- 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - 1.4" thick Unibody enclosure - NVIDIA GeForce 320M Graphics Card - Built-in Power Supply - HDMI port and Mini DisplayPort - Removable bottom panel shown here:
The removable bottom panel gives you access to memory. Back ports include: Ethernet, FireWire 800, Four USB 2.0, SD card slot, Audio Line out, HDMI, Mini Displayport.
With all the improvements, the base price of the Mac mini has increased to $699, though that includes more hard drive space, faster graphics and the features listed above.
Apple's online store has returned with details on how to pre-order the iPhone 4 for delivery on June 24th. As previously, reported, only the black iPhone 4 is available for pre-order. Apple gives no timeframe for when the white iPhone 4 will become available.
Apple seems to be preparing for the iPhone 4 pre-orders which are set to kick off on Tuesday, June 15th. They've brought the Apple online store down, presumably to make changes. There's been reports that no other retailer will be offering these pre-orders, so Apple might be the only option.
The exact time Apple will start accepting pre-orders has been a subject of debate.
Update: AT&T's Wireless site briefly allowed users to pre-order before going down for maintainence:
Pre-order page now accessible but no iPhone 4s are in their system yet.
As one of the launch retailers for the iPhone 4, Radio Shack is offering special trade-in deals for existing phones that can be applied to the new iPhone 4.
At a Brooklyn-area RadioShack, a sales representative named Shaquana told eWEEK that only some electronics trade-ins will be allowed in-store, and others will have to be arranged online. Devices that one can safely trade-in at the store, she said, include phones and game consoles, chargers, old cameras and camcorders.
Radio Shack's Twitter account has been filling in some blanks on the policy. Edible Apple has been tracking the tweets which revealed that the iPhone 3GS can be traded in for a $200 credit to the new iPhone:
The trade in value on an iPhone 3GS is $200, so if you're currently toting around last year's iPhone model and are eligible for an AT&T upgrade any time in 2010, you can pick up the new iPhone 4 for free. While trade-ins can ordinarily be done online, Radio Shack is advising users via its Twitter account that if the iPhone 4 is on your radar, your best bet is to show up in-store.
The iPhone 4 pre orders begin on Tuesday with the final U.S. launch taking place on June 24th.
(Note, you may do better than $200 selling your iPhone 3GS on your own, though with potentially more hassle)
Starbucks announced that they would be activating free Wi-Fi access across all U.S. locations starting on July 1st. The move is seen as a response to increased competition from other chains which already offer free Wi-Fi to their customers.
iPhone customers have already enjoyed free Wi-Fi at Starbucks stores in conjunction with AT&T. While the move negates this advantage for iPhone customers, it opens up more free Wi-Fi hotspots to iPod Touch and iPad owners who were previously excluded from the service.
ModMyi reports that it has received a purported internal AT&T memo from a source revealing that the carrier will only be taking pre-orders for black iPhone 4 models, with white models not set to become available until "later this summer".
Apparently (see above image emailed to AT&T employees) the iPhone 4 will ONLY be available in black for pre-orders and launch. The initial lineup will be the 3G[S] in 8GB, and the black iPhone 4 at 16GB and 32GB.
The white 16GB and 32GB iPhone 4 will be available "later this summer."
It is unclear whether such restrictions would apply only to AT&T distribution or if it is a broader issue that will result in a delay of the sale of white iPhone models from Apple and other distribution points. No reason is given for the delay.
Apple is set to begin taking pre-orders for iPhone 4 tomorrow morning, but has not specified when its site will go live to accept sales.
Update: German site Macerkopf.de is reporting that Deutsche Telecom will also only be offering iPhone 4 in black at launch.
Apple today seeded Build 10F569 of Mac OS X 10.6.4 to developers. The new build comes six days after the last seed and continues to list no known issues with the update. As with the last several developers builds, testers are asked to once again focus their efforts on Graphics Drivers, SMB, USB, Voice Over, and VPN.
