MacRumors

Italian site setteB.IT reports [Google translation] that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is expected to appear at tomorrow's media event widely expected to see the introduction of the next-generation iPad.

Yes, all odds are against us, yet we have reassuring information.

We want to tip the balance and we believe that the new iPad will debut in the hands of Steve Jobs.

The source and its legitimacy are unknown, and we have a hard time believing that Jobs will distract from the focus on the iPad and other potential announcements by stepping out of his indefinite medical leave of absence to be on hand.

Update: All Things Digital reports that Jobs is "definitely considering" making an appearance at the event tomorrow, most likely in a brief appearance on stage with other executives to show off the new iPad. His appearance has not, however, been confirmed.

According to several sources close to the situation, Apple CEO Steve Jobs - who is on a health-related leave from the company - is definitely considering an appearance at its big iPad 2 event tomorrow.

But the possibility - which would be a big sensation at the San Francisco gathering - is also just as definitely not confirmed as yet, stressed sources.

If he did appear, sources said Jobs would at least make a brief appearance onstage, along with other top company execs in showing off Apple's latest version of it hugely popular tablet.

Following up on yesterday's report that Apple is cutting off supplies of all iPad models to resellers ahead of tomorrow's media event, we've just heard from a Best Buy source that all iPad models have been transitioned to a "deleted" status at the source's store.

There is no word yet on any incoming shipments or placeholders in Best Buy's systems, but Apple is widely expected to introduce updated iPads at tomorrow's event, with availability rumored to come very soon after.

Best Buy inventory screens can be unreliable sources of information given the company's tendency to use placeholders based on rumors and guesses rather than concrete information, but they occasionally do offer accurate information and can be a good source of insight into supply constraints due to the company's role as a major Apple retail partner.

The Telegraph reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had been set to be awarded honorary knighthood by the British government and Queen Elizabeth II in 2009, but his nomination was blocked by Gordon Brown, who served as Prime Minister at the time. Brown's block is said to have been related to a failed bid to attract Jobs to speak at a Labour Party event.

The then-Prime Minister refused to knight Mr Jobs in 2009 because he turned down an invitation to speak at the Labour Party conference, a former senior Labour MP said.

Mr Jobs was put forward for the honour by the MP for services to technology. Apple is credited with revolutionising the industry in recent years with its iPhone and iPad devices, which have unleashed a boom in mobile internet usage.

Honorary knighthood can be bestowed on citizens of countries outside the British Commonwealth of Nations and has been used to honor the achievements of a number of prominent individuals. Notably, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was named an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005.

Reuters reports that former Apple supply manager Paul Devine, who was arrested last August over a kickback scheme in which he provided confidential company information to accessories manufacturers, has pleaded guilty in the case.

Apple launched an internal investigation last year and found a cache of emails between Devine and the suppliers, according to a civil lawsuit the company filed against Devine. U.S. prosecutors then obtained an indictment on 23 counts in August.

Devine pleaded guilty on Monday to wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering in a San Jose federal court, the U.S. Attorney's office announced. He also agreed to forfeit about $2.28 million in money and property.

Devine, who worked at Apple from 2005 until 2010, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the wire fraud and money laundering counts. Among the companies that paid kickbacks to Devine was Kaedar Electronics, a subsidiary of Apple manufacturing partner Pegatron that has provided packaging for Apple's iPod products for a number of years.

In a brief press release (PDF), publisher Random House yesterday announced that it will immediately adopt the agency model for e-Book pricing in the United States, paving the way for its content to be included in Apple's iBookstore should the companies come to a final agreement.

Random House, Inc. is adopting the agency model for e‐book sales in the United States effective March 1, 2011. Going forward, Random House will set consumer prices for the e‐ books we publish, and we will provide retailers with a commission for each sale. There are no changes to our terms of sale for physical books.

Random House, the world's largest publisher, as been the highest-profile holdout from the agency model, with most major publishers having reached agreements with Apple, Amazon, and others nearly a year ago as the iBookstore launched in the United States.

