05/25, 9:50pm
Company founded by ex-Apple VP Tony Fadell
Numerous reports claim that the Learning Thermostat from Nest will be available at Apple retail stores shortly. Nest is a company formed around developing and marketing the thermostat by Apple's former senior vice president and original iPod architect Tony Fadell. The thermostat is listed in Apple inventory databases, but MacNN has confirmed no stock is available to purchase at this time.
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05/25, 8:01pm
Rare working computer one of six known to exist
Auction house Sotheby's will be selling two bits of history soon -- one strongly related to Apple, the other less so -- both tied to the late Steve Jobs. On June 15, the company will be auctioning a rare working Apple I motherboard, one of only six known to exist in this state, and expected to fetch more than $180,000. Also being auctioned in a separate lot is a rare handwritten memo and typed report from Jobs from his time at Atari.
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05/25, 3:02pm
iPad and glove combination used to control virtual objects
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab have created a Minority Report-style glove and iPad input system for three-dimensional virtual object manipulation called T(ether). The system lets the team use motion tracking on gloves to create and alter virtual items with the iPads used as a point-of-view window to see what the users are manipulating. A demonstration video shows the system having multiple users simultaneously affecting the compter-generated world, both with and without the glove.
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05/25, 1:17pm
Intent of Israeli expansion still unclear
Apple has started hiring for two new chip engineering jobs in Israel, notes AppleInsider. The company is looking for two "SoC Backend Physical Design Engineers," to be based in the Haifa and Herzliya Pituah regions of the country. People hired for the jobs will be required to handle "physical implementation of a complete SoC [system-on-chip] from net list to tape-out," including aspects like clock and power distribution, and power and noise analysis. The openings join five others in Israel, all involving engineering. Most of these are situated in Herzliya Pituah.
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05/25, 12:32pm
Current topics from the forums
Today in the MacNN forums one Fresh-Faced Recruit was setting up a small network and ran into some problems with the network when a new computer is added, read more here. Also today one Forum Regular had some questions about webpage icons, join in here.
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05/25, 11:15am
Deals on MacBook Air, power supplies, and more
Today's deals from DealNN include price breaks on MacBook Airs, power supplies, and more. Apple.com has recently lowered the cost of the refurbished 1.86GHz MacBook Air, sporting a 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, 2GB of RAM, 128GB of Flash storage, and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Currently featured at DealNN, this model has now dropped $300 in price and can be purchased for only $899.
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05/25, 10:19am
iOS speaker dock doubles as a place to rest your derriere
UK furniture retailer DFS is offering the Trophy Cuddler Audio Sofa that has built-in speakers and a dock for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch. The sofa has two speakers and a subwoofer, though their power ratings aren't being listed. Other than docking iOS devices, there is also a USB port and 3.5mm auxiliary input for other audio sources.
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05/25, 10:11am
Pace of international expansion slows
Apple has quietly revealed that it is launching the third-generation iPad in Guam and the Philippines on May 29th. Rather than making an official announcement, Apple has disclosed the news through its Asian iPad page, which has been updated to show the new locations. Other launch details have yet to be published, but Filipinos will have the advantage of ordering from Apple's online store.
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05/25, 7:32am
Apple tipped to include Baidu search in iOS for China
A report from China’s Sina Tech has tipped that Apple will integrate Baidu as a search engine in iOS for the Chinese iPhone. Baidu is the leading search engine in China with a massive 83.6 percent share of the market. The pairing is seen as mutually beneficial with Baidu gaining exposure on the smartphone platform with the most active on China’s mobile web, while its inclusion will be an additional selling point for the iPhone in China.
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05/25, 3:02am
'Game of the Week,' 'Staff Favorites' dropped
Apple has made another subtle change to its iOS App Store, dropping the "Game of the Week" and "Staff Favorites" sections on the main page in favor of "Editor's Choice" and "Free App of the Week." The new designation has kicked off naming Chillingo's new Air Mail game and Autodesk's SketchBook Ink drawing app for the iPad, and Facebook Camera and Extreme Skater getting the nod on the iPhone. Cut the Rope: Experiments is the free app for both.
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05/25, 1:36am
Intended for media production, forensics, software development
The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may purchase up to $3 million in Apple hardware over the next three years. Up to a thousand Macintosh and a thousand iOS mobile devices purchases are planned. The Apple equipment has been declared to be "critical to meet a variety of operational, programmatic, and mission-specific requirements" by the TSA.
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05/24, 9:59pm
Move costs Cook $75 million over 10 years
Apple earlier today filed an 8-K form with the Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating that the board of directors has decided to give restricted stock holders the same $2.65-per-share dividend they expect to give public shareholders. CEO Tim Cook has requested he not be awarded the dividend, however, costing him an estimated $75 million dollars over the next decade.
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05/24, 8:51pm
Facebook petition finds worldwide support for new pro-level Mac
An Apple fan dissatisfied with the attention the company has paid to its Mac Pro line of recent has taken to Facebook, posting a fan page petitioning the computer maker to refresh its line of professional-level desktops, or at least to let Mac Pro fans know what is going on with the line. The page has subsequently taken off, with more than 4,100 Likes and a number of shares from users around the world.
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05/24, 6:52pm
Apple designer honored by Queen Elizabeth II
Apple Senior VP of Industrial Design Jonathan Ive is now officially Sir Jonathan Ive, having been knighted by Princess Anne on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II yesterday. The honor, first bestowed on Ive through an announcement at the end of last year, makes the 45-year-old designer a Knight Commander of the British Empire, a step up from the Commander honor he was given in 2005 for services to design and to enterprise.
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05/24, 5:06pm
Pascal Cagni, VP over Europe, Middle East, Africa departs
Pascal Cagni, Apple vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, is stepping down from the position, reports French newspaper Le Figaro. Cagni, who has been with Apple since 2000, is said to have tendered his resignation yesterday. Cagni steps down in the midst of a successful stretch, as Gartner recently reported that Apple's European sales were up 20 percent year-over-year by the end of 2011.
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05/24, 3:57pm
Terms of deal remain unclear
Apple has reportedly established a licensing agreement with patent holder SimpleAir, putting an end to the patent infringement battle that began late in 2009. SimpleAir had filed its original lawsuit in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Texas, a venue frequented by plaintiffs in intellectual-property lawsuits, however the settlement was said to have been reached shortly before the formal proceedings commenced.
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05/24, 3:52pm
2011 model iPad also still available
Just two months after being introduced, the third-generation 2012 iPad has managed to catch up to the market share of the first-generation iPad in the US, market analysis firm Localytics reports. The new model now accounts for over 20 percent of all US-based iPads, just over the percentage of active first-generation iPads. The iPad 2, released in 2011 and still available new for $100 less than its original price, leads the pack.
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05/24, 1:41pm
Bump app update sends photos to web browser
Application and file sharing app Bump (free) has been updated to allow for photo transfers between a phone and a computer. Users of the app can go to the Bump website on a computer, then after selecting photos to share, can bump the phone into the spacebar to send the images to the browser. Images could then be saved to the computer or shared through social networks with a short link.
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05/24, 11:26am
Lashinsky notes style, policy changes at Apple
Apple CEO Tim Cook is on the cover of this week's Fortune Magazine with a story by Inside Apple author Adam Lashinsky profiling the intensely private CEO and noting some of the changes -- some subtle, some not -- introduced by Cook early in his tenure as head of the world's most valuable company. Lashinsky's story posits that in some ways, Apple is becoming a more "traditional" company under Cook.
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05/24, 9:08am
Microsoft retreats from previous sales claims
In a pair of related developments, Microsoft has retreated from earlier claims that its phone OS was more popular in China than iOS just as new figures for the first quarter of 2011 show that Apple has nearly tripled its sales of iPhones in the country and raised its share from eight to 19 percent, mostly due to the launch of the iPhone 4S, which was launched with two of China's major carriers in January to great demand and some crowd issues.
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05/24, 8:06am
Apple files for optical stylus patent
In a surprise, an Apple patent application for an optical stylus has turned up on the USPTO website. Steve Jobs had derided the stylus as an input method for the iPhone and the iPad once famously saying that ‘If you need a stylus, you’ve already failed.’ However, Jobs was well known for throwing the opposition a curve ball from time to time speaking out against an idea, only to have been developing a concept behind the scenes. One example was when he said that consumers liked having a separate iPod while also carrying their phone, only to reveal the ultimate convergence device in the iPhone a couple of years later.
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05/24, 2:37am
New ad reveals the meaning of life
Apple has released two new televisions commercials featuring the iPhone 4S, its Siri voice capability and a celebrity in need of company. Like the first two ads in the series, a famous actor (in this case thespian and director John Malkovich) is inside a white house alone, making conversation with Siri. Unlike the previous commercials, Malkovich never leaves his chair, and gets two distinct ads -- one of which reveals the meaning of life.
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05/24, 1:21am
Company may actually sell power to Duke Energy
North Carolina's Utility Commission in Raleigh has approved Apple's application to build a 4.8-megawatt fuel cell for the company's Maiden data center, the largest privately-owned such fuel cell in the country. The cell will consist of 24 energy servers provided by Bloom Energy, and will use conventional natural gas off the grid to power itself. Apple will offset the natural gas by buying or producing and equal amount of biogas locally.
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05/24, 12:05am
Well-designed adapter protects phone from damage, malfunction
Electronics technician Ken Shirriff has completed a teardown in minute detail of the Apple iPhone charger, revealing higher-quality manufacturing techniques and parts along with more attention to detail than is normally seen in smartphone chargers. The $29 charger and cable combo costs more to make than a typical AC USB charger, but remains a highly-profitable unit despite the extra care taken. Shirriff also did a teardown on a cheaper "clone" iPhone charger, and strongly recommends that under no circumstances should they be used, calling them "tiny, cheap, and dangerous."
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05/23, 10:19pm
Echoes PR that suit is 'fundamentally flawed'
Claiming that the Department of Justice is completely wrong in its approach and interpretation of the circumstances and public remarks of its entry into the e-book market, Apple has filed a formal response [PDF link] to the lawsuit that accuses it and major book publishers of conspiring to fix prices on e-books and undermine Amazon's ability to discount them. The response echoes Apple's few public statements on the matter, saying it fostered competition where Amazon would have destroyed it.
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05/23, 9:15pm
Global sales head Spence leaves RIM
Patrick Spence, 14-year veteran of Research in Motion (RIM) and its head of global sales, has departed the company. Spence "will be taking on a leadership position in a different industry," according to RIM spokeswoman Rebecca Freiburger. No comment has been made if the move is in response to the announcement of RIM's new Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing Officer three weeks ago.
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05/23, 6:52pm
Samsung a major buyer, also supplier of chips
Apple is by far the largest buyer of all kinds of microprocessors, buying 50 percent more RAM, processor and other chips than any other company, with its appetite having tripled since 2009 due to the success of its iOS devices (and to a lesser extent its growing Mac business). At an industry conference, IHS iSuppli researcher Dale Ford said that the company will buy $27 billion worth of chips, up from $9B in 2009.
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05/23, 2:50pm
Stanford shop to use 'glass box' design
New details have emerged about two upcoming Apple Stores. The first of these is another Parisian outlet, which Apple has announced will launch Friday morning at 9 AM in the city's Quatre Temps mall. The shopping center sits along the north extension of the Champs Élysées. Apple already has several Apple Stores in the Paris area, but just a handful scattered throughout the rest of France.
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05/23, 11:45am
July trial may be virtually guaranteed
Apple and Samsung have failed to reach any kind of settlement after court-ordered talks on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Korea Times. A Samsung official tells the publication that the companies could find "no clear agreement" on their patent dispute. The talks were extremely high-level, involving Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung.
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05/23, 7:35am
Jonny Ive says Apple's best work ahead
Apple design guru Jonathan Ive has revealed to The Telegraph that Apple’s current projects are ‘the most important and the best work’ that his team at Apple has ever done. In the UK to formally receive his knighthood from the Queen, Ive said that it will likely be this work that will be his legacy. Ive’s comments, while revealing nothing specific, are likely to set speculation alight ahead of expected revamps of key Apple products as well the rumored Apple TV.
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05/22, 9:31pm
Easy install feature coming to Facebook app portal
Facebook's forthcoming App Center portal will feature a "Send to Mobile" option, allowing users to purchase apps on a desktop or tablet and have a notification delivered to their phones. The feature duplicates capabilities already found in Google and Apple's app stores, but uses Facebook's notification system. The Send to Mobile option is expected to be ready in time for the App Center's launch later this year.
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05/22, 6:18pm
Second year in top spot for iPhone maker
Apple has maintained its lead over other companies in the Millward Brown 2012 Brandz study. This marks the second year at the top for Apple, increasing their brand value from $153 billion to $182 billion, while previous branding leader Google slips behind IBM to third place. The study covers brand value as a perceptual worth independent from any financial undertakings, instead of market capitalization as typically used by financial analysts.
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05/22, 5:46pm
Adds six new support camera models
Apple late today has issued Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.13, adding support for six new and recent camera models now on the market. The new update adds support for models from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and Sony. Still missing from the list of supported cameras (among other models) is the Fujifilm X-S1, a high-end "superzoom" camera we reviewed in late March. The new update requires OS X 10.6.8 or later.
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05/22, 11:52am
Low prices on refurbished iPods and iPads
At Apple's online store today save on iPods, iPads and more. A selection of iPod touch models start at $169 for the refurb. current-generation 8GB Touch. For $249 is the refurb. current-generation 32GB iPod touch, or for $339 is the current-generation 64GB Touch. A $120 price break is offered on a 64GB Touch originally released in September 2009, now $249. The refurb. 8GB iPod nano is priced at $99 with the 16GB Nano following closely at $119.
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05/22, 11:51am
Current forum topics
Yesterday in the MacNN forums, ghporter asks "is it worth upgrading from Snow Leopard to Lion?" read more here. Also yesterday one Senior User discovered they were having problems copying and pasting from e-mails and have turned to the forums for some advice.
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05/22, 11:48am
Deals on MacBook Pros, webcams, and more
Today's deals from DealNN include discounted MacBook Pros, webcams, and more. Macmall.com still has the 2.3GHz MacBook Pro on sale this week, which includes a 17-inch widescreen display, 4GB of RAM, a 750GB hard drive, and quad-core Intel Core i7 processor. Currently featured at DealNN, the MacBook Pro has dropped to $2,099.99 in price and offers savings of up to $549.
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05/22, 10:34am
HP leads in actual notebook share
Apple led the market in mobile PC shipments during the March quarter, at least when including the iPad, according to preliminary NPD data. The company shipped 17.2 million iPads and MacBooks, representing a 118 percent jump year-over-year, and 22.5 percent marketshare during Q1. About 80 percent of those units were iPads though, whereas the other top sellers succeeded on the basis of notebook shipments.
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05/22, 8:39am
Sixth-gen iPhone prototypes testing 3.95-inch display
More details have emerged about the new 4-inch display that Apple is rumored to be testing for the next iPhone with 9to5 Mac claiming its sources have confirmed that Apple is currently testing an iPhone with a 3.95-inch display. The new display is also expected to retain a Retina Display level of pixel density, maintain the same width as the current display (1.94-inches), but be stretched to 16:9 ratio at 3.45-inches tall. If accurate, this would permit a 16:9 movie to play in its native aspect ratio using the full display sans the black bars while even potentially retaining the same overall phone size.
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05/22, 12:50am
Dreyfuss, Obama, Clinton, children, others
A group of notable public figures, including two US presidents and a class of schoolkids -- along with the reunited "Mac and PC" team of Justin Long and John Hodgman -- paid tribute to Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs at the Webby Awards held yesterday in New York City. As part of the ceremony, a video tribute was run featuring "five words" (and sometimes more) from various celebrities and politicians who in turn paid tribute to Jobs, who died in October.
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05/21, 10:03pm
Applying knowledge of cooling to buildings
Some details revealed about how Apple intends to make its Maiden, North Carolina data center almost entirely powered from renewable-energy sources have come to light, showing a combination of solar and fuel-cell technology and practical energy-saving policies. The plans show that the company behind the iMac are also applying some cooling lessons learned from computers to the buildings, such as variable-speed fans.
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05/21, 7:01pm
Voyager Mobile launches after 'malicious attack'
Following a delay of nearly a week after repeated denial of service attacks, low-cost Sprint reseller Voyager Mobile has launched in 22 states. Voyager provides Sprint's 3G and WiMAX network for $39 a month, contract free. Alternatively, a $19/month unlimited-talk plan is available.
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05/21, 6:12pm
Judgment undermines worth of Kodak patent portfolio
The US International Trade Commission has ruled that a patent involved in Kodak's lawsuit against Apple and Research in Motion is invalid, according to AppleInsider. In particular an administrative law judge has quashed the 6,292,218 patent, Method for Live View Display and Digital Camera Using Same, on the basis of claim 15 in the document. Kodak will reportedly appeal the decision to the full commission, a necessary step if it intends to continue suing Apple and RIM for infringing the patent.
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05/21, 3:45pm
Most pay locked up in stock options
Apple CEO Tim Cook was the highest-paid CEO of 2011, according to a study released by the Hay Group and the Wall Street Journal. Cook's package for the year was valued at $378 million, although most of it is locked up in the form of stock grants issued after he took control from Steve Jobs in August. The first half of the shares will vest in 2016; the remainder will follow in 2021, contingent on Cook staying with Apple.
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05/21, 2:15pm
Samsung motions for three expert testimonies to be excluded
Samsung has accused experts on Apple's side of patent litigation as being strong fans of the Cupertino-based company, pointing towards an engineered “cult-like following to all things Apple.” The claims that the experts had “cast aside established scientific methods... in favor of slavish adoration of their client” appear in Samsung motions filed on Thursday, as noted by Florian Mueller.
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05/21, 12:41pm
Apple mailing seeks to inform neighbors on planned new campus
Apple is reaching out to its neighbors in Cupertino, having mailed a packet to residents of the city of Cupertino containing images and information about its planned Campus 2. The mailing requests feedback from Cupertino residents and attempts to allay resident fears over the impact the new campus will have on their community.
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05/21, 11:21am
Apple, Samsung CEOs to meet today in court-ordered talks
Samsung is still hoping to settle in its global legal disputes with Apple, Reuters reports. The head of the company's mobile division, J.K. Shin, spoke to journalists at a Seoul airport yesterday shortly before flying to the US. "There is still a big gap in the patent war with Apple but we still have several negotiation options including cross-licensing," he said. Shin is joining Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung to meet Apple CEO Tim Cook today for court-ordered settlement talks.
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05/21, 10:05am
Huai’an plant to host 35,800 workers
Asian manufacturer Foxconn is preparing to spend $210 million on a new Huai'an production line for Apple, according to China Daily. The plant has been announced by local officials, and is expected to consume 40,000 square meters (over 430,556 square feet), and employ 35,800 people. Predicted output is valued at 6 to 7 billion yuan, or somewhere between $949 million and $1.1 billion, with an import/export value of $55.8 million.
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05/20, 5:34pm
Apple sends sandboxing reminder to Mac devs
Apple sent an email reminder to developers working on apps for the Mac App Store letting them know that new programs will have to be compatible with the platform's forthcoming "sandboxing" constraints in order to be offered in the Mac App Store. Developers are expected to implement sandboxing within their apps by June 1, though existing programs can be updated after that date. Apple has previously extended the deadline for app sandboxing, first November 2011 to March 2012, and later to June 2012.
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05/20, 4:42pm
From 600,000 infections to 10,000; ad vendor won't pay
After possibly infecting up to 1.8 percent of the Macintosh population with a click-fraud macro through a Java vulnerability, the Flashback creators won't get paid despite their efforts, reports Computerworld. Following a coordinated security effort between antivirus vendors and security experts, remote malicious orders were blocked or prevented from effecting an estimated peak 600,000 infected computers. Apple joined the fray late, but provided patches and a removal tool for the malware.
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05/19, 5:30pm
Apple may help achieve hat-trick of import bans
On the heels of an appeals court win that suggested that Samsung should have been barred from selling its copycat Galaxy Tab 10.1 from the get-go, Apple has now filed a motion for a new injunction against the tablet asking it to be pulled from US shelves. The two companies are scheduled to begin high-level settlement talks on Monday, but should they fail the new injunction request could be ruled on as early as June 7.
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