Apple

6,154 'Apple News' stories November 2008 - January 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

Peak Mac — Will Apple ever sell 5M Macs in a quarter again?

Seth Weintraub Jan 29 2013 - 10:42 am PT

The bad news

Dan Frommer wrote a post that I was going to write but never finished. His is better anyway. The not-recommended TL;DR is: Even though CEO Tim Cook said there were plenty of reasons (5) for the decline of Mac growth, including iMac constraints, Mac sales for the year are heading toward “flat.” From our liveblog, you can hear Cook’s comments specifically:

On declining Mac numbers: Cook: “If you look at the previous year, our Mac sales were about 5.2M. The difference is 1.1… iMac were down by 700k units Y-O-Y…. There were limited weeks of ramping on these products (iMacs) during the quarter.” We left the quarter with significant constraints on iMacs. Our sales would have been significantly higher… Our channel inventory was down by over 100K units at the beginning of the quarter.

–Cook says market for PCs is weak… “we sold 23 million iPads, we obviously could have sold more than this because we could not build enough iPad minis to come into a demand balance… Im sure there was some cannibalization of Macs there.” If you look at our portables alone we were inline with IDC’s projections of market growth.

While not making enough iMacs for Christmas shopping was a significant and uncharacteristic operational misstep, it doesn’t account for the significant drop in Mac sales overall year-over-year and even sequentially. iMacs and desktops in general have been a declining component of the Mac market as MacBooks take over the space, so even a significant drop in iMac sales wouldn’t account for a 20-percent drop year-over-year and sequentially. Apple also released new Mac Minis and 13-inch Retina MacBook Pros in the quarter, and the rest of the Mac lineup (including the Mac Pro) was updated just a few months before the quarter began.

Cook rationalized why Macs weren’t even flat and are “inline with IDC’s projections,” even though Macs have outgrown the market for something like 20 consecutive quarters previously.

Without a major hardware change or drastic price cuts, it is hard to imagine Apple having another 5 million Mac quarter. It would seem that, like iPods a few years ago, Macs have peaked. Apple’s iPods were cannibalized by iPhones.

The good news is that Apple is cannibalizing its own Mac growth (as well as overall PC growth) with its own high-margin iPads—and lots of them. In fact, Macs now represent significantly less than 15 percent of the total of combined numbers (below and corresponding revenues).

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EFF clarifies (somewhat) legality of unlocking and jailbreaking in the US

9to5 Staff Jan 29 2013 - 9:32 am PT

With a likely new iPhone jailbreak coming this Superbowl Sunday and unlocking phones’ DMCA exemption expiring this weekend, a lot of us don’t know where they stand with regard to the law. If you are in Canada, for example, the government is moving toward passing laws that require carriers to unlock phones and cap early termination fees. Must be nice.

In the ‘Home of the Free’, things got a lot murkier with the expiration of the DMCA exemption last weekend. So, does that mean you can jailbreak? How about carrier unlocking? The Electronic Frontier Foundation says:

First, the good news. The legal shield for jailbreaking and rooting your phone remains up – it’ll protect us at least through 2015. The shield for unlocking your phone is down, but carriers probably aren’t going to start suing customers en masse, RIAA-style. And the Copyright Office’s decision, contrary to what some sensational headlines have said, doesn’t necessarily make unlocking illegal.

So, Jailbreaking is cool. At least for another few years. Enjoy your Superbowl jailbreak.

Carrier unlocking is murky, but it appears that phones bought before last weekend are fair game for unlocking. Go nuts!

But, new phones? It sounds like the risk is on the “unlockers” or the people who do the unlocking.

More likely, wireless carriers, or even federal prosecutors, will be emboldened to sue not individuals, but rather businesses that unlock and resell phones. If a court rules in favor of the carriers, penalties can be stiff – up to $2,500 per unlocked phone in a civil suit, and $500,000 or five years in prison in a criminal case where the unlocking is done for “commercial advantage.” And this could happen even for phones that are no longer under contract. So we’re really not free to do as we want with devices that we own.

