Next Generation Apple TV References Found in iOS 5, But When?
Oct 08, 3:01PM
One of the most common Buyer's Guide related question we get asked is "Is it a good time to buy an Apple TV?"
We've never tracked the Apple TV in our buyers guide because it's a product that seems to have no regular release cycle. Apple maintains that the Apple TV is a "hobby" project, and that attitude shows in its infrequent update cycle. The Apple TV is unique in that it is more of a living room appliance whose primary purpose is to play iTunes content on your television. As a result, as long as the Apple TV can play all present iTunes content, there's no compelling reason for Apple to offer a major hardware upgrade.
The Apple TV has only seen two major hardware revisions during its lifetime. First was the original launch back in 2007 and the second was September 2010 when Apple released a smaller iOS-based version. We noted in June that iOS 5 opened the door to a true 1080p-capable Apple TV, but no evidence of such a device had been seen.
9to5Mac has now spotted a reference to a yet-unreleased "AppleTV3,1" in the latest version of iOS 5. This suggests that Apple is working on a next generation Apple TV in its labs. The previous models have carried the codenames "AppleTV1,1" and "AppleTV2,1".
A new Apple TV could integrate Apple's new A5 processor, which offers much faster graphics processing, and include true 1080p support. But unless Apple plans on offering 1080p content on iTunes, that feature would be of limited use to the majority of consumers. Fortunately, Apple has been rumored to be prepping movie studios to start submitting 1080p content to iTunes.
We should note that when previous iPhone references have been found in iOS releases, we've seen a lead time of up to 15 months. So, an imminent release is not guaranteed.
Software evidence of Apple's future devices tends to appear rather early in the development process, as evidenced by iPhone3,1 appearing in iPhone OS configuration files in March 2009. That device turned out to be the iPhone 4, released 15 months later.We also suspect that any new Apple TV may run up against Apple's future plans for television. There have been persistent rumors that Apple could be taking on the TV market at some point in the near future. The NYTimes revisited this speculation in the days following Steve Jobs' death.
But many in the tech industry contend that television is ripe for technological makeover, and that the next big challenge for Apple, after the death of Mr. Jobs, is likely to be in that area.Last year, NYTimes' said that Apple was in negotiations over a new television subscription service but ultimately failed.
So, we can't be certain when Apple might be launching a new ApplebTV, but believe it would be tied to other offerings, either 1080p HD iTunes content or another television initiative altogether.
Apple Sells Out of iPhone 4S Pre-Order Stocks for Launch Day in U.S.
Oct 08, 5:29AM
Following the lead of international pre-orders, new orders for the iPhone 4S made through Apple's U.S. online store are now listed with shipping estimates of 1-2 weeks, indicating that the door has closed on the opportunity for customers to pre-order the device through Apple for launch day delivery.
Demand for the iPhone 4S appears to be very strong, with AT&T; having reported that it alone had taken 200,000 orders in the first 12 hours of availability. Apple's online store struggled to keep up with the traffic as pre-orders went live, with company eventually resorting to offering order temporary reservations as connections to carriers' systems to verify eligibility and service plans became overwhelmed. Users who received reservations from Apple in the first few hours of availability have until 5:00 PM Pacific Time on Saturday to return and complete their orders before losing their priority standing.
The iPhone 4S will launch next Friday, October 14th in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
AT&T Alone Sees 200,000 iPhone 4S Preorders in First 12 Hours, Their Most Successful iPhone Launch Ever
Oct 08, 12:02AM
Reuters reports that AT&T; is seeing "extraordinary demand" for the new iPhone 4S which became available for preorder at around 12:01 am Pacific time on Friday, October 7th. AT&T; reveals that they have seen over 200,000 preorders for the iPhone 4S in the first 12 hours of sale.
For reference, last year, Apple announced that they saw a record-breaking 600,000 iPhone 4 pre-orders in the first day across all carriers in US, France, Germany, Japan and the UK. So, 2010's 600,000 number included all of Apple's launch carriers and over the first full day of sales.
This year, AT&T; alone saw over 200,000 pre-orders in half the time. Unlike last year, the new iPhone 4S is now also available on Verizon and Sprint in the U.S, which will account for many other U.S. preorders. Despite being split across three carriers, AT&T; says that this is "the most successful iPhone launch we've ever had".
Similarly, Apple also offered iPhone 4S preorders in several other countries outside the U.S. too (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK). So, it seems certain that the iPhone 4S will also be Apple's most successful phone launch ever.
Update: Sprint's website shows the 16GB iPhone 4S as sold out.
Sony Pictures Acquiring Rights to a Movie About Steve Jobs
Oct 07, 10:46PM
Deadline reports that Sony Pictures is presently working to acquire the rights for feature film based on Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs.I've just learned that Sony Pictures is making a hefty deal to acquire feature rights to Steve Jobs, the upcoming authorized biography by former CNN chairman and Time Magazine managing editor Walter Isaacson.Deadline considers the studio to be a good match, having recently condensed another business book into the Oscar-nominated film The Social Network which dramatized the founding of Facebook.
Apple and Steve Jobs has already been the topic of one movie called Pirates of Silicon Valley which covered events of the early founding of Apple and up to the return of Steve Jobs at Apple in the late 90s. The movie was a relatively modest telling and targeted straight to television rather than a feature film. The movie was also released in 1999, well before Apple's massive rise in popularity and profitability.
There's no word on when such a film might be targeted for release.
Steve Jobs' Funeral Today, No Public Memorial Event Planned
Oct 07, 7:30PM
The Wall Street Journal reports that Steve Jobs' funeral, a "small private gathering", is taking place today, two days after Jobs passed away at the age of 56.
Tributes to Steve Jobs at Apple's SoHo retail store in Manhattan (Thanks, Chris)
While neither Apple nor the Jobs family is planning a public memorial service, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted in his email to company employees on Wednesday, that Apple will hold an event for Apple staff to celebrate Jobs' life.
There is no public memorial planned for Mr. Jobs's death, said an Apple spokesman.Fans of Apple and Steve Jobs have of course taken memorial services into their own hands, setting up impromptu displays of flowers, messages, and other items at Apple retail stores around the world.
In a letter to Apple's employees on Wednesday, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said that the company is "planning a celebration of Steve's extraordinary life" for staff that will take place soon.
AT&T Looking to Add '4G' Network Indicator to iPhone 4S Status Bar
Oct 07, 7:13PM
This is my next... shares an internal talking point from AT&T; regarding the iPhone 4S, noting that the carrier is "working with Apple" to change the network indicator shown in the status bar on the iPhone 4S to read "4G" when the device is running on an HSPA+ network.
AT&T; is working with Apple to update the network indicator for AT&T;'s iPhone 4S to read "4G". This will happen with an iOS release from Apple. Since iPhone 4S is an HSPA+ device, our customers will get 4G speeds from day one. Only AT&T; has this unique network advantage."4G" is a marketing term that is being applied to both LTE and HSPA+ networks, leading to some customer confusion over just what exactly the term means. AT&T; markets both its HSPA+ and LTE services as being 4G, and thus it believes that the iPhone 4S, which supports 14.4 Mbps HSDPA, should be marketed as offering 4G speeds.
Apple has purposely shied away from the debate over what should constitute "4G" speeds, with Phil Schiller steering away from any claims of the iPhone 4S being a "4G" device in its introduction but noting that the iPhone 4S meets or exceeds the data speeds of a number of other handsets that are marketed as 4G devices.
Now, if you follow the phone industry, these numbers might sound familiar – 5.8 up, 14.4 down. Where have I heard that before? Well, this is what the majority of our competitors claim when they talk about 4G performance. The Motorola Atrix 4G, the LG Thrill 4G, the HTC Inspire 4G – they even put it in their names. We're not going to get into a debate in the industry of what's 4G and what isn't. We leave that to others to talk about. What's most important, when it comes to real-world performance – the iPhone 4S is just as fast as all these phones. In fact, we think with some of our software enhancements, it's even faster in real-world use.The confusion over HSPA+ and LTE flavors of 4G marketing is focused on GSM carriers like AT&T.; Verizon does not have a similar issue with its CDMA network, as its only 4G network utilizes LTE technology, which the iPhone 4S does not support. Sprint currently offers 4G service using WiMAX technology, which the iPhone 4S also does not support, although the carrier is moving quickly to transition to LTE for its 4G connectivity.
Steve Jobs Leaves Apple's Pipeline with Four Years of Products
Oct 07, 6:34PM
One of the hallmarks of Steve Jobs' career was his attention to detail, particularly in areas of design, whether it be from an aesthetic or functional point of view. The New York Times takes a look at how Jobs influenced the design of computers and other consumer electronics, turning what had been utilitarian appliances into works of art with strong aesthetic appeal. Apple's product designs, spearheaded by Jobs and Jony Ive, are regarded so highly for their aesthetics that a number of them have been included in museums of design and modern art.
Mr. Jobs "had an exceptional eye for design, and not just an eye, but an intelligence for design," [senior curator at New York's Museum of Modern Art Paola] Antonelli said. "We don't talk just about the looks, but how objects communicate: The specific shape, how it feels in the hand, under the fingers, how you read it in the eye and the mind. This is what Steve cared passionately about."
The report makes reference to comments Jobs made to Fortune back in 2000, an interview which made clear his drive to bring good design to Apple's products.
"We don't have good language to talk about this kind of thing," Mr. Jobs replied. "In most people's vocabularies, design means veneer. It's interior decorating. It's the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service. The iMac is not just the color or translucence or the shape of the shell. The essence of the iMac is to be the finest possible consumer computer in which each element plays together. ... That is the furthest thing from veneer. It was at the core of the product the day we started. This is what customers pay us for — to sweat all these details so it's easy and pleasant for them to use our computers. We're supposed to be really good at this. That doesn't mean we don't listen to customers, but it's hard for them to tell you what they want when they've never seen anything remotely like it."And while Jobs will no longer be a part of the Apple design process, it's clear that he helped chart out a course for Apple's future that will see consumers still reaping the rewards of his attention to detail years into the future. Yesterday, we noted that Jobs was reportedly actively involved in overseeing development of the next-generation iPhone even as the iPhone 4S is yet to make its way into customers' hands. And the Daily Mail reports that Jobs is claimed to have left behind four years' worth of product plans across Apple's product lines, leaving the company well-stocked as it looks toward the future.
He has also been overseeing the development of the delayed iCloud project, which will allow Apple users to store their music, photos and other documents remotely and masterminding updated versions of the iPod, iPad, iPhone and MacBooks, ensuring at least four years' worth of products are in the pipeline, according to Apple sources.Those designs will obviously have to evolve to respond to the changing technological and competitive landscape, but it is clear that Jobs was looking toward the future up until the very end, leaving behind a legacy of focus on design and a company culture infused with the ideals to carry that legacy forward into the future.
Samsung and Google Delay Android Handset Launch in Wake of Steve Jobs' Death
Oct 07, 3:47PM
Earlier today, Samsung and Google announced that they would be canceling a previously-scheduled event set for Tuesday at which the companies were planning to introduce the Nexus Prime, the first handset to run Google's latest "Ice Cream Sandwich" version of Android.
Samsung and Google decide to postpone the new product announcement at CTIA Fall. We agree that it is just not the right time to announce a new product. New date and venue will be shortly announced.Speculation immediately turned to the possibility that the companies delayed the launch out of respect for Steve Jobs, who passed away on Wednesday, although the companies did not offer an explanation for the event cancelation.
AllThingsD now reports that Samsung and Google did indeed cancel the event due to Jobs' death, feeling that the launch would be inappropriate given the mourning process still going on throughout the tech industry and the world.
The decision to postpone things was made late last night at the top levels of both companies, sources said, with Jobs' death being the reason. There are no delays with the product itself, sources insisted.For its part, Apple has continued with its launch plans for the iPhone 4S, introducing the device on Tuesday even as company executives likely knew that Jobs' passing was imminent. Pre-orders for the iPhone 4S began early today as scheduled, with availability set for next Friday, October 14th in the initial batch of launch countries.
Sprint Aiming to Launch LTE Network in Mid-2012, Full Buildout by End of 2013
Oct 07, 2:54PM
Reuters reports that Sprint is significantly accelerating its transition from WiMAX to LTE for its 4G network technology, aiming to complete its LTE buildout by the end of 2013.
Sprint Nextel Corp plans to upgrade its network in time to launch high-speed wireless services by the middle of 2012 and expects to complete its upgrade by the end of 2013, a top executive for the company said on Friday.Engadget notes that Sprint is planning to offer LTE coverage for 123 million Americans by the end of 2012, increasing to over 250 million by the time the buildout is complete a year later.
Reuters also notes that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse addressed the carrier's offering of the iPhone, for which pre-orders began just hours ago. With sources claiming that Sprint has committed to purchasing $20 billion worth of iPhones over the next four years, there have been concerns over the short-term hit to Sprint's profitability as it absorbs hundreds of dollars in subsidies for each unit until it earns the money back over time in service contracts.
But Hesse reports that iPhone is ultimately expected to be one of Sprint's most profitable handsets over time.
The company, which started taking pre-orders for the Apple Inc iPhone on Friday, said that while the device is more expensive than others, the iPhone will be "quite accretive" to profitability and cash flow over time.While the iPhone 4S does not support LTE, it seems that component availability could be lining up for an LTE iPhone by the third quarter of next year, by which time Verizon and AT&T; will have fairly substantial LTE coverage and Sprint will be in the early stages of its rollout.
Chief Executive Dan Hesse said he expects the popular device to be one of Sprint's most profitable, but he did not give specifics.
New International iPhone 4S Pre-Orders Through Apple Slip to 1-2 Week Shipping
Oct 07, 1:55PM
Just hours after pre-orders began, shipping estimates for new iPhone 4S orders placed through Apple's online stores in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK have slipped to 1-2 weeks from the initial "by October 14th" estimate. Shipping estimates through Apple remain at October 14th in the United States, while the company is not offering online sales in Japan.
Current shipping estimates in Apple's Canadian online store
Apple and its carrier partners began pre-orders around midnight Pacific Time, although Apple's and AT&T;'s sites didn't come up for orders until about 40 minutes after the scheduled launch time. And even after pre-orders came up on Apple's site, users had significant difficulty getting through. Much of the bottleneck appeared to be related to verifying eligibility and plans through AT&T;, with the purchasing process repeatedly hanging and resulting in errors for many users.
iPhone 4S reservation issued due to problems with carrier processing
Apple eventually shut down its iPhone pre-order system for a brief period of time, bringing it back up to issue reservations that would allow users to return later to verify eligibility and select their service plans. Apple has begun notifying users who placed early reservations that they may now return to apple.com to complete their orders, and that they must complete the process by 5:00 PM Pacific Time tomorrow in order maintain their priority order status.
Apple Now Accepting Pre-Orders for iPhone 4S, Unlocked Coming in November
Oct 07, 7:42AM
Well after its advertised launch time, Apple has now begun accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 4S at their online Apple Store. Preorders are also available directly from Verizon, Sprint and AT&T;. The servers, however, seem overloaded at the time of publishing so may take a while to get your orders in.
The iPhone 4S was introduced earlier this week and includes an A5 processor, faster graphics, an improved 8MP camera as well as the new Siri Voice Assistant.
The iPhone 4S comes in 3 different capacities 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB, priced at $199, $299 and $399 respectively with contract. Carrier options in the United States include AT&T;, Verizon and Sprint. We posted a detailed price comparison chart earlier today.
Those upfront prices assume that you qualify for a carrier-subsidized device. If you are presently in a contract with your carrier, you may not qualify. Apple provides this online tool to see what your pricing would be.
Apple reveals that in the U.S., the iPhone 4S will be available unlocked starting in November.
The iPhone 4S will also be available in-store on October 14th.
Update: Apple seems to having trouble with accepting pre-orders:
Sprint and Verizon iPhone 4S Pre-Orders Begin [iOS Blog]
Oct 07, 7:19AM
Pre-orders for the new iPhone 4S were supposed to kick off at 12:01 a.m. pacific. Both VerizonWireless.com and Sprint.com websites became available just at that time for preorders, while Apple's and AT&Ts; have not yet updated.
Apple's website is having some intermittent errors presumably due to the traffic. Sprint's pre-orders also seems to having some troubles while we've seen successful Verizon pre-orders already.
