Apple

Ever since we first sampled the Starbucks app in September 2009, we could not help but wax eloquently how your iPhone will become your wallet. A deluge of ideas Apple has patented with NFC over time, and some interesting hirings, hint that the company is heavy into NFC. Then, in January, 9to5Mac heard from a developer at Macworld that iPhone 5 would have NFC and that MasterCard/Paypass would launch partners for an Apple-branded payment service that would span both iOS devices and Macs.

Fast forward to today, as the United States Trademark & Patent Office awards the company a major patent grant that covers the intricacies of the iWallet. According to PatentlyApple, this invention is supported by as much as 23 patent claims and dates back to the first quarter of 2009—indicating just how important it must have been to Apple.

The document outlines “techniques for implementing and defining financial transaction rules for controlling a subsidiary financial account,” allowing parents to control spending of their children, for example. Financial transaction rules are also detailed that would allow for spending limits based upon different criteria, such as a particular time period or geographic region.

The really interesting part about this are the drawings included with the patent application depicting a future iPhone with Near Field Communications (see the above illustration). The drawings indicate the use of iTunes billing system for credit card statements and records. The iWallet app could also tie nicely with a number of other utilities Apple’s been researching, such as this iPhone app for buying movie tickets.

But what’s in all this for you and me?

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We’ve been told by an Apple Store source who has been reliable in the past that preparations are being made for a big Apple Store event which will culminate on Friday, March 16th.  Naturally, this points to an iPad 3 launch on the Friday just nine days after tomorrow’s announcement.  We’ve previously noted that an Apple Store in London at the world famous Harrod’s will open on that date as well as a new Store in Houston, Texas.

Speaking of Texas, Apple will NOT be putting up a temporary store at SXSW in Austin this year according to the The Austin American-Statesman.  Last year, Apple built a temporary Store at the event that coincided with the launch of the iPad 2.

Last year, Apple’s then-CEO, Steve Jobs, announced the release of the iPad 2 on March 2. The pop-up store opened at the start of the SXSW Interactive Festival on March 11, 2011. The store, at the Scarbroughs building on Congress Avenue and Sixth Street, sold the tablet, as well as accessories, during the festival.

The show runs from March 9-13 this year.

Yesterday, two simultaneous reports came out stating the name of Apple’s new product would be the ‘iPad HD’ and recently more and (iM)ore evidence points to an LTE version being announced. Today, Verizon began teasing a “Something is Coming” campaign.

Interestingly, we were told that there would be a subsequent launch event a week later but he had no further information on the the subject matter.  This could be a separate Apple product (AppleTV?) or perhaps additional International launches of the iPad.

We’ll have live coverage of tomorrow’s event as it unfolds.
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It is interesting how little Verizon has to provide, yet the splash page they put up today still screams “iPad!”.

Notably, the graphic image file name is:766x385_HP_pre_NO_optin.jpg but somehow we don’t think Verizon’s big surprise is the recently discontinued HP Pre.

Update: Now AT&T has their version up:

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Apple’s latest cunning move in its Holy Crusade against Android involves getting a court order to force Google, the maker of Android software, to produce documents detailing the Android roadmap and its proposed $12.5 billion acquisition of handset maker Motorola Mobility. It was not immediately clear what data Apple was exactly seeking to uncover. This is notable, because Apple is actually going after Google with this request. It is the first direct in the ongoing legal war considering Apple fought Google by proxy in the past.

According to Bloomberg, U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner ruled yesterday based on a patent lawsuit Apple filed in 2010 against Motorola that both Motorola and Google must spill relevant information to Apple, as “the Android/Motorola acquisition discovery is highly relevant to Apple’s claims and defenses.” Motorola, of course, opposed the request, offering the following argument.

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According to both CNET and VentureBeat, Apple’s new iPad won’t be officially called “iPad 3,” but rather “iPad HD.” The “HD” suffix is a nod to the new iPad biggest upgrade: the high-definition Retina Display. The Verge reported last year that the new iPad would be called the “iPad HD,” so it’s worth taking a look at their surrounding iPad HD rumors from last year.

We’re not entirely buying the new name.

