iMore heard Apple was going quad-core with a full on, next generation A6-powered iPad 3, so did Bloomberg, but The Verge heard dual core and strings have been found identifying a less ambitious A5X chipset instead. Which one is it? Both? Neither? Mark Gurman from 9to5Mac thinks it’s almost certainly both.

Going by this naming scheme, the next major iOS device processor revamp (A6, not A5X) would be called the S5L8950X. Now, we have discovered evidence that Apple is working on that specific chip. Deep in the iOS 5.1 betas (as shown below) sits references to two next-generation iOS device chips: the previously discussed S5L8945X and this brand-new S5L8950X. While nobody has found this 50X (A6) chip in the code until now, we can report that both next-generation processors entered the iOS code simultaneously. This would seem to indicate that Apple has been working on two next-generation chips.

Why there are two new chipsets in the works is anyone’s guess. Mark thinks Apple A6 may be bound for the iPad 3, while the Apple A5X goes to the less demanding Apple TV 3. The less powerful chip could also go to an updated, but still lower priced iPad 2, or something we haven’t even seen yet, like the long-rumored Apple iTV television.

Strings from the iOS code showing both the S5L8945X (A5X) and S5L8950X (A6) processors..

Source: 9to5Mac

Control, privacy, platform, and competition are just some of the reasons both iOS and OS X integrate Twitter but not Facebook.

With the upcoming release of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple will be fully integrating Twitter social sharing across all of their included apps, as well as extending a developer API for 3rd party apps available through the Mac App Store. This follows similar integration in iOS 5 last year and leaves one huge, lingering question: where’s the Facebook integration?

Facebook has roughly 845 million users on their platform, and Facebook for iPhone has been one of the most popular apps on the App Store since launch. Both iOS and Facebook are massive platforms and the intersection of those to platforms is enormous.

That’s not taking anything away from Twitter, which is also extremely popular and also shares a huge intersection between its user base and Apple’s. They’re just very different social networks, with different features, and iOS currently only has one and not the other.

So why would Apple choose to leave out Facebook and rely only on the less-enormous, less feature-filled Twitter for social integration in OS X 10.8 and iOS 5?

Control

The first reason that springs to mind is control. Apple likes to have as much control over their platform as they can in order to deliver the absolute best user-experience possible. Twitter doesn’t take much issue with this, but Facebook is a different story.

Apple and Facebook once tried to work together on Apple’s Ping social music service. According to the late Steve Jobs, Facebook wanted “onerous” terms in order to allow integration between Ping and Facebook’s platform. Apple declined. Facebook pulled support. Finger pointing and harsh words followed.

(There are also some signs that Apple and Facebook flirted with integration in iOS 4 as well, but nothing became of it.)

Privacy

Apple has had some issues with privacy, including the collection of traffic data and recently apps that uploaded Contacts info without permission. However, they’ve also used privacy as a way to needles Google. Apple makes most of their money selling products, not selling advertising services, so they don’t want to or need to collect a lot of user data. They’ve also been fairly unimpeachable when it’s come to insisting other companies get users to opt-into sharing information up front, rather than force them to opt-out in some convoluted manner later. (Much to the consternation of advertisers and marketers, most recently in the magazine subscription area.)

Facebook on the other hand likes to collect huge amounts of data from its users, often with a collect first, apologize later mentality. Apple might take issue with Facebook wanting to harvest iOS user data, package it up, and market against it. Especially if all they, and users get in return is integration for status, photos, and location.

Platform

Facebook views their service as a platform. Just as OS X and iOS are unique and proprietary platforms meant to help Apple sell hardware, Facebook’s platform is a proprietary service meant to help them collect data and sell ads. Apple wants to prioritize their iPhone and iPad devices, Facebook their social graph.

Those different and diverging priorities can easily be at odds and lead to conflict.

Competition

Lastly, Facebook has long been rumored to be working on their own smartphone. This could present the same problem for Apple that Google did when Android was released. In fact, it could be an even bigger problem if Facebook’s integration is integrated more deeply than a maps or video app, or a mail account. Facebook integration isn’t a bell that can be easily un-rung.

