of the Wi-Fi iPad. The main differences between the units are the inclusion of a 3G data module as well as GPS functionality in the newer model. iFixit has already performed a teardown of the new unit, though few surprises were found.

Some additional notes of interest:

- Gizmodo notes that Netflix works over 3G but with down sampled video. ABC's app, however, refuses to play over 3G and is Wi-Fi only.
- Dan Frommer suggests ABC's 3G limitation is due to content licensing issues rather than a technical limitation imposed by either Apple or AT&T. When questioned, AT&T deferred to Apple for specifics.
- Gizmodo also describes a comparison of GPS functionality between the iPad and the Phone 3GS. According to their tests, the iPhone 3GS locked onto the GPS signal faster, but the iPad was more accurate and consistent.
- A few MacRumors forum members noted similar improvements in GPS, finding the Navigon app to work much better on the iPad:

With the iPhone navigon would jump me around and tell me to get on the freeway when I was already on the freeway. With the iPad 3G ... It updated my position in real time while I was pulling out of my driveway ... 40 ft.

- iFixit's teardown shows the iPad uses a different GPS chip (Broadcom BCM4750UBG Single-Chip AGPS Solution) compared to the iPhone 3GS, explaining the improvement.
- TUAW notes that Skype over 3G connections failed (as expected. They report that 3rd party SIM cards worked properly in the iPad.

With today's news that Apple is planning a May 31st shutdown for Lala Media, the streaming music service it acquired last December, speculation has arisen that Apple may be on the verge of launching its own cloud-based version of iTunes. MediaMemo reports, however, that industry sources are indicating that such a move would have to occur a bit further down the road.

Sources tell me that in the past few weeks, Apple has started signaling to the labels that it's interested in a Web-based version of iTunes, its dominant music retail platform. But those conversations are preliminary at best.

The music industry has reportedly rejected Apple's earlier proposals for a cloud-based iTunes, claiming that offering users the ability to stream a single purchased track to multiple devices should require the labels to receive greater revenue than they do under the current system, a position Apple and its customers would generally not be likely to accept.

The report notes that Apple could try to argue that users have the legal right to stream their purchased content to their own devices as they see fit, but such a move would antagonize the record labels and also likely hamper Apple's efforts to expand its content deals in other media segments such as television networks.

Stepping into the Flash debate just hours after Apple CEO Steve Jobs issued his "Thoughts on Flash" letter discussing why Apple has elected not to include support for Adobe's Flash on its iPhone OS devices, Microsoft general manager for Internet Explorer Dean Hachamovitch noted this his company is throwing its weight behind the H.264 standard promoted by Apple for future HTML5 video content.

The future of the web is HTML5. Microsoft is deeply engaged in the HTML5 process with the W3C. HTML5 will be very important in advancing rich, interactive web applications and site design. The HTML5 specification describes video support without specifying a particular video format. We think H.264 is an excellent format. In its HTML5 support, IE9 will support playback of H.264 video only.

Hachamovitch goes on to acknowledge that video on the web today is primarily Flash-based, and while Microsoft continues to work with Adobe on Flash, he also notes that it carries some issues related to reliability, security, and performance.

Hachamovitch's comments suggest that while Microsoft recognizes the dominant role played by Flash, it is also looking ahead to the future, where it sees a much more prominent role for HTML5 and H.264, a view shared and being pushed forward by Apple in its decisions and communications.

Pre-orders of Apple's iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models have been arriving around the United States this morning, and a number of users have been putting together unboxing galleries featuring the new devices. Both iLounge and Boy Genius Report have posted extensive galleries of their own, offering a number of shots of the packaging, accessories, iPads, and setup screens.

Of note, iLounge reports that the 3G-capable models come shipped in the exact same style of box used for the Wi-Fi-only models released earlier this month with the addition of two stickers on the rear of the box listing the capacity and 3G nature of the contents.

The box the 3G model comes in is identical to that of the Wi-Fi-only model, save for two stickers on the back of the box that reference the fact that a 3G model is contained within; notably, the image of the iPad on the front does not depict the 3G model.

As with the Wi-Fi-only iPad, users must connect the device to iTunes before using.

Customers receiving their iPad Wi-Fi + 3G orders today will find them pre-loaded with AT&T-branded micro-SIM cards, and can follow Apple's step-by-step guide to get 3G service up and running on their devices.

With pre-orders for Apple's new iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models being delivered today and Apple retail stores gearing up for a 5:00 PM start to in-store sales, Apple has posted a new support document offering a step-by-step guide to setting up 3G service for the device through AT&T. The information expands upon a feature posted last month on Apple's iPad site and a fact sheet published by AT&T earlier this week.

The guide provides a series of screenshots to show users the exact process for activating 3G service on their new iPads, from adding contact information and creating a login account to selecting a data plan and entering payment information.

