Marketwatch reports that KDI Corp will be selling the next generation iPhone come October, likely alongside rival Softbank, who had enjoyed exclusivity up until now.
In a blow for the Japanese cell phone carrier's rival, Apple and KDDI have already entered into a sales pact for the new phone, Nikkei Business said, citing sources close to the matter.
KDDI will reportedly making preparations for the "iPhone 5" at its shops throughout the country around November.
According to an analyst quoted in the article, customers will welcome the expansion as "Softbank's telecommunications quality lags other carriers" in Japan.
According to Digitimes, Apple is continuing to diversify its suppliers and moving away from its dependance on Samsung:
Apple has increased its purchases of DRAM and NAND flash from Japan, according to industry sources, adding that Toshiba and Elpida Memory are being pinpointed as beneficiaries of the increased procurement.
Apple and Samsung have been in increasingly escalating legal battles over patent claims concerning Apple's iOS devices and Samsung's Galaxy line These lawsuits are said to be the reason for Apple's shifting of suppliers. Apple had previously been reported to have moved from Samsung to TSMC for production of the A6 processor in 2012. Meanwhile, Samsung has even threatened to sue Apple over the iPhone 5 once it is released.
Apple had quickly become Samsung's biggest customer with contracts for over $7.8 billion in parts in 2011. Apple seems to be doing its best to shift those contracts to Samsung's competitors over the next year.
Update: Reuters reports that Samsung has announced a $10 billion investment in a new flash memory production line, hoping to increase its share of the market and lower its own costs. Samsung will take approximately nine months to get the new line fully up and running.
SprintFeed reports that Sprint will be limiting its mobile hotspot plans to 5GB of data as of October 2nd -- only days ahead of the rumored iPhone 4S/5 launch.
Bloomberg had reported that Sprint would finally be getting the next generation iPhone when it launches in October. Sprint is expected to provide unlimited data plans for the new iPhone and will be the only U.S. provider to offer such a plan. Both AT&T and Verizon originally offered the iPhone with unlimited mobile data, but later transitioned to tiered plans of limited data.
Sprint will still offer "unlimited" for those using data on-device, but for those who purchase the additional $29.99/mo hotspot plans will be limited to 5GB of data a month. Mobile Hotspot plans allow users to tether their iPhone to their laptops and share their mobile internet connection. This is presumably to prevent individuals from consuming large amounts of data through their laptops. Sprint's on-device mobile plan appears as if it will remain unlimited for the time being.
Publications participating in Apple's Newsstand feature, coming this fall in iOS 5, will only be able to update their issues once per day, according to documents obtained by AppAdvice.
The background downloading feature of Newsstand is interestingly handled by push notifications. That is, when new content is ready, the developer can, once a day, send a push notification to your device with special data, and your iDevice will then (if it’s ready to do so, battery and connection-wise) start downloading new content in the background.
The ability to only update once per day is a curious decision, as it seems publishers will not be able to automatically update their pubs to reflect breaking news or publish corrections as they currently can via a website or dedicated app.
This isn't a huge deal for weekly or monthly print publications which are used to having deadlines before closing the book on an edition. But for daily newspapers, who are getting into the habit of updating a newspaper webpage dozens of times a day, it may present some difficulties. Oddly, digital technologies like the iPad have pushed publications towards an "up-to-the-minute" news cycle, but Newsstand seems to be going back to a more traditional "once-a-day" publishing model.
As with all Apple's content efforts, getting publishers on board isn't going as smoothly as the company would hope. Eight French publications are banding together to negotiate with Apple regarding Newsstand access, with concerns over the 30% cut in revenue that Apple traditionally takes, and access to customer data.
Update: Some readers on Twitter have cleared up the situation slightly. @Xonder notes that "Newsstand apps can only update once a day __In the background__. Once the app is launched, it can update all the time."
@BenjaminZAMayo says users will be notified of important updates and breaking news "as they do at the moment - [with] push notifications," but without automatic downloads.
BGR reports on a new research note from Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair, who claims that Apple will be introducing only one new iPhone model, the so-called "iPhone 4S", at its October 4th media event. The claim runs contrary to some other recent rumors that Apple will be introducing both an iPhone 4S and a redesigned iPhone 5, but agrees with other analysts who have seen no sign of a redesigned iPhone 5 coming through Apple's supply chain.
