iOS devices refer to any of Apple’s hardware that runs the iOS mobile operating system which include iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Historically, Apple releases a new iOS version once a year, the current version is iOS 10. Here is the complete list of iOS 10 compatible devices.
Former Apple iPhone marketing executive Bob Borchers
One of the most critical aspects of Apple is its public relations team— the team that puts out press releases, deals with the press, runs keynote presentations, Apple events, and more. Adam Lashinsky’s upcoming book “Inside Apple” provides detail on Apple’s public relations team by noting its secrecy, thoroughness, and tactics with the upper echelon of the technology-reporting world. According to the book, Apple’s public relations department is divided up into product categories, with certain staff assigned to specific Apple products and services.
The PR team obviously sets questions about unreleased products, personal information about Apple’s leadership team, and details about Apple’s future events, as noted by Inside Apple. Perhaps the best demonstration of Apple PR’s control is how communication about the iPhone following its 2007 unveiling was handled. According to the book, the PR department allowed only five Apple employees to discuss the breakthrough product following the announcement.
So, you are sitting in a coffee shop and looking around you —wondering whom the blonde-haired person is sitting by the window or even the bearded hipster serving the latte. Well, “Highlight” is a free social network app for iOS devices that can now let you creep the world within your vicinity.
Facebook helps users to organize online relationships while exploring professional networks, but it cannot help them interact with those in the “real” world. Whether social networkers are in a –well– coffee shop, or even a restaurant, clothing store, entertainment event or conference, strangers constantly surround them. Anyone is connectable through shared interests or mutual friends, but it is difficult to know who is nearby.
To change this circumstance, install Highlight onto an iPhone and connect to Facebook. The app will alert users to other Highlight users up to a block and half away. From there, profiles with information pulled from Facebook are viewable, and Highlight users can even send text messages to such profiles. The app essentially helps folks meet new people, while refreshing memory about past relationships and alerting users to friends who are nearby.
“He had three things that he wanted to reinvent: the television, textbooks and photography,” said biographer Walter Isaacson in an interview following the release of his biography on Steve Jobs. Part one, television, is already underway with reports claiming that Apple is set to unveil an advanced television set with Siri voice-recognition software by 2013. More recent reports even suggested that Apple is already planning its assault on the television market by meeting with television show networks.
Part two of the Apple cofounder’s three-part plan of reinvention was completed just last week with the release of the iBooks 2 platform and iBooks Author, which are two Apple products designed to replace the old, paper textbooks in students’ backpacks with just one iPad. However, part three, photography, is certainly still amidst reinvention. Some claim that Apple’s iPhone 4S —which allows for facial recognition, almost-instant photo captures, HDR-photo taking, 1080P video recording, and on device photo editing, all through a high-quality Sony 8-megapixel sensor— is mobile photography at its finest, but Steve Jobs thought way beyond that. Read below for more details:
On Friday, the Chronic-Dev team (along with a few other contributors) released “Absinthe,” the long-awaited free unteathered jailbreak tool for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2. Today, the team updated us with a few interesting statistics. The shocker is that 1 million people jailbroke their A5 device in under three days.
The Chronic-Dev team were able to get such exact numbers thanks to statistics from Cydia, the popular app marketplace that comes bundled with the jailbreak. The team was able to specifically pin-point how many installs were on each device: 491,325 on an iPhone 4S; 308,967 on an iPad 2; and, 152,940 on an iPad 2 that had been previously jailbroken (iOS 4). These are certainly impressive numbers.
Like always, the Chronic-Dev team reminds you not upgrade off of 5.0.1 if you intend to keep the jailbreak. Did you jailbreak your A5 device this weekend? If you did not, make sure to check out the tutorial after the break:
Newsweek‘s Dan Lyons reported today that Apple’s “thermonuclear war” on Android smartphone manufacturers is fading fast, while a new rumor surfaced among the suits’ lawyers claiming the company spent $100 million on its initial set of claims against HTC.
“Who knows if it’s true, but if so, Apple didn’t get a lot for its money,” wrote Lyons on his RealDanLyons’ blog Jan. 23.
Apple’s legal claims are abruptly junked left and right, and its only minor victories to date are so inconsequential that Android device makers can dance around the momentary obstacles with just a few minor tweaks to products, explained the Newsweek reporter.