What’s interesting is a cottage industry has formed around unlocking done by actually getting the carriers to unlock your phone. For instance, friend of the site, ChronicUnlocks is still in operation in the United States, and we’re hearing nothing but good things from readers who’ve bought unlocks. The site says:

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Apple rumored to open first retail store in Berlin, new Castro St. San Francisco location

Jordan Kahn Jan 29 2013 - 6:43 am PT

Two new reports today provide some intel on Apple’s future retail store plans. First, a report from SocketSite (via sfist.com), citing a “plugged-in tipster,” claimed Apple is eyeing an old Bank of America building at 400 Castro Street and the corner of Market for a new San Francisco retail store:

The word on the street is a 50% jump in rent was to blame for effectively chasing Diesel from their 400 Castro Street location at the corner of Market. And if a plugged-in tipster is correct, Apple has their sights set on the space with plans to develop the old Bank of America building into an iconic Apple Store which would be the fourth in San Francisco.

Apple also plans to open its first retail store in Berlin in the capital’s upscale shopping district known as Ku’Damm, according to a report from Bloomberg that cited “a person with knowledge of the plan.” We had first heard reports about Apple acquiring the location over a year ago, while job listings for the new location appeared in March.

@9to5mac Berlin is definitely in build. Opening should be in march.

— Dennis B. (@brennholzverlei) January 29, 2013

Bloomberg confirmed previous rumors today that the new Berlin store will indeed be located in a former movie theatre at Ku’damm 26:
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Kickfolio lets you embed iOS apps on any webpage, adds iPad support, slashes pricing

Jordan Kahn Jan 28 2013 - 2:14 pm PT

A demo of Angry Bots iOS app embedded using Kickfolio

We told you about a service called Kickfolio in December that would allow developers to demo their iOS apps directly in the browser using a new HTML5-based platform. The service converts a zipped version of an iOS app into a private test page with a completely interactive HTML5 and CSS version of the app. Today, the service got a few updates including the ability to embed app demos on any webpage using an iframe. You’ll find embedded iOS apps above and below that Kickfolio sent over for us to try. Kickfolio also now supports iPad apps, and it is making the service much more affordable for all. This is a powerful tool for developers promoting their apps online, and it’s one I expect many to take advantage of when providing free demos to potential customers and press on their website.

Kickfolio originally had some feedback for users about plans starting at $50 a month. The good news: the company just slashed the cheapest plan to $9 a month (that includes 500 embed sessions). Every plan now also includes unlimited apps, and the company is reopening 15-day free trials so everyone will get a chance to try the new features.

Another embedded app demo from Kickfolio below:
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Apple quietly releases firmware for a new Apple TV 3,2

Seth Weintraub Jan 28 2013 - 11:03 am PT

Here’s some incredibly interesting news from today’s iOS update extravaganza: Apple today released iOS 6.1 (or, in Apple TV talk, 5.2) for an heretofore unknown Apple TV called “Apple TV 3,2”. You can download it here. Apple’s current Apple TV — version 3,1 — was updated to 1080p with a single-core A5 processor in March 2012.

On the conservative side, this may just be a new set of chips cobbled together to do the same thing as the current model. On the optimistic/speculative side, this could foreshadow a new hardware product coming up soon-ish. Perhaps one with a large LCD attached?

Apple’s addition of Bluetooth today could also signal (ha) that a new Apple TV package would have some sort of Bluetooth keyboard/remote-type of functionality (Siri?). There are already a number of Bluetooth keyboards out there that cater to TV users, but Apple could certainly change the game in this regard.

We’re looking into it.

Update 1: We can compare some internal codes here which seem to point to bigger changes happening in Japan.

Update 2: Apple is apparently referring to an Apple TV model dubbed “J33I”, as noted by MacRumors. For comparison purposes, the third-generation Apple TV sported the “J33” codename. So, the “I” could suggest an international variation of the set-top box.

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Apple releases iOS 6.1 with more LTE carrier support, Siri/Fandango movie ticket purchasing, iTunes Match song downloading

Mark Gurman Jan 28 2013 - 10:04 am PT

Apple has released iOS 6.1 to iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and Apple TV users. This public release follows five beta seeds to developers. The update is currently coming through over-the-air. To download the update directly from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, head to Settings, then General, then Software Update. Your device will include installation instructions and release information here.

The update includes the following improvements for iOS device users:

LTE support for more carriers (Apple previously announced that it would add more LTE carriers this week). 36 additional iPhone carriers. 23 additional iPad carriers.
Purchase movie tickets through Fandango via Siri (US only)
iTunes Match subscribers can now download individual songs from iCloud
New button to reset the Advertising Identifier.

