MacRumors

In an article from The New York Times, the cost for a company like Apple to develop an ARM-based mobile chip such as the A4 used in its forthcoming iPad tablet is estimated at approximately $1 billion, even without the need to invest in manufacturing facilities for the chips due to agreements with existing chip foundries for production.

At the same time, Apple, Nvidia and Qualcomm are designing their own takes on ARM-based mobile chips that will be made by the contract foundries. Even without the direct investment of a factory, it can cost these companies about $1 billion to create a smartphone chip from scratch.

Chip industry expert Fred Weber notes in the report that Apple's iPhone was the first "really aspirational device" not based on Intel chips, demonstrating the power and versatility of ARM-based chip designs. The iPhone's success has consequently driven a surge of interest in the platform from other mobile vendors and even more traditional notebook vendors like HP and Lenovo looking to incorporate the power-saving yet capable chips into their products.

"Apple was the first company to make a really aspirational device that wasn't based on Intel chips and Microsoft's Windows," said Fred Weber, a chip industry veteran. "The iPhone broke some psychological barriers people had about trying new products and helped drive this consumer electronics push."

Apple acquired chip design firm P.A. Semi in early 2008, reportedly enabling Apple to pursue in-house ARM-based designs for system-on-chip platforms for the iPad and iPhone.

The New York Times reports that television networks are continuing to resist Apple's push to lower episode pricing for their shows to $0.99, down from the current $1.99 price point for standard definition content. The networks reportedly continue to be skeptical of the value of such price cuts, despite claims that some of them have agreed to participate in a trial of the lower pricing to coincide with the launch of Apple's iPad.

Television production is expensive, and the networks are wary of selling shows for less. They are equally wary of harming their far more lucrative deals with affiliates and cable distributors, who may feel threatened by online storefronts like Apple's and those operated by Amazon, Microsoft and Sony.

But the networks do not want to ignore the 125 million customers with credit cards who have iTunes accounts, either. "We're willing to try anything, but the key word is 'try,' " said a TV network executive who requested anonymity because his company had declined to comment publicly on talks with Apple.

Comments from CBS CEO Leslie Moonves suggested that his company is talking with Apple about participating in the trial, and today's report notes that PBS is currently running a three-week experiment with reduced pricing on several of its children's shows.

Apple has also been said to be pushing for a television subscription service that would allow users to replace their cable television service with a package of popular TV shows distributed through iTunes for $30 per month. While networks have also been reluctant to consider such an offering, sources indicate that the possibility remains under discussion.

In Bloomberg BusinessWeek's fourth annual customer service rankings released late last week, Apple placed third behind catalog retail site L.L. Bean and insurance company USAA, a new high for the company. According to the report, which combined data from consumer satisfaction firm J.D. Power with survey results from over 1,000 of the magazine's own readers, Apple scored A+ ratings for both "quality of staff" and "efficiency of service".

The company's sleek devices and user-friendly software aren't its only innovations. Appointments at Apple's (AAPL) "Genius Bars" and its roving in-store checkout clerks are just two ways the company has pioneered new approaches to customer service. The iPhone maker is likely got a bump this year as more companies created customer-friendly apps for their own services, helping to burnish Apple's customer service brand.

Other metrics included in the survey were the percentage of survey respondents who would "definitely recommend" the Apple brand (66%) and "definitely repurchase" from Apple (58%). The only other computer manufacturer to make the list of top 25 companies was Dell, which checked in at #23.

Apple improved from 20th place in last year's study on the basis of strong improvement in the "quality of staff" category. Apple had ranked 21st in 2008 and 18th in 2007.

We're planning on writing this one off as a web-blunder, but one reader points out that Apple seems to have reverted their iPad promotional video back to one which renders the NYTimes Flash content correctly.

The iPad promotional video caused a lot of buzz when it was discovered that it depicted properly working Flash content on NYTimes' website. As it turns out, the videos are essentially mock-ups and were never purposefully intended to depict the iPad running Flash. Apple was even quick to post a new version of the video properly showing a broken Flash plug-in in the place of the video content. The incident even generated an FTC complaint against Apple for false advertising. So, why would Apple change it back now?

The easiest explanation is that either Apple or Akamai made a mistake this weekend and republished the original video. Meanwhile, an absurd and essentially impossible alternative given Steve Jobs' comments about Flash is that the iPad will support Flash. If this was a purposeful switch back, perhaps the NYTimes may plan on offering HTML5 content (which does play on the iPad) for their video content, much like YouTube and Vimeo have started doing.

Chances are, however, the video will again be corrected in the near future.

Update: Apple has changed it back to showing a broken Flash icon.

