MacRumors

Italian site iSpazio has been able to get its hands on a white iPhone 4 as several European outlets have begun selling the device ahead of tomorrow's official launch. With the new iPhone in hand, the site has put together a handful of videos [Google translation] testing out a few of the areas of concern users have had with the black models, most notably the proximity sensor performance and signal loss caused by "death grip".

The proximity sensor has been one of the most interesting features given Apple's redesign of the area surrounding the sensor on the front of the device above the earpiece slot. Early white iPhone 4 samples and images showed a grille of small holes, but that design has been replaced in the shipping version with a lozenge-shaped black window covering the sensor. The sensor covering is essentially invisible in the black iPhone 4 given that device's coloration.

According to iSpazio, the white iPhone 4 exhibits excellent proximity sensor performance, responding immediately to turn off the device's display when covered but then also keeping the display off until a finger or head is a "relatively large distance" away. The black iPhone 4s initially exhibited problems with displays coming back on while on phone calls, resulting in unintentional touch input. The issue was largely fixed in an iOS update, but it is reassuring to see that the white models exhibit solid performance from the get-go.

iSpazio also tested the "death grip", attempting to generate signal loss by covering portions of the stainless steel band that serves as the antenna for the device. As with black iPhone 4s equipped with iOS versions released since Apple addressed early issues, the white iPhone 4 exhibits a slight drop in signal strength, but the drop does not appear to have a significant effect on connectivity.

Anecdotally, the site reports that the white iPhone 4 may have slightly better reception than the black model, although it is difficult to say if there is any material difference.

As part of its Q&A regarding location tracking posted earlier today, Apple discloses that it is currently collecting "anonymous traffic data" from users' devices with the aim of providing an "improved traffic experience in the next couple of years".

What other location data is Apple collecting from the iPhone besides crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data?

Apple is now collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database with the goal of providing iPhone users an improved traffic service in the next couple of years.

That traffic experience would presumably be built on top of a turn-by-turn navigation system separate from the Maps application included in iOS and driven by Google.

In November 2009, an Apple job posting described an iPhone engineering position that would help take Maps "to the next level". The company followed that up last December, with a set of four job listings seeking iOS engineers with experience in developing navigation software, further fueling speculation that Apple is working on its own navigation system.

On a broader scale, Apple has increasingly looked to beef up its own mapping and geolocation services in an attempt to distance itself from Google, which has provided the core Maps application for the iPhone since the device's 2007 debut. Apple acquired mapping company Placebase in July 2009 and followed that up by purchasing small Canadian mapping firm Poly9 one year later. Apple also moved its location services for iOS in-house with the release of iOS 3.2 on the iPad in April 2010, separating itself from Google and Skyhook Wireless for such services.

Google has offered free turn-by-turn navigation on Android since late 2009 and had hinted at that time that it could bring the service to iOS, although the company later backpedaled from those claims.

Apple today officially acknowledged the growing controversy over the logging of location data on the iPhone and iPad. The document comes in a Q&A format. In it, Apple addresses some common concerns and explicitly states that it is not tracking the location of your iPhone/iPad, has never done so, and has no plans to do so.

Apple goes on to explain the reason for the logging of data:

Why is my iPhone logging my location?
The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, its maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested. Calculating a phones location using just GPS satellite data can take up to several minutes. iPhone can reduce this time to just a few seconds by using Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data to quickly find GPS satellites, and even triangulate its location using just Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data when GPS is not available (such as indoors or in basements). These calculations are performed live on the iPhone using a crowd-sourced database of Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data that is generated by tens of millions of iPhones sending the geo-tagged locations of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers in an anonymous and encrypted form to Apple.

Apple states that all data that is transmitted to Apple is anonymous and encrypted and can not be tied to the identity of the user. The company also notes findings that the database continues to grow despite location services being off is a bug that will soon be addressed.

Apple is planning on releasing a free iOS update in the next few weeks that performs the following:

- reduces the size of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database cached on the iPhone,
- ceases backing up this cache, and
- deletes this cache entirely when Location Services is turned off.

Apple officially announced that the white iPhone 4 will arrive on April 28th.

Apple today announced that the white iPhone 4 will be available beginning tomorrow. White iPhone 4 models will be available from Apple's online store (www.apple.com), at Apple's retail stores, AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

Internationally, the white iPhone 4 will also be available in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Macau, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, and UK.

