Report: iPhone 5 Will Have Edge-to-Edge Screen

Although we're probably months away from any type of iPhone 5 announcement, a Chinese site claims to have new pictures of the rumored product.

Engineering images obtained by iDealsChina show iPhone 5 to have a much larger, edge-to-edge screen that covers most of the front of the phone. However, besides the bigger screen, the device looks much like the iPhone 4.

"We just got what appears to be mold engineering drawings for iPhone 5," the site says. "These would be used by case designers to create plastic, TPU, aluminum, silicone, and leather cases. A while back we [heard] rumors that iPhone 5 would have a curved back but these images show iPhone 5 with the same form factor as iPhone 4 but with an edge-to-edge screen."

This statement could debunk the rumors that came out earlier this week that the back design of the next iPhone would be different. Sources said Apple would abandon the current glass back in favor of a metal back that would be similar to the original iPhone. Apple is reportedly nixing the glass back because of frequent scratching and difficulty painting that part of the phone

Apple Runs Out Of Most iPads

The only model left at Apple's Fifth Ave. flagship store Saturday was the $829 Verizon 3G.

Second-day iPad 2 stories were dominated by reports of long lines and product shortages, some of them clearly colored by the reporter's personal disappointment.

Mark Gurman's piece about "poor retail launch planning" posted at 9to5 Mac, for example, might not have been as critical of Apple (AAPL) if, after waiting 10 hours in line at the company's Century City store, he hadn't watched a buyer in front of him let friends jump the queue and clean out the last of the model Gurman had set his heart on.

New York City's Fifth Avenue retail outlet -- which prides itself as the world's best-supplied Apple Store -- ran out of all but the 64 GB Verizon 3G at 11:00 p.m. Friday, 6 hours after it began admitting a crowd that Apple estimated (unofficially) at between 1,200 and 2,000.

"You should have seen it," one staffer said the next day. "The minute we announced that we only had Verizon iPads left, half the line disappeared."

Twitter Tells Developers: Stop Building Apps!

Twitter's new terms and conditions, and its overall attitude, are tougher on developers who work to fill in holes in its infrastructure. This is the risk of putting your effort into a platform controlled by a single company.

Twitter has told developers in simple and straightforward terms to stop building apps that present the Twitter consumer experience.

Developers have told us that they'd like more guidance from us about the best opportunities to build on Twitter. More specifically, developers ask us if they should build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience.

The answer is no.

What this means is that you are no longer welcome to create Twitter clients, even if they run on currently unsupported platforms and if you have already expended the energy doing so - tough.Twitter recently suspended three existing mobile clients owned by UberMedia, but they were reinstated after some changes and being renamed.

The announcement was made on the official developer mailing list and the reason given was to increase the consistency of the user experience.

Windows Phone Marketplace Fastest To Hit 10,000 Apps

You may have seen my Windows Phone Wednesday articles and in my last one I was expecting the Marketplace to hit 10,000 apps some time around my next week's article. It seems that developers were especially aggressive this week though and according to the Marketplace Browser website we are now at 10,037 apps for Windows Phone 7. This just happens to have been the fastest platform to 10,000 apps. webOS is still only about half way to this milestone and it has been out since mid-2009.

According to data Pocketnow referenced, it took Apple 4.7 months to reach this level and Android 11 months. BlackBerry App World launch in April 2009 and has about 20,000 apps. I am not a huge fan of just counting up apps as a way to decide who wins, but with such huge selections the chances that the apps you like are available is much greater.

There are junky apps on every platform and if you want you can throw out all kinds of themes, ebooks, etc. that shouldn't really count as apps. However, it is important to check the trends and if Windows Phone Marketplace continues at this pace then things will be good for users. The quality of Xbox LIVE games on Windows Phone 7 is fantastic, as are hundreds of others that take advantage of the slick Metro UI. For example, take a look at Kevin Tofel's thoughts on Runkeeper for WP7 to see why he likes it better than his iPhone version.

Apple Releases iOS 4.3 With Faster JavaScript

Apple on Wednesday released iOS 4.3 for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, bringing new features like Personal Hotspot, AirPlay support for third-party apps, and JavaScript Web browsing speeds twice as fast.

iOS 4.3 was initially scheduled to launch on Friday, alongside the iPad 2, as per an official announcement from Apple last week. But Apple decided to pull the trigger two days early, and less than a week after the golden master was issued to developers.

One of the highlights of iOS 4.3 is improved performance with JavaScript in the mobile Safari Web browser. Apple has ported the Nitro engine from Mac OS X, bringing JavaScript speeds twice as fast to the iPhone and iPad.

Another major feature is Personal Hotspot, which allows iPhone 4 users to share their 3G data connection over Wi-Fi. Personal Hotspot will work with supporting carriers -- including AT&T -- with the appropriate monthly data plan.

The Personal Hotspot feature was first introduced on the Verizon CDMA iPhone 4 introduced in February. But while Verizon users had early access to Personal Hotspot, those customers will have to wait for iOS 4.3, as the CDMA iPhone 4 has a different baseband chip than its GSM counterpart.

