MacRumors

2K Sports has released MyNBA2K14 for iOS devices, which acts a a companion app to the popular basketball title for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The app allows users to view data from NBA 2K14's MyPlayer and MyCareer modes, as well as records and statistics from the console title's online multiplayer component. Console in-game currency can also be earned while using the app, with MyNBA2K14 also including a card game called MyTeam Mobile, with users collecting cards of NBA players and battling against one another.

MyNBA2K14 is the companion app to the world's biggest and best NBA video game franchise – NBA 2K14. With MyNBA2K14, stay in touch with your Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version of NBA 2K14 wherever you go with the MyGAME feature that allows players to view key data from the console – including MyCAREER stats, online multiplayer records, and leaderboards while earning extra VC (console in-game currency) with an NBA Pick-Em mini-game and daily VC rewards. As an added bonus, players can also enjoy an NBA 2K themed card battle game, MyTeam Mobile, where players can collect the cards of over 400 current and former NBA players and battle against other NBA fans.

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2K Sports also released a standalone version of NBA 2K14 for iOS devices last month, containing updates for the 2013-2014 NBA season. MyNBA2K14 is a free app for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]

z10.jpgApple and Microsoft both expressed interest in acquiring portions of BlackBerry, according to a new report from Reuters. BlackBerry's board ultimately elected not to break up the company, despite Apple's interest in its intellectual property and patents. According to the report, the company also had discussions with Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and Lenovo.

BlackBerry Ltd's board does not believe a break-up of the Canadian smartphone maker is currently in its best interests, even though Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc and Lenovo Group Ltd, among others, have expressed interest in acquiring parts of the company, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The board rejected proposals from several technology companies for various BlackBerry assets on grounds that a break-up did not serve the interest of all stakeholders, which include employees, customers and suppliers in addition to shareholders, said the sources, who did not want to be identified as the discussions were confidential.

Earlier this year, the struggling BlackBerry was forced to initiate significant layoffs. The company received a $4.7 billion takeover bid from Fairfax Financial in September, though Fairfax Financial and BlackBerry ultimately chose not to proceed with its offer, with BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins stepping down in favor of John Chen, former CEO of Sybase.

Instead, Fairfax Financial and several other investors have opted to invest $1 billion in BlackBerry via debt securities, giving BlackBerry a chance to re-establish itself in the smartphone market, where it has been unable to keep up with the competition.

BlackBerry holds a number of valuable patents, worth approximately $1 to $3 billion. In 2012, its patent portfolio grew by 986 patents, many of which would be relevant to competing smartphone companies like Apple and Google. BlackBerry's patents are also relatively new, giving them a long lifespan and increasing their overall value.

BlackBerry's latest phone, the Z10, saw steep discounts just months after its launch due to weak sales. BlackBerry has had better success with its recently released BlackBerry Messenger apps for iOS and Android, which saw more than 10 million downloads within the first 24 hours.

Blizzard's annual Blizzcon conference kicked off today and during the event's opening ceremony (via TouchArcade), the company announced that its free-to-play battle card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will be released during the second half of 2014.

First announced for the Mac, PC, and iPad back in March, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will also be available on the iPhone when it is released. The collectible card game, which will be free-to-play, is set in the Warcraft universe.

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Sheathe your sword, draw your deck, and get ready for Hearthstone - the fast paced strategy card game that's easy to learn and massively fun. Start a free game on Battle.net and play your cards to sling spells, summon creatures, and command the heroes of Warcraft in duels of epic strategy.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft recently entered a beta testing phase, with select individuals receiving access to the Mac and PC versions of the game.

Blizzard also announced that Warlords of Draenor will be the next expansion to its massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft.

Apple's iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c were most popular with previous iPhone owners upgrading from older iPhones, according to new data gathered by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Approximately 65 percent of total iPhone 5s/5c buyers in the United States previously owned an iPhone, compared to 55 percent of iPhone 5 purchasers a year ago. While 12 percent of consumers who purchased an iPhone 5 last year were upgrading from an iPhone 4s, just 6 percent of iPhone 5s/5c purchasers upgraded from an iPhone 5, with the rest of the former iPhone buyers coming from older models like the iPhone 4 and 4s or non-iPhone devices.

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The lack of interest from iPhone 5 owners is likely due to the fact that the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c are somewhat minor updates that have not resulted in a change in form factor. The iPhone 5c in particular uses the same components found in the iPhone 5, and it is possible that continued iPhone 5s shortages have discouraged some iPhone 5 owners from upgrading to the latest model.

