MacRumors

In a blog post yesterday, Big Bucket Software revealed that a forthcoming update to its retro iOS game The Incident will allow the iPad to output the game display to a television while also allowing an iPhone or iPod touch to serve as a game controller.

No seriously, this is totally real and totally awesome.

This is a beta of The Incident 1.3 running my TV. Here's how it works:

1. Plug your iPad into the TV
2. Pair your iPad with your iPhone or iPod Touch
3. Sit on your couch and play

And that's it. You never have to get up to touch the iPad. You do everything from the controller. It works great.

There are a couple of interesting aspects to this forthcoming release, with TV output capability being one of the key ones. While other applications have allowed users to connect their iPads to their televisions via 30-pin Dock to VGA or Component cables, The Incident's developers took the extra step of tweaking the artwork and user interface to properly display on the aspect ratio of a widescreen television, which differs from that of the iPad. The extra step offers users a more natural feeling console gaming experience on their televisions.

The second key feature is the iPhone controller mode, which is already available in Version 1.2 of The Incident. The developers have ensured that everything can be controlled by the iPhone, eliminating the need for any input on the iPad and allowing it to serve simply as a game console connected to the television while the user controls everything wirelessly from their couch using the paired iPhone.

When we decided that 1.3 was going to be all about TV output we knew it would have to feel exactly like a console. You should never need to diddle with the iPad for any reason. The controller would have to be able to control every aspect of the game; menus, gameplay, all of it. And in 1.3, it can.

There is no word yet on a release date for the TV-capable update to The Incident, but the developers have been moving very quickly with updates to the game and will likely be pressing forward to have it in the App Store as soon as possible.

The Loop reports that popular ratings and reviews magazine Consumer Reports has released its latest ratings of notebook computers, and Apple's new 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models have topped their respective categories.

The 11-inch MacBook Air scored 67 points out of a possible 100, easily outdistancing the second-place Toshiba Satellite and its 51-point score.

The 11-inch model received a "very good" rating for ergonomics and display, a "good" rating for performance and "fair" ratings for versatility and speakers. Consumer Reports also found the MacBook Air had battery life of 6.25 hours. The Toshiba's battery life came in at 5.5 hours of battery life.

The 13-inch model faced stiffer competition, but still managed to finish on top of its category with a score of 78, two points better than the Toshiba Portege.

The 13-inch MacBook Air scored "very good" for performance, ergonomics, and display. It also scored "good" for speakers, "fair" for versatility and had 7.5 hours of battery life.

Despite some reports of display issues with the new MacBook Air, the notebook does seem to be proving relatively popular, generating significant buzz and demand appearing to force Apple to bump shipping estimates for the entry-level 11-inch model slightly to 1-3 business days.

After yesterday's report that support for using Apple's AirPrint feature in iOS 4.2 to print to shared printers connected to Macs and Windows PCs appears to have been scrapped at the last minute, one MacRumors forum member emailed Steve Jobs to inquire about the fate of the feature. Jobs reportedly replied, noting that AirPrint has not been canceled.

Q: As a release-day purchaser of an iPad, I was elated when you revealed iOS 4.2 would support AirPrint. Now comes reports AirPrint support has been pulled from 4.2. Between announcements/assurances of the white iPhone, and now the pulling of AirPrint, is Apple going to lose credibility and become known for announcing "vaporware"?

A: AirPrint has not been pulled. Don't believe everything you read.

Unfortunately, the exchange sheds little light on the situation, as the initial report did not claim that AirPrint had been entirely pulled, only that printing to shared printers connected to Macs and PCs had been removed at the last minute. Consequently, both the rumor and Jobs' comments can be entirely correct.

Apple has touted that AirPrint will allow users to print directly from iOS devices to compatible printers, with HP leading the way in releasing AirPrint-friendly printers. That aspect of AirPrint has not been rumored for discontinuation, with only printing to other printers accessible via sharing from Macs and PCs being the subject of the claims.

Apple has been rumored to be releasing Mac OS X 10.6.5 and iTunes 10.1 today, with iOS 4.2 set to follow on Friday, although we have yet to see any indication from Apple of today's rumored releases.

Bloomberg reports that Research in Motion's 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is set to debut in the first quarter of 2011 with an entry price of "under" $500, putting the device at or below the price point of Apple's iPad. Just how far under $500 the PlayBook will be priced remains to be seen.

Research In Motion Ltd., the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, said it will begin selling a tablet computer in North America in the first quarter for "under" $500 as it takes on Apple Inc.'s iPad.

"The product will be very competitively priced," Co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Balsillie said in an interview in Seoul today, declining to be more specific. Sales of the BlackBerry Playbook, unveiled in September, will expand globally from the second quarter, he said. The iPad starts at $499.

