MacRumors

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.

Following its release of a Kindle app for the Mac last week, Amazon is preparing a Kindle app for the iPad according to The New York Times.

Amazon has posted a page on its site describing upcoming Kindle apps for Tablet Computers, where the iPad is specifically mentioned. The iPad app will have the same functionality as the one currently available for the iPhone, including Amazon's Whispersync technology for syncing bookmarks, notes, last page read, and more across multiple devices.

Also mentioned is the ability for users to shop for more Kindle eBooks. Amazon does not state, however, whether this functionality will be built into the iPad app, which would put it in direct competition with Apple's iBooks app that will offer the ability to purchase ebooks through the iTunes store. In the iPhone Kindle app, a link to purchase eBooks is provided that opens the Safari browser to an iPhone-optimized version of the Kindle eBook store. eBooks purchased there are downloaded automatically to the iPhone the next time the Kindle app is opened.

The iPad Kindle app, demonstrated to a New York Times reporter last week, will offer virtual page turning and various ways to present an eBook library to a user, including one "where large images of book covers are set against a backdrop of a silhouetted figure reading under a tree" and the "suns position in that image varies with the time of day."

According to the report, Amazon has stated that it will not take advantage of Apple's official invitation to developers to submit iPad apps and will instead wait to test it on an iPad after its April 3rd release. Amazon has also disclosed that it is not one of the entities that received advance access to an iPad for development and testing.

Amazon's acknowledgement that an iPad application is in development follows a similar disclosure from Barnes & Noble earlier this month.

The San Jose Mercury News last Friday reported that Apple CEO Steve Jobs made a rare public appearance alongside California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to promote a new bill in that state to encourage drivers to sign up as organ donors, drawing on his own experience with a liver transplant he received last year in Memphis, Tennessee as motivation for his support.

"I was almost one of the ones that died waiting for a liver in California last year," said Jobs, whippet-thin but healthy. He appeared at a brief event with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to unveil a new legislative effort to greatly expand the number of California organ donors.

In his first public description of his much-rumored but long-secret crisis, Jobs said "there were simply not enough livers in California to go around, and my doctors here advised me to enroll in a transplant program in Memphis, where the supply-demand ratio of livers is more favorable than it is in California."

Jobs noted that he had been fortunate enough to access to a private plane and the resources to be ferried to Memphis within the brief window of time available once a matching donor liver became available, and that California residents of all income levels should have greater access to donor organs in their own state.

As a result of his experience, Jobs worked with California first lady Maria Shriver to spur Schwarzenegger's office to draft legislation that would require driver's license applicants in California to provide either a "yes" or "no" answer to a question regarding their placement on the state's organ donor registry before being issued a license. While applicants are currently offered the ability to add themselves to the registry through the Department of Motor Vehicles, a response is not required, and it appears that many applicants simply skip the question.

The bill also provides for the creation of a "California Living Donor Registry," which aims to connect those in need of a kidney transplant with compatible strangers who have signaled their willingness to donate one of their own kidneys.

A video of the event is available, with Jobs' comments beginning at the 13-minute mark.