Late last week, the news broke that Apple was removing "overtly sexual" applications from the App Store. The list of applications that have been removed have not only included novelty apps and adult themed slideshow apps, but also a number of games including Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet. This graph provided by AppShopper.com shows that on a typical day, about 100 apps are removed from the U.S. App Store. This includes forcible removals by Apple as well as instances where a developer has chosen to remove an application from sale.

On Wednesday, February 17th, however, this number shot up to 932 removals and peaked at nearly 4000 removals on Thursday, February 18th. The high number of removals has continued over the weekend as Apple continues to clear out these newly blocked apps. In speaking with Apple, ChilliFresh found out that over 5000 apps were affected, which corresponds to AppShopper's stats as of Saturday, though the higher than normal rate of removals seem to be continuing. So far, the removals represent about 3% of the total number of apps in the App Store.

While the merit of Apple's new policy remains an ongoing debate, the new policy may slightly improve some of the clutter found in the App Store as the most prolific "sexy app" developer had published nearly 500 variants of their bikini photobooks.

AppAdvice claims that the iPad pre-orders could start as early as February 25th. The pre-orders are said to be for the U.S. Wi-Fi model initially. It's really not much to go on, but Apple hasn't given any indication about their launch plans for the iPad. During their press event, Jobs simply said that the Wi-Fi version would be shipping in 60 days, which places it into the last week of March.

While Apple did allow for pre-orders for the iPhone 3GS, the original iPhone launch was on a first-come first-serve basis at retail stores. The Wi-Fi iPad, however, does not require any long term contracts to be set up, making pre-orders more likely a possibility. Apple would have to get FCC approval for the device before being able to place it on sale. AppAdvice, however, isn't a particularly reliable source of rumors as they previously claimed the iPhone 3GS would have an OLED screen and FM transmitter (both of which were not true).

As the actual launch approaches, many are hoping and speculating that there may be some unannounced software features for the iPad that might not have been finished at the time of the media event. It's not without precedent, as Apple did announce YouTube support for the original iPhone just 9 days before its actual launch.

Kevin Fox had noted that several of the iPhone/iPod Touch minor applications were missing from the iPad. These include Stocks, Weather, Voice Memo, Clock, and Calculator. He goes on to suggest that these minor apps could return as some sort of Dashboard-like widget system.

With last week's release of a software update addressing heat and performance issues experienced by users of Apple's Nehalem Mac Pro models while playing audio, many users have reported significant improvements brought by the software fix.

Macworld today provides some numbers to back up those claims, showing a distinct improvement in performance and heat after applying the update.

Before the update, running an Aperture 2 import test took 19 percent longer to complete when iTunes was playing in the background than when Aperture ran alone. After installing the update, we saw just a one-second time difference.

Similarly, a Compressor encode test took 16 percent longer when we ran that program at the same we were running iTunes before we installed the firmware update. Afterward, the gap also narrowed to one second after the update.

In addition to the near-elimination of performance hits caused by playing audio in iTunes, the update also appears to have addressed heat and power issues, with average CPU temperatures while playing audio dropping from 120 degrees to 90 degrees and CPU and power supply draws also seeing significant decreases.

The report notes that the software update released by Apple last week is limited to machines running Mac OS X Snow Leopard, while users of Apple's Mac OS X Leopard had also reported similar issues when playing audio. It is unclear whether Apple is planning a similar software patch for Leopard-based systems.

Last week, a report that video site Hulu might be making its way to the iPad generated a significant amount of interest, with many users excited about the prospect of free access to television content on Apple's forthcoming tablet device. MediaMemo reports, however, that iPad access to Hulu is more likely to come as part of a paid subscription package than as free access like the computer-based version of the site.

Hulu and its owners -- three of the big broadcast TV networks -- want to bring some version of the Web video service to Apple's device.

But the most likely scenario is one where access to Hulu on the iPad comes as part of a subscription package, multiple people familiar with the company tell me.

Hulu has in the past noted that it is looking for a way to introduce paid content to its offerings, and today's report indicates that company executives may be thinking that the best way to achieve that goal while preserving the free experience for computer-based users is to charge for mobile-based content such as that which would appear on the iPad.

And while you could argue that the iPad isn't necessarily a mobile device, since 3G Internet access is an optional feature, Hulu and its owners are likely to classify it as one. Like many other content owners, the video service sees the device as an opportunity to charge for something it has been giving away for free on the Web.

Aside from the previously-documented hurdle Hulu faces with its current video player being Flash-based and Apple's mobile devices not supporting the standard, the company would also need to secure mobile rights from content providers before being able to offer such a service to the iPad and other mobile platforms.

Consequently, the report concludes that Hulu for the iPad is unlikely to launch alongside the device itself next month, but users can probably expect in some form, likely paid, in the future.

AppleInsider reports that it has received information that Apple is planning an enhancement to its next-generation MacBook Pros that will allow for automatic switching between integrated and discrete graphics processors based on whichever is the more optimal technology (power consumption vs. performance) at any given time.

