Apple

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Remember Quark? The developer of popular publishing software QuarkXPress has been sold to merger and acquisition firm Platinum Equity, and, according to a report from Techcrunch, the company is already focusing on finding a new home for the Quark’s IP. In the midst of heated patent battles between smartphone makers, what might the patents and technologies owned by Quark have to offer Apple?

Magazine and newspaper subscriptions are a big focus for Apple, it’s clear with the introduction of Newsstand in iOS 5, an app dedicated to helping manage digital subscriptions. Quark recently launched their QuarkXPress 9 publishing software that will allow publications to “design for and publish to digital devices in a variety of formats”, specifically the iPad, “without requiring the services of a programmer.”

Apple has helped Quark in the past, offering their services to get the publishing platform working on Mac OSX.

The majority of large publications have millions in funding behind them when creating the digital version of their magazines for the iPad. However, if Apple were to integrate Quark software into an SDK specifically for publishers, the subscriptions market on iOS devices might closer resemble the ecosystem currently in place for games. In other words, giving developers without millions in funding the “tools to convert existing layouts to rich, interactive content — or create new iPad content from scratch” may bring with it a rush of quality content with subscription models much more attractive to users than those offered by the larger publications.

Apple is clearly making digital subscriptions a focus in iOS 5 with Newsstand Kit, which provides the ability update issues in the background and auto-update subscriptions, but the SDK certainly falls short of everything Quark software could offer publishers.

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Macrumors notes that the boarded up Fifth Avenue Apple Store now reveals plans to improve the appearance of the cube by using “bigger, seamless” panes of glass.  The number of panes will drop from 90 to just 15 (3 per side).

We’re simplifying the Fifth Avenue cube. By using larger, seamless pieces of glass, we’re using just 15 panes instead of 90.

The upgrade reportedly costs $6 million. We’d be very surprised if the renovation isn’t complete for the October iPhone 5 launch.

Apple is also expected to have its Grand Central location, just 15 or so blocks south, open for the holidays and is also doing an upgrade to its Soho Store.

Update: The Gothamist posts a rendering:

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MICGadget reports that some industrious Chinese smugglers devised an elaborate system to get iPads and iPhones across the border into the country where they were once built:

Hong Kong and Chinese customs have cracked an audacious smuggling operation that saw Apple goods ferried along a long cable straddling the border. The iPad and iPhones were transported over a small river that separates the booming city of Shenzhen from the rural northern part of Hong Kong using an elaborate pulley system. The cable was shot across the border using a crossbow [Batman?] and the Apple products were flying across at night, which store in black nylon bags. The cable was suspended to a high-rise building in the Chinese border town of Shenzhen, and goods were moved several hundred meters from a small village house located in Hong Kong

6 smugglers were arrested in the operation, 50’s iPad 2 and 50’s iPhone 4, which worth about three hundred thousand yuan (US$46,583) were seized.

It is startling that Chinese taxes make operations like this necessary, especially in the place where these things are actually produced!
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The eye-popping chart above (via Fortune) shows Apple is on course to take control of global market share for portable computers (laptops, notebooks, and tablets) in the second quarter of 2011 – but that’s only as some analysts switch to accounting iPads as computers. Deutshe Bank’s Chris Whitmore, author of the chart, describes his findings:

Within the computing market, we see significant opportunity for Apple to take meaningful share in the second half as the Microsoft / PC ecosystem is relatively stagnant, lacking meaningful new offerings.

Many will be quick to point out the spike is due to taking iPad sales into consideration, a device that many analysts debate shouldn’t be considered as a competitor to notebooks and other portable PCs. However, Apple is steadily gaining ground on Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Microsoft even without the iPad. Whitmore explains:

On the other hand, Apple will be competing with an upgraded Mac OS, new MacBook Airs (and other forthcoming Macs) and a new iPad iOS. Within the Tablet market, the iPad remains the Gold Standard as competitors struggle for mindshare and traction (note HP’s price cuts on the TouchPad). Meanwhile, competing PC manufacturers have suggested Ultrabooks won’t ramp in material volumes until 2012 due to challenges driving price points meaningfully below Apple’s Air. As such, Apple appears particularly well positioned for more share gains heading into the back-to- school and holiday selling season.

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More patent fun today as a small Florida company that may or may not be an LG spinoff called OSS systems sues Apple according to Patently Apple.  The Patent was originally filed by LG in 1999 and describes…

“A method for fast booting a computer system, comprising the steps of: A. performing a power on self test (POST) of basic input output system (BIOS) when the system is powered on or reset is requested; B. checking whether a boot configuration information including a system booting state which was created while executing a previous normal booting process exists or not; C. storing the boot configuration information from execution of the POST operation before loading a graphic interface (GUI) program, based on the checking result; and D. loading the graphic user interface (GUI) program.”