The technology giant’s case against HTC with the International Trade Commission began in February 2010, when the Cupertino, Calif.-based company wanted the ITC to block HTC from importing products into the United States. The case originally had 84 claims based on 10 patents, but it was dwindled down to only four claims by the time a judge became involved, according to Lyons.
The rulings —for the most part— were a wash for Apple. One patent was invalid as Apple did not have a rightful claim to it, and HTC did not infringe upon two of the other patents due to Apple apparently not implementing them into its products. In other words, Apple did not have a right to seek an injunction, because ITC injunctions can only occur if it is provable that both parties are “practicing” the patent in question, which Apple could not demonstrate against HTC…
Pew Research published some incredibly impressive tablet sales data over the weekend. From December to January, tablet ownership almost doubled.
While both the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire were included as tablets (not eReaders) and were hot this holiday season, the iPad is still by far the most popular tablet out there and likely the lion’s share of the 19 percent of American households which now own a tablet. That translates to many iPads under the Christmas tree.
Tablet ownership increased for certain segments of the population more than others did…
We have been finding references to 2X iPad images for well over a year (including iBooks 1.2), but with the next iPad expected soon, these images found in the iBooks 2 file have some importance:
We’re still expecting a 2X Retina iPad in the coming months.
Apple’s Education announcement is later today at the Guggenheim in New York City and we will be covering it live. We have so far heard that it is education related and Apple’s iWork lead Roger Rosner is involved in what seems to be textbook creation and distribution tools. Moreover, leading textbook publisher McGraw Hill will be involved, according to various reports.
Long time Apple watcher Jason O’Grady from ZDNet said he heard that some software is on tap today including Pages ’12 with support for publishing to iBookStore, an iBooks 2 app that will also work on Macs with Lion and Textbook rentals. The event’s happenings are to be announced by Eddie Cue with help from Roger Rosner. All rumors seem plausible but uncertain.
Perhaps most interesting, Steve Jobs seems to have talked about Apple’s involvement in textbooks —perhaps pre-empting today’s announcement— in his official biography released late last year:
In fact Jobs had his sights set on textbooks as the next business he wanted to transform. He believed it was an $8 billion a year industry ripe for digital destruction. He was also struck by the fact that many schools, for security reasons, don’t have lockers, so kids have to lug a heavy backpack around. “The iPad would solve that,” he said. His idea was to hire great textbook writers to create digital versions, and make them a feature of the iPad. In addition, he held meetings with the major publishers, such as Pearson Education, about partnering with Apple. “The process by which states certify textbooks is corrupt,” he said. “But if we can make the textbooks free, and they come with the iPad, then they don’t have to be certified. The crappy economy at the state level will last for a decade, and we can give them an opportunity to circumvent that whole process and save money.”
Jobs had a much harsher view of the education “industry” in a 1996 interview, which we reported yesterday.
For what it is worth, our sources told us: “Don’t get your hopes up for anything consumer oriented.”
While most case makers missed the mark last year by producing “iPhone 5” cases for a thinner, taller, wider, and “teardrop” form-factor, these manufactures have historically provided accurate insight into Apple’s future hardware product plans. We have seen purported Apple case leaks almost yearly and 2012 is no exception. Case makers have begun to produce and ship cases for the upcoming third-generation Apple iPad. Read below for additional details and more images:
Noted jailbreak and App Store application developer Adam Bell added another great tweak to his arsenal: Overflow. The jailbreak-only adjustment brings the Cover Flow effect (like swiping through album covers when rotating the iPhone) to the iOS home screen’s application dock. As you can see in the video after the break, it works great with Chpwn’s Infinidock tweak —an alteration to iOS that allows users to store an infinite amount of apps in the dock. Bell’s tweak costs $0.99 in the Cydia store, and it works on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. You can watch a video of the tweak in action after the break:
AT&T announced it would introduce new data plans for phones and tablets on Sunday, Jan. 22. There will be three phone plans: $20 for 300MB, $30 for 3GB, and $50 for 5GB with tethering. While the two tablet plans will be: $30 for 3GB and $50 for 5GB.
In the past, AT&T made available $15 for 200MB, $25 for 2GB, or $45 for 4GB with tethering. Each plan earned more data and a $5 price hike. AT&T will charge $10 for each 1GB roll over. AT&T explained the sudden change:
“Customers are using more data than ever before,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “Our new plans are driven by this increasing demand in a highly competitive environment, and continue to deliver a great value to customers, especially as we continue our 4G LTE deployment.”
In recent years, as newer iOS devices begin to shine, the older ones start to be left in the dust due to newer iOS features. Luckily, a new custom firmware called Whited00r brings some of these features to older devices such as the iPhone 2G/3G and older iPods. The firmware does not call for a jailbreak, but instead it is based off iOS 3.1.3 to bring you some of the latest features.
Whited00r added features like multitasking, app folders, reminders, improved home screen, video recording, and faster speed. What about iCloud? Whited00r used Dropbox syncing throughout the operating system to sync files with other devices. Whited00r also used a custom Newsstand to deliver news. (via TechCrunch)
Bloomberg reported that the iPad 3 entered production and is tracking a March launch. The report also claimed the new iPad will feature a higher-resolution display, Retina probably, and a quad-core processor. It will also connect to LTE networks.
The company’s manufacturing partners in Asia started ramping up production of the iPad 3 this month and plan to reach full volumes by February, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public. The tablet will use a quad-core chip, an enhancement that lets users jump more quickly between applications, two of the people said.
The iPad 3 was previously reported to sport a similar design to the iPad 2. We also previously discovered references to quad-core iOS devices in the latest iOS betas.
Apple expanded its recycling program in the United States in August to give customers an opportunity to —well— recycle their used iPhones and iPads for Apple gift cards, and now the technology giant is extending the program even further by launching a similar initiative in the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
According to its German website (Google translation), Apple will not offer payment in the form of an Apple gift card, but rather as cash deposited into customers bank accounts in exchange for returned devices. Macworld UK and Macerkopf.de (Google translation) confirmed that these same rules apply for the programs in France and the U.K.
“With the Reuse and Recycling Programme, you could turn your old equipment into a brand-new Mac, iPod, iPhone or iPad,” announced Apple. “Whether it’s an iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC computer, working or not, we’ll take it and determine if it qualifies for reuse and has a monetary value. If it does, the amount will be credited directly into your bank account. If it doesn’t, you can recycle it responsibly through one of our free recycling programs.”
The recycling program is made possible through a partnership with Dataserv, and the green measure contributes to Apple’s existing programs —as noted by its website— for recycling Macs, PCs, iPods, mobile phones, and batteries…
Intel is looking to use its recently unveiled Medfield chips in the iPhone, according toThe Telegraph. In the report, Dave Whalen, vice president of Intel’s architecture group, told The Telegraph that Intel has talked to Apple and other manufacturers about using the new Medfield chips in iOS devices. Specifically, Whalen said as iOS continues to grow, “We talk to everybody.” Intel is also looking to Android and Windows Phone to use the new chips.
It is worth noting that it is highly unlikely Apple would move to Intel chips in iOS devices, even though the company uses Intel in Macs. Since the iPhone 4, Apple has continued to use its own line of processors—with the help of Samsung. The iPhone 4 was graced with the A4, the iPad 2 had the A5, and most recently— the iPhone 4S got the A5. The iPad 3 is rumored to get the quad-core A6 (mock up on the right), and going off Apple’s recent timeline, the iPhone 5 will most likely have the A6.
The most unique aspect about the Medfield chip is that it is a single core, unlike Intel’s previous chips. The Medfield uses the ARM chips’ strategy, in pulling all processes onto a single chip, which helps to save battery life and other things. For now, it looks Apple will most likely stick with its own proprietary chips. Samsung recently opened a factory in Texas for developing the A5 chip, showing Apple is committed to producing its own goods. Therefore, it is interesting that Intel is trying to make a move.
The gallery above via Flickr user Liz Phung shows more shots from the launch in Beijing. There are also two images of employees receiving their first shipments at China Unicom in Wuxi, east China’s Jiangsu Province (via xinhuanet).
It is just over 8 hours before the iPhone 4S officially lands in China and huge lines already starting to form outside of Apple Stores in Beijing and Shanghai. The image below is from Instagram user Sanverde who noted he snapped the shot outside an Apple Store in Sanlitun Village, Beijing less than an hour ago. As you can see from the daytime image in the slideshow above (posted by Twitter user Alexander Galimberti on Jan. 10), Beijing line sitters started showing up for tonight’s launch days in advance. To the right is an image from Instagram user sainasilverman who says 400,000 units of the iPhone 4S have now arrived in Beijing.
China Unicom, the only carrier currently offering the iPhone 4S, does not currently accept pre-orders, but it will be offering the 16GB and 32GB models free on two- and three-year agreements. China Telecom, the nation’s third largest mobile carrier, is also expected to offer the iPhone in the future. The device recently received necessary approval from the China Radio Management agency for use on its CDMA network.
