MacRumors

Only one week after the release of Mac OS X 10.5.3, Apple has already started seeding developers with the first version of Mac OS X 10.5.4 (build 9E6). The latest developer seed lists no known issues and details only a handful of fixes to Mac OS X. Apple appears to be aggressively seeding developers with the latest builds of Mac OS X and waiting only days between builds.

This release comes only days head of Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference which is rumored to introduce us to Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), Apple's next major Mac OS X version. As typical, Apple will continue to work on bug fixes on the current version of Mac OS X while the new version is readied. There is no known timeframe for the 10.5.4 release but Apple can wait months between these maintenance releases.

The WebKit project announced this week a new and improved JavaScript interpreter, code-named SquirrelFish.

SquirrelFish promises 1.6 times faster JavaScript performance as compared to Webkit/Safari 3.1. This is accomplished by using "a register-based, direct-threaded, high-level bytecode engine" which aims to eliminate the overhead associated with traditional syntax tree walking interpreters like the one currently used in Safari 3.1.x.

SunSpider runs per minute. Longer bars are better. Image courtesy webkit.org

The introduction of this open-source effort means these improvements will almost certainly be propagated into future versions of Apple's Safari web browser, however the timing is unknown. Javascript is a scripting language that is commonly used on many websites.

Of note, Safari 3.1 already brought dramatic speed improvements over 3.0.x, indicating Apple has been and continues to be actively engaged in Safari/WebKit JavaScript performance.

The US Patent and Trademark Office has recently published an extensive patent application, seemingly for features related to the 3G iPhone and software version 2.0, both now expected to be released next Monday.

The device supports a variety of applications, such as one or more of the following: a telephone application, a video conferencing application, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, a blogging application, a photo management application, a digital camera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsing application, a digital music player application, and/or a digital video player application.

Raw Data: Patent Application 20080122796

Arstechnica reports on more details about the next major version of Mac OS X (10.6). According to the news site, the next version of Mac OS X will indeed be an Intel-only release and that it is code named "Snow Leopard".

Ars can also confirm the expected release target of January 2009 as well as a focus on speed and stability:

Snow Leopard is currently on track to come out during next January's Macworld, and it will not contain major OS changes. Instead, the release is heavily focused on performance and nailing down speed and stability.

The author points to future mobile devices as the driving force behind this focus on performance and stability. There is also a suggestion that Apple may move Mac OS X 10.6 to "Cocoa-only", but the full meaning of this remains vague:

There may be some disagreement here as to what exactly "Cocoa-only" means, so take that into account when thinking about this. For example, Apple may only axe Carbon UI stuff.

Update: John Gruber clarifies that "pure Cocoa" does not have anything to do with dropping Carbon from the OS.

Apple also announced today the launch of iTunes movies in the UK.

"We're kicking off movies on the iTunes Store in the UK with over 700 films for purchase and rent," said Eddy Cue, Apples vice president of iTunes. "We think customers in the UK are going to love being able to enjoy their favorite movies on their iPod, iPhone or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV."

For movie rentals, customers have up to 30 days to start watching it, and once a movie has been started customers have 48 hours to finish it.

iTunes movies are available at 6.99 for library title purchases and 10.99 for new releases. iTunes movie rentals are 2.49 for library title rentals and 3.49 for new releases, and high definition versions are priced at one pound more.

Apple announced today that they are now offering movies for sale and rental on iTunes Canada.

"Canadians have made iTunes the most popular place to find and buy music and TV shows online," said Eddy Cue, Apples vice president of iTunes. "We're thrilled to give iTunes customers access to over 1,200 movies from major studios to rent or purchase, whether to enjoy at home on their widescreen TV with Apple TV or on-the-go on their iPod."

For movie rentals, customers have up to 30 days to start watching it, and once a movie has been started customers have 48 hours to finish it. Prices for iTunes movie sales are CAN$9.99 for catalog title purchases, CAN$14.99 for recent releases and CAN$19.99 for new releases. iTunes movie rentals are CAN$3.99 for library titles and CAN$4.99 for new releases, with high definition rental versions priced one dollar more.

SoftBank Mobile Corp announced today that they have signed an agreement with Apple for the iPhone "later this year":

SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp. today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Japan later this year.

SoftBank Mobile is a 3G only carrier which, of course, further confirms the existence of a 3G iPhone. Like all of the recent international press releases, they offer no additional details on the agreement.

DoCoMo was previously rumored to be in talks with Apple to bring the iPhone to Japan. This announcement does not necessarily preclude an agreement with them, as in some instances multiple carriers have announced iPhone support in the same region.

Apple is widely expected to introduce a 3G capable iPhone at WWDC next week.

TUAW reports that they have heard that Apple will be seeding developers with an early build of Mac OS X 10.6 at this year's WWDC. This news comes in the midst of reports that Apple is preparing for 10.5.4 -- an ongoing maintenance release of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard).

TUAW also believes that Mac OS X 10.6 will ship in January 2009, about 15 months after Leopard's initial release in October 2007. This actually corresponds to Steve Jobs' comments to the New York Times regarding major Mac OS X releases:

Im quite pleased with the pace of new operating systems every 12 to 18 months for the foreseeable future, he said. Weve put out major releases on the average of one a year, and its given us the ability to polish and polish and improve and improve.

The blog also revives rumors that Mac OS X 10.6 will drop PowerPC support and become Intel-only.