As far as Android competitors go, LG and Apple have a pretty cordial relationship  having signed a $500 million display deal a few years ago.  Displays in Apple’s popular devices, from 27-inch iMacs to retina iPhones are made by LG. LG could have spun the patent off as its own company, in an attempt to avoid locking horns with Apple in the courts.  Apple has been suing what seems like every other Android manufacturer over patent disputes.
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Update (Aug. 8th): Following our report, Apple has gone ahead and released it!. Interestingly, no Thunderbolt and RAM not upgradable?!

Apple is gearing up to launch a new addition to the iMac lineup later this month that appears to be geared towards education/volume customers. The new iMac has less power than the current line of all-in-one Apple desktop computers and also has less storage space. The computer packs a last generation 3.1 GHz dual-core processor (3.06 GHz rounded up), 2 GB of DDR3 RAM, 250 GB of hard drive storage space, and the AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor with 256 MB of dedicated memory.

This lower-end iMac obviously has much less horsepower than the current iMac line and should be priced as such. For comparison, the entry level 21.5-inch iMac features a 2.5 GHz quad-core processor, 4 GB of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive, and the same AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor but with double the dedicated memory at 512 MB. This entry level 21.5-inch iMac is priced at $1,199, so don’t be surprised to see this less-powerful machine with a sub-$1000 price tag. For reference, Apple’s last education-geared iMac was priced at $899. A similar (more RAM, worse graphics) refurbished model is currently priced at $929 (pictured below).

Apple is expected to silently release this new machine later this month. As always, thanks Mr. X.

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Update: The date in the file has moved a day forward.

We know you are just rooting through iOS Beta 5 now, but we’re think we’ve cracked the OTA update date code.

Apple plans to release their next developer seed of iOS 5, Beta 6, on Thursday, August 18th according to some codes a few developers sent our way. The sources, who provided us with the exact date and time of today’s iOS 5 beta 5 release (which we were skeptical of – because it was a Saturday), warns that because we are still days away from the planned release, the seeding can be delayed due to bugs or other reasons out of our control.

Anyway, you might want to block out your calendar for Thursday evening.

Thanks, Yarin, Andre and  A!

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There is a standalone of iOS 5 beta 5 build 9A5288d as well as a new delta update available via OTA which weighs in at 128mb.  Xcode and iTunes also received updates today as well.  Interestingly, to do the OTA, Apple says you’ll need to do a hard reset (though we’re hearing that is optional)

To install iOS 5 beta 5 using over the air software update, you must first erase all content and settings on your device by choosing Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. Over the air software update can be initiated on devices running iOS 5 beta 3 and later by choosing Settings > General > Software Update.

Monster release notes and changes, below:
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Youtube user appletvblack has posted a video of an HTML 5 game running on a 2nd generation Apple TV. The clever hacker played ‘Blackjack 4’ by installing Couch Surfer to obtain a web browser on his Apple TV and then simply navigated to the game. The game isn’t much, but it does show HTML 5 gaming is possible if Apple were to open it up… or if we just jailbreak. (via Redmond Pie)

Bloomberg points at an RBC Daily story which claims that Apple could begin selling iPhone 5 in Russia this November, “almost immediately” after sales begin in the US. The Russian newspaper’s story is sourced from unnamed handset retailers. Bloomberg notes:

Russian cellphone operators are in talks with Apple about speeding up deliveries, as previous iPhone versions were introduced in Russia much later than in the U.S., causing a large volume of unauthorized sales, the newspaper said.

So, the Russians likely won’t be getting their hands on iPhone 5 the same day as their American counterparts. On a brighter note, it took the country three months last time to get iPhone 4 so this would be an improvement (Hope Russian President gets his iPhone unlocked this time) It is interesting that Apple is allegedly prepping to open its first Russian store inside the trade gallery of the reconstructed Hotel Moskva, near Kremlin, in late 2011.

A coincidence?

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Cult of Mac claims that a previously reliable source told them that Magic Mouse inventory is not being replenished at Apple Stores. From this, they say that the Magic Mouse will soon be discontinued.

The move would make sense given that OS X Lion is heavily gesture based, but it also does not make sense for a couple of reasons.

OS X Lion still supports the touch-capable Magic Mouse and it is the perfect option from Apple for those who are not a fan of many gestures…or for those desktop users that are learning gestures.

