World of Apple claims to have been informed of the upcoming event and believe that it will be similar to Apple’s notebook event held last October. My Apple Guide appears to have obtained similar information from multiple unconfirmed sources that express the same date for such an event and state that Apple will be announcing “new Mac minis, iMacs with the new NVIDIA chipset, Mac Pros with Xeon processors along with a pleasant ’surprise’”.

While World of Apple’s source has been unable to confirm any specific details regarding the event, they too expect to see Mac Mini, iMac and Mac Pro refreshes. Speculation of upgrades to Apple’s desktop hardware have been circulating for quite some time. Digital Daily’s John Paczkowski had speculated about just such an event yet was under the impression that it would be held in February, which has now come and gone. MacBlogz had previously taken an in-depth look at what we can expect over the next couple of months and maintain that all three machines are due for a refresh.

Despite a host of rumors surrounding a Mac Mini refresh even prior to Macworld 2009, we still have seen nothing tangible. Last month, Tom’s Hardware released information pointing to a March upgrade around the time of Cebit as they believe that Apple may use Intel’s Atom processor, which is typically used in netbooks. Additionally, a rather questionable image and video of a Mac Mini sporting an impressive 5 USB ports has made recent headlines, yet the validity of it remains unclear.

Apple’s professional class desktops have not been updated in over a year, leading many to believe that a refresh is imminent. Last month we had caught word that Apple may be ditching the Mac Pro’s cheese grater front for a sleeker micro-perforated face allowing us to mockup up what this could potentially look like. Back in November there was word that Intel’s new Nehalem class (Xeon 5500, 3500) CPUs would launch in the first quarter of 2009, and a Mac Pro update may be in line with this roadmap.

Small bits of information had emerged about an iMac refresh prior to Macworld 2009, as a possible announcement was said to be made, yet of course nothing came to fruition. We have previously explained that, “Currently, Apple’s iMacs use a dual-core setup, which for an all-in-one machines makes sense. However, the iMac in general still lacks in terms of serious multi-tasking power and processing performance. A move to desktop class processors could make the machine appeal to a much broader range of users. Apple would need to restructure the way cooling works on the iMacs though. The Core 2 Duo chips that are used now produce low power and low heat, which the iMac’s casing depends on.” linking to such rumors, Intel had readied some new processors, the Q8200s (2.33GHz/4MB L2), Core 2 Quad Q9400s (2.66GHz/6MB L2) and Core 2 Quad Q9550s (2.83GHz/12MB L2) with prices at US$245, US$320 and US$369, respectively.

While it is certainly plausible that all three machines will be upgraded in the near future, the validity of a March 24 desktop event remains speculative as all sources of information remain unconfirmed.

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Macworld notes that one of the first questions asked at Wednesday’s annual shareholder meeting was directly centered around Apple CEO Steve Jobs, his health and his return to Apple. Jobs is currently on a medical leave from Apple until June, and the last we heard was that the SEC was launching an official investigation into the situation.

Even though some sites are sensationalizing Wednesday’s shareholder meeting by saying that it was “dominated by politics”, it was not. This is standard affair and every year Apple’s board advises its shareholders to steer clear of these potentially fruitless affairs. Why these other websites would attempt to create a seemingly turbulent environment remains unknown. However, because of the unfortunate visibility shed, their reports may get echoed.

As we made available in Apple’s proxy report before the meeting, and outlined here, shareholders were voting on certain proposals that could potentially change or alter the way Apple handles some of its fiscal reports, and even shed light onto trade-secret partnerships. However, on rather known guidance from Apple’s board, shareholders voted against every single one of these proposals. As far as the business side of things during the meeting, they were standard affair.

“A shareholder asked whether Apple’s board of directors had kept investors in the dark about the status of Jobs’ health and inquired about a succession plan. Board member Arthur Levinson, who is also chairman and CEO of biotech firm Genentech, replied that the board disclaims information that it deems important and proper, and that it talks regularly about a succession plan.

Otherwise, the meeting served largely to have executives assure shareholders that the company was on the right track. Filling in for Jobs—and donning a Jobs-like pair of blue jeans and black (though collared, not turtleneck) shirt—chief operating officer Tim Cook cited strong Mac, iPod, and iPhone sales in the last year and hailed the App Store as “absolutely the envy of the industry.” He also reassured shareholders that he was “very confident of our product pipeline,” Jonathan Seff explains for Macworld.

Another question asking for clarification about Apple’s decision to pull out of Macworld was answered by Apple COO Tim Cook and chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer. When asked whether Apple would ever reconsider the move, Cook explained that they have “very fond memories” of the Macworld Expo, however reiterated the company’s stance on utilizing their retail chain of 250 stores to create “many, many Macworlds each week.”

Notably, the audience sang Steve Jobs “Happy Birthday” in lieu of his 54th birthday on Tuesday, and tim Cook promised that Jobs would get the message.

Thanx to 9to5mac for the image

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Questions about Apple CEO Steve Jobs are to be expected, and above all else, expect Apple to tiptoe around the subject. Ever since it was reported that the SEC was launching an official investigation into Steve Jobs’ recent health issues, the speculation has ramped up, and everyone with an opinion has made sure to chime in.

For Download: 2009 APPLE ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS STATEMENTS

What items will be voted on at the Annual Meeting?

Shareholders will vote on five items at the Annual Meeting:
• the election to the Board of the eight nominees named in this Proxy Statement (Proposal No. 1);
• a shareholder proposal regarding a political contributions and expenditures report, if properly presented
at the Annual Meeting (Proposal No. 2);
• a shareholder proposal regarding the adoption of principles for health care reform, if properly presented
at the Annual Meeting (Proposal No. 3);
• a shareholder proposal regarding a sustainability report, if properly presented at the Annual Meeting
(Proposal No. 4); and
• a shareholder proposal regarding an advisory vote on compensation, if properly presented at the Annual
Meeting (Proposal No. 5).

What are the Board’s voting recommendations?

The Board recommends that you vote your shares:
• “FOR” each of the nominees to the Board (Proposal No. 1);
• “AGAINST” the shareholder proposal regarding a political contributions and expenditures report
(Proposal No. 2);
• “AGAINST” the shareholder proposal regarding the adoption of principles for health care reform
(Proposal No. 3);
• “AGAINST” the shareholder proposal regarding a sustainability report (Proposal No. 4); and
• “AGAINST” the shareholder proposal regarding an advisory vote on compensation (Proposal No. 5).

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In early February we first reported about the ongoing talks between Apple and China Unicom. As we previously explained, even though feverish reports came in claiming that all talks had broken down about bringing the iPhone to China, these reports were a bit premature. Amidst all of the treacherous negotiations between China Mobile and Apple, China Unicom were the ones to step and take control of the prospective partnership.

Contrary to recent reports that talks between Apple and Chinese mobile provider China Mobile had broke down because of App Store negotiations, it’s now being reported that the iPhone will be arriving in China on May 19th with China Unicom.

Reports that negotiations between Apple and China Mobile had broke down were true, albeit a bit premature. As it turns out, previous negotiations surrounding China Mobile and the potential iPhone 3G agreement were “becoming a threat to Apple’s business.” The “business model differences” as well as the inability to agree on distribution benefits made it so that negotiations had reached a stalemate. This is when China Unicom stepped in to takeover negotiations with Apple around September of 2008. Due to a shakeup in management on the Chinese telecommunications side, Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobing has been appointed as the head of the team leading negotiations with Apple. If everything goes smoothly, the iPhone is expected to launch in mainland China on May 19th, 2009. Apple is expected to get between a 20% and 30% “share” of iPhone sales. Whether China will subsidize the iPhone is still unconfirmed.

At the time of those initial China Unicom reports, we were a bit skeptical at first. However, we diligently spent nearly 4 hours tracking down and locating connections and colleagues in China who were able to confirm the information and relay what was being reported in local news. The general understanding was that talks between China Unicom and Apple were healthy, and the iPhone was something executives in China did not want to miss out on.

As Chinese news source gansudaily notes in a report about the subject, China Unicom will be restructuring its cellular network to support WDCMA, alongside a newly secured arrangement that will allow them to license certain 3G technologies. These cellular network technologies will be deployed into Chinese mobile markets making way for the iPhone, which is slated to arrive around May 19th. The iPhone 3G has simply plaid too big of a role in shaping the global market and Chinese telecom executives do not want to miss what is going on. They are deeply intrigued by the success of the App Store and have been paying extra close attention to the development of 3G networks outside of their markets.

Backing up these reports is some new information that has been made available today via ChinaTechNews.com. “Foreign media are quoting representatives from Ovum, a British consultancy, as saying that China Unicom and Apple will achieve cooperation soon and if everything goes smoothly, the 3G iPhone will enter the Chinese market in May 2009 at the earliest, but no more detail is given. Prior to this latest rumor, other rumors abounded both China Mobile and China Unicom intended to introduce Apple’s iPhone into China. China Mobile started early in the negotiations with Apple, but the two sides have not reached any agreement.”

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The first video is the new 17″ Macbook Pro commercial. As we uploaded the video, we noticed that YouTube has made it even easier to add comments and annotations on the actual video, so we gave that a shot.

We shot the video over at ArsTechnica but the NYTIMES was running it too. The next video is the iPod touch commercial that Apple unveiled back in December of 2008.

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Specifically around the forty minute mark, the interview shifts towards Amazon’s business model and how the kindle contributes to its growth. Both Rose and Andreessen feel that the kindle is a giant leap in technology and undoubtedly generates a tremendous amount of success for Amazon. However, like the continuous elephant in the room, when competition from Apple is brought up in the form of a “scaled up iPhone” or 7″ touch tablet, Andreessen and Rose seem mesmerized by the topic.

For those that are not aware, Andreessen is the co-founder of Netscape and has successfully sold two companies for over $1 billion each. Aside from currently being the co-founder of social networking site Ning.com, he is also beginning to dabble in venture capital. The interview touches upon many interesting subjects going on today, as well as opinions on Facebook, Twitter, Google and more.

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Based on the extended period of time it has taken Apple to address its desktop lines, specifically the Mac mini and Mac Pro, one could assume that a shift towards annual release schedules makes quite a bit of sense. Used publicly as the reasoning for withdrawing from the annual Macworld Conference and Expo, Apple said that the tradeshow did not align well with the company’s ability to control its own release cycle. Having a blockbuster product ready every January does not bode well for the company’s future or the company’s stock, and it puts another crucial piece of the puzzle in Apple’s control.

“Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways,” Apple’s Press Release explained.

For solidifying dates and time-frames, MacRumors’ Buyer’s Guide has been keeping track of such information. Still, Weintraub is right with his assertion that the lack of attention given to Apple’s desktop lines over the past 12 months suggests that the company is trying to get back on a steady schedule. One that they’re happy with.

“I think that Apple is looking to move their update cycle to yearly updates across all of their lines. It looks like we’ll probably see a desktop update in calendar Q1. Assuming that, this is what the yearly rollout schedule has been and looks to continue to be: Q1: Desktops – Q2: (near WWDC) the iPhone has recently seen updates – Q3: Has been all about iPods – Q4: MacBooks,” Weintraub explains. “This could account for the longer than normal wait times for new hardware products we’ve seen lately. Apple may be realigning its product matrix so that yearly roll outs are the norm.”

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Telegraph reports: But within hours of announcing the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, a phone fitted with the new generation software was stolen from an executive’s pocket.

The theft will no doubt embarrass Australian telecommunications giant, Telstar, whose CEO Sol Trujillo was reportedly given the device by Microsoft to test the system ahead of the launch.

He in turn handed the top secret product to an unnamed executive who was pick-pocketed during an evening function at the trade convention.

A spokesman for the Australian company confirmed the theft had happened. “One of our product executives was given the phone to test the system. He had it with him at an organised evening event and it was stolen from him – we don’t know by whom.”

There are fears that leaks regarding the features and early bugs in the software could mar the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 which the company hopes will give it the edge over the iPhone and the new Google Android operating system. The new product includes support for touch-screen technology similar to that found on the Apple iPhone.

Among the features offered in the new service unveiled by Microsoft’s chief executive, Steve Ballmer, on Tuesday, is a version of Windows Marketplace for Mobiles, which is set to compete with the popular Apple’s App Store and provide easy ways to download music and products to mobiles.

