MacRumors

As revealed in dozens of new job postings on its website, Apple is once again looking to improve its much-criticized Maps application by increasing the size of its team dedicated to verifying mapping data. The postings are for "ground truth" local experts and regional managers in a number of different locations around the world, including several in the United States, Brazil, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Europe.

The job descriptions for the "Local Expert" roles are as follows:

The Maps team is looking for people with a passion for mapping, great testing skills, and deep regional knowledge to help us build better and better maps. In this position, you will be responsible for the quality assessment of Apple Maps for your region, including both data and map services.  You will monitor changes to our maps, provide feedback on unique local map requirements, collect ground truth information, and evaluate competing products.

The roles call for someone with a bachelor's degree or equivalent, prior experience in quality assurance and a "detailed knowledge of the unique features of your local area, including preferred place names, prominent businesses, public services, seasonal events, driving routes, landmarks, and road names".

The positions are clearly intended to help Apple improve the quality of its mapping service, which since its release has been plagued with problems, including mislabeled towns and cities, inaccurate driving directions, as well as establishments (such as restaurants and bars) which had been closed for years.

MacRumors first noticed Apple specifically hiring a ground truth expert in Australia back in February, with the company moving to hire managers for the program in March. With this latest batch of job listings, Apple is clearly looking to fill out its team with a variety of regional and local positions.

Apple's Maps issues in iOS 6 prompted an open letter by Tim Cook on the company's home page and are rumored to be one of the reasons why Scott Forstall, Apple's previous Senior Vice President of iOS Software, was ousted from the company back in October 2012. The company has acknowledged that it is working hard to improve its mapping services, which are coming to OS X Mavericks later this year.

In just the past few weeks, Apple has been revealed to have acquired small mapping firms Locationary and HopStop as it seeks to improve its own services.

(Thanks, Georgij!)

Following up a report from earlier this week that Apple CEO Tim Cook had traveled to China, representatives for China Mobile have confirmed to Reuters that its Chairman, Xi Guohua, and Cook had met recently to discuss “matters of cooperation”. China Mobile, the world's largest carrier, is the only major Chinese carrier to not have a deal with Apple to distribute the iPhone.

The meeting with China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua in Beijing was to discuss matters of cooperation, the Chinese firm told Reuters in an emailed statement. It gave no further details.

Prior to this news, it was speculated that Cook may have visited China to discuss the potential for market growth in the region after Apple announced it fell 43 percent from the previous quarter during its quarterly earnings call. Cook is also said to have met with major Chinese carriers during his visit to discuss the impending launch of the heavily rumored low-cost iPhone in the region, potentially named the iPhone 5C. Earlier this year, Cook visited China to also discuss cooperation with China Mobile.

China Mobile and Apple have been reported to be in talks over the iPhone for several years, although no deal as yet been struck. Cook was spotted at China Mobile's headquarters in June 2011, and he visited with executives at the carrier again earlier this year during a trip to China.

Microsoft filed its annual Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today, revealing that the Microsoft Surface lineup has garnered only $853 million in revenue for the company, which is less than the recent $900 million writedown the company took for the Surface RT.

And as GeekWire notes, it's also less than the "$898 million increase in advertising costs associated primarily with Windows 8 and Surface.” The numbers account for all Surfaces sold from the device's original fall launch until the end of Microsoft's fiscal year on June 30.

While Microsoft did not reveal how many Surface units it sold, GeekWire does estimate that it sold approximately 1.7 million units by the end of June, which roughly corroborates a Bloomberg report in March claiming that Microsoft had sold 1.5 million Surface devices.

As The Loop's Jim Dalrymple points out, Microsoft has sold 1.7 million Surface units in 8 months, which is a far cry from the 3 million iPads Apple sold in 3 days last November, the 14.6 million iPads it sold last quarter and the 57 million iPads Apple sold since the Surface launched.

Late last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told employees at an internal Microsoft town hall meeting that the company had "built more devices than [Microsoft] could sell" in reference to slowing Surface sales. Recently, Microsoft has been trying to sell more devices by aggressively marketing the Surface RT as an iPad competitor with negative ads and was forced to drop the price of its Surface RT prices by $150.

Despite the slow sales of the Surface tablets, Microsoft is said to be pushing forward with plans for a second generation tablet.

A new support document has emerged on Apple's website today, revealing a way for iMessage users to report unwanted messages, or spam, directly to Apple.

To report unwanted iMessage messages to Apple, please send an email with the following details to: imessage.spam@icloud.com

Include a screenshot of the message you have received.
Include the full email address or phone number you received the unwanted message from.
Include the date and time that you received the message.

In late March it was reported that a group of iOS developers had been hit with denial-of-service attacks via iMessage that saw them receiving a series of rapid-fire messages. Previously, it was not possible for users to take action against possible spam attacks. Now users can alert Apple to any possible problems directly.

Similarly, users with iOS 7 wanting to fight potential spam will have the ability to block contacts in the Messages, Phone and FaceTime apps, but users with previous versions of iOS will not be able to use that feature.

Larry Gadea, a user on the Tech Inferno forums, has shown off a unique setup whereby he connects a graphics card to the 11" MacBook Air via a series of adapters.

He uses a Thunderbolt to Express Card adapter, then connects an ExpressCard to PCI-Express adapter, and finally to a Windows-compatible video card. The final result is somewhat bulky but seems to provide an excellent gaming experience.