It would make sense for Facebook to make their own smartphone, however, the same way it made sense for Google.

Steve Jobs threatened to go Nuclear on Google when Android was released, to spend Apple’s last dollar suing Google over their “stolen” technology. Would Apple set themselves up for that to happen again?

Twitter

Twitter doesn’t seem to want as much control as Facebook. They’re so far much more upfront about user privacy. While they’re also a platform, it’s one that seems — at least for now — more compatible with Apple’s needs than is Facebook’s. There’s also no sign of a Twitter Phone on the horizon (or rather, almost every smartphone is already a Twitter Phone these days.)

Of course, it’s always possible that Apple and Facebook may come to some sort of agreement down the road, ultimately paving the way for Facebook integration in iOS 6 and future versions of OS X. During Apple’s recent shareholder meeting, CEO Tim Cook was asked about their relationship with Facebook and where exactly the popular social network would come into the picture down the road.

We do a lot with them, our users use Facebook an enormous amount. [...] I’ve always thought that the two companies could do more together.

Apple could stay away from Facebook just as they have always done, allowing Twitter to continue on its course of massive growth and user adoption. Or Apple and Facebook could patch up their differences, work out a deal, and give users more benefit with additional social sharing options..

Regardless, it would be nice to see the two work something out given how popular Facebook is and how often most of us use the social network on our iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads.

What a week. iPad 3 was certainly the big story, with rumors following their usual, crazy, pre-relase pattern. iOS 5.1 is along for the ride. On the hardware side, we heard the traditional 30-pin dock connector may be going micro, and as you may have noticed, we’ve been making some changes around the site. Here’s the deal on release dates, software drops, and assorted mischief…

iPad 3 release date

With the iPad 3 event expected for March 7, that raises the question of when Apple’s next tablet will actually ship. A new but interesting source recently told us March 30 was the date with an Apple Retail meeting to take place right before hand, on March 28. That’s 23 days between announcement and release. And… that seems like a long time.

Apple announced the first iPad on January 27, 2010, opened pre-orders in the U.S. on March 12, and released the device on Friday, April 30. But that was a brand new product category, and while not as big as the January 9, 2007 to June 29 window of the original iPhone, it gave developers time to get a ton of apps in place before launch. iPad 2 was announced on March 2, 2011, had no pre-orders, and was released on March 11. That’s 9 days.

If Apple wants to have pre-orders for the iPad 3, or give developers a head start on getting their apps Retina display ready, would they need more time?

The iPhone 4S had pre-orders. It was announced on October 4, 2011, pre-orders started on October 7, and it was released on October 14. 10 days.

The iPhone 4 made the same jump to Retina the iPad 3 is expected to make. It was announced on June 7, 2010 and was released on June 24. 17 days.

Would Apple really want or need 23 days from iPad 3 announcement to launch? Unless every minute of extra manufacturing time is important to get stock to the level Apple requires — and given the spec rumors for the device, especially that 2048×1536 pixel display, it might be — it seems like too long a window.

Both iPad and iPad 2 were released on Fridays, however, so March 30 remains a possibility. Announcement on March 7, perhaps pre-orders on March 9, and release on March 16 would fit last year’s schedule. Release on March 23 would split the difference.

Realistically, it’s too close to call for me. (Which is why I snuck the March 30 date in here instead of it’s own big, noisy post…) Just keep your Fridays open next month.

iOS 5 release date

Apple’s not predictable but they do like their patterns. While iOS 5.1 feels like it’s been in beta forever (November 28, 2011 forever), it has yet to go GM (Gold Master), which means developers have yet to get their hands on a release candidate for testing. Given past timelines, it’s not hard to see Apple announcing the iOS 5.1 GM seed during the March 7 event, and releasing it a couple days before the iPad 3. That could mean March 14, 21, or 28.

Depending on what, if any, surprising new features Apple shows off in iOS 5.1 for the iPad 3 — maybe Siri, maybe something else? — developers would likely appreciate as much time as possible to get their apps ready to be in the App Store on day one.