"We see a noticeable decrease in the number of iPhone buyers that seem to want the latest, most advanced phone," said Josh Lowitz, Partner and Co-Founder of CiRP. "For the iPhone 5S/5C, 6% of buyers upgraded from the year- old iPhone 5. In contrast, at the launch of the iPhone 5 in September 2012, 12% of customers upgraded from the year-old iPhone 4S." Within the two-thirds of iPhone buyers that upgraded from an existing iPhone in September and October 2013, many fewer upgraded from the year-old iPhone 5, relative to the 55% of iPhone 5 buyers in September and October 2012 that upgraded from the year-old iPhone 4S.

The iPhone 5s and 5c also saw higher adoption numbers from former Android users, though adoption by former basic phone users and BlackBerry users declined, likely due to a loss of overall market share in those groups.

CIRP's data is based on a survey of 400 U.S. iPhone buyers that activated a phone after the September 20 launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c.

office_logoFormer Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, considered one of the leading candidates to replace Steve Ballmer as CEO of Microsoft, is reportedly open to the possibility of broadening distribution of the company's Office suite to platforms such as iOS and Android should he be named to the position, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Elop would probably move away from Microsoft’s strategy of using these programs to drive demand for its flagship Windows operating system on personal computers and mobile devices, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the 49-year-old executive hasn’t finalized or publicly discussed his analysis of the business

The possibility of bringing Office to iOS has been rumored for a number of years, particularly since the 2010 introduction of the iPad. While Microsoft has an Office Mobile app for iPhone to allow subscribers to the company's Office 365 service to perform basic editing on Office documents, a full-fledged Office suite for iPad and iPhone has yet to appear. According to the most recent reports, Office for iPad is awaiting completion of a "Touch First" interface that will come first to the Windows version of the suite in the early part of next year.

Elop spent nearly three years heading up Microsoft's Business Division, which is responsible for Office, before it was announced in September 2010 that he would be leaving the company to lead Nokia. Elop stepped down as Nokia CEO alongside the September announcement that Microsoft would be acquiring Nokia's Devices and Services Division. He is scheduled to take charge of a new Microsoft division focused on devices such as Surface and Xbox, but is said to be under strong consideration to be named CEO.

Elop would reportedly also be open other major changes if he were to take charge of Microsoft, including selling off the Xbox division or shutting down the Bing search engine services. Outspoken Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw bluntly responded to Bloomberg's request for comment, stating that "We appreciate Bloomberg's foray into fiction and look forward to future episodes."

In line with previous announcements, Sprint prepaid subsidiary Boost Mobile began offering the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c today, marking the first time the brand has offered any model of iPhone for sale.

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While Boost's standard pricing available online already includes a $100 discount on every model compared to Apple's standard pricing for unsubsidized models, the carrier is offering an additional $100 off through November 24 to customers who are switching from another carrier and who make their purchases at one of the brand's retail stores.

It is the perfect time to switch to Boost Mobile as now through Nov. 24 new customers who come into a participating Boost Mobile store and switch to Boost Mobile from another carrier will be eligible for a special in-store promotion of $100 off any device bringing new customers additional cost savings.

The in-store promotion for switchers brings the entry-level cost of the iPhone 5s down to $449.99 and the iPhone 5c down to $349.99. For service, Boost Mobile offers a $55/month contract-free unlimited talk/text/data plan, although data is throttled once users reach 2.5 GB in a given month. Customers can also reduce their monthly fees by making on-time payments, with Boost reducing the charge by $5 for every six on-time payments made, down to a minimum of $40/month after 18 months.

While iPhone 5c supplies are plentiful, potential Boost Mobile customers are likely to have a harder time tracking down supplies of the iPhone 5s, as is the case throughout Apple's distribution network. All iPhone 5s models are currently listed as "Out of Stock" on Boost Mobile's online store.

Boost Mobile is not the only carrier to launch new sales of Apple's latest products over the past couple of days, as U.S. Cellular is now carrying Apple's full lineup of iPhones and cellular-capable iPad Air and non-Retina iPad mini models. Socially active mobile virtual network operator CREDO Mobile, which runs on Sprint's network, has also begun offering the iPhone with on-contract pricing discounted $50 compared to standard Apple pricing.

Mississippi-based regional carrier C Spire, Alaskan carrier GCI, and Kentucky-based regional carrier Bluegrass Cellular have also begun selling cellular-capable models of the iPad Air.

Related Forum: iPhone

A Vodafone retail store in Canberra, Australia was reportedly evacuated earlier this week after an in-store demo iPad "exploded", filling the location with smoke and sparks, reports News.com.au. While no one was harmed during the incident, the iPad reportedly emitted the sparks from its charging port as firefighters were called to the scene to handle the situation. An Apple representative reportedly visited the scene afterwards to investigate the explosion, but Apple has not commented on the incident.

Interestingly, the report originally stated that the device was an iPad Air, but the article has since been revised to simply refer to it as an "iPad" and the device shown in the photo accompanying the article does not appear to have the narrower side bezels seen on the new iPad Air.

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This is not the first time this year that an Apple product was accused of being a safety hazard, as a woman in China suffered eye injuries from her iPhone 5 after it exploded while she was on the phone this past August. Additionally, a Chinese man was left in a coma after receiving an electric shock while charging his iPhone 4 in July, which followed the death of a Chinese woman under similar circumstances.

Both latter incidents apparently involved the use of unauthorized third-party adapters, with Apple responding to the events by establishing an international third-party USB charger "Takeback Program" offering official replacement chargers for $10 to anyone who turns in a suspect adapter.

Apple began selling the iPad Air last Friday in over thirty countries through its official online store and at various other outlets.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

Last week, a report from Japanese business newspaper Nikkei shed light on the production issues surrounding the forthcoming Retina iPad mini, stating that Apple is now turning to rival Samsung as suppliers Sharp and LG Display have failed to produce an ample supply of displays for the new tablet. Now, a report from Korean website ETNews (via Unwired View) has elaborated on the matter, with Sharp's IGZO panels for the Retina iPad mini said to be suffering from screen burn-in issues.

While the burn-in issue is reportedly invisible to users, the panels do not meet Apple's specifications and thus the high rejection rate has resulted in low panel yields for the tablet. As noted in a report earlier this week analyzing the new iPad Air's use of IGZO technology, Sharp has experienced difficulties ramping up production of its IGZO panels in the past, with it taking until now for Apple to bring the technology to its products.

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The burn-in problem was caused by the drastic reduction of the pixel size. The resolution of the 7.9-inch iPad mini with Retina display is 2048×1536, about four times clearer than the existing 1024×768 products. LG Display used the amorphous silicon (a-Si) for the substrate, whereas Sharp used IGZO. The pixel of the smartphone display is smaller than that of the iPad mini Retina panel, but as the Low Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon (LTPS) technology is used, it can be produced stably. The pixel of the iPad mini Retina is the smallest among those products using a-Si. Sharp failed to solve the chronic problem of IGZO, i.e. uniformity, and its yield went down.

The report also elaborates on how Apple may be negotiating with Samsung to produce displays for the device starting next year, turning back to its rival in part due to Samsung's experience solving a similar problem with third-generation iPad's move to a Retina display.

Apple is negotiating with Samsung Display for the supply of displays starting next year. Apple discussed cooperation with Samsung Display when it was planning on the iPad mini Retina. AUO, which was the iPad mini display supplier, was excluded from the retina version because of its yield problem. Apple was planning to receive 15 million panels from LG Display, Sharp and Samsung Display at the end of this year. However, as the negotiation with Samsung Display fell through, only LG Display and Sharp made it to the final list of primary suppliers.

If the issue of screen burn-in persists, the report also states that Apple may move to LTPS technology such as that seen in the Kindle Fire HDX, as it is less prone to the problem. However, while LTPS is commonly used on displays for smaller devices such as the iPhone, Apple is unlikely to mass produce the displays for larger screens in part due to scalability issues that simply won't support the tens of millions of tablets that the company is producing each year.

Apple CEO Tim Cook stated last week during the company's fourth quarter earnings call that it was "unclear whether we will have enough for the quarter or not," as the company has only promised that the tablet will arrive by the the end of November. As noted by Apple during the introduction of the second-generation iPad mini, a Retina display has been one of the most requested features for the smaller iPad since its release last year.

Update: MacRumors spoke with Ray Soneira of DisplayMate Technologies, who noted that LG is almost certainly not using a-Si for its Retina iPad mini display panels due to significant power issues with trying to drive a display of that pixel density using the technology. The company has also been shipping its own IGZO display panels for some time now, and Soneira pointed out that "it would be very inefficient to engineer the iPad mini to ship using two significantly different display technologies."

Soneira also clarified that "burn-in" is the incorrect term for what would be happening with these LCDs. It would be a short-term image retention issue perhaps similar to what some early Retina MacBook Pro users experienced, although it appears in this case that the effect is invisible to users.

Related Roundup: iPad mini
Tag: ETNews
Buyer's Guide: iPad Mini (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

Apple today launched a new update for iBooks for Mac, bringing it to version 1.0.1. The 14.7 MB update includes bug fixes and stability improvements for the app, which was originally released on October 22 alongside OS X Mavericks.

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Apple has also released two EFI firmware updates for the 13-inch and 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros and a fix for the Mail app. The iBooks update, along with the other updates, can be downloaded via the Software Update tool in the Mac App Store.

Apple today released Mail Update for Mavericks 1.0, a software update designed to enhance compatibility with Gmail accounts, as well as several other improvements. The update entered testing last week and addresses a number of complaints about changes Apple made in Mavericks Mail.

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Mail Update for Mavericks includes improvements to general stability and compatibility with Gmail, including the following:

- Fixes an issue that prevents deleting, moving, and archiving messages for users with custom Gmail settings
- Addresses an issue that may cause unread counts to be inaccurate
- Includes additional fixes that improve the compatibility and stability of Mail

Full information on the update, including Apple's recommendations about backing up before applying the update, are included in an Apple support document. The update is available via the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

Related Forum: OS X Mavericks

Boombotix, a company that successfully made and manufactured a line of speakers that began on Kickstarter, has a new audio app, Boombotix Sync, in development and is seeking funding via a new Kickstarter campaign.

The app, which was inspired by the company's speakers, is designed to allow people to synchronize their music across multiple devices (and multiple Bluetooth speakers) using just a mobile network.

boombotixsync

Boombotix Sync is a mobile app that synchronizes music across multiple devices over a mobile network. This new technology unlocks the potential for peer-to-peer mobile surround sound and shared listening. Whether you're orchestrating a mobile flash mob or riding on the bus with a friend discreetly jamming out on your headphones, this app enables us to enjoy music together wirelessly no matter where we are.

In order to share music, each user needs to have a copy of the Boombotix Sync app. One user puts their device in "DJ Mode" which allows their music to be streamed to others that are connected to the channel. All devices must be connected to a network (Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G, or LTE). Each device will then play synchronized music, and each device can also connect over Bluetooth to any wireless speaker, like a Jambox or Boombotix's own Rex speakers.

The system allows for multiple Bluetooth speakers to be synced up to play the same music, as long as there is a device for each speaker. As it is impossible for more than one Bluetooth speaker to be hooked up to a single device, the Boombotix Sync app provides a way to hack multiple speakers together, which is perfect for parties and other outdoor listening situations. It's also a useful way for two or more people to listen to the same music across long distances or on multiple devices like headphones.

The app has four modes total, with the DJ Mode allowing the main user to set up a playlist to stream to other users. In Listen Mode, users can sync up with the DJ, and the Nearby DJs mode will display local devices that are set in DJ Mode. At the current point in time, the Boombotix Sync app is designed to work solely with SoundCloud, but the developers have plans to add additional music services in the future.


Boombotix Sync is compatible with the iPhone 4 and later, the iPad mini, and the iPad 2 and later and it also works with any audio accessories paired with those devices, including headphones, stereos, and speakers.

Interested backers can get access to the app for $5, and the company is also offering special deals that pair the app with a wireless speaker for $55 or $100. According to the Kickstarter page, Boombotix expects to have the app ready by December of 2013.

Tim CookThe United States Senate has approved the anti-discrimination bill that Apple CEO Tim Cook endorsed in an Op-Ed earlier this week.

In a 64-32 vote, the Senate voted to pass the Employment Nondiscrimation Act today, sending the legislation to the U.S. House of Representatives where its future is uncertain. The bill adds gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals to the U.S.'s existing nondiscrimination law.

Tim Cook tweeted about the passing of the bill, saying:

Thanks to all Senators who supported ENDA! I encourage the House to follow suit and end discrimination.

From The New York Times:

“The time has come for Congress to pass a federal law that ensures all citizens, regardless of where they live, can go to work not afraid of who they are,” Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, said on Thursday, noting that a vast majority of Americans already think such a law is in place. “Well, it isn’t already the law,” he added. “Let’s do what the American people think already exists.”

