MacRumors

Patently Apple reports on an Apple patent application published today that describes Apple's vision for using the iPhone, iPod, or other electronic device as an interface for a multi-feature bicycle computer. While current bike computers are typically limited primarily to such data as speed, distance, and cadence with the possibility for integration of other devices such as heart rate monitors, Apple's plans reveal a much broader scope to incorporate such features as GPS routing, communications between multiple riders within a group, weather recording, and gear settings.

The premise is rather like Apple's Nike + iPod system for runners except for cyclists. While the system is for individuals, it's also designed to work with teams of cyclists so that they could communicate with each other on-the-fly about course difficulty or perceived problems. The Bicycle system monitors speed, distance, time, altitude, elevation, incline, decline, heart rate, power, derailleur setting, cadence, wind speed, path completed, expected future path, heart rate, power, and pace. The system could utilize various sensors built-into the iPhone in addition to working with sensors already built-into the bike itself. Apple's patent is extraordinarily detailed and packed with interesting twists that the sporting cyclist will really appreciate.

Communications systems built into the package could allow potential riders to share their riding characteristics others to assist in forming riding groups while also allowing those on a team to view data on other riders. Riders could also communicate with each other via various methods, as well as with outside parties.

Riders can also offer ratings and feedback on potential routes to other riders, with data on their riding characteristics offering a basis for assessing riders' perspective when making ratings and recommendations.

Mapping capabilities could offer riders a wide variety of perspectives and data, including topographic information and landmarks. Turn-by-turn directions could also be transmitted to assist riders with following a pre-determined route.

As always, Apple's patent applications are not necessarily reflective of products it intends to bring to the market, but they do provide some insight into projects the company is thinking about and how they might relate to future device plans.

Late last week, Deutsche Welle reported that the European Commission has formally approved a policy that will require nearly all smartphones and simpler data-enabled phones to adopt a standard micro-USB charging connector as of January 2011. The policy is a formalization of an agreement signed by ten top mobile phone manufacturers, including Apple, last year.

"Introduction of the universal charger will make life much simpler for EU consumers," said Dennis Abbott, a European Commission spokesperson. "When you discover you've left your charger at home or work, you will be able to use someone else's, knowing it will fit your phone. How cool is that?"

The industry agreed that the new charger will be for all smartphones and all "data-enabled" phones - and will use a micro-USB connector. The new universal chargers will not cover older mobile phones.

As Wired notes, it is unclear how Apple plans to comply with the standard, given its proprietary 30-pin connector compatible with all existing iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch models, as well as certain other iPod models and a host of accessories.

Ultimately, economics will force handset makers in the U.S. to change, say industry experts. As companies move to a universal charger in Europe, they will bring the same connectors to U.S. models.

It's not clear how Apple will make the change, but it is certain that if the company moves to a micro USB-based connector for its new iPhone model in Europe, U.S. customers can expect the same.

"It makes so much sense that I believe the U.S. will follow," says Banos. "It would be insane not to."

The European Commission is the executive body for the European Union, which comprises 27 countries with a total of over 500 million people. Consequently, design changes adopted to meet European Union standards are almost certain to trickle down to the rest of the world to provide for simpler design and manufacturing processes, as well as to ensure interoperability.

We've mentioned Apple's new retail store set to open in the Covent Garden district of London on Saturday several times over the past week, but the location is an interesting one given its status as the company's largest store yet. Yesterday we shared some photos of the exterior of the store after the wraps came down, but today Electricpig.co.uk follows up with a brief video walkthrough of the sprawling space.

Among the interesting items of note for the store are a pair of glass staircases, as well as a number of "rooms" breaking up large interior space, including dedicated spaces for group learning and professional labs. According to the report, Apple's entire flagship Fifth Avenue retail store in Manhattan would fit into the glass-covered courtyard of the Covent Garden store. The new store also offers Apple's largest-yet Genius Bar, as well as more iPad and iPhone 4s in stock than any other retail location in the world.

We're really not quite sure to make of this one, but Chinese SinoCast Daily Business Beat is reporting that Apple is preparing to purchase Handseeing Information Technology, a Chinese game developer focused on Rich Internet Applications (RIAs).

As US-based Apple Inc. is close to making the purchase of Handseeing Information Technology Co., Ltd., a mobile Internet service provider and a mobile game developer in China, for as much as USD 150 billion, the emergence of more potential buyers has added to the uncertainty of the deal.

Apple's plan to take over the Chinese company underscores its mounting interests in China's potentially huge mobile Internet sector, which has been basically ignored by it for a long time.

The "USD 150 billion" figure appears to be a typographical error, however, as, beyond the fact that it would be an unreasonable purchase price for such a company, other figures given in the report discussing outside investments in the company lead to a figure in the range of $150 million instead of $150 billion.

