MacRumors

App Advice reports that earlier this week it had an opportunity to view Apple's forthcoming iBookstore and saw that the vast majority of titles from The New York Times' best sellers list currently appear priced at the same $9.99 price point favored by Amazon's Kindle Store.

Anyway, at the moment, out of the 32 eBooks featured in the New York Time's Bestsellers section, 27, including the entire top 10 are priced at $9.99.

Of the remaining five titles from the best sellers list, the highest price listed is $12.99.

Apple's iBookstore pricing model, based on that used in its App Store, involves publishers setting sales prices with Apple taking a 30% cut of revenue. That model had been thought to be pushing most best seller eBook titles to a range of $12.99 to $14.99, above the $9.99 price point seen with Amazon's offerings. But a subsequent report suggested that the higher price range is merely a ceiling and that publishers will be permitted and even encouraged to offer lower price points such as those apparently being seen in the iBookstore.

The iBookstore is set to launch in the U.S. alongside the iPad on April 3rd.

Financial Times reports that Random House, the world's largest book publisher, has yet to sign on to Apple's iBookstore and may not do so before the iPad's April 3rd launch as it weighs fears that Apple's agency model for eBook pricing will result in a price war, eroding publisher profits.

Markus Dohle, Random House chief executive, did not exclude the possibility of reaching a deal before the iPad goes on sale on April 3, but said he was treading carefully, as Apple's pricing regime could erode established publishing practices.

Rather than allowing retailers to set their own pricing for books, Apple is building on its existing App Store model to allow publishers to set retail sales prices, with Apple taking a 30% cut of revenue. Apple has argued that the change will allow publishers to create more sustainable business models than the current system of relying on the willingness of distributors such as Amazon to sell content at little profit or even a loss, and a number of major publishers have accepted Apple's proposed tradeoff in view of their long-term viability. Random House, however, remains unconvinced and is still working with its authors and agents to assess the potential impact of a shift to Apple's agency model.

Developer Marco Arment yesterday announced that his popular Instapaper service for saving Web content for later reading will be coming to the iPad, hopefully in time for the device's launch on April 3rd. The service, which currently offers a pair of iPhone/iPod touch applications including the limited Instapaper Free and the more powerful Instapaper Pro ($4.99), downloads text-only versions of Web content and saves them to a user's free account for later reading on a variety of devices.

In his blog entry, Arment offers some preview screenshots and discusses his motivations for developing iPad-specific versions of Instapaper. (Instapaper Pro will be a universal application for both iPhone and iPad, requiring users to only purchase the application once.)

Once I nailed down a few definite iPad-friendly features, I realized that I could port all of them to the iPhone version of Instapaper Pro. And if I did that, all of my customers (and I) could use these great new features now.

So, rather than rewriting my entire interface for the iPad over the two months that we've had, I spent the first few weeks finishing and launching the 2.2 update to my iPhone app, a major undertaking that added a lot of great features, using techniques that would allow me to easily adapt all of the features to the iPad. And I spent the remaining time adapting my interfaces, rewriting or modifying where necessary, for this new platform.

Arment also discusses the quandary faced by the many iPhone developers who are looking to move their apps to the iPad but have not had access to an actual device for testing. Consequently, developers have to either trust the iPad simulator in the iPhone SDK 3.2 and Apple's reviewers in order to have their applications ready for the iPad launch or hold off until the device comes available and have customers make do with iPhone versions of their applications for several weeks or months until iPad versions can be created.

For Arment, seeing the pixel-doubled display of the iPhone version of Instapaper Pro in the iPad simulator was enough to convince him that he needed to have an iPad version of the app ready to go as soon as possible.

It sucked, and it was completely unusable by my standards. I don't think I'll want to run any pixel-doubled apps on my iPad in practice.

As far as I'm concerned, Instapaper isn't really available on the iPad until it's native. (This also influenced my decision to make it a universal iPhone/iPad app: I don't want anyone subjecting themselves to the iPhone edition in pixel-doubled mode.)

As a result of this decision, Arment is prepared to accept that a few minor issues may exist with the iPad version of Instapaper Pro and that he can fix them soon after the device launches. But that risk is outweighed in Arment's mind by the opportunity to have an iPad-specific Instapaper experience from day one.

Adobe today announced that it will hold a launch event for Creative Suite 5 (CS5) on Monday, April 12th at 8:00 AM Pacific Time. While the company has yet to release many specific details on CS5 or disclose what will be covered during the launch event, users are invited to register for a video broadcast to be covered by Adobe TV.

Adobe has shared relatively little about its plans for CS5, although it did reveal that Flash Professional CS5 will include tools to allow developers to build Flash-based applications and then export them in the standard .ipa format used for App Store applications. The technology was revealed last October along with a disclosure that several current App Store applications had been developed using a prerelease version of the software.