The agency model allows publishers to set retail prices, with retailers earning commissions for each sale. The traditional system had allowed retailers to set their own prices, with some such as Amazon even selling select content at a loss in order to draw in customers. Many publishers viewed the practice as devaluing their content and threatening the long-term viability of the industry, but Random House has been reluctant to shift away from it. Even with today's announcement, Random House will continue to use the traditional model for its physical books.

Random House's announcement does not include specific mention of the iBookstore, but given that its refusal to move to an agency model appeared to be by the most significant stumbling block to the two companies reaching an agreement, it seems likely that Random House's books will make their way to the iBookstore in the relatively near future.

As expected, Apple's "secret" meeting for retail store employees last night was in fact targeted at sharing information on the company's forthcoming "Joint Venture" service that will roll out over the next few days, primarily focusing on providing advanced and priority technical support to small businesses.

9 to 5 Mac and our own sources have provided a few details on the program, which will cost $499 per year for up to five machines and $99 per year for each additional machine. The program offers a number of benefits, including:

- Genius Bar telephone support and priority access: Users will be able to receive call-in technical support from Apple Geniuses rather than having to visit an Apple Store. Those that do elect to stop by an Apple Store for in-person consultations will receive priority access.

- Loaner computers: For repairs scheduled to take more than 24 hours, Apple will provide loaner 15-inch MacBook Pros to carry users through while their own machines are out of commission.

- Workshops and setup: Specialized workshops will be held to assist small businesses with increasing the effectiveness of their Macs and other devices. Apple Geniuses will also provide setup for new machines, including data transfers and configuration of Microsoft Exchange and other services to work with companies' existing systems.

9 to 5 Mac reports that a number of Apple resellers have been notified that iPad supplies are currently "constrained" and that there is no estimate on when they may become available. The development is not much of a surprise, considering that Apple has been widely rumored to be introducing the next-generation iPad at a media event on Wednesday, just two days from now.

MB292LL/A iPad 16GB WiFi Constrained No ETA

MB293LL/A iPad 32GB WiFi Constrained No ETA

MB294LL/A iPad 64GB WiFi Constrained No ETA

MC349LL/A iPad 16GB 3G Constrained No ETA

MC496LL/A iPad 32GB 3G Constrained No ETA

MC497LL/A iPad 64GB 3G Constrained No ETA

The fact that supplies are already drying up does hint, however, that we may see the new iPad go on sale sooner rather than later. That would match up with a report from AppleInsider late last week claiming that customers should be able to expect "near immediate availability" of the new iPad.

Taiwanese site Apple.pro today posted a photo [Google translation] claimed to be of the dock connector and cable for the next-generation iPhone. The part is nearly identical to the corresponding part found in the current iPhone, with the main exception of a slightly narrower connector and cable where the part connects to the device's main board. The connector carries a part number of 821-1300-02, compared to 821-1281-A for the Verizon iPhone and 821-1093-A for the original iPhone 4.

It may also be somewhat notable that this part exists in the first place, if it is indeed legitimate, as it would confirm that Apple is continuing to use the dock connector on the next-generation iPhone rather than shifting entirely to a different standard. The European Commission recently implemented a micro-USB universal charger standard, leading to some speculation that Apple would have to include such a port in addition to or instead of the existing dock connector, but Apple can meet the new requirements by simply including a dock connector to micro-USB adapter.

It is not entirely clear from the automated translation of today's post, but the author also seems to assert that the recently-claimed larger screen for the iPhone 5 is indeed a fake, possibly claiming knowledge of a four-inch screen only in a slider form factor previously rumored by the site.

We continue to have a hard time believing that Apple is planning to release an iPhone with slide-out keyboard, but it is certainly possible that the company has developed internal prototypes simply to assess its options. Apple.pro has, however, posted legitimate photos of a number of parts for unreleased Apple products in the past, most recently with a small touchscreen revealed last July that ended up in the new iPod nano a few months later, supporting claims of authenticity of the new photo.

