Digitimes reports that Apple's suppliers are set to begin preparing materials for the new Apple television set during the first quarter of 2012, with the company reportedly targeting a launch for the second or third quarter of the year. Apple is said to be initially working on 32-inch and 37-inch sizes

TouchArcade has spotted the appearance of a free MAME game emulator on the App Store called iMAME . MAME is a popular arcade machine emulator that will run thousands of arcade games if you have the original ROMs.

Engadget points to a growing thread in Apple's discussion forums documenting an issue in which users on pre-iOS 4 devices are unable to purchase or download apps from the App Store on their devices. The issue appears to have started on December 16th with a change in the way Apple is serving App Store content to the devices.

Just hours after we reported that Apple appeared to have begun shipping out current-generation iPod nanos as replacements for recalled first-generation units, users are beginning to report in that they are indeed receiving the current models. Just received our replacement today - Fedex truck pulled up late in the evening. Inside was our replacement for our 1st gen ipod nano that was sent into Apple 1 month ago.

While Apple has long offered a "Complete My Album" feature in the iTunes Store to allow users who have previously purchased individual tracks to upgrade to the full album at a discounted price reflecting their single-track purchases, users have not had the flexibility of a similar option for TV shows. That appears to have changed this week with the addition of a "Complete My Season Pass" feature now available in the iTunes Store.

Israeli newspaper Calcalist reports [ Google translation ] that Apple has finalized its previously-rumored acquisition of flash memory firm Anobit, with company executives having gathered employees to share the news. According to the report, Apple is paying $400-500 million for the Israeli firm.

Last month, Apple announced a worldwide replacement program for the first-generation iPod nano due to continuing issues with overheating related to defective batteries from one of Apple's suppliers. While some users began receiving their replacement units, which apparently came through as like-new refurbished first-generation units, almost immediately , many other users have been complaining of slow turnaround time for either receiving shipping boxes for returning their defective iPods or receiving the replacement units from Apple

The Wall Street Journal provides some of the first hints about Apple's internal television project. While rumors of such a project have been ongoing for years, there has been a renewed interest in it since Steve Jobs described having "finally cracked" the TV interface in his recently released biography. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has been in ongoing discussions with media executives at several large companies about their vision for the future of TV

Apple today released a new commercial for the iPhone 4S ahead of the Christmas holiday, showing Santa using Siri to find such information as directions and weather, search for an email with his "naughty or nice" list, and hear an email from Mrs. Claus reminding him to "go easy on the cookies"

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak got a little political lately, saying in an interview with the BBC that a society like Singapore, with its relatively strict approach to aberrant behavior, would never be able to host a company like Apple, with its early days of long-haired weirdos working on groundbreaking technology in their garages. "Look at structured societies like Singapore where bad behavior is not tolerated [and] you are extremely punished," Woz is quoted as saying.