The upcoming CS5 release will mark the first major update to the company's flagship publishing applications since Creative Suite 4 was introduced in September 2008 and began shipping the following month.

The Loop reports on a new research note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicting that Apple will launch an Internet-connected television within the next 2-4 years.

"As connected TVs proliferate the integration of hardware, software and content will become a key selling point for TVs," wrote Munster. "We believe Apple is uniquely positioned to combine these elements at competitive prices ($2,000) for an Apple-branded TV."

Munster believes that Apple is developing a television subscription service, a plan that has reportedly been placed on hold amid resistance from TV networks and a push to lock in iPad content, in order to allow customers to replace their monthly cable subscriptions as one step toward offering connected TVs. Ultimately, Apple's television package could be priced at $50-$90 per month and would allow some users to do away with such peripheral costs as recording devices, video players, and dedicated gaming machines.

Munster has been an ardent advocate of the idea that Apple will eventually move into the television market, and apparently continues to believe in it despite recent comments from Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook claiming that the company has no interest in the market.

The flood of terse emails from Apple CEO Steve Jobs continues (via TUAW), this time responding from his iPad with a simple "Yep" to a question from a user about whether the iPhone's Mail functionality will gain a "universal mailbox" as found in Mail on Mac OS X.

Anyway, I just have one question for you: will iPhone ever have a universal mailbox just like Mail has on my Mac? It would be so much easier and efficient.

iPhone users with multiple email accounts on their devices currently must manually navigate between accounts to check for messages in each one, whereas Mail on Mac OS X presents a single Inbox with messages from all accounts displayed in a single window. Jobs' reply suggest that such Mac OS X-like Mail functionality is planned for the iPhone, although it is unknown when the change might be implemented.

Apple is widely expected to introduce new iPhone models, and presumably an updated "iPhone OS 4.0", sometime in the June or July timeframe if past releases can be trusted as an indication.

Also mentioned in TUAW's report are brief emails from Jobs arguing for iPhoto over Google's Picasa for photo management and noting that users will be able to move documents onto the iPad.

It's certainly no surprise, but Silicon Alley Insider has heard that Apple will be shipping iPads to prominent reviewers later this week in order to provide them ample lead time to prepare their featured reviews for the device's April 3rd launch in the United States.

We've heard from an industry source that Apple is either shipping iPads to reviewers this Thursday, or has already shipped them to be received this Thursday.

The report notes that it is unknown whether reviewers will receive Wi-Fi-only, Wi-Fi + 3G, or both types of iPads. U.S. customers will be able to obtain the Wi-Fi models beginning April 3rd but will have to wait until "late April" for 3G-capable models to become available.

The exact list of reviewers receiving early access to the iPad is of course unknown, but it is a safe bet that such personalities as The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, The New York Times' David Pogue, and USA Today's Ed Baig will be among those with hands-on reviews ready for publication as soon as Apple opens the door.

Opera Software today announced that its Opera Mini web browser app has been submitted to Apple for approval. Just last month, Opera gave a demo of the iPhone version of its popular browser at Mobile World Congress. Today's announcement kicks off with a contest requesting guesses on how long it will take for Apple to approve the app, as well as offering an online count-up timer for the review process.

Opera Mini uses server-side rendering to improve page loading performance, claiming speeds of up to 6 times faster than Apple's Safari on the iPhone:

Due to server-side rendering, Opera Mini compresses data by up to 90 percent before sending it to the phone, resulting in rapid page loading and more Web per MB for the end user.

This server-side processing circumvents Apple's restrictions on executing 3rd-party code within an iPhone app. Pages rendered on Opera's servers are passed to the iPhone as a static page in a compressed format that uses less data to transfer than the original page.

Opera has posted a video showcasing Opera Mini as well as a side-by-side comparison with Safari running on an EDGE network:

To kick off the app's submission, Opera has put up a timer page counting the time until Apple approves the app. A contest also solicits guesses on how long it will take Apple to approve the app, offering a prize of a new iPhone 3GS for the guess closest to the actual time.

Gizmodo shares an internal Apple document revealing that the company's U.S. retail stores will now sell unsubsidized iPhone 3G and 3GS models without requiring proof of an existing AT&T service plan.

Effectively immediately, customers purchasing iPhone as device only at full price are no longer required to have an AT&T account or provide a form of ID. Device only full price iPhone sales are limited to one per person per day.

The contract-free iPhones, which reportedly will be sold locked to AT&T's network but can easily be unlocked for use on other GSM networks, are being offered at $499 (8 GB iPhone 3G), $599 (16 GB iPhone 3GS), and $699 (32 GB iPhone 3GS). Such unsubsidized, "device only" iPhone sales have been available for some time, but until this change customers were required to provide evidence of existing AT&T service.