So, better keep your Wednesdays open as well.

That micro-dock rumor

Wow but that name caught on fast. In case you missed it, earlier this week we heard Apple was finally getting ready to ditch the traditional dock connector and go with something smaller, to save space in the iPhone 5 for bigger batteries and faster radios.

Many of you told us you’d prefer Apple ditch it completely and go with Palm TouchStone-style inductive charging. Palm still had micro USB, however, for standard charging and while Apple is fearless when it comes to embracing the future, they’re also pragmatic about mainstream needs and inductive charging might not be mainstream enough just yet.

iMore’s new look and new focus

A while back I promised everyone that iMore would be steadily rolling out new features to make for a better, more informative, more useful, more enjoyable experience. While the big stuff is still coming, we did update the home page recently to let some the awesome photography the team’s been taking really shine. We’re talking edge-to-edge, widescreen graphics, and I for one think they look terrific.

We also updated the layout to better differentiate our feature articles. The problem is this — there’s just too much iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad stuff out there. Too much news and too many rumors, and way too many apps and accessories. We want to cut through all that for you and offer only the best of the best of the best of everything. We want to bring you the stories that are most important to you, the rumors that we can best put in context, and we want to plow through the massive amounts of apps and accessories and give you the ones that really stand out, that are absolutely best in class, or are simply too cool to pass up.

Check out our recent review of the phenomenal Screens 2.0 for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, our video editor shootout between Avid and iMovie, and our look at the cute, inexpensive Mujjo fisheye lens.

This approach is still a work in progress and it’ll take some time for us to nail it, but we’re working incredibly hard to get it right. If you have any feedback, I’d love to hear it. Drop me a line at rene@imore.com or hit me up on Twitter @reneritchie.

Oh, and along these lines — we have a huge surprise coming in the next few weeks that’ll make some of you incredibly happy, so stay tuned!

New columns and features

One of the biggest new additions to iMore, and something I’m especially proud of, are our new expert columns, and our new features. iPhones and iPads have gone from being geeky gadgets to being important parts of our lives and lifestyles. They’re with us almost everywhere and they have apps and accessories that can help us with almost everything. That’s where the columns and features come in.

• Health and Fitness. We’ve spent the whole month of February featuring health and fitness apps and accessories and tied it into our new Health and Fitness Forum so we could all work together to use our technology to help us stay in shape. eHealth/iHealth and eFitness/iFitness looks to be the next big wave and we’re not stopping when the month’s over. We’re going to stay on top of it. We hope you stay with us.
• Photography. If the best camera is the iPhone you have with you, we want to help you take the best possible photos with it. Enter Leanna’s new, weekly iPhoneography column (that’s the trendy way to say iPhone photography) where she’s already tackled the rule of thirds, portraits, and macros, and has a lot more on the way. She’s also running each one as a project in our Photography Forum where beginners can get help and pros can share their work and help keep us inspired.
• Do-it-yourself. Not everyone replaces their iPhone or iPad every year, some people have hand-me-downs, some buy second hand, and we wall want to help make sure everyone’s device runs as well as possible, for as long as possible. To that end, every week Ally is showing us how to save money by fixing and repairing common problems, from broken screens to failing Home buttons. She’s also showing how to pick the best replacement parts — including colored parts and other, fancier modifications, and providing a little consumer protection advice along the way. And if you have trouble, our DIY and Mod Forum is right there to help.
• Stock talk. With Apple share prices hitting new highs and Apple itself becoming one of the most valuable companies on the planet, we figured we needed to do more to provide better analysis and opinion on matters financial. Chris U. was happy to oblige with his new Stock talk column. He’s already addressed everything from Tim Cook’s Goldman Sachs performance to the recent insider trading scandals and he’ll be following up on quarterly results and major news as it happens.
• Design and development. Interested in how long it will take to update iPad apps for a Retina display? We certainly were, and Marc Edwards from Bjango was there to help us out. Curious what hidden strings in iOS may mean for ZFS support in the future? Jack Perry, the developer of Frequencies for iPhone dove in to find out. We’ll be hearing more from Marc and Jack, and other designers and developers, both on our Iterate podcast and in our Developers Forum and new Designers Forum as well.

