Apple

6,154 'Apple News' stories November 2008 - July 2012

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

Motorola Xoom does not violate iPad design patent, rules German court

Élyse Betters Jul 17 2012 - 8:34 am PT

A German court ruled this morning that the “popular” Android-powered tablet does not violate the patented look of Apple’s tablet. The Duesseldorf court discarded one claim by the Google-owned manufacturer, however, about the iPad’s design patent being inapplicable.

FoxBusiness explained:

Apple initially sued Motorola for allegedly infringing three iPad designs with the Xoom. It sought to have the device banned across Europe.

Although the judges ruled Motorola’s Xoom doesn’t infringe on the iPad, the court rejected a counterclaim brought by Motorola alleging the iPad’s design patent is invalid, a spokesman for the court said.

As the court ultimately rejected both parties’ claims, it ordered Apple to pay two-thirds of costs and Motorola to pay a third, the spokesman added.

[…] During two hearings prior to the ruling, the presiding judge had indicated the court was leaning in Motorola’s favor. Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann said in March that the court considered the evenly bent back and shaped edges on the front of the Xoom tablet sufficient to give the product individual character.

Apple is also suing Motorola in a Mannheim court for allegedly breaching a patent on multi-touch enabled devices.

Get the full report at FoxBusiness.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Report: European carriers placing nano-SIM orders in anticipation of next-gen iPhone launch

Jordan Kahn Jul 16 2012 - 1:40 pm PT

According to a report from Financial Times, carriers in Europe are stocking up on mini SIM cards designed for Apple’s next-generation iPhone in anticipation of the device’s expected October launch. In June, reports speculated that Apple’s nano-SIM design for the new 4FF standard was selected by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, while hands-on video of the next-generation iPhone backs, which we first revealed in May, showed what appeared to be a smaller SIM card holder.

Today’s report from FT claimed Apple’s nano SIM card design is indeed the mini SIMs being purchased by European operators:

Operators expect that the iPhone will feature the nano sim in a slimmed down design, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation, and have begun to store millions of the cards in warehouses in anticipation of high demand for Apple’s iPhone. Apple declined to comment[Shocker]…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple attempts to take down in-app purchase hack

Jordan Kahn Jul 16 2012 - 8:20 am PT

[tweet https://twitter.com/alastairh/status/224836579707985920]

On Friday, we broke the news on some worrying tips we received about an “in-app proxy” hack that allowed even novice users to illegally install paid in-app purchase content for free. In updates to our original story, we noted the hack’s developer, Alexey V. Borodin, said in an interview that Apple’s method of validating receipts for developers would not protect apps from the hack. Apple followed up with a statement that claimed it is investigating the issue. Today, we get an update from The Next Web that further claims Apple began taking action over the weekend:

Over the weekend, Apple began blocking the IP address of the server used by Russian hacker Alexey V. Borodin to authenticate purchases.

It followed this up with a takedown request on the original server, taking down third-party authentication with it, also issuing a copyright claim on the overview video Borodin used to document the circumvention method. PayPal also got involved, placing a block on the original donation account for violating its terms of service

Unfortunately, the service is reportedly still operational with Borodin apparently moving the server to a location outside of Russia. He told The Next Web that the new service has been “updated and cuts out Apple’s servers, ‘improving’ the protocol to include its own authorisation and transaction processes. The new method ‘can and will not reach the App Store anymore, so the proxy (or caching) feature has been disabled'”

[tweet https://twitter.com/alastairh/status/224834890665967616]

While Borodin also claimed he has changed the process to force users to sign out of their iTunes account (to ensure users he is not stealing personal/credit card data), there are more than a few reasons to still be concerned. Developer Alastair Houghton told us that he thinks Borodin’s method could be used “intercept traffic intended for any other secure website”:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Steve Jobs warned Yelp’s CEO not to sell out to Google

Élyse Betters Jul 16 2012 - 8:01 am PT

Steve Jobs once urged Yelp’s Jeremy Stoppelman to not go Google.

