MacRumors

American Technology Reseach analysts provide commentary and predictions on what may come from Apple at WWDC next week.

According to Shaw Wu, they anticipate that Apple's pro desktop will make the move to Intel, with a 70% chance that at least one of the other Mac models could see a speed bump with use of the recently released Core 2 Duo processor.

Meanwhile, new iPods are not expected due at WWDC - but instead are felt to be released in late September-October.

Apple will, of course, be featuring Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) at WWDC this year as previously reported. There has been little leaked information about the upcoming version of Mac OS X beyond the little-corroborated LoopRumors reports.

As always, MacRumors will provide live coverage of the WWDC Keynote which will take place Monday August 7th.

Now available via Software Update:

Security Update 2006-004 is recommended for all users and improves the security of the following components.

AFP Server
Bluetooth
Bom
DHCP
dyld
fetchmail
gnuzip
ImageIO
LaunchServices
OpenSSH
telnet
WebKit

For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798.

Macworld.co.uk reports that Apple has provided an intial response to Norway's Consumer Council regarding Apple's Digital Rights Management and the terms of service in Apple's iTunes Music store.

The contents of the response are not yet public, but Macworld.co.uk claims that "the contents of the letter could determine the future of the iTunes music store in Norway, Sweden and Denmark."

The initial complaint filed was based on Apple's Digital Rights Management protection that accompanies every iTunes song sold. Apple's DRM reportedly violates the Norwegian Copyright Act because the songs can only be played on Apple's iPod.

The French legislature recently received a lot of attention for trying to pass a similar law in France. There was speculation that Apple would withdraw iTunes from France if the law came into effect. In the end a softened version of the law passed in France and has had no immediate effects on Apple iTunes France.

Apple announced today that they are continuing to aggressively license new video content for the iTunes Music Store.

TBS and Apple announced that programming from CNN, Adult Swim and the Cartoon Network is now available for purchase from iTunes.

CNN, the world' news leader, will provide original episodes of "CNN Presents," including "Taming the Beast: Inside the War on Cancer," "The Fight Over Faith" and "Captured: Inside the Army's Secret School." Drawing from the worlds largest cartoon library, Cartoon Network will provide episodes from the networks series "Johnny Bravo" (season one). Adult Swim, Cartoon Network's late night sister service dedicated to edgy animated comedy and action series, will provide episodes from original productions, including "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," "The Venture Bros.," and "Sealab 2021" (season three).

Apple had recently added shows from E! and the WB to iTunes.

Apple has announced a worldwide Battery Exchange Program for its 15" MacBook Pro. According to Apple, the affected batteries do not pose a safety risk, but rather "do not meet [Apple's] high standards for battery performance... You may continue to use your current battery until a replacement arrives." Arstechnica speculates that the cause of the exchange may be due to random system shutdowns that some users have been experiencing with faulty batteries.

The affected batteries have model number A1175 and a 12-digit serial number that ends with U7SA, U7SB or U7SC.

Contrary to recent reports, Engadget says that Apple's rumored "iPhone" may appear as early as August.

A reader is reporting to us that a coworker's tech-unsavvy friend, who is regularly hired by Apple to do marketing photo shoots, was recently brought on to take some shots of "the sleekest, sexiest damn phone he's ever seen."

It has been well-established that Apple has been working on an Apple-branded phone for some time, however the release date has been difficult to pinpoint. Recently, various patents (1, 2) have been uncovered regarding Apple's cell phone technology and Peter Oppenheimer made comments during Apple's Q3 2006 conference call virtually acknowledging Apple's work on the product, stating "We're not sitting around doing nothing" with regard to cell phones.

Update: Engadget points to an AppleInsider post revealing that the June 28th iPod updater package has some Phone related text strings such as "t_feature_app_PHONE_APP, kPhoneSignalStrength, clPhoneCallModel, clPhoneCallHistoryModel, prPhoneSettingsMenu".

CNN reports that Metallica has finally decided to allow digital distribution of their music on the iTunes Music Store. Metallica made headlines in 2000 for being vocal against online piracy and for suing Napster and a number of universities for promoting piracy.