Republicans who voted against the bill, known as the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, were muted in their opposition. The first senator to rise and speak against the bill on the floor all week was Dan Coats of Indiana, who said Thursday morning that religious freedoms were at risk, despite the bill’s broad exemption for religious institutions.

Those exemptions, he said, did not go far enough.

In his op-ed, Tim Cook wrote that Apple has made it a point to create "a safe and welcoming workplace for all employees, regardless of their race, gender, nationality or sexual orientation", while also elaborating on employee rights to express identity in a working environment.

Note: Due to the potentially controversial nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All 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.

Alongside today's release of a firmware update addressing keyboard and trackpad issues on Apple's new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, the company has released a separate firmware update for owners of the new 15-inch models. The 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro update addresses a separate issue related to performance of the discrete NVIDIA graphics included on higher-end models.

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This update is recommended for MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, late 2013) models with NVIDIA graphics.

This update addresses an issue which, in rare cases, may limit the performance of the discrete graphics processor after a system wake or boot.

The firmware update, which is 5.22 MB in size, can be downloaded either directly from Apple's support site or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store for users on affected machines.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Neutral)
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Apple today released a new EFI Update for the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, which is designed to fix issues that caused the built-in keyboard and trackpad to freeze up and stop functioning. Apple recommends that all late 2013 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro owners install the update.

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This update is recommended for MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, late 2013) models.

This update addresses an issue where the built-in keyboard and Multi-Touch trackpad may become unresponsive.

Users first began noticing issues that caused the keyboard and the trackpad of the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro to freeze up shortly after the computer was released on October 22.

Multiple threads on Apple's Support Forums highlighted the issues and prompted Apple to notify users last week that it was working on a fix. While it was unclear whether the keyboard and trackpad unresponsiveness was due to a hardware or a software issue, it appears to be software-based and repairable with the EFI update.

The EFI update should be available through the Software Update tool in the Mac App Store for all users with an affected MacBook. Apple has also released an EFI update for the late 2013 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro.

In a lengthy piece detailing the hardships that workers in Apple's supply chain can face, Bloomberg follows the story of a factory worker at Flextronics International, a contract manufacturer based in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur that produced camera parts for the iPhone 5.

Ahead of the launch of the iPhone 5, Flextronics had to significantly ramp up production, hiring a 1,500 new employees via brokers and recruiters in Nepal, Malaysia, and surrounding areas. Because factory jobs are highly desired, many families pay upfront fees to brokers to acquire the positions, resulting in loans that can take "imported" workers years to pay off, with factory managers controlling when workers are able to leave.

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Inside a Flextronics factory in Fort Worth, Texas. Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal

For the iPhone 5 rollout, a recruiter working for Flextronics contacted four brokers in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, in late August and early September, urgently seeking 1,500 men to make cameras, according to three of the four brokers. The pressure to move so many men so quickly was unprecedented. "The recruitment agency was telling me, 'We need these workers, you have to send them by today,'" says Rajan Shrestha, managing director of a small company called Sharp Human Resources.

The frenzy to hire workers was how one Nepalese man, Bibek Dhong, found himself paying $250 and handing over his passport to a recruiter who promised him a good job. Dhong was forced to pay another $500 to a broker (6 months of his wages from his former job as a dairy farmer) and sign a debt agreement stating he would pay $400 more. Dhong was told to keep his broker fees secret, as Apple has a policy that prevents excessive charges by recruiters.

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Sapphire BouleBefore the announcement of its Apple partnership and the new 700-employee manufacturing facility in Arizona, GT Advanced Technologies only generated 11 percent of its revenue from its sapphire business.

Going forward, with the new Apple deal, GT Advanced will see sapphire production as its main source of revenue, increasing its sapphire sales by as much as 15 to 16 times, according to a report by Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White (via AllThingsD).

So far in 2013, sapphire accounted for just $29 million in revenue, while the company projects as much as $480 to $640 million in sapphire sales in 2014. According to White:

We do not expect sapphire to replace Corning's Gorilla Glass on the iPhone or iPad in the coming quarters; however, we believe sapphire could gain traction in new small form factor applications or high-end devices with Apple in the future.

AllThingsD agrees that the increase, suggesting that "Cupertino has big plans and broader uses for the sapphire material" that it currently uses in iPhone camera lenses and fingerprint-recognition buttons.

