MacRumors

Those customers lucky enough to successfully place iPhone 4 pre-orders through AT&T before the company's servers imploded last week might be interested to know that the carrier has begun confirming shipment to customers via FedEx. The carrier's activity comes after customers who pre-ordered through Apple began seeing movement yesterday.

Many customers' order statuses are showing their items having shipped on Friday, June 18th, but only now is AT&T updating its website with shipping information and sending out confirmation emails.

Apple's iPhone 4 is set to launch on Thursday, although a number of Apple pre-order customers are seeing FedEx delivery estimates of Wednesday. Apple has in the past, however, coordinated with carriers to hold delivery until official product launch days, and it is likely the company will do so again for iPhone 4.

Silicon Alley Insider reports that Apple's FaceTime video calling feature coming on iPhone 4 will not tap into customers' allotments of cellular minutes. Although the feature operates only over Wi-Fi for the time being, a FaceTime session can be initiated from within a phone call, leaving some observers wondering whether the phone connection would be maintained in the background as a fallback in case the video call fails, but eating up cellular minutes while doing so.

"The voice call ends as soon as the FaceTime call connects," Apple tells us. "The FaceTime call is over Wi-Fi so does not use carrier minutes."

Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted during his introduction of iPhone 4 and FaceTime at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month that the company will be working with carriers to allow FaceTime over cellular networks but that it will remain Wi-Fi-only at least through the end of the year.

Once the feature does go live on cellular networks, today's report points out that Apple and service providers will have to determine whether FaceTime sessions are billed as minutes, data, or both, or even a completely new category of consumption.

Apple is due to release iOS 4 sometime today. The latest version of the iPhone and iPod touch operating system will be available as a free download. It appears Apple has already started shipping the new iPhone 3GS 8GB with iOS 4 pre-installed (see photo above).

We aren't sure when Apple will be posting the download. Last year's 3.0 release didn't take place until after 1PM Eastern/10AM Pacific.

iClarified is mirroring the entire Best Buy iPhone 4 launch plan which was originally leaked to HowardForums. The document focuses on the policies surrounding Best Buy's iPhone 4 launch and reveals some interest notes for would-be customers. Here's the most interesting piece:

Seems Best Buy is expecting "minimal inventory" of iPhone 4s on launch and isn't even sure they'll be able to fulfill orders to all those who pre-ordered. Those who did pre-order at Best Buy should expect a phone call to set up an appointment during the day to purchase your iPhone 4. Best Buy won't know for sure if they will be able to fulfill existing pre-orders until they receive inventory numbers this week.

If you haven't yet pre-ordered, we suspect your best bet for getting an iPhone 4 on launch day is to line-up early at an Apple Store. Apple Stores are expected to have an allotment of walk-in inventory outside the existing pre-orders. Meetups are being organized in our forums.

Several readers have notified us that they have started receiving shipment notifications and FedEx tracking numbers for their iPhone 4. Several of the shipment notifications indicate a "Delivers By" date of June 23rd -- a day before the official launch day.

We wouldn't read too much into these delivery dates as Apple has been known to artificially prolong ship times in order to match the worldwide launch date. The iPhone 4 is officially to be available on June 24th, 2010.

Problems seem to persist in the pre-ordering of iPhones that began on Tuesday.

Best Buy had actually accepted some pre-orders for White iPhones on Tuesday, June 15th. The White iPhone was otherwise unavailable at any other location. Today, we received word from one such customer that they were called by Best Buy explaining that they won't be able to fulfill their White preorder. According to the Best Buy representative, a manufacturing delay is preventing availability of the White iPhone 4 on launch day.

Separately, several readers are reporting that their (Black) iPhone 4 pre-orders from the online Apple Store have been inexplicably canceled.

I ordered one 32GB for my line and my wife got a 16GB on the 15th. Both from Apple. Both were successful with order acknowledgments and temporary holds on the card. Today the 16GB order shows cancelled. No email, no call, nothing, just a cancellation on the order status page.

Several others have had similar issues, finding their orders canceled. Some of the cancelations are being blamed on not accepting AT&T's terms and conditions, but the situation remains muddy.

Many of those who have been obsessively checking their order status at the U.S. Apple online store have seen their order status move from Not Shipped to "Prepared for Shipment". Due to the massive volume of pre-orders, Apple will likely start shipments early but ask the shipper (FedEx or UPS) to hold the package at the destination warehouse in order to time simultaneous delivery on June 24th.

Meanwhile, customers who ordered their iPhone 4 from AT&T have seen some early credit card charges and they are organizing in this discussion thread.

Finally, those who are planning on camping out or meeting up at their local Apple Stores or AT&T stores can participate in our Meetup forum where users are posting threads by location. The demand for the iPhone 4 seems particularly high so getting one on day number one will be difficult without a pre-order or arriving early to stand in line.