The Verge’s report called for some new professional software for the iPad HD, and also said the device would be marketed as a new high-end iPad, and the iPad 2 would continue to sell. However, our sources have been saying that most iPad 2 models will be discontinued, and the new iPad  will keep the iPad 2 price points. The new iPad will also include a faster chip and improved cameras, and Apple’s media event is this Wednesday.

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

Mobile device manager Aerohive introduced Enterprise Bonjour Gateway today for enabling Apple’s Bonjour protocol to work across multiple network segments in a corporate setting.

Bonjour allows networking hardware to automatically configure (zero-configuration), while Bonjour Gateway (PDF) essentially adds support for iPad and iPhone users to employ components like AirPrint for wireless printing wherever an AirPrint-capable printer is accessible. The feature intends to aid the growing trend of users who bring their iOS devices into work.

More information is available below.

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A new national study indicates the iPad nearly quadrupled among the small business market in 2011.

The Business Journal is a Charlotte N.C.-based solutions platform for companies targeting business resolution makers. Its recent study, which is fully available on March 31, highlights Apple’s iOS tablet as “the fastest growing technology among the SMB market” due to usage growing from 9 percent in 2010 to 34 percent in 2011.

More information is available below.

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Mockup by CiccareseDesingn

In recent months, the increasingly unreliable Digitimes seems quite confident that “Apple is likely to launch a 7.85-inch iPad.” A recent report from the publication in December claimed a 7.85-inch iPad would begin production in Q2 2012 with a launch for the fourth quarter following a “new iPad” (presumably iPad 3) in Q1. The reports keep surfacing today with Digitimes pointing to a report from United Evening News and Oled-Display referring to a “Samsung Securities” document from December that mentions a 7-inch iPad.

Starting with the Samsung document, the company claimed Apple is planning to launch a new 7-inch “iPad mini” in Q3 after the release of iPad 3 in Q1:

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China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless company with 665 million subscribers, confirmed Monday that it now hosts 15 million iPhones on its network with an average of 35,000 new iPhone activations each day. Back in October, its network hosted 10 million iPhones. People get excited about T-Mobile USA’s 1 million iPhones, so it is worth pointing out that China Mobile’s number is more than seven times larger than what Sprint has—and it is not even Apple’s official carrier yet.

The real kicker: Those people do not get 3G service as China Mobile’s 3G TD-SCDMA network is incompatible with iPhone 4S. Similar to T-Mobile USA, China Mobile employs a different type of high-speed 4G-radio technology that the iPhone 4S cannot use. As a result, both networks’ customers are relegated to using EDGE/GSM data speeds.

iPhones are sold in China through carrier China Unicom, but that is bound to change soon. China Telecom, the country’s second-largest carrier with 130 million subscribers, will start selling the sought-after smartphone this Friday.

It would seem the China Mobile iPhone is a no brainer as 15 million people already unofficially use the device on China Mobile’s network with many more millions in the 1.33 billion-people market deemed potential subscribers. Another piece of information also indicates that Apple and China Mobile could be in the final stages of negotiations to bring the iPhone to China Mobile’s network. Read on…

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Apple’s relationship with Corning has always remained shrouded in mystery. The relationship started famously when Steve Jobs visited Corning Headquarters in 2006 and told CEO Wendell Weeks not to be afraid to make the stuff.  Corning however never made it into Apple marketing material after that and even isn’t included in Apple’s supplier lists (PDF).

That and Apple’s reliance on Asian parts materials makers had led some to believe that Apple had gone to Asian glass manufacturers for their iPhone production.

In the New York Times’ iEconomy series, Corning is said to have shifted its glass manufacturing to China.

“Our customers are in Taiwan, Korea, Japan and China,” said James B. Flaws, Corning’s vice chairman and chief financial officer. “We could make the glass here, and then ship it by boat, but that takes 35 days. Or, we could ship it by air, but that’s 10 times as expensive. So we build our glass factories next door to assembly factories, and those are overseas.”

However, today, Apple released its US Jobs report which included the following info:

Corning employees in Kentucky and New York who create the majority of the glass for iPhone,..

What’s the takeaway?
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iPad 3 price matrix will be the same as iPad 2, above

One of the remaining mysteries ahead of the iPad 3 launch next week are the prices and configurations.  If you don’t like surprises we have good news.