Steve Jobs's Thirtieth Birthday Present [Mac Blog]
Oct 07, 1:17AM
For Steve Jobs' thirtieth birthday, his then Apple coworkers made a video the celebrate his life to that point. The video, dug up by Harry McCracken at Technologizer, is set to My Back Pages by Bob Dylan, one of Jobs' favorite musicians and inspirations, is filled with images from Jobs' first 30 years. The video starts with these words:
To Steven JobsTragically, Jobs didn't live to see his second thirty years, something that none of them could have foreseen when the video was made.
on his thirtieth birthday.
For the first thirty years of your life,
you make your habits.
For the last thirty years of your life,
your habits make you.
Old Hindu Proverb.
For Harry's thoughts and a description of many of the images in the video, visit Technologizer. McCracken offers thanks to "Craig Elliott–Apple employee 8128, who worked there from 1985-1996–for sharing this gem, and to his fellow Apple veteran Tom Hughes for telling me about it."
Steve Jobs's Legacy to Live On in 'Apple University'
Oct 06, 9:15PM
Photo courtesy of Robert Scoble
We first heard details about this "Apple University" project back in May when it was revealed that Steve Jobs had hired dean of Yale School of Management Joel Podolny to run an internal group featuring business professors and Harvard veterans to prepare employees for life at Apple after Jobs.
The LA Times cites an anonymous former Apple executive who describes the reasoning behind the project:
"Steve was looking to his legacy. The idea was to take what is unique about Apple and create a forum that can impart that DNA to future generations of Apple employees," said a former Apple executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve his relationship with the company. "No other company has a university charged with probing so deeply into the roots of what makes the company so successful."Podolny left his position as Yale Business School dean and moved into an office between Steve Jobs and Tim Cook after he accepted the position in 2009. Podolny, himself, was personally influenced by Steve Jobs and Apple and even described writing his first computer program on an Apple II. In his farewell to Yale students, he wrote "While there are many great companies, I cannot think of one that has had as tremendous personal meaning for me as Apple".
Jobs reportedly identified specific tenets at Apple that he believed was responsible for Apple's success. Those included accountability, attention to detail, perfectionism, simplicity, and secrecy. Jobs is said to have personally overseen the creation of the courses and had sustained an interest in it since its inception. According to the LA Times, Jobs' other successful company, Pixar, also uses a similar corporate University model.
Steve Jobs passed away on Wednesday, October 5th.
Comparison of iPhone 4S Service Plans for AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon
Oct 06, 8:49PM
PC Mag has put together a nice comparison of voice and data service plan options for the iPhone 4S on the three U.S. carriers that will be offering the device: AT&T;, Sprint, and Verizon.
At the top, the chart shows pricing for the three standard voice tiers used by carriers (450 minutes, 900 minutes, and unlimited), all paired with unlimited texting. The second section compares pricing for various buckets of data usage, and while different carriers have different cutoff points, the chart allows users to compare pricing at any given usage level. Sprint of course is offering unlimited data for the iPhone, requiring only a $10 "premium data" surcharge on top of the basic "Simply Everything" charge of $99.99 per month.
Some users may also be interested in mobile hotspot offerings, which allow them to use their iPhones as access points to 3G data for Wi-Fi enabled devices. Mobile hotspot functionality is included in higher-level data packages (4 GB and above) from AT&T; and Verizon, while it is a separate $29.99 per month add-on for Sprint's unlimited data service.
Users looking to get the best deal on service for the iPhone 4S will need to gauge their data needs ahead of time, as different carriers offer strengths in different areas. High data usage customers may find Sprint appealing, as it is the only carrier offering unlimited data. Sprint's pricing makes it the best deal all the way down to only 2 GB of usage, but low-use customers might be interested in AT&T;'s $15/month data package offering 200 MB of data as a cheaper option.
As PC Mag notes, users will also need to weigh the pros and cons of each carrier's network, and users should also be aware that Apple's new iCloud service may result in them using more data than they do currently, depending on how much data they move up and down through the service.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 4S will begin at 12:01 AM Pacific time tonight/tomorrow morning.
