At its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, Apple introduced iWork for iCloud, a browser-based version of its productivity suite of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. The service has been in beta testing since that time, and the company is widely expected to make an official announcement about its launch at today's media event, alongside new versions of iWork for both OS X and iOS.
Confirming that iWork for iCloud should officially launch today immediately following Apple's media event, users attempting to access the iWork apps on iCloud.com are currently being greeted with messages alerting them that the service is being upgraded and that in "just a few short hours" they will have access to the new features.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has become a member of the advisory board at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management (SEM), according to the school's website (via TechCrunch). The Beijing-based university itself is among the top schools in China, with the SEM's advisory board meeting annually to "offer advice on the development of Tsinghua's SEM," according to the group's mission statement.
Other members of the advisory board include tech executives such as Foxconn founder and CEO Terry Gou and Nokia Corporation chairman Risto Siilasmaa, along with notable American executives such as president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Michael T. Duke and chairman and CEO of PepisCo. Indra K. Nooyi.
It is not entirely clear why Cook specifically joined the SEM's advisory board, although the CEO has made numerous visits to China to raise Apple's profile in the country and to discuss a potential deal with China Mobile, which is the world's largest carrier and the only Chinese carrier to not carry the iPhone. Cook was first spotted at the carrier's headquarters in June 2011, and also visited China Mobile last January and this past July leading up to the announcement of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c last month.
The launch of both of the new iPhones on China Mobile now seems to be very close, with Chinese officials licensing the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to run on China Mobile's TD-LTE standard in September, and an alleged poster promoting the release of both new iPhones on the carrier recently surfacing.
Cook has also emphasized Apple's desire to grow its retail presence in the country during his visits, reiterating Apple's plans to build at least 25 stores within the region. The company has opened several stores in Shanghai including one in the Pudong district and a store on Shanghai's famous Nanjing Road, and is also set to open a two-story retail store in Shanghai's new IPAM mall within the next year.
Apple has also worked to speed up the approval process for its products in China, moves done to allow product launches and sales in the country to occur more quickly. For the first time last month, the new iPhone models debuted in China as part of the first wave of launches. Earlier this month, Apple supplier Foxconn also stated that it would assist Apple in shipping products directly to China, which will result in an easier transition from production to shipping and ultimately sales in the country.
A number of readers are reporting that the "Apple Events" channel has returned to their Apple TVs, revealing that Apple will indeed be offering a live video stream of today's media event. Apple has offered live streams of several recent events, but did not do so for last month's iPhone event.
Apple should also be making the stream available through its website, but the announcement and page for the stream have yet to go live.
Apple's keynote kicks off at 10:00 AM Pacific Time, and MacRumors will have full coverage of the event.
Apple will launch 55- and 65-inch 4K ultra-high definition televisions late next year, if an analyst report from Masahiko Ishino at Advanced Research Japan is to be believed.
Bloombergshared the report, claiming the displays will have a frameless design with suppliers including LG for display panels, Samsung for graphical processing, and Corning's Gorilla Glass 3 for glass covers with units priced from $1,500 to $2,500. Foxconn would be used for final assembly for initial delivery in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the analyst.
A number of companies released 4K ultra-high definition displays earlier this year, but they remain prohibitively expensive for the average consumer. We have no indication of reliability for predictions by Masahiko Ishino or Advanced Research Japan.
Earlier this year, an extremely sketchy report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News claimed Corning, Foxconn, G-Tech Optoelectronics and display maker Innolux were working with Apple on a new television product.
Ahead of the final unveiling of OS X Mavericks at tomorrow's media event and an expected public launch soon after, several high-profile websites including The New York Times and NBA.com have begun supporting the new Safari push notifications feature included with Mavericks, as noted by user Sky Blue in our forums. The feature allows users to subscribe to websites' notification services and have various types of alerts pushed to their Macs even when Safari is not running.
Push notifications in Mavericks may be a handy alternative to RSS or Twitter for many users, delivering clickable notifications directly to the users' desktops in a timely fashion.
While several sites have already begun to go live with their notification services, accessible to users running the OS X Mavericks beta, others will undoubtedly be following suit as Mavericks officially launches to the public. MacRumors will be supporting the feature, allowing users to receive instant notifications whenever new articles are posted to the site.
