MacRumors

Even with the recent release of iPhone 3.0, Apple is hard at work at the next update: iPhone 3.1. Apple seeded registered developers with a beta version of the firmware and SDK today. Few details were provided as to the improvements to be found in the new firmware. The latest build number is 7C97D.

Since the release of the OS X Snow Leopard Build 10A394 developer seed late last week, users have been digging through the new version looking for and documenting changes and additions.

The introduction of QuickTime X in Snow Leopard brings a streamlined interface lacking some of the functionality found in QuickTime 7. It has been reported that earlier Snow Leopard builds would prompt the user to install QuickTime 7 and automatically do so upon command when attempting to open a file supported only by QuickTime 7. The QuickTime 7 functionality, however, was reportedly incomplete in earlier builds. Build 10A394 now permits full installation of QuickTime 7 in this manner and offers the full suite of QuickTime 7 Pro features that currently require a separate paid license on Leopard and Tiger.

Mozilla today released Firefox 3.5, a significant upgrade to the world's second-most popular Internet browser. Webmonkey summarizes some of the more important advances in the latest version, including speed enhancements, support for HTML 5, geolocation services, search improvements, and the addition of a private browsing mode.

Originally envisioned as a quick follow-up to 2008's release of Firefox 3.0, Mozilla ended up packing in quite a few extra features into its flagship browser and spent months making sure that Firefox 3.5 was the fastest, most powerful Firefox yet.

Firefox 3.5 brings with it entirely new and much faster rendering engines for both static web pages and the JavaScript code that powers today's complex web-based applications. There are new privacy features, new capabilities for playing video and audio files and improved search tools. There are also a handful of other new features that should prove useful for both Firefox devotees and newcomers alike.

Firefox 3.5 is available for OS X (10.4 or later), Windows, and Linux and is available in nearly 75 languages.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Dell has been developing a Mobile Internet Device (MID) based on Google's Android operating system. The device is reportedly slightly larger than Apple's iPod touch, with which Dell's offering would presumably compete in many respects should it eventually be released.

Another person who was briefed on the company's plans said Dell may begin selling the device later this year, though this person said the plan could be delayed or scrapped entirely.

The development effort is one of the first experiments by a big-name PC maker in a nascent category of products known as mobile Internet devices, or MIDs,which are designed to fill a perceived gap between mobile phones and laptop computers.

Dell is expected to use ARM processors for the new device, the same platform that powers the iPhone and iPod touch. Back in 2003, Dell introduced its "Dell DJ" music players to compete with the iPod, but the line was discontinued by the end of 2006.

Bloomberg has received confirmation from Apple that Steve Jobs has returned to work at Apple following his liver transplant, currently working part-time at the company's headquarters in Cupertino and part-time from home. Jobs reportedly returned to work last Monday, but today's report is the first confirmation directly from Apple.

Steve Jobs is back at work at Apple Inc., returning to his job as chief executive officer as planned after taking medical leave in January.

"Steve is back to work," Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman, said today. Jobs is at Apple a few days a week and working at home the remaining days, he said. "We are very glad to have him back," Dowling said.

Jobs announced in mid-January that he would be taking a medical leave of absence until the end of June, and today's report confirms that he has met his target.

Late last week, we reported that Apple had posted an online availability database showing iPhone 3GS stock levels at each of its over 200 U.S. retail stores. At the time, the database showed solid availability of the new iPhone, with nearly 90% of stores showing availability of all four iPhone 3GS models and only five stores being completely sold out.

Apple's retail store stock levels declined over the course of the weekend, and the availability database is now showing significant iPhone 3GS shortages. According to the database, only about 40-45% of Apple's retail stores currently maintain stock of all four models, while nearly 15% of stores are completely sold out. Three states are currently listed as being entirely out of stock of all four models: Alabama (two stores), Oregon (three stores), and Utah (one store).