Since October 2008, Apple has offered two NVIDIA graphics processors in its 17" and higher-end 15" MacBook Pro models, one discrete processor and one integrated processor. Users of these machines have been able use the Energy Saver pane in System Preferences to select whether they prefer "better battery life" with the integrated graphics or "higher performance" with the discrete graphics, although switching between the two requires users to log out of their accounts temporarily.

Apple's rumored plans appear to be based on NVIDIA's Optimus technology, which allows for seamless switching between graphics processors based on automatic software settings. NVIDIA reportedly developed the technology in response to a dispute with Intel over NVIDIA's ability to build chipsets for Intel's latest processors, a dispute that has led to NVIDIA exiting the chipset business. NVIDIA's Optimus technology offers computer manufacturers an enticing means to pair NVIDIA's well-regarded discrete graphics processors with integrated processors provided by Intel as part of its chipsets.

Today's report notes that the source is not 100% certain that the change will be made in time to appear in Apple's next-generation MacBook Pro, which is widely expected in the near future. Apple's pressing need for a solution to the situation presented by the Intel-NVIDIA dispute, however, makes it very likely that the technology will be included in the forthcoming models.

iPhone developer ChilliFresh posted (via TechCrunch) that they received an email from Apple tonight indicating that their iPhone app Wobble iBoobs had been pulled from the App Store. The email revealed that Apple was now removing overtly sexual content due to customer complaints:

The App Store continues to evolve, and as such, we are constantly refining our guidelines. Your application, Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored), contains content that we had originally believed to be suitable for distribution. However, we have recently received numerous complaints from our customers about this type of content, and have changed our guidelines appropriately.

We have decided to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter. If you believe you can make the necessary changes so that Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored) complies with our recent changes, we encourage you to do so and resubmit for review.

Sincerely,
iPhone App Review

A search of other similarly adult themed apps on AppShopper shows that many (but not all) have already been removed from the App Store.

ChilliFresh's app had been well known and generated over $260,000 in its App Store lifetime. The developer points out that his app actually ships with no images and simply uses user supplied images. Meanwhile, at least one other developer seems to have accidentally gotten caught in the crossfire with his Invisible Girl book being removed despite the developer's insistence that the ebook contains no sexual references. Of note, Playboy's official app remains on the App Store at this time.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has been kept busy with claims involving Apple recently, as the company has found itself involved in several high-profile disputes with major corporations over claims of patent infringement. Just a day after the agency agreed to investigate claims made by Kodak against Apple and Research in Motion regarding possible patent infringement, Bloomberg reports that the ITC has granted Apple's request to review actions by Nokia regarding intellectual property.

The ITC is a government agency whose job is to protect the U.S. market from unfair trade practices, including patent infringement. It could complete the investigation in about 15 months.

The battle between Apple and Nokia kicked off last October when Nokia sued Apple for infringement of a number of Nokia-held patents regarding various cellular and Wi-Fi technologies, a suit against which Apple vowed to "vigorously" defend itself. In mid-December, Apple did just that by filing a countersuit addressing Nokia's claims and claiming infringement of 13 Apple-held patents by Nokia.

Nokia responded with a request to the ITC in late December asking for a ban on the importation of "virtually all" Apple products. Apple fired back with its own request to the ITC a few weeks later similarly looking for a ban on importation of Nokia products as the dispute between the two companies continued to escalate.

The ITC granted Nokia's request for a review last month, and has now agreed to consider Apple's request, setting the stage for an independent examination of both companies' cases. As noted yesterday in our report on the Kodak case, the ITC typically grants requests for review, meaning that its decisions in the Nokia cases were not unexpected and any restrictions on the importation of goods from either country are unlikely. The ITC's reviews will, however, offer regulatory perspective on the various claims and the threat of possible importation restrictions will certainly encourage the companies to settle their dispute prior to any official trade-related measures being implemented.

Apple is rapidly seeding new versions of Mac OS X 10.6.3 to developers as they prepare for its release. The latest version was released to developers today and represents build 10D558. Changes listed are detailed by iPhone in Canada:

- Performance improvements for 64-bit Logic
- Addresses compatibility issues with OpenGL-based applications
- Includes changes to QuickTime X that increase reliability and enhance security
- Improves printing reliability and compatibility with 3rd party printers
- Addresses issues that cause background message colors to display incorrectly in Mail
- Issues that caused machines using BTMM and Bonjour Sleep Proxy to wake unexpectedly
- Issues with recurring events in iCal when connected to Exchange servers

The list of changes is identical to the previous build, so the actual changes are likely much less notable. We'd expect Apple to be releasing Mac OS X 10.6.3 to end users in the near future.