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Weekly Recap; Rumors, Updates, Execs Fired and a Leaked Steve Jobs Email

Leaked: The Full Steve Jobs Mobile Me “Mistake” E-Mail

The following was sent from Steve Jobs to the rest of the Mobile Me team:

Team,

The launch of MobileMe was not our finest hour. There are several things we could have done better:

MobileMe was simply not up to Apple’s standards – it clearly needed more time and testing.

Rather than launch MobileMe as a monolithic service, we could have launched over-the-air syncing with iPhone to begin with, followed by the web applications one by one – Mail first, followed 30 days later (if things went well with Mail) by Calendar, then 30 days later by Contacts.

It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store. We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence.

We are taking many steps to learn from this experience so that we can grow MobileMe into a service that our customers will love. One step that I can share with you today is that the MobileMe team will now report to Eddy Cue, who will lead all of our internet services – iTunes, the App Store and, starting today, MobileMe. Eddy’s new title will be Vice President, Internet Services and he will now report directly to me.

The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services. And learn we will. The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year.

Steve

Apple Has Seeded Mac OS X 10.5.5 (Build 9F9) to Developers

A new version of Mac OS X 10.5.5 (Build 9F9) has been seeded to developers for testing.

“Mac OS X 10.5.5 build 9F9 comes exactly one week after the Mac maker began widespread testing of Leopard update by privately distributed build 9F5 to its vast developer community. Since then, the Cupertino-based company has implemented two dozen additional code corrections to bring the total number of bug fixes expected as part of Mac OS X 10.5.5 to more than 100, people familiar with the latest build say,” Apple Insider reports.

Exactly one week ago, Apple seeded Mac OS X 10.5.5 (Build 9F5) to the developer community.

People familiar with the build say that since Build 9F5 was seeded, two additional code corrections have been made to bring the total number of bug fixes up to more than 100.

AI continues to explain, “Those with knowledge of the ongoing beta test say Apple is also using build 9F9 to broaden developers’ focus area from 18 core system components to 24. Some additions from last week’s build include Directory Services, Fonts, mDNSResponder, Screen Sharing, and X11. Unlike the previous build, however, Apple is no longer advising developers to abstain from installing the pre-release software on Macs that include integrated graphics cards.”

Apple is expected to release Mac OS X 10.5.5 by October. The Operating System is expected to support a completely overhauled line of Macs.

Former Apple Employee Spills The Beans on Apple’s Internal Internet Projects

Chuq von Rospach, a former Apple employee who worked behind the scenes on Apple’s email lists, for a very, very long time, spills the beans on what it’s like to work for Eddy Cue, the new head of the Mobile Me team, who is reporting directly to Steve Jobs.

The following is taken from Chuq von Rospach’s post explaining some of the Mobile Me launch disaster situation, as well as attempting to debunk the Leaked Internal Email written by Steve Jobs to the Mobile Me team we reported about yesterday.

I expect a bunch of friends and people I know were involved in that project, and I feel really bad for them. But the reality is, the thing wasn’t ready and the release got botched. And Steve and Apple aren’t terribly tolerant of that kind of major screwup. I expect heads have rolled and there are a few tanned hides waiting for the welts to go away.

For the full article, (must read) click here.

Apple Planning Special Event in September?

Investment bank Piper Jaffray speculates about the possibility of an announced special Apple (AAPL) event taking place in the month of September. The event would be used by Apple as a launching pad for a new line of iPods and Mac notebooks.

“We note that the MacBook has had the same design since its launch over two years ago, and the MacBook Pro has had essentially the same design since its launch over 2.5 years ago, which was very similar in design to the PowerBook G4 released over 5.5 years ago,” analyst Gene Munster told his clients. “To compare, the long-running iMac G5 design lasted three years.”

Additionally, in the note to his clients, Munster speculated about the use of Apple’s multi-touch technology, and how it will relate to the Mac’s future roadmap. He said that the current multi-touch gestures, that users have become familiar with in the the Macbook Pro and Macbook Air “are just the beginning of Apple’s exploration of multi-touch on the Mac.” Munster also weighed in with beliefs that Apple is almost certain to include various technology points from the iPhone to drastically advance the user experience on the Macintosh platform.

2009 Apple Cinema Displays Rumors

This week MacRumors has shed some light on a possible Apple Cinema Display refresh, set to be announced at the MacWorld conference in January. It has been over four years since a major overhaul, so I think it goes without saying that they are well overdue. The new screens are reported to integrate LED backlights in efforts to uphold environmental standards, eliminating the currently used fluorescent backlighting.

Pricing is still an uncertainty as LED displays tend to not be very cost effective, take for example the Samsung 30″ LED display that rings up at $4735. The price gaps between Apple’s displays and their competitor’s products are widening everyday, so it’ll be interesting to see what Apple releases (if rumors hold true) at the upcoming MacWorld conference. We here at MacBlogz have been adamant about a refresh for quite some time now, as they have been long overdue for a refresh. So hopefully we can put this on our holiday wish list.

Apple iPhone Firmware 2.0.1 Finally Released

After nearly 3 weeks of waiting, Apple has finally posted the firmware 2.0.1 update tonight. The new firmware is available through software update and allegedly is a “bug-fixes” only update. It addresses all iPhone and iPod touch owners running the iPhone 2.0 software.

“iPhone nano” Rumors Galore

iPhone available for Christmas?

Dailymail.co.uk (a site out of the UK) reports to have spoken with an industry source, who is claiming that Apple will unveil an “iPhone nano” in time for the holiday shopping season.
The iPhone nano is expected to be targeted at the pay-as-you-go market, giving everyone the opportunity to enjoy the revolutionary user experience the iPhone delivers. “‘The iPhone 3G has been the fastest-selling phone ever in the UK, but it is too expensive to be a realistic proposition in the pay-as-you-go market,” reports Fluendy.

Time Frame Debunked?
While the Daily Mail may have wet people’s appetite with rumors of an iPhone nano earlier this week, new analyst reports may be putting a damper on claims of a holiday launch.

Analyst Firm Lehman Brothers, feel that Apple’s supply chain would not appear to be in line with a diet iPhone until next year. Analyst Ben Reitzes advised his clients in a recent report noting, “While we believe Apple is working on a lower-end iPhone form factor, we do not think one will come until Spring 2009.”

More evidence?
To add more fuel to the fire, it appears as though Apple iPod and iPhone accessories maker, Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO), has been tinkering away on a nano-styled iPhone dock since 2006.

DLO’s 2008 patent documents even contain detailed illustrations of front elevation views of a mysterious telephonic portable digital media storage and playback device…That looks eerily like the current iPod nano with similar dimensions and proportions, even harboring a familiar touchwheel. The remainder of the patent details a docking station that is fit to hold this nano-sized device as well as some sort of TV remote.