Reuters reports that ten top mobile phone manufacturers, including Apple, have agreed to adopt the Micro-USB connector standard for smartphone chargers in the European Union. The shift, planned to begin next year, will allow smartphones from the companies, which control 90% of the market, to use the same charging cables. Apple currently uses a proprietary dock connector compatible with both the iPhone and iPod touch.

The chargers will be usable only for data-enabled phones, which have more capability than just standard calls and SMS texts. Data-enabled phones are expected to account for almost half of all new mobile handset purchases in 2010.

The Commission hopes that as people discard their old handsets, within three to four years all data-enabled phones in Europe will be using standardized chargers.

The plan also calls for new phones to be sold with Micro-USB chargers for a period of time before ultimately selling phones and chargers separately in order to allow customers who already own chargers to continue using their existing ones. While the agreement extends only to European phones, it is expected that the standard will make its way into phones around the world as companies attempt to keep their design and manufacturing costs streamlined.

Reuters reports that Sony Corp is working on a cellphone/game player hybrid to better compete with Apple's iPod Touch and iPhone.

Sony plans to set up a project team as early as July to develop a new product that combines functions of its portable game player and Sony Ericsson's mobile phones, the Nikkei said.

Sony appears to be considering a number of different moves to go head-to-head with Apple's iPod Touch and iPhone platform. An earlier report claims Sony was talking to major recording companies about providing downloadable music to the Playstation Portable (PSP). While Apple's devices aren't dedicated gaming machines, there is a notable overlap in audiences and the App Store has started attracting major gaming developers such as Capcom, id Software, and Square Enix.

The PSP has sold over 50 million units worldwide in the past 4 years, while Apple has already reached over 40 million units sold in the past 2 years.

Apple today seeded a new version of OS X Snow Leopard, Build 10A394, to developers. The new build was distributed via Software Update and weighs in at 655.3 MB. The update's description simply states that the new build contains fixes for stability, compatibility, and security.

Early reports say that the Dock Expos feature demonstrated at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month is present in the latest build. Users can activate Dock Expos by clicking and holding on a running application's Dock icon to show only that application's windows in Expos. Users can then click the icon of any other running application to switch to that application's Expos windows. Users can also preview any window within Expos by hitting the spacebar while the desired window is highlighted, providing a full-resolution view of the window without actually activating it.

Apple has posted an online database to allow potential iPhone 3GS customers in the U.S. to check stock levels for the various models at Apple Retail Stores. Availability is updated at least hourly. Apple deployed similar tools for both the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G, although these previous versions only updated nightly with stock levels for opening the following day.

Apple's database is currently showing solid availability, with nearly 90% of Apple's over 200 stores having stock of all four models. Only five stores are completely sold out of all models at the moment.

AppleInsider reports that Apple is considering dropping the price points for its iMac line alongside the introduction of next-generation models later this year. The cuts, which Apple is rumored to be considering in the 7-10% range, would be in line with the significant price cuts seen in Apple's latest notebook offerings introduced earlier this month at its Worldwide Developers Conference.

iMacs were just recently refreshed in March but will see another update by fall, at which time they'll also be repositioned as more affordable offerings. Apple is reportedly mulling similar 7% - 10% price reductions alongside the introduction of those models, people familiar with the company's thinking say.

AppleInsider had reported in late April that Apple was considering price cuts for its Mac lineup, targeting the MacBook and iMac as likely candidates for the new pricing. While the MacBook price cuts did come to fruition as part of the broader notebook price drops and reorganization, the iMac has yet to see any such changes.

After the news broke that the first iPhone application with nudity was released, the app was quickly removed from the App Store. Despite the developer initially claiming that it was removed voluntarily to relieve server load, it seems that Apple may have had an active role in its removal. Apple PR told CNN that the app had been removed and that Apple will not distribute "porn" or other inappropriate content:

Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography. The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store.

To call this particular application "porn" is a bit of a stretch but made for good headlines across the web. The removal by Apple is is interesting, however, as Apple's rating system does seem to allow for "nudity" specifically.