MacRumors

Following the launch of the Jony Ive-led streamlining of the iOS user interface, the designer himself has seen his job title receive a redesign as well. Ive is now the Senior Vice President of Design at Apple; previously, he was SVP of Industrial Design.

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Jony Ive's Biography Page from Apple.com (Old: Left)

Ive received a promotion of sorts back in October when he was put in charge of Human Interface teams -- software design -- in addition to his previous duties as head of Industrial design (via 9to5Mac).

ibooks_iconIn Apple's ongoing antitrust case with the Department of Justice, Apple's SVP of internet software and services Eddy Cue once again took the stand today, where he revealed several small tidbits about Steve Jobs and the launch of iBooks.

According to AllThingsD, Cue told the court that Jobs was highly involved in the creation of Apple's iBookstore, coming up with several of the features found in the app.

- The "page curls" in the iBook app, which show up when you flip an iBook's page? That's Steve Jobs's idea.

- It was Jobs's idea to pick ""Winnie-the-Pooh" as the freebie book that came with every iBook app. Not just because Jobs liked the book, Cue said, but because it showed off iBook's capabilities: “It had beautiful color drawings, that had never been seen before in a digital book."

- Jobs was also specific about the book he used to show off the iBook during his initial iPad demo in January 2010. He picked Ted Kennedy's "True Compass" memoir, because the Kennedy family "meant a lot to him," Cue said.

Over the course of the trial, the Department of Justice has argued that Apple colluded with book publishers to drive up the cost of e-books while Apple maintains its innocence. The DOJ has seen several weak links in its case over the course of the last week, after Apple refuted a partially composed email and a DOJ-called Google exec offered questionable testimony. Closing arguments for the trial are set for Thursday.

Earlier today, we noted that photos of what was claimed to be the bare logic board of the iPhone 5S had surfaced, showing some changes to the board's layout compared to the iPhone 5 and perhaps even a slight narrowing of the board itself.

Several repair firms, including iHeart Repair, have shared with MacRumors a new set of images from a supplier showing the display assembly of the iPhone 5S. While the low-resolution images do not immediately reveal any significant changes to the technology behind the device's display, there is one item of interest supporting the claim that the logic board photos from earlier today are genuine.

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iPhone 5S display assembly

The iPhone 5 and 5S display assemblies each contain a pair of connectors on flex cables at the top of the part, supporting the display itself and the digitizer for registering touch input. On the iPhone 5 display assembly, both flex cable connectors are oriented horizontally and correspond to horizontal connectors on the device's logic board.

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iPhone 5S logic board (left) vs. iPhone 5 logic board (right)
Display/digitizer connectors boxed in red

On this iPhone 5S part, one connector is oriented vertically and the other horizontally. This corresponds to the logic board seen in the photos earlier today, with a vertical connector near the top inside edge of the board and a horizontal one along the top edge.

Apple's iPhone 5S is expected to appear largely identical to the iPhone 5 from the exterior, but Apple typically makes significant internal changes in its new models even when using similar casing parts. It appears that the iPhone 5S, rumored for release around September of this year, will be no different in that regard, although many specific details on the internals of the device have yet to be revealed given that the logic board leaked earlier today does not contain any chips or other components.

Update: Fanatic Fone has posted another set of comparison photos (via ETrade Supply) showing the display assemblies in much higher quality.

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Related Forum: iPhone

During the WWDC Keynote presentation last week, Apple executive Craig Federighi showed off Mac OS X Mavericks. One of the new features is more substantial support for multiple monitors.

In Mountain Lion, there are issues with using full-screen apps on setups with multiple monitors. Putting an app into full-screen mode disables the rest of the monitors. In Mavericks, apps can be set to full screen on individual monitors and moved around as necessary.

However, as this video shows (via 9to5Mac), there are some changes in Mavericks that multiple monitor users may not like. For instance, application windows cannot be used across multiple monitors anymore -- windows can only be used on one monitor at a time. Also, spaces are only switched individually, which could affect the workflow of some users.


It appears that, in OS X Mavericks, users can switch between both the Mountain Lion multiple monitor setup and the new multiple monitor support in Mavericks as needed. As always, it's worth noting that this is a beta and things could change before the final version of OS X Mavericks is released in the Fall.

Related Forum: OS X Mavericks

Firaxis Games' XCOM: Enemy Unknown will hit the App Store on Thursday, June 20. The title, which was released for the Mac in April, is a re-imagined version of the classic 1994 game X-Com: UFO Defense.

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In the game, players will command XCOM soldiers in turn-based battles, build up an elite squad with unique skills and abilities, and manage base resources.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown for iOS takes the complete XCOM experience of the console and PC version of the game and optimizes it for the touch interface of iOS devices.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown will run on the iPad 2 and up, the iPad mini, the fifth generation iPod touch, and the iPhone 4S and up. The app is universal and will feature Game Center and iCloud support, with multiplayer gameplay coming later. It will be available on Thursday, June 20 for $19.99.

skypelogo.jpgSkype has rolled out its new video messaging service, originally introduced as a beta back in February, to all users. Previously, Skype users could only use 20 messages per month without subscribing to the more expensive Skype Premium plan. Now, all users can send unlimited free video messages.

Video messaging is now available to all Skype users. You can send and receive as many video messages as you want – completely free of charge. Video messages can be received and viewed on any platform or device running Skype.

Skype Video Messaging adds another great way to keep in touch with friends and family during life’s most meaningful moments. Send a video message to your friends and family today—it’s easy. You can capture a fleeting memory, create a heartfelt reminder or simply tell a friend or family member "wish you were here" even when they aren’t online.


Skype for iOS and Mac are available free. [iPhone, iPad, Mac]

instagram-150x150According to TechCrunch, Facebook will unveil a new video capture addition for Instagram at a June 20th press event. Instagram's video capabilities are said to be similar to Twitter's Vine, featuring quick, short videos that are between five and 10 seconds long.

On June 20, a source says Facebook will unveil that Instagram, its popular photo-sharing app, will begin to let people also take and share short videos. Call it the Vine effect.

We are still looking for more information because we understand that Facebook has not wanted the details of June 20 to leak out — so this could be an intentional blind alley. But if the Instagram video report is true, you could say the event invite itself — sent by snail mail, coffee cup stain charmingly in one corner — is a red herring of its own.

Introduced in late January, Vine allows its users to upload short six second videos that can be shared on Twitter, Facebook, and the web. Vine has enjoyed enormous success since its debut, even surpassing Instagram sharing on Twitter.

TechCrunch originally suggested that the press event would see Facebook releasing a news-reading app, so it is unclear if the company plans to debut two products or if one of the sources is incorrect.

There is no additional information available on Instagram video at this time, but details will surface after the press event on Thursday.

AllThingsD reports that the paperback version of Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs will be released on September 10, nearly two years after the book's original release. According to publisher Simon & Schuster, the paperback version will include a new afterword as well as a new cover image showing a young Steve Jobs in the same pose seen with an older Jobs on the original cover.

[N]ew art, taken by Norman Seeff in 1984, should attract a lot of attention. The original striking and simple black-and-white photo of Jobs on the hardcover jacket of “Steve Jobs” — which was taken by Albert Watson in 2006 — showed the legendary tech figure later in his life and was an image Jobs approved. The new one has Jobs in the exact same thumb-on-chin pose, with the exact same intense gaze that he was well known for.

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Paperback cover (left) vs. original cover (right)

Amazon currently has a preliminary page up for the paperback version, showing a price of $17.99 versus a list price of $20.00. The hardcover version carries a list price of $35.00, but Amazon is selling it for $17.74.

As noted by Mac Otakara, Japanese parts firm Moumantai has posted three photos of what may be the bare logic board from the iPhone 5S. Unsurprisingly, the shape of the board is nearly identical to that of the iPhone 5 logic board, although it appears to have a slightly different curve along the bottom edge where the logic board would meet the speaker enclosure.

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Front of claimed iPhone 5S logic board compared to iFixit's iPhone 5 logic board photo

Few details can be obtained from the part, as there are no chips or other components attached to the board, although it does contain a somewhat different placement of screw holes and a tweaked chip layout. The main A-series chip appears as if it will be slightly larger in area than the A6 seen in the iPhone 5, as it takes up a greater width of the logic board.

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Rear of claimed iPhone 5S logic board compared to iFixit's iPhone 5 logic board photo

Apple's iPhone 5S is expected to launch later this year, perhaps around the September timeframe. Following Apple's pattern of two-year body style cycles, the iPhone 5S will reportedly appear very similar to the iPhone 5 and focus on internal improvements. One differentiating feature may, however, be a fingerprint sensor, which is rumored to be location on or near the device's home button.

Update 8:32 AM: As noted in our forums by chrmjenkins, the logic board may actually be slightly narrower than on the iPhone 5, meaning that the main A-series chip may be the same size as the A6 in the iPhone 5.

I think the logic board has gotten narrower. Notice how the A6 has room for a triple row of caps to its left? The new logic board only has room for a single row (caps being placed longways, granted). Also, the back of the iPhone 5 logic board has the Hynix memory module spanning the whole board. Now since the board is thinner, it's been forced to rotate 90 degrees to fit since it's longer than it is wide.

Related Forum: iPhone

prism_logoIn the wake of a public revelation of "PRISM", a top secret intelligence gathering program run by the U.S. National Security Agency in which Apple was reportedly among a number of companies providing the government with direct access to user data, Apple has now issued a "Commitment to Customer Privacy" statement addressing the issue.

According to Apple, no agency has direct access to customer data, and each request for data by law enforcement is evaluated by Apple's legal team to determine the legitimacy of the claim.

From December 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013, Apple received between 4,000 and 5,000 requests from U.S. law enforcement for customer data. Between 9,000 and 10,000 accounts or devices were specified in those requests, which came from federal, state and local authorities and included both criminal investigations and national security matters. The most common form of request comes from police investigating robberies and other crimes, searching for missing children, trying to locate a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, or hoping to prevent a suicide.

Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it.

Apple goes on to note that there are certain categories of information that it does not provide to law enforcement, either because the company never stores it in the first place or is unable to decrypt it. Specifically, Apple notes that iMessage and FaceTime conversations are unable to be decrypted by Apple and that customer location data, Maps searches, and Siri requests are not stored by Apple in any form that could be tied to a specific user.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the comment thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All MacRumors forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

During Apple's WWDC keynote, the company revealed that it would begin supporting MFi (Made for iPhone) certified gaming controllers. Since then, new details have emerged, suggesting that Apple is planning to partner with both Logitech and MOGA to work on the controllers.

Apple has thus far provided reference images displaying two different controller types; one that is a standalone handheld controller and another that is an iPhone enclosure. Kotaku today posted an image of the latter controller type, which the site says has been manufactured by Logitech.

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With Steve Jobs no longer around to tell us these things aren't elegant enough for his device, it appears we'll finally get a proper gamepad for the iOS this year. This will be one of them, made by Logitech.

Can't tell you who gave it to us or where it was seen, but we can vouch for this image's authenticity. The controller is large enough to fit an iPhone 5. When iOS 7 introduces third-party controller support in the fall we'll see this thing, plus a bunch of others, probably. Apple evidently won't be making its own.

The image, which depicts what is probably an early prototype, shows a d-pad on the left side of the controller with a set of buttons on the right side. It looks fairly slim, and also sports a lightning connector. As our sister site TouchArcade points out, given the thriving iPhone and iPad accessory market, this is just the first of many controllers that will likely hit the market later this fall.

Apple has yet to release iOS 7 for the iPad and aside from a small picture on the iOS 7 site, there has been little indication of what the operating system will look like on the larger screen of the tablet.

German site Apfelpage.de [Google Translation] has posted some photos obtained via an iOS 7 iPad simulator in Xcode 5, which demonstrate how several stock apps will look on an iPad running the new OS.

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Calendar and Game Center

Unsurprisingly, iOS 7 on the iPad looks much like it does on the iPhone. Maps has slightly more screen real estate to work with and the Control Center isn’t quite as obtrusive. As this is a simulated version of iOS 7 on the iPad, the actual version could look different.

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Control Center and Maps

It is unclear when Apple plans to release iOS 7 on the iPad for developers, but it will likely come within the next few weeks. The full version of the new operating system is expected to debut in the fall, and in the meantime, Apfelpage.de has several more examples of iOS 7 apps running on the iPad. Australian writer Sonny Dickson, who provided the screenshots, also has additional images that can be found on his Twitter stream.

Update: 9to5Mac has provided even more simulated iOS 7 screenshots.

Related Forum: iOS 7

emergencyalertsAT&T has announced that it is pushing out a software update to bring Wireless Emergency Alerts to its U.S. customers that use an iPhone 4S or an iPhone 5. Wireless Emergency Alerts are part of a public safety system that is designed to send out geographically-targeted messages to alert people about "imminent threats to safety."

The messages are government issued and will include AMBER alerts for notifying users about missing children, emergency alerts that offer weather notifications and public safety warnings, and Presidential alerts, which are messages that are sent directly from the President.

Wireless Emergency Alerts are part of the FCC's CMAS program and are mandated by law. You may turn off alerts (except for Presidential alerts) if you choose. Go to Settings >Notifications>Turn On/Off.

When the software update is delivered to your phone, you will see a message that states "Carrier Settings Update: new settings required for your device have been installed". After that, your iPhone 5 or 4S will receive all Wireless Emergency Alerts by default.

AT&T notes that messages sent through the Wireless Emergency Alerts system will not count against its subscriber' messaging plans. Both AMBER alerts and Emergency alerts can be turned off, but Presidential alerts are mandatory.

iPhone 4S and 5 users operating iOS 6.1 or later have already begun receiving the update over the air, while those using an older version of iOS will need to download the update through iTunes.

Update: As noted by several tipsters, the alerts will be available for iPhone 4 users as well.

After Apple debuted iOS 7 on Monday, the website for the new operating system displayed a set of icons that were different from the icons found in the current version of iOS 7.

Apple has since updated the website, but the Weather, Passport, and Reminders apps looked notably different, with the Passport and Reminders apps displaying different colors and the Weather app displaying a temperature rather than the current cloud and sun design.

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"Old" iOS 7 icons

While it has been suggested that the icons represent future design changes that Apple is planning for iOS 7, it is more likely that the icons are previous iOS 7 design iterations. Because the icons were present on the website when it went public on Monday, it is reasonable to assume that the icons were the result of outdated and overlooked marketing material rather than an unintentional leak of new content.

The "old" weather icon, for example, forgoes the current sun and cloud icon of iOS 7 for a simple number, "73." That is the same temperature icon that is used for the iOS 6 version of Weather, so it is probable that the text-only 73 was an older, simpler design iteration taken from the current iOS 6 icon. There is no indication that the icon represents a live temperature reading.

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Current iOS 7 icons

Passbook, too, looked notably different in the older version, with a confusing color scheme that heavily featured blues and greens. Reminders was updated as well, swapping out gray for green and yellow for orange, both of which are bolder colors. Arguably, the newer versions of the apps feature crisper designs and more prominent, easy to distinguish colors.

Though it is unlikely that the icons represent upcoming designs, it is likely that iOS 7 will see several graphical updates before it is released to the public this fall. As noted yesterday by The Next Web, the current design is a "work in progress."

Related Forum: iOS 7

Microsoft has posted a new television ad on YouTube for the Dell XPS 10 Tablet running Windows RT. The ad, which somewhat reminiscent of Apple's Mac vs. PC spots, use Siri's voice to compare the Windows Tablet to the iPad. A similar spot featuring the ASUS VivoTab Smart was posted last month.

Sorry, I don't zoom like that. Ouch. Ouch.

You can't put an SD card there. Or there. Or there.

You can do two things at once? That's cool.

Oh. That's not cool.

Microsoft has come under some criticism for a comparison page it posted back in May that inaccurately depicted a Windows Tablet as larger than the iPad.

The campaign is a bit of a reversal for Microsoft and other of Apple's competitors -- in general, advertising from the competition has tended to avoid mentioning Apple's iconic products in their ads.

Apple's latest advertising campaign has focused on the people using its products rather than the products themselves, a significant change from its more recent campaigns.

Twitter's TweetDeck for Mac has been updated to version 3.0.2, adding a new sidebar on the lefthand side of the application that allows for simpler navigation across columns. The columns can be arranged using new drag and drop options.

The update also brings new filter search parameters plus new filter interactions for a number of features including mentions, retweets, favorites, followers, and lists. Finally, the new version also comes equipped with tweet translation functionality.

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What's New in Version 3.0.2
- Redesigned with a new sidebar on the left for easy navigation across columns.
- Drag and drop rearrangement of columns in the sidebar.
- Tweet translation.
- Filter interactions for mentions, retweets, favorites, followers or lists.
- Filter search columns by engagement (minimum number of retweets, favorites, replies).

TweetDeck can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Before Phil Schiller gave the world a sneak peek of the new Mac Pro at WWDC this week, Apple allowed select developers to come to its Cupertino headquarters to test out their software on preproduction hardware.

AppleInsider spoke with employees of The Foundry, a firm that develops high end rendering software used on Hollywood productions.

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The Foundry shared with AppleInsider the story of how its team worked with the new Mac Pro in a room at Apple HQ known as the "Evil Lab" ahead of the desktop's unveiling. During the tests, the Mac Pro was entirely concealed in a giant steel cabinet, keeping its new design a mystery to The Foundry and Pixar.

"We were essentially doing a blind tasting of the machine," said Jack Greasley, MARI product manager at The Foundry. "All we could see was the monitor, and the Mac Pro was encased in a giant metal filing cabinet on wheels. Experiencing the machine in this way was actually really cool, because I can tell you that the speed and power of this machine really stands up. Mari running on this machine out of the box is the fastest I have ever seen it run."

Greasley said "some real innovation and thought has gone into what users want and need" with the new Mac Pro, and he doesn't "think pro users should be concerned" about the new machine.

Representatives from The Foundry and Pixar participated in a lunchtime session at WWDC this week, demonstrating the company's MARI software running on the new Mac Pro. The company managed to get a working copy of MARI ported to the Mac in just under a week and convinced Apple executives to give a significant block of time at WWDC to demo the software and the new machine.

The Mac Pro is expected to be released later this year.

Testifying in court yesterday as part of the ongoing e-books price fixing trial, Apple senior vice president for Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue offered some perspective on the history of iBooks and the iBookstore, noting that Steve Jobs was initially opposed to such a project. As shared by AllThingsD, Cue noted that it wasn't until just prior to the launch of the iPad that he was able to convince Jobs of the potential of e-books.

“… When I got my first chance to touch the iPad, I became completely convinced that this was a huge opportunity for us to build the best e-reader that the market had ever seen,” Cue said. “And so I went to Steve and told him why I thought [the iPad] was going to be a great device for ebooks. … and after some discussions he came back and said, you know, I think you’re right. I think this is great, and then he started coming up with ideas himself about what he wanted to do with it and how it would be even better as a reader and store.”

Cue had initially suggested an e-book effort earlier in the fall of 2009, but Jobs felt that the iPhone's screen was too small to allow for a good user experience and that the Mac didn't feel like a reading device. By the time Jobs was on board, it was November, and the iPad was scheduled for a January introduction, giving Cue just weeks to line up the deals needed to build the iBookstore.

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In relating the story, Cue noted that getting the iBookstore deals done took on special significance for him, as it was obvious that Jobs was in declining health at the time. Jobs had taken a strong interest in iBooks for iPad, and was committed to showing it off at the iPad media event, giving Cue extra incentive to make sure everything was in place.