As we previously noted, Apple TV users will enjoy new Bluetooth keyboard compatibility. We found that using a Bluetooth keyboard greatly enhances the Apple TV experience. Additionally, Apple has included new iOS 6.1 APIs for developers to be able to better integrate Apple’s mapping database into their App Store apps.

In a press release announcing the release of 6.1 (below), Apple’s Phil Schiller noted with “nearly 300 million iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices on iOS 6 in just five months, it may be the most popular new version of an OS in history.”

We have posted more details on the Apple TV software update here. Direct iPhone, iPad, iPod touch links and Apple press release:

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Report: Apple’s rumored R&D center confirmed to open in Shanghai this summer

Jordan Kahn Jan 28 2013 - 8:15 am PT

Following reports earlier this month that CEO Tim Cook’s most recent visit to China included talks about a new R&D center in China, new reports have claimed the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce confirmed the facility will open this summer. Today’s report came from Chinese news website yicai.com and was translated by BrightWire:

Apple has registered three firms in three buildings in Pudong, Shanghai, and one of them will be dedicated to procurement management and R&D, according to documents on the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce’s website.

(via MacRumors)

Following FTC fines, UK iPhone users sue Google for bypassing Safari privacy settings

Jordan Kahn Jan 28 2013 - 7:39 am PT

Google agreed to pay a record $22.5 million Federal Trade Commission fine in August following an investigation into whether it bypassed mobile Safari security settings to install tracking cookies without user consent. Now, 12 iPhone users in the United Kingdom have launched a lawsuit against Google that seeks compensation related to the tracking. They also want a “proper explanation” about how their personal information was used. The Telegraph via Business Insider has the full story:

It is thought the case, being brought against Google by law firm Olswang on behalf of the internet users, is the first of its kind in the UK. They say that cookies, small tracking files, were installed by Google on the Apple computers and mobile devices of those using the Safari internet browser without their knowledge .

Claimants thought that cookies would be blocked because of assurances given by Google in the time their devices were allegedly affected, from summer 2011 to spring 2012, and also because of Safari’s default settings.

“We hope that they will take this opportunity to give Safari users a proper explanation about what happened, to apologize and, where appropriate, compensate the victims of their intrusion.”

Users of Twitter’s new Vine app greeted with porn as top Editor’s Pick

Jordan Kahn Jan 28 2013 - 6:48 am PT

Update: Twitter said in a comment to BusinessInsider that the content was displayed as an Editor’s Pick due to human error:

A human error resulted in a video with adult content becoming one of the videos in Editor’s Picks, and upon realizing this mistake we removed the video immediately. We apologize to our users for the error.

Just a week after the popular photo-sharing app 500px was pulled from the App Store over concerns of nude photos and possible child pornography, the launch of Twitter’s new video-sharing app Vine is running into similar issues. Users began noticing pornographic videos were making their way to the service this weekend, but they were only viewable to users searching for pornography-related tags. That is arguably not as big of an issue as 500px (many apps—Instagram included—have similar problems), but Darrell Etherington at TechCrunch pointed out today that porn has somehow made its way to the top of Vine’s “Editor’s Pick”.

We confirmed, as highlighted in the screenshot to the right, that the pornographic content in question is displayed as the first thing in a new user’s stream upon launching the app. The post has since been removed, but this is clearly an issue for Twitter’s new video service, and it is something that highlights the larger conversation brewing around Apple’s App Store guidelines and adult, user-created content.

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Report: iOS and Android capture record 92 percent of global smartphone market in Q4 2012

Jordan Kahn Jan 28 2013 - 5:36 am PT

According to the latest numbers from Strategy Analytics that measure global smartphone operating system shipments and marketshare for the fourth quarter of 2012, iOS and Android together accounted for 92 percent of all shipments. Both iOS and Android were able to significantly increase market share over Q3, while global smartphone shipments over the entire year reached a record 700.1 million units.

As for iOS, Apple grew 29 percent annually by selling 135.8 million iPhones throughout the year. The company captured 22 percent of the market in Q4, down from the 24 percent it held in the year-ago quarter, and its share of the smartphone market for the year comes in at 19.4-percent. According to Strategy Analytics, that is up slightly from the 19 percent it took during 2011.

With the “others” category shrinking from 32.3-percent of the market in 2011 to just 12.2-percent in 2012, Android was able to post the largest gains jumping to 70.1-percent of the global market during the fourth quarter from 51.3-percent a year ago. The other category of course includes other platforms, such as BlackBerry, Symbian, Bada, and Windows, all of which together only grabbed 7.9-percent of the market in Q4 2012. That’s down from 25.1-percent in Q4 2011. Android’s gains are clearly at the expense of the “others,” as Apple continues to slowly gain marketshare as well.

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Apple ready to release additional iPad model; likely 128GB version (Updated: Pricing)

Mark Gurman Jan 27 2013 - 6:19 pm PT

We’ve gotten word from sources that Apple is preparing to release (in some fashion) a single, additional iPad model. This would be a new SKU for the current fourth-generation iPad with Retina display line. At this point, we do not have pricing information, so it is definitely difficult to pinpoint exactly what this new iPad model is.

Here is what we do know:

It is a fourth-generation iPad, not a new design.
It comes in both the current black and white color options.
It comes in both WiFi-only and WiFi + Cellular versions.
It is a more premium SKU that will join the current line of 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB fourth-generation iPads.
10-pack deals (in both colors) for educational institutions will be offered.

With developers finding code in the soon-to-be-released iOS 6.1 that points to 128GB iOS devices, and with recent findings of 128GB references in Apple’s recent iTunes 11 release, speculation naturally points to Apple releasing a 128GB iPad in the very near future. While it is certainly plausible that this new iPad model is the 128GB iPad, we are currently not confident enough to outright claim that, but it seems likely based on the evidence.

Update: We’ve received pricing information for this new iPad model. The pricing is in line with a higher storage capacity, coming in at around $799 for the WiFi-only model and $929 for the Cellular-compatible model in the United States. So, new capacity sounds even more likely.

Here are the new SKUs via a source at a high-profile U.S. retailer:

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Staples advertises Apple TV for $49, is the office retail giant going to sell Apple products?

Jan 26 2013 - 9:00 pm PT

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Here’s an interesting find sent by a tipster. Staples, the biggest office retailer in the United States, has a page showing an Apple TV with a list price of $49.99. While that price is very low, we were not able to add it to our cart or check out because the following page said “out of stock” (screenshots below). Staples also recommended a $24.99 Apple Lightning charge and sync cable when you visit the page. In fact, there is a bunch of Apple’s products sitting on “Mockup Pages” section.

What’s going on here?

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‘jOBS’ opens to mixed reviews, Kutcher talks of fear and hospitalization

Seth Weintraub Jan 26 2013 - 9:07 am PT

[ooyala code=”oyc2pyODoRwFrEbQpIdJqY2z14LwI5pk”]

Ashton Kutcher called the starring role scary and seemed to have an appropriate amount of reverence for the subject matter. However, reviewers seemed to have mixed feelings at best about the movie.

TNW’s Matthew Panzarino liked the movie and called it entertaining but inaccurate:

But, overall, jOBS works. The lead actors are likable and appear to have put serious effort into getting the spirit of the characters right. The film looks (mostly) good aside from some of what could likely be ascribed to budgetary constraints. And though the director is a tad indulgent here and there, it doesn’t take away from the overall feeling of ‘decent’ that I came away with.

This isn’t going to be the canonical Steve Jobs biography movie. Honestly, Jobs was such a complex individual that I can’t see one ever being made. But, as an impressionist portrait of a specific period in his life, it’s successful. Don’t go into it looking for complete verisimilitude or whip-crack dialog and you should like it just fine.

CNET’s Casey Newton, who was allowed to review this movie, didn’t like it:

My primary disappointment was in how shallow the film felt, given the extensive historical record. In the early days Jobs’ co-workers had to wrestle with a man who smelled bad, who cried often, who yelled constantly, who missed deadlines, who overspent his budget by millions. He did it in service of products we love and use daily, and yet his obsessions took a toll on those around him. It also inspired others to do the best work of their lives, pushing themselves further than they ever imagined they can go. There is great drama to be found in all that, but it is not to be found in the saccharine “jOBS.”

USA Today relayed some weirdness before the shooting:

Kutcher says that he started a fruit-only diet to prepare to play the Apple co-founder for the biopic Jobs, which premiered Friday night at the Sundance Film Festival.

The diet, which the film claims Jobs adhered to, ended up sending Kutcher to the hospital with pancreas problems.

“First of all, the fruitarian diet can lead to like severe issues,” Kutcher said after the film’s screening. “I went to the hospital like two days before we started shooting the movie. I was like doubled over in pain.

“My pancreas levels were completely out of whack,” Kutcher added. “It was really terrifying … considering everything.[Jobs died as the result of Pancreatic Cancer]”

More review snippets follow:

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Apple lists Quanta Computer in Fremont California as Final Assembler for Macs

Seth Weintraub Jan 25 2013 - 10:17 am PT

In a recent update to its supplier responsibility pages, Apple has listed Quanta Computer USA as a final assembler of its Macs.

Final Assembly Facilities

These are facilities where Apple products are assembled and packaged for distribution.

One of the locations of Quanta’s final assembly is 44350 Nobel Drive Fremont, Calif., indicating that some Macs are or will be built in the facility.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook noted in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams late last year that Apple would invest $100 million to move at least one of its product lines to the United States. Quanta has assembled Macs for Apple for a long time in Asia.

Fremont may sound familiar, because we recorded more than a few of the new iMacs originated from Fremont after the November launch. These iMacs were delivered via FedEx and had the ‘Assembled in the USA’ moniker not only on the package but also on the actual machines. It now appears that Apple is confirming these products are indeed being assembled in Fremont.

Quanta, it should be noted, has U.S. assembly plants in both California and Tennessee. Previous package slips and Origin labels below.

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Exxon surpasses Apple’s market cap to become world’s most valuable company

Jordan Kahn Jan 25 2013 - 9:21 am PT

After posting record holiday earnings for the final quarter of 2012 this week but continuing to see its stock price fall, Exxon Mobil has now surpassed Apple’s market cap value to become the world’s most valuable company. Apple’s market cap at the time of this writing sits at 414.04B verus 417.36B for Exxon. Apple has for the most part held its position since AAPL passed Exxon for the first time to take the top spot back in August 2011. It’s possible Apple could retake its position before trading closes, so we’ll update this post if anything changes.

[ooyala code=”NmNDdxODrmjiNgMk1pYuU9zev7xpK4V_”]

BREAKING: Apples cedes place as most valuable company in the world to Exxon Mobil

— Bloomberg (@business) January 25, 2013

Report claims iPad 5 with iPad mini-like design set for October release, offers new details on upcoming iPhones

Jordan Kahn Jan 25 2013 - 9:02 am PT

A new report from Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge provided us with what he claimed is a few details on the upcoming fifth-generation iPad based on hands-on time with a “supposedly accurate” physical model. He also claimed to have details on upcoming iPhone releases.

Horwitz noted he has inspected what he believed are casings for the iPad 5, and he described a completely redesigned device with “virtually no left or right bezels, and only enough space above and below the screen to accommodate the mandatory camera and Home Button elements.” As previously rumored, Horwitz claimed the fifth-gen iPad as iPad mini-like in its physical design with similar “chamfered edges and curves” along with the slimmed down bezel.

He also speculated that Apple could go with an IGZO display to achieve what he said is a much thinner design compared to previous generations:

Beyond that, it’s noticeably thinner, as well, which is to say the the fifth-generation iPad will be smaller in every dimension than its predecessors. As it will have the same chamfered edges and curves, calling it a “stretched iPad mini” is very close to entirely accurate… The changes are so considerable that a new screen technology, such as IGZO, seems like a given. Going Retina for the third-generation iPad forced Apple to make that tablet a little thicker than the iPad 2, in part to seriously beef up the battery.

The report also said that Apple is now targeting an October release for the iPad 5, “give or take a couple of weeks,” after originally planning for a March launch.

Horwitz, who has been accurate with details of unreleased Apple products in the past, also claimed to have new details on the upcoming iPhone releases:

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Report: Apple and Samsung dominate Q4 with 51 percent of global smartphone market

Jordan Kahn Jan 25 2013 - 6:14 am PT

Q4 2012 estimates from Strategy Analytics

While Samsung has conveniently left specific smartphone sales numbers out of its Q4 earnings release yesterday (as usual), today we get a look at the latest estimates for the quarter coming from research firms Strategy Analytics and IDC.

