AT&T today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2010, revealing that the carrier activated 2.7 million iPhones during the quarter. The number is down from 3.1 million in the previous quarter, despite Apple announcing yesterday that it had sold 8.75 million iPhones overall during the quarter, an increase of approximately 15,000 units over the prior quarter.
The results illustrate that international growth is a primary driver for the iPhone as AT&T begins to experience a slowing of its portion of the overall growth. The iPhone’s ability to attract new customers to AT&T has also begun to slip, as the company noted that “more than one-third” of its iPhone activations for the quarter came from customers new to the carrier, down from a 40% figure the company has consistently cited in past earnings releases.
Signs of slowing iPhone growth for AT&T are likely to add to the clamor for Apple to extend distribution to additional carriers in the United States, with market leader Verizon having received the most attention in recent years despite the requirement that Apple offer specialized hardware to operate on the carrier’s current network. For its part, Apple executives noted during yesterday’s earnings conference call that the U.S., Germany, and Spain remain the company’s three major markets where the iPhone is offered in exclusive carrier relationships. Despite that fact that the company has seen increased unit sales and market share in countries where it had moved to a multi-carrier model, however, it is not convinced that that dynamic would play out everywhere. Consequently, Apple continues to evaluate its carrier relationships on a country-by-country basis.

Thanks to a change in Apple’s iPhone Developer Program License Agreement, Adobe has decided to abandon the iPhone app building technology included in Flash CS5.
Adobe says it’s not planning on “any additional investments in that feature” after CS5 because of section 3.3.1 of Apple’s iPhone Developer Program License Agreement:
Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).
This section indicates that tools such as that in Flash CS5 are forbidden when developing apps for the iPhone and it appears to make it pointless for Adobe to provide the feature according to Adobe’s Mike Chambers:
While it appears that Apple may selectively enforce the terms, it is our belief that Apple will enforce those terms as they apply to content created with Flash CS5. Developers should be prepared for Apple to remove existing content and applications (100+ on the store today) created with Flash CS5 from the iTunes store.
The feature will still ship with Flash CS5, but is there much of a point in using it?

iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 2 slipped into the iPhone Dev Center earlier, but unless you’re a developer and really need to test apps, it’s best to skip this extra buggy beta and just keep playing around with the first.
I realize that you’re curious—after all iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 1 was full of new features—but Beta 2 is a bit of a letdown. Aside from the annoying inability to take screenshots, Beta 2 actually left me struggling to do simple things—like using the Camera app.
For whatever reason, the Camera app freezes and doesn’t save pictures, the on-screen keyboard refuses to pop up when I want to add my email account to the phone, and third-party apps go nuts.
Yes, this is all expected with a beta build, but many of us are prone to putting such things on our devices for the sake of trying them out and discovering new features. When it comes to iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 2 though, skip that step unless you have to and just keep playing with the first beta.
Or let us risk our iPhones—and patience—to find the new features for you and leave your iPhone happy with a public OS build.

Well, I guess this settles it as far as the authenticity of Gizmodo’s iPhone 4G scoop Monday. The definitive piece of evidence: a letter from Apple’s top lawyer, formally requesting the safe return of the wayward next-generation iPhone — the one left on a Redwood City barstool last month by a young (and surely red-faced) Apple software engineer.
Gizmodo posted the letter late Monday, and the missive — while firm in tone, and signed by Apple General Counsel and Senior VP Bruce Sewell — stops short of making any legal threats, at least for the time being:
It has come to our attention that GIZMODO is currently in possession of a device that belongs to Apple. This letter constitutes a formal request that you return the device to Apple. Please let me know where to pick up the unit.
Gizmodo Editorial Director Brian Lam replied cheekily that the lost, radically redesigned iPhone was “burning a hole in our pockets” and that he was “happy to see it returned to its rightful owner” now that “we definitely know it’s not some knockoff.”
The news came just hours after the bloggers Gizmodo described how a 27-year-old software engineer at Apple (who is named and pictured in the post, by the way) managed to leave the precious iPhone 4G prototype — disguised to look like an iPhone 3GS — on a barstool at the Gourmet Haus Straut, a “nice German beer garden” in Redwood City, about 20 miles northwest of Apple HQ in Cupertino. (Engadget had blogged over the weekend that the phone was lost in a San Jose watering hole, leading to some initial confusion.)
Having downed a few brews, the hapless Apple engineer eventually rolled out of the bar, according to Gizmodo, absentmindedly leaving behind the next-generation iPhone (which he’d been field testing, the post said). Hey, it happens. (If I had a nickel for every time I left a credit card at a bar … ) Another man in the bar ended up taking the phone home, peeled off the protective jacket the next day, and realized he had a windfall on his hands.
And as we all now know, “weeks later, Gizmodo got it,” says Gawker Media Inc.’s Gizmodo — leaving out a key detail that Nick Denton, founder of Gawker Media, filled in later for the Associated Press: The company paid $5,000 for it.
What followed, I’m sure, was a scene similar to the wonderful sequence in the BBC version of “State of Play”: The editors huddled with their lawyers, the crucial evidence (a suitcase of documents in “State of Play,” an iPhone in the case of Gizmodo) on a table before them, trying to suss out whether they should write a story or call the police.
So, is Gizmodo in trouble? Hard to say, but the L.A. Times tech blog checked in with UC Irvine law professor Henry Weinstein, who says Gizmodo is probably in the clear: “Journalists generally do not get prosecuted for being in receipt of stolen documents, as opposed to the person who received the documents and turned them over.” (It’s worth noting that Gizmodo claims the iPhone in question wasn’t stolen — merely “lost.”)
Now, Apple may find some other way to punish the Gizmodo guys (who are fast becoming the Merry Pranksters of tech bloggerdom) — perhaps a different legal route, or it may freeze out Gizmodo in terms of access to Apple reps and review samples. Then again, Apple reportedly had already snubbed Gizmodo by refusing to give it an advance review iPad, so … sounds like Gizmodo’s iPhone scoop may have been sweet revenge for the spurned blog.
And c’mon: Here’s Apple, perhaps the most infamously paranoid company of all time, complete with triple-secret security zones, blackout curtains hung over conference room windows, flashing red warning lights, prototype devices chained to tables, and all that — only to suffer the (arguably) worst security breach in its history because some poor guy left the next iPhone on a barstool. The irony is just too rich.
Of course, this is all inside baseball (albeit a fascinating game of inside baseball); in the end, we’re left with what appears to be an enticing new iPhone, with a revamped design (flat and shiny on the front and back, trim aluminum sides, thinner but a bit heavier), dual cameras (with a front-facing lens for video chat), a bigger battery, and what appears to be a higher-resolution display. The design may change between now and the final shipping date — after all, the phone Gizmodo snagged may only have been a prototype — but still, there’s little question that the iPhone as we know it is poised for some big changes.

