MacRumors

Just four days after the last developer seed, Apple has released yet another version of OS X 10.5.7 to developers. The new seed, designated Build 9J50, contains only a single documented fix related to Bluetooth networking. World of Apple republishes the seed notes, revealing the extensive list of changes made throughout the series of developer seeds and noting that the inability to install Safari 4 Beta remains the only documented known issue.

The increased pace of developer releases and the small number of changes in each iteration suggest that work on OS X 10.5.7 is wrapping up and that a public release should be expected in the near future.

The Wall Street Journal reports that AT&T's exclusive offering of the iPhone will expire next year but that AT&T is working with Apple to extend it to 2011.

But AT&T's exclusive deal to carry the iPhone in the U.S. expires next year, according to people familiar with the matter, and Mr. Stephenson is now in discussions with Apple Inc. to get an extension until 2011.

The exact length of exclusivity has been a bit murky with initial reports claiming as far out as 2012 but the most recent reports corroborating the 2010 date.

AT&T has benefited from the exclusive iPhone offering attracting 4.3 million iPhone subscribers in the second half of 2008 with about 40% of them being new to AT&T. If the agreement does expire, this could open up the iPhone to become available with other U.S. carriers. This may, however, require some variations in hardware in order to accommodate other networks.

Apple today seeded the third beta version of iPhone OS 3.0, along with a new build of the software development kit (SDK), to developers. World of Apple republishes the seed notes for the SDK, detailing a number of changes to various components, including Xcode, Interface Builder, and Dashcode, and notes that applications targeting pre-OS 3.0 devices are unable to be tested on the latest beta.

Apple has this evening released beta 3 (build 7A280f) of iPhone OS 3.0 due for release in the Summer.

Of note in the latest seed is that Apple advises developers, "Applications targeting devices prior to iPhone OS 3.0 beta cannot be tested in this seed. This bug is intended to be fixed in a future seed."

Changes to the iPhone OS 3.0 beta 3 will not become apparent at first.

No visible changes in the new version of the OS have yet been detailed. The last beta was seeded to developers on March 31st.

DigiTimes publishes this list of component suppliers for the next-generation iPhone that is rumored to arrive in mid 2009. The component list isn't particularly revealing except it reinforces the rumor that Apple will be using a 3.2 megapixel camera from OmniVision in the next generation iPhone. The current iPhone uses a 2 megapixel camera.

DigiTimes' sources claim that the suppliers will begin shipping in May and the first batch is estimated at around 5 million units.

BusinessWeek reports on a teardown of the new iPod shuffle by research firm iSuppli, revealing that Apple's diminutive player contains approximately $22 worth of parts.

All told, the cost of the shuffle's components, the headphones, and the packaging it ships in comes to $21.77, according to iSuppli's estimates. That's about 28% of the device's retail price. The smaller the component cost as a percentage of price, the higher the potential profit. This suggests the per-unit profit margin on the shuffle is higher than on other iPod models. The component cost for the first iPod touch released in 2007, for instance, amounted to about $147, or about 49% of its $299 retail price. The component cost of the third-generation iPod nano, also released in 2007, amounted to about 40% of its retail price.

According to iSuppli's analysis, over half the cost comes from two Samsung components, the main controller chip and the 4GB of flash memory at approximately $6 each. The battery, capacitors, and resistors in the new iPod shuffle were also discovered to be remarkably small by industry standards.

The device contains a tiny lithium ion battery that costs $1.20, and that Rassweiler describes as "the smallest we've ever seen." And for a company that doesn't ignore the tiniest of details, the most mundane of components are the most advanced available. The device's so-called passive components - capacitors and resistors - are unusually small. Known by their numeric label 01005, which in electronics shorthand describes their dimensions in millionths of a meter, they're about the size of a grain of salt and cost fractions of a penny each. But they're half the size of what had previously been considered the smallest device of their type, those labeled 0201.

iSuppli's calculations consider only the actual parts of the device and do not include research and development, manufacturing, distribution, and patent royalty costs.

Slashphone recaps a ChinaTimes / Commercial Times report which claims that Apple has placed an order for 4 million units of the next generation iPhone. Per Slashphone's summary:

According to its insider news, Apple has already ordered 4 million units of new iPhones and expected to receive the shipment by end of this quarter. These iPhones might be a combination of 3 new models, with one only supports EDGE wireless data connection, another one for 3G wireless data connection and one model made for China market (for Chinas TD-SCDMA network?). There will not be iPhone Nano and the new iPhone 2009 will be similar to the current iPhone 3G, according to the report.

China Times had may have somewhat accurately predicted the original iPhone's production in 2007. The possibility of multiple versions of the next iPhone has been raised in an earlier analyst report with the possibility of a high-end and low-end model.

Apple is rumored to be revising its iPhone this summer with the 2009 WWDC in June being the likely announcement venue.

As part of Apple's one billion app countdown for their iTunes App Store, they have also compiled a list of the all-time top 20 apps [App Store] for both Paid and Free apps.