Other notable additions to iTunes have included E! Entertainment shows and WB shows. Of note, the Pilot episode of Aquaman is being offered. This episode is unique in that it represents a rejected series originally intended for the Fall 2006 season.

Aquaman, developed for the outgoing WB, and rejected by the incoming CW, was the biggest curiosity piece brought to iTunes as part of a new deal between the Apple Computer service and Warner Bros.

Aquaman is the #1 selling show on iTunes today and has been doing well since its release on iTunes.

ZDNet reports on Microsoft's recently revealed audio player initiative known as "Zune". Last week Microsoft confirmed that they were entering the music player market with an integrated solution for music, called Zune:

"We do need a more consistent experience," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a January interview. "That doesn't mean it's bad to have a variety of devices. I think that's great. But there are some things we need to make sure are more consistently delivered across the portable devices."

In the latest article, Microsoft's president of the Entertainment and Devices Division states that the Zune initiative is a long term effort with tie ins into other Microsoft projects including the Xbox, Media center and Live Anywhere gaming.

Bach didn't offer new details on Zune but said creating a sense of community and making it easier to find new music are central to it. "We're not just introducing Zune to do the same thing other people do," Bach said. Still, he said, the company expects it to take three to five years for the effort to really pay off.

Intel announced the long anticipated Core 2 Duo processors today. Intel announced 10 new chips including 5 designed for latops (Merom) and 5 for desktops (Conroe).

Core 2 Duo runs at slower clock speeds than Pentium-era chips, but is still more productive because it handles more calculations per clock cycle, said Sean Tucker, a product manager at HP. Thanks to that slower speed, Core 2 Duo chips need less electricity, drawing just 65 watts compared to the Pentium 4s 95 watts and Pentium Ds 130 watts.

Intel has already started shipping Core 2 Duo chips to manufacturers, so the first Core 2 Duo Desktop machines should reach consumers in early August. Meanwhile Core 2 Duo laptops will reach consumers by the end of August.

Conroe and Merom are successors to the Core Duo processor which was introduced by Intel early this year. The Core Duo (Yonah) was the first Intel chip used in Apple's switch to intel earlier this year.

At present Apple's lineup is as follows:

Intel: MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini: Core Duo or Core Solo (Yonah)
PowerPC: PowerMac, Xserve: PowerPC 970 (G5)

Newer processors from Intel sharing a new architecture now include:
Core 2 Duo mobile (Merom)
Core 2 Duo desktop (Conroe)
Xeon 5100 (Woodcrest)

Woodcrest is rumored to be used in the Mac Pro, which is expected be released at WWDC 2006. Apple's use of the Core 2 Duo is not yet clear, but the Core 2 Duo mobile (Merom) is pin compatible with the current Core Duo (Yonah). This means that Apple could easily upgrade the existing Intel-based Macs to the newer processor with no design changes.

Sonic Solutions announced that the newest version of Toast 7 will incorporate Blu-Ray support for the Mac.

This represents the first Blu-Ray support for Macs. With the new format, users will be able to store as much as 50GB of data per disc. The first supported Blu-Ray drives will be shipping later this quarter.

Toast's Blu-ray Disc features include Toast Dynamic Writing, which for the first time enables users to record files simply by dragging and dropping files onto a disc in the same convenient way they would move or copy files to a removable storage device. The ability to store as much as 50 GB of data makes Toast an ideal solution for archiving extensive digital music collections or protecting critical files and precious memories too large to fit on a standard DVD. In addition to its Blu-ray capabilities, Toast 7 is now also a universal application that runs natively on both Intel-based and PowerPC-based systems.

Little information about Apple's adoption of Blu-ray has been released. Analysts speculate that the Mac Pro (Intel PowerMac) will be the first to incorporate the new drives, but not for a number of months.

Available rumors about the upcoming Mac Pro expect a traditional DVD-R SuperDrive, but the new machines are said to offer an empty optical drive slot for future expansion.

The Mac Pro is expected to be announced on August 7th, 2006 at WWDC 2006.

