MacRumors

As announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs earlier this month and confirmed in a company press release earlier this week, Apple has begun its second round of iPhone 4 launches, bringing the device to 17 new countries. Countries in this round of launches include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The Sydney Morning Herald offers coverage of the launch in Australia, where a number of Apple's carrier partners one-upped the company's 8:00 AM retail store openings by launching the iPhone 4 at midnight local time.

But in the race to score the most customers, Optus, Telstra and Vodafone/3 bent over backwards to ensure the wait was an event in itself. Singer Kelly Rowland greeted customers at Optus, Vodafone plied its faithful with free booze and Telstra offered fine cuisine.

Sources say each telco has received only about 12-13,000 iPhone 4 units in the first batch, and with Optus alone getting over 100,000 pre-order customers, stock is likely to run out within days.

Things appear to be going less swimmingly in New Zealand, which is two hours ahead of Sydney. According to local reports, Apple's deal with Vodafone has been canceled in that country as all mentions of the device disappeared from the carrier's site yesterday and no launch plans had been announced. We also received word that Vodafone has posted signs in its stores this morning stating that the launch will not be taking place today.

The change would appear to leave customers scrambling, with unlocked iPhone 4 models at unsubsidized prices set to be available through Apple's online site as their only option in that country, although rumors also suggested the device might be available through other retailers there.

A Vodafone spokesman declined to comment and directed questions to Apple, whose representatives have not yet returned nzherald.co.nz's calls.

But it is understood that Apple's deal with Vodafone is off and the gadget won't be available from New Zealand stores tomorrow, only online from Apple.

Then again, another rumour gaining ground on Twitter is that retailer JBHiFi will be selling the iPhone 4 tomorrow.

South Korea had also been originally scheduled to be included in this wave of launches, but Jobs announced at the iPhone 4 press conference earlier this month that the launch there would be delayed as the company continues to seek government approval of the device there. Government officials have disputed that notion, however, claiming that Apple has yet to even submit the iPhone 4 for approval.

At the iPhone 4's introduction at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, Jobs announced that 24 unspecified countries would be included in a third round of launches set for August, with an additional 40 countries set to see the iPhone 4 in September, bringing the total to 88 countries. It is unknown, however, whether Apple is still planning to adhere to that schedule.

Update: We've heard that both Vodafone and JB Hi Fi are claiming that a "shipping error" is responsible for the cancellation of today's launch in New Zealand.

Update 2: The New Zealand Herald reports that the iPhone 4 did finally go on sale at selected Vodafone stores there at mid-day, with Apple set to follow with unsubsidized sales later today.

With iPhone mobile provider Vodafone saying it would not launch as promised, backed up by retailers JB Hi-Fi and Magnum Mac who all told nzherald.co.nz that the device wouldn't go on sale today, there was massive confusion over whether Apple fans could get their hands on the device at all.

But this changed late this morning with Vodafone announcing that it would be sold from midday at selected non-partner stores. Apple have since announced that it will be available for purchase on the apple.com/nz/ website this evening. Pricing starts at $1099 to buy the device outright, although Vodafone is offering subsidised on-account plans.

Phone Scoop yesterday discovered new regulatory filings posted by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission showing a new Sprint-branded 3G mobile hotspot device manufactured by ZTE that appears to be in the form of a designed case to wrap around Apple's iPod touch.

The Peel, as FCC photos suggest it will be called, seems to be a carriage sled for a tablet style device like the iPod touch. The Peel does not seem to connect to its host device, and it seems to be a specially designed Wi-Fi hotspot device that could offer EV-DO networking to an iPod touch in a package that could be clamped to Apple's Wi-Fi-only iPod.

In addition to apparently allowing an iPod touch to connect via Wi-Fi to access the case's 3G data capabilities, the user manual suggests that the Peel would serve much like a traditional 3G mobile hotspot, allowing up to five devices to connect to it to share the Internet connection.

The Peel would not be the first time Sprint has tried to tap into the Apple iOS ecosystem to promote its mobile hotspot devices. Earlier this year, the carrier released a television commercial touting its Overdrive 3G/4G mobile hotspot device by claiming that Apple's iPhone could achieve a ten-fold increase in data speeds by connecting through the Overdrive on 4G as opposed to the iPhone's built-in 3G connectivity through AT&T.

Soon after the launch of the Wi-Fi iPad in the U.S., Sprint also rolled out a free "4G case" to hold both the iPad and the carrier's Overdrive hotspot device, promoting the package as a way to achieve high-speed mobile connectivity with the iPad and other mobile devices.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Japanese government is continuing to pursue its long-standing concern over reports of first-generation iPod nanos overheating, following up on a warning to consumers issued by the government nearly two years ago.

The ministry is requesting Apple Japan to explain the cause of overheating, whether similar incidents have been reported domestically and abroad and what prevention and cautionary measures have been taken to counter such incidents, according to Seiji Shimagami, a ministry official who works in consumer product safety.

The order came following an incident in Tokyo that took place on July 13, when sparks flew from a user's device while it was recharging, according to Masahiro Yamazaki, the head of the consumer product safety unit at METI.

According to the report, the Japanese government agency responsible for overseeing trade issues has documented 27 instances of first-generation iPod nanos overheating while recharging, classifying those incidents as "fire-related". Six of those incidents have occurred since the 2008 warning was issued.

"iPods are incredibly well designed and safety is the highest priority for Apple. We are taking METI's letter in regard to the first generation iPod nano very seriously and are working closely with them to answer their concerns," Apple said in a statement.

Similar concerns over the first-generation iPod nano have been expressed in South Korea, where some July 2009 reports claimed that Apple had issued a recall of the device, a fact that Apple denied, although it does continue to acknowledge the possibility of overheating in a support document and encourages concerned customers to contact the company.

With its ultra-thin design and single-use functionality, users might think that a teardown of Apple's new Magic Trackpad would be straightforward and uninteresting. But the experts at iFixit show us in one of their famous teardowns how Apple pulls off the design and puts it all together into a sleek package.

As is becoming increasingly common for Apple's device, particularly its peripherals, disassembly is not for the faint of heart, with a fair amount of prying required and some adhesive to fight through in order to fully access the internals.

Once inside, iFixit discovered a small logic board roughly in the center of the device carrying the same Broadcom Bluetooth chip used in the Magic Mouse and the same Broadcom touch controller found in the iPhone, iPod touch, and MacBook Air, in addition to 256 KB of flash memory. The remainder of the interior surrounding the logic board contains a white plastic spacer designed to prevent damage to the logic board should the device be squeezed.

One of the other interesting design features we previously noted is the Apple's use of the Magic Trackpad's feet to generate the "click" when the user presses down on the device's surface. iFixit's teardown reveals how depressing the surface of the trackpad causes the feet to push up onto a hinged metal plate that runs along the front edge of the device inside the chassis. That metal plate then contacts a small mouse button to activate the clicking functionality.

Last night, Amazon announced an all new Wi-Fi only Kindle that starts at only $139 with a 3G-capable one for $189.

Amazon.com is excited to introduce a new generation of Kindle. The all-new Kindle has a new electronic-ink screen with 50 percent better contrast than any other e-reader, a new sleek design with a 21 percent smaller body while still keeping the same 6-inch-size reading area, and a 15 percent lighter weight at just 8.7 ounces.

Both models are slated for release on August 27th though Amazon has begun preorders. The new Kindle is also said to offer 20% faster page turns, up to one month of battery life, and double the storage to 3,500 books. The 3G Kindle offers over-the-air downloads of books for no monthly fee. The new Wi-Fi model will, of course, require you to be connected to a Wi-Fi network to purchase books.

Amazon's dedicated e-reader has been seen as an overlapping market for the Apple iPad. Amazon, however, has been aggressive about expanding the Kindle platform beyond just the hardware device itself. The company has also released a Kindle-compatible app for the iPhone and iPad.

Yesterday, we noted that Apple's new 27" iMac for the first time allows users to configure their machines with a second hard drive, offering a 256 GB solid state drive as an option for the second bay.

