Apple

With iPad 2 now in the picture (no pun intended), exhaustive camera benchmarks from numerous publications paint a pretty bleak picture for Apple’s magical device. Like it or not, iPad 2 cameras mostly earn lower scores when pitted against Motorola’s Xoom, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and even Apple’s own iPod touch. The empirical testing backed by real-life footage proves what we’ve been suspecting all along, that iPad 2 takes substandard stills and grainier video than most tablets.

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Image credit: John Ferguson

Many Apple fans will disagree with such a strong statement about the charismatic CEO who has single-handedly shifted the balance of power in the music industry and persuaded youngsters that stealing music is bad for their karma. That’s exactly what Jon Bon Jovi said responding to a reporter’s question about the state of music today. Read on…

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In a strange turn of fate, California-based Apple is moving to trademark the famed fruity logos once used by the Beatles, following a 23-year legal dispute between the two companies. Furthermore, Apple makes specific mention of a social network in the fourteen international classifications that cover possible uses for the two logos. How can Apple, Inc. claim ownership of the Beatles’ logos in the first place, you ask.

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The iPhone repair experts at iFixyouri have determined that most of the weight savings in the iPad 2 – a fifth of a pound, is in the LCD and Glass assembly.

Here’s a breakdown weights of the Wifi iPads:

iPad 1 – 712.60g
iPad 2 – 600.60g (iPad 2 – 112g lighter)

If we break that down even further, the iPad 1 LCD/Glass is almost half the weight of the original iPad.

iPad 1 front half(LCD & Glass assembly) – 347.90g
iPad 1 back half – 364.70g

However, breaking down the iPad 2, we find a much lighter glass assembly accounts for most of the weight loss.  The glass we found out last night is 27% thinner than the original iPad. Eliminating the frame that the glass sits on, using thinner LCD and thinner glass, Apple saved 84.7g. That makes up for 75% of the weight reduction.

iPad 2 front half(LCD & Glass) – 263.20g
iPad 2 back half – 337.40g

Apple was able to shave almost 30 grams off of the rest of the device, and with a slightly bigger battery, that is significant.  But the lightness you feel is mostly the glass weight savings.

Our report on the iPad 2 glass from over a month ago first detailed Apple’s effort to save weight in the LCD/Glass assembly.

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Just like the previous iOS device launch days, today’s iPad 2 launch is spawning reports of some minor issues.  We’re getting some images of the yellow tint we saw last year.

Reader N. Peach sent this in. In all likelyiehood they yellow will dissipate just like last year’s issues as the glue from the factory dries.  Another reader’s is below:
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British media magnate and entrepreneur Richard Branson heaped praise on Steve Jobs and his consumer electronics powerhouse Apple, which he says is his favorite brand. Contemplating about a theoretical merger between Virgin and Apple, he said it would be a great fit. As if that weren’t crazy enough,  in a stroke of inspiration the UK billionaire calls Apple a “brilliant global company” that he admires the most. We have a video clip to prove it all right after the break.

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Apple has been the leader in miniaturization since the original iPod’s debut, which marked their entry into the ultra-portable gadget market. Fast forward ten years later and we have iPad 2 and iPhone 4 that are just 8.8 and 9.3 millimeter thick, respectively. Matter of fact, iPad 2 is actually thinner than your shiny iPhone 4. Even though Apple has come a long way in a short while with such ultra-portable devices, they might hit a  roadblock soon, which is your regular 3.5 millimeter audio jack. Needles to say, there’s a patent for that.

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The debate about Flash on iOS devices rarely makes headlines these days, but it’s far from being over. You can see it in an increasing number of apps from third-parties that aim to solve this nasty issue once and for all. While the vast majority of solutions only tackle Flash videos, only a few iOS apps are capable of rendering other content types delivered through Flash, like games and interactive apps.

Enter iSwifter, a new iPad app that claims to stream any Flash content.

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Interesting note from a Wired UK story on Rovio: The company was almost in bankruptcy prior to releasing their Angry Birds app in the App Store. They had been making meager earnings selling apps through the mobile carriers and for other companies.  One App for app store and now they are $50 million in the black with a lucrative franchise on their hands.

Wired.co.uk via SAI
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Apple is set to open a new high-profile retail store in Germany by the end of March. A series of leaked work-in-progress photos showing both interior and exterior reveal that a two-floor store will occupy a large space, suggesting that Apple plans to carry the full product lineup sold in their other big retail stores.  (inside shots below)

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Why is it that Apple’s otherwise excellent Safari browser seems to be more prone to vulnerabilities than rival offerings from Microsoft, Google and Mozilla? Ever since security whiz Charlie Miller in 2008 broke into the MacBook Air in two minutes through Safari, the browser has been the subject of intense criticism for its various security weaknesses. Well, Safari just got pwned again at yesterday’s HP TippingPoint-sponsored hacking challenge at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

This time, the bragging rights belong to the French security firm Vupen which won a cool $15,000 and a MacBook Air for beating its perks in pwning Apple’s browser. It took the team just a few seconds to exploit an unpatched Safari vulnerability. “We pwned Apple Safari on Mac OS X (x64) at pwn2own in 5 seconds,” they tweeted.

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iPad 2 comes out in 2 days (March 11th) and you know what that means… reviews! Here’s a roundup and some notes of interest.

Joshua Topolsky for Engadget:

-Unbelievably thin

Pictures don’t quite do the iPad 2 justice — it feels really, really great in your hands. Not only does the construction give it a feeling of heft and permanence, but the thin profile combined with the new, tapered edges make holding the device a real joy

-Bezel is slightly thinner

-Has 512 MB of RAM, 1 GHz A5 clocked at 800 MHz

-Clearer speaker

The sound seems clearer if somewhat quieter than the old version, and we can’t say that there’s a major improvement as far as the placement goes.

