HP closing 100 acre Cupertino campus
Author
Mark is an award-winning journalist who worked at 9to5Mac for over six years. He covers Apple and other topics related to the consumer technology industry.
Mark is regarded as one of the go-to reporters for all Apple-related matters, one of Wired‘s top 16 people to follow in technology, and one of TIME Magazine‘s top 25 bloggers of 2013. Mark has also been profiled by CNN Fortune multiple times, NPR, the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, the Huffington Post, Business Insider, Columbia Journalism Review, Marketplace, Haaretz, and USA Today. Mark was also recently named to the 2015 Forbes 30 under 30 List.
In 2012, Mark published the first photos of the iPhone 5, broke the news about Apple’s switch to an in-house Maps application, revealed the first 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, forecasted that Apple would update the iPad’s software with Siri support, and accurately revealed the iPad mini’s higher-than expected price point.
In 2013, Mark published the first photos of the original iPad Air, provided the first details about Jony Ive’s end-to-end iPhone and iPad software update called iOS 7, provided information about OS X Mavericks, and detailed Apple’s early work on the Apple Watch.
In 2014, Mark revealed Apple’s work on a new Health application for iOS 8 and the Apple Watch, Ive’s redesign of OS X called Yosemite, and details about the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Mark started out 2015 with a significant scoop detailing Apple’s yet-to-be-released 12-inch MacBook with a Retina display, thinner design, and more advanced trackpad and keyboard. He has continued the year by reporting on several details about iOS 9, including the new Proactive Assistant, redesigned Siri, upgraded Maps with transit functionality, new system font, split-screen iPad apps, Swift 2.0, as well as predicting a performance focus for both that software upgrade and OS X El Capitan. Mark finished the year by reporting the majority of the details about the new Apple TV, iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, Apple Watch updates, the iPad Pro, the iPad mini 4, and iMacs.
Mark started out 2016 with exclusive reports on Apple’s work on a pair of completely wireless Beats headphones for the iPhone 7, details on the iPhone SE, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, Apple Watch updates, Apple’s March product event, new Apple retail initiatives, and Tim Cook’s Town Hall meeting with Apple employees.
Mark has also written long-form features on “Apple Anonymous,” a group of retail employees who discuss work over Twitter and the fascination of watches by Apple executives. Most significantly, in fall 2014, Mark published an extensive profile of Apple’s PR and Communications department that was compiled over two months into nine chapters. Mark also provides analysis on relevant technology industry topics, such as Apple’s recent executive shakeup. Mark kicked off his writing career at the end of 2009, and he had his first significant break in 2011 with a story detailing Siri and the iPhone 4S.
You can follow him on Twitter.
Firefox Home iOS app released
Fifteen days ago on July 1st, we reported that Firefox had submitted their Firefox Home application to the App Store. Today, Apple has approved the application and it’s now available free of charge for the iPhone. The application requires a Firefox sync account, and when you’re all setup, you’ll get your Firefox history, bookmarks, and the tabs you left open on your computer ready to use on your iOS device.
The app uses Apple’s Safari webkit plugin to view your bookmarks, history, and current open tabs. In case you are wondering, and I’m sure you are, Firefox left out Retina Display and iPad support for some reason. I’m sure they’ll update for Retina soon, but iPad, not so much.
Speck PixelSkin for iPhone 4 Review
Speck was awesome enough to send along one of their flashy new PixelSkin cases for review, and in short, it’s one of the best iPhone 4 cases I ever used. The Speck PixelSkin is not one of those simple cases you used for a few days then take it off, it’s something very different. It’s durable, stylish, compact and extremely protective.
View our full written and video review here.
The case is made out of durable silicon and covers the entire body of the phone. Surrounding every element of the iPhone 4 is a good amount of room between the top of the phone and the top of the case. For example the bottom/dock of the phone will never touch another item, or the the camera will never touch the table it is laying on. The same goes for the front of the iPhone/case. If the iPhone 4 is dropped facedown, the glass should not crack as there is room in between the case and the screen. You will see this in more detail in the video review below.
You have easy access to the silent/ringer switch on the side, as well as the headphone jack, dock connector, volume rocker, power button, and home button. In addition, the speaker system and front facing camera is not obstructed by the case. This means there is no case covering them, but the aforementioned gap between the case and face of the phone makes up for that.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxd4kX-Of8&w=640&h=385]
While wearing the case, the phone obviously gets a little thicker. In our non-scientific measurements, we’ve determined the PixelSkin adds a thickness of 30-40% of the iPhone 4 itself. So imagine the iPhone 4 + 30-40% of an iPhone 4 stacked. To be honest, in numbers that may seem like a lot but in everyday use you will not notice it. It still fits in my jeans and short pockets just fine, and I do not need to alter how I carry my iPhone with me at all.
Overall the Speck PixelSkin is a fantastic case, and we highly recommend it due to its protection features, material, portability, excellent build quality, and price. The case comes in three colors: black, purple, and pink and retails for about $25.
You can get the Black Speck PixelSkin here on Amazon, or choose from the other colors here.
Apple: Bloomberg's statements on Apple antenna Engineer are simply rumors
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple did in fact know about the antenna issues in the iPhone 4 prior to release. The issues stem from the new antenna system banded around the device. This piece of stainless steel not only is the main structural element of the phone, but it’s the outer antenna …and it looks pretty good.
This “looks pretty good” element is what kept it on the device even though Apple knew about its repercussions. It is reported that as early as a year ago, Apple engineers knew of the detrimental issues that turned into this PR nightmare. One year seems like enough time for a company like Apple to rethink and redesign something like an antenna.
It is also stated that Steve Jobs, made the official decision to keep design over function, by keeping the nice antenna even though it would possibly create the havoc seen today. Apple did not even provide the cellular and data carriers with much testing time or many devices prior to the June 24th product launch.
Bloomberg went on the record to state that a Senior Engineer working on the antenna at Apple made his way to Jobs and informed him of the issue. Apple completely refutes Bloomberg’s claim with the bold statement, “We challenge Bloomberg BusinessWeek to produce anything beyond rumors to back this up. It’s simply not true.
Apple is still sticking to their fences, and hopefully tomorrow we will hear the truth, and nothing but it, from Steve Jobs himself.
Android Catching up to iOS with 100k apps and 1 Billion downloads [Correction: 70k apps]
The Apple vs. Google war will never end at this point, and now Google’s Android is doing a great job catching up to iOS in terms of applications. At the time of this writing, the App Store houses just over 233,000 apps. Today, Google has announced that Android has over 70,000 applications as well as over 1 billion app downloads.
This is a huge growth for Android, as just a year ago, the amount of Android apps, was no where near iOS. Now that the 6-figure mark was crossed by Google’s Android, Apple has some serious competition crawling up their sleeves. Google announced a few weeks ago, that they are activating an average of 160,000 Android phones each day. That’s a new phone every two seconds. Compare that to Apple selling an iPad every three seconds. Apple, you need to watch you back! Especially with all your antenna issues among others.
The live financial conference call is going on right now and you can listen in here via YouTube.
via Engadget.
Correction: Fortune Google 24/7 corrects the 100k statement by saying it actually is 70,000 apps. This does not really change the gulp of our story as it still shows Android is catching up. Nice catch, Fortune.
Apple wanted to buy Palm, but was outbid by HP
Palm was acquired by HP months ago in a bidding race, but information on contenders has been shaky the last few months. Today, information has come to light that states Apple had placed a bid for Palm before HP acquired them. Apple was obviously after Palm’s intellectual property such as a bevy of patents seen in their WebOS.
The report also claims that Apple was interested in keeping Palm alive and well by fully subsidizing them. Other details state that Research in Motion, the company behind Blackberry, held the highest bid before HP outbid everybody.
An even more interesting note is that Google wanted to bid for Palm as they believed Apple was going for them. When no confirmation was present regarding Apple’s potential move Google dropped out of the race. This takes us back to the seemingly never-ending Apple vs. Google war.
via Mac Rumors.
iOS 4.01 SDK Released
Following the release of the 4.01/3.2.1 firmware for iPhone and iPad respectively, Apple has released the SDK to go with it. Although the update seems like nothing, and it really is nothing, developers need to update in order to run their apps on your now 4.01 iPhone or 3.2.1. iPad. So what are you waiting for? Go get it!
iOS 4.01, iPad 3.2.1 Released (Download Links)
Apple has just released iOS 4.01 as a free software update for all iPhone users. The free update promises to fix the antenna “death-grip” issue which is supposedly related to a math formula malfunction regarding the the display of the iPhone’s service signal bars. It’s still propagating in iTunes. You can get the update right now via these links:
The iOS software update shows slightly changed signal bars with the first three being taller in size. In many places, users have noticed that their service appears to be 1-3 bars lower than before the change.