Seeding of Mac OS X 10.6.4 began in late April and today's build represents the eighth version pushed out to developers for testing.
A public release of Mac OS X 10.6.4 had been rumored to occur during last week's Worldwide Developers Conference, but Apple appears to still be putting the final touches on the next maintenance update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard. The most recent public version of Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6.3, was released in late March.
Just like in the United States, additional bits of information on UK availability for iPhone are beginning to trickle out. Earlier today, a test page on Vodafone's site, which now loads only occasionally in a partially completed state, appeared showing the company's rate plans for the new iPhone. Fortunately, Engadget grabbed some screenshots while it was active, revealing that the carrier will be offering a basic 1 GB cap for data access across all monthly plans, double that of O2's lower-end plans.
Like O2, Vodafone will be offering 18-month and 24-month contracts, with monthly prices checking in at a 5 premium for the shorter contract. All plans also include up to 1 GB of Wi-Fi data access on BT OpenZone networks. Phone costs begin at 189 (16 GB) and 280 (32 GB) on low-end plans, before dropping all the way down to free for 45/50 plans (16 GB) and 60/65 plans (32 GB).
In other UK news, Virgin Mobile has indicated that it is working to bring iPhone 4 to its network.
A Virgin Mobile spokesperson said: "We are in ongoing talks with Apple. There are no further developments at this point."
Virgin would join existing major UK networks O2, Orange and Vodafone, as well as T-Mobile and Three, which are coming on board with the iPhone 4 launch.
With Apple set to begin taking pre-orders for the iPhone 4 in a handful of countries tomorrow, including the United States, the company's retail partners are also beginning to firm up their plans. Last Friday, we noted that Wal-Mart was gearing up to offer the new iPhone at launch, following news earlier in the week that RadioShack would begin taking pre-orders on the 15th for a June 24th launch as well.
Electronics chain Best Buy had been rumored to be preparing its plans for launch, and today confirmed that it too will be taking pre-orders beginning tomorrow.
Beginning June 15, Best Buy Mobile, the mobile specialty retail unit of Best Buy Co. Inc (NYSE: BBY), launches its pre-sale of iPhone 4 from Apple. Pre-sale orders can be placed at any Best Buy or Best Buy Mobile standalone store nationwide. The iPhone 4 will land in Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores June 24.
Apple's U.S. carrier partner, AT&T, has also been working to get ready for launch day, with employees set to debut new company T-shirts for the event and the company has also put together a video providing information on upgrade pricing policies and data plans for the new iPhone.
The company is also planning to open its retail stores at 7:00 AM on the launch day of June 24th and is offering rebate credits or handset upgrades for those customers who purchased an iPhone 3GS in the month before iPhone 4's announcement.
MacRumors has heard from several sources that Apple is planning to launch a new iOS application tomorrow that will offer customers access to the company's online store and iPhone pre-ordering, as well as the ability to book Genius Bar appointments at brick-and-mortar retail stores.
As long ago as last November, we began hearing rumors of a "Concierge" iPhone application that would offer brick-and-mortar retail store scheduling services.
In addition, early last month we received word from a customer who had emailed Steve Jobs to ask about the possibility of an iPhone-friendly online Apple Store, to which the Apple CEO responded "Coming soon."
Consequently, it appears that Apple may be set to deliver an all-in-one application for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch that will integrate retail store services with broader online shopping capabilities through the company's online store.
AT&T has sent emails to customers of its iPad 3G data service apologizing for and providing additional information on the exposure of their email addresses and SIM card identifiers last week.
The letter outlines in brief detail how the information was accessed and the company's response once it was notified of the breach. AT&T also reassures its customers that their password and other account information, as well as any data on their devices, are unaffected. It also suggests that the primary risk of the information leak is increased spam and the possible use of such information in targeted phishing tactics attempting to gain additional personal information about customers.
The security breach is currently under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is examining the circumstances surrounding the information exposure and what may have been done with the data obtained.
Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference wrapped up at the end of last week. The conference kicked off with a flurry of announcements surrounding Apple's new iPhone 4. The response to those who had actual hands-on time with the upcoming iPhone has been overwhelmingly positive with a particular focus on the high quality of the display. Several people we spoke to echoed Steve Jobs' comments that it will be hard to go back once you start using the 326 dpi display.
This weekend Robert Scoble posted high resolution photos comparing the new display to the existing one (iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS). The images clearly show the increased readability of web pages while fully "zoomed out". Macworld's hands on also echos the sentiment::
We placed an iPhone 3GS and an iPhone 4 side by side. The results were readily apparent. Text on the iPhone 3GS, while quite readable, showed noticeable pixelation. We couldnt pick out any pixels on the iPhone 4s text; as Apple claims, this screen really makes text look like something youd find in a book or a magazine, with none of the artifacts that weve come to expect from a LCD display.
Apple has claimed that the new display exceeds the limits of the human retina. While there has been some debate about the accuracy of these claims, at least one expert considers the claims close enough to reality.
For another point of reference, Apple provides this actual screenshot of an iPhone 4 screenshot. Click to see it at full resolution:
Click to see full resolution screen
Of course, this same image when viewed on an iPhone 4 shows the same number of pixels but within the space of a 3.5" display.
HSUPA Support
Meanwhile, iLounge has noted that the iPhone 4 supports 3G HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) for its uplink. iLounge cites a theoretical maximum of 5.76 Mbits/second. Meanwhile, the iPhone 3GS is limited to only 384kbps. Any faster uplink speeds will obviously help out in emailing high definition video clips over 3G networks.
Apple Outsider's Matt Drance reports on another change made to Apple's iPhone developer terms earlier this week that should please certain developers, a change which allows game developers in particular to continue to use interpreted languages such as Lua in their App Store applications.
The change eases up on restrictions implemented along with Apple's more highly-publicized prohibition against Adobe's Flash-to-iPhone compiler as part of Apple's broader effort to keep third-party meta-platforms from eroding the user experience and stifling innovation as developers become reliant upon them to roll out support for new features introduced by Apple. Drance notes:
I've said before that Apple's aversion to interpreted code and external runtimes is the potential for someone else to take the platform over. That's not the whole story, though. Games in particular tend to use engines and libraries that leverage interpreted languages such as Lua. Many of these applications pose no threat, neither implicitly nor explicitly.
While explicit approval from Apple is still required, these new terms seem to acknowledge that there's a difference between an app that happens to have non-compiled code, and a meta-platform.
The change comes alongside Apple's further modifications of its iOS developer terms that again allow for limited analytics data collection to aid advertisers and developers, but appear to shut out non-independent companies such as Google's AdMob from receiving the data.
CNET reports that Wal-Mart has confirmed that it will carry iPhone 4 in its stores as of its June 24th launch, adding another major outlet to the growing list of retailers that appear poised to be U.S. launch partners for the new device.
Walmart said Friday that it will be one of several retail outlets who will have the iPhone 4 on June 24, its first day of availability anywhere. While Walmart has carried previous versions of the iPhone, this is a first that it will be for sale in its stores on the device's official launch day.
Electronics chain RadioShack announced earlier this week that it will be carrying iPhone 4 at launch, with pre-orders set to begin on June 15th, the same day Apple begins the pre-ordering process. Best Buy has also been claimed to be carrying iPhone 4 as of the 24th, although the company has yet to officially confirm availability and its pre-ordering policies are unknown.
Wal-Mart gained considerable attention in the weeks leading up to Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference and the iPhone 4 introduction by slashing the price of the 16 GB iPhone 3GS in half to $97 with a two-year contract. With iPhone 4, however, Wal-Mart is expected to only slightly undercut Apple's own pricing by offering the 16 GB and 32 GB versions at $197 and $297 respectively. The company did not carry the low-end 8 GB iPhone 3G during the previous product cycle, and so it is unclear if it will be offering the 8 GB iPhone 3GS during this cycle.
