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Apple Ramps Up iPhone 4S Advertising with 3 New Ads featuring iCloud, Siri, and Camera
Oct 30, 8:46PM
Apple is starting to ramp up its iPhone 4S advertising and has posted 3 new ads to their YouTube channel. The new ads focus on specific features found on the iPhone 4S and iOS 5, including Siri, iCloud and the new Camera.
This marks the second Siri ad that Apple has aired. The first ad was more of a teaser, only revealing Siri at the very end. This new ad shows more explicit examples of what Siri can do.
The iCloud ad shows how you can sync data across devices:
The Camera ad talks about the higher quality camera found on the iPhone 4S including editing features:
Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook Getting Closer to Production
Oct 30, 8:29PM
Macotakara follows up our July report of work on an ultra-thin 15" Mac Notebook with news that this new thin 15" model is getting closer:
according to asian source, Apple seems already to have finished to develop MacBook Air 15" LCD test component to add its line-up and to go product develpment of it.Macotakara is calling the new notebook a 15" MacBook Air, but we aren't entirely sure that would be the name.
Current MacBook Air
Back in April, we had heard reliable confirmation that the 2012 revision of the MacBook Pro would carry a new case design. iLounge had described it as a "milestone" release. Later, in July, we heard that Apple was already finishing up work on this ultra-thin 15" Mac Notebook.
At this point, it seems clear that Apple's next MacBook Pro revision will carry this new design, which many believe will take cues from the current MacBook Air designs. What's not clear is how Apple will integrate the new models with the current MacBook Air models. The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines seem destined to converge over time. In fact, Intel believes that Air-like "ultrabook" designs could make up to 40% of the consumer laptop market by the end of 2012. Apple just updated their MacBook Pro line with faster processors, which places their next revision sometime in the first half of 2012.
A Sister's Eulogy for Steve Jobs [Mac Blog]
Oct 30, 7:37PM
The New York Times publishes a touching eulogy written by Steve Jobs' sister Mona Simpson:None of us knows for certain how long we'll be here. On Steve's better days, even in the last year, he embarked upon projects and elicited promises from his friends at Apple to finish them. Some boat builders in the Netherlands have a gorgeous stainless steel hull ready to be covered with the finishing wood. His three daughters remain unmarried, his two youngest still girls, and he'd wanted to walk them down the aisle as he'd walked me the day of my wedding.Photo from USC.edu
We all — in the end — die in medias res. In the middle of a story. Of many stories.
Siri Hacked to Run on an iPod Touch and iPhone 4
Oct 30, 2:56AM
Apple's new Siri voice recognition system is only officially available to new iPhone 4S users. Predictably, over the past few weeks, there have been various attempts to port Siri to previous generation hardware. The early versions of these hacks, however, simply got the user interface working on the iPhone 4, but were unable to actually use the voice recognition due to authentication issues in connecting to Apple's servers.
Tonight, developers @stroughtonsmith and @chpwn have been able to bypass this hurdle and have been able to get Siri working on previous generation hardware. This video shows it on an iPod Touch:
The video shows just a couple of simple question/answers but seems to run at a good speed. There had been some speculation that Siri might require the A5 processor in the iPhone 4S, but based on these early findings, it seems not.
The developers have said that there will be "no public release soon" and not to ask. A public release also seems unlikely due to the legal issues in repackaging Apple's code and distributing it.
We've since spoken to @stroughtonsmith who told us that despite it working on the iPod Touch, it doesn't work entirely well due to the relatively poor performance of the microphone. "You have to be loud and close to it", he said. However, it does perform quite well on the iPhone 4 and works "just as fast as the 4S".
Apple Did Acquire 3D Mapping Company C3 Technologies
Oct 29, 9:34PM
In August, we profiled a 3D mapping company called C3 Technologies that had been acquired by a mystery buyer. We suspected Apple was the purchaser of the company, but weren't able to prove it at the time.
Realtime map screenshot from C3 Technologies
Now, it seems that Apple was indeed the buyer of the company, according to 9to5Mac's sources.
