MacRumors

Lodsys, the patent holding company currently taking on App Store developers over their use of in app purchasing and upgrade buttons, is under increasing attack as it continues to push forward with its own actions while its targets have begun to fight back. Last week, we noted that the first legal challenge had been brought seeking to invalidate Lodsys' patents, and three other companies, including the parent company of The New York Times, have since filed similar suits against Lodsys.

But while Apple has stepped forward and asked to intervene in Lodsys' case against the App Store developers, arguing that Apple's own license extends to developers using its tools, the company has not joined the effort to have the patents themselves invalidated. FOSS Patents now reports that Apple (and Google, whose developer ecosystem is also being targeted by Lodsys) may actually be barred from challenging the patents by virtue of their licensing agreements already in place with Lodsys.

None of the attorneys I talked to knows the language of the license agreement Apple and Google signed with Intellectual Ventures while the four patents later acquired by Lodsys belonged to that entity. But they and I concur that it's highly likely that Apple and Google are contractually precluded from challenging Lodsys's patents because such license agreements often come with clauses under which a licensee will lose a license once he participates in an effort to invalidate any of the related patents (in addition to possibly having to pay contractual penalties).

So even if Apple and Google had wanted to attack Lodsys's patents proactively, they would have lost their license -- at least to any patent they attack; more likely to all four Lodsys patents; and possibly even to any or all of the more than 30,000 patents they licensed from Intellectual Ventures, a patent aggregator in which those companies (alongside many other industry players) invested.

Consequently, Apple may be limited to simply defending App Store developers with respect to the terms of Apple's licensing, and not able to directly attack the patents themselves.

But that does not mean that Lodsys' patents are safe by any means. In addition to the four invalidation lawsuits already filed against Lodsys, CNET reports that crowdsourcing intellectual property research firm Article One Partners has launched a series of bounties for information on prior art or other issues that could help in the effort to invalidate Lodsys' patents.

Article One Partners, a business that crowdsources intellectual property (IP) research, has launched three new studies into patents held by Lodsys. Each offers a reward to the party that finds prior art, or examples of pre-existing technologies or other IP that could be used as evidence to invalidate one or more of Lodsys' patents.

Each of the three studies carries a $5,000 bounty guaranteed to be paid out to the researchers who submit what is judged to be the "highest quality prior art" to be used in attacking Lodsys' patents.

It is unknown who is funding the bounties on Lodsys' patents, as that information is not disclosed by Article One Partners. Article One is, however, an established company with a community of around one million people participating in crowdsourced intellectual property research on a variety of topics.

AppleInsider reports that it has received word that Apple is holding back on releasing updated Mac models in order to wait for work on OS X Lion to be completed. Apple is reportedly "so pumped up" about Lion that it wants to ship the new machines with Lion preinstalled rather than forcing users to upgrade on their own once the new operating system is released next month.

For instance, new Thunderbolt-enabled Sandy Bridge MacBook Air models expected to go into production this month have been ready and waiting for some time, according to people familiar with the matter. But management is currently unwilling to usher the new models into the market with the current Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard operating system.

Instead, the Mac maker is said to be locked on waiting till it can image the new notebooks with a Gold Master build of Lion so that buyers are afforded the latest and greatest Apple experience.

Thunderbolt-equipped Mac minis and LED Cinema Displays are also said to be on hold as Apple puts the finishing touches on OS X Lion.

Apple has only announced that OS X Lion will launch in July, declining to share an exact release date so far. The release will be a Mac App Store exclusive, and will be priced at $29.99. Through the Lion Up-to-Date program, users who purchase or have purchased a Mac between June 6th and the official Lion release will receive a free upgrade to Lion.

Consequently, Apple's desire to hold back on releasing updated Macs is not related to saving customers money on the upgrade but instead seems focused on offering customers the latest and greatest software experience right out of the box and removing any inconvenience associated with upgrading.

Patently Apple reports that another newly-published patent application from Apple reveals a hint at what could be the future of the company's "Find My iPhone" functionality. The proposed enhancements offer a device's owner a great deal more control over how it can be used once it is lost or stolen, as well as providing the device with smarter capabilities for detecting unauthorized usage. Among the interesting features:

- Unauthorized usage detection: A passcode-enabled device could be programmed to automatically increase its security level after a certain number of incorrect passcode entries, moving to further secure sensitive information stored on the device or entering a surveillance mode in which it could begin collecting and transmitting audio, video, position, and other information that might help in identifying the person in possession of the device and reuniting it with its owner.

- Selective data scrambling and wiping: The system could offer device owners a high level of customization regarding actions to be taken when a device is identified as lost or stolen. Beyond the basic remote lock and remote wipe features available with "Find My iPhone" today, the system could allow users to selectively wipe or scramble select content such as emails, contacts and passwords. Such a system could help a user avoid the need to completely wipe their device remotely, allowing other device functions to continue and increasing the chances of recovery.

