MacRumors

Earlier today we posted a screenshot on our dedicated iPhone blog (RSS) that claimed to depict a new On/Off option to enable 3G speeds. This new preference was found in the latest iPhone 2.0 Beta 5 distributed to developers. By default, the preference is hidden, but one developer (Chronic Productions) claims to have activated it. We have since confirmed that the text shown is indeed in the iPhone 2.0 Beta firmware, so the screenshot appears to be legitimate.

While the iPhone 2.0 firmware appears to contain 3G code, current iPhone owners will not be able to take advantage of the 3G speeds without buying the new iPhone. It appears that Apple will be using a common firmware for both the existing iPhone and the unreleased 3G-capable iPhone.

Also of interest is that due to the higher 3G power consumption, Apple is giving users an option to fall back to EDGE speeds in order to prolong battery life.

The 3G-capable iPhone is widely expected to be released in the coming months, possibly at the Worldwide Developer Conference in June.

Both the U.S. and U.K. online Apple Stores are currently out of both the 8GB and 16GB iPhones.

Customers trying to order the iPhone will find that both models are "currently unavailable." This comes just days after UK's O2 carrier's website also reflected that the 8GB and 16GB iPhones were "no longer available". Some speculated O2's lack of iPhones might may have been a decision to deplete regional stock while awaiting the next generation iPhone, but it appears even Apple's U.S. supply of iPhones has dwindled down. Reports from U.S. retail stores have confirmed the same.

Apple has been widely rumored to introduce their next-generation iPhone at their Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC), though that event is still almost on month away. While it remains possible that this is a temporary supply issue, the proximity to WWDC will certainly generate a lot of speculation.

In another class action suit settlement, Apple has reportedly agreed to give refunds of $25-$79 to as many as 2.3 million PowerBook and iBook owners who purchased faulty power adapters that were prone to spark.

Customers who bought certain replacement adapters for PowerBook and iBook computers are eligible for the settlement, according to documents filed in federal court in San Jose. U.S. District Court Judge James Ware granted preliminary approval of the agreement March 24.

The settlement has not yet been finalized with an approval hearing scheduled for September 8th.

One customer had posted a Youtube video demonstrating a sparking power supply, though it was from a MacBook, so it does not appear that it would necessarily qualify for this settlement. Full details on the settlement won't be available until it is finalized.

Longtime MacRumors readers will remember the excitement surrounding Jeff Han's early multitouch videos which predated the launch of the Apple iPhone. Han and his team had explored new user interface designs surrounding the use of a large multi-touch screen. The concepts of zooming in and out of photos and manipulating objects directly on the screen gave many readers their first look at multi-touch technology.

Han went on to found Perceptive Pixel to market large versions of their touch screens for "film studios and other operations where people can use them as high-tech blackboards to brainstorm on projects".

Those following the U.S. primary elections over the past few months may have noticed that CNN had become one of the Perceptive Pixel's first customers. Their "Magic Wall" has been used to show off the large amounts of data coming in from the primaries:

"It's a stupendous way to explain a lot of complicated data," says David Bohrman, chief producer of CNN's political coverage. "Fundamentally, our job is to explain things to people, and we need to do it visually. This lets us do it naturally, without a keyboard or mouse getting in the way."

Han believes its use will expand to other many other areas in the near future:

"News wasn't the first market we thought of, but it's an interesting application," Han says by phone from New York. "Once the election calms down, you can see how this might work for other kinds of news, like financial, weather or sports."

The screen made its debut on CNN in January of this year. Videos from CNN: Photo resizing, Election results, Annotation, Zooming.

Apple, of course, implemented their own version of multi-touch in the iPhone and iPod Touch, and there's been evidence that more advanced multitouch gestures will make their way into Mac OS X.

The Gazette reports that two class-action lawsuits against Apple Canada have been settled with a $45 credit being offered to Canadian residents who purchased a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation iPod prior to June 24, 2004.

The basis of the lawsuit was due to claims that the iPod's battery life shortened to only 3 hours in the second year of ownership despite advertised claims of eight hours between recharges.

As many as 80,000 Canadians could be eligible for the $45 credit which can be used at the Apple online store. The decision mirrors a similar settlement in the U.S. for the same claims. In that case, Apple paid out a $50 credit to affected individuals.

Full details of the settlement are available at http://www.apple.com/ca/ipod/settlement/.

AppleInsider reports on a new Apple patent application that was published today that reveals Apple has done research on a 3D remote similar to the Nintendo Wii remote.