Sure enough, we have now learned Apple is now the owner of C3 Technologies. Sources say that C3 Technologies CEO Mattias Astrom , C3 Technologies CFO Kjell Cederstrand, and lead C3 Technologies Product Manager Ludvig Emgard are now working within Apple's iOS division. The leading trio, along with most of the former C3 Technologies team, is still working as a team in Sweden (interestingly, the division is now called "Sputnik"), where the C3 Technologies company was located prior to the Apple acquisition.C3 Technologies made a big splash at CES 2011 when it began demoing its technology on both Android and iOS devices. The company uses formerly classified missile targeting technology to achieve its impressive 3D mapping effects. The company's official YouTube videos have been pulled, but some examples remain. This video shows a flythrough of Oslo, Norway (video improperly labeled):
Another example of New York City with overlays is on YouTube. And here's a demo of the technology running on an early iPad version:
The technology had also been previously licensed by Yell.com and Nokia.
Apple's interest in the technology is obvious. The company has been dependent on Google's mapping technology for their iOS devices, but has been steadily making acquisitions to replace that technology. Apple has been heavily recruiting for their Geo Team and has even revealed in iOS 5 that they are planning their own full mapping solution.
Apple's Processor Options for Early 2012 Mac Pro Begin to Firm Up
Oct 28, 7:56PM
Last week, we noted that Apple is unlikely to update its Mac Pro line until early next year at the soonest, as Intel's Sandy Bridge E processors intended as the successors to the current Mac Pro chips have been delayed until the first quarter of 2012.
Newly-released pricing information from CPU World now offers a bit more data to help analyze which of the new E5-2600 and E5-1600 series Xeon processors Apple is likely to use in the next-generation Mac Pro models.
Apple's current dual-processor Mac Pro lineup utilizes Intel's "Westmere" processor family, with the E5620, X5650, and X5670 as options. Intel launched those processors last year priced at $387, $996, and $1440 respectively. With pricing for the upcoming E5-2600 series having been revealed, it certainly does appear that Apple will be able to use the $406 6-core 2.0 GHz E5-2620 in its low-end dual-processor configuration at or near the current $3499 pricing.
At the mid range, which is currently priced at $4999, the 8-core 2.0 GHz E5-2650 comes in $110 higher than the current E5650, a $220 difference when both processors are accounted for. Apple's options may be limited on this model, however, as stepping down in price would force Apple all the way down to the E5-2640 at $884, a 6-core chip running at 2.5 GHz.
The high end of Apple's dual-processor Mac Pro is also a bit murky, with each 8-core 2.6 GHz E5-2670 processor coming in at $1552, over $110 higher than the processors used in the current $5999 Mac Pro. Consequently, Apple could elect to instead use the 8-core 2.4 GHz E5-2665 processor, which is scheduled to carry a $1440 price tag at launch, sacrificing 200 MHz of clock speed to maintain pricing.
As for the lower-end single-processor Mac Pro configurations, Apple is likely to utilize Intel's E5-1600 series processor line, also scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2012. Pricing on those chips was revealed last month, with the forthcoming quad-core 3.6 GHz E5-1620 ($294) and 6-core 3.2 GHz E5-1650 ($583) slotting nicely into the existing low- and mid-range pricing. At the high end of the single-processor line, however, Apple may have to bump up to the E5-1660 at $1080. The E5-1660 carries the same 6-core, 3.3 GHz specs as on the current high-end single-processor model, but offers higher turbo multipliers and L3 cache.
Apple Working with iPhone 4S Owners to Address Battery Life Issues
Oct 28, 6:42PM
Since the release of the iPhone 4S, some users have been complaining about poor battery life. Even with Apple having quietly reduced the standby battery life from 300 hours on the iPhone 4 to 200 hours on the iPhone 4S, active-use battery life for the iPhone 4S was supposed to remain the same or better than on the iPhone 4. But some users are indeed seeing rapid battery drains, both while in active use and in standby, suggesting that some sort of background task is sapping the device's battery under certain circumstances, according to The Guardian.
