MacRumors

The Loop reports that Apple is planning to cut significant numbers of software titles and peripherals from its retail store sales floors, moving to free up space to accommodate the more extensive Personal Setup service for Macs launched in January.

Among the products that will no longer be displayed in the retail stores are printers, scanners and possible some hard drives. These peripherals will still be stocked in the store and available if a customer requests them.

At the point of sale, the Apple salesperson will still recommend the customer purchase one of those peripherals if they feel it fits in with the customer's purchase.

According to my sources, Apple is also getting rid of up to 32 game titles from its retail locations. That would reduce the number of games being displayed in the stores to around 8 per store.

We previously reported that Apple is looking to eventually discontinue all boxed software sales from its retail stores in favor of the Mac App Store, and the upcoming changes may be the first step down that road.

With the iPad 2 set for launch at 5:00 PM on Friday and Apple not offering pre-orders, those looking to get their hands on the updated tablet device as soon as possible may find themselves facing long waits to secure spots near the front of their respective lines. And just like with the iPhone 4, Dallas resident Justin Wagoner has already pitched a tent outside his local Apple Store in order to be first in line for the iPad 2 launch on Friday.

One catch for Justin is that the Knox Street retail store that has been the usual location for his campouts is currently closed for expansion, with Apple now operating out of a temporary location around the corner.

Seeking to capitalize on his growing publicity as an early camper for Apple devices, Justin has launched a new site at iJustinOfficial.com to document his wait. He will also be offering a live video broadcast on Ustream as the iPad 2 launches.

Apple's online store experience has remained relatively consistent for a number of years now, but a new hiring binge suggests that the company may be preparing to revamp the store from the ground up.

One job listing, which appeared late last week and hints at multiple available senior software engineering positions in the "Core Services" functionality of the store, explicitly references the "next-generation Apple Online Store".

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While Apple's online store is continuously evolving, making it arguable that the "next-generation" store comes about on a regular basis, the sheer number of positions being advertised suggests that something more may be going on. In late February, an earlier posting for senior engineers in Core Services appeared alongside two other listings looking for engineers focused on checkout services, while the company has also solicited for a host of other senior software engineer, software test engineer, content development manager, and senior-level portfolio manager positions for the store in recent weeks.

Apple is obviously hiring new staff to expand and replenish its ranks in support of existing programs on a regular basis and it can be difficult to separate out the rhetoric of human resources managers from Apple's true goals, but the recent surge seems quite out of the ordinary given the company's usual hiring trends, leading us to wonder whether Apple is taking steps to beef up its development teams to support a significant redesign of the online store in the months ahead.

Engadget reports that AT&T has confirmed that it will allow iPad users currently on the company's discontinued unlimited data plan to transfer the plan to a new iPad 2.

If you were lucky enough to snag one of those coveted unlimited data plans with your original AT&T iPad, you won't have to toss it when upgrading next week. The carrier has confirmed to us that those who currently have the aforementioned plan will be able to keep it on their account when upgrading to the iPad 2, which in turns gives you no reason whatsoever to turn down the opportunity.

At the launch of the original 3G-capable iPad in late April of last year, AT&T offered an unlimited data plan priced at $29.99 per month. But just a little over a month later, the carrier announced that it was discontinuing the unlimited plan and replacing it with a 2 GB plan priced at $25 per month, with customers reaching the maximum ahead of the end of the billing cycle able to initiate a new $25 cycle at that point. But customers who had already signed up for the unlimited data plan were grandfathered in and permitted to keep that plan as long as they did not let their plan lapse or switch to a lower tier.

GadgetsDNA points to a Mac Otakara report about the upcoming iPhone 5. According to a Chinese source, Apple will be abandoning the glass backing of the iPhone 4 and moving back to an aluminum casing. Apple's first iPhone also shipped with an aluminum back casing. From the translation:

Decision to design similar to iPod touch instead of using glass is supposed that Apple seems to stop problems which are told widely damages from scratching, difficulties of painting white and weight of glass.

