MacRumors

9to5Mac claims that Apple will be announcing at Macworld that the next version of iWork will be composed of web-based applications. According to the rumor site, that means the future versions of Numbers, Pages and Keynote will be entirely browser based. (Note that this does not necessarily mean that native Mac versions will not also co-exist.)

Apple's move into web-based applications has been clear with the release of MobileMe's extensive Mail and Address Book applications composed entirely out of web-based technologies such as Javascript. In fact, there had previously been talk of an entire "Webkit-based" platform after Apple had adopted the SproutCore framework for use in MobileMe.

Developers have been constantly pushing the boundaries of what a web application can accomplish. 280 Slides is an example of a browser-based version of Keynote/Powerpoint written by former Apple employees.

TUAW believes that the Mac mini will indeed see an update at Macworld San Francisco next week. Rumors of a Mac mini update have been ongoing with most expectations pointing to Macworld.

TUAW's report is light on details but expects at least two major changes

- The internal optical drive will be an SATA drive that can be swapped out with a second SATA hard drive
- Design will change from the current white plastic to black plastic and aluminum.

Based on circulating evidence, we also expect the new Mac minis to be based on the NVIDIA chipsets. This design change should guarantee the use of the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card at a minimum. This should improve the graphics capabilities of the mini significantly over the current design.

Earlier this month, Wired also reported that the new Mac mini would be released at Macworld.

TechCrunch claims to have heard from three independent sources that Apple will be releasing a "large screen iPod touch device" with a 7-9 inch screen. According to the site, one of their sources have actually seen and handled one of the prototypes.

Apple has been experimenting internally with large form tablet devices for years, one source says, but there was concern that users wouldn't like the device. The difference now is the iTunes app store, which has thousands of games and other applications that are perfect for a touch screen device with an accelerometer.

The new device is said to be compatible with the applications in the App Store and is expected to be released in the Fall of 2009.

While TechCrunch does not frequently report on original Apple rumors, the information is consistent with historically reliable sources that Apple was working on a mini-tablet or PDA-like device about 1.5x the size of the current iPhone.

Over the weekend, Intel added five new mobile CPUs to their product line. The most notable addition is a Core 2 Quad Q9000 processor which is a quad-core processor that runs at a speed of 2.0GHz and is available for only $348 in 1000 unit lots. The cost of this quad-core chip is significantly less than its earlier counterparts. Acer has already announced a new Quad-core notebook based on the chip and priced at only $1800. Meanwhile, at least one site has suggested that Apple could do the same with a new 17" MacBook Pro model which is due for an update.

Even if Apple does not adopt this new mobile quad-core processor, Intel has also added four new dual-core options that would be suitable for either Apple's notebook or iMac product line. The new processors include a 2.53GHz, two 2.66GHz and a 2.93GHz model. Apple's current notebook offerings top out at 2.8GHz as a build-to-order option. Apple could also use these processors in the expected iMac updates.

As this could very well be the last Macworld event, MacRumors.com is co-hosting a "Macworld Finale Bash" with iPhone Alley on the evening of the keynote speech -- Tuesday, January 6th, 2009.

The party/meetup will be held at Jillian's restaurant (map) across from Moscone West. Open to all ages, there will be free food and giveaways, but you're responsible for your own alcohol. It will run from 6:00pm to 9:30pm. So, join us for some in-person post-keynote commentary (and iPhone Nano complaining).

The event is kindly sponsored by Delicious Monster, the Mac developers behind the critically acclaimed Delicious Library cataloging software. Try it out and visit their Macworld booth (#2602).

Facebook users can RSVP on the Facebook event page, though this is not required.

Relatively well-known iPhone case manufacturer Vaja has curiously added an "iPhone Nano" listing to their website. The link simply directs you to a form asking you to sign up for information about "the upcoming release of our iPhone nano cases."

While it may be that Vaja is simply taking advantage of the hype surrounding the iPhone Nano, the rumors have been persistent over the past few weeks. While Apple does not give case manufacturers information about unreleased products, Apple must contract out to factories to manufacture their hardware. It is believed that it is through these contracts that case design specs are often leaked ahead of time. As we've said before, case manufacturers have a huge financial incentive to have cases ready in time for new product launches.

Meanwhile, iPhone Nano knock-offs are already been spotted circulating in Thailand and Spain.

9to5Mac reports that Apple has been working on a home media server to access your iTunes and other files anywhere you have internet access. The site compares it to HP's just updated Media Smart Server which offers a centralized location for backup, storage and file delivery to your computers locally as well as remotely:

Your music, photos, videos and other media are part of your life -- but they're scattered over multiple computers, disk drives, CDs, DVDs, and MP3 players.... Macs and iPods too. The HP MediaSmart Server centralizes all your files, from all your home computers, in one place so you can grab them anywhere you have an internet connection and share how you want.

Apple's take on the system would reportedly expand out Time Capsule's functionality from being a single drive backup system into a more robust multi-drive backup server. In addition, tie ins would be made to Apple's MobileMe services to deliver access to your files and media from anywhere on the internet.

9to5mac suggests that media could also be shared to your iPhone and iPod touch, providing full access to your media while mobile. The device could also serve media files to other computers at home as well as to your Apple TV.

Apple's new iPod Touch appears to have been a huge hit this holiday season with evidence that the high end iPod has seen massive gains in marketshare.

The first impact was seen in early sales numbers for App Store applications on Christmas day. The #1 ranked App Store application (iFart Mobile) saw a tripling of sales from 13,000 units a day to almost 39,000 units on Christmas day. This growth in sales, however, was not just isolated to the #1 spot and was seen across the entire App Store. Several game developers on TouchArcade.com reported sales boosts of 3x-4x across all titles, even for titles not in the top 100 listings.

Hit Tennis [App Store] developer Mark Johnson reported a 4x sales increase on Christmas for his tennis game and provides this striking graph (above).

The massive boost in App Store sales appears to be from a large influx of iPod Touch users. Amazon lists the 8GB and 16GB iPod Touch as the best selling MP3 players despite their relatively higher cost. Meanwhile a little creative exploring of Net Application's Hitslink website reveals the following web marketshare graph for the iPod Touch:

The graph shows real time browser marketshare data for the iPod Touch which showed a massive spike on Christmas day. While there is a slight increase in the iPhone graph as well, the majority of the Christmas growth appears to be with the iPod Touch. This trend, of course, reflects the difficulties in gifting an iPhone vs an iPod touch. Net Application generates browser marketshare data based on 160 million visitors from their data pool.

Apple has been marketing the iPod Touch as more than just an MP3 player with a specific focus on gaming. If these trends are true, then some of the boost in App Store downloads should be sustained as it reflects actual marketshare growth rather than just increased spending surrounding the holidays.

Over the holiday weekend, some screenshots and video of the developer release of Snow Leopard were posted to a German site.

Overall, the images show little new from the WWDC build originally released back in July, but may be of interest to some readers. By its nature, Snow Leopard will have little in the way of visual changes and most of the improvements are said to be "under the hood". New Apple technologies such as Grand Central and Open CL will allow developers to easily tap into multi-core CPUs and GPUs that reside in most Macs.

Apple is expected to update the Mac mini and iMac to incorporate the latest NVIDIA GPUs. In doing so, they will enable all shipping Macs to take advantage of many of the benefits of Snow Leopard. Apple is rumored to be showing Snow Leopard at Macworld Expo which kicks off on January 5th.

Several readers have noted that AT&T has started selling refurbished iPhone 3Gs as low as $99 for a limited time.

While AT&T has intermittently offered refurbished iPhones in the past, the $99 price point is noteworthy given the recent rumors that Apple was to introduce a $99 model. Apple's current iPhone starts at $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB. The refurbished models have been discounted $100 to $99 and $199, respectively.

Analysts believed that dropping the starting price of the iPhone to $99 could double or triple projected sales.

Wal-Mart officially announced that the company will start selling Apple's iPhone on Sunday, December 28th. The news confirms multiple reports about the impending sale. The report also confirms that rumors of a $99 Wal-Mart iPhone were incorrect.

Wal-Mart will sell the iPhone for only $2 less than the regular price with a two-year contract: $197 for the 8 GB model, or $297 for the 16GB model.

Despite the Christmas holiday, the U.S. Patent Office continues to be churning away and has revealed this interesting new patent application from Apple called Swipe Gestures for Touch Screen Keyboards. The patent application is authored by Wayne Westerman. While we always enjoy reading research from the former Fingerworks founder, his multi-touch patent applications always seem to be more ambitious than practical. This latest document, however, details some very useful (and practical) additions to the iPhone's on screen keyboard.

Apple suggests the use of swipe gestures to be used on top of the iPhone's on screen keyboard in order to provide the user with quick access to common keys.

For example, erasing and basic punctuation insertion, directional swipes (also referred to herein as "swipe gestures") over the alphabetic keys can be used as an alternative to striking certain keys. Because the Space and Backspace keys are quite frequently used, they are logical candidates for the rightward and leftward swipes, respectively. Leftward and rightward swipes intuitively match the cursor travel caused by these symbols. Following this cursor movement analogy, the Enter/Return may be invoked by a downward swipe, and a Shift/Caps may be invoked by an upward swipe. Alternatively, as the Enter and Shift functions may be less frequently invoked, these may be substituted for other functions as well. One alternative mapping for the upward swipe, for example, could be to activate an alternative numeric and punctuation keypad or a particular punctuation symbol like an apostrophe or period.

A few sample gestures are depicted in the document:

Aside from these single swipe gestures, multi-touch swipes (two fingers) could invoke other special functions. While a single finger left-swipe might delete a letter, a two finger left-swipe could delete a whole word, and a three finger left-swipe could delete a line. Similarly, a single finger right-swipe could add a space, while a two finger right-swipe could add a period. Up swipes and down swipes could also invoke different functions based on the number of fingers used.

Like with Apple's multi-touch notebook trackpads, these optional functions could provide advanced users with many useful shortcuts while not steepening the learning curve for novice users.

Repeating the trend from Black Friday, a number of App Store developers are discounting their apps for the holidays. AppShopper tracks the apps in the App Store and provides a running list of sales. A few notable discounts include:

- Kineo ($4.99 -> $0.99) - draw flipbook animations
- ComiXology ($4.99 -> $1.99) - browse comic book listings
- Equivalence ($4.99 - $0.99) - conversion tool designed for engineers

There is also a separate list for apps that have gone from Paid to Free.

Meanwhile, a notable list of discounted iPhone games has been compiled at TouchArcade.

Update: Other holiday sales include:

- Giving Tree/MacHeist - free Mac apps

Apple's broadening of App Store acceptances has opened the door to a number of new novelty applications including InfoMedia's iFart Mobile [App Store]. The $0.99 humor application has rapidly seen success and has rocketed up to the #1 App Sales slot.

Most interesting is that the developer of the app has been very transparent about his sales numbers during his app's climb in ranking. From a previous blog post:

12/14 - 841 units - #76 overall
12/15 - 1510 units - #39 overall
12/16 - 1797 units - #22 overall
12/17 - 2836 units - #15 overall
12/18 - 3086 units - #10 overall
12/19 - 3117 units - #9 overall
12/20 - 5497 units, - #4 overall

He's since revealed to us the most recent sales numbers for the last couple of days which includes the coveted #1 spot on the App Store's Top 100 sales.

12/21 - 9760 units, #2 overall
12/22 - 13274 units, #1 overall

After Apple's 30% cut, that means the iFart Mobile is generated $9198 in one day.

These sales numbers are especially interesting to developers looking at the potential market for their iPhone apps. From what we've heard from developers, however, these targets do constantly change and have been growing. So app sales for the #1 spot will likely increase over time as the installed market of iPhones and iPod touches continue to increase.

App Store Link: iFart Mobile, $0.99

For completeness sake, we should report that XSKN has now posted the entire series of iPhone Nano cases for sale. Again, we have our doubts about the release of an iPhone Nano, yet it's hard to deny that the two previous case designs that were posted on XSKN did accurately predict upcoming products.

As with previous product shots, the actual iPhone graphics shown within the case are simply existing iPhone promotional shots and do not necessarily represent what the iPhone Nano interface would look like.