Check out the most recent shot of the lines outside the Sanlitun Village, Beijing Apple Store after the break and some more shots of gray market line sitters wearing red hats. According to MIC Gadget, those wearing a red cap have been paid 100 yuan ($16) to line up for the 12+ hour wait. We will be updating with more shots, so email your photographs of the lines to us at tips@9to5mac.com. Expand Expanding Close
If you are looking to get an iPhone at the low, low price of only $99, but not sure 8 GB will be enough space for you, you may want to try RadioShack. According to a new training document sent out earlier today, the black or white 16 GB version of Apple’s “iconic device” is only $99.99 with a new two-year contract. Although the document does state the offer is good on all three iPhone carriers, it is safe to assume that the 16 GB is not available on Sprint, because Apple never shipped a Sprint-compatible version of the 16 GB iPhone 4. There is also a note that the 16 GB models are scarce, which is most likely because they are just old stock, not newly shipped devices. As mentioned by a small note later in the training, the 16 GB model will not be available at all stores, so if you are thinking about going to pick one up, you may want to call the store first to make sure Radio Shack still has some in stock.
There are tons of accessories on the show floor at CES 2012 this year, many of which were designed specifically for our iOS devices. Earlier we brought you some of the best audio devices and accessories announced at the show, and now we have compiled all the other interesting docks, cases, and peripherals being unveiled for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
Displayed below are a couple multi-docks that provide various methods of charging multiple iOS devices simultaneously, a new “wireless HDMI” solution for beaming content to the big screen, and a couple iPhone cases that do much more than simply protect your device.
Following reports this morning from Macotakara that claimed Sharp would be supplying display panels for a next-generation iPad, a conflicting report from Korean publication Electronic Times Internet News (via PatentlyApple) claimed Sharp “failed to pass Apple’s approval process for mass production.” The report also claimed Samsung and LG already kicked production for iPad 3 panels into full capacity as of the beginning of this year:
It has been confirmed that Samsung Electronics and LG Display will supply LCD panels for Apple’s iPad 3, which is scheduled to be unveiled as early as in Q1 this year. Sharp was originally known to be developing display panels, but reportedly failed in initial supply.
According to the report, Apple is planning on placing orders for 65 million LCD panels for iPad 3 during 2012. It also claimed Samsung and LG would be supplying 5 million displays in the first quarter to meet demand for the device’s launch. Although there is obviously no way to verify this, and the publication does not exactly have a track record for breaking Apple news, the report does mention the same XQGA (2048×1536) display as Macotakara’s. The report cited only an “industry source.” Expand Expanding Close
We brought you some of the hottest accessories launched at CES 2012 yesterday, such as the vertical MacBook Air Dock from Henge and a new lineup of cloud products from D-link. That list also included one audio product, Griffin’s Twenty amp enabling Airplay playback on non-powered speakers, but today we bring you the rest of the most intriguing audio accessories and peripherals launched at the show.
Among them: A new audio interface for iPad from Griffin, new iRig accessories from IK Multimedia, and controllers from Line 6 and ION. Expand Expanding Close
The above image is used for illustrative purpose and does not represent iPad 3 case mockup.
iLounge editor Jeremy Horwitz, who at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show scooped an iPad 2-mockup case that eventually proved legit, is back with another exclusive. According to his article, yesterday he was shown what purports to be a next-generation iPad at the CES 2012 show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Even though he did not snap a photograph of it (the above image represents just a pair of iPad 2s), he published some interesting observations that largely support what iLoungeheard in November. For starters, iPad 3 might in fact be a bit thicker than the current-generation tablet to make room for new parts:
The new iPad’s body is so slightly thicker than the iPad 2 that the change is unnoticeable on first inspection; a roughly 1mm increase will barely be perceptible to users. We’ve heard that the only accessories that might have issues are cases, and then, only cases that were precisely contoured to fit the iPad 2’s back. […] Switch, button, speaker, and other elements located on the side edges are all the same, as are the headphone and Dock Connector ports. In other words, last year’s accessories should generally work properly with the new model, which is great.
The editor got the impression that what he saw “seemed to be more than half a year old” rather than just manufactured. It is conceivable Horwitz was holding in his hands a pre-production prototype. Looking at the back, Horwitz noticed visual changes that suggest an enhanced camera system…
Inside Applewriter Adam Lashinky at Fortune and Steve Jobs Biography writer Walter Isaacson recently discusseda great story of how Steve Jobs got Corning to (re)invent Gorilla Glass:
..a really great CEO in this country, Wendell Weeks, who runs Corning Glass. Steve Jobs when he does the iPhone decides he doesn’t want plastic, he wants really tough glass on it, and they don’t make a glass that can be tough like they want. And finally somebody says to him, because they were making all of the glass in China for the fronts of the stores, says, “You ought to check with the people at Corning. They’re kind of smart there.” So, he flies to Corning, New York, sits there in front of the CEO, Wendell Weeks, and says, “This is what I want, a glass that can do this.” So, Wendell Weeks says, “We once created a type of process that created something called Gorilla Glass.” And Steve said, “No, no, no. Here’s how you make really strong glass.” And Wendell says, “Wait a minute, I know how to make glass. Shut up and listen to me.” And Steve, to his credit, shuts up and listens, and Wendell Weeks describes a process that makes Gorilla Glass. And Steve then says, “Fine. In six months I want enough of it to make–whatever it is–a million iPhones.” And Wendell says, “I’m sorry, we’ve actually never made it. We don’t have a factory to make it. This was a process we developed, but we never had a manufacturing plant to do it.” And Steve looks at him and says what he said to Woz, 20, 30 years earlier: “Don’t be afraid, you can do it.” Wendell Weeks tells me… Because I flew to Corning, because I just wanted to hear this story. Wendell Weeks tells me, “I just sat there and looked at the guy. He kept saying, ‘Don’t be afraid. You can do this.'”
[audience laughter]
WI: Wendell Weeks said he called his plant in Kentucky that was making glass for LCD screens, and said, “Start the process now, and make Gorilla Glass.” That’s why every iPhone in your pocket and iPad has Gorilla Glass made by Corning. This is the reality distortion field that is, I submit, part and parcel of a guy who doesn’t believe the rules apply to him, even the rule about never cut in line.
AL: And of course Corning uses this in their marketing now, they market Gorilla Glass for other customers.
Fast-forward to today where Corning introduced its Gorilla Glass 2 that is the same strength as the original but at 20 percent thinner to allow for better colors and touch that is more responsive. Alternatively, it is much stronger at the current thickness….
The iOS 5.1 beta 3 is apparently lacking new features or exciting hints at the future of iOS devices, but we have discovered something potentially major: Siri Dictation references. Our own tipster Sonny Dickson was looking through the iOS 5.1 beta 3 settings application on the iPad and discovered a new section in the keyboard menu called “About Privacy and Dictation.” When opened, as shown above, the iPad provides the user with the standard legal literature and feature information for Siri Dictation.
Dictation is not actually functional on the iPad 2 running iOS 5.1 beta 3, so perhaps this will be an iOS 5.1 launch feature for the iPad, or it may be an iPad 3-exclusive feature; a similar process to the iPhone 4S exclusively gaining Siri and Siri Dictation support in iOS 5.0. We’re also hearing this link/document is also appearing on retina iPod touches as well.
On the iPhone 4S, Apple does not have a specific menu related to “Dictation and Privacy” in the keyboard settings panel. That literature is reserved exclusively for the Siri preferences under general settings and covers both Dictation and Siri. This may weaken concerns that this new iPad Dictation menu is simply carried over code from the iPhone 4S. This also may mean that the iPad’s Siri support could be limited to Siri Dictation, but that is pure speculation. Separately, we heard months ago that Apple was internally prototyping a version of the full Siri experience for the iPad, but have not heard any new developments since.
The iCade is an attachable accessory for the Apple iPad that functions as a portable arcade cabinet, but now the device’s manufacturer unveiled three new products under the popular line that toggle the iPhone and iPod Touch.
ION Audio showcased the products at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The manufacturer recreated the original arcade setup by ditching the cabinet exterior in favor of landscape support.
The first product is the iCade Mobile for iPhone 4/4S or iPod Touch. According to Engadget, it is a handheld with gaming buttons and a D-pad, which subsequently adds 1.5-inches onto each side of the iOS mobile device. The iCade Mobile also allows users to switch between portrait and landscape mode. ION said it expects about 100 games to be compatible with the product, and the retail price is currently set at $79.99 USD.
[viddler id=167678ef&w=437&h=288]
Pictures for each new iCade product are displayed after the break.
