May 24

ZD Net’s Jason O’Grady claims that Apple will announce a Tablet Mac in the fall of this year in ‘The Apple Core’ blog.

He says that the 12 or 13-inch tablet will run the full Mac OS X, have a slot loading SuperDrive, an “iPhone-type” GPS chip and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

O’Grady believes that it is most likely to be released in the September or October time frame and that his source has been reliable in the past.

LoopRumors was among the first to suggest that the a Tablet Mac was under development by Apple.

May 24

Financial firm Goldman Sachs added Apple to its Americas conviction buy list, saying the company’s stock will likely benefit from the launch of the 3G iPhone next month, Reuters reports.

The firm also expects sharply higher projections of iPhone sales for the second-half of the year to play a positive role.

Analyst David Bailey raised his target on the stock to $220 from $185 and rates the stock “buy.”

He also believes Apple should be able to increase its available iPhone subscriber base by more than 80 percent this year due to aggressive expansion into international markets. Apple has signed deals to bring the iPhone to Singapore, India, Australia and the Philippines this year.

“We continue to expect Apple to beat its 10 million unit goal for calendar year 2008 driven by broader global distribution and the availability of third-party applications, which should keep Apple well ahead of the competition,” Bailey wrote.

Bailey expects 11 million iPhone sales in 2008 up from 3.7 million in 2007.

May 24

Apple and Sony have reached an agreement with Sony to offer TV shows on the iTunes UK store.

Macworld UK reports that content is currently being uploaded to the iTunes UK store. The Sony Pictures channel includes the following shows: Damages, The Larry Sanders Show, News Radio and animations, Jackie Chan Adventures and Spiderman.

Apple seems to have yielded to demands for flexible price: the Spiderman, News Radio and Jackie Chan Adventures episodes cost 1.19 GBP each; while The Larry Sanders Show costs 1.49 GBP per episode and Damages episodes are at 1.89 GBP per show.

Apple appears to be moving away from a fixed price model after demands from rights holders.

May 24

A new beta of the iPhone 2.0 software update released this week adds new features to the device.

This latest iPhone 2.0 version (5A292g) added geo-tagging to the Camera and Maps applications, according to AppleInsider.

This service asks the user permission before transmitting data user to identify their current geographical location.

Essentially, geo-tagging is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to media files such as latitude and longitude coordinates — or even names of places — so that those files can later be referenced, searched, and grouped based on their origin, AppleInsider says.

The feature can be turned on or off in the iPhone’s General settings under “Location Services”.

The iPhone 2.0 software update will be released by the end of June along with the next generation 3G iPhone.

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May 24

Apple today released an update for Logic Pro 8, the company’s digital audio workstation application.

Logic Pro 8.0.2 addresses specific customer and compatibility issues of Logic Pro 8.0. It includes Waveburner 1.5.2 and Impulse Response Utility 1.0.2, which address issues for Waveburner 1.5.2 and Impulse Response Utility 1.0 respectively .

Logic Pro delivers everything a musician needs to write, record, edit, mix, and perform in the studio and on the stage. With three applications, instruments, effects, and a massive sound library, Logic Studio puts powerful music creation and production tools in one comprehensive package.

May 23

AT&T today announced that it will deploy High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) technology in the six remaining markets across AT&T’s entire 3G wireless broadband network by the end of June.

AT&T already completed deployment for its HSDPA network and this will make AT&T the only US carrier to have complete HSPA technology on its 3G network. The company’s 3G network is available in more than 275 markets today and by year-end, it will be available in nearly 350 markets.

The press release adds:

With the new addition of HSUPA technology, AT&T 3G users can enjoy uplink speeds between 500 and 800 Kbps. The technology is available in all but the few remaining AT&T 3G markets and will be included in all future deployments. The new upload speeds complement AT&T’s 3G download capabilities, which currently offer up to 1.4 Mbps across all markets for customers who have capable devices, such as AT&T’s LaptopConnect wireless modems.

Apple is expected to launch its second generation 3G iPhone in June.

May 23

Apple today debuted a new television ad for the iTunes store.

The commercial features the rock band Coldplay and singer/pianist Chris Martin. It highlights Coldplay’s upcoming new album release (June 17th): Viva la Vida exclusively on the iTunes store.

Here is a YouTube video of the ad and a link to Apple’s iTunes site where a higher quality video can be seen.

May 23

Japan and Korea, two of Asia’s biggest cell phone markets, are expected to have their iPhone launch at the same time according to Telecoms Korea.

AppleInsider reports that NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s major mobile phone operator, and Korea Telecom Freetel (KTF) are in talks with Apple that would release the iPhone at the same time in both countries. It would certainly be the 3G version since both countries use WCDMA for their calling networks, a feature that is not supported by the first generation iPhone.

NTT DoCoMo said in the past that they were in talks with Apple but negotiations stopped due to Apple’s demands on revenue sharing.

May 23

Reuters reports that T-Mobile expects to remain the only seller of Apple’s coveted iPhone in Germany, T-Mobile Chief Executive Hamid Akhavan said on Tuesday.

“We have a very good relationship with Apple…at least in Germany it is exclusive, and we expect it to remain as such,” Akhavan told the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in Paris.

“If and when there is a 3G iPhone we expect to have it exclusively in Germany as well,” referring to a yet-unconfirmed new model of Apple’s touch-screen device that will support third-generation mobile phone networks with faster data speeds.

In April, T-Mobile began offering the iPhone for 99 euros ($154.10) in combination with the most expensive T-Mobile contract of 89 euros per month, giving rise to speculation it was trying to clear the shelves for a new version of the iPhone.

May 23

Netflix today launched a set-top box that lets users stream movies and TV shows directly to the television.

The $100 box designed by Roku is about the size of a paperback book with no hard drive. It streams video through an ethernet or Wi-Fi connection and Netflix recommends an Internet speed of 1.5 Mbps for the best possible experience.

Users will not need to pay additional fees on top of their monthly Netflix subscriptions for unlimited access to the 10,000+ movies available for streaming.

Apple introduced iTunes movie rentals with a new Apple TV update earlier this year.

Forbes posted a comparison between Apple TV and Netflix’s new box.