Apple

Apple has launched a blog on its official developer website to promote the new Swift programming language. Swift, which was announced at WWDC 2014, is a successor to the Objective-C programming language for iOS and OS X, and it provides new, cleaner, and more robust tools for developing applications. The blog will be dedicated to Apple engineers working on Swift sharing tidbits behind the language’s development as well as hints. Here’s the first Swift blog post:

Welcome to Swift Blog

This new blog will bring you a behind-the-scenes look into the design of the Swift language by the engineers who created it, in addition to the latest news and hints to turn you into a productive Swift programmer.

Get started with Swift by downloading Xcode 6 beta, now available to all Registered Apple Developers for free. The Swift Resources tab has a ton of great links to videos, documentation, books, and sample code to help you become one of the world’s first Swift experts. There’s never been a better time to get coding!

– The Swift Team

Additionally, the blog now discusses Swift and its compatibility with current and future versions of Apple software. You can read those details below:

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According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, President Barack Obama is set to announce a new program called “SupplierPay” to help boost small businesses, and Apple is one of the 26 companies listed as having already signed on.

The program intends to send money down the supply chain and help strengthen contractors and smaller businesses by giving them access to lower-cost capital and thereby opening up opportunities for hiring more workers. This, the White House hopes, will increase investments at the small business level as well.
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The WSJ reports that the state-run China Central TV has described the iPhone as a “national security concern” due to its location-tracking capabilities.

In its national noon broadcast, state-run China Central Television criticized the “frequent locations” function in Apple’s iOS 7 mobile operating system, which tracks and records the time and location of the owner’s movements. The report quoted researchers who said that those with access to that data could gain knowledge of the broader situation in China or “even state secrets” …

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Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has provided relatively accurate information on future Apple product plans in the past (but frequent misses on timing), has issued a new report today indicating that the Apple smart watch will enter mass-production in November. Kuo’s previous estimate on production for the “iWatch” indicated that the device would enter mass-production rounds in September. “We have pushed back our estimated time of iWatch mass production from late-September to mid-/ late- November. We also lower our forecast of iWatch 2014 shipments by 40% to 3mn units,” Kuo wrote in today’s report. The analyst claims the push back is due to more complex hardware and software engineering in this first generation Apple product category.

Kuo also provides some tidbits as to what he is expecting the device to feature:

• Flexible AMOLED display
• Sapphire coated display cover
• Higher waterproof standards
• New system-on-a-chip components

Both a flexible AMOLED display and sapphire crystal display covers have been rumored in previous reports about the Apple smart watch, waterproofing technology makes sense in light of this being a fitness device that straps to a wrist, and we first reported in January that the iWatch will sport a new system on a chip to pack in numerous sensors that could track health data such as steps taken, calories burned, hydration, and sweat. The device, which will also include advanced mapping functionality per multiple sources, will integrate deeply with the iOS 8 operating system and its HealthKit software. We expect the device to be announced at a keynote address in October and launch by the 2014 holiday season.

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Steve Jobs introducing the App Store in 2008

As Apple celebrates the 6th anniversary of the App Store today, let’s take a look at the most recent numbers Apple has announced regarding App Store statistics. During the WWDC keynote on June 2nd, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared that the App Store then featured more than 1.2 million apps and counting.

Out of that catalog, App Store customers have downloaded apps more than 75 billion times since the digital store debuted on July 10, 2008. Apple also noted that its platform is home to more than 9 million developers with registered accounts through the Developer Program, a number which was up 47% from the previous year…
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Up to this year, all of Apple’s SoC’s have been manufactured by Samsung.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple has finally escaped Samsung’s grasp of iOS device CPU production. Although Samsung lost exclusivity last year, there was still doubts that TSMC would be able to follow through with their contract. According to this report, the manufacturer has succeeded and started shipping next-generation microprocessors for Apple’s devices (likely adorned with the ‘A8’ nomenclature) in the second quarter.

This marks a significant point in the production of the iPhone, finally allowing Apple to distance itself from Samsung in such a key area of its devices. The A8 chips use 20-nanometer production processes, according to the report. This compares favorably to the 28-nanometer process used for the A7, which should give better power efficiency and performance per watt. 9to5Mac previously reported that the A8 would focus on significant efficiency enhancements, rather than raw compute performance.

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You’d probably recognize that you’d walked into an Apple Store even if both logo and products were covered: the signature wooden tables, glass frontage and glass staircase would give it away. Apple successfully trademarked its store designs in the U.S. last year, and a European Union court has today approved a similar trademark application in Europe … 
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GforGames is citing Chinese site Laoyaoba and Taiwanese site Business Weekly for a couple of sketchy iPhone 6 rumors.

