Apple has issued a fix for iOS 3.1.3 App Store download bug. The bug in question removed the 'Download' button altogether when users running the older firmware attempted to acquire apps from the App Store.

Since the App Store is essentially a native wrapper around a web-based interface, Apple is able to update it without having to push out a full version of the whole OS. That can lead to things breaking out of nowhere, but also getting fixed.

It's good to know that Apple still has the backs of those running on firmware that's now going on two years old.

Source: Apple Support Communities via Engadget

Reports in Apple's Support Community suggest some users running on older iOS 3.1.3 firmware are no longer able to download apps from the App Store after Apple pushed out an update on December 16th.

Specifically, when users jump into the App Store and try to download any app, the download button is completely missing altogether. Although fragmentation within Apple's iOS ecosystem is extremely limited -- at least compared to the closest competition with Google -- some users are still running older iOS versions.

There's currently no fix outside of upgrading to a newer version of iOS, but for some users with older devices that simply don't support current iOS versions, this could become a serious problem. Hopefully Apple pushes out a fix soon.

Source: Apple Support Communities via Engadget

If rumors are to be believed, the next Apple TV is going to adopt the iPhone OS, eschew local drives for cloud storage, and hit a $99 price point.

TiPb's been wondering out loud about putting the iPhone OS on the Apple TV for a while now, so obviously we're excited to hear that may be on the table. Sure, figuring out how to translate the current multitouch input methods of the iPad and iPhone to something that works on a 60" from 10' away but having Safari and apps and games on the platform will be more than worth the effort.

I typically stream to my current Apple TV and never use the hard drive on the machine, so the idea of streaming from iTunes.com or whatever cloud-solution Apple eventually rolls out is compelling. Obviously it will require some local storage to cache data for a smooth user experience, and users should be able to keep a copy of the things they buy if they so choose (sorry Hollywood).

$99 price? That starts to be mainstream... or would if it could replace DVR boxes and set top boxes. As it is, sitting on top of another box (or several) still makes it a tad complex for average users. Cable and satellite providers won't be giving up control of their content or experience any time soon, however, so at least cheap mitigates that for now.

And no, it's reportedly been in the pipeline for a while so it's not a response to Google TV -- though the sudden leak of information about it certainly might be...

UPDATE: Daring Fireball pegs the codename for this next generation Apple TV as K66.

Want one?

[Engadget, Daring Fireball]

TiPb's wondered out loud before about the prospect of the Apple TV joining the iPhone OS family and providing a better overall package than the current no browser, no apps, no pretty much anything exciting product that hasn't seen a hardware update since... almost ever.

Now with Google TV on the horizon, Fortune brings word that while the Android box will be running an Intel CPU it will be using the same GPU as the iPad (and iPhone 3GS) -- the PowerVR SGX.

PowerVR is owned by Imagination and both Apple and Intel have stakes in the company. With Google pushing into every one of Apple's businesses, is the living room something Apple's going to be willing to surrender, and if not, how will they push back?

Current Apple TV hardware runs a custom Mac OS X Tiger 10.4 OS on top of an Intel Pentium M 1GHz "Crofton" CPU and NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 GPU which was low-end desktop kit a few years ago.

We're still loving the idea of a 1GHz Apple A4-family powered, next generation Apple TV with iPhone OS. That'll leave Google and Apple to compete as they usually do -- with Google giving away everything that doesn't make them money and offering diversity, and Apple focusing on a few core things and making the experience as user-friendly as possible.

Google TV could get built into every display and set-top box (though big media will freeze it out of interacting with any cable or satellite content stream, sorry VoD fans) and kinda sorta work for nerds willing to IR blast or harmonize their remotes. Apple TV could only work with iPods, iPhones, iPads, Macs and PCs but what content you have or Apple provides would be easy and seamless.

Which means both solutions would still be incredibly lacking, but given the restrictions Apple TV with iPhone OS would still be a lot more compelling -- and competitive -- than it is today.

[Fortune]

A little while ago TiPb asked if the Apple TV should be switched over to the iPhone OS, but what about the Mac? Coincidentally, a recent Apple job offering was discovered by ComputerWorld that hinted Apple was seriously considering pushing the iPhone OS from phone, MP3-player iPod touch, and tablet iPad to further devices:

The Core Platform team within Apple's Core OS organization is looking for a talented and inspired manager to lead a team focused on bring-up of iPhone OS on new platforms. The team is responsible for low level platform architecture, firmware, core drivers and bring-up of new hardware platforms. The team consists of talented engineers with experience in hardware, firmware, IOKit drivers, security and platform architecture.

