9to5 Staff

Apple is said to be working on an incremental operating system update for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard that will let its users enjoy seamless integration with the iCloud service, which is scheduled to go live this Fall when iOS 5 debuts. MacRumors spotted the above notice in a developer’s .Mac preference pane in TIGER after he had upgraded his MobileMe account to iCloud:

You will no longer be able to sync with this machine because you’ve upgraded to iCloud. iCloud requires a computer running Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.9 or later for Contacts, Calendars and Bookmarks.

This is actually the first mention of more detailed iCloud system requirements beyond a brief description on Apple’s iCloud page. OS X 10.6.9, of course, has yet to be released, but it’s nice seeing that Apple won’t be leaving out Snow Leopard users with its upcoming cloud service.

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In a comprehensive shootout by Tom’s Hardware, Safari 5.1 on Windows 7 edged other browsers in two out of three GUIMark2 Flash tests

While some folks feared the 2GB of memory requirement meant an added bloat in Mac OS X Lion, many fans were pleasantly surprised seeing their Lion system perform faster and zip through daily tasks smoother compared to their previous Leopard or Snow Leopard installations. But how does Lion fare against Windows 7 in web-based tasks, including page loading times and common technologies such as Adobe’s Flash, HTML5 web apps and WebGL-accelerated graphics?

Tom’s Hardware set out to figure out the answer to that. They put both operating systems through their paces in a series of tests run on the same hardware, so Lion was running on a PC machine rather than an Apple-branded Mac. The tests were conducted using the latest platform-specific builds of Chrome 13, Firefox 6 and Safari 5.1 for OS X Lion and Windows 7.

Overall, Chrome wins by a slim margin. However, Lion’s Safari running on a Hackintosh matched or beat the best score from Windows-based browsers in 10 out of 29 scored tests, leading author Adam Olivera to write:

On its native platform, Safari is definitely no slouch. In fact, the performance of Safari 5.1 in OS X Lion matches that of Firefox 6 in Windows 7. Mac OS X Lion is a beauty to behold, and its benefits aren’t just skin-deep. The score for Safari 5.1 on OS X is really close to Chrome 13 running on Windows 7, and it might even beat Firefox 6 for Windows. So, if you throw Safari 5.1 for OS X into the regular Windows 7 mix, Apple takes or shares second place.

Analysis tables for both Windows 7 and OS X Lion are right below the fold. Note: Benchmarks are just benchmarks and often not representative of real-world performances. One such benchmark, for example, painted Windows Phone 7’s browser as being much faster than Safari in iOS – even though the results alter drastically with Safari’s Nitro engine in the picture. With that in mind, Olivera also wrote that a Hackintosh fared better in Flash, HTML5, WebGL and page load times than Windows 7:

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DigiTimes in a story today, which was sourced from “upstream panel suppliers”, claims that Apple’s next phone will have a slightly larger display, but not drastically. That, plus this little tidbit, confirming earlier rumors that the iPhone 4’s glass design fell out of favor with the management:

In addition, iPhone 5’s back design will be changed to a metal chassis instead of reinforced-glasses.

Specifically, the publication has shot down rumors of a much larger display on the next iPhone, instead saying that iPhone 5 “will adopt a 3.5- to 3.7-inch panel with a design to allow the bezel of the panel to become thinner and make the screen look larger”.

And if the metallic back claim is true, than the pictures of iPhone 5 LCD, digitizer screen panel and the home button leaked by MacPost.net could in fact be for the iPhone 4S, a minor refresh rumored to be unveiled alongside a major iPhone 5 update which we reported could be up for pre-order September 29. The site acknowledges this, having updated the story with this caveat:

After today’s report of iPhone 5 getting metallic back instead of reinforced glass, we think that these parts are for cost-effective iPhone 4S and not for upgraded model.

The LCD part is labeled as N94 “EVT1” and dated March 3, 2011. As you may recall, 9to5Mac found references to the “N94” in the iOS 5.0 SDK earlier this year, which we suspect could be an A5-powered next-generation iPhone. Engadget also spotted on the above images what looks like  a FaceTime camera LED indicator.