One user in particular noted a battery drain of 10% per hour even in standby mode. The user was able to replicate the issue with all features such as Siri and location services turned off, and even on a relatively clean phone with no apps installed, hinting that the battery drain was coming from a core functionality on the device. The user does report, however, that Apple has reached out in an attempt to research the issue, asking to install system monitoring software on the device to help figure out what is going wrong.
"I then got a call from a senior [Apple] engineer who said he had read my post and was 'reaching out' to users for data and admitted this was an issue (and that they aren't close to finding a fix!) and asked lots of questions about my usage and then asked if he could install the file below and that he would call back the day after to retrieve the info. I extracted the file from my Mac after a sync and emailed it to him. He was incredibly helpful and apologetic in the typical Apple way!"Apple has yet to offer an explanation for the battery life issue, but anecdotal reports suggest that corrupted contacts may be responsible. Some users have reported that a backup and restore through iTunes can help, but until Apple offers an official solution those affected by the issue may need to experiment with various solutions.
Apple Themed Pumpkin Carvings Spice Up Halloween [Mac Blog]
Oct 28, 6:36PM
Readers have sent in a number of festive Apple-themed pumpkins, including two that emulate Jonathan Mak's interpretation of the Apple logo and another pumpkin interpretation of Albert Watson's famous photograph that now graces the cover of Steve Jobs' biography.
iPhone 4S Launches in 22 New Countries with 1-2 Week Estimates for Online Orders
Oct 28, 4:09PM
Apple today officially launched the iPhone 4S in 22 new countries, marking the second round of launches for the device. The company began taking pre-orders last week ahead of the launch scheduled for the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
iPhone 4S order page for Apple's Swedish online store
While Apple does not offer online sales in all of the new launch countries and customers looking to purchase subsidized models on contract will not be able to purchase online, Apple is currently quoting shipping estimates of 1-2 weeks for unlocked devices in nearly all of the new markets with online stores. The lone exception is Singapore, where all iPhone 4S models are listed as currently unavailable. Demand for the iPhone 4S has been high in that country, with reports indicating that carrier partner SingTel sold out of appointment slots to purchase the device within 90 minutes of opening registration earlier this week.
Google TV Take Two Launches Next Week with Streamlined Interface, Android Apps
Oct 28, 3:31PM
Back in May 2010, Google announced plans to launch "Google TV", a software offering available either in a set-top box or built into TV sets and designed to integrate television with the Web. Google TV officially launched in October of that year, but has so far failed to catch on with consumers.
Addressing the platform's shortcomings, Google today announced that early next week it will launch a major software update intended to significantly improve the functionality of the Google TV software. Among the most notable improvements are a streamlined interface with improved searching capabilities and compatibility with apps through the Android Market.
The interface is now much simpler. The new customizable home screen gets you to your favorite content quickly. And within "all apps" you can see all of your shortcuts, similar to your Android phone or tablet.The update will be rolling out to Sony devices early next week, with Logitech's set-top boxes set to receive the update shortly after.
...
We are opening up the TV to the creativity of content creators large and small through Android Market. Android developers can now bring existing mobile apps or entirely new ones to TV. Initially, the number of apps won't be large – apps requiring a touch screen, GPS, or telephony won't show up – but 50 developers have seeded the Market with cool and useful apps for the TV. We're excited to see the number of apps grow.
Google's movements in the television space have been closely watched by Apple observers, in part due to Apple's own efforts in the market with the Apple TV, which was relaunched late last year as a set-top box for streaming content. Apple has also been said to be working on its own connected television set, with the most recent report arriving yesterday and indicating that Apple is seeking to launch a Siri-enabled TV by 2013.
Apple Releases Aperture 3.2.1 [Mac Blog]
Oct 28, 2:49PM
Apple yesterday released Aperture 3.2.1, bringing several bug fixes to the company's professional-level photo editing and management application.What's New in Aperture 3.2.1The download, which comes on top of the Aperture 3.2 update released earlier this month to support iOS 5 and iCloud, weighs in at 635.76 MB and requires Mac OS X 10.6.8 or OS X 10.7.2.