From what we have seen, stock of the Magic Mouse appears to be pretty normal at online retailers such as Amazon. We also haven’t heard anything out of our stock channels, so we are a bit skeptical. It still would not be completely surprising for the company who killed the optical drive to the kill the mouse.

Update: We’ve heard from one untested Central European source that Magic Mice supplies are constrained, but can’t draw any conclusions based on that.

Update 2: Cult of Mac says the Magic Mouse has been resurrected.

Update 3: The part number for the Magic Mouse is not discontinued. A refresh is certainly possible but it likely is not imminent.

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While Google passed the 40% smartphone share (Microsoft must be happy!) in the US threshold, Apple continues to outpace the industry as a whole posting modest 1 point gains in the US smartphone category according to comScore.   Apple moved up from 25.5% in March to 26.6% in June on the year old iPhone 4 model which also saw its US debut on Verizon.

Apple also moved up in the hardware category, below:

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Our good friends in Applecare alerted us to the fact that Lion USB keys were now available and in stock through AppleCare.  While officially they will cost a lofty $69, it appears, at least from the wording above, that some customers that aren’t able to use Lion’s recovery tools may be eligible to receive the USB drive at no cost.

We’ve detailled how to make a Lion recovery key from a Snow Leopard Key (automated or on your own, cheap) so don’t put Apple though the hassle, OK?

Update: We’ve been debunked by the new AOLEngadget!  Head below for details.

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Three in Sweden is having a “half price sale” on the iPhone 3GS “while supplies last”.  The free iPhone 3GS with the 99 Kroners a month ($15.42) plan works out to about US$370 for the entire contract and that is before minutes and the unlimited Internet (throttled after 1GB) are considered.  That is incredibly cheap.

In the US, the price of an iPhone 3GS off contract is still over $400 and we’re used to some of the lowest prices on Apple products globally.

The move would seem to indicate that the iPhone 3GS is nearing its end of life (EOL) and prices may begin to drop in other countries as well.

The Swedish carrier’s move is interesting because we heard a report last month that the iPhone 3GS would continue to be offered next year at a sub-$350 prepaid option alongside the ‘iPhone 4S’.

Updated: Denmark too!

Machine translated plan, below:
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One of the teething problems in Lion is that the operating system does not work well with some third-party network attached storage (NAS) solutions. As we await OS X 10.7.1 update to fix those problems, manufacturers like Western Digital are taking this matter into their own hands. Western Digital, for example, yesterday released a firmware update for the My Book Live series, making it compatible with OS X Lion and Time Machine.

Western Digital uses Netatalk, an open source AFP fileserver. When Apple made changes to AFP function in Lion, it caused major woes as Netatalk had to be updated. According to release notes (PDF document), the software can be downloaded manually or automatically, by accessing the drive via Bonjour or using the WD QuickView app on your Mac.

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Apple’s new iCloud Web apps are built using the same SproutCore Javascript engine that was used throughout MobileMe.  If the favicon above doesn’t prove it, looking at the underlying code below seems to offer undeniable evidence.

SproutCore describes itself as an open-source framework for building blazingly fast, innovative user experiences on the web.

Here’s a nice interview with Charles Jolley, one of the founders of SproutCore and previous MobileMe Javascript Frameworks Manager.  He left Apple about a year ago to start Strobe – a device agnostic Web publishing engine based on…you guessed it, SproutCore.

Interestingly, SproutCore lists Strobe Inc. as its parent company.

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In January of 2010, Kodak sued  Apple and RIM for infringing on their patent to preview photographs. The lawsuit is still going on, but today Wall Street Journal is reporting that Kodak is currently looking to sell 10% of their patent portfolio, which includes the patent Apple and RIM are bring sued for.

The 1,100 patents include patents covering  capturing, storing, organizing and sharing digital image. WSJ credits the sale to Kodak’s loss in profit over the last two quarters.

Chief Executive Antonio Perez has been using Kodak’s intellectual property as a means of funding the company’s long and expensive transformation. In 2008, Mr. Perez put forth a goal to generate between $250 million and $350 million a year from Kodak’s patent portfolio.

Google is fresh off acquiring 1,000 patents from IBM and is likely still in a buying mood as it battles everyone from Oracle to Microsoft to Apple-by-proxy in the courts.  Apple, who outbid Google for the Nortel patent portfolio at $4.5B  is obviously on the offensive.

Kodak’s decision to sell its patents follows a $4.5 billion patent sale by Nortel Networks Corp. Kodak has retained Lazard as an adviser for the sale. Lazard also advised Nortel on its sale.