Apple and AT&T offered similar deals for contract-free iPhones in the U.S. around this time last year as Apple presumably sought to unload excess inventory ahead of a refresh later in the year.

The prolonged wait for updated MacBook Pros continue without any major hints at when they might arrive. A report last week suggested that a shortage of Intel notebook chips could be contributing to the delay.

MacRumors has heard that the MacBook Pro supplies to retailers have abruptly become constrained, possibly suggesting that updates could be imminent.

Meanwhile, one MacRumors reader emailed Steve Jobs directly about concerns about how long he's had to wait for the new MacBook Pro updates and Apple's recent focus on the iPad. He wrote "I recognise the need for secrecy etc but I am really losing heart in the lack of vision for the MBP and Mac Pros. Not expecting a response but as someone who has personally switched dozens of people onto the mac way this is a sad email for me to compose."

As he's been occasionally known to do, Steve Jobs reportedly responded with a short reply that simply said "Not to worry."

The New York Times reports that Apple has struck a deal with Perseus Books Group, an independent publisher and the largest distributor of works from other independent publishers, to bring its content to the iBookstore.

Perseus Books Group, a large independent publisher that also distributes works from 330 other smaller presses including Grove Atlantic, Harvard Business School Press, Zagat and City Lights Books, signed a deal last week with Apple, following five of the six biggest publishers that have already signed agreements with Apple.

The deal is similar to those struck with other publishers, with Perseus setting eBook pricing while Apple takes a 30% cut of revenue. Publishers distributing through Perseus will have the option to join the deal.

Tom Neumayr, an Apple spokesman, confirmed that it had signed a deal with Perseus. In an e-mail statement, David Steinberger, chief executive of Perseus, said, "We're working with Apple to make books from The Perseus Books Group and the independent publishers we represent available on the iBookstore starting on April 3. As the leading provider of distribution services for independent publishers, including digital distribution through our Constellation digital service, Perseus is thrilled to be making our books available on the iPad."

The report notes that Apple has required in its dealings with publishers that other retailers not be permitted to undercut its prices. The demand, embraced by the publishers, has led several major publishers to seek modifications to their existing arrangements with distributors such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble that would permit them to shift to an agency model similar to that they now hold with Apple that permits publishers rather than distributors to set prices.

Users logging into or attempting to purchase from the iTunes Store today were met with a dialog box requiring that they accept a modified version of the iTunes Store and App Store terms and conditions. In addition to some clarifications regarding intellectual property rights and liability, the updated terms also address a "Gifts" section (new in App Store terms and modified in iTunes Store terms) that now includes discussion of a newly-added ability to gift App Store applications to other users.

The "Gifts" section of the iTunes Store Terms of Sale has been changed to clarify that Gifts may not be used for in-app purchases, upgrades, or the iPod Touch OS, to explain that some gifts require compatible hardware and parental control settings so they can be redeemed, and to notify you that, while gifts are non-refundable, this is without prejudice to your statutory rights to a refund in the event that a gift is faulty or has been misdescribed.

A new "Gifts" section has been added to the App Store T&C explaining the conditions under which Apps can be gifted, including an explanation that Gifts may not be used for in-app purchases, upgrades or the iPod Touch OS, and to explain that some gifts require compatible hardware and parental control settings so that they can be redeemed, and to notify you that, while gifts are non-refundable, this is without prejudice to your statutory rights to a refund in the event that a gift is faulty or has been misdescribed.

Selecting the "Gift This App" option next to an application takes users to a special screen where they can fill in their name, the recipient's name and email address, and a message to the recipient. Users may specify multiple recipients and will be billed according to the number of email addresses listed.

Boy Genius Report this weekend noted that Sprint has released a new television commercial using Apple's iPhone to promote the carrier's new Overdrive 3G/4G mobile hotspot device. The commercial claims that connecting an iPhone to Sprint's 4G network via the Overdrive hotspot can achieve speeds up to ten times higher than that available through AT&T's 3G network.

My friend Steve's iPhone is cool, but it's limited to AT&T's 3G speeds. So I'm gonna use the Overdrive 4G mobile hotspot to make it up to ten times faster.

Verizon has similarly been viewing the iPad as an opportunity to promote its MiFi service, another of the growing number of small devices capable of creating local Wi-Fi networks by connecting to carriers' cellular networks.

Sprint, Clearwire, and a consortium of other broadband and technology companies have been working together to deploy WiMAX technology, which is being branded as 4G service, around the United States. The move comes ahead of the rollout of 4G LTE services, which will be built upon existing 3G networks, by providers such as AT&T, Apple's current U.S. partner for the iPhone.