There was a rumor last week that gained traction which indicated that the US prices would increase by $70-$80.  That doesn’t appear to be the case.

We’ve gotten word that iPad pricing is going to be the same across the board as the current iPad 2 models which should be no big surprise given Apple’s history – they rarely raise prices.  Even better, some countries with currencies doing better than the US dollar should expect to see marginal drops in prices.

While we’re squashing, the configurations appear to be the same as current 16/32/64GB.  One of the strange succession of posts from Digitimes this week said that Apple would move to 8GB/16GB/32GB.  That appears even less likely than before, if that is even possible.

Update: This has no bearing on LTE one way or another

As always, thanks to Mr. X!

iPad Model numbers are as follows:
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An example iPad 3 app screenshot simulated using the Retina Simulator tool. Click for larger.

The forthcoming March 7 announcement of a third-generation iPad will (again) force third-party developers to update user interfaces with high-resolution graphic assets that will take advantage of the tablet’s substantial pixel density increase. Some developers took to Twitter to complain that Apple currently does not provide tools for them to test how apps will look on the iPad 3. Enter Ryan Petrich, who is an iOS developer and mobile engineer at Medialets.

With a bit of good ole’ under-the-hood pluming, Petrich put together a nifty hack that lets developers test existing iPad apps on iPad 3’s Retina Display. It reportedly maxes out at a whopping 2048-by-1536 pixel resolution. The tool is called “Retina Simulator,” and it is available free of charge here.

Developer Steve Troughton-Smith tapped Petrich’s tool to create gorgeous high-resolution screenies depicting how incredibly crisp and detailed Retina-optimized apps will look on the upcoming iPad 3. Just click on any image in this article for full-resolution awesomeness. Marvel. Repeat.

Meanwhile, a credible publication analyzed server logs and found traces of iOS 6.0 and iPads rocking Retina Display originating from Apple’s Cupertino campus.

Continue reading for more information on this and concerns related to over-the-air distribution of Retina-optimized iPad 3 apps.

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Apple’s $1 billion data center in North Carolina powers iTunes and iCloud.

We told you in October about a 174-acre solar farm Apple reportedly started building to power the new Maiden, N.C., data center facility. Surrounding the facility will be the largest end user–owned onsite solar array in the United States. It will consist of a 100-acres and a 20-megawatt facility to provide approximately 42 million kWh of clean, renewable energy each year. The company’s 2012 Environmental Update from two weeks ago revealed plans for another five-megawatt non-utility fuel cell installation—the nation’s biggest—right next to the data center.

Supposedly running on biogas made from landfill waste and carbon-neutral, it will offer 40 million kWh of 24×7 baseload renewable energy every year. Now, GigaOM has it “from a couple sources” that Apple commissioned fuel cell maker Bloom Energy to supply the firm with fuel cells for the facility. Apparently, Apple already has “a few Bloom fuel cells running on its campus.”

Bloom’s fuel cells are large boxes that suck up oxygen on one side and fuel (natural gas or biogas) on the other to produce power. That means that with the fuel cells (and a solar array that will be built) Apple’s data center will have a source of cleaner distributed power that isn’t coming from the local utility via the grid. Bloom offers boxes capable of supplying 100 kW, which could translate into 50 Bloom Boxes being installed at Apple’s data center.

Each Bloom Box costs $700,000 to $800,000 and takes about as much room as a parking space. The Bloom Boxes are approximately 67 percent cleaner than a typical coal-fired power plant or the grid, and 12 were installed at Adobe’s San Jose campus. Bloom Energy also has deals with Bank of America (500 kW), Coca-Cola (500 kW), FedEx (500 kW), Staples (300 kW), Cox Enterprises, and Walmart (800 kW), in addition to various telcos and Silicon Valley giants, such as eBay (500 kW) and Google (400 kW). The firm is also in talks to build a 30 MW fuel cell farm consisting of 300 Bloom Boxes in Delaware.

CEO K.R. Sridhar founded the Sunnyvale, Calif.-headquartered fuel cell maker in 2002. Originally called “Ion America,” it was renamed to Bloom Energy in 2006. Now, what is interesting about Bloom Energy is that the company was funded by Apple’s old pal, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins...