There is also the elusive N97 which Engadget says already reached DVT back in June. The N97 is a smaller device with an edge-to-edge screen, according to this Wall Street Journal story. It would make sense that this could be the “new” iPhone 4 with 8GB storage. On the other hand, it is also possible that N97 is the iPhone 5.

Also, Apple’s software development kit for iOS devices says N94 has A5 and it would be actually cheaper for Apple to make a bunch of A5 processors rather than some A5 and A4. Plus, there is also N93, which could be a carrier variation.

EVT stands for Engineering Verification Testing, a phase before DVT (Device Verification Testing) which is one step below the actual production. The N94 marking indicates a new hardware model and the March date of Engineering Verification Testing indicates that the next iPhone is right where you’d expect it to be right now, in early manufacturing.

Other takeaways: The parts indicate the same bezel space (no edge-to-edge display design), “similar space between the screen and the home button and top ear piece”, and the regular home button. The last one pretty much dispels earlier rumors of an elongated home button that responds to touch and even stories that the next iPhone may lose the home button entirely.

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Adobe today released a new iOS app dubbed CreatePDF that does right what the name suggest. Using CreatePDF, one can create PDF documents from scratch, right on their iOS device, down to images, links, formatting, footnotes, drawings and more. Adobe touts “the same high-quality PDF creation as Adobe Acrobat” and you can pretty much create any PDF document you could think of as the app works in tandem with the cloud to ensure quality PDF conversion.

Upon installing, CreatePDF registers as a default app to open Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, Adobe Illustrator drawings, Photoshop images and InDesign files, in addition to Open Office and StarOffice documents and JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF and TIFF images. This lets you send the aforementioned mail attachments or documents from other apps to CreatePDF using the “Open In…” feature of iOS. CreatePDF is a universal binary that costs ten bucks over at the App Store. More screenies and full features list after the break.

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Samsung on Monday promised to challenge Apple’s copyright infringement claims  in Australia. Specifically, news agencies report, the Korean consumer electronics maker said today it “will continue to actively defend its right to launch the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia”. Reuters reports that the company confirmed plans to delay the Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch in Australia until after  a court ruling in late September on its ongoing legal spat with Apple. Furthermore, Samsung will file a counterclaim with the Australian court in the coming days, seeking to invalidate Apple’s patents plus another one asserting a patent infringement on Apple’s part:

Today, Samsung informed the Federal Court of Australia it intends to file a cross claim against Apple Australia and Apple Inc regarding the invalidity of the patents previously asserted by Apple and also a cross claim against Apple regarding violation of patents held by Samsung by selling its iPhones and iPads

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, a hearing before the Australian court is due September 26 and 29 and Samsung agreed “not to sell or advertise” the tablet before September 30. The article also mentions the possibility of a high-profile testimony by both parties:

Apple and Samsung returned to court this afternoon, with Samsung agreeing not to sell or advertise the Galaxy Tab 10.1 before September 30. Apple will detail the specific patents involved in the case by this Friday and will provide a more comprehensive statement of facts by September 5. Samsung will provide points in answer by September 16, with the case going to a formal hearing on September 26 and 29. It was indicated today that top executives and inventors from both Apple and Samsung may appear in person or over video link to explain their patents.

It’s an interesting strategy on Samsung’s part…

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[Editors note: Big Nerd Ranch has sponsored two posts on 9to5mac allowing readers to go to Nerd Camp for free – previous post]

Hello one final time, 9to5Mac readers.