SFGate published a lengthy profile of Yelps’ co-founder and chief executive today, but one of the more interesting anecdotes concerned the late co-founder of Apple, of course.

According to SFGate:

Jeremy Stoppelman was on a conference call with venture capitalists when an assistant slipped him a note: “Steve Jobs is on the line.”

Stoppelman quietly left the room at Yelp headquarters in downtown San Francisco. It was January 2010, and Google wanted to buy Yelp, the online, crowd-sourced review site. On the phone, Jobs urged Stoppelman, who revered the Apple chief as a visionary, to “stay independent and not sell out to Google.” Jobs was not a fan of Google and had accused the search giant of stealing Apple’s smart-phone and tablet technology.

“At that point, we had already turned down Google,” Stoppelman said. “But Steve liked Yelp and wanted to make sure about Google. It was a moment where I said, ‘This is crazy. What just happened?'”

The CEO further admitted that he received another flooring phone call this spring when his company went public. Apparently, President Barack Obama ringed to congratulate Yelp on all of its successes since founding in 2004.

Yelp’s continuous upswing shows no signs of stopping, either. Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall even demoed Yelp on Apple’s new Maps app during the opening keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference last month. The check-in integration is slated to debut in iOS 6.

So, it appears Jobs may have had ulterior motives when warning Stoppelman about the repercussions of a Google acquisition—surprise, surprise.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Good Deal: Sling Player iPad and iPhone app half off today at $15

9to5 Staff Jul 16 2012 - 6:35 am PT

From 9to5Toys.com:

.

Sling Player [App Store: iPad and iPhone/iPod] is being offered today at half price: $15. That’s the first time we’ve seen a discount.

You’ll need a Slingbox Solo (best price $139.99 but seen as low as $85) or Pro (Best Price $250 but seen as low as $199) and can then stream to your iOS devices (or Blackberry/Android) over wifi or 3G/4G mobile network

Refurb AT&T Zero Travel Charger for iPhone, iPad, iPod for $1 + $2 s&h (9to5toys.com)
Refurbished Acoustic Research Dock for iPad or iPhone for $40 + $6 s&h (9to5toys.com)
Naming a smaller iPad (9to5mac.com)

Enhanced by Zemanta

Apple Store overnights happening July 24. Mountain Lion launch the next day?

Seth Weintraub Jul 15 2012 - 8:08 pm PT

We’ve heard a few whispers (3 and counting) that Apple Stores both in the United States and overseas have planned overnights for Tuesday, July 24th. With OS X Mountain Lion launching “in July”, according to Apple, we believe that it is sensible to speculate that this overnight may point to a public launch the following day.

This purported launch would be July 25th, a date that we speculated when Apple announced that its Q3 2012 earnings would be announced on the 24th. For OS X Lion’s launch last year, Apple announced the July 20th release at its July 19th Q3 2011 earnings announcement. It appears that Apple may follow that same pattern this year.

This year, Mountain Lion isn’t being launched alongside hardware (last year new Minis and Airs launched with Lion) so there is less setup required and accordingly, we’re hearing that the overnights will be smaller. One employee tells us that it is basically just a few guys running around with the master image installing it on every Mac. Notably, some stores we’ve spoken to haven’t heard of any overnight…yet.

On the other hand, Apple often holds Tuesday overnights, so this July 24th overnight may simply be a coincidence, and Apple may not launch OS X Mountain Lion on the 25th. But, there is already under two weeks left in July, and with last year’s launch pattern prime for repetition (launch announcement during the upcoming earnings call), we’d say a July 25th launch is increasingly likely.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion will be a $19.99 upgrade which will hit the Mac App Store on launch day. Developers already have what is likely the Golden Master – build number is 12A269, a 4.34 GB Mac App Store download.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Want to be in the Ashton Kutcher Steve Jobs movie? Here’s how to be an extra this week…

9to5 Staff Jul 14 2012 - 3:05 pm PT

We received an interesting tip this weekend. Apparently, Steve Jobs—the movie with Ashton Kutcher—is filming two important crowd scenes in Pasadena, Calif. this week.

