iLounge

A pair of new reports suggest iOS 5 may receive system-level integration with Twitter. Citing multiple unnamed sources, TechCrunch reports that Apple will be a launch partner for Twitter’s new in-house photo sharing service, with options to share images to Twitter built directly into the OS—similar to the current YouTube video sharing integration—and a “Send to Twitter” button. In linking to the same story, John Gruber of Daring Fireball claims that it is “[s]o close to the bigger story, but yet so far[,]” and says to “Imagine what else the system could provide if your Twitter account was a system-level service.” Apple will unveil iOS 5 during its WWDC keynote adress, which begins Monday, June 6 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.

Apple has announced that its will unveil iCloud, its “upcoming cloud services offering,” during its traditional keynote address to open its Worldwide Developers Conference. According to the release, Apple CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will make appearances during the keynote, which will feature the unveiling of iCloud, as well as Mac OS X Lion—the eighth major release of Mac OS X—and iOS 5, the latest version of the software that powers the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference will begin with the keynote address, to be held on Monday, June 6, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

Apple may be considering offering a discount on an iPad 2 as an option in its yearly Back-to-School promotion, according to a new report. Citing an anonymous Apple source, Boy Genius Report claims that Apple’s now traditional promotion will be announced at WWDC next month. The promotion is said to include a free iPod touch or $229 towards the purchase of any other iPod with the purchase of a new Mac, but may also give customers the option of taking a $200 discount on a new iPad 2 unit instead. The report itself seems less than fully confident about the idea, however, and such a move would be highly unusual, as the promo is normally meant to help Apple clear out inventory of iPod units prior to their traditional September refresh, instead of serving as a way to boost sales of recently updated products such as the iPad 2.

Apple, along with AT&T and US Cellular, has been hit with a patent infringement lawsuit by Visual Interactive Phone Concepts (VIPC). In its case against Apple, VIPC is asserting two patents, both of which are entitled “videophone interactive mailbox facility system and method of processing information,” according to a FOSS Patents report. The complaint states that Apple infringes on the patents due to its sales of “mobile communication devices that are videophones,” and also names the App Store—“an application service for users to view, download and use applications on their videophones”—the iTunes Store, and the iBookstore as infringing entities, because they include “a central data center that facilitates the order and delivery of [apps, entertainment content, books, PDF documents, etc.].” Apple is accused of “intentional and willful infringement,” which, as the report notes, would result in treble damages should the court agree.

The iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad collectively account for 80 percent of all wireless video viewing, according to the latest data from Internet video ad firm FreeWheel (PDF Link). During Q1 2011, the iPhone accounted for 30 percent of all wireless video views, as did the iPod touch. The iPad—despite its much smaller user base—accounted for 20 percent of wireless video views, tied with Google’s Android platform as a whole. FreeWheel attributes iOS’ overwhelming majority to its larger user base and the fact that “so many content producers prioritized their video development for this platform ahead of others.” Overall, wireless video viewing remains small—less than one percent—compared to online video viewing in general. FreeWheel’s data is comprised of 10 billion video views and 5.5 billion video ad views in Q1 2011 and is primarily U.S.-based. [via NYT]

A newly published Apple patent application suggests that the company may be planning to use small, locally-stored clips of media items stored in the cloud as an on-device buffer. Such a setup would allow for reduced media footprints on devices such as the iPod and iPhone, as only a short portion of each song or video—think an iTunes preview clip—would be stored locally, in order to give the device an opportunity to grab the rest of the item while reducing the possibility of playback pauses as media is retrieved from a server.

Entitled “Local Storage of a Portion of Streamed Media Items,” the patent describes “locally storing one or more clips corresponding to a media item such that the clips can be immediately played back in response to a user request to play back the media item. While the clips are played back, the electronic device can retrieve the remaining segments of the media item from the user’s media library as a media stream over a communications network. Once the playback of the clip is complete, the electronic device can seamlessly switch playback to the media stream received from the user’s library.” Notably, one of the images included with the patent shows an iTunes synchronization settings screen, in which an iPhone is set to “Sync partial music,” with a “Minimum Connection Speed” of 3G. As with all Apple patents, this application does not necessarily represent any future product release from Apple, but offers evidence of the company’s research in this area. [via AppleInsider]

Apple is reportedly in talks with Nuance Communications over the use of its voice recognition services in iOS 5. Citing multiple anonymous sources, TechCrunch reports that Apple has been in talks with Nuance for months, possibly over an acquisition, but more likely over a far-reaching licensing agreement and or partnership. As noted in the report, Siri, the voice-based personal assistance and search service acquired by Apple in April 2010, relies on Nuance technology for its services; Siri technology is said to play a large role in iOS 5, and the report claims that Apple has yet to successfully renegotiate the original deal between Siri and Nuance. The report cites Nuance’s $6 billion market cap as a major obstacle in any acquisition talks, as much of this value comes from the company’s various licensing deals, many of which could potentially dry up should Apple take control of the company. Nuance also develops a number of iOS apps, which it sells under its Dragon brand.

