Daring Fireball’s John Gruber and The New York Times’ David Pogue went on the “Charlie Rose” TV show last night to discuss and share their thoughts on the iPhone 5. While both technology bloggers adore Apple’s latest smartphone, Gruber longed for two-day battery life and Pogue seemed annoyed by the new Lightning connector.
Are there any readers in Maryland that want to help? It could be fun/interesting (and probably dangerous, so do not blame us if you get shot)! Map center is here.
After iMore broke the September iPhone event news, Apple, through its channels, confirmed to not one, not two, three, or four, but at least five different publications that the iPhone event would be Sept. 12 with a Sept. 21 launch. If you do not think these are Apple PR confirmations, I have a nice bridge to sell you.
We told you earlier this week that Apple would send for the first time one of its employees, a manager for the platform security team, Dallas De Atley, to speak at the Black Hat conference on iOS security. Unfortunately, while many hoped we would get an inside look at iOS security technologies, a wrap up of the event fromThe New York Timesdescribed the talk as “the equivalent of reading aloud a white paper, timed to a PowerPoint deck, before escaping out a side door.” According to several reports, most of what was covered came from a recently published white paper.
As for what Atley said:
“Our attitude is: security is architecture. It has to be built in from the very beginning,” Mr. De Atley said. In building the iPhone, he said, Apple took a bare-bones approach and sought to use the minimum number of components. Apple purposefully decided not to ship the phone with a shell, or support remote log-in access. “There’s an entire set of attack vectors we don’t have to fundamentally worry about on iOS,” he said.
Mr. De Atley highlighted a number of “sandboxing” technologies Apple had in place. “The goal is to physically isolate and separate processes from each other so that if one has a flaw, it can’t easily wreak havoc on the rest of the system.”
As examples, he noted that all third-party apps were stored in their own container on users’ devices. User data is kept partitioned from the device’s operating system so that any updates to the system do not affect the user’s personal data. He added that every single file created on the iPhone gets its own encryption key and is wrapped in the user’s passcode.
Aereo—the service that streams over-the-air local TV to any Mac, iOS device, or PC running Safari for $12 per month—just got a second chance at survival. According to The New York Times, a U.S. federal judge on Wednesday rejected a temporary injunction spurred by television broadcasters, saying a ruling for the broadcasters would have shut down Aereo.
Reuters reported that Walt Disney Co., Comcast Corp., News Corp., Univision Communications Inc., and the Public Broadcasting Service tried to stop Aereo with the injunction, claiming they would “lose their right to retransmission fees from cable and other companies that rebroadcast their programming, and also lose critical advertising revenue”:
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan said on Wednesday that while the broadcasters demonstrated they faced irreparable financial damage if were the venture were allowed to continue, Aereo also showed it would face severe harm if the requested preliminary injunction were granted.
‘First and foremost, the evidence establishes that an injunction may quickly mean the end of Aereo as a business,’ the Manhattan judge wrote in a 52-page opinion.
The New York Times quoted Aereo’s Barry Diller, who noted a trial still lies ahead for his company, but he is now “far happier to begin this process with the judge’s ruling.” One of the plaintiffs, CBS, told the publication it would continue to seek damages and a permanent injunction: “This is only a ruling on a preliminary injunction. This case is not over by a long shot.”
9to5Mac reviewed Aereo in March and found its broadcast TV-like experience encouraging and well worth a test-drive:
Overall, Aereo’s HTML5 user-interface is the most impressive on the Mac platform. Its ease of browsing, watching, and recording local TV through Safari is a unique take during an age that offers countless ways of viewing cable without an actual television. The main takeaway with Aereo is that it works best on the Macand the iPad, video quality is identical to what one would see on a HDTV, and the DVR function is extremely handy.
[…] For many people, its DVR functionality alone is worth the $12 monthly fee. For others, the admission price might be too hefty when compared to cheaper services that also offer cable programming and better streaming.
The New York Times reported in December that a small group of people at Apple were “conceptualizing and even prototyping some wearable devices,” so we posted Federico Ciccarese’s creepy take on a wearable, curved-glass iOS device last week. Now, Swedish designer Anders Kjellberg introduces his iteration of the tech with an “iWatch” concept featuring FaceTime.