Perhaps most interesting is what the potential market for a very successful paid iPhone app might be. A few numbers have been released for some of the top iPhone apps that gives us an idea of the numbers involved. Here is a collection of the known sales numbers for some of the top 20 paid apps. App titles link directly to App Store.

#2. Koi Pond - The New York Times published just a few days ago reveals that Blimp Pilots' virtual pond app has been downloaded an estimated 900,000 times giving the developers about $623,000 after Apple's cut.

#3. Enigmo - Pangea's puzzle game appeared early in the App Store. Pangea's Brian Greenstone recently revealed in a YouTube video that Enigmo sold 810,000 units between July 2008 and January 2009 (likely the bulk of sales). The price of this app has bounced between $9.99 and $0.99 making it difficult to estimate earnings.

#12. Pocket God - This recent hit is another entertainment app that puts you in control of a small island of inhabitants. Bolt Creative's Dave Castelnuovo revealed in a TouchArcade forum post that their app had sold about 500,000 copies as of late March. An impressive feat since it has only been around since January, earning the developers about $350,000 so far.

#19. iShoot - An artillery game by one-man company Ethan Nicholas who is the latest rags-to-riches App Store story. Nicholas revealed to the New York Times that he had made $800,000 in five months. His app has held mostly at a $2.99 pricepoint, which estimates his total sales at over 380,000 downloads.

One aspect of the Wall Street Journal article published today that we failed to mention in our previous coverage was that Apple is indeed working on a new type of device.

According to The Wall Street Journal's sources, Apple is working on a portable device that is "smaller than its current laptop computers but bigger than the iPhone or iPod Touch."

No other details were provided but there have been ongoing rumors that Apple has been working on either a tablet or netbook device. In fact, some reports even combine the two concepts into a single touchscreen device. Netbooks traditionally resemble smaller laptop computers and typically include a keyboard. Apple's ongoing research into multi-touch, however, has generated speculation that Apple may incorporate more advanced gesturing into a future device.

The Wall Street Journal reports that despite his medical leave, Steve Jobs has remained very involved in Apple's strategies and planning:

Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook runs the day-to-day operations at Apple, these people say. But Mr. Jobs has continued to work on the company's most important strategies and products from home, they say. He regularly reviews products and product plans, and was particularly involved in the user interface of the new iPhone operating system that Apple unveiled last month, these people say.

Apple announced in January that Steve Jobs would take a medical leave of absence from the company until June and that Tim Cook would take over day-to-day operations.

According to the Wall Street Journal's sources, Apple remains "much the same" as before Steve Jobs' departure and Jobs is still expected to return to Apple in June. Jobs reportedly did not respond to requests for comment but Apple spokesman Steve Dowling is quoted as saying "Steve continues to look forward to returning to Apple at the end of June."

Engadget posts evidence that Microsoft is further positioning itself directly against Apple's product line. Marketing images of a so-called "Zune HD" whos an iPod touch-like media player.

We present what might possibly be your first look at, yes... the Zune HD. In the gallery below, you can see images from what appears to be a forthcoming marketing campaign for Microsoft's new PMP. We don't have any word on specs right now, though we've got a sneaking suspicion this will have an HD display.

Microsoft's Zune music player was originally launched in November 2006 as a competitor to the iPod. Zune sales have not been particularly impressive and still falls well behind the iPod in marketshare.

A "Zune HD", however, would position a device head-to-head against Apple's iPod Touch which has seen tremendous sales since its introduction. Apple revealed that there have been 13 million iPod Touches up until December 2008. The popularity of the iPod Touch, however, is in part due to the increasing popularity of the iTunes App Store. Specifically, Apple has been aggressively marketing the iPod Touch as a gaming device. It's unclear if Microsoft's "Zune HD" would do anything more than playback movies and TV shows.

Apple today launched a 1 Billion App Countdown promotion, offering the opportunity for users to enter to win a package of prizes valued at over $13,000.

As of today, nearly one billion apps have been downloaded around the globe. So we just want to say thanks - a billion. Download an app and you'll automatically get the chance to win a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro. Just go to the iTunes Store, browse the App Store, and download your best app yet.

Entries are limited to users 13 years and older from participating countries. Users are limited to 25 entries per day, and the contest closes when the billionth app is downloaded.

Apple offered similar promotions to mark 100 million (2004) and 1 billion (2006) iTunes song downloads.

Apple notified developers yesterday that Push notifications have been turned on and that iPhone developers can now start testing their applications with the service.

Start testing your applications using the Apple Push Notification service today. Log in to the iPhone Dev Center and review the Apple Push Notification Programming Guide and Getting Started video

The Push Notification service is Apple's substitute for background processes and was originally planned for a September 2008 release. Apple announced in March that they would finally be delivering the service alongside iPhone 3.0 which is due this summer.

This system allows iPhone applications to receive updates while they are not actively running. Apple has claimed that allowing background processes on the current iPhone would sacrifice too much battery power for it to be practical.