By Graham K. Rogers

Opening Gambit:

Apple Stuff

Needless to say the anniversary of Steve Jobs' death will be bringing out all the memories of those who knew him and those who thought they did, as well as those who claim to have known him. I saw him once: there. AppleInsider links to a number of "Untold Stories" that have appeared, a couple of which have an amusing ring of truth to them: hiding Porsches for example. Another item was a speech that Jobs made in 1983 full of predictions like mobile computing, wifi, and the iPad. I normally dismiss such predictions and avoid them myself, but include this example that was in an item by Mikey Campbell on AppleInsider as a point of interest.

A number of sites, including Apple, are reporting that the next quarterly results will be released by Cupertino on 25 October. AppleInsider has some information on this, while I caught this first in an item by Cody Fink on MacStories, from where I was able to link to the Apple Conference Call page

One of the new features on the iPhone 5 is the moving of the headphone jack from the top to the bottom, alongside the new Lightning port. I wonder about this, but of course do not yet have the iPhone 5 to examine. I have also noted that there have been no comments that I have seen -- none in the couple of weeks since the iPhone release -- so guess it may not be an issue. However, Georgia on iMore examines this, by way of asking for reader comments: I guess they haven't seen much either.

Another round of rumours concerning the iPad mini have been seeing the light this week with one story reported by Katie Marsal on AppleInsider that suggests production has already started in Brazil. There are also stories about the invitations to a special event. My first hint at this was in a small item on Seeking Alpha which suggests 10 October for the invitations -- 17 October for the event -- while some sources say a week later (17 and 25 Oct) which would clash with the Quarterly financial report.

In a later report, Stephen Rosenman on Seeking Alpha made some confident predictions including a price of $499 and does seem to think that the smaller device, he says scheduled for 17 October, will appeal to a new audience. I have never been convinced about this size of device.

Another update to iPhoto was shown when I used Software update on Tuesday morning. In the downloads section of the Apple site, we are told that version 9.4.1:

• Improves the reliability of syncing to iOS devices via iTunes
• Fixes an issue that could cause iPhoto to quit unexpectedly when using the Export command
• Addresses an issue that could cause iPhoto to quit unexpectedly when upgrading multiple books, cards, and calendars
• Resolves an issue with downloading and viewing photos synced from Facebook albums

While iPhoto and Aperture are examples of what Apple can do well, apart from the Maps app, which is beginning to improve slightly, two services bit the dust this week, Ping and Chomp, MacNN reports. I will notice zero difference with the loss of Ping as it was never available here, and I am not sure I ever saw Chomp which Apple bought in and used to incorporate its discovery technology into the redesigned App Store in iOS 6.

On Maps, my comment last week about wondering who should take the blame for the limitations being found has been taken up by others and we reported on Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Monday. There are more comments following that with some historical insight from iPodNN, some comments from Kate MacKenzie on PixoBebo who suggests that the value Scott Forestall brings to Apple far outweighs any idea that he should fall on his sword, and an overview of Apple's "bad week" from Marek Fuchs on Seeking Alpha. The "Get Forestall" meme was added to this week on Forbes with a column by Peter Cohan, who also throws Cook to the wolves for good measure, suggesting that the Maps problem has cost Apple $30 billion. That is stock value, not real cash and the only people who may be upset there are those who gamble on the stock exchange. To suggest that this event means that "Apple could be rotting from the stem down" is just so much hit-whoring drivel from someone who has now had his 15 seconds of fame and should let the professionals, like Cook (and Forestall) get on with the job. One hopes he will take the same position with Microsoft executives on their next disaster.

However, Maps may not be as bad as some critics have been squealing according to a report from Jim Dalrymple on The Loop who tells us that a company called Onavo ran tests that "showed that Apple Maps was up to five times more data efficient than Google Maps". My source for this was MacDaily News.

There was also an overnight problem with terms of service, iPodNN reports, which may have affected only the US iTunes store, but the terms page was stuck in some kind of loop and customers had to accept over and over again, with nothing happening.

