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.
Apple is rumored to launch a new version of the iPad sometime this fall with the main purported change being a 2048 x 1536 Retina Display. If new parts posted on an online reseller are any indication, this new iPad’s internal structure may be modified as well. The iFixYouri iPad repair shop has taken a look at these new parts and have provided us with descriptions for each of the four. The part you see on top is basically the full external button control cabling system for the next iPad. This includes the power switch, volume keys, and silent/ringer switch.
In terms of the authenticity of the purported iPad 3/HD parts, iFixYouri iPad 2 repair also tells us that the material used to build these parts is the same material found on the iPad 2 parts, but the structure and location of switches is completely different. More part images after the break, including one for the iPhone 5…
Cult of Mac claims that a previously reliable source told them that Magic Mouse inventory is not being replenished at Apple Stores. From this, they say that the Magic Mouse will soon be discontinued.
The move would make sense given that OS X Lion is heavily gesture based, but it also does not make sense for a couple of reasons.
OS X Lion still supports the touch-capable Magic Mouse and it is the perfect option from Apple for those who are not a fan of many gestures…or for those desktop users that are learning gestures.
From what we have seen, stock of the Magic Mouse appears to be pretty normal at online retailers such as Amazon. We also haven’t heard anything out of our stock channels, so we are a bit skeptical. It still would not be completely surprising for the company who killed the optical drive to the kill the mouse.
Update: We’ve heard from one untested Central European source that Magic Mice supplies are constrained, but can’t draw any conclusions based on that.
Update 2: Cult of Mac says the Magic Mouse has been resurrected.
Update 3: The part number for the Magic Mouse is not discontinued. A refresh is certainly possible but it likely is not imminent.
Vonage has released a new application for the App Store called Time to Call. The application is free to download and offers low-cost international calling to users. Vonage is currently offering free 15 minutes of calling to early adopters of the application but after those 15 minutes the cost of calling is still very cheap. Vonage says a user can talk for 15 minutes with a person in one of 100 countries and will only be charged up to $1.99 for those 15 minutes.
• Pay per call and talk for up to 15 minutes to 100 countries for $1.99 or less (excluding applicable taxes)
• For an additional 90+ countries, talk up to 15-minutes for $2.99 to $9.99 (excluding applicable taxes)
• Bill directly to your iTunes account
• Works on Wi-Fi® worldwide
• Also for use on high quality 3G networks in the U.S. and Canada
• Special bonus! For a limited time, unused minutes can be used for additional calls
• No need to be a Vonage home customer
Additionally, a separate set of 90 countries costs from $2.99-$9.99 for those same 15 minutes. Vonage offers a web-based tool to find prices for you’re calling needs. The application is open to anyone with an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad – users do not have to have a Vonage home account already setup. Finally, and perhaps most important, the aforementioned costs will be billed through iTunes.
Yep. Apple gets 30% and is now in the telecommunications market officially.
Check out more screenshots of the application running on an iPhone after the break.
Following Apple flicking the on switch for iCloud’s implementation of Find my iPhone, multiple readers have let us know that Find my Mac is live as well within iCloud. The feature, as we revealed in February, is simply Find my iPhone for the Mac; hence the name Find my Mac. The user can turn the feature on in the iCloud control panel within system preferences and then their Macs will show up on iCloud.com.
Apple uses WiFi router data in order to pinpoint the user’s location and according to what we have seen, it is fairly accurate. Find my Mac offers all of the same Find my iPhone features that are offered for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch: remote locking, remote wiping, playing a sound, and showing a message. Check out more screenshots of the feature in action after the break. This service was previously available to some through the iOS application.
Google Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond has written an open letter to Apple and others (namely Microsoft) for the latest trend of going after smartphone patents by buying up others companies patents. Drummond notes that Apple and Microsoft “have always been at each other’s throats” and “when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what’s going on.” Google’s Drummond is referring to the two technology heavyweights “banding” together to win the Novell and Nortel’s old smartphone related patents. As revealed just a few weeks ago, a Consortium of Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle payed $4.5 billion for the aforementioned Nortell patents.