Parade Continues: Whoopi Goldberg 'Murdered' her iPhone 4
We know how much you all love the view, but the clip below really shows how mainstream the antenna issue has gotten. Earlier today we had a Senator’s open letter to Chief Jobs, and now we have the famously Apple-lovin’ Whoopi Goldberg baggin’ on the antenna issues. The story goes like this. She was supposed to have a phone interview and they were calling her for 45 minutes, but her phone never rang. When she was finally on the air the call dropped so she got out of her car and smashed it to the floor. Nice!
http://www.viddler.com/player/a1f43157/
via Gawker.
Jobs gets open letter from NY Senator Charles Schumer
As a nice change, today’s open letter about the iPhone 4 antenna issues doesn’t come from Apple, but from New York Senator, Charles Schumer. Schumer does not seem convinced that the new bar-calculation formula does anything, and wants a full written explanation of how it supposedly works. He is very concerned about Consumer Report’s discovery and wants all users to be promptly provided with a free remedy. It seems Senator Schumer is looking for some sort of public announcement or letter from Apple on the issue, not sure, but maybe he’ll get one tomorrow.
Full letter to Jobs:
July 15, 2010
Dear Mr. Jobs,
I write to express concern regarding the reception problem with the Apple iPhone 4. While I commend Apple
Woz: "It
Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, has stepped up to the plate and has voiced his concerns about the iPhone 4 antenna issue in an interview with a Dutch journalist.
Here’s the part from the interview that you’ll probably want to read/care about:
Henk van Ess (Journalist): How did you find out about the antenna problems?
Steve Wozniak: The first time I tried I was able to duplicate the problem. My wife was driving me to the airport and as soon as I got a short distance from my home, and no longer on wifi, I tried it by accessing a web page (using Safari on my iPhone 4) and observing the progress bar.
As the bar started to proceed I lightly (
FaceTime is coming to iPad and iPod touch and how
BGR reports that FaceTime will make its way to the iPod touch and iPad, and how it will work. Since the iPad and iPod touch technically do not have phone numbers, Apple needed to come up with another method. The concept they came up with is actually quite simple, the Apple ID.
You first register your Apple ID/e-mail with your device, get the confirmation e-mail, and you’re ready to go. This is demonstrated in the image below:
Supposedly, when a user sends a FaceTime request to an iPod touch or iPad, they would receive it via Push Notification, and could accept or decline it using that system. FaceTime users on non-phone devices would send FaceTime requests via the built-in Contacts application. This does seem pretty straight forward, but Apple’s iOS 4.1 beta release from yesterday makes it even simpler with FaceTime favorites in the phone app. This coupled with the FaceTime call option for individual contacts would allow you to simply have contacts for FaceTime on iPod touches and iPads.
Another shot after the break:
iOS 4.1 Gains Full Bluetooth Playback Control (AVRCP) Support
According to bluetooth device users running iOS 4.1, the updated iOS is now fully AVRCP compatible. AVRCP is the mechanism which allows bluetooth headsets, or car dashboards to take full control of the audio functions of the devices they are connected to. Up until this release, users who paired their iPhones to their car to listen to music over bluetooth, needed to control playback via the iPod app. Now, with this full implementation of the bluetooth protocol, users can use the playback switches on their supported cars and headsets.
This new feature reportedly supports skipping forward, back, and volume. Prior to this beta, only volume control was accessible on third-party bluetooth devices. This is a nice addition to the operating system, and it furthers Apple’s push of safety. Instead of having to use their phone while driving to control their music, users can simply use their bluetooth headset or the controls built into their vehicles.
FaceTime and Game Center Parental Controls added to iOS 4.1
Parents who wish to block their children from FaceTime on their iPhone 4’s can now do so via a new preference in the setting’s restrictions menu. The option completely blocks FaceTime from the phone by removing the option from contacts as well as during phone calls. The ‘hold’ button for calls moves back to its old place when FaceTime is restricted.
Apple is also allowing the restriction of multiplayer interaction in Game Center. This means you can block your kid from playing games online with complete strangers.
We’re still waiting for Apple to block the front camera so kids won’t be exposed to Chatroulette on their iPhones.
Scott Forstall, SVP of iPhone Software at Apple joins Twitter (verified) [Updated 2x]
Interesting. Scott Forstall has joined Twitter. It is a verified account so it is probably legit. Maybe Apple is taking Twitter more seriously now? Go ahead and speculate below.
PS. Someone tell him that it is no longer iPhone OS software, it is iOS.
Update: Looks like Scott reads 9to5mac (yay!):
Making the change to his bio also lost his privilege of that neat little verification badge, he’ll probably get that back soon though. Oh, and he’s following Conan.