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In case you haven’t noticed, a rumored Fall release of iPhone 5 is being preceded by the usual media brouhaha. Is Apple going to release its next handset in September? How about October? Maybe they’ll gradually bring the device to market over the course of both months? Has the company already field-tested the gizmo in June? And if the phone is already in production, how come carriers are only now getting prototypes in sealed boxes? Do case leaks mean a ringer switch has been repositioned to the opposite side? And what’s with those iPhone 4 price cuts at Target and Radioshack and AT&T vacation blackouts?

Disregarding all of the above for a second, what exactly about Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone is going to blow our socks off the most? If you ask Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu, it’s the large display combined with an even thinner profile than iPhone 4:

It turns out that we are picking up that this interim iPhone refresh in the Fall timeframe could be a bigger upgrade than we expected. We believe this makes sense to improve the iPhone experience without making it too bulky as we have seen with models from competitors.

But what exactly is ‘bulky’ these days? Are we talking a few millimeters larger display or ‘Android superphone bulky’? Italian-language MelaBlog.it did a cool side-by-side comparison of the current-generation iPhone 4’s 3.5-inch display and the rumored iPhone 5 at various display dimensions. An iPhone 5 with a 4.3-inch display would require a frame wider and taller ten millimeters than that of the iPhone 4, while keeping the same 9.3 millimeter profile. Reducing the display edges “to a minimum” – that’s an edge-to-edge display for you – could allow Apple to engineer a monstrous 4.7-inch device, as depicted in the above drawing. There’s just one problem, though (plus, a cool reader mockup below the fold)…

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Thanks Alonzo!

We’re hearing reports from @gruber backed up by iOS Firmware that AppleTVs are getting updated today with some enhanced new firmware.  Early reports indicate that you can now stream any items purchased ever to AppleTV and Apple is now supporting Vimeo.

Apple’s update KB is here. And the direct download is 4.3 (8F455)

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In a profile on Comex, the 19-year old who has on three different occasions cracked open the iPhone security completely, Forbes reveals the jailbreaker’s name and MO.  He’s Nicholas Allegra who lives with his parents in Chappaqua, New York and is on leave from Brown University.

On iPhone hacking, he says,

“It feels like editing an English paper,” Allegra says simply, his voice croaking as if he just woke up, though we’re speaking at 9:30 pm. “You just go through and look for errors. I don’t know why I seem to be so effective at it.”

His work has blown away his peers, if anyone can be labeled as such.

Dino Dai Zovi, co-author of the Mac Hacker’s Handbook, compares JailbreakMe’s sophistication to that of Stuxnet, a worm thought to have been designed by the Israeli or U.S. government to infect Iran’s nuclear facilities. He compares Allegra’s skills to the state-sponsored intruders that plague corporations and governments, what the cybersecurity industry calls “advanced-persistent threat” hackers: “He’s probably five years ahead of them,” says Dai Zovi.

Allegra says that 2 million iOS devices have been jailbroken with the third release of jailbreakme.com.  Forbes concludes, Apple should be offering up an internship to Allegra.

Internship?  How about a six figure salary and a corner office?

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iPhone 5 knockoff

John Packowski writes for The Wall Street Journal’s blog AllThingsD that, alas, iPhone 5 will be launching in October, not in September as the rumor mill has been buzzing over the past few weeks. This information apparently comes from an unnamed source close to Apple. The blog has been right about many things Apple in the past so it’s worth mentioning here:

So those rumors claiming the iPhone 5 will debut in late September? They’re wrong. Instead, it’s going to be an October surprise — the month in which Apple will be launching its next generation iPhone.

We received solid information last month that AT&T was making big changes to its insurance policy related to iPhones in the first week of October.  Additionally, we broke the news that AT&T was introducing a new throttling policy as of October 1st as well.  The writing appears to be on the wall.  But AllThingsD think it will be a late October surprise:

So when can we expect the company to uncrate the iPhone 5? “October,” the source said, while declining to offer a hard-launch date. Other sources said it will be later in the month, rather than earlier.

Others have reported that AT&T has blacked out employee vacations in the September’s last two weeks, which is usually a sign of a major product launch which may or may not be related to a new phone from Apple. This unconfirmed piece of the puzzle was apparently provided to Gizmodo by an AT&T employee this past Friday who noted that “historically the only time they’ve done this was for an iPhone release”, adding that “we’re looking at the last two weeks of September”.  BGR said that it was the first two weeks of September.  Not so says AllThingsD:

“I don’t know why AT&T’s calling for all hands on deck those weeks, but it’s not for an iPhone launch,” a source familiar with Apple’s plans said.

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