MacRumors

It appears that Apple iPhone displays are going up at Apple Stores. TUAW noted that a "large, covered rectangular display" appeared at the 5th Avenue Apple Store last night. They've also posted a small gallery of images of the shrouded display. Apple Store employees were reportedly unable to give out any further information.

The displays have been revealed at other locations and show large video demonstrations of the iPhone:

We'd heard rumors that Apple Stores would be getting more promotional displays this Friday, and there had been hopes (though unconfirmed) that iPhone rate plans details would also be announced at that time.

Update: Pulse took these photos at the Apple Store in Hollywood. It appears to have a power cord: 1 2 3

Update 2:: Some more photos, courtesy of sminman:

Update 3: AT&T stores also got their own iPhone displays installed overnight.

Eagle-eyed forum members have found new references in Apple's Mac OS 10.4.10 "Tiger" update that seem to support the forthcoming iPhone and rumored iMac revision.

Forum member bogg writes that four new display vendor ID's appear in 10.4.10 relating to the iMac. While the ID's themselves do not suggest any specific features of the iMac, they do lend credence to rumors that Apple plans to update the product within the next several weeks.

Also, AppleInsider reports that a new framework named "YahooSync" is installed with the update, most likely referring to support for various Yahoo! services supported by the the iPhone (including push IMAP and Yahoo! address books).

Meanwhile, forum user milhous, notes that http://www.yahoo.com/iphone redirects to http://iphone.yahoo.com with a "Sorry, the page you requested was not found" error. The DNS changes suggest that Yahoo may be preparing their own iPhone portal.

iLounge reports on comments by AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel which indicates that AT&T will be releasing iPhone voice and data rate plans prior to launch day (June 29th).

"We will disclose before the 29th," said Siegel, noting that customers will be able to show up at stores that day knowing how much they will be charged for both the Apple-developed hardware and AT&T's cellular service plans.
It's not going to be anything exotic"

There will reportedly be separate Voice and Data plans and a 2-year service commitment will be required.

An earlier report today claimed rate plans would not be revealed until the day of launch (June 29th)

We have heard reports that some form of announcement is expected tomorrow (Friday).

As we approach the iPhone release (8 days away), there have been increasing reports of iPhone sightings. We can never be sure about the legitimacy of these reports or photos, so they are provided for interest's sake. This shot was reportedly taken at an airport:

Portions have been blurred and scaled to protect the individual's privacy. The increase in sightings could be due to one claim that individuals lucky enough to have an iPhone at this early date are now permitted to use them in public.

An earlier photo which had made the rounds showed someone using the iPhone on a train.

Finally, a first-hand report was posted to our iPhone forums, in which the author claims to have used the iPhone himself.

As noted by iLounge, ZDNet reports on Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt's comments in Paris about Google and Apple.

In particular, Schmidt showed off his iPhone and hinted at future applications:

"iPhone is a powerful new device and is going to be particularly good for the apps that Google is building. You should expect other announcements from the two companies over time"

AT&T's Glen Lurie made similar comments in an earlier interview that we should expect more Google widgets.

Apple has already announced a new Youtube (owned by Google) application for the iPhone and has indicated that they will be introducing new iPhone applications over time.

After the announcement that the iPhone will offer Youtube videos, a new iPhone television advertisement has started airing. The new ad was spotted this morning on ESPN, and captured/uploaded by msdvideo:

Update: Official Video has been posted by Apple.

USAToday reports on preparations AT&T is making for the iPhone launch on Friday, June 29th.

AT&T has added 2,000 extra sales people to stores in anticipation of the iPhone launch. AT&T's senior vice president of sales reveals that regions will not have equal stockpiles of iPhones:

Carter would not say which stores will have the biggest iPhone stockpiles, but allowed that iPod users are a "natural market" for the smart phone. As such, he says, stores in areas with big numbers of iPod users such as New York City, Chicago and much of California will be well stocked.

If your local store does sell out, mail orders may be placed with "devices will be shipped in 3 to 5 days, inventory permitting."

AT&T will be limiting the number of iPhones that an individual can purchase, but does not give the exact limit. Meanwhile, new iPhone specific service plans will also be announced on June 29th.

AT&T has been testing the iPhone and their network in various locations in anticipation of the launch:

In the past few months, he says dozens of AT&T technicians have been secretly testing iPhones in bars, subway stops, office buildings, rural areas and elsewhere looking for technical hitches.

Apple has released Mac OS X 10.4.10 through their Mac OS X Software Update:

The 10.4.10 Update is recommended for PowerPC and Intel-based Mac computers currently running Mac OS X Tiger. This update includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes or compatibility updates for the following applications and technologies:

- RAW camera support
- Mounting and unmounting external USB devices
- Support for 3rd party software applications
- Security updates

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n305533.
For detailed information on security updates, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798.

Apple has announced that YouTube content is available on the Apple TV today and will be coming to the iPhone upon its launch on June 29th.

Apple today announced that iPhone users will be able to enjoy YouTube's originally-created content on their iPhones when they begin shipping on June 29. A new Apple-designed application on iPhone will wirelessly stream YouTube's content to iPhone over Wi-Fi or EDGE networks and play it on iPhone's stunning 3.5 inch display.

Apple TV users can download a free update via the built-in software update to enable YouTube content.

Both AppleTV and the iPhone will play YouTube content that has been reencoded into the h.264 video format. 10,000 of YouTube's videos have been converted so far with the remainder expected by the fall.

The press release claims that h.264 was chosen "to achieve higher video quality and longer battery life on mobile devices".