The mockup touts a Retina display, an 8-megapixel camera with HD and FaceTime capabilities, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Airplay support, a built-in, rechargeable Lithium-ion battery, 16 GB of storage, accelerometer, proximity and ambient light sensors, and eight customizable wristbands. Oh, and iTunes and apps—of course.
But, if you can handle a paltry extra 4mm of thickness with the addition of real keys, an iPad aluminum-matched protective cover, and a built in stand, Logitech already has Microsoft beat in my eyes.
Enter the $99 Logitech Ultrathin iPad Keyboard Cover for iPad 2 and the new iPad. It uses the same magnets as Apple’s “smart” accessories to clip on and activate the iPad, but it is a rigid enclosure that matches the back of the iPad and turns it into the proverbial Apple netbook. It offers screen protection, but the back and sides are not protected. So, you will not want to drop test this setup.
This is not just a repurposed PC/Mac keyboard either. It has dedicated iPad keys across the top including the very useful home button, volume keys, editing keys, and play/pause.
I have been using it since it unveiled two months ago. Here is my take:
Our list of newly released apps and updates kicks off today with two new Nike+ apps and another nice update that brings even more content to Flipboard. As always, we will keep this list updated as more notable app related news comes up throughout the day.
Nike+ Training: Nike released a new app today that works with shoes using the Nike+ Sport Adapter (included in Nike+ Sport Pack bundles) that syncs wirelessly with your iOS device over Bluetooth. The app’s iTunes page explained “Sensors in your shoes track every jump, step and rep as you take on pro athlete drill packs that challenge you with the moves the world’s best use to get into shape.” This app is geared specifically towards fitness routines, and it provides four-week programs for daily workouts and demonstrations of drills from Nike trainers.
Nike+ Basketball:Nike also released another iOS app today called “Nike+ Basketball” that that works with the same Nike+ technology, but it is geared specifically towards basketball players, allowing you to track “how high, how quick and how hard” you play. The app provides stats for Vertical, Quickness, Hustle, and more. It also has a “Showcase Your Skills” feature that allows you to capture video and create highlight reels of your games to share through various social networks.
Flipboard version 1.94:After receiving an update earlier this month with Google+ and YouTube integration, today the app gets full access to the New York Times for paid subscribers, as well as the NYT Top Section free to all readers
Amazing Alex:We already knew it was coming when Angry Birds developer Rovio announced it acquired iOS puzzler Casey’s Contraptions and planned to rebrand it as “Amazing Alex”. Today we get a little bit more info about the game and a short teaser video from a post on the official Rovio blog:
Set the objects up to bounce, pop, ricochet, bash, and crash into each other and create an elaborate Rube Goldberg device! With a houseful of toys to play with, there’s more than one right answer! Share your most creative solutions with your friends and see what they came up with!… Got a great idea for a level? Design intriguing new levels using 35 interactive objects and share them — with friends or with the whole world! With other fans constantly creating and uploading new levels, there are always new challenges to check out!
As noted by InsideFacebook, Facebook recently picked up former Apple employee Chris Weeldreyer as its new product design manager. Weeldreyer previously worked as the UI Design Manager at Apple for over eight years since joining the company in November 2003. According to his Facebook page, he officially started his new role at Facebook on June 18, 2012.
In May, the New York Times reported Facebook “has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone”and tied it the old Facebook phone rumor.
As for Weeldryer’s work at Apple, he certainly worked on at least iWeb. He is listed as an inventor on several Apple Inc.-filed patents including iWeb for iPad, multi-touch and gesture-related inventions, as well as a number of security related patents. Weeldryer’s LinkedIn lists his specialties as: industrial design, interaction design, user interface design.
Former Apple engineer and current Google employee Andy Hertzfeld expressed his disappointment in the new Mac Pro through a Google+ post this morning. He said the high-end desktop “seems like it’s stuck in time in 2010” and only received an “inconsequential processor clock bump.”
Apple unveiled an all-new MacBook Air and Pro lineup during its keynote, but the company did not announce any updates to its Mac Pro. The blogosphere jumped online to gobble up the notebooks, where they finally discovered the Mac Pro’s minor spec-bump listed under the familiar “new” notation. Since then, the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company has been under-fire for displaying the machinery as new when it only boasts a few slight changes.
Update: MacRumors received a tip from a reader who claimed Apple’s CEO Tim Cook responded to his email to confirm new Mac Pros are coming next year. We received a tip last year detailing a similar email exchange between a Pro customer and the late chief Steve Jobs. Cook’s response to the reader is below:
Our pro customers are really important to us…don’t worry as we’re working on something really great for later next year.
We were not too shocked when Apple quietly updated its Mac Pro lineup following its WWDC keynote yesterday. We had previously revealed the spec-bumped Mac Pros, but many were skeptical Apple would release such a minor refresh for the product that otherwise had not received an update in two years.
Was it really an upgrade, or did Intel simply run out of the older CPUs? USB 2 and no Thunderbolt seem like a bad joke to high-end Mac Pro users.
Not surprisingly, many are calling out Apple for its decision to not release a major refresh to the Mac Pros. Perhaps most notably is former Apple engineer and current Google employee Andy Hertzfeld. In a Google+ post, Hertzfeld congratulated Apple on its new Retina MacBook, while expressing disappointment in the new Mac Pros:
The next generation MacBook Pro announced today at WWDC looks fantastic. I ordered one immediately and can’t wait to start using it. Unfortunately, the euphoria was negated by my deep disappointment with the meagre, lame update that was silently bequeathed to the Mac Pro today… The specs for the “new” Mac Pro had hardly changed, except for a tiny, inconsequential processor clock bump. Still no Thunderbolt, still no USB 3.0, no SATA III or RAM speed improvements – it seems like it’s stuck in time in 2010. The only thing that’s still high-end about it is the bloated price… Even though I’m well aware that Apple’s future lies increasingly with mobile iOS-based devices, it still makes no sense to drop the ball on your high end desktop Mac so thoroughly, and to utterly disappoint your most loyal customers like yours truly.
As for complete refreshes for the iMac and Mac Pro lineups, David Pogue for the New York Times claimed an Apple executive confirmed they are in development and likely set for a 2013 release:
Many Apple observers also wonder if Apple thinks that desktop computers are dead, since not a word was said about the iMac and Mac Pro. An executive did assure me, however, that new models and new designs are under way, probably for release in 2013
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook hinted this past week during his interview at D10 that we could expect closer ties with Facebook and to “stay tuned” when asked about Twitter-like integration in iOS. Now, according to a report fromTechCrunch, the much-anticipated integration of Facebook will happen in “the latest version of iOS.” There are not many details provided by the report, but it did note Apple is still trying to decide “exactly how sharing will work” and that things could change before iOS 6 is unveiled: Expand Expanding Close
Time Warner Cable’s CEO Glenn A. Britt said in an interview on Friday that there is no simple way to stream Internet-based content to a television screen. Obviously, the top executive forgot about AirPlay—ya know, that little software tool included with Apple’s devices that is likely to disrupt the entire cable industry.
“’I’m not sure I know what AirPlay is,’ he said, though he noted that he was an enthusiastic Apple customer. ‘Today we want to be on every screen. Today it’s a little bit clunky to get programming from the Internet onto the TV — not so hard to get it on your iPad. What’s hard is the plumbing, what wires do you connect, what device do you use. So the current Apple TV, the little thing, the hockey puck, really doesn’t do anything to help enable you to get Internet material on your TV.'”
Britt further noted that he hates set-top boxes and views smart TVs as a better method of viewing Internet video on a television, because they does not require an additional piece of hardware.
Government-owned railroad service Amtrak is set to use Apple’s iPhone and a new app as an electronic ticket scanner.
The New York Times reported that train conductors have been training to use the tech during select routes since November. The addition allows passengers to load a specific bar code on their smartphone screens that the conductor can scan for tracking purposes. Of course, passengers can still print their tickets per usual for Amtrak’s iPhones to scan.
Amtrak said 1,700 conductors would use the iPhone on routes across the country by late summer. The iOS device will come with a case containing an extra battery and a bar-code scanner. It will also come equipped with an app for scanning and indicating special conditions, such as whether passengers are disabled— and when and where they are departing— for coordinating a wheelchair lift. The app will even enable conductors to report the train’s mechanical failures.
The NYT article does not mention it, but 9to5Mac discovered mobile and emerging technologies developer Übermind claims to be the brain child behind the app’s shiny, new features. It’s website provided a few images (below) that depict what Amtrak described when detailing the iPhone’s case, battery, and app:
“Paper tickets are so 19th century. We ushered Amtrak’s conductors into the 21st century with our workforce automation solution. The bottom line for Amtrak: better customer service, better labor relations, and real-time business intelligence. Riders, taking the train just got fun again. [..] We worked with Amtrak to design and implement the engaging Digital Passport feature within Amtrak’s passenger iPhone app. With the personalized passport, riders can earn stamps for travel, share achievements to social networks, and view a map overlay of personal ridership stats. Train Masters, wanted.”
The app that lets users wirelessly access their Mac applications and Windows programs on-the-go, while running Parallels Desktop for Mac, was just updated to version 3.1.530.
Parallels Mobile allows users to remotely control all the software on a computer from an iOS device, but today’s upgrade includes iOS 5 compatibility and new iPad optimization. It also offers support for international keyboard layouts when working in Mac applications, fixed scrolling in Mac and Windows, and a host of other improvements.
The app requires Parallels Desktop for Mac version 6 or 7 (Amazon currently offers v7 for $62), but 9to5Mac found Parallels Desktop 7 to be a huge leap ahead of its predecessor. This is especially true for Lion users that want to run the odd Windows app, try Windows 8, or for devs that just want to run another instance of OS X.
Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma appeared on “Morning Joe” earlier this morning to talk the debt crisis. During the interview, a question came up about a piece TheNew York Times ran this weekend that discussed Apple’s tactics of legallyskirting billions in taxes each year by using tax havens like Nevada, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Virgin Islands. Keep in mind: These practices are perfectly legal and other large companies are doing the same. However, when the Senator was asked about the topic, Coburn sternly replied that he’s “absolutely livid.”
As a solution to the issue, Coburn said that the nation needs to “reform the tax code,” which he said will lead to economic growth. The senator also said he has begun work with Michigan Senator Carl Levin to look into how Apple is doing this. The big thing it looks like the senator wants to do is bring the funds from these larger companies back into the United States to help put more money back into the economy—obviously through large taxes.
Apple currently has $74 billion of its money off-shores, and it is pushing, along with other companies, for a tax-holiday where it could bring its money back into the U.S at a cut tax rate. Apple responded to the NYT piece on Sunday:
The New York Times delves into a divisive subject in American politics right now: Tax avoidance. Apple, like most international companies, sidesteps many California, United States, European, etc., taxes by using tax havens like Nevada, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Virgin Islands.
The problem for the protagonists is that this is all very legal and practiced by just about every multi-national company in the interest of remaining competitive and maximizing stockholder share. Like most matters of this sort, the problem lies with the laws and loopholes that allow this to happen. Big companies spend a lot of money on lobbyists making sure that those loopholes do not get closed.
What may not be terribly patriotic are Apple, Google, Cisco, and other’s lobbying efforts against paying U.S. taxes on repatriating their overseas earnings. Apple currently has $74 billion overseas and a “tax holiday” on bringing that money and over $1 trillion from other companies back into the U.S. could cost the U.S. federal government $79B, according to the report. (Great Graphic at Bloomberg on why the $1 trillion holiday is likely going to happen.)
In a statement to Businessweek, Louis Woo, spokesman for Taipei-based Foxconn said:
“I am happy that the truth prevails, I am glad that Mike Daisey’s lies were exposed. But I don’t think that the reports about this have gone far enough to find out what exactly is the truth. People will have the impression that Foxconn is a bad company, so I hope they will come and find out for themselves,”
Daisey was exposed via an NPR reporter that contacted his translator Cathey Lee who denied just about every part of Daisey’s story. Daisey, for his part, responded:
I stand by my work. My show is a theatrical piece whose goal is to create a human connection between our gorgeous devices and the brutal circumstances from which they emerge. It uses a combination of fact, memoir, and dramatic license to tell its story, and I believe it does so with integrity. Certainly, the comprehensive investigations undertaken by The New York Times and a number of labor rights groups to document conditions in electronics manufacturing would seem to bear this out.
Daisey has been forced to stop his show but did receive a standing ovation following its last performance this weekend.
In the weeks and months before Apple’s media events, the newswires are stormed by tons of reports about Apple’s upcoming announcements. Due to the frenzy, it is hard to keep track of who said what and when. Therefore, we are putting together the more notable calls and how those reports turned out:
We did this for the iPhone 4S in October 2011, and this is our Apple iPad and Apple TV media event rumor wrap-up:
What came true?
March 7 keynote:In early February, AllThingsD called for an Apple iPad media event during the first week of March. At that time, we speculated a March 7 keynote due to the availability at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center (the location where Apple likes to hold these events) and Apple’s recent fondness for Wednesday events. iMore later outright reported on a March 7 third-generation iPad announcement.
Pre-orders and availability:The first clue at when Apple would publicly release the new iPad was when we broke the news that Apple would open a new store in London’s Harrods on March 16. In the days leading up to the event, our sources confirmed a March 16 launch in the United States and other countries, and these sources also pinpointed more international launches for the following Friday. In terms of pre-orders, we pinpointed a March 7 pre-order date for the new iPad.
The design:iLounge, which typically offers accurate Apple design information, perhaps because of its close relations with case manufacturers, was first to pinpoint an iPad 2-like design for the new iPad. It also said that this new design would be roughly half a millimeter thicker than the iPad 2’s design–which it is. In the weeks running up to the iPad’s announcement, The New York Timeschimed in and said the design would be very similar to the iPad 2’s design.
Apple TV announcement:We first noticed shortages in the Apple TV supply chain on Feb 12. While some called the launch of an Apple TV at the iPad event ludicrous (30:00), “because it would take the focus away from the main attraction,” we broke the news that Apple would launch a new Apple TV model at the third-generation iPad event. At the time, we said that the new iPad would launch with a 1080P video service, and we pinpointed the device’s new Bluetooth 4.0 capabilities and J33 codename in the months’ prior. We also found Apple TV 3,1 references several months ago.
Siri Dictation:One of the notable features of the new iPad is its Siri Dictation support. It is a feature that allows users to dictate what they would like to type instead of using Apple’s touch-screen keyboard. In January, we broke the news that Siri Dictation would make its way to the new iPad thanks to some leftover strings in the early iOS 5.1 beta.
LTE:One of the most important upgrades in the new iPad is the new wireless system. Besides the new Bluetooth 4.0 and HSPA+ capabilities, the new LTE integration will do wonders for attachment loading, web browsing, and video watching. In August 2010, way before the “iPad 3” rumors started running at full-force, we reported that Apple was field-testing iOS 5 devices with LTE chips. We also said that the next-generation iPad was a very likely candidate to be a LTE device. In January, Bloombergreported that the new iPad would sport LTE connectivity, then WSJ,iMore, and Reuters each followed up in the weeks after. The morning of the iPad event, Mr. X “confirmed” that 4G iPads would be sold worldwide.
The cameras:Alongside the third-generation iPad casing leaks came speculation surrounding the new iPad’s cameras. With the hole being bigger for the camera lens in the case leaks, many figured the new iPad would sport either the iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S camera. In the end, Apple merged the two ideas into what it is calling the “iSight” camera. As for the new iPad, this means the merging of the iPhone 4’s 5-megapixel shooter and the iPhone 4S’s advanced, custom optics system.
Retina Display:The Retina Display was perhaps the most rumored feature in the new iPad. After all, the 2,048-by-1, 536-resolution screen is the new iPad’s headline feature. Several news websites threw in their own sourcing for a Retina Display “iPad 3,” but it seems that the very first reports on a Retina Display iPad 3 (not iPad 2) came from analysts. The first major publication to confirm a Retina Display was the WSJ in August 2011, and MacRumors notably acquired a 2,048-by-1, 536 display in the weeks preceding Apple’s early March media event.