HP Will Put WebOS On Every Computer It Sells By 2012

In a bold move likely aimed at bolstering its software business, HP CEO Leo Apotheker revealed in an interview with BusinessWeek published Wednesday that its WebOS operating system will make it on to every HP PC by 2012. Apotheker's comments confirm earlier ones made at the launch of the TouchPad last month.

At the time, the company said it planned to expand WebOS beyond its current home on tablet and smartphone devices. The move would signal a shift in strategy for HP, which currently only sees about two percent of revenues come from software. Compare this to its hardware business, which makes up about 70 percent of all sales.

HP acquired Palm and its assets for $1.2 billion last April. The future of the once dominant PDA manufacturer was uncertain within HP until October, when HP unveiled WebOS 2.0, calling it a significant upgrade to the platform.

WebOS will not replace Microsoft's Windows as the primary operating system, nor apparently run within Windows itself. Instead, HP has decided to make new computers dual-boot, meaning consumers would have a choice of which platform to run.

Chrome 10 Rolls Out With 24 Security Fixes

On Tuesday Google's browser users automatically began receiving a new major upgrade to Chrome 10, which incorporates 24 security fixes, based on bug reports from third party security experts. Google's rollout came just one day before PWN2OWn contestants attempt to win a $20,000 cash prize from Google by breaching Chrome's security defenses at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver.

On the other hand, many third party security experts have already demonstrated that you don't have to go to Vancouver to win cash prizes from Google. Russian security expert Sergey Glazunov, for example, is receiving $6500 in awards from Google for the bug reports behind five of the security fixes released in Chrome 10.

As a result, PWN2OWN contestants are expected to have a much tougher time cracking Chrome's defenses Wednesday. At stake is the $20,000 cash prize that Google has agreed to pay any contestant who can breach the browser's security sandbox using vulnerabilities that are purely present in Google-written code.

Facebook To Offer Movie Rentals

Reporting from L.A. and San Francisco Forget buying a movie. Now you just have to "like" it.

In a first-time embrace of the tradition-bound film distribution business and the emerging world of social media, Warner Bros. has launched an application allowing users to rent and watch movies directly on Facebook, starting with "The Dark Knight."

Though online movie rentals have been available for more than a decade, they have never before been possible directly on a social network site. Integrating movies into such sites where people find content based on the recommendations and tastes of their friends could be crucial as studios look for new ways generate revenue online and make up for declining DVD sales.

The new offering fits Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's often-stated goal "to make everything social." He wants users to be able to engage in all sorts of activity on Facebook, such as e-mailing and sharing photos, playing games and watching video.

Apple iPad 2 Unveiled: Thinner, Lighter, Faster

Apple today unveiled the iPad 2, the follow-up to the original iPad it released last April. The iPad 2 features an all-new design along with new features including built-in cameras and a new gyroscope.

At the heart of the iPad 2 is a 1.2GHz dual-core Apple A5 processor, a boost over the 1GHz A4 in the first iPad. Apple says the A5 is two-times faster than the previous processor, and graphics performance is nine times faster.

"The graphics on this thing are wonderful," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who made a surprise appearance at the Wednesday event despite being on medical leave.

The A5 also has a similar low-power consumption rating as the A4.

The iPad 2 features two built-in cameras, for use with FaceTime video chat and other apps.

Overall, the iPad 2 is thinner and lighter than its predecessor, weighing 1.3 pounds and measuring 0.35 inches thick. The original iPad was 1.5 pounds (1.6 pounds for the 3G iPad) and 0.5 inches thick. The iPad 2 is actually thinner than the iPhone 4, which is 0.37 inches thick.

Other new features include a gyroscope, 10 hours of battery life, and a choice between a black or white iPad.

Malware Apps Removed From Android Market

By some accounts Google's Android Market is uploading as many as a thousand new apps per day. That speaks well to the app market's growing popularity but, as with any popular site these days it seems, it's also made Android Market a target of malicious hackers spreading malware that could compromise a user's security and expose personal information.

According to the site Android Police, Google had to scramble this week to pull at least 20 applications from its Android Market that were infected with malware.

"I just randomly stumbled into one of the apps, recognized it and noticed that the publisher wasn't who it was supposed to be," explained a post at Android Police.

Android Police updated its report to note that Google moved extremely quickly to pull the offending apps.

But Vikram Thakur, principal security response manager at security provider Symantec, said the incident shines a light on the relatively open process Google uses to allow new apps into Android Market.

Read Enterprise Mobile Today's report on the Android Market malware incident and what steps you can take to avoid being victimized.

Apple Delays iOS 4.3 For CDMA Verizon iPhone

In announcing the release of iOS 4.3 on March 11, Apple has explicitly excluded CDMA iPhone 4 from the list of supported devices, indicating that a separate build will be provided afterward.

The new iOS 4.3 release will officially support the 2009 iPhone 3GS, the GSM iPhone 4, third and fourth generation iPod touch, and iPad models. This leaves out the CDMA iPhone 4 as well as Apple TV (which is normally updated on its own, independent schedule).