Finally, yours truly made a concerted effort to keep up with the industry opinion and analysis this week as well.

• Office on iPad: Why it matters to Microsoft, Apple, and us
• Why Android and Microsoft want a piece of the iPhone
• The App Store and the scam app invasion
• Back to the iPad: What Apple should take from OS X Mountain Lion and give to iOS 6

I’d go into it more, but frankly if you made it this far down you deserve a break now. If the topics interest you, hit the links and be sure to share your thoughts.

Phew!

That’s it! Now that we’ve got the first of these weekly reviews out of the way, I’ll make a concerted effort to keep future editions shorter and sweeter. We value your time and your attention, and we appreciate your readership.

End of line.

There’s a rumor going around that Apple could be preparing a second product launch to accompany the iPad 3 this March, and the current front-runner is Apple TV 3. Mark Gurman from 9to5Mac reports:

We've been hearing that supplies of the Apple TV are severely constrained, but it's hard to see a reason for this besides an imminent refresh. We've been hitting hard with evidence for the past few months that suggests a new Apple TV is in development, and what better time to launch it than alongside the latest and greatest mobile iOS device?

Rumored new features center on 1080p content made possible by an updated chipset, perhaps the current Apple A5 dual-core, ARM Cortex A9, or even a next-generation Apple A5X or Apple A6 (whichever ships with the iPad 3).

What and how much 1080p content Apple will have available via iTunes to accompany the launch is unknown. What a new Apple TV 3 this march means, if anything, for rumors of a full-on Apple iTV television is also unknown.

The current, iOS-powered Apple TV 2 was announced in September of 2010. Apple TV 3 rumors have been swirling for a while now, beginning well before the 2011 holiday shopping quarter.

If these rumors pan out, March could just bring us one more thing…

Source: 9to5Mac

Adding to the mountain of iPad 3 rumors is word that shipments of Apple’s next generation tablet will be leaving Foxconn factories in China on February 26 for arrival in the U.S. on March 9.

Friends broke the news: Chengdu International Airport at major international cargo charter flights, cargo owners demanding security, from CTU takeoff by stop PVG Shanghai, and then directly to ORD Chicago, the JFK New York, LAX in Los Angeles, March 9, completed before transport. According to the privately disclosed the Chengdu F production for the U.S. A company's latest products… Received friends inside information, Chengdu International Airport night cargo charter flights, said the owner of the security demanding, and in private that the Chengdu Fu X Kang new products. Takes note of the location of the United States (ORD Chicago, JFK New York, LAX in Los Angeles)

Looks like there may be some components, including storage chips, being shipped as well, according to photos found by Sonny Dickson. iMore previously heard that Apple was planning their iPad 3 event for March 7 and BGR has reported that iOS 5.1 was scheduled for March 9.

Apple released the last 2 iPads on Fridays, so that’s consistent, however at 2 days it’s also a far shorter period of time than last year’s 9 days (announcement on March 2, launch on March 9). A GM version of iOS 5.1 hasn’t even been released to developers yet, let alone a version that supports additional features presumed to be coming with the iPad 3. If Apple releases the GM seed of iOS 5.1 at the iPad 3 event, we’d expect at least a week between that and final release, a couple days before the product launch.

Furthermore, 9to5Mac‘s Marc Gurman has heard there may be pre-orders for the iPad 3, which would also indicate a slightly longer timeline. While the iPad 2 didn’t have pre-orders, the iPhone 4S did (announcement on October 4, pre-orders on October 7, launch on October 14).

Gurman has also heard more talk of the iPad 2 sticking around at a lower price point.