Drummond outright calls this “a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents.” Drummond also says that the approach to acquire patents and file patent lawsuits is Apple’s (and others’) way of showing that they “want to make it harder for manufacturers to sell Android devices.” He also says that Apple and others are going after these patents and filing complaints “instead of competing by building new features or devices.”
Drummond also says that Google feels that Apple and Microsoft’s take over of the Nortel patents is unlawful:
Fortunately, the law frowns on the accumulation of dubious patents for anti-competitive means — which means these deals are likely to draw regulatory scrutiny, and this patent bubble will pop.
Drummond ends by saying that Apple and Microsoft’s moves could potentially hurt Android and they are obviously looking into ways to stop this.
Unless we act, consumers could face rising costs for Android devices — and fewer choices for their next phone.
Following iCloud.com’s opening in beta for developers earlier this week, Apple has hit the on switch for their revamped Find my iPhone page within iCloud. The new Find my iPhone web application is only live for developers until the official iCloud launch this fall and offers the same Find my iPhone features that users are accustomed to in the MobileMe version. The main change in the iCloud version is an all new user interface that features an old-style map and iOS-like popover menus.
As pointed out by TechCrunch, Twitter is rolling out a new Twitter.com interface for the iPad. Up until now, the iPad browser has utilized the full version of Twitter.com (user option) that is typically displayed on Macs and PCs or an upscaled mobile variant.
This new HTML5 interface is more touch friendly and resembles Twitter’s fairly new web interface for the iPhone and iPod touch. According to Twitter’s official profile, the rollout of the new interface begins today and should complete over the next week or so.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has begun its search for executive Ron Johnson’s replacement by looking internationally. Johnson, who is currently Apple’s Senior Vice President of Retail, will be leaving the company on November 1st after his announcement in mid-June that he will become the CEO of JC Penney.
Although Apple has retail talent within the company, namely VP of Retail Jerry McDougal, the company is looking abroad for Johnson’s replacement. The move, in which CEO Steve Jobs was “extensively involved” with, makes sense given that Apple is focusing a chunk of their retail operations on improving and growing the Apple Store experience overseas.
In order to accomplish this task, Apple has hired search firm Egon Zehnder International, which is ranked as one of the top five global executive search firms.
Some were hoping that iCloud.com would put the rumors to rest of a cloud-based iWork service from Apple. This dreamed up service would be a full web-based iWork suite, but that just does not seem to be happening at this point with iCloud. Right now, iCloud.com offers a portal for users to easily view their iWork documents – created on an iOS device – with their computer. As you can see in the video above, it appears that Apple’s goal for iWork on iCloud.com is an easy for way for a person to begin a document on their iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, allow it to move up to the cloud, and then be able to download it to their computer’s drive for viewing and editing. In addition, AppAdvice reports that users can upload a document to iCloud.com and view and edit it on their iOS devices:
iCloud.com offers downloads in a few formats: PDF, iWork file (Pages, Keynote, Numbers), or Office file (Word, PowerPoint, Excel). As also demonstrated in the above video, the iCloud document uploading system appears to be very quick with changes made on an iOS device appearing almost immediately on the web. Apple, right now, has an iWork.com service in beta that allows users to view documents – created on a Mac or iOS device – and make comments. Apple still needs to find a way to integrate the Mac into the iCloud Documents in the Cloud service, so perhaps Apple is working on a more versatile iWork in the cloud service that allows for full document creation and editing.
