Apple

6,153 'Apple News' stories November 2008 - March 2013

See All Stories

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

Sony and Philips-backed Intertrust sues Apple over security and trusted computing patents

Jordan Kahn Mar 20 2013 - 11:13 am PT

Apple is the target of a new patent infringement suit filed today by Intertrust—a company backed by Sony and Philips that has licensed its patents to many companies in the past including Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft, HTC, Motorola, and others. The Wall Street Journal noted Philips and Sony each hold a 49.5-percent stake in the company that previously settled with Microsoft in 2004 for $440 million related to a patent infringement case.

The announcement from Intertrust on its website doesn’t mention the specific patents or technologies involved in the suit, but it claims Apple products, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Macs, iCloud and iTunes, infringe on 15 Intertrust patents related to “security and distributed trusted computing.”

The lawsuit accuses Apple of making products and services that infringe on 15 Intertrust patents on security and distributed trusted computing. The lawsuit covers a broad range of key Apple products and services including iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad, Mac computers and laptops, Apple TV, and services including iTunes, iCloud, and the Apple App Store.

“Apple makes many great products that use Intertrust’s inventions,” said Talal Shamoon, Intertrust’s chief executive officer. “Our patents are foundational to modern Internet security and trusted computing, and result from years of internal research and development. We are proud of our record of peaceful and constructive licensing with industry leaders. We find it regrettable that we are forced to seek Court assistance to resolve this matter.”

Police arrest Polish gypsy crime ring targeting Apple/electronics stores responsible for $3M in loot

Jordan Kahn Mar 19 2013 - 8:59 am PT

SiliconValley.com reported police in Torrance, Calif. have arrested four suspects claiming to be part of a “Gypsy family” from Poland that is responsible for targeting Apple retail stores and other electronics retailers across the country. The group is accused of stealing around $3 million in property over the last year, and police have so far recovered more than $20,000 worth of Apple products:

The suspected thieves arrested March 8 in Hawthorne are believed responsible for 17 crimes at Apple (AAPL) stores in Manhattan Beach, Pasadena, Canoga Park, Glendale, Brea, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Irvine, along with a MacMall in Torrance, a Microsoft store in Mission Viejo, and other businesses across Los Angeles and Orange counties, including Best Buy, Costco, PetSmart, Sam’s Club, Sports Authority and Wal-Mart, Torrance police Sgt. Robert Watt said.

During the crime and others like it, the men would stand in a position to block employees from seeing the women behind them. The men selected items from shelves and passed it to the women, who would hide it inside their oversized dresses and overcoats, and purses, Watt said.

Once the suspects were arrested, police recovered more than $20,000 worth of Apple products, Watt said.

Smartwatch race is on as Samsung confirms it’s in the game

Ben Lovejoy Mar 19 2013 - 5:08 am PT

Samsung has confirmed to Bloomberg the rumors that it’s working on a smartwatch to rival the widely-speculated Apple iWatch.

Known for being a ‘fast follower’, a company that, er, watches what others do and aims to quickly launch a competitive product, Samsung appears to be following Apple’s lead in revealing nothing at all about the device: no feature-list, no visuals, no price, no launch-date. Samsung’s executive vice president of mobile business Lee Young Hee said only: “We’ve been preparing the watch product for so long. We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.” Thanks for that, Samsung.

The alleged screenshots that appeared last month on Slashgear suggested a 500×500-pixel touchscreen device running a new operating system supposedly named AltiusOS.

The smartwatch market is estimated to be worth $60 billion a year. Just to put that in perspective, that’s about 16 percent of the $358 billion handset market. Marshal Cohen, an analyst at NPD Group in Port Washington, told Bloomberg: “We’re going to see formidable competition coming from many different directions — from device makers, accessory makers, even fashion designers.”

Laurence Balter, chief investment strategist at Oracle Investment Research, said he believed Apple’s strategy should be to use the iWatch as an affordable entry into the Apple ecosystem, generating sales for its more expensive products. “If I were Apple, I’d strategically price the watch as low as possible to bring as many as possible into the ecosystem,” he said.

It’s expected that most smart watches will follow Pebble’s lead in making the device a Bluetooth accessory to a phone and not a standalone gadget, but there has been speculation that the iWatch will run iOS, potentially allowing it to perform useful functions without a link to an iPhone.

Funny or Die to release ‘iSteve’ biopic starring Justin Long as Steve Jobs

Jordan Kahn Mar 18 2013 - 11:42 am PT

Following reports last week that the release of the upcoming Ashton Kutcher “Jobs” biopic has been delayed, The New York Times reported Funny or Die is set to release its own Steve Jobs biopic featuring Justin Long of Mac vs. PC fame. The film titled “iSteve” is scheduled to be unveiled online on April 15 and will be a 60- to 75-minute film starring Long in the lead role as Jobs:

Making fun of Mr. Jobs, the Apple co-founder who died in 2011 and who is considered a deity by many people (at least in the tech world), is a risky proposition, even if done gently. But Allison Hord, who produced “iSteve,” said the tone was such that “even the harshest fanboy critics will be able to laugh with us.”

“In true Internet fashion, it’s not based on very thorough research — essentially a cursory look at the Steve Jobs Wikipedia page,” said Ryan Perez, who wrote and directed “iSteve.” “It’s very silly. But it looks at his whole life.”

New concepts imagine the low-cost iPhone in 4 and 4.5-inch variants, multiple colors

Jordan Kahn Mar 18 2013 - 11:31 am PT

iPhoneclub.nl has partnered with concept artist Martin Hajek on this latest round of mock-ups that imagines the much-rumored, low-cost iPhone based on some of the recent rumors floating around. More realistic is the red version, as it includes a 4-inch display, polycarbonate backside, and some of the other rumored changes such as the positioning of ports and openings. We also get a larger 4.5-inch version in blue, which is something most analysts don’t expect to see on an iPhone until at least 2014.

iOS devs give in-depth look at advantages of Apple’s MapKit vs Google Maps SDK

Jordan Kahn Mar 18 2013 - 9:33 am PT

FastCompany today posted an in-depth look at the differences between Apple’s MapKit and Google’s recently launched Google Maps for iOS SDK from the perspective of developers. The lengthy piece gets insight from several iOS app developers with apps that rely on the SDKs and sheds some light on a few things that Apple is doing much better than Google despite a perception from users that Google Maps are superior:

“Google doesn’t currently charge for the Places API, but they do require a valid credit card for access–which gives you a quota of 100,000 daily requests. So you have to wonder if they plan to start charging sooner or later,” McKinlay explains. “That 100,000 limit perhaps sounds reasonable, but each user session can generate many requests–particularly when using the ‘autocomplete’ feature of Tube Tamer–and some types of requests count for 10 times the quota each, so it can get used up pretty quickly.”

While noting that Google wins out with location lookup services, 3D buildings, directions, geocoding, and better hybrid satellite imagery, the developers were also quick to point out downsides of the Google Maps SDK such as quotas for the Places API, an increased app size, and limitations with markers, gradient polylines, and overlays.

Developer of transportation app Tube Tamer, Bryce McKinlay, discussed some of the benefits of using Apple’s MapKit:

“Subjectively, the current version of the [Google] SDK does not perform as well as MapKit,” McKinlay says. “GMSMapView’s frame rate is capped at 30fps, which is lower than typical for iOS and results in a slight but noticeable ‘jitter’ effect when panning and zooming the map. Drawing of labels and POIs sometimes lags behind if you pan quickly, even on a fast device like the iPhone 5.”

“The fact that annotations in MapKit are UIViews also means that animation and other effects can be applied easily using Core Animation, which isn’t currently possible with the Google Maps SDK approach,” McKinlay says. He also points out that MapKit has some other handy features that Google’s SDK currently lacks, like “Follow user location” and “Follow with heading” modes. “MapKit provides a button that automatically moves the map to follow the user’s location, and rotates the map according to the compass heading. This is very helpful for pedestrian navigation. It is possible to implement this manually in Google’s SDK, but it adds extra development time/effort.”

