iOS Devices

We were on hand in New York City today to watch the unveiling of the iPhone on T-Mobile and its new LTE/plans that purport to save T-Mobile customers a lot of money over its U.S. competitors.

T-Mobile tipped us to its grand plan to become the ‘Uncarrier’ at CES in January 2013. The idea is to radically simplify the phone plan purchasing experience by cutting away most complexities of the carrier agreements. The effort was very forward thinking and Apple-like in that sense, and the results are certainly a big change for the industry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zv5wdX1zp0

You basically start with a $50 a month unlimited data plan and go from there. T-Mobile will throttle you after 500MB, unless you give them $10 or $20 more a month, which gives you 2GB or unlimited before un-throttling. Family plans are $30 for the first extra device and $10 for each one thereafter. I imagine most normals will pay $50 a month. That’s a lot less than the typical iPhone user pays.

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But, let’s not kid ourselves on what’s motivating T-Mobile here. It has been losing customers like crazy and that’s largely due to its failure to carry the iPhone. The iPhone represents well over half of all smartphones on every other big U.S. carrier, and it will likely dominate T-Mobile over the next few years. T-Mobile said that even though it won’t officially support the iPhone until April 12, it currently has over 2.1 million iPhones on the network. That’s about to skyrocket…

CEO John Legere comes from over a decade at Global Crossing, an IP Data backbone firm, so cutting through all the B.S. and delivering fat delicious packets of data is his specialty.

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We speculated previously that we might see Apple devices at T-Mobile’s upcoming event in New York, and a report from Cnet today claimed the company would indeed talk iPhone tomorrow at its event in New York:

Yep, T-Mobile will finally get the iPhone. Apple’s flagship device, long a gap in T-Mobile’s smartphone line-up, will play a prominent role in tomorrow’s “Uncarrier” event, according to a person familiar with the launch plans.

We knew from previous comments by T-Mobile execs that the iPhone would likely land on the carrier through its new “uncarrier” contract-free plans sometime this month or next.

It’s not certain if pricing or specific release dates would be announced tomorrow, but the device would be used to highlight the carrier’s plans of offering new no-contract, no subsidy smartphone plans. The report noted that the iPhone would not be immediately available following tomorrow’s event.

T-Mobile’s new plans offer users unlimited talk and text with tiered data options and a $70 plan that includes unlimited data, and they were previously leaked and went live on the carrier’s website over the weekend.

T-Mobile USA announced in last year that it had struck an agreement with Apple to begin supporting Apple products in 2013. The carrier’s chief executive, John Legere, later told Reuters the company planned to introduce the iPhone, eliminate cellphone subsidies, and introduce new, flexible pricing plans for customers within 3 to 4 months.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has acquired WiFiSLAM for “around” $20 million. Apple has confirmed the deal, but did not share its purpose for the company. According to a description of the firm, the company has created technology that uses ambient WiFi signals to precisely track the location of a smartphone or other mobile devices.

Allow your smartphone to pinpoint its location (and the location of your friends) in real-time to 2.5m accuracy using only ambient WiFi signals that are already present in buildings. We are building the next generation of location-based mobile apps that, for the first time, engage with users at the scale that personal interaction actually takes place. Applications range from step-by-step indoor navigation, to product-level retail customer engagement, to proximity-based social networking.

Notably, it appears that the technology can be utilized to construct in-door mapping solutions. Google Mapping software already supports indoor maps for a number of venues and buildings, so it would make sense that Apple would want to compete in some form with its own mapping app for iOS devices. The technology seems similar to Apple partner SkyHook which uses WiFi signals and cellular tower triangulation to location Apple devices without the need for a GPS chip.

Business Insider profiled WiFiSLAM in 2011 and a company executive explained some of the finer details of the technology:

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Apple has informed developers that it will begin officially rejecting newly submitted and updated applications that access the iOS device UDID. Apple says that this new policy will begin on May 1st. With iOS 6, Apple began offering developers a new Advertising Identifier system that replicates the use of UDIDs for developers. Apple recommends that developers move over to this new system.

Starting May 1, the App Store will no longer accept new apps or app updates that access UDIDs. Please update your apps and servers to associate users with the Vendor or Advertising identifiers introduced in iOS 6. You can find more details in the UIDevice Class Reference.

