MacRumors

After only two weeks from its initial release, Apple has released a second beta version of their iPhone 3.0 operating system. The new seed is available only to registered iPhone developers. The iPhone 3.0 beta was first introduced earlier this month and includes a number of enhancements:

- Search
- Copy and Paste
- MMS
- Tethering Support
- In-App Purchases
- Push notifications
- Many new APIs for developers

At this early stage, there are no reports of any obvious changes in today's seed. Apple is expected to release the final version of iPhone 3.0 to consumers this summer.

Lazard Captial Markets analyst Daniel Amir believes that Apple is working on two new iPhones that will arrive in the coming months. These would include a high end 32GB iPhone with camera improvements as well as a low-end 3G version. Production for the devices would being in April and ramp up in May, with a release in June.

[Amir] noted, however, that the low-end version may only be available in the fast-growing, emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, while the high-end version is expected to make its way to North America and Europe.

As with most analyst reports, "channel partner" checks are cited as the source.

A 32GB iPhone has been long expected and has been dependent on the release of suitably dense memory chips that could fit within the current iPhone casing. A couple of vendors have announced possible memory chips that would be available this year. As a whole, analysts have been notoriously unreliable sources, and this particular group has no notable track record. Still, a June release of the new iPhone is certainly expected. Now with WWDC's dates set for June, Apple has an appropriate venue to announce new products.

Today is April 1st, 2009 and represents April Fools' Day -- so readers should be wary of hoaxes and claims at both news and rumor sites today. Today also represents Apple's 33rd anniversary, as the company was founded on April 1st, 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

April Fools' Day pranks around the web (to be updated):

- Adding "&flip=1" to a YouTube page results in an interesting view: Example: Apple's 1984 commercial (flipped)
- Google Australia's gBall

MacRumors does not participate in April Fools' Day prank news stories. All stories posted today are real.

AppleInsider reports that Apple may release updated versions of its Xserve rackmountable server computers within the next few weeks. The new models are expected to utilize new Intel Xeon 3500 "Bloomfield" processors, as well as the same Xeon 5500 "Gainestown" processors found in the new Mac Pro but only officially introduced yesterday.

New models, should they follow the same configuration format, would therefore include a single processor model capable of accepting 2.66GHz, 2.93GHz, and 3.2GHz quad-core Bloomfield chips and a dual-pocessor model that would take two 2.26GHz, 2.66GHz, 2.8GHz, or 2.93GHz quad-core Gainestown chips.

"Gainestown" is also available in 2.4GHz, 2.53GHz, and 3.2GHz variants, though Apple has expressed little interest in these parts thus far.

AppleInsider notes that Apple's online store is showing shipping times of 5-7 business days for the Xserve, down from a 1-2 week window offered late last week, suggesting that a refresh may be just around the corner. Apple Store representatives are also reportedly informing Xserve customers of possible short-term delays to their orders.

Skype, Inc. has just released their official Skype application for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Skype is a very popular voice-over-IP (VOIP) and instant messaging application that allows you to make phone calls over the internet. Calls can be made to other Skype users or to those with regular landline phones. CNet spent some time with the release version of the iPhone app:

Skype's screens are well organized and use the iPhone's ability to add filters, for instance, to sort your contacts alphabetically, or by who's online. There's chatting as well, though Skype's flagship feature is its VoIP calling that's free to other Skype users and an inexpensive per-minute fee to landlines. Calls on Skype for iPhone work only if you're in range of a Wi-Fi network, so your call quality will in part be at the mercy and strength of wireless networks nearby--calls will not work over the cell phone network on the iPhone (but chatting will.)

As restricted by Apple, the voice-over-IP phone calls will only work over Wi-Fi and not over the cellular connection. iPod Touch owners with a microphone can also take advantage of the VOIP calling.

App Store Link: Skype, Free

IDG announced today on its Macworld Expo page and in an e-mail to previous attendees that the 2010 event will take place from February 9th through 13th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

IDG World Expo announced today that Macworld will be moving from its traditional January event dates to February 9 - 13, 2010. The location will remain at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA.

As we began the planning process for 2010, the Mac community - exhibitors, attendees, media and fans of the show - made it clear that February would be a more ideal time to hold the event, so we listened. The Conference programs are scheduled for Tuesday through Saturday, February 9 - 13 and the Expo will be held Thursday through Saturday, February 11-13th.

Apple previously announced that 2009 would be their final year participating in Macworld Expo.

A series of images from a Russian magazine which claims to depict a "MacBook Mini" have been circulating on the internet. The specs on the described machine as said to include the following:

- 10.4" WXGA display.
- 1280 x 768 pixel with LED backlighting.
- NVIDIA MCP79
- Intel Atom Z740 1.83GHz with 1MB L2 cache.
- 2GB DDR3-800.
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
- 64GB Solid State Drive.
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n
- 1 x USB 2.0
- 1 x Mini Display Port
- Battery Li-Ion 5100mA

We don't know what to make of the images (scan #1, scan #2), and have our doubts about the legitimacy of the images. Still, with rumors have been circulating that Apple will be entering the netbook market, it makes for interesting speculation. The machine would reportedly retail for approximately $899 in 2009.