Greetings from the environs of greater Atlanta. I’m writing to you from the airport following an altogether enjoyable week at Big Nerd Ranch. My previous two entries to you offered a glimpse of the overall experience of iOS Bootcamp at Big Nerd Ranch, along with a look at how the class sessions can fulfill the promise of a well-rounded education in iOS. For my final report to you, I’d like to say something about the people and social experience of iOS Bootcamp.
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Abdulfattah John Jandali – Steve Jobs’ Biological Father

In the tumult following Steve Jobs’ resignation, the New York Post and others (here’s a good one translated from Arabic) have been digging up interviews with Steve Jobs’ biological father, Abdulfattah John Jandali, who is a Syrian-born Vice President of a casino in Reno, Nevada.  He’s an 80-year old workaholic who is trying to avoid retirement at all costs (sounds familiar).

The Syrian immigrant says he is overcome with guilt for his treatment of Jobs and only learned recently that the child he gave up for adoption was the famous CEO.

“This might sound strange, though, but I am not prepared, even if either of us was on our deathbeds, to pick up the phone to call him,” Jandali said.

“Steve will have to do that, as the Syrian pride in me does not want him ever to think I am after his fortune,” he said.

“Now I just live in hope that, before it is too late, he will reach out to me, because even to have just one coffee with him just once would make me a very happy man,” he said.

Jandali says although he was in love with his now ex-wife Joanne, her father was a tyrant and would not allow her to marry him since he was from Syria. Joanne then upped and moved to San Francisco to give birth to Jobs without her family or Jandali knowing.

“She did not want to bring shame onto the family and thought this was the best for everyone.”

It is a pretty emotional story overall.  The short of it is that they’ve never talked and, although he has sent Jobs a few emails (haven’t we all?), he’s afraid to call Jobs.  Because of this, he fears they never will communicate.

It was our natural inclination to see what this guy looked like but Google images didn’t return anything.  Therefore, we decided to dig a little deeper.

Without trying to offend anyone, below are some more public pictures of Jobs’ biological father we found on the net.  There is definitely a resemblance!
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Steve Jobs stepping down as the CEO of Apple has brought a lot of old stories out of the woodwork.  Bloomberg television, as they have for the last few days, interviewed Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne together, the two guys that started Apple with Steve Jobs in his parents’ garage – that was 35 years ago, guys. The interview, embedded above or available over at Bloomberg, is full of interesting little nuggets, such as how Jobs introduced Wozniak to Ron Wayne as “a person we could trust as an intermediary if we ever had disagreements”.

And because Ron had, in Wozniak’s words, “a mature adult mentality” and a clear sense of how companies are run, he drafted on a typewriter all the legalese of their partnership agreement that “looked like it came from a lawyer”.
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Samsung, a producer of critical parts for Apple’s gadgets, may be on the verge of suffering another financial blow from Apple. A new report alleges that the Cupertino, California-headquartered personal electronics maker began lining up alternative suppliers for the A6 chip. The in-house designed processor should debut in iPad 3 next year and eventually make its way into iPhone 6 .

Trade publication DigiTimes has it on good authority that Apple recently visited an assembly line of packaging and testing firm Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL). Based on what they saw, they concluded that officials from Apple are reportedly willing to discuss the possibility of working together on the upcoming A6 processor:

Apple recently conducted a visit to SPIL’s assembly line, and both parties discussed opportunities for cooperation, the sources revealed. SPIL stands a chance of becoming the first packaging and testing service provider designated by Apple, cutting into the supply chain of the vendor’s processor line, the sources said.

The report explains SPIL is likely to “snatch outsourcing orders” for the A6 chip. Needles to say, SPIL is denying the story, which is what companies caught up in juicy Apple rumors always do.

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Bloomberg television has an interesting video up  of Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff who shares an anecdote on how Apple chairman Steve Jobs helped him out with his unique insights on Enterprise Software (!!):

He has probably given me more help and more advice than just about anybody. And when I get in trouble and I kinda get lost in my own vision, I’ve been fortunate to be able to go and see him and he’s been willing to show me the future a couple times.

He then goes on to explain how in 2003 Jobs praised Salesforce’s “fantastic enterprise application” and advised him to dream bigger and think about the wider “ecosystem”. Salesforce took it at face value and built an app store of sorts dubbed App Exchange. However, they loved the app store term so much that they bought a URL and trademarked it. Benioff was later in the audience when Jobs announced the App Store. Where more than a few sue-happy companies would see a lawsuit opportunity, Benioff went up to Jobs and said, “I’m gonna give you the trademark and the URL because of the help you gave me in 2003.”

