MacRumors

The Wall Street Journal reports that Vodafone has succesfully won a temporary injunction against Deutsch Telekom from selling the iPhone tied to their network and with a 2 year contract.

The court has temporarily prohibited T-Mobile Deutschland GmbH from continuing to sell the iPhone only in combination with a two-year service contract. The court also demanded that the product be allowed to function on other cellphone networks, and not just T-Mobile's.

The injunction reportedly stands until another hearing in Hamburg in two weeks. Vodafone reportedly took action only in Germany due to local laws favoring the ruling and does not plan to seek a similar suit in the U.K.

Update: Reuters reports that T-Mobile will be announcing their response to the injunction tomorrow.

Apple sent out promotional emails to customers tonight confirming their plans for a Black Friday sale on November 23.

Shopping event is available only at the Apple Online Store on November 23 from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. PST and at Apple Retail Stores. Check your local Apple Retail Store for special hours. Sale prices are limited to stock on hand and while supplies last.

Historically, Apple's Black Friday sale discounts have been modest (old price lists). The exact discounts will not officially be announced prior to the sale day.

9to5mac reminds us that the first feature film to be launched exclusively on iTunes is opening today. Written and directed by Edward Burns, Purple Violets is a romantic comedy starring Selma Blair, Debra Messing, and Patrick Wilson. A preview page is already available on iTunes (though ordering is currently unavailable) along with a trailer.

The LA Times notes that this digital-only distribution experience may take some getting used to:

As the first full-length feature to premiere exclusively on Apple's iTunes store -- not in theaters -- your date would have to be cool with coming over to watch the movie on your laptop. Or desktop. Or even on the gorgeous little 3-inch by 2-inch screen of your iPod Touch -- since nothing says romance like sharing ear buds.

But director Edward Burns wants his fans to be able to see his films when they are released, and not face the same issues with limited distribution that he has dealt with in the past. Online film distribution also eliminates printing and distribution costs. That being said, the ultimate success of a film may be limited by this form of distribution. Apple's vice president of iTunes reveals that while the most popular movies have sold "hundreds of thousands" copies each, no single iTunes movie has broken the 1 million download mark.

iTunes Link: Purple Violets, $12.99 Pre-Order pricing

Apple debuted a new iPod + iTunes ad tonight on television. The ad continues the silhouette dancer theme of Apple's long running iPod ads. The ad is featured on Apple's iTunes product page. (direct QuickTime link)

The television ad promotes a new album called Growing Pains by Mary J Blige. Growing Pains is available for pre-order on iTunes ahead of its December 18th released date. The individual song, Work That, is also available now as a single.

Apple's use of songs in their television advertisements has clearly shown to be a boost for artists. Lesser known artist, Feist, recently saw significant exposure after 1234 was used in the newest iPod nano tv ad.

Newsweek provides an early scoop for a device coming from Amazon called "Kindle". The $399 device attempts to deliver a complete eBook solution, unlike existing products, and is described as "the iPod of reading".

Indeed, the feature set is impressive, with EVDO and WiFi connectivity allowing customers to browse, purchase, and download from a library of over 88,000 digital books at launch. Aside from digital book content, you may also subscribe to newspapers and select blogs. The device also incorporates web browsing, email, and the ability to read Word and PDF documents. Other features are said to include:

- Has a keyboard
- 30 hour battery life
- 2 hour recharge time
- 10.3 ounces
- 5.3 inches x 7.5 inches x 0.7 inches, 800x600 pixel
- SD Slot for storage
- USB 2.0
- Uses E Ink technology
- Adjustable Font size
- Can hold over 200 books
- Can search books for phrase or name
- 3.5 stereo headphone jack

Amazon has reportedly been taking cues from Apple's iPod launch, planning on using similar videotaped celebrity testimonials at launch.

Dedicated eBook readers, however, have not yet seen a commercial success, with early attempts by Sony to create a market for the devices. Apple has been rumored to be working on a similarly sized tablet, though not intended specifically to be an eBook reader, there appears to be much cross-over functionality (web, email) between the devices. In fact, Apple was once rumored to be incorporating eBook functionality into an upcoming iPod with digital book sales handled through iTunes.

Final specs and official announcement is expected later on Monday. Larger image available here.

Update: Official announcement and product page reveals more details and demonstration videos and photos.

- No wifi
- EVDO connection - No monthly contract
- $9.99 for new releases and bestsellers
- 1st chapter of books available for free
- No computer required
- $.99/month for blog subscriptions
- Annotations, bookmarks
- Has a basic web browser: Gizmodo: something called "Basic Web" browsing is available in the "Experimental" section of the menu, along with "Play Music" and "Ask Kindle NowNow."
- Plays MP3s

In the U.S., the day after Thanksgiving is called "Black Friday", which is historically one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Over the past several years, Apple has participated with one-day specials at both their retail Apple stores as well as the online Apple Store. Discounts have historically been modest and can not generally be combined with other offers (such as educational pricing). Pricelists for recent years are documented on our guides.