The initial PlayBook models will be Wi-Fi-only, suggesting that the sub-$500 price would not be achieved through carrier subsidies requiring the user to also commit to a data plan contract. The Wi-Fi PlayBook will, however, be able to tether to BlackBerry phones for data access on the go, and 3G and 4G models are planned for further down the road.

According to Balsillie, Research in Motion is looking to follow Apple's lead in embracing big box retailers with its tentative plans to bring the PlayBook to Target and Wal-Mart. Distribution would also be accomplished through carriers already familiar with selling the company's products.

During his appearance on Apple's earnings conference call last month, Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted that it has been difficult to estimate the number of new Android devices being sold, pointing to data from research firm Gartner saying that 10 million Android devices were sold during the second quarter of 2010 and saying that we would have to wait for the third quarter results to come in to see whether iPhone or Android came out on top.

Gartner today released its data to address that question, revealing a tremendous Android surge that saw the platform leap to second place behind Symbian with over 20 million units sold during the third quarter and grab a 25.5% share of the global smartphone market. Apple slipped slightly to 16.7% of the market from 17.1% in the year-ago quarter, but was able to maintain its third-place position from the year-ago quarter and move up from its fourth-place position last quarter as Research in Motion's BlackBerry platform slipped further, from 20.7% in the third quarter of 2009 to 14.8% in the most recent quarter.

Apple performed extremely well thanks to the iPhone 4. Relationships with multiple CSPs gave Apple wider channel reach internationally, and the strong ecosystem around iTunes and the App Store continued to help Apple dominate. Apple's share of the smartphone market surpassed RIM in North America to put it second behind Android. In Western Europe, iPhone sales doubled year-on-year, making Apple the third-largest vendor behind Nokia and Samsung in the overall devices market.

In overall mobile phone sales, Gartner pegged Apple as the fourth-largest manufacturer with 3.2% of the market, trailing Nokia, Samsung, and LG. That result echoes similar data released by IDG late last month and is an improvement from seventh place last quarter.

Apple delivered a stellar performance in the third quarter of 2010, selling 13.5 million units. It could have sold more but for its ongoing supply constraints and is now in fourth place worldwide. The iPhone is sold in 89 countries through 166 CSPs. Apple's sales in Europe, Asia and Japan, more than doubled from the third quarter of 2009 and sales in Western Europe delivered Apple the third spot in the regional ranking. While Apple remains focused on consumers, enterprise adoption of the iPhone and iPad has grown.

Gartner's results obviously only address iPhone sales, and some observers believe that a more valid comparison of platform market share should include the iPod touch, and possibly even the iPad. Still, Android's impressive gains that saw units leap more than 14-fold year-over-year demonstrate the momentum behind Google's platform and place it within striking distance of Nokia's Symbian for the top spot in worldwide smartphone platform market share.

Apple today announced a partnership with Japanese advertising agency Dentsu to bring Apple's iAd mobile advertising network to Japan early next year.

Apple and The Dentsu Group today announced a partnership to expand Apple's iAd mobile advertising network to Japan in early 2011. Dentsu will be responsible for the selling and creative execution of iAds in Japan, and Apple will host, target and deliver the iAds to its iPhone and iPod touch users. iAd was launched in the US in July and has emerged as a powerful new way for leading brands to reach the tens of millions of iPhone and iPod touch users, while providing a significant new revenue stream for developers.

Andy Miller, Apple's vice president of iAd and former Quattro Wireless CEO, notes that the partnership will enable Apple to leverage the prominence of Dentsu to further expand the iAd program that has already seen the number of advertising partners double in the U.S. since the service was announced earlier this year.

Dentsu subsidiary cyber communications, inc. will offer "one-stop services" for Japanese iAd customers, running the creative production and media planning aspects that Apple itself has handled in other markets so far.

Just last week, Apple's existing iAd offerings began to go worldwide, but the partnership with Dentsu will allow Apple to specifically tap into the large Japanese market with the experience of a major player in the ad industry there in hand.

MacStories reports that Apple appears to have canceled support for printing from iOS devices to shared printers attached to Macs and Windows PCs. The last-minute change would appear to put a crimp in the utility of the company's AirPrint service scheduled to be launched on iOS 4.2 in the very near future.

We have been told from a few Mac developers that a few days ago Apple removed all the references to printing via OS X 10.6.5 and PCs both from Readme files and other online documentation posted in the iOS developer center. It seems like all that's now mentioned in the release notes are the aforementioned HP networked printers, as if the shared printing option never existed.

