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Frustrated by the Final Cut delay, consultant Dustyn Gobler sent sent Steve Jobs an email asking for status update. Jobs supposedly replied (we can't confirm that Gobler did in fact receive a message back from Jobs) with "A great release of Final Cut is coming early next year."

Hardmac reported in September that the Final Cut delay was due to "significant setbacks." Specifically, their source said that differences between the team responsible for Shake and the team working on Motion are partly responsible, and representative of the overall difficulty in uniting all of the suite's applications.

Steve's assertion that an update is due in 2011 is consistent with other rumors we've heard on the subject. For those who, like Gobler, must make very expensive decisions on this software, we say sit tight. An update is on the way. Maybe.

[Via MacNN]

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Seattle-based iPad developer Ram Arumugam received a phone call from Steve Jobs after expressing frustration over his app's rejection. "I was very surprised," he told The Seattle Times. "I was not even sure whether [Steve Jobs] would have time to read the e-mail."

The story began when Arumugam's app, Economy for iPad (US$2.99) was rejected for using private APIs. The problem, Arumugam explains on his blog, was with the on-screen keyboard. Specifically, he was having trouble dismissing it after the user had finished with it. Since using private APIs is a no-no, the app was rejected.

Arumugam sent an email to Steve Jobs explaining the situation. Two hours later, his iPhone rang. Arumugam heard, "Ram, this is Steve." It was Jobs on the other end. After discussing his issue, Ram removed the offending code from his app, re-submitted it and it was accepted. In fact, it's become the top-selling pad app in the finance category.

Regarding his conversation with Apple's famous CEO, Arumugam wrote, "...I've also read that he is a detail-oriented executive and a hands-on guy who is intimately involved with his company's work (in a way that few other CEOs are). His phone-call reinforced those notions and went further to suggest that he was also a very conscientious guy who cared about people. The fact that he took the time to read my email, think about the app and then personally call me was amazing."

That's a pretty neat story. Thanks to Ram for sharing, and to Steve for reaching out to a frustrated developer.

Earlier today, Twitter announced that it has integrated Apple's Ping into users' home pages. Now, Twitter users can view each others' Ping activity, listen to song previews and link to/purchase music from iTunes directly from tweets posted to Twitter.com.

Here's how it works: First, log into your Ping account and click the new "Connect to Twitter" button. A window pops up requesting your Twitter credentials. You'll receive a confirmation and a list of Twitter contacts who have also enabled Ping sharing. Then you're done! The new Ping information will show up at Twitter.com for you.

Apple introduced PIng a few months ago, and has struggled a bit during its initial growth period. Steve Jobs recently met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to discuss Apple's fledgling social network. That meeting was well-publicized, but we didn't know this Twitter collaboration was coming.

Good luck to both companies on this joint venture. Now you can tweet your ping. Or is it ping your tweet? We're so confused.

There's good news for iTunes customers in Japan today, as Apple has finally added movies to Japan's iTunes Store. The news comes just as the Apple TV hits the Japanese market. Several major studios are on board, including Asmik Ace Entertainment Inc., Fuji TV, Kadakowa Pictures, Nikkatsu, Shochiku Company Limited and Toei Company Limited.

As for pricing, new HD releases can be bought for ¥2,500, while catalog titles will cost ¥2,000. If you want to go SD, you'll pay¥2,000 for new releases, ¥1,500 for recents and ¥1,000 for catalog titles.

If you want to rent, you'll pay ¥500 for new HD releases and ¥300 for library title rentals. SD versions start at ¥200 for library title rentals and ¥400 for new releases.

Apple is making a push in the Japanese market recently, with this update, the Apple TV's release, and by inking an iAD deal with the Dentsu Group.