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Having successfully reset the center of Amsterdam with the beautiful Hirsch store—the company’s first in the Netherlands, while gearing to launch a landmark outlet in London’s world-famous Harrods department store by mid-March (quite possibly coinciding with iPad 3 availability), Apple is ready to open new retail outlets in the United States and overseas. Per the latest retail chatter, Apple now plans to build four new stores, including an outlet in Houston’s Highland Village Shopping center at Westheimer and Drexel, and a spectacular store at the old Saks space in downtown Portland, Ore.

A retail application from an unnamed company that Portland is reviewing describes a block-long glass storefront with a 10-foot deep plaza in front in Saks Fifth Avenue at the Pioneer Place shopping mall.

Likely replacing the existing Apple store building’s basement, OregonLive.com reports the development plan calls for a “single story building and outdoor plaza area… fully glazed with clear glass.” The report also mentioned “bead blasted, matte finish stainless steel panels,” another tell-tale sign of an Apple store.

A Google Maps view on the right, courtesy of ifoAppleStore, outlines the proposed area for the store in yellow. Plaza steps are planned and the entire store is slated at 165 feet wide with 22 glass panels. Downloadable PDFs offer a glimpse into the project description and drawings and the ground-floor plan. The design review of the proposed store is due March 15 at 1:30 p.m.

More information on other upcoming outlets, including Italy’s “most important store,” are after the break.

Black curtains hiding the glass front of Apple’s upcoming store in Houston’s Highland Village Shopping center at Westheimer and Drexel. Image credit: Chron.com

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Pictured above: An Apple television concept render by Guilherme Schasiepen.

Piper Jaffray’s resident Apple analyst Gene Munster stands out as arguably the most outspoken proponent of an Apple-branded HDTV television set otherwise known as the mythical iTV. With all eyes now on Apple’s iPad 3 unveiling next Wednesday, the pundits are also keeping their fingers crossed for a much-needed Apple TV refresh with 1080p video output and a faster processor, especially now that Apple TVs are increasingly disappearing from shelves.

Piggy-backing on the forthcoming product unveiling hype, Munster shed more light on what he believes a full-blown television set adorned by the shiny Apple logo should be like during yesterday’s interview with Bloomberg Radio’s Tom Keene and Ken Pruitt. Munster is betting Apple will introduce the rumored product some time this year and is expecting fall availability. You will want to buy it, because:

It’s going to live up to some of the building hype. It will be the biggest thing in consumer electronics since the smartphone.

From a design standpoint, the iTV “will look different” than your regular television: “Imagine just a sheet of glass – no edges or bevels.” The analyst re-iterated his previous observations, including strong focus on content consumption (presumably delivered through iTunes/iCloud) and Siri voice control…

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The Internet is abuzz with stats about iPad trade-ins going through the roof as the March 7 iPad 3 unveiling in San Francisco looms closer, and while percentages and graphs are vaguely interesting, the real meat to the story concerns where and how people can get the most bang for their buck.

Look no further as 9to5Mac compiled a list of places to trade in an ole’ dusty iPad for cash or credit to buy Apple’s upcoming toy. Before perusing the options, identify the condition, features, and model of the swappable iPad. This knowledge will help decide its maximum value, because most of these online programs use a survey to determine the slate’s estimate. Moreover, it is prudent to act now as some reports indicate retailers are steadily dropping prices with Apple’s event drawing nearer.

Trade-in websites and their prices are available below. 

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Microsoft issued the Windows 8 Consumer Preview today for everyone to download and try. Demonstrating the operating system’s ability to scale from the smartphone screen all the way to high-end PCs and beyond, the Redmond, Wash.-headquartered software giant showcased Windows 8 on a monstrous 82-inch display that is capable of detecting up to 100 simultaneous touch events or 10 simultaneous users.

Unfortunately, AnandTech, which reported the story, does not have a video online yet. However, I think it is safe to take Microsoft’s word. Now, if the operating system only ran Apple’s Keynote, the ninja PC-plus-Windows 8 combo coupled with a huge projector-based display would make for an impressive keynote rig.

By the way, we would love to hear impressions from our tech-savvy readers that have managed to dual-boot Windows 8 Consumer Preview alongside OS X using Boot Camp (go here for the FAQ detailing system requirements).

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview product demonstration video is right below the fold.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aebfjzdLxJA#!]

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The iPad maker is defending its moniker by insisting the device became synonymous with both the company name and the tablets. PCWorld quotes Apple’s legal representatives who argued at the Guangdong Province Higher People’s Court hearing this morning that Apple made the iPad name famous in the first place:

Among consumers across the world, the iPad trademark is already uniquely connected with Apple. When consumers see a tablet with an iPad trademark, they know it comes from Apple, and not from another company.

No ruling occurred during the six-hour long hearing, and the judges adjourned without setting a new court date. Should Apple lose the appeal, Proview’s request to put a sales ban on the iPad in 30 Chinese cities will go-ahead. Moreover, Apple would risk lawsuits seeking damages. Last week, the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court rejected a preliminary iPad sales injunction until the Guangdong court made its ruling on the appeal.

Apple’s argument might actually backfire, because its legal standoff with Proview has blown up. Wikipedia claims, “A trademark owner takes a risk in engaging in such a corrective campaign because the campaign may serve as an admission that the trademark is generic.” I am not a lawyer, but it seems obvious Apple might be calling upon itself long-term damage with this testimony.

Arguing that the iPad became a generic term for tablets theoretically means anyone could use it as a descriptor. Besides, why do you think Proview brought this battle to the United States? The opposite argument is that Apple actually owns the iPad name, and it is the only company marketing a product that became synonymous for tablets in the first place.

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Update: AAPL closed at 535.41 but is at 536.37 pushing its market cap over $500B

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Some folks noticed that shares of Apple, Inc. surged yesterday morning amid favorable market conditions. Today’s announcement of the March 7 iPad 3 unveiling has managed to push the Cupertino, Calif.-headquartered designer of shiny electronics to a new lifetime high. The Apple stock, which trades on NASDAQ under the AAPL symbol, was up nearly nine points, or more than 1.5-percent, in early afternoon trading.

Valued at $534.08 a share, the company was just shy of $500 billion in market valuation at the time of this writing. Wow, just wow. Talk about the iPad effect.

That is still below Microsoft’s $583 billion valuation from 1999, but the iPhone maker’s getting closer and closer with each passing day. AAPL first crossed the $500 a share milestone the day before Valentine’s Day. Earlier on Feb. 9, 2012, shares of Apple, Inc. passed 10 percent of all of NASDAQ value and traded at $431 a share. In addition, right following Valentine’s Day, Apple first passed the psychological $500 a share barrier. For comparison’s sake, AAPL on Steve Jobs’ Oct. 5, 2011 passing traded at $378.25.

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[vodpod id=Video.16154415&w=425&h=350&fv=]

UPDATE: Apple proved CNBC terribly wrong and officially announced that iPad 3 will be introduced at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco at 10 a.m. PST on March 7.
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(note the misplaced decimal above)

Apple.pro recently leaked spy shots of the purported iPad 3 front glass and a next-generation iPod nano with a camera on the back. Today, the Chinese blog is at it again, pointing to an image depicting the thickness of the third-generation iPad’s shell compared to the current-generation iPad 2. Resorting to a good ol’ digital caliper, the photograph reveals iPad 3 to be 9.50mm thick.

Compare this to iPad 2’s depth of 8.8mm (the original iPad is 13.4mm), and the third-generation iPad could end up a hair thicker than its predecessor could. Or, if we are really nitpicking, it is 0.81mm thicker. It would seem there is some merit to that talk of a slightly thicker iPad 3 with more tapering and narrower bezel. Apple is likely to unveil iPad 3 at a media event next March 7.

According to sources that spoke with 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman, at least three next-generation iPads are expected. It is speculated iPad 3 would run a dual-core A5X chip with an improved graphics engine. This chip is said to be an evolution of iPad 2’s A5 processor and not a major upgrade that the rumored quad-core A6 silicon is expected to be. Near-immediate availability is being mulled for iPad 3 as shipments were spotted landing at ports of multiple countries around the world.

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