Apple Inc. (AAPL) Rumors – No iTunes Update, but Twitter Tie Ins

Here is your daily Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) stock news and rumors for November 12, 2010. iTunes didn’t get the software update that was rumored earlier this week, but it did get new Twitter functionality. Also, iOS 4.2 may be coming next week, provided its problems on the iPad get worked out in time. Finally, a new Wall Street Journal report says that iAd is improving mobile advertising business for a number of ad agencies, not just Apple Inc. Apple iTunes Social Network Ping Gets Twitter: Now iTunes users can add 140 extra characters to updates notifying their friends what album they’re currently listening to. Privately owned and popular social network Twitter announced yesterday that they have integrated their micro-update service with the recently launched iTunes social network Ping. Users with both Ping and Twitter accounts can link the two, letting them mix friend lists from both services and automatically post actions on Ping to Twitter pages. Options to “Post,” “Review,” and “Like” on Ping are automatically sent to the linked Twitter account when used in Ping, and links to sample and purchase songs on iTunes are then added to posts at Twitter.com. Integration with the popular network will be essential in Apple’s drive to get its millions of iTunes users active on Ping. While Twitter's integration is a good get for AAPL, there is still no word on when Facebook functionality will finally be integrated into Ping. Ping launched with Facebook tools at the beginning of last September, but were quickly pulled from the service as the social network and technology giant had yet to reach an official agreement linking the two services. iOS 4.2 Update Rumored to be Delayed Over WiFi Issues: The week starting November 8 th began with murmurings that the long-expected software updates to Apple’s major operating systems, OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and iOS 4, would finally be available for users to download. Mac OS X 10.6.5 did indeed release to the public, bringing a wealth of stability fixes to the operating system. Today, however, iPad and iPhone users are still waiting for iOS 4.2 to be made available. Greek website iPhoneHellas , known for accurate reports of Apple software update releases, now says that the mobile operating system update will arrive next Tuesday, November 16 th . Another rumor running at MacStories says that the software update may be delayed beyond next Tuesday though. According to that story, AAPL has encountered issues with WiFi connectivity in iPads using the current version of iOS 4.2. A new gold master of iOS 4.2 will be prepped to solve the issue before iOS 4.2 is released to the public. iAds Improving Business for Small Mobile Advertising Companies: Rather than crushing the competition, Apple’s recently launched mobile advertising platform iAds is actually improving business for rival mobile advertising companies according to a new report from the Wall Street journal . The report includes strong praise from the heads of mobile advertising companies Sprout and Publicis Group SA who both claim that rather than monopolize the field, iAds has legitimized mobile advertising as a profitable method of reaching consumers. It is speculated that the high cost of entry for using the iAd service—it’s been hinted that AAPL required a $10 million campaign commitment from advertisers when iAd first launched last July—has driven many advertisers with lower budgets to groups like Sprout. iAd, meanwhile, continues to grow. It was announced last week that AAPL would be opening a new office for its iAd operations in New York City’s Union Square in anticipation of bringing the service to the United Kingdom and Japan. The upcoming iOS 4.2 mobile operating system update will also bring iAd support to the iPad, opening a new audience of millions to potential and current advertisers. As of this writing, Anthony Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
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