Update 2: Forstall has been reverified by Twitter, after the above incident revoked his verified status.
Video: Dev Team's Unlocked iPhone 4
PlanetBeing of the iPhone Dev Team unlocked the iPhone 4 this morning, and now he has posted a video of it in action. The dude rambles on about how he doesn’t have a landline and such for the first 50 seconds, so we set it up to skip for you. Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41rm8MCdoh8&w=560&h=340]
Macworld 2011 registration open
Today, Macworld announced via e-mail that free registration for the 2011 conference is now open. For those who register by July 26 your ticket to the convention will be free. After the two-week period the cost will be of a standard ticket.
Macworld is a great Mac-related convention which brings together thousands Apple users and fans from around the world to see the latest and greatest in the Mac world. Now that Apple no longer attends the event, the focus has shifted to third party case and software manufactures.
We would like to see how many of you are planning on attending/registering. Let us know in the comments!
Apple teaches us how to use FaceTime behind firewalls
Apple has posted a note to its support website which details how to deal with FaceTime behind firewalls. Firewalls are usually present in schools, business, and ultra secure households.
Here’s Apple’s instructions on how to open the proper ports to use FaceTime:
White iPhones and Maroon 5 in the wild
Looks like Apple employees like to have fun. In the video below, watch them partying it up with their seemingly unicorn-ish white iPhone 4’s.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfc7_bQwY5c&w=480&h=385]
via Mac Stories.
Geohot teases Limera1n for iPhone 4
On his blog today, Geohot announced that he will be taking a shot at an iPhone 4 compatible jailbreak, and he’s calling it Limera1n. He doesn’t say when the release will go public, but he does say not to bug him about it. That’s all we know for now.
Via Redmond Pie.
App Store listing sketchy apps again [Update: Fraudulent Developer Removed]
It was only five days ago when the entire “App Store Hacked” phrase was put into play, but here we are, July 9th, 2010, the 2 year anniversary of the App Store. What do we find out today? It appears that more iTunes accounts may have been compromised. Last time was the Books section by a Vietnamese developer, Thuat Nguyen. Today, we get ‘WiiSHii from China, in the travel section. As you can see there are 11,449 Travel apps. This means their apps did not shoot to the top because there are so few apps:
So here we go: WiiSHii has a large set of travel applications for the both the iPad and iPhone. Their apps are very similar, all different editions of each other. They all start with the same name of “GYOYO.” As you can see the screenshot below they have made their way into chunks of the Top Paid iPhone Travel section.
This is very similar to last week’s app farm story. They clearly used some cheating mechanism to get their apps in the top 100. Additionally, Ars Technica reports about a user who was falsely charged for a bevy of apps from the same WiiSHii development company:
UPDATE: The Developer, WiiSHii, has been completely removed from the App Store. Glad we can help Apple keep iTunes clean. Also, that was fast, just like last week’s incident.
Please read the rest after the break:
This seems to indicate that the iTunes App Store may have been manipulated in some shape or form once again. Perhaps it’s time for the iTunes fraud sheriff to step in.
Oh No! 'Chatroulette' comes to iPhone 4
It was only a matter of time before this would happen, and it did. Introducing iChatr, an app which mimics the infamous Chatroulette, but is exclusive to iPhone 4 owners. The app uses the iPhone 4’s front facing camera to setup random video chats between users. Simply launch the app and you will be greeted by the shining ….*face of some nice stranger. Sick of the new person in your life? Swipe for the next lucky iPhone 4 user.
Also, to hear the human on the other end of the chat, be sure to pop in some headphones. For some reason the developers don’t have the audio feed connecting to the iPhone’s speakers. For those wondering, one way random video chats with older iPhone models doesn’t seem to work.
Oh, and the app is free.
Skype temporarily yanked from Fring app
Yesterday we posted a great and in depth article about the new Fring for iPhone, and we featured our experiences about using Skype with it. Today, the company has pulled access to Skype video and voice calling from the application. Although this is temporary, it is a big deal as it is not isolated to iOS but is something occurring across the Fring app ecosystem.
Readers have reached out to Fring for comment and the company left the following official statement on their website:
This official statement clearly shows the company’s push towards users utilizing Fring’s internal system and not third party’s. We hope Skype and other clients follow in their footsteps and allow video conferencing in their official apps very soon.
Via Mobiture.
What if the tiny Apple touch-screen was the next iPod Shuffle?
A pretty sweet concept of what that touch screen leak from this morning could be. What do you guys think?
Thanks, Drummertist.