MacRumors

The Korea Times claims that Samsung may be supplying Liquid Crystal Display panels for the next generation iPad. (via 9to5mac)

According to sources, the company, established in January 2009, is in the final stage of talks on supplying its latest LCD panels for Apples iPad 2, which is expected to be released later this year.

Apple is said to be working on expanding its list of suppliers for the iPad LCD to many firms, including LG Display and others in Japan and Taiwan, other than Samsung.

The article, however, goes on to say that Apple may also be considering the use of Samsung's Super Plane to Line Switching (PLS) technology that was just unveiled in November of 2010.

It was further reported that Apple is interested in Samsung Mobile Displays Super Plane to Line Switching (PLS) displays ― first unveiled in November last year ― which enable the company to deliver more and improved viewing angles.

The main advantage of the PLS display is improved viewing angles over existing IPS displays which are currently used in the iPad. The new screen is also said to be 10% brighter and 15% cheaper to produce, but Samsung has 30 key patents for the technology, so we're not sure how this fits in with Apple's plans to secure multiple suppliers for their LCDs.

Much has been made of Intel's issues with a design error on its new Cougar Point chip used with its Sandy Bridge processors and whether the company's need to produce revised hardware will delay a highly-anticipated refresh of Apple's MacBook Pro lineup.

But a new report from AppleInsider suggests that any delays appear to be minor, on the order of two weeks for machines already in production.

However, one person familiar with the matter tells AppleInsider that some -- not all -- of the company's upcoming MacBook Pros were affected by the situation. According to this person, the Mac maker elected to make minor tweaks to the logic boards of those models, but that those changes would translate to a delay of less than two weeks.

Reading between the lines can only lead to speculation that Apple was an early recipient of some of those Cougar Point chipsets from Intel, and that the changes it's making involve tweaks to SATA ports that those MacBook Pros will utilize.

The report notes that supplies of the MacBook Pro continue to tighten beyond the initial constraints we reported late last month. Notably, Apple had reportedly offered major retailers restocking dates of late January for MacBook Pro models but has since pushed those dates out by a week several times.

Intel has officially announced that it will begin shipping the dual-core Sandy Bridge chips for notebooks on February 20th, with those chips expected to be used in the revised MacBook Pros.

While lines for the public launch of the Verizon iPhone were generally short yesterday, the device had already been making its way into customers' hands through a pre-order program for existing Verizon customers, and many have been wondering just how strong sales of the new device have been.

Mobile ad firm Chitika today announced that it has put together a live tracker showing the relative balance of AT&T and Verizon iPhones showing up on the company's advertising network. The data, which is based on a rolling 24-hour average and is updated hourly, currently shows the Verizon iPhone already grabbing 3% of the U.S. base as measured by the limited study.

We spoke with Chitika's Dan Ruby and asked him if he could come up with a ballpark figure of the number of Verizon iPhones that might already be in circulation. Such an estimate would of course be based on a number of guesses and assumptions, including the percentage of iPhone sales occurring in the U.S., the percentages of phones of given ages still in operation, and even just how representative Chitika's data is of iPhone usage as a whole. But given those constraints and understanding the likelihood of a significant margin of error, Ruby offered an estimate in the range of 900,000 Verizon iPhones currently in use.

While Verizon is continuing to grow its base of iPhone users from scratch, AT&T has continued its push to retain its iPhone customers with a new initiative of its own. According to 9 to 5 Mac and AppAdvice, AT&T has started sending text messages to some iPhone users offering them 1000 free rollover minutes in appreciation for their business. Customers can accept the offer by responding "YES" to the 11113020 number from which the text message comes. A number of users have reported success simply sending "YES" to that number without having received the text message, although the confirmation text notes that it can take up to four weeks for the bonus minutes to be credited to customers' accounts.

Cult of Mac reports that Apple is planning to revamp its system for providing notifications within iOS, looking to address one of the areas of perceived weakness compared to other platforms such as Android and webOS.

Apple's pop-up notification system for new text messages, voicemails and the like has often been criticized as one of the weakest parts of the iOS. Notifications are intrusive, modal and often cryptic. It's a mess.