AllThingsD reports that Facebook has acquired Push Pop Press – the newly established interactive iPad book maker. The company is known for creating the interactive version of Al Gore’s Our Choice. Notably, the company was co-founded by former Apple designer Mike Matas. Unsurprisingly, Matas was a lead designer of both the original iPhone and iPad interfaces. Facebook does not plan to sell interactive iPad books, but the technology and design talent will be used in Facebook’s future. Facebook said:
We’re thrilled to confirm that we’ve acquired Push Pop Press, a startup whose groundbreaking software changes the way people publish and consume digital content. We can’t wait for co-founders Mike Matas and Kimon Tsinteris to get started, and for some of the technology, ideas and inspiration behind Push Pop Press to become part of how millions of people connect and share with each other on Facebook.
In mid-July, Apple seemingly caught up with the iPad 2 rush as orders were finally shipping within 1-3 from the Apple Online Store. Now, Apple has taken this improvement in supply and demand even further.
The company now quotes a “within 24 hours” iPad 2 shipping time from the United States and Canada online stores. iPad 2 demand was initially “amazing” with the store quoting 4-5 week shipping times at one point. Let us know if you spot shipping within 24 hours in any other Apple Online Store regions.
Skype has finally released their native application for the Apple iPad. The application brings everything you love from the iPhone version to the iPad’s larger display. This includes instant messaging, audio chatting, and video conferencing. Just like the iPhone version, everything works over both WiFi and 3G cellular data networks.
• Join Skype on your iPad in a few moments or just sign straight in to your account.
• If you already have a Skype account, your Skype contacts will automatically be there on your iPad.
• We’ve made adding new Skype contacts really easy.
• Once they’re in your Contact list, call, video or instant message them in one touch.
• Flick through recent calls and instant messages in your Skype for iPad history.
• Skype for iPad works over Wi-Fi or 3G (operator data charges may apply). Call Skype contacts on their iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, PC, Mac and even Skype enabled TVs.
Users won’t find the new version as a free update to the iPhone and iPod touch download, but instead will find a brand new application called ‘Skype for iPad’ on the iTunes App Store. This application is, of course, free. The app seems to be available worldwide as of right now.
Update: Skype for iPad, for reasons unspecified, has been removed from the iOS App Store until further notice.
Updated 2: Skype is back up as of 8am EST.
Screenshots and release notes are after the break…
After launching iCloud.com beta for developers, Apple has released a beta upgrade of their suite of iWork iOS apps to developers. This updated iWork package – with Pages, Keynote, and Numbers – allows developers to begin a document on their iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch and view on their other devices – in addition to the iCloud.com portal. This might even be iWork.com’s successor, but we will have to wait and see what Apple does with the new feature. Of course, this new suite ties directly into Apple’s Documents in the Cloud feature. In addition, Apple announced iCloud storage pricing today, something that heavy iWork users will want to look into.
In addition, as you can see in the screenshot above, Apple released an updated version of iPhoto – which will replace Apple’s current public release for users – that tied in with the iCloud Photo Steam service. For those wondering, Apple will thankfully not count Photo Stream storage against the overall tally.
As a part of today’s iCloud.com launch for developers, Apple has revealed the price points for extra iCloud storage for end users. As you can see in the screenshot above, iCloud will come with 5GB of free storage – as previously noted by Apple – but users will be able to upgrade their account to up to an extra 50GB. iCloud.com storage can be purchased through iOS 5’s settings application by end users. The best part about iCloud storage is that your Photo Stream images – which stay in the cloud for 30 days – don’t count against your tally.
Update: UK and EUpricing for iCloud is after the break! (Thanks, Dazcoates, Pierre)
Apple has just opened up the iCloud.com web interface for developers. The website is in beta and features all new web apps for Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and more. In addition, it appears that iCloud.com will offer a portal for users to view their iWork documents that are stored in the cloud via iCloud. On top of all of this Find my iPhone is an integrated web application. As you will see, the interface for the website is very iPad and iOS-like. We also have a video walkthrough after the break.