A number of consumers have wondered about the possibility of aftermarket installation of drives into this bay, should they choose to go with the single-drive option at purchase and perhaps add a second drive later as prices drop and/or capacities increase. To answer that question, Other World Computing has opened up one of the new iMacs and unfortunately found that the task would not be a simple one unless the machine originally shipped with dual drives.

The good news is that the SSD bay available in the new iMacs holds a standard 2.5" form factor drive, which means you can install a high-performance OWC Mercury Extreme SSD for the speed advantage over Apple's SSDs.

The bad news is that, unless your Mid 2010 iMac originally came with an Apple SSD, there's no graceful way to install an OWC one. The appropriate mounting bracket and connector cables are nowhere to be found on the non-SSD models.

The report goes on to detail one somewhat inelegant method in which a user of a single-drive iMac could add a second drive, but the solution is certainly not ideal.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is "looking into" reports of issues being experienced by iPhone 3G users who have upgraded to the company's new iOS 4. Discussion forums at Apple, MacRumors, and elsewhere have been filling with reports from users experiencing problems with system responsiveness, battery drains, and overheating.

The most common criticism is that the phone is slow after an upgrade. There are also many complaints that the phone drains the battery quickly and becomes excessively hot. Concern about general problems such as slowness and battery life on gadgets isn't unusual, but using iOS 4 on the iPhone 3G seems to make the problems so bad that the phone is nearly unusable for some people.

In venting their frustration, some users have even gone so far as to create parody videos demonstrating the iPhone 3G's inability to run iOS 4 smoothly.

Meanwhile, some reports have indicated that iOS 4.1, currently in beta testing by developers, will address these issues to some degree.

Apple has made clear since the initial introduction of iOS 4 in April that the new operating system is not fully compatible with all generations of the iPhone and iPod touch due to hardware limitations, with only limited compatibility for the iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod touch suggesting that those models are being pushed to their limits with some of iOS 4's features. Users, however, understandably expected that Apple's steps to disable certain resource-intensive features on those devices should have left the remaining features operating relatively smoothly. That does not, however, appear to be the case for some users.

As noted by Ars Technica's Jacqui Cheng, Apple has updated its iAd developer page to invite app developers to advertise their applications through the company's new mobile ad platform.

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Apple's iAd program launched at the beginning of this month with ad campaigns from major brands such as Nissan and Dove, with the company reportedly charging as much as $1 million for placements in the program. But now the door appears to opening for smaller developers, as the company broadens its offerings to include app developers wishing to promote their applications, something we've seen for quite some time on existing ad networks.

Engadget reports that Best Buy is apparently giving away free kits of antenna-shielding strips, known as "invisibleSHIELD 4FIX" from ZAGG, to any iPhone 4 user interested in receiving the product. The offer also includes installation of the seven "invisible" adhesive strips included in the kit that cover only the surface of the stainless steel band around the edge of the iPhone 4 that serves as the device's antennas.

Based on a number of tips that we've received, we're getting the impression that the yellow-tagged retailer could be handing out (and installing) completely free side coverings for any iPhone 4 owner that waltzes into a store, presumably as a proactive measure to fend off returns or to upsell consumers on an entire invisibleSHIELD / separate case.

The invisibleSHIELD 4FIX kit is normally priced at $9.99, and Best Buy's offer provides an alternative to Apple's free iPhone 4 bumper and case program, one that will allow users to receive the benefits of the antenna fix while retaining the appearance of a "naked" iPhone.

Microsoft today posted a blog entry talking a bit about its forthcoming Office for Mac 2011 release scheduled for late this year. A brief behind-the-scenes video of Microsoft developers talking about some of the new features included in the release has also been posted.

The team has a short video (above) and here is a quick look at the new feature they discuss:

- Starting off with the new Template Gallery in Office 2011, this feature allows you to quickly and easily pick a template from the built-in designs to the thousands of templates online - giving you a head start to create great looking, professional documents.

- Core features in Outlook for Mac like the Conversation View help you sort emails easily to keep track of what you need to do. Additionally, the new file-based database is faster and provides more stability with Time Machine support.