The scenes we’re part of will be the 1983 PC Conference (Monday the 16th) and the 1977 Computer Jobs Faire (Tuesday the 17th)

The movie company is looking for extras to be in those crowds, dressed in “period clothing” (sorry, not the acid scene) as “Businessmen, Computer Nerds, Salesmen, Lookie-Loos.”

Here are some examples of the wardrobe:

The casting company advertises plenty of time with the movie’s stars, including Ashton Kutcher, James Woods, Matthew Modine, Durmot Mulruny and JK Simmons, and we imagine some will want to be a part of the historic scene.

The full details are below:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Target offering $25 gift card with new iPads, $20 on iPhones. Best Buy has everything Apple on sale.

Jordan Kahn Jul 13 2012 - 2:15 pm PT

We have seen a lot of third-gen iPad deals recently in 9to5Toys offering the entry-level 16GB model, for instance, in the neighborhood of $460 to $470, approximately $30 to $40 off the normal retail price. Those deals usually go quick, but one big retailer plans to offer a similar deal this coming week. Starting July 15, Target will offer a free $25 gift card with the purchase of any iPad 2 or new iPad. The deal will last all week until July 21, and, as always, Target REDCard users can get an additional 5 percent knocked off their purchase, giving the iPad 2 an effective price of $355. New iPads will start at $450 with the discounts. Find a location with stock here.

Target will advertise the deal in its flyer this weekend, we are told, which features a number of Apple products on its cover (pictured above). Other deals include the 16GB iPhone 4S discounted slightly to $179, a free $20 gift card for the 8GB iPod touch priced at $195, and a free $10 gift card for the 8GB iPod nano at $129.

Additionally, this week Best Buy knocks a few bucks off of just about every Apple product in its catalog.

.

Etch-A-Sketch Protective Case for iPad 2 / New iPad for $23 + $6 s&h (9to5toys.com)
HHI Re-Elegant Stand Case for New iPad for $10 + $3 s&h (9to5toys.com)
Convertible Flip Case For Apple iPad 2 / New iPad w/ $2 credit for $14 + $3 s&h (9to5toys.com)
Chicken or the Egg? ‘iPad Mini’ schematics conveniently appear on web after purported molds leak (9to5mac.com)
Refurbished Acoustic Research Dock for iPad or iPhone for $40 + $6 s&h (9to5toys.com)
BenchPrep coupon: 85% off prep courses for iPhone, iPad, Android, more (9to5toys.com)
Refurb AT&T Zero Travel Charger for iPhone, iPad, iPod for $1 + $2 s&h (9to5toys.com)
Purported ‘iPad mini’ case mold surfaces, apparently thinner than current iPad (9to5mac.com)

Retina MacBook Pro shows up in EPEAT Registry

Élyse Betters Jul 13 2012 - 1:55 pm PT

[tweet https://twitter.com/mayoredlee/status/223853950112247808]

Apple’s products are back on the EPEAT’s registry with a Gold standard, but the Retina MacBook pro notably was at question.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based Company announced earlier this week that it planned to forgo the environmental rating system. The decision allegedly came after the EPEAT took up an issue with the new MacBook Pro’s Retina display and repairability factor, which iFixit detailed in a widely reported analysis last month.

After Apple dropped the EPEAT standard, the city of San Francisco said it planned to stop purchases of some Apple products, and then Politico revealed federal officials were also thinking twice before procuring Apple’s computers.

The hullabaloo apparently caused the folks in Cupertino to second guess their plan of action, as Senior Vice President of Hardware Bob Mansfield suddenly issued a statement on Apple’s environmental page today regarding the contention. He said the company made a mistake and would concede by returning to EPEAT.