OS X Mavericks is expected to launch to the public before the end of the month, but may arrive as soon as this week following the final introduction at tomorrow's media event.
Electronica artist Adam Young, the musician behind the popular project Owl City, is responsible for many of the new sound and ringtones in iOS 7 according to the discography on the musician's website (via 9to5Mac).
Alongside the top-to-bottom redesign of the visual user interface in iOS 7, Jony Ive's design team -- with Young's help -- also reworked all the sounds in the OS as well. It isn't clear exactly which sounds Young worked on, though many of the texting and ringtones sound similar to his music.
Some of Adam Young's more well-known songs, under the Owl City name, include his breakout hit Fireflies, Good Time with Carly Rae Jepsen, and When Can I See You Again? from Disney's Wreck-It Ralph.
Young began creating songs in his parents' basement, sharing tracks on MySpace before signing with a record label and receiving commercial success. Like many musicians, he uses Macs and a number of different software titles including Apple's Logic, Pro Tools, and Propellerhead's Reason.
Update: The reference to Apple's iOS 7 sounds has been removed from Young's discography page.
With Apple's October 22nd Media Event kicking off on Tuesday, some users are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until Apple posts the recorded video of the event so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome.
For those individuals, we've posted this news story, which will be updated with the link to the presentation once it becomes available from Apple. No other news stories or announcements will be displayed alongside this story.
Users waiting for the video to be posted are welcome to gather in the thread associated with this news story, and we ask that those who follow the events refrain from making any posts in the thread about the announcements.
Video Available: Video Stream - No spoilers on the page at the time of this posting.
Apple’s Mac sales are down seven percent year over year for the full September quarter, according to a new report from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster who looked at September data from market research firm NPD.
Based on the data, Munster suggests that U.S. Mac sales in the month of September were down 14 percent year over year, as during the July to August period, sales were down just three percent but dropped to seven percent down for the overall quarter.
We have analyzed domestic NPD retail data for the full September quarter which suggests Mac sales are tracking down 7% y/y. We note that the September data suggested the last month of the quarter was down 14%, which brought the average down from down 3% through the first to months to down 7% for the full quarter.
As with his previous reports, Munster notes that it remains difficult to extrapolate NPD data to Apple’s global sales performance, but he views the September quarter data point as "likely a neutral" due to the introduction of new MacBook Airs in June.
Overall, we believe the September quarter data point is likely a neutral given that Macs should have a slight tailwind from updated Macbooks in June. We remain comfortable with our down 5% y/y estimate for Macs in the September quarter.
Despite the fact that Apple is expected to debut Mavericks, updated Retina MacBook Pros, and the Mac Pro in October, Munster believes that Mac sales will continue to decline as Apple customers shift to iPads, with Macs representing a smaller part of Apple's overall business. Currently, Macs represent less than 15 percent of Apple’s total revenue.
iPod sales continue to decline too, with NPD data suggesting that domestic units are down 36 percent year over year (up slightly from 41% in the August data) in the full third quarter, with a 20 percent year over year drop in September. Because iPods now represent just 2% of all Apple’s revenue, the overall impact of this sales decline is minor.
Five months after it was initially announced, and after an unplanned delay due to unexpected demand, BlackBerry Messenger is finally launching on iOS. The app, which is similar to Apple’s own iMessage, was first announced back in May. It should launch on the App Store later today.
Back in September, the BBM for Android and iOS apps were delayed after an unreleased version of BBM was leaked that "caused issues" with the BBM servers.
To avoid similar issues with strong demand this time around, BlackBerry is using a staggered queue system to handle the demand. Users will install the app, enter their email address to hold their spot in line, and then will receive an email when they can start using BBM.
According to BlackBerry, there are still more than 60 million BBM users worldwide exchanging more than 10 billion messages per day. Though the BBM platform remains popular, it will need to compete with several other messaging services on iOS and Android, including WhatsApp and WeChat. WhatsApp alone has more than 300 million active users, sending 27 billion messages daily.
BlackBerry Messenger offers basic text chats, multi-person group chats, voice messaging (via push-to-talk), and image sharing. Contacts can be added via BBM PIN, SMS, email, or QR code. Users are asked to set up a profile, which includes an image, nickname, and status.