A recently published patent application from Apple entitled "Proximity detector in handheld device" describes an interesting technology for potential use in the next generation of iPod devices.

Readers should realize that while Apple continues to publish patents on technologies that never make it into shipping products, the concepts described in this patent were referenced by Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou in June 2006:

Apple is about to unveil the next generation of iPod, the best-selling music player in the U.S., using a "none-touch" concept, Gou said without elaborating

At the time the "none-touch" description was speculated to be an audio-interface, but this recent patent describes:

A method for initiating floating controls on an electronic device, the method comprising: detecting the presence of an object above and spaced away from a surface of the electronic device; and displaying a particular graphical user interface element on a display of the electronic device when the object is detected above the surface of the electronic device.

Essentially, as users point their fingers towards the screen, the appropriate controls would appear on the screen - such as a scroll wheel. Example images show the scroll wheel appearing and disappearing based on the user interaction. Meanwhile, the user's intentions are interpreted based on Gestures - which have previously been described.

DailyTech reports that a filing with the Federal Communications Commission reveals that Apple has developed a Bluetooth (wireless) version of its Mighty Mouse, otherwise identical to the current model and its touch-sensitive cover, Scroll Ball, and force-sensing side buttons.

The new Mighty Mouse uses two standard AA batteries and will be compatible with OS X 10.4.6 and later. No release date is set for the new Bluetooth Mighty Mouse -- currently codenamed M6, but judging from the FCC filing, the new mouse should arrive soon.

MacRumors recently received word that Apple repair technicians and phone support had been briefed on how to deal with the new hardware, indicating a release may be imminent. The Mighty Mouse was introduced in August 2005.

Update: According to a picture of a preliminary product manual obtained by AppleInsider, the new wireless Mighty Mouse will use Laser tracking in place of the Optical tracking system the current USB Mighty Mouse uses. Laser-based mice typically are more accurate and less prone to errors on extremely smooth surfaces.

Update 2: Apple has released the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse. Features not found in the previous version are bluetooth wireless capabilities (of course) and laser tracking.

Engadget claims that according to two separate "trustworthy" sources, Apple is working on incorporating electronic books into the next versions of the iPod.

We'd say the possibility is very real, since according to a source at a major publishing house, they were just ordered to archive all their manuscripts -- every single one -- and send them over to Apple's Cupertino HQ.

They also claim that the upcoming iPod will have "a substantial amount of screen real estate" alongwith a book-reading mode for easy reading. This rumor is consistent with long-standing rumors of a full screen video iPod that would launch alongside iTunes Movie sales.

Engadget believes that Apple would also launch electronic book sales via iTunes as well to provide content for this new iPod functionality. The reliability of Engadget's sources are unknown.

Intel is shipping Core 2 Duo Mobile chips (Merom) to manufacturers, according to recent Intel financial report. A recent AppleInsider story had indicated that Intel may have plans to move up Merom's formal launch to next Monday, July 23rd, to coincide with the Core 2 Duo Desktop variant ("Conroe") launch. Despite the move, availablility at the time was still not expected until August.

Merom is expected to replace Core Duo "Yonah" CPUs found in the MacBook Pro. Apple could use the 2.0, 2.16, or the 2.33 GHz variants of Merom in its MacBook Pro line, each of which sport 4 MB of L2 Cache (up from 2 MB in current MacBook Pros) and have a 667 MHz frontside bus.

Along with the recent encouraging 3Q 2006 financial results from Apple on Wednesday, independent research firms Gartner and IDC have recently reported on 2Q 2006 market share (via MacWorld). Both firms report solid gains from 1 year ago, with IDC reporting a jump from 4.4 to 4.8% U.S. Marketshare and Gartner reporting a jump from 4.3 to 4.6%, making the Mac maker the 4th largest maker of computers behind Dell (32%), HP (18.9%), and Gateway (6.2%).

This is the first reported gains in marketshare for Apple since the Intel transition, as last quarter saw minor losses. From last quarter, it appears as though Apple has gained an entire percentage point in market share (up from 3.5-3.6% 1Q 2006).