Indeed, reports coming out of WWDC is that one of Apple's justifications of avoiding Flash video playback on the iPhone is for improved battery life. The iPhone contains dedicated hardware capable of playing h.264 content, while Flash content would require more intensive use of the iPhone's CPU, resulting in higher battery drain.

Update: Apple has updated their iPhone pages with a demo of YouTube on iPhone and a new YouTube icon filling in the 12th spot on the iPhone's application list.

Many readers have been discussing acquisition strategies for obtaining an iPhone on the first day it goes on sale (June 29th). So far, information has been limited.

Apple's most recent press release gives us essentially all the information we know about where to get one:

iPhone will be sold in the US through Apples retail and online stores, and through AT&Ts select retail stores.

Steve Jobs told us that the iPhone would go on sale at 6 p.m. on the 29th and an AT&T memo confirmed that this would be "local time" -- meaning East Coast customers will be able to buy the iPhone first.

BoyGeniusReport and Appleinsider have both reported that AT&T's retail stores will close around 4:30pm and reopen at 6:00pm and plan on staying open until at least 10:00pm. iPhone purchasers will be able to find some early accessories on sale, including the Apple Bluetooth Headset, Jawbone Bluetooth Headset, and a number of 3rd party accessories (photos).

Many expect large lines at both Apple Stores and AT&T stores. To give an idea of interest, one New York City AT&T store reportedly had over 2000 names on their waiting list before this practice was prohibited.

We've received reports that more promotional materials and possibly data plan information will come this Friday at local Apple Stores. Meanwhile, we have received conflicting reports from various local AT&T stores, so it seems clear that none of the local AT&T store staff have any official information on iPhone sales or data plans.

We expect that many MacRumors readers will be amongst the first to purchase the iPhone. We have started collecting a list of iPhone questions for new iPhone owners that will be presented on June 29th to give new iPhone owners topics to report on for fellow readers.

ThinkSecret has posted a gallery and article detailing the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard beta that was released to developers at WWDC last week.

The screenshots depict many of the features described at WWDC including:

- Transparent menu bar and 3d Dock
- Spaces preferences
- Cover Flow
- More prominent front window
- Time Machine prefs
- Stacks

University of Washington's Emerging Technology group published notes from Apple's Developing Web Sites for iPhone session from WWDC last week. The blog entry provides some interesting information for users and web developers alike about the iPhone's capabilities, and has been summarized below.

Apple listed what the iPhone offers for websites:

Removed per Apple's request

A few iPhone size limitations / restrictions are noted in developing for the iPhone:

Removed per Apple's Request

Apple recommends the following design considerations:

Removed per Apple's Request

Apple's iPhone comes out on June 29th, 2007. At WWDC, Apple announced that Web-based applications will be the only way for 3rd party developers to produce applications for the iPhone.- 10MB max html size for web page
- Javascript limited to 5 seconds run time
- Javascript allocations limited to 10MB
- 8 documents maximum loaded on the iPhone due to page view limitations
- Quicktime used for audio and video

- the page view feature lets you look at multiple websites and documents by scrolling thru them one after another
- Full PDF support
- double tap for zoom in
- one finger as a mouse used to
-- pan page
-- press and hold to display the information bubble
- two fingers as a mouse used to
-- pinch content to shrink - zoom out
-- pan page
-- scroll wheel events
- new telephone links allows you to integrate phone calls directly from your webpage. remember this is only on safari.
- built in google maps client for integrated mapping from your website

- separate html and css
- use well structured and valid html
- size images appropriately dont rely on browser scaling
- tile small images in backgrounds, dont use large backgroung images
- iPhone supports both EDGE and WiFi. EDGE pipe is smaller than WIFI pipe so think about bandwidth when developing.
- XHTML mobile documents supported
- stylesheet device width:480px
- apply different css for the iPhone. For example displaying a one column page for iphone vs a 3 column page on a desktop.
- there are no scroll bars or resize knobs. the iphone will automatically expand the content
- Avoid framesets, scrollable frames are automatically expanded to fit the content
- iPhone User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1A538a Safari/419.3
- Video: H.264 baseline profile level 3.0 up to 640480 fps

Wired posts an "unofficial" review of Apple's WWDC version of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard).

With Leopard, Apple has added a thick coat of polish to an already elegant operating system. The upgraded OS isn't all glitz and glam, though. Mac's core applications have been rendered more friendly by the addition of stronger visual cues, animated actions and detailed user interface refinements.

The article describes overall improvements to Mac OS X's Finder, including its new Cover Flow view. While seemingly superfluous, the reviewer found it "extremely useful for certain applications" -- such as flipping through images. The "killer feature" of Cover Flow is the ability to quickly preview certain types of documents, such as Word documents and PDFs. Apple has also made steady improvements to Mail, iCal and iChat. The reviewer found that Time Machine required over 30 minutes to set up and also required an external drive.

Since the build I tested is a preview meant for developers, I wasn't expecting rock-solid stability. However, the new features I discovered over a couple of days were enough to win me over. When it's released for real in October, Leopard is sure to be a hit among newcomers and the Mac faithful alike.

Appleinsider reports that the long awaited iMac updates will finally be released in mid to late summer -- "sometime between the latter half of July and mid-August".

Appleinsider reiterates that the 20" and 24" iMacs will see radical redesigns "both slimmer and sleeker" than today's offerings.

When the project manifests later this summer, it will represent the first major industrial design overhaul to hit the flagship all-in-one consumer Apple desktops in nearly three years.

The 17" iMac is notably absent from the planned makeover and is expected to be discontinued.

According to our Buyer's Guide, the iMac was last updated in September 2006 -- 286 days ago.