“We expect the focus of the new iPhone will be iOS 5, a speedier A5 processor and a higher resolution 8 MP camera with a small possibility of a larger 4 inch screen,” Blair wrote. “We believe the casing will be largely similar to the iPhone with some particular modifications to the antennae [sic]. We don’t expect a second, dramatically different iPhone to accompany this as we don’t think Apple needs to have 3 models in the market to address the high end, mid-tier and low end since the iPhone 4 (with memory lowered to 8 GB) will drop to $99 and effectively attack those markets.”
The complete lack of parts evidence for a redesigned iPhone 5 has led to serious questions about the potential for such a device being launched this fall, and with the iPhone 4S having been seen sporting an A5 processor it seems possible Apple may be planning only the iPhone 4S as its next-generation iPhone model.
According to The Next Web, Apple board member Al Gore today claimed that Apple will be releasing "new iPhones" next month, making the first such public comment on Apple's next-generation iPhone release plans from anyone closely connected to the company.
Gore's use of the plural "iPhones" is naturally sparking speculation that Apple may indeed be planning to launch both a redesigned iPhone 5 and a more modest "iPhone 4S" based on the current iPhone 4 design.
We’ve been informed by Toby Shapshak, the editor of Stuff Magazine in South Africa that is attending the conference, that his quote was specifically: “Not to mention the new iPhones coming out next month. That was a plug.”
Shapshak says that the statement was definitely plural, although it wasn’t clear whether that meant two different models, as the statement was not clarified in any way by Gore.
It's not entirely clear just how familiar Gore would be with exact details of the next iPhone, as most boards of directors are more concerned with broader issues such as establishing corporate policy frameworks and objectives, monitoring financial performance, and representing shareholder interests. But Gore certainly could have knowledge of Apple's general timeframe for such a major product launch.
Meanwhile, Electronista and Reuters report that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse danced around the topic of the iPhone at a Goldman Sachs investor conference today, noting that the company's financial guidance does not take the device into account and would have to be adjusted if the carrier were to begin offering the iPhone.
Hesse also cited the iPhone as the number one reason customers have left Sprint, noting that the carrier has added subscribers over the past two quarters in spite of its disadvantage against iPhone-offering rivals AT&T and Verizon.
Calls made using Apple's video chat program, FaceTime, are encrypted end-to-end and -- with the right setup -- are HIPAA compliant, according to a statement from the company obtained by ZDNet.
This matters because any products for healthcare purchased with federal funds must be HIPAA-compliant. HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, was a large health-care bill passed in 1996, that, among other things, instituted wide requirements and guidelines surrounding patient privacy and confidentiality.
Keeping Protected Health Information, or PHI, safe and secure is essential for healthcare providers and FaceTime meeting those requirements allows hospitals to not only purchase iPads with federal funds, but it allows doctors to use FaceTime to confer with colleagues about patient issues and to talk directly to patients remotely.
However, to be truly compliant, hospitals need to have the proper wireless network. The WEP encryption protocol isn't strong enough and Apple recommends WPA2 Enterprise for secure communications:
iPad supports WPA2 Enterprise to provide authenticated access to your enterprise wireless network. WPA2 Enterprise uses 128-bit AES encryption, giving users the highest level of assurance that their data will remain protected when they send and receive communications over a Wi-Fi network connection.
In addition to your existing infrastructure each FaceTime session is encrypted end to end with unique session keys. Apple creates a unique ID for each FaceTime user, ensuring FaceTime calls are routed and connected properly.
FaceTime is available on the iPhone 4, iPad 2, fourth generation iPod touch and Macs running Snow Leopard and Lion. Video chats are available between any and all of these devices.
Apple has aggressively promoted the feature since it was released.
Adobe today announced the upcoming launch of Flash Player 11 and AIR 3, promising "console-quality 2D and 3D games" delivered over the Internet to a full range of computers, mobile devices, and other connected appliances.
Dozens of new features in Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 allow developers to deliver a new class of gaming and premium video experiences, as well as sophisticated, data-driven applications with back-end systems integration across devices, including the iPhone and iPad via AIR. AIR native extensions add support for unique device features and native code libraries, empowering developers to freely choose the right mix of Flash, HTML5 and native code to provide powerful user experiences across PCs and devices.
AIR 3 is also bringing improvements to video streaming, offering the ability to stream full frame rate HD video within AIR applications for iOS via H.264 encoding.
Hardware-accelerated rendering of 2D and 3D graphics is said to see a 1,000-fold increase in performance over Flash Player 10.2 and AIR 2, offering animation of millions of objects at 60 frames per second for smooth video performance on computers and connected televisions, with support for mobile devices currently in a pre-release state. Other improvements include new support for content protection, rentals and subscriptions, as well as support for thousands of AIR native extensions to allow developers to increase the functionality of their software.
Public release versions of Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 will debut early next month.
With Apple set to broaden access to digital subscription content with the debut of its prominent Newsstand feature in iOS 5, Reuters reports that a group of major French newspapers are banding together to strengthen their positions in negotiating with Apple over digital distribution.
The bid by eight publications, including newspaper Le Figaro and sports daily L'Equipe, is the latest sign of growing disillusionment among some global publishers over what they consider Apple's rigid terms and high commission of 30 percent.
[...]
They are also negotiating with Apple as a collective, and will not sell their products on Apple's own kiosk, dubbed the Newsstand, set to launch next month, without key concessions.
The report notes that media companies have already made some headway in resisting Apple's demands, with Apple backing off on its pricing demands for in-app purchases and subscriptions earlier this year. Prominent business newspaper Financial Times has also made a stand by pulling its iOS application and utilizing a well-regarded web app to offer its content without being subject to Apple's rules.
Le Figaro executive Pascale Pouquet said the French publications were still in talks with Apple over whether it would accept the changes to the kiosk, but insisted that the papers would not fold on their key demands such as a reduction in the 30 percent commission and access to the customer data.
"We'll have to be ready to accept to lose some sales if we cannot come to terms with Apple," he said. "But sometimes it's better to cut off a finger than to sever the whole arm."
The publications have come to terms with Google to sell their content for Android, with Google charging only a 10% commission on sales and allowing publishers to have control over pricing and customer data collection.
Apple has been firm in its stance regarding a 30% commission as has become standard for many types of content on the iOS platform, and has insisted on users retaining control over whether their personal information is shared with the publications.
AllThingsD reports that Apple will be holding its highly-anticipated iPhone 5 media event on October 4th.
While Apple could certainly change its plans anytime, sources said that the October 4 date has been selected by the company to showcase the iPhone 5. Sources added that the plan is now to make the new device available for purchase within a few weeks after the announcement.
According to the report, new Apple CEO Tim Cook should play a prominent role in the event in order to assert himself as the new leader of the company, although it will almost certainly be a team presentation with other executives such as Phil Schiller, Scott Forstall, and Eddy Cue leading portions of the event. It is unclear whether Steve Jobs will make an appearance at the event, with the report suggesting that a decision on whether or not he appears would be a last-minute one based on his health.
MacRumorsnoted yesterday that Apple is expected to also be introducing minor updates to its iPod line, and had pinpointed the first week in October for that introduction, with availability set for the middle of the month. Apple generally issues invitations to its media events about a week ahead of time, so we can expect official notice of the event to appear sometime around early next week.
Update: The Loop's Jim Dalrymple confirms with a simple "Yep" that October 4th is the date of the event.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) today released its latest results on U.S. consumer satisfaction in the personal computer industry, with Apple topping the charts for the eighth consecutive year and setting a new company high for ratings.
Apple’s record of customer satisfaction preeminence in the personal computer industry continues unabated in 2011, as the company adds another point to its already exceptional score. At 87 (+1%), Apple outdistances its nearest competitor by 9 points.
“In the eight years that Apple has led the PC industry in customer satisfaction, its stock price has increased by 2,300%,” remarks Claes Fornell, founder of the ACSI and author of The Satisfied Customer: Winners and Losers in the Battle for Buyer Preference. “Apple’s winning combination of innovation and product diversification—including spinning off technologies into entirely new directions—has kept the company consistently at the leading edge.”
Apple's score of 87 rose by one point over last year's score of 86 that had been its previous record high in the survey. This marks the third straight year that Apple has held a nine-point lead over its nearest competitor in the industry.
Hit photography app Instagram has released version 2.0, with live effects, new filters and much higher resolution photos.