As happens on occasion, Apple once again last week held a meeting with research analysts to answer questions and offer guidance on Apple's plans. While the company is careful not to reveal many specifics, analysts in attendance routinely parse executives' words carefully to try to ascertain future directions for the company in an attempt to guide their clients. Forbes shares some details from a report of the meeting issued by Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, which included a number of comments by Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook regarding the iPhone and iPad.

Calling the iPhone "the mother of all halos" for its ability to draw in new customers for the iPad and Mac, Cook apparently noted that the company is not ceding the low end of the smartphone market and is specifically working on "clever things" to address the prepaid market that offers significant potential, particularly in international markets. Cook's comments could be interpreted to lend credence to claims that Apple is working on a cheaper version of the iPhone that could be offered at a relatively low price even without carrier subsidies requiring long-term contracts.

The analyst says Cook "appeared to reaffirm the notion that Apple is likely to develop lower priced offerings" to expand the market for the iPhone. Cook said the company is planning "clever things" to address the prepaid market, and that Apple did not want its products to be "just for the rich," and that the company is "not ceding any market."

According to the report, Cook also expressed optimism for the tablet market, suggesting that it would eventually turn out to be much bigger than the PC market. Cook expects strong competition in the market from both smartphone and PC manufacturers, but points to Apple's significant head start and "interesting new things in the pipeline" as reason for optimism regarding Apple's future in the market. Apple is of course holding a media event on Wednesday where it is widely expected to unveil the next-generation iPad.

Among other tidbits, Apple executives reportedly noted that carrier expansion continues to be a major goal for the iPhone, and the company is seeking ways to improve the use of its capital, in part by doing more deals with suppliers to lock in components over the long-term.

VR-Zone reports (via Hardmac) that Intel has begun production of its new "Z68" chipset for Sandy Bridge-based processors, with availability set for May. Most notably in light of rumors regarding the new MacBook Pro that failed to materialize, the Z68 chipset will support Intel's Rapid Storage Technology SSD caching.

Interestingly, Intel has also started production of their Z68 chipset this week along with other Cougar Point SKUs like H61 and Q65. All of them are based on the new B3 stepping therefore the SATA port 2-5 issue is fixed before they hit the market. Judging from the specs, it seems Intel has catered Z68 specially for enthusiasts which allows better processor overclocking, discrete graphics support and SSD caching capability.

SSD caching marries a conventional hard drive to a relatively small solid-state drive (SSD), with the most frequently-accessed data automatically placed on the SSD for fast access while the two drives appear to users simply as a single drive. The functionality serves to bring users much of the speed benefit of SSDs but with the storage capacity and lower cost of traditional hard drives.

Several rumors in the days leading up to last week's MacBook Pro refresh claimed that the updated models would offer a dedicated SSD to host the operating system and other essential files. The claims did not, however, come to fruition.

Update: To be clear, the Z68 chipset is for desktop implementations.

Apple is holding its iPad media event in just a couple of days. The rumors to date have been relatively modest for the iPad upgrade. The general consensus seems to be that the new iPad will be thinner, faster, and with improved (but not Retina display).

If the latest Chinese iPad parts are to believed from iFixyouri/9to5, then Apple may be considering creating a white iPad 2 as well. The shown bezel does include a hole for a front-facing camera that is a widely expected feature of the iPad 2. The white coloring, however, has been a big issue for Apple with the iPhone 4. While they originally announced a white iPhone 4, they have yet to deliver it to customers. Rumors have suggested that Apple has had problems with the white paint process for the iPhone 4, so it's not clear if the materials or issues would be the same for the next iPad.

Apple's iPad-focused media event takes place on Wednesday, March 2nd in San Francisco. There are typically last minute rumors and leaks in the days leading into the final event. iPad 2 availability is expected shortly after the announcement, though we've heard no word of shipments targeted for Wednesday, so same day availability seems unlikely.

The Sunday Times reports that Apple designer Jonathan Ive and the Apple's board of directors are at an impasse about his future. The British designer is said to want to spend more time in the UK while Apple's board seems unwilling to allow that. The report comes by way of The Daily Mail and Cult of Mac as the original article appears to behind The Sunday Times' paywall.

Ive has reportedly been tied to Apple for the past three years based on a "golden handcuffs" deal from 2008. That deal is reportedly due now and will net the designer 18 million. The completion of this deal seemed to open these negotiations with even the possibility of his leaving the company. Ive reportedly has proposed to commute from Somerset, but Apple's board seems unwilling.

A friend of the family told The Sunday Times: 'Unfortunately he is just too valuable to Apple and they told him in no uncertain terms that if he headed back to England he would not be able to sustain his position with them.'

Jonathan Ive has long been credited for being the principal designer for many of Apple's iconic products. Ive joined Apple in 1992 and has been responsible for the design of the unibody MacBook Pro, iPod, iPhone and iPad. His name was even thrown around as a possible successor to Steve Jobs in 2007.

Starting in Mac OS X Lion, we've learned that Apple has started utilizing WebKit2 in their Safari web browser. The advanced version of Apple's Webkit engine was first announced in April of 2010. WebKit2 is described as a new API layer for WebKit that offers both speed and security improvements:

WebKit2 is a new API layer for WebKit designed from the ground up to support a split process model, where the web content (JavaScript, HTML, layout, etc) lives in a separate process from the application UI. This model is very similar to what Google Chrome offers, with the major difference being that we have built the process split model directly into the framework, allowing other clients of WebKit to use it.

For the end user, the result should be a faster and more stable browsing experience. If a webpage crashes or hangs, only that single tab is affected rather than the whole browser. Subjective reports from early end users have indicated that the new Safari seems to run smoother.

Google's Chrome browser introduced a similar sandboxing model when it was introduced.

As developers delve into the early build of Mac OS X Lion 10.7, a large number of smaller features are being revealed. One discussion thread seems to be compiling these findings. There seems to be a lot of nice new features being described. A couple of particular interest include:

- PowerPC (Rosetta) emulation is no longer offered. That means if you have any PowerPC applications they won't be able to run in Mac OS X Lion. You can determine if you are still running PowerPC applications by going into Applications -> Utilities -> System Profiler -> Applications and viewing "By Kind". This will show you which applications you have that are running under PowerPC. Rosetta had already become an optional install in Snow Leopard, and it appears Apple will be removing support for it entirely in Lion.

- QuickTime Player finally re-incorporates some features from QuickTime Pro. New features cited include Copy/Paste, Insert Clip, Crop Video, Rotate Video, Resize, Trim, More Export options.

- TUAW points to a video walk through of Lion from Ian Bauters that gives an overview:

Other highlights from the growing discussion thread details many smaller updates and features that users have found in Mac OS X Lion. An abbreviated list includes:

- Preview is a powerhouse app, you can even sign your document just by holding a piece of paper up to the camera with your signature (it saves it for you!) (screenshot)
- There's animations for everything, slick simple transitions that remind you of the polish of the iphone. Stuff that makes it easier to understand what your OS is doing with visuals
- You can turn the lights back (open application indicator) on in the dock (screenshot)
- iChat supports Yahoo Messenger Video and Voice chat
- Address Book also with "classic" view
- Much More

We've compiled a couple of more notes of interest on the Apple's upcoming Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.

- Classic Mail: While Apple is pushing the new iPad-inspired Mac OS X Lion Mail application, we've learned that Apple also offers a "Classic Layout" checkbox in the Mail settings which reverts the interface back to the familiar Mail interface.

- Finder: AppleInsider posts this video which shows Lion in action (embedded above). It demonstrates new Finder features including:

- Overlay Scrollbars
- Window Resizing from any edge/corner
- Enhanced Finder Source list
- Enhanced Quick View
- Zoom button behavior

Apple launched the developer preview of Mac OS X Lion on Thursday. The public release is expected this summer. We've opened a Mac OS X Lion forum for questions and discussion about Apple's new operating system.