The process also includes a review of the Terms of Service for AT&T, and upon agreement with the terms, displays a payment summary for the activated plan. International data can also be managed through this screen and must be added before leaving the United States.

Once completing the signup process, it may take several minutes for 3G service to be activated, but customers can use their iPad as normal on Wi-Fi and will be notified by an alert once the plan is activated.

In an article on Motorola's earnings report earlier this week, Forbes notes that Apple has passed Motorola to become the largest mobile phone manufacturer based in the United States.

Motorola sold a total of 8.5 million phones in the quarter, while Apple sold 8.8 million iPhones. Four years ago, when the Razr was still popular, Motorola sold 46.1 million phones in the first quarter.

On a related note, research firm IDC yesterday released a report on global mobile phone sales for the first quarter of 2010, showing overall industry year-over-year growth of 21.7% to 294.9 million. BlackBerry maker Research in Motion entered the top five for the first time, edging out Sony Ericsson for the fourth spot with shipments of 10.6 million and 3.6% market share. Apple's 8.8 million number suggests that a top five placement is within reach if iPhone shipments continue to grow at the rapid pace they have been experiencing.

RIM shipped 10.6 million units in the first quarter while Motorola, which had been a top 5 vendor since the inception of IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker in 2004, shipped 8.5 million units. Motorola, the number 2 overall vendor in 2004, registered a fifth place finish last year by virtue of its overall strength in the lower-growth traditional mobile phone category. Motorola has steadily lost share since 2004 when the market started its shift toward higher-end feature phones and smartphones. The ongoing shift has given rise to converged mobile device vendors such as RIM and Apple.

Overall, Nokia and Samsung dominated sales numbers, with Nokia shipping 107.8 million phones for 36.6% global market share and Samsung moving 64.3 million units and representing 21.8% of the market.

Apple today announced the launch of movie downloads for its iTunes Stores in France and Ireland. The offerings include both purchases and rentals and come from major studios such as 20th Century Fox, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Disney, and Warner Brothers, as well as smaller European-focused studios.

iTunes movies start at €7.99 for catalog title purchases, €9.99 for recent releases and €13.99 for new releases. iTunes Movie Rentals are €2.99 for library title rentals and €3.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are priced at just one euro more.

Apple's movie rental program allows users 30 days from the time of payment in which to watch content, although once a movie has been started, customers have 48 hours to complete their viewing.

Apple launched movie purchases through the iTunes Store in the U.S. with Disney in late 2006, and has expanded both its content and geographic reach over the years. iTunes Store movie rentals first appeared in the U.S. in early 2008.

Lala.com has announced that they will be shutting down their service as of May 31, 2010. Lala is a streaming music service that was acquired by Apple in December, 2009.

Lala was a four year old startup company that offered customers streaming music over the Internet. This allowed users to listen to a catalog of over 7 million songs for free as a stream over the web -- much like internet radio. If you wanted to buy the right to listen to a particular song on demand an unlimited amount of times from the web, it would cost $.10. In order to permanently download the song to your hard drive or device, however, it would cost the more traditional $.79-$.89 per song.

Some had speculated that Apple would leverage the talent and technology to offer a similar "cloud-based" iTunes service. It was believed that Apple would introduce a version of iTunes that offered streaming music and possibly video services to users. Apple is presumably shutting down Lala to devote resources on its own plans.

Adobe today announced that it has begun shipping Creative Suite 5, introduced earlier this month.

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the availability of the Adobe Creative Suite 5 product family, the highly-anticipated release of the industry-leading design and development software for virtually every creative workflow. With more than 250 new product features, the Creative Suite 5 product line brings exciting full-version upgrades of flagship creative tools and workflow enhancements to designers and developers -- enabling the creation, delivery and optimization of content across media for greater impact and results.

Adobe is now offering free trial downloads for Creative Suite 5 and its various components. CS5 is also available at Amazon for slight discounts.

Note: Sales through these links financially benefit this site.

As noted by 9 to 5 Mac, Apple will be closing each of its over 220 retail stores in the United States from 4:00-5:00 PM local time tomorrow to prepare for the launch of the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G. Even Apple's flagship Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan, typically open 24 hours a day, will close for preparations.

The store will be closed from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 30, to prepare for the arrival of iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G.

Customers who pre-ordered their 3G-capable models prior to April 19th have seen their orders shipping for delivery tomorrow.

In a very brief press release, Valve Software today announced that the public launch of Steam for Mac OS X is scheduled for May 12th. Officially announced in early March, Steam will bring a major game distribution platform, including Valve's library of popular games, to the Mac.

Valve today announced the public release of Steam for the Mac is May 12. Please stay tuned for more information.

A closed beta of Steam for Mac has been ongoing with testers initially putting Valve's Portal through its paces. Through Valve's "Steam Play" feature, users will be able to play games on multiple operating systems while only having to purchase each title once.

Valve had initially targeted April for a Steam for Mac release, and the reason for the slight delay beyond the original estimate is currently unknown.