Additionally, our sources are pointing to the discontinuation of all iPad 2 WiFi + 3G models and all iPad 2 WiFi-only models (except the black and white 16GB units – at least initially) when the iPad 3 launches. This would refute rumors of Apple launching the Retina Display-packing iPad 3 as an extension of the iPad 2 line, and would seem to back up rumors of Apple keeping the 16 GB iPad 2 around at a lower price point. This iPad 2 model discontinuation information is based on Apple product supply checks.

If that proves accurate, it could take some air out of the lower end, Amazon Kindle Fire and BlackBerry Playbook market.

Source: Weiphone, Apple.pro, 9to5Mac, @SonnyDickson

Every week a few of us from team iMore will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they're iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they're fair game.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

FilterStorm 4 — @Alli_Flowers

The other day I watched someone struggle with Photoshop on a pc. Not long after, over on Twitter, @redwhiteandjew recommended FilterStorm. Since I was already in the image editing mindset, I decided to check it out.

The Filterstorm website (http://filterstorm.com/fs4/videos) has tons of video tutorials, including a feature walkthrough. I was quite impressed with the variety of tools and ease of use, but kept thinking it was overkill for me. Nonetheless, it didn’t stray far from my thoughts. And then I watched that someone still struggling with the same image in Photoshop and thought…I’ll bet Filterstorm would be perfect for that. So I parted with my $3.99 and installed Filterstorm on my iPad.

I must say that Filterstorm is not for the faint of heart, or the novice image editor. Its tools are powerful, and I spent time watching and rewatching all their video tutorials before attempting my first edit. But what a great job it does! If layers and curves are what you need (and who doesn’t need them if you’re editing photos?!), then you will never again do any editing on your desktop.

This screenshot gives you only a tiny taste of the power you get with Filterstorm. There are more options inside each filter tab. The video tutorials make it a treat to use, and you feel that help is only a click away.

$3.99 — Download Now

Air Media Center — @sethclifford

In my search to reduce the number of redundant apps I use on my device, I’m always trying new media server apps. I wrote about Emit in a previous pick of the week. Air Media Center is another in a long line of apps that has a mobile interface that hooks into a server component that you run on another machine. This week I tried it because of one specific thing that it offered that Emit didn’t – photo support.

Until Apple provides me a great way to host all the photos I want to see externally and view them seamlessly on my devices without physically syncing them all, I’m on the hunt for the best way to do this with third party apps. Previously, I kept my entire photo library in Dropbox, and used the mobile apps to view pics, but my photo library grew by a few large leaps with the addition of a DSLR to the mix, so that was out. Then I started optimizing pics and resizing them and keeping them in Dropbox, but it’s a lot of effort to stay on top of my folders, and ultimately, I’m not altogether thrilled with the way Dropbox handles image viewing on iOS. It’s ok, but not ideal.

Air Media Center does the table stakes stuff pretty well – streams all kinds of video files with live conversion, and it does the same for music (I still use iSub and Subsonic for music though, because nothing can beat Subsonic for me right now. The differentiating factor for me as I said was photos. What sets it apart is the way in which you can browse the photos. In Dropbox, you see a list by default – just text – until you tap on one, at which point you can tap another button to view a series of thumbnails similar to the Photos app. In AMC, you get a similar list to start, but the list has reordering options; you can sort by name or date, and jump to the beginning or end of the list as such, and (wait for it) – thumbnails in the list view. As soon as I saw this, I was thrilled. Once you tap into a photo, as with Dropbox, you can load a thumbnail view of all the photos in the folder as well. But just being able to flip through the list visually first is huge for me.

There aren’t any options to share or to save to camera roll for the picture as with Dropbox however, so if that’s something that’s important to you, you’ll miss it here. The interface is really nothing to go bananas over either, but as I’ve said before, in cases like this, it’s a tradeoff I’m sometimes willing to make if it makes access to certain things easier. It’s easy to configure, works great over wi-fi, and can be shared to be accessed remotely over 3G as well. The companion app is free in the Mac App Store, so if you’re still looking for a media client with a little more, you’re in for two bucks.