It looks like some developers feel Google has some work to do with their Maps SDK for iOS. While Apple isn’t free of its own issues with MapKit, developers will definitely want to read Fast Company’s entire post before deciding which solution will be best for their app. The developers ultimately end up recommending MapKit over Google’s Maps SDK for the majority of developers.

9to5Toys Daily Deals Tool, ‘Specials’ and Free Otterbox Armor iPhone cases contest

9to5 Staff Mar 16 2013 - 9:44 am PT

We have some exciting 9to5Toys.com announcements for our US readers today.

1. We’ve teamed up with Stack Social to launch Specials.9to5toys.com which will feature new software and hardware specials for Apple ecosystem folks every day. Some examples:

2. Specials will headline our new 1 minute Daily Deals Aggregator. This is one of the tools the 9to5Toys Team uses to scout out the best deals on the web. Now we’re releasing it to the public.

Every Day, you get the best 36 retail Daily Deals on the net including: Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, MacMall, MacConnection, Woot, 1SaleaDay, Sears, NewEgg, eBay, Apple Refurbs and many others. The page gets updated every hour and is super-cached for speedy browsing. Checking all 36 Daily Deals only takes a minute using the ^ and v arrow keys.

Bookmark the 1 Minute Daily Deals page now and you are guaranteed to save some money.

3. To celebrate the launch, we’re teaming up with AT&T to offer 3 of new $99 OtterBox Armor Series iPhone 5 cases in White, Black and Gray. We will award one on each of the three major social platforms: FACEBOOK, TWITTER and GOOGLE+. Just Follow/Like/Circle 9to5Toys (if you haven’t already) and Tweet/Like/+1 this post to enter. We’ll pick winners on Monday.

Speaking of contests, our $49.99 Parallels 8 Bundle (expires this weekend, details below) winners were picked; congrats to Robert, Tyler and TK!
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple patents unlikely SmartCover wireless charging system

Jordan Kahn Mar 14 2013 - 6:42 am PT

However unlikely—the United States Patent and Trademark office today published an Apple patent application that details a system of inductively charging an iPad through the Smart Cover. The idea is that rather than plugging in the iPad, the Smart Cover would include an inductive power transmitter that would allow it to pair with an inductive power transceiver embedded into the iPad. The result is the Smart Cover would become a wireless charging station, connecting to an external power source, and allowing you to power your iPad in various positions. Apple also explained that it could use “ambient power gathering devices, such as solar cells, can be used to gather ambient power (such as sunlight) to be stored internally in the flap for later inductive transfer.”

A method for wireless powering a tablet device, comprising: determining if a protective cover is in a closed configuration with respect to the tablet device; enabling a wireless power receiver circuit in the tablet device when it is determined that the protective cover is in the closed configuration with respect to the tablet device; and wirelessly receiving power from a wireless power transmitter associated with the protective cover.

Apple described the advanced Smart Cover as including multiple power transmitters to allow the iPad to charge even when using the case, for example, as a stand to prop up the device. Alternatively, the cover could continue charging the device when in the closed position or when an iPad is placed on top:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Staples to begin selling iPhone, iPad, and MacBooks too?

Jordan Kahn Mar 13 2013 - 10:33 am PT

After it began selling Apple accessories including Apple TV, Airports, and more through its online store last month, Staples now appears to be gearing up to possibly sell other Apple products including iPhone, iPad and Macs. While we already knew that the company was planning on bringing the accessories to its brick and mortar locations, today MacRumors posted the internal document above showing Staples is also training sales staff on the iPhone, iPad, and MacBooks.

