MacRumors

A new Apple patent application reveals that Apple has been working on some unique approaches to incorporating touch interfaces into future iPhones and MacBooks.

Apple introduces the idea of a double-sided translucent touch surface. This touch surface would be sensitive to touch on both sides. When placed as the bottom half of a traditional laptop...

... it could function as a multi-touch keyboard including the use of multi-touch gestures. When the user closed the laptop, however, the other side of the touch screen could act as a multi-touch overlay to the screen -- giving the device a tablet-like form factor.

Apple also explores the possibilities of incorporating a similar translucent touch pad to offer a mobile phone with similar capabilities.

Adobe announced that Microsoft has licensed Adobe's Flash Lite software for use in their Internet Explorer Mobile browser and in future versions of Microsoft Windows Mobile phones. Microsoft has also licensed Adobe's PDF Reader software.

The Flash Lite 3.x browser plug-in for Internet Explorer Mobile on Windows Mobile will provide users with access to rich and interactive web content created using Adobe Flash technology. As the most popular and ubiquitous format on the Internet today, Adobe Flash powers many rich and engaging web sites, applications and animations. Adobe Reader LE will allow Windows Mobile users to easily and reliably view and navigate rich PDF content using innovative features developed to improve document readability on smaller screens.

The lack of Adobe Flash support on the iPhone has been a frequently mentioned criticism. Steve Jobs recently addressed this issue, claiming that Adobe's Flash Lite was not flexible/powerful enough, while full-fledged Flash would not perform well on the iPhone. Jobs claimed "there's this missing product in the middle" between Flash Lite and Flash.

A recent report, however, claims that the reason for no Flash support on the iPhone is not a technical one. Instead, Adobe reportedly is interested in Apple also adopting their PDF reader for the iPhone, but Apple won't concede. Apple is presently using their own PDF renderer in the iPhone.

Apple updated the Airport Express today:

Apple today updated its AirPort Express mobile base station with 802.11n to deliver up to five times the performance and twice the range of the previous model*. Priced at just $99, AirPort Express is the worlds smallest 802.11n-based mobile base station. It can be plugged directly into the wall for wireless Internet connectivity and USB printing at home or easily brought on the road for wireless freedom wherever there is an Internet connection. AirPort Express features AirTunes, which works seamlessly with iTunes to give users a simple and inexpensive way to wirelessly stream iTunes music from a PC or Mac to any room in the house.

As expected, the new Airport Express adds 802.11n networking. The price remains $99 and is available immediately.

We had heard reliable reports that Apple will be launching a new version of their Airport Express next week, likely on Tuesday. Apple Retail stores should have stock of the new Airport Express by mid week. The new model will be priced at the same price as the current model ($99). Though details have not been confirmed, it appears the upgrade will most likely include support for 802.11n wireless networking.

MacGeneration points to an prematurely updated description at the Swiss Apple Store that describes 802.11n Wifi support.

The Airport Express currently supports 802.11b/g networking only. 802.11n offers greater performance, more range, and improved reliability over the older Wifi standards. Apple has been including 802.11n in their computers since early 2007.

Airport Express allows you to stream your music from iTunes, share a printer wirelessly, and share your internet. More details about Airport Express itself at Apple's site.

A series of "non-acceptance" emails sent out by Apple today to applicants interested in becoming registered iPhone Developers has generated some confusion and concern.

In the email, Apple thanks the applicant for their interest in the iPhone Developer Program, and states that the iPhone Developer Program is only available to a limited number of developers during the beta period. Apple plans on expanding the program during the beta period and will contact applicants again "at the appropriate time".

Despite theories that every applicant has received the same letter, we can confirm that some developers have already been accepted into the iPhone Developer Program.

The $99/year iPhone Developer Program should not be confused with the SDK itself, which is available for free download. iPhone Developer Program provides a developer with the beta release of the iPhone 2.0 Firmware as well as a developer certificate which provides the ability to install applications onto the iPhone itself. Without the certificate, developers are only allowed to install applications onto the iPhone Simulator that accompanies the free SDK.

It is believed that the iPhone Developer Program will be open to all comers after June when the program is out of beta. At that time the iPhone 2.0 firmware will be publicly available.

Apple and T-Mobile are now selling the iPhone in Austria. The iPhone is being sold for 399 euro (8GB) and 499 euro (16GB) with the following plans:

- 39 euro/mo "Classic" - 3GB data / 1000 Minutes / free T-Mobile Wifi
- 55 euro/mo "Supreme" - 3GB data / 4000 Minutes* / 1000 SMS / free T-Mobile Wifi

* 4000 Minutes split across different types of calls (in network, out of network etc...)

The launch also coincides with the launch of the iPhone in Ireland, which was announced in late February. Apple has said they were planning on launching the iPhone in Asia as well as other European countries in 2008. There have also been hints that an Australian launch is not far behind.

Apple has announced the dates for the Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) 2008. The event will take place on June 9-13, 2008 in San Francisco, CA at Moscone West.