As Apple prepares to launch its radically redesigned fifth-generation iPad, multiple case makers are gearing up to release cases to fit the thinner, slimmer tablet. Because Apple does not provide case makers with specifications, accessory manufacturers gamble on case design by utilizing rumors and product leaks to create their cases, as noted by ABC News.
For example, Gumdrop Cases (also responsible for the Hard Candy brand) has developed a line of fifth-generation iPad cases that it had already begun manufacturing back in June, in anticipation of a WWDC launch for the redesigned tablet. Since then, the company has gone on to create several additional cases for the iPad 5, all without a glimpse of the product.
According to Gumdrop CEO Tim Hickman, Gumdrop has worked with the Chinese factories that produce the iPad in order to acquire dimensions and computer-aided designs to make the cases, communicating back and forth with the factories to make sure the cases will fit the final product.
"I'm pretty confident that our cases will fit the new iPads," Hickman told ABC News. "We work with the factories really closely. We aren’t going to be really far off."
In addition to Gumdrop, multiple other companies have begun manufacturing cases for the iPad 5, including well-known brands like Kensington, hoping to get an edge on the competition. MacRumors has received several reports of iPad 5 cases showing up in stores and online, and Amazon is also offering a number of pre-designed cases for the tablet. Fifth-generation cases first started appearing in February, with additional models being displayed in April.
M-Edge, another popular case maker, also spoke with ABC News on the trial and error behind creating early iPad cases. The company utilizes several data sources for its design, according to CTO Adam Ashley, including leaked photos and rumors.
"We analyze the data – the rumors and the photographs – we compile this information and we meet with our product team to assess the confidence level," Ashley told ABC News.
Ashley said there are also a few tricks to making sure the case will fit without the exact measurements. The product designers will leave some room for error in the size of the case and also leave room for button adjustment. For instance, they may leave a larger opening for the buttons on the edge in case Apple decides to make adjustments.
Manufacturing cases based on rumor can be a major risk, as some highly-rumored Apple products never make it to market. For example, in 2011 rumors suggested that the next iPhone would utilize a tapered design, which never reached fruition. Given the number of fifth-generation iPad part leaks, however, it is likely that early case production will prove to be successful for many companies.
According to Gumdrop, the company has spent a quarter of a million dollars pre-preparing cases, and both M-Edge and Gumdrop claimed the risk was worth it, as not having cases at launch would cause a bigger fiscal impact.
"If we are wrong we lose a bunch of money, but if we are right, we can make a lot of money," Hickman said. "It is still a gamble, but in this world, it is the game that is being played."
Apple's fifth-generation iPad will be announced tomorrow, on Tuesday, October 22 at a San Francisco event. The iPad will take on an iPad-mini style design, with narrower side bezels and a smaller, lighter form factor. It is expected to feature an upgraded A7X processor and an improved camera.
Alongside the iPad, Apple is also expected to debut a Retina iPad mini, Haswell MacBook Pros, the redesigned Mac Pro, Mavericks, and revamped versions of its iLife and iWork software.
Following the initial launch weekend for the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c last month, analytics firm Localytics reported that it was seeing about 3.5 times as many iPhone 5s units showing up as iPhone 5c units, highlighting a strong preference for the higher-priced models by early adopters. At the time, we noted that the gap was likely to narrow over time and a report last week from a separate research firm indicated that the margin had indeed fallen to two-to-one.
Localytics has now published a new report that provides a more complete look at the data over the past month, revealing how the iPhone 5c has been steadily gaining traction both in the U.S. and abroad, with the iPhone 5s-to-iPhone 5c ratio falling to 1.9 in the U.S. and 2.3 globally. Localytics' numbers are cumulative since launch, indicating that the current sales ratios are even closer.
The iPhone 5s remains in very short supply, with carriers such as Verizon indicating that they could have sold even more units of the device had supplies been readily available. The iPhone 5c, in contrast, has seen good supplies throughout Apple's distribution channels, allowing the company to meet demand. As a result, the ratios at which the devices are being seen are not exactly reflective of true demand, but it seems clear that demand is evening out a bit following the initial surge from early adopters focused on the iPhone 5s. As more mainstream customers look to upgrade when their current contracts run out, demand for the two lines may end up being in significantly closer balance.