Apple today released via the iPhone Dev Center its second beta version of iPhone OS 4 and the associated Software Development Kit (SDK) for developers to use in creating and updating applications. The initial versions of iPhone OS 4 and the SDK were released earlier this month alongside Apple’s media event to introduce the features of the next-generation operating system.
iPhone OS 4 will bring a number of new features, including various services supporting multitasking, email enhancements, and greater access for third-party application to built-iPhone functions such as calendars, photos, and camera controls. In all, Apple notes that iPhone OS 4 brings over 1,500 new APIs for developers to use in their applications.
Apple is expected to publicly release iPhone OS 4 to iPhone and iPod touch users “this summer”, although early models of those devices will not be compatible with the new OS and even some newer models will not be able to take advantage of all of the features. iPhone OS 4 will come to the iPad “in the fall”.

Apple has updated their online store to reveal that the 3G version of the iPad will begin shipping by May 7th. Apple launched the Wi-Fi version of the iPad on April 3th in the U.S. The company has reported that they have sold over 500,000 iPads since that time and have subsequently delayed the international iPad launch until the end of May.
The May 7th date appears to be for new iPad 3G orders as those who have pre-ordered the 3G model were promised delivery by late April. Several readers who pre-ordered the 3G iPads note that their order statuses still indicate a “late April” delivery.
Update: Apple has also sent out emails to those who pre-ordered 3G models, reassuring them that their orders will ship in late April.
Thank you for your recent order of the magical and revolutionary iPad 3G.
We would like to confirm that your order will be shipped in late April as communicated at the time you placed your order. You will receive a confirmation notice when your order has shipped.
You can get up-to-date information about your order, including shipping status and tracking number, at http://www.apple.com/orderstatus

Seems more people are becoming convinced that the iPhone 4G images leaked by Engadget over the weekend are indeed legitimate. In fact, the report that the pictured product is actually a Japanese counterfeit has been retracted and was itself a false claim.
Daring Fireball’s John Gruber now believes the images are real and that the next generation iPhone looks like the images depicted. Gruber also adds a detail that he has heard that the new iPhones will have a “fancy glass” back.
Multiple sources familiar with the next iPhone have confirmed to me that the back is made out of some sort of fancy glass — and looks pretty much exactly what’s pictured at Engadget. That’s not the only reason I believe Engadget’s unit is legit, but it?s one.
He points to a 2006 Apple patent application which describes the use of Zirconia as a durable and radio-transparent material that might be used.
A portable computing device capable of wireless communications, the portable computing device comprising: an enclosure that surrounds and protects the internal operational components of the portable computing device, the enclosure including a structural wall formed from a ceramic material that permits wireless communications through.
Now, if you do believe that these images do represent the next generation iPhone, one interesting detail noted by an Engadget commenter is that it appears to allow for a user removable battery.

You’d think iPads might be banned by schools because they distract students, but George Washington University and Princeton University have both put the kibosh on them because their Wi-Fi networks are way overloaded since the launch.
Bandwidth overload is a problem we’ve all encountered, but you’ve got to really feel sorry for those students trying to access internet—for proper school reasons—from their laptops, but are booted off because all their peers have now got ‘Pads.
Princeton University has blocked around 20 per cent of iPads from being able to access the network, and George Washington doesn’t support any Apple products, apparently. Cornell University’s information-technology director Steve Schuster said they had similar problems when the iPhone launched, but is “working to ensure the iPad does not have devastating consequences to our network.”
This comes after an entire country banned the iPad: Israel has found that the iPad’s Wi-Fi broadcasting works at higher levels than is normally accepted in Israel.
Commenter Cintax has pointed us towards this Princeton report, which explains the problem they have with iPads on campus (22 of the 41 iPads, to be precise) are related to DHCP client malfunctions, which causes interference with other devices.