Apple's potential reason for interest in Handseeing is unclear, although the company does seem to have some expertise in Java-based online gaming technologies. The company touts its partnership with Sun Microsystems, a relationship that Sun profiled (PDF) as Handseeing helped deploy new Java-based RIAs for Tianya Online, a social community centered around online gaming in China that has reportedly become one of the country's largest social networking forums.

A separate report from just a month ago indicated that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn was planning to acquire Handseeing.

HardMac reports that it has received from a case manufacturer a design mockup for the next-generation iPod touch, showing an off-center rear camera and flash similar to that found on the iPhone 4.

Even if it is hard to have a perfect view through the case, it looks like the back is rounded, unlike the one of the new iPhone, and of course, there is a camera and a flash.

This source is very reliable since it is already thanks to it that we were able to predict the camera on the iPod Mini last year.

There has been considerable speculation over whether Apple will even include a rear camera in the next iPod touch, especially considering the space constraints imposed by the current model's slim and tapered design. Many have regarded a lower-resolution (and thus thinner) front-facing camera as having a higher probability than a rear-facing one as Apple seeks to broaden access to its FaceTime video calling feature.

If Apple were to squeeze a rear-facing camera into the next-generation iPod touch, moving it to a corner as found on the iPhone would seem to be a reasonable shift away from the centered rear camera seen on current-generation prototypes that was ultimately scrapped. Such a move could provide additional space within the device's body depending on the degree of tapering, particularly if Apple is looking to center a front-facing camera on the other side of the device.

Despite the fact that Apple CEO Steve Jobs reported at the company's iPhone 4 press conference that it does not share product designs with case makers ahead of time due to their history of such leaks, Apple's manufacturing partners have been known in some cases to leak information to case manufacturers to enable them to get a head start on production before a new product launches. Other case manufacturers have admitted that they simply base their designs on prevailing rumors as they seek to have as much of their design work done ahead of the actual device introduction as possible.

CNET reports that Apple has developed a software fix for the iOS security hole exploited to enable a Web-based jailbreak over the weekend, and that the fix will be deployed in an upcoming software update.

On Wednesday an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement, "We're aware of this reported issue, we have already developed a fix and it will be available to customers in an upcoming software update."

Apple declined to say when the update would be pushed out.

Apple had reported just yesterday that it was investigating the issue, which actually comprises a pair of flaws, and has obviously moved rapidly to close the security hole.

There are two distinct vulnerabilities in the iPhone uncovered with the jailbreak software's release, principal analyst Charlie Miller of Independent Security Evaluators told CNET Tuesday. One flaw is in the way the browser parses PDF files, enabling the code to get inside a protective sandbox, and the other hole allows code to break out of the sandbox and get root, or control, privileges on the device.

While the vulnerability was exploited to offer users a simple method to jailbreak their iOS devices in this case, it could easily be used as an entry point for the execution of malicious code.

Apple has reportedly seeded a new software update called "Snow Leopard Graphics Update" to developers. While the exact focus of the update in testing is unclear, it appears from the areas in which developers are being asked to focus their testing that it addresses several aspects of graphics performance including VRAM utilization and hot-plugging and wake-from-sleep issues. The general release notes claim only that the update addresses reliability of "graphics applications and games".

Many users have been anxiously awaiting some sort of graphics improvements from Apple considering issues cited with high-performance games running under Mac OS X 10.6.4. It is unclear, however, whether any such improvements are included in this graphics update or in Mac OS X 10.6.5, which Apple is reportedly preparing to begin seeding to developers. It also unknown when these two software updates will be made available to the general public.

In what seems to be a bit of a time warp, a number of sites are reporting on the ability of Apple's MobileMe iDisk application for iOS devices to stream music from a user's iDisk, including support for background audio via multitasking. The feature was introduced and plainly noted by Apple as part of a broader update to the application released nearly a month ago.

Today's publicity appears to have been sparked by a blog post by MP3.com founder Michael Robertson discussing the feature, which was then picked up and made into an "iTunes in the cloud" story by a number of other sites. Robertson is clear, however, that while this is a minor first step toward some sort of streaming capabilities, it is not in any way a proper music streaming service.

This is not "iTunes in the cloud" but it is definitely moving the Cupertino company in that direction. First off there is no automated way to get all your iTunes music to your iDisk account. To load files to iDisk you have to select individual files and upload them from your browser. (Apple does let you sync Calendars, Contacts, Bookmarks, etc directly from OSX but excludes music files.) Secondly there's no support for playlists so your iTunes playlist do not work in iDisk. There seems to be no way to play a list of files. Cover art is not supported as well. And while iDisk will cache other files, it will not cache music files. Still it's not hard to see how Apple is adding features to enable it to support audio in it's cloud storage business.