Unrelated to all the problems -- if these are problems -- is the news from Steven Sande on TUAW that Apple is to begin its stock buy-back program this week, using some of its cash reserves to do this.

In addition it is reported by Mel Martin on TUAW (among others) that Tim Cook has waved his magic wand and the staff get some extra time off at Thanksgiving this year. In the US, that is.

A short while ago there were reports of Apple difficulties with warranties, especially in Italy where they were fined as the Apple warranty does not meet the requirements under Italian law. And maybe EU law too as Sam Oliver reports on AppleInsider that The Chief Justice of the European Union says the warranties from Cupertino need to be looked at to make sure they do comply with EU laws, where there is actually "free-of-cost entitlement to a minimum two-year guarantee".

Hmm, I just noticed that in the Notifications Center sidebar on my Mac, where there used to be a single button for direct Tweets, there is now another alongside for direct posting to Facebook.

Half and Half

As mentioned in that last item, Lucy Koh, the judge in the case has indeed overturned the ban on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 following a decision by the Appeals Court, Natasha Lomas reports on Tech Crunch: the judge left it to the Appeals Court, and they left it to her.

A surprise move from Motorola is reported by AppleInsider: the ITC complaint against Apple has been withdrawn in its entirety. The reasons are not clear, according to Florian Mueller on Foss Patents: perhaps a global settlement deal between the parties; or maybe Motorola realized that it proceeded too hastily with its initial complaint, which may prove its undoing; or a unilateral goodwill gesture on Google's part toward Apple if high-level settlement talks are progressing well.

Don't release your breath just yet.

And off once more with a new player in the litigation field, Ameranth, suing Apple over Passbook -- a new feature in iOS 6 that has been in the making for a while now. Mikey Campbell reports on AppleInsider that the hospitality software maker, claims patent infringement in an effort to enforce its wireless technology. Four patents are involved here, including one "which was cited as prior art in an iPhone property which listed late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs as an inventor."

Other Matters

With the amount of patent litigation that has generated headlines in the last year or so, it is no wonder that some people think something is wrong. However, when one of those is a judge who has expertise in the field, has decided some important cases and who thinks the system is broken, it is worth taking note of what is being said, whether you agree or disagree. Judge Richard Posner who already has an outstanding reputation in the field of intellectual property law and is on record as being critical about patent law, now comments on copyright law, Amar Toor reports on The Verge. He is suggesting strongly that Congress examine the current system and thinks that major changes are called for.

I was contacted by a colleague on Tuesday who queried a rather lengthy disclaimer that was being circulated:

Warning -any person and/or institution and/or Agent and/or Agency of any governmental structure including but not limited to the United States Federal Government also using or monitoring/using this website or any of its associated websites, you do NOT have my permission to utilize any of my profile information nor any of the content contained herein including, but not limited to my photos, and/or... the comments made about my photos or any other "picture" art posted on my profile. You are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing, disseminating, or taking any other action against me with regard to this profile and the contents herein. The foregoing prohibitions also apply to your employee, agent, student or any personnel under your direction or control the contents of this profile are private and legally privileged and confidential information, and the violation of my personal privacy is punishable by law. UCC 1-103 1-308 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT PREJUDICE

In the light of comments I have made earlier concerning the UK government attempts to allow "orphan images" to be claimed by those who would (like news organisations) who could thus avoid the need to make payments, I posted it on my Facebook timeline although it may have no validity at all. I am not a lawyer and nor do I play one on TV.

Later Tuesday evening, Charlie Osborn commented on a paper by an academic who is arguing for Federal laws that cover the use of personal information after we die. I must admit that I am more interested in what happens to my data while I am alive, but it is a valid question.

In other Facebook news, Steven Musil reports that the Willow Road company has sent a lengthy letter to the FCC claiming that " that teens' right to freedom of expression will be inhibited if child privacy laws limit Web sites' ability to incorporate the social network's "Like" button".

We are told by Tom Warren on The Verge that Microsoft is to unveil a new design for its MSN service, especially for Windows 8 users, which I guess will mean that the rest will have to re-register and will have problems getting in for weeks.

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Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.