Apple also announced that the iPad 2 will officially launch in 12 new countries this week:

Apple today announced that iPad 2, the second-generation of its breakthrough post-PC device, will arrive in Japan on Thursday, April 28 and Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and eight additional countries on Friday, April 29. iPad 2 will be available at Apple retail stores at 9 a.m. local time, select Apple Authorized Resellers, and online through the Apple Store (www.apple.com) beginning at 1 a.m. Additionally, iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available in China beginning Friday, May 6.

The full list of new countries debuting the iPad 2 on the 29th includes Hong Kong, India, Israel, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Macerkopf.de reports that they have received confirmation from Germany's 3 carriers that the white iPhone will launch there on April 28th, just like Japan. That leaves us wondering if the rest of the world will also need to wait until Thursday. Signs had pointed to today (April 27th) as the launch date for the white iPhone.

It's still a bit early in the day, but there's been no peep from Apple or its U.S. carrier partners about the launch. Typically, Apple's store will go down in order to update. At this point, it seems likely the worldwide launch is indeed April 28th, so one more day of White iPhone 4 anticipation.

Nikkei reports that the iPad 2 will finally debut in Japan on Thursday, April 28th. The launch comes a month later than originally planned due to the earthquake and tsunami that devastated significant parts of the country. The news comes by way of CNNGo:

That veritable font of all knowledge, the Nikkei Shimbun newspaper, says the shiny lust-bauble will hit Japanese stores in stealth mode, more than a month after the scheduled March 25 launch-date.

Beyond the original announcement of delay, Apple has not officially announced the ship date for the iPad 2 in Japan.

This week should be a busy week for Apple as they are believed to be launching the white iPhone 4 to multiple countries on Wednesday.

Update: The White iPhone 4 is apparently also making its way to Japan on the same date, April 28th. A reader sent in this picture taken at a Softbank store, which lists the 4/28 date as the start of sales:

Earlier this year, we pointed to a report from media research firm Nielsen indicating that Apple's iOS was just barely holding off Android in smartphone usage in the United States. But continued strong growth from Android that saw the platform easily leading the pack among the most recent smartphone acquirers left little doubt that Android would quickly pass iOS in total penetration.

New Nielsen data from March but released today shows just that, with Android now taking the overall lead with 37% of the market in the U.S., ahead of iOS which continues to hold steady at 27%. Research in Motion's BlackBerry platform has continued its slide and is now down to 22%.

Just looking at those who acquired smartphones in the six months leading up to the March survey, Android's lead is even stronger with a full 50% of users opting for the platform. Apple polled in second place at 25% while Research in Motion dropped to 15%.

Nielsen also took a look at future buying plans, assessing those consumers planning to purchase a smartphone sometime within the following year from the date of the survey. According to the latest data, Android now edges out iOS, 31% to 30%, a significant change from the July-September 2010 period when iOS held a 33%-26% lead over Android among future smartphone purchasers.

Just over a month ago, Apple filed a trademark lawsuit against Amazon over the company's use of the term "Appstore" for its own Android application marketplace. According to the suit, Apple is seeking an injunction to prevent Amazon from using the name, which Apple believes infringes upon its own "App Store" mark.

GeekWire reports that Amazon has now filed an official response (PDF) to Apple's suit, calling the claim baseless and asserting the generic nature of term.

The Seattle-based online retailer asked a federal judge in San Francisco to throw out Apple's trademark suit, calling the phrase "app store" generic and not something that Apple can claim for its exclusive use. Amazon's filing echoed Microsoft's arguments in a separate dispute at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office opposing Apple's attempt to register the trademark.

Using a similar tactic to that employed by Microsoft in its attempts to have Apple's "App Store" trademark application denied, Amazon has cited comments by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in which he refers to app stores in the generic sense rather than specifically in relation to Apple's marketplace.

Amazon has also filed a counterclaim seeking dismissal of Apple's suit, a declaratory judgment that use of the term "app store" does not infringe upon Apple's trademark rights, and reimbursement of attorney's fees and other costs.

Apple has asked that the courts address the trademark lawsuit on an accelerated timetable in order to head off the rapidly increasing number of entities using "App Store" and related terms, but the court has yet to issue a decision regarding that request.

While we noted earlier today that preparations are moving full speed ahead for a debut of the white iPhone 4 within the next day or two and shipments making their way to retail stores, some retailers have jumped the gun and begun selling units to customers. Once such case popped up late last week in the UK through Vodafone, although the carrier apparently quickly clamped down on the rogue sale. But with more shipments now on location at retail stores, the premature sales are likely to occur with greater frequency.

One MacRumors reader wrote in today to say that he had just purchased a white iPhone 4 through a Mobistar retail shop in Antwerp, Belgium. According to the reader, the white iPhones are already available for general sale to all customers.