Although it seems likely that Apple will soon discontinue its legacy iPhone 3GS, some reports have said that Apple will retain the device as its cost-effective pre-paid option. Others, including us, have reported that Apple is preparing two next-generation iPhones for this fall: one as the successor to the iPhone 4 and one as a cheaper, possibly pre-paid model.
According to several sources in different countries, stock of Apple’s iPhone 3GS is quickly tightening with hardly – or even any – shipments coming through to certain regions. In addition, according to a source at one popular international carrier, the iPhone 3GS has disappeared from the stock database.
We have heard from reliable sources at a major European iPhone carrier that stock of the iPhone 3GS is unusually low, with little stock coming through for the next few weeks. An accurate source at a major U.S. based iPhone reseller also reported to us that stock of the iPhone 3GS is significantly lower than usual. In addition, this source says, similarly to what our European carriers sources reported, that no iPhone 3GS shipments are coming through to several districts in the United States. On top of all of this, an accurate source with a hand in Apple’s global channel shipping operations reports that shipments of the 3GS are rapidly decreasing with a little amount of units remaining in the channel.
Apple gradually tightens its shipments and production of products ahead of its upgrade or discontinuation. This minimizes already-replaced product inventory from the company’s product lineup (which Apple often just moves to “refurbished”). This iPhone 3GS situation is a prime example of this process.
It is also possible that Apple is preparing an upgrade to the iPhone 3GS. Perhaps they will bump the screen or change something internally (A4?). It is also entirely possible that Apple is decreasing iPhone 3GS supplies in anticipation of more people buying the next-generation iPhone.
Following the launch of 90 second iTunes song previews in the United States in December 2010, Apple has finally brought the feature to international markets. Apple had to work with individual record labels in order to increase the preview length in the United States iTunes Store and it is apparent that this process took a bit longer for the international markets. We’ve been able to confirm the extension from 30 seconds to 90 seconds in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia, Mexico, The Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Canada.
Following our post with images of a purported iPhone 5 case, other sources like TechCrunch andOnlinelpnprogram.net have followed up with us with their own cases. This time we not only have a silicone case, but a hard case, too. The image above shows a top view of both of our cases. They both show a ringer switch on the opposite side of the volume keys, which is a shift from previous models of the iPhone. In addition, the bottom of these cases have holes for a separate speaker, main microphone, and USB dock connector. You may have noticed this on our iPhone 5 case post earlier this week, but today comes the more important information.
Our images were admittedly not very clear about the case’s thinness or if there was a “tear drop” as previously described by This is my next. Our new images are clear and there are appears to be a slight – not major – tear drop in the design. The case goes thick to thin from top to bottom. In addition, the sources who provided us with these two new cases have shared some dimensions. According to them, the case is 5 inches tall and 2.8 inches wide. These are tight cases so the iPhone 5 dimensions should only be a few millimeters smaller than those numbers. For comparison, the iPhone 4 is 4.5 inches tall and 2.31 inches wide. This likely will leave room for the rumored bigger screen, as reported by the WSJ, Bloomberg, and This is my next.
Although we are not able to absolutely confirm that these cases will fit the fifth-generation iPhone, the sources of these cases stress that the information used for design and manufacturing came from their own proven industry sources…Sources like the ones that provided amazingly accurate iPad 2 information and dimensions to case manufactures months before the product’s March debut. These cases are also just appearing weeks ahead of the iPhone 5’s debut. With the iPhone 5 most certainly in production, it is prime time for insider leaks to occur in Asia.
Carl Ellis-Coward. The iFixYouri iPhone repair shop and 9to5Mac will be fixing your iPhone for free! For those who didn’t win this time around, we will be picking another winner next Friday! Here are the rules:
In order to enter the contest, retweet this post on Twitter with hashtag #HelpiFixYouri and a picture of your broken iDevice for a chance to win. If the story about your broken device requires more than what a tweet can share, send an email off to support@iFixYouri.com or like and share it on their Facebook page.
