Here are your Apple rumors and news items for Thursday:

Motorola Hints at Google iTunes Battle: According to The Guardian, Motorola (NYSE:MMI) CEO Sanjay Jha may have accidentally confirmed the existence of a new Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) music service that will compete with Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iTunes service. While speaking at the Mobile World Conference, Jha said that Google’s Android 3.0 platform, called Honeycomb, would make the tablet equal to Apple’s services because it “adds video services and music services.” He then elaborated on his point saying, “If you look at Google Mobile services today, there’s a video service, there’s a music service… that is, there will be a music service.” Google has tried to match Apple in each digital retail category — both companies opened e-bookstores last year, Apple’s iBookstore and Google Editions. Google’s music service would be a serious threat to Apple’s iTunes if it followed the Google Editions model of linking purchases to a Google account and being accessible via a web browser, which would make it available to Apple handset users.

Apple Corners Panel Supply Market: Taiwanese tech newspaper DigiTimes says that the flood of new contenders for the tablet crown held by Apple’s iPad are going to face serious supply issues as they come to market this year. Hewlett-Packard (NASDAQ:HPQ), Motorola, and Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) are all using the same glass capacitive touch panels in their tablets as Apple’s iPad. With a lock on 60% of tablet component supply, Apple has left those manufacturers competing over the remaining parts. For companies DigiTimes calls “second-tier players,” tablet makers like Vizio releasing its Via Tablet this year, they face being squeezed out of the market entirely due to shortages created by Apple.

MobileMe Refresh: Website Cult of Mac reported Wednesday that Apple will take on Facebook, Foursquare, and Ustream with the new version of its MobileMe services suite. New features include a live video-streaming service, a location-based check-in system, and a GPS-based tagging system currently named “Tokens” that lets users mark real-world places similar to Facebook Places. This report followed a Wall Street Journal report from earlier in the week that said Apple would be refreshing the MobileMe to coincide with the release of a smaller, cheaper iPhone this fall.

At the time of publication, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.