Update: According to a second report from TechCrunch, Apple has reached a deal with Nuance that will allow it to run and build upon Nuance’s software at its new data center in North Carolina. The deal will enable Apple to process voice information for iOS users more quickly, and prevent such data from going through third-party servers.

Amazon has quietly updated the Cloud Player music component of its Cloud Drive online storage service, allowing for playback over iOS devices using the Safari browser. Launched in late March, Cloud Player gives users to access both MP3 and AAC files stored using the Cloud Drive service, allowing for browser-based playback. As noted by Engadget and confirmed in iLounge’s brief testing, the feature appears to work well, with a small but notable delay between song selection and the beginning of playback. Playlist management features also work, and, surprisingly, the Cloud Player also works well with iOS’ multitasking audio controls. To utilize the new offering, iOS users simply need to navigate to their Cloud Player from within Safari.

Apple has released iOS 4.3.3, the latest version of its mobile operating system for the iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM), iPod touch 3G, and iPod touch 4G. According to Apple’s release notes, the update contains changes to the iOS crowd-sourced location database cache; the update reduces the size of the cache, no longer backs up the cache to iTunes, and deletes the cache entirely when Location Services is turned off. The database in question was the cause of a recent uproar over Apple’s supposed location tracking, leading the company to release a Q&A document in which it gave an explanation for the cache, and blamed its large size on a “bug.” iOS 4.3.3 is available now via the Update feature in iTunes; a similar update, iOS 4.2.8, is also available for the CDMA iPhone 4.

Apple has won an initial ruling in its patent dispute with Elan Microelectronics. Reuters reports that Judge Paul Luckern of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) said in his initial decision that Apple did not violate Elan’s patents related to touchpad technology. Elan filed a complaint against Apple with the ITC in March 2010, claiming that Apple was violating its patents related to touch-sensitive input devices with multi-touch capabilities, specifically with the iPhone, iPod touch, MacBook laptops, the Magic Mouse, and the iPad; the ITC agreed to investigate the claims roughly a month later. The full ITC will now need to rule on whether to accept or reject Luckern’s initial decision; that ruling is expected in August.

HBO has released the iOS application for its new HBO GO streaming video service providing subscribers with an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad with access to over 1,400 HBO shows directly on their devices. Available at no additional charge for existing HBO subscribers, HBO GO allows users to view programming over either a Wi-Fi or 3G connection, making the entire lineup of HBO shows and movies available while on-the-go. Bonus features and special behind-the-scenes extras are included in the HBO GO service and the app allows users to also create customized watchlists and smart “Series Pass” lists to easily follow their favorite shows. HBO GO is available only in the U.S. and requires a 3G or Wi-Fi connection for viewing content. The universal iOS app requires iOS 3.2 or later and an iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, third- and fourth-generation iPod touch or iPad. HBO GO is available from the App Store as a free download.

Ina Fried of AllThingsD has conducted a phone interview with Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller, and Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall, during which the Apple executives a number of comments relating to the iOS location data issue, as well as the white iPhone. For the most part, the executives simply reiterated points the company made in its earlier Q&A document, but Jobs did reveal that he expected Apple to testify before Congress about such technologies, and that he thinks it is “great that they are investigating this.” He also briefly mentioned the traffic service alluded to in the aforementioned Q&A document, saying “that is all we are going to mention at this point in time before we have something to announce,” and brushed aside a question about his timeline for returning to work full-time at the company.

Discussing the white iPhone 4, Schiller described the process of making the handset as “challenging,” saying, “it’s not as simple as making something white. There’s a lot more that goes into both the material science of it–how it holds up over time… but also in how it all works with the sensors.” He added that while there were unexpected interactions between the color and various internal components, the white paint also required more UV protection than the black model. “We thought we were there a year ago, or less than that, when we launched the iPhone 4 and we weren’t,” Schiller said, adding that the wait allowed them to deliver a product that was up to expectations. Jobs also noted that the work necessary to bring the white iPhone 4 to market benefitted the company in other areas, saying, “[w]e obviously think about this in a generic way because you have a white iPad.” Apple will launch the white iPhone 4 tomorrow.