Now the New York Times blogs quotes a former Apple engineer musing about whether or not the iPhone OS could be implemented as a special layer on top of Mac OS X, the way Front Row or Dashboard work today. Push a button, the multi-touch iPhone OS screen zooms in, you flick and swipe and pinch though what you want to do, then tap and go back to your mouse and keyboard.

We're all fans of the iPhone OS here, do we want to see it everywhere else as well?

(ComputerWorld and New York Times blogs via MacRumors, twice)

Should Apple TV switch to the iPhone OS? The Apple TV was introduced in late 2006 but debuted alongside the iPhone at the Macworld 2007 keynote. Since then, the iPhone has become a huge, mainstream success and the Apple TV... well it reamins just a "hobby".

Technically, Apple TV is included under Apple's iTunes + iPod offerings, and it's been referred to as a big iPod for your TV. While low end iPods continue to run their embedded OS, the iPod touch and upcoming iPad run versions of the iPhone OS, Apple TV, by stark contrast, originally used a special version of Mac OS X Tiger. Though it has been updated to 2.x and 3.x over the years (and gotten a price cut to boot!), it remains in a sort of no-mans land, with more functionality than an iPod nano but far less than a proper Mac OS X machine like the Mac Mini.

The set-top box market is nebulous at best, but Apple chose to engage it -- much as it has the equally nebulous tablet market with the iPad, so we wonder if they wouldn't do better engaging it on the same terms -- with the iPhone OS and its 150,000 apps.

There would be problems to be sure. Right away the Apple TV's 1280x720 screen resolution is much greater than the iPhone's 480x320, and wider if shorter than the iPad's 1024x768. Ideally, the Apple TV should go to 1920x1080 to match other, modern display resolutions as well.

Apple is using optional pixel-doubling to let iPhone apps run "full-screen" on the iPad, and these were reportedly blurry and jaggy in early demos. Pixel-quadruplers would likely be even less kind. True resolution independence could be an answer to this, but we'll have to wait and here if Apple addresses that with iPhone 4.0 (perhaps in March).

The bigger problem would be control. The iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad all handle interactions via capacitive multitouch input -- you use your finger on the screen. I don't think there's a single 52" multitouch capacitive HDTV on the market. Apple has patents for Wii-mote style motion controllers that could fake fingers (if not touch) but they also have the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad -- all of which could (and already do via the Apple Remote app) serve as pretty good controllers. Hey, if your house has multiple devices, it could even handle multiple controllers...

So where does that leave us? Right now the Apple TV is an okay bridge to iTunes Store media -- music, movies, and TV content -- but leverages not at all the massive App Store ecosystem. Right now the Apple TV can do the equivalent of the iPod and YouTube apps on the iPhone, but can't show you your Calendar or Contacts, doesn't have Safari or Email, doesn't even have widgets like Stocks or Weather. And it doesn't have 150,000 other apps -- including games! -- that running the iPhone OS could bring it. Really, it's little more than a souped-up iPod classic tethered to your TV.

Sure there would be problems implementing the iPhone OS on the Apple TV, but there would be benefits as well.

So what do you think, should Apple TV be switched to the iPhone OS?

McGraw-Hill's CEO has outed the iTablet before Apple's "Come see our latest creation" event, scheduled for tomorrow, revealed it runs the iPhone OS, and undoubtedly has just earned himself a "bag of hurt" at the hands of one Steve Jobs. At 2:50 seconds in, Terry McGraw tells CNBC:

"Yeah, Very exciting. Yes, they'll make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while. And the Tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable. So what you are going to be able to do now -- we have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95% of all our materials that are in e-book format on that one. So now with the tablet you're going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific."

Yeah. Oops! (But at least we appreciate the news!)

[via McRumors]

As I've said many times before on TiPb, I'm a Palm guy going back to the Palm V, and Treo guy going back to the Treo 600. When Palm essentially abandoned that user-base (see my Palm Treo Pro Round Robin video and review) a few years back, I abandoned them and dove headlong into the iPhone (and now the iPhone 3G).

I still have a very warm spot in my heart for Palm, however, their innovation in the smartphone space, and their focus on zen-like user experience. So, when Palm announced their new WebOS platform and premiered their new Pre handset at CES (see our new baby sibling site PreCentral.net for all the details and a massive hands-on video), I was more than just a little ecstatic. I won't lie, it's the first post-iPhone device that's caught my attention.

Don't get me wrong, I still fear for Palm -- the market is much more crowded than it was when they helped create it, and for all the problems WebOS and the Pre solve, they bring their own set to the table. However, watching the Palm Keynote fro CES I, presented by former Apple iPod father Jon Rubinstein and Palm founder Ed Colligan, two things stood really stood out for me:

• What Palm outright stole from the iPhone and put in the Pre
• And what Apple should immediate steal from Palm and put into the next iPhone OS.