This is particularly interesting in light of the recent controversy with Apple suing Amazon over the use of Appstore, which is the name of Amazon’s online application store for Android software. Could Benioff’s comment in this video be considered testimony in the ongoing litigation?

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The Wall Street Journal makes a brief mention of a mysterious new video delivery technology Apple is allegedly working on:

Apple is working on new technology to deliver video to televisions, and has been discussing whether to try to launch a subscription TV service, according to people familiar with the matter.

Authors Yukari Iwatani Kane and Jessica Vascellaro did not elaborate further, beyond alluding it could be related to a subscription-based television programming that might be bulked through iTunes, akin to cable deals. Another report earlier this month asserted Apple is in fact developing iTunes Replay, “a full-fledged re-downloading and possibly streaming service”. Apple earlier this year enabled iTunes users to redownload purchased apps, e-books, music and other content free of charge, on an unlimited basis. Most recently the company added television shows to the mix, effectively creating a cloud-based locker for Hollywood entertainment.

While the prospect of the so-called Apple television remains sketchy, Apple recently made moves that could be viewed as preparing such a branded, networked television set with the Apple TV functionality built-in.

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Authorized Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, CG-rendered

Steve Jobs’ resignation yesterday will be covered in the upcoming authorized biography by writer Walter Isaacson. Furthermore, publisher Simon & Schuster’s tells, the book is still on track for the November 21 release:

Publisher Simon & Schuster said the highly anticipated tell-all biography, written by acclaimed biographer Walter Isaacson, will include Wednesday night’s announcement from Jobs’ point of view.

The writer “speaks to Jobs regularly and is still working on the final chapter of the book”, spokeswoman for the publisher told PCMag.com.

Amazon lists the $19.50 asking price for the hard cover version of the upcoming biography, a $13 saving over its retail price of $32.50 and just $2.5 more versus its digital-only counterpart that costs $17 in pre-order over at Apple’s iBook store. As you’d imagine, Jobs’ biography is getting scooped up like mad right now. Heck, even that fake Steve Jobs biography from China managed to sell four thousand copies at ten bucks each, and that was five days ago.

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Several new enhancements have surfaced in the latest developer version of Google’s Chrome browser. As previously announced, the software now respects Apple’s multitouch gesturing philosophy in OS X Lion. This means you can flick your finger left or right on your Magic Mouse (or two fingers on a trackpad) to advance and go back in your history. Unfortunately, the browser won’t yet let you double-tap or pinch to smoothly zoom in and out of web pages iPhone-style, like Safari on Lion. Another nice-to-have: You can now rest assured that accidentally hitting the Command + Q combo won’t quit Chrome because a subtle overlay appears telling you to hold down the combo briefly in order to quit (see the above screenshot), which has been around for awhile since past builds. In addition…

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Interesting that Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn, issued a statement regarding Steve Jobs’ resignation from his CEO post at Apple. The Asian company wrote in a short email statement to Bloomberg:

Foxconn wishes Steve Jobs will get well. We think Tim Cook has shown good work as stand- in CEO during Jobs’s absences and expect Apple will perform well in the future. The relationship between Cook and Foxconn has been very close and we expect that the relationship will become even closer in future.