Pricing: We were able to report that new iPad prices would stay at the original iPad and iPad 2 price points ($499 to $829) a week before the event. We also said capacities would stay the same–which they did.
B82: We had all kinds of high-hopes for this $39 mystery accessory, but it turned out to be an updated Apple Digital AV Adapter (this)
Processor:The new iPad’s processor situation came to an atypical end. While reliable publications like Bloombergand iMore claimed that the new iPad would include a quad-core processor, The Vergereported that it would stay dual core but would include better graphics performance. The result was actually a combination of the two: The new iPad sports an A5X processor with a dual-core processing unit, but it adds quad-core graphics. Confusion and situations involving “broken telephone” between sources and publications seems likely here, but do not worry… Apple is still working on that promised quad-core CPU.
Consumer groups SumOfUs and Change.org are waging a war over the working conditions at Apple’s (and the rest of the electronics industry’s) main outsourced manufacturer Foxconn. The groups said that over 35,000 people signed their “Stop Worker Abuse” online petition in just 24 hours. Today, the groups announced they would deliver a quarter million petition signatures to Apple.
Furthermore, a protest will be staged tomorrow at 10 a.m. outside Apple’s new Grand Central Terminal retail store and representatives from both SumOfUs and Change.org promised to join the protesters. Change.org’s Mark Shields called abusive working conditions at Foxconn factories “appalling,” adding he was shocked to learn about them.
The two consumer groups are demanding that the iPhone maker release a worker protection strategy for new product releases because these are the instances “when injuries and suicides typically spike because of the incredible pressure to meet quotas timed to releases.” They are also pressuring Apple to publish the results of Fair Labor Association’s audit (to which the company willfully agreed): “Including the NAMES of the suppliers found to have violations and WHAT those violations are, so that there is transparency around the monitoring effort.” The petition (found here) opens with an interesting paragraph:
After the NYTimes exposé and Tim Cook’s response, the question remains: Why is the media focusing on Apple and not questioning any of the other electronics companies that manufacture with Foxconn in China?
Obviously, Apple has the money, the brand, the prestige, and it grabs attention. However, it is not like Apple can make gold from straw. Apple simply cannot build its products anywhere other than China.
On the flip side, @NicePaul takes recent Forbes numbers and creates the following infographic that illustrates the opposite point:
The short of it is that companies like Apple simply cannot manufacture products in the United States. The cost (though it is cheaper in China) is not the reason, however. Years ago, the Chinese government subsidized building cities of factories that can hire 3,000 workers to live in a dorm per day —or 8,700 Industrial Engineers in two weeks (it would take 9 months to do this in the U.S.). Today’s gadgets require thousands of little parts that are all made in the same areas. This whole global supply chain cannot be moved to the U.S.
The most interesting tale might have been the last minute decision to make the iPhone’s display glass:
In 2007, a little over a month before the iPhone was scheduled to appear in stores, Mr. Jobs beckoned a handful of lieutenants into an office. For weeks, he had been carrying a prototype of the device in his pocket.
Mr. Jobs angrily held up his iPhone, angling it so everyone could see the dozens of tiny scratches marring its plastic screen, according to someone who attended the meeting. He then pulled his keys from his jeans.
People will carry this phone in their pocket, he said. People also carry their keys in their pocket. “I won’t sell a product that gets scratched,” he said tensely. The only solution was using unscratchable glass instead. “I want a glass screen, and I want it perfect in six weeks.”
After one executive left that meeting, he booked a flight to Shenzhen, China. If Mr. Jobs wanted perfect, there was nowhere else to go.
New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.
A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.
For over two years, the company had been working on a project — code-named Purple 2 — that presented the same questions at every turn: how do you completely reimagine the cellphone? And how do you design it at the highest quality — with an unscratchable screen, for instance — while also ensuring that millions can be manufactured quickly and inexpensively enough to earn a significant profit?
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Apple’s CEO Tim Cook hinted this past week during his interview at D10 that we could 