- Resolves an issue that could cause Aperture to quit unexpectedly at launch on Macs with Core Duo processors
- Addresses problems that could cause the Crop tool to switch to the incorrect orientation or resize incorrectly
- Resolves rendering issues when cropping images with Onscreen Proofing enabled
- Location menus are now displayed correctly on the map in the Places view when "Photos" is selected in the Library Inspector
Samsung Easily Tops Apple to Become World's Top Smartphone Manufacturer
Oct 28, 1:28PM
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Samsung had overtaken Apple for the title of world's top-selling smartphone manufacturer, relying on a source who indicated that Samsung had shipped over 20 million smartphones in the third quarter, compared to Apple's announced sales of 17.1 million iPhones.
Samsung today officially announced its financial results for the third quarter, and while it no longer releases smartphone sales units, it did disclose that smartphone sales were up more than 40% over the previous quarter. With Samsung having been close on Apple's heels during the second quarter and Apple's sales declining in the third quarter as customers waited for the iPhone 4S, that growth enabled Samsung to easily surpass Apple in the smartphone segment.
Research firm Strategy Analytics has released its data on smartphone shipments for the third quarter, pegging Samsung at 27.8 million units while Apple barely edged out Nokia for second place by a margin of 17.1 million units to 16.8 million units.
Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, "After just one quarter in the top spot, Apple slipped behind Samsung to second position and captured 15 percent share. Apple's global smartphone growth rate slowed to just 21 percent annually in Q3 2011, its lowest level for two years. We believe Apple's growth during the third quarter was affected by consumers and operators awaiting the launch of the new iPhone 4S in the fourth quarter, volatile economic conditions in several key countries, and tougher competition from Samsung's popular Galaxy S2 model."While Apple is expecting all-time record iPhone sales during the current quarter as the iPhone 4S rolls out around the world, it still may not be enough to overcome Samsung's significant lead and strong growth.
In the overall mobile phone market, Strategy Analytics pegged Apple in fifth place, slipping behind ZTE compared to the previous quarter. Apple's share of the total market fell to 4.4%, down from 5.6% in the second quarter.
Apple's Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) Now Open Source
Oct 28, 12:16AM
On MacOSForge, Apple has announced that they are releasing the Apple Lossless Audio Codec as an open source project:The Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) is a lossless audio codec developed by Apple and deployed on all of its platforms and devices for some years now. Apple is making the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) available as an open source project. Full details can be found on the Apple Lossless Audio Codec project page.The Apple Lossless Audio Codec is a similar to other "lossless" codecs such as FLAC which offer audio compression without any loss in audio information. ALAC is said to compress files only by "about half" as compared to the originals.
Formats such as MP3 and AAC are considered "lossy" and result in much greater compression but at the cost of some fidelity. The main advantage of using ALAC over competing lossless formats is that ALAC is supported by all of Apple's iPods and iOS devices. The format had already been reverse engineered prior to this release, but this opens the door to even more products supporting both ALAC creation and playback.
The project has been released under the Apache license.
HP Reverses Course, Will Keep PC Unit
Oct 27, 8:26PM
HP, the world's largest PC manufacturer, has announced that it has reversed course and will not sell off its PC unit. The company had announced in August that it would spin off the business, but with CEO Leo Apotheker having been ousted and replaced by former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, HP has reevaluated its plans."HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG [Personal Systems Group]. It's clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees," said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. "HP is committed to PSG, and together we are stronger."According to The Wall Street Journal, HP's initial estimate of a $300-400 million cost to spin off the PC unit proved to be far too low, with further studies pegging the cost at closer to $1.5 billion. Combined with a strategic review that determined the level of integration across HP's business was deep enough that contributions from the PC unit would be missed, HP ultimately decided to keep the business in-house.
Apple Offering Jetpack Joyride Free via the App Store Facebook Page [iOS Blog]
Oct 27, 7:02PM
Apple is giving away free redemption codes for the excellent Jetpack Joyride game via its App Store Facebook page. Simply head to Facebook.com/AppStore and follow the appropriate directions to receive a redemption code. Apple rolled out revamped App Store pages on Facebook last year with searching and sharing tools, though this is the first time Apple has actually given away an App to Facebook users, according to sister-site TouchArcade:
It's the first of a new promotion process courtesy of Apple, and I can't wait to see what else they end up giving away for free. Now, I've got no idea either how long this promotion is going to last, when it's going to rotate to something else, and how many promo codes there are to give away...Jetpack Joyride for iPhone is normally $0.99 on the App Store.
Seriously, we love Jetpack Joyride and there is absolutely no reason to not take advantage of this offer. Also, it seems you can even generate a code if you already own the game, and then give that code to someone else.
Sprint CEO Says iPhone Extends Ability to Offer Unlimited Data
Oct 27, 6:40PM
In an interview with Forbes following his company's earnings release, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse noted that the iPhone will actually enable the carrier to continue offering unlimited data plans for a longer period of time than it otherwise would have.
Sprint is still not saying when it may make that switch, but credits the iPhone for helping it push the date out further. "One of the beauties of carrying the iPhone is it extends the period of time and increases the likelihood of us maintaining unlimited data longer because it uses our network so efficiently," said Hesse.Hesse notes that the iPhone is better at picking up Wi-Fi signals than Android devices are, allowing users to spend more time connecting via Wi-Fi than placing demands on Sprint's cellular data network.
He also claims that Apple's tight control over iPhone apps and its requirement that those apps meet certain network efficiency standards helps Sprint's network operate more efficiently. According to Barron's, Sprint claims that the iPhone may offer 50% more network efficiency than Android handsets.
Finally, Hesse indicates that Sprint has made a $15.5 billion commitment to Apple for iPhones, targeting sales of six million units per year over the four-year term of the deal.
Sprint is the only U.S. carrier to offer unlimited data for the iPhone. Both AT&T; and Verizon had offered unlimited data at the time of their respective iPhone launches, but both carriers have since migrated to tiered data plans designed to charge high-usage customers more.
Apple Looking to Launch Siri-Enabled Television Set by 2013
Oct 27, 4:49PM
Apple is definitely building a television set, according to Nick Bilton of the New York Times. The TV, which will include extensive voice control courtesy of Siri, could be announced as soon as late 2012 with a consumer release in 2013. Bilton quotes anonymous sources saying that an Apple television is a "guaranteed product for Apple" because "Steve thinks the industry is totally broken", which is echoed by passages in Steve Jobs' biography.
Bilton says the project has been in the works for years, perhaps as far back as 2007 (the year the iPhone launched and the company launched the Apple TV set-top box. As far as controlling the new set:
It's the stuff of science fiction. You sit on your couch and rather than fumble with several remotes or use hand gestures, you simply talk: "Put on the last episode of Gossip Girl." "Play the local news headlines." "Play some Coldplay music videos." Siri does the rest.Bilton firmly believes the television is coming, but says the company "still has quite a bit of work to do on the project", citing the physical design of the TV in particular. He also cites the expense of the display itself, though those prices are falling rapidly.
Of course this experience goes beyond just playing TV shows or the local news. As the line between television programming and Web content continues to erode, a Siri-powered television would become more necessary. You aren't going to want to flip through file folders or baskets of content, checking off what you want. Telling Siri to "play videos of cute cats falling asleep" would return an endless YouTube stream of adorable napping fur balls.
In a bid to set aside the speculation about if an Apple television is in the works, the piece finishes simply, "it is coming though. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when."
Apple television mockup courtesy Nick Bilton/New York Times
Bloomberg TV and DirecTV Debut New Live Streaming Services for iPad
Oct 27, 3:26PM
Financial media and data company Bloomberg today launched a new Bloomberg TV+ app for the iPad, offering free, ad-supported live streaming of the financial news channel.
- Live TV: Bloomberg Television Live 24-hours a dayBloomberg TV+ also allows users to download video content for offline viewing, view bonus content, set reminders for live shows, and share videos via social media and email.
- Featured videos: The biggest business stories right now prioritized by importance
- Last 24 Hours: All the important business stories from the last 24 hours
- Exclusive interviews with the most influential people in business, finance and investment
- Original content produced for mobile
- Bloomberg's critically acclaimed shows on demand
Meanwhile, satellite television provider DirecTV yesterday updated its iPad app to provide free live TV for subscribers. Like several other similar apps from cable companies such as Time Warner, DirecTV customers can only view live TV on their iPads while in their home and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as their DirecTV HD DVR.
What's newDirecTV is offering an initial batch of over three dozen channels for live streaming to the iPad, with additional channels presumably coming in the future. The DirecTV app also offers easy transitions from iPad to TV, allowing users watching a channel live on their iPad to simply swipe up on the video to have their DirecTV DVR automatically tune to the channel for viewing on their television set.
Turn your iPad into a portable TV and watch your favorite shows in any room of your home.
- Quickly scroll through a list of channels available to watch on your iPad with a dedicated "Live TV Streaming" Module.
- Get tips in the help section to guide you through features in the app.
- Set parental controls to block live TV channels viewed on the iPad.
- Change start and end times to add padding to a program when setting a recording.
Apple Launching iTunes Movie Offerings in Over a Dozen New Countries
Oct 27, 3:06PM
Late last month, Apple launched the iTunes Music Store in 12 new European countries, with the updated terms and conditions for users in those countries also addressing movie and TV show content despite those options not being made available in the new countries.
It now appears that Apple has begun rolling out iTunes Store movie content in a number of these and other countries, marking yet another substantial international expansion to Apple's content catalog.
Movie listing from Estonian iTunes Store
Based on reports from readers and an examination of the iTunes Store, it appears that movies are now available in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, and Slovakia, and Slovenia – all countries that had been included in the latest round of music store expansion. Curiously, the Romanian iTunes Store appears to be the only one of the twelve recent music additions to have not yet received movie content.
Earlier this week we also received a couple of reports of movies becoming available in Greece and Portugal, two countries that have had music store access since 2004, suggesting that the movie expansion may be even broader.
As has been in the case with other similar content expansions, Apple has not yet launched dedicated navigation bar tabs in iTunes for movies in the new countries, but the content is showing up in search results.
One other batch of new European markets for iTunes Store movie content went live in late September, with the Apple TV launching in those countries soon after. Consequently, customers in countries where movie content is launching this week may also be seeing the Apple TV debut in the near future.
Samsung's Appeal of Australian Galaxy Tab Ban Fast-Tracked as Apple Targets Resellers
Oct 27, 2:05PM
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that an Australian judge has agreed to fast-track Samsung's appeal of an injunction barring the company from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in that country. Samsung had previously said that it would likely cancel the device's launch entirely in Australia if Apple was awarded an injunction, but the company is still pushing forward in an attempt to win the right to sell.
In court today Samsung sought and has been granted an expedited hearing by the Federal Court in Sydney, hoping to overturn the ban before the busy pre-Christmas shopping season.Meanwhile, Apple has also begun going after Internet resellers who have continued to sell the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to Australian customers despite the ban. Two sites, MobiCity.com.au and dMavo.com.au, have acknowledged receiving letters from Apple, but dMavo at least has reported that it will not be responding to Apple's demands. The report notes that while injunctions against individual sellers should be rather straightforward for Apple to obtain given the standing order against Samsung, a number of the resellers are headquartered in Hong Kong and it may take some time to determine whether Australian authorities have jurisdiction over their actions.
"I'm quite firm of the view that the matter should proceed on the basis that the lead application be referred to a full court, that it be listed at the same time as any prospective appeal and that the matter be expedited," Justice Lindsay Foster said.
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