You know, a lot of patent applications are company attempts to guard against the future however it might play out. But sometimes they predict the product pipeline as did this application for what ultimately became Apple's new Magic Mouse. So seeing an Apple patent application for "Advertisement in Operating System" attributed to "Inventor" Steven Jobs himself is enough to send chills up the spine. The idea is to make the OS free or at a reduced cost, something Google knows a thing or two about. Unfortunately, the idea presented would offer "visual or audible" advertisements that "disables one or more functions while the advertisement is being presented." Ugh.

[Thanks, Mike]

Wondering why Apple chose to add a camera to the iPod nano, but not the revised iPod touch? You're not alone, but one Mr. Steven P. Jobs has an answer for you: it's because the touch is a game machine, you see. Seriously -- that's what El Steve told the inimitable David Pogue today after the Rock and Roll event. According to Steve, Apple wasn't "exactly sure how to market the touch" at first, but once they listened to their customers and started to focus on gaming, "it just took off." That certainly explains the "funnest iPod ever" tagline, but still, why no cam? "We don't need to add new stuff -- we need to get the price down to where everyone can afford it." And... that's all he said about it, and Poguey didn't pursue the blindingly obvious followup: that's great for the $199 8GB model, but does Apple really think customers paying $299 and $399 for the larger editions would be turned off by paying slightly more for a camera sensor? Something tell us we won't hear Jobs say one more word about it until he's ready to actually unveil a touch with a camera -- at which point it will be a revolution.

P.S.- Make sure to hit the read link for the full interview -- it's short, but it's full of Steve saying things like "You notice Amazon never says how [many Kindles] they sell; usually if they sell a lot of something, you want to tell everybody."

At the start of the event today Steve Jobs received a standing ovation from the assembled crowd, and took a moment to thank everybody for their support and encourage us all to be as generous as the organ donor who saved his life. He's "vertical" now, and claims to be already at work coming up with some "incredible new products" for the future. We're just glad to have you back, Steve! Video is after the break.

There isn't a lot to go by here, but if the Wall Street Journal's sources are to believed, recently-returned Apple CEO Steve Jobs is currently focusing the vast majority of his attention on the oft rumored tablet device, micromanaging every detail much in the way he did with the iPhone. The report also says that the tablet project has been twice killed by Jobs in recent years -- first time because of bad battery life, which we get, and second because of insufficient memory, which seems a little less believable. Interestingly and uncharacteristically, Jobs took it upon himself to respond, saying via email, "much of your information is incorrect." If Apple really is ramping up to unveiling a tablet, the first of its kind for the company, we have no doubt Jobs would be personally watching over every minute detail of it -- what we really want to know is when we might see something materialize, and that's still very much a mystery.

Imagine the scene two years ago, August 2007 to be precise. Palm was busy preparing to launch its Foleo and the OS that would save Palm was still expected to be coming from ACCESS. In fact, things were looking so bad for Palm in August that we penned an intervention letter that then CEO Ed Colligan responded to. Apple, for its part, was still enjoying the glow of the golden halo rising above its iPhone launched just over a month prior with the help of 2% of Palm's hired workforce, according to Bloomberg. Oh, and Apple had just lost Jon Rubinstein, the man leading its iPod division, to Palm.

Now Bloomberg is reporting that Steve Jobs approached Palm's Ed Colligan in August 2007 with a proposal to refrain from hiring each other's staff (read: quit poaching our employees, Ed!). Colligan refused, saying,

Your proposal that we agree that neither company will hire the other's employees, regardless of the individual's desires, is not only wrong, it is likely illegal.

Meeeow.

Should have seen this one coming, right? Google CEO Eric Schmidt has resigned from Apple's board today citing a conflict of interest. Apple (Steve Jobs, in fact) says that "Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple's core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric's effectiveness as an Apple board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest." Android and Chrome OS -- something had to give, but the timing sure does make it seem like that Google Voice app rejection might have really hurt someone's feelings.

The truth is, it's been a tangled web for some time as far as the relationship between Apple and Google goes. Sure, Schmidt sat on the board, the companies claim to be working on new projects, and Google Maps comes preloaded onto the iPhone, but over the past year, Google's increasing move into Apple's space, and Apple's increasing desire to control every inch of that space have not been good bedfellows. It's hard to imagine that Apple could maintain a completely healthy relationship with a direct competitor in both the phone and OS space for very long, and that's to say nothing of Cupertino's latest push into online document editing and management, which couldn't have seemed very awesome to Schmidt and company. Oh, and there's that matter of the antitrust case which is currently ongoing. Still, it's a bit sad to see this power couple going their separate ways, though it does give us some hope that Google will begin a full assault with Android in earnest, because only sweet stuff could come from those efforts. If you're interested, the full PR is after the break.

Update: The FTC says it's going to continue investigating the two companies for "remaining interlocking directorates," so Apple and Google aren't totally out of the woods, but we don't think anything else major is in store here.

And he's back, folks. Six months after Steve Jobs took a medical leave from Apple due to health reasons, the company has announced that he's back on the job, working a "few days a week" on the Apple campus and from home the remainder. Of course, we'd been hearing of Steve's continual involvement in "key aspects" of Apple's business for a while now, so this seems like more of a rubber stamp on the status quo than a major change, but now that it's official we're sure the questions from shareholders and other interested parties regarding Steve's health will only grow louder and more insistent -- especially given the news of his liver transplant earlier this year. We'll see how Apple decides to handle the situation when the time comes -- until then, we're just thankful that he's returned and is doing well.

The anticipation is palpable, sure, but those hoping for a Steve Jobs comeback at this year's WWDC should be prepared for disappointment. Apple just affirmed that this year's Worldwide Developers Conference will indeed kick off on Monday, June 8th, and the keynote address will be given at 10:00AM PT (so 1:00PM here on the right coast, and 7:00AM on the gorgeous isle of Maui). The big news, however, isn't that we'll be there live for every last word ('cause you already knew that, yes?) -- it's that Philip Schiller and company, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will be manning the address, offering devs an "in-depth" look at iPhone OS 3.0 and OS X Snow Leopard. In fact, attendees can expect a "final Developer Preview release" of the forthcoming OS, but you'll have to wait a few weeks yet to get details beyond that.

According to those ever-quotable "people familiar with the matter," Steve Jobs is still "closely involved" in "key aspects" of running Apple, reports the Wall Street Journal. While Tina Fey's favorite keynote-giver has remained incognito ever since he took a medical leave in January, the WSJ has learned that he's been working hard from home, involved in strategy and key products -- including some nitty gritty of the new interface elements in iPhone 3.0. The article also makes mention of a jumbo-sized iPod touch of sorts (an iTablet, if you will), but it's hard to tell if that word is from these same people familiar with the matter, or if the WSJ is just picking up that perennial rumor from less reputable sources. Apple's of course remaining tight-lipped, merely stating that "Steve continues to look forward to returning to Apple at the end of June." All we know is that we're looking forward to putting all this rampant speculation behind us, and an Apple-involved Steve seems like a great step in that direction.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

When TGS is faced with budget cuts on 30 Rock, Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon did the only thing she knew to do: appeal to her superiors with a full-on Steve Jobs impression, mock turtleneck and all. Of course, if she was really Steve Jobs, that turtleneck would've fired three writers on the spot and introduced the Tracey Jordan Nano. Check out the three pillars key to her show's success in the gallery and video after the break.

Yes! Engadget is back from CES and ready for action. We thought this week might be a little quiet, but it's been quite the opposite. Listen in to Josh, Paul, and Nilay discussing the hot button items of our time: Steve Jobs, Windows 7, and Crapgadgets. Seriously, this is pressing stuff, people.

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: Popcorn

01:56 - Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence from Apple due to health reasons
27:45 - Microsoft temporarily removes Windows 7 Beta download limit
57:00 - Crapgadget Crapdown, CES: the best of the worst

Subscribe to the podcast

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).
[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace

Download the podcast

LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)

Contact the podcast

1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.

Apple has issued a statement saying that Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence due to health reasons. Steve Jobs sent out a letter to Apple employees today saying that his previously-explained health problems are "more complex" than he at first thought, and that he plans to return in June. In the meantime Steve will be around for major strategic decisions, and Tim Cook (Apple's Chief Operating Officer) will take over the day-to-day in his absence. AAPL is down around 8% in after hours trading. The full letter is below:

A mere day before the big shindig at the Moscone, Steve Jobs has come clean about his much-discussed weight loss in a open letter to the Apple community, saying that a hormone imbalance is to blame. "The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment," says Steve. Doctors expect it to take him until late Spring to regain the weight and body mass, and Steve will stay on as CEO during his recovery. Oh, and if you hadn't guessed, Steve isn't so big on the personal stuff: "So now I've said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this."

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs
Read - Statement by Apple's Board of Directors

Straight from El Jobso's mouth at today's notebook keynote: "Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace." Phil chimed in with "We have the best HD movie and TV options in iTunes." Damn. As if that weren't enough to make Mac-lovin' home theater junkies cringe, Steve also commented (when asked about the dearth of HDMI in his introductions) that HDMI was "limited in resolution," and Philip Schiller elaborated by saying that "for typical computer use, DisplayPort is the connector of the future." So, does that mean we can't count on Blu-ray support in OS X 10.5.6?