Apple

6,155 'Apple News' stories November 2008 - July 2013

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Apple News and Brief History

Before you can properly understand Apple News, it’s important to know its history. Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976. In 1977, Apple’s sales were growing with the success of its early computers. Within a few years, Jobs and Wozniak hired designers and a production line crew. Apple went public in 1980 and was an instant success. Over the next few years, Apple shipped new computers featuring new graphical user interfaces, such as the original Macintosh in 1984. As the market for personal computers expanded through the 1990s, Apple lost market share to the cheaper Microsoft Windows on PC clones. Eventually, Wozniak and Jobs both left Apple. Jobs would go on to found NeXT and would return to Apple when NeXT was acquired in the late 90s. Apple then began a journey to the great second act in the history of the business world.

Since the release of the iPod in 2001, Apple has become a major player once again in the technology industry. After releasing the iPhone in 2007, the iPad in 2010, and the Apple Watch in 2015, Apple is now one of the largest companies in the world. Apple’s worldwide annual revenue totaled $274.5 billion for its 2020 fiscal year.

Today, Apple operates retail stores all across the world, has a growing services division, and an ever-expanding hardware lineup. The technology industry follows Apple news to see where the company is headed in the future.

Keep reading for the latest Apple news

Apple reports $35.3b revenue for Q3 2013: 31.2m iPhones, 14.6m iPads, 3.8m Macs

Mark Gurman Jul 23 2013 - 1:31 pm PT

As planned, Apple today announced its earnings results for the Q3 2013 quarter.

CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2013 third quarter ended June 29, 2013. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $35.3 billion and quarterly net profit of $6.9 billion, or $7.47 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $35 billion and net profit of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.9 percent compared to 42.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 57 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

The Company sold 31.2 million iPhones, a record for the June quarter, compared to 26 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 14.6 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 17 million in the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 3.8 million Macs, compared to 4 million in the year-ago quarter.

Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $3.05 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on August 15, 2013, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 12, 2013.

Apple reported revenues for Q3 of $35.3 billion, which is within Apple’s estimates for the quarter of between $33.5 billion and $35.5 billion. This compares to $35 billion in revenues in the year-ago Q3.

Apple also reported net profit of $6.9 billion. This compares to $8.8 billion in profit during the year-ago Q3 quarter.

In terms of product sales, Apple reports that it sold 31.2 million iPhones, 14.6 million iPads, 3.8 million Macs, and 4.57 million iPods. This compares to the 2012 Q3 quarter in which Apple sold: 26 million iPhones, 17 million iPads, and 4 million Macs, and 6.8 million iPods.

Apple CEO Tim Cook on the results:

“We are especially proud of our record June quarter iPhone sales of over 31 million and the strong growth in revenue from iTunes, Software and Services,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are really excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014.”

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer on the results:

“We generated $7.8 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter and are pleased to have returned $18.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO.

Apple’s guidance for next quarter (Q3 2013) is revenue between $34 billion and $37 billion.

At 2 PM Pacific time, Apple will hold a broadcasted earnings call. We will conduct a live blog of the call with interesting notes in a separate post. Full press release below:

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Even after disastrous $900M write-down on discounted Surfaces, Microsoft still attacking iPad in new ad [Video]

Zach Kahn Jul 19 2013 - 7:04 am PT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE7AQY5Xk9w&feature=youtu.be

Despite Microsoft’s disastrous quarterly earnings report, in which it took a $900M writedown on discounted Surfaces, the company has just pushed out a new ad for its Surface v. iPad campaign.

As with its previous advertisements, Microsoft bashes the iPad’s inability to perform certain tasks that the Surface is specifically designed to handle. This particular ad highlights the iPad’s lack of built-in back stand, USB port, and keyboard accessory, all of which are not built-in to or included with the iPad.

Interestingly, in this ad, the Siri-inspired voiceover says, “This isn’t going to end well for me, is it? Nope definitely not ending well,” which is particularly intriguing given yesterday’s financial results. As evidenced by these results, it would appear that Microsoft’s Surface is in a precarious position, and not Apple’s iPad.
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Best Buy slashes new Mac prices w/extra savings for students; Haswell Airs start at $849

Seth Weintraub Jul 18 2013 - 3:50 pm PT

From 9to5toys.com:

Best Buy is having a significant College Student sale this week on MacBook Airs, Retina/Pros and iMacs and Students or anyone with a .edu email address get another $100 off the sale prices signing up here. For instance, the entry level Haswell MacBook Air is now $949 and another $100 drops it down to $849, the lowest price we’ve seen by $100.

Haswell MacBook Air prices:

MacBook Air – 11.6″ Display/4GB Memory/128GB Flash Storage:$949.99-$100 students=$849.99 ($150 off)
MacBook Air – 11.6″ Display/4GB Memory/256GB Flash Storage:$1139.99-$100 students=$1039.99 ($170 off)
MacBook Air – 13.3″ Display/4GB Memory/128GB Flash Storage:$1,044.99-$100 students=$944.99 ($155 off)
MacBook Air – 13.3″ Display/4GB Memory/256GB Flash Storage:$1,234.99-$100 students=$1134.99 ($165 off)

Retina MacBook Pro prices:

MacBook Pro Retina 13.3″/8GB Memory/128GB Flash Storage:$1399.99-$100 students=$1299.99 ($200 off)
MacBook Pro Retina 15.4″/8GB Memory/256GB Flash Storage:$2044.99-$100 students=$1944.99 ($255 off)

iMac Prices save $100 across the board and another $100 for students = $200 savings starting at $1100

The MacBook Student $100 off promotion starts today, and will end July 27.
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AppleTV news: 4K panels being bought, friendly studio deals being negotiated & Netflix picks up two Emmy nods

Jordan Kahn Jul 18 2013 - 7:31 am PT

There are a few snippets of AppleTV related news popping up today. The first we take with the usual grain of salt as it comes to us from the often unreliable DigiTimes. The publication has been reporting some more believable stories as of late, but today’s rumor of Apple purchasing 55 and 65-inch Ultra HD TV panels from LG seems to be more rumor than anything else.

Apple has of course been rumored several times to be building a full fledged HDTV to go along with the much expected revamped AppleTV service coming in the the near future. The latest from the usual lineup of analysts points to a launch as early as the end of this year or early 2014. LG and Sharp– two of Apple’s regular display suppliers– would be obvious choices to source panels, but there’s no proof at this point that Apple is beyond the experimenting stage and we’ve heard rumors from more reliable sources ranging from 40-inch to 60-inch in the past.

Next up for today’s AppleTV news is a bit more insight into the company’s current negotiations with cable and media companies. We heard previously that Apple is working with TimeWarner to bring AppleTV integration in the coming weeks, but, according to the NYTimes, its recent hire of Hulu SVP Pete Distad will also come in handy as it negotiates with others for similar apps:
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Apple, Google, and more join forces to request NSA data be made public

Chance Miller Jul 17 2013 - 5:41 pm PT

The NSA’s $2b data centre in Bluffdale, Utah (source: businessweek.com)

After having their reputation damaged by the National Security Agency controversy earlier this year, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and many more are joining forces to demand more transparency regarding NSA requests and surveillance (via AllThingsD).

The 63 companies, investors, and non-profit organizations are pleading with the U.S. government to allow Internet, phone, and other service providers to share the requests that they receive for user data, including:

The number of government requests for information about their users
The number of individuals, accounts, or devices for which information was requested
The number of requests that sought communications content, basic subscriber information, and/or other information.

The companies claim that the NSA request data should be published just like the law enforcement information has been for years.

“Basic information about how the government uses its various law enforcement–related investigative authorities has been published for years without any apparent disruption to criminal investigations,” a copy of the letter reads. “We seek permission for the same information to be made available regarding the government’s national security–related authorities.

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Like iPhone, analysts expecting big drop in YOY growth for iPad sales in Q3

Jordan Kahn Jul 17 2013 - 9:20 am PT

With Apple’s Q3 2013 financial call set to take place later this month on July 23rd and Wall Street expecting near zero revenue growth, today we get a look at what analysts are expecting for iPad sales. With no major product announcements since the introduction of iPad mini and iPad 4 last fall (and only a minor upgrade with the 128GB iPad 4 in January), it’s not all that surprising the consensus from 48 analysts polled by Fortune is that Apple will experience a big drop in growth year-over-year for iPad during the June quarter.

The average estimate of 18.1 million iPad units during Q3 works out to around 6.2% growth compared to 183% and 84% in Q3 2011 and Q2 2012, which some might still consider significant due to the lack of new product announcements and competition from Android tablets:
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Rumored iPhone 5S production shots & specs: IGZO display, fingerprint reader, NFC, 12MP cam

Seth Weintraub Jul 17 2013 - 2:45 am PT

Some unverified news out of China this morning points to new iPhone 5S production shots and specs which don’t seem out of the realm of possibility. The production shots above claim to be of the iPhone 5S, but with the case expected to be identical to the 5, it is hard to tell the difference.

Specs for the iPhone 5S from this same leak include NFC reader (which was taken out of the iPhone 5 late in production we’ve heard), a Fingerprint Reader (which may or may not be causing production delays), Sharp 4-inch 1136×640 (and maybe LG) IGZO display for power savings and better image quality and new 12 megapixel backside camera with dual LED flash.

Other purported improvements include 2GB of RAM, same A6 CPU at a higher clock with improved quad-core SGX 554MP4 (upgrade from the 3-core PowerVR SGX543MP3 in the iPhone 5) and improved LTE. Perhaps the power savings in display will offset the higher power usage needed for this improved hardware. That and a slightly bigger battery.

None of these seem outside of the realm of possibility (which is suspicious), but taken together seem to paint a picture of a dramatically improved iPhone 5S with some pretty incredible sensor improvements.

For those looking at upgrading to the lower cost plastic iPhone, the site also includes shells for those compared to iPhone 5, below (originally from Sonny Dickson):
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Report: Apple mulling $280M purchase of PrimeSense, the Israeli 3D body sensor firm behind Microsoft Kinect

Seth Weintraub Jul 16 2013 - 1:01 am PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXKqIr4cjyo]

A series of reports from Israeli publication Calcalist.co.il claims PrimeSense, the company behind the original Microsoft Kinect’s technology, is in acquisition talks with Apple, somewhere near a valuation in the $280-300M 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.

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.

We’ve heard previously that Apple is working on such 3D gesture interface and may have already been licensing IP from the Israeli firm and/or its competitors. At $280M, Apple may believe it’s better to own this IP and technology rather than let others have access to it in the future.

Apple has its own patents on similar 3D technology and has been working on its own gesture-controlled OS (below).

Microsoft used the sensor technology that PrimeSense developed for its original Kinect, previously known as Project Natal, but has since replaced the technology with its own in-house technology for 3D body mapping and movement.

PrimeSense went on to work with Asus on its WAVI Xtion living room home media controller (video) and has since shrunk chips down to be used in tablets and phones (another area of Apple interest)

PrimeSense was founded in 2005 and is a founding member of OpenNI, an industry-led non-profit organization formed to certify and promote the compatibility and interoperability of Natural Interaction (NI) devices, applications and middleware.

Update: PrimeSense has issued a denial that it is currently in talks to be bought by Apple. As we know with past history surrounding these type of matters, the company’s claims might not mean much.

PrimeSense denies that it's in talks to be acquired by Apple. Story to come.

— Seth Fiegerman (@sfiegerman) July 16, 2013

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Apple continues website redesign, flattens support pages

Jordan Kahn Jul 15 2013 - 6:11 am PT

As noted by several 9to5 readers, Apple has just recently updated its Support pages through Apple.com to better reflect the redesign the rest of the site has been receiving in recent months. Today’s update provides a new design for the majority of support pages available through Apple.com/support, including: Videos, Manuals, Tech Specs, and Downloads.

Apple used to present these pages using a design that was a few generations behind the rest of the site and displayed links in a search result style list. Today’s update brings a flat grid style layout that allows users to select or search for a product in order to find related manuals, videos, tech specs, etc, but also displays search results by product in the grid layout.

Apple.com’s search result pages also get a cleaner look today to match the recent Apple online store design (pictured below).
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Apple investigating electrocution death of Chinese flight attendant while charging iPhone

Ben Lovejoy Jul 15 2013 - 4:52 am PT

The South China Morning Post is reporting that Apple is investigating reports that a Chinese flight attendant was fatally electrocuted when getting out of the bath to answer a call on her iPhone 5 while it was plugged into the charger.

A spokeswoman for the technology company said: “We are deeply saddened to learn of this tragic incident and offer our condolences to the … family. We will fully investigate and co-operate with authorities in this matter.”

According to mainland media reports, Ma Ailun, a 23-year-old flight attendant with China Southern Airlines, was picking up her iPhone 5 to answer a call while the battery was being charged when she was electrocuted and killed …
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Microsoft reorg takes Apple-like approach to increase collaboration between hardware, software, services

Jordan Kahn Jul 11 2013 - 9:33 am PT

Much like Apple organizes its executive and engineering teams around functions and services rather than specific products, Microsoft is today unveiling its plans to reorganize its divisions and bring together its various hardware and software teams. According to an email sent to employees from CEO Steve Ballmer and published on the company’s website, the move will see Microsoft bring together its separate teams from Windows, Xbox, Office and elsewhere and reassign managers to oversee broader engineering, marketing and finance groups:
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….and here are your plastic iPhone volume controls in Green, Red, Blue and Yellow

9to5 Staff Jul 11 2013 - 3:35 am PT

All of these could be knockoffs of course as we’ve said countless times since news of the plastic iPhone is months old and Chinese companies are already confirmed to be building Android knockoffs. BenjaminTech via Gene

More iPhone plastic shells in Yellow, Green, Gray, Blue and Red (9to5mac.com)
More leaked photos & concept of purported plastic iPhone shells in colors hit the web (9to5mac.com)
Plastic iPhone case put together in high quality video/gallery (9to5mac.com)
Company selling makeshift plastic iPhone hardware running Android (9to5google.com)
iOS 7 includes the ability to control your iPhone or iPad using head movements (9to5mac.com)
The next iPhone’s cool-factor: a slow-motion camera? (9to5mac.com)
More alleged leaked photos of plastic iPhone shells now show blue variety (9to5mac.com)
Sketchy photos claim to show backplate for rumored low-cost iPhone, iPad 5 schematics (9to5mac.com)
iPhone takes top customer satisfaction slot in Samsung’s home turf of South Korea (9to5mac.com)
Reuters: Apple building a $100 iPhone in a variety of colors, planning 5-inch iPhablets for next year (9to5mac.com)

More iPhone plastic shells in Yellow, Green, Gray, Blue and Red

Seth Weintraub Jul 10 2013 - 4:45 am PT

.

Personally, I like these better. In fact, since we released our mockups 4 months ago, it has created a lot of time for knockoff makers to manufacture their own, in no way guaranteeing these or any of the others below are from Apple. via @sonnydickson

Plastic iPhone case put together in high quality video/gallery (9to5mac.com)
More alleged leaked photos of plastic iPhone shells now show blue variety (9to5mac.com)
Sketchy photos claim to show backplate for rumored low-cost iPhone, iPad 5 schematics (9to5mac.com)
What iOS7 looks like (and other tidbits) (9to5mac.com)
Company selling makeshift plastic iPhone hardware running Android (9to5google.com)
Rumor: Cheaper iPhone is being tested in a plethora of colors, will be produced July-September (9to5mac.com)
The next iPhone’s cool-factor: a slow-motion camera? (9to5mac.com)
Reuters: Apple building a $100 iPhone in a variety of colors, planning 5-inch iPhablets for next year (9to5mac.com)
Will the Plastic iPhone knock the iPhone 4S out of this year’s free iPhone pattern? (9to5mac.com)
New iPhone 5S photos reveal little new about the device (9to5mac.com)

Customers reporting volume fluctuations when playing videos on latest MacBook Air

Ben Lovejoy Jul 10 2013 - 4:31 am PT

Customers on the Apple Support Communities forum are reporting fluctuating audio volumes when playing videos on the new mid-2013 13-inch MacBook Air in a thread which has attracted 83 replies.

The problem seems to be a system issue rather than app-related, being reported in iTunes, QuickTime, VLC, Hulu, Vevo and when watching web videos in both Safari and Chrome – but doesn’t seem to affect all videos. It has also been reported that the issue persists when running Mavericks …

Several customers report that Apple is keen to get hold of affected machines so that it can identify the cause.

tbrumleve wrote: After being contacted by an AppleCare rep today, they do not yet have a fix. They are very interested in getting a hold of the affected hardware, and are willing to send a replacement immediately. However, they cannot guarantee it won’t have the same problem.

This is the second issue to reportedly affect the new MacBook Air, after widespread reports of wifi problems. In that case, Apple issued an update to the wifi software. However, 83 posts in a thread live for several weeks suggests that while the audio issue is affecting a significant minority of machines, it is likely less prevalent that the wifi issue.

Thanks, Aikiharvey.

Microsoft hits Apple’s iPad with another TV ad about multitasking

Mark Gurman Jul 9 2013 - 3:07 pm PT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG0yZLEPN_Y&feature=youtu.be

Microsoft is continuing its Windows 8 vs iPad TV commercial series by airing a new ad squarely focused on the multitasking capabilities in Windows 8 (via Tom Warren). On Windows 8 tablet devices, users can work in two apps side-by-side. Microsoft demonstrates this comparison in terms of work: agents communicating about baseball player prospects to their offices. Interestingly, MLB.com digital head said this earlier this year: “There’s no other [mobile platform]. It’s Apple and it’s Android.”

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Once again, Tim Cook to attend Sun Valley conference for tech/media execs

Mark Gurman Jul 8 2013 - 3:09 pm PT

Apple CEO Tim Cook will attend this year’s Sun Valley conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Idaho, according to a report from Reuters. This is not unprecedented as Cook made a surprise appearance at the conference last year.

Other notable executive attendees include Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sergey Bring and Larry Page, Disney CEO and Apple Directory Bob Iger, and News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch.

The conference is well-known as being a place where major deals, acquisitions, and partnerships will be formed. Time will tell if Cook plans to make any deals at this year’s event.

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Video: Hands-on with the UI tweaks in iOS 7 beta 3

Michael Steeber Jul 8 2013 - 12:07 pm PT

We have already rounded up what’s new in iOS 7 beta 3 with a full change log and screenshots, and now we have created a full video hands-on to demonstrate the interface changes. As iOS 7 gets closer to shipping this fall, Apple continues to tighten up the user interface with subtle tweaks.

Video below:

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Digitimes: iPad 5 on for September while Apple still considers Retina iPad mini with even slimmer bezel

Chance Miller Jul 8 2013 - 6:43 am PT

In a new report, the hit-or-miss Digitimes shares some very unsurprising details about the next full-sized iPad: a slimmer bezel design and a single LED light tube to power the display. Back in January, we posted photos of shells for the next full-sized iPad, making claims of a slimmer, iPad-mini like bezel unsurprising.

As for a single LED light tube, the current fourth-generation iPad uses two tubes, and this makes the device slightly thicker overall than the preceding iPad design found in the iPad 2. It seems somewhat obvious that Apple would need to reduce the amount of lighting internals in order to reach a thinner form-factor.

While Digitimes shares some unsurprising tidbits, the site also shares some unrealistic claims: the new report says the fifth-generation iPad will include a larger viewing area and better battery life. In terms of a larger viewing area, we feel that it is unlikely that the iPad’s screen size will grow in this new fifth-generation model. If Apple were to ever make a larger iPad, it seems probable that this would be an entirely new model. It also seems likely that the Digitimes report is referring to the ratio of the 9.7-inch screen size to the overall face of the product due to the slimmer bezel. In that regard, yes, the iPad 5 will feature a larger viewing area than previous iPads with thicker front faces.

As for improved battery life, Digitimes, in the past, has mixed up new battery chemistry with end-results. For instance, the third and fourth generation iPads need much larger and versatile battery systems in order to power the high-resolution Retina display. Digitimes, before the third-generation iPad launched, correctly indicated that the new iPad would sport improved batteries. However, the iPad still gets 10 hours as the bigger batteries balance out with the new pixels. Perhaps a similar situation will occur with this next-generation iPad.

Nontheless, the site says the next iPad is on for September with production inching closer:

Although suppliers have not yet received a firm mass production schedule from Apple and are mainly shipping products for pilot production, the sources pointed out that pilot production is already able to satisfy demand for the initial launch. Therefore, the sources expect Apple to give its shipment estimates at the end of July or early August.

However, the iPad mini’s features seem a bit less certain:

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Review: Just Mobile’s AluDisc for iMac and Thunderbolt Display

Mark Gurman Jul 7 2013 - 6:00 pm PT

Just Mobile is known for making accessories built from high quality materials, like aluminum, that nicely match the designs of Apple’s recent hardware products. However, some of their products seemed to have focused on function over form, rather than a mix of both. However, over the past few weeks, I have been using their AluDisc accessory for the Apple Thunderbolt Display, LED Cinema Display, and iMac, and I have found the accessory to be a nice, helpful addition to any workspace with those large Apple screens.

The AluDisc is a high-quality, seemingly well-built pedestal that allows you to easily and quickly rotate your display. During my daily workflow, I need to consistently pull USB and Thunderbolt cables out and in of the back of my Thunderbolt Display. Usually, to accomplish this task, I need to manually rotate my display. This is not a truly complex task, but the AluDisc actually makes this process extremely quick and easy. The disc can spins 360 degrees, making it simple to rotate my display.

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Irish authorities won’t grill Apple & Google over offshore tax practices

Jordan Kahn Jul 5 2013 - 10:17 am PT

Unlike the U.S. and EU, Irish authorities won’t be forcing representatives from Apple and Google to answer questions on their tax practices after a motion to do so was voted down this week by the Irish parliamentary committee. The news, first reported by TheRegister, follows Apple CEO Tim Cook’s testimony before a U.S. Senate hearing in May and Ireland’s denial of “a special two-percent rate” at the center of controversy surrounding Apple’s over shore tax practices:

The subcommittee is already scheduled to hear from the OECD, the Department of Finance, tax authority the Revenue Commissioner and academics, but Doherty wanted the option to also call representatives from firms like Google and Apple, which have already been quizzed in Blighty and the US.

“Given the fact that multinational corporations have appeared at committees in Britain and the United States to give evidence about their tax affairs in Ireland, it is ridiculous that politicians here in Ireland would vote down a proposal for them to do the same here,” he said in a statement after the vote went against him.“If the committee is to do its job properly it is important that it is free to invite the relevant people and companies to provide all the relevant information.”

In late May, the EU Tax Commissioner called for an end to tax havens following Apple’s testimony before the U.S. Senate, while the U.K. and other EU member states have also questioned Apple and other large multinationals on their tax practies. Irish authorities planned to investigate the issue as well, but now it appears Apple and other companies won’t be dragged into the process.

Apple details Waze-like crowd-sourced route ratings and incident reporting for real-time traffic alerts in Maps

Jordan Kahn Jul 4 2013 - 5:48 am PT

According to a new Apple patent application published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (via AppleInsider), Apple is looking into new mapping features that would integrate real-time, crowd-sourced traffic and navigation data through ratings and user reporting.

At first glance the features appear to be similar to those included in the community-based mapping app ‘Waze’, which is one of the reasons that Google just acquired the company last month. The patent application, titled “User-Specified Route Rating and Alerts,” describes a system for users to “provide ratings for routes, streets and/or locations.” In other words, users can rate a suggested route when getting directions in order to provide crowd-sourced feedback to Apple and in return Apple will provide the most efficient and accurate routes to other users based on the ratings:

Particular implementations provide at least the following advantages: Route determination is improved by accounting for real-world considerations and concerns of travelers. Real-time user-generated alerts allow for faster and more accurate notification of events within proximity of a user that might hinder the user’s progress as the user travels… In some implementations, rating database 110 can store information related to users’ ratings of routes and/or locations. For example, a user of mobile device 102 can interact with navigation engine 104 to provide ratings for routes and/or locations. The ratings information provided by the user can be transmitted to navigation service 106 through network 114. Navigation service 106 can store the ratings information in rating database 110 and route engine can determine routes based on the ratings information stored in rating database 110.