Interestingly, beginning last year, Apple began rejecting apps that access the UDID. Apple hinted that it would begin doing so, but today’s announcement from Apple to developers seems to be the final word on the matter. As pictured above, the iOS Advertising Identifier is a non-personal identifier for iOS devices that developers can access. It does not attach personal information to your device like the UDID system.

Additionally, Apple has announced that, also on May 1, it will no longer accept applications that do not support the iPhone 5’s taller, four-inch display and other iOS device Retina displays:

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The Wall Street Journal has profiled some of the work between hardware and software teams within Apple since Jony Ive has taken on software interface responsibilities. According to the profile, Apple’s software design team is being briefed earlier on hardware specifics than ever before.

That dynamic is changing, according to the people close to the company. The stealth software developers still exist. But now, Apple’s mobile software, or “human interface” team, which has been led by executive Greg Christie, is being briefed about industrial prototypes earlier, these people said. The person described the change as “a thawing.”

With Jony Ive now leading both hardware and software, the executive likely wants the design of each to more closely resemble each other. This move is seemingly in an effort to accomplish that. Design review sessions are described as “cordial,” which is a strikingly different tone in comparison to sessions in the Forstall era.

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Today, Apple has rolled out a new two-step verification service for iCloud and Apple ID users. This functionality greatly enhances the security of Apple accounts because it requires users to use a trusted device and an extra security code.

This security code can be sent via SMS or via the Find my iPhone iOS app (if it is installed). Users can now setup two-step authentication on their devices via the Apple ID website. Users need to access the security tab on this website to conduct the setup process.

During the setup process for two-step verification, users can choose which of their iOS devices they want to be “trusted.” This new service will allow only you to be able to reset your password. All of the details below:

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Update: Apple responds.

Google chairman Eric Schmidt spoke at the company’s Big Tent Summit in India this morning, and, on top of claiming there are no immediate plans to merge Chrome and Android, the executive discussed the possibility of Google Now coming to iOS devices. It appears Google is in a similar situation to when it launched a standalone Google Maps app, as Schmidt claimed it’s up to Apple to approve or reject Google Now for the App Store. TechCrunch pointed us to the comment from the Google executive at around 17 minutes into the interview:

You’ll need to discuss that with Apple” (at around 17:50). “Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of them they approve and some of them they don’t,” he went on to say.

A video that appeared to be an ad for the debut of Google Now on iPhone and iPad landed on YouTube last week before quickly being removed. The video (above) showed that Google could implement Google Now functionality—currently only available as a Siri-like voice and contextual assistant app on Android devices—into the Google Search app.

Google already updated its Google Search app with voice recognition and Google Now-like features last October, and a number of comparison videos have since appeared online and show Siri has some serious competition with even the scaled back voice search features. Bringing the contextual assistant features that Google Now implements on Android to the Google Search app would give iOS users yet another reason to use it rather than Siri for a large number of tasks.
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Apple has released iOS 6.1.3 to end users today. It is currently available over-the-air via Software Update in the Settings app.

The update includes a security flaw fix involving the iOS device Lock screen. Additionally, the new update includes fixes for the Apple Maps application for Japan.

Apple previously released these Japanese Maps fixes over-the-air to non-iOS 6.1.3-beta devices, but it appears that the actual update might include even more improvements.

Apple TV software version 5.2.1 was also released today. It includes a redesigned Hulu section. 

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However unlikely—the United States Patent and Trademark office today published an Apple patent application that details a system of inductively charging an iPad through the Smart Cover. The idea is that rather than plugging in the iPad, the Smart Cover would include an inductive power transmitter that would allow it to pair with an inductive power transceiver embedded into the iPad. The result is the Smart Cover would become a wireless charging station, connecting to an external power source, and allowing you to power your iPad in various positions. Apple also explained that it could use “ambient power gathering devices, such as solar cells, can be used to gather ambient power (such as sunlight) to be stored internally in the flap for later inductive transfer.”

A method for wireless powering a tablet device, comprising: determining if a protective cover is in a closed configuration with respect to the tablet device; enabling a wireless power receiver circuit in the tablet device when it is determined that the protective cover is in the closed configuration with respect to the tablet device; and wirelessly receiving power from a wireless power transmitter associated with the protective cover.

Apple described the advanced Smart Cover as including multiple power transmitters to allow the iPad to charge even when using the case, for example, as a stand to prop up the device. Alternatively, the cover could continue charging the device when in the closed position or when an iPad is placed on top:
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