Adobe today released its “Flash for HTML5” web design tool Edge into Beta.
Adobe® Edge is a new web motion and interaction design tool that allows designers to bring animated content to websites, using web standards like HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3.
This version of Edge focuses primarily on adding rich motion design to new or existing HTML projects, that runs beautifully on devices and desktops.
Create new compositions with Edge’s drawing and text tools.
Import popular web graphics such as SVG, PNG, JPG or GIF files.
Easily choreograph animation with the timeline editor. Animate position, size, color, shape, rotation and more at the property level.
Energize existing HTML files with motion, while preserving the integrity of CSS-based HTML layouts.
Copy and paste transitions, invert them, and choose from over 25 built-in easing effects for added creativity.
Apple filed a complaint in late May with the World Intellectual Property Organization to gain control of iPods.com. Fusible is reporting that Apple has been awarded the domain as of late Friday, and the domain will soon be transferred over to Apple’s ownership. Full details haven’t been disclosed.
Apple is known for paying in the millions for domains, like when they reportedly paid $4.5 million for iCloud.com. When Apple follows the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, like they did in this case, they end up paying thousands, rather than millions. Will Apple continue on to gain control of domains like iPhone5.com, iPad.com, and Macs.com?
Foxconn’s founder and chariman Terry Gou said the company will replace an unspecified amount workers with one million robots in three years. Foxconn is the Asian manufacturer that is responsible for many components inside of Apple, Sony, and Nokia’s devices. Currently, the company has 10,000 robots and will expand to 300,000 next year, gradually opening the door to a total of one million robots in three years.
One interesting aspect of a robotized workforce is that it makes places with more expensive workers more competitive.
The robots will be used to accomplish basic tasks like spraying, wielding, and assembling. Foxconn currently employs 1.2 million people, therefore one million robots could potentially be a big hit on employment in China. Expand Expanding Close
A new change for AT&T Wireless’ Unlimited Data subscribers will soon be taking place. Rumored to be starting in the first week of October, we’ve heard that AT&T will start throttling the data speeds of the network’s top data hogs. As Verizon (PDF) and Virgin have recently done, AT&T will be adopting a similar plan to try to curb the problem of data congestion and overall network issues that have hurt its 3G network’s performance since the onset of the iPhone.
Illustration via profile pictures on IEEE’s Facebook page
The IEEE standards body that oversees the development of WiFi technology announced today a next-generation WiFi 802.22 technology designed to facilitate wireless data transfer up to 22Mbps over great distances up to 60 miles, or a hundred kilometers. The interesting thing is, the new technology is utilizing television bands without interfering with reception of existing TV broadcast stations:
This new standard for Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRANs) takes advantage of the favorable transmission characteristics of the VHF and UHF TV bands to provide broadband wireless access over a large area up to 100 km from the transmitter. Each WRAN will deliver up to 22 Mbps per channel without interfering with reception of existing TV broadcast stations, using the so-called white spaces between the occupied TV channels.
The technology will be great in rural areas and developing countries with vacant TV channels, IEEE says. In our view, this could also knock out any rationale for the much talked-about AT&T/T-Mobile merger. For example, why use pricey cellular data if your phone is within the range of a 802.22 hotspot? Apple is one of the leading backers of WiFi and has long ago incorporated wireless capabilities to all their products. As of recently, Apple ships its Macs with souped up WiFi capable of hitting 450Mbps over wireless networks, even though they aren’t advertising this as a feature.
Since we posted photos last week of a white front panel for an iPod touch, more white iPod touch parts have emerged. Our first part photographs were taken in Asia, close to Apple’s manufacturing plants, and now these parts have begun to appear in the United States. Reader Lafayette from the East Coast of the United States has managed to obtain his own set of white iPod touch parts.These parts were marketed as being for the fourth generation iPod touch, and appear to fit perfectly based on this photo and the ones after the break. These white iPod touch parts started emerging this month, just weeks ahead of Apple’s annual iPod-focused event. With a typically credible analyst’s report claiming that the next iPod touch will not feature any external changes, one could assume that the white iPod touch parts we have seen are for a fifth-generation iPod touch with no external changes – other than the color. This would obviously allow them to fit on the current iPod touch model, too.
We cannot vouch for the origin of the above white iPod touch part or the part our source got its hands on last week, but our friends at the iFixYouri iPhone repair shop – with provensourceswithin Apple’s supply chain – have heard some whispers about white iPod touch OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts floating around. On the other hand, the iPhone repair shop stresses that there is no OEM white iPod touch glass physically obtainable at this point in time and there might never be. Although this is true, it is undeniably interesting that these white parts are floating around just weeks ahead of Apple’s event. Additionally, Japanese site Macotakara got its hands on a white iPod touch part and they have made a video as you can see above. Be sure to check out our other new white iPod touch images after the break. Although these parts are surfacing, we obviously cannot confirm with certainty that Apple’s next iPod touch line will feature a white option. More images:
A new change for AT&T Wireless’ Unlimited Data subscribers will soon be taking place. Rumored to be starting in the first week of October, we’ve heard that AT&T will start throttling the data speeds of the network’s top data hogs. As Verizon (PDF) and Virgin have recently done, AT&T will be adopting a similar plan to try to curb the problem of data congestion and overall network issues that have hurt its 3G network’s performance since the onset of the iPhone.
AT&T will also be releasing its first LTE devices later this year.
The throttling plan will work like the others’. The heaviest users will see significant speed decreases for one billing cycle once they go over a threshold of data (we’re guessing 2-4GB?). These heavy users will still be able to access the network, but at a much slower speed. At the start of the next billing cycle, their speeds will return to normal. We don’t have numbers for AT&T’s throttle speeds but Virgin takes you down to 256Kb/s once you’ve reached their 2.5GB limit (not too bad actually – sometimes we’re happy to get 256kbs). Interestingly, Virgin’s throttle also will also be implemented in the first week of October which may indicate that they’ll be carrying a certain high profile mobile device as well.
Frankly, throttling isn’t so bad if done fairly. It is a good way to penalize heavy users but without them having to worry about overage charges. For high end users, however, it wold make sense for AT&T to add the ability to buy more regular speed data like they do now… Expand Expanding Close
Lake Minneloa, a school in Central Florida, is outfitting its students with over half a million dollars worth of iPads. Every student will be able to use their iPad at school and take it home with them for ‘homework’ at night (KIDS THESE DAYS!*shakes fist*)..
The school says this is an effort to save money on text books and bring a new type of learning to students.
The final cost was $700,000 dollars, which brought the school 1,750 iPads (which means they are getting a healthy discount at $400 each). Why isn’t every school doing this? (Schools in El Paso are as well)
“Students learn differently now because of the technology,” said Kathy Halbig, innovative learning manager for theLake school district who is overseeing the project. “Students are used to having multiple sources and being able to have more social collaboration in their learning process rather than just doing it sitting quietly and reading.”
According to a report (via MR) from The China Times, the iPhone 5 will launch the second week of September (6-15), and the iPad 3 launch will be delayed until Thanksgiving due to component issues. This iPhone 5 report lines up nicely with reports from Reuters regarding a September launch and an earlier report saying right after Labor day (Sept 5th).
If a September launch were to be the case, we assume the iPhone 5 would be announced at Apple’s annual music event in September. Obviously, iOS 5 would accompany it. The China Times’ report regarding a fall launch for the iPad 3 trails behind with what we’ve already heard.
Yesterday, a purported case mold schematic for the fifth-generation iPhone emerged, pointing to a complete re-design for Apple’s handset. This mold points to a larger display, a larger home button, and a thinner profile for the next iPhone. The original reporting of this schematic also includes a mockup of such an iPhone 5 case. Now, we have been able to secure an actual purported fifth-generation iPhone case from a source, not just a mockup. This source is similar to the source who provided us with impeccably accurate design schematics for the iPad 2. In addition, we can independently confirm, Asian case manufacturers are now shopping case designs to case sellers across the globe for their own branding.
We can’t tell you that the information used to build the case, that we have gotten our hands on, is different than the information revealed yesterday, but given that these cases have actually been built, and given that case manufactures are willing to spend millions of dollars on quality intelligence to maximize on the iPhone 5 launch, we have reason to believe that this iPhone 5 case is indicative of the next-generation iPhone’s design. Or at least a design that touched Apple’s Asia-based manufacturing plants for prototyping… more after the break:
Today isn’t a particularly heavy newsday so we thought we’d bring in some small stuff from around the web. First up is Canon’s new calculator mouse. I’m not sure I’d use the calculator enough to warrant a switch from my Apple hardware. Maybe during tax season.
Next up, use an iPhone and brain waves to shift gears on a bike… Expand Expanding Close
Since the original breaking of the Chinese fake Apple Stores news last week, there has been a flurry of activity. Chinese authorities began investigating the stores over the weekend. Chinese customers demanded refunds even though they products were real.
Today, Bloomberg is reporting that two of the five stores investigated have been shut down.
Chinese authorities shut two stores in Kunming that used Apple Inc.’s logo without the company’s permission because they lacked the proper business licenses, a newspaper run by the southwestern city’s government reported.
Three separate unauthorized Apple stores, which were also investigated, had operating licenses, according to the Dushi Shibao newspaper report, which was posted on the Kunming city government’s website. Officials inspected more than 300 vendors of electronic products in the city, Dushi reported.
Apple currently has four stores in China. While that number will increase greatly over the next year, it isn’t surprising to see local businesses trying to fill the void in the interim. Expand Expanding Close
Google Books was just updated in April with new 3D page turning, landscape mode and search so it is unlikely that Google decided to orphan it. Google launched its Books initiative in December of this year as a competitor to Amazon and Apple’s eBookstores.
We’ve received photos of a purported white iPod touch front panel. Specifically, this panel is the digitizer component, according to the iFixYouri iPhone repair shop. We obviously cannot confirm the legitimacy of these photos but according to iFixYouri, they fall in line with the fourth generation iPod touch’s build. Knowing this, these can either be photos of a scrapped white iPod touch 4 in white or (hopefully) photos of the fifth-generation iPod touch’s front panel in white.
Although we have been hearing some whispers of a new form-factor for the fifth-generation iPod touch, the previously accurate Ming-Chi Kuo has reported that the fifth-generation iPod touch will, in fact, come in white and will feature an overall design that is akin to that of the fourth-generation iPod touch. Additionally, iOS SDK data reveals that the iPod 4,2 (possibly the fifth-gen iPod touch) will be more about internal changes. On that note, we’ll likely see the dual-core A5 processor to move the iPod touch ahead in the growing mobile gaming industry, and maybe some better cameras. More info and a few more high-resolution pictures of the white panel are after the break…
According to Phone Arena, who is well-plugged into the mobile industry, Verizon has started clearing out their iPhone 4 accessory inventory ahead of the fall iPhone 5 launch. The information comes from a trusted Verizon source who says the carrier will begin discounting iPhone 4 accessories. These discounts are obviously a move towards selling out existing inventory ahead of the iPhone 5. Verizon decreasing the iPhone 4 case inventory does not necessarily rule out the iPhone 4 at a cheaper price point when the fifth-gen model launches, according to Phone Arena…
According to Bloomberg, Apple is currently considering the purchase of Hulu. The popular online video playing service has reportedly been up for sale for a few months now, with potential buyers like Google in the running. Adding Apple to the mix just spices things up with Apple’s $76 billion in the bank and hints at some “neat” new iTunes-related features. Apple also has their Apple TV platform, which they are still exploring, and this potential Hulu purchase would take that to the next level.
Apple is in early talks that may lead to an acquisition offer for Los Angeles-based Hulu, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Hulu has a an iOS application in the App Store that delivers their web content to users of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Hulu also began signing deals in late 2010 for set-top-box manufactures to include support for their service. Namely, Roku did this but Hulu still seems to be an omission from the Apple TV. After all, Apple’s little black TV box features support for iTunes, YouTube, and Netflix video playback.
CNet has discovered that OS X Lion users lose support for Time Machine backups with third-party NAS hard drives. Time Machine in OS X Lion is now only compatible with Netatalk 2.0. This means that third-party NAS (network attached storage) drives will need a software upgrade from their respective manufactures in order to work with Apple’s next-generation Mac operating system. Users of cable-connected external hard drives will not be affected. Drobo, the company behind popular network attached storage devices has noted the issues on their website:
DroboFS, B800fs and DroboPro FS users running Mac OS X Lion (OS X 10.7) will experience problems with Time Machine.
The next official firmware release for all “FS” products will ensure full compatibility with the released version of Mac OS X Lion, including use of Time Machine.
Another popular NAS drive maker, Synology, has already released a fix in beta form. Other NAS drive makers will likely follow up with their own OS X Lion compatibility updates.
Update: For those interested, iFixit is currently tearing down a new Mac mini. Nothing major has come out of this one as of yet.
The teardown experts at iFixit and Storage Review have opened up their MacBook Airs and have begun to dissect. Everything so far seems fairly normal and Apple-like, but the most important thing that we are taking from these tear downs is that the SSD’s are not soldered to the motherboard. Contrary to rumors out of Japan, the new MacBook Airs have solid-state-drives that are user replaceable. This is good news for both manufactures of third-party drives and users.
This move should qualm fears like those described by Other World Computing’s Larry O’Connor:
We feel consumers have the most to lose with this potential design as they will have no practical drive upgrade or future replacement options. It’s not really eliminating the drive as might be implied – it’s simply that Apple is now fully integrating it onto the motherboard. That development will be disappointing to us as we’d love to offer a 2nd Generation 6G SSD based on the design we used for the 2011 MacBook Airs…and this 6G SSD would give these new MacBook Air sustained data rates in excess of 500MB/s.
iFixit notes that the RAM in these new ultra-portable notebooks is still not user-replaceable. If you think you are going to want or need more RAM, it is best to go with the 4GB model from the beginning. In fact, all new MacBook Air models but the $999 11-inch version carry 4GB of RAM as a standard option. The new machines also carry speedy Samsung-built components for both the Flash drives and RAM. Apple recently started putting in Samsung SSDs in some 2010 MacBook Air models and these drives feature great speed improvements. Storage Review explains the speed improvements for the SSD in the new MacBook Air, in comparison to the late 2010 models:
While not exactly apples to apples, this does at least paint a picture of what users can expect from the new SSD. For sequential transfers, we saw 4K writes of 210.97 MB/s and reads of 29.21 MB/s. When switching to 256K, the 4K writes go to 194.80 MB/s and reads 212.40 MB/s. Compared to our prior generation Air, there are massive gains in the 4K tests, the 4K read speeds for instance nearly doubled and the 4K writes were up 100 MB/s. On the 256K tests the writes saw a modest improvement and the reads about 50 MB/s.
The new MacBook Air’s battery components carry a new model number, according to iFixit, so this may or may not mean some minor improvements. On that note, many readers have noted improved battery life with OS X Lion on their Mac portables:
Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., who chairs the Senate’s Antitrust Subcommitteee, is calling for regulators to block the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile:
“I have concluded that this acquisition, if permitted to proceed, would likely cause substantial harm to competition and consumers, would be contrary to antitrust law and not in the public interest, and therefore should be blocked by your agencies.”
“We believe that AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile would be a troubling backward step in federal public policy–a retrenchment from nearly two decades of promoting competition and open markets to acceptance of a duopoly in the wireless marketplace,” House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairwoman Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and House Judiciary ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., wrote in their letter to FCC and the Justice Department. “Such industry consolidation could reduce competition and increase consumer costs at a time our country can least afford it.”
