WWDC 2013 Roundup: iOS 7, OS X 10.9, MacBooks, ‘Genius-like’ Radio app (plus new tidbits)

Mark Gurman

Photo by Nick Thulin

Photo by Nick Thulin

By this time in 2012, Apple had taken the stage and dominated the news cycle multiple times to announce products like a new iPad, Apple TV, new Mac operating system, and various other software for both iOS and OS X. However, the first half of 2013 has been low on Apple product introductions as the company, coming off of a big fall, has focused on minor tweaks to existing products.

Even though Apple has been out of the limelight, the Cupertino company has been hard at work on a slew of new hardware, software, and services products, and the company plans to introduce new versions of iOS, OS X, and the MacBook Air at its WWDC conference next week. Apple will be holding a keynote on 10 AM on Monday to talk about these new products.

Below, you can find our much-anticipated WWDC 2013 roundup along with many new tidbits about what Apple is preparing:

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Apple to offer its own iPhone trade-in program for the first time

Seth Weintraub

Just off the wires, Apple appears to be ready to offer trade-ins on iPhones for the first time according to Bloomberg. Apple currently offers a free recycling program for older devices but this would seem to follow efforts by companies such as Gazelle, Amazon and others who offer big bucks for older iOS devices and Macs.

Apple Inc. is starting an iPhone trade-in program this month aimed at getting users to upgrade to the iPhone 5 and turn in older models, people with knowledge of the plans said.

Apple has teamed up with Brightstar Corp., a mobile-phone distributor, to run the exchange program, said the people, who asked not to be identified because Apple hasn’t publicly announced the plan.

The trade-ins will only be done at Apple Retail Stores and will allow customers to recieve credit instantly. Recently, Best Buy began offering Free iPhone 5s with plan for an iPhone 4 or 4S trade-in. Apple apparently liked the idea – Brightstar counts both Best Buy and Apple amongst its client list. Apple also worked with Brightstar to help AT&T and T-Mobile with their recent trade-in promotions.

Used iPhones collected in the U.S. will only be resold in emerging markets, where Apple’s share is lower and demand for cheap devices is greater according to the report.

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Removal of ad-free built-in YouTube app from iOS pays off big-time for Google

Ben Lovejoy

YouTube-1.1.0.4136-iPad-1

The removal of the ad-free built-in YouTube app from iOS seems to have paid-off for Google, with the ad-enabled replacement version contributing to a tripling of the video-sharing site’s mobile ad revenue in the last six months.

YouTube owner Google reports (via Bloomberg) that more than half of all U.S. smartphone owners have used the YouTube app, and that a quarter of traffic comes from phones and tablets. Figures released earlier this year by Ooyala showed that iOS users account for two-thirds of mobile video viewing, and Google previously revealed that the same proportion of its mobile searches came from Apple’s iPhone and iPad users. iOS users are more engaged than Android users and Google clearly knows this …

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Apple’s $149 in-store iPhone screen replacement service, and the machine that makes it possible

Ben Lovejoy

2013-06-05-iphone-repair-machine

In a move designed to save $1B a year, Apple is now replacing damaged iPhone screens in-store in place of its previous policy of swapping them for a new handset. 512pixels.net grabbed this photo of the machine used to calibrate the screens after replacement.

The move is good news for customers too, as out-of-warranty screen replacements will cost $149 instead of the $229 cost of a replacement handset, and you won’t have to restore your data from backup (although you are of course still advised to do a backup before any kind of repair is carried out).

The move raises a question-mark about the value of AppleCare coverage for an iPhone …  Read more

Russian newspaper claims Apple has applied for ‘iWatch’ trademark in the country

Jordan Kahn

iWatch-Edgar-5While Apple typically uses a shell corporation abroad to register for trademark names of upcoming, unreleased products, Russian newspaper Izvestia (via AppleInsider.ru) reports that the company has filed for the “iWatch” trademark in Russia, further fueling speculation that “iWatch” will be the name of Apple’s much rumored wearable, wristwatch device.

Tonight newspaper “Izvestia” gave a sensational news: the company Apple has filed with Rospatent application for registration of the trademark ” iWatch “. We think, do not even need to explain what this might mean.

While the report gives the impression that this is confirmation of an upcoming watch product from Apple, it’s of course not that simple. Apple has a couple times ran into issues with trademarks of new products, most notably with its long-lasting trademark battle over the iPad trademark in China and its decision to rename Apple TV from its original “iTV” moniker due to troubles with the British TV network of the same name. Apple, and most other companies for that matter, also typically trademark several names and variations prior to product releases that may or may not ever see the light of day. Apple would also have to go through a number of companies developing smart wristwatch-like devices that have filed for the trademark in the US (many as recently as February). Read more

Breaking

ITC rules Apple violates Samsung patent, limited ban could apply to iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, 3G iPads

Mark Gurman

The United States Trade Agency has ruled that Apple has violated one of Samsung’s smartphone and tablet-related patents.

Under the modified constructions, the Commission has determined that Samsung has proven that the accused iPhone 4 (AT&T models); iPhone 3GS (AT&T models); iPhone 3 (AT&T models); iPad 3G (AT&T models); and iPad 2 3G (AT&T models) infringe the asserted claims of the ’348 patent. The Commission has further determined that the properly construed claims have not been proven by Apple to be invalid and that Samsung has proven that a domestic industry exists in the United States with respect to the ‘348 patent. The Commission has determined that Apple failed to prove an affirmative defense based on Samsung’s FRAND declarations.

Due to this ruled breach of Samsung’s patent, Apple could face limited bans on certain AT&T iPhone and iPad models. Some of the products named include: iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2 3G, and the original 3G-capable iPad.

Update: Apple has commented on the ruling to AllThingsD:

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