HP/Palm's webOS banner notification system, on the other hand, has been widely praised for its utility and ease of use. And from this weeks preview, it looks to be getting better.

According to the report, Apple's strategy for the revamp involves acquiring a small iOS development firm that currently offers a notification system in the App Store. While the targeted firm was not identified by the report's source, Cult of Mac speculates that it may be Boxcar from App Remix, which offers an iOS application providing push notifications for a variety of services.

The report also points to last year's return to Apple by Rich Dellinger, inventor of the webOS banner notification system, and notes that many had hoped he would lead an effort to improve Apple's own system. But it appears that Apple has not yet reached that goal and may feel that tapping an outside firm with some expertise in the area could aid the process.

According to The Age, Sony is looking to its new "Music Unlimited" streaming service not only as an opportunity to grab a piece of the digital music pie but also in hopes of one day being able to pull its music from Apple's iTunes Store entirely.

If Music Unlimited becomes popular it will provide a credible alternative to iTunes for music publishers, including Sony Music Entertainment, which includes Bob Dylan, Beyonce, Guy Sebastian and Delta Goodrem in its stable of artists.

''If we do [get mass take up] then does Sony Music need to provide content to iTunes?'' Mr Ephraim asked. ''Currently we do. We have to provide it to iTunes as that's the format right now.

''Publishers are being held to ransom by Apple and they are looking for other delivery systems, and we are waiting to see what the next three to five years will hold.''

Apple and Sony have recently faced off over App Store content as well, with Apple reportedly rejecting Sony's eBook software from the App Store due to new enforcement of Apple's rules requiring content purchases to be made available through the company's in-app purchasing mechanism.

Apple itself has been rumored many times over the years to be developing a subscription and/or streaming music service, presumably utilizing the capacity of its new North Carolina data center, but the company has reportedly yet to get music labels on board with the plan.

Sony's goal of pulling music from iTunes is of course dependent on a viable alternative such as Music Unlimited developing, something that has yet to occur as evidenced by Apple continuing to hold the lion's share of the digital music market.

CNet reports that Apple will be updating the MacBook Air this June with Intel's new Sandy Bridge processors.

The MacBook Air refresh is expected in June, according to a source familiar with Apple's plans.

Sandy Bridge is the latest processor from Intel and would represent a significant upgrade for Apple's MacBook Air. The MacBook Air has been a generation behind in terms of Intel's processors.

It's believed that Apple chose to stick with Intel's Core 2 Duo processor in the MacBook Air because they could pair it with the more powerful NVIDIA integrated graphics chip rather than Intel's less powerful solution. With Sandy Bridge, however, Intel has upgraded their integrated graphics hardware performance to be more on par with NVIDIA's. CNet believes that the expected MacBook Pro updates may come earlier and are not necessarily tied with the MacBook Air revision.

Making official what has been widely expected for days, Nokia and Microsoft have announced that the two companies are teaming up in the smartphone market, with Nokia embracing Windows Phone as its "primary smartphone strategy" while contributing its own expertise to further development of the platform.

While the specific details of the deal are being worked out, here's a quick summary of what we are working towards:

- Nokia will adopt Windows Phone as its primary smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader.

- Nokia will help drive and define the future of Windows Phone. Nokia will contribute its expertise on hardware design, language support, and help bring Windows Phone to a larger range of price points, market segments and geographies.

- Nokia and Microsoft will closely collaborate on development, joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products.

Nokia has long been the world's smartphone market share leader with its Symbian platform, but the company's dominant lead has been quickly evaporating as iOS and Android have rapidly grown. From the other perspective, Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 platform has been fairly well regarded by reviewers, but has yet to catch on as a latecomer to the increasingly crowded smartphone space.

A purported memo from Nokia CEO Stephen Elop published earlier this week outlined the challenges faced by Nokia in a smartphone market that has shifted from a battle of devices to a battle of "ecosystems", a theme echoed in the public statements made today in support of the partnership with Microsoft.

In a brief report on declining shipments in Taiwan's notebook manufacturing segment, DigiTimes claims that Apple and Samsung are the only major notebook companies increasing production over the year ago quarter, with the notebook industry as a whole reportedly targeting flat production compared with the year-ago quarter and down 5-10% from last quarter.

Apple is seen as one of the biggest boosts to the notebook market, with the company reportedly seeking to as much as double production of some "hot-selling" notebook models.

Samsung has been performing better than other brands by taking up deliveries from the suppliers, the sources noted, adding that Apple reportedly is revising upward its orders with the volume of some hot-selling models being doubled.

Apple has been widely rumored to be on the verge of releasing new MacBook Pro models, which could explain such a significant ramp up in production as the company seeks to fill sales channels with the new models and stay ahead of customer demand. Despite dealing with a "design error" that has set back chipset production, Intel has announced a February 20th shipping date for the dual-core Sandy Bridge processors expected to be used in the next-generation MacBook Pro.

As noted by AppleInsider, Apple has seeded a fourth beta version of Mac OS X 10.6.7 to developers for testing purposes. The new version, termed Build 10J855, comes just over a week after the previous seed and reportedly carries no documented known issues.

Apple continues to ask developers to focus their testing on Mac App Store, AirPort, Bonjour, SMB, and Graphics Drivers, while the update has grown in size by over 35 MB to weigh in at 412.6 MB as a delta update.

A targeted public release timeframe for Mac OS X 10.6.7 remains unknown.

The Wall Street Journal reports that despite his medical leave of absence, Steve Jobs remained involved in Apple's strategic decision making and product development. Jobs is reportedly taking business meetings at home and on the phone. Jobs has even been recently spotted at Apple's campus.

According to the newspaper, Jobs remains involved specifically in the next iPad and iPhone products:

Among products he is continuing to work on are the next version of the iPad tablet computer, expected out in the next couple of months, and a new iPhone, expected to be released this summer, said two of these people.

Apple announced in January that Steve Jobs would be taking a medical leave of absence, leaving Tim Cook in charge of Apple's day to day operations. Jobs remains as CEO and said he would be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is planning to develop new models of the iPhone, including one that would be both smaller and cheaper than that current model, to aid the company in its battle against Android in the smartphone market.

Apple Inc. is working on new versions of the iPhone that are aimed at slowing the advance of competing handsets based on Google Inc.'s Android software, according to people who have been briefed on the plans.

One version would be cheaper and smaller than the most recent iPhone, said a person who has seen a prototype and asked not to be identified because the plans haven't been made public. Apple also is developing technology that makes it easier to use the iPhone on multiple wireless networks, two people said.

According to the report, the smaller iPhone could be priced at about $200 without requiring a contract, presumably paving the way for carriers to offer subsidies that could make the phone free when purchased with a service contract.

The prototype smaller iPhone is reportedly about one-third smaller than the iPhone 4, and would use many of the same components found in the current iPhone.

While Apple has aimed to unveil the device near mid-year, the introduction may be delayed or scrapped, the person said. Few Apple employees know the details of the project, the person said. Apple often works on products that do not later get released.

Rumors of an "iPhone nano" have popped up from time to time, but have been relatively quiet over the past couple of years.

The report also notes that Apple is working on dual-mode iPhone that could operate on both GSM and CDMA networks, a claim that should not be surprising given Apple's use of a dual-mode baseband chip from Qualcomm in the CDMA iPhone. Finally, Bloomberg that Apple is continuing to pursue the idea of built-in SIM cards that would allow users to easily switch between carriers via simple software settings.

Research firm IHS iSuppli today announced that it has completed its full teardown of the CDMA iPhone that launched on Verizon this week, estimating that the device carries a bill of materials cost of about $171.35, or approximately 9% less than the original iPhone 4.

Despite having nearly the same functionality and a similar bill of materials (BOM) as the previous model, the new code division multiple access (CDMA) version of the iPhone 4 carried by Verizon Wireless includes significant changes in its design and component selection, IHS iSuppli teardown analysis indicates.

The latest version of the iPhone 4 carries a BOM of $171.35, down from $187.51 for the previous model, based on a preliminary pricing estimate issued in June. When manufacturing expenses are added, the total production cost for the CDMA iPhone 4 amounts to $178.45.

While some of the difference appears to simply be due to reductions in the cost of components over time and would similarly affect the GSM iPhone 4 if it were evaluated today, Apple has made a few design changes that may have reduced costs for the company.

Most notably, with Apple's adoption of the MDM6600 "world-mode" baseband chip from Qualcomm offering integrated GPS circuitry, the company has been able to eliminate a Broadcom GPS chip that is present in the GSM version of the iPhone 4. The report also points to a revised version of the Wi-Fi combo chip module from Murata as an example of a design change adopted by Apple for the new device. The new module is smaller than the one used in the original iPhone 4 and represents further optimization by the component supplier.

Presumably unrelated to cost structures, the report also discusses Apple's modifications to the antenna design, which utilizes a separate Bluetooth/WLAN antenna isolated from the enclosure and allows the company to dedicate a portion of the frame as a diversity antenna to improve reception.

iSuppli's bill of materials cost estimates account only for the cost of the individual hardware components used in the device, with an additional amount added on to reflect manufacturing costs. The estimates do not include other costs involved in product development, manufacturing, and sales, such as research and development, software, patent licenses, marketing, and distribution expenditures.

Last week, we noted that Verizon had released updated software finally bringing Mac OS X compatibility to the Pantech UML290, one of the carrier's two 4G (LTE) modems available for customer purchase.

Just over a week later, Verizon has now delivered a new version of its VZAccess Manager to add compatibility for its other 4G USB modem, the LG VL600.

Like the Pantech UML290, the LG VL600 is priced at $99.99 with a two-year data contract. The device is also available for $169.99 on a one-year contract and $249.99 for month-to-month service.

Monthly data plans are priced at $50 for 5 GB or $80 for 10 GB, with a $10 per GB overage fee. The carrier's 4G network promises speeds ten times that of its existing 3G network, and Verizon is working to deploy full nationwide 4G coverage by the end of 2013.

Last week, we noted that Apple and Campbell's had commissioned a study that demonstrated that Apple's iAd mobile advertising platform offers advertisers more bang for their buck and greater brand recognition than traditional advertising channels such as television.

Apple may have felt it needed that data in order to entice advertisers to join the program, as a new report from TechCrunch suggests that fill rates for ad requests are dropping and the company's staffers are struggling to get advertisers to sign on following the initial high-publicity push that accompanied the service's launch last July.

Across the board, several developers I've spoken to confirm that "fill rates" for iAds dropped drastically after the New Year and have yet to recover. The fill rate - what percentage of the ad inventory is actually filled with an ad - for two separate developers plummeted from 18 percent to 6 percent. And in a few instances for some newer apps, none of the ad slots were getting filled, compared to nearly complete fill rates from other mobile ad networks. Others report better fill rates but as one developer says, "They have definitely come down."

The report isn't the first to note a significant drop in fill rates with the new year, and it is unclear whether the result is due to a decline in advertiser participation because of dissatisfaction with the program, expected seasonal variations in advertising spending, or simply Apple struggling to fill an increasing number of available slots buoyed by a burst of sales of iOS devices over the holidays.

But TechCrunch's report delves further into the situation, noting that the initial wave of advertisers were brought on board with Steve Jobs and other key executives personally meeting with CEOs of other companies to seal the deal, and now that that initial splash is over, the iAd program is becoming a harder sell.

After selling the initial campaigns, the relationships were dumped into the laps of junior account managers in Apple's advertising business (which came out of Apple's $275 million acquisition of Quattro Wireless last year). They are being tasked to get renewals this year from ad agencies and brands or equal or greater amounts. But the experiment is over (advertisers can now see how the ads perform) and these junior salesmen don't have access to the CEOs. They need to talk to their counterparts at ad agencies and brands, who can't spend $1 million on a mobile ad campaign so easily. One ad agency executive tells me that the iAd salespeople are suddenly calling a lot more and becoming very aggressive in pushing for renewals.

Other issues such as a lack of cross-platform compatibility and pricing structures have also been cited as reasons for advertisers being wary of coming on board, but together it appears that Apple may be having problems expanding the program rapidly enough to satisfy the growing number of apps and devices looking to tap into iAds.

IDG News Service reports that German researchers have demonstrated how a knowledgeable thief could bypass the iPhone's passcode locking to upload a script capable of revealing entries from the device's password keychain system, potentially giving the hacker access to sensitive passwords stored on the device.