- Limiting device functions: In addition to scrambling or wiping of data, the system could allow users to selectively turn on or off access to certain features and capabilities on a lost or stolen device. For example, the user could turn off phone, texting, or cellular data capabilities, features that could otherwise result in charges being made to the owner's account. Additional security features such as the disabling of VPN capabilities can also help protect corporate networks from intrusion in the event that a device is lost or stolen.

ifoAppleStore reports that Apple has begun work on a $6.6 million project to revamp the plaza at its flagship Fifth Avenue retail store in Manhattan, home of the iconic glass cube entrance leading to the underground retail space. As part of the project, Apple will be temporarily removing the glass cube to install new pavers on the plaza.

Workers reportedly appeared on site last night and began fencing off areas around the store to begin work on the project.

Building permits issued on June 13th state the work will also include removing protective bollards, installing new pavers around the cube's perimeter, and removing and reinstalling surrounding water drains. According to the permits, the work could be finished by early November.

It is unclear whether Apple will be replacing the glass panels of the cube or making other changes to the structure, or simply temporarily removing the cube to facilitate other drainage and paver work on the plaza.

Apple's Fifth Avenue store opened in mid-2006 as the gleaming flagship of the chain, operating 24 hours a day. Despite the company having opened a number of significantly larger flagship stores around the world in the following years, the Fifth Avenue store has maintained its position as one of the busiest and most-visited stores in the company's retail chain.

Update: ifoAppleStore has added a couple of photos of the gray plywood barriers around the plaza.

With the explosive growth of Facebook and Twitter, social networking has been the biggest trend in the recent years. Apple has already tried delve into this market a bit with its iTunes network Ping, though with limited success.

Based on a new patent application published today, it seems Apple has been exploring far more ambitious attempts using the iPhone, location-based services and interest matching. The result is the possibility that your iPhone could find you your next friend, business partner or date. Apple sets up the scenario in the patent filing:

Social networks are a well known phenomenon, and various electronic systems to support social networking are known. Growing a social network can mean that a person needs to discover like-minded or compatible people who have similar interests or experiences to him or her. Identifying like-minded people, however, often requires a substantial amount of and time and effort because identifying new persons with common interests for friendships is difficult. For example, when two strangers meet, it may take a long and awkward conversation to discover their common interests or experiences.

So, instead of "awkward conversation", Apple proposes that individuals' interests can be determined manually by questionnaires (interests, books, etc...) but also automatically by mining various data found in their iPhone device. You will be able to find others in your immediate vicinity that might match your interests and introduce yourself to them through your iPhone.

Common interests and experiences of two or more users located close to each other can be identified from content, including automatically created usage data of the mobile devices. Usage data of a mobile device can be created based on activities performed on the mobile device (e.g., songs downloaded), a trajectory of the mobile device (e.g., places traveled), or other public data available from the mobile device (e.g., pictures shared).

Of course, all this would be opt-in only to avoid any privacy concerns. For example. GPS tracking could identify people who have traveled to the same locations. Phone numbers and contacts can be compared, as well as common bookmarks or games played on device. Overall the application is a fascinating read. They even suggest that facial recognition features could be used to identify common contacts.

Now, patent applications tend to be overambitious descriptions of what could be, and Apple is known to dabble in various areas that they don't necessarily plan on pursuing. That said, location-services and social network are rapidly growing markets, so it wouldn't be surprising for Apple to make some efforts in those areas. In fact, we've already seen references to a "Find My Friends" features in developer builds of iOS.

Apple has finally launched the Back to School promotion for 2011.

When you buy a new qualifying Mac with Apple education pricing* from June 16, 2011, through September 20, 2011, you'll get a $100 Back to School Card to use on the Mac App Store, the App Store, the iTunes Store, and the iBookstore.

As reported, this year's back to school promotion offers a $100 iTunes/App Store Gift Card with the purchase of a qualifying Mac. The promotion starts today and ends on September 20, 2011. International Apple Stores have also launched their local equivalents (65 British Pounds in UK, 75 Euro in Europe).

You must be a college student, student accepted to college, parent of college student or faculty/staff at any grade level. Qualifying computers include the MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, and Mac Pro. Readers should also note that any Mac purchased now will also get OS X Lion for free.

Update: Apple has posted the terms and conditions. When the new MacBook Airs are released, they will also qualify.

Apple seems to be putting the final touches on OS X Lion which is set to launch in July. They have pushed out a new software update for developers who are running the Developer Preview 4 that was released at WWDC.

There's no word on what has changed between versions. OS X Lion will be launching sometime in July for $29.99 via the Mac App Store.

Update: It's All Tech posts some of the changes found in the latest release. Perhaps most notable is that this build is not the final since there is still placeholders for some of the videos:

We've relayed multiple times that the Apple Back to School Promotion would be starting at any minute. The predictions starting kicking off a few weeks ago with today even being suggested a possible launch date. We're finally going to see Apple's Back to School promotion launching tomorrow (June 16th), and we actually have photographic proof of the imminent launch.