Now, a few hours later, the EPEAT’s registry has 40 Apple products listed, including the Retina MacBook Pro. However, its IEEE 1680-2009 Criteria Category Summary (screenshot below) is a bit perplexing, especially considering the reasons reported as to why Apple pulled its products in the first place.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Nielsen needs to work on its graphics (Update)

Élyse Betters Jul 13 2012 - 9:43 am PT

Nielsen released smartphone purchasing data yesterday that depicted Apple grabbing more than a third of the total smartphone market in the most recently surveyed month. Android was over 50 percent. That is almost 85 percent of the market together, which is a striking number (and over 90 percent in the last three months). But, you would not know it when looking at Nielsen’s graph:

RIM at 9 percent seems to have almost the same share as Apple. Windows Mobile, Windows 7, Symbian, and Palm only come up with 5.8-percent of the market, but together they have a much larger piece of the pie than Apple. Well, we did a little Photoshopping and put their portions into proportion (Again, the disparity is growing with iOS and Android now over 90 percent):

^That is an entirely different story.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Retina MacBook Pro shipping times improve to ‘2-3 weeks’

Jordan Kahn Jul 13 2012 - 5:30 am PT

Since the launch of Apple’s new Retina MacBook Pro, shipping times worldwide for the company’s online store—for the most part—have sat at “3-4 weeks.” Today, shipping times have begun to drop with the U.S., Canadian, and some Asia-Pacific markets now listing the device with an estimated shipping time of “2-3 weeks.” The updated shipping times appear to be landing in many European stores as well.

New MacBook Pro with Retina display shipping in ‘2-3 weeks’ (9to5mac.com)

Nielsen: Android and iOS are over 90 percent of US smartphone market, and growing

Seth Weintraub Jul 12 2012 - 3:36 pm PT

…For the first time ever, two-thirds of new phone acquirers are buying smartphones.

Smartphone use is exploding in the United States, while PC sales are dropping. If 66 percent of mobile phone buyers purchase smartphones, and 36.3-percent of them get the iPhone, then that means almost a quarter of all phones bought in the U.S. are iPhones. That also means 36 percent of the purchased phones run Android OS.

More from Nielsen, including the incredibly skewed graphic, is below—which gives Symbian, Palm and Windows 7 devices almost the same amount of “fill” at 2.8-percent as Apple’s 34 percent.

Expand
Expanding
Close

NBC Olympics to live stream games on mobile devices with two Adobe-powered apps [Video]

Élyse Betters Jul 12 2012 - 10:56 am PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNLh85pKLw4&feature=player_embedded]

NBC just unveiled two Adobe-powered mobile apps for its 2012 London Olympics coverage.

The NBC Olympics Live Companion app will act as a second display for stats and other details so users have a full bevy of data to compliment their television-watching experience. Meanwhile, the NBC Olympics Live Extra app will pipe live-streaming video to on-the-go users. It can handle multiple camera angles, social features, and the ability to seamlessly switch between both Olympics apps.

The free apps will launch on both Apple’s App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play Store for Android smartphone and tablets. They will also support “TV Everywhere” authentication with cable providers for unlimited access to all the premium content. Users simply need to login to their pay-TV subscription to tap into 3,500 hours of Olympic events.

“To make it as easy as possible, you only need to go through the sign-in once and won’t have to “re-authenticate” every time you want to watch a live event,” explained Adobe on its Digital Media Blog. “For the first time in Olympics history, mobile apps will give you the opportunity to view live broadcasts of all Olympic events in the palm of your hand.”

NBC Olympics is also using Adobe technologies to serve ads, measure and monetize content, and provide digital analytics in both apps.

This article is cross-posted on 9to5Google.

The press release is below.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Report: Feds second-guess buying Apple comps

Élyse Betters Jul 12 2012 - 10:22 am PT

The city of San Francisco stopped purchases of some Apple products after the company announced it planned to forgo an environmental rating system, but a new report indicates federal officials might refrain from buying Cupertino-built computers as well.

According to Politico, which cited a “governmental source,” federal officials familiar with sustainability issues are thinking twice before procuring Apple’s computers. The feds met yesterday to discuss the matter, and the website’s source further claimed the officials will “seek a meeting with Apple soon.”

Politico explained:

Last week, Apple decided to stop using an environmental certification program, the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool run by the Green Electronics Council, a Portland, Oregon-based nonprofit. EPEAT was developed through a stakeholder process supported by the EPA.