The training materials have a completion date of March 26 or 27, and with Staples already confirming plans to bring Apple TV and other products to stores by early next month, it’s a possibility other iOS devices and MacBooks could be included in the roll out. We’ll keep you updated if we get official word from the company.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Another impressive lock screen mod shows how much innovation is possible from Apple in iOS 7

Jordan Kahn Mar 11 2013 - 7:25 am PT

We recently showed you some of the possible innovative and or highly requested new features Apple could add in the next version of iOS. It’s unclear whether Jony Ive’s new software design responsibilities will lead to a radically new design for iOS 7, but many features of iOS are becoming more and more outdated with every slick new jailbreak tweak that gets released. One example is the lock screen—something that new jailbreak tweak Peekly aims to revamp.

Peekly brings weather, a selection of clocks, and a 3-month calendar in a two-page theme that reimagines the lock screen:

Peekly is a 2 page lockscreen theme for iOS. On the first page, you get the time and date. Currently you can choose between the default clock, a digital clock or no clock/date at all. More clocks coming soon! Dragging your lockscreen to the right will allow you to “Peek” at a 3 month calendar. This is the default peek. You can currently choose to put in a Twitter feed, yourGoogle Calendar events or an RSS feed. More options will be added soon. Swiping the lockscreen to the left will bring you to page 2, which has today’s weather. “Peeking” to the left on this page will show you a 4 day forecast.

Review: Mophie’s iPhone 5 Juice Pack Helium and Air battery cases compared

Mark Gurman Mar 10 2013 - 9:11 pm PT

Over the past few weeks, Mophie has released two new battery cases for the iPhone 5: the Juice Pack Helium (above, right) and the Juice Pack Air (above, left). Both cases are similar in functionality, but both offer their own unique pros and cons. Read on after the break for our reviews.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple’s eBay store offers significantly better deals on Apple.com refurbs (and that’s before tax+payment advantages)

Élyse Betters Mar 8 2013 - 10:06 am PT

9to5Mac first broke the news that Apple sold refurbished merchandise through its own eBay store last year, equipped with the same price tags, full warranties, and approved inspections, and now the company has dropped prices on many of those items below what it offers at store.apple.com.

9to5Toys and eventually Dealnews recently noticed a $100 price cut for Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air with 1.8GHz i5 and 128GB of storage (now over). It costs $100 more at store.apple.com for the same refurbished unit.

An even better eBay deal has emerged today: Apple’s 11.6-inch MacBook Air with 1.8GHz, 4GB SDRAM and 256GB SSD is only $949. It’s certified refurbished unite, while the same refurb model goes for $1,059 on Apple.com, and the 256GB MacBook Airs start at $1,299 new. All items come with free standard shipping, and eBay adds sales tax for only a few states at purchase and allows folks to pay with PayPal and BillMeLater.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Wahwah, Viddy, Launch Center Pro, Audible’s Audiobooks, Punch Quest, and price drops

Élyse Betters Mar 8 2013 - 9:21 am PT

9to5Mac has once again scoured the App Store for all the latest app launches, price drops, noteworthy news, and updates, and we have compiled everything in a roundup below. Check it out, but keep coming back as we continually refresh the list throughout the day.

New

1. Wahwah | Free
Wahwah is a personalized radio service that just landed in the App Store, and it offers a catalogue of more than 15 million songs and allows users to discover the perfect song for working, running, cycling, driving, etc. Users can notably check-in to their location, type in the name of an artist, browse custom stations, or select recommended music, while Wahwah sees who is around, taps into their music, and then offers users the ability to simultaneously listen together and interact via chat.

Updated

1. Viddy | Free
Version 2.1.1 of this Instagram-like app for videos went live today with the ability to handle 30-second clips, pause recordings for multiple-segment filming, toggle brightness, contrast and volume, and simulate stop-motion capture. The updated app also features 15 new filters, all new music tracks, simplified video descriptions, swipe-based navigation, new Explore section, geo-feeds with video discovery, Home feed with user preferences, YouTube annotations, and support for 16 new languages.

: Viddy

: Viddy

: Viddy

More apps and updates below.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Gogo: Apple and its iPads dominate in-flight internet usage

Seth Weintraub Mar 8 2013 - 3:52 am PT

Gogo published the above infographic yesterday on the state of devices using its in-flight network that covers the air over much of North America.