If you want to get past Apple’s unpredictable App Store censors, it’s simple: Just go win a Pulitzer Prize, and/or inspire an online revolution.
That seems to be the message being sent by Cupertino this week in a very public iPhone app rejection fiasco. Word broke on Thursday that Apple had rejected a cartoon app created by Mark Fiore, a cartoonist who recently made history by becoming the first online-only journalist to win a Pulitzer. Fiore received the award for animations he’d published at the Web site of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Fiore’s iPhone app, however, was reportedly shot down by Apple because it “ridicule[d] public figures” — you know, as most satirical political cartoons tend to do. But the story didn’t end there: The general silliness of a ban on political satire, coupled with Fiore’s high-profile honor for that same genre of work, led to a public outcry over Apple’s actions.
And that public outcry has seemingly now led to Apple rethinking its ban.
Apple’s Pulitzer Rejection Reversal
Fiore, according to an interview published in The Wall Street Journal on Friday, received a call from Apple shortly after his story started receiving widespread attention online. The Apple representative, Fiore says, suggested he resubmit his app.
“I feel kind of guilty,” Fiore tells The Journal. “I’m getting preferential treatment because I got the Pulitzer.”
To be fair to Fiore, it’s probably more directly the public attention than the Pulitzer itself that caught Apple’s eye. But the honor, no doubt, illustrated the validity of satirical work in the eyes of the real world — the eyes, that is, outside of Apple’s carefully guarded walls.
Apple’s App Store and Political Cartoons
This wasn’t Apple’s first clash with politically charged App Store content. The Cupertino team put the kibosh on an app featuring the work of Mad Magazine cartoonist Tom Richmond last fall. Richmond’s app, entitled “Bobble Rep,” featured bobblehead-like caricatures of U.S. senators and representatives. Apple eventually reconsidered its rejection following a similar wave of online outrage.
Other authors have faced struggles, too, ranging from a guy who made a caricature-driven election game to a developer who created a cartoony countdown clock for the end of the Bush administration. But with the advent of the iPad and its focus on redefining the way we receive information, the concept of content-based censorship — particularly when the guidelines are so murky and inconsistent — is more troubling than ever.
“Suddenly Apple’s control freak approach threatens the development of the very technology it is supposed to be innovating, by placing restrictions and outright rejections upon the content that would be consumed via [its] devices,” Richmond writes on his blog. “Apps for publications and newspaper content won’t be very useful if [the iPad] only lets us see stuff that Apple and Steve Jobs thinks we should see.”
For now, it appears satire and politics will remain a wishy-washy, gray area within Apple’s app world. Not to fret, though: Bodily functions are still A-OK.

JERUSALEM – Israel has banned imports of Apple Inc.’s hottest new product, the iPad, citing concerns the powerful gadget’s wireless signals could disrupt other devices.
Customs officials said Thursday they have already confiscated about 10 of the lightweight tablet computers since Israel announced the new regulations this week. The ban prevents anyone — even tourists — from bringing iPads into Israel until officials certify that they comply with local transmitter standards.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission allows devices with Wi-Fi capability to broadcast at higher power levels than are allowed in Europe and Israel — meaning that the iPad’s stronger signal could throw off others’ wireless connections, Schubert said.
“If you operate equipment in a frequency band which is different from the others that operate on that frequency band, then there will be interference,” said Nati Schubert, a senior deputy director for the Communications Ministry. “We don’t care where people buy their equipment. … But without regulation, you would have chaos.”
Some Israelis successfully got the popular devices into Israel before the ban.
Amnon, a software developer who legally brought an iPad into Israel but asked that his last name be withheld to avoid potential government repercussions, said he and other high-tech businessmen need the iPad to develop new applications for the device.
“There are several hundred people in Israel who make their livelihood developing apps … and there are going to be companies that suffer, because they can’t deliver the services they’re supposed to be delivering,” he said.
The iPad combines the features of a notebook computer with the touch-pad functions of the iPod. It went on sale in the U.S. on April 3. Apple this week delayed its international launch until May 10, citing heavy sales in the U.S.
Israeli officials said the ban has nothing to do with trade and is simply a precaution to assure that the iPad doesn’t affect wireless devices already in use in Israel.
Although Israeli standards are similar to those in many European nations, Israel is the only country so far to officially ban imports.
Schubert said he expects the problem to be resolved as Apple moves closer to the international release.
In the meantime, confiscated iPads will be held by customs — for a daily storage fee — until their owners depart the country or ship the gadgets back to the U.S. at their own expense.
Apple’s chief distributor in Israel, iDigital, declined to comment on the Communications Ministry’s decision, and messages left at Apple’s headquarters in California were not immediately returned.