Thanksgiving falls on November 22nd this year. Apple has not yet revealed their sale plans, but has participated annually in Black Friday with discounts since at least 2002.

Today, Apple released an update called iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 which specifically addresses the freezing issue seen on recent iMacs.

This update is for 20-inch and 24-inch aluminum iMac computers with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO graphics processor, running Mac OS X 10.4.10 with iMac Software Update 1.2.1 for Tiger, or Mac OS X 10.5 with iMac Software Update 1.3 for Leopard.

According to Apple, the download updates the graphics firmware on the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO card to address issues that may have caused the computer to freeze.

Early reports from iMac users have been promising. One user posts that his benchmarks before and after update are the same, so there's been no speed downgrade involved in the fix.

Numerous reports confirm that it does fix the problem that has been widely reported. One report is reproduced here:

Guys, this update is the real deal. I have a bad freezer that is actually scheduled to be shipped back to Apple for a replacement tomorrow. I applied the firmware update (and 10.5.1) and have been working it hard for the past two hours, doing all the stuff that used to make it freeze in minutes. iTunes visualizer, CoverFlow, screen savers, Photo Booth, Front Row, the whole nine yards. Not a single freeze. I had this thing freezing on command before.

Apple has released their first update to Mac OS X Leopard (10.5.1) today:

The 10.5.1 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac.

Apple details the improvements in this technote. Some highlights include:

- Allows password-protected accounts on AirPort Disks to show up on in the Finder's Shared Sidebar.
- Addresses formatting issues with certain drives used with Time Machine
- Addresses a potential data loss issue when moving files across partitions in the Finder.
- Improves the reliability of Back to My Mac-enabled Macs appearing in the Finder's Shared Sidebar.

The final build number of Mac OS X 10.5.1 is indeed 9B18 as previously reported. Apple first released Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 on October 26th.

Apple has released Final Cut Express 4 today. Apple describes the new version as a "significant upgrade" to the previous version of Final Cut Express.

Final Cut Express 4 adds support for the latest AVCHD cameras, allows mixing of standard and high definition content on a single timeline, includes the ability to import iMovie '08 projects, and gives users access to hundreds of sophisticated FxPlug cinematic effects and filters.

Apple also cut the price on Final Cut Express to $199 from $299. The new features are detailed at Apple's site.

Of note, Soundtrack is no longer bundled with Final Cut Express.

Alongside the Mac OS X 10.4.11 updates today, Apple also released a new beta of Safari for Windows as detailed in this tech note.

The latest Safari beta for Windows incorporates a number of stability, performance and security improvements. A number of new features are detailed as well, including:

- Includes an additional font smoothing option ("standard)
- Adds International text input methods
- Adds cookie management
- Adds spell checking and grammar checking
- New keyboard shortcuts

Apple also incorporated Safari 3 with the Mac OS X 10.4.11 update, bringing the final version of Safari 3 to Tiger users. Apple first released Safari for Windows in June at WWDC 2007.

Safari 3.0.4 for Windows can be downloaded from Apple.

Apple has released an update to iPhoto 7, part of iLife '08.

iPhoto 7.1.1
This update supports compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5, improves overall stability, and addresses a number of other minor issues.

Apple released a number of updates to applications contained in the Final Cut Studio suite, providing bug fixes as well as Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard support.

Final Cut Pro 6.0.2
Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 addresses specific customer issues and general performance issues, improves overall stability, and supports compatibility for additional video devices. Release Notes

Soundtrack Pro 2.0.2
Soundtrack Pro 2.0.2 addresses specific customer issues and general performance issues and improves overall stability. Release Notes

DVD Studio Pro 4.2.1
DVD Studio Pro 4.2.1 addresses specific customer issues, compatibility issues, and general performance issues and improves overall stability. Release Notes

Motion 3.0.2
This Motion 3.0.2 software update addresses specific customer issues and general performance issues, and improves overall stability. Release Notes

Color 1.0.2
Color 1.0.2 addresses specific customer issues and general performance issues and improves overall stability. Release Notes

Cinema Tools 4.0.1
Cinema Tools 4.0.1 addresses specific customer issues, general performance issues and improves overall stability. Release Notes

Compressor 3.0.2
Compressor 3.0.2 and Apple Qmaster 3.0.2 address specific customer issues and compatibility issues. Release Notes

Pro Application Support 2007-02
Pro Application Update 2007-02 includes fixes to underlying frameworks and shared components for the updated Final Cut Studio 2 applications.