As in other recent photos, the final version of the white iPhone 4 carries a redesigned proximity sensor area on the front panel, utilizing a relatively large, lozenge-shaped area above the earpiece as opposed to the grille of small holes seen in early designs.

Update: iSpazio reports that yet another white iPhone 4 has been sold to a customer in Italy.

Update 2: The customer in Belgium has sent us another photo showing the "About" screen of the new white iPhone 4, revealing that the units are shipping with iOS 4.3.1 Build 8G4, the same build of iOS 4.3.1 released to GSM iPhone 4 users in late March. Apple has, however, since released iOS 4.3.2 for existing devices.

CNET reports that Apple is expected to charge customers a fee in order to use its forthcoming cloud-based music storage service, a new product said to be rapidly approaching completion. The company could, however, offer a free introductory period to give customers a chance to test out the new service and gather a user base.

Music industry insiders told me that Apple has indicated it could offer the service free of charge initially but that company will eventually require a fee. Google is also expected to charge for a similar service.

The report points to claims that Apple may charge a $20 annual fee for the service, although that information remains unconfirmed with many sources apparently not being privy to those details.

Apple's cloud-based plans have been said to be linked to a MobileMe revamp that could see certain aspects of cloud storage become free, even if the music storage component requires a modest annual fee.

Apple is not the only significant player looking to move to cloud-based music storage. Amazon late last month rolled out its Cloud Drive service with limited free storage augmented by various levels of paid storage. The company has, however, received some push back from record labels who were not included in discussions with Amazon. For its part, Google has been taking the Apple route and trying to work with record labels on a cloud-based music storage service, but the search and advertising giant has reportedly been "going backwards" in its talks with no signs of a resolution in the near future.

As we've been noting, Apple is gearing up to finally release the white iPhone 4, with all signs pointing to a release over the next few days, possibly as soon as tomorrow.

Engadget posts photos of a shipment of white iPhone 4s that have reportedly arrived at a Belgian retailer just ahead of the launch, indicating that Apple's distribution channels now have stock in position for immediate availability as soon as the launch occurs.

Meanwhile, German sites Macerkopf and iFun.de have noted the existence of promotional banners already in place on T-Mobile's site indicating a launch of the white iPhone 4 in that country on April 28th. The images have, however, already been removed from T-Mobile's site as the carrier has no doubt already reacted to the publicity of these reports.

Macerkopf also indicates that Apple's own retail stores in the U.S. have received promotional materials for the white iPhone 4, preparing to roll out the new signage in support of the device's release.

According to a report [Google translation] from Japanese newspaper Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun (via AppleInsider), Sharp has been tabbed as a manufacturer for next-generation poly-silicon (p-Si) display technology for the sixth-generation iPhone due in 2012. The technology, which permits electrical components to be integrated directly into the glass surface, is said to allow for thinner and lighter screens that consume less power than currently-used technologies.

Sharp will begin manufacturing of the displays in the spring of next year according to Japanese newspaper Nikkan. The company is said to have already begun preparing equipment at its Kameyama Plant No. 1, which is primarily used for building LCD TVs.

The article also contains an apology for last week's report claiming that Sharp had been cut out of the supply chain for future iPhones by a deal between Apple and Toshiba to push forward on a new plant for displays, a claim that Sharp had publicly refuted and for which the company had requested an apology and retraction. Consequently, today's report has led to speculation that Sharp may have intentionally leaked information about the new p-Si displays in order to counteract the earlier report about Toshiba.

In what shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, Bloomberg briefly reports that a lawsuit has been filed in U.S. federal court targeting Apple over privacy concerns related to location information being stored on iOS devices and in backups for those devices. The lawsuit is almost certainly the first of many regarding this issue.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) was sued for alleged privacy invasion and computer fraud by two customers who claim the company is secretly recording and storing the location and movement of iPhone and iPad users, according to a federal complaint filed today in Tampa, Florida.

As we noted earlier today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has reportedly replied to a customer email denying that Apple is tracking its customers and labeling the claims being widely discussed as "false".

Update: Bloomberg has now published an expanded article offering additional detail on the lawsuit.

"We take issue specifically with the notion that Apple is now basically tracking people everywhere they go," Aaron Mayer, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said today in a telephone interview. "If you are a federal marshal you have to have a warrant to do this kind of thing, and Apple is doing it without one."

The two plaintiffs, an iPhone user in Florida and an iPad user in New York, are asking a judge to bar Apple from collecting the location data and requesting refunds for the purchase prices for their devices, claiming that they would not have bought them if they had known about the data collection.

Apple has declined to officially comment on the lawsuit.