MacRumors

It seems the "iPhone Nano" is the rumor that is going take the spotlight ahead of this year's Macworld, and while MacRumors is publishing these photos and rumors, we have some serious doubts about the likelihood of such a device. These doubts are based both in the quality of the sources as well as the practicality of introducing a new form factor to the iPhone/iPod Touch platform.

This image, which was submitted anonymously, provides a glance at what the rumored iPhone nano may look like. The images appear consistent with previously released case designs for the rumored device.

At this point, we have no reason to believe this photo is real and are labeling it a "concept" design for the sake of discussion and debate. (Full size version of image.)

iPhone case manufacturer XSKN has labeled a section on their site for the "iPhone Nano". This description suggests that long running rumors of a miniaturized iPhone could be true.

XSKN gained some notoriety earlier this year when it began selling cases for the then-unreleased iPhone 3G. The company again received headlines in September with case images of unreleased 4th Generation iPod Nano designs. Both times, some readers had questioned if these were simply publicity stunts, though both sets of images later turned out to be accurate.

This time, XSKN has not published images of the purported "iPhone Nano", but iDealsChina did so earlier this month. While we don't believe XSKN or any case manufacturers have official knowledge of Apple's future plans, there is enormous financial incentive for these companies to obtain early information about Apple's next product.

To add more uncertainty into the mix, we've heard that some of Apple's initial plans for Macworld may have been delayed. So, even if an iPhone Nano was originally in the works, we're not sure when we'd actually see one.

Configuration files buried within some versions of Mac OS X show evidence that the next iMac and Mac Mini will indeed be based on the NVIDIA MCP79 chipset. Apple recently switched their MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models to the NVIDIA chipsets in October. Amongst other benefits, the new notebooks have much improved graphics card capabilities, which make them more suitable to take advantage of OpenCL technologies coming in Snow Leopard.

Apple will apparently be bringing these improvements to both the new iMac and Mac mini. While many have expected the iMac to receive these upgrades, the fate of the Mac mini has been less certain.

A configuration file found in the Mac OS X version that ships with the new MacBook and MacBook Pros reveal entries referencing unreleased "MacMini3,1" and "iMac9,1" models. The relevant lines have been excerpted here:

The CFG_MCP79 appears to refer to the NVIDIA MCP79 chipset, which suggests these unannounced models will use this new chipset. The currently shipping iMac and Macmini carry model numbers of iMac8,1 and Macmini2,1. The findings were originally described in a forum post that we've subsequently verified. The references are found in System -> Library -> Extensions -> IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext -> Contents -> PlugIns -> ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext -> Contents -> Info.plist in the new MacBook or MacBook Pro.

Apple released a technote detailing an issue that some users have run into while installing the latest Mac OS X Software Update.

When attempting to update software using Software Update in Mac OS X 10.5, the update process may stop responding while "Configuring installation" is visible in the update window.

Apple describes that this may happen when trying to install a partially downloaded update. The work-around is to remove the partially downloaded update and try again. The incomplete update files may be found in "/Library/Updates" and can be safely deleted before trying Software Update again.

Alternatively, users can download the Combo update (list here) and install it themselves.

It seems that the bug resulting in the partially downloaded file affects Mac OS X 10.5.1 through 10.5.5. Once you successfully installed 10.5.6, the issue seems to be fixed for future updates.

BBC announced that a version of the iPlayer that works on the Mac and Linux computers is now available.

The iPlayer is the BBC's online media player that lets viewers stream programmes for up to seven days after broadcast or download and watch them for up to 30 days.

While streaming had previously been available to Mac users, downloading had not. When the iPlayer first launched it was criticized for only being compatible with Windows XP. The new version of the iPlayer was written with Adobe's AIR platform.

The product is currently in public beta with a final release expected in February 2009.

The Guardian claims that Apple and its partners have been privately dropping hints to developers that Mac OS X Snow Leopard will ship earlier than expected and suggests that Phil Schiller will show it off at Macworld.

The article also recaps the advantages of both Grand Central and OpenCL which will be introduced with the new operating system:

The first technology, Grand Central, is designed to make better use of the Intel processors that sit inside the current range of Macs. The other, OpenCL, could have a more dramatic effect on performance for some programs as it will tap into the power of graphics processors (GPUs) that now goes to waste.

Despite the early showing, actual delivery of the software is not expected for at least a couple of months later. This timeframe would still bring it into the 1st Quarter 2009 timeframe that was previously suggested by Apple's Director of Engineering of Unix Technologies.