Update: One reader claims this is an April Fools joke by the magazine.

Last week, game developers descended on San Francisco to take part in the 2009 Game Developers Conference (GDC). GDC was broken up into different segments with the first two days dedicated to Mobile gaming. The mobile keynote speech was given by Ngmoco's CEO Neil Young and was appropriately titled Why the iPhone just changed everything. Young's keynote described the dramatic change the iPhone brought to the mobile gaming industry which was previously focused on carrier negotiations and porting to all the different handheld variants.

Perhaps most telling was the fact that the iPhone dominated the Independent Games Festival awards in Mobile at GDC winning 6 out of 7 categories, including Best Mobile Game. iPhone winners included (app names link directly to app store):

- Mobile Audio Achievement Award: Zen Bound (Secret Exit)
- Technical Achievement: Real Racing (Firemint) - Preview
- Art: Fieldrunners (Subatomic Studios)
- Design: Galcon (Hassey Enterprises)
- Best iPhone Game: Zen Bound (Secret Exit)
- IGF Mobile Best Game: Fieldrunners (Subatomic Studios)

All iPhone finalists have also been listed by Apple on a special page in the iTunes App Store.

GDC also served to be the launching/demo ground for a number of notable future iPhone gaming titles including 14 new titles from EA, Paramount's Top Gun, Showtime's Dexter, and Ngmoco's Star Defense, Touch Pet Dogs, and LiveFire. Id software even recently released their classic Wolfenstein 3D to the App Store, with plans to port Doom in the near future.

Most notable is the fact that the App Store is less than a year old, so the iPhone had no presence at GDC last year.

Other World Computing has begun selling 4GB SDRAM memory modules for the Quad-Core Nehlaem Mac Pros that were introduced in March. A reader emailed OWC and confirmed that 4GB modules had been successfully tested on the Quad-Core Mac Pros.

According to Apple's official specs, the Quad-Core Mac Pros only support up to 2GB modules in its 4 memory slots resulting in a maximum installed memory of only 8GB. This finding by OWC means the maximum installed memory in these new machines is at least 16GB. While the cost of 4GB modules is somewhat prohibitive at the moment, this should ensure future expandability as the price of memory drops.

In contrast, Apple's 8-Core models carry 8 memory slots total and can officially support 4GB modules bringing their maximum installed memory capacity to 32GB. This advertised 8GB max vs 32GB max RAM discrepancy between the Quad and 8-Core machines has been a major issue for some customers. Apple has been known to under-advertise the maximum ram capacities for their machines in the past.

Microsoft has begun a new ad campaign focused on pricing differences between Macs and PCs. The most prominent piece of the campaign deployed so far has been a TV commercial in which "Lauren" is given a $1000 budget with which to find a 17" notebook computer. After a brief stop at a "Mac Store" where she comes away empty-handed noting that the only computer available for under $1000 has a 13" screen and saying "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person," she settles on a $699 HP notebook from Best Buy.

Another aspect of Microsoft's new campaign is web banner ads that have begun appearing today on a number of sites, including The New York Times. The ads feature two "slot machines", each showing either a Mac or a PC and two other items meant to illustrate how much extra spending money a PC purchaser would have left over to spend on other items when compared to a Mac purchaser. The ads are interactive, allowing users to click to "spin again" and see different combinations of items.

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple retail stores are now offering the iPhone 3G with no contract commitment required. The 8 GB model is priced at $599 and the 16 GB model is priced at $699. The move comes just as AT&T deploys a similar offer, which was leaked last week and quickly confirmed by AT&T.

Apple's offer comes with fewer restrictions than AT&T's, as Apple retail stores are apparently not limiting sales to one per customer and are not requiring that purchasers be current AT&T customers.

While the phones are still technically locked to AT&T service, it is possible (but not supported) to unlock the phones for use with other mobile service providers. In the US, that is largely limited to T-Moble and Metro PCS, although both GSM providers do not support the 3G network the iPhone 3G needs to connect at faster than EDGE speeds.

Apple announced today that this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will take place from June 8th through 12th in the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco. Basic promotional information on what attendees can expect is provided on Apple's site, but the full schedule of events is yet to be published.

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is the premier technical event for developers and IT professionals innovating with Apple platforms. Over 1,000 Apple engineers will be at Moscone West to present the latest Apple technologies and provide you with code-level guidance. Youll learn how to harness the power of iPhone OS, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, and Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard in the most efficient and sophisticated way possible saving you time and accelerating your development. Bring your MacBook and your imagination, and prepare to make your ideas happen.

As it did last year, Apple is offering three tracks for attendees: iPhone, Mac, and IT. The conference will include technical sessions, hands-on labs, as well as other special events. Registration is $1295 before April 24th, after which the price will increase to $1595.