The above photos were sent to us by a tipster indicating that the promotion will offer a $100 gift card that can be used in the Mac App Store, iTunes Store, App Store or iBookstore, and that it will launch tomororow. In the fine print it specifically lists "June 16th" as the launch date with the promotion running until September 20, 2011".

The offering of an App Store gift card is a notable departure from Apple's previous Back to School promotions which offered students free iPods with the purchase of a Mac. The new push into App Store credit is a reflection of Apple's new push into the App Store for Mac that launched early this year. The Mac App Store will be the distribution point for Mac OS X Lion and Final Cut Pro X.

Update: iSpazio.net reports that European Apple Back to School will also be kicking off with a 75 Euro gift card.

The 2011 edition of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) just wrapped up a few days ago, but some attendees may already be looking forward to next year in hopes of penciling in dates so that they are ready to go when tickets go on sale and potentially sell out within hours. So those planning on attending WWDC 2012 may want to take renewed note of a multi-year calendar from the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau that was discovered last year, a document that listed June 10th through 15th as the tentative dates for WWDC 2012, with the actual conference presumably kicking off with a keynote on Monday, June 11th.

Tentative WWDC Dates:
2012: June 10th - June 15th
2013: June 9th - June 14th
2014: June 1st - June 6th
2015: June 7th - June 12th

That document did accurately reflect the 2011 conference dates, but was not correct about the 2010 dates, emphasizing the tentative nature of the information. But adding some fuel to the speculation is the Moscone Center's event calendar, which currently shows a generic "Corporate Meeting" listed running from Sunday, June 10th through Friday, June 15th next year.

Such generic listings "Corporate Event" and "Corporate Meeting" frequently appear as placeholders for WWDC well ahead of time, although they are of course not exclusive to Apple and are used whenever booking entities do not wish to publicly disclose their identities.

Even if the "Corporate Meeting" listing does refer to WWDC, Apple is certainly capable of adjusting its schedule, although busy conference schedules can make it difficult to do so as things begin to book up. Consequently, it seems reasonable to speculate that Apple and the Moscone Center have at least penciled in the June 11th-15th dates for next year's WWDC, but we'll certainly be keeping our eyes on the schedules to see if anything changes, as they have on occasion in the past.

The Wall Street Journal reports that three people have been sent to prison in China over their roles in facilitating leaks of information on the iPad 2 prior to its release.

The court announced the decision Tuesday in statements on its official account at Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service in China. It said that Xiao Chengsong, general manager of Shenzhen MacTop Electronics Co., had offered 20,000 yuan, or about $3,000, plus discounts on MacTop products to a former Hon Hai employee named Hou Pengna, for information about the iPad 2. The court said Ms. Hou then paid Lin Kecheng, a Hon Hai research-and-development employee, to get digital images of the device's back cover from last September, six months before the iPad 2 was publicly announced.

The three people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 12 to 18 months and are subject to fines ranging from approximately $4,500 to $23,000.

Cases for the iPad 2 began appearing on Chinese supply sites four months ahead of Apple's official unveiling, and it was revealed in late April that three workers had been arrested in connection with the leak soon after those initial cases appeared. The employees cited in that report had been claimed to be Foxconn employees and are presumed to be the same ones sentenced to prison in the new report, although only two of them were actually Foxconn employees while the the third was manager of the case manufacturing company that solicited the information.

Apple's latest edition of the iMac is finally shipping with the build-to-order 3.4GHz Intel Core i7 and 256GB Solid State Drive option installed. As with any new Apple product, benchmarks and speedtests are beginning to trickle out, and the conclusion from Macworld is that this is the fastest Mac they've ever tested.

Last month, Macworld benchmarked the highest standard configuration 27" iMac Core i5 3.1GHz with standard hard drive installed. It scored 227 on Speedmark 6.5, roughly 16 percent faster than the old model -- but still quite a bit slower than a Mac Pro 3.33GHz Xeon 6-core, which scored a 263 on the same test.

Now, after a month-long delay, Apple is finally shipping BTO 3.4GHz Core i7 iMacs with a 256GB SSD option. This top-of-the-line iMac, the 27" 3.4GHz Core i7 w/SSD has been declared the fastest Mac that Macworld has ever tested.

Macworld's testing puts the 3.4GHz i7 w/SSD at 298 on the Speedmark 6.5 test, well clear of the Mac Pro 3.33GHz Xeon 6-core's comparatively pokey 263. It also beat the Mac Pro in file duplication, Zip file compress and uncompress, iTunes encoding, and iMovie and iPhoto importing tests.

It's important to note, however, that for massively parallel tasks like Handbrake encoding, Cinebench, Mathematica, and GeekBench benchmarks the Mac Pro still outperforms the iMac because it has more cores, especially with Hyper-Threading. But, for individual application tests like encoding an MP3, importing a movie to iMovie, or importing photos to iPhoto, the iMac beats all.

Of course, the brand new iMac might be faster than the current generation Mac Pro, but the Mac Pro hasn't been updated since last July. New Mac Pros are expected sometime soon, presumably with Thunderbolt support and a rumored narrower, rackmountable enclosure.