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Mike Beasley

Apple re-introduces fourth-generation iPad in 16 GB model starting at $399, discontinues iPad 2

Mike Beasley Mar 18 2014 - 1:28 am PT

Earlier today, we predicted that Apple had plans to bring the previously-released fourth-generation iPad back into production to replace the aging iPad 2. As expected, the fourth-gen iPad is now available once again on Apple’s website, this time with only a 16 GB capacity.

Aside from offering the single capacity choice, there aren’t any changes to the device. This model replaces the iPad 2, which has been around since the days of the 30-pin connector. The newer version includes Apple’s custom dual-core A6X processor, a 5 MP iSight camera, and 1.2 MP FaceTime camera. (Press release below:)

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Apple introduces 8 GB iPhone 5c in five markets to help boost disappointing sales

Mike Beasley Mar 18 2014 - 12:43 am PT

18 Comments

Update: Apple has now added the 8 GB 5c to its European online stores. In the UK, the device is priced at £429 unlocked — a difference of £40 between it and the 16 GB model. ~~It will likely appear on the U.S. site in the coming hours.~~ It appears limited to the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and China.

Earlier today, we reported that Apple was planning release an 8 GB version of the iPhone 5c to help support the phone’s lagging sales. Now it seems that U.K. carrier O2 has made that plan official by releasing the phone for sale on its website. At the time of this writing, it has not appeared on any U.S. carriers’ stores nor the Apple website.

Aside from the reduced capacity offering, there aren’t any changes to the device. This new 8 GB model seems to be designed to help pick up a few more sales in the low-cost phone arena where the 8 GB iPhone 4s may have seemed like a much less attractive device. The newer version includes Apple’s custom dual-core A6 processor, an 8 MP iSight camera, and FaceTime HD camera.

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Pegatron reportedly starting iPhone 6 mass production in Q2

Mike Beasley Mar 17 2014 - 9:27 pm PT

15 Comments

Pegatron is gearing up to start mass-producing the next-generation iPhone, according to a report by The Commercial Times. Production of the next iPhone (or iPhones) is said to be starting in Q2, though there aren’t many more specifics available, and no indication of just how many devices will be produced at that time.

Currently not much is known about the so-called iPhone 6 aside from a few details about its display, which is said to be made of sapphire (possibly at Apple’s new Mesa, AZ plant) and will be bigger than the current iPhone display. Some reports even indicate that there could be two new models with differing screen sizes, both bigger than the iPhone 5s.

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YouTube for iOS updated with changes to comments, improvements to playlists

Mike Beasley Mar 17 2014 - 3:17 pm PT

7 Comments

Google updated YouTube for iOS today to version 2.5 with a few new changes and enhancements. The bigger changes include support for sharing entire playlists (where previously you could only share individual videos) and the option to quickly get to your own saved playlists from the sidebar.

Comments have also received some upgrades, giving users the ability to reply to other commenters and create conversation threads. Users can also now delete their own comments and see whether another user’s comment was posted publicly or not.

You can grab the free YouTube app on the App Store.

What’s New in Version 2.5.0

* Share and like playlists
* Quickly access your favorite playlists from the Guide
* Reply to comments and delete your own
* See if a comment was shared privately or publicly

Former VP of marketing at Apple talks iPhone, Steve Jobs, and more at the 99U conference

Mike Beasley Mar 17 2014 - 2:55 pm PT

8 Comments

Apple’s former Vice President of Marketing Allison Johnson talked about her time at Apple during the 99U conference, as reported by Cult of Mac. Johnson now works with companies like Jawbone and Anki.

In the video, Johnson discusses her time working with Steve Jobs, including his response to the iPhone 4 “antenna-gate” issue. Johnson describe’s Jobs as being “so sad and so angry” about the problem, declaring that Apple would not be the kind of company that people regarded negatively.

She also talks about her role (and Jobs’) in marketing the original iPhone and other key events in the six years she was in charge of the company’s marketing.

The full twenty-five minute interview is included below:

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Sunday Times interviews Jonathan Ive on everything design, Apple, and much more

Mike Beasley Mar 16 2014 - 11:05 am PT

36 Comments

The UK’s Sunday Timespublished a massive, five-page interview (paywall) with Apple SVP of Design Jonathan Ive today that takes a look at the history and future of Apple from the perspective of the man who designed some of the most iconic devices of the past decade.

In the interview, Ive discusses (among other things) his approach to designing new products, which allows a device’s function to dictate its form:

Ive starts a new project by imagining what a new kind of product should be and what it should do. Only once he’s answered those questions does he work out what it should look like. He seeks advice in unlikely places. He worked with confectionery manufacturers to perfect the translucent jelly-bean shades of his first big hit, the original iMac. He travelled to Niigata in northern Japan to see how metalworkers there beat metal so thin, to help him create the Titanium PowerBook, the first lightweight aluminum laptop in a world of hefty black plastic slabs.