A landmark event. In more ways than one.
The groundbreaking innovations of Mac OS X Leopard and iPhone OS offer two revolutionary development platforms for developers and IT professionals. Immerse yourself with information-rich sessions where Apple engineers go in-depth on the innovative technologies that power the features of these sophisticated platforms. Bring your code to the Labs and work one-to-one with Apple engineers, applying development methods and best-practices you gain from sessions to enhance your application

Apple is offering 3 tracks for developers: iPhone, Mac, and IT. The iPhone focus will certainly be a big part of the WWDC keynote with the recent announcement of the iPhone SDK. The first of the 3rd party iPhone applications will officially launch at the end of June.

The developer invitation (pictured above) depicts two bridges representing Leopard and the iPhone OS.

As noted by Arstechnica, a Businessweek article reports on an interesting presentation at the SXSW conference by Apple senior engineering manager Michael Lopp. He describes Apple's design approach in coming up with their products:

Pixel Perfect Mockups - While it adds time upfront, it "removes all ambiguity" and the need to correct mistakes later down the line.

10 to 3 to 1 - Designers mock up 10 different unrestricted designs for a given feature. From these, 3 are chosen for further development until a final one is chosen.

Paired Design Meetings - Two meetings. One is for free thinking ("go crazy") without worries about any technical constraints, while the other meeting addresses implementation and practical considerations. Both of these meetings continue throughout product development.

A new patent application published by Apple today reveals that they have done considerable research into the possibility of an Apple-branded Digital Video Recorder (DVR). The Tivo-like device would offer the ability to tune into television channels, record and playback shows. The currently shipping AppleTV does not support any sort of recording or tuning functionality.

Of most interest is that Apple appears to be looking into ways to integrate their iPod or iPhone into this experience. They describe and picture an iPod-like device that would dock to the DVR. Customers could then sync their recorded television content with their iPod and also select future shows to also be recorded from the portable device. Once syncing takes place the future shows are added to the DVR's recording queue and new shows are transfered to the iPod.

The patent application was filed originally in October of 2006, so Apple appears to have had this technology in the labs for some time now.

Appleinsider provides additional pictures from the patent application.

Hackintosh has posted some screenshots and a Youtube Video from the upcoming iPhone 2.0 firmware. Visible changes include:

- Exchange Support
- Appstore
- Parental Controls
- SDK Support
- Calculator is more advanced
- CISCO VPN support
- Mail mass deletion
- No Spotlight Search icon in contacts

Apple has seeded the beta iPhone firmware to select enterprise customers and developers. The new firmware will be released to the public in June of 2008 and will introduce Exchange support as well as the iTunes App Store.

Note: the beta is listed as version 1.2

The Inquirer posts what it claims is more evidence that Apple is planning to adopt Intel's Moorestown architecture for a future iPhone model.

DigiTimes was first to make such a claim in October 2007 citing the usual "OEM sources." The Inquirer now posts a slide from Intel's CeBIT presentation which depicts the iPhone as a Moorestown smartphone.

Of course, the use of the iPhone to represent smartphones may not mean anything, as the iPhone is currently one of the hottest-selling smartphones on the market. However the image does corroborate DigiTimes' previous claims.

The Moorestown platform is the successor to the Menlow platform due later this year. Both are based around the Intel Atom processor, which Intel expects to launch a new class of mobile internet devices. Moorestown is not expected until 2009, so its use would likely be for the third or later iteration of the iPhone, but could also find its way into the rumored Apple mini-tablet.

Update: Recent analysis by Anandtech suggests that Intel's Atom's processors (and therefore Moorestown) may not be headed to the iPhone until at least 2010.

Silicon Alley Insider is reporting that Disney CEO Robert Iger announced today at the Digital Hollywood Media Summit that the company has sold 4 million movies on iTunes since the movie store launched in 2006, along with 40-50 million videos.

The site extrapolates that the total revenue from these sales is just under $123 million USD. Disney recently announced a $1 billion digital sales goal for 2008, which includes revenue from advertising online (i.e. ad revenue from online video viewing or from any of its sites), subscriptions to online games, downloads of movies and music, and e-commerce that is not related to its theme parks.

For perspective, Disney had sold 1.3 million movies by February 2007 after 3 months of the iTunes movie store being in operation.

Apple announced that the recently announced iPhone Software Developement Kit (SDK) has been downloaded over 100,000 times within the first four days of its launch.

"Developer reaction to the iPhone SDK has been incredible with more than 100,000 downloads in the first four days," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Also, over one million people have watched the launch video on Apple.com, further demonstrating the incredible interest developers have in creating applications for the iPhone."

Apple's press release also includes quotes from a number of other software developers announcing their support for iPhone software development. The list of companies include Intuit, Namco Networks, NetSuite, PopCap, Rocket Mobile, Six Apart, and THQ Wireless. Specific software titles listed include Pac-Man, Galaga, Bejeweled, Zuma, Peggle and SuitePhone.

Apple will be launching the first of the 3rd party applications for the iPhone in June alongside their iTunes App Store.