Apple has posted a ten-question Q & A document discussing the collection of location data on iOS devices. In response to the first question, “Why is Apple tracking the location of my iPhone?”, the company writes, “Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.” The second question asks why, then, is everyone so concerned; Apple responds by saying that users are confused, partially because creators of new technology—including itself—have not provided enough education about such issues. In response to the third question, “Why is my iPhone logging my location?”, Apple explains that the iPhone—and presumably other iOS devices—are not logging locations, but “maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested.”

Apple blames the size of the current on-device database on a bug it has uncovered, which is also to blame for the continued updating of the database after Location Services is turned off. Interestingly, Apple admits to “collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database with the goal of providing iPhone users an improved traffic service in the next couple of years.” In response to the final question, “Does Apple believe that personal information security and privacy are important?”, the company responds, “Yes, we strongly do. For example, iPhone was the first to ask users to give their permission for each and every app that wanted to use location. Apple will continue to be one of the leaders in strengthening personal information security and privacy.”

Apple states that it will release a free iOS update “in the next few weeks” that will reduce the size of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database cached on the iPhone, cease backing up this cache, and delete the cache entirely when Location Services is turned off, and promises that the next major iOS software release will encrypt the database on the iPhone.

A report from last week revealing that iOS 4 devices regularly record their positions to hidden files has sparked a wave of inquiries from government agencies and representatives. According to the New York Times, Senator Al Franken of Minnesota and Representative Ed Markey of Massachusetts have contacted Apple separately, each asking for an explanation as to why the location data was being collected and stored, and what it was being used for. The same report indicates that various agencies in Germany, Italy, and France are planning investigations and/or inquiries into the matter, while Politico reports that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is also looking into it. Separately, Bloomberg reports that South Korea’s Korea Communications Commission has also asked Apple how often the location data is collected and saved, whether users have a choice over whether it is saved or deleted, and whether the information is being stored on the company’s servers.

The Wall Street Journal has tested the feature on an iPhone with its Location Services turned off, and discovered that the location data is still recorded despite the setting, although the coordinates recorded were not from the exact locations the phone traveled, which is consistent with prior results. Finally, Mac Rumors reports that a reader emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs about the issue, saying, “Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? It’s kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don’t track me.” Jobs responded in his typically terse style, saying, “Oh yes they do. We don’t track anyone. The info circulating around is false.” While it is obvious that iOS 4 devices are indeed tracking and recording users’ locations, it’s possible Jobs was referring to the fact that the data does not appear to be collected by Apple, thus supporting Jobs’ “we don’t track anyone” claim.

During Apple’s Second Quarter 2011 Financial Results Conference Call, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer and Apple COO Tim Cook made several comments concerning its media-related products, including the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. In his opening statements, Oppenheimer said that it was the highest March quarter in revenue and earnings ever for the company, with the highest year-over-year revenue growth ever generated. The numbers were boosted by an single-quarter record for iPhone sales, plus “robust” iPad sales—he said the company was “thrilled” with the iPad’s momentum—and 28% year-over-year growth in Mac sales, which totaled 3.76 million.

Oppenheimer also said that the iTunes Store had its best quarter ever, and the iBookstore saw 17,000 eBooks added during the quarter; the iBookstore now offers eBooks from 2,500 publishers, and has seen over 100 million downloads. While overall iPod sales were down, they were ahead of internal expectations, and were comprised of 60 percent iPod touch units, enabling Apple to maintain a 70 percent share of the MP3 player market. Overall, just under 189 million iOS devices had been sold, cumulatively, by the end of the quarter.

A pair of programmers has discovered that iOS 4 devices are regularly recording their positions to hidden files, which reside on the devices and are transferred to any computer the devices are synced with during backup. Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden report for O’Reilly that while working on data visualization projects, they discovered a file “consolidated.db” that contains latitude-longitude coordinates along with a timestamp, and while the coordinates aren’t always accurate, they are rather detailed. According to the report, it appears that the location collection started with iOS 4, and thus the file could potentially contain tens of thousands of data points, or an entire year’s worth of movements. The pair note that the file is unencrypted and unprotected, and have contacted Apple’s Product Security team, but have yet to hear back.

As noted in our forums, Apple appears to have moved away from Skyhook and to an internal location database/detection service as of iOS 4. Given that users of Wi-Fi-only iPads and iPod touches have reported an ability to fairly accurately determine their location in situations that would prove challenging for an actual Skyhook-based system—such as in a moving car, with no Internet access available—it appears likely that iOS 4 devices are relying on this internal database to provide users with approximate location data even when no such data would normally be available. For those interested in seeing their own data, Allan and Warden have created a free Mac OS X application called iPhoneTracker that will automatically search the computer for any location files and display them on a timeline-enhanced map.