Watch Pirates of Silicon Valley on TNT Tonight [Mac Blog]
Oct 06, 8:41PM
TNT plans to reair its 1999 movie Pirates of Silicon Valley tonight at 8pm Eastern/Pacific and again at 10pm. The dramatization -- starring Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs, Anthony Michael Hall as Bill Gates, and Joey Slotnick as Steve Wozniak -- follows the tech entrepreneurs from their college days, to the launch of the Macintosh and MS-DOS, through to Microsoft's investment in Apple as Steve Jobs returns to the company in 1997. Pirates of Silicon Valley premiered on TNT in 1999 and went on to earn five Emmy® nominations, including Outstanding Made for Television Movie and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or Movie. The movie was written and directed by Martyn Burke, who adapted the script from the bestselling book Fire in the Valley by Paul Frieberger and Michael Swaine.Noah Wyle, who played Jobs in the movie, played a joke on the audience at Macworld NYC in 1999, coming on stage at the beginning of Steve's keynote pretending to be Jobs, complete with black turtleneck, jeans and over-the-top mannerisms -- before the real Steve Jobs good-naturedly interrupted saying "that's not me at all! You're blowing it!" and tried to show him how to impersonate him properly.
The movie isn't an exact retelling of what happened between Apple and Microsoft. Instead, it is a dramatic retelling to make the story more entertaining. Steve Wozniak, writing about the movie said:
The personal drives portrayed in the movie were amazingly accurate. So were the key personalities, but not some others. The incidents themselves were all a best try to represent events that really occurred but they often happened much differently or at different times or with different people.
More Steve Jobs Tribute Photos From Our Readers [Mac Blog]
Oct 06, 7:55PM
Here's a collection of photos we've received from readers who have taken photos at Apple Stores around the world with small tributes to Apple's Steve Jobs who passed away yesterday.
Shanghai. Thanks Min 
London. Thanks Vijay 
Lincoln Park. Thanks Russell 
5th Avenue 
SF Apple Store, Thanks Dan Dunn 
Cupertino, Thanks H.P. 
Sydney, Australia. Thanks Dane.
Steve Jurvetson on Steve Jobs [Mac Blog]
Oct 06, 7:52PM
Venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, who worked with Steve Jobs at NeXT and Apple, writes in Businessweek about his memories of Jobs. He shared one story in particular -- from the NeXT years -- that would foreshadow Steve's vision for the future:
When I invited Jobs to take some time away from NeXT to speak to a group of students, he sat in the lotus position in front of my fireplace and wowed us for three hours, as if leading a séance. But then I asked him if he would sign my Apple Extended Keyboard. He burst out: "This keyboard represents everything about Apple that I hate. It's a battleship. Why does it have all these keys? Do you use this F1 key? No." And with his car keys he pried it right off. "How about this F2 key?" Off they all went. "I'm changing the world, one keyboard at a time," he concluded in a calmer voice.See Businessweek for Jurvetson's full piece.
Time Photographer Diana Walker's Favorite Shots of Steve Jobs [Mac Blog]
Oct 06, 7:22PM
Longtime Time Magazine photographer Diana Walker has shared a few of her favorite photographs of Steve Jobs, and briefly sharing her experiences working with him.
He was so much fun because he was so quick—he was such a fast study. You showed him anything and he could get it in a second. I was always fascinated by his design sense. It was wonderful because he liked my pictures.In this photo at Jobs' home office in 2004, we can see a model of the then new Power Mac G5 on his desk and a plethora of books, files and knick-knacks on the shelves in the background.
iFixit Takes the New iPod Nano Apart [Mac Blog]
Oct 06, 6:56PM
iFixit has gotten its disassembling hands on the latest iPod Nano and taken it apart piece by piece. They discovered the new 7th Generation Nano, introduced on Tuesday, is very similar to the prior version.
The most difficult part of the teardown was removing the display which "requires the use of a heat gun, as there is a lot of adhesive holding it in place." Once the display is removed, though, disassembly is pretty straightforward.
There were software changes between the old generation Nano and the new, but those changes are available to prior Nano owners via a software update. The new Nano's biggest feature is a reduced price. The 8GB version is now $129 and the 16GB model is $149, down from $149 and $179 respectively.
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