It has become very clear that gaming is not only high-performance, but super practical on an 11" Macbook Air. There's so much going against it: this hodgepodge of adapters, it has a low voltage CPU, disaster of wiring and exposed sensitive parts, crazy boot-time chainloading software, Intel killing companies producing adapters and products left right and center via legal threats, etc. but somehow, with the right parts and some patience, it works spectacularly. And is quite cheap too!

The full article goes deep into frame rates and benchmarking a variety of games, noting that -- though users need to use Boot Camp to run Windows because of graphics card driver requirements -- advanced PC gaming on the MacBook Air is workable with a little technical know-how.

Because his setup can be easily unplugged, it is especially useful for gamers who want to play games on a desktop-screen but still have a lightweight notebook for traveling. It could also conceivably be used on other Thunderbolt-equipped Macs, including the iMac and the upcoming Mac Pro.

The rumors about the new "plastic" iPhone (may be called the iPhone 5C, according to a recent leak) have been ramping up over the past couple of days, and now an enterprising case manufacturer has released a set of "iPhone 5C" cases on Amazon.com (via Nowhereelse.fr).

The three cases, which are available in black, navy, and white, appear to be in line with low-cost iPhone dimensions that were leaked by another case maker in June.

The low-cost iPhone is expected to be similar in size to the current iPhone 5, though with a rounded polycarbonate shell that comes in an array of colors. MacRumors commissioned renderings in July showing what the phone could potentially look like based on current schematics.

It is not unusual for case manufacturers to use rumored case specs ahead of product releases to get a jump on manufacturing. Creating a case based on unconfirmed measurements is always a gamble, however, and there is no guarantee that elago's "5C" case will fit the finalized product that Apple produces.

Yesterday, a report emerged from the China Labor Watch claiming poor working conditions inside Pegatron, one of Apple's assembly partners, in which a "plastic iPhone" was confirmed. The quote was provided by a worker whose role was to apply protective film onto the rear shell of the device before the part enters the assembly process:

Today’s work is to paste protective film on the iPhone's plastic back cover to prevent it from being scratched on assembly lines. This iPhone model with a plastic cover will soon be released on the market by Apple. The task is pretty easy, and I was able to work independently after a five-minute instruction from a veteran employee. It took around a minute to paste protective film on one rear cover. The new cell phone has not yet been put into mass production, so quantity is not as important. This makes our job more slow paced than in departments that have begun mass production schedules.

According to recent reports, Apple's low-cost plastic iPhone is expected to be launched sometime in the fall, potentially as early as September.

Google-owned Motorola Mobility and Apple have agreed to drop a combined total of 14 patents from litigation that were part of a Florida lawsuit scheduled to go to trial in 2014. Apple dropped 6 patents in the pending case, while Motorola dropped 8, leaving 8 total patents to be tried in court, reports FOSS Patents.

Yesterday (Monday, July 29 2013) Apple and Motorola filed a stipulation to dismiss a total of 14 patents from the Miami case. Apple had previously dropped two patents (though it reserved some rights subject to what happens on appeal), so the case was down from 24 to 22 patents. Under yesterday's stipulation, Motorola drops eight patents and Apple withdraws six, restoring parity. Subject to the court's (very likely) approval of this stipulation, either party will be asserting four patents going forward.

The lawsuit history between the two companies started in October 2010 after Motorola filed a complaint with the ITC accusing Apple of patent infringement, with Motorola seeking to bar Apple from importing, promoting, and distributing its products.

The lawsuit ramped up after Google acquired Motorola, with the company further expanding its charges against Apple. As the scope of the lawsuit grew out of control, the U.S. District Judge in the case, Robert Scola, chastised Apple and Motorola for the dispute, calling it a "business strategy that appears to have no end."

The two companies were given four months to streamline the case, under the threat of a hold. At this point in time, the two companies will each assert four patents in the Florida dispute, which is set to begin in August of next year.

According to a Chinese media report [Google translation] pointed out by 9to5Mac, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited China recently, possibly to discuss mobile growth after Apple announced a decline in growth within the market during its recent quarterly conference call. The article also claims that Cook may have met with the Chinese carriers to discuss the impending launch of the heavily rumored low-cost iPhone in the region, potentially named the iPhone 5C.

It is speculated that with the previous high-level meetings with China Telecom Cook similar, the two sides level will mainly focus on the issues discussed at the strategic level, may also be involved in co-generation iPhone and sales.

Insiders pointed out that China and the Cook high-level talks with China Telecom, may mean that the new generation iPhone will likely be listed in China through China Telecom first sale.

It is understood that since Apple CEO Cook served as third visit to China since it is unclear the specific time of Cook's visit and travel arrangements, Cook is expected to be in the next few days, respectively, in China Unicom and China Mobile executives meeting. Early January 2013 and mid-March 2012, Apple CEO Cook to the identity of the first visit to China, one after another with the Ministry of Industry executives and China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom's top leaders met.

Since Cook served as Apple CEO, Apple's emphasis on the Chinese market gradually improved. At present, through China Unicom and China Telecom, Apple covers China's 350 million users.

The news of the visit comes after a Chinese labor group alleged poor working conditions at Pegatron, a main Apple supplier in China earlier this week. Earlier this year, Cook visited China to discuss "cooperation" with China Mobile, and also met with various government officials during his prior trip.