Update: The authors of the report have added a new section entitled “Who has access to this data?,” in which they state, “there’s no immediate harm that would seem to come from the availability of this data. Nor is there evidence to suggest this data is leaving your custody. But why this data is stored and how Apple intends to use it — or not — are important questions that need to be explored.”

Update 2: One week after the release of this report, Apple posted a Q&A on Location Data, explaining that while some iOS devices are in fact storing location information indefinitely, the data refers to locations of nearby cell towers rather than the particular GPS coordinates of the user, and is primarily being used for quickly providing mapping information. Our followup article explains how the company will change the collection of this data going forward.

iOS as a whole is outpacing Android among U.S. mobile subscribers, according to the latest data from comScore. The research firm reports that iOS enjoys an installed base of 37.9 million users among U.S. mobile subscribers age 13 and up, good for a 16.2 percent share, compared to a base of 23.8 million users for Android, good for a 10.2 percent share. Among the iOS users, the installed base of iPhones slightly exceeded that of iPod touches, both of which were roughly twice as high as the number of iPads; only four million iOS users—10.5 percent—used more than one iOS device. Indeed, the percentage of iPad users who also use an iPhone is only slightly higher—27.3 percent—than the percentage of smartphone users who use an iPhone (25.2 percent); 17.5 percent of iPad users were found to use a RIM BlackBerry as a smartphone, while 14.2 percent of iPad owners use Android phones.

Apple has asked a federal judge to dismiss a consumer antitrust lawsuit related to the pairing of the iPod to the iTunes Music Store. Apple attorney Robert Mittelstaedt told U.S. District Judge James Ware that blocking iPod music downloads that used competitors’ software was intended to protect iTunes and iPod customers’ quality of experience. “Apple’s view is that iPods work better when consumers use the iTunes jukebox rather than third party software that can cause corruption or other problems,” Mittelstaedt said at a hearing. The request comes just days after Apple CEO Steve Jobs, still on medical leave from the company, met with plaintiff attorneys for a court-ordered deposition. The case, which dates back to 2005, revolves around RealNetworks’ Harmony technology, which promised to allow copy-protected music sold on its online store to be played on iPods. The technology was introduced in July 2004, and Apple took just five days to announce software updates to render the technology inoperable, saying its was “stunned” that Real had “adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod.” Judge Ware is expected to rule on Apple’s dismissal request by May.

Apple is planning to add a new combined multitasking and search view to a future version of iOS, according to a new report. Vietnamese-language Tinhte.vn has posted video of an iPhone running what appears to be a post 4.x version of iOS, complete with a redesigned multitasking interface. Instead of the row of app icons that currently slides up from the bottom of the screen when double-pressing the Home button, the version of iOS depicted in the video instead brings up a new view with nine thumbnails showing the current state of open applications; the app thumbnails can be pressed and held to bring up small black “x” buttons for closing the app, similar to what is seen when doing the same maneuver on the Home screen. In addition, the view has a “Search iPhone” box at the top that appears to function in the same way as the current Spotlight search, while the version of iOS depicted doesn’t appear to have a separate Spotlight search area to the left of the first Home screen. Tinhte.vn has provided correct reports of future Apple products in the past, however, it remains unknown whether the “test version” of the software seen in the video is legitimate, or if it will be included in any public iOS release. The video is available for viewing in embedded form below. [via Engadget]

Update: Tinhte has posted a second video showing the same interface running on a different iPhone. The phone in the second video carries an “XXGB” marking on the back, but in fact has 64GB of internal storage, and is seen running a version of iOS 4.0, suggesting that the thumbnail multitasking interface has been in development since before the release of iOS 4; it is still possible that Apple might move to a thumbnail-style interface in future versions.

Apple has released iOS 4.3.2 for the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM), iPad, iPad 2, and third- and fourth-generation iPod touch. According to Apple’s release notes, the update “fixes an issue that occasionally caused blank or frozen video during a FaceTime call,” “fixes an issue that prevented some international users from connecting to 3G networks on iPad Wi-Fi + 3G,” and “contains the latest security updates.” Notably, the notes make no mention of the problems domestic iPad 2 CDMA users had connecting to Verizon Wireless’ network, as had been previously speculated. In addition, Apple has released iOS 4.2.7 for the CDMA iPhone 4. Both updates are available now via the Update feature in iTunes.

Update: Apple has posted a support article documenting the security changes in iOS 4.3.2.