Interestingly, Google’s Chromebooks currently offer free usage of Gogo’s in-flight wireless service yet tablets out number laptops (and by tablets we’re talking iPads). While Apple still owns 84 percent of the device market, Android is gaining some ground after climbing from a 3.2-percent low in 2011 to a 16-percent share in 2013.

Blackberry and Windows Phone? Combined, they don’t make up .02-percent of the share.

(via Daring Fireball)

The ‘Apple to use Qualcomm CPUs in low cost iPhone’ rumor circles around the globe

Seth Weintraub Mar 8 2013 - 3:10 am PT

In January, anonymous U.S. analysts at Detwiler Fenton postulated that Apple could save a few bucks on a low-cost iPhone by using a Qualcomm Snapdragon integrated processors that place the CPU and wireless processors on the same die.

“It is likely that the work with QCOM is being driven by AAPL’s concern regarding maintaining gross margins as well as the need to differentiate the product by performance,” the research firm (which shuns putting the spotlight on particular analysts) said in a research note. “AAPL would not want a value priced iPhone to offer the same kind of graphics and video support, processing power etc. that its premium priced device would, therefore a less powerful lower-end Snapdragon integrated solution would help segment the product.”

At the time, the idea of Apple using Qualcomm processors and not its own perhaps older-model processors seemed preposterous. Sure, Apple uses Qualcomm 4G radio chips extensively, but its own processors now power the ‘free with a plan iPhone 4’ and the prospect of reworking the OS to work with a new off-the-shelf Qualcomm processor instead of in-house solutions still seems extremely unlikely.

The rumor seemed to have died, but the ‘iPhone Math’ translation experts at the China Times republished it. The rumor was then picked up by Macotakara in Japan, and is now back stateside, but it is no more likely this time around.

In fact, the original analysts —with the statement “AAPL would not want a value priced iPhone to offer the same kind of graphics and video support, processing power etc. that its premium priced device would, therefore a less powerful lower-end Snapdragon integrated solution would help segment the product”— seemed to have no knowledge of Apple’s wide range of A4, A5, and A6 processors or wide range of iPhones in which those processors currently reside.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Solavei, the T-Mobile MVNO with the interesting affiliate program now carries iPhone 5 nano SIMs on its unlimited $49/m plan

Jordan Kahn Mar 6 2013 - 11:38 am PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsksFtWhupc&feature=player_embedded]

Solavei, the T-Mobile MVNO offering $49-per-month unlimited on the carrier’s newly enhanced HSPA+ network, today announced the availability of nano SIM cards for unlocked iPhone 5 owners. That means iPhone 5 customers will now be able to sign up to the unlimited voice, text, and data plans by purchasing a nano SIM direct from Solavei for $9.

Solavei®, an affordable contract-free mobile service provider, today announces the availability of nano SIM cards, compatible with the iPhone 5, and widening the company’s phone compatibility to include all major smartphones. For $49 per month, members can now bring popular phones such as Apple’s iPhone 5, Samsung’s Galaxy SIII or Google’s Nexus 4 to Solavei and enjoy unlimited voice, text and data mobile service.

For those unfamiliar, on top of unlimited $49 per month plans, Solavei offers users the ability to offset their bills by earning monthly income from recommending others to the service. For every three users you sign up, the carrier will put $20 toward your monthly bill. Signing up an additional six will pay your entire bill and earn you a bit of extra money. Solavei said it uses the system in lieu of traditional advertising and noted it has paid out over $6.5 million through the program:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Swatch CEO on rumored iWatch sounds a lot like Palm CEO before iPhone destroyed it

Jordan Kahn Mar 6 2013 - 8:40 am PT

Nick Hayek, CEO of Swiss watchmaker Swatch, said today during a press conference for the company’s annual results that he doesn’t see a smart watch product from Apple being the “next revolution.” We can’t help but be reminded of Palm CEO Ed Colligan’s comments before the iPhone hit:

“We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,” Ed Colligan apparently laughed about with John Markoff last Thursday morning. “PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.”