Apple also walks through a process of gathering user-generated alerts for routes including accident reports, road closures, etc. Apple plans on taking all the alert and route rating data and providing it to other users in real-time to improve route directions. In other words, if your device is detected to be in the same location as a user-generated alert, Apple will be able to push that alert to your device or suggest an alternate route based on the incident that’s been reported:

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Apple granted new patent that could add touch controls to the bezel

Chance Miller Jul 2 2013 - 6:45 am PT

Apple has just been granted a patent for a new technology that could bring touch controls to the bezel of a device with a small display (via AppleInsider). The technology would be able to dynamically change between a place to simply hold onto the device with and an area for controls. Apple describes it as an “Electronic device, display and touch-sensitive user interface” and says the technology is centered around a layered stack of touch sensors and displays around the edge(s) of a device that could be selectively activated and deactivated.

For example, with the iPad mini, Apple wanted to get the 7.85-inch display in as small a package as possible, which meant a smaller bezel. A smaller bezel meant that it would be harder to hold without accidentally touching the display. To solve this, Apple developed a technology that was able to detect accidental touches versus intentional touches. This new patent could lead to a bezel that could only be present when needed and other times it could be used for controls or could even blend in with everything else and create a true full-screen appearance, ideal for gaming and consuming content.
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Spotify for iOS gets ‘Discover’ feature, editable playlists, new icon and more

Jordan Kahn Jul 2 2013 - 6:09 am PT

Spotify updated its iOS app today with a few new features, one of which is a brand new ‘Discover’ experience that is rolling out to all users as we speak. As you might expect, the feature allows users to discover content based on their previous listening habits, and is of course a nice feature to have as Apple prepares to roll out its iTunes Radio service with built in Genius features.

Also included in today’s update for Spotify is a brand new logo and the ability to edit playlists directly on your iPhone. Spotify noted that “a shiny, new Now Playing view, featuring the ‘Up Next’ queue” is available now on iPhone and rolling out to all users soon.

A full list of what else is new and fixed in today’s release is below:

What’s New in Version 0.7.1

• New: Ever find yourself wondering what to play on Spotify? Introducing the new Discover experience on iPhone. (Coming soon to everyone.)
• New: A shiny, new Now Playing view, featuring the ‘Up Next’ queue on iPhone. (Again, rolling out to everyone soon.)
• New: Say hello to our new logo.
• New: You can now edit your playlists on your iPhone.
• Improved: We’ve changed the order of the iPhone search tabs. Now it’s Artists, Albums, Tracks. (iPhone/iPod only.)
• Improved: We’ve moved the … context menu button in the Playlist and Album views to the top right of the screen. It’s better there. (iPhone/iPod only.)
• Fixed: Ford integration now works correctly when your iPhone/iPod is set to a language other than English.
• Fixed: In your playlist folders, “All Tracks” will now show you the actual number of tracks.
• Fixed: We’ve sorted lots of crash issues too.
• Fixed: The unread messages in your inbox will now update correctly.
• Fictitious: This app shares 73% of its DNA with bees.

Apple expands ‘iWatch’ trademark filing world tour to Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey, Colombia

Mark Gurman Jul 1 2013 - 6:19 pm PT

<a href="http://9to5mac.com/2013/03/12/more-interesting-iwatch-concepts-imagine-ios-on-the-smaller-screen-curved-displays/">iWatch Concept Art</a>

In addition to filing a trademark for the name “iWatch” in Russia and Japan, Apple has requested a trademark for “iWatch” with Mexico’s Institute of Industrial Property. The Mexico-based filing was made public in recent days, but the request was originally filed on June 3rd. Apple filed the iWatch trademark under two categories relating to the hardware and software of mobile devices, according to the submitted documents. Apple’s submitted “iWatch” graphic in the filing:

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