Apple's patent applications sometimes enter into bizarre and conceptual territory. This week's patent application reveals research into portable multi-touch skins that can be placed on three dimensional objects:

The one or more multi-touch skins enable multi-touch inputs during the operation of the object. The multi-touch inputs can be tracked to monitor the operation of the object and provide feedback to the operator of the object. The one or more multi-touch skins can further enable gestures for configuring and operating the object. The one or more multi-touch skins can also be used to implement any number of GUI interface objects and actions. A multi-touch skin that measures the force of a touch in one or more directions is also provided.

The Multi-Touch skins could be used on sporting equipment such as a tennis racket, golf club or hockey stick. They could also be applied to steering wheels:

Multi-touch skins 410 and 420 can also be used together to configure the operation of the vehicle (e.g., its steering wheel) and another skin. For example, the tapping of two fingers on multi-touch skin 410 can be used to change the mode for multi-touch skin 420 from volume selection for the radio to wiper speed selection. The tapping of an index finger on multi-touch skin 420 would then correspond to a step increase in wiper speed while the tapping of a pinky finer would then correspond to a step decrease in wiper speed.

Perhaps more practical is a set of new multi-touch gestures described by Wayne Westerman formerly of Fingerworks. Westerman describes the detection of a pinch/rotate/drag motion that could be used on a multi-touch surface.

- For example, a user can pinch the GUI object to grab it while dragging it to a desired location by translating the pinching fingers along the sensor panel surface to a desired drop location.
- Because a combined finger pinch/translation/liftoff gesture is a "dramatic" gesture, it can be used to throw a GUI object in the trash or to another desktop or window, minimize a window (pinch to minimize while translating to send the minimized window down to a corner), or send a file to a printer (pinch to select while translating to a printer icon), and the like.
- Another embodiment can be a pinch and pick up gesture, wherein proximity sensors detect the direction of the hand after pickup. A screen may then be activated in that direction (either highlighted or opened).

According to a press release from Imagination Technologies Group, Apple is "subscribing for" 8,200,000 new shares of Imagination Technologies Group which means Apple will have an ownership interest of 3.6% in the company. The press release also reveals that Apple is a licensee of Imagination's technology.

This is the first public confirmation that Apple is both a licensee and investor in the company which is responsible for the PowerVR 3D chipset for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

In September, Imagination Technologies announced that they had secured a new "multi-year, multi-use license agreement" with an unnamed company that gave access to both current and future PowerVR graphics and video cores. Apple was speculated to be the licensee at that time.

Combined with the acquisition of P.A. Semi and ARM licensing, it seems Apple has assembled everything it needs to build out new custom iPhones, iPod Touches or other mobile devices.

A few times a year, MacRumors partners with MacUpdate to promote their Mac application bundle deal. Their latest bundle delivers up to 10 Mac applications for $49.99 (a $447.96 value if all purchased separately) ends today:

- Drive Genius 2 ($99): diagnoses and repairs problems with your hard drive, optimizes your system, and more.
- RapidWeaver 4 ($79): Create professional-looking Web sites quickly and easily.
- DefaultFolder X 4 ($34.95): Fly through Open & Save dialog boxes at lightning speed.
- VirusBarrier X 10.5 ($69.95): Fast, simple, and non-intrusive anti-virus software.
- MacGourmet Deluxe ($44.95): Like iTunes for food, track recipes, plan meals, manage wines, and more.
- LittleSnitch 2 ($29.95): Monitors your network connection to make sure your Mac only sends out what you want it to.
- KeyCue 4 ($27): Displays full keyboard shortcuts for all your applications
- MacPilot 3 ($19.95): Access hundreds of hidden features to customize and improve your Mac OS X experience.
- WhatSize 4 ($12.99): Identify files that are hogging disk space.
- iVolume 3 ($29.95): Ensures all your iTunes tracks play back at the same volume level.

MacRumors is a promotional partner with MacUpdate. Bundle sales through these links benefit MacRumors financially, and provide a way for readers to directly support this site.

As more reactions come in, Apple's stock has dropped in the setting of downgrades by at least one financial analyst from Oppenheimer & Co. Businessweek's Arik Hesseldahl hopes that this might mean that Apple could show up at CES, though this would go against Apple's reasoning that trade shows are simply less important.

Gizmodo reports that Apple had been planning to get out of Macworld for a long time.

They almost quit in 2002, but about two years ago I was sharing some wine with a friend from Apple and he told me: "We are going to phase out all trade shows". "Even MacWorld?," I asked. "Yes," he said, "MacWorld will go too. I don't know when, but it will."

Readers may remember that Apple pulled out of Macworld Boston in 2002 due to disagreements with the show's organizer IDG. The Macworld Boston show was cancelled soon after.