The EPEAT rating system is used to monitor a computer’s environmental impact throughout its lifecycle, including the end of its use. The program is used by governments, enterprise, universities, health care and other large institutions to make purchasing decisions.

Federal procurement decisions for fiscal 2013 are being made now, the government source said. Federal officials are worried that the government’s efforts to buy environmentally friendly products will be set back, the source said, adding, “Apple’s competitors are looking at this and saying if they can get away with this maybe we can too.”

The Green Electronics Council said in a statement on the EPEAT website that it “regret[s] that Apple will no longer be registering its products in EPEAT. We hope that they will decide to do so again at some point in future,” while Apple told The Loop recently that it “takes a comprehensive approach to measuring our environmental impact and all of our products meet the strictest energy efficiency standards backed by the US government, Energy Star 5.2.”

Expand
Expanding
Close

Greenpeace gives Apple two thumbs up, well—one thumb up

Élyse Betters Jul 12 2012 - 9:00 am PT

In a post titled “Apple’s clean energy plans still cloudy despite coal-free pledge,” Greenpeace praised Apple on its blog for significantly improving clean energy policies, but the environmental organization still gave the company low scores for its energy choices.

A new Greenpeace International analysis released today, and it claims—despite Apple’s commitment to make its data centres coal-free and 100-percent renewable energy operated—the folks in Cupertino still lack “a plan that outlines a realistic path to eliminate its reliance on coal to power its iCloud.”

Check it out (PDF): Greenpeace Report — A Clean Energy Road Map for Apple

Expand
Expanding
Close

IMDb iOS app eyes 20M+ downloads, celebrates with massive update

Élyse Betters Jul 12 2012 - 8:10 am PT

IMDb, the unofficial resume for everyone and everything Hollywood, just announced its iOS and Android apps have experienced more than 40 million total downloads. The iOS counterpart claimed half of those downloads, and IMDb is celebrating with today’s launch of “highly anticipated discovery, personalization and social features.”

Version 2.7 now includes:

– Movies & TV shows: check in and share what you are watching to Facebook and Twitter
– Message Boards: access general boards, or dive into discussions about your favorite people, movies, and shows
– Filming Locations & Soundtracks: find even more IMDb data to satisfy your curiosity
– More Like This: discover new movies and shows while you browse
– Watchlist: tap the plus sign on posters to build your Watchlist
– TV shows: easily dive into each season, and tap ‘previous’ and ‘next’ to browse through episodes
– Your History: long-press on the Back button from any page to access pages you’ve recently viewed
– Various bug fixes and performance improvements

The IMDb Movies & TV app is a free app at the App Store. It rates 4 stars, based on more than 112,000 reviews, as of press time.

The press release is below.

Expand
Expanding
Close

More next-gen iPhone casings float across our desktop [Photos]

Élyse Betters Jul 12 2012 - 7:28 am PT

9to5Mac first posted the back and front plates for what is now thought to be the next-generation iPhone in May, and then we immediately published several more high-resolution images comparing the black and white versions of the next-generation iPhone’s back. Since then, many more casings and schematics have shown up with the same design. It is not clear if these are all coming out of the Foxconn plant or if these are all copycats of the original leaks.

Today, KitGuru offers a few more “early iPhone” images that it recently spotted. A slew of full length, side view, comparison, and connector shots are available below—check ’em out:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Judge rejects bids to block live-streaming TV service Aereo

Élyse Betters Jul 12 2012 - 7:09 am PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR8lLt3gFZ8&feature=player_embedded]

Aereo—the service that streams over-the-air local TV to any Mac, iOS device, or PC running Safari for $12 per month—just got a second chance at survival. According to The New York Times, a U.S. federal judge on Wednesday rejected a temporary injunction spurred by television broadcasters, saying a ruling for the broadcasters would have shut down Aereo.

Reuters reported that Walt Disney Co., Comcast Corp., News Corp., Univision Communications Inc., and the Public Broadcasting Service tried to stop Aereo with the injunction, claiming they would “lose their right to retransmission fees from cable and other companies that rebroadcast their programming, and also lose critical advertising revenue”:

U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan said on Wednesday that while the broadcasters demonstrated they faced irreparable financial damage if were the venture were allowed to continue, Aereo also showed it would face severe harm if the requested preliminary injunction were granted.

‘First and foremost, the evidence establishes that an injunction may quickly mean the end of Aereo as a business,’ the Manhattan judge wrote in a 52-page opinion.

The New York Times quoted Aereo’s Barry Diller, who noted a trial still lies ahead for his company, but he is now “far happier to begin this process with the judge’s ruling.” One of the plaintiffs, CBS, told the publication it would continue to seek damages and a permanent injunction: “This is only a ruling on a preliminary injunction. This case is not over by a long shot.”

9to5Mac reviewed Aereo in March and found its broadcast TV-like experience encouraging and well worth a test-drive:

Overall, Aereo’s HTML5 user-interface is the most impressive on the Mac platform. Its ease of browsing, watching, and recording local TV through Safari is a unique take during an age that offers countless ways of viewing cable without an actual television. The main takeaway with Aereo is that it works best on the Mac and the iPad, video quality is identical to what one would see on a HDTV, and the DVR function is extremely handy.

[…] For many people, its DVR functionality alone is worth the $12 monthly fee. For others, the admission price might be too hefty when compared to cheaper services that also offer cable programming and better streaming.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Report: NIAC director slams US Gov’t, Apple for racially profiling over export sanction to Iran

Élyse Betters Jul 12 2012 - 6:35 am PT

Do you remember last month’s report about select Apple retail stores in Georgia allegedly discriminating against Farsi-speaking customers due to a United States sanction export to Iran? Well, the story is still abuzz. The policy director at the National Iranian American Council, Jamal Abdi, even got some space in The New York Times today to speak his mind on the matter:

IMAGINE if your ethnicity determined which products you were able to buy. Or if sales clerks required you to divulge your ancestry before swiping your credit card.

Some of us don’t have to imagine.

Abdi reviewed the cases from last month, and he even cited similar situations in California:

An isolated episode could be dismissed as the work of one bigoted, or misguided, employee. But there have been other recent reports of Apple employees refusing to sell to customers of Iranian descent.

In Santa Monica, Calif., two friends looking to buy an iPhone were asked whether they were speaking Persian and promptly informed, “I am sorry, we don’t sell to Persians.” In Sacramento, an Iranian-American man looking to buy Apple products for personal use mentioned that he was also thinking about buying an iPod for his nephew in Iran and was told he could not buy anything, even for himself. An Iranian student in Atlanta, and his Iranian-American friend, were not permitted to buy an iPhone after the friend, under questioning, mentioned that the student planned to return to Iran for the summer.

The NIAC director attributed these occurrences to Apple retail employees being forced to “interpret and implement federal policy,” which results in racial profiling, he said:

At the moment, nearly all exports to Iran are prohibited. Traveling to Iran with items like computers and smartphones is illegal. Apple’s own policy, stated on its Web site, makes it very clear that its products can’t be sent there.

But it is also illegal in the United States for a private company to discriminate against individuals based on race, color, religion or national origin under the Civil Rights Act. This protection extends of course to retail stores.

Abdi concluded his editorial by calling for Congress and President Obama to confront the consequences of their “ratcheted up sanctions,” or else they will continue to threaten the “values and basic civil liberties of some American citizens.”

The issue comes down to the US Government vaguely forcing retailers to enforce sanctions when those should be enforced at borders.

Visit The New York Times for the entire piece, called “Sanctions at the Genius Bar”.

Expand
Expanding
Close

‘iPhone 5’ is already for sale in China

Seth Weintraub Jul 12 2012 - 5:49 am PT

Those in China looking to get a head start on their Fall iPhone shopping are given the opportunity by sites like TaoBao, which, according to Reuters, (and the link we dug up) are already for sale.

