Jordan Kahn

Update: Apple appears to have removed the job listing, but we grabbed a screenshot above and below.

We know that Apple has been investigating various methods of incorporating flexible displays in its mobile devices thanks to a handful of patents and patent applications published over the last year. Flexible display rumors have picked up steam even more since rumors of an iWatch from Apple, and just today we came across two new Apple patent applications detailing flexible devices that could change states as a user bends or twists the device. We all know Apple patent applications have never been a good indication of future product releases, but now Apple has came right out and stated in a job listing that it is indeed considering flexible displays.

Apple Inc. is looking for a Display Specialist to lead the investigation on emerging display technologies such as high optical efficiency LCD, AMOLED and flexible display to improve overall display optical performance.

The job listing seeking a Sr. Optical Engineer was posted earlier this month and looks for a display expert to investigate “high optical efficiency LCD, AMOLED and flexible display.” Specifically, Apple is requesting someone to “Analyze the trade-offs between design, process, optical performance, and implementation feasibility,” hinting that the company is considering introducing new, advanced display technology in the future:
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Since we first heard rumors that Microsoft was working on Office for iOS as far back as 2011 and got a look at alleged leaked images of an iPad app that Microsoft later denied were real, every couple of months we’ve seen reports that say the app is coming soon. First it was November 2012, then early 2013, and others claimed “sometime after” March 2013. The latest rumor: Microsoft has Office for iPhone and Android is scheduled for fall 2014.

ZDNet claims to have got its hands on Microsoft roadmap for next year and says on it is “iOS/Android support for Office”:
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Update: The patent was granted on 6th January 2015 (via Apple Toolbox)

These are certainly not the first flexible display related patent applications that we’ve seen from Apple. A few different Apple patent applications have received attention in recent months, including one for a slap wrist-style bracelet with a flexible display, and others for curved and flexible displays in various iOS device-like form factors. Today we’ve come across a couple of recently published Apple patent applications filed as early as September of last year that further show Apple’s work with flexible displays (via UnwiredView).

The first patent application, titled “Flexible Electronic Devices” is pretty straight forward: Apple is interested in methods of providing not only flexible displays but also flexible components like batteries, circuit boards, and the housing of the device itself. Apple describes a device that could respond accordingly depending on how a user was manipulating the flexible display. The patent applications provides examples such as the device shutting off and entering standby mode when folded, or a user answering a call or changing volume:
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A render by Foster + Partners of Apple’s soon to be constructed Spaceship campus

Following a report earlier this month that Apple’s Spaceship campus project had increased to nearly $5B as lead architect Foster + Partners attempted to trim around a billion from the budget, a new report today claims Apple is now working with the architecture company on other projects. Marketingmagazine claims “sources close to the project” say Foster will soon be assisting Apple with the design of its retail stores:
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EA confirmed today on its website that the latest SimCity instalment will be headed to Mac this summer with an official release scheduled for June 11. The title will be available exclusively through EA’s Origin platform (in addition to “other online retailers”), but those who have already purchased the PC version of the game will be able to grab the Mac download for free on Origin:

“SimCity is coming to Mac on June 11 and one purchase will give you both the Mac and PC versions. You only need to buy SimCity once to play together across the same servers, regardless of which version you’re playing,” said Lucy Bradshaw, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA’s Maxis Label. “We didn’t want to make any compromises when it came to the Mac so we created a native version that is optimised for the hardware and OSX.”

Good news if you plan on picking up the Mac version this summer: right now you can get SimCity for the lowest price we’ve seen ever, $32 on 9to5Toys, and then download the Mac version free in June.

EA made a point of noting that the game is not your average port but rather runs natively on OS X with “its entire software renderer was rewritten for OpenGL, ensuring the best performance for the platform.” SimCity will allow players to play online across platforms on the same servers as PC users when it launches and Origin account holders will be able to use the same account on both copies. The game originally got off to a bit of a rough start, with players experiencing major server issues that eventually lead to EA offering refunds and free games to disgruntled users.
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After receiving some clarification from Apple last night over the removal of discovery app AppGratis, CEO Simon Dawalt is weighing in today with a statement posted on the AppGratis website explaining that the situation has been “absolutely crazy” to deal with:

And that is pretty much where we stand, still stunned that Apple took the decision to destroy so much value within their own ecosystem, but more than ever convinced that what we’re doing is good, and accomplishing a much needed mission in a broken App Discovery world.

While explaining that App Gratis has gone through a number of rejections for breaking App Store guidelines in situations that were later resolved with Apple, Dawalt shed some light on what happened on Apple’s side:
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A new job listing on Apple.com could add fire to the rumors that Apple is considering including fingerprint technology in upcoming devices.

The job posting seeking a software engineer to write “low-level code to configure and control hardware” is the only listing on Apple’s site located at the “Melbourne Design Center” in Melbourne, Florida. Not only is the position looking for someone familiar with testing various sensors with LabTool and FA software, but Melbourne is also the home base of Authentec, the company Apple acquired fingerprint technology from last year for around $365 million. 
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With NAB kicking into full gear today, Avid has announced the latest version of its industry standard digital audio workstation with the launch of Pro Tools 11 alongside its first iOS compatible portable audio interfaces and much more.

Perhaps the biggest Apple related announcement for Avid today is the launch of its first two audio interfaces with direct support for iOS devices. There are many audio interfaces for iPad and iPhone (we’ve reviewed some), but this is the first time Avid is including a USB port and direct support for iPad with its high-quality I/O and Pro Tools software…
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Apple’s decision to disable VPN on demand functionality on iOS due to the virnetX lawsuit isn’t the only patent related Apple news today. Head below for a roundup of Apple’s court woes and wins from earlier today:

Samsung infringes key text-selection patent: Reuters reports that the International Trade Commission has handed down a preliminary decision ruling Samsung infringed on an Apple patent related to a text-selection feature. However, the courts also ruled Samsung didn’t infringe another patent related to detecting when other devices are plugged into a microphone jack. If the text-selection decision is upheld, the result could be a U.S. import ban on Galaxy, Transform, and Nexus devices:
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Apple lost a patent lawsuit in November related to virtual private networking (VPN) and its FaceTime video feature in a judgment that awarded patent holder VirnetX $368.2 million. The last we heard, Apple and VirnetX were ordered to work out a settlement that would see Apple paying a royalty for future use of the network-related patents. Now, with the mediation deadline coming up on April 12, Apple has informed customers through a knowledge base article that it will change “the behavior of VPN On Demand for iOS devices using iOS 6.1 and later” due to the lawsuit. The changes will kick in later this month and seem to be a move to avoid a royalty settlement:

Devices using iOS 6.1 and later with VPN On Demand configured to “Always” will behave as if they were configured with the “Establish if needed” option. The device will establish a VPN On Demand connection only if it is unable to resolve the DNS name of the host it is trying to reach. This change will be distributed in an update later this month.

The change will result in Apple’s previous “Always” on option for VPN on Demand behaving like the “Establish if needed” option. The changes mean that Apple will disable the iOS feature that allows corporate users to automatically make a VPN connection upon hitting a corporate address or site. A worried 9to5reader and corporate iOS user explained, “this effectively means that the iOS user will, like on a PC, have to start the VPN client before the run an app, or before they open mobile Safari to access an intranet site.”

While providing instructions on how to manually establish a VPN connection, Apple confirms that it will “address this functionality with alternatives in a future software update.” Apple continued its knowledge base article by informing users of other behavior changes they might experience:
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Research firm comScore is out with its usual monthly report that ranks the top smartphone OEMs and platforms for the three-month period ending in February. Apple continues to grow its lead this month as top OEM in the U.S., jumping 3.9-percent from November to 38.9-percent of the market and increasing its lead on the second biggest OEM by subscribers, Samsung:

Samsung ranked second with 21.3 percent market share (up 1 percentage point), followed by HTC with 9.3 percent share, Motorola with 8.4 percent and LG with 6.8 percent.

It’s important to point out that the shipped vs. sold argument doesn’t apply to comScore’s results, as its data comes from surveys tracking smartphone subscribers and usage and not sales or units shipped. Google grabs the spot as top smartphone platform at the end of February, but Apple continues to close the gap capturing 38.9-percent of the market (up from 35 percent) compared to Google’s 51.7-percent (down from 53.7-percent):
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We knew it was coming. Yesterday we gave you the first glimpse at Facebook’s new “Facebook Home” platform for Android, and today the company officially unveiled the new experience set to land alongside the first device to officially come with the platform preinstalled— the HTC First.

The HTC First, scheduled to hit AT&T on April 12 for $99 with pre-orders starting today, will be the first device available to purchase with Facebook Home, but Facebook made a point of noting its master plan is to get Home in the hands of as many of its users as possible. Does that mean Facebook Home will make its way to iOS? When asked, CEO Mark Zuckerberg had this to say…

Go to 9to5Google for full coverage of today’s event.