Hayek’s main reasoning is difficulty delivering compelling content on such a small display, something the company has explored with its Paparazzi line of watches in collaboration with Microsoft:

“Personally, I don’t believe it’s the next revolution,” the chief of the largest Swiss watchmaker said at a press conference on annual results in Grenchen, Switzerland. “Replacing an iPhone with an interactive terminal on your wrist is difficult. You can’t have an immense display.”

Hayek also reasoned that consumers often buy watches as a piece of jewelry and like to change them on any given day. The CEO claimed that Swatch has had talks with Apple over the years regarding “materials for products and so-called energy harvesting technology that would generate energy from physical movement.” Bloomberg reported earlier this year that Apple had a team of over 100 product designers working on a wristwatch-like device and more recently said Apple would launch its watch product some time this year.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google and Apple stock prices in 2013 look like a zero-sum game

Élyse Betters Mar 6 2013 - 7:52 am PT

AAPL stock has been in the news a lot lately, whether it comes to Warren Buffett’s opinion on buy-backs, the issue of preferred stock, or even its teetering market cap, but a closer look at the company’s NASDAQ fluctuation over the last year oddly shows a parallel to GOOG.

The graph above illustrates both Apple and Google’s highs and lows since September 2012, and, for the most part, they clearly mirror each other. The companies notably entered the zero-sum game in December 2012 and have continued this trend to present day.

The graph above is a more micro look at 2013, and it shows, again, that Google goes up every time Apple goes down.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple asks judge to throw out app monopoly lawsuit, says there’s ‘nothing illegal’ about a closed system

Jordan Kahn Mar 6 2013 - 6:44 am PT

Apple asked a federal judge today to throw out a lawsuit originally filed in 2011 that claimed the company has a monopoly over iOS apps by not allowing iPhone users access to an “aftermarket” of applications. Bloomberg reported that U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers did not resolve the matter today, but Apple’s lawyer Dan Wall argued Apple’s “closed” system doesn’t violate antitrust laws:

Apple doesn’t set the price for paid applications, and charging a price for distribution of a product on a new and unique platform doesn’t violate any antitrust laws, said Dan Wall, Apple’s attorney, at yesterday’s court hearing in Oakland, California.

“There’s nothing illegal about creating a system that is closed in a sense,” Wall told U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.

“Can a consumer go somewhere else to buy Angry Birds for the iPhone?” asked Alexander Schmidt, an attorney representing seven consumers who sued. “If the answer is no, then Apple is a monopolist.”

iPhone 5 coming soon to regional carrier Strata Networks covering Idaho, Utah and Colorado

Jordan Kahn Mar 6 2013 - 5:42 am PT

It looks like another regional carrier is set to receive the iPhone 5. While it has yet to post pricing or exact availability dates, Utah-based Strata Networks recently started advertising that the device is “coming soon” to its network. In November, Strata officially rolled out its LTE network, the first in the Uintah Basin covering several counties in Utah, and the carrier also has local coverage in Idaho, Utah, and Colorado. A map of the carrier’s LTE coverage in Utah is below, while a full map of nationwide coverage can be found here.

Many other regional carriers have been known to offer the device at a discounted price compared to Apple and the major carriers with the iPhone 5 starting at $149 on a two-year contract through many. We’ll update when Strata confirms pricing and availability.

Apple seeds OS X 10.8.3 Mountain Lion build 12D76 to developers

Jordan Kahn Mar 5 2013 - 3:45 pm PT

After releasing 12D74 late last month, Apple released OS X 10.8.3 build 12D76 to developers today with no major changes. Apple isn’t listing any known issues, and the company once again asked developers to focus on AirPlay, AirPort, Game Center, Graphics Drivers, and Safari.

We’ll let you know if developers report any changes in today’s build. Full release notes below:

Thanks, Anonymous!