- Tying all of the new features together is the Office for Mac ribbon, designed as an evolution of the Office 2008 Elements Gallery while also utilizing the classic Mac menu and Standard Toolbar giving you the best of both worlds. We have put the most commonly used controls at your fingertips making it easier for you to find what you need. You can even minimize the ribbon and the Toolbar for more screen space or for the more advanced users who rely on keyboard shortcuts.

Microsoft has issued several beta versions of Office for Mac 2011 so far this year, which each showing an increasing level of refinement and polish as the company moves toward a public release in the last calendar quarter of this year.

All Things Digital reports on Time Inc.'s struggles with Apple as it has tried to roll out a true subscription program for its Sports Illustrated iPad application, an option that Apple continues to be unwilling to support.

Last month, the publisher was set to launch a subscription version of its Sports Illustrated iPad app, where consumers would download the magazines via Apple's iTunes, but would pay Time Inc. directly. But Apple rejected the app at the last minute, forcing the Time Warner (TWX) unit to sell single copies, using iTunes as a middleman, multiple sources tell me.

Since then, Time Inc. executives "have been going nuts", trying to figure out how to get Apple (AAPL) to approve a subscription plan. One of the more desperate suggestions, which apparently didn't get traction: Pulling the publisher's apps out of the iTunes store altogether.

The reasons for Apple's reluctance are not entirely clear, although the theories are ones that have been around for some time: Apple may be concerned over subscriber information being held by the publishers rather than Apple itself, and the company may be working to retain control over and profits from magazine sales by pushing downloads through the App Store rather than through publishers.

As the report notes, other entities such as The Wall Street Journal are permitted to bill users directly for iPad subscriptions to their content, and thus it is unclear exactly why Apple is targeting magazine subscriptions so closely. But until the stalemate is broken to allow publishers to offer subscription packages or print-electroinic bundles in some way as most parties seems to desire, it appears that magazine users will be limited to the single-issue purchases prevalent in the App Store today.

Update: We have heard that the holdup, at least in the case of the Sports Illustrated subscription plan, is in fact a dispute over revenue, with Apple maintaining that it should be able to collect a 30% cut of revenue as it does for content distributed through the App Store. Publishers, understandably, would prefer to move out from under the App Store umbrella for their subscriptions and keep 100% of the revenue for themselves.

The latest theory on the reason behind Apple's white iPhone 4 delay comes from Scott Moritz of TheStreet, who reports that the issue stems from backlight leakage around the edges of the device's glass and even through its white back.

Apparently, the back light from the iPhone display screen is leaking out around the edges of the glass and seeping through the back of the white phone, according to a person familiar with the manufacturing process.

According to the report's source, the lower opacity of the white back compared to the black one is responsible for the issue, and the glass construction makes it considerably more difficult to simply fill in the gaps where the light is leaking through than it would for devices with plastic or metal cases.

The report also notes that this issue is not unique to Apple's iPhone 4, as the HTC EVO has also received some publicity for minor light leakage through seams in its casing.

Previous reports had suggested that the delay was due to paint thickness and color consistency issues with the screen printing process for the white iPhone parts, although the various reports could theoretically be differing descriptions of the same issues coming from parties with only partial knowledge of the situation.

Moritz has had a number of inaccurate claims over the years, although he did correctly predict that Apple would introduce $200 subsidies on the iPhone 3G to bring the entry-level price down to $199 back in 2008.

As noted in the security documentation accompanying today's release, Safari 5.0.1 and 4.1.1 address an AutoFill security flaw disclosed last week that could allow a malicious site to obtain a user's Address Book information, including name, company affiliation, city/state/country, and email address.