We know that Apple sold 47.8 million iPhones during the quarter, and today both research firms put Samsung just over 63 million units for Q4 2012. That means Samsung was able to capture 29 percent of the market last quarter (up from 36.2 million units and 22.5-percent of the market in the year ago quarter). Apple is of course a close second among the top five smartphone vendors with 21.8-percent—down slightly from the 23 percent it held in the same quarter last year. In Q4 2011, Apple and Samsung were neck and neck at about 23 percent of the market each.

The increasing market share for Apple, and especially Samsung, over the past year comes at the expense of Nokia. It experienced a drop from 16 percent to 5 percent of the market during the past year.
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Tim Cook congratulates employees on another record quarter, to hold Town Hall Q&A

Jordan Kahn Jan 24 2013 - 5:25 am PT

Following reporting what CEO Tim Cook referred to as another record-setting quarter, today the Apple executive sent out an email to employees congratulating the team. Within the email, Cook thanked employees for their “incredible hard work and focus” and highlighted that the company sold over 75 million iOS devices during the quarter.

Like last year, when Apple held a Town Hall meeting following its Q1 results near a windshield repair Sugar Land TX company, Cook is asking employees to attend an employee communications meeting scheduled for today at 10 a.m. Pacific time. The email sent out last night following Apple’s earnings results conference call, and it noted that employees would be able to submit questions via AppleWeb in advance.

Apple will also broadcast the meeting live throughout Cupertino and other Apple locations. Cook’s full email is below:

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Liveblog: Apple’s Q1 2013 earnings results conference call

Jordan Kahn Jan 23 2013 - 1:11 pm PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2i7Wr5xwDk]

As previously announced, today Apple is reporting its Q1 2013 earnings results. There is much uncertainty going into today’s call with Apple shares down significantly in recent months to roughly $500 since hitting a high of over $700 per share in September. With the iPhone 5 landing in a total of 100 countries last month, as well as iPad mini making its way to new markets, Wall Street estimates Apple will report between 47.5 million and 53 million iPhones sold and iPad sales between 23 million and 25 million. Compare that with Apple’s Q1 numbers last year: 37 million iPhones and 15.43 million iPads sold. Earlier this week Verizon reported 6.2M iPhone activations for the quarter, around half of which were iPhone 5 sales.

We’ll be providing blow-by-blow coverage of the earnings call in our live blog below at 2 PM Pacific/5 PM Eastern time. Stay tuned to 9to5Mac.com’s homepage for additional coverage:

Head below for updates…
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Enterprise Mac Storage vendor Active is closing up shop?

Seth Weintraub Jan 22 2013 - 5:23 pm PT

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According to a post over at Xsanity, Enterprise Mac Storage vendor Active is closing up shop. The details:

Founder and former Apple Xserve and Xserve RAID head Alex Grossman departed Active one month ago.
The shutdown appears to have happened very quickly. Only two weeks ago, Active trumpeted about their new mPath acceleration technology.
At this time there is no mention of the shutdown on their web site.
A member of the Active Field Engineering team has posted here “Most of us are actually okay and employed elsewhere already.”

We’ll update when/if we hear more about what’s happening including plans for current Active customers.

Thanks, Aaron!
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Digitimes refutes its own larger iPhone rumor, now agrees with WSJ/Bloomberg

Jordan Kahn Jan 22 2013 - 8:09 am PT

Digitimes reported today that Apple is working to release two new iPhones in 2013 with 4-inch displays, going against its earlier report that claimed Apple would release a new low-cost, 5-inch iPhone with a new design. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal also reported Apple is working on a less-expensive iPhone to début sometime in 2013. Today, Digitimes continued to claim Apple has an iPhone with a larger display in development, but it said the smartphone would not launch this year:

Previously it was [WE] said that Apple would release a lower-cost version of its iPhone with a bigger screen in 2013. But the sources claimed that Apple is indeed developing an iPhone with a bigger screen, but that will not be among the models to be lancuhed this year.

That’s Digitimes-speak for “oops, that cheaper/bigger device was an HTC phone, not the iPhone” or “please just forget what we said there.”