Boost Mobile will begin offering the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on November 8, according to a press release issued by the company this morning. Boost Mobile is a prepaid subsidiary of Sprint and will begin offering the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c with its standard monthly unlimited plan and “Shrinking Payments” service offer with no annual contracts, which allows a customer to take $5 off of their monthly payment for every 6 on-time service payments.
Aside from a release date and plan details, Boost Mobile has not offered pricing info for either phone, but it is likely that the device prices will be competitive with other prepaid carriers. The November 8 launch on Boost Mobile also coincides with U.S. Cellular's iPhone launch. For both U.S. Cellular and Boost, this will be the first time they have officially carried any iPhone models.
The iPhone has long been rumored to come to Boost Mobile, with TechnoBuffalo inaccurately projecting earlier this year that the iPhone was to arrive on Boost Mobile in September, followed by a rumor in June stating that the iPhone would come to Boost Mobile in Q3 2013.
Supplies of Apple’s iPhone 5s remain constrained, with estimated shipping times from the Apple Store remaining at 2 to 3 weeks in the United States. iPhone 5c supplies remain plentiful, with all models and capacities shipping within 24 hours.
According to ex-Apple Developer Relations employee and industry analyst Jamie Ryan (via Gizmodo UK), Apple has been testing a first-party keyboard case to be potentially released alongside the upcoming fifth-generation iPad. The case itself would reportedly be similar in nature to Microsoft's Touch Cover, which is made for the Surface line of tablets.
I’ve been speaking to a couple of people at Apple for the last few days and they have told me that a case for the full size iPad that mimics Microsofts touch cover has been prototyped. It’s not clear whether the process is far enough along to make this Tuesdays event but they did say a few different styles had been in testing for a while.
Ryan also adds that the primary motivation behind the development of the case is that Apple's current Bluetooth keyboard is not as integrated as Microsoft's Touch Cover, and that Apple is interested to create a better keyboard solution for the full-size iPad in order to distinguish it from the iPad mini. The analyst also adds that other cover-like accessories are also being looked at for release.
However, Ryan stresses that the covers being tested are prototypes that may not be released at all, as it is expected for Apple to disregard various mock-ups during the development of a product. Apple's ideas for enhanced Smart Covers including not only keyboard functionality but also solar cells or secondary displays have previously surfaced in patent applications.
Currently, Apple sells the Smart Cover and the Smart Case for the full-sized iPad, which both emphasize the ability to act as stands and protective covers, but do not include other features such as keyboard integration.
Apple will introduce a high resolution Retina iPad mini and a thinner, lighter version of the standard 9.7-inch iPad during its Tuesday event, reports The Wall Street Journal, confirming months of product leaks and rumors.
Apple is now readying a revamped iPad Mini with a high-resolution "retina" display. It’s also working on a thinner, lighter version of its standard 9.7-inch iPad, using a thin film instead of the glass found in existing models, based on information from the company’s parts suppliers.
While a fifth-generation iPad with thinner side bezels and an overall smaller size has been widely expected, the release of the Retina iPad mini has been less certain, given multiple reports in the last few weeks suggesting serious supply chain issues.
Rendering of the fifth-generation iPad between iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad
It was unclear whether the Retina iPad mini would be ready for Tuesday’s announcements, but in addition to The Wall Street Journal, two reliable sources, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and AllThingsD, have also indicated that the Retina iPad mini will make its debut on October 22.
Alongside a Retina screen, the iPad mini is expected to include an A7 processor, while the full-sized iPad will offer an A7X processor. Both iPads will include upgraded cameras, and could also offer Apple’s new M7 motion tracking chip. AllThingsD has also indicated that Haswell MacBook Pros will be unveiled during the event.
Finally, I’m told we’re likely to see a slate of new MacBook Pros upgraded with Intel’s latest Haswell processors. Apple brought Haswell to its MacBook Airs earlier this year, giving them a nice boost in battery life and graphics. It has been expected to do the same for its professional laptops ever since. Tuesday should see the announcement of that move.
Aside from the iPads and the Haswell MacBook Pros, Apple is expected to announce a number of other hardware and software products, including Mavericks, revamped versions of iLife and iWork for both Mac and iOS, the redesigned Mac Pro, and possibly a new display to go with it. A minor update to the Apple TV may also be included, and it’s possible that the Mac mini could be updated as well.