Impact: Safari's AutoFill feature may disclose information to websites without user interaction

Description: Safari's AutoFill feature can automatically fill out web forms using designated information in your Mac OS X Address Book, Outlook, or Windows Address Book. By design, user action is required for AutoFill to operate within a web form. An implementation issue exists that allows a maliciously crafted website to trigger AutoFill without user interaction. This can result in the disclosure of information contained within the user's Address Book Card. To trigger the issue, the following two situations are required. First, in Safari Preferences, under AutoFill, the "Autofill web forms using info from my Address Book card" checkbox must be selected. Second, the user's Address Book must have a Card designated as "My Card". Only the information in that specific card is accessed via AutoFill. This issue is addressed by prohibiting AutoFill from using information without user action. Devices running iOS are not affected. Credit to Jeremiah Grossman of WhiteHat Security for reporting this issue.

Grossman reported the issue to Apple on June 17th, but went public with his disclosure last week in order to alert customers after failing to receive significant response from Apple. After Grossman's public disclosure, Apple acknowledged the issue and promised that it was working on a fix.

In what is not a terribly big surprise considering that they started shipping at the beginning of the week, free iPhone 4 bumpers have begun arriving into the hands of customers. As with the first wave of shipping notices, the arrivals appear to be limited to the UK for the time being, although customers in other countries who have received shipping notices can expect theirs to quickly follow.

Recipients report that the bumpers come in the standard Apple packaging for the product. And while customers who ordered bumpers are beginning to see theirs arrive, those who opted for third-party cases through the free case program have still seen no sign of movement on their orders, with shipping estimates pushing out well beyond a month for many customers. Those customers should keep their eyes peeled, however, as orders for Apple bumpers similarly showed lengthy initial shipping estimates before suddenly beginning to ship earlier this week.

Apple today announced that it has released Safari 5.0.1, officially launching the "extensions" feature that it partially activated last month with the initial release of Safari 5 to permit developers to begin work on their plug-ins. Extensions from third-party developers allow users to extend browser functionality far beyond that offered in the basic application.

Apple today released Safari 5.0.1, turning on Safari Extensions and introducing the Safari Extensions Gallery. Apple introduced extensions support in Safari 5 in June so developers could begin creating extensions with HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript web standards. With Safari Extensions Gallery, users can quickly find extensions that add powerful new features to Safari, from toolbars that display live web feeds to sophisticated programs that filter web content. Safari 5.0.1 allows users to download and install extensions either from the Safari Extensions Gallery or directly from a developer's site.

"Safari 5 has been a big hit, and user response to the innovative new Safari Reader has been fantastic," said Brian Croll, Apple's vice president of OS X Product Marketing. "We're thrilled to see so many leading developers creating great extensions and think our users are going to love being able to customize Safari."

Apple has also launched its Safari Extensions Gallery, allowing easy access from the "Safari" menu for users to browse and install featured extensions. The gallery already features extensions from such companies as Twitter, The New York Times, The Weather Channel, Amazon, and eBay, as well as a host of smaller developers.

Apple has been inviting developers to submit their extensions for consideration for inclusion in the Safari Extensions Gallery and has thus been able to hit the ground running with a significant library of plug-ins. Users are not limited to extensions featured in the Safari Extensions Gallery, however, as extensions are hosted by the developers themselves and users are free to install them from anywhere.

Safari 5.0.1 and a companion release of Safari 4.1.1 for Tiger that does not support extensions also bring a number of other enhancements and fixes as detailed on Apple's download pages.

Although we already noted this fact as a footnote in today's 27" LED Cinema Display announcement article, we felt it important to point out -- Apple has officially discontinued the 24" and 30" Apple Cinema Displays. Going forward, today's 27" LED Cinema Display will be the only display offered by Apple. According to Macworld:

At the same time, this marks the end of the road for the 24-inch and 30-inch Apple displays. According to Apple vice president of hardware marketing David Moody, those products will continue to be sold until supplies run out, at which point the new 27-inch display will be Apple's only standalone offering.

The new monitor offers the same horizontal resolution as the now discontinued 30" display at 2560 across, though fewer pixels vertically (1440 vs 1600). The 30" has been the topic of much speculation as Apple has left the large screen display relatively stagnant over the years. Apple's focus on portable products is apparent as the 27" LED Display appears to be primarily targeted at laptop owners.

Apple will continue to sell the 24" and 30" LCDs until stock runs out.