The antenna will also be redesigned which means Apple will also be abandoning the current external iPhone 4 antenna design. The iPhone 4 antenna was the source of a major controversy over signal loss and attenuation when it was held in a certain way. The iPhone 5 is also said to have the new Apple A5 processor and will likely be announced in June/July.

Late last week, AllThingsD compiled the data plan pricing for the iPad 2 on both Verizon and AT&T in an easy to read chart.

AT&T is offering the same pre-paid monthly options as on the original iPad for 250MB/$15 and 2GB/$25. If you run out of data in a given month, you can simply pay again a reset the meter. Now, AT&T is also offering a "postpaid" option which charges overages at a set rate (see chart above).

Verizon is offering their own set of choices for data that mirror their iPad 1/Mi-Fi bundles. As with AT&T, there's no long term contract and these can be adjusted or canceled on a month to month basis. Verizon's offers data ranges of 1GB, 3GB, 5GB, and 10GB a month. So, consistently heavy users would do better on Verizon's plans while very infrequent users would save money with AT&T.

The iPad 2 is launching on Friday, March 11th. Apple is telling customers that online sales will begin at 12:01 Pacific Time on March 11th, or customers can go to Apple Retail stores at 5 p.m. on March 11th to get one in hand that day. There will likely be long lines for the iPad 2 launch day since Apple is only accepting online orders the day of launch, and standing in line will be the only way to get your hands on an iPad 2 before the following week.

Forbes reports that a major U.S. retailer presumed to be Best Buy is preparing to provide all of its retail store employees with iPads, a move that could help the electronics chain sell staff (and thus customers) on the company's concept of a "Connected World".

A source with knowledge of corporate mobile device deployments tells Forbes that one of the country's top 10 largest retailers expects to distribute iPads to each of its on-floor sales associates. This retailer, the source adds, operates 1,100 stores across the U.S. As the country's largest electronics retailer - as well as a retailer that currently operates around 1,100 stores in the U.S. - Best Buy is a natural match.

Best Buy employs approximately 180,000 full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees worldwide, and while only U.S.-based on-floor sales staff would qualify for the rumored offer, the boost would still represent distribution of many tens of thousands of iPads in a significant boost to Apple's bottom line.

Populating every Best Buy store with iPad-toting salespeople would be a boon for Apple, which would not only sell tens of thousands of devices for the purpose, but also have its wares in constant, high profile use across the country.

The benefits are less assured for Best Buy, which has struggled financially in recent quarters. That said, the aim of the Connected Stores is to make Best Buy shops more alluring destinations and to encourage people to purchase devices by offering as interactive and informative a shopping experience as possible. If an army of iPads helps Best Buy achieve this goal, then the gamble will be worthwhile.

Also unclear is the timeline for such a rollout. Apple will presumably be looking to prioritize distribution to the general public before fulfilling such a large order for Best Buy, as the company typically restricts distribution of popular new products even for its own employees until consumer demand and supply levels begin to come into balance.

Engadget posts a purported internal AT&T sales document sharing details of Apple's iOS 4.3 launch scheduled for next Friday, March 11th. According to the document, the personal hotspot functionality included in the update, which the carrier has already announced that it will support will be limited to three connected Wi-Fi devices.

According to this here slide, which details a bit of insidery AT&T information about the impending release of iOS 4.3, Ma Bell's iPhone 4 will have its Personal Hotspot restricted to use with just three devices. Just about every MiFi / mobile hotspot device we've ever seen -- including Verizon's iPhone 4 -- has supported five WiFi devices, but unless AT&T pulls a 180 here, it'll be limiting its iPhone to just three connections.

Apple's own iOS 4.3 preview page offers similar language with additional detail revealing the limitations:

You can share your connection with up to five devices at once over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB - with up to three of those connections using Wi-Fi.

Apple elaborates even further in a footnote on the page, revealing device limitations for each of the connection methods:

Personal Hotspot requires a supporting hotspot tethering plan from your carrier and works with up to three devices over Wi-Fi, three devices over Bluetooth, and one device over USB.

Interestingly, while identical language is present on Apple's iOS 4.3 preview pages for customers in Canada, Australia, Japan, and many other countries, suggesting that the limitation is Apple's and not AT&T's, pages for customers in European countries simply mention the total limit of five devices.