Update: As noted by MacRumors, build 12D76 appears to include support for NVIDIA’s Quadro K5000 graphics card that the company announced for the Mac Pro in September but is yet to ship. Yesterday we told you about the new Sapphire HD 7950 graphics card shown for the first time at CeBIT, while support for the AMD 7000 series was first discovered in a 10.8.3 beta back in November.

Apple introduces $1,099 21.5-inch iMac for education with 4GB RAM, 500GB HD & 3.3GHz dual-core i3

Jordan Kahn Mar 5 2013 - 2:21 pm PT

As noted by MacRumors, Apple has recently introduced a new model of the low-end 21.5-inch iMac to educational institutions that brings slightly downgraded specs and shaves $200 off the price of the entry-level iMac available to consumers.

Replacing the old $999 iMac for education option, the new $1,099 21.5-inch iMac (ME699LL/A) offers 4GB of RAM, Intel HD Graphics 4000, and a 500GB hard drive. That’s compared to the 8GB of RAM and 1TB hard drive Apple includes in the regular entry-level model. Apple is also including a 3.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i3 CPU in the machine instead of the usual 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5.

The new education model offers most of the usual built-to-order options, including the ability to upgrade to a 1TB Fusion Drive and up to 16GB of RAM.

Apple just recently dropped shipping times from 1 to 3 days down to “within 24 hours” for the new iMacs in its North American online stores, but the new iMac for education is shipping in 5 to 7 business days.

Ferrari in talks with Apple to broaden in-car entertainment partnership, unveils iPad mini equipped FF coupe

Jordan Kahn Mar 5 2013 - 10:39 am PT

As Ferrari unveils its new 1 million euro “LaFerrari” hybrid, the company has also confirmed it plans to strengthen its partnership with Apple in the months to come. According to Bloomberg, Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo said the company is now “in talks with Apple about broadening a partnership on in-car entertainment.”

Ferrari SpA, the luxury carmaker owned by Fiat SpA (F), will be “more precise” about its partnership with Apple (AAPL) Inc. in the next few months, Chairman Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo said.

Ferrari, which today unveiled the 1 million euro hybrid model “LaFerrari,” is in talks with Apple about broadening a partnership on in-car entertainment, Di Montezemolo said today at the Geneva motor show.

Ferrari also said today that its new four seater FF coupe will come equipped with iPad minis:

The FF is also now seamlessly integrated with Apple technologies, thanks to direct access to the infotainment system via SIRI voice commands and the adoption of two iPad Minis as the entertainment system of choice for the rear seat passengers.

Ferrari announced in November 2012 that Apple Senior Vice President Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue was joining its board of directors. Cue tweeted about the launch of the new LaFerrari mode today, saying, “Ferrari does it once again… it is stunning.”

Ferrari does it once again…it is stunning #LaFerrari – http://t.co/27tw1VQBE2

— Eddy Cue (@cue) March 5, 2013

The full video of Di Montezemolo speaking at the Geneva motor show is below.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple releases iBooks 3.1 with support for iBookstore in Japan, local content & improvements for reading Asian language books

Jordan Kahn Mar 5 2013 - 7:30 am PT

Update: Apple issued a press release on the matter, below the fold.

Apple released version 3.1 of iBooks today on the App Store and with it comes hundreds of thousands of Japanese books to the iBookstore in Japan. Among the local content on the iBookstore in Japan is light novels and manga, while Apple also noted that it has made “a number of improvements for reading Asian language books.”

AllThingsD reported in January that Apple was in talks with Japanese publishers to work out deals for the iBookstore, which had lacked local Japanese content since it first launched in 2010. Up until now, the store in Japan has consisted of mostly public domain content, but it appears Apple has finally come to an agreement with a many of the large publishers in the country.

What’s New in Version 3.1

The iBookstore in Japan now has hundreds of thousands of books available for purchase, including fiction,
manga, light novels and more. This version of iBooks also includes a number of improvements for reading
Asian language books.

iBooks 3.1 is available to download on the App Store now.
Expand
Expanding
Close