MacRumors

Adobe today launched a prerelease version of Flash Player 10.1 for Windows, Mac, and Linux, an early step in the company's effort to bring an integrated media experience to a wide variety of devices and platforms from desktops to smartphones.

Among the improvements available in the prerelease version are support for multi-touch and gestures, as well as local microphone access. Unfortunately, one of the most significant improvements of Flash Player 10.1, hardware-accelerated decoding of H.264 video, is presently only available in the Windows version. According to the release notes for Flash Player 10.1, the feature is unavailable on Mac OS X due to a lack of access to the programming interfaces needed to deploy it.

In Flash Player 10.1, H.264 hardware acceleration is not supported under Linux and Mac OS. Linux currently lacks a developed standard API that supports H.264 hardware video decoding, and Mac OS X does not expose access to the required APIs. We will continue to evaluate adding the feature to Linux and Mac OS in future releases.

In an early review of Flash Player 10.1, however, Anandtech still found significant improvements in CPU utilization under Mac OS X, dropping from 450% CPU load to 190% in viewing full-screen Hulu content on the Mac Pro used for testing.

Going from roughly 450% down to 190% (or a bit over 10% of total CPU utilization across 16 threads) made full-screen Hulu playable on my machine. In the past I always had to run it in a smaller window, but thanks to Flash 10.1 I don't have to any longer.

With actual GPU-accelerated H.264 decoding I'm guessing those CPU utilization numbers could drop to a remotely reasonable value. But it's up to Apple to expose the appropriate hooks to allow Adobe to (eventually) enable that functionality.

Until then, even OS X users have something to look forward to with the Flash 10.1 upgrade.

Additional information on the features of Flash Player 10.1, including several video demos and interviews, can be found on Adobe's site.

Earlier this month, AT&T filed suit against rival Verizon over a series of Verizon commercials attacking AT&T's wireless network, claiming that the ads were "blatantly false and misleading".

Late yesterday, Engadget reported that Verizon had filed a 53-page legal response to the lawsuit, and taken the opportunity to focus the case on what it claims is AT&T's failure to commit the resources to build out its network appropriately. The tone of Verizon's response is set from the very first sentence of its response's introduction:

AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon's "There's A Map For That" advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon's ads are true and the truth hurts.

Six pages later, Verizon concludes its introduction with a similar take:

In the final analysis, AT&T seeks emergency relief because Verizon's side-by-side, apples-to-apples comparison of its own 3G coverage with AT&T's confirms what the marketplace has been saying for months: AT&T failed to invest adequately in the necessary infrastructure to expand its 3G coverage to support its growth in smartphone business, and the usefulness of its service to smartphone users has suffered accordingly. AT&T may not like the message that the ads send, but this Court should reject its efforts to silence the messenger.

The remainder of the document consists of Verizon's argument that its commercials touting five times more 3G coverage than AT&T are truthful, a fact that AT&T has at its most basic level admitted. Verizon parries AT&T's complaint that blank areas on the AT&T coverage maps used in Verizon ads are misleading consumers into thinking that no coverage is available when in fact non-3G coverage is offered in those areas by noting that it has held itself to the same standard as AT&T, showing as blank on its own coverage map depictions any areas not covered by its 3G network.

Verizon also takes issue with the procedural details of AT&T's lawsuit, claiming that the company has neither shown that irreparable damage to AT&T from Verizon's ads is likely nor demonstrated why infringement of Verizon's First Amendment freedom of speech should be permitted. Finally, Verizon points to the "free flow of commercial information" as being crucial to consumers, noting that comparative advertising is a common and effective means of assisting customers with purchasing decisions while also driving pricing competition and innovation.

Late last week, Palm announced the release of webOS 1.3.1 in its blog, and Boy Genius Report noted over the weekend that iTunes media synchronization is missing in this latest update.

Palm and Apple have played a cat-and-mouse game over the ability of Palm's webOS to sync media through iTunes since the release of the Palm Pre earlier this year. Prior to the Pre's release, Jon Johansen explained that the Pre was most likely presenting itself as an iPod in order to trick iTunes into recognizing it as a valid device with which to sync, a theory that turned out to be correct once the Pre was released.

Just over a month after the release of the Pre, an update to iTunes broke the device's ability to sync media directly via iTunes. In response, Palm re-enabled iTunes media synchronization with webOS 1.1, after which another iTunes update broke it once again. The cycle repeated yet again with iTunes 9 and webOS 1.2.1 before Apple fired the most recent salvo by disabling webOS media sync via iTunes once again with the release of iTunes 9.0.2.