Air Media Center, $1.99 — Download Now

Air Media Server, Free — Download Now

XBMC for iOS –- @chrisoldroyd

As I have a jailbroken iPad I decided to try installing XBMC for iPad. For those that don’t know already, XBMC was originally created as a media center application for the first-generation Xbox game console but has since been ported to lots of different platforms, one of which is the iPhone and iPad.

Running XBMC on my iPad gives me access to all of my media on my networked storage. Better still I don’t need to convert it to the crazy file types that a stock iPad restricts me too. This system enables me to play AVI and even MKV right over the air onto my iPad 2 and it looks perfect. Now here is the real crazy part. If you have a camera connection kit for your iPad, you can copy your video files onto an SD card and XBMC can read them right off the card. That has given me an additional 32GB of storage space!

XBMC is free and you can learn how to install it from the XBMC Wiki.

Procreate — @bla1ze

While I don’t get much time to sit down and draw much any more, when I do have a few moments I always like to check out some of the drawing apps for the iPad. One that I’ve been digging for a bit now is Procreate, mainly because of the simplicity offered but should you decide to get a little more advanced with your artwork, it supports that as well. With auto-saving features, the ability to export PSD files that support layers and brush customizations, it’s a great tool for artists or casual drawers alike and it only costs $0.99.

$0.99 — Download Now

Anticrop — @iMuggle

Anticrop is a pretty easy to use app that does exactly what the title implies – instead of cropping an image to be smaller, it allows you to extend an image.

It’s a lot like the free transform feature you’ll find in Photoshop or other similar tools on your computer. If you need to extend an edge of a picture, Anticrop allows you to do so in just a few taps

Load up the picture you’d like to edit and drag the border in the direction you’d like to extend it.

Obviously this won’t work for images that have hands or people in the part you’re trying to extend but it’ll work for most patterns and scenery shots extremely well.

It’s a much quicker way to perform a quick edit than having to transfer a photo to my computer for editing.

$0.99 — Download Now

WeeToolbox (jailbreak) — @andrewwray

With so many jailbreak extensions hitting Cydia nowadays, it’s hard to sift through everything and avoid some of the bad eggs. Many jailbreak modifications could even be considered useless for some, but once in a while there’s a real gem that comes along and just can’t be ignored. WeeToolbox is definitely one of the better tweaks that beefs up Notification Center in iOS 5 so much, I’m actually surprised the developers didn’t end up charging for it.

With WeeToolbox, you can quickly send a tweet, make a call, enable the LED flashlight, send copied text to Pastie and access your camera with just one tap, all right from within Notification Center. Calling up the camera and sending quick tweets are two of my favorite features of WeeToolbox. If I’m ever in a pinch or on the go and don’t have time to load up Tweetbot, I just pull down Notification Center and with just one tap, I’m immediately tweeting away. It’s extremely useful for taking photos in an instant by tapping the camera button from anywhere on the iPhone, too! It could just be me, but I swear the camera loads slightly faster from WeeToolbox versus launching the Camera app from the iPhone Home screen. This would be possible with MobileSubstrate hooks, but I’m really not sure if that’s the case as the developer didn’t specifically mention anything in that respect. However, it’s definitely faster than the stock app, that’s for sure — and especially evident with the slower iPhone 4 compared with the iPhone 4S.

I’ve also found the flashlight to be very useful whenever I need to light up a darkened room. Sometimes I come home late at night and all the lights are off, so instead of blindly wondering around the living room tripping over everything before I’m able to switch the lights on, I can now instantly turn on the flashlight from the Lock screen (thanks to IntelliscreenX putting Notification Center on the Lock screen, of course!) and save myself a bundle of frustration. WeeToolbox is great if you have a jailbroken iPhone, and I highly recommend giving it a try — you’ll wonder how you ever got by without it!

Free — Download Now

Tell us your pick!

Those were our picks, iMore Nation, so now it’s your turn! Tell us your pick of the week below. Give us the name of your favorite app, site, or accessory, and tell us why it made your life more productive, more informed, more entertaining, or just plain more fun. Let us know your pick of the week!