Useful forum links:

- The U.K. iPhone 4 Thread
- iPhone 4 Order Goes from Not Shipped to Prepared for Shipment
- AT&T Order Status Thread
- iPhone 4 Launch Meetup Forum

GPS navigation firm Navigon, which offers a wide range of turn-by-turn navigation applications for the iPhone, has posted a new video showing how its applications can take advantage of the multitasking capabilities of Apple's forthcoming iOS 4.

In the video, Navigon's Bernd Hahn demonstrates how a user can quickly switch to Safari to look up information and easily return to their navigation application. As an additional example, Hahn demonstrates how to accept an incoming call while in the Navigon application, allowing voice guidance to continue in the background during the call. Upon call termination, the Navigon application automatically comes back to the foreground and full navigation resumes.

Multitasking will be support on the iPhone 3GS and third-generation iPod touch with the launch of iOS 4 next Monday, June 21st. Apple's iPhone 4, launch on June 24th, will obviously also offer iOS 4 with multitasking support.

Apple's tight supplies and high demand for iPhone 4 aren't limited to the United States, as UK carrier O2 has announced that its initial launch quantities of the device will be limited to existing wireless or broadband customers who have been with the company since at least May 24th, 2010.

iPhone stock will be extremely limited in the UK at launch and not everybody who wants one will be able to get one straight away. We want to make sure that our existing customers get priority so until at least the end of July, only existing O2 customers will be able to get an iPhone 4 from us.

Whether you're an existing O2 mobile customer looking to upgrade, or one of our broadband customers looking to move your mobile to O2, our iPhone stock is reserved exclusively for you.

O2 notes that iPhone 4 will be available as of June 24th in O2 shops, Carphone Warehouse, Best Buy, Phones4U and Apple stores, but will not be available through O2's website until at least late July.

While iPhone 4 supplies are tight in the UK, carrier availability for the new device has been expanding. In addition to existing UK iPhone partners O2, Orange, and Vodafone, both T-Mobile and Three are coming on board, with Virgin also looking to offer the popular device.

According to The Street, Rodman Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar claims that display screen shortages are contributing to the tight supplies, cutting in half Apple's planned production rate for iPhone 4.

Apple's iPhone production has hit a speed bump due to display screen shortages, says Rodman Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar, whose sources include Apple supply and manufacturing partners.

Kumar says the shortage has forced Apple's contract manufacturers to cut the iPhone's monthly production rate to 2 million a month, down from the planned rate of 4 million iPhones a month.

Any production shortages would be particularly unwelcome given the high demand for the new handset, with multiple carriers claiming ten times the traffic of the iPhone 3GS launch as Apple and its carrier partners struggled to keep up as pre-orders went live earlier this week.

With the release of Mac OS X Snow Leopard last August, Apple rolled out a rudimentary antimalware feature which allows the operating system to detect specific malware threats in downloads and warn users accordingly. Far from offering true antivirus functionality, however, the feature requires that Apple manually update a property list file in OS X if it wishes to add entries to its watch list.

Security firm Sophos today notes that Apple has finally offered an update to the antimalware features watch list with Mac OS X 10.6.4, expanding for the first time beyond the two threats included at Snow Leopard's launch. The addition includes multiple entries for identifying what Apple calls "OSX.HellRTS".

HellRTS, which Sophos products have been detecting as OSX/Pinhead-B since April, has been distributed by malicious hackers disguised as iPhoto, the photo application which ships on modern Mac computers.

If you did get infected by this malware then hackers would be able to send spam email from your Mac, take screenshots of what you are doing, access your files and clipboard and much more.

As a firm that writes and sells antivirus software, Sophos unsurprisingly takes the position that Apple's antimalware feature, while welcome, is insufficient for proper protection against threats. In fact, the blog post from Sophos notes that nowhere in the Mac OS X 10.6.4 documentation does Apple announce this antimalware, leading to speculation by Sophos that Apple is simply trying to downplay security threats for marketing purposes and thus providing users with a false sense of security.

A brief new report from DigiTimes estimates Apple's current iPad shipments at 1.2 million per month, up from 700,000 at launch and set to increase to as much as 2.5 million per month by the end of the year. If true, the data confirms very strong sales performance for Apple's tablet device that could see the company exceeding even the most robust analyst estimates.

As iPad production continues to ramp up, Apple has apparently tapped Samsung for additional display production for the device. Samsung, which will join existing supplier LG, is set to begin volume production next month with output scheduled to reach 300,000-500,000 per month. That number compares to LG, which reportedly produced about 800,000-900,000 displays during the month of May.

Czech site Jablčkř.cz reveals [Google translation] yet another iPhone 4, backed up by multiple pictures of the device laying on top of a newspaper from this past weekend.