According to the press release GT Advanced released on Monday, Apple is requiring GT to maintain a minimum level of capacity and the company will be subject to certain exclusivity terms. More interestingly, GT expects to see its gross margins to drop significantly as production rises, though the recurring revenue stream from Apple will be strategically important to the company.

Apple currently uses small pieces of sapphire glass -- which provides superior durability and scratch resistance to other forms of glass -- to protect the cameras on the iPhone and on the home button for the new Touch ID-equipped iPhone 5s. A report from earlier this year suggested that future smartphones may use sapphire, a crystalline form of aluminum oxide, instead of more traditional forms of glass.

One possible destination for Apple's new sapphire glass production is in a potential smart watch project. Sapphire is already extensively used in high-end watchmaking and could be more feasible on a small screen than the larger display on a smartphone or tablet.

target_logoEarlier this week, we shared a trade-in promotion from Target, which generated tremendous interest. Target is offering $200 for any iPad, including the original 1st generation models. Outside of the promotion, Target normally offers only $65 for a 16 GB Wi-Fi original iPad, which makes the $200 gift card a great deal.

Target's trade-in promotion is still going on, ending on Saturday, November 9, leaving two days to complete potential trade-ins. We've received some mixed reports about the success of the trade-ins. Trade-ins can only be done in-store to receive the special offer, as original iPad trade-ins online are still listed with a $65 value.

While Target has altered the wording on its original offer to suggest consumers trading in iPads should use the funds to purchase an iPad Air or iPad mini, many customers are still receiving $200 gift cards with no strings attached. Target's new promotional wording is below:

"Between November 3rd thru 9th, visit your local Target Mobility store and trade in any iPad for at least $200 to use towards the purchase of a new iPad."

According to our forums and emails we've received, Target has had some difficulty processing all of the trade-ins, and some Target stores seem to be unfamiliar with the details of the promotion. While some customers have had no issues trading in their iPads, others have faced long lines due to each store only having a few employees in the Mobile department, or been turned away entirely.

For most, the process is quick and simple. A Target employee will type in the model number, check to make sure the buttons are functional and that the screen isn't cracked, then enter a license number before handing over the gift card.

While some Target locations have insisted that the $200 trade-in value must be used for an iPad purchase, forum members have been able to circumvent this by claiming to wait for a Retina iPad mini or by visiting another Target location that did not implement the same restrictions.

Apple has filed for a United States patent detailing a system for allowing a device to access and share a remote network with a second device using the low-power Bluetooth LE protocol, reports AppleInsider. The patent application was published today and credits Apple engineers Daniel Borges, Jason Giles, and Michael Larson as inventors.

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Notably, the application mentions a first device acting as a hotspot and having short-range connectability with a second device, with the second device having access to remote networks. This would be very similar to the rumored interaction between Apple's upcoming iWatch and a second iOS device such as the iPhone, with the iWatch serving as an accessory and giving users easy at-a-glance access to common functions without having to take out larger devices.

The described technology would seem particularly apt for providing intermittent Internet access for the iWatch, allowing it to take advantage of low-power Bluetooth to only intermittently connect to the Internet using an iPhone as a hotspot rather than having to host its own cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity.

The proximity profile defines a proximity notification alert that the supporting device sends to the device to advertise its shared access service to the network for devices within range. In one embodiment, upon receiving the proximity notification alert the device joins the supporting device’s shared access service and briefly connects to the network to receive push notifications or other messages, before disconnecting.

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The patent also details how a low-power connection protocol such as Bluetooth could prove to be advantageous as the first device remains in a low-power background mode while connecting to a network with the ability to receive push notifications:

In one embodiment, the short-range connectability to the supporting device is provided over a low-power enabled connection protocol such as Bluetooth. In a typical embodiment, the device is able to maintain itself in a low-power background mode while joining the supporting device's shared access service and briefly connecting to the network. In this manner the device may perform such activities as establishing intermittent network presence for receiving push notifications and other messages or updates, or for engaging in other network-related activities while advantageously remaining in low power mode.

Apple has long been rumored to be working on the iWatch, which is expected to provide common functions along with additional biometric integration in addition to serving as an accessory to iOS devices. Apple CEO Tim Cook stated during the company's fourth quarter earnings call last month that Apple still plans to introduce new product categories in 2014, which is a likely timeframe for the release of the iWatch as previously indicated by multiple sources. A report last week also indicated that Apple was close to striking a deal with LG Display to provide OLED displays for the device.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Tag: Patent
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)