Macworld also brings a sense of reason to the excitement over the feature:

In a nutshell, streaming media in the background with its MobileMe iDisk app is a marginally useful feature that Apple added (and mentioned) in July. But it isn't quite time to break out the credit cards and bubbly in celebration of "iTunes in the cloud" yet.

Apple has reportedly been working to develop a service that would allow users to store their purchased iTunes libraries on Apple's servers and stream them to a broad array of Internet-connected devices. The company has been rumored to be scaling back its music streaming plans, however, as it continues to seek licensing deals with major labels to permit the functionality. The streaming capabilities of MobileMe iDisk would also appear to be forbidden under current music label licensing deals, but the labels have not yet publicly addressed any concerns over this limited functionality.

Research firm ChangeWave today released the results of a recent survey assessing customer satisfaction with the new iPhone 4. While the report reveals strong satisfaction with the device, users are somewhat less impressed with the new device than they were with the iPhone 3GS at its launch last year.

The emerging pattern is that while the iPhone 4 has been very well received by new owners, the survey findings aren't quite at the nosebleed levels seen at a similar point in time for the 3GS launch.

Far and away, users report that the iPhone 4's high-resolution "Retina" display is their favorite feature of the device, with nearly half of the survey respondents including it in their list of top features. Other top features include the 5-megapixel camera and the touch screen functionality. When it comes to downsides, AT&T exclusivity and network performance continue to be the biggest drag, although antenna issues and dropped calls also rank highly.

Interestingly, the July ChangeWave survey found that iPhone 4 customers experienced fewer dropped calls (5.2%) than iPhone 3GS customers surveyed just one month prior (6.3%). The result conflicts with statements made by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the company's press conference last month admitting that the iPhone 4 drops slightly more calls than the iPhone 3GS, although the company is unsure of the reason for the real-world performance as its testing shows significantly better overall antenna performance for the iPhone 4.

ChangeWave's overall dropped call numbers for July 2010 (5.8% for AT&T vs. 2% for Verizon) are also consistently higher than those cited by AT&T, which claimed a 1.44% dropped call rate across its network in May 2010. An interesting post yesterday could shed some light on that discrepancy, however, claiming that AT&T systems only register a call as dropped once its network automatically terminates a call due to loss of the connection, a process than can take over a minute. In doing so, AT&T misses counting as dropped those calls manually ended by one of the calling parties after voice transmission has been lost but before the network terminates the call. Any ordinary consumer would consider such a manually canceled call dropped, but it may not register as such on AT&T's systems.

My theory is that AT&T lets the dead connection continue for over one minute before terminating the call. This allows both users enough time to give up on the connection and hang up themselves, thus "no dropped call."

The moral of the story is that if you want AT&T to register your call as having been officially "dropped," you must wait for over one minute with no signal for the call to cut off and register the call has having been dropped in the system.

Overall, the ChangeWave survey finds over 20% of iPhone 4 customers calling the antenna issue either "somewhat of a problem" or a "very big problem". Despite the issues, however, the iPhone 4 continues to receive higher satisfaction ratings than other smartphones and Apple's efforts to address the issue and portray it as a universal smartphone hurdle could ultimately result in an effective defusing of tensions over the antenna problems.

iLounge has put together a summary of recent information it has received regarding Apple's plans for the next generation of its iOS devices. Among the claims are a set of revised iPod devices possibly including a touch screen iPod shuffle, a new 7" iPad set for launch early next year at the latest, and a fifth-generation iPhone release scheduled for as soon as January.

- iPod: Apple reportedly has three new models of iPods ready for release, with the company presumed to be introducing them at an early September media event as it has for the last several years. The new models include a new iPod touch and iPod nano, while the third model could be a new iPod shuffle, possibly including the diminutive Apple-branded touch screen that appeared in a leak last month.

The report also claims circulating rumors of a three-inch touch screen for an iPod device, which would be a curious shift from the standard 3.5-inch screen of the iPhone and iPod touch if the device were to run iOS, unless the device offered the same number of pixels at slightly higher density. Issues would likely still remain, however, with buttons and other onscreen touch items at the smaller size.

- iPad: A new 7-inch iPad is reportedly scheduled for launch later this year or early next year. Previous reports have similarly indicated that Apple is planning to launch a smaller iPad with a screen sizes in the range of 5-7 inches early next year.

- iPhone: The fifth-generation iPhone may be set to launch as early as January in order to address antenna issues with the iPhone 4. It is unclear whether the new iPhone would be a major redesign or simply a tweak to address the antenna problems. While not mentioned in the report, the redesign could coincide with the much-rumored Verizon iPhone highly anticipated by many potential customers.

The report also addresses the iPhone 4 bumpers, with claims that Apple may be preparing to release a new, all-silicone bumper for the iPhone 4 that would provide the company with a cheaper solution to address the device's antenna issues. The report's source also claims that Apple considered shipping the iPhone 4 with bumpers from the very beginning, implying that the company was aware of a potential antenna issue.

Ordinarily, we would be highly skeptical of several of these claims, but while we are still taking them with a grain of salt, iLounge has had some remarkably accurate information on Apple's iPod pipeline over the last several years. The site accurately revealed the design change of the fourth-generation iPod nano, as well as the larger screen and unique camera placement of the fifth-generation iPod nano months before their respective releases. The site also offered some correct details on the iPad, although not all of its information on that product did turn out to be accurate.

Electric Pig has managed to snap some of the first photos of Apple's Covent Garden retail store in London. The new store was announced last week and is Apple's largest store by total square footage.

Spread over two floors, the Apple Store Covent Garden features beautifully restored masonry, with stone arches inside and out. It's a masterful blend of old and new, which suits the environs of Covent Garden perfectly.

The London Evening Standard reports that customers will enter through an eight-bay arcade marked by 20-foot stone arches and lit with restored gas lamps. The company has said to have taken pains to preserve the architecture while restoring the building.

The store will be open to the press tomorrow with the public opening on Saturday. Electric Pig has a gallery of 10 shots of the exterior of the new store.

The first iPhone 4 unlocking tool has been released. Version 1.0-1 of ultrasn0w provides iPhone 4, 3G and 3GS owners the ability to carrier unlock their iPhone to work across multiple providers.

While in some countries customers may be able to buy unlocked iPhones, most iPhones come locked to the specific mobile carrier. The process of "unlocking" the iPhone allows you to use the same phone across other GSM mobile phone carriers. In the U.S., however, options for alternative carriers are limited as T-Mobile is the only other GSM-based carrier and they do not even support the iPhone's 3G data network. In order to unlock your iPhone, you must first be Jailbroken.

Users should, of course, proceed at their own risk, as none of these procedures are sanctioned by Apple who warns that any issues caused by these procedures could violate your warranty.

Amongst the changes to the developer release of iOS 4.1 last night, Apple has removed support for Game Center on the iPhone 3G and 2nd generation iPod Touch.

Game Center is Apple's social gaming network that offers iOS game developers to link into a centralized service that offers high score leaderboards, achievements and multi-player matchmaking. The announcement of the system was welcome by developers and gamers as a way to combat the increasingly fragmented existing gaming networks found on the platform.

Apple's removal of iPhone 3G and 2nd Generation iPod Touch devices comes without further explanation. Such a move would restrict the service for the iPhone 3GS, 3rd Generation iPod Touch, iPhone 4 and presumably iPad.

Over the weekend, a new Web-based jailbreak became available for iOS devices, offering users a simple method to open their devices to installation of unauthorized third-party applications.

At the time, we noted potential security implications of the method, which involves a security hole in how the mobile Safari browser included on all iOS devices handles embedded fonts. Exploiting the hole allows a remote site to gain control over a user's device. In the case of the new JailbreakMe site, the exploit is offering a convenient delivery method for a service, but others could use the same method for malicious purposes.

Reuters reports that it has received an official response from Apple on the issue, which notes only that it is investigating the security hole.

Company spokeswoman Natalie Harrison said the company was aware of the report.

"We're investigating," she said.

There is no word yet on a timetable for a fix. While many users are no doubt appreciative of the simple jailbreak method, Apple will certainly want to close the security hole as quickly as possible to both prevent malicious exploitation of it and to thwart the simple jailbreak process, a system modification frowned upon by the company.

Just one week after the last developer build was seeded to developers, Apple has pushed out iOS 4.1 Beta 3 for testing. Apple has also released an updated software development kit (SDK) to provide developers with tools for building for the new beta version.

The release is a bit of a surprise, as Apple has typically stuck to a biweekly release cycle for its iOS developer builds. Consequently, it is possible that Apple is beginning to wind down work on iOS 4.1 to prepare it for public release. Alternatively, there could simply be some new changes that Apple wanted to get into developers' without waiting an additional week.

No details on the changes included in the latest beta have yet been revealed. Among the most highly anticipated iOS changes is one addressing a bug with the iPhone 4's proximity sensor, an issue that Apple CEO Steve Jobs promised would be fixed in a future software updates. There have been conflicting reports, however, as to whether earlier beta versions of iOS 4.1 address the problem.