First, that the new iPhone will use haptic feedback – using a more sophisticated vibration motor to provide simulated tactile feedback on the display. This report is extremely light on detail, stating only that the motors are made by AAC (an existing Apple supplier) and Jinlong Electrical, and that they cost around two to three times the 60 cent cost of the vibration motor used in the iPhone 5s and 5c … 
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Apple updated its Environmental Initiatives website and has issued its 2014 Environmental Responsibility Report today. Today’s update fulfills a promise from Earth Day in which Apple said that it would more frequently update consumers on its environmental progress. Apple has always been focused on the environment, but it has pushed its attention to new levels with the hire of former EPA head Lisa Jackson last year.

Today’s report has several updates. First, Apple says that it will now be providing carbon emissions data to the Carbon Disclosure Project at the request of shareholders. Apple says that it has made this data public for the past 6 years, but today’s change is the planned submissions to the aforementioned CDP. Apple also announced that it has re-calculated its 2012 emissions data and has found that its carbon footprint actually shrank (for the first time) 3% between 2012 and 2013:

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Apple’s executive team

At this week’s Sun Valley conference in Idaho, Apple CEO Tim Cook told Bloomberg reporters that Apple will release diversity data on its workforce. Cook did not specify when this data release would come, but this is the first confirmation from Apple that the company is planning to release such data. A CNN report from March detailed Apple as one of the several technology giants that have objected to releasing the information.

“We’ll release the information at some point,” Cook said at the annual Allen & Co. media and technology conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, without giving a timetable for a disclosure. “We are more focused on actions.”

Diversity reports, such as the one that Facebook released on its workforce a couple of weeks ago, typically detail demographics in terms of ethnicity and gender. Apple has been criticized for having both a mostly male executive team and board of directors, but Cook has added Angela Ahrendts to the executive team and has been seeking new board members in recent months. Apple has also hired Lisa Jackson to run Environmental Initiatives and recently appointed Denise Young Smith as the new head of Human Resources.

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As expected due to their appearances on the guest list, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Senior VP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue are in attendance at this week’s Sun Valley media conference in Idaho. The WSJ’s Doug MacMillan shared the above photo of Cook walking around the Sun Valley resort. The Information’s Jessica Lessin spotted Cue, and the executive provided a witty response to Lessin’s question about TV deals:

Just asked $aapl's @cue if he was talking to media cos. abt TV programming deals at #sunvalley. A: Nah, just going back to my hotel room.

— Jessica Lessin (@Jessicalessin) July 9, 2014

Cue and Cook both attended the conference last year, and Cook attended as the sole Apple representative the previous year. Several Apple partners, including board member and Disney CEO Bob Iger, are also attending the event. Cook and Cue’s attendance comes in the months following the Cupertino-company’s blockbuster deal to acquire Beats, and perhaps the duo have plans to create new deals at this conference.

More photos of Cook at the conference below:

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In what will only continue the endless stream of iPhone 6 leaks, MacRumors brings attention to a couple of new photos and videos of the supposed iPhone 6 back. Interestingly, a new dark black piece has been seen for the first time, featuring a shade much darker than the current Space Gray iPhone 5s. Until today, only gray pieces have been spotted, which does make the legitimacy of the part somewhat questionable.

The post also highlights some new images and videos from Fed & Volk, who ostensibly possess mid-production units of the iPhone 6 rear. This case is the standard light gray variant, however, and matches the component leaks we have been seeing from other sources for many months now. See a video of the part after the break …

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Apple seemingly wasn’t too happy that it was singled out for an FTC investigation into making it too easy for children to make in-app purchases: following its own settlement back in January, the company’s general counsel Bruce Sewell promptly reported Google for the same thing, reports Politico.

“I thought this article might be of some interest, particularly if you have not already seen it,” Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell wrote to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Democratic Commissioner Julie Brill, pointing to a report that criticized Google’s app store over the same issue of unauthorized purchases …

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While you’ve probably heard of Dropcam (which we like), you may not have heard of Manything – the cloud video service that allows you to use iOS devices as the smart cameras. You might want to check it out now, though, as the app has just added IFTTT support – giving access to a whole new world of automation.

Previously, Manything could use motion-detection to alert you to something moving inside or outside your home and send you an alert plus live video stream, enabling you to check it out remotely. Adding IF This Then That support makes it much more powerful – examples below … 
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This is an update to a February post in which we rounded up all recent Apple hires pertinent to the development of the upcoming iWatch. This post includes the addition of several new hires and experts, including a pair of key Nike FuelBand hardware engineers, and the new hires are labeled with italics.

Apple has been developing a sensor-laden, fitness- and medical-focused wearable computer as indicated by several notable recent hires and information we have received from sources. The device will have a focus on both fashion and exercise as Apple has been testing the device with key professional athletes. We’re expecting the product to be announced in October of this year and ship by the holiday season. As the  launch of the “iWatch” approaches, we have compiled an up-to-date list (into categories of leadership, fashion, fitness, and health) of all known and pertinent recent Apple hires to provide a clearer picture of what Apple’s future wearable technologies could offer to consumers…

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Apple today issued a significant update to its iTunes U application for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The application focuses on enhancements for both teachers and students, and the application was first announced by Apple last week alongside the new Back to School retail initiatives.

Here’s what is new for students:

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