Digitimes: 14 inch Asian MacBook Air, in April, no more 64GB iPads, iPad Mini in Q3, Retina display shortages
Over the past 24 hours, Digitimes has posted a series of reports each a bit more outlandish than the ones previous to it. They’ve been right on some stuff in the past but lately it doesn’t seem like they are even paying attention anymore. Our colleagues at other Apple blogs have been posting every one of these so let’s run them down.
Last night/this morning: Apple ‘considering’ a 14-inch MacBook for Asian Market.
Currently, 14-inch panels are the mainstream specification of the Asia notebook market, while consumers in Western countries prefer 15-inch models. In the global market, 14-inch models have an about 20-25% market share, but in Asia, the market share is about 35-40%, an indication of Asia consumers’ fondness for 14-inch models, the sources noted.
So Apple is going to make a .7-inch bigger MacBook (vs. 13.3 is current) specifically for the Asian Market? Makes no sense. Apple won’t even make an iPhone for China Mobile’s 600 million subscribers. We’re not doubting that Apple could change its size matrix, we just don’t think they will do a special size just for Asia.
Within hours, Digitimes said:
Apple is expected to launch new MacBook Pro notebooks with an even thinner and lighter design than existing models in April, at the soonest. When paired with the company’s upcoming Mountain Lion operating system as well as Apple’s MacBook Air models, the product lines are expected to create a significant threat against notebook players’ ultrabooks, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.
Apple is expected to launch upgraded 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros in April with initial shipments estimated to reach 900,000 units.
Mountain Lion is currently scheduled for “late summer” as when it will be cut loose. Also, Digitimes among others, said that Intel’s next processors weren’t coming out until June. So Apple is going to release a new MBP a few months before new processors?
Tonight it got even more abstract: Read more
HowTo: Throttle AT&T for throttling your ‘unlimited’ data in 5 steps
By popular demand, MacTech provides a primer on taking AT&T to small claims court provided by attorney Bradley Sniderman. Recently a plaintiff in Los Angeles CA won a $850 settlement and per AT&T’s EULA, class action lawsuits are not possible so this might be your only means of exacting revenge on your limited unlimited plans. Excerpted: Read more
Adobe introduces ‘Primetime’ end to end video publishing solution
Along with Photoshop Touch for iPad 2, Adobe today officially announced ‘Primetime’ this morning. Primetime is a mashup of its video publishing, analytics and advertising platforms which aims to provide end to end video solutions for video publishers. Viewers on all four major platforms: Windows, Mac, iOS and Android will be able to use the output and Adobe specifically mentions that it will work on Apple’s native video, without requiring any tricks.
Video and release follows: Read more
Intel: Ivy Bridge 22nm chips due in next round of Macs delayed for two months?
The Financial Times reports that Intel is expecting its 22nm Ivy Bridge processors to be delayed until June, according to Executive Vice-President of Intel and Chairman of Intel China Sean Maloney.
Intel expects its next-generation microprocessors to go on sale eight to 10 weeks later than initially planned, according to Sean Maloney, executive vice-president of Intel and chairman of Intel China.
In his first interview to discuss Intel’s business in China, Mr Maloney told the Financial Times that the start of sales of machines equipped with Ivy Bridge – the 22nm processor set to succeed Sandy Bridge in notebooks this year – had been pushed back from April. “I think maybe it’s June now,” he said.
Digitimes originally reported the delay, but V-R Zone said it was only for certain dual core chips that would most likely not affect Apple’s products. From the comments above, it seems the delay is broader than expected.
Proview brings the ‘iPad’ name battle to the US
Sick of Proview yet?
The bankrupt Chinese company that sold Apple the ‘IPAD’ name only to claim it was deceived by Apple’s secret IP Application Development subsidiary is now suing Apple in its own back yard, according to the WSJ.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California in Santa Clara County on Feb. 17, but previously unreported, claimed that Apple had committed fraud when it used a company set up by one of its law firms, called IP Application Development Ltd., to purchase the iPad trademark from Proview on Dec. 23, 2009 for 35,000 British pounds ($55,000).
Proview’s point of view?
In emails seen by The Wall Street Journal, a representative purportedly of IP Application Development told Proview that it wanted to acquire the iPad name because it was an abbreviation of its company’s title, and that its future products wouldn’t compete with Proview’s products.
Proview is bankrupt and its products look like cheap original iPad knockoffs (right). A judge in Shanghai denied Proview’s motion to ban sales of iPad in the city earlier today.
Analyst arrested for leaking iPhone sales numbers, charged with insider trading
Analyst John Kinnucan is charged with two counts of securities fraud, two counts of conspiracy, and insider trading for leaking sales numbers from Apple, reported Reuters. The lawsuits against the analyst were filed in a U.S. District Court in Manhattan, and he was arrested on Thursday.
Kinnucan received tips from Apple’s suppliers SanDisk and Flextronics so he could leak sales numbers and forecasts to hedge funds. One SanDisk executive, Don Barnetson, is also in court on counts for insider trading. Kinnucan leaked the secret information about the iPhone’s sales between 2008 and 2010, and he would get the information by bribing suppliers. He is rumored to have earned $1.58 million for leaking Apple’s trade secrets.
Between 2008 and 2010, investigators said, Kinnucan paid insiders with cash, trips and other benefits to get secret information, including sales trends for Apple Inc’s iPhone. Kinnucan then funneled the information to hedge fund traders in California and New York in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars, investigators said.
Kinnucan’s arrest is part of a bigger crack down on insider trading within hedge funds. Over 60 people were already arrested during the operation, dubbed “Operation Perfect Hedge,” including a Flextronics executive for leaking iPhone sales numbers.
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