Two old favorites may be on the chopping block as the week winds to a close, with rumors flying that Twitter has ended development of its Mac app as word that Apple may be likewise killing the iPhone 3GS following the rumored debut of the iPhone 5 next Wednesday. But hey, it's Friday, so get caught up on everything you missed while sleeping before you head out for a weekend of fun.
How's this for irony: TechCrunch writer MG Siegler is claiming that Twitter has ceased development of its Mac client as of Thursday, and he broke the news via… Twitter. "Word is that Twitter made the call today: Twitter for Mac is done," the tweet reads. "They won’t kill it outright, but no further updates. Goodbye, old friend." The news doesn't come as much of a surprise given the app has been languishing in recent months, but it does seem to be a curious move given that Twitter has been working so hard to seemingly alienate third-party solutions of late.
TUAW is reporting that AT&T has lit up seven new 4G LTE markets on Thursday, with another 30 to 40 coming by the end of this year. The late 2012 markets will include Anchorage, Alaska; Rochester, N.Y.; Jacksonville and Ft. Myers, Fla.; Wilmington, Del., Northern New Jersey; Allentown, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading and Wilkes-Barra, Pa., Omaha, Neb.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Bakersfield, Sacramento, Monterey, and Modesto, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz., Albuquerue, N.M.; Portland, Ore.; Providence, R.I.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Gary, Ind.; Hartford and New Haven, Conn.; Nashua, N.H.; Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wis.; Little Rock, Ark.; El Paso, Texas; Columbia, S.C.; and Charlestown, N.C.
The Telegraph is reporting that Apple may finally put a stake in the heart of its entry-level iPhone 3GS after its rumored iPhone 5 announcement on September 12. Such a move would leave the 8GB iPhone 4 as the company's "gateway drug" for low-cost devices, shifting the current iPhone 4S into the midrange of Apple's market. Launched in June, 2009, Apple has gotten quite a bit of mileage out of the iPhone 3GS and even though it will be able to run iOS 6 when it debuts this fall, some of the marquee features such as built-in navigation sadly won't work on the elder device.
The app formerly known as Read It Later released a minor update on Thursday, bringing the version number to 4.1.3. Pocket now adds the ability to share to Google Chrome, Kippt and App.net but also removes the pocket.co URLs from archival services like Pinboard and Evernote. The update also includes security improvements, bug fixes and other minor enhancements and is available now on the App Store.
AppleInsider is reporting that Apple may be in talks with music content owners to build a custom internet radio service similar to Pandora. According to The Wall Street Journal, the service would be powered by advertisements from Apple's iAd platform and include playing virtual stations through dedicated apps or a web browser, although competitors like Android would be notably absent from the party. One of the key differences with Apple's plan is to allow users to skip songs and possibly "eliminate other common restrictions" found on existing solutions. However, discussions have only recently started, so this would seem to be a feature intended for the future.
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