We'll get into both, after the break.

What the Palm Pre Stole From the iPhone

First, stole is exactly the right word. No, I'm not talking about Rubinstein's verbiage (you can copy a Jobs script, but not the delivery, b'okay?) Feature for feature -- gesture for gesture -- the former Apple team headed now by Rubenstein as Palm straight up jacked whole swathes of iPhone functionality to a degree that I'm pretty much certain Apple's lawyers are drafting up whole heaps of infringement claims against them for all those patents Steve Jobs mentioned during his first iPhone introduction back at Macworld. Let's take a look...

Form Factor

Okay, an iClone is an iClone, and many would argue Apple didn't invent the singular black slab that is the iPhone's now iconic shape. Many would also argue there are only so many ways to make a full-screen, touch-screen device. Fair enough. But from that full, touch screen to the singular center button at the bottom, degree of rounded-ness not withstanding, we'll call an iClone an iClone when we see it.

Specs

Not only does the Pre look like the iPhone, it's built like the iPhone. It's almost like the iPhone feature set was lined up and checked off one by one: 320x480 capacitive touch screen -- check. Accelerometer, ambient light, and proximity sensors -- check. While the package is smaller in its closed state, and has been amped up (hello A2DP stereo Blue Tooth!), the mold from which it was cast is still patently obvious.

The Dock

The original Palm PDA platform had a static, lower tier application launcher space, if anyone remembers that platform anymore, but it was interrupted by the stylus input bad, and later hard-buttons took its place. With the Pre, however, Palm has taken a step sideways into the iPhone launcher paradigm. You get five buttons instead of four, and they focus on Palm's nouveau Pillars of PIM -- Phone, Contacts, Email, Calendar, and... up arrow (I'm guess a way to launch more options).

Real-World UI Interactions

It was amazing, back at Macworld 2007, to watch Steve Jobs effortlessly flick through a list of contacts and see them bounce with virtual elasticity when they reached their end. This kind of intuitive visual cuing is invaluable to the user experience. No wonder Palm copied it almost exactly. Flick through the Pre contacts, same capacitive acceleration, same elastic bounce back.

Likewise panels zoom in and zoom out, and slide over each other, just like with the iPhone, to give a sense of stacking and information depth.

Turn the Palm Pre and not only does the accelerometer rotate the screen, it does so with the same animation as the iPhone. No smash cuts like other handsets here.

Multi-touch

This is the big one, and the one I think have Cupertino's lawyers revving up their engines. Rumor has it that other post-iPhone capacitive handsets were supposed to ship with multi-touch, but fear of Apple's patents ultimately made them reconsider that functionality. The Palm Pre looks to have done no such reconsideration. Witness: pinch to zoom, double tap to focus, flick to scroll.

It's not just that they used multi-touch, they used the exact same gestures the iPhone already used to do it.

WebKit

Apple's open source web rendering engine, WebKit (based on the Linux Konquerer technology) doesn't have a huge desktop browser share outside of the Mac, but it's positively pwning the mobile space. Nokia uses it, Google's Android uses it, (some think Microsoft should dump Internet Explorer 6(!) for Mobile and use it!), and now the Palm Pre uses it as well.

What the iPhone Should Immediately Steal from the Palm Pre

What's more important than dwelling on what the Palm Pre stole from the iPhone is what Palm did to extend, and yes, improve upon it. Several of these improvements are so compelling, Apple immediately needs to take a little vengeance on Palm and steal them right back! Which ones?

Multitasking "Cards"

One of the most impressive features shown off in the Palm Pre demo was the concept of stacked cards, where the center button could "zoom out" and give a real-time, updated view of what was happening on other open applications. The iPhone needs this badly. Not multitasking third party apps will increasingly be seen as a limitation on the iPhone, but RIM or Windows Mobile style Task management is likewise a non-starter.

Luckily, the iPhone already has 2 existing metaphors for this. First and most closely resembling the Palm Pre cards are the Mobile Safari "tabs". Tap the tab button and the current web page zooms out and you see all open tabs. Pick the tab you want, it zooms in full screen. This could easily be adapted to multi-tasking applications.

Frankly, however, I'm not sure its good enough for the iPhone. The second metaphor, CoverFlow, might just be. We don't know what's driving the Palm Pre under the hood, but we know the iPhone has awesome OpenGL and PowerVR graphics that just beg for a drool-inducing task-switching implementation. Flick to change between your apps as easily as you do your albums in iTunes.