Instagram now offers live previews of filters:
See the world through Instagram’s stunning effects before you even snap a photo. Simply select a filter, hold the camera up to the scene and see the world through Instagram’s visual effects. We’ve re-written your favorite Instagram filters to be over 200x faster so even after having taken a photo, switching between them takes no time at all.
The app has four new filters, Amaro, Rise, Hudson, and Valencia -- the company worked with popular Instagrammer @colerise to create the effects.
Perhaps most importantly, the app now supports images up to 1936x1936 on the iPhone 4, up substantially from the prior version, which only supported images of 612x612.
The app also has a slightly upgraded icon. Instagram is available free on the App Store. [iTunes]
LaCie's first Thunderbolt hard drives are finally available, more than 6 months after Apple put its first Thunderbolt-enabled Macs on sale.
The Apple Online Store is offering 1TB and 2TB Little Big Disks for $399.95 and $499.95 respectively, both shipping in 1-2 weeks. 9to5Mac reports that these drives are already available at some Apple Retail Stores.
In June, LaCie promised SSD drives with Thunderbolt this summer ("a question of weeks"), but those have yet to be released. (Update: LaCie now says the SSD drives will be available in October.)
The hard drives are available on Apple's website and will be available soon through LaCie directly.
Update 2: Apple has removed the 1 TB and 2 TB drives from its online store for unknown reasons. The company has also added listings for the 250 GB ($899.95) and 500 GB ($1499.95) solid-state drive versions, with shipping estimates set at 1-2 weeks.
Update 3: The 1 TB and 2 TB models have now returned to Apple's online store with a shipping estimate of one week on both models. Shipping estimates for the two SSD models have been pushed out to 1-2 months.
iPhone accessory maker Mophie has released the second-generation of its Juice Pack Universal line. The 3 external batteries are designed to recharge iPods and iPhones, and for the largest model, the iPad as well.
The Juice Pack Reserve is very small and shaped like a Zippo lighter and has a 700 mAh battery. It plugs directly into the bottom of the iPhone or iPod Touch. The Reserve is available for $34.95.
The Juice Pack Boost doubles as a stand for the iPhone and has a 2,000 mAh battery and can completely recharge an iPhone. The Boost is $49.95.
Finally, the Juice Pack Powerstation is an iPhone-sized battery pack that can charge the iPhone, iPod Touch or an iPad. The Powerstation can also charge other USB-powered devices as well. The Powerstation has a 4,000 mAh battery and is $79.95.
Mophie's juice pack batteries are available at Apple Retail Stores and at Mophie.com.
Dow Jones Newswires briefly reported earlier today that Apple would begin selling 3G-capable models of the iPad 2 in China on Wednesday. With it now being Wednesday in China, sales of the device have officially begun for immediate shipping.
We noted earlier this month that Apple had received certification for the device and was expected to begin selling it soon thereafter.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) said it will start selling in China a version of its iPad 2 tablet computer with third-generation cellular-network compatibility on Wednesday.
The device will be available in Apple retail stores, via its online store and at authorized resellers, said an Apple representative. Apple currently offers only versions of the iPad 2 with Wi-Fi wireless compatibility in mainland China.
According to earlier technical documents, the device is a standard GSM model compatible with China Unicom's WCDMA network. China Unicom is currently the only official iPhone carrier in China, although China Mobile and China Telecom are reportedly close to gaining the rights to offer the device.
A recent change to the WHOIS registry for the domain name iPodSolar.com has confirmed that Apple is the owner of the domain, which currently redirects to Apple's iPod site. Apple appears to have registered the domain as long ago as early 2007, but the domain has been listed until recently as belonging to MarkMonitor, a brand protection firm used by Apple and other companies for such purposes.
Apple's interest in solar cell technology for its products has been evident for many years based on patent applications covering the technology. A report from several months ago indicated that Apple has indeed been holding discussions about solar technology with several Taiwanese vendors, although any such projects would still be in the research stage and not yet near a public release.
Drawing from Apple's new patent showing iPod with integrated solar cells
Coincidentally, Patently Apple reports that Apple was just today awarded a patent for a power management system that would enable the company to place solar cells on the exterior of devices such as iPods and integrate that power source with an internal battery. The patent was filed for in mid-2008 and was first revealed in early 2010 as the patent application was released to the public.
