Apple

Apple offers free services at the Apple Store, including free technical support at the Genius Bar and free workshops to help customers learn more about using their Apple devices. Several months ago, the process of signing up for a Genius Bar reservation changed and now requires using an Apple ID to register.

Today, Apple has again updated the Genius Bar reservation workflow. Before signing in with an Apple ID, consumers are presented with a new page that highlights the various online support tools that Apple offers. If desired, users can continue with their initial plan of making the reservation for the Genius Bar, or can try to “save a trip to the store” by working with an AppleCare representative online. If the issue in question involves iTunes, iCloud, or Apple ID services, AppleCare can help customers for free regardless of whether any of that customer’s Apple products are still covered under AppleCare. For hardware- or software-related issues, AppleCare does offer pay-per-incident fees, or offers the option to purchase AppleCare if the product is still covered under the original warranty.

Recently the AppleCare support website was updated with 24/7 chat support, and customers were offered the option to initiate screensharing on their Mac with AppleCare representatives.

With this new page, it seems Apple is hoping customers will conduct basic troubleshooting at home before making a trip to the Genius Bar, which will hopefully cut down on the number of appointments booked for simple issues and provide customers who really do need Genius support with even more timeslots to choose from.

Apple starts selling unlocked, SIM-free iPhone 5s in the U.S.

Mark Gurman Nov 22 2013 - 7:02 am PT

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Apple today released an unlocked GSM version of the iPhone 5s on its online store for the United States. This version of the iPhone 5s includes the same exact capabilities of the non-unlocked models, but does not include a SIM card. Users who buy this version of the iPhone will need to supply their own SIM card. The central benefit of an unlocked iPhone is that it can work on many GSM networks across the globe with no contract. For frequent world travelers, this option is worth looking into…

Apple publishes “Life on iPad” web page highlighting stories of iPad usage across industries

Mike Beasley Nov 21 2013 - 6:52 pm PT

Apple has published a new page on its website titled “Life on iPad.” The page highlights stories of iPad usage in a variety of capacities from Broadway to the operating room. The page also features the video from the iPad Air keynote showing the iPad in many of these same uses.

There are six total stories on the page, each with an entirely different take on how businesses and individuals are using the iPad to to improve their jobs. For example, a page on Siemens Energy’s wind power division details how iPads have replaced countless pages of manuals and repair plans for workers working 250 feet in the air.

Apple issues AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule firmware update with fixes for WAN connectivity and USB hard drives

Michael Steeber Nov 21 2013 - 12:37 pm PT

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Apple issued a minor firmware update today to address issues specifically related to customers using USB hard drives with their routers, and fixes for intermittent loss in WAN connectivity as well as issues that may cause a network loop. You can view the full release notes below:

Addresses an issue that prevents a USB hard drive connected to an AirPort Extreme from appearing as an available disk in Time Machine
Resolves an issue that may intermittently cause a loss in WAN connectivity
Resolves an issue that may result in a network loop

If you own an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule, you can view more information about grabbing new firmware updates here.

Verdict: Apple awarded another $290 million from Samsung in retrial (Updated)

Zac Hall Nov 21 2013 - 11:55 am PT

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Reports are coming in from several journalists attending the Apple vs. Samsung re-trial in California that a verdict has been reached. The verdict comes after a few days of the jury deliberating much of the same topic as discussed during the summer 2012 trial. According to a court document, the verdict will be read at approximate 12:15 Pacific time. We’ll have coverage when the verdict is announced.

Update: According to Bloomberg, the jury has ordered that Samsung pay Apple $290 million in damages over the retrial. Including damages awarded Apple in the original trial, that brings Samsung’s total in damages owed to Apple to $890 million.

Clumsy Ninja finally hits the App Store, originally announced at iPhone 5 event last year

Benjamin Mayo Nov 21 2013 - 7:15 am PT

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Originally demoed at Apple’s September 2012 event, to show off the power of the new fifth-generation iPod touch, Clumsy Ninja was said to be launching that holiday season; i.e. fall 2012. However, much like with the announcement of Infinity Blade Dungeons, the app never arrived. Whereas Dungeons ended up being axed entirely, it turns out that Clumsy Ninja was just severely delayed.

After over a year since the game was demoed, Clumsy Ninja has finally hit the App Store today. At Apple’s event, NaturalMotion described the game as an ‘interactive toy’ based on “years of research”. The game centres around a cute 3D ninja, which acts similarly to a virtual pet.

China Mobile launch for iPhone as good as confirmed for 18th December [Update: It’s official]

Ben Lovejoy Nov 21 2013 - 6:13 am PT

Image: appadvice.com

Update: The Chinese government has now confirmed this date.

The iPhone looks set to be launched by China Mobile – the biggest carrier in the world’s biggest country – on Wednesday 18th December, reports the WSJ. While neither the carrier nor Apple have made a definitive announcement, China Mobile has said this is the date it will “introduce a new brand.”

The launch is expected during the company’s 4G global partners conference in Guangzhou, according to China Mobile’s website. An executive at the world’s largest mobile operator has said it is ready to start fourth-generation mobile services, though China has yet to issue 4G licenses. In September, China’s Telecom Equipment Certification Center gave Apple Inc.the final license necessary for the iPhone to run on China Mobile’s network …
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Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor Facetimes dying fan during show [Video]

Ben Lovejoy Nov 21 2013 - 4:51 am PT

Facetiming fans during live gigs seems to be the new thing, though Trent Reznor did have a particularly good excuse during a weekend concert: the fan in question was a terminally ill photojournalist who had planned to attend the concert but was unable to make it, reports kdge.com (via Reddit).

Loudwire added:

Andrew Youssef has been a concert photographer for seven years. The man’s passion for music brought him to photograph countless bands, with Nine Inch Nails being one of Youssef’s personal favorites. Sadly, Youssef was diagnosed with stage-4 colon cancer in 2011. According to Cancer.org, the 5-year observed survival rate for individuals with stage four colorectal cancer can be as low as 6 percent, but in Youssef’s regular ‘Last Shot‘ column for OC Weekly, he documents a refusal to give up his dream despite the odds against him.

Anticipated Retina iPad Mini shortages take effect as carrier dates slip

Ben Lovejoy Nov 21 2013 - 4:35 am PT

Photo: slashgear.com

Analyst predictions that the Retina iPad Mini would be in short supply in the run-up to the holidays appear to be confirmed by slipping dates for the cellular models at carriers, reports CNET.

Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are all back-ordered on the cellular version of the Mini Retina, with Verizon’s date now slipping to December 2.

Last week, Verizon had been saying November 25. And the carrier isn’t saying when the device may arrive in stores, according to a company spokesperson. T-Mobile is now showing the Mini Retina back-ordered 6-8 weeks. AT&T is saying 21-28 days for orders to ship.

Apple made store purchase of the new iPad Mini exclusive to personal pickup, though availability of cellular models currently looks very poor. Apple is currently quoting availability of 5-10 days for all four major US carriers for iPad Minis ordered from its own website.

The Retina iPad Mini was well-received in reviews and is expected to be a popular holiday gift.

iBeacon goes mainstream with Macy’s roll-out, likely before it hits Apple Stores

Ben Lovejoy Nov 21 2013 - 4:03 am PT

Apple’s iBeacon system is to get its first retail launch in Macy’s branches in Union Square, San Francisco and Herald Square, NYC, within the next few weeks, reports TechCrunch.

Apple will of course be using the system in its own retail stores, though likely after the Macy’s launch. Macy’s is already operating a closed trial of the system.

Offers now will be pinged to users right when they are walking past them, or past a department that contains products that users have shown interest in before. And for those who have opted in, the iBeacon technology will also automatically open the app and can trigger other actions when you enter a participating store, such as telling users how many loyalty points they currently have to redeem towards a purchase …
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The $5k and Apple II donation from Steve Jobs that kickstarted sight restoration for 3.5M people

Ben Lovejoy Nov 20 2013 - 6:46 am PT

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The Apple II donated by Steve Jobs in use by the Seva Foundation sometime around 1980

A $5000 donation by Steve Jobs in the late 1970s was key to the successful creation of a charity which, 35 years later, has helped restore eye-sight to 3.5 million people in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Tibet, India and other countries, reports the NY Times.

Jobs also donated to the Seva Foundation an Apple II computer in 1980, with a copy of the spreadsheet Visicalc and a 5MB drive which he said the charity would never be able to fill.

“You’ll never be able to use all the [capacity],” Dr. Brilliant recalled Mr. Jobs telling him. “It’s five megabytes!’”

The Apple II was returned to Steve’s widow Laurene Powell Jobs after spending 33 years in Katmandu, Nepal, by SEVA co-founder Dr Larry Brilliant, a long-time friend of the couple. Dr Brilliant said that the charity would never have existed without that initial $5k donation. Ms Powell Jobs said her husband has been proud to support the charity.

“Steve was always very clear about his role in the genesis of Seva and it was his privilege to help support the heroic on-the-ground work of the doctors and health professionals involved in this courageous effort,” Ms. Powell Jobs said in a statement. “It’s amazing Seva found the Apple II donated by Steve and our family is thrilled to have it returned.”

While Jobs was often criticised for a lack of visible philanthropy (though no-one knows how much he gave away privately), Dr Brilliant says he believed this was because Apple took 100 percent of his time and energy.

“I only know how to do one thing well,” Mr. Brilliant said Mr. Jobs told him. “I think I can help the world by doing this one thing.”

The full piece is worth a read.

Apple releases Apple Store app for iPad, with image-centric design and new trends section

Benjamin Mayo Nov 20 2013 - 6:15 am PT

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For the first time, Apple has released an Apple Store app optimised for the iPad, via TechCrunch. The app uses the now-standard iOS 7 colour scheme and design elements, focusing on white space and text. The app is a separate download to the iPhone app, but offers all the same functionality you would expect, although some of the location-based features for retail are absent due to the different use cases of the devices.

Imagery is the focus — Apple is trading heavily on its beautiful Retina-display equipped iPads to show of its store products.

Apple receives full set of building permits for its ‘spaceship’ campus today [Update: video added]

Ben Lovejoy Nov 20 2013 - 3:54 am PT

View of the main campus from the on-site auditorium building

Apple will receive the full set of building permits for its ‘spaceship’ campus in Cupertino today, following a formal approval vote by the full council. This final vote was just a rubber-stamping exercise, with the go-ahead effectively granted a month ago.

We have a pretty detailed idea of what to expect, thanks to a detailed scale model, project video and series of renders made available by Apple as part of its planning application.

It’s taken the company some time and work to reach this point. The company initially faced objections from local residents on environmental and traffic grounds, prompting CFO Peter Oppenheimer to send out a brochure to local residents to alleviate concerns, and the project is reportedly $2B over-budget. But work can now begin, with completion expected in 2015 or 2016.

You can watch the video of the full council meeting below.

Samsung accuses Apple’s attorney of racist remark during closing arguments in damages case

Ben Lovejoy Nov 20 2013 - 12:01 am PT

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As the retrial to settle the damages in the Apple vs Samsung patents case reaches its closing arguments, Samsung’s lawyer Bill Price accused Apple attorney Harold McElhinny of a racist remark, asking for a mistrial to be declared, reports Bloomberg.

Harold McElhinny, Apple’s attorney, spoke yesterday of his memory as a child of watching television on American-made sets, and how because the manufacturers didn’t protect their intellectual property their products no longer exist. “We all know what happened,” he said at the conclusion of a damages retrial […]

McElhinny was “appealing to race,” Price told the judge. “I thought we were past that.” …
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Report claims 12.9-inch panel for larger iPad already in production, release early next year

Benjamin Mayo Nov 19 2013 - 5:33 am PT

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<a href="http://www.t3.com/news/exclusive-t3-render-of-the-apple-ipad-pro">Mockup by T3</a>

The Korea Times is reporting that a “first tier display supplier” is already manufacturing a 12.9 inch panel for iPads. According to the report, Apple is looking to bring the bigger iPad to market sometime “early next year”…

Report profiles Apple’s pioneering clean energy projects in North Carolina [photos]

Jordan Kahn Nov 18 2013 - 10:12 am PT

GigaOM today published a lengthy piece on the state of the solar and fuel cell farm installations that Apple has been building in North Carolina in recent years.

After a visit to the 100-acre, 20 megawatt (MW) solar farm, 10MW fuel cell farm, and another 20 MW solar panel farm situated close to Apple’s North Carolina iCloud data center, the report gives a pretty in-depth look into Apple’s operations, from how its fuel cells work right down to the sheep that eat the grass on its solar farm:

The solar farm across from the data center has over 50,000 panels on 100 acres, and it took about a year to build the entire thing….Each solar panel on Apple’s farms has a microcontroller on its back, and the panels are attached to long, large trackers (the steel poles in the picture). During the day, the computers automatically and gradually tilt the solar panels so that the face of the panels follow the sun throughout the day. The above picture was taken in the late morning, so by the end of the day, the panels will have completely rotated to face where I was standing. The trackers used are single-axis trackers, which basically means they are less complex and less expensive than more precise dual-axis trackers.

You can see in the above picture that the grass is neatly maintained. Apple manages the grass under the panels in a variety of ways, but one of those is a little more unusual. Apple works with a company that ropes in sheep that eat the grass on a portion of the solar farm; when the sheep finish grazing on one spot, they’re moved to the next.

The site decided to take a look into Apple’s decision to take renewable energy into its own hands just as North Carolina utility Duke Energy is requesting that the state allow it to sell clean energy to large corporate customers. Google is one of the large companies interested in purchasing clean energy from the utility, but the hundreds of millions Apple has invested into its own renewable energy efforts have so far made it self-sufficient. The report notes Apple’s two solar farms, along with its fuel cell farm, are producing more than it needs to power its data center by around 10MW:

Apple’s second 20 MW solar panel farm, which is about 15 miles away from the data center near the town of Conover, North Carolina, is also up and running. All told, the three facilities are creating 50 MW of power, which is about 10 MW more than what Apple’s data center uses. Because of state laws, the energy is being pumped into the power grid, and Apple then uses the energy it needs from the grid. But this setup also means Apple doesn’t need large batteries, or other forms of energy storage, to keep the power going when the sun goes down and its solar panels stop producing electricity.

The full feature on GigaOM is worth checking out if you’re interested in Apple’s renewable energy projects.

Apple Stores to celebrate holidays with magical front window display

Nov 18 2013 - 9:07 am PT

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For this upcoming holiday season, Apple will be celebrating with a front Apple Store window display that several Apple Retail employees have described as spectacular. A photo of the display, sent in by a source, is above. The display highlights both the iPad Air and iPhone 5c and is made up of several LED lights shaped into snow flakes. The design is simple, but unique and impressive…

Foxconn stops iPhone 5c production at one factory, switches capacity to 5s

Ben Lovejoy Nov 18 2013 - 5:47 am PT

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Photo: Sunday Mirror

Foxconn is ceasing production of the iPhone 5c at one of its factories in order to boost production of the iPhone 5s, according to sources cited by Digitimes.

Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) will stop production of the iPhone 5c at its factory in Zhengzhou, northern China, and shift the capacity to iPhone 5s, according to industry sources.

Digitimes is not the most reliable of sources, but this one gels with other reports suggesting that Apple is cutting back on production of its plastic handset in order to keep up with demand for the iPhone 5s.

The reports can, of course, be viewed as indicating either success for the 5s or failure for the 5c. Given the numbers reported last month, following on from record opening weekend sales, it seems pretty clear that while Apple got its predictions wrong, the reason is good news rather than bad: more people than expected opting for the high-end handset.