Asian companies are traditionally tight-lipped and shy away from commenting on their partners’ business dealings so it’s a bit surprising Foxconn would put out a statement, let alone touch on the subject of Steve Jobs well-being. On the other hand, Foxconn is Apple’s largest contract manufacturer and as such has been instrumental in  ramping up manufacturing to meet the growing demand for Apple’s gadgets around the globe.
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In early reactions to Steve Jobs’ sudden CEO departure to assume the chairman role of the company’s board of directors, Steve Wozniak, the man who co-founded Apple 35 years ago in Jobs parents’ garage, initially told Bloomberg that Jobs once told him that it was his “life’s plan to bring technology to the world”. BYTE.com editor Gina Smith, who co-authored “iWoz: How I Invented the Personal Computer and Had Fun Along the Way”, briefly interviewed Wozniak yesterday who said that “Steve needs now to just have some ‘Steve time’. He deserves it”. The Woz doesn’t think much will change in Apple’s DNA following the leadership change. He said:

You’ve got to remember. He was surrounded by great, great people at Apple … and those people are still there. I don’t think the core Apple culture will change because of (Jobs’) leaving, not for a long time. Apple is set up. It just needs to stay financially responsible.

Wozniak told The Next Web that he wasn’t close enough to the Silicon Valley luminary to “tell you what his reasons were for resigning”, adding this on Apple’s culture of secrecy:

A lot of people have been hurt by it when they’ve been affected, but I’m totally behind it. I like to have new products developed without being influenced by outsiders. It’s been one of the greatest things for Apple’s success.

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Yesterday’s news that Steve Jobs decided to stand down as the CEO of Apple wasn’t entirely shocking to seasoned Apple watchers who knew this day would come. The writing has been on the wall for quite some time, if you were willing to read early signs, such as an open-ended sick leave nearly stretching into its ninth month. Wall Street understandably sent AAPL down 4.6 percent to $358.75 in early New York trading in what one investor described as “an emotional trade in the short term” that also affected Nasdaq-100 Index and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index which both declined a fraction of a percent on the news. Meanwhile, companies Apple counts as competitors gained. Both shares of Samsung and LG Electronics, which compete fiercely with Apple on smartphones, gained 2.4 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, in Seoul trading.

NH Investment & Securities Co. analyst Seo Won Seok says Cook, Apple’s newly appointed CEO, “may try to improve the relationship with Samsung” or even work out a settlement of sorts. The notion has its merits as Steve Jobs was a strong advocate of intellectual property protection as Apple banned the copyist Samsung from selling smartphones and tablets in Australia, the European Union and elsewhere. Jobs exit could also turn into “lease of life” for Sony, Nokia, Hewlett-Packard, HTC and ZTE Corp – all companies under tremendous competitive pressure stemming from Apple’s successes in multiple markets. While Samsung and HTC spokespersons wouldn’t come on the news, top dogs from Sony, Nokia and ZTE would. Here’s how they complimented Jobs’ achievements…

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Joining other reactions on the web to Steve Jobs’ sudden resignation as the CEO of Apple yesterday, Google’s vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra recalled on Google+ a particular Sunday in January 2008 when Apple’s boss asked him to call his home. The reason? The Google logo on the iPhone:

So Vic, we have an urgent issue, one that I need addressed right away. I’ve already assigned someone from my team to help you, and I hope you can fix this tomorrow. I’ve been looking at the Google logo on the iPhone and I’m not happy with the icon. The second O in Google doesn’t have the right yellow gradient. It’s just wrong and I’m going to have Greg fix it tomorrow. Is that okay with you?

The following day, the world’s greatest product developer followed-up with an email message with the subject “Icon Ambulance”, directing Vic to work with Greg Christie to fix the icon. MacRumors dug up the Google logo icon back from those days, shown below. Of course, Steve Jobs’ penchant for calling people in the middle of the night is legendary. Gondotra acknowledges that “it was customary for Steve to call during the week upset about something”. A 2004 Bloomberg interview quotes Jobs’ approach to product design and calling unexpected ad hoc meetings:

Innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem. It’s ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea.

Vic, who is in charge of engineering at Google and as such had been in direct competition with Apple’s former boss on multiple fronts, has more praise for Jobs’ leadership qualities:

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Apple has released a pair of new updates meant to fix video-locking issues on iMacs that run Lion and improve hardware compatibility when running Windows in dual boot mode on your Mac. The iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0 is now available for download, weighing in at a paltry 482KB. Apple says the firmware update “fixes a graphics issue that may cause an iMac to hang under certain conditions”. You can also download this update by choosing Software Update from the Apple menu, in which case the update mechanism will determine whether your iMac’s graphics card needs updating and offer the refreshed software appropriately. Also, Boot Camp got a small update for Windows 7 (version 3.3).  The 200MB download includes critical bug fixes and hardware support. It is recommended for all Boot Camp 3.2 users and requires Windows 7 plus an existing installation of Boot Camp 3.2 on your system.