According to one developer who contacted Apple technical support regarding the removal, Apple has indeed canceled AirPrint support through shared printers, and it is unclear if the company even has plans to offer it in the future.

So, here is the reply from Apple Tech Support when contacted:

"Support for AirPrint on Windows and Mac has been cancelled. We will be in contact with you if another opportunity arises in the future."

While some developers have claimed that the feature does indeed work under the iOS 4.2 golden master when used with the Mac OS X 10.6.5 beta version made available to iOS developers for AirPrint testing, claims have arisen that issues with "instabilities and incompatibilities" have forced Apple to remove the functionality.

Mac OS X 10.6.5 and iTunes 10.1, which had been set to bring the AirPrint support to Macs and Windows PCs, have been rumored to see a release tomorrow, with iOS 4.2 claimed to be set to follow on Friday.

MacStories reports that it has received word that Apple will be releasing Mac OS X 10.6.5 and iTunes 10.1 via Software Update tomorrow, with iOS 4.2 set to follow on Friday. The report comes, however, from a "source working close with AT&T", and carrier representatives are frequently sources of incorrect information, so some caution is warranted.

According to our source, 10.6.5 completed the certification stage a few hours ago and iTunes was ready 3 weeks ago - likely after the release of beta 2 to developers.

The golden master version of iOS 4.2 was released to developers early last week, but it appears that a public release has been waiting for Apple to complete work on Mac OS X 10.6.5, which is required to support certain aspects of iOS 4.2's AirPrint functionality. iTunes 10.1 is similarly required to support AirPlay streaming functionality. Consequently, it seems that Mac OS X 10.6.5 and iTunes 10.1 should appear before or at the same time as iOS 4.2.

Apple just yesterday seeded Build 10H574 of Mac OS X 10.6.5 to developers.

Claims from a pair of German sites over the weekend had suggested that an iOS 4.2 launch could come either today or on Friday, but it appears that there will be no such launch today, as Apple's iOS releases typically occur around 10:00-11:00 AM Pacific Time.

Last month, warranty company SquareTrade shared the results of a study of warranty claims showing a higher accidental damage rate for the iPhone 4 than the iPhone 3GS, with the iPhone 4 having a particular propensity for cracked glass due to the fact that glass is used on both the front and back of the device.

SquareTrade today followed up with a broader study of over 50,000 smartphones covered by its warranty program, revealing that the iPhone 4 checks in as the most reliable smartphone when it comes to non-accident malfunctions, but that it also experiences the highest accident rates among the studied devices.

When it comes to non-accident malfunctions, SquareTrade's extrapolation of iPhone 4 data yields a failure rate of 2.1% after 12 months, better than the 2.3% rate for the iPhone 3GS and all other studied smartphone brands.

Apple emerged as the most reliable manufacturer, with Motorola not far behind. We project fewer than 2.5% of iPhone and Motorola owners will report a malfunction in the first 12 months of use, with iPhone 4s leading the pack. HTC came next with a one-year malfunction rate of 3.7%, and BlackBerry's 6.3% was the highest of the four manufacturers examined. All other smart phones taken together fared the worst, with 6.7% reporting a malfunction.

But in looking at accident rates, the iPhone 4 projections suggest that 13.8% of iPhone 4s will suffer an accidental breakage within the first 12 months, topping the list of studied smartphones that includes the iPhone 3GS and its 9.4% accident rate.

As reported in our previous study on the iPhone 4 glass, the early iPhone 4 data shows a much higher accident rate compared to its predecessor. However, when we compare it to the Android manufacturers, it is higher, but not by much. We expect 13.8% of iPhone 4 owners to report an accident within a year, compared to 12.2% for both Motorola and HTC.

The study comes just as Cult of Mac offers its own report corroborating earlier claims that Apple is investigating issues with slide-on cases for the iPhone 4 leading to cracked and broken glass backs on the device as dirt and sand trapped between the phone and case lead to scratches that weaken the glass.

The report claims that Apple's retail stores are not stocking slide-on cases for the iPhone 4 as the company works to thoroughly evaluate each case design at a secret testing facility. The delay in availability is affecting a number of case manufacturers, many of whom rely on Apple's retail stores as their largest distribution channels.

One high-profile manufacturer affected by the issue is Mophie, which reportedly ordered a production run of over 100,000 for its Juice Pack Air, which offers a combination case and rechargeable external battery. According to Mophie, the case is sold through the company's own site and through AT&T stores, but remains unavailable directly through Apple.

Other manufacturers are disputing that there is even a problem, calling it a perception issue that Apple is carefully trying to guard against, particularly after all the attention the company received over antenna performance issues on the iPhone 4. So until Apple can certify for itself that these third-party slide-on cases are not leading to cracked iPhone 4s, the company is expected to refrain from offering them for sale.