With regard to manufacturers like Samsung “referencing” Apple’s design in their products, Ive called the practice “theft” of “thousands of hours of struggle.”
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Apple Store for iPhone updated with improved notifications, iPad version gets gift card purchases

Mike Beasley Mar 14 2014 - 3:19 pm PT

1 Comment

Apple updated its mobile shopping apps for both iPhone and iPad today, with each platform getting a different set of new features or fixes. On the iPhone, improvements were made to the way in-store notifications are handled. These notifications can be triggered by a variety of events, such as a Genius Bar appointment or a nearby iBeacon.

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iOS 7.1 makes everything faster — including your battery drain

Mike Beasley Mar 13 2014 - 8:55 pm PT

110 Comments

iOS 7.1 may have only been released this week, but it’s already got it’s own “gate”-worthy issue: battery life is abysmal. Reports on Twitter and Apple’s support discussion forums indicate that users are seeing significant drain on their batteries after installing the new update.

[tweet https://twitter.com/horwitz/status/444305435265220608 align=’center’]

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Apps
selfies

Apple launches new featured App Store section dedicated to taking selfies

Mike Beasley Mar 13 2014 - 5:52 pm PT

12 Comments

Apple has added a new section to the iOS App Store today promoting apps used to share selfies (via MacStories‘ Federico Viticci). Among the apps included are classics like Snapchat and the Justin Bieber-backed Shots and lesser-known apps such as selfie-editing app Facetune and an app called Front Flash that’s design to make it easier to take selfies in low light…

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AAPL Company

Apple seeds OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 beta build 13D17 to developers

Mike Beasley Mar 13 2014 - 4:54 pm PT

4 Comments

Apple has just sent out a new pre-release version of OS X 10.9.3. The update has a build number of 13D17 and asks developers to focus on testing the graphics and audio drivers. The limited scope of the focus indicates that issues in other areas have been ironed out and the software is almost ready to ship to customers. Apple first seeded 10.9.3 betas to developers earlier this month. The update is expected to bring support for 60GHz output to 4k Displays at Retina resolution from the latest generation of MacBook Pros. The full change seed note is below:

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Apple brings Tumblr-style iPhone 5c ads to Yahoo! and NYT homepages

Mike Beasley Mar 13 2014 - 2:55 pm PT

4 Comments

After launching a new ad campaign on Tumblr for the iPhone 5c a few weeks ago, Apple has today attempted to bring the campaign to a more mainstream audience on the Yahoo! homepage. The ads were also run on the New York Times homepage this week, though they seem to have disappeared now.

The new ad features an interactive grid of eight patterns, each of which plays a different video that uses the design of the iPhone 5c and its case to create an animated scene. In one, red circles on a yellow background bounce around like dodgeballs until they form the grid of circles seen on the back of the iPhone 5c case. The iPhone is revealed and a tagline associated with the scene, such as “gotcha” on the dodgeball version, appears with an iPhone 5c logo.

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United Airlines preparing iOS-exclusive in-flight movie service, rolling out next month

Mike Beasley Mar 12 2014 - 7:14 pm PT

4 Comments

United Airlines is preparing to launch a brand-new service for in-flight movies that will be exclusive to Apple’s iOS devices. The service will allow customers to stream around 150 movies and 200 TV shows to their devices completely free while mid-flight.

The airline plans to start rolling this service as soon as next month for some flights. The hardware to support the system needs to be installed in each plane individually, but United is hopeful that its entire domestic fleet will be outfitted with the technology by the end of the year…

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iTunes Festival continues tonight with performances by Kendrick Lamar and more

Mike Beasley Mar 12 2014 - 5:43 pm PT

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Apple kicked off its annual iTunes Festival event at SXSW last night with music from Coldplay and others.

The shows continue tonight with a series of live-streamed performanes by Isaiah Rashad at 8PM, ScHoolboy Q at 8:45PM, and Kendrick Lamar at 10PM. Since the show is in Austin, Texas, the schedule is on Central time …
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Microsoft launches ‘My Apps’ for Windows Azure Active Directory users on iPhone and iPad

Mike Beasley Mar 12 2014 - 5:15 pm PT

2 Comments

Microsoft has just published a new iOS app for Windows Azure Active Directory users. The app, called “My Apps,” allows users to login to a variety of web apps and services using a single Active Directory login, saving them the trouble of having to manually log into those services through the mobile Safari browser every time.

My Apps is available for free on the iOS App Store. It requires a Windows Azure account to work.

Apple’s online services going down intermittently, DNS problem/hack likely culprit (Update: Mostly back)

Mike Beasley Mar 12 2014 - 4:07 pm PT

7 Comments

Update: The bad DNS entries appear to almost completely be purged and it appears that Apple services are working correctly.

[tweet https://twitter.com/RaceJohnson/status/443882675011469312 align=’center’]

Apple’s website and online stores are experiencing issues for many users, according to various tips and reports we’ve received across Twitter. Apple.com, iTunes, the App Store, and some other web services (but not all) are all reporting that they are unavailable.

Some services (like iMessage and Game Center) seem to be unaffected at the moment.

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iTunes Festival kicks off at Austin SXSW with Coldplay and more, Apple execs in the crowd

Mike Beasley Mar 11 2014 - 7:24 pm PT

2 Comments

Apple kicked off its iTunes Festival event at SXSW tonight with Apple execs Phil Schiller and Eddy Cue in the crowd. Tonight’s show will feature performances by Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, and London Grammar. The entire event is being live-streamed on a dedicated Vevo page and Apple TV channel.

The five-night event will also have performances by Kendrick Lamar, Pitbull, Keith Urban, and more. You can view the full lineup and more in the free iTunes Festival app, which launched last week.

Schiller and Cue both tweeted photos from the Imagine Dragons concert:

[tweet https://twitter.com/pschiller/status/443568910860701697 align=’center’]

[tweet https://twitter.com/cue/status/443569400159825920 align=’center’]

San Francisco gives final approval for brand-new Union Square Apple Retail Store

Mike Beasley Mar 11 2014 - 4:37 pm PT

3 Comments

Re/code reports that the city of San Francisco has finally granted Apple permission to begin work on its iconic new Union Square retail center, which the company has said will be “more iconic than the glass cube in New York City.” The store, pictured in the rendering above, has been in the works for almost a year as the city insisted upon various changes to preserve historic elements and allow for improved accessibility.

The store will replace Apple’s existing Stockton Street location, adding about fifty new jobs in the process. Apple’s new building will feature a two-floor design with 23-foot glass sliding doors and a plaza behind the store that will be shared with the hotel next door with free Wi-Fi to visitors.

The iconic Ruth Asawa fountain behind the store will be relocated (slightly) to accommodate the design of the plaza, which caused some concern among members of the city’s planning commission, though Apple has assured the city that the fountain will be entirely preserved during the process.

More renderings of the gorgeous new store can be found below:

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iOS 7.1 hits nearly 6% adoption in North America during first 24 hours after release

Mike Beasley Mar 11 2014 - 3:40 pm PT

17 Comments

Following Apple’s launch of iOS 7.1, the first major update to the OS that featured CarPlay, iBeacon imrpovements, and more, mobile analytics firm Chitika has released some numbers regarding the software’s adoption rate. According to the company’s detailed report, the update saw a 5.9% installation rate during its first 24 hours of availability.

The numbers are a little bit BS because obviously a non-zero percentage of users were developers and Apple employees using the 7.1betas. Here are 9to5mac’s numbers for instance.

Screenshot 2014-03-11 19.54.33

The data was collected from “tens of millions” of users in the United States and Canada, though the study doesn’t state the exact sample size. The full version of the report notes that the company typically employs a sample size of around 300 million devices.

That may seem low compared to the ridiculously fast adoption of iOS 7 last year, but Chitika reported similiar numbers for the previous update, iOS 7.0.6, which contained a critical SSL bug fix. Meanwhile, the entire set of 7.x updates has seen slowing growth in recent months, according to Apple…

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Apple to open local, mobile-focused stores in India to promote entry-level products

Mike Beasley Mar 11 2014 - 3:09 pm PT

1 Comment

Apple is planning to change up retail in India in a big—and small—way, according to a report by The Economic Times. According to the Times, Apple plans to open a collection of small, iOS-centric stores. The stores will be setup by local distribution partners, not by first-party retail staff. While the main focus of these locations will be on mobile devices, Apple’s other offerings will also be represented to some degree in each store.

In fact, the focus of these stores will not even be Apple’s latest devices, according to the report. Instead, these local shops will focus on the less-expensive models that Apple offers, including the iPad 2 and iPhone 4s. Macs and other products in these smaller stores will also be lower-priced models. The goal of the local establishments seems to be to place Apple’s most affordable products as close as possible potential customers—a neccessary move if Apple is to continue gaining ground in the country.

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Verbs IM client for iOS updated with overhauled design, iCloud message sync, and a lot more

Mike Beasley Mar 11 2014 - 2:34 pm PT

1 Comment

Verbs, the popular instant messaging app for iPhone and iPad, was updated today at long last with a revamped design for iOS 7 and a whole host of new features and fixes, including the removal of an in-app purchase to enable extra features.