A winning contestant will be randomly selected each week. You are only allowed to enter once and a winner can only win one time. If it is determined that your device is irreparable (and doesn’t start in Blend-Tec condition), iFixYouri iPhone repair and 9to5mac will replace the device with a good working equivalent! (also no iPod shuffles or nanos are eligible)
You will also need to follow both iFixYouri and 9to5Mac on Twitter so we can DM you in case you win. Just a hint, send in high-quality pictures of your device.
In June we reported that the fifth-generation iPhone had reached its final testing stage, and within that report we noted that Apple and Verizon Wireless were yet to strike a deal for FaceTime video calling over 3G networks. Now our sources have followed up to let us know the progress on this situation. Currently, Verizon has multiple engineers testing FaceTime over 3G in many regions with heavy iPhone usage. According to a couple of people who have seen such Verizon 3G FaceTime in action, the quality looks fairly good. Perhaps Verizon has been tweaking its comparatively-slow network in order to reach this seamless FaceTime video calling experience. In addition, Apple’s iOS 5, which is launching this fall, includes a tweaked FaceTime backend that provides a better quality video call overall.
To put it simply, Apple and Verizon are still in negotiations over bringing FaceTime 3G to end users. The issue is not particularly on Apple’s side, as support for FaceTime 3G is fully integrated into iOS 5 as proven by the aforementioned testing and our own findings in iOS betas. The reason that negotiations are still ongoing is due to a disagreement between Apple and Verizon. Apple wants FaceTime over 3G to a be a seamless experience for the end user: a feature that works for all Verizon iPhone customers. This would mean that Verizon 3G FaceTime needs to work for users with both unlimited or tiered data plans. The problem is that Verizon stresses that the feature should be limited to tiered-data plan users only. This would consequently limit usage over 3G, furthermore leaving open more bandwidth. This would mean higher quality calls over 3G.
This is a big deal for a few reasons. The first and more important is that if Apple and Verizon cannot close an agreement, Verizon iPhone users may be far from FaceTiming over 3G. Speaking of which, we have yet to hear anything out of the AT&T camp. Knowing their past history with adding iPhone features, AT&T iPhone users may not see 3G FaceTime when iOS 5 launches later this year. This is also a big deal in the case that Verizon wins the argument. Customers who are paying more for unlimited data will be out of a really neat feature: a feature that will surely make FaceTime more popular. The third scenario is Verizon giving into Apple’s demands. This would mean lower-quality video calls as more people will be using the feature without a penalty.
We’re thinking that Verizon’s point might be the better way because it will provide a better experience: higher quality FaceTime calls. In addition, Verizon removed unlimited data plans from their lineup earlier this month, so newer and all future Verizon iPhone customers will not even be affected. This argument might even mean that Apple will give in and push out FaceTime 3G on Verizon’s terms. It is, quite frankly, better than nothing at all. Be sure to check out our video, after the break, of a 3G FaceTime call.
Since we posted photos last week of a white front panel for an iPod touch, more white iPod touch parts have emerged. Our first part photographs were taken in Asia, close to Apple’s manufacturing plants, and now these parts have begun to appear in the United States. Reader Lafayette from the East Coast of the United States has managed to obtain his own set of white iPod touch parts.These parts were marketed as being for the fourth generation iPod touch, and appear to fit perfectly based on this photo and the ones after the break. These white iPod touch parts started emerging this month, just weeks ahead of Apple’s annual iPod-focused event. With a typically credible analyst’s report claiming that the next iPod touch will not feature any external changes, one could assume that the white iPod touch parts we have seen are for a fifth-generation iPod touch with no external changes – other than the color. This would obviously allow them to fit on the current iPod touch model, too.