While other leaks and of course Apple's own presentation and marketing materials have shown us the next-generation iPhone in a fair amount of detail, this new report claims to offer a sample of photos and a brief video clip [Direct link to video] taken with the device, demonstrating real-world performance to compare against sample photos and video posted by Apple.

The report notes that an hour's worth of "playing games, surfing, YouTube and Google Maps" resulted in a battery drain of only 10%, bolstering Apple's claims of significantly improved battery performance compared to earlier iPhone models.

The line for the iPhone 4 has already started -- a week before its release. Justin Wagoner has set up a tent in front of the Dallas, TX Apple Store and appears to have started the first line nationwide. Wagoner was first spotted on DallasNews.com.

The discovery was quickly posted in our forums and spotted by Wagoner who posted a greeting to MacRumors forum readers, explaining his reasons for camping out so early:

Some would say I am crazy, but I say I'm a very determined fan. In fact I just might be one the biggest Apple fans you will actually meet. I have been the first costumer for this store since 2008 when the iPhone 3G was released.

Normally I only camp out over night, but since I do not work due to the fact I am disabled with a seizure disorder and I am not in school at the point, I figure I just make it a fun experience and do it for a week.

Yes I did reserve a phone, but again, I'm doing it for a fun experience. I haven't had a trip or vacation in past 10 years so I figured I make it a full week camping trip.

My setup and location has everything I could need to live for a week, even in the Texas heat. Tent is packed with a sleeping gear, a chair, full ice chest of drinks and food, and the Apple staff have been very nice to me treating me like a king. LOL I also brought a extension power cord for phone charging and things that need power. There is even a portable toilet around the back of the store if needed.

That been said, I'm actually doing really well out here. If anyone gets a chance, come join the fun!

As proof of his idenity, Wagoner posted a photo of himself taken in the Apple Store:

He also posted photos from his camping setup. Wagoner promises to continue to post updates when he can:

I'll do my best to keep everyone updated when i can. I do not have laptop so I can only operate when the store is open. I will post a pic when the next camper comes and when the line starts to get out of control.

Well wishers can post to the original thread which we kept distinct from this news story. Over the next week as iPhone 4 lines continue to form, feel free to email us photos at tips@macrumors.com. The iPhone 4 will officially launch on June 24th. While the initial allotment of pre-orders are spoken for, there should be a sizable stock available for walk-in purchases.

Apple has launched their new MobileMe interface tonight with an overhauled MobileMe Webmail system as well as a "Find My iPhone" App Store App. The new interface reveals a new application switcher interface which replaces the row of icons that was previously used.

The new Webmail features are detailed by Apple as well. These include:

- Widescreen and compact views.
- Rules to keep your email organized everywhere.
- Single-click archiving.
- Formatting toolbar.
- Faster performance.
- Increased security with SSL.
- Support for external email addresses (new since the beta)
- Improved junk mail filtering (new since the beta).

Meanwhile, Apple has also released a brand new Find My iPhone app [App Store] that offers a universal iPhone/iPad App to locate your lost device:

If you lose your iPhone or iPad while on the go, simply install this free app on any other iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to find it. Sign in with your member name and password (MobileMe subscription required) to locate your missing device on a map and have it display a message or play a sound. You can even remotely lock the device to protect your privacy, or wipe it to permanently delete all of your data if you think that it won't be returned.

Apple has noted on its MobileMe support page and the me.com login page that access to MobileMe Web applications will be down from 10:00 PM to midnight Pacific Time this evening for "scheduled maintenance", with normal service expected to return once the site comes back up at the end of this window.

MacRumors has received information indicating that the downtime will see the rolling out of several new enhancements, including an official launch of the redesigned Mail interface for MobileMe that has been available in beta form for the past month. Included in this rollout will be push functionality for the Web-based Mail client, providing real-time updating as messages arrive.

Apple is also reportedly removing the MobileMe "toolbar" for the various Web applications offered by the service, replacing the toolbar with a single "application switcher" icon that will allow users to switch between Web applications.

Finally, Apple is said to be preparing to release a dedicated "Find My iPhone" application. The application, which will be universal and thus compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, will be available for free through App Stores in all countries, although devices must be associated with a MobileMe account in order to be tracked. It will allow users to perform all of the traditional Find My iPhone functions from iOS devices without the need to utilize the Web-based version of the service, offering device tracking, sending of messages to lost devices, and remote locking and wiping.

Apple has been busy releasing new iOS application for its customers over the past week, pushing out iTunes Connect Mobile last week to assist developers with monitoring sales data for their applications and Apple Store earlier this week to allow customers to make purchases from the Apple Store and schedule reservations for Apple Retail Store services.