MacRumors

Despite the download for iPhone 1.1.2 being available since Friday, Apple has just now pushed the update to iTunes, allowing users to upgrade their iPhones to the latest firmware without having to download the upgrade manually.

As noted before, the major updates in the iPhone 1.1.2 update include:

- TIFF Exploit patched (JailBreakMe.com no longer works).
- International keyboards
- Custom Ringtone section, iToner and iPhoneRingToneMaker continue to work.

The UK/German iPhones launched on Friday and shipped with version 1.1.2 of the iPhone firmware.

Update: iPod touch 1.1.2 firmware also available.

In less than a week from the last developer seed, Apple has released another version of Mac OS X 10.5.1 to developers for testing.

The latest 10.5.1 seed (9B16) has "no known issues" but lists only a few updates since the previous build. These include updating applications even if moved out of /Applications, moving files to a different directory in Finder bug fix, and DNS resolution fixes. The update is not yet available to the general public.

10.5.1 represents the first maintenance release to Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) since its release only 3 weeks ago. While accelerated developer seeds traditionally indicate that Apple is approaching release, Apple's has yet to release the Mac OS X 10.4.11 update that has long been expected.

Google has released the software development kit for Android - a mobile platform announced by Google last week.

Documentation, SDK and first look videos are offered through the ">Android Project page. Most interesting, perhaps, is the Android Demo video which walks through prototype Android devices. Both a smaller and more advanced prototypes of Android phones are shown. They demonstrate functionality as well as detail capabilities as shown here:

Android's web browser is based on Webkit which also powers Apple's Safari browser. This means that web pages will render the same on Android's browser and Safari. Zooming/Scrolling with a touch interface is also supported as shown in the demo.

3d OpenGL support, as shown by a demo of id software's Quake.

The demo video shows other capabilities, such as tight integration into Google Maps. The first commercial phones based on the Android platform are not expected until the second half of 2008. Unlike the iPhone, the Android platform appears to emphasize openness and is encouraging of 3rd party application development. Despite early plans to keep the iPhone closed to 3rd party development, Apple has announced that a 3rd party development kit will become available for the iPhone in February 2008, though what restrictions it may likely entail are not yet known.

The Android SDK and emulator for Intel Macs is available for download.

AppleInsider reports that Macworld San Francisco 2008 will be the launching ground for Apple's long-rumored ultra-portable laptop.

The new 13" aluminum sub-notebook is described to be 50% lighter and "strikingly slimmer" than the existing 15" MacBook Pros. To achieve this small form factor, Apple is said to have removed an optical drive from the design of the new laptop. As well, Apple will incorporate NAND flash-based storage as well as LED backlights to improve power efficiency.

Appleinsider posted their belief that a sub-notebook is coming from Apple back in February of 2007. Rumors of an ultra-portable Mac, however, have been ongoing for months with talk of a NAND-based ultra-portable Mac dating as far back as June 2006.

This new description of an aluminum case corresponds to a recent report by 9to5 indicating that slim aluminum MacBooks had been spotted with "something strange" about the touchpad.

Macworld Expo takes place from January 15-18th, 2008 in San Francisco, California.

For what its worth, Apple 2.0 Blog reports that Piper Jaffrey's Gene Munster is 75% certain that an ultralight MacBook or possibly an entirely new product will be coming in January at Macworld. They also point to photos and video of Engadget editor, Ryan Block, successfully transplanting a pre-release Samsung 64GB solid-state drive into his MacBook Pro.

Intel released 16 of their new Penryn Core 2 Extreme and Xeon processors today. The new chips incorporate the new "Hi-k" metal gate formula and also incorporate a smaller 45-nanometer manufacturing process. These changes deliver faster and more energy-efficient processors.

While they did introduce a Core 2 Extreme Qx9750 quad-core processor with SSE4, our attention has focused on Intel's new Xeon processors, which makes up the bulk of Intel's announcements today.

New to the Intel line-up of server processors are 15 server dual-core and quad-core 45nm Hi-k Intel Xeon processors. The 12 new quad-core chips boast clock speeds ranging from 2GHz up to 3.20GHz, with front side bus speeds (FSB) up to 1600MHz, and cache sizes of 12MB. The three new dual-core chips feature clock speeds of up to 3.40GHz, an FSB of up to 1600MHz, and cache sizes of 6MB.

The new 5400 Xeon chips are compatible with existing Xeon platforms and sets a number of benchmark world records, according to Intel. More data is available at Intel's site.

Apple has been rumored to be buying up the high end 3.2GHz Penryn Xeon processors which feature a faster 1600MHz bus and 12MB of L2 cache for an upcoming Mac Pro revision. Apple currently uses the 5100 Xeon Woodcrest (Quad core Macs) or 5300 Xeon Clovertown (8-core Macs) processors.

Apple has been running a new Get A Mac ad during today's American football games.

The ad includes PC getting a consultant "PR Lady" and once again touches on the trouble people have been having with Vista and references desires of some to downgrade to XP. The final screenshot is of an iMac with the Leopard background.

As of this posting, the ad has not been posted to Apple's site.

Update: Apple has now posted the ad mentioned above, "PR Lady", as well as two other ads: "Boxer" and "Podium."

One user has discovered that iTunes 7.5 carries resources indicative of forthcoming movie rental and video on demand functionality.

rental-content
rental-bag
rbsync
source-rental-info
dest-rental-info
getvodaccountselectionlist
GET VOD ACCOUNT SELECTION LIST
supportsRentals

While MacRumors can certify that the strings specified are indeed new as of iTunes 7.5, the jury is still out as to whether they mean anything significant. Previous resource string discoveries have indicated native iPhone and AppleTV games, neither of which have come true (yet?).

Perhaps the most promising sign that resource strings may hold value is when iTunes 7.0.1 resources indicated increased mobile phone functionality within a couple months of the release of the iPhone (though the strings did not specifically mention the iPhone).

Nonetheless, an incident occurred in September where Apple's iTunes problem reporting system revealed movie rental options. Apple has been rumored to have been in talks with Hollywood studios in regards to an online service that would launch this fall.

Today, Apple launched the iPhone in select European countries.

Germany was the first to receive the iPhone via T-Mobile. One Flickr user photo-documented the launch.

Our iPhone Purchaser Meetups forum has been active with the Germany launch and the U.K. launch. Users at various stores report numbers "in the hundreds" coming to the event. Forum member Sneeks notes that a webcam is available showing near-live shots of the Birmingham store.

The iPhone launched in the U.K. at 6:02 pm London time at Apple, Carphone Warehouse & O2 stores, and online on the U.K. Apple Store and Carphone Warehouse's online store.

Update: T-Mobile has announced that it has sold more than 10,000 iPhones so far in the first day of sales.

Update 2: Users are posting pictures from the U.K. launches. Here's one from forum member SpinDrift.

Continuing reports are occurring in our iPhone Purchaser Meetups forum.

Alongside the iPhone 1.1.2 update, Apple has also released an iPod Touch 1.1.2 firmware update which is available for some through iTunes. For those who are impatient, a direct download is also available:

iPod1,1_1.1.2_3B48b_Restore.ipsw

Early reports indicate that the new iPod Touch update provides "Add Event" functionality to the iPod Touch, confirming an email exchange from Steve Jobs who promised that edit and add calendar events would be coming in a future software update. The lack of calendar editing had been described as a "bug" by Jobs.

While the iPod Touch 1.1.2 and iPhone 1.1.2 updates are likely very similar, there may be device specific issues. Please keep comments on topic in their respective threads.

Update: TUAW reports that iPod Touch 1.1.2 has already been jailbroken. Details are forthcoming.

Apple has posted the download links to the iPhone 1.1.2 firmware, for direct downloading:

iPhone1,1_1.1.2_3B48b_Restore.ipsw

iTunes has yet to reflect the new firmware, but some adventurous souls have downloaded the link manually to upgrade their iPhone.

- Modem firmware: 04.02.13_G
- TIFF Exploit patched (per Engadget) so JailBreakMe no longer works
- Devices in iTunes, battery icon shows up to indicate it charges.
- Slide for emergency call changes languages
- International keyboard available
- No horizontal text messaging (per villanova329)
- iToner works.
- Screenshots of 1.1.2 from MacNN
- Custom Ringtones section

Pocket-lint.co.uk received confirmation from Apple that the 1.1.2 firmware update would become available to all iPhone owners on Friday, November 9th.

Although the time could not be confirmed, iPhone owners who sync their device with iTunes tomorrow in the States will be presented with the option to upgrade to the new firmware.

The new firmware incorporates more international language support, and there have been rumors that it will again break many of the 3rd party hacks for the iPhone.

Appleinsider suggests that the freezing iMac problem may be related to overheating hardware rather than any particular software issue.

They cite one user who had their video chipset replaced on their iMac who found that the problems had disappeared.

This and other reports provide increasing support for beliefs that the lockups and related symptoms are caused by excessive heat inside the all-in-one chassis.

While this remains speculative, it could mean that no software solution will be able to repair the issue. A similar but less publicized issue has affected early owners of the ATI Radeon X1900 video card for the Mac Pro. Some have noted these issues have become more prominent under Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) due to its increased dependance on the GPU.

With the release of iTunes 7.5, Apple promised support for a new iPod game called "Phase" (iTunes link). The game was released yesterday to iTunes and sells for $4.99.

Phase is published through MTV Networks/Viacom but is a product of Harmonix, creators of Guitar Hero.

Phase is an interactive music game that lets you experience songs in an entirely new and unique way. Choose a song in your iTunes library, and Phase will turn it into a gameplay level. Press and glide the iPod's click wheel along with the rhythm of the music to catch notes and flowing sweeps.

The game is compatible with 3rd generation iPod nanos, iPod classic or the 5th generation iPod.

iLounge describes the gameplay, which is similar to existing rhythm games, such as Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero:

Once you've selected a song, a 3-D road appears on the screen, with discs and dots floating towards you. Your goal is to tap the Click Wheel's left, center, and right buttons to match the current positions of discs that are moving towards the bottom of the screen, and slide your finger on the Click Wheel to catch "flowing sweeps" of dots that appear inbetween the discs.

As expected, Apple has started seeding Mac OS 10.5.1 to developers for testing. The latest seed carries a build number of 9B13 and offers a number of fixes.

Apple details a number of issues addressed in the seed. Specifically, there have been fixes to Mail Sync, Spotlight Index, Disk Management, DesktopServices and moving files across partitions, Text Drawing, iCal and CalDAV syncing, Keychain login, Read-Only Issue with SMB, AirPort 802.1X, Application Firewall, To-Do Notes, and Smart Mailboxes. This list of issues, however, is never exhaustive, so other bugs may have also been addressed in this seed. The seed is only available to ADC developers, and not yet available to the general public.

Apple released Mac OS X Leopard on October 26th and sold over 2 million copies in the first weekend. There have been some vocal complaints about bugs in the first version of Mac OS X 10.5.

Apple has won large contracts for MacBooks in Kansas City and Louisiana. The two contracts are valued at $6.4 million and $5 million respectively

It appears Apple has made efforts to provide custom solutions to educators to meet their needs. Kansas City officials describe additional security measures added to the MacBooks, including a way to track lost/stolen MacBooks:

All of the laptops have stickers clearly identifying them as the property of the Kansas City, Kan., public schools. The sticker will not come off without virtually destroying the laptop. If thieves find a way around that obstacle, a GPS tracking device will help locate it. If all else fails, district officials said, they could also use a remote device to destroy the hard drive.

Electronista reports that HP has upgraded their workstations with the new Intel Penryn Xeon processors. The new 45-nm Xeon 5200 (dual core) and Xeon 5400 (quad core) processors can be configured in dual-processor configurations (up to 8 cores total).

Yesterday, Lenovo announced their first machines powered by the Intel Xeon 5400 processors. These new Penryn based PCs, however, are not expected to ship until January 2008.

Intel will be officially launching the Penryn processors on November 12th. Apple is expected to adopt the new procesors in a revision to the Mac Pro. The new Mac Pro is rumored to be ready to launch as soon as enough Intel processors become available.