We cannot vouch for the origin of the above white iPod touch part or the part our source got its hands on last week, but our friends at the iFixYouri iPhone repair shop – with provensourceswithin Apple’s supply chain – have heard some whispers about white iPod touch OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts floating around. On the other hand, the iPhone repair shop stresses that there is no OEM white iPod touch glass physically obtainable at this point in time and there might never be. Although this is true, it is undeniably interesting that these white parts are floating around just weeks ahead of Apple’s event. Additionally, Japanese site Macotakara got its hands on a white iPod touch part and they have made a video as you can see above. Be sure to check out our other new white iPod touch images after the break. Although these parts are surfacing, we obviously cannot confirm with certainty that Apple’s next iPod touch line will feature a white option. More images:
Apple’s next-generation iPhone is about a month away from reality and carriers around the globe have begun taking steps towards the device’s launch. We heard a few weeks ago that the fifth-generation iPhone has appeared in carrier databases at couple of high-profile European iPhone carriers, and today we are hearing this once again: from Korea. We cannot absolutely confirm that the new device is in the KT (Korea Telecom) system, but it sounds and looks likely. We also heard it from two independent sources.
As you can see in the image above, the SKUs are being referred to internally as AIP5, which obviously stands for Apple iPhone 5. This is a level up from the iPhone 4’s SKU name: AIP4. The interesting part here is that both SKUs are attached to 16 GB and 32 GB capacities. These SKU capacities might be just place holders, so don’t lose hope for a 64 GB iPhone. You will see a third option in the screenshot above, 00, but this means the device is for unlocked iPhone users; not a third iPhone 5 model.
Apple Upper West Side in New York – Showing the floating Apple in the glass front
Apple will open their newest Apple Store this Saturday at 10 AM in the heart of Glendale, California; a city within the Greater Los Angeles Area. The store resides approximately 500-600 feet away from the world’s first Apple Store – store R001 at the Glendale Galleria Mall. Although the store opens this Saturday, the design, feel, interior, and exterior is yet to be revealed to the public. We have spoken to a proven corporate source in Apple’s retail division that is familiar with the development of Apple’s newest retail store.
Externally, the store is slightly different than the Apple Stores we have become accustomed to. The Americana at Brand location will trade the classic silver front with glass doors for an all glass front. That’s right; all glass – Apple’s newish style. In addition, Apple’s iconic logo will float in this glass, similarly to how the Apple logo floats in the Fifth Avenue store’s famous glass cube or the Upper West Side store’s front. The inside of the store features a very open floor plan, that is fairly similar to the chain’s other locations.
At the back of the store sits a giant Genius Bar, one of Apple’s largest: fifty seats. In addition, the store has at least twelve giant tables throughout – not including side panels as showcases, that hold iPads, iPod, iPhones, Macs, and more. Like some of Apple’s more recent retail locations, this one holds a sizable briefing room; a room where employees assist business customers. In addition – and this is more employee oriented – there is a giant back of house area for repairs, breaks, offices, and for other utilities like Apple’s 5th Avenue Store… more details including Apple Store 2.0 info after the break:
Yesterday, a purported case mold schematic for the fifth-generation iPhone emerged, pointing to a complete re-design for Apple’s handset. This mold points to a larger display, a larger home button, and a thinner profile for the next iPhone. The original reporting of this schematic also includes a mockup of such an iPhone 5 case. Now, we have been able to secure an actual purported fifth-generation iPhone case from a source, not just a mockup. This source is similar to the source who provided us with impeccably accurate design schematics for the iPad 2. In addition, we can independently confirm, Asian case manufacturers are now shopping case designs to case sellers across the globe for their own branding.
We can’t tell you that the information used to build the case, that we have gotten our hands on, is different than the information revealed yesterday, but given that these cases have actually been built, and given that case manufactures are willing to spend millions of dollars on quality intelligence to maximize on the iPhone 5 launch, we have reason to believe that this iPhone 5 case is indicative of the next-generation iPhone’s design. Or at least a design that touched Apple’s Asia-based manufacturing plants for prototyping… more after the break:
