MacRumors

Apple has seeded some iPhone developers with a new beta iPhone firmware for testing. The new version is labeled iPhone OS 2.2 beta 1 and is accompanied by a new beta of the iPhone SDK (build 9M2611). Beyond "compatibility testing", there are no other differences noted by Apple. It's not clear yet if the new builds have any further implementation of background push notifications that have been promised by Apple.

The latest purported email from Steve Jobs claims that this feature is "running a bit late":

We're running a bit late. We want to get it 100% right the first time.

Steve

Apple released the 2.1 Firmware to the public on September 12th. iPhone 2.1 addressed a number of bugs and stability issues with the iPhone and App Store.

AppleInsider provides some reassurances that MacBook and MacBook Pro updates must be imminent with the new models having reportedly been spotted by sources.

The new 13" MacBooks, 15" MacBook Pros and 17" MacBook Pros are said to share similar Aluminum-based look "as if they were members of the same product family". The current MacBooks and MacBook Pro are very distinct from one another with the MacBook housed in a white or black plastic enclosure.

Again, the new designs were described as a cross between the 13-inch MacBook Air introduced this January and the aluminum iMacs that made their debut during the summer of 2007. In its April report, AppleInsider noted this would include a trimming -- or tapering -- around the edges and instances of black material to contrast the largely aluminum motif of the new notebooks.

In an effort to further reduce the notebook footprint, the new MacBook Pro is said to be eliminating the Firewire 400 port and the 28-pin DVI-I (Dual Link) port. Instead, the cases will contain the smaller (but still backward compatible) Firewire 800 port and "what appears to be" a mini-DVI port.

According to an anonymous report, six new Mac placeholder SKUs have appeared in Future Shop's inventory system. While we've been unable to independently verify this at this time, the placement of early "placeholder" part numbers is consistent with inventory practices of some major retailers.

In February, we saw MacBook Pro part numbers in Best Buy's systems about 3 weeks before the release of the new MacBook Pros. Future Shop is a Canadian subsidiary of Best Buy.

Apple has been rumored to be planning new releases for their laptops (and maybe iMacs) before the holidays. The last rumored date pinpointed October 14th for the launch.

Update: According to one BestBuy poster, these SKUs were set up without any knowledge from Apple with only the circulating expectations that Apple would be releasing notebooks in the near future. As a result, there can be no conclusions drawn from this inventory change, except what we already know, that Apple is expected to release new notebooks in the near future.

CultofMac reports on the relative popularity of recently introduced "Netbooks" from Asus, Acer and Dell. Amazon's top laptop sales list is now dominated by the $400-$600 devices, with Apple's $1299 MacBook being the notable exception in the top 10.

Netbooks refer to a class of laptops that are small-sized, low cost, light weight and optimized for internet usage and word processing. While versions of these laptops have previously existed, Intel is once again pushing this form factor with the recent release of the low-powered Atom processor. These Netbooks typically have 9-10" screens and can cost as low as $329. Analysts believe that a large part of their popularity is due to their lower costs during worsening economic conditions. It has been suggested that Apple may drop the price of the upcoming MacBooks to try to counter this trend.

It has also been rumored that Apple will eventually adopt Intel's Atom (formerly "Silverthorne") processor in an upcoming device. While talk of an Apple sub-notebook has died down since the release of the MacBook Air, at least one analyst expects that Apple is still planning on another sub-notebook.

Apple announced details of an iPhone Developer University program to allow higher education institutions provide courses on iPhone and iPod touch programming.

The University Program provides a wealth of development resources, sophisticated tools for testing and debugging, and the ability to share applications within the same development team. Institutions can also submit applications for distribution in the App Store.

The program is available to accredited, higher education institutions in the U.S. and allows universities an avenue to provide official courses that do not violate Apple's iPhone SDK non-disclosure agreement.

Stanford is taking advantage of Apple's Developer University Program with a new course this fall titled iPhone Application Programming which currently has more than 80 students registered.

Stanford also announced today that they are working on a project to make several of its web-based services available to students as iPhone applications:

A suite of five software applications developed by students is now being tested on campus. Two of them, for managing course registration and bills, are intended for students. The other three will allow access to Stanford's searchable campus map, get team scores and schedules, and check listings in the university's online directory, StanfordWho.

Stanford provides the following screenshots of their iPhone apps in testing:

As graphics professionals figure out the changes found in the recently announced Adobe Creative Suite 4, Wired.com points out one Mac-specific feature of Adobe Photoshop CS4 that's been otherwise unmentioned.

Adobe has added support for Apple's multi-touch trackpad that is found in the MacBook Air and newest MacBook Pro laptops.

The big Mac-specific feature is support for the multi touch pads found on the MacBooks Air and Pro. You can pinch to zoom in and out, twist the image and also "throw" the picture across the screen: if you hold the space bar down, click and drag the image when it is zoomed in and then let go, the picture will continue to move before slowing and coming to rest. It's very similar to the scrolling on the iPhone.

Apple introduced the multi-touch trackpad into the MacBook Air at its release in January and has since added the feature to its MacBook Pros. Apple is rumored to add a glass trackpad to the upcoming MacBook revision.

While Apple provides basic multi-touch support in its own applications such as Safari and iPhoto, one 3rd party application called MultiClutch (beta) allows you to add custom keyboard shortcuts to multi-touch gestures on your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.

Apple has gotten a significant amount of critical press surrounding its rejection policies in the App Store. A few high profile rejections have been widely reported and inspired at least one amusing comic.

Apparently, Apple has now started labeling their rejection letters with Non-Disclosure (NDA) warnings:

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MESSAGE IS UNDER NON-DISCLOSURE

Readers should note that Apple's developer correspondence may have already been covered by the original NDA, but Apple is now making it clear.

In contrast to Apple's approval process for the App Store, the newly announced Android Market claims an entirely unrestricted free-for-all model. Early concerns about that model question how inappropriate, spam, or malicious material may be filtered. It seems that the efforts to prevent issues such as bandwidth abuse have been shifted to the carrier who has implemented caps for the 3G data plans at 1GB per month:

If your total data usage in any billing cycle is more than 1GB, your data throughput for the remainder of that cycle may be reduced to 50 kbps or less.

Apple has started offering users a way to sign up for AT&T service online prior to visiting an Apple Store. The online tool allows you to:

1. Enter your billing information.
2. Review eligibility and pricing.
3. Select your AT&T rate plan.

Once done, you simply need to visit an Apple Retail store to complete your iPhone purchase. This new "at home" option generated some speculation over the weekend. As it turns out, this still requires in-store activation of your iPhone upon purchase.

The most recent analyst numbers predict that Apple will sell 5 million iPhones in Q4 2008 which could bring the total close to Apple's stated goal of 10 million iPhones sold during calendar year 2008.

Google and T-Mobile have introduced the first Android-based mobile phone today called the T-Mobile G1. T-Mobile held a press conference which is available for online streaming. T-Mobile's press conference provided quick overviews of the device and seemed to position the device directly against the Apple iPhone with developers discussing the openness of the platform without any approval process. The phone will be commercially launched on October 22nd alongside a large marketing campaign. Features discussed:

- Amazon mobile music store (press release) preloaded on the G1.
- Built in keyboard. Google Maps. Android Market, YouTube
- Launch on October 22nd
- No tethering option
- SIM-locked to T-Mobile
- Read Word, PDF, Excel files. No exchange compatibility, but 3rd parties could bring it.
- GMail is push, IMAP is pull
- No desktop application to sync
- Interface video
- Specs: 480x320 screen, 3.1MP camera, 5hrs talk time, 1GB MicroSD card preinstalled, GPS, accelerometer. Wi-Fi. 3G. Bluetooth.
- $179 with 2 year contract

Walt Mossberg provides first impressions of the new device and describes it as a "versatile device which will offer users a real alternative in the new handheld computing category the iPhone has occupied alone." Other notes:

- Physical keyboard. Typing "OK"
- Tied to Google web email, contacts, calendar. Support for 3rd party email too.
- "Won't win any beauty contests" but feels good in hand when closed
- Software slick, responsive
- Copy, paste
- Instant Messaging
- Very basic music player, Amazon MP3 downloads
- No built in video player, but you can download one from the Market
- Only comes with 1GB memory. Upgradable to 8GB.
- Removable battery.

Update: Official site up.

Update 2: Comparison video between G1 and iPhone.

Update 3: No 3.5mm headphone jack

The embargo on Adobe's Creative Suite 4 lifted tonight at midnight and a number of news articles have revealed the details of the latest update to Adobe's flagship software package.

Most interestingly, CNet reports that rumors that Adobe's Photoshop CS4 would employ the use of GPU-accelerated graphics were accurate.

The new version of Adobe's flagship software product takes its first steps in using the graphics processing unit, or GPU, said John Nack, principal product manager for Adobe Photoshop. For example, the graphics chip helps Photoshop CS4 fluidly zoom in and out, rotate the canvas so artists can reorient an image for the best sketching angle, display and manipulate 3D objects, and handle color correction.

However, one GPU feature didn't quite make the cut for CS4 is called "Pixel Blender" which allows users to quickly apply special effects. According to Nack, the feature will likely be a free update from Adobe Labs.

A few of the other new Photoshop CS4 features are highlighted at Macworld including:

- Content-Aware scaling
- Nondestructive corrections in the Adjustment panel
- Improved Lightroom integration
- Advanced 3-D features in Photoshop Extended
- New Tabbed interface

Adobe Photoshop CS4 will cost $699 and ship in October. Existing Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS2, or Photoshop CS owners can upgrade for $199. Adobe Photoshop Extended will cost $999 and existing Photoshop CS3 Extended, Photoshop CS2 or Photoshop CS owners can upgrade for $349.

Of course, Adobe also introduced CS4 versions of their other applications. Additional coverage:

Photoshop CS4: TGDaily First Look, "Sneak Peek" Videos
Indesign CS4: Macworld
Illustrator CS4: CNet, Macworld, DigitalArtsOnline
After Effects CS4: DigitalArtsOnline
Premiere Pro CS4: DigitalArtsOnline
SoundBooth CS4: CNet

Full details and pricing information can be obtained from Adobe.com.

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Adobe is selling CS4 packages through their online store or Amazon.com.

There's been some speculation amongst the mac web about a codename ("Brick") associated with the upcoming MacBook update.

The name originates from 9to5Mac, apparently based on the same Asian sources as the "rainbow" iPod Nanos. The "rainbow" iPod nano rumors were apparently misinterpreted as multi-colored individual iPods, but in retrospect, it seems the term instead related to the colors of the rainbow that the new iPod nano are now available in.

Since then, the site has been told that the new MacBook update will be 'all about the Brick'. The exact meaning of which is left up for debate.

Some are speculating that it is a completely separate device, but based on 9to5's reports it seems clear it has to do specifically with the MacBook which is also rumored to have a glass touchpad.