MacRumors

Vodafone today announced that it will begin offering the iPhone 3G and 3GS for sale in the UK and Ireland in early 2010.

Beginning today, Vodafone UK and Vodafone Ireland customers can register their interest in iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS at www.vodafone.co.uk/iphone and www.vodafone.ie/iphone respectively. Pricing, tariffs and availability information will be announced locally in the future.

The news comes just one day after Orange announced that it had struck a deal with Apple to begin selling the iPhone in the UK. The launches will bring to a rapid close wireless carrier O2's exclusivity arrangement with Apple for iPhone distribution in the UK and Ireland, a status it has enjoyed since the launch of the original iPhone in those countries in November 2007 and March 2008 respectively.

The New York Times reports that Apple has rehired Michael Tchao, one of the developers of the Newton, Apple's personal digital assistant platform that launched in 1993. Tchao, who returned to Apple today after a 15-year absence, serves as vice president of product marketing and reports directly to senior vice president Phil Schiller.

It is not clear what his new duties at Apple will entail; Apple would not comment further on the matter, and Mr. Tchao did not immediately respond to a phone message. But identifying a market for the much-rumored Apple tablet could certainly be among them. Mr. Tchao gets the credit (or perhaps the blame) for convincing John Sculley, Apple's former chief executive, to integrate the company's handwriting-recognition technology into a consumer device.

Tchao worked at Apple from 1986 until 1994, holding three different positions during that time and eventually advancing to Group Manager for Product Planning and Strategy in the company's Personal Interactive Electronics division. He then spent several years in consulting and product development before taking the position of General Manager of the Nike Techlab in 2002, where he has overseen the development of a number of Nike+iPod products and technologies.

Apple today released iWork '09 9.0.3, bringing fixes for several minor issues as well as general improvements in a number of areas.

This update addresses general compatibility issues, improves overall stability, updates the help, and fixes a number of other minor issues in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. The issues addressed include:

- Reducing file size of images that have Instant Alpha applied
- Managing file size when inserting some movies
- Working with dates and durations in the Chart Data Editor in Keynote and Pages
- Exporting to CSV from Numbers when using table categories

Improvements to comment notification and security in iWork.com Beta are also included in this update.

Detailed information on changes included in the update are available on Apple's support page for the update. The download weighs in at 59.62 MB and requires OS X 10.4.11 or OS X 10.5.6 or later.

Apple has also updated its iWork.com beta online collaborative document hosting service. The company is highlighting three changes deployed today as part of the revamp:

1. Protect Your Shared Documents With Passwords

Safeguard your shared documents on iWork.com by using a password. To add a password to your document, select the 'Privacy' box in the Publish window. Enter a unique password for the document. You can even use the OS X Password Assistant to help create a strong password. Remember to send the password to the intended viewer.

2. Stay Up To Date With Your Viewer's Comments

Viewers invited to an iWork.com document can provide feedback by leaving comments and document notes. Comments can be made on specific text in a Pages document, cells in a Numbers sheet, and on a Keynote slide.

iWork.com lets you know when a viewer has left feedback by sending you an email notification every time a new comment or note is added. You can adjust how often you receive these notifications by selecting from options on your Shared Documents page. Choose from Immediate, Hourly, Daily or Never.

3. Inviting Viewers Made Easy

The most recent update to iWork.com makes it easy for you to share your documents with your viewers. With the new server-based email, invitations are sent directly from Apple's servers. You don't need to depend on your desktop email application to send email invitations anymore.

Also, when you add new viewers online on iWork.com, the server sends them invitations directly without you needing to send a URL.

MacNN notes that Apple has recently revised its educational software licensing offerings for institutions, introducing a new Apple Education Licensing Program organized around annual licensing rather than software update cycles.

The new Apple Education Licensing Program makes it easier to keep your institution's Apple software current and compliant. Coverage is purchased annually, keeping costs consistent year after year, and the new bundle structure allows you to manage against a single expiration date. Each license renewal provides one year of coverage, including any new releases that become available during the year.

Furthermore, Apple is now bundling its operating system offering with iLife and iWork into a single package to encourage adoption of its media and productivity tools. Pricing for the basic "Mac Software Collection" bundle of the three basic software products begins at US$899 per year for 25 seats, or $35.96 for each machine. Various additional levels are also available for larger purchases, topping out at $199,999 package covering institutions with 10,000 machines for a cost of $20 per machine if all licenses are used. Apple also requires that 100% of an institution's "installed base" of Macs be covered when participating in the program.

Apple offers annual volume licensing on a number of other software offerings under the program, including such professional applications as Aperture, Final Cut, and Logic, as well as IT-focused software. These specialized software offerings beyond the basic Mac Software Collection do not generally require 100% coverage, except for professional applications being purchased at the departmental level of higher education institutions.

The program also typically requires an enrollment fee equal to 10% of the annual purchase price, although the fee is being waived through December 13th for new customers and existing customers converting from previous software licensing programs. Additional details on the Apple Education Licensing Program, which appears to have been quietly launched on September 15th, are available in Apple's FAQ.

Wireless carrier Orange today issued a brief announcement revealing that it has struck a deal with Apple to offer the iPhone 3G and 3GS in the United Kingdom, ending rival carrier O2's iPhone exclusivity in that country. Details on pricing and a launch date will be announced at a later date.

Orange, which has the largest 3G network covering more people in the UK than any other operator, will sell iPhone in all Orange direct channels including Orange shops, the Orange webshop and Orange telesales channels, as well as selected high street partners. A pre-registration site for customers to log their interest has been launched at www.Orange.co.uk/iPhone

Several reports surfaced in recent months claiming that Apple would be ending its exclusive arrangement with O2 and that Orange and T-Mobile would most likely be the primary bidders to begin offering the iPhone there. Those two companies have since signaled their intent to merge operations in the UK.

Apple today announced that its App Store has surpassed two billion downloads. The company also noted that there are now over 50 million iPhone and iPod touch customers, 85,000 applications on the App Store, and 125,000 registered iPhone developers.

"The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate with users downloading a staggering two billion apps in just over a year, including more than half a billion apps this quarter alone," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it."

Jobs announced at Apple's "It's Only Rock and Roll" media event earlier this month that the App Store had seen more than 1.8 billion downloads, and clarified that that number does not include updates.

Finally, Apple reminds users that the App Store is available in 77 countries, with over 20 categories of applications to choose from, and promotes the new ability of iTunes 9 to organize iPhone and iPod touch home screens.

Last week, Intel demoed a new interconnect technology called "Light Peak" which promises to be a flexible high performance optical connector:

Intel just showed off a glimpse of the future: Light Peak, an optical interconnect for mobile devices that can run as fast as 10Gbps. That's fast enough to do everything from storage to displays to networking, and it can maintain those speeds over 100-meter runs, which is pretty astounding. Intel says the idea is to drastically reduce the number of connectors on mobile devices, which should allow them to get even smaller

The technology could eventually replace the use of Firewire, USB and even display connectors in the future. Engadget has since revealed that 'Light Peak' was actually originally conceived of by Apple and brought to Intel.

Apple had reached out to Intel as early as 2007 with plans for an interoperable standard which could handle massive amounts of data and "replace the multitudinous connector types with a single connector (FireWire, USB, Display interface)."

The original conversations happened between Apple's Steve Jobs and Intel's Paul Otellini. In fact, the technology was said to have been demoed last week on a prototype Mac Pro motherboard.

The new connector is rumored to be introduced into the Mac lineup in the Fall of 2010, with a low-power variant due in 2011 for mobile devices. Such a move could result in a single connectivity standard in the future, reducing the types of ports on a device to only this single one. The fact that various types of data including High Definition displays can be driven through the connector has led to some speculation that Apple could incorporate such a connector into their rumored tablet.

In a follow-up post to yesterday's report that the iMac may see an update within the next several weeks, AppleInsider claims that Apple may be planning to introduce upgraded MacBooks at or around the same time.

The new models, which appear as if they could make their debut alongside a family of more versatile iMacs in the coming weeks, are expected to arrive as the most affordable notebook offerings in the Mac maker's history.

Together, the pair of refreshes should round out Apple's 2009 personal computer offerings and propel the company into the holiday shopping season with its most cost-effective lineup of Mac hardware to date.

While much of the report reiterates previously-rumored information, sources have apparently confirmed that the new MacBook will retain a white polycarbonate enclosure and that manufacturing of the new models has already begun, suggesting that the MacBook launch may come a bit sooner than previously thought.

French site Mac4Ever reported [Google translation] earlier this week that it had received a number of tips from sources regarding Apple's upcoming product plans. Among the most near-term topics of interest is the iMac, which has been rumored by several sources to be seeing a refresh in the very near future.

While details of the update have been scarce, Mac4Ever's sources point to the inclusion of an SD card reader, as found in the 13" and 15" MacBook Pro, and the use of quad-core processors, which conflicts with a subsequent report claiming that the new iMac will continue to use dual-core processors. Interestingly, one of the sources also spoke of the inclusion of Xeon processors, which would presumably only be used in high-end configurations if the information proves accurate.