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In May, Logitech announced nice Bluetooth accessories for iPad and today the company outed two new products, one aimed at gamers and the other for users who want their tablet to be more – you know – notebook-like, with real keyboard and stuff. The first, the suction cup joystick, sounds like a great idea, but we have doubts that this thing can sit on iPad’s 9.7-inch display long enough during intense action games. Also bear in mind its lack of textured grip and a seamless surface. Logitech argues the coiled spring provides force feedback that automatically returns the joystick to the center position.

At $20 a pop, who could complain? Engadget got a chance to play a round of Pac-Man using this thingie (video below the fold) and we suspect any game with on-screen sticks should lend itself well to this gaming accessory. The fold-up keyboard, another Bluetooth accessory, connects wirelessly to your iPad and has a built-in stand that props up your iPad in portrait or landscape. The keyboard is full-sized, it charges over USB and automatically turns itself on and off when unfolded/folded. Price? Just $130. Both accessories will hit the U.S. and Europe beginning in September.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzsBwnv_dAg]

There is no shortage of iPhone 5 renderings, leaks and case designs and we posted those on a few..different..occasions. As opposed to artists’ renditions predominantly based on leaked cases and late rumors, let’s step back for a moment and think big. Courtesy of Aatma Studio, a San Francisco-based 3D animation and digital content shop, here comes a cool iPhone 5 concept they fashioned, shown above.

We absolutely love the virtual laser keyboard that can be “swapped out” of the device and perched on the desk. It is also pinch-zoomable and illumination controlled. As for the holographic display, the idea actually stems from Apple’s patent filings related to pico projection systems letting you (theoretically, of course) flick whatever’s shown on your device’s display onto the wall. Enjoying a movie projection while camping at night suddenly takes on a whole new dimensions. Wondering about that thriller-like soundtrack? It’s “Movement Proposition” by Kevin MacLeod.

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Acer’s seven-inch Iconia Tab A100 tablet, which hit US shores earlier this month

Sixteen months following the original iPad launch back in April 2010, the Android camp has hit unexpected roadblocks as first tablets based on Google’s software fail to impress the mass consumer or gain any meaningful traction in the marketplace. Earlier this year heads rolled at companies that couldn’t produce a viable answer to Apple’s market-defining product, while nasty quotes from competitors only served to stress their jealousy. Computer maker Acer is a typical example. Their former CEO and president Gianfranco Lanci was forced to quit his post abruptly in the wake of the iPad challenge as the company outlined reorganization plans.

Today, the Acer Group posted preliminary results and the numbers don’t look good. They suffered a quarterly operating loss of NT$7.1 billion (about $246 million) – Acer’s first-ever quarterly loss – and a 32 percent annual drop in consolidated revenues of NT$102.1 billion, or about $3.5 billion. Three hundred jobs will be cut in Europe and the company will take a $150 million hit to write off inventory and doubtful payments in Europe. Acer shares fell a whopping 65 percent this year in a broader market down 16.4 percent. Also, they have no compelling products in sight in the run-up to the holiday quarter. It gets worse, chairman JT Wang tells Guardian:

Today I have to say, trying to break even this year becomes impossible.

Why poor results? As mentioned earlier, Acer had to swallow significant costs attributed to company-wide reorganization and clearing up excessive inventory. The latter is in line with other makers reducing prices of Android tablets in order to “digest inventory overstock”. Interestingly, Acer will no longer report sell-in, which only includes shipments to the channel, and will instead switch to the sell-through model which counts actual sales to end users.

This is what the post-PC world ranking looks like today, if you count tablets as PCs

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