Wal-Mart has also been reported to be expecting to carry the iPad beginning later this year.
Hardmac reports that it has received information from one of it most reliable sources at Apple indicating that the company could offer two Worldwide Developers Conferences per year, separating Mac OS X and iOS content into individual events.
One of our most reliable sources at Apple told us that the company could decide to organize two different WWDC every year, one dedicated to the iOS, iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc... and the other one to Mac OS X and the Mac.
The report's choice of words to say that Apple "could" offer two WWDCs makes it unclear whether there are actual thoughts of Apple making this happen or if it is simply an idea that has been tossed out.
This year's WWDC has been notable for its focus on iOS, as evidenced by the keynote's focus, mix of developers sessions, and the axing of Apple Design Awards for Mac OS X applications. Apple has indicated that the shift focus is simply a timing issue, with the new iPhone and iPad fresh in people's minds and rolling out new features while the Mac platform remains in the middle of a cycle with Mac OS X Snow Leopard well established and Mac OS X 10.7 not yet ready to show.
Even with the scaling back of Mac OS X this year, the conference sold out in only eight days with over 5,000 registrants packing the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco for the event this week.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun an investigation into the AT&T security breach that resulted in the exposure of emails addresses and SIM identifiers for over 100,000 iPad users signed up for 3G access on its network.
"The FBI is aware of these possible computer intrusions and has opened an investigation," said Katherine Schweit, an FBI spokeswoman. Ms. Schweit said the FBI began the investigation Thursday but wouldn't comment on what the bureau is looking at. "It's very early in the investigation," she added.
Any investigation into the incident is likely to look at two factors: how the information was obtained and what was done with it. Escher Auernheimer, a member of the group that exploited the hole in AT&T's website to obtain the information, claims that nothing illegal was done in collecting the information, as access was obtained simply by entering information into a public website.
As for what the group did with the information between the time of its collection and its sharing of the details with Gawker for publication, the group claims that Gawker was the only outside party to receive the information and that the information was only disclosed once the hole had been closed. While the group has taken some criticism for not directly contacting AT&T about the situation, it claims that it "made sure that someone else tipped them off" and waited for AT&T to fix the issue before going public.
Apple has started accepting iOS 4 applications ahead of the June 21st release of iOS 4. Formerly called iPhone OS, iOS 4 is the rebranding of the operating system that runs on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Version 4 introduces many new features for developers and users that may require modifications to existing apps for full compatibility. Some of the features include:
- Multitasking - Folders - Improved Mail App - Enhanced Enterprise support - iAds - iBooks
Apple claims there are over 1,500 new Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) available for developers. iOS 4 will be available to iPhone and iPod Touch owners for free on June 21st. iOS will not run on the original iPhone or 1st generation iPod Touch and will only run with limited features (no multitasking) on the iPhone 3G and 2nd generation iPod Touch.
Apple today released a new App Store application called iTunes Connect Mobile [App Store link], designed to help developers access sales data for their applications distributed through the App Store.
The iTunes Connect Mobile application allows developers to access their sales and trend data from iTunes Connect. You can now view your daily and weekly sales data related to updates, paid and free apps as well as In-App purchases. Whether at the office, at home or on the go, iTunes Connect Mobile keeps you informed about your sales numbers right on your iPhone or iPod touch.
The application is compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch on iPhone OS 3.0 or higher and will also run on the iPad, although not it is not a universal application and thus lacks an iPad-specific interface.
iTunes Connect Mobile marks Apple's sixth official iPhone application, joining Texas Hold'em, Remote, Keynote Remote, MobileMe iDisk, and MobileMe Gallery. The company has also released iBooks and its iWork suite for the iPad.