The Verizon iPhone 4 was released using its own software build, labeled iOS 4.2.5. Other iOS devices remained at iOS 4.2.1, which was released in November. Apple subsequently updated Verizon iPhones to iOs 4.2.6 to fix a bug related to its new Personal Hotspot feature.

 Apart from the brief exclusive of its Personal Hotspot feature, the Verizon iPhone is being updated separately because it uses a different baseband chip than other iPhones, requiring a separate firmware. Apple may be waiting for Qualcomm to deliver a specific update for the chip before integrating the new firmware into the iOS release for that model.

Apple hasn't announced a date for the Verizon iPhone release version of iOS 4.3, but it is likely to follow shortly after the initial release for GSM iPhones because the new build packs a variety of features and improvements.

Nintendo 3DS To Support Netflix This Summer

Starting this summer, Nintendo's 3DS handheld will support streaming of movies and television shows from Netflix.

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime made the announcement during the Game Developers Conference keynote address in San Francisco.

"We really want Nintendo 3DS to be the next must-have," Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said.

Fils-Aime also revealed a May software update will include support for 3-D trailers, starting with the summer blockbuster The Green Lantern.

The May update features bolstered Wi-Fi access as well, through a partnership with AT&T. The deal allows 3DS users to connect to more than 10,000 hot spots.

Nintendo is planning to launch a "short-form video service" for 3DS, says Fils-Aime, which will serve as a video channel for 3DS users.

Facebook Acquires Group Messaging Service Beluga

Facebook has just acquired group messaging service Beluga, we've learned.

Here's what we know: Facebook has acquired both the product and the team, and the plan is apparently to keep the service open for now. With past acquisitions, Facebook has only acquired companies for their talent. But this time it's apparently a bit different, as they're interested in both the talent and the technology behind Beluga.

It was barely two months ago that we first wrote about Beluga — when I called it my "group messaging white whale". Since then I've been a non-stop user of the service and figured it would be one of the stand-out stars at SXSW this year. Today changes things a bit, obviously.

But that doesn't change the fact that the technology behind the product did seem to be rock solid — so this was a good, fast move by Facebook.

‘Infamous 2′ Lets Players Design New Missions

This week's big Infamous 2 reveal, which developer Sucker Punch has kept secret for two years, is sure to excite fans of the game. The open-world sequel will include tools allowing players to create their own missions for the game.

Missions, in an open-world game, are those scenarios that allow the game developers to advance the plot or introduce side stories. Infamous 2 will be the first "sandbox" game to allow users to make their own. While Infamous is at heart about climbing onto city rooftops and shooting lightning at bad guys, user-created missions can temporarily turn the game into a platformer or even a 3D take on Angry Birds. The Angry Cole mission had me using protagonist Cole's powers to hurl explosive barrels at enemies dancing on platforms floating in the air, a faint echo of its iPhone namesake. Like the other missions specially created by users for the press preview at GDC, it was a trifle, if suggestive of the surprises that might be in store once the tool enters public beta-testing in early April. User missions will appear directly in the game world, with the most noteworthy to be highlighted by Sucker Punch.

Apple Announces New MacBook Pros

Apple today announced a refresh of its MacBook Pro line of laptops. The highlights? New, faster processors, more powerful graphics processors, an HD camera and a new port for a technology that Apple is calling Thunderbolt.

Cosmetically, the new Pros look very similar to their predecessors. There are still 13-, 15- and 17-inch models (starting at $1,199, $1,799 and $2,499, respectively), and they still have the same aluminum unibody construction and full-width glass across the display. To look at them, you wouldn't notice a whole lot that's different.

It's under the hood where things change. The new Intel processors, the Core i5 and Core i7, are dual- and quad-core chips that promise up to twice the performance of the chips in the earlier models.

One of the new features of the Intel chips is an integrated graphics processor. But in the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros, Apple doubled down on graphics by adding a discrete AMD Radeon graphics chip. Models with both chips seamlessly and automatically switch between the two processors, depending on performance needs.

There is also a new FaceTime camera, which can stream video in 720p resolution and display it in a new widescreen format.

PS3 Hacker’s Home Raided By Police

It would appear as though Sony is not screwing around when it comes to going after PS3 hackers. While in the US this means gentle lawsuits and polite, in Germany, it means police raids.

Earlier this week, German hacker "graf_chokolo" was on the receiving end of a visit from police (and a representative from Sony), who had arrived to seize his computers and PlayStation 3 consoles for use as evidence in an upcoming court battle. It obviously wasn't a NOBODY MOVE GET YOUR FACE ON THE GROUND kind of raid, but still.

It's bad news for graf_chokolo, but also for Sony, as only half an hour after first telling the world of the raid via his blog, the hacker had managed to upload his work – aimed at cracking open the PS3 and getting Linux back up and running on the console – on the internet for countless others to toil away on.

While Sony Computer Entertainment Europe was unable to provide details on the incident, as it is a legal matter, a spokesman was able to confirm that the police visit and seizure did indeed take place.