Mac4Ever's sources have also reported a number of other tidbits about Apple's product pipeline for the next few months, including a new 100% touch-enabled mouse capable of advanced mouse functions, as well as a new aluminum Apple Remote. Other claims include a continued shift of Apple's software to 64-bit and optimization for Snow Leopard, as well as the much-rumored tablet, which sources vaguely claim will be very different from concepts that have appeared on rumor sites thus far.

As previously scheduled, AT&T has activated MMS for iPhone 3G and 3GS users in the United States, bringing to an end months of speculation and waiting since software support for the feature was introduced in iPhone OS 3.0 in mid-June.

Apple has posted a support article outlining the process for activating MMS, which involves updating a carrier settings file on users' iPhones via iTunes. Users are prompted to connect their iPhone to iTunes and click the "Check for Update" button. Users should update to iPhone OS 3.1 if they have not already done so, and then click the "Update Settings" button on the pop-up window notifying them that a new carrier settings file is available.

After installation of the new carrier settings file, users must restart their devices. Apple recommends that users verify that the functionality is active by creating a new text message. A camera icon should be available.

BusinessWeek reports that Apple has launched an expanded environmental section of its website to offer extensive information on the company's green initiatives and provide a closer look at the environmental impact of its products over their complete life cycles, from raw materials to customer usage to recycling.

Apple, which has received criticism from environmental groups such as Greenpeace over its environmental impact, is hoping to change the way companies are judged on those issues to include actions instead of promises and to look at the full impact of both production and usage.

"A lot of companies publish how green their building is, but it doesn't matter if you're shipping millions of power-hungry products with toxic chemicals in them," says CEO Steve Jobs in an interview. "It's like asking a cigarette company how green their office is."

Apple notes that 53% of the company's greenhouse gas emissions comes from customer usage of its products, placing focus on its efforts to reduce power consumption through a variety of methods. Apple also notes that it is the only company in its industry to have its entire computer product line certified as Energy Star compliant.

The company is also highlighting extensive reports on the environmental impact of each model it sells , noting the reduction and elimination of a number of toxic chemicals from its products.

The company is disclosing new product information, as well as overall carbon emissions. Apple will document on the new Web site data that it ended the use of controversial polyvinyl chlorides (PVCs) and bromide flame retardants (BFRs) in its devices last year. HP and Dell had promised to do the same by 2009, but recently pushed that back. Apple is also going further and pushing suppliers to get rid of bromine and chlorine, the harmful ingredients in PVCs and BFRs.

Apple's increased willingness to share environmental information and changes to its practices have started to turn the tide in the eyes of several environmental groups. The Carbon Disclosure Project recently gave Apple a score of 73 out of 100 for the breadth and depth of its public disclosures, whereas the company scored only a rating of 7 in 2008.

AppleInsider claims that Apple has begun production of the next-generation iMac and may be set to introduce the revamped product line sometime between now and mid-October.

The new all-in-one, dual-core desktops were finalized earlier in September and have been rolling off the Mac maker's Taiwanese product lines for roughly two weeks, according to two people familiar with the matter.

In addition to more affordable pricing, the systems are expected to come clad in a thinner industrial design, one of those people added. Though details are admittedly limited, it's likely these new enclosures will also take design cues from the Cupertino-based company's relatively new LED-lit Cinema Display offerings.

The report echoes comments issued last week by research firm Wedge Partners that new iMacs could make an appearance within the next several weeks. Today's report also reiterates claims that the new iMac will sport a redesigned enclosure and several new features, possibly to include a Blu-ray drive option.

The Detroit News reports that lawyers for Apple and Eight Mile Style, rapper Eminem's music publisher, headed to court this morning over a complaint filed by Eight Mile Style in 2007 regarding improper distribution of digital downloads. The complaint claims that Apple improperly offered nearly 100 of Eminem's songs for sale via the company's iTunes Store by making a deal for distribution with record label Aftermath Records, which Eight Mile Style claims did not hold the rights to digital distribution.

In his opening statement, Eight Mile attorney Richard Busch said unique wording in Eminem's contract with Aftermath Records requires the record company to get separate deals before it can sell downloads of Eminem's songs over the Internet.

The record company "knew that they did not have the right to make these songs available for digital download without a separate digital download agreement," Busch told U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor.

Apple's lawyers, on the other hand, contend that the company held a valid agreement with Aftermath Records for digital distribution.

The Detroit Free Press noted earlier today that Apple had been hoping to reach a settlement with Eight Mile Style regarding the issue, but talks between the two parties broke down yesterday evening. Eight Mile Style contends that Apple earned $2.58 million from the improper sales.

Eight Mile Style previously sued Apple for improper use of Eminem's hit single "Lose Yourself" in an iTunes Store television commercial. The dispute was settled out of court with undisclosed terms.