As noted by 9 to 5 Mac, Verizon has posted a banner on its site suggesting that the carrier will indeed be offering the iPad 2 as of its official U.S. launch date of March 11th. AT&T, Apple's other carrier partner for the iPad 2 in the U.S., has not yet announced launch plans for the device but will presumably also have stocks available on the 11th.

Apple was silent in its initial iPad 2 announcement about how many and which retail partners would have availability of the device on launch day, but Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Sam's Club have all signaled their launch participation, and with carrier partners apparently also onboard, Apple will have a significant number of distribution points for immediate sales.

Reuters briefly reports on comments from China Mobile chairman Wang Jianzhou claiming that Apple has "expressed interest" in developing an iPhone capable of running on the carrier's TD-LTE network currently under development.

China Mobile Ltd, the world's largest mobile carrier by subscribers, said on Friday that Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs has expressed interest in developing an iPhone based on the Chinese carrier's network standard.

China Mobile is developing its next-generation TD-LTE mobile network technology and there have been talks over a possible iPhone tie-up with the carrier.

Time-division LTE (TD-LTE), developed by China Mobile, is a variation on the LTE standard that can offer certain benefits over traditional frequency-division LTE (FD-LTE), including lower cost of deployment and dynamic balancing of upload and download bandwidth. Reports have indicated that the same chip can be used to allow devices to access both traditional LTE and TD-LTE networks.

Although TD-LTE is a homegrown standard from China Mobile, it has started to gain acceptance from other operators around the world who have been trialling the technology as an alternative to FD-LTE.

While LTE networks are beginning to go live on several major carriers around the world, full adoption and build-out will not occur for quite some time, and reports have indeed suggested that Apple will skip LTE compatibility on the fifth-generation iPhone presumably scheduled to launch just a few months from now. Consequently, most observers are looking to an LTE-compatible iPhone launch in mid-2012.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reports (via AsiaPulse) that Apple's iPad 2 introduction has forced Samsung to reconsider its plans for its forthcoming Galaxy Tab 10.1, a larger version of its initial 7-inch Galaxy Tab that is intended to offer a more similar form factor to the iPad. According to a Samsung executive, the company is looking to improve the specs of the device to be more competitive with the iPad 2.

Lee Don-joo, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile division, said that Apple has presented new challenges for the South Korean company with a thinner mobile gadget that is priced the same as its predecessor.

"We will have to improve the parts that are inadequate," Lee told Yonhap News Agency. "Apple made it very thin."

But technical specs are not the only issue facing Samsung with the Galaxy Tab 10.1, as the company also must address pricing issues that currently will make it difficult for the device to compete against the iPad 2.

The 7-inch Galaxy Tab was priced at nearly US$900 without a two-year contract from mobile operators, while the price of the iPad 2 starts at $499, with the most expensive model costing $829. Samsung did not announce the pricing details for the 10.1-inch tablet.

"The 10-inch (tablet) was to be priced higher than the 7-inch (tablet) but we will have to think that over," Lee added.

Apple made a number of references to the tablet competition during its iPad 2 introduction earlier this week, making a point to illustrate Apple's hardware and software head start and pricing advantages over competitors' offerings. Apple's iPad 2 comes to market even as some competitors have yet to begin shipping their first round of tablet devices announced in some cases many months ago.

DigiTimes reports that Apple's suppliers are targeting production of 10-12 million iPad 2 units during the second quarter of 2011. That production would come on top of 2-3 million second-generation iPads being pushed out before the end of this quarter, putting total iPad 2 shipments in the first four months of availability at as high as 15 million units, a figure that would match total sales of the original iPad over its first nine months of availability. Altogether, Apple is said to be currently planning for shipments of 40 million iPads in 2011.

Apple's target to take delivery of 40 million iPads from Taiwan suppliers in 2011 remains unchanged with shipment volume expected to top 6-6.5 million units, including over three million iPad 2 models, in the first quarter and to further expand to 10-12 million units in the second.