As reported by CNET and Macworld, Apple has released a major update to its Final Cut Pro X software, making a number of improvements and addressing some of the strong criticism that has been levied against the revamped video production software.
One of the major features included in the update is support for XML, an addition that had been promised in an Apple FAQ posted to address the backlash against the software. CNET notes:
Among the biggest new feature to be added as part of a software update that will go out to users this morning is support for XML. This adds the option to both import and export projects and events in the XML format, meaning users can take XML formatted projects and work on them in Final Cut Pro X.
That addition addresses one of the potential sticking points for upgraders, who were left unable to open old Final Cut Pro projects in the newer version of the software. XML support brings that indirectly, as users can export Final Cut Pro 7 projects in XML, then import them into Final Cut Pro X via a third-party tool like CatDV from Square Box.
Other additions in Final Cut Pro X 10.0.1 include support for events and projects through Xsan, support for media stems, custom starting time codes, full-screen view for OS X Lion, and GPU-accelerated export. Apple has also released a new software development kit in order to help camera manufacturers create plug-ins to make their latest cameras compatible with Final Cut Pro X.
Media stems export in Final Cut Pro X 10.0.1
Apple is also promising another update to bring multi cam editing and broadcast video output support, but that update isn't expected to launch until next year.
One other important change for Final Cut Pro X is the addition of a new 30-day free trial for the software, giving users the opportunity to test out the software before committing to a $299.99 purchase. Apple did issue refunds for unhappy early purchasers of Final Cut Pro X, and thus it appears that the company has launched the free trial in order to cut down on those refund requests.
Update: Apple has also released a 4.0.1 update for Compressor.
This update improves overall stability and performance including:
- Updates the bitrates in Cellular settings for HTTP Live Streaming. - Fixes an issue with accessing QuickTime Export Component settings in Final Cut Pro X. - Fixes an issue in which This Computer cluster does not appear when system is configured in Chinese. - Resolves stability issues when launching Soundtrack Pro after Compressor 4 is installed.
Motion has also received an update to version 5.0.1.
This update improves overall stability and performance including:
- Adds support for dual displays. - Fixes an issue with the import and playback of multichannel audio. - Resolves a stability issue when navigating to keyframes at a negative time. - Fixes an issue with incorrect text positioning when the Inspector is open. - Provides for correct kerning between characters when applying adjustments. - Resolves stability issues when entering an empty string in a title while in Draft Mode.
Finally, Apple has released an updated version of its ProApps QuickTime Codecs to support the new releases.
TmoNews reports that it has received an image of an internal news posting from T-Mobile USA sharing word from Chief Marketing Officer Cole Brodman that the carrier will not be offering the iPhone 5 this year. Brodman's comment apparently came as part of a September 15th company town hall meeting.
"Our business is working very hard to improve performance over the last couple of years and we've had some great success," said Brodman. New products and value plans are fueling customer response, he added, and Brodman expects the excitement to continue into the holiday season as T-Mobile introduces two new smartphones. Note: "We are not going to get the iPhone 5 this year," Brodman said.
Brodman's comment does not eliminate the possibility of T-Mobile offering the iPhone 5 at some point in the future, but it seems that the carrier will not be a launch partner for the device.
Several mainstream media reports have claimed that Sprint will become the third major U.S. carrier to offer the iPhone with the debut of the iPhone 5 next month, but the fate of the iPhone on T-Mobile USA has been less clear. Despite a few claims of a T-Mobile iPhone coming this year and evidence of prototypes for testing on the carrier's network, there had yet to be any solid reports of an launch from mainstream sources.
T-Mobile's status is of course complicated by AT&T's efforts to acquire the carrier, and effort that is being opposed by the U.S. government, Sprint, and a number of other groups.
Adobe today 
With Apple set to broaden access to digital subscription content with the debut of its prominent 
Hit photography app Instagram has 
LaCie's first Thunderbolt hard drives are finally available, more than 6 months after Apple put its first Thunderbolt-enabled Macs on sale. 
iPhone accessory maker Mophie has released the second-generation of its Juice Pack Universal line. The 3 external batteries are designed to recharge iPods and iPhones, and for the largest model, the iPad as well.