“I’m not clear on what the security implications of the theft will be,” said the Telstar spokesman. “That is for Microsoft to say.”

As Fortune notes, Barcelona is known for having the best pick-pocketing thieves in the world. So, while the news is shocking, after it resonates for a second, it is understandable.

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Last year’s event provided manufacturers with the opportunity to display their touch capable smartphones in efforts to come within a competing stride of Apple’s iPhone. While numerous gadgets will debut at the expo this year, the iPhone remains the looming force with heavy attention being focused on the iTunes App Store that now boasts over 20,000 applications. Such success brings envy as the other top mobile manufacturers are using the Mobile World Congress to unveil applications marketplaces of their own.

Fortune notes that this year’s highlights will include the following:

• Nokia’s Ovi Store: An online app and media portal that comes “pre-integrated” on Nokia’s (NOK) new N97, but will be available for download on a slew of existing Nokia phones come May.
• Windows Marketplace: Along with a new version of Windows Mobile, Microsoft (MSFT) announced Monday that it will open a new Windows Marketplace offering — you guessed it — 20,000 apps, some of which actually run on mobile devices.
• App Store for Symbian: PocketGear, which had previously built its own Palm App Store and an App Store for Windows Mobile, unveiled an App Store for Symbian, the operating system that runs Nokia’s smartphones. How it will compete with the Ovi Store remains to be seen.
• Android Market: Google (GOOG) opened an application marketplace for the Android platform last October, but so far it has only accepted free apps. Look for an announcement from Google this week about how that’s going to change.
• BlackBerry Applications Center: Research in Motion (RIMM) invited developers to submit programs to its forthcoming Applications Center in October. We may be hearing more this week about when that will open for business.
• Palm Software Store: This one went live in December with 2,000 apps and 1,000 free games available for download to both Palm (PALM) OS devices and Windows Mobile.

One other major headline that is making waves in Barcelona is Adobe’s announcement that it expects to ship a fully operational version of their flash player that will be set to run on Windows Mobile, Google’s Android, Nokia’s Symbian and Palm’s OS in 2010. Apple’s iPhone remains off of the list as CEO Steve Jobs has been known to oppose Adobe’s flash player, noting that it was simply not good enough to run on his device.

The Official GSMA Mobile World Congress website has live streaming video of the event that can be viewed here.

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Air-o-matic makes Pull My Finger (iTunes link), which sells for $0.99. Competing developers InfoMedia Inc, make iFart Mobile (iTunes link), which also sells for $0.99. In a nuthsell, Air-o-matic is accusing InfoMedia of unethical tactics used to gain traction in the app store, which they are in turn profiting from.

Adversely, as VentureBeat has pointed out, Infomedia has now asked a federal judge in Colorado to determine that “pull my finger” as a phrase, does not fall under common trademark laws. Infomedia’s Joel Comm attempts to explain the situation on his personal blog, and has made the legal papers publicly available (PDF). Keep in mind this is from one side of the argument.

What Apple can do about situations like this remains unknown. After all, business is business and reviews can’t necessarily be moderated by humans unless they are proven to be fake. Directly slanderous motives such as writing negative reviews on what is seemingly a third party site (when it’s not), should definitely be punishable. Since Apple has chosen to run the App Store like a high scale application boutique with which they choose what happens, they should be able to intervene when spamming, and unethical behavior is accused, not after it has already been proven.

Air-o-matic’s legal team has sent letters to both Apple and InfoMedia in the hopes that this gets sorted out. We don’t mean to open Pandora’s box with these reports, however, unethical and slanderous behavior in the App Store should be brought to light, especially when people are profiting from it.

The video below explains everything from Air-o-matic’s point of view. They are speaking in the video (turn up speakers) as they explain the alleged unethical tactics used by InfoMedia. The video has been pulled due to the ongoing legal tussle.

Update: Air-o-matic got in touch to share their side of their story too. Good timing, the video below was made prior to the story going public, we saw it… But it was then pulled due to confusion and guidance from lawyers. Air-o-matic in general didn’t want to risk both apps getting banned and this hindering their business further. However, after recent allegations from both sides, they’ve gone ahead and made the video available to view. Here’s a direct link to “their side of the story.”

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