After producing 1.7-2 million units of the first-generation iPad in January, Apple began to phase out production of the old model in February, while beginning to roll out the iPad 2, according to component suppliers in Taiwan. Shipments of iPad 2 are expected to top 2-3 million units in March, the sources added.

The report contrasts significantly with an earlier one issued just over a week ago by DigiTimes stating that Apple had reduced first-quarter production of the iPad 2 to just 300,000-400,000 units due to low touch panel yields. DigiTimes has a mixed track record, and it is consequently difficult to pinpoint the accuracy of any single claim, but the latest reports from within Apple's supply chains and an aggressive rollout schedule do suggest that Apple is moving forward with confidence in its production capacity.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is talking with a number of music labels about allowing customers to download tracks purchased from the iTunes Store an unlimited number of times to any device associated with a specific iTunes Store account. According to sources, agreements could be reached by midyear that would allow Apple to provide cloud-based "digital lockers" to permit users access to their music libraries from any registered device.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is in talks with record companies to give iTunes customers easier access to music they've purchased across multiple devices, said three people with knowledge of the plans.

Apple is negotiating with music companies including Vivendi SA (VIV)'s Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG) and EMI Group Ltd., said the people, who asked for anonymity because the talks are private. An agreement may be announced by midyear, two of the people said.

The deal would permit users to wirelessly access from their iPhones and iPads music purchased on their computers or other devices, and would also serve as a permanent backup for purchased tracks.

The report also seems to corroborate earlier claims from The Wall Street Journal regarding the cloud-based media storage potentially being part of a MobileMe overhaul that could see the service become free for users.

The new download policy is among several service changes Apple is exploring. The company has also weighed plans to overhaul its MobileMe service for storing pictures, videos and other content online this year, one of the people said.

Under one plan for MobileMe, the service that now costs at least $99 a year would become free. Users could store photos, contacts, e-mail and other content on Apple's servers, one person said. The content would be accessible through any wireless connection.

Discussion of Apple offering cloud-based iTunes Store content has been rampant for more than a year, driven in large part by Apple's late 2009 acquisition of streaming music firm Lala Media. CNET has, however, issued several reports over the past year outlining the slow pace of these negotiations with music labels, but it appears that things may finally be moving toward a conclusion.

Apple today seeded the golden master version of iOS 4.3 to developers, paving the way for a public release of the update on March 11th.

The update is available in versions for the iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and third- and fourth-generation iPod touch, while the iPad 2 will of course also ship with iOS 4.3 installed. The build number is 8F190.

BGR last week claimed that iOS 4.3 had reached golden master status, correctly pinpointing the build number of today's release.

Update: Apple has also released a new golden master version of Xcode 4 known as "Xcode 4 GM seed 2" to support iOS 4.3.

While Apple yesterday touted its new A5 system-on-a-chip with a 1 GHz dual-core processor in the forthcoming iPad 2, the company declined to report how much RAM is included in the package. The original iPad offers the same 256 MB of RAM that was found in the iPhone 3GS, but that standard has since been surpassed by the iPhone 4 and its 512 MB of RAM.

Gizmodo yesterday sparked fears in some users when it reported that an Apple representative had initially revealed at an iPad 2 hands-on event in London that the device carries the same 256 MB of RAM found in the first-generation models. According to the report, a senior public relations representative from Apple quickly backtracked from that claim, however, and noted that the company could not confirm how much RAM is included in the iPad 2.

That claim has been further disputed by Kakeun Lee, a semiconductor analyst with Korean firm Hana Daetoo Securities, who yesterday issued a Tweet [Google translation] claiming that the iPad 2 does in fact match the iPhone 4 with 512 MB of RAM. Lee further claimed [Google translation] that the iPad 2 will utilize LPDDR2 RAM, and improvement over the LPDDR1 RAM found in the original iPad. It is unclear on what sources Lee is basing his claims, but his area of focus is in mobile DRAM companies such as Samsung and Hynix that deliver chips for Apple's iOS devices.

Apple has long shied away from issuing public statements on RAM included in its iOS devices, preferring to focus on the user experience, and Apple made no exception in its iPad 2 introduction by promoting the machine has being twice as fast and offering up to nine times better graphics performance than its predecessor.