Rumors of two 4-inch iPhones launching in 2013—a new 5S and a new low-cost iPhone— is something we’ve heard before, but a second conflicting report from Digitimes claimed Apple would release a low-cost iPhone with a larger, 5-inch display and an all-new design. Other sketchy reports of Apple possibly releasing an iPhone with a 4.8-inch display surfaced this week but didn’t exactly add up. Now it seems Digitimes is agreeing with the Wall Street Journal that two 4-inch devices will launch in 2013 with one being a new low-cost model. The report also said one of the devices will target the “midrange” market:

One of the two versions to be introduced this year will target the midrange market segment, but both will adopt in-cell touch technology…However, the sources noted it is still yet to be determined if Apple will have adequate supply of in-cell touch panels in 2013 for a lower-cost version of the iPhone due to mass production issues from the technology in 2012. The iPhone 5 took a hit in sales during 2012 as a result of poor yields for in-cell technology, but the sources are now saying those yields are improving.

That “midrange” phone is probably the current iPhone 5.

Here’s a Mac Pro concept gallery while we patiently wait for Apple to update the real ones

Jordan Kahn Jan 22 2013 - 7:26 am PT

This is what happens when designers have to look down at the same box they had almost a decade ago.

We showed you a detailed modular Mac Pro design concept in September posted by designer Peter Zigich. Today, Zigich is back with another future Mac Pro concept that imagined Apple ditching Intel for a custom Apple-designed ARM CPU, “A10”. We’re not sure Apple is ready to take the jump to ARM in the first major refresh of its Mac Pro line since 2010, but the prospect of a smaller, possibly Mac mini-like design for a new Mac Pro is definitely intriguing. The PCI slots are probably not necessary thanks to Thunderbolt, and Zigich doesn’t rule Intel out entirely. While these specs are maybe not completely realistic for an upcoming Mac Pro refresh, it certainly gets us thinking about what Apple might have planned for its aging Mac Pro design. More images available on Zigich’s website here.

MacBook Air, MacBook Pro refreshes expected June 2013 with same designs, new processors (9to5mac.com)
Apple slashes price on Thunderbolt cable, releases additional shorter model (9to5mac.com)
Apple reportedly moving Mac mini production to US with Foxconn (9to5mac.com)

Report: iPhone captured 51.2-percent of US smartphone market last quarter, Android switchers up 10 percent

Jordan Kahn Jan 22 2013 - 6:34 am PT

Apple was able to maintain its lead of smartphone sales in the U.S. market during the holiday quarter ending Dec. 23, according to new data released by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. The report said iOS was the top-selling smartphone platform during the three-month period, as it recorded 51.2-percent of market sales compared to Android’s 44.2-percent.

While Android’s share of the market remained steady, down from just 44.2-percent last year, Kantar noted an increasing number of iPhone sales to other smartphone users. Sales of iPhones to Android users apparently grew 10 percent compared to 2011:

“In particular, 36% of iOS sales were derived from other smartphone users over the last year. While this figure remains stable over time, the proportion of Android users moving towards the Apple brand increases. 19% of iOS sales over the last year were derived from Android users, compared to 9% in 2011,”

Among the switchers, the majority came from Verizon. About 49 percent of new iPhone sales came specifically from users of another smartphone platform, while 30 percent came from Android users. AT&T, however, only had about 6 percent Android switchers, as the majority of new iPhone purchases—55 percent—were derived from iPhone upgrades:
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Apple investing $3M to open first retail store in Indonesia, resume direct online sales

Jordan Kahn Jan 22 2013 - 5:24 am PT

Current ordering options for Indonesian customers on www.apple.com/id

Apple plans to create an online retail presence in Indonesia, according to a report from NZWeek (via TNW), as well as open its first retail location in the country with a new store in the capital city, Jakarta. Confirmation of the investment comes from the country’s Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). It has approved Apple’s application to open up shop in the country, and the report claimed Apple is looking to invest $2 million to $3 million USD in the capital city of Jakarta to open its first brick-and-mortar retail location.

[tweet https://twitter.com/marioyohanes/status/292821729573756928]

Just last month, Apple started selling the iPhone 5 in close to 50 new countries including Indonesia. The country also started receiving access to iTunes music and movies last month with the rollout of the service to 56 new countries.

As noted in the report, Foxconn is investing $10 billion USD to open a new hardware manufacturing plant in Indonesia with construction slated to kick off this year. TNW pointed out that Apple actually sold products in Indonesia from 2008 to 2010 before stopping due to difficulties with shipping out of Singapore.