In a video that demonstrates the attack, the researchers first jailbreak the phone using existing software tools. They then install an SSH server on the iPhone that allows software to be run on the phone.

The third step is to copy a keychain access script to the phone. The script uses system functions already in the phone to access the keychain entries and, as a final step, outputs the account details it discovers to the attacker.

The attack works because the cryptographic key on current iOS devices is based on material available within the device and is independent of the passcode, the researchers said. This means attackers with access to the phone can create the key from the phone in their possession without having to hack the encrypted and secret passcode.

According to the report, the researchers were able to obtain passwords for Gmail accounts, Microsoft Exchange accounts, voicemail access, VPN and Wi-Fi network passwords, as well as passwords for some applications.

The researchers note that gaining access to an email password makes it easy for hackers to then reset passwords for other types of accounts, while compromised passwords for corporate networks can obviously result in security issues for businesses.

The exploit obviously requires a fair amount of technical knowledge, and thus shouldn't be an issue for the vast majority of users whose devices become lost or stolen. But the exploit could be used in targeted attacks by those specifically seeking to gain access to sensitive systems.

Last night, we noted that lines were beginning to form for the Verizon iPhone, which went on sale this morning at Apple and Verizon retail stores, as well as Best Buy and select Wal-Mart stores. But in the light of morning, lines are short in many locations, particularly at Apple stores.

With much of the country seeing frigid overnight temperatures, some shoppers may have opted to not stand in the cold while others may have taken advantage of home delivery options for the device, but lines still seem much shorter than expected. CNET is running a live blog with staffers in both New York City and San Francisco, and flagship Apple stores in both locations saw nearly no line ahead of early openings at 7:00 AM local time.

New York 6:50 a.m. ET: It's 18 degrees here in New York City, and there are now eight people in line at the Fifth Ave. Apple store. Queens resident Akira Sawada, 32, is first in line--he arrived at 5 a.m. There are more Apple employees inside the Apple store than there are outside.

New York 7:07 a.m. ET: People are in the Apple store. The line of about 10 people was quickly ushered in at 7 a.m. We are now waiting to talk to people who are walking out of the store.

A similar situation was seen in San Francisco, where cold temperatures couldn't be blamed for low turnout. According to CNET, only two people were in line at Apple's Stockton Street flagship store just minutes before opening, with "literally more Apple Store employees, police officers and reporters--each--than people in line to buy iPhones."

We've received sporadic reports of significantly longer lines at some Verizon stores, but still nowhere near what many had expected.

Engadget reports that Apple's latest iOS 4.3 Beta actually includes hidden references to gaming on the Apple TV.

Several references have been found pertaining to "ATVGames" and "ATVThunder" that point to a controller of some sort, leaderboards (think Game Center), a way to schedule games (multiplayer?), and a store front (think App Store, iTunes).

Engadget speculates that the Apple TV could be used as a streaming gaming platform, similar to the OnLive service, where games are streamed rather than stored locally. The Apple TV does have some local storage (8GB) which is also used for the OS and video buffering.

The Apple TV relaunched in September with an all new compact design. The new Apple TV uses the same A4 processor as the iPhone and iPad and also shares the same operating system. Many expect the Apple TV to eventually get Apps like the other iOS devices, and it looks like Apple might have games specifically planned for the device.

The Verizon iPhone finally launches in-stores on Thursday, February 10th at 7 a.m. Since this is essentially the same iPhone that has been on the AT&T network since last year, we don't expect there to be nearly as long a line for the original launch. Still, it seems some people aren't taking any chances.

The Orlando Sentinel posts a photo of the first person in line at a Florida Verizon Wireless store.

Marcia Caldwell parked her chair outside the Verizon Wireless store in Winter Garden shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday -- 15 hours before she can buy Verizon's new iPhone 4.

Caldwell is presently on an iPhone 3GS with AT&T and will be switching to Verizon to get better coverage at her home.

Also, Apple and Verizon seem to be preparing for some lines:

A few random tweets indicate long lines are already forming in some locations. If you are standing in line, send photos to webmaster@macrumors.com or post in the comment thread.