The present invention can include multi-dimensional (e.g., 2-D or 3-D) remote control systems that can detect an absolute location to which a remote control is pointing in first and second orthogonal axes (e.g., the x- and y-axes). Remote control systems of the present invention also can detect the absolute position of the remote control in a third orthogonal axis (e.g., the z-axis).

The 3D remote could be used to manipulate objects and photos on the screen as well as zoom in and out based on user movements.

The patent application describes the use of fixed light sources as well as accelerometers resembling the implementation of the Nintendo Wii controller. The Nintendo Wii has been the surprise hit amongst the next generation gaming consoles primarily due to its innovative controller. AppleInsider speculates that Apple's version of the controller is intended for the Apple TV.

As with all patent applications, this may not represent technology planned for any particular project, though recent job descriptions have listed "remote controls" as one of the technologies Apple is developing. Apple currently ships the simple Apple Remote with their iMacs and Apple TV.

Engadget reports that O2 has posted a notice on their website that both the 8GB and 16GB iPhones are no longer available in the UK. This confirms earlier reports that O2 had end-of-life'd the 8GB iPhone, though it appears even the 16GB iPhone has also run its course.

While the next generation iPhone has been long rumored, most expectations have pointed to an announcement at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference which is not scheduled for more than a month from now.

Meanwhile, we have heard that U.S. stock for the 8GB iPhone has also dwindled down dramatically with few new shipments coming in. Even so, Apple continues to list 24 hour shipping for the iPhone in their UK online store.

Update: O2's website is now showing availability for 16GB iPhones, but the 8GB model remains out of stock.

AT&T's iPhone website (under 'Plans' tab) has been updated to reveal that each iPhone plan now includes access to their "more than 17,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, including Starbucks all for use in the U.S."

It was first revealed last week that AT&T had quietly begun offering iPhone users access to their Wi-Fi hotspots for free (including Starbucks and Barnes & Noble). No official announcement had been made, however, and the service was abruptly turned off a few days later.

AT&T has remained quiet about this new offering, but it's clear they will be officially delivering this service shortly.

Update: AT&T has changed the text on their site to remove the Wi-fi reference. They delay may be due to the fact that AT&T Wi-fi has not yet been universally deployed at Starbucks.

The New York Times reports on NBC's recent decision to publish their television shows on Microsoft's video store for use on their Zune media player. NBC was once a content provider for Apple's iTunes but after months of negotiations, NBC and Apple parted ways last August. Apple had claimed the split was due to pricing but NBC later said it also had to do with Apple's unwillingness to "take concrete steps" to prevent piracy.

NBC Universal's president of digital distribution, J. B. Perrette, provided some clarification about what these "steps" were and how Microsoft has agreed to add software to their Zune to prevent playback of pirated materials:

Mr. Perrette said the plan is to create filtering technology that allows for playback of legitimately purchased content versus non-legitimately purchased content. He said this would be similar to systems being tested by Microsoft, Google and others that are meant to block pirated clips from video sharing sites. NBC is also working with Internet service providers like AT&T to put similar filters right into the network.

The software would attempt to block playback of content downloaded illegally through filesharing networks, and remains in development at this time. Perrette acknowledged that the steps would meet resistance but insists it is necessary to sustain their business over the long term.

Update: Microsoft denies that they will be placing a filter in their Zune:

"Microsoft has no plans or commitments to implement content filtering features in the Zune family of devices as part of our content distribution deal with NBC," the software maker said in a statement.

EETimes provides a little background to the recent acquisition of P.A. Semi by Apple.

According to their source, Apple had already been an investor of the company and had previously been in negotiations with it for low-power PowerPC chips. Apple's switch to Intel, of course, ended these talks and eliminated a potentially large revenue stream from the company.

More recently, Apple is said to have had a new chip design in mind and wanted the P.A. Semi team involved. According to EETimes, P.A. Semi had essentially run out of funding and "the only way to get the project funded was for Apple to pay off the other investors and bring P.A. Semi in-house."

As a result, the $280 million acquisition was to bring their talent in for this new project rather than any specific technologies P.A. Semi had already developed. This explanation is consistent with early statements from P.A. Semi to their existing customers that the company was bought for "intellectual property and engineering talent".

Virtualization software maker VMWare has announced a public beta of VMWare Fusion 2.0.

Topping the list of new features is multiple-display support and experimental DirectX 9 Shader Model 2 support. VMWare notes that hardware acceleration has always been a feature of Fusion, with support for DirectX 8.1 in version 1.0 and DirectX 9 minus pixel shaders in version 1.1. Other improvements are detailed on the Fusion 2.0 beta landing page.

The public beta is free for both current and prospective users, and can be downloaded from VMWare's website. The final version will be a free upgrade to existing 1.1 users.