Here is your daily Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock news and rumors for October 18, 2010. Two days before the Back to the Mac event kicks off, rumors about a possible debut for Mac OS X 10.7, nicknamed Lion, begin to swirl. Also, Facebook might be coming back to Ping in the near future if reports are true. Finally, Motorola looks to squash a number of Apple patents.
Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” Expected to Debut at Back to Mac Event: AAPL is expected to give attendees a preview of their next major operating system upgrade at this week’s Back to the Mac event at the company’s Cupertino, California campus. Nicknamed Lion, Mac OS X 10.7 is still a mysterious software revision from the company though a number of desirable features are rumored to be included in the update. The big addition to AAPL’s laptop and desktop computer operating system is the introduction of a devoted Mac App Store and iOS apps, replacing the underutilized Dashboard so prominent in the Leopard and Snow Leopard iterations of Mac OS X. Website OS X Daily also expects other features familiar from AAPL’s mobile devices like the iPhone 4 and iPad to be introduced to OS X with version 10.7, specifically integration of video chat app Face Time with the existing version of iChat on Mac. The update will also likely improve functionality in a number of standard OS X functions, with an updated Finder file organizer and a new Dock for software that may crib its design from Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows 7.
Steve Jobs Meets With Mark Zuckerberg to Talk Facebook and Ping: iTunes 10 social network Ping launched with integrated Facebook functionality on September 1st. By September 2nd, it was gone. AAPL, after eighteen months of reportedly tense negotiations with the social network behemoth, launched Ping with Facebook integration without the network’s approval further damaging an already tenuous relationship. It looks like the kerfuffle between the two companies may reach a civilized conclusion soon. According to the Los Angeles Times, AAPL CEO Steve Jobs invited Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to his house for dinner to discuss Facebook’s support of Ping two weeks ago. Jobs and Zuckerberg were spotted walking about Palo Alto, California later on the night in question. While it doesn’t look like the two are going to change their Facebook relationship status, the meeting does bode well for AAPL investors hoping to see social networking initiatives strengthen AAPL’s already lucrative iTunes business. Facebook integration will go a long way toward making Ping an essential feature in the iTunes business model.
Motorola Moves to Invalidate Apple iPhone Patents: Not even two weeks after filing suit against AAPL for patent infringement, mobile phone manufacturer Motorola (NYSE: MOT) has taken further legal action against the Cupertino, California company in their efforts to give the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android-powered Droid smartphone line a leg up. Motorola filed a complaint with a U.S. District Court in Delaware that looks to have eleven patents filed by Apple Inc. and the Steve Jobs-founded NeXT Software. Motorola claims that Apple has a “history of asserting” that Google Android-powered smartphones like the Droid X infringe on the patents in question. A full list of the patents in question can be viewed here.
As of this writing, Anthony Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