BGR reports that it has received a screenshot of an internal Apple support document outlining a change to the company's policies regarding potential liquid damage to iPods. According to the document, Apple's usage of internal Liquid Contact Indicators (LCIs) to report direct contact with liquids is now to be augmented with additional inspection by repair staff before concluding that an actual liquid damage event, which would not be covered by warranty, has occurred.

AppleCare has changed the way it screens iPods for liquid damage. When an Apple Retail Store or AppleCare Repair Center checks for liquid damage, if the Liquid Contact Indicator (LCI) inside the headphone jack has been activated, the iPod must be inspected for additional signs of liquid damage.

As before, unless a customer admits to accidentally damaging their iPod, final determination about liquid damage must be made by an Apple Retail Store or AppleCare Repair Center.

As the report notes, it is unknown whether the revised policy also applies to the iPhone, although it seems likely that the two product lines would see similar guidelines.

Apple's Liquid Contact Indicators, which change color upon exposure to liquid, have been the subject of some controversy, with some customers, especially those living in areas of high humidity, claiming that the LCIs have activated without the devices being in direct contact with liquid. Apple's revised LCI policy appears designed to address this controversy, asking support staff to look for additional signs of direct liquid contact before making a final determination about whether repair or replacement would be covered under warranty.

Back in June, we pointed to a YouTube video appearing to show a Mac version of Adobe Audition, the company's professional audio editing software. Just a few weeks later, Adobe confirmed its plans to bring Audition to Mac OS X and noted that a public beta would be released in late 2010.

Adobe has followed through on that schedule with today's release of the public beta of Audition for Mac, now available through the Adobe Labs site.

Welcome to the public beta release of Adobe Audition for Mac. Adobe Audition for Mac brings modern audio post-production to the Mac platform. Familiar tools for audio editing, multitrack mixing and recording meet improved performance, greater workflow flexibility, and new features such as native 5.1 surround support and new effects. Plus, the best-of-breed audio sweetening and restoration tools in Audition make it easy to clean up production audio. With essential tools you can rely on for quick-completion projects, Audition for the Mac brings a fresh face to audio post-production.

The free beta will be functional throughout the beta testing period and requires a multi-core Intel processor and Mac OS X 10.5.7 or later. Adobe has also posted a discussion forum for Adobe Audition for Mac to allow beta testers to discuss and provide feedback on the beta software.

Amazon yesterday announced that as of December 1st it will begin offering new revenue sharing terms for magazine and newspaper publishers seeking to bring their content to the Kindle. Under the new terms, Amazon will keep 30% of revenue while passing along the remaining 70% to publishers, with delivery costs for content moved via paid services such as the company's Whispernet cellular data package shared between publishers and Amazon at the same 70-30 level.

Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that magazine and newspaper publishers will soon be eligible to earn a larger share of revenue from each title they sell in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore). For each magazine or newspaper sold, publishers will be able to earn 70 percent of the retail price, net of delivery costs. These new 70-percent royalty terms will become available on December 1, 2010.

In order to be eligible for the program, publishers must comply with a set of requirements ensuring a quality customer experience, including at least a 95% match of content to that offered in the print edition and delivery of the content to Amazon at least three hours before print delivery begins.

Amazon's move to what is quickly becoming the standard revenue sharing model for digital content has been seen as a response to Apple's negotiations with publishers in which it is offering a similar split. For their part, publishers have been in large part holding out in hopes of moving their subscriptions outside of the traditional App Store or In App Purchase delivery streams for Apple's devices, looking to avoid having to give a 30% cut to Apple. With Amazon and Apple now on roughly the same page regarding delivery of magazine and newspaper content to their devices, publishers may finally be willing to come onboard with the stabilized pricing structure.

As noted by The Next Web, Verizon yesterday began airing its first television commercial for the iPad since the carrier began offering the device paired with a MiFi mobile hotspot in its retail stores late last month.

Entitled "Breakaway", the ad touts the pairing of the "magic" of the iPad with Verizon's network.

Introducing iPad on Verizon. All the magic of iPad. All the nationwide power and reliability of Verizon.

Verizon offers only the Wi-Fi models of the iPad, pairing them with the carrier's MiFi 2200 mobile hotspot device to provide service on the go. The bundles are priced at essentially the same price points as the corresponding 3G-capable iPads available for AT&T's network ($629.99/$729.99/$829.99). MiFi data plans for iPad users begin at $20/month for 1 GB of data. The carrier also offers unbundled Wi-Fi iPads at the traditional prices of $499.99/$599.99/$699.99.