-Battery life is slightly better than original iPad’s.

-iPad 2 cameras “are really pretty bad”

More after the break…

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same numbers!

We’re not sure if this has already happened, but EETimes reports on the rumors that Apple has shifted its A5 production from Samsung to TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company).  Since no one has seen a real A5 processor yet, we don’t know if Apple has already switched.

Perhaps most damning, the art that Apple has put out on its A5 Chips is actually just an A4 Chip with ‘A5’ superimposed over top(!) See same part numbers around the edges above.  Does this mean that Apple has something to hide? (They always do)

The move would make logistical sense as Apple’s current (former?) partner in processor manufacturing, Samsung, is increasingly becoming a competitor in both iOS devices and in PCs.  Apple was supposed to take $7.8Billion in parts from Samsung this year.  Might be time to adjust that estimate.

With little or no fanfare, Apple and TSMC have recently entered into a foundry relationship, sources said. As reported, TSMC will make the A5 dual-core processor on a foundry basis for Apple’s iPad 2. That can be read here and here.

We reported on Apple’s move to Qualcomm (from Infineon) who use TSMC’s process for GOBI chips in October.
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Apple has mailers going out today telling us to get ready to interrupt our Friday in order to line up like little actors all over the place in their iPad 2 Friday marketing campaign blitz. Ugh. I’m kinda down on the whole “spend Friday in line without a reservation” thing if you hadn’t noticed.

It is also interesting that Apple seems to default to the White iPad more often than not in its marketing – which was only a rumor a week ago.

Sorry Apple, I’m not spending my Friday in line.  Instead, I’m going to do the more convenient thing: Have my alarm wake me up at 2:55 am on Friday morning before work, order it online then, then try to go back to sleep.  (we love you Apple) I won’t have a 2 to play with over the weekend but at least I’ll have my Friday.

I think @MarkGurman will be queueing up at the Grove in LA if anyone wants to go bother him there (or hold his place in line).

Also, Me: White 16GB Wifi, Tan Leather iCover. You?
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MIC Gadget got some hands-on time with that 64GB iPhone we told you about earlier. You’ll notice the camera doesn’t have a silver ring around the edge like the infamous “lost in a bar” phone.

Perhaps most interesting is that we’ve been hearing that Apple does limited runs of these things (and had done them in the past as well) but the guy who got them from Foxconn said:

According to the owner, he believes that the next iPhone will bring 64GB storage capacity to users.

Bring it Apple!
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The iFixit MacBook Pro Quad-Core Intel i7-2630QM Mobile Processor (labeled as 2V041112A0127) isn’t chock full of surprises but here’s what they found:

• Wireless is Broadcom BCM4331
• Intel BD82HM65 Platform Controller Hub

• AMD Radeon HD 6490M GPU (labeled as AMD 216-00809000)
• Quad-Core Intel i7-2629M Mobile Processor (labeled as 2V041112A0127)
• Broadcom BCM57765B0KMLG Integrated Gigabit Ethernet and Memory Card Reader Controller
• Intel L051NB32 EFL (we assume this is the Thunderbolt port controller) – pictured below
• Parade PS8301 U08FUC
• TDK 6T213HF 1045 H

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LaCie is one of the first Light Peak partners to announce a Thunderbolt Drive with their Little Big Disk SSDs which promise to deliver absurd data speeds.   Speaking of Promise, they also have a Thunderbolt RAID device in the works, the very same one that Apple posted on their Thunderbolt page (below) which appears to be on the beefier side.

Neither have prices or shipping dates but if you have to ask how much these cost…

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Apple today updated its line of MacBook Pros. We’ll not tell you more than visiting the site.  Press release follows.

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What I don’t immediately understand is how this is going to work with my current MacBook Pro/monitor setup. It would seem that if I got a new MBP and a Thunderbolt external hard drive that the hard drive would have two Thunderbolt ports and I could daisy chain them, still using my current monitor? Or do I have to buy a new monitor that understands Thunderbolt? Anyone?

Also, while we are on the subject, this new cable would allow you to put your noisy Mac Pro in a basement/closet somewhere and just run a cable up through the floor to your monitor/keyboard/trackpad/peripherals.

Now that that is in your head, imagine what a company of 5,000 could do with this tech (after some serious rewiring).

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In the New MacBook Pro leaked box picture it said that the Thunderbolt port was also the Mini DisplayPort.  So that makes the below picture a bit more manageable on the brain.  Notice the Thunderbolt is where the Display port is/used to be:

(click twice for full sized image)

We’re still trying to wrap our heads around this.  Will there be a new MiniDisplayPort switch/cable that connects to your monitor and then connects to other devices?    Discuss below…

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A company called Vaveliero has developed an iPhone 4 case that gives you easy access to two different mobile accounts.

The kit replaces the iPhone 4’s microSIM tray with an external dual SIM adapter to give the iPhone 4 the capabilities of using two phone accounts from two different carriers. The external SIM is attached inside of the case, making the extra SIM appear like it isn’t even there. The two numbers can be switched in the settings or set on a timer to change as you wish.

Unfortunately, both can’t be used at the same time.  We’re also uncertain from the literature if you need to be unlocked to use this with non-supported networks.  Vaveliero operates in Europe where locking phones and other douchebaggery is frowned upon.  Perhaps in the US, this could be used for a separate AT&T Work and personal account.

There had been some sketchy rumors that the iPhone 5 would do this natively but we’re doubtful Apple has anything like this cooked up.

This case works with UMTS, HSDPA, WCDMA, GSM, GPRS, and EDGE. Head on past the break for more images.
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