In between these sallies, Palm had even complained to the USB Implementers Forum, claiming that Apple was improperly using the Vendor ID number in its use of the USB standard to exclude non-Apple devices from syncing with iTunes. In the end, the USB Implementers Forum sided with Apple and turned the tables on Palm, pointing out Palm's own failure to use the single Vendor ID assigned to the company and its products appropriately.

Given Palm's apparent tenacity when it comes to webOS and iTunes synchronization over the past few months, it may be premature to suppose that the company has given up its fight to sync directly with iTunes, but the company has yet to deploy any further attempts at compatibility.

CNNMoney.com today reports on the continued hype over Apple's much-rumored tablet computer, citing the multitude of different speculative reports of the device's specs to attempt to paint a picture what users can expect when it is finally announced.

If the rumors are true, the tablet will be able to do basically everything a gadget could possibly do. It's an e-reader, a gaming device, and a music player. You can watch TV and movies on it and surf the Internet (or so we've heard). And it will have thousands of third-party apps available for it ... or maybe it will run Mac OS X. That's all still unknown.

The report reiterates a number of rumors that have been circulating in recent months, including a price point ranging from $600 to $1000, multiple models with and without 3G connectivity, and integrated webcam.

Many Apple fans are eagerly anticipating the device, wondering exactly how Apple is aiming to remake the tablet and netbook market segments in much the same way the iPod and iPhone found novel ways to bring new dimensions to the music player and smartphone device categories.

"The Tablet will be awesome, and my guess is that it will be an instant hit for people who loved Kindles and people who want netbooks," said David Wertheimer, executive director of Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center.

Wertheimer said he finds it hard to comprehend how the tablet will replace all other on-the-go tech products. "But then again, what I can't imagine, Steve Jobs often can," he added.

Others are not so sanguine about the prospects of an Apple tablet being able to serve as an all-in-one device capable of replacing users' computers, media players, and e-Book readers.

"What we've found in the past with these multi-function devices is that they're better for ad-hoc purposes, like quick and dirty tasks," said Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with Yankee Group. "They're not for any prolonged, high-performance use."

While Apple remains as tight-lipped as always about its tablet plans, consumers and industry experts alike are left speculating on just what Steve Jobs and Apple have up their collective sleeve. If rumors are to believed, however, Apple may finally be ready to show its hand early next year, and the market will then decide how well the device achieves Apple's goals and measures up to expectations.

MacRumors has heard from several sources that Apple is preparing to launch a "Concierge" iPhone application targeted at customers of its retail stores. The application will reportedly provide many of the same functions available through the company's retail store online reservations system, allowing customers to schedule Genius Bar and One to One appointments from their mobile devices. Sources have also indicated that the application will allow users to keep tabs on their premium membership subscriptions offered by the company.

There is no word yet on when the application, which will presumably be free to download, is expected to appear in the App Store.

On a separate note, MacRumors has also heard that Apple will be opening a new retail store this weekend in the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, New Hampshire, the company's second location in the state. Like the existing Salem, NH store, the Nashua store is located only a short drive from the Boston metropolitan area and is expected to draw heavily from cross-border shoppers looking to take advantage of New Hampshire's lack of state sales taxes.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is reported to have approached mobile advertising firm AdMob about a possible acquisition just prior Google's announcement that it had agreed to purchase the company for $750 million in stock.

AdMob Inc. was approached by Apple Inc. about an acquisition before the company agreed to a $750 million offer from Google Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

Apple contacted AdMob a few weeks before Google made its bid, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations weren't public.

It is unclear from the report's sources the extent of Apple's seriousness regarding the potential offer, but any interest at all on Apple's part appears to reveal that the company has considered moving beyond its traditional hardware and software offerings onto Google's turf of online and mobile application advertising.

Buying AdMob would have allowed Apple to expand into online advertising, a strategy that Nokia Oyj is pursuing, Weide said.

"If a lot of traffic goes through my devices, why can't I become the middleman that serves ads against that inventory?" Weide said. "AdMob would have allowed them to do that quickly."

Following on the heels of news that Apple is hiring iPhone game developers, Apple may be looking to move beyond simply providing the tools and infrastructure that have fed the iPhone's success and begin enhanced efforts to pursue its own App Store content and other revenue streams associated with the applications available in the store.

According to Digitimes, Intel is poised to launch their Arrandale mobile CPUs in January 2010.

Intel plans to launch four 32nm dual-core Arrandale CPUs (Calpella platform), the Core i5-520M, Core i5-430M, Core i3-350M and Core i3-330M, in the first half of January 2010 for the mainstream notebook segment, according to sources from notebook players.

The Arrandale CPUs are based on the advanced Nehalem architecture first introduced into Macs earlier this year. These new mobile processors are said to come in mainstream as well as low-voltage variants that will make them suitable for both the MacBook Pros as well as ultra-thin notebooks such as the MacBook Air. These new chips are expected to deliver significant performance boosts over the currently shipping Apple notebooks.

Apple last updated the MacBook Pro line in June 2009.

Apple appears to be getting even more serious about gaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch. We've long known that Apple has been positioning the iPod Touch as a gaming device, and Steve Jobs even acknowledged to the New York Times the success of this initiative:

"Originally, we weren't exactly sure how to market the Touch. Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine," he said. "We started to market it that way, and it just took off."

In the past couple of weeks, Apple held a "game day" for select media in which they demonstrated some high profile upcoming games, including Star Wars Trench Run and SGN's Skies of Glory. The platform has already attracted some high profile developers including id Software's John Carmack who believes it could be a serious threat to Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP.

"I think mid- to long-term it's a significant threat," he says. "I don't carry a DS or a PSP around, but I've got my iPhone everywhere. So if it plays good games, I'm less likely to pick one of the others up. ... I think the stars could align and it could start to eclipse those other systems in terms of unit sales."

In fact, id Software is so positive about the iPhone platform, they are winding down their development of BREW/Java mobile games for other mobile phones in favor of focusing on the App Store. id Software recently ported Doom to the iPhone and has plans on bringing the entire Quake franchise as well as an original Rage-based game to the App Store.

Apple is now recruiting (via AppleInsider) for a game developer with "3-4 years of video game development experience" who has shipped at least one high profile title. Apple did ship one game (Texas Hold'em) for the original App Store launch but has yet not released any other games under their own brand. Apple has also recently hired Graeme Devine a notable game developer who was also the lead designer for Halo Wars. While the purpose of these hires is unclear, it seems Apple is starting to take gaming very seriously.

Groklaw reports on the early outcome of the Apple vs. Psystar case from a report filed on Friday. According to the court documents, Apple's motion for summary judgment on copyright infringement and DMCA violation is granted.

So that means damages ahead for Psystar on the copyright issues just decided on summary judgment, at a minimum. The court asked for briefs on that subject. In short, Psystar is toast. Psystar's only hope now is Florida, and frankly I wouldn't bet the house on that one. Judges notice if you were just found guilty of a similar cause of action in another state.

Psystar and Apple have been in legal battle after Psystar began selling Mac clones back in April. Psystar provided modified versions of Mac OS X to run on their generic PC hardware, opening the door for lower-cost Mac clones. Psystar's efforts generated a massive amount of attention and Apple eventually filed suit in July citing copyright violations.

This judgement appears to end Psystar as a business despite continued efforts to establish a legitimate business on generic Mac OS X computers.

The delivery of the Core i7-based iMacs have generated the usual discussion threads about unboxing, impressions and benchmarks. The performance of the high-end iMacs have been of particular interest due to the new incorporation of desktop-class processors into Apple's consumer line.

Various Geekbench and Cinebench scores for the new i7 iMacs have been reported. The best visual representation is provided by this blog entry at Timon-Royer.com which compiled the Geekbench scores across all currently shipping iMacs:

Update: Timon Royer has updated his blog post with a new chart correcting a minor error on the Core i5-based iMac data and adding results for the latest Mac Pro models for comparison purposes.

The holiday season has become more relevant for those looking for a discount on Apple computers as there has been an increasing number of vendors willing to hold short term sales/rebates on Macs over the past few years.

Due to a variety of circumstances, this year's holiday season is likely to be particularly strong for Mac sales. Apple has recently revised the iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook, while the MacBook Pro revisions are only 5 months old -- and without an Apple attended Macworld looming in January, there is a low likelihood of any imminent updates to most of the Mac product line.

MacMall is kicking off early with a weekend sale that incorporate instant discounts as well as mail-in rebates across Apple's current lineup. This particular sale ends on Sunday at 11:59pm Pacific Time, and the Mac line-up is organized in this table. As an affiliate partner, sales through these links benefit this site directly.

Apple, themselves, will likely also hold a Black Friday sale both online and at their retail stores, though their discounts have always been very modest. Like last year, we'll organize the most interesting sales for a Black Friday summary.