Apple Inc’s next-generation iPhone has not even been released yet, but opportunistic sellers on China’s largest e-commerce platform, Taobao, are already accepting pre-orders, complete with mock-up pictures and purported technical specifications.

The hotly anticipated iPhone 5 is widely expected to be released sometime between August and October this year, although Apple itself has been tight-lipped about it. Sources have said the iPhone 5 would have a bigger screen than previous models, while Taiwanese media reported the phone’s voice recognition software, Siri, would have more powerful functions.

Buying Apple devices unseen shows what kind of confidence consumers have in the products that Apple makes. Would you put money down on Apple’s next iPhone without knowing anything about it?
Expand
Expanding
Close

Gartner report shows PCs have peaked and may begin the long road to obscurity

9to5 Staff Jul 11 2012 - 8:02 pm PT

We are starting to see the “Cars and Trucks” model unfold as PC sales are starting to slip dramatically.

Among the top 5 vendors in the U.S. PC market, all but Apple experienced a decline in shipments according to a Gartner report late this evening. This is not your average “Apple beat the PC industry every quarter for the past 5 years.” It is a dramatic fall. Apple pulled to within 500,000 units of Dell from double that a year ago.

A few notables:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac and Parallels Mobile now support Retina Display [Video]

Élyse Betters Jul 11 2012 - 11:44 am PT

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

Parallels announced that its Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac and Parallels Mobile now support Apple’s Retina display.

“We are proud to announce that both Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac and Parallels Mobile have been updated to support Apple’s Retina display and its over 5 million megapixels on the newly released MacBooks and latest iPad,” explained the software firm, which delivers an integrated Windows-on-a-Mac experience, so users can reap the full advantages of Apple’s offering across all their devices.

Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac is able to run multiple operating systems, including Windows 8 Release Preview, Windows 7, Chrome, and Ubuntu, and it will soon provide support for the final versions of Mountain Lion and Windows 8 after their release, while Parallels Mobile allows users to remotely control a computer from an iOS device.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Facebook releases SDK 3.0 Beta with iOS 6 integration & new iOS Dev Center

Jordan Kahn Jul 11 2012 - 11:34 am PT

Facebook announced today that it is releasing its biggest iOS SDK update yet with the release of SDK 3.0 Beta for iOS, which also includes iOS 6 integration for native Facebook login. It is also rolling out a completely refreshed iOS Dev Center with tutorials, concepts, and reference docs to help iOS app developers build great Facebook-integrated apps for iOS devices.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Tim Cook makes surprise appearance at Allen & Co retreat this morning (Update: Spotted with Dorsey)

Élyse Betters Jul 11 2012 - 10:18 am PT

Tim Cook with Twitter creator Jack Dorsey

[tweet https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/223099203377836032]

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook made a low-profile, surprise appearance at the Allen & Company annual retreat in Sun Valley earlier today.

According to The New York Post, the CEO attended the event for the first time to observe The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos’ session on China:

While his name was on the list of possible attendees, no one knew if the low-key CEO would put in an appearance.

Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs hadn’t traveled to the annual gathering in recent years.

Cook slipped out of the session at the Sun Valley Inn largely unnoticed. While other business titans gathered at the Duck Pond for lunch, he headed in the direction of the lodge.

The session was hosted by The New Yorker’s China correspondent, Evan Osnos. Apple is getting ready to unleash the latest version of the iPad in China, the world’s largest consumer market.

The Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference is a 29-year-old annual conference hosted by private investment firm Allen & Company. It takes place in Sun Valley, Idaho for one week in July, where moguls, executives and philanthropists flock to rub shoulders. Previous conference guests have included Steve Jobs, Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren and Susan Buffett, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, and more.

: Tim Cook with iPad

: Tim Cook and CEO of Akamai Paul Sagan

: Tim Cook

: Tim Cook with Twitter creator Jack Dorsey

(Cook and Sagan pictures via BusinessInsider; Cook and Dorsey picture via mcatwellons—Thanks, @wiserjoe727!)

Expand
Expanding
Close