MacOS KenDensed: iPhone Event Rumors & Apple in Court

Ken Ray: Modern Day LegendIt’s iPhone event rumor time, Mountain Lion download numbers, Apple and Samsung fighting in court, and Proview’s angry attorneys. That should be enough to keep Mac OS Ken’s Ken Ray busy this week.

Remember, remember the 12th of September
If you work in news or tech news you may want to lightly — in pencil — circle the date Wednesday, September 12th.

Why? Because that is the day that iMore editor-in-chief Rene Ritchie says he’s heard that Apple will hold an event to announce both the next iPhone and the much discussed, though as yet unconfirmed, iPad mini. Or iPod SuperTouch. Or whatever.

Mr. Ritchie says this info comes from sources who’ve “proven accurate in the past,” and they say the wait between the next iPhone’s announcement and the next iPhone’s launch will be short. Shorter even than the 10 days that separated the announcement of the iPhone 4S from its release. The secret peeps say it’ll be a nine day wait for the phone this time, with iPhone-the-Next landing in the hot little hands of consumers on Friday, September 21st.

Will you remember? The 21st day of September?

While the smaller form factor iPad is expected by iMore to share the stage that day, Rene says he’s not heard a release date for that device. Also expected to share the stage, a new iPod nano and — maybe, just maybe — a new iPod touch.

Remember when Apple used to do more than one fall event? September of 2005 the company introduced the very first iPod nano, then a tiny bit over one month later in October the company introduced the very first video iPod. I know iMore has its sources that’ve “proven accurate in the past,” but why would Apple jam the stage with a brand new iPhone and a brand new iPad on the same day?

I can actually see an excellent reason for releasing the iPhone in the last week of September, bah-dee-yah. That would give them one week of sales in this quarter for the most hotly anticipated smartphone since the last iPhone. Still can’t see clouding the message of the new iPhone with a new iPad, though. Nor vice versa, to be honest.

If you don’t believe, don’t worry. Mr. Ritchie himself seems to see reason for doubt, ending his piece, “If these announcement and release dates prove accurate, we should find out in only six short weeks,” where “if” equals at least a little room for uncertainty.

Monday morning, iMore stood alone atop iPhone and iPad announcement news, and by Monday afternoon everybody had climbed aboard at least part of the story.

An iLounge piece had a secret source saying Apple is on track for an iPhone launch in the third week of September. This fits nicely with iMore’s assertion that the phone would be announced on Wednesday the 12th, and released on Friday, September 21st.

Mister X does not go along with iMore on the iPad mini lainching that day as well, saying that that device could show up as late as November. That feels late, though it would still get the thing out in time for holiday shoppers.

The secret so-and-so is also not on iMore’s nano train, saying there’s no indication that a new iPod nano is coming. He or she has a few thoughts on other Apple devices as well, but for the time being, I’m happy to stick with what’s seen and heard around the iMore story.

Next up, AllThingsD. They say they’ve confirmed the Septmeber 12th date, with secret sources telling them that Apple is aiming for an event that week. “And while we haven’t yet confirmed its focus,” says the piece, “history suggests it will indeed be the new iPhone.”

While AllThingsD doesn’t seem to want to walk the “iPad mini” limb, they do seem to think there’s more than just a new iPhone in the works for the fall. See, Apple’s buying lots of parts. Lots of parts for, who knows, maybe lots of things.

Wells Fargo Securities analyst Maynard Um pointed out that Apple’s most recent 10-Q filing shows prepayment for inventory components rising $1.15 billion from the end of the March quarter to the end of the June quarter. That, he says, puts the parts buying at its highest level in four years, and that is likely good news for Apple investors.

Quoting his note:

Historically, such increases have been followed by a solid ramp-up in revenue in the following 2-3 quarters. In our view, an increase in inventory component prepayment may suggest that Apple is securing supply for potential new product launches.

