Apple iTV will arrive in 32- and 37-inch sizes this summer, says DigiTimes

The Verge:

Rumors of an Apple television have resurfaced with supply chain sources telling DigiTimes that they’re starting to prepare components for 32- and 37-inch “iTV” sets launching in Q2 or Q3 of 2012. According to the Taiwanese publication, suppliers will begin preparing materials in Q1 to prepare for the mid-year production ramp up.

2012 iPad Roadmap: Don’t Expect a 7-Incher

John “Pacman” Paczkowski for All Things D:

“Don’t expect a 7-incher,” says Blair. “While we believe Apple has tested 7 inch screen prototypes for over a year, we don’t currently expect the company to release anything in the 7-inch size in 2012.”

“One naturally thinks that a seven-inch screen would offer 70 per cent of the benefits of a 10-inch screen,” Jobs said during a 2010 earnings call. “Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. … The reason we [won’t] make a 7-inch tablet isn’t because we don’t want to hit [a lower] price point, it’s because we think the screen is too small to express the software. As a software driven company we think about the software strategies first.”

That’s an emphatic denunciation, even for the famously acerbic Jobs. Hard to imagine Apple straying from it.

Next generation iPads to be available in 3-4 months, say sources

“Sources” say:

The next generation iPads are expected to be available in the next 3-4 months as makers in the supply chain have started delivering parts and components for the new tablets to OEM contractors while reducing those prepared for iPad 2, according to sources in the supply chain.

Facebook acquires Gowalla to boost Timeline team

CNN Money:

Facebook has acquired location sharing service Gowalla for an undisclosed sum, according to a source close to Gowalla.

Sounds good at first.

Most of Gowalla’s employees, including founder Josh Williams, will move to Facebook’s offices in Palo Alto. Some Gowalla employees will stay in Austin and work out of Facebook’s local office there.

This makes me think it’s more of a talent and user acquisition, which is probably good for my friends at Gowalla, but probably bad in the long term for Gowalla as a company and service.

Whether or not Gowalla’s app will remain alive has not yet been determined. Facebook has a habit of buying promising startups and killing them off to deploy their engineers and developers on other projects. Its hit list includes Beluga, Hot Potato, Drop.io, Snaptu, Digital Staircase, among more than a dozen others.

Hoping it works out for the best.

15-inch MacBook Air coming in Q1, says DigiTimes

The Verge:

DigiTimes cites supply chain sources in claiming that Apple is set to launch a new 11.6-, 13.3-, and 15-inch MacBook Air series in the first quarter of 2012. The Taiwanese publication with a hit-or-miss record on Apple rumors says that the new MacBook Airs, including the new 15-inch model, have started pilot production.