Here is your daily Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock news and rumors for November 4, 2010. Apple takes initial steps to fix reported issues with the new MacBook Air’s display and logic board, promising a software fix in an internally circulated memo. In app news, Apple has begun reviewing submissions for the Mac App Store. Finally, an Apple patent made public this week describes a new augmented reality game app for the iPhone.
Apple Acknowledges MacBook Air Display Issues in Internal Memo: Users of the new 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air laptops have been reporting problems with the machines’ displays and logic boards. Complaints range from the screen suddenly showing nothing more than a series of different colored lines, to full on crashes that require the laptop to be rebooted. While early adopters of the new laptops have been left wondering what the cause of the problem is, Apple has remained silent. Today, Boy Genius Report received a copy of what is said to be an internal memo circulating at Apple that addresses the display issues in the 13-inch MacBook Air. The memo also states that Apple themselves are still unsure of what is directly causing the problem in their new products, but it specifically states that the company is “working on a solution” and should release a software update that addresses the problems reported by users. The memo also says that the issues appear to be “isolated” but that they still must be addressed.
Apple Reviewing Submissions for Mac App Store: The next major update to Apple’s desk and laptop computer operating system OS X, OS X 10.7 or Lion, is scheduled to release in summer 2011. The most anticipated feature for the update is the new Mac App Store, a full version of the popular digital software store that has created a healthy secondary market on devices powered by Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS. Industrious app developers that have seen success on the iPod Touch, iPad, and iPhone can now begin preparing software for Lion’s App Store. AAPL began accepting submissions for the Mac App Store last night. Mac App Developers must pay a $99 fee for a year membership in the App Developer Program, the same as on iOS platforms. The announcement did not give a hint as to when the Mac App Store for the existing version of OS X, OS X 10.6 or Snow Leopard, will launch.
New Apple Patent Describes Multiplayer Augmented Reality iPhone Games: Apple hasn’t leveraged the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad as platforms for a major new branch of video game business. The App Store and the software that populates it are both strong competitors in existing markets; Apple didn’t invent downloadable mobile software, they merely made it popular. An Apple patent revealed this week, however, describes a new type of video game software from Apple that could open a whole new market that their mobile devices could uniquely serve. The patent, named “Interactive Gaming with Co-Located, Networked Direction and Location Aware Devices,” describes a gaming app for the iPhone that creates an augmented reality using the handheld’s camera and GPS. Nearby iPhone users running the app would also see the augmented reality seen on the initial device, with their location recognized using the Bluetooth or cellular signal of their unique phone.
As of this writing, Anthony Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