One of the bigger notable features in version 3.0 is the ability to keep your conversations in sync across all of your devices via iCloud. This works a lot like iMessage’s syncing function, where every message you get will automatically show up on all devices whether Verbs is currently running on that specific device or not. Previously any devices that didn’t have the app running would miss any messages that were downloaded on other devices.

Other changes include the addition of Dropbox for file sharing (alongside the old CloudApp and Droplr options), Pocket and Safari Reading List options for saving links, tappable URLs in chat bubbles, per-contact muting, the ability to manage your contact lists, in-app notifications for messages that come in while you’re in the settings view or another thread, and notifications when certain contacts come online.

Speaking of notifications, the former “Verbs Pro” in-app purchase has been removed, and all of its features are now included standard in the app. These include push notifications and longer connection times after the app closes.

You can grab the completely overhauled Verbs 3.0 from the iOS App Store for $2.99 today. The complete change log is below:

What’s New in Version 3.0.0

• Designed for iOS 7
• Completely rewritten server side code
• Supports Jabber protocol
• Added OAuth support for GTalk
• Real time syncing of chat messages across devices
• New Conversations view
• Use Dropbox to share files in chat
• Sync Chat, File Sharing and Read Later accounts over iCloud
• Pocket (Read later) support
• Safari’s Reading Lists support
• Sent bubble color changes when messages are delivered
• Notify when a buddy comes online
• Ability to mute buddies
• New Notification sounds
• HTML hyperlinks are supported in messages
• Use shapes to indicate Buddy Status
• Ability to create Lists (Groups)
• In-app notifications
• Lotta bug fixes!

IMPORTANT NOTES:
• Before upgrading, please back up your existing conversations using the “Email conversation” feature. Because of the new sync features, your existing (2.x) accounts and conversations would not be available after upgrade.
• We’re removing Facebook chat support for the time being
• Also, we’re deprecating Verbs Pro and the basic app itself will include all the pro features.

New in iOS 7.1: Big iPhone 4 performance improvements, better navigation audio, and more [Videos]

Mike Beasley Mar 10 2014 - 7:46 pm PT

70 Comments

Apple launched iOS 7.1 this morning after what seemed like an eternity in beta, making the first major update to the mobile OS since it was redesigned last year. Included in the update are several key features such as CarPlay, but also a collection of smaller tweaks and improvements that make system more convenient.

Among those features are two very important ones that haven’t really gotten enough press: huge performance improvements on the iPhone 4 and something called “HFP prompts” in the Maps application…

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Apple under fire for Australian profit-shifting scheme that moved $9 billion in untaxed profit to Ireland

Mike Beasley Mar 5 2014 - 8:18 pm PT

41 Comments

Image of CFO Oppenheimer and CEO Cook

Following the announcement that Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer will be retiring in September, the Australian Financial Review has uncovered evidence of a scheme that it says has allowed Apple to move around $9 billion in untaxed Aussie profit to Ireland. The program has allowed Apple to get away with paying only $200 million in taxes on $8.9 billion in profit over the past ten years or so.

Here’s how the whole thing works: Apple has created an Ireland-based company known as Apple Sales International which contributes money toward the research and development budget in Cupertino. This allows the company to legally claim an economic stake in these products and gives ASI partial ownership of the intellectual properties that comprise Apple’s products.

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Twelve South debuts SurfacePad variant for iPad mini, teases iPad Air version

Mike Beasley Mar 4 2014 - 6:10 pm PT

1 Comment

Twelve South, makers of fine accessories for Apple products, debuted a new version of its popular SurfacePad case for the iPad mini today. The new case is very similiar to the existing iPhone version. It’s made of leather that covers both the front and back of the iPad. A built-in stand allows you to watch videos in landscape at a comfortable angle.

Like Apple’s own Smart Cover, the SurfacePad uses a set of magnets to automatically put the iPad to sleep and wake it up when the cover is opened and closed.

The SurfacePad for iPad mini is available for $69.99 on the Twelve South website. It comes in three colors: black, white, and red. The company says it is currently working on a version of the case for the full-size iPad Air which will be available this Spring.

RadioShack announces plan to close 1,100 stores nationwide as smartphone sales fail to carry company

Mike Beasley Mar 4 2014 - 2:51 pm PT

7 Comments

ABC News reports that RadioShack will close 1,100 stores following a disappointing holiday season and generally unsuccessful attempt to rebrand the chain as the go-to retailer for smartphones and accessories. The number represents about 20% of the electronics shop’s locations. The company previously announced plans to close only 400-700 stores.

That doesn’t mean RadioShack will be disappearing completely, though. Around 4,000 stores are still expected to remain open. While the cell phone business hasn’t been able to keep the entire company afloat, it has apparently provided enough fuel to keep the majority of the stores functional… for now, at least.