While we can't vouch for the January timeframe, MacRumors had also heard that Mac OS X 10.6 would be making a debut at WWDC. We were uncertain, however, how public a release it would be: whether it would be seeded to a limited number of developers or if it would be a more central focus in Jobs' keynote address. According to this report, however, Apple will not be introducing any new significant features in 10.6, instead focusing on "stability and security."

References to Mac OS X 10.6 were recently found within the iPhone SDK installer. Mac OS X 10.5.3 (Leopard) is the current public version of Mac OS X.

CNet reports (via iPhoneAlley) that Apple is poised to launch the first of the 3rd party iPhone applications at WWDC on Monday.

A source at a software company that has been working on a native iPhone application tells us the company is getting ready to launch that application on Monday, which could also imply that Apple's App Store will be up and running that day.

A Monday launch of the iTunes App Store would also imply an immediate release of the iPhone 2.0 Firmware which would be much earlier than expected. When Apple announced the iPhone SDK beta and 2.0 firmware, they said the final release would be available "by the end of June."

If you are a developer and would like news coverage of your iPhone Game or Application, please contact us for consideration of coverage on TouchArcade and MacRumors.

If youre a student, faculty, or staff member and you buy a Mac before September 15, you can get a free iPod touch or iPod nano. After all, isnt college about seizing every opportunity?

Official list of Terms and Conditions (PDF) have been posted, and is primarily targeted at college students, faculty and staff. The promotion runs from June 3rd to September 15th and provides a rebate of up to $299 for qualifying individuals who buy a Mac and an iPod Touch or iPod Nano.

Although they only list the MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac on the promo page, the terms and conditions specify that "All new Macintosh computers and the Configure-to-order versions of these products are eligible, except for Mac mini and 17 iMac".

Customers may purchase an 8GB iPod Nano ($199) to receive a $199 rebate, or may purchase an 8GB ($299), 16GB ($399), or 32GB ($499) iPod Touch to receive a $299 rebate. The rebate can not be applied to the iPhone or any other iPod.

In addition to the US promo, a similar promotion has been announced in Canada.

This is the most aggressive Back to School promotion that Apple has offered and should dramatically increase the installed base of iPod Touch users over the next few months. The iPod Touch uses the same operating system as the Apple iPhone and will be able to run upcoming "iPhone applications" that will be released on the iTunes App Store.

Today, a rumor about a 22% thinner 3G iPhone with GPS priced at $200 hit the Mac web. In looking back, however, this is not the first time we've heard this exact set of specifications. On April 29th, Scott Mortiz first reported on the possibility of a $200 subsidy from AT&T for the 3G iPhone. He said it would be priced at $399 (8GB) and $499 (16GB), but after a $200 subsidy, these prices would fall to $199 and $299, respectively.

Moritz also specifically said that the new iPhone will be 2.5mm thinner than the current iPhone, which happens to work out to 22% thinner (2.5mm/11.6mm), corresponding nicely to Kahney's 22% thinner figure. Kahney and Moritz diverge on the capacity of the iPhone, however, as Kahney claims 16GB and 32GB sizes for the new iPhone. Regardless, this paints a picture of the following possible "thin iPhone":

Thin iPhone
• $199 (8GB or 16GB), $299 (16GB or 32GB), possibly subsidized by AT&T
• 3G, GPS, 22% thinner
• Possible longer battery

However, it's also clear that there's another set of rumors circulating which are also consistent with each other. The so-called "thick iPhone" rumor started at Engadget and depicted in the XSKN case designs.

Thick iPhone
• 3G, GPS, slightly thicker
• Glossy black, rounded back
• Non-recessed headphone jack, additional sensor?

If you add in recent whispers of high end pricing of the 16GB ($499) and 32GB ($699) models, this introduces the possibility that these rumors together could represent a range of iPhone models.

Both Thick and Thin?
• $399 (8GB), $499 (16GB), $699 (32GB) retail prices
• Possible $200 subsidy bringing prices to $199 (8GB), $299 (16GB), $499 (32GB)
• 3GB, GPS, ? Video Conferencing
• Low capacity models thinner, high capacity models thicker

Of course, alternatively, one or none of these rumors could be true. As we've said before, Apple has been known to purposefully spread misinformation in order to confuse the rumor mill. Official announcements are expected next week during the Worldwide Developer Conference keynote which takes place on Monday, June 9th, 2008.

Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) will kick off on Monday, June 9th at 10 a.m. Pacific with a keynote speech given by Steve Jobs and his team of executives. There will be no live video or audio broadcast of the event. Once the event is complete, Apple will post a Quicktime stream of the keynote to be watched on demand. MacRumors will provide live coverage of the keynote speech with the following methods:

Web

MacRumors will provide near real-time text updates and photos at MacRumorsLive.com. All visitors to MacRumors.com will be redirected to MacRumorsLive during the event.

A special iPhone-optimized version of MacRumorsLive with support for text updates and photos will also be available if you visit the site through your iPhone or iPod Touch. (Screenshot of iPhone/Touch version.)

Twitter Updates

We will also try to provide live updates through Twitter. Individuals who already have a twitter account may 'Follow' us at the following addresses:

http://twitter.com/macrumors - Live keynote updates (10-20 updates per Keynote)
http://twitter.com/macrumorsRSS - Updates with every new MacRumors.com story
http://twitter.com/arnoldkim - arn's Twitter account

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Spoiler Free

For individuals who wish to watch the events unfold first-hand on video, we are providing a Spoiler Free page that will update once the link to the keynote video is posted. This can be delayed hours after the actual event.