Following a Tweet last month in which he hinted at an updated Apple TV arriving sometime this month, former TechCrunch writer MG Siegler is now "pouring a small amount of water" on his own claim, suggesting that major changes to Apple's television-related hardware are not yet ready to be shown.
Well, now I feel the need to pour a little — just a little, mind you — cold water on the rumor fire. While I still haven’t heard anything concrete, the most recent whispers I have heard is that the Apple TV project has been delayed a bit.
That doesn’t mean we won’t see an Apple TV update at the event — we could see an updated unit with a spec bump or something. But the thing to be more excited about, the device with some sort of newfangled control system, doesn’t seem like it’s ready just yet.
Siegler notes that he had originally heard about a new Apple TV hardware (not a television set) targeted for a November launch, but that the information was not concrete enough to warrant a full article at the time. Given the publicity his original Tweet garnered, however, he has felt the need to address the issue now that it appears his original information is unlikely to pan out on that timetable.
Last month, 9to5Macseparately reported that Apple has been testing Xbox Kinect-like motion control for televisions, though it was unclear if that would make its way to the Apple TV set-top box or was being held for a standalone Apple television set farther in the future.
Ahead of Tuesday's media event, Apple has revised its Built-in Apps page for the iPhone 5s to reveal the full set of new iOS 7-themed icons for the six iLife and iWork apps offered for iOS. The new GarageBand and iPhoto icons had appeared in the Settings app on some users' devices last week.
Aside from the new icons, the updated page also reveals in a footnote that GarageBand will become a free basic download for all iOS 7 devices, joining the other five iLife and iWork apps that became free alongside the release of iOS 7.
GarageBand will, however, include in-app purchase content from Apple, with additional instruments and sounds available for a fee. Licensing fees associated with some of those sounds had been the presumed reason why GarageBand was left out the original move to make Apple's iLife and iWork apps for iOS free of charge, and it appears that the company has settled on in-app purchases as a way around this issue, offering basic functionality for free and then premium content through the paid upgrade options.
GarageBand is free on the App Store for all iOS 7 compatible devices; additional GarageBand instruments and sounds are available with an in-app purchase. iPhoto, iMovie, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are free on the App Store for qualifying iOS 7 compatible devices activated on or after September 1, 2013.
Each of the new entries for the iLife and iWork apps contains a link to a dedicated page that will give full details on the new versions of the apps, but those pages are not yet live. The brief blurbs for each app do, however, point to new features such as photo books and prints for iPhoto and new "iMovie Theater" functionality for iMovie.
Apple is expected to unveil the new apps at Tuesday's media event as part of a broad set of updates to iLife and iWork for both Mac and iOS, as well as new web-based iWork for iCloud offerings. Other announcements should include updated iPad and iPad mini lineups, new Retina MacBook Pros, and the official introduction of Apple's redesigned Mac Pro, as well as a final look at OS X Mavericks before its public launch in the coming days.
Update: Apple has reverted the changes to the page, removing the new text and icons.
Apple has seeded a new build of the OS X Mavericks Golden Master to developers, a little more than two weeks after the first GM seed. According to 9to5Mac, the build is only available for users performing a fresh install of Mavericks, with some users having luck re-installing the new GM over the prior version.
The prior GM had a build number of 13A598, while the new release is build 13A603. Apple is reportedly targeting a late October launch for Mavericks and it's possible the company will give a final release date at Tuesday's media event.
Apple premiered a new ad called "Metal Mastered" during NFL games this afternoon, showcasing the new gold iPhone 5s. The ad, which features the song "Ooh La La" by Goldfrapp [iTunes] and no dialogue, depicts golden liquid metal morphing into the iPhone 5s.
Earlier this week, Apple launched the first magazine ads for the iPhone 5s, also featuring the gold model.
The new ad is very similar to the Plastic Perfected spot for the iPhone 5c that debuted in September.
Apple has been heavily advertising the iPhone 5c on television in recent weeks, but we have seen relatively little about the 5s, likely because of tight supplies. The new television spot, in fact, includes a "subject to availability" disclaimer at the end.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has become a member of the advisory board at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management (SEM), according to the 
According to ex-Apple Developer Relations employee and industry analyst 
Following a Tweet last month in which he 