Apple reportedly purchases PrimeSense, the Israeli 3D body sensor firm behind Microsoft Kinect for $345M

Seth Weintraub Nov 17 2013 - 4:50 am PT

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According to Israeli publication Calcalist.co.il, Apple has purchased PrimeSense, the company behind the original Microsoft Kinect’s technology somewhere near a valuation in the $345M range. According to the report, a delegation of PrimeSense senior executives visited Apple’s engineering offices in recent days. The purchase would bolster Apple’s living room TV interface offerings and allow Apple to add controls with body movements and hand gestures to its products.

Calcalist reported in July that Apple was mulling a purchase for somewhere in the neighborhood of $280M. PrimeSense had issued a denial that it was in talks to be bought by Apple. As we know with past history surrounding these type of matters, company denials don’t often mean much in the grand scheme of things.

Apple purchased Israeli Flash chip optimization company Anobit in late 2011 for $400M+, also originally reported by Calcalist. The company now functions as one of Apple’s R&D centers in-country…
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Apple once again teams up with The Global Fund to offer an exclusive iTunes album

Michael Steeber Nov 16 2013 - 5:58 pm PT

Apple has opened pre-orders on a new exclusive album on the iTunes Store, titled “Dance (RED) Save Lives, Vol. 2”. The album, which is expected to debut on November 25th, is in support of the Global Fund, with 100% of proceeds being donated to the cause. Apple promoted Volume 1 of the album last year, with proceeds benefiting the same cause.

Notable artists who have tracks featured on the album include Katy Perry, Coldplay, Robin Thicke, and Calvin Harris. While you can’t purchase the entire album today, a single from the album, “Celebrate,” is available when you pre-order.

Apple has a long relationship with the (PRODUCT)RED organization, recently working with designer Marc Newson to create several products, including a red Mac Pro, to be auctioned off at an upcoming event in support of the cause on November 23rd.

Apple Stores to implement iBeacon location technology to improve service, boost sales

Mark Gurman Nov 16 2013 - 5:41 pm PT

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Customers entering an Apple Store (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/klingon65/3840822757/in/photolist-6RpdN2-6RtfAW-6RJAHC-6TMNPK-6YaK9g-72ym3y-72ym69-76vgUH-76zcSC-7a46eP-7a46j2-7a46rZ-7a46vV-7a7VFJ-7bk1Cx-7dWBrd-7ebgkw-7fwqc8-7hjdSo-7pJoH8-7pJryH-7pNgDU-7pNhNW-7pNkxW-7rwhLM-7sVwEs-7tYcdD-bqqpoE-bqqqXs-bqqq3L-bDkiMB-bqqqwu-8gRXYQ-dDbgNk-crXJFW-dLxppW-co1G8N-dFMpEd-9SH1T9-bQrD92-aVVDhv-8gRXQC-8gRXR7-8gRXU7-8gNFZz-8gNFZV-8gRXSb-8gNG26-8gNG2H-8gRXTw-8gRXSw/">Photo by Gary Burke</a>)

iOS 7’s flashy launch earlier this year overshadowed a breakthrough new feature: iBeacons, a location-based technology with profound implications for industries such as retail. An iBeacon system could allow a store to install transmitters that would wirelessly connect to an iPhone and tell the phone its location with respect to items on shelves. This iPhone could then perform additional functionality if it is equipped with a specialized application. According to multiple sources, Apple is planning to soon enable just that in its retail stores…
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Apple seeds first OS X Mavericks 10.9.1 beta to developers with focus on Mail, Graphics

Mark Gurman Nov 15 2013 - 12:41 pm PT

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Today, Apple has provided the first seed of the upcoming OS X Mavericks 10.9.1 to registered developers. We previously reported that Apple had seeded the 10.9.1 update to its employees along with a future 10.9.2 release. It’s currently unclear when those operating systems will reach the Macs of customers. Apple asks developers to focus on Mail, Graphics Drivers, and VoiceOver in their testing. Apple previously seeded an update to customers to fix Mavericks Mail problems. The 10.9.1 seed is labeled as build 13B27.