SAN FRANCISCO — This past Thursday, Intel briefed journalists on its forthcoming Atom version, codenamed Pine Trail, and on its plans to launch a slew of new processors at CES. Apart from the launch details, the company’s general message to the press was clear: during the downturn, Intel continued to invest in R&D, and now it’s fully set for the 2010 rebound that IDC, Gartner, and others are predicting. Let’s take a look at what Intel has planned for 2010.

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It has been a busy pre-holiday week, with our features on 3D on the Mac and a 27″ iMac review. There’s also news about a couple of Apple’s lawsuits, rumors about the upcoming Mac Pro, and more. Read on for our top Apple news of the week:

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Mac cloner Psystar shut down its website and plans to fire employees to comply with the injunction from a federal judge earlier this week. Psystar is effectively dead in the water, though it still plans to appeal the ruling.

Read More:
Dow Jones Newswires, (previous Ars coverage)

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Apple continues to add more markets for the iPhone worldwide, and the strategy is paying off. The latest analysis from mobile ad firm AdMob reveals that the number of unique users of iPhone OS-based devices is now split 50-50 between the US and the rest of the world. Overall, the number of unique users hitting AdMob’s network from an iPhone or iPod touch has grown 150 percent over the last year. Japan has seen the biggest increase—over 300 percent—which may help explain why the iPhone commanded nearly half of the Japanese smartphone market in 2009.

International iPhone users are growing at a much faster rate than those in the US or Canada, which already enjoy a relatively large installed base. In January 2009, 39 percent of iPhone OS users on AdMob’s network were located outside the US. By the end of last month, international users had grown to 50 percent. UK, France, Canada, Germany, and Australia account for 25 percent of iPhone OS users, or half of all international users. However, AdMob said there are 22 countries besides the US with at least 100,000 iPhone and iPod touch users worldwide. The overall split between the two is 70 percent iPhone, and 30 percent iPod touch.

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Apple has a healthy R&D budget for a company of its size and spends quite a bit of time patenting interesting technology. Sometimes the technology ends up in future products and sometimes it doesn’t, but the patents always give us a glimpse into what directions Apple is heading. A recently published patent application for a 3D display that automatically adjusts its view based on the position of the viewer’s head is one such patent.

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After months of beating Windows Mobile in quarterly market share by units sold, the number of active iPhone users has surpassed the number using Windows Mobile-based devices, according to the latest survey by research firm comScore. While WinMo has held steady of the last year, the iPhone has grown significantly since the launch of the iPhone 3GS this past summer.

comScore conducts monthly surveys about mobile phone usage; the data used in the chart above represents three-month averages of that data through the month of October. You can see that the number of active WinMo, Palm (including Palm OS and webOS devices), and Symbian users is holding steady, while users of RIM, iPhone, and Android-based devices grew. The boost in iPhone installed base was enough to push iPhone into the number two position in the US, while WinMo fell to number three.

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Economic woes plagued the semiconductor industry in 2009. According to Gartner, worldwide revenue dropped $29 billion, an 11.4% drop from ‘08.

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Gartner

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Apple has begun offering movie bundles on the iTunes Store. You can buy anywhere from 2-4 movies in a group for as low as $9.99. Nice way to catch up on movies this winter.

Read More:
The iPhone Blog, iTunes Store

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The name is descriptive—the Big Oversized Super Shell. The idea is likewise simple: you simply slide your existing Wiimote into the back of the shell, held in place with rubber nubs, and then you can play games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii just as you would on the Super Nintendo.

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VideoLAN Client, an open source media player, may have to put its Mac version on hold because of a lack of active developers. If you can help keep this great software updated, please do!

Read More:
MacNN, VideoLAN

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