Now step aside for the big boys. BusinessInsider says both Bloomberg and Reuters are throwing in with the September 12th event. Two secret so-and-so’s tell Bloomberg that Apple will unveil a redesigned iPhone on that date. Reuters, on the other hand, has one secret source saying Apple plans to unveil something new at an event that day, and they figure that’ll be an iPhone.

But the biggest boy of all as far as media and Apple events are concerned may be The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple.

He begins The Loop piece by quoting iMore: “iMore has learned that Apple is planning to debut the new iPhone at a special event on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, with the release date to follow 9 days later on Friday, September 21.”

And he ends his piece in his usually verbose manner: “Yep.”

It’s six weeks away, plenty of time for something to go wrong. No guarantee that the event will happen, but I would now bet real money that Apple currently intends for it to happen.

Mountain Lion: 3 Million Strong, and Growing
Mountain Lion got off to a… to a roaring start. I can’t help it. I’m powerless against it. Mountain Lion got off to a roaring start. Yes it was easy, but you pick the low hanging fruit.

Mountain Lion got off to a roaring start.

Apple sent out a press release to let the world know that OS X Mountain Lion was downloaded over three million time in its first four days of availability, “making it the most successful OS X release in Apple’s history,” according to the company.

In case you’ve not heard, the ninth release of OS X is available through the Mac App Store as an upgrade from Lion or Snow Leopard $19.99.

I did upgrade to Mountain Lion last weekend, by the way. I’m gonna use that overused term now: evolutionary not revolutionary. I like Notification Center. I like AirPlay Mirroring from my Mac. And maybe I’m kidding myself, but the whole thing feels zippier to me than Lion did.

Hardly a hardcore review, but that’s my quick take on it.

Apple & Samsung: Court Room Kickoff
The day we thought would never come has arrived: the Apple v. Samsung trial is officially underway.

AppleInsider says a jury has been selected and that opening statements have been made. This after months and months of the two companies arguing about how they were going to argue the case.

Funny part: two potential jurors had to be excused, one because he or she worked for Apple and the other because he or she worked for Google. No, Google’s not directly involved in the case, and yet it’s pretty much at the heart of it.

You know the best part about this case starting? It will eventually end. And that gives me hope that, eventually, all the other ones will end, too.

You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m actually the walrus.

Proview’s Attorneys: Show Me the Money
And finally this week, how does one hand over a trademark?

Apple, for a good bit of the past year, was locked in battle with bankrupt monitor maker Proview over use of the iPad trademark in China. No doubt you remember this story. Proview used to make a thing called the IPAD. Then they stopped. Then they fell on hard times. Then, secretly, Apple formed a dummy company to buy the Proview trademark, for less than some luxury cars. For less than some regular cars, now that I think about it.

Feeling a wee bit hosed, Proview either hatched a plan or legitimately discovered something in the legal filings. I’m not sure which. Basically they argued that the price paid by Apple did not include rights to the iPad moniker in China, and so they set to suin’. For months, until finally — in the last month or so — Apple said, “Fine. Whatever. Will $60 million make this whole thing go away?”

That seemed fine to Proview. The two companies settled, Apple launched the iPad in China, and all was right with Bog and all his angels. Well, except for one problem: Forbes says the Chinese law firm that represented Proview has not been paid. It’s owed $2.4 million by its reckoning, and it would like that much, please, out of the $60 million Apple has paid Proview.

In the meantime, the law firm is suing to have the iPad trademark handed over to it rather than to Apple.

Two questions leap to mind: One: How does that hurt Proview, presumably the company the lawyers want to hurt since it was Proview — not Apple — that stiffed them on the bill? And two, the question that started this story: How does one hand over a trademark?

I picture an elaborate trade where someone with a contraption like the ones worn in the Olympic opening ceremonies displaying the names of the counties participating comes out. Except instead of the name of a country, the contraption displays the trademark.

Then a representative of the company taking control of the trademark brings out a big Ed McMahon-size check, and they make the swap.

There may also be a dance of some sort. I’m not sure.

Things are so much fun on my planet.