To close an app, as the Pre does with an upward throw-away flick, Mobile Safari Tab "X" buttons could be a solution, as could the flick-away, but I'm not sure how necessary that is. In an ideal world, iPhone OS X would transparently handle memory in the background, "sleeping" (saving state) what hasn't been used or isn't prioritized as needed.

As to the reorganization ability of the Pre task manager, I'm not convinced you need it in a switching system as fast as capacitive flicking.

Short of a Mac-inspired Expose for the iPhone, CoverFlow app switching would be killer.

And what better, easier, and more elegant way to implement it than just hitting the Home button in Landscape mode?

Merging the Cloud

Palm made a big deal about the Pre being built from the web up, and it sort of (and it no doubt increasingly is) a big deal. Since we're not sure what kind of media capabilities the Pre will have, the need to cloud-manage 1GB+ movie files may not be a worry to them the way it certainly is to the iPhone, but for PIM data did what they've always done -- nailed it.

Pre hooks into popular cloud data stores, Exchange, Gmail, and Facebook (and perhaps others) and merges all your data behind the scenes to present you with a single handheld gateway -- a unified view. Exchange contacts seamlessly integrated with the matching picture from your Facebook friend was the example given, and it's a game-changing one. Likewise, Pre combines together IM and SMS into a single, person-centric threaded conversation.

Tying in IM, Twitter, and people's own email address cards create something close to what I've always been asking for -- an application that unifies and HIDES all the various pipes away from the user.

Chad has mentioned several times that Apple has all sorts of Mobile iChat patents floating around. Can we get those put to use?

This is the type of flawless user experience both Palm and Apple are famous for. Palm is giving it to us first on the mobile platform. Fine. Apple, give it to us next.

(And we won't even get into what might happen if Apple leverages their new iPhoto '09 Faces (facial recognition) and Places (geotagging) technology into this paradigm!)

Status

On the Mac, if you have iChat open and you receive an email from someone who's also an iChat buddy, their availability status is shown to you. Palm's Pre works in a similar manner, showing you IM status in the email app. Sadly, the iPhone currently doesn't do this. It should. Dieter has asked for it repeatedly and he's right. Even though iPhone apps like Pinger do a great job aggregating status, there's no reason it shouldn't become ubiquitous throughout a mobile experience. And there's every reason it should.

As mentioned before, the user interface lines between SMS, Twitter, IM, etc., and even email are and should be blurring, and a way to not only manage all those communication pipes, but seamlessly leverage them as well, is increasingly becoming a necessity for connected users.

Auto-Save

Palm has always "just worked" when it came to saving state of data. Add a contact and no matter how complete or incomplete, Palm has just saved that state of the data on the device and for sync. With the Pre they've taken it a step further and saved state right back to the cloud as well.

The iPhone, by contrast, wants you to confirm the save with a button tap. This is okay to prevent fragmentary entries from polluting your pristine data store, but in the real world it's just annoying. If you start entering a calendar event, and you suddenly and urgently need to go into a different app (something that happens in the real world), you shouldn't have to worry about losing whatever data you've entered, or having to start over.

Just like Palm, and like Apple already does in Apps like iMovie, data should just be saved on exit as-is, and synced back to the cloud or local machine, also as is. It's simply a better, more robust user experience.

Keyboard Launcher

Familiar not only to everyone who's ever used a Treo, Vista Search, or Mac Spotlight, but truly understood by anyone who's become a QuickSilver (or similar application launcher) user, sometimes typing is just the fastest way to reach the data you want. The Pre does a great, Spotlight-esque job of quickly parsing keystrokes into local and cloud search results, and the iPhone should be able to leverage Apple's Spotlight just as powerfully.

Sure, the Pre has a hard keyboard, which is the last thing I want on an iPhone (remember -- at least for me -- the era of hard keyboards is over!). So what to do?

Stick a Spotlight icon on the Home Screen, what else? Okay, sure, make up something fun... Let me shake on the Home Screen to bring up a Spotlight optimized keyboard. Shake is used in other apps to do neat things, leverage it to let me do killer search as well. Shake, type, boom! (I kid, a little, see quickie mock-up pick).

Either way give me rapid search access into contacts, events, files (yes, give me a single, multi-app accessible file storage bin so I can get some Office action going -- but more on that in a future article), and the option to shoot off into CalDAV, CardDAV, WebDAV (iDisk), or general Web searches.

Conclusion

We didn't touch on everything, including the swiped App Store come App Catalog, or the innovative non-modal notification system, but hopefully this gives some idea of our ideas on where the iPhone brought the smartphone space, where the Pre has taken killer features from that, and what Apple could do to take some killer features of the Pre right back.

But what are your ideas? Anything from the Pre (or other post-iPhone smartphones) YOU think Apples needs to immediately integrate into iPhone OS 3.0?