MacRumors

9to5mac claims to have heard from a "tipster" that Apple could announce a Verizon iPhone as early as Macworld San Francisco 2009. 9to5 points to "falsely reported rumors" about Apple's exclusivity deal with AT&T "if one exists".

The problem with the report is that the Apple and AT&T exclusivity deal is fact, not rumor. AT&T's Stan Sigman announced that the iPhone was exclusive to AT&T in a "multi-year" contract at Macworld San Francisco when the iPhone was first launched.

While the length of the contract remains up for debate, the last report from USA Today claims that AT&T's exclusivity with the iPhone has been extended to 2010:

In exchange for its payout, AT&T got a year extension, into 2010, on its exclusive distribution deal with Apple, people familiar with the matter say. Sources asked to not be named because the terms are confidential.

Unless this most recent USA Today report is wrong, Apple will be unable to launch an iPhone on Verizon's network until at least 2010. And if they do decide to do so, Apple will have to manufacture a different iPhone to be compatible with Verizon's network.

Joe Wilcox of Microsoft-Watch analyzes the latest notebook marketshare data from the NPD Group. He specifically looks at the revenue breakdown and Apple's long term decision to compete at the high-end market for notebooks.

Despite Apple's relatively modest marketshare (~10%), they capture 30% of the revenue amongst notebook manufacturers. As Wilcox puts it, "for every three dollars spent on notebooks at U.S. retail, one went to a Mac." This reflects the higher sales cost of Apple's notebooks which have an average sales price of $1471 as compared to Windows laptop average sales price of $694. Wilcox questions if the growth of low-cost netbooks will change Apple's strategy but acknowledges Apple's success with this high-margin plan.

Apple's notebook marketshare may be even more impressive in select markets. MacUser reports that Amherst College has seen a shift in computer ownership of their incoming freshman. Students in last year's and this year's incoming class are now more likely to own a Mac than a PC.

Over the weekend, Apple has implemented some changes to the way their iTunes App Store listings and reviews are handled.

One issue that had been the source of developer frustration is that anyone had previously been allowed to leave "Customer Reviews" -- even for apps they had not personally purchased. This led to a frequent comments complaining about price from individuals who had never bought the application. A simple change this weekend now requires customers to have bought the application in order to be able to leave a customer review. Both customers and developers seem pleased about this change.

Another change has been the removal of the "All iPhone Applications" link which has typically provided a method for customers to view the most recently released applications. Instead, users must visit individual categories to see the latest releases. This change may be part of larger changes, however. One developer claims (via AppleInsider) that App Store listings are now organized by true release dates rather than most recent updates. In the past, any version update would bump an application to the top of the list, increasing its exposure.

While this would be a welcome change that should prevent frequent and unnecessary app "updates", without the presence of the "All iPhone Applications" listing, the benefit is limited, since users have to visit each individual category to find new applications.

In the meanwhile, readers can use these RSS feeds (currently in testing) to find new applications, version updates, and price drops in the App Store:

All Changes
New Apps (All)
New Apps (Free)
New Apps (Paid)
Price Drops (and Increases)
Version Updates

A new photograph claiming to be the new MacBook Pro has been circulating since yesterday. We've neglected to post the image since we felt it was clearly fake. Based on his sources, Jason O'Grady now confirms that the image isn't real and also provides some additional tidbits about the upcoming MacBook Pros.

O'Grady has heard that the new MacBook Pros will retain its more traditional boxy-look and not adopt the tapered edge design of the MacBook Air. We're not sure if that completely correlates with the previously leaked MacBook Pro image that does seem to depict a tapered edge. O'Grady also believes the new MacBook Pro will be thinner and "as much as a half-inch narrower" than existing models. The space savings will reportedly come from a smaller bezel (border) around the screen.

Other details spotted in early prototypes: black "flat top" keyboard like the MacBook Air, slightly smaller trackpad than existing MacBook Pros, and even a split trackpad with two buttons. O'Grady warns that Apple may build multiple prototypes and all these features may not make it to production machines.

In addition, O'Grady claims the incorporation of "full Multi-Touch support" in the new trackpads. At present, the capabilities of the current MacBook Pro trackpad offer basic Multi-Touch support but are limited to a few gestures per application. What "full" support means remains to be seen, but Apple has researched many options.

Apple can be the target of many lawsuits, some more justified than others. One widely reported lawsuit at the time of the iPhone's initial launch attempted to sue Apple over the iPhone's sealed battery, limited number of charge cycles and fee for battery replacement.

Bloomberg reports today that the lawsuit has been dismissed without a trial in a summary judgement.

"Apple disclosed on the outside of the iPhone package that the 'battery has limited recharge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced by Apple service provider,'" Kennelly wrote in his Sept. 23 opinion, quoting the packaging. "Under the circumstances, no reasonable jury could find that deception occurred.''

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.

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: