But Phillip Elmer-DeWitt has written a piece for Fortune reminding readers that it's all just that: rumors and talk. There’s nothing from Apple indicating that a full-on television is the way they’ll go.

While many see many reasons to get into the TV market, a number see plenty of reasons for Apple to stay out... to instead double down on its $99 Apple TV set-top box.

I don’t think Elmer-DeWitt is saying categorically that Apple will not make a TV... but he is - in my opinion - doing the Apple watching world a service... reminding the group that just because everyone but Apple says Apple will make a television doesn’t mean Apple will actually make a television.

Check out Elmer-DeWitt’s full article here.

The website for The London Evening Standard has run an interesting Q&A with Apple design deity Jonathan Ive. My favorite Q&A:

Q: What are your goals when setting out to build a new product?

A: Our goals are very simple - to design and make better products. If we can’t make something that is better, we won’t do it.

The rest are here. Interesting if you like iThings.

In addition to new hardware announcements, Apple issued a slew of updates for its iOS apps on Wednesday. Here are the six from my phone:

Find My iPhone (v1.4)

• Support for Retina display-capable devices
• Bug Fixes
• Stability Enhancements

iBooks (v2.1)

• Read books more easily with sharply detailed text on the new iPad’s amazing Retina display
• See page numbers that correspond to the printed edition of selected titles
• Search for a page number to jump to a desired page with a single tap
• Use your finger as a highlighter when swiping over text
• This version also includes a number of important stability and performance improvements

iMovie (v1.3)

• Create beautiful movie trailers with stunning graphics and world-class soundtracks (Trailers are available on iPhone 4 or later and iPad 2 or later)
• Preview music and sound effects in the Audio Browser
• Create a song in GarageBand and send it directly to iMovie

Find My Friends (v1.1)

• Support for Retina display
• Bug fixes
• Stability enhancements

Pages (v1.6)

• Easily enter text using the landscape keyboard on iPhone and iPod touch
• Create and view stunning 3D bar, line, and pie charts
• Pages 1.6 is enhanced to take advantage of the Retina display on the new iPad
• Includes performance improvements

Remote (v2.3)

• Support for iTunes Match on Apple TV
• Support for Retina display on iPad

iTunes U (v1.1 - iPad Only)

• iTunes U 1.1 is now designed for the spectacular Retina display on the all new iPad. This version also includes a number of performance improvements.

iPhoto Update: What's New in Version 9.2.2

• Photos can now be deleted from Photo Stream

Included in Version 9.2 

• Addresses compatibility with iCloud and iOS 5
• Left and right swipe gestures can now be used to navigate between photos in Magnify (1-up) view
• Previously imported photos are now displayed in a separate section of the Import window
• Book/calendar themes and card categories can now be selected using a pop-up menu in the carousel view
• Resolves an issue that could cause some pages of books to print incorrectly
• Rebuilding a library now correctly preserves saved slideshows and books

The update is recommended for all users of iPhoto '11.

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iTunes 10.6 adds the ability to play 1080p HD movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store.

This release also includes many improvements for iTunes Match, including:

• Improved song matching
• Improved album artwork handling, downloading, and display
• Addresses an issue where songs may skip when playing from iCloud

For information on the security content of this update, please visit: support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

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GarageBand 6.0.5: This update supports general compatibility and addresses overall stability and performance, including the following: 

• Updates compatibility with GarageBand for iOS projects
• Fixes a playback issue with the GarageBand Lesson preview videos
• Corrects issues with some software instruments triggering incorrect or stuck notes

The sandboxing regulations for Mac developers have been pushed back. Apple has sent this email to members of the developer program: 

"We have extended the deadline for sandboxing your apps on the Mac App Store from March 1st to June 1st to provide you with enough time to take advantage of new sandboxing entitlements available in OS X 10.7.3 and new APIs in Xcode 4.3.

"Starting June 1, if you have an existing app on the Mac App Store that is not sandboxed, you may still submit bug fix updates without sandboxing your app. In addition, if you have technical issues that prevent you from sandboxing your app by June 1, let us know.

"Learn more about sandboxing your app and get answers to FAQs."

As always, thanks to the little birds flying these messages my way.

Wanna help move Apple to 50-billion app downloads? Well, you can keep downloading them one at a time or you can roll up your sleeves and build an app or two of your own.

The Next Web says Apple has posted a decent overview of the entire App-development process on its site called “Start Developing iOS Apps Today.”

No, it won’t teach you code. But the piece says it does walk interested parties through set-up, tutorials, fundamentals, and so on... it also provides “links to more extensive documents on each subject...” 

Whether you're looking for a more general understanding, or want to build an application empire of your own, this  may be a good jumping-off point.

Bill Shoppe hosts Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Goldman Sachs Technology and the Internet conference. Bold are general question posed by Shoppe, followed by Cooks' general replies.

First question about workers and the supply chain... Cook spoke of how important workers are to the company... talked of education opportunities being offered to workers in the supply chain, over 60-thousand of whom have taken advantage - more than the student body at Arizona State.

Eliminating under-age workers is important. Safety concerns are important (down to fire extinguishers in kitchens). Weekly work-hours are important. Reporting on worker conditions on a monthly basis on their website now. Trumpets work with FLA and audits being undertaken.

Speaking of worker rights and the supply chain, Cook said “We know people have a high expectation of Apple... We have an even higher expectation of ourselves.”

On iPhone (and the law of big numbers):

37-million is a big number... it was a decent quarter... 17-million more than any other number before. 

only 25-percent of smartphone market and only 10-percent of cellphone market... so while the numbers were big, the potential is “jaw dropping.” 

“What we’re focusing on is the same things we’ve always focused on... making the world’s best product.” Keep doing that and they should grab more.

Emerging Market and Pre-paid Market:

How do you address that and make it more affordable?

TC: These markets are critical... everybody wants the best product, not a cheap version of the best product... go-to market in emerging world belongs to retailers, not carriers so go-to market has to be addressed in a different way. Still... product is paramount. 

BTW... We did manage to move Unicom to more of a subsidized market.

How does emerging market translate to Mac?

iPod created halo for Mac. That created resurgence for Mac. But, the halo created by iPod was created in developed markets (US, Western Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan). Not created in emerging markets since people there were already getting music via phones. iPhone created that halo in China, other parts of Asia, South America, etc. iPad adding to that halo as well.

2007 (year before iPhone global launch) - revenue form emerging markets = $1.4-Billion

2011 - $22-Billion... and that’s just a start.

iPad:

7 full quarters... 55 million units... what made this such a success and what does it say about the tablet market in general?

Took 22 years to sell 55 million Macs... 5 years for iPods... 3 years for iPhones... so this is big. 

Great product... app ecosystem has been helpful... stands on shoulders of what came before (App Store was in place... iPhone trained people for it).

So what does that mean for where tablets are heading?

TC: will eventually be bigger than PCs, just a question of when. Excitement for developing for iS “and that other operating system” is huge versus computers... computers won’t necessarily die, but tablets will outgrow them.

Talk iPad competition... (Amazon Kindle Fire)

TC: Price is rarely the most important thing... people may buy cheap product... may be happy paying less but but joy is gone with more use. “You don;t always remember you git a good deal! Because you hate it!”

Apple able to stay ahead of because they started ahead... while industry was looking to catch up to iPad, Apple was working on iPad 2. Amazon will sell a lot of units, but iPad customers would not be happy with “limited function product.”

“I love competition as long as people build their own stuff.”

How do you think about cannibalization in Macs and PCs in general:

iPad is cannibalizing Mac, but cool cause that’s us eating our own lunch. Does not predict demise of PC industry... iPad is eating more into PC space than Mac space... iPad will be good for industries (PC and tablet) because it will require industry to sharpen its message.

Just under 98B in cash... used sparingly in past. Why the reluctance for dividends and share buybacks and should we expect that to change.

TC: I disagree we’ve used it sparingly. Billions in supply chain... billion on acquisitions (iP included)... billions on retail... but yeah we still have a lot. We’re judicious. We’re deliberate. We spend our money like its our last penny. Not religious about holding money, but need to be deliberate and really think through what to do with cash.

we have more cash than we need to run the business on a daily basis... actively discussing what to do with it

TV... still a hobby... why and what happens going forward?

Not talking about future products... we call it a hobby because we don’t want people to think we think its iPhone/iPad/iPod size.

We don;t do hobies as a rule... and yet with Apple TV - despite the barriers in that amrket - we’ve always thought there’s something there... if we keep playing... keep pulling the string, we may find what that thing is. 

Siri and iCloud... how important going forward?

Both are profound. iCloud strategy for next decade or more.

Siri... keyboard and mouse were inputs for computers for years. Evolution in that space but not revolution. Then comes multi-touch... now Siri is “another profound change in input.” 

You’ll talk to your grandkids about these as profound changes.

CEO’s leave mark on company strategy and culture: What’s the Tim Cook mark?

"Apple is this unique company and unique culture that you can’t replicate. I’m not going witness or permit the slow undoing of it. Steve grilled in all of us over many years that the company should revolve around great products and that we should stay extremely focused on few things rather than trying to do so many that we did nothing well. We should only go into markets where we can make a significant contribution to society, not just sell a lot of product. These are the things I focus on because those are the things that make Apple a magical place that make people want to do their life’s best work. 

"We’re always focused on the future. We don’t sit and think about how wonderful things were yesterday." 

Steve Jobs did drugs and sometimes he wasn’t completely honest. 

No I’m not recapping his biography... I’m recapping his FBI file. 

Wired says the U.S. government released the Apple cofounder’s FBI file (.pdf) Thursday, which included details of a background check done for a potential presidential appointment in 1991 and a bomb threat against Jobs in ‘85. 

It turns out he had a top secret government security clearance while working at Pixar, which I assume had to do with the original purposes to which the Pixar computers were put, not the intricacies of “A Bug’s Life.”

Facts in the background check are really old news now, though might have been a bit more revelatory at the time. Back in ’91 Bush-the-elder was thinking of appointing Jobs to the president’s Export Council. Interviews with friends detailed his use of drugs as well as the belief by some of his friends that he would "twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals."

They didn’t think any of that should keep him from getting the appointment though, which he did.

Wired and other media outlets obtained the file through a Freedom of Information Act request following Jobs’ death last year.