Not exactly what AT&T wants to hear. T-Mobile, if it gets out of this AT&T merger, also gets a $3+B check from AT&T for the dance. Expand Expanding Close
Later this week, Apple will officially launch their new MacBook Air line. We previously detailed that these new MacBook Airs will include Thunderbolt ports, i5 and i7 processor options, and a design with little to no changes from the current models. Now, thanks to our source Mr. X, we have all the specifications of the brand-new MacBook Air line.
11.6 inch models:
The base model will include a 1.6 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, and 64GB of flash storage.
The more expensive standard configuration also includes a 1.6 GHz processor but upgrades the RAM to 4GB and the storage space to 128 GB.
A built to order model will also be available from the online store. This option includes a 1.8 GHz processor (first for an 11.6 inch MacBook Air), 4GB of RAM, and for the first time in an 11.6 inch MacBook Air, 256 GB of flash storage.
13.3 inch models:
The base standard configuration includes a 1.7 GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128 GB of flash storage
The more expensive standard configuration also includes a 1.7 GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, but upgrades the storage to 256 GB.
A built to order option will also be available and this includes a 1.8 GHz chip, 4GB of RAM, and 256 GB of flash storage
These specifications put the unreliable reports of 4GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage as standard (across the line) options to rest. OS X Lion launches tomorrow, so it is possible that these new ultraportables will, too, but that is unconfirmed. Apple will also release a new Mac mini, as we just revealed, later this week.
Besides the new MacBook Air line, which we just revealed, Apple will also drop an upgraded Mac mini line. These new Mac minis will likely retain their currently aluminum unibody design but will pack faster processors and more hard drive space. In addition, the new LED Cinema Display – now called the “Apple Thunderbolt Display” – will debut this week. These new displays will have an optional VESA mount.
The new Mac minis:
The base model will include a 2.3 GHz processor with 2GB of RAM, and 500 GB of hard drive storage space
The more expensive model will include a 2.5 GHz processor with 4GB of RAM, and 500 GB of hard drive space.
Finally, the new Mac mini line will also include a new server model with a 2.0 GHz processor, 4 GB of RAM, and two 500GB hard drives of storage. This new server model should include OS X Lion server, but that’s just a reasonable assumption.
These new Mac minis will likely be powered by the new Intel Sandy Bridge chipsets and include Thunderbolt ports. These new computers should launch by the end of the week, possibly tomorrow – but that is unconfirmed. Thanks, Mr. X!
-Oppenheimer, Cook, and the Treasurer will be doing Q/A after the announcements.
-All time records for iPhone, iPad, Mac for June, Apple is extremely happy
-Tremendous increase due to iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales. Operating margin 9.4 billion. Net income was 7.3 billion.
-Quarter details: June record with 3.95M Macs (14% increase from last year Q3). Mac sales were strong in Asia/Pacific – 57% YOY increase in total Mac sales. Healthy Mac growth in both desktops and notebooks.
-Apple has announced that OS X Lion is launching tomorrow.
Without revealing too many new details, The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple and China Mobile are “getting closer” to the seemingly elusive China Mobile iPhone deal. China Mobile is the mainland’s largest carrier with over 600 million subscribers (that’s about the equiv. of the US+European populations). The report also confirms that it was, in fact, Tim Cook who was spotted at China Mobile‘s headquarters in mid-June.
The WSJ also discusses the price of the current iPhone models in context with the average salaries for China households:
The iPhone, which currently sells for between 3,999 and 5,999 yuan without contract, would be a luxury for many Chinese consumers. The average household income in the first half of 2011 was 12,076 yuan, according to China’s national statistics bureau.
With this fact in mind, it makes sense for Apple to build and sell a more economical iPhone. The report is not specific about when this China Mobile iPhone will launch and China Mobile has already confirmed that talks with Apple over carrying the iPhone are ongoing. Be sure to check out the WSJ’s explanation of the “exclusive” in the video above.
